Happy Halloween!!

From all of your favorite Nintendo characters!  And just in case you need a primer - -

• Lindsey = Pikachu
• Ryan = Luigi
• Alli = Toad
• Diddy = Donkey Kong
• Riley = Mario
• Tata = Video game nerd 
• Buddy = Video game nerd
• Me = Princess Peach (of course)

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween and got lots of candy.  

Mama's Day 2014

I've been a mama for nine Mother's Days now, and I've had some good ones.  But let me tell you - this year is shaping up to be one of the best yet.  Riley let me sleep in until 8:30am (she's had a fever all weekend, so we didn't go to church this morning).  Then Ryan and Alli went to go get me donuts and Starbucks, the breakfast of champions!  And since Riley seemed to be feeling all right, we decided to go on our first family bike ride.  Ryan and I got bikes last weekend, and we've been antsy to try them out all together.

We did a 45 minute, 5 mile bike ride on the Mud Creek and Scull Creek trails.  Riley adored her trailer, and Ryan and I enjoyed our bikes.  Alli, however, did not enjoy much of anything.  Her tires were almost flat, and the bike is way too small for her.  Plus, she only has one gear.  Her new bike with seven gears was ready later the same day, thank goodness.  So this little trek represented the last hurrah for Alli's old bike.

After a good ride and throwing some rocks into the creek, we came home to drop Ryan & Riley off and Alli & I headed to the barn.  I got to sit in the sun and watch Miss Thang ride Tater Tot.  She even cantered over a jump!

Then we came home and left again to pick up Alli's bike.  Afterwards we went for "lupper" - lunch/supper at my favorite Mexican place on the planet La Hacienda.  Mama even had a marg.

Now Ryan is doing the grocery shopping while I lounge around the house.  We're planning another bike ride later this evening so Alli can test our her new wheels.  Then I was promised cookies and wine for dinner followed by watching the new episode of Game of Thrones when the kids are snoozing.  I'm serious, this might be my perfect non-beach non-Thanksgiving day.  Happy Mothers Day to all of the mamas out there.  I hope your days are as wonderful as mine!

Organic Experience

With us making Riley's baby food, Ryan and I have started shopping at the local natural food store called Ozark Natural Foods.  It started slow with us purchasing the organic produce only.  Then we added beef because it was grass fed and hormone free.  Then it was chicken and eggs.  So now we do a weekly trip there to get half of our groceries, and then we go to Wal-Mart for the other half.  And we're poorer in wealth, but richer in health.   At least, that's what we tell ourselves.

Going into Ozark Natural Foods is intimidating.  First of all, when you pull in the parking lot in your Honda Pilot, you are by far the biggest car in the lot.  The place looks like a Honda Fit convention with some Subarus sprinkled in.  Once you find a spot (which is no small feat) you head inside, careful to grab your reusable shopping bags.  You forgot those one time, and the look the cashier gave you when you had to ask for paper bags still haunts your nightmares.

You grab a shopping cart on the way in.  The shopping carts are teensy.  The size ratio of Ozark Natural Foods shopping carts to Wal-Mart is 3:1.  The store itself is also pretty tiny, so every person's head pops up when you walk in.  On your way to the produce section, you pass by a desk where one employee sits.  Until recently, you weren't entirely sure of his job function except to glare at you with a smug, superior look over his trendy horn-rimmed glasses.  Apparently he can also weigh your jar for the bulk aisle.  Right now, he's just watching and judging.

Now you're in the produce section amongst the shoppers.  It's worth noting here that there are three types of shoppers at ONF:  

1. Granola.  These people have dreadlocks and/or wear Tevas in December and/or wear clothes that are varying shades of wheat.  They may or may not have gauges in their ears.  They shop here because they actually like kale chips and this is the only place in town they can get them. 
2. Rich Witches.  These women are dressed in work out clothes but haven't actually sweated yet.  You can tell this because their hair is styled and they have on makeup and jewelry.  They shop here because it's trendy and they don't have to suffer the people of Wal-Mart.
3. Normal People.  These people are you and me.  If they are new here, they look intimidated - eyes wide, mouths slack.  They have no idea where anything is, and they are overwhelmed with the options.  Who knew there were five different choices of quinoa?  If they aren't new here, they have their heads down and are all business. 

The produce section is eye opening.  The choices in salad greens and sweet potatoes alone are disarming.  And then there are some things that are just unidentifiable.  Like you've never actually seen this veggie in this form before.  Fortunately the staff is there to help you ID which sweet potato is a "normal orange sweet potato," even if they snicker behind your back.

