Merry Christmas 2011

I don't do Christmas cards.  Hubby says I'm a scrooge.  Honestly, I'm not.  I love Christmas...and I want to wish everyone I know a Merry Christmas.  The cards are just not my thing.  So, to my few but fabulous readers....

Merry Christmas from our family to yours...

And the angel said to them "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

May you be blessed this Christmas and throughout the new year. 



Don't let your kids hear this!

According to my husband, I've completely robbed our child of the Christmas spirit.  I don't buy it.  We are just keeping it real in the Bowman household.  Jesus Christ was giving gifts out long before Santa...most importantly the gift of LIFE!!!  The truth is liberating...just ask this kid...

I heart Ikea

My birthday brought many blessings (several that came tucked away inside birthday cards).  I was glad to finally be able to complete a project I'd been wanting to do.  C has been all about the drawing/coloring/project making the past few months and I had been dreaming about his own little art station for awhile. 

Two and a half hours in Ikea later (seriously I could spend ALL day in that place.  Wouldn't it be awesome to walk in to one of their mock kitchens one day and say, "I'll take this one.  All of it."???)

I think he's pretty happy with it. :)  He told me he's glad it's in his room so "if I need a little alone time without William I can just go in there and shut the door."  ;)

When I use the term "art station" he looks at me like he has no idea what I'm talking about.  He's been calling it his office since the day after we set it up.  That first morning he was up bright and early "working."  When I got up I went into his room to find a note waiting for me.

Aw, he didn't want me to worry.  So sweet of him. :)  Throughout the day he will announce, "Well, it's time for me to go to work now.  I'll be in my office if anybody needs me."  The kid makes me laugh.

Will you be my trail buddy?

"Guess what?  Today I'm going to go on your hike with you."

"Why?"

"Because parents were invited to come and be trail buddies for the day."

"But, I'm supposed to go hiking with just my teachers, not you."

"Well, I just thought it would be nice if I came.  I thought you might feel sad if the other kids' parents were there and you didn't have your mommy or daddy there."

"Ok.  But, next time can I just go by myself again.  Without you."

Oh my little Mr. Independent.  He is going to be the kid that asks me not to come on school field trips.  And when I go anyway, he will probably request to be in a different group.  No big deal.  I'll just win over all his buddies with my awesomeness and then when we get home he'll tell me what a bummer Mrs. Smith's group was and how he wished he would have stayed with me instead. ;) 

No one would have guessed that C and I belonged to each other.  With the exception of the times I pulled him off to the side of the trail and told him to keep his hands to himself.  Those two girls standing next to him though...we totally bonded.  They were tripping all over their scarves and I showed them a neat trick to keep it from dragging on the ground.  I'm confident that I totally impressed them and they went home that day wondering who that super nice, super cool lady who came on their hike was.  (Because you know they had no idea I was C's mom) ;)

It was fun to get a little glimpse into his nature school world.  Can't wait to see how excited he is when I sign up to be a book buddy.  Ha!

The aquarium with friends!

Hubby is on holiday time for the next 2 weeks...which means he goes in to work for a few hours each morning and then gets to hang out with us the rest of the day.  Yesterday we decided to combine 2 things that C had been asking for lately.  Seeing his friends and a trip to the aquarium. 

Prepare yourself for some serious cuteness.  My child, of course. ;)  But, they don't make 'em much cuter than these two girls.

Ah, seriously!  This little munchkin is pretty much responsible for hubby's insistence that we need to add a little girl to our family one day.  I can see why. :)

We had a really great time.  The kids were so good.  Really, soooo good.  The relationship between Kaylee and C can get pretty volatile at times. ;)  They were incredibly sweet to each other the entire afternoon.  Even prompting strangers to smile and "aww" when watching their interactions.

Ha!  I love this picture.  It looks like Meg is ready to move in if C and Kaylee can't work their stuff out.

Haha! 

She got her second wind in the car.  Long enough to stay awake until her sister passed out so she could get her hands on those pearls.  

It was a fun trip!  C was so into closely observing everything.  In every tank.  And he took great care to make sure Kaylee saw it all too.  When he and I go alone, he usually zooms through the place.  It was neat to see how he was different on a trip to the aquarium with his friends along.  We'll have to do it again soon! 

Movie Star in training: Puss in Boots/Kitty Softpaws Style

I'm not excellent at all.  But I am perfect.  Don't dare to fight the cat.





Give me just a second there's a fly in my face.  Get ready for the excellent.  Adios!

