Category Archives: Owen
Christmas with Papa and Grannie
Grannie got us all matching jammies! Well, matching bottoms with shirts with sayings!
Grannie made us scarves!!
Papa being silly!
2017 Santa Hats
Perfect pictures from my well-trained kids…
…and then daddy walked in with news of a brand new Pokemon in the yard. 😆
And our Santa Hat Project to date (I can’t believe I missed a yer!).
When it’s snowing as the kids get home from school, this happens.Â
#snowangels #neighborkids #momtographer
And then I looked out and the kids had multiplied! 🙂
And then it was my dad’s idea for them all to make snow angels!
And then left to their own devices, they buried Owen.
Brunch with Santa!
Grannie wanted to do something “Santa-y” this weekend for the kids, so we found a Brunch with Santa… Unfortunately I think it might be the last year to see Santa—neither one wanted to sit on his lap (though honestly, neither has ever loved the idea) but they agreed to stand at his side. They did enjoy the crafts afterwards, though. 🙂
Another Christmas Lego set complete!
And the cool part? The lego that lights up!! 🙂
And this is where it now lives:
Surprises while doing Owen’s laundry.
It kind of gives you a little scare to open the washer and see something trying to escape (sorry it’s a bit blurry):
But then you instantly recognize that it’s a zombie figurine and have a good laugh.
I’ve always thought a train under the tree would be cool.
It only took 44 years, a kid who loves Legos, grandparents who were willing to buy the set and the electronics 💗 and a last-minute extra set of tracks to fit around the tree stand… It ended up needing some parental intervention [to get the power hooked up correctly and the tracks in an approximate circle] but Owen did the bulk of it.
Surprise trip to LegoLand Discovery Center!
We didn’t even know this place existed until a few weeks ago, so I found discount tickets and off we went! It wasn’t quite as exciting as I’d hoped it would be (and one of the rides was shut down) but the kids had a really good time so that’s all that matters!
This is pretty much what the whole front of the tree looks like.
And this is what I look like:
Owen learned to climb a ladder!
He had to rescue a toy he threw up and which landed inside one of the squares.
He didn’t love it (he doesn’t like heights) but he powered through.
Yes, that’s slime on the ceiling.
Welcome to my morning.
Owen threw it too high then tried to clean it with… Are you ready??… A nerf gun, a folder, and a coloring book.
#thishappenedfiveminutesafterwarninghimnottogetslimeanywhere
#thatboyhasnocommonsense
#thisthursdayismymonday
#slimeisnolongerallowedinourhouse
#isittooearlyforwine
I left it all day so he could clean it when he got home. Thankfully it came right off with a magic eraser.
Tonight’s dress up costumes!
This is literally how Maggie spent the majority of her vacation.Â
Last night:
This morning:
The kids on the time out tree stump
There’s a stump in the back yard that we joke is the perfect time-out spot. Of course we’ve never had to use it, but that’s still what we call it. Katie is finally big enough to get up there by herself so this happened.
The kids doing pysanky with Gramma Jean for the first time!
They’re a bit behind—I started at age 3! They were both excited to sit down and do it. Gramma gave them a quick lesson on how to hold the egg and kistka, but unfortunately both of them forgot and ended up grabbing the hot metal end…which is why you see tears on some of Katie’s close up pics. They both had fun and enjoyed doing two eggs—I was only going to watch but then couldn’t help myself and had to jump in and “do a quick egg” which of course turned into more time than I planned and I ended up sitting there finishing mine while the kids were done and outside playing. 🙂 (Note: The eggs are done but are still at Gramma’s house being varnished so the finished product photo will come later.)
Two kids and a dog
A walk with Grandpa
It’s deer season and 25° so he had to bundle up in orange.
Then and now with Uncle Jim
Playing in the snow with cousins!
Apparently shoveling is fun if you’re doing it with cousins and not because a parent asked you to do it.
We didn’t bring snow pants so jammies have to suffice. She didn’t care one bit.
Attack on the living room window!
Cousins Gabby and Robert!
Cousins on the Schwalm side
Everyone was gathered for Aunt Florence’s memorial—and it was the first time our kids met the Hough side of the Schwalm clan. They are lined up by age, with Katie being the youngest at 5 and Gabrielle the oldest at 14.
Then we took a selfie because we haven’t done so in awhile.
This is how they passed the time while sisters are at Hip Hop.Â
First Owen read his Lego book to Enzo and then this happened. Enzo is only four but Owen thoroughly enjoys playing with him.
Last rides before they get put away for the winter!
He did it as a baby and he still does it today.
This is how Owen dressed up to play in the house.Â
When Sparty plays…
Dancers with hats.Â
The kids have started wanting to watch music videos—and dance along with them. This was during a break in the action.
We felt bad about Owen not getting to trick or treat so we went to another city.
Owen missed trick-or-treating since he was at the MSU game…and I felt bad that he didn’t even get to wear his costume. So Tom and I agreed to go to a neighboring city to take them. It was freezing so it was a big deal.
We actually went to a fellow TCFers house to park.
Parenting is like death by a thousand cuts
Parenting is like death by a thousand cuts. #youarenotalone #itsnotjustyou
😑 We’ve told the kids literally 200 times that when you let Maggie out of her crate, you immediately let her outside. This morning, yet again, they didn’t.
😑 The same goes for putting the milk and cereal away after breakfast, yet it was still on the table this morning.
😑 Katie has “not lost” two (TWO!) pair of gloves this week. (She says she didn’t lose them but she doesn’t know where they are.)
😑 They have a chore chart to help them remember what they need to do in the morning and both of the above are on the list. They never look at the list.
😑 Owen managed to misplace his report card folder from the walk between the living room past his backpack (where we told him to put it) to his bedroom. It is nowhere this morning.
😑 We have told Owen at least 100 times that as soon as he does his required reading minutes to write them down (or else he doesn’t get credit for them). Yet again he didn’t write down the last two days so that’s 40 minutes I won’t give him credit for.
😑 Owen is supposed to show me his folder every day yet I only sometimes manage to see it the day he needs it signed, and even today he didn’t get that far.
😑 I am so tired of hearing “Why do I always have to [fill in the blank]?” the first time I ask them to do whatever.
Yeah, it’s been a long morning.
Makeup Galore
I had some old eyeshadows I was going to toss but decided to let Katie have them instead. And boy did she have fun. Owen even got into the game…
As you can see there is no such thing as moderation. Six layers later: “Mom, I’m part Anna and part cat!”
And then Sophia came down and got involved.
And daddy even for roped in.
