Boy Pictures!

Hello all!

I had a "stay home day", as Alex would call it, today. There's a TON of snow on the ground, and it's still going! We're already at a 10:00 start for tomorrow, with a strong possibility of no school tomorrow too!! (WHOO-HOO!!)

Tonight for supper we had potato soup, because it's about -3,824 outside and windy......and soup is always good when it's that cold outside. (Yes, a slight exaggeration). :)

Zach decided to give himself a facial and expidate the need for a bath and another load of laundry. I decided that this is a face only a mother and father could love...yes, you grandparents and other family members love him too, but this was really disgusting. Love is all this boy had going for him. If there was no love, Scooter would have had his way with him, and Zach would be even crankier. :)


Speaking of cranky Zach, the ears are officially "clear"....BUT.....the boy keeps deciding that he needs to push more and more teeth through. He has two molars partially through, but is working on more and more. So, he can be found "cranky" most of the time....but the tylenol seems to work very well, so that makes all of us happy. :)

And here's a shot of Mr. Alex......right before bedtime tonight. He and I took a picture together, as I wanted to show off my new haircut. This is as good as a 3-year-olds smile gets when it's asked of him. :)

Hopefully we'll post more soon - take care and love to you all! :)

Happy Birthday Weekend Part 2!

A quick apology - this post hasn't been published for a LONG time.....I am SOO sorry!!!

November 14-16 was the Frank side of the boys' birthdays. Dan and Sarah, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Frank, as well as Grandma Le and Grandpa Dave were all able to come out on Friday night. Jon, Gina, and their kids came out for the day on Saturday. We had a great time.

Alex decided that for this party, he wanted a Thomas cake. Surprise, surprise......He was downright giddy with the cake I walked into the house with.

Now doesn't this look like a boy who's just devastated by this cake?!?!

Then the party day came! Wow....I thought that our house was already packed with gifts and people....but we found a way to squeeze in a few more!! Here, Grandpa Dave hands out the gifts.

And then he explains to Alex how to work it.....

Then Zach is able to explore his new "God Loves Me" opposites puzzle book!

Then it was time to eat the delicious cake! Alex got a case of the "shyness" while singing, but quickly sprang out of it when it was time to blow out the candles!!

Like I said, we had a fabulous time. We love having family visit, but it's always so hard when they have to leave. We're blessed that we have all of our family within a day's drive - instead of across the country or world. We love ALL of you, and thank each and every one of you for playing such an important role in our lives.

Scooter!

I'm home with sick kiddos today, so figured I'd get a blog post done.

This past weekend, we finally decided to visit the animal rescue in Grand Island to see what kinds of dogs they had. We've been thinking about getting one for a few weeks now, ever since a puppy was offered to us a few weeks ago. After thinking about it quite a bit, we decided to go for a dog, rather than a puppy. So, we visited with the intention of not bringing one home on Saturday....but our hearts were won over - so we are now dog owners!!

His name is Scooter and they're guessing he's about 4 years old. He's a long-hair-daschund-mixed-with-something...they're not quite sure. He's 8 pounds, and just a cuddlebug! He's quite comfortable with me, and a little skiddish with Andy, but a champ with the boys. We practiced pulling his ears, tail, paws, poking at his nose and mouth all while we were at the shelter, and he never once snapped at us. The staff said that they, also, had not seen him snap at any of the other animals, so that was good. Since Saturday when we brought him home, he has not nipped at any of us....even with Zach smacking him in the head and Alex.....well.....being Alex. :)

Also, he has had NO accidents in the house!! God must've been leading us to this dog, because he's absolutely perfect for us! The first night he laid right down on his bed, and only gets up when Andy or I get up (to deal with the sick children).

So here are the pictures of our Scooter:

And now on to the sick kiddos.....

For the past week Zach has had a runny nose, but it was clear all of the time. Saturday morning when he woke up it was that gross green color for a couple of hours, but then went clear. SAme thing Sunday morning. Sunday night Zach began coughing and was very restless all night. Monday we called and made a doctor appt. When we got to the doctor's office his temp was 102.4......yikes! Once Dr. Dan came and looked him over, he decided that he had an ear infection topped off by some kind of virus in his lungs. SO, we are now on antibiotics for the ears, and have to give him nebulizer breathing treatments twice a day. Last night, after his first one, he sounded SOOO much better, and was great for a couple of hours after that. Unfortunately, through the night he got worse again, and could hardly breathe while laying down. Andy slept upright in the chair with him, and that seemed to help. This morning, Zach was just inconsolable and had his fever still (in the low 100's, so it's going down), and I don't want to take them to childcare while they have fevers....so we're at home! Then this morning, Alex woke up hacking just like Zach....so I am keeping a very close eye on him so he doesn't come down with the same crud.

On the plus side, I am getting a lot done around the house! :) I also think that Scooter likes being inside far more than in the garage. :)

OK - Zach needs a nap, so I had better close. Love to you all!

Added: Just ask Andy about his running story with Scooter after Scooter escaped our backyard under the gate.....Andy was ready to take him back, and we hadn't even had him for 3 hours yet! I'll let Andy tell the story, since it was his legs that did all of the running. :)

Happy Birthday Alex!

