Merry Christmas

I woke up this morning to three elves on my trampoline!

I hope you all have nice holiday!

Train Field Trip

Today we all went on a school field trip for Rebecca out in Boulder City. They do a Christmas train ride with Santa out there, and Rebecca loved it last year, so we all decided to go this year.

William and Braden sat with Kevin and me.

And Rebecca sat with her friends. Way too much growing up from this girl lately!

That had an open train car that all the kids loved.

And all of the workers were dressed like this. I loved it.

We took our short ride out and back, and then they unloaded us from the train. I thought maybe Santa was somewhere at the station waiting. Turns out he wasn't there at all today. And Rebecca and William were really hoping to tell him what they wanted for Christmas, and I was happy that we wouldn't have to go stand in a long line for it. Oh well. Bass Pro Shops is fun, and close, and Santa is always there at Christmas time.

Braden lasted about five muntes on the freeway home before he fell asleep. That's candy cane all over his face. I think William fell asleep a few minutes after I took this picture, but you could probably already tell that from his face.

It's not often that we do stuff like this as a family. Even though we didn't get to see Santa we still had fun riding the train together.

Almost a month ago...

Rebecca turned 6. I'd like to say that I'm posting this late because I'm lazy or really busy, but that's not true. I wasn't going to post about her party for fear I would hurt feelings of anyone who wasn't invited, but today while looking through my pictures, I realized that I really want her party documented.

This party was Rebecca's first friend birthday party. We invited all the 6-year-olds and 5-turning-6-year-olds from church, our next door neighbor, 2 cousins, and 2 friends from across town, which turned out to be 15 friends! I told her not to tell anyone at school she was having a party because I don't think I could handle any more little girls! We sent cupcakes to school instead, and Rebecca has a nice party with mostly church friends.

The girls started out decorating sugar cookies and eating pizza. My sister-law Emily made the cookies and brought icing, food coloring, and sprinkles for decorating. The cookie decorating was a hit!

Then we moved to the couch for presents. This is where most of the girls started out.

Except for Natalie who sweetly helped Rebecca with her gifts.

Then they all started moving in to get a closer look. I love this picture of Braden in stride.

Lately Rebecca loves gumball machines at the store, so she was very happy to get her own personal gumball machine from Kaylie and Marissa.

We ended with cake and ice cream. I had some other girly activities planned, like painting fingernails, but the girls just wanted to jump on the trampoline and play upstairs for the rest of the party.

Rebecca had a great time, and I am glad to have my first kid party out of the way. It was not as bad as I expected it to be.

I think I know what we'll be for Halloween next year.

Kevin's mom gave us the idea. I should probably start growing out my hair.

There's no discount for agreeing with me.

We had a fun Halloween weekend this year.

It started off Saturday with our ward's Trunk or Treat.

On our way out of the house: I didn't know if I would remember to get a picture of my kids in their costumes, so I snapped one right before we left for the church.

Matching Forest Pixies: I loved this $7 Target costume, and luckily, so did Rebecca. I thought it was way cuter than the $25 Tinkerbell costume, and apparently, Isa's mom thought so too.

Monkeys: I had to get a picture of these two monkeys. These busy boys (whose costumes fit their personalities) enjoyed hanging out in the hall together MONTHS before they were able to go to nursery since they both decided to walk before they turned one. In this picture, they were enthralled with Shrek who was helping clean up after dinner. The Shumways in our ward dressed up as Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss in Boots, a baby dragon, and Gingi, and their costumes were awesome. Click here to see them.

We ate dinner and mingled and had a great time with our ward family. Our Activities' Committee ladies always know how to throw a great party.

After the ward party, we went to Kevin's parents' house for a Halloween party thrown by his sister Emily.

Here she is as Wonder Woman. She also throws a great party.

Emily told us that we weren't allowed to come to the party unless we dressed up, so I went as Flo from Progressive, and Kevin went as the Nationwide Blue Phone Guy (these costumes were suggested to us by Kevin's sister Laura). I'm okay with dressing up as long as it doesn't cost a lot. For these two costumes I paid $8 for white pants and an old phone from the DI and $3 for liquid eyeliner, red lipstick, and a headband from the dollar store.

Kevin's mom was the witch in Hocus Pocus played by Bette Midler. My dentist father-in-law made her these great fake teeth that made her look just like the witch in the movie. She's British (Scottish to be exact), and I think she's actually flipping us off in this picture.

Kevin's brother Bryan, who looks so cute eating his dinner at the little kids' table, dressed up for a little bit, but not long enough for me to get a picture...

...but I found this picture of him today on Facebook, so I stole it. Don't be fooled. Bryan is buff - he's sticking out his gut to look like Nacho Libre.

