Crowther Clan

Jesus Wants Me For A...

2010-01-04T17:18:00.000-05:00

SUNBEAM!! My youngest is a Sunbeam!! This year will be a first for many things, including: my youngest entering Primary, and my oldest leaving it. I really can't wrap my head around how fast time goes. So here is our cute little Sunbeam, who really didn't get what all the fuss was about. All she knew was that she didn't get to play with toys at church anymore. :-)

She kept raising her arms like they do in the Sunbeam song.

And this is her "CHEESE" face

Sledding take 2

2009-12-31T17:44:00.000-05:00

More fun pictures from sledding.

Tess kept making snow angels. So cute!

This sled was everyone's favorite. It was a gift from my sister Jacque and everyone faught over it.

My poor freezing parents. San Diego'ers don't adjust to the cold very well.

Ron used most of his energy pushing kids down the hill. They got going pretty fast.

At the end of our adventure, heading home. What a fun afternoon!

Sledding

2009-12-31T17:36:00.000-05:00

We braved the cold weather and went sledding today. The kids had a blast, especially Tess. She was in heaven. And I even passed the camera off to other people so I could be included in the memories.

My parents didn't travel with snow pants or boots so they stayed on the hard packed snow so they wouldn't freeze to death. The big joke is that my dads coat is good for -20 degree weather (he only wears it when he comes to visit us!!)

The only non fun thing about sledding is hiking back up the hill. But they were troopers.

Tyson was very cautious, but he had fun too.

Visitors, Finally!

2009-12-30T16:44:00.000-05:00

My parents are here! We are so excited to finally have some family here to visit us! They will be here for New Years and the weekend. The kids are super excited, and so am I. They are even willing to help us work on the house while they are here. And as awesome grandparents, they are going to babysit the kids so Ron and I can finally go on a date, YIPPIE!!

Christmas

2009-12-30T16:40:00.000-05:00

"This Christmas was AWESOME!", to quote my kids. And when your kids think it was awesome, and you didn't spend tons of money to make it awesome, then you did your job well. I was really bad about taking pictures this year. I usually get a shot of the tree with all the presents under, and the stockings, and Santas gifts - but no. So I'll have to tell you what Santa brought. Santa brought Tyson a new skateboard, which ironically he can't use until the snow thaws (April at the earliest). Zachary got the Bakugan Wii game (he's obsessed with Bakugan at the moment). Emma got a gift card for Build a Bear Workshop. And finally, Tess got a trampoline, which she calls her "bouncy, bouncy".

So here's the tree after some opening of presents. You get the general idea.

All the boys got this Nerf gun. There has already been many sneak attacks made between the boys and Ron. Ron got more extra amo than the boys. They still don't think its fair to have a shoot out with a trained soldier thats an "expert" shot, but tough for them!!

And we couldn't forget Hailey. She got a new soft bed, and lots of bones She was very happy.

I got some new pajama bottoms that are FINALLY long enough, a new silver chain, and the big present was a really nice speaker/docking station for my ipod. I love it! Ron only asked for the new book "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey and his software. But we also got him a new wallet, the workbook to go with the book and I framed a copy of the Declaration of Independence to go in his office. We spent all Christmas day alone as a family. It felt a little weird to not be with family or friends for a big dinner, but we still had fun. I turned out all the lights except for the Christmas tree and lit candles and we had a special dinner. Tess of course kept asking if she could make a wish with the candles. :-) It was a wonderful white Christmas, and I'm sad that it is our last in the North Country.

Mountain Man

2009-12-29T12:33:00.000-05:00

It was -15 degrees this morning with the wind chill, and Ron was outside snowblowing the neighborhood. He is such a tough mountain man!! And boy do I love it, because it means I don't have to!!!

Early present

2009-12-29T12:31:00.000-05:00

There was just a little bit of wrapping paper left on the roll, and Ron didn't want it to go to waste. So he wrapped an early present for the family.

