Gone Batty!

Weston is a smart boy. And he loves to learn new things. He loves being in school all day, but alas, there are lots of things that his class is learning that he already knows. His teacher, Miss Butler, is wonderful. She has had him working on special research projects during the times that the class is working on something he has already mastered. This last project he did was about bats.

Weston did some research on his own in books at school and wrote down sentences about what he read. Then he worked with Ian at home to do some Internet research. He wrote all of the sentences in his presentation on paper by himself. He also read all the research that he and Ian found online. Then Ian showed him how to put it into a PowerPoint presentation. The only thing Weston didn't do himself was typing out his sentences. When all the writing was done he helped Ian find images online to match his information. Weston's classroom has a SmartBoard, which works like a combination iPad and overhead projector. It has a touch screen and is very cool, so that's what Weston presented on.

Finally it was the big presentation day. Weston was so very professional and calm about the whole thing. He wasn't even thrown when his classmates asked questions he couldn't really answer. He gave his presentation, took questions, then showed his class how to draw a bat. After his presentation the class activity was to draw bats.

Davin came along to watch the presentation and was such a good kid sitting in the back on the rug with his hands in his lap. When it was time to pass out blank paper for the kids to do their drawings on, Weston got to choose a helper, and he chose his brother. I think Davin really enjoyed helping give paper to all the kids. Davin did his own bat drawing right along with the class too. Weston walked around and helped kids who had questions about how to draw their bat. I am so very very proud of Weston for all the hard work he put into this project. Good job buddy!!!
Ian was able to get off work early to attend the presentation, so afterwards we decided to celebrate. We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese to play and have dinner. It was pretty empty and we all had a good time playing games and eating pizza. I sure love my family. I am so very blessed.

Spiderman Birthday

Davin turned 4 on Saturday! He wanted a Spiderman birthday party, so that's what he got. I didn't start planning it until a couple of weeks ago, so I was feeling kind of stressed out about it, but it came together really well and Davin had a great time at his party. Whew!

We lucked out weather wise. It was 70ish and sunny. Kind of windy, but not too bad. We ended up having 10 kids (including Weston and Davin) at the party. We gathered and watched some Spiderman cartoons on TV until everyone got there, then we took the kids outside to play games. First up was Spider Spider Man (aka Duck Duck Goose). The bigger kids definitely got the hang of it better than the preschoolers, but I think they all had fun with it.
After that we practiced web slinging at some pretend bad guys. Each kid got a turn to shoot silly string at some bad guy action figures. They were mostly Batman bad guys and a Darth Vader since that's what we had, but they worked just fine and the kids LOVED shooting silly string. By the time the games outside were over lunch was ready, so we brought everyone inside to eat.
The menu was spiderweb pizzas, fruit, and fishies with Hawaiian Punch or root beer to drink. Of course Davin didn't eat a single bite of his pizza, but he's pretty picky. I thought the pizzas turned out really cute and pretty tasty. They weren't even as much work as I had thought they would be.
After lunch the kids played Spidey Sense Search in the house. They took turns hiding a picture of Doc Ock and then the rest of the kids would look for him. It wasn't as big of a hit as I thought it would be, but still worked out alright. After that game we sang to Davin and ate his Spiderman cake.
Finally it was time for presents. He got some fun toys and just wanted to open them and play after that. The rest of his friends went outside to play some more until parents got there to pick them up.
I was surprised that we were finished a little early. I thought for sure with games, lunch, presents and cake we would take up the whole two hours. Davin was pretty worn out at the end of the party and had a hard time being a gracious host by then, but he really did have a fun party and a good day. I sure love my little Davin and I'm glad he was happy with his party.

St. Patty's Day Birthday

I have always loved having my birthday on St. Patrick's Day. I love that my name is of Irish origin. I love it because everyone always remembers my birthday. It's unique. The only thing I don't love about it is the fact that my birthday outfit has to contain green. Well, at least it used to. Now that I don't attend school with hundreds of immature boys who would pinch me if I wasn't wearing green, I am able to wear whatever I want. This last weekend was my birthday and I didn't wear green. I kind of feel bad that I didn't do any of the fun, green St. Patrick's Day traditions. My kids weren't wearing green, I didn't dye any food green (I didn't even cook a single meal), and we didn't catch any leprechauns.

