Summer came early to Indiana

It has been in the eighties all week this week...craziness. I'm a girl who appreciates the seasons and honestly I'm feeling a bit gipped. I know I shouldn't really complain, but geez. My kids didn't even get to build a snow man this year...and now we are skipping spring and going right to summer? I'm ill-prepapared. I don't have my summer tote unpacked, and I have yet to get a pedicure. My toes aren't ready. Seeing as how I start counting down the days to fall after about oh...July 4th, I'm not really sure how this extended summer season is going to work out for me. I'm one of the weird ones, I get that.

The children are happy so that's the important thing. Owen and Wes have spent every day outside doing something. Chasing each other, picking up sticks, we've gone on walks, met lots of our neighbors, even sat on the front porch at night to look at the stars. Summertime weather does have its perks, but I wasn't really ready to turn on the AC in March. ( I honestly also have my doubts that its really going to get any cooler!)

Owen has gotten so tall. His gangly little legs are so much ganglier in shorts. We had to make an emergency run to Old Navy to grab some properly fitting warm weather attire.

On the flip side, Wes seems awfully short :) I had him in some 18 month shorts and they were basically pants. Wes goes in for his late 15 month check up next week so I'll have to hop on with some stats. He seems stocky but short. We'll see where he is on the charts. I'm also wondering if they have a means as to measure craziness...because, wow. Temper, temper. :)

When I look back at my life, I will sadly recognize this period from Jan 2012-March 2012 as the dark period of no pictures. Meaning, I have really took none. NONE. I know. Bad, bad, bad. I may have snapped a few here and there with my iPhone, but nothing of significance. Josh has left the camera downstairs for me now so I'm trying to get inspired to take some new pictures.

I am recovering from strep throat....I don't really think I've ever been so sick. It was terrible. Penicillin is truly bringing me back from the dead and I can now at least function again. I spent two days in near delirium. Not caring how much food had been spilled on the floor or how gummy the countertops had gotten. Josh was in charge and I know for dads to be in charge, I can't expect what I get done every day to get done by him. I'm trying to make up for lost time. The laundry is a desperate situation (its almost always bordering on desperate anyways! :))

This is the calm before the storm in relation to spring soccer. Josh had no practice this week at all....but next week starts outdoor practice...meaning, practice...every day except Friday :( Games start in full force after Spring Break and its a six-week whirlwind of craziness for Josh.....and I will be on my own with the kids for a bit. I'm trying to gear up for it!

That's all for now. Just a little update! House projects have largely been on hold for, but I do hope to do some painting over spring break. We'll see how game Josh is :) Happy Summer everyone!

My Kids Do/Say Funny Stuff Every Day

But I'm not put together enough to get on here every day (or even every other day, apparently) to write it down.

Yesterday, Owen got in the car after I picked him up from school and promptly said "Mom, I'd like to talk about Star Wars if you don't mind" :)

He also told me yesterday that when he got home he was going to change his clothes because that's what dad does. I said, "You and daddy are buddies, aren't you?" He said..."ya, we are. Except I don't know why he spanked me two times" :) I said, "Well buddy, if daddy spanked you its because you were being disobedient." Owen, "Ya, I guess you must be right mom."

And Wes....well, Wes is currently playing with my handheld dust buster and beating on it with a wooden ladle. I should probably go.

Fun Stuff my kids do Day Two(ish)

Ok, I didn't get on here yesterday. But, I can remember yesterday. There were a few cute moments :)

Owen:

Wanted to count to 100 on the way to school...he does well except he has trouble making the turns from 19-20, 29-30, 39-40...you get the idea. At one point we were well into the eighties and he reverted back to the thirties...so...you know, but its important that we keep trying. :) (Funny enough, his teacher has commented on both evaluations-he's had two so far this year-that his strong suit is definitely language while he seems not interested/weak in math. I think its really early on in his life to determine anything...but we'll keep our fingers crossed that he inherits more of his father's math skills than his mother's :))

Is beyond excited to attend his friend at school-Qwentin's-birthday party on Friday. He's been x-ing off the days on his calendar in anticipation. Each day he wakes up asking if it's Qwentin's party day yet.

