As you can see by the message on our kitchen chalkboard, Christmas love is overflowing in the Bowles house.
Ebby's latest wish is that she had twin little sisters instead of little brothers. Will, for one, has had it with Ebby's tween attitude and the other day declared her 'a frustrating little pest'. Then he wrote it on the chalkboard. Then Ebby erased her name and wrote Will's name.
I'm pretty sure he hasn't noticed yet.
Cuyler just wants to know when I'm going to get the Santa hats down from the attic.
Tis the season...
Links I Like
My BirthdayFest
So, I had a birthday last week.
I love having a Facebook page and having a birthday--all those wishes, makes a girl feel all warm and fuzzy~thank you!
I may have turned an age that is exactly twice the legal drinking age in most states.
I may feel like I am at least 7 1/2 years younger than that--except for my hips. They feel at least 54. I blame it on having to carry Will and Cuyler around for 35 weeks. And then another 3 years after that.
My 4 day long celebration included a pizza & cupcake party, a 2 day trip to NYC and a Smart Oven. Not too shabby.
Pizza & Cupcake Party
Don't I look excited? What can I say, the cupcake was from White's Bakery at the Derby Shops. Bubbe even got a chocolate cake (and hand packed Brigham's ice cream) for the rest of the troops--which included Pa, Ebby, Will & Cuyler. BGD has been crazy busy at work and was unable to attend. Of course I didn't manage any pictures of the kids, so you might not believe they were there either--but they were. There was cake & ice cream, believe me, they were there.
{That's me with my Williams-Sonoma filled with goodies oven mitt from Pa and my fused glass necklace from Bubbe}
Bubbe really wanted to visit Manhattan at Christmastime. Conveniently, my birthday is 2 weeks before Christmas. We like to visit the same kinds of places. Viola, the perfect birthday gift: a 2 day trip to the Big Apple. We rode the Bolt Bus, stayed at a great (and reasonable) hotel, saw tons of holiday windows, met and dined with a wonderful fellow blogger that I recognized as she was taking photos at a shop we were all in, rode the subway, ate cupcakes and shopped until I couldn't carry another bag on my person.
Read all about our excellent adventure on my other blog-- Part 1 of 3 is up today. Oh, and BGD was awesome at home with the kids. He didn't send me even one text message about wanting to sell the children. He rocks.
Week before last, our toaster oven decided that toasting was no longer a desired activity. Oven-ing, fine. Toasting, not. I may have seen a convection toaster oven in a magazine and I may have mentioned how fab it looked ('You can cook brownies in it!'). Well, gosh darn it, when BGD gave me my birthday present yesterday, it was a Breville Smart Oven! Not only that, he took it out of the box, re-arranged the counter and put it through the 'prior-to-first-use' cycle. What can I say, I'm a lucky woman. We broke it in yesterday afternoon, cooked 2 frozen pizzas to perfection. I think I'm in love. With a toaster oven. Oh, and my husband--of course.
It was a wonderful 4 day BirthdayFest, thanks to everyone including (but not limited to): BGD for letting me escape to NY & the kitchen appliance that may be smarter than I am, Bubbe for treating me to an escape to NY & all that cake, Nana for hanging with the kids on Friday afternoon while Rob was at work and the bday gifts, Pa for getting pizza for my party and more wonderful gifts, Will for his awesome & personalized rendition of Happy Birthday and the Canadian quarter, Cuyler for his part in the super loud rendition of Happy Birthday and the handmade card with a dollar in it for me to buy myself something in NYC, and Ebby for letting me hug her several times on my birthday and for the abundance and variety of Yankee Candle scented candles. xoxox to all!
First Snow
We had our first snowflakes of the season at ye olde homestead on Saturday night.
We ended up with less than an inch of snow, with some parts of the grass being covered and some completely green. When the flakes started to fall on Saturday night around 8, the boys didn't take much notice. They were busy watching college football. Fast forward to 10:15pm (aka bedtime), and they could barely contain their excitement.
Go figure.
Still attired in their basketball gear from their first practice that morning, they wanted to go outside. In shorts and t-shirts. While it was snowing. I'm pretty strict about such things. I insisted that they put on shoes.
And out they went.
That's Will in the gray t-shirt, scraping snow off the grill cover. He was only out there for about 2 minutes--he even came in and said he was cold at one point. Really, Will??
