Owen Turns 4

Happy 4th Birthday to Owen!  Owen asked every day in November and December about when his birthday was coming.  He was definitely more excited for his birthday than Christmas, and I'm happy he gets his fill of birthday excitement even with it so close to the holidays.

His special day was on Sunday, and we cooked him breakfast, surprised him with balloons, and had him open one gift--remote control cars!  He begged for batteries and immediately drove them around with Zac and Kate.  He loved his "Birthday Boy" badge and showed it proudly to his friends and aunties and uncles.  They sang to him and gave him a bag of treats in primary.  He came home delighted with all the attention and ready to open presents.

His favorite gifts were his Mac loading truck, a new car, and a hot wheels track.

The best moment of gift opening was seeing him chuck the clothes on the ground the minute he opened them.  Kate tried to convince him they were exciting but he was having none of it.

Owen asked Brady to read the posters to him, filled with words that describe him: fast, funny, loud, cute, huggable, snuggler, loves his blanket, loves his cars, rides bikes, catches balls, runs from lava water, good friend, helpful, fruit monster, Cookie Monster, veggie lover, and jumps high.

He asked if his friends the Stebbins, Ivy, and Uncle Mic and Heidi could come over for cake and ice cream.  They all came, showing up with love and filling our house with laughter.

Blue cake...surprisingly delicious, but ironic.  It is ocean cake and fish sprinkles and I will point out that there is nothing listed above about Owen liking the ocean.  (He picked the cake.)

So much love from this group to our little man:

The next morning, he came downstairs to my room, put up his slippered foot and said, "I'm 4 now and Kate's slippers fit me."

The big surprise came a few days later, when his bike showed up.  We expected to buy him a bike when he turned five but after Kate received her gear bike at Christmas, he begged for a bike non-stop.  We returned his other gifts and plunged for the bike, guessing that he was capable of riding without training wheels after his practice on the balance bike.  He saw the neighbor boy riding with training wheels and cried for them, but Brady convinced him to ride without them, and BINGO, off he went like a pro.  He can't start himself up, but he can ride around and around the neighborhood with no problem.  It is wild to watch such a little guy tearing it up on a bike.  Congrats, Owen!

Owen is so tender-hearted.  He gets his heart set on seeing friends, going camping, picking shows, and reading books.  He loves preschool but never initially wants to go.  He assumes all of Zac's and Kate's friends are his friends.  He keeps up with older kids, dresses up for Kate's soccer practices, but still loves to sit on the kitchen counter whenever we are cooking, munching on lettuce and broccoli.  He climbs shelves in the pantry to sneak chocolate chips, will do anything for a lollipop, and eats an entire apple without a second thought.  He does not think the "no eating outside of the kitchen" rule applies to him.  He talks about ramping and catching fish.  He loves his brother and sister, and bawls for whichever parent is gone at night.  He is intense but also so gentle and so easy.  It just depends on how much sleep he's had.

We love you, Owen.  So, so much.

Mele Kalikimaka 2019

100 candy canes into December, it was finally Christmas Eve...

We had unusually gusty, rainy weather just before Christmas.  When we pulled in to see Santa row to shore, I immediately told our friends at the beach there was no way Santa would be out in the rips and waves.  The kids accepted this and we almost all took off, but my friend Dave was at the beach and learned his festive paddling crew would in fact be making it to shore.  Sure enough, we turned around 4 minutes later and saw the canoe.  I called Sonia who was in the parking lot and everyone I could reach, and he was there two heartbeats later.  Way to be, Santa!  I guess if you can make it through chimneys, you can make it through ugly wind swell.

Ruby, Lizzie, Penelope, and Katers:

Owen, who is also 100 lollipops into December.

Santa was having none of it when parents told their kids, "Only one piece!"  He handed them handfuls.

"Mom, I need a picture next to this huge turtle."

Owen with Kobi and Lexi.

We played at the park for an hour, then braved the wind at Sheratons.  Zachary was bummed not to have his regular gang show up, but did find some friends to do tricks with.  When Brady made it to the beach, we all ate lunch together and Zac and I surfed.  As normal, we waited until the very last possible minute to come home and prepare for the Christmas Eve party at our house.

Lasagne dinner for Christmas Eve to make Mom Edwards proud.  We played funny charades games, acted out the Nativity, and for the first time, incorporated a "Pass the Present" game.  We wrapped up a game, covered it in earth-friendly saran wrap with money and candy, and passed it around.  Somehow, Nic ended up getting money three times...  Hahaha!  Definitely a tradition we will keep around.  I am on the hunt for a new food tradition or just a better lasagne recipe, since mushroom and spinach lasagne has been everyone's least favorite food of the season the last few years.

Is it sacrilegious to watch football and the Nativity at the same time???  I hate TVs in living rooms.  

After everyone left, we opened up our final Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa Edwards--peanut clusters--as well as the present from Janece.  Kate asked weeks ago if we could make crepes on Christmas morning, and Janece sent us a crepe maker.

...Then, lights flashed wildly across the sky, throughout our house, and it was completely dark.  The generator blew for our area.  The kids were jumpy and nervous, so we took the Christmas lights from their bikes and lit up their room.  Zac even joined Kate and Owen for a sleepover.  It was eerie and also exciting.

It was also exciting that Santa got to do the present drop completely in the DARK.  I'm sure he had a headlamp or something because that sounds tricky.

Brady had the ingenious idea to get our camping LED lights out that morning before the kids came down.  Those lights from the Millers and Varneys saved Christmas morning.

We tried this picture four times and this was our best shot.

Owen said, "Santa couldn't come, Santa couldn't come," and was happy to discover he was wrong.

Power ended up being out for 12 hours, coming on at 9am--just in time for crepes.  Also, when the power is out, you don't realize your face is super shiny from moisturizer the night before, but you're willing to post the picture anyway as a "proof of Mom" pic.

Nic bought us a creepy camera.

I love that she is wearing her new dress and her new jacket opened five minutes before.

Earrings for her sensitive ears.  To date, I've worn them 3Xs more than she has.

Wet suit for cold pools!

Zachary bought this car for Owen, and Owen found it earlier in the month.  There were so many tears when I hid it and he asked me when he was going to get his car from Zac several times a day.  He was so happy to get the car finally on Christmas.

Kate's ballet clothes from March are already too tight!

Mom Nufer made family history matching cards.

Ryan wins for most thoughtful: he commissioned a drawing of Brady's home growing up.

Grandma and Grandpa Edwards gave the kids personalized dessert glasses--to dip cookies in or serve ice cream.  Brady and his brothers all had their own glasses they ate from for treat time.

The power came on after we opened the very last present which was perfect timing for crepes!

Kate wasted no time jumping on her bike.  I wondered if Santa overshot her abilities with a 24" bike, but she had zero problems with the size.

After Brady and I both slept a couple hours and went to the gym, and the kids built out their legos and played with toys, we headed to Sheratons again to swim in the dirty Sheraton water.  There was an island wide water safety notice from the heavy rainfall and it may be that Christmas traditions got in the way of safety for me.  My ears both hurt still...so...not sure it was worth it, but it was a lovely afternoon.  We left to go swim at the Clarks' pool and combine leftover forces and party games.  We also had calls in to both of our families.  

Merry Christmas!