Our Family

Tid Bits

2011-03-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

Every year for Christmas Grandma Nichols and Billy's Parents give us cash. (Love it by the way). It is always fun deciding what to do with my stash. Some years Billy and I go in together and get something, but this year I already knew what I wanted to do with my loot. A zoo membership! Our family hasn't had one in quite some time, and some haven't even experienced the zoo. So for Presidents Day I loaded my car with my 6 + 1 and we made our way with what seemed like the rest of the valley. Billy missed the fun leaving on a 2 week business trip that morning. Bummer for him, but we had a ball! Landon was cracking me up with "ohhhh, Look a' dat", everywhere we went. It was a gorgeous day, and the kids were great for me. I can't wait to go again, hopefully Billy will be able to join the fun.

On February 14th my Granny turned 80! So we headed to Pima for the big celebration. It was so awesome to see all the family and especially to celebrate with her. Granny has made such a big impact in my life. I lived with her and Grandad while I was going to Eastern Arizona College. Honestly I wasn't that studious, but that time in my life is remembered very fondly. Granny and me learned to make porcelain dolls together, we played lots of card games, she tried to teach me to sew, but mostly I loved just being with my grandparents. They were even responsible for me meeting Billy! That is another story for another time.

Granny with all the grandkids -3. That's a pretty good crowd for having only her 3 little girlies.

All the greats! -3

Granny and her 3 girls!

In February our Cubscouts had their Blue and Gold Banquet! It was a western theme, with a big Chuck Wagon, calf roping, a big BBQ and lots of fun! Dallin earned his Webelos that night. He has great leaders that really helped him out a ton! He loves cubscouts!

Dallin receiving his Webelos award! We were all suppose to wear our western digs. Rowley's aren't really into that. (Sorry Dad)

We had the program around a campfire! The boys loved it, but they did have to be reminded a few times about fire safety.

Valentines Day

2011-02-16T12:15:00.001-08:00

Quite a few years ago, after we started having children, Billy and me went out for a big night on the town on Valentines Day. After a 2 hour wait, me being cranky that we were paying a babysitter the whole time, the night was kind of a bust. From then on we decided to make Valentines more of a family affair. Every year we have a candlelight dinner with our little crew, and play games or have a dance etc. So this was our V-Day 2011!

This years decor. Notice the jars on the back cabinet, we exchanged Valentines and little treats throughout the week previous. We had a lot of fun, and it was cool to see the kids run in after to school to check to see if there were any new additions, or to add some themselves.

All my Valentines minus the newest! This year for the activity we played Charades. We need to work a little bit on our skill, but it was a laugh. Also Garrett made a valentine version of duck, duck goose. Lots of Fun!

Our Heart pizza! (Thank you Papa Murphy's)

Little Miss Miranda, she was to tuckered out to join in the fun.

In other news:

Last Saturday Karynn tried out for Mesa Youth People's Orchestra! She practiced really hard and it paid off. Congrats Karynn!

Karynn letting her daddy know she got in. He worked hard too.

Last but not least, I have decided this little guy is a Psycho. No wonder I don't get any house work done around here. I am good to keep him alive. He got the peanut butter off the top shelf himself. I guess he decided that a bananas really isn't a complete meal. (He does need protein I guess).

I have a blog?!?!

2011-02-13T20:03:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know. It has been over a year since my last post. Truthfully, I do feel a lot of guilt. I love to read blogs, and get a little exasperated when blogs I love to read haven't posted for awhile.
A LITTLE HYPOCRITICAL, I KNOW! So let's do a little catch up:

Billy - Busy with work! YEA! This is huge, because work has been quite slow for the past couple years. Hopefully it continues and people remember to pay. He always finds time for me and the kids, and if anything suffers it is sleep. He is the best!

Karynn - 12, in Young Women's now. Growing up way to fast! She gave her first talk in sacrament meeting today! She did a great job! She is becoming quite the violinist and is doing great on the piano as well. She is the best helper ever, and every Monday I want to cry as I send her out the door. I really depend on her A LOT! She sure does rise to the occasion though. She is so much fun to hang with. She laughs all the time and she makes me laugh! She is quite the artist, and loves making cartoon characters. She loves listening to music, Josh Groban and the Beatles are her faves right now. She writes the best stories, and uses so much imagination in them. She is training the hike the Grand Canyon with her daddy, I wish all little girls could have a relationship with their dad like she does. She has grown up soooo much lately, and is becoming quite the young woman.

