Winding down the school year...

Only 5 more days of school for the Bowen kids! The year has FLOWN by! We have loved every second of our new school and community. A few weeks ago, Quinn and I spent the ENTIRE day at school to watch Conor's and Riley's field days. I'm attaching some pictures from the day!

And in even bigger news... Riley lost her first tooth this morning. Conor is up to number 3 (which he just lost last week), so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take pictures of the kids this morning with holes in their smiles. Enjoy!

Baseball champions!!!!!!

Conor has loved baseball since he was old enough to throw a ball (maybe even before then)... we spent HOUR after HOUR pitching to him, playing catch with him, watching Indians game after Indians game... so after moving to Georgia, which is a whole different world from Ohio in terms of little league baseball, and two seasons of playing, Conor's team WON the championship game last night! Conor had a FANTASTIC game and they beat the other team 20-14, without even having to bat in the 6th (last inning for his league)! Poor Josh had to be in NYC the night of the big game so I got a sitter so I could watch and cheer and support Conor without chasing the other two around the entire time. We're so proud of our little slugger!

The race

Entry fee for Woodstock Kiwanis 5K: $24
New running shoes and gear: $200
Coming in first place for female racers and seeing my VERY SURPRISED, cheering, smiling children's faces as I crossed the finish line: Priceless

There truly are some things money can't buy!

Birthday

So today is my birthday - the big 34. :) It's been fantastic. The kids and Josh took me to Chili's for dinner last night. This morning, I got up and went for a long run outside before anyone else was up, and when I got home Josh and the big kids were up, the coffee was made, and there were a pile of birthday cards (Josh and Quinn's were store-bought and Conor and Riley's were sweet and home-made) waiting for me. My present is a spa pedicure and swedish massage at a spa in Hilton Head (only a couple weeks away now!)... well worth the wait! And we're going to see Duran Duran this Saturday at Chastain, which is my favorite place to see concerts here - it's outside, small, very cool atmosphere...

But before then, I'm running in a 5k... Saturday morning. I've been training for the Peachtree Road Race (10k) on July 4, so I spend 6 days a week running my you-know-what off and have been for months. The kids have seen me running daily, but they were shocked when I told them I was going to be in a race. Here was our conversation:

Me (telling Riley about our upcoming VERY busy Saturday): ... and mommy is running in her race that morning.

Riley (totally shocked look): What!?! You're running a race? Why? You aren't even fast. (hey!)

Riley (to Conor, who has just walked in the room): Did you know mom is running in a race?

Conor (not even looking at me): What? She is?.... (deep thought) Well she'll probably come in last or maybe second to last.

Seriously, I was rolling... my cheerleaders. Not.

Riley's book

Last night Riley decided to write a book. Here it is in its entirety. Please note the heroine.

"The Boy and his Sister" by Riley Bowen

There was one boy he had no friends he was so so sad and one day one other boy came up to him and said you a bully and that boy said back that the other boy was a bully and got in a fight. When the boy come home he told his sister and brother and mom. That night the boy said goodnight to the family he's sad they said but the family didn't listen at all. The next day the boy was sad and it wasn't good he told his sister. She took care of it. (instert from mom - that is my favorite line in the book) The next day the sister helped him he had lots of friends they were all glad and happy but the next day they moved but the friends were sad very sad. They got a new house the next day and lived happily ever after. The end.

A little difficult to follow because she needs an editor, but pretty impressive for a kindergartener. I pretty much love how the sister saves the day. I asked if it was a true story and she said no, she just used her imagination. :) I guess her fantasy is to rescue Conor from a bully... could be worse, I guess. At least she's not the bully.

Mother's Day

In our family, we have a habit of stretching out holidays. It all started with my mom's 28th birthday (okay, not quite 28 but since she's only 38 now, we'll go with that - wink wink)... Conor was only about 7 mos old and the two of us flew up to Columbus from Atlanta to celebrate - which became a weeklong celebration affectionately referred to as birthday week.

Birthday weeks have continued in our family. In fact, we're planning on celebrating my nephew Zach's 4th birthday almost 3 weeks after his "real" birthday, which means he gets birthday weeks this summer... why not!?!

So for me, mother's day was a whole weekend. It started with muffins with mom in Conor's class on Friday morning, then Riley proudly brought home a beautiful ceramic heart she painted at school and a card, Friday night Josh took the kids out to dinner and to Dick's to climb the climbing wall (as a side-note, both Conor and Riley climbed and did awesome and LOVED it!)... I went out with a girlfriend to an open house party and then for sushi/red wine. Perfect. Saturday we had a soccer game (Riley) and baseball game (Conor) and then went out to dinner. Sunday, Josh made a huge breakfast, I wore my new running gear (I got running tanks, shorts, socks, a visor) out for a long run by myself, and then we spent the afternoon just hanging out. Josh made shrimp, chicken, and beef skewers for dinner on the grill along with corn on the cob and goat cheese stuffed sweet peppers. Seriously, this weekend was heaven. I hope every mother's day becomes mother's day weekend. :)

And on a sappy note, we did "cheers" tonight at dinner in honor of mother's day, and I told the kids every day is mother's day for me. I couldn't be any luckier.

Muffins for Mom

Today Conor's class hosted "muffins for mom" in their classroom complete with breakfast, orange juice, presents, and songs. My favorite part was each child put together a "book" with pictures and poems and other cute things. Here are some excerpts:

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love My Mom:
8. I love my Mom when she makes me laugh by singing. (hey!)
3. I know my Mom is smart because she is older. (at least he didn't also add in "than dirt")

And here is part of his "My Mom is Special" page...

My Mom can do many things. I think she's best at making dinner (seriously people, we are all in trouble if this is the case - and when I mentioned that I was surprised at that, he said "well except when you burn my toast - see, told you). My mom is as pretty as a butterfly (big brownie points there). My mom is smart. She even knows times. (as in multiplication - I guess that's my invitation to mensa).

And my favorite was the "If I could give you any present, I'd give you..." to which he completed: lots of hugs and kisses everyday before school, because you are the best mom in the world because you are lovable, funny, and pretty, because you are out of this world mom. I will help you with Quinn on mother's day so you can take a break because I love you!!!!! from your son Conor.

I already got my gift. :)

Conversations with my children...

The past couple days have, for some reason, been filled with some quality conversations... take for example the one I had in the doctor's office with Conor yesterday...

Conor: Mom, will you be sad when I'm 13.
Me: No I won't be sad, I'll be happy to see what you are doing when you're13.
Conor: But I'll never be home. I'll be a teenager and in high school.
Me: Well... even when you are a teenager, you'll still be home a lot and you won't quite be in high school yet.
Conor: But when I'm in college, I won't be home. I'm going to buy my own house and you can visit.
Me: You probably won't be able to buy a house in college. How will you pay for it?
Conor: I'll do chores and you can give me the money to buy it.

GREAT!

Here's another. We had a babysitter last Friday. As we were driving the babysitter home (Conor and Riley came with me), it was about 9 and apparently the Eagle Watch park is a big meet-up spot for teenagers around here.

Conor: What are all those kids doing?
Me: Just hanging out.
Riley: Yep.... that's what teenagers do.

Riley knows it all... way too wise beyond her 6 years.

And finally... Quinn. Well I have no stories. One-word conversations aren't all that funny, but they sure are cute.