It's Wonderful

2009-12-28T18:00:00.000-05:00

It's wonderful having Ron home. He has two weeks off for the Holidays and it is pure HEAVEN!! He still works on the house during the day, but has breakfast with us in the morning and stops working after dinner. I have changed since this last deployment, I've gotten: harder, meaner, less patient, and over all grumpy. Even when he came home it didn't go away, and now I know why. I needed him HOME with me. Having him in the house with us, and getting to spend time with him EVERYDAY makes a world of difference for me. I am feeling calmer, happier, content, and much more patient. Of course the patience thing might come from the fact that he is disciplining the kids more and I am letting him!! When people say that you shouldn't need anyone or anything to make yourself complete, I say thats CRAP!! I am proud to say I NEED my husband to help me feel whole, complete. So even though he is still busy, I am in heaven just getting to see his face all day long!

Poseing

2009-12-28T11:57:00.000-05:00

While we were waiting for Santa to arrive at our church Christmas party, Tess asked me to take her picture. Then she proceeded to make all those funny faces. The other day I also caught her making faces into a mirror. Its so fun to watch her discover all the things that she can do.

I'm so close!!

2009-12-27T19:13:00.000-05:00

I noticed on my post summary that I have done 92 posts this year, 93 including this one. So I decided it would be cool to do an even 100 for the year of 2009. So I'm going to shoot for it. There are still pictures to post from Christmas, and I may have to ramble a little bit, but I am going to do it!!

So don't be anoyed with all my posts this week - I promise that most will be good.

The Big Red Man

2009-12-27T19:10:00.000-05:00

The Big Red Jolly Man came to our church Christmas Party. The boys boycotted sitting on his lap this year - of their own choosing. They don't believe in him anymore, so they won't indulge mom and sit on his lap for the yearly picture anymore. So it was just the girls. This might be Emma's last year of "believing" and I am so glad she made it this long. Tess was completely enthrawled with Santa. She kept trying to cut in line and sit on his lap again and again. When he finally left, she came to me and said "Where did my Santa go?" She was very sad that he left her.

I think Tess has such a cute angelic face here. She never told Santa what she wanted, she just asked for "presents", which makes my job very easy!!

Gingerbread Houses

2009-12-26T11:56:00.000-05:00

Making Gingerbread Houses is a Christmas tradition. No, I do not take the time to make my own gingerbread, and we don't use graham crackers. I love to support the comercialism of the holidays by buying a lovely Wilton Gingerbread kit. This year, I found their village collection; 5 little houses instead of one big one. I thought this was brilliant, since we have 4 kids, they could each do their own, and I could have one all to myself!! So you get to be bored by the pictures of everyone's house, and there are actually pictures of me - Ron grabbed the camera to document that I am actually a member of the family. Don't I look so focused!! All the good candy was gone by the time I got to do mine, but it was still fun. And working on a tiny house is hard!! You have to be really careful with the icing!

My finished product. The kids voted that I had the prettiest walk way. Yeah me!

Tess' house. Of course I helped her, but she put the candies on and loved it!

Ron is the master architect. He scrapes all the sides to make them fit "perfectly" together.

Zach's house.

Emma's house

Tyson's house

Our little village. We didn't make the sleigh, that was a gift. Don't they look great!! It was definately a fun family evening.

A Crowther Afternoon

2009-12-21T17:06:00.000-05:00

Our afternoon... Well, I caught myself giggling about something this afternoon. I was in the kitchen baking sugar cookies, Ron was in the entry way using power tools to put up molding, and the kids were yelling and fighting over their computer games. It was a hilarious combination of activities that have made up this last year. I informed Ron of my epiphony and he agreed with me. So I quickly grabed the camera to document our funny afternoon. So here is our afternoon, in pictures.

Ron working INCREDIBLY hard to make our home beautiful.

Yes, those are power tools at the foot of my Christmas tree.

"Electronic" time is the coveted activity of the day. 30 minutes goes way to fast, so they have to HOVER and watch each other play.

Sugar cookie explosion. I had a small panic attack when I couldn't find my Christmas cookie cutters. Luckily I found 4, but it just won't be the same without my Santa and Angel cookies.

I had to take a picture of my sweater. I am a very messy baker. I really need to get in the habit of wearing an apron. And believe it or not, this is nothing compared to what it use to look like. This is me after trying to wipe off all the flour!!

And Tess with her HOT CHOCOLATE face, because whenever you are sad or grumpy, Hot Chocolate will fix anything!! It is our beverage of choice at the Crowther house.

