The Bowen Family!

Charlie's Birthday Pictures - Finally!

2008-02-12T16:44:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know that I'm over a month late in posting pictures from Charlie's birthday party. I know that I haven't been on this blog in weeks. I know that you all have been waiting patiently for updates. And yes, I'm sorry for the delay!

It probably all ties into my innate dislike for organizing photographs. I only have one family album, ya know -- I think that someone pushed the whole scrapbooking a little too hard on me and I've been scared for life. (ha!)

So for Charlie's birthday, we headed out to Medieval Times and took 2 of his most favorite friends, Matt and Will. The boys were terribly excited. We decorated the mini-van in graffiti on the windows and had light up "royalty" rings, glow in the dark necklaces and even had crowns for all of the boys to wear.

Note to all of you parents: This was a very wise move -- because once they "trap" you in the lobby of Medieval Times, they try to sell all of the "glow wear" at a pretty nice profit! So we were very thankful that a trip to the party supply store kept the boys very happy.

The dinner was served without utensils -- the boys loved it. The tournament was really pretty good and the actors used real swords that even set off some sparks when the metal clashed together. The best part was that our boys could be as loud as they wanted and blended right into the atmosphere. (Although I think Andrew and I both needed some Extra Strength Tylenol when it was all said and done).

It's hard to believe that Charlie is 8 years old. I have no idea how that happened. Seems like yesterday when the nurses laid him on my chest for the first time. He is growing into quite a remarkable young man. He is definitely not shy! He loves to make people laugh and has such a tender heart. I'm so thankful for my guy, Charlie!

Tyler lost his front tooth!

2007-12-29T18:47:00.000-08:00

We had a great day -- well, it was memorable, I guess....

At the gym, Tyler head butted with another kid so hard that he got a nose bleed and bruised up his nose pretty good. I'm certain it will turn colors over the next several days.

Outside of that incident, we thought it would be a pretty uneventful day. But this evening, Tyler conceded to allow Andrew to try and pull out his very loose tooth. Andrew attempted twice and on the second pull, the string broke away and got caught around the gum line and under the tooth (YUCK!). So, Andrew was somewhat forced to yank the tooth out.

It didn't take much effort, it pretty much fell out after Andrew tried to get the string freed from around the tooth.

Once the tooth came out, Charlie proclaimed Tyler to be a "Toothless Maniac"!

And both of them enjoyed showing off the various holes in their head for the camera! Have a great day!!

Christmas Morning!

2007-12-29T17:48:00.001-08:00

Isn't it amazing how parents get extra "leverage" with their kids at Christmas time?

Our family went to Christmas eve services with Andrew's parents and then all of us went to a lovely dinner at a new restaurant. We decided that the boys' behavior at the restaurant would determine how early they could get out of bed to open gifts. (They initially wanted to get out of bed at 3 am!!) So for good manners, they could shave 10 min. off of our start time of 7:00 am. Poor behaviors at the dinner gained them 10 min. :)

We were pleasantly surprised that both of the boys showed exemplary behavior at dinner -- and earned them getting to get out of bed at 6:30 am on Christmas morning.

And would you believe it....Charlie & Tyler woke up early (6:00 am) and STAYED in their rooms until we gave them the green light to come down to open gifts! I don't know how we pulled that off but we were very grateful for the few additional minutes of sleep. (Andrew had told the boys that they couldn't open gifts until Mom had a cup of coffee and Grandma had a cup of tea! And they willingly complied).

The boys were thrilled with all of their gifts! Even clothes and shoes made them scream in delight. We all had a great morning -- topped off with a big breakfast and then a great Turkey dinner that night. We are really grateful and blessed this year!

Enjoy the pictures.....

Isaiah 9:6 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Charlie's a Blue Belt!

2007-12-24T05:27:00.001-08:00

This past Saturday, we attended a graduation ceremony for Charlie's Karate class. The Karate studio that Charlie is a part of has so many students that they hold their graduation ceremonies at a Middle School Gym (and fill it completely!).

For this ceremony, the studio brought in a 10th degree black belt as a special guest who is a apart of the lineage of our studio. He was also the first American Martial Arts Champion. So that was pretty cool for the kids to meet someone who has dedicated their life to Karate.

