Owen is the Big 4!

As usual, our spring has been super busy and unfortunately, blogging got put on the back burner! However, we've been busy for a lot of reasons and we can't forget to share them.

Way back on April 2nd, Mr. Owen turned 4. Hard to believe this little man is four already, and I must admit on the verge of acting like a little teenager!!!! He has had lots of important "firsts" in the past year. Starting preschool was a big accomplishment and he did such a great job. According to his teacher he is mighty fine at coloring & cutting and very social! Finally being able to participate in a sport (more on that in another post), instead of watching his big brothers was a big step too. For the first time, he made it to all of the UNI football games (he's finally able to sit through an entire game now)! Owen has really come out of his shell this past year too and will talk to just about anybody and has great conversational skills (in other words he never shuts up)! He also thinks he can speak in Spanish, however he always uses the same phrase and it translates into whatever he wants it to mean.

We enjoyed a birthday supper at our favorite Mexican restaurant...to sharpen those Spanish speaking skills. It's a tradition to put a large sombrero on the birthday guest and sing Happy Birthday in Spanish. Thankfully, Owen liked it this time, even if it was a little too big! We'd gone there for Connor's birthday previously and Owen burst into tears when the big "hats" arrived!

Owen also had a little friend party at our house with Sydney and Hailey. He was so excited to have friends over:) BOTH camera batteries were dead that night, so no pictures to share!

I'm sure the next year will go just as fast and I can't wait to see how he grows and changes!

80 degrees in April!

Not often do we have an 80 degree day in April! So, one might ask what do you do on such a beautiful day? Well, in our 'hood if you're under the age of 10 you might be found

playing on the slip 'n' slide...

sun bathing...

or eating popsicles!!!

Notice how I said under the age of 10. The adults just sat and watched - too scared to show our white legs!

Who can resist these guys?

Aren't they both cute? Gotta love the Panther Pals program and the activities they provide for kids. Connor loved learning from the athletes, but I think it was TC who really made his day!

Familiar Territory!

Owen is spending a lot of time here...

on the steps, in Time-Out!!! He will truly give Ron and I more gray hairs than the other two kids combined!!!

Time-out in his room doesn't work because he can find entertainment pretty easily in there - the stuffed animals talk, books to read, color at his desk, build with his Lincoln Logs, put puzzles together, change his clothes. With more time I'm sure he would come up with even more stuff to do. Heck, he's even trying to explain why he did (whatever it was that sent him to time-out) with his hands. And if that doesn't work...

then he'll blame somebody else. Here he's letting me know it's not HIS fault!!! Oh, my dear Owen, thank you for my 1,000th gray hair today and my monthly trips to get those grays colored!!!

A lot of chlorine...and a lot of fun!

Spring Break 2011 took us on a little road trip to the Wisconsin Dells where we enjoyed three fun filled days of chlorine, slides, food, plenty of cold beverages, and a few coins lost to the arcade!

The Glacier Canyon Lodge is where we called home for a couple of nights and I must admit the accommodations were nicer than our first house! We landed an incredible deal thanks to our friends Jim and Andrea, and were able to stay in a condo with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen, and living room that slept 7 people comfortably! The best (or worst depending on how you look at it) part was we were able to cook our own meals and bring our own beverages to enjoy!

I had some shots of the bedrooms too, but just like home they weren't looking so tidy!

While I didn't want to take my precious camera into the water and risk loosing it to the waves, I did get a few good shots.

I believe our last trip in the wave pool ended with three crying kids...one went under, one got tackled, and one couldn't get out of the tube. Time to call it a day I guess!

After two days in the water and toes resembling shriveled up raisins, we decided to participate in non-chlorinated activities on Tuesday. So, off to the arcade we went, followed by the ball pit, another arcade, and finally some pirate style mini golf!

HUGE arcade and a little bit of skee ball!

The ball pit ROCKED! A boy's heaven!

3D, neon lights, and pirates amped up the mini golf a lot!

To top the mini-vacation off, we also headed to the outlet mall of course before leaving town...yippee! Look out Wisconsin Dells, we'll be back next year!

Are we talking about the same person?

"We would like your son to talk more!" We actually heard these words at Owen's preschool conference and were in shock. This is the kid who was talking in complete sentences before age two and hasn't stopped since! This is the kid who can't be quiet for more than one minute - believe me, we've tried. This is the kid who talks or sings to himself all day long. Are we really talking about the same person?

Sure enough, Owen is the classic kid who is night and day different at school than he is at home. Ron and I were both pleased (and shocked) to hear he sits nicely in group, picks up the toys (and tattles on those who don't), colors and cuts VERY nicely, can write his name, says his prayers, listens and follows directions, and is a good friend! We thought for sure, he was going to be the one to give us (and his teachers) a run for our money. He just might prove us wrong...please oh please!

What can I do with 48 biscuits?

So, a couple of weeks ago Target had a great deal on frozen items. For every 7 items purchased, you received a $5 gift card. Loaded with my coupons in hand I made a couple of trips and ended up with 49 items. You name it, if I had a coupon for it, I bought it...vegetables, pizzas, ice cream, chicken, garlic bread, rice, biscuits, and more. Well, wouldn't ya know, that's when we discovered the new fridge we had bought for the garage a few days earlier, wasn't really meant to be in the garage (only had one sensor for the fridge and the freezer). Basically, what this means is the fridge and freezer were about the same temperature. So, we were able to salvage everything except for the Grands Biscuits! They had to be cooked pronto and man did the kitchen smell great in the process. However, you can only eat so many biscuits in so many days. My creative mind kinda froze after chicken gravy and biscuits so back to the freezer they went (baked instead of raw and sticky)!

This isn't even all of them!!!