What did you do this afternoon?

Decorating the tree

2009-12-20T17:01:00.000-05:00

We've started a new tradition at our house. We wait to buy and decorate our Christmas tree until after Tess' birthday on the 11th. I think this will help her feel special on her birthday and seperate the two special events. So on December 12th, up went the Christmas tree, and we had a fun night decorating. Another tradition is that I read the Symbols of Christmas story and we place ornaments on the tree that are the symbols of Christmas. These are the first ornaments on the tree. And then we let loose and have fun!

Zach is our resident character, and he had to pretend to be Santa. He is so crazy and fun!

Indoor Campout

2009-12-19T14:57:00.000-05:00

We never got to go camping this summer and we were all pretty bummed about it. So Ron finally caved to the kids request to have a campout; we had one inside!! If you can tell by the pictures, the tent pretty much takes up our whole front room. The kids had a total blast, and it once again proved that their Dad is the coolest!

Tess' Birthday Bash

2009-12-15T11:45:00.010-05:00

My baby turned 3!! I can't believe it. I literally had a HUGE flashback to the day that she was born. I can still remember almost every detail - and all the pain and after delivery FUN - but it was such an amazing day because I knew that when she got here my family would be complete - I would be complete. She has been my little angel, my special gift. I don't know what my life would be without her special spirit.

I LOVE THIS FACE!!

I made her all her favorite foods for her birthday. Pink Princess Pancakes for breakfast, and Chicken Nuggets and Mac n Cheese for dinner.

And I had to let her blow out candles at every opportunity. Its her favorite part!!

We just had one little friend over - Madeline - and she got Tess a Snow White Barbie. Tess loves it. It was one of the princess that we actually didn't have!
She had a hard time ripping the paper off her presents. I guess she hasn't had practice since last Christmas!

She loves Little Einsteins, so she got their figurines to play with.

And lots of dress up stuff courtesy of Grandma. In total she got a Dora movie, Dress up dress, jewelry, crown, feather boa, tutu, and Little Einstein figurines.

And of course, there was a Princess Birthday cake!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LITTLEST PRINCESS!!!

FINALLY!!!

2009-12-08T08:29:00.004-05:00

FINALLY:
1. We have the blessed, beautiful, white stuff! THE SNOW HAS ARRIVED!! Everyone is thrilled and excited, especially Tess. When I finally suck it up and let her play outside in it, I'll take some pictures.

2. Ron finally has orders. March (ish). Yes, I said, Marchish. They don't have a specific date yet, but they know it will be sometime around March. Gotta love the Army!!

3. We can make some concrete decisions as a family. We have been stewing about moving home for this deployment - for lots of reasons - but mostly for the extra support. Unfortunately, my mental and emotional banks are pretty much on empty and I'm a little concerned about how well I'll do alone on this next go around. So my crazy parents offered to let us move back to Cali and live with them, and we decided to take them up on it. We still haven't "officially" decided when the kids and I will move home, but we will probably move as soon as Ron leaves, so in Marchish time frame. So now, I am in crazy WE HAVE TO SELL OUR HOUSE AND MOVE IN 3 MONTHS mode. I may not survive.

There Are Signs

2009-12-01T21:45:00.004-05:00

There are finally signs that winter is coming. The biggest of which was our first snow flurries that appeared yesterday - yes I said our FIRST, snow has come late for us here. Yesterdays snow fall lasted 10 minutes, but last night we got a real "dusting". The dusting was so little that by 10am the snow had melted so I didn't even get a picture.

But there are other signs - like the Geese!! Yesterday, I went outside to get something from the garage and I heard this loud honking noise. I knew it was geese but it literally sounded like there should have been geese in my back yard, they were so loud. Then I looked up and the sky was FULL of geese, all flying south for the winter. It was so beautiful to see them flying in their V shapes and talking to eachother. This is one of the things I will really miss about living in New York. I love seeing Mother Nature at work.

And this is Miss Tess in her new hat and gloves. She saw her brothers and sister getting all geared up for their cold walk to school and she didn't want to be left out of the fun. So I finally let her put on her hat and gloves, and she was happy. She left them on for over 3 hours. She is so excited about the snow and Christmas coming soon. Its so cute that she is finally understanding all the fun holiday activites.

