Oh My, Pebbles!

I have so much to say about my first time putting Elsie's hair up but I don't have any time right now. So, smile at my cutie patootie and check back for more pictures.

Pirate Talk

Pirates of the Carribean is on right now- a movie my 7 year old has never seen. This conversation just happened that illustrates the extent of advertising these days.

Jonnie: Who is that? Is that the good guy?
Dad: Yeah- its, uh, Jack something
Jonnie: (mumbling) Captain Jack Sparrow?
Dad: What? Yea- Jack Spar..
Jonnie (interrupting): CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow

If I remember correctly, CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow makes a big deal about being called 'Captain' throughout the movies. Apparently my son knows that even though he has yet to see any of the movies.

Cookie Love

Yesterday the boys and I made cookies. Thomas really loves cookies. Look at the expression on his face, doesn't that crack you up?

Anyway, Thomas had a lot to say about how happy he was about making cookies.

Thomas: "Momma, I love cookies more than you."
Momma: "But, Thomas, you said you love me all the way to outer space and back."
Thomas: "Yes, but I love cookies all the way to Heaven."

This is my favorite picture from cookie making.


Jonathan was there but he didn't want to make cookies. I let him keep playing his DS. That boy loves that more than anything. He did not miss out on taste testing the cookie dough, though. Check out those spoonfuls! Momma was in a great mood- "Ok, you can get ONE spoonful."

Unexpected Moments

I love unexpected moments like this...

I just turned around when I heard David say,

"Momma, Thomas is taking off his shirt so he can be Mr. Strong Man!"

I turned around to see Thomas showing off his muscles.


Now that made me smile.

George and Bailey

I made a little stack of pictures of our dogs last night. Seth thought it was kind of sad to do that but the boys had a lot of fun looking through the photos.

This picture is the one and only time that I had a "professional" picture of the dogs taken. A little craft store that I visited had a "booth" for holiday photos of your pets. If I remember right, the photographer was holding a treat and that is what had their attention. I believe the photo was taken in 1996 (or something close to that).


Several people have asked about how the boys are handling Bailey's death. They are fine. I know the boys miss the dogs, or they will, but they aren't grieving in a sad way. We have been talking about Bailey a lot since he died on Wednesday. They loved looking through the pictures and talking about George and Bailey. They have had a lot to say but they haven't been sad.

Perhaps the best way to explain what I mean by them not grieving in a sad way is this comment from David:

"Momma, I've been thinking...Why did Bailey stick his leg out when he peed?"

I didn't expect that. Laughter is the best medicine, right?

We are on our way

"Wonder Pets, Wonder Pets, We are on our way..."

If you know that theme song then this post will mean a little more to you.

I let David and Thomas watch Wonder Pets this morning.

David: "Hey Momma? That guy's name is Suck."
Momma: "What?!"
David: "The Turtle, his name is Suck. So, I can say, YOU SUCK!"
Momma: "Uh... I think his name is Tuck."
David: "Oh, okay... You Tuck!"

Momma think to herself: YIKES!

Say WHAT?

Today I was headed to my car with David, Thomas and Elisabeth. David got right in the car. I put Elisabeth in her seat. Thomas was hesitant to get in. I had to go over and pick him up. He was not throwing a fit. He was not vocal at all. In fact, when I picked him up, he put his head on my shoulder. I put in him in the car. As I walked around the car, a man in the parking lot commented on my family. The conversation went like this:

Man: "Wow, you have your hands full!"
Me: "Yep, they keep me busy."
Man: "You should stop at 3."
Me: pause, pause, smile
"I have 4 kids. My oldest is in school."

He looked a bit shocked. He didn't say much of anything. I think he laughed, actually.

Can you imagine what he would think if he saw us in a bad moment??

I can't believe he said that.

Friday Photos

My boys love to wrestle. They especially love getting to wrestle (beat up on) Daddy.

This picture cracks me up. Elisabeth got close to the wrestling. Look at the exchange between her and David!

Thomas is one tough 3 year-old. I cannot tell you how many pictures I have of him on top of one of his older brothers.

One happy 3 year old - he just got a hand-me-down gameboy from his cousin.

Elisabeth loves playing with Tupperware now. I cannot be in the kitchen without her spreading all of the Tupperware all over the floor.

Small Town Conversation

You know you live in a small, country town when you have this conversation with your 7 year-old:

7 year-old: "I want to shave my head bald."
(quieter, to himself) "I can't believe I just said that."
Momma: "Why? Why would you want to shave your head?"
7 year-old: "You cannot get lice if you are bald."

This just made me smile

This conversation between David and Momma took place as he was drawing with his Magna Doodle:

"Momma?"
"What?"
"Momma, I like how God made colors. If he didn't make colors everything would be just black and white."

2008 Owen Time Capsule

This year we started what I plan to be a new tradition. We made a time capsule for 2008.

