Brownblogginit

More Pageant Shopping!!

2010-04-10T19:22:00.000-07:00

Bailey and I went to Von Maur today to do some window shopping for the other areas of the pageant - two suits - interview and swim. The suit above is one we really liked . . .

The one below isn't bad either! Still more shopping to do, though!

My evening gown came today, and it's amazing! Fits perfectly! I also got my head shots taken by Nic Fargo - can't wait to see them!!!

Children's Museum

2009-06-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

We spent Micayla's birthday morning at the Children's Museum!!

Micayla's birthday cupcake face!!

Piloting a jet!

Micayla's Birthday

2009-06-17T10:05:00.001-07:00

Mickie opens her Hannah Montana styling head.

Emma gets a computer game.

Eli's new chess game!
Turning six!!

The Brown Jammery, Est. 2003

2009-06-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

After picking fifteen pounds of strawberries on Sunday, we had a lot of jam to make!

The kids love to squoosh the strawberries, and the jam is delicious!!!

Strawberry Picking!!

2009-06-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

This was our sixth year picking strawberries at the Roca Berry Patch!! This year we took some friends with us!

Josh & Sara, Mickie, Jamie, Eli & Emma

Riding out to the patch!

Micayla's Birthday Party

2009-06-17T09:51:00.001-07:00

Micayla's birthday party was at the Animal Creation Station at Hobbytown USA! All the kids got to pick out a stuffed animal to make, and an outfit!!

Devaya, Kylie, Micayla, Dendae, and Emma

The teddy bear cupcake cake!!!

More Party Pics

2009-05-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

I was reading my Kindle while they brawled.

Eli Turns Nine!!!

2009-05-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we haven't posted for a while . . . but here are some pictures from Eli's birthday party on Saturday!!! Here are his friends playing with the Bakugan.

Jamie created this Darkus Hydranoid for a game!

The All-Bakugan table.
Jamie decorated the cake!!

Poor, Sick Mickie

2009-04-21T21:27:00.000-07:00

Mickie woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat and a fever! She's missed two days of kindergarten so far, but hopefully she'll be okay to go back tomorrow. I think she just has a bad cold, but here she is taking a nap (!) on my bed.

A French Horn and Vocal Concert

2009-04-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

Easter Dresses!!

2009-04-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

I'm on a sewing kick, so I made the girls matching dresses for Easter!!

Spring Break @ Chuck E. Cheese!

2009-04-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

We spent an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese during spring break!!
Playing games.

Eli rocks Skee Ball.

Mickie!!

2009-04-07T21:01:00.001-07:00

Mickie and Carson playing trains in Carson's toy room!!!

Mickie's new hair cut!

Eli Slow Dancing

2009-03-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

There was a little girl at the wedding dance who was watching Eli do his funky fast dances, so when a slow song came on, I convinced him to ask her to dance. They were so cute!!

Eli Gets Down

2009-03-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

Misc Wedding Pics

2009-03-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

Jamie was having hair issues before the wedding.

Five minutes out of the parking garage . . . (11:35pm)
Last minute prep!!

More Wedding Pics

2009-03-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Micayla with Sam, Taylor's maid of honor and one of our favorite people! She and Mickie have a very special connection, and we were glad to have her in town for a few days!

The rehearsal and the decorations.

Emma and Mickie with Riley, Aaron & Julie's daughter.
Mickie and Riley. They look like sisters!
Jamie, Julie Martin & Riley, enjoying the fabulous food.

The Wedding!!

2009-03-15T20:40:00.000-07:00

Eli with Josh, one of the groomsmen and a good friend of ours.
Jamie took some 'artistic' photos of our fairy flower girls.

They were a hit!! Aren't the baskets cool? The girls hunted twigs and I went crazy with the glue gun.
Going to the rehearsal.

Sleeping Beauty

2009-03-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Micayla got this sleep mask at Claire's during our fun day last week - she's already a diva! She's sleeping on the floor of Emma and Eli's room; she doesn't like to be alone.

Mickie and Tyler

2009-03-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

Micayla holding Ted and Andrea's 8 month old Tyler!!! He's almost as big as she is!

