Christmas, 2010

Santa Claus visited our house the day before Christmas Eve since we were going to be out of town on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day...wasn't that nice of him? Logan must have been good in 2010 because he received many presents and he became a pro at opening them (ripping the paper off and pulling out tissue paper from gift bags). Christmas was more magical this year in the Bowman household...I guess having a children around makes everything more magical!

Logan and his new Woody doll

Logan, opening his new scooter

Riding his new scooter

Logan and his cousin, Ryder

Logan and Ryder, playing the piano

Merry Christmas!

Hope your Christmas morning (and all your mornings in 2011) are filled with joy!

Love,

The Bowmans

Jesse, Erin, Logan and Nemo

Notice the p.j.s and "bedhead"

A picture where Logan is actually smiling

Dear Friends (and a little tailgating mixed in)

As a special education teacher I have never had a classroom all to myself. I always share a classroom with another teacher or teachers. While most people might think it is not desirable to share a classroom, it has been an absolute blessing for me. At my first teaching job I had the pleasure of sharing my office/classroom with Angie. Sharing a office with Angie was just the beginning of a lifelong friendship. After I was no longer working at that school, Angie and I continued to meet weekly for lunch. She has since moved away, but we still keep in touch. Angie and I have shared many, many laughs and I will always have a special place in my heart for her. After leaving that teaching job, I was hired at my current position and met my then-roommate, Lesley. Lesley and I became fast friends and she was a valuable mentor to me. After two years of sharing a room, Lesley and her husband moved out of the Bloomington area, but we have continued to get together with her and her husband. In fact, 4 years ago we purchased season football tickets at the University of Illinois with Lesley and Tim. We have enjoyed tailgating and cheering on the winning/losing/winning/losing Illini team. Last weekend was our last home game of the season and it was a memorable one...Illini lost, but we still managed to have a good time. Lesley has always been someone that I feel comfortable telling anything...she is an amazing person, teacher and friend. My more recent roommate, Lyndsey, has also become one of my best friends. We have shared ups and downs together and she has taught me so much about being a good friend and being a good teacher. I am so incredibly blessed to have been paired up with these amazing women and I will be forever changed for the better because of them. I love you Angie, Lesley and Lyndsey!

Tailgating with Lesley and Tim

Fall Family Fun!

This free scrapbooking design created with Smilebox

Logan Turns 2!

Free photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

Charity

I am one of the lucky ones...my life has been blessed by God over and over again and I have so much to be thankful for. So, when I see someone standing on the side of the road with a sign that says, "Homeless, please help!" I instinctivly want to help him/her, in fact, I often pull over and give those individuals a few dollars, but I always feel bad about it because I feel like I'm enabling them (which I'm not really by only give them a few dollars). I often feel bad about giving to charity because I feel like I'm contributing to the problem instead of truly helping someone. In my daily life I face this dilema with my 2-year old son and my students. My son and my students often want help with something and I want to provide the help, but I'm very deliberate in how I provide the help. I teach them to use tools or I teach them strategies to solve problems opposed to doing things for them (not always though, sometimes I'm just tired and I take the "shortcut" by doing it for them, but most of the time my help comes in the form of a lesson). So, after giving the man tonight outside of McDonalds a few dollars and feeling bad about it, I got to thinking about how I could give him a tool or a strategy to truly help him and the only thing that came to my mind...GOD! Instead of giving that man a couple dollars I should have given him the phone number/address to my church. I should have lead him to people and resources that will eventually lead him closer to God. I should have prayed for him and I should have told him that Jesus loves him...and that's exactly what I will do next time!

WOW!!!