Blue & Gold

I can't believe this is Gavin's last Blue & Gold Banquet! Greg was a bit excited that this would be the last one we would have to go to until I reminded him that Enoch would one day be a Cub Scout too. They aren't that bad and the kids love it. In our ward, the boys and their dads make cakes for dessert. This years theme was American ABCs. Gavin is obsessed with bundt cakes (where that came from I do not know) and so he came up with an idea using a chocolate bundt cake. He made a cake version of Mount Redoubt (the erupting volcano in Alaska). It turned out great and I didn't do a thing. Actually, since Greg was busy taking care of us sicklies, Gavin did all the work. It looked cute and was delicious.

Since most of us were sick, only Gavin and I went this year. We had a picnic style dinner on blankets with hot dogs, chips and homemade rootbeer. It was a lot of fun. The Webelos did the skit and it was very funny, if a little irreverent (but we are at Scouts!).

We have such amazing Scout leaders in our ward and it is a joy to work with them. They make my life much easier and Gavin's life a lot of fun. Thanks to our great leaders!

Kate's Birthday

By now, we are on Feb 19, Kate's birthday. I can't believe my Kate is one! She is an amazing girl and we are so lucky to have her in our family. As you can see, she was also measured and is growing well.




We let her open a present from Mom and Dad and she loved being able to open it herself while sitting in the birthday chair (although we had to keep telling her brothers to back away).

She got a felt purse with some coins, phone, compact and keys. She loves to take everything out and put it back. She has had a lot of fun with it.














The day before Aunt Julie brought over some things that she had cleaned out of Cami's room. Kate now has a Little People doll house and a kitchen. Gavin thinks we are being overrun by girl toys. I love it! Since we are all sick right now, that was the extent of celebration of Kate's birthday. Gavin and I went to Blue & Gold that night and Kate stayed home and played with Dad and Enoch.

Enoch's Friend Party

This year, Enoch had his first friend birthday party and he was so excited. I didn't make a huge deal out of it because I knew that a bunch of 3 and 4-year-old boys wouldn't be much into organized games.
We opened presents,

decorated sugar cookies
and just let the boys play. Gavin led them in a game of hide-and-seek and they liked that for about 10 minutes. They mostly had fun playing with Enoch's new toys and eating cookies.

I bought these cute boxes in November. I knew that if I waited until his birthday to find stuff, everything would be pink and hearts. Enoch loves the penguins (he still calls them a mix between penguins and pumpkins and then laughs at himself). Each boy had his own box with his initial and a helium balloon tied to the box (I've discovered that helium balloons are the best way to entertain kids). The kids decorated their cookies with blue and white frosting and lots of green, blue, orange and white sprinkles. I know that the boys didn't care if it was colored cordinated, but they looked cute and it wasn't pink! It was a great time.

Fowler Family Party

When I found out that Kate was due only one week after Enoch's birthday, I already was worrying. How was I going to make each birthday special without driving me and our extended family nuts with all the parties. Luckily for me, this year Kate could care less about her birthday and I was able to focus mostly on Enoch. However, we still had and are having lots of parties.
On Enoch's birthday (Feb 12), we started the day with our family tradition of measuring the birthday child on our family growth chart. Enoch has truly grown this year. The kids love to see how much they have grown and have contests between each other (sorry, guys, I think Kate will win 'the most grown' award this year!).

Fowler Family Party

Being mean parents, we made Enoch wait until that night to open his presents. He was able to take punch balloons to his preschool classmates earlier in the week to celebrate his birthday, so that helped eleviate some of the birthday anticipation. He was very excited for his birthday and kept telling everyone he saw that he was four now. It was very cute. That night we had tuna casserole, peas and apples (Enoch's choice) for dinner. After that, we invited the Fowler family over for cake and ice cream and presents. We had a hot fudge chocolate cake and it was very yummy and easy for mom.
Enoch received some very fun presents. His favorites were his huge Tonka truck (Grandpa & Grandma Fowler), his Lego castle (Mom & Dad), and his Leap Frog alaphabet toy (Gavin & Kate). What a lucky boy.

We also celebrated Kate's birthday that night with the Fowlers. Aunt Julie defied Greg and got Kate a baby doll - and she loves it. It is a little Cabbage Patch Kids Fairy doll. We named her Rose. Gavin and Greg wanted to name her Mrs. Nesbitt from Toy Story, but I strongly objected. I suggested Aurora because we had just watched Sleeping Beauty a few nights before (and I love that name, it was on my list for Kate's names). Greg argued that Kate wouldn't be able to say Aurora, but that Sleeping Beauty was also called Rose, so we named her that. Kate is so cute with her. We say to her, "Go find Rose," and she will search the house until she finds her. She gives her hugs and carries her around by her hair, but she loves her. Rose was definetely Kate's favorite gift.

Enoch Jon Fowler is Four!