Cuyler (#5), decided he was hungry during his jaunt into the night snow. First he ate snowflakes. Then he brought out a KitKat (his fave) from Halloween and ate his dessert out on the deck in the snow.
It was only a mini size. I told you I was strict.
After their foray in the flurries, they were still a bit wound up. I needed to do something to help them wind down. Maybe read them a book, make them some warm milk?
Nope, I put on the Fine Living Network and we watched Martha Stewart make gingerbread people (with hair! and aprons & ties!). That Martha is so soothing. They were ready to head upstairs in no time.
When Sunday morning dawned, cold & sunny, the children had enough snow to have a bit of fun in. While I was out at the Bazaar Bizarre in Boston and BGD & Will took the pups for a walk in the woods, Ebby was in charge at home. She took her responsibilities very seriously as usual. E & Cuyler played outside for a while and then Ebby got Cuyler his favorite winter snack: a bowl of snow.
And despite the tint on the original picture, it wasn't even yellow.
Thanks We Gave
The table was set for 14. Well, 12 with a special adjunct table for 2...
Bubbe brought a very lovely centerpiece, fit in perfectly :-)
Guests arrived from all over the land: Rockland, Hull, Hingham, Bridgewater & Lexington.
Even though the pop-up timer never popped up, the turkey was roasted to yummy goodness.
While Tom Turkey was resting and the side dishes were heating up, libations were imbibed. There were several bottles of libations--red, white, domestic, imported...
Heartfelt sentiments were written on the tags of the Thankful Tree. The variety of things we were thankful for ran the gamut: electronics & Cuyler (Will), the family I have (Uncle), art supplies (Bubbe, just one of her top 10, with family #1, natch), a 2nd fridge in the garage (me), family, friends & cool stuff (Cuyler), the good life (Nana).
Some also recorded their thankful thoughts on video~which is still in the editing department. The Video Dog is doing some traveling for his day job this week. Be patient.
Finally, it was time to come to the table. The anticipation for the meal for palpable.
We enjoyed a fine feast. It's much easier to provide massive amounts of food and drink to your guests when everyone pitches in and brings a dish, a bottle or a fun Christmas decoration!
After a whirlwind of table clearing and food securing, we gathered our party of 14 and headed off on a journey on foot to our next door neighbor's house for dessert. We were invited. All of us. Really. And we brought plenty of sweet treats along with us. What do you think we all are, Thanksgiving party crashers?? Pshaw.
Oh and yes, those are handcrafted (by me) caramel acorns with dipped chocolate caps, jimmies and a petite chocolate chip stem. Thank you for asking.
Not only did we bring desserts next door, we brought Bananagrams. We had a whole group of revelers splitting, peeling and even dumping. Talk about a good time!
The highlight for me was the round I was finally crowned Queen Banana (thanks for your assistance Uncle).
Eventually, one small group at a time, by flashlight and battery operated lantern, we made our way back to Bowlesville on the Hill. Goodbyes were said, hugs exchanged, and many thanks given. A lovely gathering to be sure.
And then the host and hostess watched tv and went to bed so they could get up at 4:30 am to head out into the dark and rainy morning to go Christmas shopping. Cra-azy.
What can I say, it was the host's idea.
Yard Boys
Autumn + big yard = plenty of leaves.
Luckily we have plenty of help.
First, our faithful workhorse, John (Deere). He's a trooper. As long as you fill him with enough gasoline to power a midsize sedan, he works tirelessly. Oh, and is he versatile--he mows, he mulches. He never complains, even when he gets dog poop in his tires.
Of course John would be just another pretty face in the shed if not for his skilled and rugged pilot, BGD. As long as he has his podcasts and 70s music blasting through his headphones, he can tackle yardwork for hours. And he is fastidious. No leaf escapes his mowing pattern. None. Ok, maybe one or two. At most.
Then we have those 3 hardworking children of ours. Ebby helped out this weekend for a good while. Then her friend came over (early) to pick her up to go to the movies and she was outta here--before I could take her picture. Trust me though, she raked.
Then we have the dynamic leaf raking duo of Cuyler & Will. They spent about an hour raking in the 'upper yard' and then were asking if they could go inside and play video games. Instead I took them down to the 'lower yard' to help me rake the bottom of the driveway. Um, they had a blast. They raked and played out there for another 2+ hours. They built a fort, had a war on fungi, and made up a very complex game that involved a fictional Autumn festival, me pretending to be an old, senile woman and them "stealing" leaves from my piles. They cracked themselves up.
