A Rowzee "First"

We were on a weekend trip with friends when the moment arrived. Avery said, "Mom, my tooth is hurting a little." My response was, "Well, I guess you could have a loose tooth..." So I tried a little wiggle and could hardly believe it - it was LOOSE! Avery sat in her chair, very calmly, but with a huge grin on her face as I ran throughout the house announcing to everyone that Avery had a loose tooth! I'm not sure why, but I have been anxious for her to get a loose tooth. She's nearing seven years old and it seems that every one of her friends has lost several teeth already. I just hadn't had that experience yet of having a child lose a tooth and was beginning to feel left out. I think it also has to do with the fact that I lost very few teeth as a child - most were pulled by the dentist. Not sure why, but my baby teeth would not leave my mouth without a fight! So I've just wanted to know that my daughters will not be becoming their dentist's best friend as I did.

It took nearly 3 more weeks of watching her wiggle it for it to finally come out. One night I just gave it a little tug - and out it came! She was shocked! I've already seen her do quite a few things in her life that she should be very proud of, but I think this was the proudest I've seen her.

A quick background on why there are TWO missing teeth. She cracked her top tooth as a 1 1/2 year old and the dentist eventually had to remove it.

Soon after I realized she had a loose tooth, I decided I had to make her a tooth pillow. I had one as a kid and can still picture it in my mind. I decided my daughter needed one, too! You have to have a little pocket for the tooth and for the tooth fairy to leave the little treasure!



We've never really encouraged belief in fictional characters. I wasn't prepared when the question came up about Santa, so I just told the truth right away. I've never dispelled the tooth fairy fantasy, although I haven't exactly encouraged it, either. So I got a real kick out of Avery's comment the next morning after she got a dollar in her pillow. She said, "Well, I guess I know now that the tooth fairy is real!"

Family Fun Night

We love family fun nights. We usually have them on Fridays, but sometimes I'll just plan one in the middle of the week if I'm getting the "vibe" that our family needs it. I sat in a special little mothers' brunch this morning and was encouraged to put some effort into making some memories with my family. I had already told the girls, as I dropped Avery off at school, that we'd have a family fun night tonight. Avery likes to go through her day knowing she has that to look forward to. I thought it would be fun to make up a few clues and do a kind of scavenger hunt around town with our little family of four. However, I couldn't come up with a lot of things we could do that didn't involve eating at every stop and spending a ton of money. Perhaps you'll think my destinations less than wonderful, but this was last minute and on a limited budget!

Here's our first clue:

This is a really good place to go.

Your mother and father are telling you so.

So will you put on a smile and buckle up tight

And get ready for a really fun family night!

Avery actually laughed when she guessed Goodwill. She thought it would be ridiculous that we would go there. She said, "It's not really Goodwill. That's not fun." um.... my thought had been that we'd go pick out a new-to-us movie or a game. So I showed my little bit of disappointment at their lack of enthusiasm and Rich sent me to the car and had a little talk with them. Whatever he said worked! They were quite grateful and perfectly happy the rest of the night. We ended up picking out a game and got home and realized there were no directions!

I really only had a short while this afternoon to come up with anything. So, we only ended up with two destinations. I had a lot of fun with it, though, so I'm thinking I'll do this again and maybe spice it up a little more. :)

Second clue:

Next is the rock that's the opposite of hot.

Something salty to eat, it is not.

Creamy and sweet, it's always good to eat.

We'll end our night with a fun treat.

I'm so glad I did this. We all had a great time. My favorite part is the fact that it made Rich really happy. Several times throughout the night, he just mentioned how fun it was that I planned something different for us. My sweet daughters thanked me over and over at the end of the night for their scavenger hunt. I asked Allie as I tucked her in bed what her favorite part of her day was. Before I share her answer, I should explain that she got to play with a good friend at church, and then went to the carousel and McDonald's with her Papa and cousin. She had a day full of Allie-size fun! So of course my heart melted when she said the scavenger hunt was her favorite part of the day.

One of my other thoughts for a destination was the library, but it closed too early. Please share if you have any good ideas of a cheap (or better yet, FREE) evening family activity to include on a future Rowzee family scavenger hunt!

Joy not grief...

As I write this, my oldest daughter is complaining about school and I'm getting frustrated! My other daughter is provoking her. I'm trying to stay calm. I remind one daughter that we do not allow complaining and arguing and the other not to stir up trouble. And it's not even 7am yet!

Being a mother is full of so many joys! I see my sweet daughters growing in so many areas. They are such a delight. And other times they're really not. I was finishing Hebrews this morning and a little gem struck my fancy. Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give an account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." How could I not apply that to my parenting? I am the "ruler" over my children, along with my husband, as I truly watch out over their souls. I have such a huge job! I can't do it when they are not submissive to me, which is more often than I'd like. Oh man, my daughters are fighters! My biggest battle is teaching them to submit. But the big clincher for me is that little bit toward the end - "Let them do so with joy and not with grief..." Now, I realize they contribute to whether or not I can do so with joy, as they submit, but there is still an encouragement to me as the authority to teach them with joy and not grief.

Avery's New International Readers' Version says it this way: "Obey your leaders. Put yourselves under their authority. They keep watch over you. They know they are accountable to God for everything they do. Obey them so that their work will be a joy. If you make their work a heavy load, it won't do you any good."

