Christmas at the Owens Home

We had a really great Christmas this year. Of course a lot of it had to do with family. We were really poor this year, and our Christmas present for Emma was going to be a bear from Build-A-Bear Workshop. They had a lot of bears that were only ten dollars. We went on Christmas Eve, and told her we had a surprise for her. Well just going to the mall is an exciting thing for Emma, but she just about had a heart attack when she got to pick out a bear. She immediatly picked up a dog, but we asked her if she wanted a bear or a dog, and she said dog. I think we asked her about 10 times if she was sure she wanted a dog. She stuck with it, and she named it Princess. It was such a neat experience to have, and Brooks enjoyed himself as well. He loved the machine that has all the batting in it. Overall, it was a blast, and Princess has not left Emma's side since. Here are some pictures.







After we finished with Build-A-Bear, we headed over to a friends house for dinner, dessert, and adult conversation. It was fun being with friends and eating fudge and pie. When we came home, we put out milk and cookies for Santa. Emma watched a cartoon earlier that day, and they left out chocolate milk for Santa. She instantly clung to that idea, so we had to make some chocolate milk for Santa. Pretty much all of the presents that Emma and Brooks got were from family. I am so lucky to have such a great family and In-laws. I don't know where we would be without them in our lives. So thank you everyone who has helped out. Here are some pictures of Christmas morning.







All of the presents have been a hit, and we had a great day. Now, onto packing and moving to a new apartment.

December Happenings

This is going to be a really long post. Hopefully you will enjoy it. December has been a busy month. We have been looking for a place to live, getting in Cam's grad school applications, Christmas, and Cam having to move locations with his job. Whew! We are ready to move on into a new year. This past year has been a really difficult one for us. A lot of changes, and most of them haven't been enjoyable. Things are looking up for us in this new year, and I can't wait to get started.

Well first off, we did decide on an apartment. We went with Apartment number 1 in my previous post. Unfortunately the images are no longer there, because he took the listing off. I will take some pics though and show ya next week some time. We are moving in on January 1st.

I checked out a book from the library that had fun craft ideas. We decided to do a couple of them due to the fact that we couldn't go outside due to illness and cold weather. Here are some pics.





Here are some pictures of Emma going to see Santa. We went to the mall, and Emma was trying to talk to Santa, but he did not seem interested. It stinks that he has to be like "Hi, sit on my lap, take picture, see ya kid." Emma didn't seem to notice, so I can let it slide this year. Notice the super cute outfit courtesy of my sister Nicole.

Who Loves The Midwest?

I have been reading the book "American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld. There is a portion of the book that describes her love of the Midwest. I just thought that I would share it with you.

"But to think of Wisconsin specifically or the Midwest as a whole as anything other than beautiful is to ignore the extraordinary power of the land. The lushness of the grass and trees in August, the roll of the hills (far less of the Midwest is flat than outsiders seem to imagine), that rich smell of soil, the evening sunlight over a field of wheat, or the crickets chirping at dusk on a residential street: All of it, it has always made me feel at peace. There is room to breathe, there is a realness of place. The seasons are extreme, but they pass and return, pass and return, and the world seems far steadier than it does from the vantage point of a coastal city.

Certainly picturesque towns can be found in New England or California or the Pacific Northwest, but I can't shake the sense that they're too picturesque. On the East Coast, especially, these places-Princeton, New Jersey, say, or Farmington, Connecticut-seem to me aggressively quaint, unbecomingly smug, and even xenophobic, downright paranoid in their wariness of those who might somehow infringe upon the local charm. I suspect this wariness is tied to the high cost of real estate, the fear that there might not be enough space or money and what there is of both must be clung to and defended. The West Coast, I think, has a similar self-regard-all that talk of proximity to the ocean and the mountains-and a beauty that I can't help seeing as show-offy. But the Midwest: It is quietly lovely, not preening with the need to have its attributes remarked on. It is the place I am calmest and most myself."

So what do you Midwesterners think of this exerpt. I personally don't mind the show-offness of the West because I myself am a Westerner. I just loved the way she put things.

Sinter Klaus Day!

Sinter Klaus is the Dutch version of Christmas. My mom's mom is Dutch, and we have always celebrated this holiday. My mom rules at holidays! She always had a way to make them special. She is also big into decorations. I am glad for all of it, because I am excited to share them with my children as well. Thanks Mom! Basically you put your shoes out on the 5th of December, and Sinter Klaus comes with Black Pete and puts presents in your shoes. It was hard trying to explain to Emma about two Santas, but I really don't think she cared.

