My favorite quote

"I just wanted to tell you that your kids are the ONLY reason I will have kids when I'm older..."
Helen. 7/24/09

Words to live by

If it is to be, it is up to me.

If taken out of context...

Devlyn: Jack! Move! I'm going to hit you in the face!

(To her credit, she was actually trying to prevent an injury to Jack. When we get out of the car, the rule for the little kids is that they have to put their back against the car door until the adult is ready to take their hand and move on. Jack was moving into place - putting his back against Devlyn's door. Devlyn was tyring to open her door but didn't want to hit Jack.)

Wyatt: Hey, my pants are rumbling: that means a monster is coming.

Jack: Mommy, don't worry about vat dinosaur. I will take care of you. (Union Station had a dinosaur exhibit going on and they erected this T-Rex on the corner of Pershing and Main. The first time I saw it was at night - after a very long day at work - and it was lit from underneath with an unearthly green light. It scarred the crap outta me.)

Random information from last week

Abby came home one day last week and cut a good sized chunk of hair off of the top of her head. It looks like she has a faux-hawk at 2:00.

I took Connie & Wyatt to the grocery store last week. When we got home I found Jess sitting on the floor. Mom was putting pressure on Jess' arm and holding it up over her head. It turns out Jess had decided to shave her arms - like ya do...

In the process of shaving her arms - she sliced open a tiny mole or a skin tag (I'm not sure which). It took forever for this little thing to stop bleeding - and the trash can looked like we had just cleaned up after the Chain-saw Massacre. Anyway, the crazy thing is that the next morning you couldn't even see the minuscule spot she had cut open.

Wyatt says "My FRAVorite". He tells me what his "Fravorite" things are. He asks me what my "Fravorite" things are. Try saying "Fravorite", it is not easy to say. Normally when the kids butcher a word it comes out as something easier to say than the original word. Not so this time, friends.

I have been trying (not successfully every day) to start practicing some yoga. Jack saw me one morning and began begging to "play yoga". Mom found a Yoga for Kids DVD on amazon and ordered a copy. The boys and I had a morning together recently and we practiced kid yoga. It is full of animal 'poses' that kids can practice. Now the boys pretend to be snakes, bunnies, butterflies and volcanoes every chance they get. I have introduced Volcano pose at the dinner table to get the kids to settle down and be quiet.

Speaking of animals, the kids saw a snake while we were out for a walk a few weeks ago. Now Jack is terrified of walking through the back yard. He is ok to swing on the swing set but he wants John to carry him through the yard to the swing-set or back to the porch. He holds on to John's shirt as they cross through the yard to get to John's truck in the back driveway. It was about to drive John nuts. Then John brought out the fishing poles and I believe the snakes have been forgotten. Poor John is going to be driven nuts over the fishing though. The boys ask nearly every 10 minutes if John will take them fishing outside.

Jack got some fillings this week. John says the dentist was fantastic and had Jack in and out in about 15 minutes. The dentist saw Jack holding onto his trains so he told Jack he was putting "Thomas Star" fillings in his teeth. Jack is super proud of his Thomas teeth and flashes his grin every chance he gets. He just told me he wished he had "necklaces" on his teeth. It took me a few minutes to figure out he meat braces. Lord help me...

Sunday is a big day for us. We are celebrating 3 birthdays (Jess, Wy and myself), Devon's Confirmation and John's 1 month marker of being a non smoker!!! And, I begin a much needed week of vacation - sadly the images of days spent at a relaxing spa just don't seem to be materializing before my eyes...

Devlyn refuses to acknowledge the existence of the number 15. It is as if 15 is "The Number That Must Not Be Named". She will skip past it and I will call her attention to it. She will ignore me and keep counting. I will call her attention back to 15 and she will make a non-committal vocal sound. We will keep working. We have had a major breakthrough - she remembers how to spell her name and only occasionally does she need help remembering a letter! We are working on letter recognition. She is not very interested. I have resorted to the promise of an outing for ice cream with her mama and myself if she can get those numbers memorized.

Gotta wrap it up - or you all may kill me before I finish this novel.
Love and Huggies.
Owenland Park

Fishing with my dad.

Click here to view these pictures larger


John took the Owen clan fishing yesterday. Believe it or not, John was the only one of the four of us who had EVER been fishing. We had a great time. It was a beautiful sunny day - and it wasn't too hot.

Jack LOVED casting his line - he even got a little frenetic about it...
Wyatt was vehemently opposed to casting a line, though he did insist on reeling in his little fish every time the line was cast.

For more pictures of our day, you guessed it, go to my sidebar on the left, look up shutterfly and then click on Gone Fishin.

Love and blessings!
Owenland Park

The best present ever!

