Family Worship Childrens Christmas Play

Last Wednesday was the childrens play at our church and both kids were able to be in it this year. My parents go to church on Wednesday nights so they started taking my kids right about the same time sign-ups and practice started for the play. So every Wed. for the last 2 months they would practice in the beginning of the service. My mom actually made the kids "sheppard" costumes- she let them pick out their own material and everything! They thought that was soo cool! Nana did such a great job on the costumes and they turned out great!! The kids were sooo excited when it was time to perform- the did a perfect job- it was too cute!! We really appreciate my parents taking them to church and setting such a wonderful example for our kids! Luv you Mom & Dad!!

Thanksgiving Trip

Well since I havent been on here since Halloween I thought I needed to catch up just a little! I thought I would be so on top of this but like everything else it gets put on the back burner. So I am just going to try my best to keep up with it monthly! Anyway, this was a pic from our vacation in Georgian for Thanksgiving this year- we went up the week before Thanksgiving - we flew this time- so much better than driving!! That 9 hour drive stinks!! It look us right at an hour by plane- so worth it! We rented a car at the airport and then drove to a cabin we rented in Warm Springs, Ga. Shane's parents met us there and we all stayed for 2 nights so the men could hunt. It was sooooo cold so we pretty much stayed in most of the day but did let the kids out for some play time in the leaves. After those 2 days we drove back to Ron & Shirleys house and stayed there the rest of our trip!

Ready to Trick or Treat

We were finally ready to trick or treat. Once the kids came home from school they headed straight to the backporch with Daddy to carve their pumpkins....they both got to pick out what design they wanted from the carving books and help as much as they could! After we ate and got into costume then it was time for goodies from Nana & Papa. They give the kids a pail of candies, etc. every year and the grandkids look forward to it! After that we all went out with a couple neighborhood kids to trick or treat. My dad stayed back and passed out candy last year so Shane said he would trade off this year and pass out the candy. So the rest of us headed out- we were only gone for a little over an hour and the kids' buckets were full and running over and they were worn out!! We walked just about the whole neighborhood so by the time we got back and out of the costumes they were out! What a fun night!

Shane & Rylee carving the pumpkins

Tyler cleaning out his pumpkin- EWW!

Some of my kitchen decorations

I love my halloween tree!

All the kiddies patiently waiting

Nana passing out all the goodies

Rylee & Tyler ready for some candy

All the kiddies ready to go trick or treating

Shane staying back to pass out the candy

Spooky Halloween Dinner

Today is Halloween and we have a whole day planned out! Shane had the day off work and my parents were off work so they came over and spent the whole day with us. We went to the kids school to watch the storybook parade and then we went out to eat for breakfast. It was so nice to get to have some time with them without the kids and actually have some conversation. Then it was back to the house to get ready for that night. My mom and I baked all day and worked on all the food I had planned. I had worked on this menu for a couple of weeks trying to narrow down my recipes and decide what we would have. We always just have my parents and my brother and his family over to trick or treat every year and so I decided to do a spooky halloween themed dinner this time. We made several desserts and a couple of appetizers and also had some pulled pork for the main course. This was so much fun working all day in the kitchen with my mom and it was a big hit with the kids too!!

Our Spooky dinner finally done!

Frankenstein, eyeball & skeleton cupcakes

Coffin Sandwiches

Spider Brownie dessert

Spooky finger food dip!

Mummy Dogs

Storybook parade

On halloween day the kids school had a storybook parade. Each student is allowed to dress up for the parade in the morning but they have to be a storybook character and nothing scary! I guess this is their way of letting the kids dress up for halloween! So Rylee was a witch and she actually found a really cute book from the school library and checked it out to use (even though I had already bought a book!) Tyler was a spider- we were supposed to have Ry dress up as little miss muffet which would have been really cute but she decided that wasnt a good idea either- so opinionated these days! But we were still able to get Tyler a cute book to do with his spider costume and we gave him the option of getting another costume for trick or treating but he like his spider so it was no big deal to me- even though Dad didnt really like it....so I guess next year we will have to make up for it and be something really scary!! Great!! LOL! Anyway, these are a couple of cute shots I took while watching the parade!

Rylee & Sommer waiting for the parade to start!

Tyler with his class ready to march in the Storybook parade!

!!Thursday night downtown Auburndale trick or treating!!

Thursday night is the annual downtown trick or treat trail in Auburndale. My parents decided to invite all of my friends and their kids over for some chili & grilled hot dogs.... my parents just love having all the people over and seeing the kids in their cute costumes....I am so fortunate to have parents that live close and are willing to do something like that for me & my friends.....we probably had close to 40 people there! They also made all the kids goodie bags which I thought was soo sweet! It was also so nice to be able to get together with everyone and get some cute pics of all the kids!

All the kiddies ready to go trick or treating!

Christa & Chloe the Cutest Cowgirl ever!

Tyler & Randy- Spider & the Joker!

All the girls- Marissa, Katie, Lexi & Rylee

Wednesday Fall Fest at church!!

Our church has a Fall fest for the kids every year- they have such a blast! Danielle brought her kids and Reagan also hung out with us for the night!! They has a lot of fun!!

Caiden, Reagan & Rylee waiting for the

horse rides!

Me & Shane snuggling up- it was sooo cold!

-Rylee getting her face painted!