The ceremony was filled with demonstrations and lots of belt presentations! All in all, we were there for over 2 hours and I'm guessing that we witnessed over 100 belt presentations (Andrew is guessing that it was over 200...!).

As a blue belt, Charlie will continue working on his Katas, forms, sparring (yes -- real sparring -- I can't watch it!), and now he will need to do verbal presentations to advance beyond blue belts. Our Karate studio believes in their students conquering fears -- including the fear of public speaking! So, at blue belt, they require all of the students to have to prepare and make a speech in front of their peers.

Tyler has chosen to take a break from Little Dragons Karate -- He is hopeful to start American Karate soon! So he was very supportive of Charlie's new ranking. He also found his reading buddy from school sitting close by! He couldn't resist to go sit by him and chat about the day!

We hop you are all having a great week and looking forward to a blessed Christmas!

2007-12-21T19:28:00.001-08:00

Bumper Cars

2007-12-21T19:07:00.000-08:00

No, not your traditional rubberized bumper cars --

"Bumper Cars" was the name of the piano piece that Charlie played for his first recital! He did such a fantastic job! He kept his composure the entire time and I was so proud of his focus.

One of the most challenging aspects of the recital is that the kids have to sit still (away from the parents) for the entire recital. Intially I thought that Charlie would be runing the isles or sitting on his feet or doin something to try to pass the time. But he sat their patiently - he didn't wiggle one time during the entire recital! (Now, Tyler was another story -- he wiggled the entire time and tried to add his own comentary to each performance!)

Grandma and Papa came out for the recital and we all enjoyed a great dinner at one of our local seafood restaurants. It was a great day for the Bowens -- and especially Charles who was very proud of his accomplishment!

Bah Humbug?

2007-12-21T18:41:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted.

I think I'm violating the unwritten "blogging" rules. I think that you have to update weekly (or more) or you loose the right to call yourself a blogger. I think I gladly give up the title!

So, let me catch those of you who aren't "in the immediate know" up on what's been going on with the Bowens. I have this theory that when God wants you to move and change, he gives you subtle hints -- hoping that you will use your free will to make the adjustments He wants for you to live out the calling on your life. When you ignore these subtle hints for too long, then He can wallop you upside the head and send you into such discomfort that you have to move. Standing still would just be too painful....

("What is she talking about!?" you are asking!)

Within a few weeks of being home from Disney World, Andrew was laid off from National Corporate Housing. I really think that it is a blessing in disguise because Andrew was wondering if God was calling him into another career that would have a greater purpose than just driving a bottom line. So, we've spent the last month trying to figure out what Andrew would really enjoying doing and trying to figure out where God is calling him to be.

And although we have a surreal peace about the circumstance, I would be lying if I didn't tell you that we've had ups and downs of stress, anger, frustration and disappointment in the company that Andrew has worked so tirelessly for during the past 3 years. We know it will all work out for the best in the end -- but I think you would have to be super human or heavily medicated not to be upset about being thrown into financial uncertainty during Christmas!

I think there has been half of me who wants to cancel Christmas altogether this year, and then there is half of me that is really appreciating the small things of the season. We've had some more time together as a family and that has been wonderful. My full time job at IBC has filled the gap for us during this time and we have amazing family who is very supportive as we get through this blimp on the radar. And when you are faced with adversity and have to walk through some of this very broken world, you appreciate the gift of Jesus all the more.

On a very positive note, I've graduated (FINALLY) from physical therapy and from my Orthopedic Specialist today! (YAHOO!) I still won't be 100% recovered for several more months but every day I have noticed improvement. I'm still amazed at how your body can be re-wired and still work!!

So there ya have it. Subsequent blogs will resume happy happy thoughts -- and fun pictures -- more fun pictures :)

Pictures from Disney World

2007-11-24T19:13:00.001-08:00

OK, so we've had a few days to recover from the trip :)

Here are some pictures from our time in Disney World. I think we were so busy enjoying the trip that we forgot to take as many pictures as last year. But I think you'll enjoy the captured moments just the same.

A week of Magical Moments

2007-11-17T19:38:00.000-08:00

Well, we aren't quite home yet. So I don't have pictures to upload just yet. But we've had an amazing week here in Orlando.

