Trick or TREAT?!?!?!?!

Time to pull the costumes out of our suitcases and fill some candy bags! It's HALLOWEEN! We have not been trick or treating with The Bowman clan since 2009! This fun day was way overdue! Stef, Micah, Kayla, James, and baby Ari drove up to hang with us. It was SO good to see them. We missed them like crazy. The last time we saw them was 10 months ago for Christmas and Ari's baby blessing. Ari has gotten SO big and even more cute! Ugh - It just sucks living so far away! So grateful to be here now though! Anywho... HALLOWEEN!!!...

First on the agenda, make a spooky dinner with Grandma! They made mummy dogs and witch fingers. They always have so much fun cooking with Grandma! She is a much better sport with helpers in the kitchen than I am : )

Next thing to do, rake leaves of course! The grandkids were all playing outside so Papa put them to work! They were all over it. They had so much fun raking up piles and playing in them. At one point they buried Bailey and called me outside because they "couldn't find her." Then she jump out and "scared" me.

Elsa, Batman, Robin, Masquerade Ball Princess, Spidey, and Doc McStuffins all had an absolute BLAST trick or treating. They looked so cute all dressed up! We didn't get a pic with Reggie the ladybug though : (

While we were walking around the neighborhood Bailey had a death grip on Andy's hand. It was so cute!

 It felt more like a Texas Halloween than Utah! It was in the high 60's! Awesome!
The kids all got a ton of candy and had a fantastic time. The night ended having to drag Doc McStuffins off the front porch were she was divvying out the goodies to the neighborhood kids and prying the candy bowl out of her hands. Let's just say they all slept like rocks that night! So fun having Halloween at Grandma and Papa's again!!!

Meeting Miss Reggie Roo!

Back in August we got pretty amazing news. My new niece Reggie was born!!! We were so excited for Andy and Jenni!!! The only downside was we weren't able to be there to meet her :( It was nearly November by the time we finally got to kiss her sweet chubby cheeks for the first time. Rich had some time off and the kids had a couple days off of school so we packed the van and headed to Utah! The drive went pretty well - we are hard core and drove straight through the night and into Halloween day. We had great motivation to get there before trick or treating and WE WERE BEYOND READY TO MEET REGGIE!!! Unfortunately a giant heard of SHEEP near Bear Lake had other plans. Seriously? There were SO many sheep. I have never seen anything like it! We were all dying laughing in disbelief. They surrounded the van in the process of crossing to the lake. It was NUTS! Eventually they all crossed and we were headed to the canyon and into our beloved Cache Valley!

Eventually they all crossed and we were headed to the canyon and into our beloved Cache Valley! We might have made a pit stop at Mandarin Garden for some tiny spicy chicken to go before heading to Grandma's. Maybe. Then we ate ourselves stupid, showered and napped for a minute before meeting the baby girlie! It was definitely an emotional afternoon meeting our sweet girl for the first time. Reggie is just the cutest thing in the whole world! Pictures, while crazy cute, do not accurately represent the immense cuteness she exudes in real life. We are all so in love! Perfect start to a fantastic vacation!!!

October Cards Fans & Punkin Heads

Our beloved Cards made it into the playoffs this year! We were all just a little excited!

Rich and Bailey even developed a "cheerleader move" to celebrate when they did something well. Crucial strikeout? CHEERLEADER MOVE! Bailey would hear Rich hollering "YEAH!" and come running for Daddy to throw her in the air. Hilarious and pretty stinking cute!









Braxton had the double rally cap rocking on several occasions. He got to stay up later than usual to watch the games and then he would pass out HARD.







He sleeps in this crazy position ALL THE TIME! HOW is that comfortable? Apparently it is! GO CARDS!!!

Rich and I found a sweet new walking trail close to our apartment! We packed a picnic dinner and took the kids out to explore it. We had a great evening even though the walk back was in the rain : ) 

In preparation for Halloween our good friends, the Smiths, came across the river to hang out with us at Eckert's Farm! The kids played hard riding carnival rides, playing mini golf, going for tractor rides, and drinking tons of apple cider thanks to "Disneyland Dad" James, The kids bat their eyes and ask for anything and he buys it. MY moochy kids apparently figured this out too. It was SO hot outside and the line was SO long to pick pumpkins out in the field that we convinced the kids to have custard and pick their pumpkins at the farm store instead. Score! We had a great day. After the farm we ate ourselves stupid at a great little barbecue joint. It was so good to have friends come visit us in Illinois! We love you guys!