We did have a fun weekend though. I got to sleep in on Saturday then lazed around reading my book and eating birthday donuts and opening my presents all morning. We finally got moving when we found out we had a showing at lunch time. We barely got ourselves and the house ready in time, then took the kids to McDonald's for lunch and some play time. We also did some shopping at Kohl's. The kids were less than enthused about the shopping, but Ian and I had fun. :)

When we got home Talia took a nap and we picked up the babysitter. We went with our friends to the bowling alley, but we weren't going to be able to bowl for an hour and a half, so instead we ended up getting frozen yogurt and playing pool at Ian's work. It was fun to hang out. Ian took me to Faustina for dinner. Mmm it's so delicious. We both tried new dishes this time and we both agreed that our favorites are still our favorites, but I'm glad that we branched out a little and can go back to ordering the same thing from now on in confidence. :) Our meals were still really good, just not our favorite. Anyway, we ended up having the Bayles' come back over after we got home to watch The Fugitive with us. It was a very fun birthday. Thank you to my sweet husband for making it such a great day.

Sunday was busy because the people who looked at the house on Saturday wanted to come back and see it one more time before putting an offer on it. So they came while we were at church. That meant I had to have us all ready to go and the house ready to show before we left for church. Also I spoke in Sacrament meeting. It all turned out fine. We now have 3 offers on our house and are just waiting to hear back from the bank that one of them has been accepted. Yay!

I made corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, and carrots for dinner. It was so good. I always forget how much I like corned beef and cabbage. I decided to go ahead and make myself a cake. I just couldn't quite let the birthday go by without blowing out some candles. We invited some friends to come over to help us eat the cake and had a fun evening.

Please ignore my goofy smile. This is the only picture from my birthday weekend.

Monday was Weston's big presentation day. It is getting it's own post though when I have the video to upload, so stay tuned. It was a great weekend kicking off my last year of my 20's.

Randomness

-Today I had to go to Walmart. It had been awhile. Luckily I planned it for a day when I just had to take Talia with me. We were actually in and out in under an hour. The best part was that my checker was so sweet and price matched a bunch of stuff in my cart even though I didn't have ads or know of the better prices. There is still good in this world. :)

-I ate most of a Big Mac today. Every once in awhile I have to try one again, but I always remember how much I really don't like them. Should have gone to In N Out.

-I'm a comfort seeker and slightly lazy. This means that I spend pretty much every minute at home in sweats and fuzzy socks. My sister, Jules found this the other day and it pretty much sums up my whole family (well except my Dad who even wears shoes around the house).
-I'm getting very anxious to move out of this house. It has been on the market for 3/4 of a year. Sigh. Please pretty please let the bank accept the offer it is currently considering!

-I am listening to Michelle Branch today. It's making me all nostalgic for when Ian and I were first married. For our first Valentine's Day together he got me a #10 can that he filled with conversation hearts and hid 2 Michelle Branch cd's in. It was such a sweet gift. He even let me listen to them in the car with him! It's kind of funny that I haven't bought a CD in several years. My kids probably never will.

-I am getting really excited for my 29th birthday this weekend! We are going to go bowling with some friends in the afternoon, then Ian is taking me to Faustina for dinner. It's going to be a good day.

On Our Own

This weekend Ian flew to Portland then drove to Bickleton, Washington to be with his family for his brother, Eli's baby's blessing. The kids and I were on our own for the whole weekend. It really wasn't that big of deal since Ian is only home for 3 of the kids waking hours each day (at best), but I was sad about it since I had to entertain myself in the evenings.

We dropped him off at the airport on Thursday after work then the kids and I went to dinner at Carl's Jr., Weston's choice. By the time we got home it was time to clean up and go to bed. Friday Weston had a short day at school. After we picked him up we went straight to our friend's house to play. It was a good plan. Relaxing, but the kids were entertained and I got some adult conversation. Thanks for letting us mess up your house Tara!

