THE BREWER FAMILY

BENTOS!!!!

2011-11-05T05:32:00.001-07:00

Whats to eat at our house!?! Well about 6 weeks ago I adopted bento lunches for my girls… I never thought I’d stick to it…. but it has become and addiction and up until now I haven’t blogged about them……. so here are some of what I’ve made!!

Baby it’s H-O-T Outside!!!

2011-08-05T12:52:00.001-07:00

Its HOT HOT HOT in Texas! We are having the WORST heat wave and drought in the history of the state!!! So we have been playing in the water A LOT!!!!

The girls LOVE playing outside in the water!

Ooops- I missed Easter in there…

2011-07-29T13:59:00.001-07:00

Yeah, so I totally missed Easter in my “hi, I’m back post…..” Easter was the same old, Same old….. Egg hunts, cute dresses…..We also went to a Passover Seder Meal…. and We went to a family reunion. Life is good.

Passover Seder Pictures

Easter!

Beautiful Colorado

2011-07-29T11:56:00.001-07:00

Just a random assortment of photos I took while in Colorado- Its so PRETTY there!!!!

Last but not least…. my totally unediting AMAZING picture. I shot into the sun and the light refracted into my lenses like a cross!

Summer Fun!!!!

2011-07-29T11:47:00.001-07:00

It’s H-O-T in Texas!!!! So what do we do? We play outside in the water!!!! Lots of water and sunscreen!!!

Amidst the water excitement….. Briley lost her first tooth!!! How exciting!

Playing all day in the water is exhausting. Just ask KK. After she wakes up

Lucy Bird

2011-07-29T11:31:00.001-07:00

We have a new family member. Her name is Lucy and man do we love her. Briley was begging me for a bird and of course I’m a huge softie and can’t say no to animals so we have another animal in our zoo! She’s sweet and fun and loves to be held. She sings and tweets throughout the day! She’s great!

Back to Blogger.

2011-07-28T21:30:00.001-07:00

Hey! I’m back!!!! It’s safe to say, I’ve been a tad bit busy these days. I have been VERY blessed with work, work and more work. I have been so busy with life—well, the blog just got put on the back burner. First time in my blogging history actually. Usually I am the one blogging every day. I can’t promise I will blog every day, but I will try my best to keep it up! Anyway, its been an eventful 4 months…..

Springtime came and went way to quickly. I cannot express how much I love spring weather and I hate the heat I cannot wait for the fall to make it appearance! Spring break was packed full of shoots and I had my girls home with me so when I went on shoots they came too! They were so good! I even dressed them up one day and after a shoot took some photos of them….

We played outside a lot! The weather was perfect and the windows were open everyday! It was AMAZING!!!! The girls LOVE their swingset that Daddy, Uncle B, and Grandpapa built!

We went through another season of soccer. Briley rocked it once again!

Then Hudson, my nephew, turned ONE!! ALREADY!! Where does the time go?? I flew to Colorado for his Bday and Nathan, Who was working out of town came to surprise me!!!

Then it was time for the Awana Soapbox derby races…… Briley wanted a butterfly car and KK wanted a sponge bob car- they both got what they wanted!

Then we went on a Road trip to St Louis, I was shooting a wedding there. We LOVE road trips. So we loaded up the girls and off we went, crossing statelines 7 times and driving 2496.3 miles in about 5 days. We visited the City Museum in St Louis, The Arch and Ted Drew’s frozen custard. We ate St Louis Style pizza and hung out with some of our very best friends, the Altons… It was SO fun! We LOVE St louis! I could easily live there! It’s such a fun city! We drive through the Ozarks in Arkansas, Missississippi, Visited Graceland, and had Alligator for dinner in a restaurant near a swamp in Louisiana. It’s safe to say our kids are being well versed in the phrase “When in Rome… “ We had a great time!!!! I love the time I get with my family on road trips!

THEN is was graduation day. Mommy had a heart attack when it hit her that her baby is growing up way to darn fast!

Speaking of Growing up! KK turned 3!!!!!!!!! She got her ears pierced which was fun and dramatic as expected We had mexican food on her actual BDAY and then she had a Gnomeo and Juliet Party which was AWESOME! We dressed her a gnome for some Bday pics….. Turned out fabulous

Most recently, my sister’s sister in law got married, I was the Photographer and my girls were the flower girls! Talk about a busy day!!! It was insanely crazy but so fun!!!

Then while everyone was in town we had family pictures taken….. That was a chaotic mess but I’m happy with the result

So in a nutshell, that’s what has been going on!!!! I hope to be better in the coming days !!! I’ll do my best!

Bluebonnets 2011

2011-04-12T20:31:00.001-07:00

Briley Will Finally be a Rhino…. Tomorrow

2011-04-11T21:45:00.001-07:00

5 years ago I would have never seen this day coming and now, here it is. Tomorrow we register for Kindergarten!!! Unreal!!!