September Shenanigans

We had some random fun this month! First we got to go with the Doellman's to their FIRST CARDINAL'S GAME! Chris had gone before but this was a rookie experience for Amanda and the kids! Sad part - 5 minutes before leaving for the game Braxton started feeling "gross" and then he puked and spiked a fever :( SO sad for my biggest Cards fan! Rich took one for the team and stayed home and took care of my pukey little boy. It was FRIGGIN FREEZING! We were all bundled up in blankets and then it started raining on us! Bitter cold drizzle fell basically without stop for SIX INNINGS! I was so proud of the kids, they were super hard core and stuck it out till the 8th inning! Frost bitten and WAY past bedtime! We had a blast though! I brought Rilea and Dylan back to our place for a sleepover so Amanda and Chris could have a night at a hotel to celebrate their anniversary a little late. SO fun! I just love these little goof balls!

Rich and I picked the kids up from school one day and he got a random amazing idea... "Hey, let's take the Metro Train and go downtown!" I love spontaneous family fun time! Even though we live in Illinois now we are still about the same distance from Down Town STL! We drove a few minutes to the Metro station and bought tickets for the kid's first Metro Train ride! They were SO EXCITED! We didn't have to fight traffic and we got to enjoy the scenery (and the people watching) on the 40 minute ride. We took a long walk around the Arch, had races up the HUGE stairs separating the Arch from the Mississippi River, and then got hot chocolate at Starbucks before heading back home. I just love this city and all it has to offer! LOVE IT! The Arch is so fun to take pictures of - it is just breathtaking!








































St. Louis started a cool art project called "Cakeway to the West." They placed 4 foot tall cakes in 250 significant locations throughout our region, part scavenger hunt, part history lesson. We have had fun finding some of them. The kids were excited to find one by the arch! Here is the website for these cool cake sculptures - http://www.stl250.org/cake.aspx

Random and weird - We bought a new hair detangler and Kenz used it on bug. It dripped onto her face and she had a terrible allergic reaction. It was so crazy! Her face swelled up and turned bright red where the spray had touched it. Thank goodness a quick run to Walgreens and a swig of Benadryl in the aisle took care of it. Hopefully that never happens again. Scary!

McKenzie's grade at school has been working on some patriotic songs for the birthday party/fair of the city of Belleville. It was a great excuse to go explore our new town and have a super fun day! Kenz sang her heart out! The kids got to try rock climbing for the first time ever. They LOVED it! They did so great. i was shocked! I, on the other hand, did not do so hot (I forgot to post that picture by pure accident)! It was fun though : )

Next we played at the petting zoo and went wild on the carnival rides. The girls were in heaven. B - not so much... his face was hilarious! He is his father's son! He looked like he was going to puke 20 seconds in! Sad but HILARIOUS! Nothing a snow cone can't fix!

One of the kid's favorite things we did was painting! An incredible artist was painting the town square and fountain and he let each of them have a turn at helping him! They were in shock that they got to help! They LOVED IT! How cool is that?!?!?!

We are now members of our local YMCA! We discovered that they do free rock climbing one night a week. The kids are JUNKIES! They cannot get enough! I am honestly so surprised and impressed at how brave they are and how fast they have learned it. It makes me a little (okay a LOT) nervous seeing them all up so high and being helpless down on the floor. Braxton can scale the hardest section super fast! Kenz fought her fear of heights and made it all the way to the top and so did BAILEY THE THREE-YEAR-OLD! Bug is like a little fearless spider monkey up there!They have the harnesses on the lowest possible settings and the staff was shocked at how well she did and how quick she picked up the technique. So fun! We love the Y!!!

Ohhhhhhhh BACK TO SCHOOL....

The big kids were excited but a little nervous about starting at a new school. Bailey was NOT excited that they were not going to be around to be her constant playmates. It's always sad sending the big kids to school because Bailey is so lonely without them. Mom is just not as fun :( McKenzie and Braxton had a great first day! They have fantastic teachers and have started making friends already!

After taking the kids to school we headed to a preschool screening. We were told that the free (yes FREE) preschool for our district is for at-risk kids so Bailey would most likely not get accepted. They said we should screen anyways just in case. One of the criteria for at risk is how many times you have moved recently... well we definitely qualify there! Uhhh does our hotel month count too? Yep! She did great on her tests, which is a bad thing lol. She did not qualify academically or socially as at-risk. I am very happy of course that she is not behind developmentally but free preschool would've been AMAZING! A week later we get a phone call. They got a much smaller turnout for screening than expected so if we want she can be enrolled in half-day preschool for FREEEEEE!!! That was an easy decision! She was OUT OF HER MIND EXCITED to be a big girl and go to school! She HAD to have the same backpack as her cousin, Rilea. I was surprised that we actually found it! This pic is so cute! They were both so excited to have matching backpacks : D

 The big day has come!!! BAILEY'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! She did fantastic! I could barely get her attention to say goodbye. I asked her to give me a kiss and i bent down and stuck my cheek out. SHE LOOKED OVER HER SHOULDER AND BLEW ME A KISS! OUCH! I really was so glad she was comfortable and happy to be there though! I didn't cry till I got to the car, and then I was a hot mess! my baby is growing up way too fast! The top left pic is just her being silly. Top right is her "This was the best day of my life" face when I picked her up after school!