Dallin - 10, Earning his Webelos in Cubscouts this week! He has a mind like his father's, and I can't help him with math homework anymore. He is generous to a fault, and loves to do things for others. He is starting to eat me out of house and home, but still maintains his 2% body fat. I would love his metabolism. He started wearing glasses this year, after telling me for the past 2 years he couldn't see. I just thought he thought glasses were cool. Lesson learned, listen to my children. He loves to sing and has gotten the opportunity to sing quite a few solos in church. He plays the piano, and the Cello. (He switched from the violin this year, told us only girls play the violin. Billy thought that was pretty funny). He is having a great time playing basketball this season, and is learning a lot. He is such a kind hearted kid, and loves everyone.

Reagan - 7, and cute as a button. Very imaginative, and can play in her room by herself for hours. She is definately into princesses and dress up, anything girly. She started playing the piano this year, and is coming along very quickly. I love to practice with her because she loves to sing while she plays and gets very into it. She was asked to sing at our Ward Christmas Party, and she felt like a star! She loves cooking with me, and she thinks doing the dishes is the best job ever! If only I can continue the enthusiasm. She has a cute little gap between her two top teeth just like her daddy had! In fact, I think she looks the most like him out of all our kids. She calls me Mommy Salami, and it makes me laugh!

Garrett - 5, our only blue eyed child! He's in kindergarten and LOVES IT! He loves his teacher and tells us all the time that he is her favorite! I think every child should feel that way. Such a happy guy! Our most even tempered, but has a little tease inside of him that creaps up occasionally. He loves to be outside! Loves bikes, scooters, balls, and his new favorite is his roller skates. He got them because he stopped sucking his thumb for 2 whole weeks. We made him a deal a couple months ago, and he worked hard and had to start over several times, but he finally did it! He has become a great reader, and brags quite often about his chapter books! He tells me all the time that Junie B. Jones can be really naughty! He loves people, and is always looks at everything in such a positive way.

Landon - 1, our wild child! He thinks he's 10. I guess that happens with so many olders. He wakes up running and stops when he is asleep. He is feisty, busy, hilarious, and keeps us on out toes. He is the biggest tease ever, and loves to perform for us. His favorite song is Scripture Power, and he grabs his Book of Mormon randomly throughout the day and I sing while he jumps and raises his scriptures in the air at the appropriate time. He knows when I am busy, and keeps a running list of things that he can get into while I am occupied. He justed started to like movies, and Princess and the Frog is #1. We think it is hilarious to put on another flick, and watch him panic. He eventually does get froggy. He is such a mover, but he will sit and snuggle with me if I put the movie on. His baby time has gone by so quickly, sometimes I feel cheated. I do however choose to believe that they stay a baby until they enter kindergarten.

Miranda- 2 months, well she will be 3 months this coming week, but I have issues with that. She has been such a joy in our home! She is such a happy little gal! Round and chubby, with such an easy tempermant. She started sleeping through the night early, which is such a blessing! She loves all the kids, and they love to hold and snuggle her. She even is pretty patient while Landon holds her. She loves to coo, and will hold a full on conversation with anyone! She also thinks your funny if you act like a goon, (secretly she is probably smiling because she thinks we are a bunch of lunatics). There is nothing like having a baby around. She is so comforting, and really helps to keep the spirit in our home.

Me, Karen - 34, as of the 11th. I'm keeping pretty busy with the 6 kiddos, but I'm loving it. I am enjoying being the mother of my olders, and cherishing my little ones. I can't believe how fast these years are going by. In some ways it feels like I just graduated from high school, in other ways that seems like a lifetime ago. I have a wonderful husband who is selfless and always puts others before himself. I have 6 wonderful kids, who I am thankful to call mine. I have such great people in my life to rub shoulders with. It is great to be me! My goal this year is to blog more than I did last. Ha! Success!

Quote From Garrett!

2009-11-18T08:07:00.001-08:00

"Mom I'm ridiculously Good Looking"

Have I ever mentioned......

2009-10-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

I am completely afraid of snakes. Apperantely these two take after their dad.

Rim 2 Rim

2009-10-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

It seemed like an eternity away when preparations were made for our Rim to Rim excursion through the Grand Canyon. The hotel reservations were made at the end of 2008. Our hike date was September 26, 2009. There were 10 of us that drove up to the North Rim the Friday before the hike. 8 of us hiked (me, my Dad, brother in law Chuck, 3 of the Goodmans, and the Thomas' who I met that day) and the other 2 were kind enough to drive us to the North Rim and then turn around the next day and drive back to the South Rim to meet us. It seems kind of funny that as the crow flies it is only 10 miles from North Rim to South Rim, but it takes 5 hours to drive.