My baby us growing up too fast!

More Soccer!!!

2011-04-11T21:13:00.001-07:00

Briley LOVES soccer, she is getting SO good. She will Start at the YMCA in the fall! I can’t wait to go watch her games!

Playing Goalie here! She liked that!

AWANA Derby Race Day 2011

2011-04-11T20:59:00.001-07:00

Derby Race day is a HUGE day at our house…. we spend weeks preparing and coming up with the perfect car!!! This year Briley wanted a butterfly……..

and KK wanted Spongebob!

Uncle T and Haylee made an Ice-cream cone car!

It was a brewer girl sweep!

Dallas World Aquarium

2011-04-11T13:20:00.001-07:00

After shooting a wedding in Dallas we stopped in With my Aunt to visit the Dallas World Aquarium…. it is SOOO cool!

My Precious Babies

2011-04-11T13:00:00.001-07:00

During Spring break my girls went on my shoots with me…. I took the opportunity to take their pics too

Gardening at Grandaddy's

2011-03-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

The girls got to plant tomato plants last week and had a blast!!! They LOVE playing with garden tools in the dirt!

Houston Rodeo 2011

2011-03-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

I took the kiddos to the rodeo a couple of weeks ago.... we had planned to go as a family, but Nathan went out of town for work on an unexpected trip, so off we went!!! have a great time and the girls were enthralled by it-- they loved the animals and games. I also let them get all dressed up for it!! So cute!

Stickers!!!

2011-02-28T17:05:00.000-08:00

The other day after school, brily was playing the sticker bin.... which is fine.... we have like 250,00000000000 stickers.... so she really can't hurt much. She thought it would be fun to cover herself in stickers..... :) silly girl!

Valentine's Day!

2011-02-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

A little late... but hey its the thought that counts :)

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY :)

2011-02-15T21:28:00.001-08:00

Arctic Blast 2011

2011-02-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

So we had a winter storm last week, that was supposed to produce snow, snow and more snow..... we got ice, ice baby :)

Briley was enthralled with the icicles!!!

Look mommy!

My Heart Feels Heavy...

2011-02-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

My heart hurts, I cannot imagine what it feels like to be told that your daughter has brain cancer, then to watch her go through grueling treatments for an entire year, have a several clear scans, sing the "no more chemo" song and then suddenly on a routine scan the orginal cancer spots plus more are back. It makes you ask God WHY?? Why her, why now, why? why? why?? God is not a bad God. Everyone is put on this earth for a purpose and many people, who were sick, lost, dying have followed Kate's story and reformed their lives and now know Jesus and why he died on the Cross.... People who have never prayed are praying now, all because of Kate. But as a parent, though her story is touching many, she is a daughter and a sister and a grand daughter. She has a future and her parents want to see her live it.

I believe in Prayer. I believe God Listens and hears our hopes, and wishes and dreams and pleas. We had thousands praying for our daughter at one point and there needs to be hundreds of thousands praying for Kate. He listened to our prayer.... He can heal Kate. Her parents need you to lift them up in prayer for strength and patience as they begin a whole new battle on a monster that is ravaging their baby. Close your eyes, hit your knees and PLEASE, please Please join me in praying for Kate. Please.

It's a Miracle.

2011-01-21T09:56:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe ALL 4 kids are smiling. This is the first time EVER, that all 4 girls have been in a photo together, smiling!!!! Thank you lord! :)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-19T17:08:00.000-08:00

Life with Francine & Molly....

2011-01-06T21:55:00.000-08:00

So life with two new rodents isn't near as complicated as I figured it would be... They are VERY easy little pets. Not dirty, or stinky at all and super kind, loving happy animals and I truly think they love the girls JUST as much as the girls love them! They will just hold them for hours at a time, they don't run away. The cages are easy to clean.... I think I may be enjoyng them as much as the kids, which is scary-- I was nervous about these guys!

Molly

Francine

The dogs seem to do ok as well..... Its funny. Brandon pointed out that Molly looks like Sully and and Francine looks like Zoey.... no we didn't do that on purpose :)

The dogs just sit and stare at them. Occasionally they will whimper and "talk" to the Guinea pics and the guinea pigs squeak back...

Zoey is asking "Are we related??" :)

Christmas Recap...

2011-01-06T21:46:00.000-08:00

Christmas was awesome this year.... my entire family was in town and I had a blast with them...

Christmas Day was so much fun!

The girls got Guinea Pigs from Santa... They named them Francine and Molly....

Francine...

Molly...

Later we went to my in-laws house for Christmas day....

Living Naitvity Scene (Playing Catch-up)

2011-01-06T21:13:00.000-08:00

Playing Catch up! AGAIN! Seems like I never have enough time in life to keep y'all updated on our happenings... so lets pick up where we left off!