See, that's Will laughing as he scoops up some pilfered leaves.
Cuyler was using a leaf as a mustache, speaking in a disguised voice and calling me 'Madame'.
Will, bare legs and gloved hands, praying for more leaves to fall.
The boys, working in the leaf bunker.
Cuyler, bundled up and standing on more building material.
I'm happy to report that 2 days later, the leaf bunker is still in tact--maybe tomorrow they'll have a chance to add on.
With an 11:30 early dismissal day, we can only hope.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Puppy Love
Sort of like life imitating art, but dogs imitating human siblings.
Only difference is, I don't have any pictures of the siblings wrestling. I'm usually too busy trying to break it up to grab my camera.
I'm sure I'll have endless photographic opportunities if I change my mind.
Can't you just feel the love...and taste the fur?
Behind the Photos: Halloween 2009
You'd think at this point that taking a family photo or two wouldn't be such a big deal.
You'd think that kids would be excited to go out trick or treating on Halloween night. Um, free candy and all.
You'd think that when children pick out their own costumes, they'd be happy about wearing them.
You might even think that if 2 out of 3 children are pouty and/or in the midst of a major meltdown at 5:50pm, that a fun evening of trick or treating starting at 6pm would be out of the question.
Yep, if you didn't have children (or maybe just if don't have my children), you'd think all these things would be true.
They're not.
It could be that I make too big of a deal about getting a family picture on Halloween. After all, we all take the time to get dressed up in our (sometimes spectatular) costumes.
BGD decided to retire Goofy this year and instead went with the very authentic Gorilla suit. I mean really, check out the detail, from head to toe. Impressive. Ebby, after accepting then rejecting several other costume ideas, decided to take over the Mrs. Potts costume from yours truly. In the meantime, I had stockpiled some devilwear and some red wings on clearance last Halloween. I was going to be a Devil with a Blue Dress but I never got around to the blue dress so I was just Devil/Demon Mom. Will kept it simple this year, he was a monkey. And pretty darn happy about it too. He wore that monkey mask/hat most of the week before the holiday. Cuyler told me early on (August?) that he wanted to be Wicket the Ewok from Star Wars. I wasn't that into the idea. I had no idea how I would make a (simple) Ewok costume. Eventually it was 5 days before the school Halloween costume parade and we hadn't come up with a better idea, so I headed to the fabric store. Armed with orange fabric, brown fur and a large container of safety pins, we make a passable Wicket costume.
So, everyone should've been all set, right??
Not so fast.
Early in the week, Cuyler found the perfect stick to use as a prop for his Wicket costume. Clearly, you can see in the photo, Wicket has a stick, er rather a catapult/slingshot. Naturally he couldn't bring the stick part of his costume to school on Friday for the parade. No problem.
When it was time to get dressed on Saturday afternoon things started off smoothly. Then Daddy/BGD 'tweaked' his back getting on his gorilla suit. Ebby decided she looked dumb in the Mrs. Potts costume. Worst of all, Cuyler broke his perfect stick while engaging in a pre-photo battle with a monkey.
Naturally, the grandparents we around to witness it all (except for Pa, someone has to be on a cruise vacation...).
Cuyler ran into the house, ripped off his costume and retreated to the basement, distraught.
Ebby had to be talked down from the costume dissatisfaction ledge, by her friend who had come over to go trick or treating.
Eventually, after a few threats, some cajoling, and way too many tears (and perhaps not all from the children), Cuyler re-emerged and Ebby put on her teapot hat. Family photo time!
Bubbe did the photographic honors. Nana & Grandpa had since fled to the safety of their child-free home.
As you can see, there wasn't a lot of joy in Bowlesville. But we have a photo of the 5 of us. On Halloween! In costume!
After a few more photos, it was nearly time to head out. Cuyler was still mourning the loss of his stick (after rejecting about 50 substitutes gathered by his very thoughtful brother and settling on one that was just okay) when he started to gather his gear. He picked up his trick or treat bag in one hand. Then he picked up his flashlight in the other hand.
He looked at the stick.
And realized that he didn't have anymore hands.
No hands, no stick, amazingly, no problem.
Once Ebby was set free without parental supervision (but with a flashlight), she was also a new girl.
