Trick-or-Treating!

We are so happy to be back in Jefferson City!! We got to meet up with our good friends, the Knollmeyers, to go trick-or-treating this year! I usually start their costumes in late August, but I got kind of a late start this year. I was sewing feverishly up until the last minute!

Roan, Libby, Clara and Chloe, ready to head out for candy!

Libby decided to be Cleopatra this year. I thought she looked so cute in her wig and eyeliner!

Roan wanted to be a ghost and wear spooky make up!

I think this is such a fun picture! I love Libby's "Frankenstein smile" and her little belly sticking out. I love the way Roan is standing with his chest out... he looks exactly like my Grandpa Jones when he does that! And he was sure to grab his "camping flashlight", even though it was still daylight! They sure had a great time!

Halloween Party, part 2

So last Saturday, Libby and Roan each invited two little friends over for a Halloween party.

Here's Libby with the mummy dogs she made.

And the "bugs" we made from little smokies...

...and the monster cookies.

...and VERY happy children having a great time! They thought drinking hot chocolate from wine glasses was so cool! To Libby's right is her best friend, Clara. They met at swim lessons when they were 9 months old!

Here's Roan and his best friend, Ryan.

The O'Donnell-McGowin household survived the Halloween party of 2010! I was worn out by the time it was over, but the kids had great time!

Halloween Party... OR... Let's torture mom!

The kids begged and begged me to let them have a little Halloween party this year. I love to give parties, and I love my children...but the thought of a bunch of Kindergarten and first graders overtaking my house was almost too much to fathom. So, we compromised. I let each kid invite two friends over...and for only a couple of hours.

They made their own invitations...

Libby working hard on her spider invitations. She is incredibly focused and meticulous. Her invitations were so cute!

Roan's invitations had bats on them. He worked hard, too, but needed a little more help from mom!

Of course, Libby planned the menu. We had mummy dogs, smokey bugs, hot chocolate and monster cookies...

Roan helped make the mummy dogs, too!

Mummy dogs, ready for the oven!

Party pics to follow!

It's no Gojo's but...

Jefferson City is a-buzz about the new restaurant in town... Fuji offers hibachi-style cuisine as well as sushi, and is similar to Gojo's in Kansas City. Anyone who has read this blog knows I'm crazy about Gojo's... On our first anniversary weekend, Shannon and I decided to give it a try.

The chef was very entertaining, and did a lot more knife work than the chefs at Gojo's. However there was no shrimp appetizer or dessert, and it was a bit more expensive. And alas, there was no yellow sauce, and no green sauce. They did have something very tasty that Shannon and I dubbed 'yum yum sauce'. It got us through. You can see the yum-yum in the ramekin on the right, below...

This was my dinner... a tasty chicken stir fry. Maybe I can pay the Gojo's people to ship me some yellow and green sauce.

And this was my dessert! Shannon surprised me that night with an amazing engagement ring! Oh, my completely charmed life.... and by the way... I said yes. As if there was any doubt!!

Roan's Detox Foot Bath

At my office, we offer Detox Foot Baths... it's an amazing process. The ionized water pulls toxins out of the body via the feet. The color of the water and the particulates tell the doctor what issues the person has... liver issues, candida, joint problems, cigarette toxins, etc.

Roan has always struggled with eczema and candida, despite never being vaccinated and never being on antibiotics. So... I decided to see what the foot bath would do for him. He thought the whole process was super cool!
This is Roan's water after less than one minute!

Yes, it looks gross. This was after 10 minutes or so.

And it kept getting darker and thicker...

This was the water when he was finished (after 30 minutes). Very dark orange/brown and sludgey. (is that even a word?)

It's hard to see, but there were a lot of solid particulates at the bottom of the pan. I was shocked to see that they were mostly heavy metals. And this in an unvaccinated kid!! Heavy metals can enter the body many ways, I know, but I was still very surprised.

The day after his detox, he woke up crying in the night, saying that his skin itched terribly. He was frantic from the itching and pain. It took an hour and every remedy I had to calm him and his skin down enough for him to go back to sleep. When he got up the next morning, every bit of eczema was GONE! Amazing!

Seussical Auditions

A few weeks ago, the kids auditioned for 'Seussical the Musical'. We found out on a Thursday night that the auditions were on Saturday. The kids were expected to memorize a song and perform it at the audition. Luckily, Libby's piano instructor worked with them both on the song, and what to expect at the audition. Then we practiced over and over....

