Oh, dear.

No, my kids did not decorate these.

I did.

And, remember when I ordered the cookie cutters?

Well, let's just say that they look much easier to decorate than they actually are.

Yikes.

The silver lining: The sugar cookie recipe that they come with is the best.
{You know how when you make some sugar cookies with cute snowmen or pumpkin cookie cutters and then you bake them and they bloat up and you can't even tell what they were in the first place? Well, that won't happen with this recipe. But, as you can see from the picture, it's trial and error to find the right bake time--a little crispy.}

Also, the kids had so much stinkin' fun making them.

i love the Owenzez

Yesterday we had an Owens' family gathering/food extravaganza/birthday party/photo shoot. I will be anxious to post the proofs of the whole family, but until then, my SIL snapped a few of these as teasers. {Thank you, Charlotte!}

G&G Owens with their 13 grandchildren

{Heavy on the boys}


Us

He's going for the Rock-Star-Preppy look

One of the large group pictures was of all the Owens' in BYU Shirts. Fun statistic: Both of Steve's parents and their children and their spouses are BYU graduates. As you can see, Trevor is simply thrilled with this fact...




Cougar Beauty.

Future Cougar.

FHE Chronicles

Sometimes, there's dancing.

The Force and Cookies

I just now ordered these:

So that I could make these with my kids:

If you also feel the need, you can buy them {here}.

Karate classes have begun...

Why this is more fun for me than it is for them:

1) My dad is a 5th degree black belt. He used to teach Karate out of our home when I was a kid, and I remember that my little bro and I were often his guinea pigs/targets during demonstrations. Remember this picture with his stuff hanging on the walls? (My mom was a good sport.)

2) I find great pleasure in seeing them tied up in their miniature gi (pronounced gee) with those little white belts. They already have great ambitions toward...well, any other color belt.

3) Their concentration and attention! It is fascinating to see their respect and admiration for their sensei (which is Japanese for teacher--are you loving this karate lesson or what?). There are only 5 kids in the class and you could hear a pin drop in there. (Well, with the exception of the occasional "hi-yah!" and such)

4)They always remember to turn and bow to the Dojo (practice gym) after practice.

Apron to the Third Power

I know I've already posted this one:

But, how fun is it that my sister got one for me in Arizona,

one for her in Utah,


and one for our mom on her mission in Canada.

Aren't they the cutest?

(the ladies and the aprons)

"Mother Dear, I love you so.."

My only daughter made me breakfast in bed for Mother's Day.

{I forgot to snap a picture after that chocolate protein shake right there, was later spilled all over the counter and floor}

Then she and her brothers walked that breakfast-on-tray up the 17 stairs without a single spill {that I know of} and proceeded to waken me with a rousing rendition {and I mean, rousing} of the lovely primary song, "Mother, Dear..."

I'm awake! I'm awake! was my first reaction, thinking there might be a fire or something. Happy to realize it was only my cherubs, I elevated my achy body {I'm so old} and listened to their song while enjoying my oatmeal, toast, apple and chocolate protein shake.

They really love me.

And also know how to serve a mean, well-balanced meal!

Being a mom is cool.

Flirty Mama

Thank you, Sister!!!

Happy Mother's Day to you, too!

{I love this Flirty Apron my big sis sent. Isn't it cute?

To be used for my motherly duties }

Family Movie Night

{Pre-Lice/Pre-Haircuts}

Things they say.

Paige: Mom, where do all the American flags come from?.....Because I thought Betsy Ross only made one.


*************

Preston: Mom, are you and daddy going to get married again?

Me: Um, no we just get married the one time.

Preston: But, I want you to get married again so you can have another baby.

Me: Oh. I see. (pause, hidden giggle) Well, Pres, Daddy and I already got married once, so we don't need to get married again to have another baby.

Preston: Then HAVE one already!!!!

**************

Trevor: Mom, guess what? The Suns are playing tonight...I love Steve Nash.

*************

Gavin: Buzz?...Doody?...Movie?...Watch?

*************

Preston: Mom, did you know that a caterpillar lives in a chrysalis and then turns in to a butterfly?

