Halloween and Soccer Fun

OK so I'm finally getting around to posting Halloween pictures and some soccer party award pictures. Here they are....

Alex-Superman, Lily-Cinderella, and Ivy-Tinkerbell

Alex - Superman

Lily - Cinderella

We have to show off the Glass Slippers

Ivy - Tinkerbell

Garrett bought a Superman outfit to match Alex and a Superman wig too! We went to a Halloween Party that the twins' soccer team mates Marcus & Sammy who are also twins threw. David put on Garrett's costume to wear to it. It didn't last long it was too tight in the neck but, he lasted long enough for pictures before he took it off.

Grandpa and Alex

Uncle Garrett wore the Superman costume to the Ward Party.

Uncle Garrett and Alex

Our Halloween Pumpkins

We had the Wildcats Soccer Team Party. Alex and Lily received medals, awards, and certificates. It was fun.

Alex with Coach David and Asst. Coach Melanie. He was awarded Most Improved Soccer Player!

Lily with Coach David and Asst. Coach Melanie. She was awarded The Biggest Boot!

Last but not least just to let you know there are still miracles in the world! Garrett has this game for the computer. It is an airplane game and it has a controller that you grab and it moves the plane up and down and sideways. It also shoots if you push the trigger. Well all three of the kids sat in the big office chair and took turns and enjoyed playing together. See the proof below.

This n That

Well we are alive. I know it's been awhile but were back. Our biggest lack was in pictures but we finally took our camera with us to a soccer game. Yes soccer...we finally got Alex and Lily into a sport. Their mother of course wanted soccer. She even signed up both David and I as coaches...gee thanks. Though her and Garrett started as our asstistant coaches but now we have backups as team parents as Garrett living in Corpus misses practices and Melanie with work is usually late or leaving early. David coaches Alex and Lily's team, the Wildcats. While I coach a whole different team, the Eagles they are 3 and 4 year olds. It's very enjoyable though and very entertaining. We haven't been keeping scores but our first highlight is this last Saturday Alex scored his first goal! He was way into it for the first time finally. The green and white team pictures are from David's team, the Wildcats. The gray and black is my team, the Eagles.

Our Lily and why she hasn't scored yet lol...

Alex and his proud strut...

They do try though...GO WILDCATS!!!

Assistant Coach Garrett helping warm up the Eagles

Look at them Eagles go! All thanks to Coach Rosie as they call me.

Eagles cheering section. GO EAGLES!!!

Well that's about it for the U5 teams. Melanie was put on her college soccer team but come to find out they didn't register on time so they weren't part of a league. So no soccer there but she's loving school and playing with her kids that are growing as ever. Garrett is absolutely loving working in Corpus and living away from home for the week days. He's trying to get it to where he never comes home...he just likes his job that much.

Today we had the Primary program in sacrament thanks to yours truly the twins had their parts memerized. Lily even did her part and a little of Alex's. After the program though we got plenty of compliments and comments on Alex's wide variety of facial expressions. It was great. Now on one last closing note Melanie wanted some pictures of Ivy and since Ivy has picked up a new favorite habit we thought to included it. But we are all doing well and yes...we are still alive.

Her latest quirk or clothing...the hat! And it always has to be backwards.

A BIG HEADACHE

My loving son Garrett went swimming over at his Aunt Kathy and Uncle Mark's swimming pool. They have a slide that goes into the pool and is about 12 to 18 inches over the pool as you go off. Well Garrett was swimming under water and came up really fast and hit the top of his head on the end of the slide. He ended up needing stitches but, convinced his doctor to just glue the split together (he didn't want the needle to be stuck into his head to numb the area for the stitches). Here's some pictures of what he looked like when he came home before going to the emergency to have it glued. Aunt Kathy wrapped him up good to stop the bleeding. He has about a 3 to 4 inch scar on his head now.

Weight Watchers

Wanted to update on the Weight Watcher's Watch. I haven't lost another 10 lbs yet so I won't post a picture. I have now gone from a size 14 to size 5/6 and have lost 46 lbs. The weight is harder to lose the more I lose. I'm still hopeful I will be able to lose the 50 lbs by the reunion on August 1st. B-days do not help the diet. David on the 19th of May his 50th and Garrett on the 27th his 19th and then of course the 3 grandkids on the 19th and 20th of June.