Today, my sweet Enoch turned four. I can't believe it. He has been an absolute joy in my life for the past four years and I'm so incredibly blessed to have his sweet spirit with me. I hoped, wished, prayed for Enoch for five years before getting pregnant. I often wonder why it took so long. I'd like to believe it was because heaven just couldn't let him go. Enoch is my everything.

Ten things I love about Enoch:

1. His smile - when people talk about smiling with your eyes, I never fully understood that until Enoch was born. He smiles with every part of his body.
2. His logic - I usually don't understand it, but I love to hear him explain things.
3. His enthusiasm - Enoch is constantly in motion, constantly talking, constantly learning; he does everything with excitement.
4. His happiness - His favorite phrase is, "I'm so happy...". The other day he told me he was so happy I had bought pretzels. He is happy about everything. He is easy to please.
5. His friendliness - Everyone is a friend. He is not afraid of strangers (scary, I know) and is willing to talk to whomever will listen.
6. His desire to choose the right - Every time we pray he asks Greg or me if he was good (as he tries very hard to be reverent during prayers), he loves to hear stories about Jesus, tries hard to be good in Primary and is always asking questions about making good choices so he can live in heaven again.
7. His love for his family - Enoch is the most essential part of our family's happiness. He is the one who tries to smooth over disagreements, always asking me if I'm happy and then giving me a big smile to make me feel better. He is a great brother. He loves to play with Gavin and Kate. The other day I secretly stood outside of Kate's room and watched them play together. Enoch was 'reading' Kate a book while she sat on his lap. He would let her turn the pages and point out different things in the pictures. He was being so patient with her. At the end of the book he gave Kate a huge hug and said, "Kate, I love you. You are so adorable!".
8. His intelligence - Enoch is my thinker. He has so much common sense and is able to think through any problem. He is so creative in his reasoning. I always tell Enoch, "good thinking" and give him a thumbs up when he comes up with a solution. Now, he is telling me the same thing. It is so cute and rewarding. His mind is amazing. He can't get enough information and is always asking questions (you know the kind, the ones I have no idea of the answer!).
9. His curiosity - Enoch is nothing if not curious. He loves to learn and explore. He is not afraid of new things. He'll try new foods, meet new people, learn new talents and love every minute of it. He is not afraid to explore and learn about his environment and surroundings. He loves the outdoors because there is so much to learn and see. He is definitely willing to get dirty to satisfy his curiosity.
10. He is my son and I couldn't ask for a better one!

I can do hard things!

I can do hard things! That has been my motto for the last week. After years of trying, I finally got up enough courage to conquer two of my biggest phobias - water and swimming suits. This past week I took swimming lessons with my good friend, Winnie Miller. We decided if we did it together, it might not be so bad. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I got.
My first fear was swimming suit shopping and then wearing it in public. I know, for most people, it's not so bad. For me, I think I have built it up in my mind for so long that it really was a huge fear. I'm pretty sure I bought the most modest swimming suit I could find. In fact, I discovered it was too modest with too much fabric which created drag and was hard to swim in. If anyone knows how to alter swimming suits, let me know!
My second fear is water. I do okay in swimming pools, but I cannot, cannot, cannot go into open water. I've never had a bad experience in a lake or ocean, so I guessing I was just born with this unexplainable fear of water. Having said that, I still really don't like pools. If I don't have to put my face in the water, I do okay, but I knew that if I really want to swim, I needed to get over that phobia. It was difficult, but I kept telling myself that I can do hard things.
I wasn't expecting to play motor boat or blow bubbles in class, but I wasn't expecting to swim laps with side breathing the first class either. Our teacher pushed us pretty hard. We got a great work-out every night (lessons were from 9-10pm). I'm still building up my lung capacity and my strokes need improving, but I can see a remarkable difference in just one week. Now, I just need to do my side breathing and actual breath in air and not water. Yikes, I sucked in a bunch of water this past week. But, I'm getting better and I am determined to keep improving. I am quite proud of myself and I'm actually starting to enjoy it even though I am sore in places I didn't even know existed! Wish me luck!
PS - no pictures of me swimming; you will have to get your chuckles somewhere else today.

Total Bragging!

I know that is post is just complete, unabashed bragging about my incredible son, but I really wanted to remember this, so after much deliberation, I decided to post it. Gavin has always been my smarty pants. He gets it from Greg. Things seem to come so easily to him and it is a challenge to keep him interested because he picks up on things so quickly. Gavin was reading on a fourth grade level at the beginning of first grade. His favorite TV show is NOVA on PBS. For fun he does science experiments. I'm thinking this is not typical, but neither is Gavin. I swear, the kid was born being 35.
This week, at parent teacher conference, we found out that Gavin did very well on his Iowa Standardized Testing. I usually don't put much stock into standardized testing, but I was still very happy with his scores. He scored in the 90th percentile or higher nationally in science, reading, social science and his overall score. We tease him that his math score wasn't that high (Gavin really doesn't like math). I am so proud of him! But, even better, Gavin is a very well-rounded boy. He loves to learn, he loves the outdoors, he is a great brother and friend, he sincerely tries to choose the right. He is an amazing person. I love you, Gavin.