Mickie Doing Aerobics

2009-03-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

We had some friends over for dinner Saturday night, and they brought their Wii Fit over! The kids had a great time doing some of the activities, especially Mickie 'dancing' (doing aerobics!). Ignore the boring car conversation in the background . . .

Playing at Lost in Fun

2009-03-08T21:32:00.000-07:00

Playing Hooky!

2009-03-08T21:28:00.001-07:00

On Friday, we played hooky!! Last week when I had to take Jamie to the ER for his kidney stone, Emma got Mickie and Eli up and dressed, fed and ready for school, and they walked to school on time! As a reward, they got to skip school on Friday! We had lunch with Jamie and spent the afternoon at Lost in Fun!!

Mickie (in the ever-present bunny hat).

Emma's Flower Girl Dress!!!!

2009-02-28T19:55:00.000-08:00

I've been putting off making Emma's flower girl dress, but I couldn't put it off any longer, because the wedding is in two weeks!!! It was much more difficult, because I had to adjust the pattern two sizes bigger!!! I've been working on it pretty much solid for the last two days, and it's finally done!!!

I'm very proud.

Mickie and Eli Sing Sonic

2009-02-28T19:42:00.001-08:00

The kids have started singing the theme song from a favorite cartoon - it's pretty involved!

Emma's Trade Show!!

2009-02-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

Emma's class has been working with Junior Achievement, and for 'graduation' they held a fifth grade trade show! Emma's group decided to make a restaurant, so Emma built a web site with information and coupons! They had business cards and samples of Mom's cookies and Asiago tortellini!!

Emma's friend Madi had a bakery.

The model of the restaurant. Note the swimming pool out front for when the wait is long! Didn't bring your suit? They sell them! :)

Emma, Brianna, and Judy

And More Video . .. .

2009-02-12T13:52:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten Program, Take 4

2009-02-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten Program, Take 3

2009-02-11T22:14:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten Program, Take 2

2009-02-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten Program, Take 1

2009-02-11T21:24:00.000-08:00

Kindergarten Program

2009-02-11T21:21:00.001-08:00

Micayla's kindergarten class had a musical program last night! They sang cute little winter songs for about 20 minutes. We found out that Mickie is about a head shorter than most of the kindergarteners!!

Here she is with her best friend Tanner (also short!!) and their teacher, Miss Samson.

Micayla and Tanner.

Micayla's Flower Girl Dress

2009-01-13T22:47:00.000-08:00

One of our good friends is getting married in March, and she asked Emma and Micayla to be her flower girls. I'm making their dresses, and I got Micayla's done last week!!

The skirt is 'petals'; the pattern is actually a fairy costume. The girls will be barefoot and wearing fairy wings and floral wreaths on their heads!!

The back view.

Hopefully she doesn't grow in the next 7 weeks!!

Trading Hats!!

2009-01-13T22:44:00.000-08:00

If you've seen Micayla at all the past couple of months, you haven't seen her hair. She's been wearing her bunny hat day in and day out (and sleeping in it!) since it got cold. Since Jamie never takes his hat off either, we're pretty sure we know where she's getting it. Last week they decided to switch hats for a picture!!

Cousins

2008-12-31T15:36:00.000-08:00

The kids and some of their cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's!!

What Santa Left .. .

2008-12-31T15:32:00.000-08:00

Micayla's Hannah Montana Christmas . . .

Eli's guitar - just like Dad's!!

Emma's popcorn machine!!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-31T15:29:00.001-08:00

The kids wore their Christmas outfits for our Christmas Eve service!!

Micayla 5.5

2008-12-16T22:25:00.000-08:00

The other day I happened to mention to Mickie that the 16th of December is her half birthday - she was so excited!! She was hoping for presents and a party, but we settled for (half) a cake.

We even put 5 and a half candles on it!!! She's so grown up for 5 and a half!!!

By the way, she has bronchitis, but she's on antibiotics and is getting better!!!!

Love God, Love People

2008-12-12T23:36:00.000-08:00

Last night we put up our custom design from Uppercase Living!! It's a vinyl decorative saying that sticks on the wall until we pull it down!! We're very excited.

Poor Mickie!!