For the first few nights, I felt somewhat melancholy that the week was ticking away too quickly. With each fireworks show that ended our first magical days at Disney, I tried to freeze time in my mind to savor every minute with my family here. But something wonderful happens when you spend more than the 2 or 3 days here at Walt Disney World -- you begin to loose track of time! By Thursday, I honestly couldn't instantly recall what day of the week it was! How wonderful! I stopped feeling melancholy with each conclusion of the day, and just felt like I was living life and having a blast with my husband and kids.

Now, for you non-Disney peeps, you will probably not understand much of the lingo I'm about to share -- but if you ever decide to visit Disney World, PLEASE subscribe to tourguidemike.com and he will educate you on all things "Disney"!

Today, we were at the Magic Kingdom and had an amazing day. Let's see....we started the day at our family favorite ride of all time, Buzz Lightyear (3 times in a row with no line, I might add!). At the conclusion of ride #2, Tyler insisted that we ride it AGAIN and reluctantly, we all wandered back through the line. Thank goodness we did because the "dream team" was handing out "dream fast passes". SCORE!

Although the crowds were slightly larger at M.K. today, we eased in and out of all the rides -- never waiting more than 10-15 minutes for anything. People practically drooled over the dream fast passes that gained us quick access to all our favorite rides. So awesome!

After hitting all of our favorites, we then took a brief break -- the kids got to say "Driver you are clear" when we boarded the tram back to our parking spot (over a microphone -- so they were in heaven).

Upon re-entering the M.K., we sat in the driver's cabin of the Monorail -- now this was huge for us. Tyler & Charlie have become quite the Disney Pin Traders and Tyler has collected the entire hidden Mickey series of the Monorails (it's 8 Pins -- took him 2 years)....and only 4 people are allowed in the driver's car of the Monorail at any time. So the kids felt really special.

We then hit all of our favorite rides again -- culminating in (you guessed it) Buzz Lightyear -- where the whole family scored the max. possible and graduated into becoming "galactic heroes". We thought we couldn't possible top that ending to the day so we grabbed some good ole fashioned funnel cake and watched the fireworks show. We then road the Monorail in the pilot's car for our trip home -- what a day.

But here are just a few highlights of our Magical Moments during the week:
* Day 1 - Tyler WON a trivia contest at the Legos store and won a huge Legos set. Tyler & Dad helped build bricks that constructed a huge R2D2 model at the store.
* Day 2 - Both boys became "Padawans" by graduating through the Jedi Training program and MGM. (very big deal to both of them). Dinner at our favorite hibachis grill in Japan :)
* Day 3 - First day of Magic Kingdom -- the boys were selected to ride Barnstormer with Goofy & Pluto...and then escort them into their post for autographs. And they also got to ride the teacups with Alice and the Mad Hatter. I lost my purse on Thunder Mtn but luckily it was turned in and I got it back all in tack!
* Day 4 - Both boys got to interact and talk to Crush (turtle from Finding Nemo).
* Day 5 - Pirate Cruise, Swimming and Tyler & Charlie each completing a pin collection in the evening.
* Day 6 - Both Boys fell in love with Expedition Everest.
* Day 7 - What ya just read about above!

I know we'll be tired -- but a good tired -- when we finally get home tomorrow. But it's been a great week. We've got so much to be thankful for this year -- I'll be uploading pictures soon... And Andrew wants me to blog about "finding the hole" when you are walking in crowds. He's crazy! But evidently, I'm really good at it :)

Until next time......

Halloween Festivities

2007-10-31T18:42:00.001-07:00

Halloween always sneaks up on me. For 2 years now, we've forgone the whole Pumpkin carving craze and just propped out our "light up" craft pumpkin... Hey, it works. At least this year I can somewhat blame my wrist for the lack of decor.

But the kids have a ball every year -- whether we are the most or least decorated house on the block. They don't care. They don't even care about how much candy they collect -- For them, it's all about the TRADE.

After they trick or treat, they dump out all of their candy on our table and start trading each other. It's the cutest thing you've ever seen. They'll go on forever trying to make the best trades. Charlie doesn't like chocolate so much -- Tyler, well...he loves anything containing sugar. So Charlie typically trades out most of his chocolate -- and Tyler is happy to help out.

They were Ninjas this year -- courtesy of my mom who has made quite the tradition out of providing them their costumes. She started out sewing them when they were babes but then quickly realized that you can buy some really cool costumes for a fraction of the cost of making them!