Strangling the 14 year old!

Click here to view these pictures larger


For more pictures of our full on May celebrations (Devon's Confirmation, my birthday, Wyatt's birthday, Jessica's birthday and Shelby's belated birthday from last month) look to my sidebar on the left for Linky Dinks. Click on Shutterfly then select May Celebrations.

There was so much to celebrate on Sunday that we decided on a full on Turkey dinner. It was WONDERFUL! Thanks, Mom! Melanie made her one of a kind cakes, I got to smack my Dad and strangle Jessica. Everyone got great presents - it was a wonderful day!

Devon's Confirmation

Devon was confirmed yesterday. (We also celebrated my birthday, Jess' birthday, Wyatt's birthday and because he doesn't like a fuss - I didn't publicize to everyone that it was also John's 1 month anniversary of being a non-smoker.)

So, here is Bishop Nauman speaking in Spanish at the 2 hour long ceremony. (There was a large Spanish speaking population among the Candidates for Confirmation so there ya have it.)


And here we see the moment after Devon has been confirmed. Yes folks - the backside of her head...And I'm in the picture too, I'm just hidden in front of someone else's head. But Here is Bishop Nauman.


And here we are with Bishop Nauman after the ceremony. Devon and I stopped long enough to get her picture taken and to talk to the Bishop for a few minutes. We had to zoom home for our full on Turkey Dinner celebration!


Congratualtions, Devon!

Duck Tape

Jordan (the daughter of my friend, Jolie) made a bouquet of beautiful flowers like these (hers are much prettier) for her mama for Mother's Day. Can you believe they are made of duct tape? I told my mama about the flowers and she picked up a few rolls and some pens for us to experiment with at home.


We made up mini bouquets for Abby & Connie's teachers. They loved their pens so much that we made up more mini bouquets for the girls to take in to the principal and the school secretary. Jess wants us to make them up for all of her teachers except for Mr. Math teacher. And Devon has claimed 2 for work. In other words, these pens are a big hit. (Don't tell anyone, but I made a few out of black and white gaff tape - this was much harder than duct tape - for work.)

Anyway, I was busy fixing dinner one night this week. While my attention was on vegetables, Wy managed to get the tape down off the shelf and start building his theatre - he says "my fee-ter". Look how he stacked them. I can't believe he did this all by himself and kept the whole thing balanced. Great job Wyatt!!!

Then, as children will do, he swept out his arm and knocked them all down while I was taking pictures.

Cirque d' Jackson

This blue thing is a little Kitty Korner. The cats (or Jack) can hang out inside or they can take a little lie down on the top which has a little furry cover on it. I have no idea how he managed to accomplish what you are about to see, but Jack stuffed himself inside this little 15x15x15 box, turn himself around, hung out while giggling hysterically and then slithered out. AND he was wearing his new rain boots which are almost a full size too big for him...

Mother's Day, My Birthday & World Turtle Day

What in the world could Mother's Day, My Birthday and World Turtle Day all have in common? ME!!!

Mother's Day - John and the boys gave me this turtle. After much thought, I have named him Ollie. Isn't he beautiful? I know he is made to set out in your garden, but I have put him in my bedroom.


My Birthday and World Turtle Day - are the same day, people! How crazy is that?

Gone Fishin'

Shannon sent the boys fishing poles a while back and John has finally broken them open. Jack was so excited about fishing that he overcame his fear of snakes in the yard so he could practice casting his line. The practice session did not end outside. The boys came in the house to show me how good they had gotten in their 20 minute session. Jack thinks he is a fly fisherman though he does have very good aim. It concerns me because he keeps casting his line towards the china cabinet... John and I have decided that Wy may have to fish in a boat in the middle of a lake because he can't seem to release his line in front of his body. No matter how hard John and Wy work on it, Wy continually casts his line behind himself when he preps for what should be the cast...



Here is our young man - he is so proud of his fishing 'license'. (This is the little fold out set of instructions/illustrations that came with the fishing pole. It depicts various fish and details how to cast a line properly.)


This is what the inside of his "license" looks like...


John has picked up some new fishing gear so it looks like it won't be long before my fellas head out to the pond up the street. I'll keep you posted.

Jude


No, little Jude is not in the trash. He is playing in some mulch and having a grand time throwing it around. His mom & dad let us know he is "growing like a champ" and that he plays high five and loves to play hide and seek. Not too long till that little guy has his first birthday!!!

Worlds of Fun

So each year Dad's company springs for a day at Worlds of Fun for their employees and their families. The kids always have a great time. It's just so sad that I can never go spend a full day at Worlds of Fun with 6+ kids hopped up on roller coaster frenzy, funnel cakes and cotton candy...