Right before Christmas my friend Natalie and I went to eat at Clays... on our way home, we saw a 'Living Nativity' scene on Clay & HWY 6 and decided to stop... it was so cool. The kids LOVED it. KK ran up to Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus and said "Happy Birfday baby Jesus!" It was so cute!

Santa Claus 2010!!!!

2010-12-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

We took the girls to see Santa and KK promise that she wouldn't cry. She got really quiet and really leary when we saw him and I knew she wouldn't last... Briley on the other hand was in LOVE with him as usual.... KK Screamed her head off at first and after about 2 minutes was just mad and quiet :) Love these memories!

Lunar Eclipse 2010

2010-12-21T10:03:00.000-08:00

It was cloudy here....

but I managed to stay awake, and stay warm....

minus a little noise from the clouds and haze.... it turned out pretty good :)

Life Goes On....

2010-12-21T00:08:00.000-08:00

Things HAPPEN. People treat you unfairly and do you wrong. You could spend your time sulking and asking why, but God doesn't put us through trials to have us ask why. He puts us through trials to make us stronger and glorify him in all ways. You must find the good in every situation and rise above it and make yourself better than you were before and in the the meantime, pray for the people that wronged you, because they need it more than you know.

It's been way over a month since I blogged, for a couple of reasons....

#1) Lightening struck about a month ago and changed everything we have known for the past 10 years.

#2) My blog was misbehaving and told me it was out of space, but I found a way around this which is great!

This being said.

LIFE GOES ON.

You forgive. You Pray and you rise above to become 10x better than you were before and we are there. God has an awesome plan for us and he is walking us that direction now and I am just thrilled for our family.

October was a busy month... It was my birthday.... My WONDERFUL husband threw a surprise Birthday party for me...... I was shocked and felt so special :)

Then my mom and Meg went with me to San Antonio for 3 days for the women of Faith Conference. WOW. What an amazing rejuvenating experience.... We had a great time.

October went with Halloween.... The girls had a blast...

November flew by.....

We got new bedding....

and I took a photo of my uber handsome hubby.

And we put up the tree......

December came.....

Briley was an angel in the annual Christmas play and it brought me to tears as usual..... She is such an amazing kid. I adore her....

I took Christmas photos of my sweet girls....

We celebrated our 8 year anniversary.....

And while hubby was traveling I completely redid my office and made it into OUR office..... He was so excited and just loves it!

So in a nutshell that's what is going on..... I am excited for this week....

My family is all flying in and I can't wait to see them.

I am so thankful for all God has provided our family. When he closes one door he opens a bigger, better door. I am blessed beyond measure.

Happen. P

NO MORE SPACE

2010-11-26T05:44:00.001-08:00

I haven't updated my blog... because Blogger is telling me I am out of space! I am not sure what to do, because I really don't want to lose all my posts!!!! :( NO GOOD!

Briley’s 5th Birthday Party!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-11-01T10:28:00.001-07:00

We had another Halloween Party for Briley’s 5th birthday. It was a hit and the kids had a blast!!!

The kids all dressed up, Natalie painted faces and the kids painted pumpkins and bobbed for apples…..

Briley told me she wants to have a Halloween party every year!

The Houston Zoo

2010-10-28T21:26:00.001-07:00

We took the girls and their friend Preslee to the zoo yesterday… It was HOT but so much fun!!! Got some great pics

NO KIDDING. This Guy’s name is doc. he was born in 1984 and he was very interested in the kids. Cutest moment of the day!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY :)

2010-10-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

Fire Safety Day at School!

2010-10-20T22:46:00.001-07:00

We had fire safety day at Tiny Treasures on Tuesday…. The girls got fire hats—of course this was super cool.

KK: “Hey Madi, aren’t we like totally the coolest with our new hats. I mean talk about Super, Hip, Cool. The boys won’t be able to resist us!”

Madi: “Shut up KK, I’m trying to give the camera my best doe-eyes. You’re really bothering me. I’m trying to work it here.”

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-20T03:03:00.000-07:00

More and More Soccer

2010-10-19T22:57:00.001-07:00

Briley loves soccer so much, I just can’t help but snap away while she is at practice. I love sitting out there, regardless of the weather watching her. Just LOVE IT!!!

Briley turns 5!!!!!

2010-10-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

Happy 5th Birthday to Briley!

2010-10-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

Happy 5th Birthday Briley Grace. I TRULY cannot believe that you are growing up so quickly! October 14th, 2005......It seems like only yesterday I was holding you in my arms at the College Station Medical Center. My little Aggie Girl....

You were the most beautiful, big healthy baby girl. You were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. You still are. You are turning into a little lady and while it awes me everyday, it makes me sad to see the time flying by so fast. I know I joke around every day and tell you I'm going to put bricks on your head to keep you from growing, but I wish I could slow the time down and keep my little girl forever!!!

