Merry Christmas!!!

Since we are having our Christmas celebrations early, I thought we'd wish you all a very

Merry Christmas!!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Family

We got to Spend Thanksgiving with Travis' family in Springfield this year. While we were there, we got to take some family pics (minus Steve who had to stay home and work.) I got to use my new tripod I got for my birthday for the first time!

Signs

Sophie is into making signs. These are a few of the signs I have found around the house lately.

This is on her bedroom door... her Christmas decoration!!!

"Do not come in if you put little stuff in your mouth."
Also on her bedroom door. Apparently, she is worried that someone will choke on one of the 10,000 beads that she got for her birthday.

"I love Aiden a lot."
This was hanging on the front door so Aiden would see it when she got home.

"Do not flush toylit."
This note was written on a piece of toilet paper. Our shower is leaking, so Daddy put a note on the shower not to use it. Apparently she thought we shouldn't use the toilet either! She is such a goofball! Oh, well. I love my goofball, and we learned the correct way to spell toilet!

Happy Birthday

November is Birthday month for our family. This year we made last minute plans to go home to Wichita to celebrate the kids' birthdays, and then at the very last minute, had to cancel our last-minute plans because we all ended up with the flu. Everyone was so disappointed that we didn't get to go home and see our family. For some of you, it's been a very long time since we've seen you! Aiden turned 4 this year and is very excited that he is four. When people ask him how old he is he holds up his fingers and says, "I'm one- two- three- four!" Sophie is super excited to be six and when she realized that she would be seven next year, she nearly cried from excitement. We continually have to remind her not to wish away her childhood. We all know you'll never be able to go back!

Sophie and I had the flu on Aiden's birthday, so I had to purchase Aiden's cake this year. He was fine with it because he got blue icing!

The cake wasn't very good, but it looks like Aiden liked it!

Aiden wore his halloween costume all day on his birthday. Here he is showing us how old he is!

Aiden got a super fast race track with a "loopy loop"!

I made an angel food cake with pink icing for Sophie's birthday. She enjoyed it!

Six candles is a lot to blow out! Sophie got a pet fish for her birthday, that I failed to take a picture of. She named it Purple and surprisingly, it is still alive!

I wanted to thank everyone who mailed birthday gifts and cards to the kids. The continual packages that showed up at our house were so much fun for them. We were all so disappointed not to be able to have a party and to get to see our family our their birthdays. It sometiems feels like the party is more for me than them! Even though we didn't get to party with our friends and family, you still managed to make their birthdays special! Thanks!

The Brown Family Swine Flu Halloween Extravaganza!!!

As you all know, we have had our wonderful bout with the Swine flu this week. Sophie seemed to be recovering and without a fever for almost 2 days, but tonight is was back up to 100.7. I'm feeling just ok, I haven't been plagued with a high fever, just tightness in my chest, a little bit of a cough and terrible body aches and fatigue. So far, the boys haven't shown any symptoms. We know that there's still time for them to come down with the flu, but are certain that your prayers are totally working!!!

We decided that we should have our Halloween at home this year. Even though the guys don't have the flu (yet) and Sophie had been fever-free for nearly 48 hours, we didn't want to risk exposing our friends at the Fall Festival at church where we usually go on Halloween. I have read that this flu is contagious starting about 24 hours before you get symptoms. We just didn't want to risk infecting our friends!

With that said, this is how our evening went:

Aiden was a very proud Lightning McQueen. He has been looking forward to this for quite some time. I'm certain he'll be wearing this costume as much as possible!
(You already saw the pics of Sophie as Taylor Swift.)

We trick-or-treated indoors with a candy hunt. Daddy and I hid candy. They found the candy pretty quickly, because there's just not that many places to hid candy in my living room. Daddy thought my slippers were a dangerous place to hide candy!

Next we had a "Mummy Wrap." The above picture is the kids playing "Rock-Paper-Scissors" to see who got to go first.

Sophie decided that she didn't want to be a mummy, so we decided that Daddy would make a great mummy!

Aiden got piled up in the extra toilet paper. This really was an inexpensive game. It took only 1 4-roll package of toilet paper, which was less than $1 at Aldi.

Next, we bobbed for apples. This was Aiden's favorite part of the evening. We let him go first, since he was healthy. Sophie and I were last. We also got a really cheap bag of apples at Aldi and made sure they were small enough for the kids to be able to grab. The water was super shallow, but we still got all wet!

Aiden got an apple on the first try, which surprised us all because the kid has no front teeth! He wanted several turns. He thought this game was great!

Sophie tried and tried, but didn't want to get her face in the water. Eventually, she went and got her swimming goggles. They didn't help.

Aiden made sure that Daddy did it right!

Even with as bad as my TMJ is, I was still able to get a small bite out of this apple!

We ended up the evening with a family game of Sorry! Aiden quit after about 10 minutes. I think the game was a little too slow-paced for him. We didn't finish the game, but called Sophie the winner. I have to say, this is a Halloween we will not soon forget!

