Where's America?

Happy Birthday America!!

Well, we had a great July 4th here in Midland! We started out the day by singing Happy Birthday to America to better explain to the kids what we were celebrating! Baryn simply asked, "Where's America?" She thought it was a person!!

We went out to the Children's Parade at the Museum and participated!! It was fun getting everything ready and then actually doing it!! The kids had a blast, especially since Hannah rode with us!! Braden drove his decorated 4 wheeler & the girls sat in the attached wagon!! It was so stinkin' HOT, but we had fun!! Bee Dub even made the Midland Reporter Telegram this morning with an adorable photo & his name & age!!

Before the parade in the SHADE!!

Ready to go in line.... a longgggg line!!

Braden's beard didn't last too long as he said that it was "itchy" & probably hot!


Here is Braden driving ever so carefully not to run over anyone, and to drive slow for Hannah & Baryn's sake!! He did awesome & the girls didnt complain!



After the parade!!

Sweaty & tired, but all in all, had a great time!! Love anything that revolves around my kiddos!

Not the CURLS!

OH MY GOSH!

Everybody that knows me, knows that my prized possesion are my kids & specifically, Baryn's hair.....her curls!!! So when I found out that some of her hair was cut....Needless to say, I FREAKED out!! I told Braden not to let Baryn play with those kiddy scissors, and I didnt think I should be worried after that!! Weeelllll, I should know better than that! So who do you think would get ahold of the scissors, and cut their hair.....BRADEN!! Braden cut Baryn's curls of on either side of her cheeks!! Come on, Braden? Really? He said her hair was too long...and it was, but I couldn't bring myself to cutting her PRECIOUS curls that I, oh so Love, especially since my hair guy, Jeff, said that once I cut them, they would be gone for good!! Well, now I guess we will see!

Here is the big clump of hair that Braden cut! It filled up a whole handful!

It could of looked worse, like her bangs or even shorter....Especially since we are taking family photos in Grand Cayman next week!!

Jeff tried to fix the BOO BOO, and just tapered it a little more and cut a little off the length, but only the under part that never really curled!

Braden's Surgery!

Well, on Friday, we took Braden for his Tonsillectomy & Adnoidenctomy procedure that we had be anticipating since January! This was a dreaded procedure for Chad & I, as we have both had this done, and KNOW EXACTLY how difficult it is for recovery! We both had ours done at 19, and boy, what a difference the age makes!! Mom & dad came and hung out with us as they had been through all this before! Dan & Sylvia took Pretty to Beaumont to our Neice's annual Dance Recital! It was nice only having to one dependent child...and REAL quiet!!

Braden had no apprehension for the surgery! He got changed into his gown & figured out how to work the remote control!!

We took his special blanket (thanks Quentin & Betsy!) and he laid contently til they

gave him his Versed!!

Then he laid EVEN MORE contently!! You can tell in his eyes! Boy was he funny!! He looked over at me, at one point and said..."mom, you have 4 eyes!"

Chad & I couldnt help but laugh out loud!! He didnt care!!


This is about 3 hours post surgery, and doing just fine!! Super Mario Brothers & a lot of Ice Cream, and he was happy!! On a side note...kudos to MMH to be handing out Blue Bell Ice Cream & Blue Bell Pospsicles!! Yum!! (Only in the South!!)

He was labeled before surgery, for all to know!!

The nurses said that he was a VERY STRONG boy, and he pulled out his IV in one hand,

so they had to put extra tape on the other side!!

Braden's recovery in the hospital went real well, so we were able to leave by 3pm

and head home to bed!!

Later we got surprises from Janai & the boys, Grandma & Grandpa, and Hannah & "Hannah's Mommy!"
Thanks you guys, y'all are too sweet!!

This is the great Pirate Package with about 50 dum dum suckers from Hannah!!

Thanks to all who were so kind to us at this hard time for Bee Dub! He is doing great, and should recover well. He has been sleeping in our Bed, so that I can keep an eye on him during the night! Chad & I have been splitting the medicine shifts every 3 hours in the middle of the night, so it is like having another baby in the house! He is to be immobile for 1 week and then not doing anything strenuous for another week! It has been hard to keep him still, but not having Pretty here has helped alot by allowing him to actually be able to watch his TV non-stop

for 2 days!! She comes home tonight, so let the FUN begin!!!

Mother's Day, 2 Birthdays, alot of Baseball, and a Great Kindergarten Graduation!!