Brooks is a Climber

Well, my little boy loves to crawl into places he shouldn't be in. He also loves to crawl on top of things now too. Also here is a picture of the naked princess. Enjoy!

Apartments, Apartments, Who Wants an Apartment?

First off, many of you know that we are trying to find a new place to live. I had a random experience the other day when I went to go look at an apartment. I arrived in the parking lot, and when I went to get out of my car, I noticed a little boy about 4 sitting all by himself in a car. I was in looking at the apartment for about 25 minutes. When I cam out, I noticed that he was still just sitting there. I was just going to leave, but I just felt that I needed to do something. I opened the car door and asked him if he was okay. He then started to cry. He said something about his Daddy, and that he was sleeping in the car. I wasn't sure what to do, so I called my friend Emily, and she told me to call the police. I called, and they sent out a unit. Well by the time the police got there, it had been about and hour and a half and still no adult in sight to claim this little boy. They manager and maintenance men of the apartment complex, called around and tried to see if they could find a man with the name the little boy kept telling us. Well, we finally found out where he belonged. The police and maintenance knocked on the door, and a man finally came to the door. He told the police that the little boy was asleep, and he had just gotten off work and wanted to sleep as well, so he just left his son in the car and came up and fell asleep. What? You did what? Just take your son upstairs with you. How hard is that? I am so mad! Who knows how long that little boy was in that car. What annoyed me also was that the police just told him to not let it happen again. That's it? That's all the reprimand that he gets? No wonder people think that it is no big deal. Oh well, at least we found his Dad and no harm done. Hopefully he will think twice before doing it again.

Anyways, I can't tell you how many apartments I have looked at, but I finally think I have whittled down to three. Here are the links. Take a look, and vote for your favorite. Here we go.

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/apa/946872873.html

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/apa/953004228.html

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/apa/953050629.html

Let me know what you think.

Poison

My friend had this on his blog, and his turned out great! Mine, kind of so so. This was pretty fun. Read down to find out why I named my post Poison.

RULES:* Put Your iTunes, Windows Media Player, MP3 Player, or whatever on Shuffle.* For each question, press the next button to get your answer.* You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!* Put any comments in brackets after the song name.

1. If someone says, “Is this okay?” You say?
- "I Dare You To Move" [Switchfoot]
2. How would you describe yourself?
- "Blurry" [Puddle of Mud]
3. What do you like in a guy/girl?
- "Maestro" [Hans Zimmer]
4. How do you feel today?
- "Time of The Season" [Ben Taylor Band]
5. What is your life’s purpose?
- "Ice Box" [Omarion]
6. What is your motto?
- "Surf Song" [Fenix Tx]
7. What do your friends think of you?
- "Goodbye" [Spice Girls]
8. What do you think of your parents?
- "The Little Things" [Colbie Caliet]
9. What do you think about very often?
- "The Boys Of Summer" [The Ataris]
10. What is 2 + 2?
- "Decode" [Paramore]
11. What do you think of your best friend?
- "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" [Iron and Wine]
12. What do you think of the person you like?
- "Ellie (Cameron) My Love" [Inside Out]
13. What is your life story?
- "No Air" [Jordin Sparks]
14. What do you want to be when you grow up?
- "Beautiful" [Meshell Ndegeocello]
15. What do you think of when you see the person you like?
- "Inconsolable" [Backstreet Boys]
16. What will you dance to at your wedding?
- "Chasing Pavement" [Adele]
17. What will they play at your funeral?
- "Buy You A Drank" [T-Pain]
18. What is your hobby/interest?
- "Call Me When Your Sober" [Evenesance]
19. What is your biggest fear?
- "Wild Horses" [The Sundays]
20. What is your biggest secret?
- "I Need A Hero" [Frou Frou]
21. What do you think of your friends?
- "Lucky" [Jason Mraz]
22. What will you post this as?
- "Poison" [Bel Biv Devoe]

Posted by Cameron at 11:06 PM 2 comments

Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

I think I was the only one that didn't drag myself out of bed Black Friday and go shopping. I did it last year, and I don't think I will be doing it again anytime soon. Instead, I got to sleep in and we got ready to go have some fun as a family.