Oh, and it was Andrew's birthday too! We love that his Birthday is on Halloween -- but sadly with young boys, it can often take a back seat to the crazy festivities of the day. Daddy got to kick off the day by opening presents and then when he went out to his car, he realized that I had written graffiti "Happy Birthday" all over his windows. :) It's hard to surprise him these days but I think that caught him off guard and got a smile!

All in all, October has been a GREAT month! Tyler turned 6, Mom and Gary came to visit, Andrew turned 35 -- and a new job for Joy. Whew. We need a vacation -- oh yeah, that comes in NOVEMBER! Yippee!

Tyler's 6th Birthday!!!!

2007-10-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

Can you believe Tyler is 6 years old?

And he is so wise! (that stinker!)

We told him he could choose between his very expensive bday gift request (a Nintendo DS) or have an official birthday party. He didn't hesitate in his decision -- he wanted the D.S. Ok then!

So we went out for an official family-only birthday dinner celebration at a local hibachi grill (YUM!). Tyler CHOSE this place. (yes, over Chuck E. Cheese!) The boys have found a new love for hibachi grills. And quite frankly, so have we! The boys are very entertained by the cooking and we wind up having a great meal! After our dinner out, we had a small family gift opening ceremony. My mom even made him his own homemade cake which he loved!

On his actual birthday, we surprised him by taking him to the Rainforest Cafe with a neighborhood friend. He then got to play a ton of huge video games at Sega Gameworks. All in all, since his birthday was on a weeknight, he celebrated a little bit over the course of 3 days and so he was well spoiled.

Hard to believe my baby is 6 years old. Thank God for Tyler -- I'm so lucky to have TWO awesome boys!

Basket Ball Shoot Out

2007-10-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

So I realize I'm not the best blogger. Add it to my list of things to improve on! Seriously! Don't worry, I've been giving myself a crazy guilt trip for not updating it more often but with the start of a new full time job, the blog has been moved to the bottom of the list!

Nonetheless, I've been taking pictures with the good intentions of someday, updating all who care to know about what has been going on with us in Texas!

So recently my mom and Gary came out to Texas for a whirlwind visit -- jam packed with tons of activities. One of which was the Basketball shoot out that Charlie insisted on participating in. I was so proud of him for giving it his all. All of the kids had to shoot on a 10 ft basketball hoop (crazy high!) and Charlie never gave up despite the many air balls that ensued.

He won honorary mention (at least in my book) and got a bottle of vitamins for his participation. Which normally, Charlie loves vitamins -- seriously, he asks for them all the time. But when he realized these weren't the best tasting vitamins, he promptly turned a little sour on the whole competition.

Oh well, better luck next time!

Baseball Days!

2007-10-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

I've missed so many baseball games this season! Whether it's been my hand that's been the reason for my absences or something else that has pulled me away, I have missed a majority of the season.

We are down to some of the final games and now we are running into scheduling conflicts where Charlie & Tyler are playing at separate fields at the same time! That makes coaching extra difficult for Coach Andrew!

So today, I went to root for the 6U Angels team while Andrew coached the 8U team. (This is one of Fozzy's favorite past times as well. He gets so much attention!) Tyler had a great at bat where he knocked the ball into the outfield! And I seized the opportunity to take some pictures! (Which you all know I'm horrible at that!)

Highlighted is someone who I am very thankful for, Amy Allen. She is our team mom and has brought an enthusiasm to the team that is bar none! She is a servant, through and through. And I really don't think we would be surviving the "coaching two teams" thing without her. She is a true girlfriend! You know, the kind who you don't even have to ask anything of them -- they just find ways to make your life brighter! (Love ya girl!)

My Helping Hand

2007-10-09T20:15:00.001-07:00

Yes, I need a helping hand these days since my right hand doesn't work so well! So it was perfect timing that Charlie's class had asked for some pictures of the kids helping around the house so that they could be used to reinforce their "helping hands" segment!

So here are a couple pictures of my big helper, Charlie.

I've had a lot of help lately (thank you to all of you know whos) -- it's quite humbling.... And really, Charlie has been helping out so much over the past several weeks too! Soon, I'll have him doing all the laundry too! (HA!)