For some strange reason on day 3 of preschool the fun newness of it all had quickly worn off and she refused to go to school! Of course we didn't let that fly. She went but she SOBBED and YELLED as we tried to leave... "MOOOOOOOOM DON'T LEAVE ME!!! I ONLY LOVE YOU AND DADDY!!!!!" She had new gut wrenching one-liners every day. We tried every form of bribery we could think of to calm her down. The crazy thing was once we left she was fine and smiling and telling us all about her "best day ever" the whole drive home after school. It was just the drop off that was awful! Thank goodness she got better and better and now she is all smiles and runs to class! Man that was a BRUTAL and guilt-filled few weeks. One of the hardest times I have ever had as a mom! SO hard leaving my baby sobbing! It was all for the best though and she is a preschool pro now! And mom is still floored at how much she can get done in 2.5 hours of kid-free time FIVE DAYS A WEEK! I can hit up a Zumba class at the gym, grocery shop, run errands, and get homework done while little buggy is playing and learning with her friends. It is pure heaven! I have to be honest people!

We are so proud of our kiddos. They have had to deal with so much upheaval and change this summer. They have been real troopers. We are so grateful God trusted us with these amazing spirits! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH McKENZIE, BRAXTON, AND BAILEY!

GREAT GRANDMA SMITH!!!!

With all the craziness of moving and trying to figure out what school the kids would go to I did not realize that their school start up date was TEN DAYS after all the other schools! With this pleasant surprise of extra time we decided to take a trip to ARIZONA! I have been so sad that my Grandma Smith has never gotten to meet Bailey. The life of a responsible, busy adult sucks sometimes. Finally the timing was right and we booked flights for the kids and I to Phoenix! Daddy had to stay home and work. Not fun! But we are very grateful for all that he does so we can do all that we do. My parents and little brother were in town at the same time, so that was a huge added bonus!

My kids LOVE flying. Spoiled! Every one of 'em! Bailey, Braxton and I sat together and McKenzie was across the aisle waiting to find out who would sit by her. She was very excited about sitting next to a stranger, because she is a social butterfly, and weird! Three tall, young, handsome cowboys, hats and all, came sauntering down the aisle and I saw her eyes widen with excitement. SHOOT ME NOW! WE ARE SO HOSED WITH THIS KID! One sat by her, the not cute one, and he slept the whole time... bahaaaa. The other two sat behind us. Why is this important? Because they were in our ear shot as they flirted with the flight attendants about the rodeo they were flying to and the hard life of a lonely, tough cowboy, etc. One of the "tough cowboys" apparently was not a fan of flying. He can risk his life riding a bucking bronco, but throw a little turbulence at this kid and he LOSES HIS MIND! He was white as a ghost and death gripping the arm rest when the flight got bumpy. To add insult to his injury, my THREE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER sat directly in front of him with her hands thrown up in the air on the big bumps giggling uncontrollably between squeals of delight, "WEEEEEE... IT'S LIKE SIX FLAAAAAAGS!!!" All the excitement got to her and she crashed hard shortly thereafter. I love sleepy pictures : ) We had a layover in SLC - ANOTHER BONUS! Grandma Bowman and Great Grandma Buttars met us at the baggage claim to hang out and chat until our next flight. It was so sweet of them! I'm so glad they came! We had a great time and the kids got to tell them all about their flight. Then it was on to Phoenix! I caught Braxton multiple times pretending like he was in a fighter jet shooting down enemies (insert full boy sound effects here). It was a riot! I caught a picture of him in the act. At PHX the kids loved the cool plane suspended above the escalator. We almost tripped at the bottom because we were all staring up at it. The red rocket is our sweet Mazda ride for the week. MAN that thing was comically tiny.

Oh my goodness. Words cannot describe the feelings and memories that come back to me as soon as I spot my first palm tree. Pulling in to Grandma's driveway I am simply flooded with emotion. I absolutely love this place and all that it has meant to me in my life. I am so excited to share it with my children so they can start building their own memories here!