2008-12-12T23:34:00.000-08:00

Mickie has been coughing for a couple of weeks, but today it got worse. We're taking her to the doctor tomorrow, but tonight she crashed on the green chair! She's been wearing a stocking cap 24/7 for the past few days - just like Daddy!!

Better Videos

2008-12-12T21:59:00.000-08:00

Sorry . . .

2008-12-12T08:06:00.001-08:00

Okay, so the videos I chose for Eli's Family Night were not good choices - I'll get some more up today.

Family Night - The Gym

2008-12-11T22:21:00.000-08:00

After the singing, we all went to the gym for some hula hooping and some 50's dancing.

Family Night Part 2

2008-12-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

Eli's 50's Family Night

2008-12-11T22:12:00.000-08:00

Eli's class had a 50's Family Night a couple of weeks ago - it just took us a while to post the videos.

Emma's Concert, - Public Speaking

2008-12-11T21:56:00.000-08:00

Band Concert, Part 2

2008-12-11T21:30:00.000-08:00

Emma's Band Concert, Part 1

2008-12-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

2008-12-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday was Emma's first band concert!! They played several different kinds of songs; we'll put the concert on here soon.

She was the only one to get flowers after the concert!!Getting ready to play the French Horn.
Doesn't she look beautiful??

Poor Eli!!

2008-12-03T15:58:00.001-08:00

Eli started complaining about pain in his cheek yesterday morning at school, and by last night he looked like half a chipmunk and was delirious!! So Jamie took him to the ER and they gave him antibiotics for an abcessed tooth! He gets to stay home from school until Monday, take antibiotics for 7 days and have the tooth pulled on Wednesday. He's feeling a little better now, but he still has a huge cheek!!!

Don't you just want to hug him?

I Wish I Was Special . . . .

2008-11-08T07:24:00.000-08:00

Eli seems to have inherited a bit of talent from his father, and he loves to show off on Rock Band (our friend Ted has it). Here's Eli singing 'Creep' with all his heart (please excuse the occasional 'hell').

Halloween!!!

2008-11-01T18:43:00.001-07:00

Emma looked EXACTLY like Hermione!!!

Micayla actually knows some of the Hannah Montana songs. Impressive, or frightening?

Eli's costume didn't exactly turn out the way we wanted it to. He's a Dragonoid Bakugan, transformed, so the bottom half is still the round circle, and top (his arms) are part of the Dragonoid figure.
It actually only lasted about half the night. By the time we got to Chipotle, he was upset, so we ripped off the pillows and he was perfectly fine as a kid in a red sweatsuit with the word "Bakugan" on his hat.
Our trick-or-treaters. I wonder how much longer they'll let us do this . . . .

Miah's Wedding

2008-10-31T10:34:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday my second cousin Jeremiah got married in Fairbury, and we all went.

This is Emma and I at the reception.

The two girls posing.

Poor Emma has never been able to keep her eyes open for pictures.

Eli ate a hamburger bun with ketchup and a plate full of chips.

So You Think You Can Navigate Around Kansas City?

2008-10-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

My friend Andrea and I celebrated her October birthday with a two-day Kansas City trip! We left Wednesday morning and shopped at the Great Mall, then went to our hotel.

Wednesday night we went to So You Think You Can Dance Live on tour at the Sprint Center!
This is us (and baby Tyler) getting ready to go in to the show.

After wandering around downtown Kansas City at night, we finally made it to Denny's.

On Thursday, we had an amazing - and ill-advised - lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, which of course included cheesecake. Not sugar free cheesecake.

I'm still recovering from the walking and the sugar - but the show was awesome! We had a great time and can't wait until next year.
And yes, I cut off my hair.

Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the pumpkin patch with Ted, Andrea, Tanner and Tyler. It was cold and foggy, but we still had fun!!

Last Night . . . .

2008-10-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

We ate pizza and hung out with our friends last night, and apparently the kids were exhausted! Micayla fell asleep IN her Hannah Montana laundry hamper.

Not sure why she's wearing tights . . .

And Jamie tried to wake Eli up enough to see the huge pile of Bakugans that he was given, but even dumping them on him didn't work.

Eli and Jamie went to a Bakugan tournament at Toys R Us today! He was much more excited this morning after a good night's sleep.

The Morning After . . .