An Amazing Honor

2007-10-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm resurfacing to tell the tale of an amazing honor. One of the 6th graders in our youth worship ministry (Shout Out) asked if I would baptize her! Sweet Christina Owens is now heading into her 3rd year of worship ministry at Irving Bible Church. I know it sounds purely too sappy to be true, but really it has been a joy to see her grow in her faith during her time serving the Lord.

She is not only incredibly talented, but has developed such a humble spirit and a huge desire to follow Jesus. Her smile lights up the room -- and she is a daughter of the King of Kings! You can only imagine the chill bumps I got when I found out that I was able to baptize her! What a high privilege!

Now, I've never baptized anyone before so in case you are wondering, I was completely more nervous about all of it than Christina! I thought for sure I would come down with some disease that would make me say inappropriate things or just forget what I was supposed to do. I mean, can you have momentary Turrets Syndrome symptoms? Let's see, take the Microphone, put it on my head (with my crazy brace), don't trip, help her into the water, speak clearly so that everyone can hear, don't poke her in the back with my crazy brace, help her get back up out of the water, walk out of the baptismal -- oh wait, hand the microphone to Pastor Andy, don't loose the crock shoe off your foot as your exit.... It's a lot to think about, PEOPLE!!

Couple that with that it's a memorable day for all, the cameras are flashing, the video is magnifying your face to 100x it's normal size -- whew!

All in all, Christina and I did it together. Which is really a beautiful way to get baptized! We were both excited, nervous and joyful. And I was so proud of her -- and so humbled to be a part of such a grand day.

"What is this Feeling?"

2007-09-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Have any of you seen WICKED? It's my all time favorite musical these days! I've listened to the soundtrack countless times -- in my car. I'm certain that I've entertained hundreds of drivers in Flower Mound as I sing along to the soundtrack. You know, in my head, I'm totally playing both parts!

Our Women's Bible Study at IBC focused on ENVY this week, To drive home the concept that envy taken into overdrive really leads to loathing the person you are jealous of, they asked my dear friend Jennifer and I to sing one of the songs from WICKED, "What is this feeling?" It was my breakout role! The dream of a lifetime! To sing a Kristin Chenoweth song! Seriously, I was super excited for it! ;-)

As you can tell, we tried to dress like polar opposites -- and people had to draw their own conclusions from our somewhat modified song, but the idea was that she was all brains, I was all....blonde.

We did 2 performances (bible study meets 2x -- there's a Monday night group and a Tuesday morning group), had a wonderful time, and learned a whole lot about envy.

Proverbs 14:30 "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones."

My Reality

2007-09-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

"What?!"

Questions and statements I hear on a daily basis nowadays:

"What on earth is that THING on your arm"
"Is that attached to you?"
"How long do you have to be in that thing?"
"What does that thing do?"
"What happened?!"
"Uh, your arm don't look like it's doing so good!"
"Does it hurt?!"
"Bless your heart!" (That can be Texan for "You are so stupid" sometimes, so you gotta take tone cues from how it's delivered...)
OK!!!!!! This is my brace. I hate it -- loathe it -- want to strangle the person who first thought of it. (If only I could wrap my thumb around his neck!!!) It could serve as a good coat rack....but sadly, it's my new torture chamber.
I have freedom from it in the shower...and when I do Physical Therapy (PT) on my wrist.
It is a pulley system. My thumb (that was operated on) pulls down on the string and then the tension gently lifts my thumb back to neutral. Or at least that is the theory. I keep having this nightmare of a thought that so much time is going to go by before I actually get to test whether the surgery fixed the issue or not, and that it won't work normally and then what?!
But I'm working on the trusting thing....
Seriously is this not the most obnoxious thing ever?!

Laura's Shower!

2007-09-25T18:19:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday was Laura's baby shower! Her due date is October 31st (same as Andrew's birthday!)!! She and Brian don't know whether it's a girl or boy but I'm betting it's a boy!

Now, y'all know what happened the last time I tried to host a baby shower....(I broke my wrist and ruptured a tendon -- that led to surgery, yada yada!) and so my fabulous friends, Cara & Kristi, took charge and created a fabulous event at Kristi's house! Kristi -- you are incredibly gifted at making others feel incredibly loved! Cara, your amazing craft-sakes (they are unique keep sakes -- blessing tins or blessing books, she does picture frames that are out of this world!) are a reflection of your beautiful, creative heart! We had fun!