Currently dislikes Cubbies because the teachers don't let them sit on the alphabet mats. (random)

Declared that he would be skipping naps as an adult so that he could go to a job to pay for a house that he would have when he was older....in which he would live in with Audrey. From what I can gather, Audrey is his best pal at school. He talks about other boys some, but Audrey is actually a good friend. She helps him with his coat, zips up his backpack from time to time...lets him go first in games. I like Audrey. We may need to have her over for dinner :) He then changed tracks quickly and confessed that he wasn't exactly sure that Audrey was who he wanted to marry after all. He had to think about it. I told him he had plenty of time. He agreed. :)

Wesley:

Is using "uh-oh" in appropriate situations. He dropped (threw? I'm not sure) a toy on the floor the other day and exclaimed "oh-uh" rather traumatically. Its super cute.

Is really interested in carrying around a ziploc bag with his food in it.

Started a new thing yesterday of being obsessed with emptying out my bottom drawer in the kitchen which contains...freezer bags, garbage bags, ziplocs. Uh. ya. fun.

Is becoming quite the open mouthed kisser :)

Fun Stuff my kids Say Day 1

I know I have all of this backlogged blogging I need to get to. To say that we have slacked on extras in life is a understatement. We realized that we haven't really taken any pictures of the kids since Christmas. Not acceptable. Moving into a new house and getting some projects done and just breathing again in our own space has been the priority. :)

But I'm inspired to keep track of some of the fun things going on in our lives too. My kids say/do hysterical things on a daily basis. I need to remember them and keep track of them better. So, here we go.

Owen:

After fighting me over dinner for about 20 minutes I finally had to pull out the "you have five minutes to start eating your dinner or..".(something will happen...privilege taken away...I can't remember what exactly. This provoked him to start eating. A few minutes into eating, he looks up and says "Mom, you know, I'm really starting to like this stuff!" (go figure!)

Owen was running around playing guns with Josh tonight and all of the sudden he slid over to me and grabbed my leg and said "Mom, I just needed a hug break" :)

Told me he was praying for me to feel better while I was getting him ready this morning :)

Wesley:

Loves to pat my mouth while I'm talking to make me sound like an Indian

Started saying the word "car" today (sounds more like "ca")

Randomly snuggled me without it being nap time or bedtime today...a rare occurrence I assure you!

Will stomp his foot when he is angry about something OR when Josh turns on the Kinect to play a game :)

Hi

So, Christmas happened. We closed on our new home. My two boys both got ridiculously sick (possibly mono, ear infections and a horrid drug reaction that made Wes look like a lepper). Josh, my brothers in law, and my in-laws went to work on the house ( I did get to help prime the cabinets and paint about a room and a half....that was it. The house was a war zone not fit for Wesley's presence and Owen was too sick for me to be away from him or doing something else). New Years happened (I went to bed at 9:30...par-tay!), We moved into our new house and....I tried not to have a nervous break-down about unpacking our house. Its been busy. I have pictures. We are all really happy in our new place. We love the playroom/tv room. We love having a fireplace. I dislike being even further away from Owen's school and our Church. But all in all, its so great. We feel pretty blessed.

I'll pop back in soon-ish for some picture updates and new things to talk about. Possible topics: 1. Deciding where to send Owen to school next year

2. My baby is a maniac who screams a lot and throws many tantrums (but is also sweet and rubs my face when I rock him to sleep)

3. How much I love my bible study and women in the study

4. How much I hate Jillian Michaels and her "don't take more than a five second rest!" craziness!

Be back soon-ish!

Christmas Letter 2011

I'm short on Christmas cards this year by pure stupidity :) I'm hoping some of my friends and family will hop over to read this. Sorry. I'll do better next year! Merry Christmas/Happy New Year! Imagine a pretty card with our pictures on it! You know...like the gigantic picture at the top of the blog! :)

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December 15, 11

Dear Friends and Family,

Hoping this letter finds you well! 2011 was somewhat of an eventful year for us, so we thought we would catch you up with a nice ”little” letter J

I celebrated my 30^th birthday in February…kind of distressing and hard to accept…ha! But, my husband threw me a lovely party in the midst of our massive ice storm and I was loved on and celebrated by dear friends and family. I’m more than thankful when I look at my life and recognize that I’ve been able to be blessed with so much in 30 years…an education, a good job, a home, a loving husband and two beautiful, healthy boys. God really has been so kind to me!