It's here....

That's right! H1N1 has made it's way to our home. Sophie came down with a high fever and a cough on Tuesday evening. She was still running a high temp on Wednesday morning when she got up and just looked awful, so we took her in to the doctor. They swabbed her, and sure enough, it's the flu. Up until this morning, I have only been able to get her temp down to 101.4 with Motrin and Tylenol on board! Wow! That's a stubborn fever! This morning, however, she got up and said she was feeling a little better, her temp is right around 100, so I'm hoping that she'll be completely fever free by tomorrow morning so she can get dressed up for Halloween! (Don't worry, church friends, we won't bring our flu to share!)

Now we just have to worry about Aiden (and of course Travis and I). She's contagious until the fever's gone and the incubation period is 1-4 days with this thing, so I'm hoping we'll know if he's going to get it hopefully by Tuesday. We tested Sophie just so we could know and I would be able to call for a prescription for Tamiflu for Aiden if he starts getting sick. I have stocked up on all of his asthma meds... we are ready!

I spent yesterday evening planning how we could "Trick or Treat" at home. As some of you know, Halloween doesn't have a very good track record in our family! We've been sick twice and one of the Halloweens I was in labor with Aiden! Let's not go for a third! If we have to "Trick or Treat" at home this year, I'll post a bunch of pics!

This whole thing might just ruin our b-day party plans. We were planning on going to see family next weekend, but they of course don't want us to bring the flu with us! Be praying that none of us get the flu so we can see our family and the kids can have a b-day this year!

Please be praying for our family. It looks like Sophie is going to make it through quickly, but if Aiden gets it, it could be a lot worse. His asthma and the pneumonia he had in April, make him at risk for more serious complications.

Book It

I don't know if you remember doing "Book It," but I do. Well, now it's Sophie's turn. She easily reads 7 books a month because she reads a book to Aiden nearly every night before she goes to bed, so this will be easy pizza! Tonight, as I was going over her "Bee Book" (her binder for school that holds all her important stuff), I came across a little addition that she had made to her Book It list. Apparently, she thought I had missed her most important reading! I hope you find this as funny as Travis and I did!

Sneak Preview

Introducing Sophie Brown as Taylor Swift!

This Halloween, Sophie had her heart set on being Taylor Swift. I spent some time watching Taylor vieos and googling "Taylor Swift Fashion" for my ideas. I feel pretty good about this costume. I'm thinking that Sophie and Daddy will need to make a more sparkly guitar before Halloween. Just 10 minutes carrying this guitar around and she has banged it on more things than you could imagine! (It's our guitar for guitar hero.) I found the wig at a local Halloween shop. The bracelets and earings (not shown) are from the dollar rack at target. Her boots are part of her winter wardrobe. I actually found this dress on clearance at Macy's. Aiden and I shopped all afternoon for a "Taylor Swift Dress"!!! It's a size too big, but maybe by next summer she'll be able to wear it to church! Sophie gets to wear some big girl makeup this year for Halloween. She's super excited. We went ahead and tried on the makeup too and I caught a small glimpse of the future. I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet!

Pumpkin Patch

I took the kids for a quick trip to Wichita to see Gramma and Papa. Gramma and Papa were supposed to come and see us, but Gramma's back isn't doing so well and she didn't think she could make the trip, so I decided to take the kids up there. While we were there, Papa and I took the kids to Walter's Pumpkin Patch. It was a beautiful day and not pumpkin patch weather at all! We have been able to take the kids to Walter's Pumpkin Patch every year for the last 6 years expect for one. I'll have to post pics from every year so we can see how much they changed every year! The kids also got to go see Grammy. She took them to the Renaissance Fair where they got their faces painted and got plenty of goodies! It was a long drive alone with the kids, but I'd have to say it was worth it! We didn't get to see everyone we really would have liked to see, and for those of you we didn't get to see (especially Grandpa Charlie and Grandma Dana), we'll be back in town in December!

It's been a while since I have posted and there have even been some things before my last post that I wanted to share with you all.

Travis and Aiden put a model car together. Aiden had a fun time helping Daddy build the car and an even better time painting it. He doesn't really understand that model cars are not really to play with, so he has been playing with it, and of course, it's fallen apart a little!

Sophie used some of her allowance money to buy a miniature tea set that she got to paint. She's our artist and absolutely loved painting this tea set!

We took the kids bowling in August. They've been once before but they were too young to remember it. They had a lot of fun. We had the bumpers up and you wouldn't believe (or maybe you would) that Sophie, Aiden and I all got about the same score. Daddy did a little better than the rest of us. These are a couple pics of the kids bowling.

Aiden needed a little help to get the ball rolling!

Sophie bowled without any help.

A group effort!

Aiden had a little accident at daycare a few weeks ago, where some little kid threw a block at him and gave him a nice little gash under his eye and a pretty nice shiner. It also got him a trip to the ER to see if he needed stitches. We were both relieved to find out that he didn't need stitches. It has healed up pretty nicely, but there is still a small scar there. No he and Sissy have matching scars on their left cheeks!

