Summer Love!

Summer is in full swing at the Brown residence. We have been taking our summer pretty serious around here. It's a balancing act. Equal parts fun and relaxation. Maybe throw in a minimal amount of house chores. Except when I add chores into the mix, it really throws off the balance so I try not to add too much of that kind of stuff in our schedule.

 

We have a list (because I love lists!)of things we want to accomplish this summer. Nory also wrote out a list. She picked the items and she uses a stamp to mark off the things that we have done

(The circles before the word is the spot where she stamps her stamp :))

Our summer weekly schedule can be a little tiring but we always sleep good at night!

 

M: Dance class, fast house clean up and laundry (I try to do all my laundry in one day to get it over with).

 

T: Story time at the library followed up by a walk in the park.

W: Park day with neighbors.

Th: Relax and random adventure day.

 

F: House cleaning day (the girlies have chores to do everyday), relaxing and another random adventure day.

 

S: Hiking Day.

 

S: Spiritual renewal day.

 

The hardest part is adding in Everly's nap. Oh boy, we do not want  her to miss her nap! That little thing turns into a dinosaur if she doesn't have her nap! While she's napping Nora and I enjoy some one on one time. We read about 3 chapters in her book(We've already read 3 small chapter books this summer!), craft projects, school work and we like to play starfall on the computer. 

 

I also like to add some messy activities at least once a week. Water coloring, play doh, slime, shaving cream, making our own crayons

 

 

 

 

 

I have diligently scoured all the surrounding cities summer activities and compiled a list (remember I really love lists)  of great adventures to go on. The best part is most of them are free. You can't beat free!

 

I also like to give the girlies time to play on their own (I think it's good for them to have time to do their own thing). It gives me a little time to do a few things for me. I fill My time with writing, reading, YouTube guitar lessons and I'm also taking a free online class course. I'm currently taking one called "Learning How to Learn" It's pretty interesting. I also try to wake up before the girls and workout. Sometimes I'm too lazy and so I just lay in bed and read :)

Chris and I are excited for the summer concert series. We went to our first one last week. Blonde Redheads. Hopefully we can fit more into our crazy summer

 

I love summer!!!

(girlies practicing their fishing skills)

The most important part of our summer is to slow down and enjoy the beauty that is this amazing earthly adventure and try not to worry about the dishes in the sink.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/l70e1TfN34w

 

 



Recap and Moving on: March

A wind of change blew through the Brown household this green infused month. A new trail to follow. We're excited to see what's over the hill. An adventure full of sidewalk chalk, bubbles and snow sled rides on grass. Change has come to visit, we shook hands and carried on down the path, smelling the tulips and planting peas.

 

Books I read this month:

     #The message by Lance Richardson (very interesting)

     #Being Zen by Ezra Bayda (informative)

     #The Power of a Teacher by Adam L. Saenz (Thought provoking)

     #Christ and the New Covenant by Jeffrey R. Holland (spiritually illuminating)

     #Life Everlasting by Duane S. Crowther (Just started)

 

I may have spread myself a little thin in the reading department, seeing that I'm only half way through 3 of those books :)

 

This months playlist:

     #Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto

      #Pretty Ballerina by The Left Banke

     #Under the Boardwalk

     #My Girl by The Temptations

     #Have you ever seen the Rain by Creedence Clearwater

     #Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum

     #Light my Fire by The Doors

     #Vincent by Don Mclean

     #Come A little bit Closer

     #Downtown by Petula Clark 

       #Dream a Little Dream of Me by The Mamas and The Papas

     #Dedicated to the One I Love by The Mamas and the Papas

     #For What Its Worth by Buffalo Springfield

     #The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel

 

Things Elanora has been up to:

     #Playing with a boxelder bug She has named Stewart

     #Planting the Garden

     #Hiking

     #Playing with a tool set she received for her birthday

     #Bday princess tea party at the zoo

 

Things Everly has been up to:

     #Loving to make people laugh

     #Giraffes at the zoo

     #Not loving allergies

     #Hello Kitty

     #Hiking

 





 

 

 







Birthday Girl!