Week Long B-day Celebration for Alex, Lily, & Ivy

OK so Ivy turned 2 on June 19th and Alex and Lily turned 4 on June 20th. We partied all week! On Saturday the 13th we went to the Zoo and road the train at the zoo. Then on the 15th Monday we did Mormon Night at the San Antonio Missions Baseball Game. We forgot to take the camera so there's no picture. Uncle Garrett and I then put together their swing set they received for their B-days on Wednesday. Saturday we had a big B-day party! After the party we went to Incredible Pizza!!

Florida Jacksonville Mission Spanish Speaking

Here's the Missionary Boy already to go!! Garrett opened his mission call tonight and he is going to the Florida Jacksonville Mission Spanish Speaking. He is to report to the Provo MTC August 12th. He is excited and he will get to go to the Bowen family reunion and his great grandma's 100th B-day celebration the first weekend in August.

Here's the beginning and the 40 pounds lighter picture

Broke the 40 Pound Barrier and reached another goal

Well it has been four months almost to the day that I started Weight Watcher's. I first weighed in on January 15th and today is May 14th. I have been setting small goals for each weight loss. The last one before this was losing 30 pounds by the time we went to pick up Garrett.

OK so my newest goal was to loose 40 lbs by David's 50th B-day which is this coming Tuesday! I have been treadmilling it up this week (between 90 to 140 minutes a day) as last week I had only lost 38 pounds and I knew I wouldn't get another weigh in before his B-day after today. Suffice to say I lost 2.4 pounds this week bringing my grand total to 40.4. I have come down 4 pant sizes and am able to wear some of my old clothes I kept around hoping to fit in them again.

I am now in the 20 BMI to 25 BMI for my height which means I am in the recommended weight for my height according to Weight Watcher's. They want you to have a BMI between 20 and 25. (BMI = Body Mass Index).

So now I have my next goal to look forward to. I want to lose another 10 pounds by the Family Reunion the first weekend in August and then another 10 pounds to reach my final goal. So wish me luck.

Isn't it sad that I can lose 40 pounds and still have another 20 to lose to reach my goal. Boy was I fat or what? I'll post a picture later as my photographer has been working on my car's brakes tonight.

Ever have one of those weeks?!

Well life is just going on as usual with the DR Bowen's. Never a dull moment. Thursday Garrett was driving David's truck back from a YSA activity and the oil pressure dropped and a clunking noise was heard. He pulled over to the side of the road and the truck wouldn't start again. Mom ended up going and sitting with the truck until triple A came and towed it to our house. 2 1/2 hours later. Problem with truck $3,500 needs new engine. Didn't have it done. David said he would do it himself. (Yeah Right!!) I'm still waiting for him to put on the brakes for my van that we bought 6 weeks ago! Then Garrett, our loving son was with Melanie and the kids and some of Melanie's friends and ended up hitting 3 cars in a parking lot. (Long Story) $1,000 deductible and Garrett had spent his money that he was suppose to keep in savings for the deductible if he ever was in a wreck. Not happy campers were Mom & Dad but, we handled it well.

On the up note I am 2 tenths of a pound away from losing 35 pounds and my goal is to loose 40 by David's 50th B-day on the 19th of May so wish me luck. I'm not losing as fast as I was and every little bit takes allot of exercising and eating within my points.


Garrett has everything done for his mission papers and they should be in the Stakes hands this week. Now we wait for the Stake President interview.

Just Some Random Pics

DAVID TOURNAMENT CHAMP

Well I don't have a picture but I have a husband who is walking around with a big Cheshire grin on his face because he won our family NCAA tournament challenge. There were some friends added in too so there were 10 of us. The last few years MO has won the family challenge but this year it is the patriarch who won. He picked the national champ. It was close there at the end he was in second behind Mandy until the championship game. It was fun watching him get all goofy and coming in to tell me the updates on the game. I didn't start watching until the 2nd half. He is pleased as punch and will now have bragging rights for the year. I don't know if we'll be able to live with him or not. LOL

SO STOKED CAN"T WAIT

So in a few days I will be leaving to Idaho to pick up Garrett and see my Girls and their families. I am so stoked I can't wait. Counting the days!!