You make me so proud! You are so SMART-- flying past your classmates. You are a great soccer player and a little artist. I love to watch you run and play-- your blonde hair flying and your brown eyes sparkling! You radiate happiness it's infectious, everyone around you is happy too!

You have SO many friends! There are SO many people that care about you!!!

You make me proud when I watch you sing in the church choir and act in the plays. You make me proud when I see what you're learning in Sunday school and you use those principals to be a sweet caring girl....

You are an amazing BIG sister. I love to watch you take care of KK. She loves you so much. You make your mommy and daddy VERY happy and very proud. I hope you have an amazing birthday full of laughs and fun!

We love you with all our hearts now & forever~

Mommy & Daddy

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY :)

2010-10-13T07:59:00.000-07:00

Soccer (fall season)

2010-10-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

Soccer has started and we are full swing into weekly lessons and Briley STILL loves it!!!! Here are some pics from practice yesterday! I love watching her play! She is getting so good. She is very aggressive and not afraid to just dive for the ball.

she just stole the ball from the boys after she knocked one over LOL

I love how they look shocked and she looks victorious!

Yes she wears that shirt just to make mommy happy :)

Isn't she lovely!?! I can hardly believe she will be 5 on Thursday!

CrAzY HaIr DaY!!!!

2010-10-11T23:54:00.000-07:00

Briley had crazy hair day at Awana on Sunday! you can tell she LOVEDDDD it! :)

Date Nights.....

2010-10-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

We have a date night co-op that we started about 2 months ago with some friends of ours.... I have been wanting to do this for a long time and it just never seemed to work out.... IT'S AWESOME. Every other Friday we take turns watching the kids and we get a date with our hubs..... It's so nice to go out ALONE 2x a month. I can't even explain what it has done for us! I love it!

Last night was our night to keep Preslee..... We took them out to eat and for Frozen yogurt....

They loved it!

Briley goes Fishing

2010-10-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

Nathan took Briley fishing today on a daddy daughter date. They have a date at least once a week when I have to work......... Yes. that's a mini PINK Fishing pole, Mini Princess foldout chair and Princess Tackle Box. The girl rolls in style k?

Yes she caught a fish ALL BY HERSELF!!! A little tiny Perch!

Daddy helped her take it off the hook and throw it back, but she did everything else! He was so proud!

She LOVES it and Nathan plans on taking her and KK again tomorrow while I shoot a wedding!

What we've been up to....

2010-10-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

We have been super busy at our house..... Nathan has been working long hours and This is my busiest time of year. I am somehow still managing to make it on 2 hours of sleep a night while juggling housework, Tiny Treasures and my family. Anyone who says you can't do it all and do it well hasn't met me :) I have skills and I am rockin them. Ask me in 2 months, I may be at breaking point but not likely. I feel incredibly blessed to be in the position I am in and I don't plan on sacrificing it!

We have had gorgeous weather. Its been in the low 80's during the day and 50's at night..... Briley is loving it......

So we have YET again made some changes in the arrangements at our house... I think when you are young parents with a young family this is normal.... constantly trying to find a normal and constantly trying to find what WORKS...... Briley and KK have been in separate rooms. I wanted them in the same room but it just wasn't feasible when KK was a baby.... SO.. things changed again and they stopped sleeping through the night, claiming to be scared and would come to our bed or beg to sleep together....... so after much thought and discussion and input from friends we decided to put them in twin beds in the same room. BEST CHOICE WE EVER MADE. They are now sleeping through the night and they are closer than ever-- its so cute!

This also means I get my own office! ALL ALONE! My desk will be by the window and we will be making it into a studio for newborn shoots! I can barely contain my excitement!

Edward is happy too. We get more alone time now :)

I think what I love most is that these bed were my dad's beds when he was a kid. Then my sister used them..... If you know me I am totally into passing things along and I am totally into things that have meaning. I am just thrilled to death that they are using these. I did my best to make everything uniform on a tight budget....... I love it! I still have to change the names on the wall-- this weekend's project!

Found them matching lamps at Hobby Lobby on Sale for $7.00 each! CRAZY HUH!?!?!

So this means the girls get the playroom back! They are thrilled!

This wall was blank and my mom suggested I hang the girl's art up!! CHEAP and cute and I love it! I intend on covering the walls! Thanks MOM!

Tiny Dancers

2010-10-07T00:57:00.000-07:00

These two LOVE to dance.