2008-09-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

After a short 6 hours of sleep, the girls were up and ready to go . . .

We had the chocolate chip pancakes (just like Mom made for MY sleepovers!) and I think everybody had a great time!!!

Lincoln's Next Top Models

2008-09-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

We had to do the traditional slumber party makeovers , and everyone posed . . .

Somehow a couple of the girls wrangled Jamie into the makeover chair -
Doesn't he look beautiful?

Eli Goes to Bryce's

2008-09-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

Eli's best friend Bryce came to play Laser Tag with us, and they had such a great time that Bryce's mom invited Eli to spend the night! He had a great time.

Eli and Bryce.

Marshmallow Fight!!

2008-09-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of the slumber party was the mini marshmallow fight. We'd happened on the idea accidentally last week, and the kids loved it! It got a little crazy, though, and our carpet is a little bit sticky . . .

More Birthday Party Pics

2008-09-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

Emma's birthday cake from Cold Stone Creamery . . . VERY chocolately!!!

After presents and cake, we went to Lincoln Laser Tag and played arcade games before and after playing Laser Tag!!

Eli's best friend Bryce came with us.

Emma and her friend Marissa from her school last year.

Birthday Party!!!

2008-09-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

Emma had her first slumber party for her 10th birthday!!! She invited seven girls, and they all came! First we made homemade pizzas . . .

Then she opened presents.

Emma's Birthday, part 2

2008-09-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

After we got home from Toys R Us, Emma and Eli showed off their new bike riding skills!

Then we had birthday cake!

Emma's Birthday

2008-09-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

Emma turned ten on Wednesday!! We went to Cici's for pizza with Mama and Papa, then we went shopping!!

News

2008-09-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

Things are never boring around here, and this week was no exception.
I've been working part-time at Target for the last 6 weeks while the kids are at school, but with my health issues it's been a struggle. I've also been having problems with my right knee lately, and I wasn't sure if it was connected to my CFS. I finally went to the doctor yesterday, and he thinks it's a totally separate issue; probably some damage or tearing to the cartilage, requiring a specialist and probably surgery. Which makes being on my feet for seven hours at Target a little more interesting.
Thankfully, Jamie and I have been talking with a pastor here in town about possible part-time positions. Jamie actually called him for ideas of churches in town who might be hiring a part-time worship leader, thinking that if he did that, I could quit Target. Not only was that church looking at hiring some people for worship, they were also looking for an administrative assistant to work from home!
After a couple of interviews and some fervent prayers, I was just offered the administrative assistant job this evening. We're meeting with Greg (the pastor) tomorrow for more discussion, and I'll be giving notice at Target on Friday!!!
The church is called Rivertree, and they have a website if you want to check it out.
No pictures this time - I guess I could scan my knee xrays or add a picture of my elastic brace, but my previous medical pictures didn't go over so well, so I'll spare you all.

Mommy and Mickie Day!

2008-09-06T14:59:00.001-07:00

Today Micayla and I had a special day together. We went to some garage sales, had lunch at Red Robin, and got our toenails painted!!

Labor Day Camping Trip

2008-09-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Iowa to help celebrate Jamie's parents' 40th anniversary. We camped in some cabins on the edge of their town. It was beautiful, but I was very happy to get back to indoor plumbing!!

Our cabin. Hanging out in our hats.

The entire family.

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids.

First Day Videos

2008-08-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

I don't know what's on these videos, but we took them this morning!

First Day of School!!!

2008-08-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the first day of school!!

Emma (smiling), Tanner (smiling), Mickie (smiling), Eli (definitely NOT smiling).
Tanner and Mickie sitting in the hallway, waiting to go into their kindergarten class. These two have been friends since birth, and since we've basically already arranged their marriage, it's nice that they get to be in the same kindergarten class!!

Too short to hang her backpack up without standing on the shelf!!

Sitting at her place at the table, explaining the rules to the girl next to her.

They all had a good first day (well, Eli's was "terrible", but he really likes his teacher). Micayla said her first day of kindergarten was "amazing!" Hard to believe our baby is in school!!!

End of Summer Picnic

2008-08-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

School starts on Wednesday, so we took advantage of the nice day and had a play date/picnic with Andrea and her daycare!