Saturday morning came and they were both so excited!! We went to the Miller Performing Arts Center and saw LOTS of kids waiting to audition. They called the kids up by age group and practiced the song with small groups.

Libby and Roan got to go up together to practice with the accompanist. Of course, that's Libby in the foreground; Roan is the third boy from the right. They marched right up on stage and didn't seem nervous at all!

The kids were also shown a dance routine and were expected to learn and perform it right away. They both did great! I was more nervous than they were. After they practiced, they were called to the stage one at a time to sing the song. Roan volunteered to go first. He got a little lost in the song, but he stuck it out and did his best. Libby also got a little lost in the song, but continued to sing to the end. I was really proud of them both for having the courage to stand on that huge stage in front of all those people. Although neither of them got a part, they had a great time and learned a lot!

Pumpkin carving!

Libby and Roan absolutely LOVE to carve pumpkins! We had a great time this year...

Libby is very good at carving. She does her best to clean out her pumpkin, too. Mom really appreciates that!

I don't know what's up with the smile... but don't let the picture fool you. He had very little to do with cleaning out his pumpkin! He worked pretty hard at carving, though.

This is Libby's masterpiece! She did every bit of it herself!

This is Roan's jack-o-lantern. He had a little help, but worked pretty hard at it! Cute, huh?

My little musicians

When I was in school, I absolutely loved being in band. In fact, I met my two best friends from college when I joined Marching Mizzou. We won't talk about how long ago that was...

Both Libby and Roan have always seemed musically inclined since they were little. Libby started piano lessons when she was 4. When we got to Jefferson City, we were lucky enough to find a piano instructor who lives about 8 houses down from us! Libby goes to her lesson once a week, and to a group lesson once a week.

This is a shot of the kids at group lesson. That's Libby sitting at the piano, playing a piece for the grup. They love it. Roan goes, too...he's the "drum captain".

We also found "Class of Rock" that offers all types of music lessons. Roan has been taking drum lessons since August. He says that "drummers get all the chicks". Yes, he's 5. Yes, I know I'm in for it as he gets older...

So, my hope is that both kids are talented musicians, and that music will be a big part of their lives... so far, it's been worth all the hours of practice and shuttling them to lessons!

Oh, our Justin Bieber phase...

This summer, Roan went through a Justin Bieber phase. He listened to his CD constantly, watched him on TV... then decided he wanted the "Justin Beaver haircut". Oh boy... so we let his usually short hair grow out. A couple of days before school started, we took off to the salon. He brought the CD just to make sure the stylist knew exactly what haircut he wanted.

When the stylist asked why he liked Justin's haircut, he told her "boys with a Justin Beaver haircut get all the chicks!" The whole salon burst out laughing!

This is actually kind of a poignant picture for me. There was a day when Roan absolutely could not tolerate a haircut. He would hold his ears and scream... we sure have come a long way.

As it turns out, "The Beaver" only lasted about a month. He decided it was WAAAYY too high maintenance... it got messy during recess...and that's not how a man gets the chicks. Yes, that's the wisdom of a 5 year old!

Life has CHANGED!... graduation

First, the caveat. My friend, Suzie was the appointed graduation photographer. She's in the process of sending me those pictures, but for now, here's proof that it really happened! I graduated! That's a fake diploma in my hand...and me trying not to completely faint dead over. It was quite a day. Surreal is a good word. The night before commencement, the graduates are invited to the President's Dinner. We had dinner, received awards, and reminisced about our time at Cleveland. Shannon and I survived the blistering heat...and met my BFF Suzie and her husband, Chris there. We had a terrific time! I was convinced I would cry the whole night, but I did ok. The next day, Shannon and I had a nice lunch, tried not to sweat to death in the August heat, then headed to the school. So many of my friends came to share this amazing occasion. Shannon. A whole car load came from Columbia MO... Michelle, Sharla, Sarah. My best friend from Kindergarten. My kids. My parents. It was just amazing to stand at the completion of a goal I set for myself so long ago. After the commencement, we hosted a dinner reception for more friends and family. What a great time! Thank you to everyone who helped make it such a special day!

Life has CHANGED... our move to Jefferson City

August 6 was the big day. We decided to move the week before graduation because the kids were scheduled to start school just a couple of days later. I thought it was be an easier transition for them if we had a little time to unpack and settle before they started at their new school.