September 26th dawned for us around 4:00 a.m. We ended up hitting the trail a little after 5:00. It was still dark and was somewhere around 40 degrees plus a bone freezing wind chill. I didn't take long to get warmed up though. The trip was fantastic and I have attached a small sampling of the photos that were taken along the way. I would like to note one thing. My Dad always makes fun of Karalyn (my sister) for the amount of pictures she takes, but between videoing and taking over 200 pictures we ended up getting out 2 hours after the last person in the group. I thought at one point about accidentally bumping his camera down one of the Canyons.

The hike starts at North Kaibab trailhead through Phantom Ranch and up Bright Angel (you can also go up South Kaibab trail) for a total of 23 miles. The elevation goes from 8,200ft down to 2,400ft and back up to 7,000ft.

This first picture is at the Supai Tunnel which is 2 miles down the North Kaibab.

This view is right after the Supai tunnel looking down the Canyon. The switchbacks are amazing.

Perspective (Can you see me)

Bright Angel Creek runs with the North Kaibab trail all the way down to the Colorado River.

This was one of my favorite pictures. We get to see the River, both bridges and Vishnu Temple (at least I think it's Vishnu).

The infamous Corkscrew about a mile before Indian Gardens.

I didn't actually take any pictures other than this and a couple of information signs at Indian Gardens. We got here around 5:00 p.m.

Here are a couple of good shots of the switchbacks on the way out of the South Rim. It wouldn't be quite as bad if it wasn't after 20 miles of hiking. Although it is really cool nonetheless. Sorry I couldn't get the pictures to rotate.

Here we are coming out at 8:00. It was a long day, but well worth it. I had a cold Dr. Pepper waiting for me in the hotel room.

Now that a week has past I am ready to start making the preparations to do it again next year.

My Dream Job!!!!!

2009-10-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

If I ever had to go back to work, this is the Job. Charm City Cakes (Ace of Cakes, for all you none lovers of the Foodnetwork channel. Shame on you by the way). Totally awesome this place seems to me. It wouldn't hurt that I would be around cake all day either.

Duff is the boss man. He totally cracks me up, and none of his employees get to worked up around him.

My fellow cake decorators. They totally crack me up. They all have dry sense of humors that make me just giggle constantly when I watch the show. A bunch of nerdies which makes me like them even more.

Geoff is my favorite. He is especially dry, which for some reason makes everything funnier to me. (By the way amazing cake!!! Reagan would be pscycho for that cake).

This cake is my favorite for Halloween. Totally awesome!!!!!! So there you go. If I ever go to work, this is at the top of my list.

If you haven't watched the show.

Do it! Do it Now! Hmmmm that quote reminds me of someone pretty great!!!

By the way if you were wondering why all the blogging lately, it's because it's either this, or clean my house. Easy decision. Bummer for Billy though.

Tooth Fairy

2009-10-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while waiting in line at Target with Landon and Garrett, I had another moment where I wanted crawl into a hole. We happened to be standing right in front of a Man who I am sure is a very nice man. He was also a man who happened to be missing quite a few teeth. Garrett was so completely taken with this man. The man smiled at him and asked him if he was having a good day. Garrett piped back "Did you Lose your teeth" and then emphatically says "You are a Dad and you lost teeth" I am trying to quietly get him to please pipe down. Then he says "Hey did the Tooth Fairy come and see you? I want the Tooth Fairy to come see me" I am trying really hard to quietly get him to refrain from talking about the poor guys teeth, then Garrett even louder "Hey mom hes a dad and he lost his teeth! Do you think the Tooth Fairy will come and visit him even though he is a dad?" I finally get finished paying for my stuff and am quickly herding Garrett out the door, when Garrett turns around and yells to the poor guy, "Don't forget to put your baby teeth under your pillow, so the Tooth Fairy will come see you!"
I really hope that man had a good sense of humor.

OUR HOUSE AT 3 A.M. THIS MORNING!

2009-10-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

HOW COULD YOU NOT WANT TO BE UP WITH THIS LITTLE JOY!

Landon giggled, smiled, jumped, and snuggled from 2:30 - 4:00 this morning.

Oh how I love this little man!

I Can't Believe It's Been 5 Months!

2009-10-03T16:37:00.001-07:00

It seems so unfair to go to all the work to get these cuties here,

then they just grow up so fast! Landon is soooo much fun though,

and pretty dang cute too!

General Conference

2009-10-03T15:49:00.000-07:00

Today conference was wonderful! I always look forward to listening to our Church Leaders.

I love to have my family surrounding me in our home and listening to Conference. We don't do anything special, just relax and watch. Our kids had their packets from the primary and it really helped a ton with the wiggles. I was actually able to listen to every talk without much interruption.

Garrett woke up at 1:00 in the morning running 103 fever. Aargh! I hope his fever doesn't last as long as Dallin's. Dallin missed 4 days of school with his.

These are the cuties that didn't quite make it through the second session.