(You will notice the room looks different, I haven't had a chance to blog about it yet, but they now share a room. They LOVE LOVE LOVE it. They are becoming closer and its so sweet to see them sleeping by each other. They each have a twin bed and I got them matching bedding. I am hoping to get some pics up soon.... )

Anyway, they have a radio in their room and they are always dancing in there. I have to say for two little munchkins they can get their groove on :) I think its HILARIOUS they way they both shake their bootys and KK has to hold onto the bed.... Not sure where she is picking up the pole-dancing skills LOL

Children's Choir

2010-10-07T00:28:00.000-07:00

Briley is in the Children's Choir at Church and she loves it! Here is a video from last Sunday, she got to sing in front of the whole church! I just love that kids are so brave and have no shame. She enjoyed every minute!

Nathan Turns 32

2010-09-30T00:43:00.000-07:00

We had a great day on Monday. Nathan turned 32. We went, just our little family out to Babin's his favorite seafood place and had dinner. It was so fun and so nice to be out celebrating. The kids were so good and we had such a great time!

Happy Birthday To the love of my life!

2010-09-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

You are 32 today!!! I have known you for 21 of those years. They have been the best years of my life.

I love you more today than I did when I first met you. I knew when I was 11 and I still know today, that you are the only one for me :)

32 reasons I love you MORE & MORE everyday!

I love how you play video games like you are 10 years old all over again
I love how Sponge Bob Square Pants Makes you giggle like your 4 years old
I love watching you play with our girls.... They are truly wrapped around your finger.
I love watching you work. You work harder than anyone I know.
I love how you selflessly take time away from us to give me a better life
I love how you have no problems watching a Chick-Flick with me and always act like you care about the cheesy plot.
I love how you are meticulously OCD about the Organization of the refrigerator.
I love how you clean the kitchen till it sparkles because you can't stand having dishes in the sink.
I love when I say "I Love You" and you ALWAYS SAY " I love you More"
I love that you have a true gift with people and know no strangers
I love how you go out of your way to make sure I always have an extra special gift
I love how you jump through hoops of fire to surprise me. I know thats often difficult to pull off.
I love that you are a true, good person that people come to when they need help or a listening ear.
I love that you lead our family in prayer.
I love that your are crafty and good with tools and how it took you a total of 7 hours to design build and complete our kitchen island.
I love to see the sparkle in your eyes and the hear the excitement in your voice when you have something incredible to share with me.
I love how you have memorized how I make the bed and strategically place all 15 pillows in their assigned spot.
I love how you clean the house for me when I am working and you are off and I come home to a perfect house!
I love when you cook breakfast. No one can cook breakfast like you.
I love how you have made at least 5 nicknames for everyone in our family including the dogs.
I love that we can talk for endless hours on the phone and always have something to say.
I love that you are are my rock. Through the most difficult times in our lives you have been the strength that holds me up, the glue that binds us and my reason for carrying on. When Kayelyn was sick, you managed to live at Two hospitals for both of us, and be my calm in the storm. I still have no idea how you held your cool when at one point you feared losing both of us. You are the reason I kept my sanity during the roughest spot in our lives.
I love that we have 20 years of history together. I cannot even begin to imagine where I would be without you.
I love that fact that you used to work for a Winery and you are a true Wino. :)
I love your generosity and how you are willing to give up anything and anytime to help me, the girls or anyone for that matter.
I love your ambition and how you are always trying to find a new niche and learn something new
I love the way you always manage to understand, even when I do something totally stupid, you never get mad or make me feel bad. You always fix the problem and make me feel better about it.
I love how you encourage me and everyone else to chase our dreams and pursue our passions. Without you I would not be where I am today.
I love how when I tell you "sweet dreams" you always say "Only if they are about you"
I Love that you take our daughters on "dates" with Daddy.
I love that you never hesitate to help me around the house or with the kids
I love that you support me and drive me to be better and push me to do things outside the box. Without you and your ambition and belief in me, I wouldn't have had the successes I have had.

Sweet Tea & Mason Jars

2010-09-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not really sure how blog relevant this is, but hey. Whatever right? Most of you, who read this, know I'm not a Texan. I am here because I fell in love with one. It's easy to do. Everyone in my family has fallen in love with a Texan. My dad fell in love with my mom, I fell in love with Nathan, my sister fell in love with Brandon, All my grandparents did too! etc, etc. There's just something about them :) Living in the South is awesome. But even though I have been here since 1997, I am still learning and trying to "adjust" my ways. For years, my husband has been BEGGING me to learn to make Sweet Tea. So, this week I gave in. I got a recipe from a friend and I was shocked when it actually turned out like it should.... :) He has also been asking for YEARS, for Mason Jars to drink out of. Its his favorite way to drink anything. Well after some of our glasses broke and chipped, I gave into that too.

So now when you drop in to visit, I can offer you a good ol' glass a sweet tea in a Mason Jar. :)

How fun is that?