GRUMPY

2009-11-20T09:43:00.004-05:00

Today I am grumpy. I'm grumpy because I woke up at 6:30 to a crying 3 year old. I'm grumpy that after sleeping for 1 hour last night I was awake until 2 am. I'm grumpy at kids who can't seem to remember to flush the toilet or pick their underwear off the floor! I'm grumpy at kids who forget to feed their pets. I'm grumpy at kids who waste an entire bowl of cereal. I'm grumpy at teachers who only give me 2 days notice on projects. I'm grumpy at teachers who feel the need to call me repeatedly to tell me all of my daughters character flaws- like I didn't already know!! I'm grumpy with my tiny house that has no room for anything!! I'm grumpy at stupid computers that don't work right and their continuous updates and anti-virus junk ( I need a Mac). I'm grumpy at people who complain about me behind my back, but aren't willing to help me do the things they're complaining about - put up or shut up people!! I'm grumpy that I don't have time to do anything that I WANT to do. I'm grumpy that my son isn't getting his Faith in God because his mother is a flake and hasn't done anything to help him earn it. I'm grumpy at people who already have their Christmas shopping done - I've barely started!! I'm grumpy at my almost 3 year old for having NO interest in using the toilet!! I'm grumpy that I don't have anyone to vent to about being grumpy!!! So today, I am grumpy. And if any of you tell me to count my blessings I will be grumpy about that too!!!

Emotional ramblings

2009-11-16T17:02:00.004-05:00

Today I am so emotional, and I would love to blame it on hormones but who knows. I have been down on myself all day and really doubting my choices and my capabilities. A few weeks ago I felt so strong, so able to do what was asked of me. Its amazing how a few simple things can derail my self confidence. A few weeks ago I was also content in who I was, in my opinions, and my abilities. Again, today, not so sure. Why do I let others wear me down? Why do I let extemporaneous things effect how I feel about myself? Why do I let others make me feel like I should apologize for being me?

I wish so badly that I could always be strong, confident, and capable. I wish I could say "Stick It!" to those who try to bring me down, or who don't support me, or who criticize me behind my back. I am grateful for my friends and family who are honest with me and help support me. Its so hard to be criticized when all I'm trying to do is my best. I know you probably want to know what triggered all this, and its a bunch of inconsequential little things that just built up to today. I think the final one was someone at work today telling me that I was "too loud for this early in the morning", and I didn't even think I was speaking loudly. When he criticized me for something about myself that I can't change, it really bugged me. And that just opened the flood gates.

So, tonight, I'm a little down. I can't wait for my husband to come home so he can give me a hug and listen to me ramble on and on. And I have a fun evening of games and treats with my kids to help perk me up. But some days, like today, are not so great. I hope tomorrow is better.

State Fair

2009-11-12T11:10:00.001-05:00

One of my very favorite things in the whole wide world is going to the County or State Fair. I love them, I love them, I love them!! We had the New York State Fair here in Syracuse in September. It was the perfect thing to end our summer with. The kids had fun seeing all the animals and they loved riding the rides!!

Who doesn't love an adorable, clean baby calf!!

Tess loved every single animal!

These beautiful gray cows were enormous!! And I loved their beautiful color.

I made the boys take a picture in the bunny face too, but I kindly decided not to post those.

Talk about a double chin!! :-)

I really think these Chinese chickens were naturally these crazy colors. I couldn't believe it!! If I'm wrong, someone tell me, but I'm gullible enough to believe that God made them that way - why not?

They had an incubator where chicks were hatching and it was mesmerizing!! I could have stared at them for hours. I just kept routing for those poor little chicks to break out of their shells!

They had a few chicks that they let the kids hold. I'm a little concerned that the chicks never recovered, especially this little guy.

Tess was willing to ride anything that she was tall enough for. The other kids were not as fearless.

The slide seemed safe enough.

It took alot of talking to convince them that the swings would be fun. Eventually they went on, and I even got a turn. I love the swings - it feels like flying!

The ride that the kids were really looking forward to was the bumper cars. They rode them twice. Why don't they do bumper cars for adults? Oh wait, is that a demolition derby?