Karynn's yummy knot rolls, she made between sessions. She is getting pretty good at it.

NO SWITCHING HANDS PLEASE!

2009-10-01T22:21:00.001-07:00

Take a good look at Garrett! Disgusting I know, but I couldn't resist snapping a pic before I made him go wash his hands and get a pair of pants on. I love mornings in the Rowley household. I also love that Landon loves his feet! Too cute!

Landon's Blessing Day!

2009-06-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day! Landon was blessed today. I can't believe tomorrow he will be five weeks old. It is funny how it seems just like yesterday that he joined our family, and yet he has already taken such a hold that I can't imagine him not being here with us. We are thankful for everyone that came to support Landon on his day! It turned out really nice. We are so thankful for our Little Landon!

Not quite Cinco de Mayo but Cinco was born in Mayo

2009-05-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

It was a long time coming, but well worth the wait. We are so excited to have

Landon Wade Rowley join our family. He was born May 4th, weighing 7 lbs. 12 oz and was 20 1/4 inches long. We are so happy to have him with us. Here are some pictures of his Birth day.

First Bath

All 5 kids

Reaganism

2009-03-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Kim says we need to name little things Reagan says as a Reaganism. She tends to have quite a lot to say, and when it comes out I just to remind myself that it came from Reagan. So here is my Reaganism for today, or at the very least this morning.......

Reagan: "Mom, Karynn says that if I watch T.V. all the time I will get fat."

Me: "It isn't good for you to watch T.V. all the time"

Reagan: "On Meet the Robinson's, there is the guy that watches T.V. all the time and he is very fat."

Me: "Well Reagan it isn't good for your body to watch T.V. all the time, your body needs exercise."

Reagan: "So mom, you must watch T.V. alot."

I think springbreak is going to kill my self esteem!

Another Great Birthday!

2009-02-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

Well I celebrated another birthday, 32nd to be exact. If is funny, I remember when my mom turned 30 I thought she was ancient. I have decided ancient is fine with me. Thanks to a great husband and kids my birthdays are always awesome. They surprised me this year by taking me to Flagstaff to play in the snow. We really like to take a trip to the snow every year to go sledding and such. I was in no condition to sled, so I got to just relax and be in charge of the hot chocolate! I love spur of the moment trips, when we pull the kids out of school, and just spend some much needed family time. What was even nicer is that I didn't have to do any of the prep work. Billy talked to all the teachers and took care of all the arrangements. All I had to do was check suitcases, (Billy forgets to pack some pretty essential things when he is in charge), and we were off. We like to stay at a Best Western there that has an indoor swimming pool, so we would play in the snow and then go swimming. It was the best. I didn't cook a lick, I didn't clean a lick, and Reagan made sure that I got sang to when we went out to eat. Anyways it was a blast, and I so appreciate my kids and especially Billy for making my birthday really special. I love you guys!

Building the Self Esteem

2009-02-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Garrett (3) and cousin Macee (3) are sitting and talking......

Garrett: Macee you are a princess

Macee: (Matter of Factly) I know!

Garrett: My mom's a princess too

Me: (Thinking ) AAAWWWW!

Garrett: She's a REALLY BIG Princess!

Me:(Thinking) for the sake of my self esteem I'm going to stop listening to these conversations

This is for Karynn

2009-02-09T18:14:00.001-08:00

If you have talked to Karynn in the last few months chances are most of your conversations have revolved around this.........

So Karynn this is for you. (Grandpa Kim would be so proud).

A conversation with Reagan (These are always interesting)

2009-02-08T21:53:00.001-08:00

One day last week......

Reagan walks in the room sad and pouty

Reagan: Mom I really wish our baby is a girl

Mom: Reagan when your baby brother comes, you will love him a ton, and you will be happy he is a boy.

Reagan: Mom when you are all done with dad and you get a new husband then can you have a girl.

Mom: Reagan daddy will always be my husband forever.

Reagan: Hey thats not fair. When will it be my turn for him to be my husband?

Mom: Reagan, daddy won't be your husband, he will always be your daddy.

Reagan: RRRRRRRRRHHH!!!!! (She then roles her eyes and walks out of the room)

Hmmm, that went well. I hope that someday she finds a patient husband.

Differentiating between wants and needs

2009-02-08T21:35:00.000-08:00

So lately we have been trying to push the subject of differentiating between wants and needs with the kids. We will often hear things like.....

Child: I need a new pair of brown shoes, mine are to small

Parent: You mean you won't be able to survive with only the black, white, pink, purple and so on pairs of shoes.

Child: Mom I need new crayons, mine are all broken

Mom: You shouldn't have broken them! Deal!

You get the idea.