Poor Bear

2010-09-16T22:20:00.000-07:00


Poor Briley at the Dentist..... She cracked a tooth and broke another! She has her brave face on at her evaluation. She gets it fixed on Monday!! Please do me a favor and pray for her. I am nervous. I hope she does ok. I have to work, so daddy will be taking her. She told me she is excited that her tooth with get a princess crown at the dentist! LOL

Sweetest EVER

2010-09-11T23:09:00.000-07:00

The girls feel asleep in our bed tonight, watching a movie and we left them there.... a few hours later I went to check on them and this is what I saw! :) Talk about sweet! We are so blessed by these two sweet girls!

Here Fishy Fishy!!!

2010-09-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

So we have a new Hobby, it was kind of by accident but I aquired this fish tank for my preschool classroom and we ended up keeping it, because the girls fell in love.... We have so much fun with the fish!

This is Tubby

This is Pongo....

This is Tigger

This is Dable-Blue-ley The girls.... named him!

Francine and Fred

Dable Blue-Ley again...

Casper the Ghost Catfish...

Two nameless Zebra Danios....

Some Commentary about school!

2010-09-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

I interviewed the girls BEFORE and AFTER school yesterday..... Here is what I got! They are so stinkin cute!

First Day of School!

2010-09-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school! Here are the girls having breaskfast!!!

It was a SUPER rainy day with Tropical Storm HERMINE soaking us!

Here are the girls outside their school! They couldn't wait!

KK and her teach Mrs Val. KK was so excited to go in, she didn't cry! Mommy held back tears too as I watched my baby start her journey in school! It was hard!!!

Here's our sweet Briley sitting at her desk! She loves school!

Cousins at school!

"Come on Sissy, I''ll show ya the ropes!"

PreSchool Open House

2010-08-26T22:21:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe its school time again. Tonight was Tiny Treasures Open house. This year I am blessed enough to have BOTH of my girls at school with me. It's always a surreal feeling when you jump to the next level. It hit me like a ton of bricks tonight. This is Briley's LAST year at Tiny Treasures. She has been attending since she was 2 and this is KK's first year in Big girl school. Both of my girls- growing up way too fast. I am going to need therapy and Prozac for Briley's first day at Kindergarten. WOW. This mom thing is tough. Sometimes I wish I could feed them something that would stop them from growing, or at least slow it down! lol!!

Briley is in PRE-K this year. She will be learning her sight words and how to read. YES. READING. My baby girl will be reading. Her teacher's name is Ms Tina.

Kayelyn will be in Ms Val's class and she is so excited. She talks about Big girl school all day long. I really think she is going to like it....

Hooked On Learning!!

2010-08-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

Most of you know I teach preschool two days a week. I love it. I am not sure its a job many envy. Most people think we just babysit all day..... that it's not a REAL job..... Well let me tell you-- It is a real job and I feel very blessed that I get to be that first stepping stone into public school that helps a child transition so much easier than if they had never gone to preschool at all. By the time thet leave our class they know their ABC's, their numbers 1-10 and their colors. Briley is in her last year of preschool and she is sounding out words and doing some reading. Without preschool she wouldn' be this far ahead........

So I spent the last two days up at Tiny Treasures with Kathryn, getting our room ready for the new school year which starts on Sept 7th for us. We decided to do a theme in the entire room and we went with a Fish theme that we like to call "Hooked on Learning" and "Dive into Learning" We had a great time decorating!!! But I'm exhausted!!!

AFTER

Farm Food

2010-08-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

We went to our friend's farm last week and they made dinner. O M G. It was so good.

The kids had a blast watching TV, playing dress-up and catching frogs.

Cathead Biscuits and Fried Okra....

Pecan Glazed fried chicken and cream peas.... we had mashed taters too...

Kids Table!

After dinner briley and jonathan got married....

Abbie threw her hand in the way just in time for the KISS !!! LOL

KK was stalking these cupcakes all night.

and she loved the kitty!

Here is a pic I took of a resident banana spider on the porch..... he was having farm food (a moth) for dinner too-- blech!

Bunk Buddies

2010-08-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

So the girls bunked up randomly at the beach house this past weekend..... They are so precious when they sleep!

Here Sully joined the fun....

This is priceless. Haylee is all over the place when she sleeps..... This makes me laugh everytime I look at it! :)

Kids are so precious and cute!!! :)

Lovin Nanny McMarley

2010-08-11T20:21:00.001-07:00

Marley took the kiddos to the pool today..... You can tell just how much they love her :)

Briley is becoming quite brave.... check out the pic they got of her doing her "split flip"!!!!

The Patio

2010-08-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

We received TONS of White Limestone and we are going to make good use of it!!!

This folks, is the beginning of a patio..... tonight I spent an hour moving rocks and didn't get THAT much done, but this is what it is going to look like, of course the cracks will be filled in with mortar and cement.... We can't wait!