Kevin's Granny Bowman was an angel (or a Victoria's Secret model).

Melissa's boyfriend Kody (who was baptized earlier that day) brought his mom who dressed up like Smurfette.

We loved everyone's costumes, and it was so fun getting together. We're hoping that the Bowmans will throw another party next year.

On Sunday my brother had his annual Halloween party. I didn't get any pictures of that one, but we have a fun time at his parties every year.

I love Halloween, and I think I can say that this past Halloween weekend was my favorite ever.

Cupcakes for Cancer

My good friend and neighbor Leigh Ann has a son Greg who was recently diagnosed with cancer. He is 7 years old, and he is currently going through his second chemo treatment, so you can try to imagine how much his little body is enduring right now.

The amazing women I am lucky to go to church with organized a 5k called Cupcakes for Cancer. This event will raise money for the Downer family to help pay for Greg's treatment. I will be running my very first 5k just for Greg. If you'd like to run it with me, click on the box above for more information. There is also a Paypal button on that blog if you are not interested in running but would like to donate some money to the Downers.

Our hope right now is to take all other worries away from the Downers so that they only have to worry about Greg. I hope you can help us out!

Happy Halloween!

Growing Up

I've met parents who are so happy to see their children grow up and learn new things, and I would say that I am not one of those parents. Seeing my kids grow up makes me sad, and with Rebecca, I think this past year has been the hardest so far.

This year she learned to ride her bike without training wheels, she started going to school, and lately she's been reading a few words on her own. We took her to the dentist a few weeks ago for a cleaning, and she came out of her appointment showing us her loose tooth. Today she lost that tooth, and the one next to it is soon to follow.

I feel like I can't keep up with all of the new things going on with her! Is it going to slow down at all? Or is this the start of her learning and growing in a million ways every year until she's all grown up?

And I have to remember to have the Tooth Fairy visit Rebecca tonight and replace her lost tooth with a dollar. I have a feeling that the Tooth Fairy is going to forget since she's already scatterbrained, and now she has even more on her mind with all of the growing up going on at her house.

I have to include this picture I got of William today. For some reason after church he decided he needed to change into shorts with his black socks and church shoes. But he also put on a sweater since it's getting cold out. To me he looks like a rich old man who's ready to go sailing. At least with him the only growing I've noticed lately is in his feet and body.

Old Dog, New Tricks

So the sock on Braden's hand did not keep him from sucking his thumb. We taped the sock to his shirt sleeve so that he couldn't get it off of his hand, and we would find him in his bed in the morning with his shirt off and his thumb in his mouth.

I talked to my friend Emily about it, and she told me about her friend who taught her 18-month-old baby how to take a binky. With my stubborn boy, I thought there was no way this could happen for me.

With low hopes, I started keeping a binky in his bed and one in the car, which were the two places he seemed to suck his thumb the most. For about a week now, I've been sitting with him as he goes to sleep at night and for naps, and I won't let him suck his thumb, but I let him suck on a binky. And in the car when he sucks his thumb, I hand him a binky to put in his mouth.

I looked in my rearview mirror and saw this today:

He is not completely off the thumb - I still catch him sucking it sometimes. But I think we are making progress. Giving him an alternative instead of making him stop sucking altogether has been working better for me and for him. He's not fighting me all of the time like he started to with the sock.

I am hopeful that he won't turn into his almost 6-year-old thumbsucking sister. We are working with her too. She really wants to stop. So soon we may be a thumbsucker-free household.

Super Saturday was a Success!

Holly put some pictures of the event on the Coronado Ward Relief Society Blog:

http://coronadoreliefsociety.blogspot.com/2010/10/thank-you.html

And the most successful part of Super Saturday? I think it helped put Kate into labor! Congratulations, Hulets!!

How Could I Forget?

I just ran across this other sleeping picture of William. This boy really does find some crazy positions to sleep in.

Napping Bubba

Lately William is the earliest riser of the kids in our house. It doesn't matter what time I put him to bed - his internal alarm clock gets him up a few minutes before 6:00 am every day. And he refuses to be put down for a nap. So when there are nights that he gets to bed later than usual, this is how I find him the next day:

After church one Sunday enjoying a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

Watching TV after swimming.

I've decided that when I can tell he is tired and he won't take a nap, I put on a movie and let him put himself to sleep in whatever awkward position he chooses. At least he's still napping, even if he does look a little funny while he's doing it.

I Love Visitors

I especially love visitors when they come all the way from New Jersey to visit Las Vegas, AND they are two of my and Rebecca's favorite people in the whole world.

