Christmas Snow

It snowed on Christmas. It was beautiful and exciting to Momma the kids.



Elisabeth looks fretful in the family picture because her Hello Kitty boots were "messy." She was not impressed with messy snow. But, she had improved from a few minutes before when one of her brothers threw, albeit softly, a snowball on her jacket.

I had already cleaned off the "messy snow" in this picture. It took a few minutes for her to calm down.

Here's Thomas trying to tell Elisabeth that snow is fun.

She just wanted to get away and get those boots clean.

Thomas was happy eating the snow.

David was just plain happy. (And, I adore this picture.)

Merry Christmas from the Owen Family

Family Time

We are with family and lovin' every second.

Here are some photos of the kids with their cousins:

We've Been Good

Merry Christmas from the Owen Kids

Question of the Day

Question of the Day:

"Do you ever have privacy with Daddy?"

David (age 7)

Question of the Day

Question of the Day:

"Why is it okay to say, 'head butt' but not okay to call someone a 'butt head'?"

Thomas, age 5

November Student of the Month

Thomas was chosen as the November student of the month for his class.


His award was for "his eagerness to learn. He is respectful and responsible."

Here is Thomas getting his picture taken after receiving his award:


It was extra special to receive the award when Gran and Daddo were in town.

Elisabeth is Three

On November 17th, Elisabeth turned 3.

I took a ton of pictures. I want Seth you to see them all. So, instead of posting just a few pictures, I am sharing a slide show of 26 pictures (yes, there were quite a few more photos). Below the slideshow is a few of my very favorite pictures.

Owen Trick Or Treaters

School Favorites

I asked the boys to tell me their favorite part of school, excluding recess and PE. I asked them to tell me a favorite learning (academic) activity.

Jonathan: Math Group

David: Center Time

Thomas: Fire drills and Earthquake drills
What?
Yes, I like it because sometimes my shoes get wet when we walk through the grass.

Soccer Saturday

Today's 1st game was at 10:30 in Albany.



Today's second game was at 1:30 in Lebanon.




The 3rd game was at 4:00 in Lebanon.



Little sister was at every game.

Crazy Hair

The boys are participating in an Awana program at a local church. The past few years Jonathan has been a part of cub scouts. He loved cub scouts but this year we couldn't make the cub scout schedule work for us. All three boys can go to Awana's and they are having a blast! This past Wednesday was Crazy Hair or Hat Night.

Aren't they cool?


A couple of pictures of David and Thomas playing games:



What does little sister do after Crazy Hair night at Awana's?

She wears a wig when we drop her brothers off at school. Then, she insists on wearing the wig to Safeway.



She was adorable -even if one amused clerk said she looked like a chia pet.

September Student of the Month

David was chosen as a Student of the Month for his class for the month of September. He was chosen for "being a super thinker, a great example to others, and super Listening."

He received his award at a school assembly yesterday. Here's a video of him accepting the award:


Here's our September Student of the Month. We are super proud of him.

His First School Fight

I jokingly asked Thomas if he got in trouble today. And, he said, "I almost did."

Surprised, I asked him to tell me more.

He said that he was fighting with another boy and then his teacher told him to stop.

I asked, "Were you play fighting or were you fighting because you were mad."

He said, "I wasn't playing. I was fighting."

Apparently, the other boy hit Thomas first. So, Thomas elbowed him back. Then, the boy hit him. So, naturally, Thomas hit him again. And, then Thomas poked the kid in the back of the neck. The kicker is, I am not sure if the poking happened before or after his teacher told him to stop.


A couple of side notes: I feel sort of guilty for saying, "His first school fight," as if I am expecting more. I also think I should feel guilty for joking about him getting in trouble. Although, if I hadn't, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to talk to him about hitting at school.

Lastly, this boy has my heart. He is the toughest, tender-hearted kid I know.

Oh, and that other boy told on him. Can you believe it?

Treasuring Every Minute

Elisabeth is slowly adjusting to her brothers all being in school. It is the cutest thing ever.

She brought her lunch box with her when we went to pick up her brother from the first day of Kindergarten. She's brought it with her most days. Sometimes I put a small snack in it, which really makes her smile.

On the second morning, she insisted on bringing "my backpack" and she really wanted to go to the lineup time before school. She really, really wanted to line up next to her brother.

When the kids went in to the school, she said, "I go to class! I'm a big girl."

The lunch box and backpack have joined us in the car for dropoff and pickup each day. This morning she wanted her lunch box. I told her I didn't have a lunch ready for her so she happily put her blanket and stuffed dog ("Baba" and "Doggie) in her backpack.



Thank goodness MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) starts this morning. Although, she's pulling on me right now saying "It's time to go!!" and we have 30 more minutes until it starts.

I'm treasuring every minute of this sweet girl.

Thomas's First Day of School

Today was Thomas's First Day of Kindergarten.

He was very excited to go to school with his brothers.

Here are the boys before school. Can you tell how excited Thomas was?


Here's a group picture of the kids before school:



An excited Kindergartener:


This picture shows just how ready for school he was:

You see, he did not want to wait for Momma. He did not want to go to his classroom before lineup time outside. He wanted to go with his brothers. In fact, I snapped this picture after David yelled, "Momma, he's still coming with me." At that moment- or right before I took the picture- I decided to let him go. Better to be happy starting Kindergarten than sad! I met up with him on the playground and we got his stuff settled in his room after the lineup time outside.

Thomas's First Day Thoughts:

What did you do today?

"Momma, I'll tell you what I did. I made a raccoon and now it's hanging up."

"We looked around the school for hands with hearts. Some were on walls. Some people had them on their hands."

"We listened to the kissing hand story and 2 raccoon books."

What was your favorite part of the day?

"My favorite part of my day was... when she (his teacher) had paper animals that made letters and animal puppets."

Was there anything you didn't like?

"Ya, there was one girl that was grumpy. She had a grumpy face the whole entire time."

Tell me something you learned:

"Don't eat the blue stuff on the walls. It looks like gum but isn't gum."

(That's right, he's talking about blue sticky tack. I'm so glad he learned it isn't gum!)

Some Random Thomas comments:

"Did you know we have 9 girls and only 7 boys? There are a lot of girls."

"Two people fell at recess- only 1 was crying really hard. Well, I fell but I only got dirty."

"If you disobey the school rules, they don't do anything. The teachers just tell you to stop. I didn't do it. I just saw someone else."

(Oh boy...)