 

This beautiful, ray of sunshine turned 4 yesterday. I can hardly put into words how much this sweet girlie means to us. What a joy and a delight it has been watching Elanora grow and discover the world around her. She brings light and happiness into our home. For 7 years we prayed for this little miracle baby and how blessed we feel to have her in our family. 

Elanora's personality radiates with a love of life that is palpable.

She fills our home with songs, art, dance parties, an unceasing curiosity of all things and with a boxelder bug that she has named Stewart. He seems to love her as much as we do. He is always waiting for her. In the garden, by the door when we come home. She even found Stewart waiting in her room for her wanting to wish her a Happy Birthday.

She is loving, kind, smart, funny, a great big sister and sometimes a little stubborn. We love this crazy girl! Happy Birthday Nory!

 



Here's to the New Year

It's the start of a fresh new year. We can log 2014 in the books and continue to trudge on, right into 2015. We spent New Year's Eve with the crazy Page clan. Playing Werewolves (which, like always I tried to cheat my way through. I got killed right off the bat almost every round. When I asked, "Why do I keep getting killed?" my 4 year old niece replied, "Because you always cheat." Ahhh, touché 4 yr old, touché, eating, laughing, watching fireworks, and running around like crazy. Pretty much a normal get together with those crazy Page's

(Yes, that is the littlest Brown in Chris's arms still up at 12:00am. She's wild!) 

I should be writing about my resolutions, or Christmas, or Ever's B-day I never journaled about. But alas, not going to happen.

 

If anyone ever doubted that Chris and I were meant to be together, today will be the day your doubts will fly out the window. There must have been some magic in that tan, Rusty baseball cap and that red, Billabong shirt that Chris had on. Maybe magic in that pink shirt, jean skirt and black, steel toed, army boots I had on the very first day we met.

 That first moment "Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! for I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." (Shakespeare people, Shakespeare!)

It was meant to be! Even our hobbies intertwine together. What could be more compatible, more similar, than horses and architecture? They are one and the same. Horses needing miles and miles to roam free. Buildings sometimes taking up those much needed miles and miles. Right, one and the same. Both being equally brilliant in each of our minds eye.

Sometimes magic happens. Our 2 worlds collide. Horses and architecture. Architecture and horses. Together in perfect harmony.

This exhibit

In this amazing building

We went to the Natural History Museum. It was wonderful. I had horses, Chris had architecture, and the girls had

The museum is so fun and interactive. Even little Evers had fun

 

The museum had everything, Dinosaurs

Hands on activities

Animals

 The building of cells

Views

 

And my personal favorite, horses

What a perfect way to spend the first day of the new year!

  

 

 

     

  

 

 

 



A Christmas Story

O' Christmas tree, O' Christmas tree. Notice this particular Christmas tree. Notice the decorations. Notice those magical, blue orbs of loveliness. The glittery, twisting ribbon snaking itself around evergreen boughs. Our fluffy, little tree garnished top to bottom with miss-matched trinkets of Christmases past. 

Well, maybe a little more on top and a little less on bottom. You see, a beautiful, little, angelic, 1 year old elf resides in our cozy gingerbread house.

  

What a magical time of the year it is in this little gingerbread house.

We have a rambunctious 3 year old.

A 3 year old who, despite it being December 20th, dresses in her witch costume or Ninja Turtle costume (depending on the hour of which the game is played), grabs her green Christmas stocking, and proceeds to knock on every door in the entire house, screaming trick or treat, all the while holding said stocking open wide for me to put something in it and tell her, her costume is great and have a Happy Halloween. She calls this game "Trick or Treat Vampire." She's definitely my girl. We love Halloween all year round! 

 

We also have an equally if not slightly more so rambunctious 1 year old.