Pumpkin Patch with Nana & Papa

This week we have a lot of activities going on so I am going to be posting a lot day by day day to get it all in! Today, is Monday and we went to the pumpkin patch with my parents. Every year they take the grandkids there to get a pumpkin and come back home for dinner, dessert and decorating! After the pumpkins are dry they leave them out on the front porch for everyone to see- the kids love it!!Jack o lantern sandwiches before we head out!
Tyler & Kaleb picked out their pumpkins
Rylee & Katie wanted the white ones this year!

Christa's 30th Birthday Surprise Party

This past Saturday night we threw Christa a surprise 30th birthday party and it turned out great! I have been friends with Christa since probably 6th grade and she is still one of my very closest friends- so it was really nice to be able to do something like this for her. She was absolutely surprised and had no clue so it made it all worth it in the end. All her us "girls" took her to dinner at Abuelo's while everyone set up at her house. After dinner we told her we had a night of adventure waiting for her- we made her wear a tiara, bright pink boa and a blindfold. So we drove her to a couple of places- kinda like a scavenger hunt and walked her in - made her take off the blind fold and guess where she was, etc. Our last stop was her house- we took the long way around because if you do know her at all you will know that she is such an inspector gadget and was trying to figure everything out- so we knew she would try to figure out the turns we were making- even though she was blindfolded!! We finally arrived at her house, walked her to her backyard- everyone was on the back deck- being very quiet- it was hilarious- then we took off the blindfold and everyone yelled surprise!! She was in such shock and even got a little teary eyed!! We had a great turn out and a lot of fun! So here are a couple of pics from our Wild Night!!!

The Fab 5 at Abuelo's for dinner

Me blindfolding Christa on the way out!! She's all geared up and ready to go!!

Christa, Me, Darnell & Amie at the party!

$$Garage Sale$$

Well its that time of the year! I usually have at least one garage sale a year- Lord knows I need to have more!! So I just had to add one cute pic of something that I have always done at my garages sales since my kids were small- Grab Bags! I used to go to TG&Y (which btw doesnt even exist anymore-I'm getting so old!) and my brother & I would always talk my mom into buying us Grab Bags.....Definition- little bags labeled by gender with goodies inside. ....... I have always ended up with tons of small toys ex. car tires, dressup rings, bracelets, crowns, cars, squirt guns, tons of McDonalds toys, blah, blah and didnt want to throw them out but also didnt want to sit there and price every single thing....so what I started doing is making my own grab bags....I take brown paper bags.....write on the outside - Boy Bag & Girl Bag and stuff each one 5 or 6 small toys and staple. It is a great idea for the Garage Sale visitors too.....there are always kids and they are always looking for something to buy with their change!! Now that my kids are older they can actually participate- they love to earn $ selling some of their used toys so I always give them their own box and have them fill it up.....they also even help fill up the bags and staple them. So I had to take a pic of our final product!!! Take a look......so cute!!!

C.O.L.E. Fall Fest

Friday night was the annual Chain of Lakes Elementary Fall Fest! The kids had so much fun playing all the games- I took them around to a couple and then I had the 7-7:45pm shift to serve pizza and drinks so Shane took them around after that. I could not believe all the people that turned out to the event- it was such a great time for all the kids and a super fundraiser for the school!!

Halloween Recipes

I just have to tell everyone if you havent checked out the website http://www.familyfun.com/ you are missing out on some great stuff!! I am actually going to start a new tradition this year and make a Spooky Halloween Dinner for my family and that website has some great recipes! We always have my brother's family and my parents over on Halloween night and all trick or treat together so this year I thought I would step it up a little and make a themed dinner. I have already gotten into the Spooky Spirit and decorated all over the house- which the kids love btw! But only cutesy stuff - no scary decor for me!! So I am really excited to try some of these recipes! You def. gotta check it out!!

These are the mummy pizza's...I may try those for one night during the week of Halloween!

OK- I swear I am going to do this!!!!

Ok! I am not kidding- I am really going to get into this blog stuff!! I do check everyone's out and love it but seem to never take the time to sit down and blog myself! I guess I feel like I need to add all these cute backgrounds and pics- but that will come with time...right now I will just journal a little and get into the swing of things! ......So this is a run down of the last couple of weeks..(no need in trying to go back and recapture- I am just going forward!):)
Anyway, as many of you know Shane & I made the decision for me to stop working (for now) and focus on the kids, house, laundry, etc....you know things you just about dont have time for when you are working!! So this is my official 3rd week off and I feel like I still have no time!! I really need to focus on getting into a routine. And on top of that I am also considered "on- call" for my old job....so maybe a couple of days a month when people call in sick or request vacation time I fill in. Which is nice to earn a little extra $$ and I only work 10am-2pm while the kids are in school- works out perfect! But this week I have worked M-W and already my house is a mess!! AHH!! So I am looking forward to my next 2 days off with everyone in school and work!! .......So whats on the agenda for the weekend? Well I am trying to prepare for a yard sale on Sat. and we are going out for Christa's 30th bday that night and of course church on Sunday .....so yet another packed weekend!! Hopefully, I will get some good pics and post! Ta Ta for now!! LB

Virgin Blog!

Ok Folks! Well here goes- this is my first official blog for The Brown Bunch! I plan on blogging weekly just to let everyone have a sneak peak into the crazyiness at the homefront!! Since I have so much time on my hands this should work out great-LOL!! ......So here's the deal- my friend- Stacy and tons of her peeps have been doing this for a while now and she has been telling me I really need to do it. I am going to try it out and see how it goes....it is something nice that you can print out and save for the future- the kids can see all the little things that they accomplished and we can look back and see how truly precious time is and how fast it goes by! I am sure this will catch on pretty quickly with all the PC folks....time will tell!!