Well last Thursday Billy and I had our own version of want and need. Our dish washer stopped working. We were in a sudden panic. It has been so long since we have washed a dish by hand we had almost forgotten how. We did buckle down after the dishes started overflowing and decided that we probably ought to go ahead and get our hands dirty. (Or clean I guess). Just let me tell ya that we survived 3 1/2 days with no dishwasher. During which we both agreed

WE HAVE TO HAVE A DISHWASHER!!!!

So Billy decided to pull out the dishwasher and just take a look before we called a handyman to come out. He found that there was just a short in the junction box. So within 5 minutes we had a working dishwasher again. Thank you Billy!!!!!

Yes we are spoiled and a dishwasher IS a necessity!

By the way...... There is something very attractive about a man who washes dishes and is the Mr. Fix it around the house. Sorry girls, he's taken.

Garrett on prayer

2009-02-03T16:16:00.000-08:00

Garrett is quite a spiritual kid. He loves to pray. Now the content of his prayers sometimes tends to be a little off. The normal would be him asking Heavenly Father for anything and everything that he wants for his birthday. (I hope his faith won't be shaken when his birthday comes). He also likes to inform Heavenly Father when he is being mistreated or if he doesn't like what he is having for mealtime. My favorite prayer though he gave a few days ago. So here is how it went...

Garrett: Heavenly Father, Thankful for this day. Please tell my mom I don't need to take naps anymore. Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

He didn't take a nap that day:)

Lots of randomness

2009-02-01T23:10:00.000-08:00

Well I am mostly blogging because I am sick and tired of everytime I want to check on all the other blogs I love to read that I have to look at mine. I need to see a change. So I will catch up a bit. Since I haven't blogged since November I guess it's about time.

1st - We found out we are having a boy!!! Very exciting, Billy and I didn't really care what we are having, and neither did most of the kids. Reagan would be the exception. We took all the kids with us for the sonogram. When Dr. Beck told us the baby is a boy, Reagan belted out "WHAT, That baby's suppose to be a girl". I thought Dr. Beck was going to die laughing. It was really kinda funny. She has now come to terms, and is very excited as well.

Dallin really wants the baby to be in his room so we are making way for that. Garrett has since moved into Reagan's girly room which I wasn't sure about, but when he went in the first night and proclaimed with much excitement, "I get to sleep in the pretty pink bed!!!!!" I didn't feel so bad. His clothes and toys have all since been moved in as well. I think we will eventually need to change it up a bit. Right now though he is in heaven. He also loves that all the dress up clothes is stored under his bed. One of Billy's most proud moments I'm sure.

2nd - Billy's parents got remarried again in November! I think that was the highlight of our year. I'm sure it is pretty great for them as well. We love them a ton and are so happy to have them together again. We love having them over for card game nights. It doesn't seem to happen enough.

3rd - Christmas was great! We had a great Christmas vacation at home with the kids and really enjoyed our family time together.

4th - The race is on!!! I have 3 months to go on the pregnancy and my ortho told me I had about 3 months on my braces as well. I'm kinda hoping the braces come off first. I'm really getting quite sick of them. When I get them off I'm going to go by a huge bag of starburst and eat everyone of them by myself. (I better finish the bag before Dallin gets home from school, because he can smell any kind of sugar in our house. It's a gift of his).

Lots more has happened that I will have to post about but this is a pretty long blog and I don't want anyone to snooze too long. I will have to do a recap of all the things in 08' that I wish I would have put in, but not tonight cause I'm gonna go cuddle with my hubby now.

So many things to be Thankful for

2008-11-15T20:49:00.000-08:00

Yes this is the season that we all start thinking about all the things that we are thankful for. This year has been an interesting one in that we have heard a lot of doom and gloom. Everyone is worried about the Economy, how to raise our children in such a world, and so on. Today I have had a little time to put things in perspective. So bear with me because this post is more for my benefit.

Let me just start with the fact that Billy and I have always been very blessed, but looking back at the last year I think has been an eye opener for me.

1. Last year at this time Billy was drenched with tons of work. I can remember wondering if I would ever get a date night out of him. He was however bringing in quite a few nice paychecks that we had a lot of fun with.

2. Last year I knew we were suppose to have another baby, but had come to the conclusion that it would probably never happen because I wanted Billy to also know it, and he was just not feeling it.

3. Last year we had quite a few loved ones who were going through a really hard time. It is really hard to watch those you love struggling.

This year.....

1. Because of the economy Billy's work has changed a bit. Many of his clients are really struggling, so the Rowley's aren't having as much fun spending money. (Before I go on, just let me note that we are doing fine. I don't want anyone picking the Rowley family as a Christmas project or anything. Lol.) We are however spending a lot of time together as a family, and let me just say, this is soooooo much better than not ever getting to see Billy. Our kids are learning that they can't have everything that they want, and the thing is they are being so great about it. Sometimes I don't think we give our kids credit. I feel like we are becoming so close as a family. WHAT A BLESSING FOR US!!!!

