Winter Walk on the Bosque

Grandma suggested a walk around the new bosque trail on New Year's Eve. The kids had great fun. Both girls took lots of pictures, and everyone enjoyed finding feathers. We didn't see much wildlife except for a few birds. It really was a nice sunny day!

Meme visits Roswell

These photos are actually from summer 2011. Meme came through Roswell on a road trip with her sister and niece and nephew-in-law. Of course we couldn't miss a chance to see her, so we went to Roswell for the weekend.

While we were there, Jack had his teeth cleaned for the first time. Papa had counted and checked his teeth before but this was his first real cleaning. All good!

While we were there, AnneMarie suddenly decided she likes lettuce after all. I think it had something to do with Sydney liking it. This really hasn't held true, however ... she is back to avoiding lettuce as much as possible.

Jack and I had a date at Starbucks. He is such a goofy boy! His drink is the white hot chocolate.

Jack's 6th Birthday Party!

This was over 6 weeks ago, but better late than never, right? Jack had a Lego party this year ... NO GIRLS allowed. AnneMarie hung out at Grandma's while his friends came over. I should have taken more pictures! At Jack's request, there were no planned activities, they just played with toys (mostly legos!). He got many wonderful gifts, including an 8 foot long Hot Wheels track which has been a huge hit. From us he got a special Lego table, which all the kids have enjoyed.

Jack's friends Benedict, Matthew, Toby, The Birthday Boy, Eli, Ranne, Jordy & Ben.

I ordered this invite design off etsy and had them printed like a photo at Walgreens. SO easy and cost about $7 total.

Home Improvements

We have recently done several home improvements. These photos show our new cinder block fence, on the east side of the house. Maybe someday we will do the south and west sides as well! But that it not planned for the imediate future.
We also had six new double-pane windows installed in the great room. These have been great at keeping that part of the house warmer at night. Also, the two outermost windows open, so the swamp cooler should run more efficiently this summer. We hope to have the upper windows replaced in the near future as well. We also replaced some blinds. Most of the house had fairly good faux-wood blinds, but the ones on the back door were cheap plastic. They now match the rest of the house.
Also in the last year we have added a second swamp cooler, and my dad refinished the front door. We get a lot of comments on how great the brick red and sage green door looks. The door had pet damage from the previous owner but replacing it was not in the budget. A coat of paint and some new hardware made all the difference!
Right now we are in the midst of a room renovation - converting our balloon-themed guest room into AnneMarie's frog-themed bedroom. So far we have replaced the door (old one had a hole in it), and replaced the light fixture with a ceiling fan/light combo. We also bought a captain's bed off of Craigslist. My dad has been SO helpful in all of this. Next step is painting the ceiling and walls and replacing the baseboard heater. Pictures to come soon, I hope!

Learning to Play Chess

Both kids have recently taken up chess. Jack seems especially interested. We are primarily using a game/book system called Once A Pawn a Time to teach him. There is also a good app for iPhone called Dinosaur Chess, both kids enjoy playing that. They have even tried playing against each other, although that has been more frustrating than fun, I think. So far they are sticking with the game even though it is difficult, I hope it teaches them patience (among other things).

We got a Kitten!

We have a new member of the family ... meet Buddy! He is our new kitten, about 10 weeks old. We got him off Craigslist. The kids have been asking for a kitten forever, Nathan finally told them that if they read a book about kittens from the library, they could get one. They finished the book just in time for a 5 day weekend (conferences + President's Day). The timing just seemed right!

A boy and his kitten ... too funny!

As we had hoped, the kitten seems to love Jack. This is a blessing because Molly prefers AnneMarie and always sleeps in her bed. Until the kitten came along, that is ... Molly cannot stand to be near Buddy just yet. She hisses and makes disturbing noises in her throat. We are hoping she warms up to him soon.

A cat in the lap is the perfect accessory for everyone!

Buddy is very playful! He also sleeps a lot. He came already litterbox trained, bonus!

The Nutcracker Ballet

We had a great girls night out to see the Nutcracker Ballet! We went out to a nice (although rushed) dinner, and then to the ballet at the KiMo Theater down on Central. It was a lot of fun!

We were happily surprised to see our friends Rebekah & Bella Harris at the theater on their own mother daughter date! They look so festive in their red and green holiday dresses.

The girls did well. Eight is a little young to sit through a ballet, but they made it with only a little yawning!

Bowles Family Christmas 2011

We had a great family party hosted by Kelly again this year. This year's attempt at the family group photo left a little to be desired! But it was an awesome night with way too much good food and a lot of fun times.