Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas traditions! Christmas Eve wouldn't be the same without bowling at Holiday Lanes with my family. I decided to make new bowling shirts this year. The old shirts were blue and about 5 years old. Lynnlee didn't have one so it was fun to do new color. I went about making them the cheap way. A trip to D.I., 2 bottles of red dye, and a package of iron-ons and VIOLA - you have new bowling shirts.

They didn't have James's size at D.I. so I had to go with the next size up which was like a dress on him. Luckily he didn't mind and it will definitely fit him for the next 2 years.

We kept the same logo as our blue shirts.

Marshall bowling it up.

Lynnlee and Rose.

The next tradition for Christmas Eve: Lowry Family party.

We sang songs and then each great grandchild got a present from Grandpa Lowry and "Charlie." I love the look on Lynnlee's face. She definitely didn't know what to think about all of this.

James's face was just as good. He eventually smiled after Charlie gave him a present.

The last tradition for Christmas Eve is getting pajamas. James and Lynnlee were so excited they were yelling "cheese" in this picture. Too bad when you say the word "cheese" it doesn't make for the best smiles.

Marshall and Rose sporting the pajamas.

I'm glad we were able to keep up with the traditions of Christmas Eve. It was a very fun day!

Big Yellow Bus

A few weeks ago James's preschool got to ride a school bus. James, like any other kid, loves buses and always wants to go on one. It was fun to be with him for his first bus ride. The bus driver was super nice and drove the kids to the bus garage, showed them around.

Lynnlee, James and London.

He let them all take a turn in the driver's seat.

They all got cute bus tags with their names on them. The bus driver also drove them to the elementary school and let them practice getting off the bus.
James, Carter, London, Grandin, Benson, Grace, and Chloe.

They all got a treat after. Lynnlee enjoyed it going along for the ride.

Batman

Funny conversation I had with James today.

James: Mom, do you like my Batman shirt?

Me: Yes, I don't have a cool Batman shirt. I just have girlie shirts.

James: When you turn 3 you can be a boy and get a Batman shirt like me.

Me: I'm always going to be a girl.

James: You're going to be a girl all day long?

Temple Square

Tonight we went to Temple Square with my parents, Betsy, Kasey, Andrea and their cute kids. It's been a few years since I've been. It was beautiful. James had a great time running around with his cousins. Lynnlee was bundled up in the stroller for most the night. It was cold but luckily not as cold as it has been.

I'm so thankful to live close to Temple Square!

Gingerbread Houses

Last night we decorated gingerbread houses with our friends, the Tibbs. It's more just an excuse to eat candy but hey the kids had a great time. I love all the fun things to do in December.

Marshall's Birthday

We celebrated Marshall's birthday last week. James was so excited all day. James gave Marshall the game Chutes and Ladders so they would have a game to play together. When Marshall got home from work we tried it out. It's fun that James is to the age where he enjoys bored games.

That night Marshall and I went out to dinner at The Happy Sumo. It was our first time and so delicious! Love Japanese food! (Yes I dyed my hair brown. Pretty different from the blonde but it has been a fun change.)

After dinner we went to Jump On It in Lindon. It is so much fun! You can't go wrong with a floor of endless trampolines. We took lots of videos and pictures but the pictures didn't turn out but here is a picture I found online so you can see how cool it is.

For all you stay at home Mom's: they have a Mom/kid hour on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00-11:00 and Mom's are free. The first kid is $3 and each additional kid is $2. Not too bad for an indoor activity to get out of the house during the winter time. They have a child trampoline area so you don't have to worry about your child being bounced around by bigger kids.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving this year with my family. It was a really fun weekend! I love holidays and spending time with family!

We need to get a family picture taken but it just hasn't worked out. So I took this one of James and Lynnlee a few days ago. I guess it will have to do for now.

Thankful

My kids have had a rough go the past week with teething, stomach flu, colds, etc. We had an experience Saturday that reminded me to be thankful through it all. We put our kids to bed Friday night without a problem. Lynnlee has had a cold but has been sleeping ok. James started to have a hoarse voice Friday evening but I assumed he was getting Lynnlee's cold but not too worried. Well around 2:00 am he started coughing and crying and sounded like a barking seal. I knew immediately it was croup. He was wheezing really bad and drooling like crazy. It was making him upset and the crying didn't help. We couldn't get him to calm down and he was having a hard time catching his breath. So I took him to the ER. Thanks goodness they were able to help him and we were back home a few hours later.