For a while, you avoid every other section of the store.  If you don't know which variety of avocado is normal, how are you going to comprehend the soup aisle, the spice aisle and the dreaded "bulk" aisle? As you're weaving through the meat section, thinking about the poor grass fed cow that was raised just down the road in Greenwood, Arkansas and wondering if you passed him ever in a pasture off the highway, your nine year old asks you, "Mama, what is your favorite store?"  Sort of distracted, you answer "Target!"  That's okay in ONF, right?  Obviously you'd be lying if you said "Ozark Natural Foods" because literal tears are springing to your eyes just because you're so overwhelmed about shopping there.  "Oh, I like Tar-jay too, Mama.  It's my third favorite.  You know what my favorite store is?"

"Um no, Alli, what is it?"  "Toys R Us!"  "Oh, yes, I like Toys R Us."  Which eggs do I get?  Free range?  Cage free?  Certified humane?  ARE THEY SERIOUSLY $20/DOZEN?!  "Do you know what my second favorite store is?"  "No, Alli, what is it?"  Yogurt, yogurt.  Where is the yogurt?  "Wal-Mart!  I just love Wal-Mart!"  SHHHHH, Alli.  Come on.  Everyone is staring.  You said the "W" word!

Embarrassed, you duck your head and keep moving to the checkout.  Rayne, the girl checking you out, asks the question you dread every time.  "Are you an owner?"  No, lady.  I'm not an owner, but I did bring my bags.  Give me my nickel.  You drop the nickel they give to everyone who brings in reusable bags into the charity box and look at the cashier smugly.  

"Mama!  Look, I can see McDonald's from here!"  You turn bright red.  "Mom, no really, there it is.  Can we have it for dinner?  I haven't eaten there this week!  Can we?"  You resist the urge to beeline for the door and abandon your humane eggs and your organic blueberries.  And when you finally make it out of there in one piece, you pat yourself on the back for another week of healthy, if expensive, shopping for your family.  Maybe one day you'll be the pro who is well versed in varieties of quinoa, but today you just celebrate leaving without tears in your eyes.

Brick by Brick

After a week of frigid temperatures, we had a beautiful and warm weekend.  Unfortunately for the first time ever, Fayetteville Public Schools decided to hold a make-up snow day on a Saturday.  So Alli went from a four day week (she was supposed to be off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday) to a six day week.  She was not too happy Saturday morning when we took her in, she said she was afraid we were going to do something fun without her.

I've got news for her - we did.  But fortunately for Alli it wasn't kid-fun, it was both of us getting our workouts on the elliptical done, playing on the floor with Riley, and enjoying coffee and grown-up talk.  So she didn't miss much.

I went to make the rounds at the Fayetteville antique stores that we love - 410 Vintage, Flying Dog, and Fayetteville Trading Post - before picking Alli up at 2PM.  Good news - she wasn't the only kid that went to school and she actually had a good time.  We went home to get Ryan and Riley, and then went dropped by our most favorite Fayetteville antique store In Retrospect.  We aren't looking for anything in  particular, but you just never know what you'll find.  I was in love with a fully restored ride-on pony called Jigger, but at "$3500 FIRM," Ryan said no way.

To make up for the horror of going to school on a Saturday, we got to take Alli to a new place called Brick by Brick.  We weren't too sure about the concept, but it was Lego-focused, so my two Lego-holics decided to give it a try.

Here's the deal - you walk in to a Lego-themed room (Lego characters on the walls, primary colors everywhere, posters of Legos, paintings of Legos…there were even Legos in the soap jars.  One wall is lined with boxes of Lego sets, which you can "check out" and put together.  There are also endless totes of random bricks, wheels, men, and plates.  On the other wall, there's a play kitchen and grocery store, a chalkboard, and a play area for the littles with Duplo blocks, coloring books, and plastic animals.

Things started a little slow.  Alli was quiet and not sure what to think, and Ryan was afraid of being "that dad" who got a kit and built it himself.  So they decided on a Lego City tractor trailer to start out.

They worked together for a little while, but once all of the policemen and the criminals were put together, Alli wandered off to do a little grocery shopping.  Ryan powered through alone.

He secretly liked it better that way so he could focus, methinks.  I played with Riley on the floor, and we got super close to crawling.

After Ryan got his police tractor trailer put together and Alli played with it, she grabbed some of the random Legos and put together this awesome intricate set of people doing a race.  She's so amazingly creative.

Brick by Brick was a super place.  We will definitely be going back - it was $15 for the four of us (Riley was free) to play for two hours.  They do drop offs and Parents Night Out, so you can even drop your kiddo off if you so desire.  The staff was extremely friendly, the decor was very creative, and Alli even made some new friends.

Now if I can just get them to do a Dad's Night In so that I can drop Ryan off to do the Ewok Village - all 1,500 pieces!  If you've got a Lego-crazy kid (or spouse), you really need to swing by Brick by Brick and try it out.  My Lego maniacs gave it four thumbs up.

