BOYS

Oh my. The stories I have to tell. A couple of weeks ago, Sarah went into the bathroom she shares with Shane and hollered out that the sink was yellow. When we asked Shane if he peed in the sink, he said not in this one, but I did in that one. When asked WHY he peed in the sink, he said just "because". Steve asked him to show us just how he managed to get the pee in the sink, wondering if he had used a stool, or what. Shane climbed up on the counter, put one knee on each side of the sink, and that was that. A couple of days later, we discovered a yellow bathtub.

Now, I am wondering, he is really a naughty boy, or just simply curious? Surely he is learning about the world using cause and effect.

We do watch a lot of Sid the Science Kid...a fabulous PBS show where the kids do all kinds of "investigations" as they learn about their world. Maybe I should get him a science journal where he can "draw" about the things he tries.

Today, while taking a bath, I heard a lot of bubbles in the tub. Now, I was sitting in the floor, deep into a game of Suduko, so I didn't really glance up, just merely asked Shane if he had tooted. He laughed and said yes. Only later, about 10 minutes, when Shane said he wanted to get out, did I look in the tub and see the floating poop. Of course, we had to shower after that and scour the tub. But again, did he intentionally go, or was it just a watery toot? We may never know.

Life for the mom of a boy, is never BORING.

A very quiet house

Our kids spent the night at Memaw's last night, and our house is very, very quiet. Steve and I are just sitting around, with no tv on, and marveling about the last time it was this quiet. I remember walking around our neighborhood in Washington, when I was still pregnant with Sarah and listening to the quietness of life. I joked with Steve that once Sarah arrived our lives would never be the same again. How right I was. Now our days are full of noise the sounds of childern. Laughing, singing, whistling or trying to, burping, running around the kitchen island, reading, tattling, wrestling, arguing, whining, giggling, banging on the playing the piano...etc.

What a relaxing schedule I had today...time-off to be Shannon, and not just Mommy. Here's what my day looked like:
Woke up about 8:30
Finished the last 50 pages of a Karn Kingsbury book Every Now and Then
Ate my cereal on my own without any body else sharing it
Took a nap about 10:00
Watched a Chick Flick.

Ahh-what a day. If only Starbucks had a delivery service.

This kind of day is nice every once in a while, but of course I wouldn't trade my kids for anything in the world.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

If you have not yet tasted the dessert Sopapilla Cheesecake, then you simply must. It is fabulous. Of course, with 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar, 2 packs of cream cheese, and a stick of butter, how could it not be good? Click here for a great blog full of fun recipies.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent rolls

2-8oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)

1 1/2 cups Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

1 tsp Cinnamon1 stick butter (1/2 cup real butter not margarine)

1. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.

2. Unroll and press 1 can crescent rolls into the bottom of your baking dish and press the seams together.

3. In a separate bowl blend the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and 1 and a half tsp vanilla -- spread over top of dough.

4. Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and place on top of the cream cheese mixture pressing seams together again.

5. Melt butter and pour over top layer of crescents.

6. Mix the reaming 1/2 cup of sugar & cinnamon together.

7. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture generously over the top.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until bubbly and bottom crust is slightly brown.

9. Cool, slice and enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Look at all the NEW BLING my BLOG has! Try saying that 5x in a row. :) Many thanks to Cari for taking the time to show me some cool BLOG secrets and to hosting a fun-filled New Year's Eve. The kids enjoyed hanging out, watching Nemo and running the circle from living room/kitchen/dining room--over and over. Cheers that no one ever fell and got hurt.

You really can't ask for a better friend...she cooks, she cleans up the mess, she takes pics, and she even emailed me these cute smilebox pages already completed with pictures. So glad we live back here in FTW so we can be around for sharing in meals and fellowship together!

Thanksgiving (a little late)

We spent Thanksgiving in Austin with Steve. The next morning he FLEW us home. This pic was taken inside the cockpit of the 737. Steve is sitting in the First Officer seat. I am in the Captain's chair. ;) Over the intercom, Steve announced his co-pilots Shane and Sarah. How cool!

Christmas NEWSletter

Many of you receive our newsletter each year...for those of you that do not.
Here it is!

Sprowls News Herald -- 2008 Edition

Sarah – Our First Grader

Sarah, 6, continues to love school and currently wants to teach kindergarten or become a vet when she grows up. Last summer, Sarah played indoor soccer for the first time. She is involved with Daisy Girl Scouts and is an AWANA Spark. (AWANA is a children’s church program.) She is very into Hannah Montana, drawing, writing, coloring, stickers, and scrapbooking (just like her Mommy).

Shane - Preschooler

Shane, 3, continues to keep us busy. He attends preschool at Heritage Church of Christ two days a week, and stays home with mom or dad the other days. He is well behaved in school and enjoys learning new things. He can spell many words due to the songs he learns, and he picture “reads” books while Sarah is doing her homework. He is always climbing, jumping, swinging, and playing in the sand. Shane also played soccer this summer, and is currently an AWANA cubby. Steve is thankful that Shane has traded princess dress up shoes and Barbies for Disney Cars, Star Wars guys, and Superheroes. (It is hard to have a big sister with cool toys.)

Steve – Flying for Southwest

Steve still works for Southwest and finally became Dallas based in September. Yeah, no more commuting!!! He is still gone 3-4 days at a time, but now he sleeps home on nights before and after trips. He also works as an ALO (Academy Liaison Officer) as a reserve job. Basically, he interviews students that want to go to the Air Force Academy. Steve still has the REAL ESTATE bug and bought two more houses this year. His goal is to keep buying houses while they are so cheap, sell them in 2-3 years, and then to buy an apartment complex. This extra income will allow him to fly fewer trips for Southwest each month so that he’ll be home more.

Shannon – Full time mom…part time sub

Well, one year of full-time teaching made me realize that my heart really wanted to be back at home with our kids. It was a leap of faith, leaving a secure job and hoping to make it on Steve’s salary, but we are all so glad we jumped. I manage to keep myself busy, of course. I still sell Creative Memories scrapbooking supplies and hold monthly crops. I attend Ladies’ Bible study at our church, and I am Sarah’s Daisy Girl Scout leader. I enjoy helping out at Sarah’s school, and I usually sub one day a week. It is great to TEACH for a day and then walk out with the students with NO work or worries to take home.

Now that I have a little more time, I am trying to keep an updated BLOG about the day-to-day things we do as a family. To read about our adventures, visit us on the web at

creativescrapper.blogspot.com

Until next year, Steve, Shannon, Sarah, & Shane

Home: (817) 562-3249

Shannon: sprowlss@yahoo.com Cell (817) 287-9985

Steve: sprowler71@yahoo.com Cell (817) 739-7601

Shane's school performance

Last night Shane performed at his preschool Christmas program. Being together to watch him shine was a great way to spend Grandy's birthday. I thought he was going to be shy on stage, but as you will see he was pretty confidant.






After we got home, Shane's teacher emailed me and wrote "Shane just stole the show. Soooo cute."