Memories of my first pregnancy overwhelmed me. That indescribable feeling of life moving from deep within....the nervousness of not knowing how you are going to care for this new life....the immense gratitude of all your friends bearing gifts for a child not yet born.....

I think someone needs to write a book for all first time moms titled, "Don't worry, I didn't know what to do either". And it should have all the things in it that you have to learn by trial and error. And would someone officially put a commercial or something out there that would educate us all on the miracle anti gas drops, Mylecon?!?! Good grief! I had a screaming child every night for two weeks until my true girlfriend, Angie, told my about Mylecon. As soon as one drop touched the very lips of Charlie -- he would stop crying and fall peacefully to sleep!

Of course, Mylecon isn't the "cure all" for all things baby. But it's a useful tool to have in your toolbox! But the best tool of all is your girlfriends -- all of them! Moms, sisters, friends with kids, friends without kids.....anyone who can listen and go through LIFE with you!

And I had a fabulous time with some of my favorite girlfriends! Laura, you are going to be one fabulous mom!

Room Rep, Physical Therapy?! and a helium balloon

2007-09-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

Yup, life keeps getting more strange by the second.

I'm surfacing from my post op haze -- only to be boldly confronted with the fact that life carries on whether your snoozing the days away or living it to the fullest!

I've agreed to be room rep for Tyler's Kindergarten class -- I love his teacher, I don't have any more kiddos at home to keep me from running last minute errands, and I plan to use the "delegation" tactic to get it all done! (Ha!) But today was rep meeting day...bright and early at 8:30 am! I was confronted with more details about my new volunteer post and immediately tried not to panic as I frantically tried to write notes with my left hand. Tyler's kindergarten handwriting looks better than my left handed chicken scratch. Feelings of gross inadequacy swept over me. How will I get it all done?? One handed?

Off to work and then Physical Therapy...or torture therapy. They took off my surgical dressings and custom fit a brace to my hand -- and then commanded me to exercise the thumb that has just been operated on just this past Thursday. I can't even begin to describe the immense pain that follows moving that thumb right now. I know it will get easier with each week but the uphill climb is a little daunting.

Flowers arrived later this evening and attached was a lovely "get well soon" helium balloon. Fozzy, was so scared at the sight of it that he literally had an accident. How could he be so frightened of something so benign? Why was I frightened of a few class parties and physical therapy? All of these things are harmless enough -- and I have the greatest advantage over Fozzy. I know where my help comes from. He shows me his tender care for my every need in my loving husband, family, friends, co-workers. He gives me mercy in some great pain meds (ha!). He feeds my soul in quiet study time in His word.

"The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song." Psalm 28:7

It's a great thing I love to sing! ;-) Thank you to all of you who have brought meals (and continue to do so...), prayed, and have sent well wishes our way -- we are overwhelmed by the love shown by each of you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get my hiking boots on, I've got a hill to climb....

We can rebuild her!!

2007-09-13T16:17:00.000-07:00

Andrew here for the first time on the Bowen blog. Why you may ask? Because Joy is not going to be able to type for a while. As most know by now, Joy had surgery this afternoon to repair the tendon she ruptered a little over a month ago (read below about the broken arm....evidently there was more to it than just a buckle fracture).

Short story is this, they were not able to repair the existing tendon as the injury is now too old and the muscle that is attached to the ruptured tendon has regressed too much. The alternative to a simple repair is a tendon transfer. Basically, the Dr. severed one of the two tendons that control the index finger, slid it over and attached it to the thumb. From what he indicated, the proceedure was pretty much textbook and he really could not have asked for a better result at this stage (short of being able to just sew back together the actual ruptured tendon).

Joy is doing well but very drugged up. The overall procedure was about an hour and resulted in 3 incisions. She is now on bed rest and is to keep the thumb immobilized for the next 48 hours. She will see a PT on Monday to switch from the surgical splint to a more permanent splint. From there, the fun begins with 2 - 3 PT sessions a week as Joy attempts to retrain her brain (think about it..... 1/2 the muscles you use to point your index finger at someone she will now use to give a thumbs up).