Another Fabulous Day with Nanny McMarley

2010-08-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

Nanny McMarley brought a GIANT tub of Barbies today along with two friends for the girls to play with. This is the state of my living room as I work today. So much fun. Wish I was playing too. :)

Nanny McMarley

2010-08-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

As I sat at my computer for endless hours trying to get caught up on work, dying of sleep deprivation and battling a horrible ear infection and cold my husband came up with a brilliant idea. Get a nanny.

My typical day-- Get up make breakfast, clean, get showered, play, playdate or swimming or something.... Basically the entire morning and early afternoon is dedicated to the house and kids. During naps I worked for about 2 hours and after naps its back to kids and house and dinner.... after dinner is baths and bed.... so I start working at 8:30pm and stay up till 2 or 3:00am everyday.....

But a NANNY?? How do I find one and how can I afford that?

So on a whim I ask a girl at church, if she would be willing to come to my house 3 days a week to play with the kids while I work and put them down for a nap. She said yes. So for the past couple weeks Marley has been coming and what a blessing is has been. I still get the joy of seeing my kids but she is right there to help and Guess what I got all my work caught up this week and I am back on schedule!!!

She has been playing with them and taking them swimming and out to lunch and to the mall play yard and today she took them to the children's museum.... They have had a blast and mommy is happy too!!!

There is a movie called Nanny McFee..... Briley has been calling Marley Nanny McMarley LOL..... It's so cute.

Here are some pics she took at the museum today!

Thank you Marley for blessing our lives!

You have made it easier on this momma and the girls adore you! :)

Trip Down Memory Lane.....

2010-08-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

I was thumbing through some old picture files tonight when I discovered these and I sat at my computer and cried and cried. This is the first time Briley got to meet her sister. Wow. We have come so far! God has blessed us immensely!

Mom of the Year

2010-08-03T09:20:00.001-07:00

I never claimed to be an all-star mom :)

This morning I had a mom of the year moment.

I was exhausted. KK wanted Pizza, I was tired. She got pizza. She loved it.

It is what it is. :)

"Soccer Makes Me the Happiest in My Whole Life"

2010-08-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Today Briley had her final soccer lesson this season. She was sad and begged to keep going into the fall. I am putting her on a team and she will continue lessons.... She is thrilled.

Here are some pictures from today. She concentrates SO hard and she isn't scared of anything she just gets out there and runs and kicks the ball and doesn't really even care if someone tried to get in her way. She plows right through or goes around....

KK likes to sit in a chair and watch sister. It's pretty cute. She has her granola bar and her water and she just stares....

After practice Coach Alex gave out Awards and Briley got a medal.... she wore it all night tonight

Wants.....

2010-07-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

Briley has been full of wants lately.....
Today alone she has asked for a lot. She told me she wants a hamster for her birthday.
I am not big on this idea. #1 because I know I will have to take care of it. But will she get a hamster for her birthday? Probably. Only because I was a little girl once too, and I wanted a hamster. I got one. Over and over and over again. My sister wanted a bird. She got her bird. May parents always made sure we had an animal to play with and I think I will have to do the same thing.....

She also has asked to share a room with her sister. I am not sure she knows what this entails. She wants two beds in her room and she wants KK to move in. She talked about it all day. Not sure I want to give into this one either. I think I will let some time pass before we embark on that adventure.
She also told me soccer makes her the happiest she has ever been in her life. That's big. She never said that about Dance. Today she got the soccer ball, and I watched her talk to herself as she concentrated and said "Got it! Ok.... Pull back, Zig Zag..... (then she rannnn!) Goal!" It was so cute. She just LOVES it. I have everything filled out for her to be on her first team this fall.... it will be so fun to go watch her play!!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-28T21:07:00.001-07:00

Well. I have a few words:
I'm sick of the Rain.

KK is feeling Better!!!!

2010-07-25T09:12:00.000-07:00

KK is better. That's easy to see :)

Not too Shabby.

2010-07-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

My first attempt to capture a lightning bolt, traveling 60 MPH down I45 in the middle of a HUGE storm.... You obviously have to have a longer exposure to capture the entire bolt, but using a tripod WITHOUT the highway lights & rain is ideal-- like shooting from under and eave etc....
Naturally the lights will be blurred because the shutter speed was slower, but I was happy with my first attempt ever, that I actually caught it on the first try :) I think I have a new hobby-- storm chasing photography :) :)

My New Friend.....

2010-07-23T20:13:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to share with you, some exciting news.... :)

We have a new resident at the Brewer House.... Yes, I know.... it's hard not to be jealous.
Yeah, yeah, it's Edward Cullen. What can I say? He decided he prefers blondes..... Bella is incredibly awkward and mousy anyway, so ya know.... here he is.... I kept trying to tell you that--

Vampires ARE real. Duh.