Each family member got 3 squares of paper for the project. One paper was for drawing a picture (of themselves, if possible). Another paper was for answering questions. The questions this year were:
1. What was your favorite Christmas present?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What is your favorite color?
4. What is your favorite desert?
5. What is your favorite toy?
6. What is your favorite thing to do (besides video games)?
The final paper was a wild card. Each person could do whatever they wanted with that paper.
We also tucked in our 2008 Christmas letter. I took digital headshot pictures of each person to print and put in the time capsule.
Here's the time capsule material so far (Momma and Daddy still have to finish their papers):

For the wildcard paper: Thomas colored his paper and then had Daddy make it into a paper airplane. David made his own creation, using the paper and scotch tape. Jonathan wrote a paragraph about himself.
Here are some pictures of the family working on the project.




I am planning on "burying" the can with our Christmas decorations. We will open it up on New Year's Eve 2009 or New Year's Day 2010.

Daddy gave Thomas a Mohawk (and Momma let him!)

Check out mohawk to see more pictures and details.

Christmas Photos

We had a wonderful Christmas. I thought I would post few pictures. I thought I could pick just a few favorites. That's what I did but there are still a bunch. Enjoy!

Jonathan and his new guitar

Thomas and his new skates

David and his new scooter

DS Joy

Thomas was so excited on Christmas morning that he would roar when he got something he really wanted. (To fully appreciate this photo, click on it and see it full-sized. Check out that face and the power fists!)

The boys all got bean bags with their names on them. (David's face almost looks like Thomas's in the previous picture but David was posing and Thomas was not.)

Elsie got a chair. She loved it and did not want to get out of it to open presents!

Elsie opening her stocking.

I love this picture because it shows a little of Elisabeth's attitude.

Jonathan sat on his bean bag and played his new DS games a lot on Christmas. This was Momma interrupting him and giving him some love.

Momma feeding Elsie some Christmas cookies.

Daddy playing his new Nerf Wii game.

Momma and Elisabeth

Elisabeth in her Christmas dress

Christmas Eve Gingerbread House

Every Christmas Eve we make a Gingerbread house. We make sure there is lots of candy to decorate with and eat. It is loads of fun for everyone! We eat the Gingerbread house on Christmas morning.

Owen Christmas Letter 2008

Owen family highlights from 2008:
January – Allergy tests confirmed that David is still extremely allergic to peanuts. He is also allergic to dogs, cats, and grass.
February – Thomas went to see his very first movie in the theater: “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.” (Our kids sang the theme song from that movie for months!)
March – Jonathan lost his first tooth on Easter night.
April – Thomas turned 3 on April 21st. Jonathan turned 7 on April 23rd. Jane Anne got her first tattoo.
May – Elisabeth was 6 months old on the 17th. Elisabeth had her 1st food: baby rice cereal. Thomas tried some and almost threw up (whoops!). Seth had a birthday on the 21st (He thinks he is old.)
June – We toured the Target Distribution Center where Seth works. The boys were really excited to see Daddy’s office and spent weeks talking about it. (“It”= the inflatable bounce houses rented for the company picnic.) Elisabeth became mobile! She started crawling (doing the Army crawl).
July – The kids enjoyed lots of homemade popsicles and playing with the Slip n’ Slide. We celebrated our 13th anniversary on July 22nd.
August – All three boys took swimming lessons at the community pool. Daddy and the boys camped out in the backyard. They had a water fight, made s’mores, and all except Thomas made it through the night outside. Jane Anne had a birthday on the 6th. (She thinks she is still 25.)
September – Jane Anne started a new MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) year, working on the leadership team. David turned 5 on September 2nd. David started preschool. Jonathan started 2nd grade. Jonathan played soccer. Jonathan began a new year as a Wolf Cub Scout.
October – Halloween costumes: Jonathan was Spiderman, David was Superman, Thomas was Batman, and Elisabeth was a Fairy. Seth played volleyball for the church league (which kept him thinking that he is old).
November – Elisabeth turned 1 on November 17th. She took her first steps without holding on.
December – All three boys performed in a church Christmas play. David and Thomas sang and Jonathan had a part as King Herod. David performed in a preschool Christmas program. Jonathan sang in his school’s winter concert. Jane Anne joked about getting a tattoo in the Christmas letter. (That didn’t happen.)

Check out the family blog, www.owenhome.blogspot.com, to see pictures of these events (and much, much more- including funny kid sayings and stories). Stop by often to catch up on our family!

We hope you are enjoying the Christmas season. We are thankful for you.
Sending love,
Seth, Jane Anne, Jonathan, David, Thomas and Elisabeth Owen

Merry Christmas 2008

Sunday Snapshots: Preschool Christmas Program

David's Preschool Christmas program was on Friday night. He did a fabulous job! He sang all of his songs and did the hand motions. He was very excited and loved being the center of his family's attention.

We got there early to get a good seat. To keep the boys entertained, we brought Magna-doodles.

Here's Thomas smiling.

The kids paraded in and then found their places on stage. Here's David as he was walking in.

David singing. (The lights were down low for the program so my digital photos didn't turn out that great. I took several with my 35mm camera. I hope they turned out a bit better.)


After the kids performed, there was a slide show of the kids at preschool. Here is David as he was coming back to his seat.

After the program, there was a reception. Once I got Elsie out of the stroller, I spent time walking her around. This isn't the greatest shot but you get a good idea of what she likes to do.

David and his proud Momma

David and his first love (she has no idea)


Thomas loved the reception. He did not want to leave. Here is Daddy telling him that it is time to go.