Me: Oh, really? That is so interesting. Where did you learn that?

Preston: {shoulder shrug} Eh, I just know it.

***********

{Steve and I kiss goodbye...}

Trevor: EWWWW.....

Me: Oh, you know you love seeing Mommy and Daddy kiss.

Paige: Yeah. {sigh & eye roll} "Families can be together forever..."

Post It

Knights of Destiny aka The Road Show

Steve and his buddy, Jon, were the ESPN Sportcasters/emcees who helped introduce our act--so funny.

The "Knights"--a co-ed Volleyball team who just won the state champs by defeating the opposing team, the "Dragons".

Musical number after big win...

Oh, yes. Then there was a medieval messenger--He appeared from a "faraway land and time", and having heard of their bravery, came with a royal decree from the King, to defeat the Dark Dragon and save the kingdom.

By way of medieval time machine (naturally), the Knights arrive at the King's court.

...at which point, the King takes hold of the "Sphere of Strength" and tells the brave knights, that the "only means by which the Dark Dragon can be defeated" is by this sphere, ( Sarabeth's great line, "Um...we call that a VOL-LEY-BALL.")

Sadly, I have not found any photos of the Knights armor (AWE some) and shields or the Dark Dragon's Cave...They will live now only in our memory. This was a great (and by great, I mean gut-wrenching, stressful, exhausting and exhilerating) experience and I love these youth so much.

GOOOOO Knights!

Mommy/Daddy/Daughter Dinner

Around every child's birthday, we have the tradition of taking them out, alone, for dinner with us. They all look forward to this, and it's precious one-on-one time. This time was Paige's turn (a little late, after tax season was done) and she chose BJ's.

Happy Birthday Dinner!

Love you Paigey!

Teef.

Cheeks for days, I've said before.

And, oh, those eyelashes galore.

But, do you see that dark-ish tooth?

Yes, Mr. Rambunctious, and here's the truth:

Last week when off the bed he soared,

That tooth found it's way into a wooden board

on the side of his dresser, a gruesome sight--

that weak little tooth already in plight.

On the morrow, I quickly wanted to act

And the dentist declared, "It's time to extract!"

"But, wait!" I thought. "He's only just four, "

"And he'll have a big space there, for two years or more!"

But, there was no delay, for we didn't want pain

So, out came those teeth, both so it wouldn't happen again.

Now our Preston is toothless, and boy, is he cute.

He's thrilled to be big, missing both his front "tooths".

(Just to clarify: After the x-ray, the doctor saw that both teeth were absessing, the one much worse than the other. He said the other one would have to go within the year anyway, so we just decided to do both now so Preston wouldn't have to go through this again)

"Everyone can create..."

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul...to create something that did not exist before."

~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Their creations just happened to be displayed at the School District Arts Festival this year.

{yay!}

Hurray for the Arts!

The text best thing.

Okay, boys. It's time to go upstairs and take a bath. Can we do it? Everybody in. On your mark, get set....

{The photo is unrelated, but just because.}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One day, I propositioned my husband with an outrageous idea--via text. This was our textversation:

I think we should text more often. Call me old-fashioned...

Just fashioned not old

See? These are just the kind of quips that will brighten my day.