Mickie and friends on the tire swing.

Emma on the swing.

Eli and Tanner playing with their Star Wars Happy Meal toys.

The Brown girls on the tire swing!!

Emma and Mickie playing.

Videos

2008-08-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

We've been taking videos with our digital camera since last summer, but haven't put many of them on here. Hopefully they work okay.

Bike Riding!!

2008-08-13T22:18:00.000-07:00

So we've been a little lax with the whole bike riding thing . . . we're just teaching Emma how to ride without training wheels this summer. But hey - she can build a web site!!!
Getting ready to ride.
Eli loves riding - but isn't ready to take off the training wheels yet.

This is an interesting picture.

Zoo!!!

2008-08-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

The kids' school had a fundraiser last year and sold coupons for different city attractions during the summer. With moving and everything, we didn't get them all done this summer, so we took Tuesday and used their free coupons to the Children's Zoo!

These are the zoo's beautiful macaws.All three kids at the wishing well.
Milking the cow statue.
Petting the goats.
The Butterfly Pavilion!! They squirted nectar on the girls' fingers to draw the butterflies . . .
But Micayla never could get one to land.

After a short walk through most of the zoo and the seal show, we rode the zoo train and headed home!

VBS

2008-08-13T22:05:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've blogged! Sorry.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago the kids went to VBS at Horizons. They had a ball!

Here's Mickie with her team leader.

After we dropped the kids off, we had quality grown-up time with Bill & Melanie. Here's Bill looking liked the educated university professional that he is.

The kids had a challenge: if a total of 425 kids registered during the week, Bob and Karl (Chris and Derek) would dress like girls. There were 438 kids!!!

Here's Chris in his lovely woman-wear.
Jamie posed with Derek, Julie (Chris's mom), a girl I don't know, Hilary (Chris's sister), another girl I don't know, and Chris.

Kids' Rooms

2008-07-20T20:56:00.000-07:00

We have most of the house unpacked and put away! Here is Micayla's Hannah Montana room:

Emma and Eli are sharing a room, and they settled on a Nintendo Theme:

July Fourth!!

2008-07-08T16:28:00.001-07:00

We spent the evening of July 4th with Ted and Andrea, at their house. Here are the guys, hard at work.

Which one's the real watermelon???

Lighting off fireworks in the street.

The street Ted and Andrea live on goes crazy with fireworks! (and yes, that's our old house in the background - sigh.)
Dogpile on Jamie!

Moving!

2008-07-01T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, we're mostly moved into our eighth house in Lincoln. Hopefully this one will stick for a while.

This is our back yard - it opens out to a common area with a playground.Chris Berger and Jamie heaving the rolltop desk up the stairs.

Micayla's room is pretty well put-together . . .

But Emma and Eli's room is not. We're still finishing spray-painting their bunk beds (back to the original red), so until they're done it won't be finished.
Lots of cabinets!!
O, the glorious dishwasher.
The dining area/office.
Living room.
Upstairs hallway and the kids' bathroom.

Party Videos

2008-06-25T13:05:00.001-07:00

Here's Mickie opening presents at her party. It's long, though.

Micayla's Fifth Birthday!!!

2008-06-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Birthday number 5 is a big one at our house, because before age 5, the kids aren't - technically - allowed to chew gum. Mickie has been looking forward to this milestone since she was 2 and a half, so her birthday party theme this year was Princess Bubble Gum - evidenced by the decorations on her birthday cake.
That's Bubble Tape along the hem.

We had her birthday party at a great place in town called Lost In Fun. Very good pizza.

We added a pinata to our party package - the thing was almost as big as Mickie!
Left to Rigth - Hollie, Micayla, Emma, Hannah, Eli, Tanner.

Playing with bubbles.

The ball pit.

Trip to KC

2008-06-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Kansas City to visit our friends Aaron & Julie, and Jamie led worship at a service they were holding. We got to see the logo Jamie designed for their new gas station!

It was very cool to see it in real life!!

Picking Strawberries!!!

2008-06-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

On the way to the berry farm - our fifth year!!!

Walking out to the berry patch.

I love this picture!

After picking our fill.

Heading towards the car - the strawberries are delicious!!

New Baby Larsen!!