The kids were immediately smitten with Grandma. How could they not be? Every time Bailey walked by her she would sneak a quick hug. It melted my mamma heart pretty dang good! I am so thankful for all of the extended family members that took the time to come by and hang out with us. We got to see The Squire family, The Springer family (our kids hit it off right away and played for HOURS!), Cheryl Smith, Butch & Michelle Watkins (Butch recruited Kenz to make him koolaid just like he did to me every time he came to our house when I was a kid), Brandon and Christie Watkins (they brought their dogs and my kids "babysat" them for hours). Bailey just loved my cousin Megan! She still talks about her all the time... how sweet she was, what great hugs she gives, and how many cookies Megan's mom and dad snuck Bailey when I wasn't looking LOL! Bailey also loved Grandma's little dog, Sophie. Usually she is terrified of all dogs except her own, but not Sophie!

M Y   K I D S   A R E   F I S H ! ! ! ! ! 

The first morning at Grandma's house they woke up at SIX AM READY TO SWIM! Oh my heavens. They swam EVERY day we were there except for Sunday. Kenz even got comfortable swimming in the deep end! It's just so cool to me that this is the same pool that I LIVED in at their age. I had all kinds of pool stories to tell them - like how every male in the family (including their uncles, their grandpa, and their DAD) would sneak out and jump off the second story balcony into the pool without Grandma knowing. I love this pool and I love that my kids now love this pool!

This is Jackson Springer, Braxton's long lost brother! They look so much alike! He is my cousin Katie's kiddo. They sat and talked baseball, watched baseball, and threw the baseball for HOURS! It was so funny! The bottom pic is my super weird son who insisted, when we walked to Coco's for brunch one day when it was 113 degrees outside (not an exaggeration), to order HOT CHOCOLATE! I am sweating just thinking about it!

Very convenient that my baby brother Matthew's  17th Birthday was Saturday while we were in town. Even more convenient, Justin Timberlake was also in town! Of COURSE I had to get tickets for a birthday bash date night with big sis and JT!!! Words cannot describe the amazingness that is a JT concert. Mind blowing is putting it lightly. It was absolutely incredible and worth every penny. We had so much fun! I am so grateful for Matt and I love him to pieces. I am so glad I got to spend his big day with him this year - it has been a long time since I have gotten to do that. Love you little bro!!!

OH - THE BOTTOM PIC!!! HILARIOUS!!! WE FOUND WALDO OUTSIDE THE SHOW, LITERALLY!!!

Sunday we got to go to church with Grandma! We got some great pics with Grandma in our Sunday best. The best part of the day... Grandma leaned over as Sacrament was coming to an end and asked if she could take Bailey over to meet her friends. Of course I said yes. Grandma grabbed Bug's hand, ditched her walker and practically ran to the other side of the chapel to see her friends. It was so sweet and so funny how fast she moved! She is amazing!

Sunday afternoon we found a big box if random family pictures in Grandpa's office. They ranged in age from pics of when my dad was a kid to when Kenzie was a toddler! We spread them out on Grandma's bed and my mom, Grandma, the kids and I looked through them and talked about family memories for hours! Braxton was hooked! He was taking pictures of his favorites with his Nintendo DS. At one point he said "I LOVE GENEALOGY!" Grandma chuckled and had a huge smile on her face. It was one of the best times I have ever had with Grandma. I can't get enough of the old family stories from her past. My very favorite - "Grandma, how did you meet Grandpa?" Grandma worked in a salon and with her best friend, whose mom owned the salon. They kept bugging her about meeting their brother, Howard. They finally met and Grandma was NOT interested at ALL! Grandpa stopped by every day trying to convince her to go out with him. She said he had a whole lot of facial hair and she hated it. She thought she finally found a way to get rid of him... "Shave that mess off your face and I will go on a date with you." She thought she would never hear from him again. The next day Grandpa came in to the salon all dressed up, handsome, and CLEAN SHAVEN! She was shocked and stuck! She laughed as she retold the story, "Now I didn't have a choice! I HAD to go out with him!" And the rest is history : )  

The night before we left we got to hang out with my crazy cool cousins, the Mortimers. I so wish we lived closer to these kids. they are so much fun and my kids adored them! They brought out a giant bin full of legos and the kids were in heaven! We got to hear them play some of their instruments (these kids are ridiculously talented just like their mamma and daddy!) We had a great time. I wish we could have stayed longer and I hope we get to visit again soon!

Before we headed to the airport we took Matt and visited the Mesa Temple, where my mom and dad were sealed! It was just as beautiful as I remembered. My cousin Katie met us out there to give us hugs before we headed home. It was a great way to end our trip!