2013 In Review

I really feel like it wasn't that long ago that I was writing the 2012 in review post, but here we are almost a year later, and we're reflecting on 2013.  I can say with confidence that 2013 was the fastest year in the history of the Lowe fam.  Here's the Lowe Down on how we spent our 2013:

• Places We Traveled - This section is a little smaller this year than it was last year, but to be fair, we had an extra traveler who isn't exactly easy to pack up and take a million places.  And the Razorbacks were terrible, so no one wanted to go see them play anywhere!  This year we did our annual jaunt to Destin, but with a five week old.  And we went down to New Orleans last month for my cousin Brooke's wedding.  On the way, we also stopped over in Ruston, LA where my mom's sister and our cousins live.   Both trips were so much fun and full of family time.  In addition, I went solo to Colorado for a girls' trip to celebrate my friend Kerri's bachelorette party. We also spent an entire afternoon in Clarksville/Lamar, Arkansas visiting old sights from my grandfather and grandmother's growing up.  Alli even got to meet her great great great Aunt Kathryn.

• Things Alli Did - Alli had yet another wonderful year.  She became a big sister, spent a summer home with her mama, won her class Spelling Bee and came in second in the school-wide one, and graduated from second grade and started third.  She cantered and jumped her pony, played soccer, and paddleboarded and parasailed in Florida.  She loves to draw, play her Skylanders video game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and her little sister.

• Things Riley Did - Oh, you know, besides being born??  That's right, she did more than just come into the world this year, but that's by far her biggest accomplishment.  We welcomed this sweet little girl in June of this year, and she's changed our worlds for the better.  She's also rolled over, can sit up unassisted, babbles constantly, and eats solid foods.  She's been to the barn, the soccer field, Bourbon Street, swimming, and the beach to name a few.

• Fun Things We Did - Besides events and travel for the girls, we had our first ever trip to the Gentry Drive Thru Zoo, our Diddy ran a half marathon, and we painted almost our entire house! There was a baby shower for Riley, snow in May and snow on Alli's birthday in December.  Alli went to horse camp, soccer camp, and Camp Wilson.  We spent almost a month in Little Rock this summer where we ate lunch with Tata at Heifer Village and went to the Museum of Discovery twice.  Alli met the Ninja Turtles at Arvest Ballpark.  We saw baby Evie at the barn when she was just hours old and celebrated the centennial of my sorority Delta Delta Delta at the University of Arkansas.

What a year 2013 was!  We added to our family with Riley, Emma Grace, and my cousin Brooke marrying Keith.  We lost my Pawpaw's brother Uncle Don, but my last memory of him was wonderful, sitting at his table during our jaunt around Clarksville this summer.  I spent so much time with my family with 12 weeks of maternity leave and two weeks at Christmas.  Alli grew and developed as a rider, a student, a soccer player, and a person.  And our precious Riley was safely born and has grown leaps and bounds ever since.  2013 has been one of my favorite years so far, and I am so anxious to see what 2014 has in store!

Happy Halloween!!

This year Halloween dawned rainy, and the rain didn't completely stop until about 5PM.  But the ghouls smiled and the rain quit, and we Lowes got down to some real Halloween fun.  I picked Alli up and we set up our pumpkins by our front door.

Did you guess what our green pumpkins became?  If not, you haven't been paying attention!  Our sweet Aunt Titi came over to go with us, and we were able to get shots of the whole family.

We went over to our neighbors' house to have some chili and wait on it to get dark.  Fortunately, Brady is a boy after our own heart, and I had a little competition in the Raphael department.  And sweet little Victoria as Snow White - stop it.

This was our first year to trick or treat in the new 'hood (we went back to our old one last year because there weren't hardly any houses) and it was so much fun.  Most of the houses were lit up, and we got to stop and visit and meet new people along the way.  Ryan even commented that it was like the movie E.T. - kids running around everywhere.  One of our neighbors set the bar high for decorating.  Alli had been talking about going to this house all week, and it sure lived up to the hype.

Alli, Brady, and Victoria had an awesome time, and Riley was a great sport.  It was a little cold outside, so she spent most of the night bundled up in her stroller.  She even took a (black) cat nap.  See what I did there?

We hit every house in the neighborhood by around 8:30, and then came in to do inventory.  That's right, you're talking about a lineage of engineers here.  We organize.  Or as my dad said - catalogue, inventory, and distribute!  But stingy Alli wasn't doing much distributing.  It's a good thing she's asleep now, because these Reese's pumpkins are amazing.  Alli let me know that this was most definitely the best Halloween ever, and Riley agreed.  Hope you and yours had an amazing holiday.  Happy Halloween!!