2008-06-13T23:28:00.000-07:00

Our best friends, Ted and Andrea, welcomed their second son Tyler Michael on Wednesday! Thursday night we went to visit them.

Emma's Virtual Vacation

2008-06-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

Everything You Wanted to Know About Egypt

Emma took a week-long class on iMovie this week. She had a fabulous time, and she came home today with her own movie! Check it out.

Last Day of School!!!

2008-05-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

Here are Emma and Eli going down to the bus for the last time!!!
Walking down the lane to the bus!!

We're all ready for summer!! Next year they'll go to the same school (along with Mickie) but they won't be bussed anymore, and since we found out we'll be moving in June, we'll definitely be taking them every day. The bus has been great, but we won't miss the super early mornings!!!

A Stormy Night

2008-05-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

We've been having a lot of stormy weather lately, and last night we lost electricity for the second time this week. The kids slept downstairs with us in the living room.
We lost a lot of tree branches with the winds!!

Eli's Birthday Castle

2008-05-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

Eli saved all of his birthday money this year to buy this huge Lego castle that he's been wanting for a couple of years now! It took a couple of weeks, but he and Jamie finally got it put together!!

Eli's First Grade Picnic

2008-05-30T14:38:00.001-07:00

Eli's first grade class had an end-of -the-school-year picnic yesterday, and Mickie and I joined them.

Eli playing with his friends.

Eli and his friend Sid playing Lord of the Rings.

Memorial Day Get-Together

2008-05-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day afternoon, we hung out with some friends at Ted and Andrea's. Here are the kids playing Wii Bowling.
John squeezed into the kiddie chair.

Julie and Mickie bowling.

Ted and Andrea's new basement! They're playing Tiger Woods on the 60" TV and the PS3.

My Birthday Party

2008-05-30T14:26:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday was my birthday, and we invited a bunch of our friends to see the fourth Indiana Jones with us. Here's me with our internet tickets.
Fortunately, though, there wasn't much of a rush to see the movie, so we could have waited and bought our tickets there.

Then we came back to our house and ate pizza and every sugary thing I haven't eaten in a year.

Andrea is hugely pregnant.

Tyler and Sinjhen.

Jamie and Trevor.

The party was fun, although I suffered the consequences of the binging for several days.

Eli's Lord of the Rings Birthday Party!!

2008-05-18T23:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Eli's Lord of the Rings birthday party! Eleven of his friends from school came out to our house for an adventure!! Here's the volcano cake:
You can't see it very well, but the bottom layer is green frosted with a blue river. The 'volcano' is chocolate cake and lava, decorated with three LOTR characters. It wasn't perfect, but Eli liked it!!

After the kids showed up, they each decorated a loot bag to carry for the afternoon. We played ring toss (of course) and then went on a treasure hunt. After they found the treasures, everybody came inside for a snack and a drink.

After the snack break, Jamie took the whole crew on a Quest in the forest. They used their imaginations to find the artifacts and defeat the bad guys! Then Eli opened presents.

While we waited for the parents to come, Jamie entertained the crowd as usual with his amazing balloon skills. Most kids went home with balloon swords and helmets, plus a few challenged him to make axes and bows!

Renaissance Faire

2008-05-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we celebrated Eli's eighth birthday and Mother's Day by going to the Omaha Renaissance Faire! Mom and Dad came with us.

Here are Emma and Eli in their Mommy-made costumes.A peasant and two fairies!!

Emma ponders her journal entry.
Faire atmosphere.
All tuckered out after a long day in the Middle Ages!!

Jamie - Cleaned Up

2008-05-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Jamie and I sang in a wedding at the church Jamie used to work at. Doesn't he look nice??

Preschool Mother's Tea

2008-05-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was the Mother's Tea at Micayla's preschool. They sang a song, had snacks, and we all got to plant flowers in the memorial butterfly garden!!

More Medical Fun!

2008-05-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

Last night we were cleaning our house to get ready for a visit from Jamie's parents. I had reached between a mirror that was cracked in two and was leaning up against a bookcase and the bookcase, and the top half of the mirror fell and slashed my thumb open! Jamie rushed me to urgent care, where they gave me 5 stitches! Impressively, we didn't even get any blood on the carpet! It was not a fun experience, but at least I'm off the hook for dish duty for ten days. And, it sounds sick, but it was a little gratifying to go to the doctor and have something ACTUALLY be wrong with me! So here are the disgusting pictures.