2. Billy came to me in May and said, "Karen I really feel like we are suppose to have another baby", OK, where did that come from? In Billy's defense his biggest worry on having another baby was my health. So I went and saw my doctor in June and he said everything looked surprisingly good. It didn't take long because in August we found out we were expecting our 5th. I guess this little spirit is ready to come. In our home we have lots of discussions on whether we get to have a boy or a girl. We also have lots of options for what I would call interesting names.

3. We have seen our loved ones lives change dramatically for the good. We have become closer to family members and have really gotten to see the best in the ones we love. It is amazing to see in our own lives how trials bring us closer to our Heavenly Father. I have gained a stronger testimony of our Heavenly Father's plan, the power of forgiveness, and I have really come to know for myself how much he loves each and every one of us. Even more though is seeing my children's testimonies strengthened. They have prayed and have seen our Heavenly Fathers mercies. They have such simple faith and it just reminds me that I need to become more like them. I have seen them serving each other more, playing with each other more, and developing relationships with each other that will carry on forever.

These are just a few of the blessings the Rowley's have received this year. Aren't we so blessed!!!!!!

To top it off tonight Billy and I got the chance to go to the temple and go to a sealing. Our friends Fawn and Devon Mortensen just adopted their 4th little boy. Tonight they got to bring all their little boys to the temple, and have Jack sealed for Time And All Eternity to them. I remember about a year ago they thought they weren't going to get Jack. Tonight in the temple though, there was no question that he belongs in the Mortensen Family. Thanks Fawn and Devon for letting us be there for your special day!

Now that is true happiness!!!!!!

SURPRISE!!!!

2008-11-14T11:24:00.000-08:00

I just had a friend get after me for never posting about our pregnancy news. So here it is......

SURPRISE!!! WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!

We are expecting our 5th, (as if everyone didn't already know), and yes we are only having 1. I have the pictures to prove it. I will have to blog though about the weird dreams of multiples that I have had, (not right now though cause I just don't want to. Hee Hee)

I am thankful for.....

2008-11-14T08:02:00.000-08:00

No I haven't blogged for awhile, and yes it is because I am a loser. No really I lost my cord to get my pictures off my camera. So someday I will blog about Karynn's birthday (happy birthday forever ago Karynn), Halloween and all the fun happenings around the Rowley household that I have yet to blog about.

Today I think my blog needs no pics.

Let me just start with the fact that my first 3 kids were potty trained at around the age of 3 (give or take a month or two). So I thought I was amazing the day that Garrett decided that he was a big boy and was easily potty trained right before he turned 2. Yes, I did feel like mother of the year for quite awhile over that. Well now Garrett is 3 1/2 and still has accidents at night. We are not talking little accidents. We are talking flood the place. (See I told you we didn't need pictures on this blog).

To go on with this exciting blog, Wednesday night we forgot to put a pull up on Garrett. Thursday morning he woke up soaked. Aargh!!! I stripped the bed and went to go put the bedding into the washer, but forgot I had already been woman of the year and started a batch.

Yesterday was a busy day, so I forgot laundry and went on with the day. This morning I woke up and went to go start laundry yet again and opened the washroom door. After puking my guts out, and rewashing what was already in the washer, I was able to wash Wednesday nights bedding. Yea for me, I am accomplished.

Then Garrett woke up this morning, and yes he wore a pull up last night. I did warn though that he could flood the place. So he got up, changed his clothes and ate Lemon Cake for breakfast while I washed his bedding from last night. Now I feel very accomplished.

So on the the point of this tale..... I am thankful for mattress covers, and the fact that I don't believe in sleep overs with friends. Garrett you can wet your bed till your 12 and none of your friends will ever know. (So long as your brother and sisters keep it quiet, but we have alot of dirt on them to, so I think you're safe).

The World according to Reagan

2008-10-02T07:59:00.001-07:00

Funny story that happened this morning. I walked the kids to the bus and our next door neighbor Jaren who is in third grade runs up to Reagan. Here is the conversation....

Jaren: Reagan you are sitting by me on the bus today.

Reagan: Jaren I sat by you yesterday

Jaren: Sit by me today

Reagan: Jaren, we have to take turns so that everyone gets a chance to sit by me

Jaren: Oh, well can I sit by you tomorrow

Reagan: We will have to wait and see if it is your turn.

This is a perfect example of how Reagan sees her little self. Ofcourse everyone wants a turn to be a part of her magnificence. The thing that makes me laugh is people usually respond that way.

