Happy Happy Birthday to my favorite sister!!

If you come over, I'll fix your hair!

Love ya lots!!

Halloween 2009

Here is a little Halloween love for ya. We picked a twisted Disney theme. Enjoy!!!

First we have the Ninja Mickey Mouse....he was awesome and I keep losing him in the pictures because his ninja-ness is so impressive.


Next we have the Goth Tinkerbell. She definitely has the attitude. And I am appropriately horrified that the kid looks 20, yes.



We are Vampire Prince Charming and Bitten Snow White. I am unbitten because my Prince got his teeth pulled by the horrified Cinderella who could simply not abide by her daddy wearing those fangs. She was not having it. This was an unplanned event, so we just went with it.




And the girl who inspired the theme....Cinderella. She is just Cinderella. No twist. She considered wearing wings, but decided against it. Possibly a wand, but, NO. In the end, just "Cinerella"...plain. The End. And Cinderella was a little stressed, incidentally. A very terrifying clown greeted her earlier in the week and she swore there would be NO HALLOWEEN for several days. That video from Oriental Trading that had Julia dressed like a witch did not help matters. FYI, for future reference, Caris DOES NOT LIKE WITCHES! Well, except Harry Potter witches....that is different.




We picked a couple of Julia's friends up for trick-or-treating buddies and headed to the condos for loot gathering. It was cold and it was damp, but we persevered and did quite well. A fun time was had by all!!

First Day of School 2009

Way too soon we have come to a new school year. None of us are particularly happy about it, but then nobody really asked us what we thought. If they had we would have told them that on tv, all the kids go back in the fall...when it is cool...when leaves are falling off trees and you can wear hoodies on the first day. Instead, it is 99 degrees in the shade, the leaves are burning off the trees from too much heat and lack of water and it is smack dab in the middle of what could have been a great summer if it had lasted maybe 4 weeks longer.

Anywhoo....my kids looked cute. Though they are decidedly not little enough for me to dress them all pretty and cute for their first day, they took great pains in picking out their own first day outfits. I just made a slight suggestion here and there. We are also in a whole new hairdo world this year, so the flat iron was getting a workout this morning.

Julia had met her teachers the other night at orientation so we knew her's already. She is happy with her schedule, her teachers and about starting algebra this year. Jack got Mrs. Lemley which made us very happy. Julia had her in 4th grade too and she is her most favorite teacher ever, so we are hoping Jack will feel the same way....so far, he is loving her.

So, without further ado, the rug-rats in all their glory....

This is the tree they pose "underneath" every year with their sign. This sign is lame because I made it with a crayon 5 minutes before we left because the printer is out of ink. Also, obviously, they no longer fit under the tree.


Close up...


This is the full outfits....and I want no crap out of you people about Jackson's shirt. He just laughed so hard and so completely adorably after he had this all laid out on his floor with the socks and everything and I got my first look at it. I told him to pick out something nice and he thought he was so clever....I couldn't tell him no. I have to admit, he did look pretty damn cute.
As for Julia, you can tell by the attitude how cool she thought she looked....


This is what I am dealing with....


One more of the backpack you cant see in the others.


So, all in all, a great start to what we hope will be a great year!

All Hail Summer Vacation!!

This is the last full week of school. I hate the last full week of school. We are so busy it is just ridiculous and the kids are in school for absolutely no reason whatsoever. They watch movies everyday and field day and field trips and so on and so on. Anyway, here are some highlights of the week so far.

First event of the week was the Liver Lip's awards day. We were given the "secret" note that told us to show up, so we did. She got a science award, a language arts award and a certificate because she got First Place in the county wide math competition.

Doesnt she look thrilled--in typical middle schooler fashion?

Next on the agenda was the fabulous musical put on at the elementary school. It seems to get larger every year and I think the music teacher outdid herself this year. Different classes did different eras starting in the 1920s with some flappers and ending with Miley Cyrus (bleah). My favorites were the 50s, of course, because one of those little greasers belongs to me, but a special shout out to our favorite 4th grade teacher ever and her class's rendition of the Thriller video...awesome!!


The color on these is horrible....that gym is sooo dark and with those mercury lights...awful.
Here is some 50s dancing for you.



Janis and Jimi


THRILLER!!--none of these kids are even mine, but I got immense joy out of this performance....



These are all the cuties from his class...


And here is a shot of the greasers because little boys are just cute!!

Next event up was the Spring Fling that the PTO puts on...me being a member of that means I was waaaaay too involved and I have the sunburn to prove it.

Snow cones...


Giant bouncy climbing things...


A beach chair relay race between the PTO and the teachers...yes, that is me and no I did not fall down....and yes, we whipped their.......we won!!


Much fun all around...and his class won some beanbag thing that I didnt get to see because I was shaving sno-cone ice.

Finally--yes this is too long--today was Elementary Awards day. We are the social studies guru!!

Pets We Love!--REVISITED!!

Here are the new additions.


See the whole story and more pictures HERE or click on a photo for the whole photostream.

The Baby Girl Sings

I thought I would share this little bit of cuteness. Thank goodness for the iphone and the GooeyRecord App so I can capture the car singing moments. Pardon the background noise...we are rolling down the highway!

This is the fabulous Baa-baa Black Sheep/Twinkle Star Medley....click the link to enjoy.

LOVE

Yesterday, for the very first time the Baby Girl said "I love..." . Hooray. And what is this wonderful thing that brought on her surge of heartfelt emotion? It is her mommy she loves? Is it her dear old dad or her brother or sister? Is it even her dogs?
No, my friends. Baby Girl's very first love of all time was "I love SAUCE!!" while sweet and sour sauce dripped down her chin and she ate it with a spoon. She is definitely a Rowe kid.

Girls Day Out

Our favorite outing--Costco for pizza....




And then visiting the giant guitars!!



-- Post From My iPhone

How cute is this girl?

Really, is she not the cutest thing you have ever seen? You know she is and dont deny it. Those are the fabulous "castles" to the right.

Sand posing, originally uploaded by Rowetopia.