Rachele's Sweatshop

2008-04-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a LOT of sewing lately, and I'm not ready to quit my day job (if I had one), but I'm pretty proud of my handiwork!!

This is Micayla's daisy dress - she's going to wear it to Donna's church in Augusta this Sunday.

This is Emma's fairy costume, without the wings and the tulle skirts. She'll wear this for the Renaissance Faires this summer. Mickie's is the same pattern (see an earlier post!)

I made matching butterfly dresses for Micayla, Emma, and Emma's best friend Lauren!

This is from a remnant piece I got at the fabric store for $3!!

Children's Museum

2008-04-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Jamie played golf with some friends from work, so Mickie and I surprised Emma and Eli and picked them up at school. We went to The Children's Museum and spent the afternoon!

After the museum, we got Happy Meals and went home to crash! A fun day.

Picnic!!

2008-04-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

Micayla has been begging to have a picnic at the park near her preschool for months! Today after her 'birthday celebration', we went to the playground with her friends and had a great few hours!!

Micayla's Birthday Celebration

2008-04-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

At Micayla's preschool, they give each kid a 'birthday' day, even if his or her birthday is in the summer. Today was Micayla's! She took heart-shaped decorated chocolate chip cookies (with snakes and flowers on them, in honor of the Nature Center where she goes to preschool) and she insisted on wearing a dress. When we got to preschool, her teacher asked her if this was her actual birthday, or a pretend birthday. Micayla answered, "This is my birthday celebration." Her teacher turned to me and said, "She's so smart!" Mickie got to be the line leader and pass out her treats, plus she got a gift of plastic bugs from her teachers!

Fairy Mickie!

2008-04-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

It's almost Renaissance Faire season again, and we're getting ready! I made Micayla's costume first - the girls decided to be fairies this year! Here's Mickie's costume (she won't be wearing the black leotard underneath!).

Brownblogginit

More Pageant Shopping!!

Children's Museum

Micayla's Birthday

The Brown Jammery, Est. 2003

Strawberry Picking!!

Micayla's Birthday Party

More Party Pics

Eli Turns Nine!!!

Poor, Sick Mickie

A French Horn and Vocal Concert

Easter Dresses!!

Spring Break @ Chuck E. Cheese!

Mickie!!

Eli Slow Dancing

Eli Gets Down

Misc Wedding Pics

More Wedding Pics

The Wedding!!

Sleeping Beauty

Mickie and Tyler

Mickie Doing Aerobics

Playing at Lost in Fun

Playing Hooky!

Emma's Flower Girl Dress!!!!

Mickie and Eli Sing Sonic

Emma's Trade Show!!

And More Video . .. .

Kindergarten Program, Take 4

Kindergarten Program, Take 3

Kindergarten Program, Take 2

Kindergarten Program, Take 1

Kindergarten Program

Micayla's Flower Girl Dress

Trading Hats!!

Cousins

What Santa Left .. .

Christmas Eve

Micayla 5.5

Love God, Love People

Poor Mickie!!

Better Videos

Sorry . . .

Family Night - The Gym

Family Night Part 2

Eli's 50's Family Night

Emma's Concert, - Public Speaking

Band Concert, Part 2

Emma's Band Concert, Part 1

Poor Eli!!

I Wish I Was Special . . . .

Halloween!!!

Miah's Wedding

So You Think You Can Navigate Around Kansas City?

Pumpkin Patch!

Last Night . . . .

The Morning After . . .

Lincoln's Next Top Models

Eli Goes to Bryce's

Marshmallow Fight!!

More Birthday Party Pics

Birthday Party!!!

Emma's Birthday, part 2

Emma's Birthday

News

Mommy and Mickie Day!

Labor Day Camping Trip

More Videos

First Day Videos

First Day of School!!!

End of Summer Picnic

Videos

Bike Riding!!

Zoo!!!

VBS

Kids' Rooms

July Fourth!!

Moving!

Party Videos

Micayla's Fifth Birthday!!!