Head Wound

Ella jumped up on the counter to sit by me to help cook.

She came up hard under the top cupboard.

Tears were shed, but she was generally brave about it!!

10 minutes later she came in with her hand to her head bleeding!!

It took that long for the blood to work it's way threw her hair and start dripping down her cheek.

 

I had to wad up some toilet paper and apply pressure with a head band to stop the bleeding!!

head wounds just gush!!

 

 All the blood all over her face I was assuming she would need stitches,

and was dreading an ER visit.

This little tiny thing caused all that blood.

Really!?

I had to get out the Liquid Bandage, and that stuff STINGS.

She was brave tho!!

 

New Year's Eve

Brent has to work the weekends,

which is when New Year's fell this year.

SO it was just me and the girls!!

Which is ok!!

We are really good at entertaining ourselves.

We're on our 4th year of weekends,

and honestly,

I'm starting to not remember what it was like to have him home on Saturday and Sunday.

 

 

We made home made pretzels.

It was like play dough for the girls!!

Flour everywhere!!

Good thing it sweeps up!!

 

Hundreds of dollars spent on toys.

Have an amazing, fun, wonderful time mopping.

Grandma got them rain boots for Christmas,

and they are a hit!!

The girls have been WATING for some rain to play in puddles.

I can't tell if this is childhood right here,

or if it's a parenting fail!!

They came in drenched, muddy, and freezing.

But they were smiling ear to ear!!



Cozy

Part of our Winter Break has been spent RESTING.

I say that because,

1. I have flares of utter exhaustion that just cream me.

I fight threw them but sometimes I need to do what's best for me, even if I don't WANT to.

2. I made sure I didn't break my yearly tradition of getting sick.

I fought so hard!!

I deployed all my tricks!!

Oils, lemon juice, Vitamin C.

But, alas, I succumbed at precisely 3pm on Christmas day.

I stumbled into Quick Care when it opened, promptly at 7:30 am.

Being an over achiever, I managed to have an ear infection, a sinus infection, and an infected throat.

Go me.....

I'm starting to feel better,

but I'm sad I lost 4 days to being wiped out sick.

 

 

But we had some great days!!

Brent was very nice and made sure the house had the top layer scraped off every morning when I woke up.

The girls were sweet and played.

I wish we had another week!!

 

 We never got dressed!!

Pajamas all week!!

I try to keep Scarlet's hair out of her face.

But it is difficult to convince it to stay up!!

It's THICK and slippery and basically a life form of its own!!

I pulled it up high and tight in an effort to keep it our of her syrup and she declared,

"I have Aunt Amy hair!!"

Top knot all the way!!

 

 Molly is taking her turn as my current favorite pet.

She has been snuggly, because it's cold, and she has been a wonderful pet to my girls.

She strongly favors Ella, and wants to sleep with her every night.

As soon as the girls are in bed for the night,

we don't know where she ahs been hiding that day,

but she will slink in,

and hop up to snuggle with Ella's feet.

 

 

Scarlet was having a moment this week and I remembered when she was little and struggling so much, I would swaddle her and hold her on my lap.

This was our version of swaddling that day!!

I wrapped her up tight,

snoodled her into the laundry basket,

and handed over the IPad!!

 

We've had a great break and I'm sad to see it over.

I love my little chickens so much!!

 



Christmas Morning!!

Our main Christmas tree.

I have 4 of them, so I thought I'd specify!!

Brent has some crazy idea to get some 9 foot monster for the vaulted ceilings next year.

We'll see.

 

Little girls ready to explode!!

Their daddy woke everyone up at 4:15.

There was no point in trying to convince any of them to go back to sleep!!

 

 

So we started early!!

In Brent's opinion,

opening presents after the sun has came up is in natural.

 Ella got her Fat Flamingo she has coveted since summer.

She saw him at The Front Porch when we were looking for a gift for a friend.

Since an elf has to go threw that shop to pick up all the letter for Santa that are left there, in their special mail box, one must have grabbed the flamingo on one of their trips!!