Your well wishes and prayers are very much appreciated and I want to take the opportunity to say 'Thank you' now for all of the meals, carpooling, etc. that have already been arranged. I also want to say how amazing Joy did through this. I knowit is/was a big concern of hers but she pulled through with amazing strength. At some point I am sure she is going to read this to see if I have made a complete spectacle of our family so with that in mind...

I love you Joy. Get better soon but in the meantime, relax and let some other people handle things for a while.

Karate Lessons, Sick Cat & Surgery?

2007-09-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

What a somewhat stinky day!

Let's back up -- yesterday, I had my first physical therapy session for my wrist. And low and behold, the therapist and I noticed that I couldn't do a "thumbs up" on my right hand. I cannot hyper extend the thumb up -- it's like the last digit just doesn't move. It doesn't really hurt either....but it won't do what my brain tells it to do. She immediately called the Ortho specialist and they wanted to see me in the morning.

Forward to today -- The Dr. told me that I have most likely ruptured a tendon in my thumb. It is a time sensitive issue because if he can repair it within a reasonable amount of time of the rupture, there is a greater chance that he can repair the affected tendon. Otherwise, if too much time has gone by, then he takes a tendon from my index finger and puts it into my thumb. (yuck) So my options are (a) have surgery or (b) live with limited use of my thumb.

So, I go in for surgery tomorrow at about 2 pm. Recovery = 6-8 weeks in some type of brace followed by physical therapy. Did you know they hook electrodes up to you in P.T.?! They did that to my arm and it made my fingers move all on their own - -wild!

The kids headed to Karate today (the picture is one from a few months back but you'll forgive my forgetfulness in taking the camera!). At least it was a bright spot in my day! :-) Charlie learned two new kicks and got a star for demonstrating them the best out of the class out of those who just learned them! That's cool!

Then we went back home to find our cat, Jester, isn't feeling well! (sigh) and so he's going to the vet and I'm going to the hand specialist tomorrow. Sorry this is brief but now I need to get things done before I'm 'out' of commission for a few days. I'll have Andrew update the blog tomorrow after the surgery so y'all can read about how loopy I was! Love to all!

Psalm 54:4 "Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me." (boy did I need that verse today!)

Lost Teeth & Freed Arm

2007-09-07T13:53:00.001-07:00

It's never a dull day for the Bowen Family! I should have known that it would be an eventful day when Fozzy kicked the day off by getting sick (he seems to be ok now!).

I did get to have some wonderful "me" time today -- some gals in the neighborhood are going through a Beth Moore study called "Living Beyond Yourself". It was lovely to get to spend some time over coffee with such fabulous ladies.

Today Charlie lost a tooth at school. Oh, did I forget to mention he lost one yesterday too?! Yup! Two teeth gone in two days! The tooth fairy is going to need to take out a loan. So Charlie's smile is changing again! Everyday he looks older and older. I know that's an obvious fact that your child will look older with each day -- but especially now that he has his hair longer (his choice) and all these big teeth in his mouth -- sometimes I just can't believe how quickly he is morphing into a preteen. Well, he'll get there soon enough!

I also was released from my cast today! I had this crazy notion that once the cast came off, I'd be able to drive straight to the gym and catch up on some weight training. Boy, was I wrong! I still have a hemotoma in the wrist that hasn't resolved, very limited mobility (my fingers seem the least affected!) and did I mention it HURTS to try and stretch the wrist out? The mere weight of my seatbelt took the wrist beyond the comfort flexibility zone today and sent me into a migraine. The dr. assured me that it would feel much better 5 days from now -- I don't believe her right now. The pictures show the hemotoma -- my wrist is very swollen still. Who knew? Kids always seem to bounce back after their cast experiences -- I'm beginning to have a "reality age check".

Well, we're off to Karate this evening and then we're off to get together with friends. I'm exhausted from the week --! Hope y'all are enjoying the pictures!

2007-09-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

Oh, the many faces of FOZZY! (Whacka, Whacka, Whacka!)

Some of you may not know of our latest addition to the family! Fozzy is now almost 10 months old and weighs nearly 70 lbs! (YIKES!) He is a Goldendoodle. He is very rambunctious! He will eat anything and his favorite destruction activity is finding any mail or paper and tearing it to shreds. I've actually had to use the excuse, "I'm sorry, but my dog ate that" to teachers.