May ALWAYS seems to be a crazy month with the end of the school year and all the things that go along with that!! Add in everything else that we do & have in May, you have one crazy month!!!

We started off the busy week with a great Mother's Day!

Braden had a great day because he saw Wilson!!

Everybody was smiles, before lunch....at least!!

Two days later... We celebrated our birthdays with Mom & Dad at Shogun's!

Four days after that, we celebrated Chad's birthday by going to the Celebration of the Arts, where I was on the Committee heading up the event & so the kids got to go & get their faces painted for the 1st time!! Braden was a Stormtrooper!

And Baryn did so good when Joy the Clown told her to close her eyes....that she fell asleep!! She was very still and got a butterfly put on!!

She loved it!!

Braden was trying to be a serious Stormtrooper!

Later that night, we went Bowling! Another 1st for both kiddos!! They did great!

Baryn even did good at carrying her 6 lb. ball!!

A Little help from Daddy, and away she rolled!!

Braden had so much fun!

Then this week started out with "field day" at school, with a bunch of water games & obstacle courses.

This parallel slide was a little hard for some of the kids to do, but Braden took right to it!!

Baryn enjoyed watching with MaMa & PaPa!

And today.............

My Little Man Graduated Kindergarten!!

They were so excited!

We got a quick family photo!

Here are the Graduation hats that I worked so hard on!! They turned out cute, even though they were collapsing a little!! The kids loved them!!

The kids got to throw their hats up, which was the highlight of the day for them!!

We are so proud of our Little Man!! He is amazing at school!! It was definitely a teary day!!

These are Braden's AMAZING teachers!! I can't wait for Baryn to have them!! He learned so much from them and had a wonderful this year!!

The kiddos from K-5 got to celebrate at Rachel's house after Graduation, and they had a blast!! We have a great group of kids & parents & look forward to another 12 years with them!!!

So that was only 2 out of the 4 weeks in May, and we still have more to come!! It has been another wild & wooly time at the Browns!! We keep chuggin' along and getting through it!! We look forward to an easy goin' summer!!

What I have been up to!!

Well, I haven't spoken to many of you in a while because I have been sooooo busy, so I thought I would show you what the heck I have been doing!! Since I last Blogged, one of my girls at the store got married, about the same time that my 2 other girls got sick, at the exact same time that ALL of Midland realized that graduation was coming and that they needed everything.... "yesterday!" I was definitely overwhelmed and at the same time, trying to do everything else within our personal life realm!!

For several weeks, we have been planning for both K-5 classes to come to our house, Friday, for Continent Day! The kids have been studying about all 7 continents and so we culminated by having a celebration at our house with all of the parents acting as teachers, teaching about different countries!

So the bus pulled up.......

and dropped off the 30 kids and 4 teachers!!

We treated their excursion as a flight around the world aboard 'Trinity Air'! Mom & Dad helped me put it together the night before, and then Chad helped put it back together the morning of, since the winds got a hold of it!!! What a project!!

I made the kids passports with their photos in them, as well as boarding passes, and I checked them as they entered the plane! Notice my 'wings' on my top, as I was the flight attendant!!

So they got seated, with their luggage in hand, and waited for the flight to begin!

Notice the exit door on the left, and the windows in our make shift plane!

This is pre kids, and our monogrmmed carpet!

We had a project for each continent, after each lesson, and a food from that country!

Then, I hired some special performers to come show us a little from North America! The kids loved them!!

Braden dressed up for the North American part to show the kids a little ethnicity!!

After 3 hours and a whirlwind adventure (my brain was SPINNING!) the kids loaded up & went back to school!! We had 30 kids, 4 teachers, 20 parents, 4 grandparents, 4 siblings, 4 dance crew members, 1 Head of the Lower School , and 1 admissions director!! Aghhhhhh! I am so glad that it is OVER!! but we had a great time!

Earlier in the month, we had a Birthday Party at Chuck E. Cheese!

For a friend of Bee Dub's!

And NUMEROUS baseball games, where Braden is still at 100% for hitting the ball! Sometimes he gets out at 1st, but usually he scores!! He has a great team that he just loves!

So that has been our last month in a NUTshell!! We still have a crazy May ahead of us with more Baseball, Field Day, Celebration of the Arts, Graduation, Surgery for Bee Dub, a visit from Chad's uncle in Germany, and numerous other events!! Wish me luck that I survive!