On the way home we picked up pizza and cinnamon sticks for dinner. We ate, had baths, played some Wii, then the kids went to bed. I spent my evenings watching the A&E Pride and Prejudice. It took me three nights on my own to finish it! I also spent my free time reading. I finished two more Josi Kilpack books. They are fun and fluffy and make for quick, easy reading.

I had been trying to decide what we were going to do on Saturday and hadn't come up with anything spectacular, so we took a slow morning and facetimed with Ian and all the family in Bickleton for a little bit. Then we went over to the library to get some new books. We ran into some friends there, so that was fun. When we got home Talia took a nap and we ate lunch. We decided since it was such a nice, sunny day we would go to an outside outing after Talia's nap. The kids picked Farm Country.

We hadn't been there in over a year. It was really quite fun. I was a little worried about starting an outing so late in the day (we didn't leave until 2:30) but it was fine. The farm wasn't very crowded for a Saturday and then weather was absolutely perfect. I was in jeans and short sleeves and was perfect. Before we went Davin said he didn't want to ride a horse. I was kind of surprised. When we went to do pony rides and I pointed out the tiny pony he could ride he changed his mind. He had fun. Weston was bummed he didn't get to ride one of the bigger ponies, but there were some big kids who needed to ride the big ones.
We got some food from the dispenser to feed the goats. Talia loved watching the goats and kept trying to scoot her stroller close enough to stick her hand through the mesh. Later in the afternoon Weston wanted to feed the goats a little more. I asked Davin if he wanted more goat food and he said no and said their tongues are gross. :) We saw ducks, peacocks, horses, sheep, goats, bunnies, cows, chickens, llamas, turkeys, and more. We took a tractor wagon ride and were there for the afternoon cow milking demonstration. There were only about 8 kids watching, so they all got to take a turn trying to milk the cow. I asked Davin if he wanted to try and he said, "No Mom! I not want to get swime on me!" Apparently he will not be going into agriculture.
We spent plenty of time playing with the indoor exhibits too. It was a very fun outing. We were all tired by the end of the day, but we stopped off at Chick Fil A for dinner (Davin's choice) before heading home and relaxing/going to bed.
Sunday I woke up with a major headache. I took Tylenol every 4 hours but still wasn't feeling great. Talia took a later nap than usual because of the time change, so we ended up only going to church for the last half of Sunday School and Sacrament meeting. The rest of the day was kind of rough. The kids were all kind of tired and I was grouchy and not feeling well. We made it through though and I woke up Monday finally feeling better.

Ian flew home Monday morning and had the rest of the day off. It's so great to have him home! After Talia's nap we dropped off the little ones at our friend's house and went on a little date. We grabbed some lunch at Zupa's then Ian took me birthday shopping. All the things I wanted for my birthday this year were things I kind of needed to pick out myself. I got a new wallet and a new black purse to replace the ones that were starting to fall apart. I also found a cute basic black maternity skirt and a cute shirt. I had so much fun spending time with Ian and shopping for myself! :)

After we picked up Weston from school we took the kids to the park. It was nice and warm but really windy so we didn't last outside quite as long as we had hoped, but it was still fun. We grilled pork chops for dinner and had a nice FHE. It was such a great day. Glad to have Ian home! Hopefully he can find a few minutes to blog about his trip because he got to do some cool stuff in Bickleton!

Finally a couple cute pics of baby girl. Talia got a couple of new bathing suits for this summer last week and I had to try them on her. Little bathing beauty.
This was a week or two ago. I can't remember, but I had left an almost empty bag of mini marshmallows on the kitchen table while I was putting away groceries and when I came out of the laundry room from putting stuff away this is what I found. She was so proud of herself, but couldn't get any mallows out of the bag no matter how hard she tried and still needed mommy's help. So close, Talia, so close.

Family Expansion

Hopefully it didn't take you as long to decipher why Talia would be wearing that Big Sister shirt as it took my mother. ;) This is how we told our families that we are expecting our 4th and final Bowles baby! I am due in September and feeling pretty good. I have all the typical 1st trimester complaints--nausea, exhaustion, etc., but I am starting to feel better most of the day and I might even start trying to cook again in a week or two. Any guesses whether Talia will get a baby sister or brother?