He loves to go to school pick up to get the boys. He is quite an attraction to all the kids at school. He's gigantic and so some kids don't know what to make of him -- but then he looks like a poodle more than anything so they usually flock to him and lavish lots of love on him (of which he can't get enough of!).

He's a part of the "designer breed" dogs -- and I love him! He DOES NOT SHED!!! (yipee!) And I think that once he mellows out of his puppyhood, he will be a fabulous dog! Since I've already confessed about being a horrible photojournalist, I'm trying to redeem myself by showing you some of Fozzy's stages. From the day we got him home, to a recent photo of Fozzy & Charlie!

Why the name Fozzy? Well, I'm glad you asked! While we were at Disneyworld last November, we knew that we were adopting from a litter of pups in January -- so we were deep in thought as a family to try and decide on a name. We were in the Muppets 3D theater when Fozzybear appeared on the screen -- it was a match. Don't you think there's a slight resemblance?

For more information on Goldendoodles, visit our breeder at: http://www.timshellfarm.com/contact_us.html

2007-09-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.samandskyewalkers.com/

Check out Sam (age 5) and Skye (age 8)! They are trying to raise money for the Juvenille Diabetes Research Foundation!

Skye's mom, Jade, is a friend of mine -- and we all attend Irving Bible Church. Would you please take a moment to read about their struggle with juvenile diabetes and if you feel that you can help them in their attempts to raise funds for the JDRF Walk, there is a link on their website.

Juvenile diabetes runs in our family (my side -- my brother, Jim and my grandmother, Helen). And the boys have participated in a research study (they had their blood drawn for the study and did so well! no tears!) I'm sure all of you are affected by it by someone you know or someone in your family. These sweet kids want to make a difference -- let's help them.

Many of you may know of MercyMe & Wisdom Works....if you've been touched by either their music or ministry (or even if you haven't!), please take the time to read their website.
Thanks everyone! (Good luck Sam & Sky!)

SECOND Day of School!

2007-09-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm a blogger -- Maybe I haven't earned that title yet. Let's call me a blogger in training. I never thought this day would come. But I'm hoping this redeems my lack of mailing pictures, phone calling, scrapbooking...see a trend? I'm horrible at documenting my family's life! So something's gotta change! We'll see if this method of journaling our lives is a fad.....or fabulous!

SO, It's BACK to SCHOOL time!

We can't believe that both of the boys are now in school... It just doesn't seem possible! Tyler was so excited for the start of Kindergarten -- he could barely sleep at night the week before his first day. Evidently Andrew & I were anxious too because we forgot to take pictures of their First day at school. So it has now become our tradition to take photos on the 2nd day! (I think we've actually had to do that for the past 2 years now!)

We all (yes ALL -- me, Andrew & the boys) rode our bikes to the school on the first day. You wouldn't believe how many parents walk their kids in for the first day of school! You would swear there was a parade about to come down the street with the flock of people. I think Texas should just declare the 1st day of school as a state holiday! ;-)

Tyler has the same Kindergarten teacher that Charlie had -- Miss Rampy. Their class is affectionately called "the dog pound". She's wonderful. I'm attempting to be "room mom" this year for Tyler's Kinder class (stress!?). Charlie has an awesome teacher too -- her name is Ms. Lepard (and yes, her room is decoarted like a jungle!) He now has science & social studies as a part of his weekly routine -- and he loves it.

Parents fall into two categories when they put their precious little ones in school -- you are either a "Yahoo" parent (that means you are HAPPY that the kids are finally in school) or a "Boohoo" parent (yup, you guessed it, that means you are SAD). So I was definitely a YAHOO mom and my sweet friend, Stephanie Richardson, was a Boohoo mom. So for the 1st day of school festivities, we treated ourselves to a lovely breakfast together and then went to the local gym for a HUGE treat -- a massage. It passed the time and we balanced each other out very nicely.

I will say, my YAHOO has mellowed over the past week -- the house becomes very quiet when all are away! I still have my p/t job to keep me busy -- but those days when I'm not working are killing me! (althought parts of my house seem much cleaner!) So I'm sure future blogs will follow on how in the world I will keep myself from going crazy!

Love to all -- let's keep our fingers crossed that I can keep this blog up and current!!!