Christmas 2009

My heart wasn't in IT this Christmas at times and my camera wasn't either. Sorry! I took a few pictures of the kids opening gifts from the extended family. Ken dug out our old video camera and recorded "Santa" gifts so no camera for those! Oops! If I figure out how to upload from the camera l'll put it on here someday. I included some pics of just everyday stuff too since it's been soooooooo long since I've updated. Enjoy them! Gift opening in above post by itself.

Random Thoughts

I have been in a bit of "grinch-mode" for a long time now. Christmas as our society of greed makes it is not my favorite holiday. I always dreamed of having a Christmas of giving but not one of "monetary-store-bought-gota-have -the- latest-fad presents". I would like a Christmas that epitomizes what God did when he sent his Son to Earth to save us from most importantly ourselves! What does that Christmas look like? For me it would look like me emptying out my pockets, the car ash tray and the bottom of my purse of any change that has sat there for months never being touched to put it into the red bucket for those who need a hand up. It's looks like standing in a soup kitchen line serving food to anyone who is there because of whatever there circumstance is. It looks like me looking at my life and realizing that it's not about what I have or don't have, it's not about what someone did to me, it's not about being stressed over the ways of this world so much that I don't see the good in what I have at this very second. I want my Christmas to be different than the norm. Did I make it that way this year? Not really. Do I need to change that for next year? Yes, but I think really I need to change it so that every day is not about the "gotta-have-it" mentality. Here's to a new year and a new day to change the way it has been. Bring it on, please!

Happy Halloween!

I am a little slow in posting and was informed of my slacking by my sister who will be learning in May 2010 what it's like to never get things started and finished in a normal timeframe! The boys costumes were not really on my radar screen since October blew by this house like the wind. The weekend before, Ken took Gavin and Brenden to get there scary attire! (Jackson was hanging out with the Swine- flu that is) Those of you who know Ken sending him to any store is not a safe thing on our checking account! But... he always makes sure the purchases are the best!
It was no surprise that Gavin came home with Boba Fett as Starwars is ranked 1 or 2 on his favorites list.
Jackson had asked for some sort of Zombie and of course Ken delivered!
Brenden, in my mind was going to be Alfalfa from the Little Rascals because his hair still sticks up but maybe next year. Brenden found a boxer costume that he loved and so it was! Brenden "sugar ray" Brewer.
We carved pumpkins again and Jackson did a great job carving his own this year. I handed out all of the candy I bought and the boys filled it right back up with all the candy the got! Now to try and get those Christmas lists figured out! UGGH!

Jackson as the skeleton zombie and his two friends the surgeon and the patient!

Boba and the Boxer

A moment of Zen

The boys were all having good days and playing together didn't seem to be a problem. (that's the Zen part) They were playing with all the stuffed animals we have and then they got my camera. A few poses, funny faces and what looks like a lot of laughs were had by all. (I found them on the camera later) And then... someone took someone else's animal. There went the moment.

Watch out Bob and Mandy here come the Brewer Boys

The boys got bit by the building bug. They wanted to saw, hammer and/or screw something together in the worst way. Enter Daddy. He has more coffee cans full of screws and nails than Bob the Builder and Handy Mandy put together. So with safety instructions from Dad and ear plugs in mom's ears they started building away. Add a few neighbor kids to the mix and I can start promoting them as the next HGTV home improvement show.

I FREE NOW!

Those are the words from Brenden these days. Hard to believe it's been three years since B was born. He's the only one that didn't wait to the day before his due date and he's been surprising us every since! It's so much fun to just watch him pick up new tricks and his vocabulary cracks me up. He definitely picks up all the bad things that people say in our house. Things like "whatever" and "What-the-heck" are cute coming from a 3 year old but I know soon (like tomorrow) those phrases will have to leave his vocabulary. Brenden is funny, lovable (mostly to his mommy) and loves his big brothers as long as they don't play with a toy he had, wants or just put down. He knows how to hold is own with them when he has too which will lead to many times for me to be the referee and break it up.
He got in his head that he wanted a T-Rex birthday cake so of course it had to be. He loved to tell anyone he could about the T-Rex monster. With claws up and teeth out he'd roar and pretend to be the monster. He didn't eat the cake with a T-Rex fight but the ice cream was gone in a second.
The most touching part was that the boys decided they wanted to give him a gift and since I didn't take them shopping they decided to give him something of their own that he would like. (Re-gifting what an original idea) Jackson wrapped up a dinosaur book and Gavin wrapped up two Transformer books, a big sacrifice. Brenden loved opening up the gifts from the boys!

Lizards, Hawks and Fossils

A few pictures of what we've done lately. We all checked out the National Mississippi River Museum again over Labor Day. Jackson wasn't up for pictures but he was with us for all of the events. Herky visited our neighbor for his birthday so the kids got to hang out with "her" for awhile! Gavin has a homework project for the rock unit they are doing so we needed to go the the Fossil Gorge to check it off our list. We hadn't been there since before the Flood of 2008. They all had fun jumping and climbing on the rocks and even stopped for a few minutes to do some fossil rubbings!