The little bean at 8 weeks.

I got another peek at baby yesterday at my midwife appointment. Not too much wiggling going on, but enough kicking that Vicki (my midwife) couldn't get a femur measurement. She thought the baby looked closer to 13 weeks than 11, but we will have to wait and see on that. I'm still shooting for birthday buddies with my sister, Jules, on September 22nd. I also got to hear the heartbeat, a strong 168bpm. Can't wait to meet you little peanut!

Davinism

Not a whole lot is going on around the Bowles house these days. We spent the weekend recovering from being sick. Saturday after doing some packing we finally got out of the house for a little bit. We went and drove around different neighborhoods where I have seen houses listed for rent to get a feel for the areas. **No news on the offer yet, but I'm keeping an eye on the available rentals in case we end up needing to move in a hurry. It was great fun. We took the kids to eat at McDonalds too. It was ghetto and I regretted it a little, but it's their favorite place and they did have fun running around.

This week I am watching my friend's daughter while she and her husband are out of town. Not full time, but a good chunk of the day, so I've been hanging around the house even more. Ian is going to OR/WA this weekend to represent our family at our niece, Noelle's, baby blessing, so it's just going to be a long week. I am trying to keep the house tidy and not fall into being a complete lazy bum at home all day. I also need to come up with some stuff to do with the kids this weekend. Anyone want to play?

And finally, the title of this post, Davinism, really is relevant because I wanted to share a couple of my favorite things 3 year old Davin says that are so stinking adorable. With his 4th birthday rapidly approaching I know his days of cute preschooler speech are numbered, but I can't help hoping he never grows out of them.

-Whenever I ask Davin what he learned at school or church he, without fail, replies, "I tant (can't) know." He says this other times too. I don't think he has ever said "I don't know," but I love his little mistake.
-When Davin tries to explain something that happened in the past he almost always says it was "lasterday." It's so cute and funny.

Sickies

My kids are sickies today. Well it's been almost a week since Talia started in with a cough and grouchiness, but yesterday I thought I was going to rip my hair out. Davin was coughing NON-STOP. I mean, I feel bad for the kid, but at the same time it's so very annoying. I decided I'd better make yet another trip to the doctor's office today. Our last appointment was miserable. Both kids crying almost the entire time. I was really hoping today was going to be better and it was!

Our beloved Dr. Sally wasn't in today, so we had to see a different doctor in the practice. One that was new whom we had never seen before. She was wonderful. If something ever prevents us from seeing Dr. Sally again I will request Dr. De La O. Yes, that's her name. Talia really warmed up to her too. No fussing when she got checked out, which has to be a first. Davin also did great with her. And we left with solutions. I always like that. Davin got a prescription for another round of eye drops to hopefully knock out the crusties that seem to constantly be in his eyelashes and we are going to start using his inhalers again. Talia had an ear infection in her left ear and is teething, so we have some Amoxicillin for her. I'm somewhat optimistic that I won't have a crabby baby forever.

Now that we are home Davin is curled up on the couch watching ocean documentaries (his favorite) and Talia is napping. I am thoroughly enjoying not having a fussy, squirmy baby on my lap right now, and I'm very glad that the calendar is empty this weekend so we can stay home and get everyone feeling better!

And finally, a funny story. This conversation between Davin and I happened on our drive over to the doctor's this morning after a particularly intense coughing bout.
Me: Dav, are you ok?
Dav: I'm donna die.
Me: (chuckling) Oh don't die! I would be so sad!
Dav: Why would you be sad?
Me: Cause then you'd be gone and I'd miss you.
Dav: Well, Jesus will bwing my body pawts back.

Apparently this is how a 3 year old conceptualizes the Resurrection. It did strike me though how he was so unconcerned about dying because of his faith and didn't understand why I would be so sad. Such a sweet kid. My boys are always teaching me and reminding me with their simple testimonies. I'm a lucky mom.