 

 Scarlet was so excited.

It was like she finally got opening presents!!

 

 In their letters to Santa, and when they sat on his lap,

Scarlet asked for 'The Lion Guard' and a teddy pair.

Santa delivered.

 

 Ella wanted all the lego dragons he could manage!!

 

 Scarlet got her brown teddy beat to cuddle with!!

 

 And Ella got THREE Lego dragons!!

 

 

We headed into the family room to see what was left in our stockings!!

 

 

A few weeks before Christmas,

I made the mistake of tossing the girls an American Girl Doll catalogue that had randomly came in the mail.

Pouring threw the pages was amazing and they both desperately wanted one.

I told them no.

Because they barely play with dolls,

and they're ridiculously expensive.

Well, Santa must have thought they were extra good, because a doll* was waiting for each girls with a bag full of different outfits for them to share!!

 

It was a wonderful year.

Brent took the days off so he could be home with his family,

and that was the best gift of all!!

 

 

 

*disclaimer: the dolls left behind were knock offs from Walmart because even Santa refused to pay such a crazy amount for something that you can't even tell the difference!!



Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was calm and quiet this year.

No crazy party.

Just a quiet dinner with my parents.

Others were invited but had sickness, or other plans.

And it turned out being perfect!!

We watched a couple videos put out by the church.

We had a nice dinner.

And we went to sleep.

It was lovely.

 

 

I read a few years ago to take a picture of your children Christmas eve night, sleeping,

to compare in the following years.

I liked that idea and have tried to remember.

I am awful at remembering pictures.

Didn't take a single one of us in our Christmas Sunday best.

Fail.

 

 

 All tucked in.

 

 With visions of sugar plums.

 

 And the cat to keep their toes warm.

 

 

Bowler Family Christmas Party

We went over to Brent's parent's house on the 23rd,

to have our Bowler Family Christmas party.

We arrived early and everyone was a little late,

so we had a few minutes to kill before the official festivities began.

 My daughters are serious about Lego building!!

 

 Ella admiring Grandma Bowler's Danish tree.

 

 We ate awesome Asian inspired food!!

 

 

We played in the rhythm band!!

Which these people are serious about!!

They're actually really good!!

Especially since the bid kids are getting older and a few of the Uncles

have no qualms about putting their hearts into it.

And I think that's great!!

Who cares if you sing and make things fun and actually try to play the maracas!!

 Even if kazoos make me want to scream....

 

 

Santa made a quick check to see if we were all behaving ourselves.

 Ella decided,

"I think Great Grandpa Bowler was friends with Santa. It makes sense since he was the principle of the school for all those years, and the schools were all in the same place. So now that Great Grandpa is dead, he's friends with Grandpa."

Well thought out, child!!

Everyone got a little something to hold them over for a few days!!

We had a lovely time.

Being with family at Christmas time is so important to me.

I'm boring so I'm glad there are relatives who make it all happen!!



My Ella

Ella is a loving little girl.

She is over filled with energy and ideas and plans,

and I forget to sit down with her and just sit.

She found me on the couch the other day and just wanted to lay on me.

Like an old cat.

She is getting so big so fast.

Every weekend is over faster than the one before.

 

 I have admitted to the struggle I am having with my girls getting so big,

and both being in school.

I don't want to keep them home,

and I don't regret sending Scarlet to school.

It's what is best for everyone all around.

But I still miss them.

And I'm reviling in the winter break and being able to just slow down for a moment.

 

A girl and her cat.

Molly is an unfriendly, moody old feline.

But she loves Ella.

She sleeps by her.

She allows Ella to pet her.

She chooses to rub on her or purr for her as a first choice.

They love each other.



Grapefruits

Since the discovery of our grapefruit tree,

we have waited with baited breath for our fruit to ripen!!

The girls would go check on them almost daily.

Finally on Sunday I picked one and cut it open.

 

They are sooooo good.

