Oprah's Calling!!

Some lucky winner is headed to Chicago to see a live taping of the Oprah show! Don't forget to visit Annie's Traverse Travels and enter for your chance to win!

Join the Boob-olution!

Jump Trax Fun

So we were invited to Daniel's 5th birthday party last Friday night at Jump Trax! What an awesome place!  I can't even get over the amount of space and the bouncing varieties available to the kids (and the adults!)
Room one had 4 different inflatables and after 45 minutes of bouncing, we got to go into the NEXT room for more bouncing!!!  Incredible!

10 Reasons Moms and Dads Love Jump Trax!

1. They provide the invitations!
2. The kids will have a BLAST!
3. The parents will have a BLAST!
4. No boredom or down time - it's GO-GO-GO!
5. No setting up!
6. No serving - the party attendants do it all for you!
7. No mess to clean up!
8. SO MUCH SPACE for little ones to play on the Fisher Price ride on toys and the older ones to BOUNCE!  Everything is spacious!  
9. Location!  SUPER close, right on Route 1 in Sharon, MA!
10. Everyone sleeps REALLY WELL when they get home!  

Find them on Facebook!

Who Wants Cupcakes?

On Saturday we baked. Yellow Betty Crocker cupcakes as promised. Aidan and Emily both did a great job helping. Aidan wanted to squeeze the eggs and Emily wanted to pour in the ingredients. We had a blast.

Aidan got obsessed. He had Cupcake on the brain. We heard the C word throughout our entire dinner on Saturday night and he tossed his dinner plate on the table and refused to eat until he got his C. We gave in and he won. I really wish we took out the flip.

On Sunday morning, he wanted Cs for breakfast. Thank goodness we didn't leave them out on the counter. He still begged though, but this time WE won. Still had a few left to decorate, so we switched it up a bit.

Owen rolled over from belly to back last week and tried out his Bumbo seat too. He looks so cute in that thing. What a clever invention. Thanks to Katie and Jason for letting us borrow the Bumbo!

Oh, and by the way, I love cupcakes too.  Which one would you choose?  I'll take both please.

Mompetitors!

Hilarious. Stole this from my friend Meghan. LOVE IT!

The Greatest Week on Earth...

Wow, a lot has been going on in the Stow household.  A big haircut, a Christening, a trip to the circus, a roll over, a shower and a venue found for the 5th birthday!  What a week!

The new 'do!

We took this picture of Em outside in her jeans so we could enter it in the GAP casting call!  Don't forget to submit your cuties!  You can see all the details and rules here!

Last night was a late one for Miss Emily!  Kathy invited us to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at TD Banknorth Garden!  We had a blast!  Zing, Zang, Zoom!  Here's a little clip from our flip!




Today was eventful!  Emily took her first shower and Owen rolled over from belly to back while doing some tummy time!  Woohoo!  Love all these firsts!

And we also found the most amazing location for Emily's 5th birthday party!  I went to visit a new INDOOR BOUNCE birthday party location, called Jump Trax.  It is about 5 miles down the road on Route 1 in Sharon!  They have 2 separate rooms for bouncing, HUGE ceilings, CLEAN AND NEAT EVERYTHING and a separate party room where the kiddos can eat pizza, cake and ice cream!  I was so impressed with everything Jump Trax had to offer, so we booked it for November 14th!  And the best part is that we get to go there tomorrow for Daniel's birthday party!  This is the same Daniel who has been at preschool with Emily for the past three years.  One of my favorite Daniel stories goes back two years ago when I asked Emily what she did at school one day and she replied, "I slept with Daniel!"  At least Daniel has good taste in birthday parties!

And now, for a good laugh.....

Owen's Christening Video

Owen's Christening

The boy

Cake!

Fondant Detail

Aidan's not so sure about this...

Mommy and Owen

Detailing

Yay!

It's official!

Owen with his Godparents

Stows and Godparents

Kiddies!

Family

Traverse Taxi

Moments

On the changing table yesterday morning:

Aidan:  I like your soft shirt Mommy.  Can I touch it?


Mommy:  Sure.  Isn't it nice?


Aidan:  What's under there?


Mommy:  Under where?  My shirt?


Aidan:  Yah.  Is that your pump?  Can I see your pumps?  


Mommy:  laughing........

Attempting to tidy up yesterday afternoon:

Mommy:  Emily, look!  You can sweep with this!


Em:  I didn't know we had THE SWIVEL SWEEPER!!!!!


Mommy:  It's not the Swivel, it's a Swiffer.


Em:  Ok!  (she swiffered all day long and continued the next morning, changing the pad inside out then on to a new one)  Taught Aidan how to Swiffer too.   :)


Em (this morning):  Can I swiffle?

Daddy's Moment

Owen in his hand-me-down Halloween duds before they are too small!