Cameron heard at his work that Santa comes in on a Helicopter and lands in the shopping center where he works. We thought that sounded like fun, so we went. He arrived on a News 5 copter, and he landed in right next to us. It was crazy windy, and Emma was one of the only children not frightened by it. Santa then got out with his Elf, and went around the crowd taking pictures and handing out candy canes. Emma had a really good time, and she wasn't afraid of Santa at all. Ya know, it is free events like this that make me happy that I live in St. Louis. There is just so many family friendly events around here.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy Turkey Day

Well I hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was pretty good. I tried to get Emma to watch a little of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but she wasn't interested. I remember they used to have a lot more balloons in the parade when I was growing up. Now it is all dancers and famous people.

Cam and I made our own Thanksgiving meal this year, and I was pretty much in the kitchen from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm. Whew! Things turned out well. My gravy was a little greasy, and the green bean casserole ended up being green bean soup, but the important things turned out well. Here is my turkey.



I also had to make the famous Owens rolls. I have made them a couple of times, and they are getting better, but just not quite the way they are supposed to be. Here is the story behind the rolls:




When Cameron's Grandma Lerue was living in Texas during World War II while her husband was stationed there. She was approached one day at the post office by a nice looking man who asked if she was a soldier's wife. When she said she was, he asked if she had a driver's license. She again said yes. Many women at that time didn't drive. He then asked if she was looking for work. Although she had a job she was curious to know what he had in mind. The man, a Mr. Connelly, was looking for a part-time caregiver for his invalid wife. Lerue began taking Mrs. Connelly out to lunch a few times a week in addition to other duties. Mrs. Connelly liked to go over the state line into Oklahoma to a special restaurant. One day Lerue asked to see the chef to compliment him on his wonderful Parkerhouse rolls. She then asked for the recipe, and that became the rolls that Cameron's Grandma was famous for.

After we ate, we were invited over to a friends house for pie. There were a couple of families there, and a lot of pie. Two pumpkin cheesecakes, 2 apple, a coconut cream, a chocolate, and I believe a pecan pie. It was all really good. I missed being near family, but we had great friends around and there isn't anything better than my husband and children.

Well, It Was Worth It!

TWILIGHT!!!!!

I was able to go to the movie on Saturday, and I loved it. You have to be able to go into this movie knowing that they are going to take some liberties, and take it for what it is. They do a good job of following the book, and I thought they did a great job with the casting. Here is my breakdown.

EDWARD: He surprised me. I wasn't sure I would like him, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I loved the color of his eyes, and the way they made him twinkle in the sun was cool. I think he needs to work on his acting when it comes to him being serious, but it was only a couple of times. I also hated his sunglasses in one scene. They looked like they belonged in the 1980's. Other than that, he did great.

BELLA: She did an AWESOME job! I think they could have played up the clumsy part a little bit more, and I think they could have dressed her up a little more for prom, but over all she did a great job.

JACOB: I will have to see. I just think they could have done a better job casting him. I know he is a little younger than Bella in the book, but he just seemed too young. Does that make sense? Anyways, he wasn't in there for too long so we will have to see when they make the next one.

EDWARDS FAMILY: They all did a super duper job! I loved everyone, and it was just a home run. Rosalie did a great job. A lot of people thought she could have been prettier, but come on she is gorgeous already. Carslille did such a good job. He just was so smooth and everything came across natural. Esme was just like I pictured her, as well as Jasper, Alice, and Emmett. Just overall it was great!

I know I haven't talked about some characters, but it would have taken too long. I want to go see it again. Like I said, it had its flaws, but if you go in knowing it will be a little different you will be happy. The books of course will always be better. Let me know what you thought.

Twilight Here I come!!!!!

I have become so excited for this movie!

I had to save a few pennies (okay a lot of pennies) but I got my ticket. A lot of us from the relief society are going. I read the book again, and I have even listened to the soundtrack in preperation for the movie. I was so excited to find this blog background from TCBOTB. Nothing says Thanksgiving like vampires right?

Hopefully you are all Twilight fans, and are going to the movie as well. Check out my movie bar on the right hand side, and take a look at the previews. I figure that my sister can be obsessed with New Kids On The Block, so why can't I be addicted to Twilight. LOL!

A Day in the Life

Punkins and Scary Costumes

We had a great Halloween. The weather in St. Louis was in the 70's! Emma was a little hopped up if you can't tell from the first picture.

The pumpkin in the middle I carved with the kids in Emma's Joy School, and the two on either end are the pumpkins I carved. It took my 5 hours to carve those puppies. I secretly love it, but I wish they would last a little longer than a day or two.

