Twelve WEEKS of Christmas--catching up from Oct.-Dec.

Since I can't get my kids  (or MYSELF even) to

 OC to see our hair-guru, Aunt Coco, often enough...say hello to the "mom-cut" (NOT the easiest thing to cut a toddler's hair while he dips his sucker in hair & water and splashes all around in my sink)!  

Madie and her cousin Sammy-Sue got Student of the Month together AGAIN!  Cute little toothless guhls ("girls", said with the "Weenig accent", as explained by my nephew Jake to his classmate, "No, we're not from Boston")...

LOTS of fun times at Legoland...

MORE fun with DAD at Legoland!

These goofy kids don't really pose for pictures...they simply tolerate them!

Owen is at SUCH a FUN age for Legoland!  He RUNS everywhere (you've seen it before...his arms flailing wildly and his little feet looking like they never touch the ground)!  And you ask him if he wants to do ANYTHING, and his whole face beams in over-exaggerated glee, "YAH!" 

He's soooo much happier now that he's tall enough to ride most of the rides now...

Marcus and I got to run in the "Un-Turkey-Trot" on Thanksgiving Day in Laguna Beach with my sister and bro-in-law, Marcus' sister and her family and lots of other locals...we thought it was a 5k, turned out to be a 10k, but hardly seemed like it probably because the scenery was so awesome!  It rained A LOT, and we were SOAKED, but it was so fun!

Notice the drowned rat (our little Maltese, Joey)...that's a long story, but somehow, she ended up coming on the run WITH US (AGAIN, we thought it was a 5k), and she physically COULD NOT make it all the way back on her own little legs, so I ran the last couple miles CARRYING this muddy, shivering, fur-ball...I couldn't STOP laughing that whole way back to the finish!  Needless to say, I did not end up with the best time (that's how Marcus beat me...but he did drag her behind him for the first long leg)...Funny memory! Here's me with my lil' sis Melissa (who runs marathons like she's skipping through the park)  

Going out to dinner to celebrate some birthdays with my girlfriends! We're missing quite a few here though...I love my friends!  I feel so lucky to have such fabulous ladies in my life...

Finding our Christmas tree...

This picture sums up their personalities pretty well...

Me and my Mr. Bowen...love this little man!

The girls had so much fun helping Dad tie the tree to the car...

Little Owen gazing at the tree, confused at WHY we have this GINORMOUS thing in our little house...and waiting until Mommy walks away to pull everything off.

Our little Avery, taking her duty to place the angel on the tree VERY seriously...

Sweet little Madie LIVES for these family activities and was just grinning all night!

My "glitteriscious" sister-in-law Allison who won for the most "glitterfied" (she came ready for some serious competition--she had sparkly shoes, body glitter, glittery eyelashes, nails, and LOTS of bling--she's so fun) at the girls' holiday glitter-glam party, hosted by our adorable friends Shayla and Malisa!

Erin, Nicole, and me with our super cute hostess, Shayla...what a fun night we had with lots of yummy holiday appetizers and time to be with the girls and forget about shopping and lists!

 Little Miss Avery was SO not fooled by this "Santa's helper" at her preschool party!  The poor guy could NOT keep his fake beard up to hide his real brown mustache...it was hysterical!  And she (in true Avery fashion) displayed her utter disappointment at the book she unwrapped from the book exchange--"Mom, I don't like Curious George!  Why would someone think I like Curious George?!!"  But she had a fabulous time doing all the fun crafts and of course was so serious about her singing performance!  She's grown up so much this year, and I can't believe she'll be ready for kindergarten in the fall!

Madie lost her other front tooth on Christmas Eve!  So the Tooth Fairy and Santa BOTH left something for her the next morning!  We thought for sure they must have seen each other...Here she is with Daddy showing off her most grown-up present yet--a new Nintendo DS system!  I think she felt so privileged to be considered mature enough for such a big girl gift--she was so cute and soooo excited. 

No, Owen is NOT angry about his dinosaur.  He was actually scolding it for biting his lip!  He was cracking us up...he would push the button for the dino to growl, walk, and chomp, and then make him bite something, and yell, "No, no Dino!  NO biting!" REPEAT 14 more times...this was the funniest though when he made "dido" bite HIS lip, and then pulled away, all insulted, and offended, and yelling for him to stop! Owen you are a constant source of comical relief!  You make our lives so exciting and FUN!

Madie was sooo excited for Avery to unwrap the gift she had made for her at school...a cute little snowman made from a sweat sock!  Avery, being the tactful little one that she is, just made faces (check out this little smirk) and later told her sister, "um, thanks for the snowman even though I don't like it..." As Madie stormed off crying, I had to coach Avery in apologizing and explaining that she thought it was something to play with, and not a decoration....wow, we've got some LONG teenage years ahead of us!

Madie, on the other hand, is always so grateful when she gets ANY gift!  She was excited to get some new games for her DS from Grandma and Grandpa.

We headed to Legoland once again when we had to take our car in to the Jeep dealer (right next door)...it was the MOST crowded we've ever seen it, so we did a lot of playing on things we don't usually stop at. Who is that little 4-yr.-old who's too cool for the picture??

Our crazy little Owen Bowen with one of his beloved "didos" from the Land Before Time movie...he is OBSESSED!  He asks me MULTIPLE times each day, "watch dido?"  Or if we're out in the car, he whines, "home...dido...home...dido" It seems to be soothing for him to see the familiar faces of Littlefoot, Sarah, Ducky, and his FAVORITE, the one who can't talk--Spike (pronounced "Pite")