I hear the kids had a great day and were pretty well behaved. If you want to see the pictures John took - go over to my Linky Dinks, click on shutterfly and look up the Worlds of Fun album.

As Wyatt says to me "HUGGIES!!!"
Owenland Park

Abby's Awards

These somehow managed to stay hidden in Abby's back pack for a while, but look at the great awards she received for all her hard work in spelling and math! GREAT JOB Abby!!!

Poor Melanie...

Mission Days - A day at the Fair

John and I took the boys to the Mission Days Fair a few weeks ago. We met up with some Mommy friends of mine and their families and made an evening of it.


And what fair is complete without a funnel cake?

Dolah

When I was about seven, my dad's grandma Dolah gave me a beautiful, soft, fluffy stuffed white dog. I named her Dolah in honor of my great-grandma. People, I love this dog. She has been with me through thick and thin. She has gone everywhere with me. OK - not everywhere, but if I went somewhere for more than a week, Dolah went too.

Very early on in our time together, I wanted Dolah to have bright, shiny eyes. I pulled out some clear nail polish and went to work. Unfortunately the nail polish made the paint on her eyes smear. I compounded the problem by trying to smush the paint back into place and so poor Dolah has lived with cataracts most of her life.

Shortly after John and I got together, we got a dog and named her Max. (Max is no longer with us.) One day I got up to go to work and found Max had brutally attacked Dolah. She had a hole in her throat. Her ear was ripped open. The back side of her head had a huge gouge in it. Her black pom-pom ball nose was missing. Her stuffing was EVERYEWHERE. I was hysterical. (I'm not joking. You can ask my husband: I was hysterical.) I was working at Wal*Mart at the time and called in sick so I could stay home to perform surgery on my beloved Dolah. Then I cuddled her for a good long while until I could calm down.

For the last few years, Dolah has lived on the top shelf in my closet. Recently, Wyatt has started wanting to cuddle something soft at bedtime. He has a little stuffed white dog of his own - Bolt. I thought I would let him see my Dolah. He fell in love and cuddled her right up, so I let him hang out with her. Then one day I found a rather large hole in her neck - and stuffing all over the hall, stairs and the boys' room. So here I am, performing surgery on my dear friend again. Wy was sad that I closed up this little trachiotomy opening. He said "A hole was for my finger!" I think this means he liked sticking his finger down her throat...



I know it's not the News from Lake WoeBeGone but it's my news and I'm sticking to it.
Love from Owenland Park.

Dress up

So I went upstairs this weekend and found Devlyn standing in her closet wearing a fancy dress - inside out. My first reaction was to tell her not to mess with Jessica's things, but I changed my mind. I helped her turn the dress outside in, called Abby and Connie up, stuck them in a few of Jess' other fancy dresses and let the girls run around the house until it was time to eat. Mom conducted a photo shoot from the bottom of the steps. The girls had F-U-N!

Family photos

We have recently put up a little photo board on the boys' bedroom door. As you can see we have a few family pictures up on the wall. Look closely at the bottom right corner...this is a sticker of Selena Gomez from The Witches of Waverly Place. Jack put this sticker up on the board. Can anyone say "First Crush"?

Mother's Day: Stone Lion Puppets

Hey there! Hi there! Ho there! and Happy Mother's Day to my lovely Mama friends!

The kids here at Owenland Park participated in their first (for most of them)play this weekend! They volunteered to be fish (and a flower) in Stone Lion Puppets production of Pirates of Pollution, an outdoor puppet show of ginormous proportions in honor of Mother Earth.

The kids attended a rehearsal Saturday afternoon and from what I have been told, as soon as they stepped out of the car, Wy declared he didn't want to be a fish - he wanted to be a turtle. He was then assigned the role of a fish in a school of fish. He was ok with this until he saw the great big turtle out on the water - then he was done. Well, John tells me Wy was really done when the ginormous Heron came to 'eat' the fish!

The performance was today at Brush Creek in front of the Nelson here in KC. It was so cold today...but the puppets were great and the kids were great too. It was a lovely Mother's Day presentation.

If you want, you can go over to my sidebar - under Linky Dinks, click on Shutterfly - and then select the Pirates of Pollution album. You can play a little slideshow to watch a bit of rehearsal, preshow and the performance.

Have a blessed Mother's Day!
The gang at Owenland Park

Random Threads

John bought a bunch of flowers from the JP2 flower sale this spring. He picked up his order this week and stepped outside with the boys last night to give them all a drink. (Please take note of the shorts with boots fashion statement my two youngsters are making - its the new look this summer fellas.)



Jack has a love/hate relationship with the movie Thomas and the Magic Railway. For the most part, he loves it, but then Diesel 10 comes on and Jack just can't handle that. He doesn't want to stop watching the movie though. He has found a clever way to watch the parts he likes and hide for the parts he doesn't like.