When we would head home from Grandma Smith's house when I was a kid she would always have goody bags and a five dollar bill for each of us to spend on treats or toys on the way home. She has not changed, except she has apparently accounted for inflation! She gave each kid a crisp twenty dollar bill as we were saying goodbye. THEY FLIPPED OUT!!! They don't ever have that much of their own money to spend at once. Big shocker - the girls didn't even make it to our GATE before they spent it all. Bailey bought a cute ballerina baby that she named after Great Grandma Smith. Meet Baby Lucy! Kenz bought a walking piggie and Braxton saved his money for a Grimlock Transformer he had been folding laundry and doing dishes for for WEEKS! He was $7 short when we went to Arizona and he was the happiest kid on the planet that he could buy his toy without taking out the trash any more! 

Saying goodbye to Grandma was so difficult because I have no idea when we will be able to see her again. The kids and I cried the whole way tot he airport :( I am so grateful that we were able to come. As always she made us feel like the most important people on earth. Her home was our home. It was a trip the kids and I will never forget. I hope we can come back sooner than later. WE LOVE YOU GRANDMA!!! THANK YOU!!!

Summer's Miscellaneous Adventures

Summer is quickly drawing to a close : (

We are squeezing in as many fun things as we can before school starts. Here are some random fun days that couldn't just sit in my photos file on the laptop...

SOOOOSHI! So I had a Groupon for our favorite sushi date night place, "Drunken Fish". Problem is that with selling the house and the move we didn't get to use it. Rich conveniently had a day off the day it expired so we packed up the kids and had a sushi lunch since we don't have a babysitter yet. I figured the kids would eat Miso Soup and sushi rice and we would eat the goodness. I figured WRONG! They are HOOKED on the fishy stuff (pun intended). Braxton was all about it - "Mom pass me some more octopus and soft shell crab please!"  He ate more than I did little stink! And he tried edamame. He said it was "okay" and then we reach over to get some and he had EATEN IT ALL!!! We ordered a non fish roll, Philly Cheesesteak. Kenz LOVED it. Once it was gone Rich slipped in tuna, salmon, you name it and told her it was cheesesteak since she refused to try "nasty fish". She is a sucker. After we were done we told her all the fish she ate. Her eyes got big and she yelled "I LOVE SUSHI!" I quickly realized what we had gotten ourselves into by getting them hooked when I saw the bill. Oops! It was so much fun though., I love watching my kids try new things! And I LOVE me some sushi! Not going to lie though, my favorite part of the meal was watching them try to use chopsticks. They have a long way to go! :D

More sunny day fun at our favorite new splash park!

Amanda, Chris, Rilea, Dylan, and Sandy came to play one Saturday. The kids had a blast going for a walk around our new place. They love "sploring" as Dylan called it. We live next door to the fire station so D was in HEAVEN looking through the giant glass doors. They also played a rousing game of Uncle Rich the Jungle Gym and pull the iron out of the huge cement black by the power plant. It was like sword in the stone - ghetto style. D almost had a hernia trying to win!

The Magic House is a summer staple to get out of the heat and have some fun!

We had  a blast with trips to the Zoo, a new splashpad, and Aquaport with all of our awesome friends! B's goggles picture is NOT at the pool... or the splashpad... it is in the shower... he is weird... and hilarious...that is all. 

We FINALLY had a free weekend to go hang out in Quincy with the Doellman Fam and see there new house! YAAAAAYYYY!!!! No idea what happened to Amanda and I and our usual "take 50 photos a day" shutterbuggedness but I literally only got a few pics the whole awesome weekend! DUMB! We got in late Friday night and went out to "The Farm" (Chris' dad's amazing property out in the woods) on Saturday. The kids ran around like kids did back in the day, exploring, Searching for critters, playing tag, getting dirty! Love it! We shot guns, ate, played games, ate, road the four wheeler, and ate some more! Nothing beats brats and dogs over a big ol fire pit followed by Reese's smores. Yes, I said Reese's. Try it. It will blow your mind! Amanda made us try them and OH...MY...GOODNESS! We all went to church on Sunday and then had a relaxing afternoon just hanging out and goofing off. It was a great weekend away. Thanks Amanda and Chris for letting us come play! I'm just sorry that it took us so long to get out there : (  And thank you Jim & Lynn for letting us take over your place for the day. We really appreciate it! Can't wait till we can come back!!! The pic of Kenz on the drive home is the best proof of an amazing weekend!

We squeezed in one last trip to one of our favorite places, the Science Center. And just like, summer was over:(  Now it's time to GO TO SCHOOL!!!