Boy, I sure could have stood to hear this when I was a teenager! I have a feeling this is going to be a verse I end up going back to many times over the next decade and half...

Avery's worst part of the day

There are so many things we have to do every day that are not a whole lot of fun. Of course my complaints are very different from Avery's. She six years old. I mean, really. What does she have to complain about? Wanna know what makes her break into tears almost every night and takes her 5 times as long as it should? Brushing her teeth. She whines and complains and takes FOREVER to brush her teeth. Many nights she stands in the bathroom crying at the mirror with the toothbrush just hanging out of her mouth. And my sympathy goes right out the window. I can't feel sorry for her at that moment.

So, she has grown in so many ways. Her prayer request on more than one occasion recently has been that she can brush her teeth without getting upset. At least she recognizes her struggles! Avery is far from perfect, but she is such a delight... just not at the moment I tell her every night to brush her teeth...

That's what friends are for...

We always like to do a little Christmas celebration with our good friends, the Libbys. We had them over for dinner a couple nights before Christmas.

Allie loves her Uncle Russell.



I guess all the kids love him!!


We had the kids get in their pajamas and I gave them tickets for the "Honda Pilot Express". We headed over to a popular spot in town to check out Christmas lights. It's just a normal neighborhood that every year goes all-out in their light display.

Who knew way back when Connie and became friends in high school as we sang in a singing group and cheered on the cheerleading squad together, that years later we'd get the blessing of sharing such a family friendship? God knew and I am so thankful for such a gift. It's truly priceless.

And I don't know whose idea this was, but there ya have it!

A Rowzee Christmas

My kids are "nestled all snug in their beds" on this Christmas night. We've had such a wonderful holiday! Once we got through a very rough first few days of Christmas vacation, we settled into a happy rhythm of enjoying the holiday. We sure had a tough go of it as Avery tried to adjust to being off of school. Wow. But it got much better and then it was Christmas Eve!

I kinda wanted to skip it, but decided it was worth the mess and we got our Christmas cookies done. We hardly ate any, but you just have to have the memory of making them together.

The Rowzee girls at our best.


Ok, maybe this is a little better...

Christmas morning! I remember every Christmas morning, waiting at the top of the stairs while my Dad video taped us "patiently" waiting to be allowed to come down. Such happy times!

What a great dad! Rich kept us all at the top of the stairs before they came down and read to us the Christmas story. I admit I even squawked a bit when he started with the birth of John the Baptist. He gingerly pointed out my teenager-like behavior: even I didn't have the patience to sit for more than one chapter! The girls were troopers and sat fairly still and listened well.

Allie and Avery had each picked out a present for their sister. Allie received a play-dough set from Avery.

Allie picked out a pillow-pet for Avery. They both loved their present from their sister!

"Thanks for my present, Sis!" I promise that's not a headlock - it's a hug:)

We had such a wonderful Christmas. For a change, we were home all day on Christmas, having celebrated a week before with Rich's parents and on Christmas Eve with my family. We had all day to test out the presents and enjoy being together. I was really happy to have my parents and sister come for the afternoon and have dinner with us.

However, we heard early in the morning that a dear, sweet gal from church went to be with the Lord this Christmas day. Needless to say, I baked my pie with a heavy heart and prayed throughout the day for so many people I know who had a very difficult Christmas day. Beth Bartruff was an incredible woman of God and I can think of nothing more amazing than knowing she's in her perfect, heavenly body with her Savior right now.

Man, what a reminder this year of just how fragile life is and how much I DON'T want my life to be about my possessions. The moment Beth left her earthly body, anything she ever owned on earth became meaningless, besides what brought her closer to her Savior as she walked closely with Him. May we be captivated by Christ more every day and I pray that "the things on earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."

Showtime

I grew up singing in a children's Christmas musical just about every year. For the last 8 years that we've been at our church, Salem Heights Church, I've watched the wonderful kids' musicals around the holidays and dreaming of seeing my own child on the stage, singing her heart out. I couldn't believe this was the year! It became more than just that, though. It became a family affair. I agreed to help my good friend, Wendy, direct the program this year. So we began rehearsals in October and I had so much fun that I don't think Wendy's going to get rid of me, even if she wanted to! Rich has become quite skilled in our church's lighting system, so he took on the job for the event. Allie provided for entertainment and extra bathroom breaks for me, since she just tagged along the whole time.

There's something about a kids' choir. I watched the audience during the first performance on the first song and watched the smiles grow wide the moment those kids opened their mouths. It's something you don't hear every day: 40 or so kids singing their little hearts out. And the best part is: people will listen. They don't feel intimidated or "pointed at" by sweet, cute little kids. We sang to three packed-out audiences and brought down the house every time! I was busy during all the performances, so I didn't get any pictures of them on the stage, but here are a few pictures of Avery and her friends before the show.

Hailey and Avery

Hailey's in a "Rowzee Sandwich"!

Now doesn't this just melt your heart? Our sweet friend and next door neighbor, Esabella, and her brother both sang in the program. We're SO GLAD to have them at church with us now!

And this would be Allie and a couple of her buddies before the peewee choir went on. I haven't read it, but I'm sure it's in the "Four Year Old Handbook" to be as uncooperative as possible when your mom really wants a picture. At least Allie's translation has it...

God was amazing with what He enabled us to pull off this year. The kids were awesome and the message of salvation was so clear! Can't wait for next year!