John had some random scraps of Oak and African Padauk that he glued together and lathed down into tops for the boys. John took a picture of them while they were spinning. Isn't it cool how they spun so fast it looks like they are balanced on the points?! Great job on the tops!



BIG news - John has been smoke free for 1 1/2 weeks. He has been on Chantix, which has made the transition much easier for him. I know he has tried to keep it low key - that's my John, ya know. But I'm so very proud of him! Keep him in your good thoughts!

Jack has also broken a habit - he decided to stop biting his nails. He bites them way down intot he nail bed, he chews on the skin below the cuticles - it is just a mess. About 2 weeks ago, he looked at me and told me he was going to quit. And he did. I'm super proud of him too!

Earlier in the week I called Wyatt "Sassafrass". He looked at me and said "I am not a Frass-a-wass! Don't call me vat naughty word!"

I think that's it for today.
Love and blessings!

Daddy Doll

When I was little, I desperately wanted to get my ears pierced. One day I sat on my daddy's lap, twirled a hank of his hair in my fingers, batted my long little girl eyelashes at him and said "PLEASE Daddy-Doll?" Needless to say, I got my ears pierced.

Jack has heard me tell this story and a time or two I have whispered to him to call my dad Poppy-Doll. In his desire for a yummy lunch from Olde MacDonald's and in the tradition of a 5 year old mixing their metaphors, this is what Jack said to my dad yesterday....

Please O' Mac Daddy Doll?

Picture, if you will, my father. Now think of him as O' Mac Daddy Doll.

XNX

John pointed out to me that my license plate could be read as Xanax. I had never noticed it before, now I wish it read "GOTXNX?" That's funny!

Thomas, Thomas, Thomas

Jack drew this on the computer without any help. He can select different 'paintbrushes', colors, effects etc. He continually amazes me.

Deanna Rose Farmstead

I had Thursday off. John is off contract at the moment so we actually had a day off together with the boys. John suggested we make a visit to the Deanna Rose Farmstead. It was a brilliant idea. It was a beautiful sunny day.

Before we stepped out for the day, I surprised the boys some grilled chocolate sandwiches - in fancy terms, chocolate paninis. They loved it! I will say that it took them a bite of the actual sandwich before they decided chocolate paninis are pretty amazing. All three of my fellas looked at me as if I had lost my mind when I said "grilled chocolate sandwich." Wyatt acutally said "EW!"

And you can bet your bottom dollar that it was Mommy who said "EW!" after Wy was done with his chocolate panini!

We finally managed to get ourselves out of the house and we spent the afternoon petting goats, riding ponies and mini tractor/trikes, horse drawn wagon rides, slides, we visited bunnies and baby pigs - it was truly a wonderful wonderful day. By the time we made it to the petting zoo, John and I didn't have any change on hand to buy feed for the little goats. I thought if I just didn't say anything, the boys would go in and just pet the little guys. We weren't even in the pen for 30 seconds before Jack and Wy started picking little pellets off the ground to give to the goats. There was no stopping them people. I finally settled on telling them to just not touch the little black ones...

You can find more pictures of our day if you go over to my sidebar and click on the shutterfly link.
Love and Blessings!
Amy & the gang.

All in all, it's just another hole in the head.

I felt bad about not getting a picture of Miss Connie and her missing front tooth in here last week. People, I need no longer feel rotten. Had I managed to get that picture on line last week, it would have been a bit repetitive as she went and lost her other front tooth this weekend.
If you take a closer look, you will notice that both Abby & Connie got their ears pierced this week. The girls were THRILLED. They were showing off their new earrings to me and I completely freaked them out by removing my earrings and putting them back in. Abby was jumping around asking me if it hurt. Connie said it was disgusting. I told them I thought they were crazy for getting their ears pierced if they thought changing their earrings was disgusting. As far as I'm concerned, having your ears pierced is specifically for changing your earrings. I LOVE earrings. Earrings are one of my very favorite things on this planet. If I am on my way to work and realize I don't have on earrings - I will stop and buy some, yes I will be late for meetings or rehearasls. If I were in labor and realized I didn't have on earrings, I'm telling you people, someone would have to go get some for me, or let me borrow a pair.

OK - that was weird. Love and blessings!

No more Junkies

So I was hanging out with the boys Saturday morning. We were singing 10 Little Monkeys and getting louder and sillier with every single verse. By the time we got to 3 little monkeys, we were singing so fast that the song was just about a tongue twister and little Wyatt is yelling

"Mama called the doctor and the doctor said 'NO MORE JUNKIES HUMPING ON THE BED!'