A birthday gift

My boy loves him some Red Robin.  More for their balloons than their mac n cheese, I'm sure.  Either way, he was not protesting when we decided to eat there tonight for my birthday.  It was the finale of my 24 hour birthday celebration. ;) We'd already eaten out last night.  Olive Garden, my favorite!  My sweet husband stayed home this morning and let me sleep in until 9!!  Then he woke me up with a new camera.  A camera that shoots legit video (like the kind with sound).  A shiny red to replace my old pink number.  My poor pink camera that refused to turn on for days following our beach trip.  It was probably shocked into silence by all those gorgeous sunsets...or I dropped it in the sand.  While C was in preschool this afternoon I enjoyed an impromptu get together at Starbucks with some of my fellow nature school moms (and newest friends).  And on our way to dinner at Red Robin, we stopped by a little bakery to pick up a couple of the biggest red velvet cupcakes I've ever seen.  

And none of those great gifts held a candle to the one C gave me on our way home tonight.  From the back seat where he sat holding his prized balloon, "Mommy, should we let this balloon go outside and send it to Wesley?"  "If you want to."  "Well, he's really important isn't he?"

Oh my word.  Sweet words like that from my boy release whole swells of grief.  These days, missing my baby usually just leaves me with an aching in my heart.  But, moments like this strike me so hard.  When I look behind me and see just one car seat where there should be two.  They are the "what could have been's."  And they hurt. 

This Christmas season has been like those of the past.  It has given my boy a bad case of the gimmies.  And when we speak of generosity he asks whether or not "they will give me something too."  But, tonight he gave freely.  Without any 'want' in his heart.  We watched that balloon until we couldn't see it any more.  He softly said, "I'll miss you balloon."  And then he wondered aloud if it would make it to Wesley.  He asked me, "Maybe next time I can get another balloon?"  "Yeah, you can buddy."  "And then I'll send that one to Wesley.  And then I'll get another one and send that one to Wesley.  And get another one and send that one to Wesley..." 

Oh, my precious firstborn.  Standing in the driveway watching you tonight made me sad because I thought of how well you could have filled the role of "big brother" had you been given the chance.  And it also made me so happy.  Because I realized that you are generous with that which truly matters.  You hold love in your heart for a baby brother you never met.  I've said it many times, but tonight I asked again, May his heart always be as tender as it is right now.

The BEST Day!

Today was the best day!  My precious little boy asked Jesus to come live in his heart!!!  Praising God tonight for His answer to many, many prayers that have been said over this sweet child.  And praying that my son's heart will always remain as tender as it is now, that his faith will grow with each passing day, and that in the darkness he will be a bright, shining light.

For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

The Big Questions

"Do you know why we celebrate Christmas?"

"Yes, yes.  Because of Jesus."

"Yeah?  What do you know about Jesus?"

"He knows what happened to the dinosaurs."

Christmas Tree Day!

I'm kind of a Christmas tree nazi...see here and here for proof.  But, due to hubby's drill schedule, the first available time he had to drive an hour to my authentic tree farm wasn't until December 10.  Absolutely not!  That's almost half way into December, I'm not waiting that long!  (Funny that growing up I never wanted our tree up until after my birthday on the 8th.  Didn't want to share the spotlight.  Proof that once you become a mom, or maybe just once you start getting old, your birthday no longer matters)  So, during hubby's lunch break yesterday, we hit up a couple of small scale tree farms...aka the parking lot of the commissary, farmer's market turned tree vendor, and Lowe's. 

I know buddy, I know.  It's just not the same is it? ;)  Really, it was perfectly fine.  We came home with a gorgeous Frasier fur.

Hubby only had time to drop the tree off in the garage before heading back in to work.  We were having what I fear might be our last taste of nice weather, so we spent most of the afternoon outside waiting for Daddy to get home so we could put our tree up!

I am lousy at keeping photographs organized.  I did a haphazard job of putting pictures in albums during C's first 3 years of life.  And since I started the blog, I can count on one hand the number of pictures I've actually printed.  I don't totally suck at preserving memories though...I did a stellar job on C's baby book (pat on the back) and I have kept up with this Christmas tradition.

I love unpacking these ornaments each year and lining them up to see how he's grown.  It is something I plan to continue, probably until he graduates high school. :)  And look who is making his Christmas ornament debut in 2011.

Next year he'll have 2 ornaments on the tree AND he will be home!!! And when he starts pulling all the ornaments down or yanking the Christmas train off the tracks...I will NOT get frustrated! I will remember how badly I wished he was here this year and I will be thankful that my toddler is home and able to wreak havoc during the holiday season. :)

Merry Christmas Tree Day!

Bye bye beach :(

Always so sad to see the end of a vacation.  Especially one that was this much fun!  Just wanted to get the last of the photos from our trip on here.