A White Christmas...

It was a "White Christmas" with snow falling, falling, falling....all.day. It covered everything.In fact, we still have "Christmas snow" on the ground and it's pretty much refusing to melt...aargh...I digress...





Christmas Day we usually go to the movies as a family but with all the snow we were basically 'Snowed In' and we couldn't move the car if we wanted to, so we decided to brave the snow and just play. We made snow angels, went sledding on our neighbors hill, and even Liam decided to check out his very first snow. (Although it didn't last very long....like 3 minutes, tops!)










We had snow suits and boots but were ill equipped in the glove department. Our fingers were nearly frozen solid by the time we finished playing.



Jeremiah worked really, really hard to shovel the driveway just in case we absolutely needed to leave the house. Of course, we would have to figure out a way to uncover the car, unfreeze the doors, and not get stuck in the snow on our street (as many cars already were), but it was the thought that counted. Unfortunately, all of Jeremiah's hard work of clearing the driveway was pretty much covered up within 30 minutes because he didn't put down any salt! DUH! LOL!


All through the night (and the rest of the weekend and into the next week and into the next weekend......) the snow continued to fall. Jeremiah had to go get some salt for the driveway so he dug his way out of the snow and was able to get to Walmart while there he also grabbed some snow gloves! YAY! Obviously, being snowed in gets really old, really fast with 5 energetic kids so we went out AGAIN the next day. This time Jeremiah and the kids built a big igloo that soon turned into a snow tunnel. They worked so hard on that snow igloo.cave.tunnel. Elise made a little snowman complete with a nose and eyes fashioned from a red potato!










To be honest I don't recall ever seeing so much snow in my life!! Church was even canceled due to the snow! I don't really like the snow but being able to get outside and play for a few hours with my family and see the joy that it brought my kids was worth every.freezing.snowflake.

Christmas Morning...

I could bore you with a complete recounting of stories told, gifts given and received, and all that mumbo jumbo, but.....why don't I just show you the pictures? That's what you really want anyway, right?

And my favorite present of the day...

Christmas Eve Brinner 09...

Christmas Eve Brinner is an Jeremiah/Alida Bowles family tradition that dates back to our very first Christmas together. Each year we gather with friends and family and prepare a huge breakfast meal for dinner, hence "Brinner." This year our little party got off to a bit of a rough start because of a massive snowstorm that decided to hit us right around dinner time. We had invited several friends and their families but due to road conditions not all were able to make it, and some of those that were arrived later than planned. Nonetheless, Brinner was still spectacularly yummy & sharing it with friends was still exceptional.

One of the most fun parts about Brinner is the actual cooking of the meals...





And the pictures by the tree....(except for Liam who basically slept through the whole thing)








After our yummy "Brinner" we put together our annual Gingerbread House for Santa and opened our Christmas jammies (provided by Grandma Colette this year.) Somehow, Santa must've missed the gingerbread house because he totally forgot to take a bite out of it like he does every year....he must've been really, really full by the time he got to our house!





Another perfect ending to a fun family tradition!

Dumb Computer!

My laptop died.

Every photo that I have taken in the last few months I had saved on it and I hadn't yet transferred them to my external drive!

It was the only computer in the house with Photoshop loaded on it!

All my documents, including my list of addresses for my Christmas Letters that have yet to be sent out, were on it.

MY whole gosh darn LIFE was on that Laptop....and now it's dead.

Poop. <~~my resolution in affect because I didn't say the real words that came to mind..

Sooooo...I've taken over the other laptop. (Thank goodness there was another laptop.) However, I am still pouting about the death of my old one and I need to try to convince my husband to take it in to the geek squad to revive it. (too bad there's "another" laptop as this makes any ounce of expediency I had go away) Really I just want to retrieve my pictures and then I can let it rot in some cold, dark landfill ALL.ALONE....dumb, dumb, dumb computer!

Poop. <~~there I go again.....

Happy January 1st!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

now here are 5 resolutions that are probably gonna get somewhat bent or broken....

1. I resolve to read the Book of Mormon by Easter...

2. I resolve to stop saying naughty words (ironic, eh?!) not that I say them that often...

3. I resolve that this year the basement will be finished! (I make this resolution on behalf of my husband)

4. I resolve to go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier

5. I resolve to do more stuff in general.

We'll see.....

Brinton and some thoughts weighing on my mind....

Christmas was wonderful, we were snowed in and spent several hours playing outside with the kids as the snow fell down. It certainly was magical. I love to document every little moment with lots of pictures and I'm sure in time I will share those with you but tonight there are many things going through my mind. I feel somewhat alone at this moment and sometimes this blog can be very cathartic for me.