Who doesn't love an ice cream moment?

The Big Birthday Is Coming!

So, there's no escaping it.  My little lefty is turning 5 next month.  Part of me CANNOT believe it and a whole other part of me REALLY CAN believe it.  Seeing as last week I told her that boarding school might be in her future!  Ah, no, she's back to her old self again and we're having a great week.  Hope I didn't just jinx myself!

My Baby

5, really?  Five years ago I was teaching fifth grade in Sudbury, just counting down the days until our lives would be forever changed!  And nope, you weren't a boy at all!  You had everyone fooled Miss Emily!  She's becoming such a big girl.

She's got a lot of amazing qualities that resemble both Mommy and Daddy. Stubborn, hilarious, intelligent, curious, determined, quick-tempered, happy, and helpful just to name a few. I love how she gets herself dressed, eats her dinner (more or less), tells her brothers how much she loves them on an hourly basis, buckles her own seatbelt in the Traverse, fetches burp cloths and diapers, brushes her own teeth and hair and most of all - wipes her own bum!  :)  I hate how her cute little girly clothes are constantly being tucked away into big bins, how her baby teeth will soon start to fall out and how she has recently found her "tude."  Oh, the joys of growing up.

"Let's Keep Him"

Trying on Mommy's Glasses

Being born on November 27th has led to a few lack-luster birthday parties for Miss Emily, especially last year when her birthday fell on Thanksgiving.  So this year, we've decided to go all out and scope out a place where she can invite her "big-girl" friends.  I must admit, I'm super excited about not having to clean my house for the before and after!  (We're doing Thanksgiving this year, so I guess I don't REALLY escape it...)

5.  I look at my little Owen and think how he'll be 5 in a flash.  I love our moments.  I look at Aidan and do double takes, saying to myself, "he's just two, Annie, although he wears a 3T and talks like a four-year-old, he still can't do stairs."  Almost 5, 2 and 3 months.  It's a very busy house.  And I love it.

Emily, Owen, Aidan

Annie's Traverse Travels Car Seat Safety

Here's our latest TV commercial!  Look for us on WCVB Channel 5!  I love my Traverse!

Cathy's Oprah Road Trip in the Traverse

Cathy (on right) looking SHOCKED!

Drum roll please! Today, Cathy McCarthy is going to share a little about her experience getting to the Oprah premiere last month! Like I said before, it was such a coincidence when I tuned in that day, because I've known Cathy since I was a little girl!

Hi Annie

My friends and I had the greatest experience thanks to Oprah and Chevrolet.
We were given a new, red, Chevrolet Traverse to road trip to Chicago to be on the premier Oprah Farewell Season show.

Six of us left from Brockton, MA to travel to Niagara Falls, NY the first day. The experience was wonderful. The car was so-o-o-o comfortable! It had bucket seats in both the front and back seats which made it perfect for a long drive. Our trip had so many special moments; from the sing-a longs with the Oprah and Gayle's Big Adventure tape to our crazy "bathroom stops". The Falls were incredible. It just shows how beautiful our country is. Everyone should "see the USA in your Chevrolet" ( the song was on the tape). If you ever get to see our road trip tape there is a part with us singing our version of the song).

The 2nd day we headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH. It was amazing seeing the guitars and costumes of so many legends in the music business. We saw everything from Patsy Cline to Sting and the Beatles. We spent the night in Toledo. All of us took turns driving so we could experience the car. It was so easy to handle and I'm the one who usually drives only small cars!

Day 3 brought us to Chicago where a driver took over. Oprah and her staff didn't want us to have to deal with city traffic; or so they said!! They also said we could go to our hotel to freshen up. As many people saw, the driver took us right into the loading area of the Harpo Studios and directly onto the stage!! I don't know how the Traverse made some of those tight corners. We had no idea this was going to happen. We had such pretty outfits planned for the next morning's taping.

Oprah, herself, looked as happy as we looked shocked. She and her staff really pulled off an amazing event. She is such a special lady. Even during the breaks, Oprah was so accessible to everyone. She is as "real" off air as she is on air.

What an experience. Anytime, anyone wants to give us a Chevrolet to take anywhere; we are your women!! Can't wait for our trip to Australia , thanks to Oprah!!

Cathy McCarthy

Look What Em Can Do!

10 Winners

Just in case you missed it, here is the list of winners for the Story Land Family 4 Packs!

Shivaun Rakauskas Brenizer

Ann Whitston Boschen

Jennifer Bodford Hilton

Rebecca Rosen

Melissa Pikasso

Allison Susan Patch Ilic

Wendy Sulkazi Bradbury

James O'Neill

SmileMommySmile

Lydia Acheson

Congratulations to all the winners! We had so much fun with this contest!!! Be sure to stay tuned! What could possibly be next??