Among other things that took place this year, Josh treated me to a long weekend out east! I have always wanted to take a trip to the east coast in the fall to enjoy the scenery and get away. We went over Josh’s fall break to Portland, ME and had a wonderful time visiting lighthouses, eating lobster and even taking a day trip to Boston, MA. It was a great trip and we hope to go again with the boys!

Josh applied for and accepted a new position at the end of September. He took a test to become licensed in teaching secondary English (high school) this summer. He officially left his position teaching special education at the Alternative Learning School in Perry Township and moved over to Southport High School to teach lower level English courses. This was a great move for him since he already coaches and manages the soccer program at the high school. Its fun for him to finally be part of a “normal” school and although somewhat surprising to me, he is doing really well teaching English! J (I joke with him because I am the one who always proof read HIS papers in college!) I love the fact that I finally have papers to help grade (something I’ve always wanted to do as a teacher’s wife!) and he is looking forward to helping the English program develop and move forward at Southport. Along with teaching, Josh continues to coach varsity soccer at Southport and as well as head coaching for two club teams with Westside United.

Owen started his first year of pre-k this year at Traders Point Christian Academy. He has really loved it! I knew that school would be something he enjoyed, and I was right! J He goes M-W-F, from 9-1 and it is just the right amount of time. A few things that he has really mastered this first semester are: recognizing and writing each letter of the alphabet, recognizing and writing numbers 1-10, drawing shapes, cutting along a line, and the pledge of allegiance! We are looking forward to next semester and are prayerful about where we will send him to kindergarten next fall. Such big decisions! Some other fun things that Owen did this past year includes : learning how to swim (and he can REALLY, TRULY swim!) playing soccer for Little Kickers in Zionsville, attend preschool camp at Traders Point, and continue on for his second year of Cubbies (AWANA) at our church, College Park. He is a busy kid and loves people. We are so blessed by him!

Wesley turned ONE in October, which is completely hard to believe. He is a lot of fun and has much passion and spirit J He is finally happy (well, happier) to be part of the nursery on Sunday mornings, and does even better at my Tuesday morning bible study childcare. He started walking between 13-14 months and he is going to keep all of us on our toes! We love this little guy a lot and are excited to see who he will become.

Our biggest news is that we sold our home in September and we are waiting to close on a new house in Brownsburg on Dec. 22! It is a lovely, older home located near the middle school…and we are so excited to have our own space again and put some updates in to make this house great. It will be a wonderful spot for our boys to grow up in and we are feeling so blessed that we were able to sell and buy in this economy…it was harder than we anticipated! We look forward to having you to our new place and hope that you will come visit us soon! Our new address is:

3 Fairwood Dr.

Brownsburg, IN 46112

We hope that you have had a wonderful 2011! Praying that 2012 is a year of blessing and growing in God’s grace for you and yours. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

The Brown Family

Josh, Kim, Owen and Wesley

Owen's Christmas Program

Owen had a Christmas program at his school (Traders Point Christian Academy) today :) I feel like a semi-terrible mom, because he is definitely under the weather. In fact, I raced him the Pediatrician on Tuesday late afternoon because I thought he had strep. We found out he didn't...just a nasty virus that is being passed around, and that he wasn't really even contagious. So, we've been drugging him with ibuprofen (Owen's wonder drug) and gatorade. He feels great about an hour into the ibuprofen high, so I tried to work it so that that high would take place during his program. I kind of made it...he did ok. He definitely looked a little zonked, but I'm glad he got to participate. :) He came home, ate lunch, watched a movie with dad (who took the day off of work to see Owen's program...SCORE!) and then he slept from 1 pm-6 pm! My poor little bubby! Feel free to intercede on our behalf by asking Jesus to show us kindness and mercy and SPARE the rest of us (especially Wes!) this nasty virus! Yuk!

Here are pictures from the program this morning :)