Broke The 30 Pound Barrier

Just a note to let you know that I have now lost over 31 pounds. I reached my goal of losing 30 pounds by the time we went to pick up Garrett. Now I will look the same as when everyone last saw me and no one will know what a FAT MAMA I was. Now I'm still that pleasing plump FAT MAMA. I only have 19 more to go for what is recommended for me and 29 for my I really want to but, probably never will get there weight.

Early Easter Egg Hunt at Uncle Mark's and Aunt Kathy's

Ever since my children were very young and Aunt Kathy and Grandma Sellers were around we have always had a big Easter Egg hunt with each other. Well as you can see we still do only now it is with my grandkids and Kathy's boys, Jacob and Ryan. This year we had some friends share the hunt with us. Nicole a friend of Jacob and Ryan's who paired up with Lily, while Jacob had Alex and Melanie had Ivy, and Melanie's friend Michael's two children, Mckynzie and Shawn. We went in shifts. The younger five went and found 150 eggs hidden by Nicole, Jacob and Ryan. Then the adults hid 100 eggs for Nicole, Jacob and Ryan to find. We then had a great lunch. We even had the sister missionaries over for lunch in between sessions. We were suppose to have the hunt on Saturday but Melanie has strep and so we had to wait for her to be on her meds for 24 hours.

More Gardening

Ivy helping Grandpa plant the tomato plants and helping Grandma and Lily plant the cucumbers

More Gardening

Alex helped Plant the Cantaloupe

Family Home Evening Garden Planting

Lily Helping Grandma Plant the Peas

New Picture for Comparing

OK so here are new pictures! David said those old ones didn't do me justice. So here I am in a new outfit. Smaller jeans and smaller shirt.

Picture Taker Available

So here is 8 weeks difference, curled hair and 28.4 pounds lost. Can you see a difference? I just noticed after the 1st four weeks I had lost 14.2 pounds and now the 2nd four weeks I lost the exact same 14.2 pounds for the total of 28.4. Guess I'm consistent!

Almost to Goal for Garrett's Pick up from school.

OK I don't have a picture because my photo man was out late last night. I weighed in and I had lost 6 pounds this week. My goal was to loose 30 pounds by April 10th when we pick up Garrett from BYU-I. To date I have lost 28.4 pounds. So I think I will make my goal. I only have 1.6 pounds to loose and 4 more weeks to do it in.

Christina wanted to know how I am doing it. Well I work out on the treadmill for 100 minutes, which is around 6 miles, or about 550 calories burned (it turns off after it hits 100 guess it's not healthy to be on the treadmill longer than 100 minutes at a shot) I do this 4 times a week. I walk to and from church every Sunday which is 2.5 miles round trip and one day I take off and just veg. (Usually Saturday). I'm trying to work in time for a toning video but I do it only around twice a week.

I'm on Weight Watcher's so I stay within my points. They assign points to food based on calories, fat, & fiber. I started with 23 points a day now I am down to 20. As your weight goes down your points go down.

My final goal is to loose 60 pounds by July for Melanie's wedding. I will then be only ten pounds more than when my husband married me.

The 20 POUND Barrier Broken

Well I notice I haven't been blogging very well lately. I have reached losing 10% of my weight from when I first weighed in and have now reached losing over 20 lbs in the last two weeks. I am excited. I have gone down in a jean size and only have 9 more pounds to make my goal of losing 30 pounds by the time we go to pick up Garrett. Of course I will still have another 30 to lose by Melanie's wedding in July if all goes as planned for a total of 60 pounds. Keep Smiling.

Why would anyone post these terrible pictures of themselves???!!!

OK, four weeks to the day (2/12/09), 14.2 pounds lighter and a hair cut. Can you see a difference??

OK So the model is fat and wore out. What did you expect?

The beginning of the Weight Watcher's diet 1/15/09.

Isn't he lovely!!

So he looks a little drugged up and half eyed what do you expect. Christina his eye swelled up pretty good but not as bad as yours after you got elbowed in that basketball game.