kiddo update

here is a very long run down of what each one of the brower kids have been up to the last couple weeks, oldest to youngest.

Jack:

the pinewood derby took place last weekend and jack's car, "the holey rolla", came in second place overall and will be going to the district race next month!

he always comes up with fun ideas for his car and this year was no exception. a cheese wedge.

whenever jack was up to race the kids would all shout "cheese! cheese! cheese!"

our handsome webelos den, minus one.

in preparation for the derby, jack did quite a bit of the cutting and sanding himself. during one sanding session, a piece of wood flew up under his goggles and into his eye. we rinsed out his eyes and told him to try not to rub it and thought he'd be fine. the next day he could hardly open it and said it felt like it was being scratched each time he opened or moved his eye. since it was sunday we had to take him to the walk in clinic. they saw an abrasion on the cornea, gave him some antibiotic drops, told him to wear a patch and sent us on our way. 

here he is, cap'n jack

well, the next day it was even worse. so he stayed home from school and i got him in to see one of the eye docs. sure enough, there was a splinter under his lower lid that they were able to swab out. 

sweet relief!

if you think of an all around great kid, thats jack. I'm always getting emails or texts about the nice things jack has done for someone. hes always the first to help me out around the house and he is owen's best friend. i was cleaning under the boys dresser the other day and i found this note by a boy in jacks class. he is partially blind and needs a lot of equipment to function at school. sadly, he gets made fun of quite often too. he has been in jacks class for the last two years and jack's teachers have always asked jack to sit next to him and help him when needed. they have developed a great friendship and jack thinks the world of this kid. when i saw the note his friend wrote it brought tears to my eyes. so thankful for jack in our lives.

he even puts up with owen's sword fights :) 

ellie:

ellie is always the first up for an adventure. she may be small but she is super strong. she, along with jack and charlie, will be starting soccer in april and is excited to be on the older kids team with jack this season. 

she does her own hair. she is currently into side pony tails and side buns and she rocks them.

she has been doing really well in school. she had been struggling a little in math, but has worked hard and seems to be feeling like she's got the hang of it. everywhere we go she sees someone she knows from school and they are always quick to say hi. jack says that kids always ask him "hey, are you ellie's brother?".

she got this letter in the mail the other day and we thought it was pretty dang exciting that our "little miss ellie brower" got a letter from the state representative Mathew Pitsch!

friday night i needed to go visit a sister in the ward. she is about to have a baby and hasn't been doing well. i wanted to go see her before she goes in for her c-section. ellie came along with me on the visit and i had one of those "my baby isn't a baby anymore" moments on our drive home as she was singing along to Something Just Like This on the radio. she is turning into a little lady. she is definitely a force and i can't wait to see the force for good she will be over her lifetime.

Charlie:

he has started golfing lessons

(hes the tall on in the blue shirt, third from the left)

he is a reading machine and continues to set his class' AR record!

this picture made us laugh pretty hard!!!

the older kids had a dentist check up last week and we discovered through the X-rays that charlie has an extra tooth right smack dab in the middle of his two front teeth. what the heck?!? so he has to go to the oral surgeon next month and have the front baby tooth and the extra tooth pulled in order to allow the real adult tooth the room to grow in. crazy!

charlie loves to get a haircut

he loves to draw

(a self portrait. pay particular attention to his nostrils)

he loves to hang out at the park. 

like, literally. he just kida climbs around, watching everybody else. he'll join in the occasional game of tag here or there, but usually he just likes to play by himself and observe others.

and he loves owen

whenever he gets a snack, he always grabs two.

charlie is currently laying on the couch watching tv. hes home from school today because he's been throwing up a couple times every hour since 11 last night. poor charlie. but if any of the kids has the flu, we want it to be charlie because hes never missed the toilet and he doesn't complain at all.

owen:

where do we start?

he's as wild as ever. 

he still loves puppies. he still loves to dance. he still draws on walls. he still hits in nursery. he still gives kisses and hugs to his siblings. he still loves any and all sports. he still loves being outdoors. he still loves to be in charge. he still yells if i walk out of the room. he still thinks he is an adult.

a couple new things about owen...

he is finally, FINALLY sleeping through most nights. (fingers crossed, knock on wood, please don't let me have jinxed it by typing those words!!!!!)

he finally, FINALLY likes bath time.

he has discovered his love of painting!

usually i let him paint with water on large rolls of kraft paper because the water shows up really well and, obviously, theres no mess. but i ran out of kraft paper, so i decided to let him use the real deal and he can't get enough!

he recently got a bad boo boo. i guess that isn't exactly new, but it was a new ouchie so i thought it fit here. long story short, his back rubbed up against the treadmill while on its lowest setting. it was just a second, but it was long enough to leave a mark. i know, mom of the year right here. first his tumble on the driveway and now this. it looks horrible, but i promise he only cried for a couple minutes and it really isn't as deep or as bad as it looks! especially in the last picture, which was the day after it happened.

and this isn't new, but man, this kid loves his siblings so much. jack and charlie (especially charlie) have perfected their armpit toots. owen will sit next to them and try so hard to do it too. its pretty funny and pretty cute