Oh, and of course we had to have yummy fair food!! We had popcorn, cotton candy, and ice cream. I wanted to sing the song from Charlottes Web "The fair, is a veritable smorgasbord, orgasbord, orgasbord, after the day is through...."

Peek a Boo

2009-11-10T10:52:00.000-05:00

Where's Tessa?

There she is!!

The Big 7

2009-11-05T10:57:00.000-05:00

Emma finally turned 7. I say finally because I have been saying she's 7 for several months now. So now its official. Emmas birthday was a 3 part event. On her actual birth day Ron and I were leaving for a weekend getaway, so we let her open a few presents in the morning. Then when we got back on Sunday, she got her birthday cake and the rest of her presents. Then the following Saturday she got her birthday party with friends. Saturday night at dinner Tyson said "Thank goodness Emma's birthday is FINALLY over!" And I felt the exact same way, Emma however did not. But she had a lot of fun and loved her birthday.

Emma wearing her birthday crown and her new rock and roll t-shirt.

Emma is currently obsessed with scarves so she got 3 new ones for her to enjoy and be "stylish" with.

Grandma made her a beautiful new quilt.

One of two birthday cakes. I didn't take a picture of the cake at her party because I cheated. It was a horse party so it was a horse cake. I didn't take the time to decorate it with the star tip and make it oh so beautiful. I frosted it with chocolate frosting and just outlined it with yellow. It turned out cute, but not up to my perfectionist standards - so - no picture. But they were both super yummy!!

All Hallows Eve

2009-11-01T14:14:00.007-05:00

Halloween day was rainy and windy, it was actually quite miserable. The kids prayed all day long that it would stop raining in time for trick or treating. Their prayers were answered and the rain stopped around 4. Ron thought it was funny that the kids were praying that they could celebrate a pagan holiday - but who cares - they had fun!!a> The kids kept changing their minds about what they wanted to be for Halloween. They basically ended up making their costumes from our dress-up collection, which suited me just fine. Tess was the only one wearing a hand-me-down costume. Emma was Belle when she was 3 too, and shockingly the dress was still in great condition. She couldn't wear the shoes that matched because it was too darn cold and there were too many puddles still. We basically put her dress on top of her clothes and added her cute Belle jacket, and she was ready to go! Tyson is a soldier (of course), Zach is a Ranger from his favorite series Rangers Apprentice and Emma is a cowgirl.

Can you tell how windy it was? It was crazy!!

We told the kids to keep Tess in the front of the pack because she was so darn cute that everyone would love her and they would give them extra candy. It worked too!!

I know this pic is a little blurry but I wanted to show how blustery of a night it was. I love that word - blustery - thanks Pooh!

Headed home. Tess' bucket got pretty heavy but she wouldn't let us help carry it. So Ron and I kept taking handfuls of candy out of her bucket and started shoving them into our pockets. She didn't seem to care about that, as long as she had her bucket.

I wanted to get a video of Tess saying Trick or Treat and thankyou. She was so cute about it, and I love her little voice. I ran home in front of everybody so they could knock on our door last and I could get this video of Tess.

Pumpkin Carving Fun

2009-10-30T10:35:00.005-04:00

Family Home Evening carving pumpkin night. So much fun!!! To quote Tess, "I love it, the punkins - I love it!!"
Daddy gets the job of carving out the lids and scooping out the gunk for the girls (and mommy :-)!

I love the, "I have to touch that?" face!!

Tess loved every minute of it!!

Here's Emma drawing out a picture of what face she wanted to carve on her pumpkin. In the end, she neeeded some help from mom, but it turned out great.

The mostly finished pumpkins (Ty ran out of time to finish his). L - R : Zach, Ty, Tess, Mom, and Emma. Daddy never does his own because he is too busy helping everyone or finishing peoples when they get too tired to finish their own!!! This year, he completely redid Zach's pumpkin, because Zach tried to "wing it" and it didn't turn out so good.

Zach's re-done pumpkin. Looks really cool!!

Mine - I love it!!

Emma's mean faced pumpkin. Are you scared?

Tess' cute face

Tyson's completed pumpkin. It looks cool!

We put up orange lights this year and I think it looks so cool!! Next year, we'll put up even more.