We let Emma eat as much candy as she wanted on Saturday, and she hasn't asked for any since. Hopefully she will be like my sisters. I was the candy freak in my family, and my sisters would still have Halloween candy at Christmas. Come on people, live a little. Unfortunatly I can't eat that much now if I want to not gain 500 million pounds. I hope that you all had a great Hallospookyween.

Happy Holidays I guess?

A Few Of My Favorite Things!

I just thought I would do this short post to tell you of a couple of things I have discovered that I love! First off, Honeycrisp apples. Yum! Yum! I can only afford like two because they are so expensive but worth it. They are crispy and sweet. Best apple I have ever had. 

Second, Softsoap soap in Pomegranate and Mango. Makes me want to wash my hands all the time. Not like I don't wash my hands, but you know what I mean. Buy it, try it, love it. Thanks for letting me rant.

Notice the Video Bar

I just want your eye to wander to the right of your screen. I have a video of Cam blowing out his candles, Emma telling a scary Halloween Story, and Brooks crawling. Enjoy!

One Year Older and Wiser?

Well, Cam celebrated his 31st birthday on the 23rd. I tried to make it a nice day for him. He played World of Warcraft all day.

Then we went to Applebee's for dinner, and then came home and had cake. His mom makes these wonderful coffee cakes, and Cam loves them so I thought I would make one for his birthday. My mother-in-law explained how to make it, but I think I need to work on my baking skills. It didn't quite turn out the way it was supposed to. The great thing was, is that they tasted great. I guess that is all that matters.

So hopefully he had a good day. Happy Birthday Sweetie! 

Party In The Patch

Last Saturday, we went to Party in the Patch. I was put on by the city, and it was so much fun. We started our jaunt through the park by receiving a Trick-or-Treat bag from the firefighters. From there, we went to a magical carousel that was magically transformed into a place where Emma was able to run like a crazed woman for about 5 minutes. We then ate a really nutritious meal of hot dogs and chips with the water downed wonderfulness of McDonald's orange drink. The hayride came, and we ate some popcorn while we saw the gravestones, pumpkins, and ghosts along the trail. We then came to a gigantic tent where they had games, face painting, and crafts. The night concluded topped off the night by searching for candy in a haunted graveyard. I think I had more fun than anyone. The great thing about it, was that they had some fires going and it had that crisp fall smell combined with fire smoke. My favorite!

A Fun Week

Happy Fall Everyone,

I just want to start by saying that I have hit my 100th post.  Crazy! I have almost had this blog for a year now. Thanks to everyone who has read whatever it is that I have to say. We had a really fun week. We got to go to the Botanical Gardens, and I was able to get in a couple of pics for ya.

Stupid Tag!

Okay, I have been tagged by my sister.  We just post 6 things about each other that most people won't know. Here goes.

1.  I LOVE, LOVE decorating for holidays. I decorate for Valentines Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and of course Christmas. I have three Rubbermaid bins full of Halloween stuff, and two bins of Christmas stuff. I love this time of year, because from October 1st until January 1st, it is unlimited decorating.

2. I think the Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) is HOT! I also love Dougray Scott, and Christian Bale. Oh, and I also think Cameron is fairly good looking. Love ya Babe!!!!

3. I am obsessed with shoes and accessories. If I had the money I would have tons of shoes and jewlery. The move "The Devil Wears Prada" is one of my favorite movies. I love Ann Hathaway's outfits in that movie.

4. I am a night owl. I don't mind mornings, but I hate the afternoons. I love it when the kids are asleep, and I know I have about twelve hours before they start buggin me again.

5. I am a sucker for guys who smell good. I love it when my husband wears cologne. Yummy! 

6. I wish that I was a workout guru. I always look at people running down the road, or in the gym, and I wish I was one of them. I just can't seem to get my lazy bum in shape. So for all of you who exercise religiously I bow down to you. Curse your toned bodies.

I am now supposed to tag people, but I am not going to. If you want to right six things about yourself, do and then let me know.

Punkin Patch!

On Friday afternoon, we went to a pumpkin patch in the area. It was a lot of fun, and we got some good pictures. They had animals to look at, a maze, a little haunted house, and a lot of other things. All Emma cared about was the playground, firetruck, and a little fort they had there. It was a fun time, and I am still waiting for the leaves to change. The weather has become great. It is a little brisk, and overall fun to be out in. How is the weather where your at?