The Bowers Family

Why is it, that whenever I have Madison in one of my favorite outfits of hers and I take her to some form of child care whether it be at church or at the gym, like today, that she always seems to come home with some form of a magic marker stain. Oh and of course it is never the cheap cute outfits its the ones that come from Gymboree or somewhere like that. I feel like sending her back with a note that says hey something new and really great has been invented and their called washable markers, don't you think you could go and get some. News Flash, toddlers and markers don't mix, they come back to their parents with blue hands and ruined clothes. Thanks to Heloise and other Internet clean queens I have had two positive results among the disasters, WD-40 and yes, today it was Colgate white toothpaste. I looked it up online and thought well what do I have to loose. I had used WD-40 last time and the shirt smelled bad for several washings so I decided to try the tooth paste first. I had to give it some good scrubbing with my fingers nails and then a wet brillo type sponge put after several rinses the stain and remains of the tooth paste did wash out. So for you other moms and soon to be moms out there keep a can of WD-40 and a tube of white tooth paste around for all those future marker stains.

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Wow this morning I started the School of Strength program and it kicked my butt. I certainly hope that this program will help me show some results. It will be Monday and Wednesday mornings from 8:45 to 9:45 for 4 weeks, a total of 8 sessions, with advice for further training the other days of the week. The other ladies in the class all seem to be about my level so I certainly don't feel like the "weakest link" and believe me that is a plus in helping me stay committed despite the money I already paid. It is a small group with 1 personal trainer and currently 4 other ladies with room for 2more. This morning we basically had an exercise obstacle course, believe me looking at those objects it looked easy until you put those weights in your hands and started doing those movements. Chris asked if I had to say "Ma'am, yes ma'am" but it wasn't that type of boot camp experience. So here's to the end results, hopefully looking slimmer and feeling better about myself in time for Rebekah and Justin's big day in August.

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Today I had the blessing of attending a ladies luncheon at our church, North Central Baptist Church, where Mrs. Pam Tebow spoke about "Becoming a Woman of Influence." Her testimony was so powerful to me, having not known anything about her, not being a Gator fan, besides the fact that she is the mother of one Tim Tebow. (Check out her bio here)
She talked about the Miraculous Motivating Power of a positive influence in our lives and how to be one to others. She focused on six key points as a foundational check-list for having a positive influence for Christ that really stuck with me:
1) Master - who is your master? You or God
2) Manual - we have God's word the Bible which is the manual for life, we are to read it, memorize it, and make it ours
3) Prayer - God influences us through prayer, it draws us closer to God, it is our right and privilege
4) Mindset - Set your mind on things above
5) Mission - Be a living influence, choose to have influence with a vision and a purpose, and finish strong
6) Passion - Enthusiasm, Devotion, and Emotion
She also shared the touching poem above that lead me to create this keepsake to hang as a visual reminder of the most precious treasure He has entrusted me with.

Dear Jesus, please use me to be a positive living influence for you to all those that I come in contact with, especially those whom I hold most dear and I thank you for providing the opportunity and childcare for me to attend this event that I pray will be a monument in my life.

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When you were born,
what Love we felt...
You were a dream come true!
Then much to our amazement,
that Love just grew and grew!
Now every year
we celebrate the gift of having you!

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While in Grapevine visiting with Grammy, Grandpa, Aunt Sherry, Uncle Benji and Aunt Shawnna the girls took you for a very special hair cut in Southlake. You even got a glitter star on your cheek and a heart sucker. Too bad the only part you liked was the cherry heart sucker. You had just a little more sass then sweet that morning. We still love you though.

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My nephew Noah sent his Flat Stanley to come and visit us in Gainesville and we have had a wonderful time hosting him. I decided to blog about it because I know if Stanley had a blog he would probably write about us.

Flat Stanley is the title character of a 1964 children's book by Jeff Brown. Stanley Lambchop is flattened when a bulletin board falls on him. He survives and makes the best of his altered state, and soon he is sliding into rooms through the opening at the bottom of closed doors and being kind to his younger brother by playing as a kite for him. Stanley even helps catch some art museum sneak thieves by posing as a painting on the wall! But one special advantage is that Flat Stanley can now visit his friends by being mailed in an envelope.

Flat Stanley has had fun with us here at home and he has also been to the park with Madison. Just this last weekend he got to take a tour of Uncle Chris’ job site. It was so cool; we got to see lots of big cranes and cement making machinery. Uncle Chris is the Project Manager as his company is working to make a whole new cement kiln. Hopefully next time Noah can come with Flat Stanley to visit we can go to the beach or maybe Orlando to have some fun there.

Noah, thanks for sharing Flat Stanley with us.

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