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