I was lucky enough to get to hang out with Wendy and Julianne while they are here vacationing for ten days. And they brought a new little visitor Caleb who I was afraid I would never get to meet because they live so far away. We had dinner at McDonald's, and then we came to my house and let the kids play while Wendy and I got some more time to talk.

These two cute girls put on a dancing show for us before Wendy, Julianne, and Caleb had to leave.

I'm so glad you called, Wendy! We are so happy that we could be a part of your vacation!

More Politics

So today I went to my school and found out (or was reminded actually) that we were being visited by Brian Sandoval:

He is the Republican candidate for governor for the state of Nevada. He beat out Governor Gibbons in the primary elections. I didn't get a picture this time because I honestly forgot that he was visiting today.

Brian Sandoval seemed like a good guy. He's very good looking, and he's quite young. (He mentioned having a first-grader.) He talked about education reform for Nevada, which I am all for since I think we are now ranked last in the country in education.

It's crazy to see these famous politicians at our humble little school. I'm guessing the name American Heritage Academy might be a draw for them. At least our school is being bipartisan in who they allow to visit.

18 Months

Braden is 18 months old and officially going to nursery (although we've been sneaking him in for the past two weeks). I didn't realize how happy we were about leaving him in nursery until Kevin and I got a few comments at church about the smiles on our faces. This boy is seriously BUSY. He's definitely the busiest out of all three of our kids. Keeping him entertained for three hours at church was a chore, and I'm happy to be getting rid of two of those hours.

Here are a few things to know about Braden:

• We tried the sock for a while, but it didn't work out, and I'm sorry to say that he is still a thumb sucker. My friend Emily suggested using bandaids and cod liver oil, so I think that's what we will try next.
  
  
• He is way more vocal than his brother and sister were at this age. He can say juice, baby, no, uh-oh, my (mine), isa ball (which sounds like it's a ball, but I'm not quite sure), and we catch him trying to mimic words we say every once in a while. He also says mom. Not mama or mommy, just mom. It's funny to hear.
  
  
• He says uh-uh to everything I ask him. "Braden, do you want some juice?" - "Uh-uh".
  
  
• He's got this cute pigeon-toed walk.
  
  
• He just got four new teeth, so he now has all of his teeth until he starts getting new molars. I don't keep up on when babies should be doing what or when they should be getting certain teeth, but after talking to Jenna, I think I've realized that my kids are very early teethers. It must be the steak we give them as infants that makes their teeth come in. (Just joking. Don't call CPS on me.)
  
  
• He likes to dance when music is on.
  
  
• He is a lover like his brother. He's content to sit still on my lap and cuddle, which I'm sure is tough for him being a busy one-year-old. I'm enjoying every minute of it.
  
  

I know I've joked about Braden being our little accident, but I am really happy that Heavenly Father knows me better than I know myself and that He blessed us with this busy little boy. He's a perfect fit for our family, and I can't imagine life without him.

Check It Out!

Holly created a new blog for the Relief Society. It has all of the projects we are doing for Super Saturday, so if you didn't get a chance to see them on display today, you can see them on the blog.

coronadoreliefsociety.blogspot.com

My First Blog Tutorial

I've been meaning to do this post since Thursday. Here it finally is. I'm just showing how to make the flowers because they are SO EASY. The necklace is online, but you will have to go find it because I don't want to give too much away before Super Saturday. (If you are really interested in the necklace, send me an email, and I'll send you the link to that tutorial. embowman28@yahoo.com)

To make the flowers you will need: 1/8 yard of satin fabric, a lighter, a glue gun, beads.


Step 1: Cut six circles from your satin. The biggest should have about a three inch diameter, and the rest get smaller from there. The circles don't need to be perfect. The other tutorial I read on this said that the flower actually looks better with less than perfect circles. (I know I have five circles here, but I just went to the other tutorial and there were six. I don't want to redo all of my pictures.)


Step 2: Use your lighter to singe the edges of the circles. This will keep the edges from fraying and will also make your petals curl. I used matches to do this because I didn't have a lighter...

...but this gets annoying, so I would suggest buying a lighter if you don't have one.

I would also suggest not using white satin fabric because on some of my petals there were black singe marks. The other tutorial suggests using a nicer satin that will burn okay. Maybe that's my problem.

Step 3: Use your glue gun to glue all the petals together.

Step 4: Once the petals are glued together, put a dot of hot glue in the center of your flower...

...and dump your beads on the glue.

Pour off the excess beads, and this is what you are left with.

I bought these cute white hair clips at Michael's, and glued one on the back. The other tutorial shows two flowers on a headband that is so cute. You can find that here.

Doesn't that look so easy? And once you make one flower you will realize that it really is easy. Happy cute flower making!