My dear, sweet husband came home with Edward last night. He was thrilled to give me Edward, and I have to say I was pretty pumped myself. He is taller than I would imagine.... He likes to follow me around and help me around the house..... Here we are at work .....

He also came to dinner.... We had pasta that night, Edward didn't eat of course....

But he did do me favor and warm up my leftovers today!!!

And when I told him I'd had enough and I was tired, he took over. He truly is perfect.... I knew he would be :)

He does laundry too.... he folds clothes at an alarming rate. Its fascinating to me ;)

The girls enjoyed his company at the pool.... can you see him sparkling? :)

Nathan took this (Obviously.....) He said Edward was watching me sleep :) LOL

Hope you all had as much fun as I did with this :) Happy Weekend!

What we're doing in Sicky Land....

2010-07-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

I got the girls a new pool, you can see the elephant pool is dying... LOL it has a hole and wont stay inflated.... I set the new pool up but everyone is still blah today so the only one that went swimming was Sully Dog :)

Another trip to the doctor and now everyone is finally on the mend!! Thank GOD!!!!! Tonight everyone is playing and eating and HOPEFULLY everyone will sleep!!!

In other news, I moved my workspace/office upstairs.... my desk has been in our bedroom which is no bueno for many reasons....

#1 Its impossible to entertain the kids while I work in there and I worry about them getting into something they shouldn't....

#2 its hard to "leave" work when its staring me in the face 24 hours a day. Now that it's upstairs I feel like I am leaving the office when I come down LOL.... Lame I know.

So I got this new desk, it has more space, I have a view out the window which is lovely!

Nathan knows I love Orange so he got me an orange desk lamp and desk chair!!!

But the great part is.... my "office" is part of the playroom, meaning the kids have the ability to play while I work. Their bedrooms are down the hall and the stairs are gated off so they can have full run of the upstairs while I work!! So far, it's working out great!

P90ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!??!?!

2010-07-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

So Nathan and I started Day one of P90X EXTREME HOME FITNESS. Let me tell you. It's not much fun. I literally thought I was going to hurl all over my living room floor. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of PUSH-UPS!! REALLY!?!?!? I never have been crazy about work out videos, they bore me and remind me of my MOUSERCISE days :P
Nathan Reallllly wanted to do this so I committed to the 90-day Shred. We'll see if I last that long. My intentions are good, but we will see!!!! The video tells you to "BRING IT"
Well. I brought it and now I can barely MOVE IT :)

The downside to a home workout:
The dogs was in my face the entire time, breathing hot stinky dog breath on me while I struggled with military, and diamond push-ups.... The kids were in bed, but I can imagine that they won't be much fun with it either....
Halfway through I wanted to grab a bowl of Rocky Road and watch him.... I maintained self-control.

The upside:
Having the ability to close the blinds so I can yell and grunt and scream and sweat in the privacy of my own home. This workout creates adverse behavior that is not socially acceptable unless you are trying out for a very dramatic role on the Biggest Loser. If I had to do this workout in public, I wouldn't have very many friends.... I also liked that I can whip the t-shirt off and "pretend" I am a gym hottie in my tank top and shorts.... Can't do that at the gym :) Bahhhh ha ha ha!!! :)

Tomorrow is Plyometrics.... Yay. Super.

I will keep you updated as we go!

Sickies...

2010-07-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

Everyone has been sick at our house..... High fevers, throwing up, strep.... Its been super fun trying to clean the germs and tend to the kids and stay healthy!!!

so this is pretty much how it went ALLLLL weekend long.....

and this morning we ended up in the doctor.... The fun never stops at our house :)

Summer just keeps going and going....

2010-07-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

I love summer because I LOVE taking pictures of the kids having fun outside.... Its such a blessing to watch them play everyday!

KK's Big Girl Bed

2010-07-16T22:03:00.001-07:00

For the past week or so KK has been begging to sleep in a big girl bed like Briley, or sleep IN Briley's bed. So we finally decided to try out the Toddler Bed. I have a fear of my babies falling and hitting their heads, so Briley's first real bed was a tiny bed too.... I feel very lucky to have this particular bed. My sweet friend Cristal gave it to us and its in perfect condition! I debated on the bedding. Finally decided to buy fleece and make bedding for it. Hobby lobby had their fleece on sale today so I bought it and had it together in about 2 hours. I made a pillow sham and throw pillow too!!!

She was downstairs watching Kung Fu Panda when we put the room together. This was her reaction when she first saw her new bed!

Look at that Big happy girl!

When Bed time came she wanted Briley to tuck her in.... Isn't that sweet!

Reading her book before nite nite time!

I will admit, saying goodbye to the crib for the last time was rough for mommy and daddy. I don't think I can bear to get rid of it. It's too special. It was a gift from my mom and sister and grandparents.... I think I will hold onto it and maybe someday Briley or KK will put their precious ones to sleep in it too!