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY ALEXANDER JAMES!!!! Our big man turned 3 on Saturday - and we had a party this past weekend with our Colorado family. Andy's brother, Dallas, Andy's parents, Daryl and Annette, as well as Andy's Grandparents, Marge, Rose, and Rex were all able to come out. We had a great time and ate WAAAAAAY to much - but we were able to laugh some of it off because we had two great entertainers to watch!

Both of the boys were blessed with presents - here Alex is reading a book and Zach is playing with the cool bag he got. (There were gifts in the bag - but you know how it goes....)

Alex with his new "Mater" book.

The aftermath. (And my little Z standing up!!)

Grandpa Bowin setting up the new set of bowling pins for the 47, 322, 197th time.

The crowd watches as Alex perfects his bowling technique.

And now....on to the food! We had BBQ pulled pork roast, homemade mac 'n cheese, fruit and veggies, and chips. I think that everyone was stuffed. After awhile, we decided to break out the cake....

And Zach's "smash" cake...

Alex blowing out the candles...

Alex and Zach as we all sang to them. (Zach was undressed in anticipation of frosting.) :)

Zach and his birthday cupcake....

And Alex digging in to his soccer ball slice of cake.

After the cake and baths, the boys continued playing with all of their new toys. We found a new use for Zach's toy - and he actually enjoyed it!!!

It was funny because when we tried to pull him out, he'd get upset and try to climb back in. Silly guy!!

It was also Halloween, so after supper we got the boys into their costumes - - here's the shot of them all decked out!

Zach was a bee, Alex was a motorcycle racer.

And, now, we have a video for you. We played on the Wii while everyone was here, and Grandpa Bowin wanted to try the soccer ball game. (We posted a video of Alex playing this a while ago). Daryl didn't know we were video taping him - but when we watched it later, it was quite amusing! Also note that Alex is in the lower left-hand corner trying to move in the direction that Grandpa's supposed to go. Silly guy!

We'll have another birthday party in a couple of weeks with the Frank side of the family. For now, we're back to the workweek, playing with our new toys, and trying to catch up on sleep and energy from a very tiring weekend! We had a blast, and were thankful that everyone was able to make it out!

Happy Birthday Zach!

Wow! It seems hard to believe that it has been a year already, but here we are. Zach has been here for 365 days now, and it amazes you when you think about the changes he's made since this time last year.

What follows is a pictorial review of the past few days in our life, and at the end we will have the second of the new blog segment "Famous Mii of the Day".

Without further ado...here we go!

(almost...one more quick note...the pictures that follow are not chronological because blogger is being difficult)

Famous Mii of the Day: Urkel

Alex and Daddy, making cupcakes. You know, traditional father/son bonding time (hunting, fishing, playing catch, cupcake baking).

Alex, showing off his cupcakes.


Warning!!! The next series of pictures were intended to be viewed in chronological order, so if that is your desire as well, scroll down to the bottom and work your way up.



Zach, after the cake. My personal favorite part is the cake booger hanging out of his right nostril.

Katie and Dawson. Dawson is a member of the LBC - little boys club. And one of Alex's best friends.

Alex and Jake. The other two members of the LBC.

That is some good cake.

Zach and Alex checking out the cake.

Getting that first handful of cake. 'Cause the only thing better than a slice of cake is a handful of cake.

Zach, reaching for his very own cake. Alex, checking out mommy with the camera.

Julie, the boys' childcare provider, made Zach his very own cake.

The birthday boy.

Go shorty, its your birthday...we're gonna party like its your birthday.

Cupcake aftermath.

Cupcake aftermath 2.

Topless and covered in frosting...what a way to live my man.

Finally, a video of Zach enjoying his cupcakes.

Hope everyone has a great week. Safe travels to my family who is coming out from Colorado this weekend, and we hope to have more posts up to show off our big boys in the next few days.

Whatever...it's Your Post

First, a quick note about the title of this post. I asked Christine what she thought of my blog post title, and she didn't comment, but rather gave me a different post title. When I asked,
"you didn't like my title?" she responded with "Whatever...it's your post".

So take that, Christine.

Anyway, enough literary squabbling...sorry its been a while since we posted, but sometimes life happens between blog posts (I think I might write a book with that title - "Life Is What Happens Between Blog Posts", by Andy Bowin; forward by Peyton Manning).

Enough of the deragned ramblings of a sleepy father of two...enjoy the pictures and video that follow!

A big belly makes a good pillow for little boys (Notice my lack of glasses? I have been a contact lens man for 3 weeks now!)

Zach, as he prepares to drinketh from the bucket of toy cars. For whatever reason, he always seems surprised as his face gets assaulted by the falling cars.

Alex, after discovering the joys of a standard queen size pillow case.

Alex, as he tries to make his great escape from the pillow case.

Free at last!

Alex, wearing his ghost (or is it a misshapen marshmallow) Halloween costume.

Zach, snuggling with Alex's pillowcase.

Nothing says sophistication like a naked baby eating mac and cheese without silverware. Classy Zach, real classy.

Alex, just a playin' with trains.

The other day while Wii Bowling, I noticed this famous individual in the bowling alley...someone out there (not me) has real issues. And a Wii with wireless internet access.

And finally, he moment we have all been waiting for!

That's right...Zach has been walking off and on for about a week now. He does a little better everyday!

I hope you all enjoyed. Have a great week!