The gorilla with the sore back was left home to scare trick or treaters and hand out candy. Devil Mom headed out with her furry crew of boys (2).
It was warm and windy, lots of moonlight. The boys stayed with me, we went to all the houses on our street. They chatted with the neighbors, were polite and got plenty of candy.
Dude, we had fun.
Amazing.
And that's the (very long) story behind the Bowles family Halloween photo.
Maybe next year everyone will just get dressed, stand in a group and smile.
Or maybe we'll start a week early.
Raking for Dollars
Ever since the implementation of the cash allowance system around here, Will & Cuyler's behavior and motivation to help out have improved dramatically. Ebby, not so much...
Each child gets a base amount of allowance. They have some basic responsibilities (i.e. keeping room clean, unloading backpacks & lunches) and a few specific chores (i.e. emptying the wastebaskets around the house, poop patrol in the yard). They can earn a bit of extra money by completing some special, bigger jobs. They can also lose money by fighting, not listening, etc. I am in charge of the additions, deductions and the weekly tally. I have a makeshift ledger on the back of my weekly to do list.
It's all very Excel spreadsheet-like.
Raking leaves, to some extent, is a bonus job. Worth 25 to 50 cents an outing. Could this possibly be the reason the boys came home and, without prompting, raked 3 afternoons this week--including the day it was pouring rain?
Um, yes. Totally.
Well that and they're good young boys.
And they like money.
Random Kid Quotes
Let's see, it's 5 days before Halloween and neither one of the boys has a Halloween costume. This morning, Will seems to have forgotten his homework and Cuyler forgot his library books. Despite the fact that I can see their school through the trees in the front yard, I'm not going over there with their stuff. I've decided they can deal with the consequences today. This afternoon, I may even have them get started on making their own Halloween costumes.
That's right, it's a new era of tough mom love.
I predict it will last about 24 hours.
They drive me nuts, but my darling children also make me laugh. For example...
Will
{pictured holding a blob of peanut butter that he informed me was shaped like a lizard}
Yesterday afternoon, Cuyler was trying to convince Will that he owed him '10 bucks' from when they were a year old. Cuyler claimed to have agreed to wipe Will's "bonny-bon for 10 bucks" because it was so messy no one else would do it. Will retorted with this gem, "Cuyler, it's a known fact that people don't remember their babyhood."
Cuyler didn't get any $$.
Cuyler
This morning the boys were in the mudroom area, gathering all their school stuff (except for the aforementioned library books & homework), jostling about, laughing. Typical morning stuff, when Cuyler shouts out to me, "Mummy, Will's enslaving me!"
Who knew such a thing could happen so early in the morning.
Finally, Miss Ebby
I don't have a quote of anything that Ebby's said lately (much of that consists of insulting her brothers or pleading her case for needing more clothing), but rather something she wrote. Ok, technically she typed it.
For whatever reason, recently when I sent emails or pictures from my phone, Ebby's email account was coming up as the default account. Sometimes I noticed, sometimes I sent emails but they appeared to be from Ebby. While we were in the car the other day, she set about the 30 second task of remedying that situation. Which she did. So helpful, really. While she was in my email settings, she kindly updated my email signature line. The old one: sent from my cool iPhone. The new (& I'm sure she'd say improved) signature line: Ebby is my favorite child ~Jen. Isn't she adorable?
But really, aren't they all adorable...and amusing.
Friday Faces
A collection of some previously unpublished photographic gems. Enjoy!
First up, 'Uncle Bob' Ryder. Taken by Ebby this August during the Studley family gathering. Who knew Bob was such a ham?
Next up, Ebby's best preschool pal, Miss Danielle. They were at the Sandwich Glass Museum when this picture was taken. I had no idea it was so bright there that you can't even open your eyes. Must be the glare of the glassblowing torch. Her cuteness still shines through.
Speaking of cute, check out BGD at LLBean last weekend. Who knew trying on fur lined bomber hats could make a guy so happy (& cozy looking)?
And speaking of happy, I'm always happy when My Cousin Laura comes to visit. You can almost feel the joy radiating from us in this photo from her visit in August (and no, that's not our house in the background, if only...).
Finally, can you recognize these adorable, partially obscured little dumplings? Why yes, it's wee Will & wee Cuyler, circa 2003.
Have a great weekend & don't be afraid to make a funny face. Especially if there's a camera around.