School Pictures

This is Sophie's kindergarten picture. It's the first of many school pictures for us. She got to pick the purple background to go with her purple dress. School pictures... it makes her seem like such a big girl. I guess that's because she is!

A conversation...

I'm sitting in the office when I hear little footsteps in the hallway heading for the bathroom. Click. He turned on the light. Step, step. He's on the stool. Pshhhhhhhhhhh. I think to myself- Did I leave the hairspray out? Pshhhhhhhhhh...

"Aiden, what are you doing in there?" I holler from my desk chair.

"Nothing, " he sweetly answers back.

I stand up. He hears the wheels of my chair rolling on the wood floors. Clank. He sets the hairspray can down. Step, step. He's off the stool. Click. The light is off.

I walk out of the office and find him in the hallway.

"Aiden, what were you doing in the bathroom," I ask, knowing the answer.

"Nothing." He knows the hairspray is off limits... from experience.

"Aiden, you need to tell Mommy what you were doing." My patience is wearing down.

"I was in my room playing blocks."

How do they learn to lie like that? If he knows that I'm getting out of my chair in the other room simply from the sound, why doesn't he know that I can tell what he's doing from the sound?

I guess he's not going to say, "I was curious about the hairspray can, so I decided to spray it a couple of times." That would be too easy!

Fun at the Park

Ok, this really isn't a picture of the fun time we had at the park today, but it is definitely the result of our fun time! I was making dinner and thought that I hadn't seen Aiden in a while. (Most of the time, that's not a good thing!). When I found him, he was passed out on the couch. Too cute to get after him for having his shoes on the furniture!

Aiden did have a hard time getting going at the park all alone, but eventually made friends with a little girl who was bossy enough to be a "surrogate sister." He had a great time playing with her and doing whatever she told him to do.

What we've been up to...

It's been a while since I have posted anything and even though I haven't included any pictures with this post, I hope you will like to hear what we're up to anyway!

I have been working quite a lot on the weekends, so Travis has been taking time to go and do fun things with the kids. This works well as I sleep during the day and that doesn't go very well with noisy kids! Last weekend, Travis decided to take the kids up to Shelbyville to see Aunt Connie. The kids LOVE Aunt Connie! They had a great time. The stopped in Columbia on the way home and went to the Mizzou Fan Fest. It was a hot day out on the field and they didn't stay very long, but Sophie loved seeing the cheerleaders and Truman!!! I really missed the kids being gone. It was hard not to see them before I went to work!

It has been an adjustment for Aiden and I not having Sophie home during the day. He tolerates shopping with me and usually goes hoping that he'll get a new toy while we're out. So far I have given in to a Transformer and a Nerf Dart Gun. I took him to the Magic House last week and we had lots of fun, but I know that he would have rather had Sissy there to boss him around. He's such a man.... complains about the bossing and nagging while it's happening, but knows deep down he loves it and just can't live without it!!!

I finished up my summer semester and now have just 3 more semesters to go. By this time next year I'll feel like a free woman!!!

We took the kids to Grant's Farm yesterday. It was hot but we had lots of fun. The kids got to see and pet the animals. Sophie liked feeding the goats and Aiden liked the guinea pigs. We also watched the animal show while we were there and got snow cones.

Sophie LOVES kindergarten. She has made some new friends. It has been really exciting for her to go to different classes like art, PE and music class. Mondays are library days and she gets a new book every week. She is being super responisble and making sure that I sign her behavior sheet every day so she won't miss any recess. Every week they choose Lady and Gentleman of the week. They are students who work hard and have good behavior all week. I bet you can't guess who the very first lady of the week was!!! Ok, maybe you can! Sophie was so excited. She got a bracelet making kit from her teacher and we were able to make 3 bracelets that she wears all the time.

What's coming up--

Tuesday is picture day. I'll be posting those pictures as soon as I get them. She already has her dress picked out and has been practicing her pose and smile. (Like she needs to...)
Awanas starts in a couple of weeks and Travis is going to take both the kids this year. Aiden gets to start Awanas this year and is excited.
School starts back up for me in a week. I plan on being busy!
Tile samples come in the mail tomorrow...I'm confident we've found a backsplash. I'll keep you updated.
We're planning a road trip over labor day weekend... not sure where yet, but if you have any thoughts, let me know. We'd like to go somewhere we've never been, but it has to be close. Sophie thought Africa sounded like fun and Aiden wants to "go on 'cation' tomorrow!"

Until next time...

p.s. Happy birthday Grammy!!! ("Wow. That's old!")

Silly Cousins

The kids would most likely tell you that one of the best parts of going home to Wichita is getting to play with their cousins. They are so lucky to have such great cousins!!!

Family Photos... just a bunch of goofballs!

Here are some pics of our family. The first one is "nice" and the rest of them are a little silly....which is a little more in character for our family!