A 1 year old who loves to pull the ornaments off the tree and suck on them for a minute and then throw them around the room. Hence, no ornaments on the bottom of our big tree because she has them strategically stashed around the house. She also really enjoys carrying around the pieces of the Nativity. Unfortunately, her grip seems to always fail her, not when she is walking over the soft, squishy carpet but when she is running on the nice, hard wood floor.  Luckily it's just that Little People Nativity because who would be crazy enough to display a porcelain Nativity in reach of cute, little, sticky fingers?

Joseph, a shepherd, a wise man and Baby Jesus are all holding on strong. Now I'd like to say that the 1 year old isn't the only one dropping these poor little figurines, but it just so happens that the hunky man of the house, just this very night dropped the angel that Everly had been packing around for hours without an "off with their head" dropping episode. It went from safe and sound in her sticky, little fingers to headless angel in Chris's. Nothing a little super glue can't fix.

 

It really is a magical time a year. 

We are trying to teach the girls, in between Santas, lights, and candy, the real reason we celebrate Christmas. He is the gift! (Clearly, with that set up, I should be showing the video the LDS church put out that is in fact called "He is the Gift"  (click the link. It's a good one!) But I'm posting this one. It's just so darn cute!)

 

 

  

 



Recap and Moving On: November

To be honest, November was a snowless blur. To write a poetic splurge describing the sensations that were entangled with the events of November 2014 would discredit my less than lucid mind.  November slipped away so fast, I can remember certain important and wonderful events, mainly Ever's turning one, Thanksgiving, Christmas tree hunting, and the Grantsville Electric Light Parade but the rest of the month is a blur. It seems ages ago. It was good in a fast moving, hazy, party sort of way. Don't you worry November 2014, even as I write this poetic splurge about you I'm remembering you more clearly. Days spent at story time and walking through the park, croup, FHEs spent coloring turkeys and writing what we were thankful for on the feathers, "You Are My Sunshine" Birthdays, Everly actually sleeping in my arms (really true story, she did), piggy tails. Ah yes, there you are November 2014, Slowly walking out of that haze. Yes there you are.

 

 

Books I read this month:

     * Fablehaven book 1 by Brandon Mull (Good, but the hype over shadowing the book a little). 

 

 

This months music:

     *Anything playing on the radio in the car.

 

What Elanora Has Been Up To:

 

 

      * Funny faced selfies.

     * Being absolutely in love with hand warmers.

     * Climbing trees while Christmas tree hunting.

     * Playing with the Little People school house.

     * Monsters INC. Movie.

Things Everly Has Been Up To:

     * Bouncing her head on the couch and laughing hysterically.

     * Playing with her Birthday toys.

     * Sitting on the rug at story time for half of the stories (that's a record).

      * Running up and down the halls at church for 2 hrs straight.

     * Pointing at things and saying new sounds (she is partial to a spitty /T/ sound).



 

 

 



 

 

  

Everly Love

 

 

Happy birthday to my beautiful baby girl. This spunky little whip of a thing is now a 1 year old. Her entrance into this crazy world was not so graceful. She had us so worried but this girl is strong.

She has brought us so much joy! She is so happy, always smiling and dancing and boy is she wild! She has been walking for a couple of months and now she runs everywhere, she doesn't ever sit still unless she is flipping through books. She loves to be a part of the action.

She is quite the character. If Nory is telling a us story Evers will look at us and start jibber jabbering louder then Nory. At dinner time she will look at us and shake her head no and then dump her food on the floor. She absolutely loves water. She will dunk her head into the water and not even worry about it. 

 

She loves to get Nora's underwear out of the laundry basket and try to put them on her head or she loops them on her arm and walks around the house with them

 

 

When she drinks from a bottle or a sippy cup she holds the bottle with one hand and puts her other hand on her cheek. She will switch hands back and forth but she has to have one hand on her cheek

 

 

She is already working on her artistic skills

 

 

She is so great! We feel so blessed to have this beautiful baby girl in our family. We love this cute girl so much. Happy Birthday Babylove!!!