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS

2008-08-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

Well today I got a call from one of the members in the primary presidency in our ward. She wanted to talk to me about Dallin. "Okay this doesn't sound good". I just want to note that I realize that Dallin can be a bit energetic. (That is putting it mildly). Anyways thankfully that is not why she was calling. She wanted to tell me about a incident that happened at our ward's primary activity day last Saturday. Now I'm wondering if I should be really scared. He's probably telling all our family secrets. Well anyways here is the incident. There was about 10 kids sitting at a table with a few adults. One of the adults name is Valerie (this is the member of the presidency). Well Valerie decided to take a bite of one of her kids snack. Well they got all grossed out saying that she had cooties. She was like "Mom's don't have Cooties" Anyways Dallin pipes in "I'm pretty sure my mom has cooties, and so does my sister Reagan." Valerie then asks "Why do you say they have cooties?" Dallin replies, "Well one time I saw Reagan come out in just her shorts on, with no shirt, and I saw those cooties." He then proceeds "I'm not sure if Karynn has them or not, but I think my mom might have them too."

I love to hear the funny things kids think in their funny little brains.

Back To School

2008-08-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

Well it seems crazy, but school is here. The kids were all ready to get back. I guess Billy and I are pretty boring. Karynn is starting 4th grade, Dallin 3rd, Reagan Kindergarten, and Garrett will be going to Preschool soon. This is a picture of the kids right before meet the teacher.

Karynn's teacher is Ms. Novotny. Karynn has loved the first couple days of school. She has informed me that Ms. Novotny is the coolest teacher ever. On the first day of school they had Messy Monday where they do science experiments. Karynn loved it. She was also excited that quite a few of her friends are in her class this year. GO KARYNN!!!!!!

Dallin's teacher is Mrs. Weinstein. He has really liked her so far. I wonder if bringing him to meet her with his Mohawk gave the wrong impression. Hee! Hee! Dallin is also excited that he tested into the ELP program. We hear they do some pretty cool stuff in there.

Reagan is a big bad Kindergartner now! She is soooooo excited to be in school with Karynn and Dallin. We were a bit worried about sending her all day with her having such a late birthday. We expected her to come home wasted. Boy were we wrong. She comes home jumping, chatty, and so excited. Her teacher is Ms. Moody. Ms. Moody was Dallin's 2nd grade teacher, and we love her. Reagan has also found a new best friend at school. The funny part is that Reagan is the shortest in the class and Addy is the tallest by far. She talks about her nonstop!

The first dy of school. The kids woke up so early. Billy woke up at 5:30 and Karynn was already dressed and ready! I guess maybe they were a bit excited. Garrett thought the whole morning that he was going to be able to go too. When the kids got on the bus, he cried and cried. He felt a bit shafted. He will start preschool in 2 weeks! He will love it!

Dallin's Baptism

2008-08-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm a little behind on my blog (Sounds about right). On July 12th Dallin was baptized. It was an awesome day. We had a lot of family and friends there to support him. We appreciate how everyone is so supportive of us. Billy did the baptizing, I did the confirmation (just kidding). No Billy did the confirmation as well. I sat on the bench and watched. We had a dinner afterwards. All in all it was a really great day. More than anything I just wanted to post the pictures. Oh but the cutest thing Dallin said to me afterwards was "Mom are all those big huge sins I had all washed away?" I was thinking "what did you do, kill someone?" Dallin's a pretty darn good kid. We love him and ton and are thankful for the decision that he made to be baptized. Congratulations Dallin!!!!!!!!!

Billy and Dallin in front of the font!

Dallin and Billy and Karen before the baptism!

Our family after the baptism.

We found Tucker

2008-07-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

Well we found Tucker. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was playing at a neighbors house a couple of streets away. He is doing great, and the lock is back on the gate. My kids are so happy!

Tucker

2008-07-20T16:06:00.000-07:00

Well today is a bummer day at the Rowley household. This morning we woke up and found that our 4 month old chocolate lab is missing. Karynn went outside to visit with our dogs like she does every morning and found our side gate open. (This is kind of weird considering Billy and I have to practically pry the thing open. How it got open we don't know). Anyways Tucker was gone but Kaido our yellow lab was still here. Billy and the kids went around the neighborhood asking if anyone had seen him. Signs are now put up everywhere, but so far no word. Hopefully he will come back soon, we've got some pretty sad kids, and one really sad yellow lab.

Catching up with the Rowleys

2008-07-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

Okay so I am finally starting my blog thanks to KaraLyn for pushing me to do this. This might be the only journal I ever keep. (I think the last time I wrote in my journal was before I ever had children which is quite sad considering Karynn will be 10 in October.) So I quess I will start by catching people up with our family.