Thank God for the man with some muscle! We took off from Mid-Missouri with the moving truck on August 6...

...and arrived in Peculiar later that afternoon to start the torture. We got the major things loaded in about 4 hours, and headed back to Jeff City. The truck was full of furniture and the cab was full of 2 howling cats. Stella and Sadie were NOT very happy about the trip.

We got back to Jeff about 1am, slept in, then started unloading. Shannon's daughter Mallory and her husband, Seth came over to help us unload. Funny how much faster it goes with a little extra help!

The kids spent the week of the move with their Meme and Baba O'Donnell. When they came home...to their new home, their rooms were completely unpacked. Prior to that, they'd only seen the walls and empty floor space... this is Libby seeing her new room for the first time! She was SO excited!

This was Roan's reaction! He immediately dove onto his bed and giggled. So far, they've adjusted really well to a new home, new school and a new routine. It's so nice to be back in Jefferson City!

Life has CHANGED!... Part 1

This has been a crazy summer! That's my excuse for ignoring my blog for so long!We spent most of July getting ready to move to Jefferson City. We had lots of fun picking out new paint colors for the kids' new bedrooms, new comforters, and curtains.
This is Libby working on painting her new room. Yes, it's pink. Very pink. She's a pretty amazing painter. No messes... better than most adults could do!

Libby's room with the edges cut in... wow I've painted a LOT in the last couple of months!

The kids working on Roan's new room. His room is khaki... it's a jungle theme. He's still waiting on his mom to paint some monkeys on the wall.

Roan helping paint his sissy's room. They thought it was really fun to be included in the projects.

Beale Street, Memphis

We were so lucky to be in Memphis during the Memphis in May Music Festival. Downtown was buzzing with people and activity. We spent the whole afternoon and evening people watching and site seeing. It was amazing! We really were there!!

My two favorite men...

Just a glimpse of the crowd as we entered Beale St. There were thousands of people! Most of the restaurants and shops had carts on the sidewalk selling souvenirs, food, beer, etc.

We got a kick out of this. I can't tell you the joke we made about it, but we still laugh amongst ourselves.

Toward the end of the day, the crowd began heading toward the riverfront. The concert was held in a dome right on the river -- the throng of people you see parallel to the river was the line to get into the concert! Shannon and I walked down through the crowd down the river. We sat and watched the boats, birds and people. It was wonderful...hot but wonderful! We've decided that we need to go back to Memphis every year on vacation!

The boot mystery...solved

Who knew that the great rainboot mystery would be solved while eating the world's best BBQ? We got a recommendation for a restaurant from a nice lady selling pralines just off Beale St. She told us "The Rendezvous" was the best BBQ in town...she couldn't tell us exactly where it was, but that it wouldn't be hard to find. Well, we walked a bit...not really realizing that the restaurant's storefront was in an alley. But, it's a fairly well-known place, so we eventually got good directions and made it there. This is us at The Rendezvous, trying to decide what to eat. Little did we know we were about to enter taste bud heaven.

This was our waiter...and the one who solved our boot mystery. First of all, he was a terrific waiter; we had great food and great service. When we saw MORE women in the restaurant sporting the boots, we finally just asked him. He explained that for the last 9 out of 10 years, it has rained during the Music Festival at the riverfront. So now, women come prepared to get wet... hence the rainboots!! Just as predicted, it DID rain on the music festival. In fact, there were such fierce storms, they had to evacuate the concert on Friday night. Shannon and I had friends and family calling and texting us to make sure we were safe. The storms were so bad, they made the news in Missouri!

Ok, back to the Rendezvous. The food was UNBELIEVABLE!! Shannon had ribs. You can see by the bare bones that he enjoyed every bite! You don't have a choice in side dishes...all they serve are beans and cole slaw...but oh my GOSH, they were so good, you don't care to have anything else. I'm not a big slaw fan, but theirs is amazing.

Memphis has the best sweet tea, hands down. One of the things I loved about the Rendezvous was that the waiter brings an entire pitcher of tea and leaves it on the table. Yes, I drank the entire pitcher. If I could have taken it home with me, I would have!

I had the brisket. It was probably the best brisket I've ever had...as you can see, I also enjoyed every bite. I seriously considered the ribs, but I still haven't quite gotten past my 'can't eat off the bone' food rule.

If you're ever in Memphis, you HAVE to stop in at The Rendezvous! We were so glad we did!