I forgot how fruit used to taste.

I grew up with my grand parents on the farm.

We had home grown beef, nuts, corn, apricots, pomegranates, and a host of other things.

These grapefruits are so sweet, and juicy, and they TASTE.

I feel like sometimes I buy fruit from the store and it doesn't have taste!!

Can fruit be processed, or modified to a point that it looks like fruit, but doesn't have a significant taste!?

That a different argument for a different day.

 

We had a lot of fun picking the fruit.

And the girls were bursting with pride!!

It reminded me of picking pomegranates with my grand parents.

Except grapefruit trees don't fight back as hard!!



Class Parties

School is out for Winter Break and we are so happy!!

I do best with a certain level of structure.

Usually, a high amount of structure.

But we were all VERY ready for a break.

We don't have to worry about waking up (which we get up early anyways, but the odd day Scarlet decides to sleep til 9, I die a little inside when I have to wake her up).

We don't have to worry about packing lunches, or who gets the camo cup today.

I don't have to get them to school, volunteer at lunch time, pick them up, run to dance, get dinner, bath time, homework, reading time, and a host of other needs taken care of in a rush of haste and worry!!

 

We get to do everything on OUR time.

I know that sounds pitiful,

but I enjoy a break from the rush and hustle!!

 

 

 Scarlet's class made gingerbread houses for their class party,

and they got to wear their pajamas!!

 

She found her glowing chick that Grandma Bowler gave her at Easter stuffed in a bag the other day.

She was so happy!!!



25 Ways in 25 Days

The church came out with a new challenge for this month.

25 Ways to serve in 25 Days.

It's exciting and rewarding to be able to implement service into my life.

Because I need blessings.

And not only that, I hope that if I serve properly,

maybe the good things I did in my life will help cancel out all the bad.

 

Today's challenge was to share an experience with a loved one about a time God helped me.

I decided to write about it because I want to remember what I said and how I felt.

And anyone who might read thins can know my heart.

 

I can't pick one experience to share.

God helps me every single day.

I struggle with Chronic Fatigue and PCOS which mimic symptoms of depression.

I struggle with perfection and anxiety.

So every. single. day.

I need God's help.

And He does indeed help me!!

He helps me stop to think for just one second before my voice is raised.

He reminds me of all the little tender mercies I am blessed with every day.

He has blessed me with children I am not supposed to have.

He gave me a patient husband to help me through my struggles.

 He saved the life of my baby when she was so early and so sick.

And then blessed her with the miracle of being completely healthy as she aged.

 

There are days where every thought is a prayer.

Every step is a prayer.

Every thought is a worry that is soothed.

Every tear is caught by a hand I can not see.

 

He has blessed me with unique spiritual gifts that lift my heart.

He blessed me with a wonderful family.

 

God helps me every day.

He sent me a sister who is constant presence of hope in my life, with out ever asking for anything in return.

He sent me parents who love and serve me.

He sent me the gift of genealogy so that I might still serve even though my struggles hold me back from holding a traditional calling.

He blessed me with intelligent people who help me sort through my own mind.

He helps me always.

And I am grateful that I KNOW He helps me.

That I may cry out to Him.

I do not believe that God weeps when we sin.

I believe that He waits.

Waits patiently,

like any good parents when their child falls down.

He waits and holds out His hand when we finally get up.

He dusts off our knees and checks our hands for scrapes.

And wipes our tears.

 

I love my God.

My Father in Heaven.

I am grateful for all the gifts he gives a selfish person like me.

From the simple air I breath,

to the miracles I put to sleep every night.

And I praise Him with all my heart.

  

Nativity

Overton 4th Ward primary puts on the Nativity every year on the Sunday that falls before Christmas.

Since Christmas falls on a Sunday this year,

they decided to have it apart of the ward party.

After waiting 2 years,

Ella finally got to be an angel!!

 

 

They were darling and their singing was beautiful.

And yes, this pathetic, emotional mother nearly cried threw the whole thing!!