Billy (my wonderful quirky husband) is keeping really busy with his work. He started his own Electrical Engineering business 3 years ago. If anyone needs Electrical plans you now know who to call. I really don't understand exactly what he does, but I know he works very hard for our family and loves what he does. He has often told me that his work is an out for him. If you were at our house today, you might understand. When we moved into our house a year and half ago we converted our 3rd car garage into his office which helps him get away from the chaos in the house. What is funny though is the chaos tends to follow him out the door and into the office. It is quite often that I can't find a child and they are out visiting Billy in the office. Many a conference call has been interrupted with HI DADDY! We love that Billy gets to work from home. It has allowed our family to have a lot of time together.

Now for me. I am having a lot of fun just being a mom. I have 4 great kids that keep me busy and make me laugh a lot. I love doing things in our house to make it ours. Right now we are in the middle of some remodeling work on it. I don't know that we will really ever be finished with our house because I really like to change things up a lot. I have also lately really enjoyed baking. Billy bought me a bosch mixer a few weeks ago and I have had so much fun making fresh bread, rolls, and lots of goodies. Billy says that this new addition to my arsenal is going to cause him to die an early death from all the goodies. My favorite is the wheat blender pancakes with buttermilk syrup. Yum!!! The syrup takes about 50 lbs. of butter, but I figure it's okay because I am actually using the wheat now that we have been storing since the first year of our marriage.

Karynn is 9 now and will be going into 4th grade. That is so weird! I still keep thinking that I just graduated from highschool. This summer she has kept herself busy with the swimming pool. (She is seriously half fish). She has had the opportunity this summer to spend a lot of time with her cousins from Snowflake. She has got to stay there and have them come and stay with us as well. She loves activity days, and is taking piano lessons. She also just started taking violin lessons as well. I would say her favorite passtime though is reading. She loves books. All books. I hope that she continues with that love. Karynn is starting to help babysit. She helps me a lot when I am having crazy days. I can send her off with the 2 littlest ones and she will play and read to them, feed them and I can get the things done around the house that I need to. She is a great help.

Dallin has just turned 8! He was baptized last Saturday! What a special day for him. I am so proud of him for making the choice to be baptized. Dallin is such a happy kid. He is one that truly loves life and loves everyone. This summer he has learned to do back flips off the diving board and is quite coordinated. Dallin also is taking piano lessons. He also loves to play card games. Everyday he begs for people to play 3 to 13 with him. (That is one of the funnest card games ever). Dallin is excited to go to 3rd grade and be back with all of his friends at school.

Reagan is 5! Most people that meet Reagan think she is much younger. This might be that she is about a head shorter than anyone in her primary class. Don't let her size fool you. Reagan is a ball of fire. For the most part she determines the mood of our house. We like to call her Jackie and Heidi, because she reminds us of Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde. For the most part she is Dr. Jeckle, but every once in a while Hyde rears her ugly head. We love all her personalities. She is such fun to have in our family. She wakes up in the morning singing and is usually doing the same when she goes to bed. Reagan is starting Kindergarten in the fall and is so excited. She wants to be a big kid like Karynn and Dallin. She is really excited to eat lunch in the cafeteria and ride the bus. I am excited because her teacher is going to be Miss Moody. Miss Moody was Dallin's 2nd grade teacher and I love her. Reagan is a lucky girl. We love her a ton.

Garrett is our blue eyed charmer. He is 3 now. He loves nursery and calls his teachers Mr. Shelley and Mr. Blair. By the way their names are Sister Shelley and Sister Blair. Garrett LOVES swimming. He is an awesome swimmer. He loves to race from end to end. This used to be a problem because he wouldn't come up for air, but now we are good. He loves to jump off the diving board and tries to dive like the other kids, which ends as a belly flop. He loves it. Garrett is an easy keeper. If you have food and water for him he's good. He loves people, which can be kind of scary. The other day we went to the movies as a family. Before the movie started I decided to take the girls to the bathroom so we wouldn't have any untimely interuptions. Billy thought that I had taken Garrett with me as well. Unbeknownst to me Garrett had followed us out. When I got back into the theatre I asked where Garrett was. We were in a panic. I had been gone in the bathroom for a good 15 minutes. We found Garrett at the front counter with the workers coloring. When my heart stopped racing and I had Garrett in my arms I asked if he had been upset at all. NOPE, he just wanted to color. We need to work on stranger danger with that kid.

Well that is our family. I hope that caught everyone up a little on what is going on in our fam.

Okay I wanted to put a picture of each of my kids in here but I can't quite figure out how to paste inbetween paragraphs. So all you bloggers explain to me how to do that.