how do you do it so fast maybe next f h e lesson

It's all in the wrist, my love. And, yes, FHE needs more content anyway...First lesson: Caps and punctuation.

~~~~~~~~~~

More to the textversation? Yes, but only my beeswax--none of yours. ;)

If only a text could be spritzed with perfume and delivered by dove...

A moment of silence, please...

...for the hours and days lost in my life, whilst in the labor of annihilating none other than HEAD LICE.

Yes, that's right. Lice.

In my home.

In my babies' hair.

And, what's more, in my hair.

{insert groan, moan, sigh, heave, sob...whatever}

I will never homeschool, but I considered it this week. Along with the occasional hurt feelings and new bad words, lice is another little doozy that children can bring home from school.

So, what's a mother and father to do?

Shear those beautiful heads, that's what.

I did NOT shave my daughter's head--though, it must be said, that after the first 12 hours (I say, "first" because there were two sets of 12 hour increments) of picking eggs out of her head, it was considered-- but I did cut off about 5 inches. There were tears, but it will grow back.

Now for The Good News:

* Preston and Daddy avoided the little buggers (so far)

* Trev and Gav were free and clear after a shampoo treatment and a good shaving

* Paige and I had some serious mommy/daughter time and watched some great Barbie movies.

* My husband managed to gain even more brownie points by walking away from the Suns game to pick nits out of my hair for 2 hours. He is so good to me.

* I lost 5 pounds. No joke. My new business venture: "Need to lose weight? Forget all those dieting scams, try Nausea-Inducing Lice! Quick and effective." Honestly, I have had no appetite with all the bugs (remember my phobia?), plus I've been so consumed with the Killing and Disinfecting that there's been no time for food.

* More love. A painstaking, tedious, and dreadful occupation such as Lice Killer, sanctifies you in a way you never knew possible. And, this labor builds upon unconditional love. Really, I'm not just being poetic...well, maybe a little poetic.



Now, excuse me while I go bleach the sheets--again.

Easter

Haitus

Three months?

Tres meses?

3 mos?

THREE MONTHS?!

That is just so very long to be away from our happy little place here. So many distractions (and computer issues) and a full and busy life (and computer issues) have kept this blog on the low-priority list. One major contributing factor to my absence was my assignment as

Youth Road Show Director

Whew! January, February and March were consumed with writing, casting, re-casting, re-writing, rehearsing, directing, and costuming this show. On the actual nights of performace, I didn't even have time to take any snapshots--I know, I cringe at the thougtht. But a few people who were in their right mind, managed to do so , and I am hoping to find those pictures.

I have anxiety if I don't get our pictures downloaded and captioned for posterity.

So I am back in the blogging business.

My camera has been bursting with other new photos and begging for viewership. Therefore, the following posts will be an attempt at catch-up so these past few months will not go unnoticed.

Here. we. go.

Let's reminisce, shall we?

January

Alissa & Trevor's Wedding

I flew up to Utah (alone!) for my lovely niece's wedding (I bragged about her here and here). It was a seriously whirlwind trip, and my sister and I were a bit sleep-deprived the night before with all the preparations, but I was so happy to be able to share that day with the Mr. and Mrs. Gibb (aka Alis & Trev).

(Alissa wore my wedding dress --a few sizes altered down-- and she looked beyond gorgeous. Which brings me to other January happenings: I joined Weight Watchers....)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gavin's 2nd Birthday

So glad Grandma & Grandpa Owens could join us to celebrate the birthday boy. I believe Gavin was in the middle of saying "cheese!"

"Gramma & Grampa Biorn" -- a lovely couple from church who sit with us in the congregation and help me with the kids. They have held Gavin in church since he was 4 weeks old, when Steve was first called to the Bishopric. We love them.

(Wow, those flames are really close, aren't they?)

#4 child and each birthday is just as exciting as the first. We adore this little boy, and sometimes I just can't stand how adorable he is. Gavin faves at age 2:

Elmo

Basketball

Football
Soccerball

Baseball

Baseball bat

Buzz Lightyear

Woody
"To infinity and beyond" which sounds like "a pinty a bond!"

Any ball
Any sport involving a ball
His sippy cup/Drink aka "Da-winka"
His blue fuzzy blanket and train blanket, which are one entity: "Nigh-nigh choo-choo?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

February

Trevor's 6th Birthday

Trevor decided on a Star Wars: Clone Wars themed party.

All of our outdoor activities/games were rained out. Luckily, Daddy came through with some fun indoor Star Wars fun.

Friends from his class at school.

It was so fun celebrating your day, Trevor. We love you so much and are so thankful for your place in our family. You have a sweet, caring and sensitive spirit. You are a good friend. You like to choose the right. And you like to do things the first time you are asked--I love this about you. You love Steve Nash, Star Wars, coloring and drawing, sounding out words and writing sentences, memorizing Articles of Faith, and eating chocolate.

Happy Birthday, T-Boy!