When I got home I couldn't sleep from the adrenalin rush and worry if he would be ok the rest of the night. While I was laying there I thought of 3 things I am really thankful for:

1. I'm thankful it was James and not Lynnlee who came down with Severe Croup.
2. I'm thankful Marshall didn't end up going out of town for work and it didn't happen last week when he was out of town for work.
3. I'm thankful the hospital is just minutes away!

We just watched 17 Miracles. I don't know how they made it through so much sickness without modern medicine. I rely on modern medicine and appreciate it so much!

Here are my sick kiddos on Saturday just taking it easy. Luckily James is doing a lot better. Now if we can just stay healthy through the holidays that would be awesome!

Halloween

For preschool on Friday we had a Halloween party. I made a reversible superman/batman cape for James a few weeks ago. Whenever I asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween he said, "Superman, Batman." So pretty much he alternated between costumes for Preschool and Halloween.

London, Grace, Benson, James, and Grandin

At the end of class we frosted cookies.

Here is James's cape. Lynnlee was Super Lynnlee. She wanted a cape just like her brother.

On Halloween we went trick-or-treating at my Mom's house with James's and Lynnlee's favorite Aunt Betsy.

James chose to be Superman for trick-or-treating.

Super Lynnlee

Yesterday our ward had a Halloween carnival. James chose to be Batman for that.

Lynnlee's pants weren't clean yet but she still wanted to be in the pictures. She was coming up with her own poses.

She's such a funny girl! Did I mention she's potty trained? Yep, she was super interested so we did the 3-Day program and she was successful!

Pumpkin Carvin

Another item on the Fall To-Do List is pumpkin carving. Last year James painted his but this year he wanted his pumpkin carved. He and Lynnlee cleaned out their pumpkins first. Lynnlee kept putting the spoon in her mouth. At least pumpkin is edible even if it doesn't actually taste good raw.

Cam and Brooke joined us. I think their pumpkin turned out awesome.

When Marshall asked James what he wanted his pumpkin's face to look like James would show Marshall with his face.

James and Lynnlee after.

Heart Baby

Lynnlee had a heart cath on Friday. It was so nice to get it over with. We were anticipating it for the last month and didn't know how she would do since she's getting older. Even though she's older and knows more what is going on, she is also getting easier to reason with so everything went pretty smooth. It also helped that they gave her Versed to keep her calm when it came time to hand her to the nurse. It made her really loopy and giggly so when we handed her to the nurse she didn't have a care in the world.

This is Lynnlee before.

After she had to lay down for 6 hours. I was worried about that because how do you make a 19 month old lay down for 6 hours during the day. It was kind of tricky but with a lot of bribing she did pretty good. She was still sleepy too so she slept through some of it.

Right before we left she went down to radiology for one more x-ray. She got to ride in style in this wagon.

The Cardiologist was really happy with how everything went. Now we just wait to see when her final surgery will be.

Thriller

I have wanted to see Thriller for a really long time. This year we actually went. We celebrated our 6th anniversary this month so going to Thriller was a fun way to celebrate.


We went with our friends the Tibbs who also celebrated their anniversary this month. (Marshall thought we were all making scary faces or something)

Thriller lived up to my expectations and I'm really glad I finally got to go!

Pumpkin Land

A few weeks ago James's preschool class went on their first field trip to Pumpkinland. They had so much fun and the rain held up while we were there.

Me and all the other preschool Moms: Jacie, Chelsea, Amy, Rose, Jen, and Carissa.

James, London, and Benson.

London and James.

James, Grace, Benson, London, Carter, Chloe, and Grandin.

I'm excited for all the other field trips we'll take this year!

Cornbellys

Fall isn't complete without a trip to Cornbellys at Thanksgiving Point! I'm always amazed at how many things there are to do there. When we got there the pig races were just getting started so we went there first.

James and Camden focusing very hard on which pig they want to win :)

There are lots of new playgrounds this year. My kids loved playing on the boat.

Who doesn't love a good bounce house?

Lynnlee and Marshall on the jumping pillow.

James didn't jump too much on the jumping pillow. He mostly just ran back and forth from end to end.

The Cow Train with James, Lilly, and Camden.

Lynnlee and I were at the beginning of the Cow Train.

Who needs a sand box when you can have a corn box. James was pretending to swim in it.

Then make snow angels. I mean corn angels.

Lynnlee, James and Lilly.

Beckie, Anthony and Lilly.

Lowry family.

It was a successful night. We can mark that off the checklist of things to do this Fall.