As many of those who read this blog know (as most all of you are personal friends and/or family) my 8 year old son Brinton was born with a lymphatic malformation known as Cystic Hygroma and has had many corrective surgeries for various issues stemming from that. If you need a refresher you can read a blog I wrote about his story HERE

For some time now Brinton has had this weird reoccurring bruising on his chin near the sight of his initial cyst. At the advice of our ENT we were keeping a close eye on it just in case it developed and turned out to be more cystic tissue. Since moving to Kansas we haven't had much interaction with a doctor with regards to this until this past summer. Our new ENT decided to run some CT Scans to see if this was indeed more developing cystic tissue. It turns out it was not HOWEVER they did discover a deformity of the vertebrae in his neck. From that scan he was scheduled to meet with a pediatric orthopaedic specialist to see if anything further needed to be done. (I'm sorry if I'm boring you....congratulations on making it this far if you are still reading)

After meeting with the Orthopaedist in October we found out that Brinton has an anomaly known as OS Odontoideum. Basically the dens in the C2 didn't form and attach properly and his C1 & C2 vertebrae are out of whack. This causes some spinal instability and possible pressure being applied to the spinal cord. The doctor was very encouraging, however, he did state that if Brinton were to ever have an injury to his head/neck region the possibility of full body paralysis (like Superman, Christopher Reeves) was very likely. As you can imagine the shock of being told this information has been weighing heavy on me over the last several months. For some reason I didn't realize how much it affected Brinton until I overheard a conversation between him and his sister Elise. Elise had jokingly bopped him in the head while they were playing around. Brinton told her that she needed to be more careful because if she hurt his neck he could wind up in a wheelchair. Hearing those words out of my little boys mouth made my heart sink deeper into sadness. I can't imagine how selfish I had been with my emotions. I couldn't believe up until that point I actually thought that none of this affected Brinton. I didn't even realize how closely he'd been listening to the doctor as he explained all these things to us.

An MRI/MRA was scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving, during which they would be doing flexion and extension testing on his neck to see if there was any pressure being placed on the spinal cord. Unfortunately, my sweet little 8 year old was unable to remain still during the MRI (I can barely stay still in an MRI, I really don't know how they expected an 8 year old boy to stay still) and therefore they had to reschedule the whole thing for Dec 23rd.

This passed week on Dec 23rd, the day before Christmas Eve, Brinton was prepped and sedated for a 2 hour MRI/MRA scan of his cervical spine. His pediatric orthopedist attended the scan so that he could perform all the flexion, extension processes while Brinton was under sedation. Watching Brinton leave with the nurse through those cold large metal doors was heart wrenching...like watching him leave for a surgery. Maybe I'm overdramatic because I know it was only an MRI but it just felt like this MRI was going to decide everything from here on out.

This evening I received a call from Brinton's doctor. At this point we know that there is some abnormal, concerning movement of the cervical spine that needs to be addressed. There is pressure being applied to the spinal cord which can be very dangerous and damaging. Our doctor will be meeting with a pediatric neurosurgeon to review the scans and to discuss what will need to be done next. Basically all we know is that they are probably going to intervene to some extent, whether that be a cervical fusion or some other surgery we are unsure at this point. We should know by the end of the week (hopefully) what's next for him or atleast have an appointment for our next visit with the specialist. All these things are weighing on my mind like a ton of bricks, my heart hurts, my chest feels like there is something sitting on it. I can't imagine my life without my normal, healthy little boy. Of course my mind goes right to the dangers, the risks, the negative. I feel so angry. Hasn't he been through enough already. It's so unfair. I don't even know what to think or to say. Just breathe.

Could you please just say a quick prayer? I don't even know what I want you to ask for...just remember Brinton....for me?

It's past 10 PM...

Do you know where your children are?

Yep, I do. All of my children are fast asleep all snug in their beds...

That is....



Except this one who was enjoying a box of corn flakes in the middle of my living room, in the dark, unbeknownst to me. The only clue I had that something sneaky was going on was the crinkle, crinkle, munch, munch, munch noise coming from downstairs.



I guess he needed a "mid-night" snack.

Santa...I want....

After Julianna's Christmas Dance program there was a wonderful surprise visit from Santa Claus!! After waiting in line for a very, very long time (Santa is pretty dang popular)it was the Bowles Kids turn to speak with the big guy.



Brinton asked for a Transformer, Ashlynne asked for a Barbie set, Julianna asked for a Dora Mermaid, Liam just stared at him in disbelief, and Elise asked him for a new Ripley's Believe it or Not Book. When she asked him his eyes lit up and he let out a big HO! HO! HO!...Ripley's it is!!! He said.

I wonder how many kids ask for that?!

Snow Magical...

Twas the night...

Twas the night

...of the 1st grade Christmas Musical
and all through the day

the children were preparing for their 1st Christmas play!

The parts had been memorized precisley, with care

In hopes that there parents would soon all be there.

The children were quietly behind the curtain,

nervous and giggly of this I am certain.

Elise in red jammies, and kids dressed like candy,

Sugar Plums, Reindeer, it all was quite dandy.

When up on the stage there arose such a clatter,

We gathered around to see what was the matter.

All of the cameras began to flash,

Snapping pictures and memories of this Christmas Bash.

They spoke many words and danced many dances,

sang many songs and pranced many prances.

Elise was exceptional at saying her lines,

And I was so proud that she was all mine.

Then the children all bowed

and the crowd gave a whistle,

Away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard them exclaim, ‘ere they ran out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

*Retold by ME ;)

*Of course my camera was running out of battery because of course I forgot to charge the dang things before we left so of course I got blurry picture but pictures nonetheless :)