Luckiest Mommy Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hooray for Elmer!

Today's was Mason's school's book parade.  It's the finale to their Red Ribbon Week and today's theme was something like Who Needs Drugs, I Want to Read!  Each class picked a book and the whole class dressed like the central character or various characters in the book.  Mrs. Lynch's class picked Elmer by David McKee about an elephant who doesn't look like all the other elephants in his herd.  The kids made trunks in school and they were each supposed to dress up in different colors.  This lead to Mason and I attempting to tie dye a T-shirt for the first time . . . interesting to say the least!  If you are going to try this I recommend following the directions!  Mason likes his shirt though so that is all that matters!

It was really cold this morning so Mason is in the red jacket and you can't see much of his shirt!

After the parade was his class Halloween party!  Me, the least cute & crafty mom, was in charge of the party! I think it was fun!! Thankfully lots of several parents were able to stay and help out!!  I even ate a hamburger in the school cafeteria -- eek! I wouldn't even eat there when I went to school but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

Thanks to all my super crafty & cute friends for their ideas . . . we had 4 centers, one was making ghost suckers, which didn't take long so luckily Kelly had sent some Halloween games to help fill the time, the second was decorating treat bags with markers, foam Halloween stickers, and Halloween stamps, third was Halloween colored play-doh rolled out and cut into Halloween shapes, and last Mrs. Lynch did a center where the kids got to "buy" vampire teeth, spider rings, and mini rats with play money to work on their math skills!

After activities they headed to recess while we set out their cookies, ice cream, Cheetos, and juice and loaded their freshly made treat bags with tons of loot!  I think it was a success!  I'll have a better idea of what to expect if I ever do this again!

2nd Annual Stonewall Long Haul!

Last year's post was titled "I Did It . . . Almost!" and I could have called this one the same thing!  Mason was my partner this year and he was spurred on by the fact that when he was done he would get to jump in the bounce house and he just about killed me with all of his running! At mile 2 we were TIRED but encouraged by the fact that we could see the finish line . . . however, it turns out the finish line was on our right but we needed to turn left to stay on course!!

Mason decided to call it quits and of course I couldn't let him cross a busy US Highway by himself so I had to quit too . . . but it was all Mason's fault!!

My dad kept Conner for me because Ryan had to work and since I didn't have a stroller I didn't take my camera thus no pictures this time!

It was a tiring but fun morning!

Down Home Fun!

Thursday I was able to head on over to Dixie, Louisiana to join Mason's class on their field trip to the Dixie Corn Maze & Fun Farm!  The farm is located in the middle of many row crop fields in the middle of no where -- it was a very ideal setting!  There were 4 kindergarten classes from our school and our class headed to "The Jumpy Thing" first. 

Mason is in the middle having fun!

Hey chicken!

Mason & Payne riding the train, love the grain bins in the background!

I think the highlight of Mason's day was getting to pet a 20 foot, 200 pound, 19 year old python! He also petted another smaller snake - I was a little terrified!  We took a guided tour of the corn maze and went on a hay ride (minus the hay) to the pumpkin patch.  There was also a pig race.  By the time we left Mason was so tired and he fell asleep after about 2 minutes in the car!

Friday was the 2nd Annual Stonewall Pumpkin Shine!  Here is Mason with his pumpkin!  Ryan helped Mason and I helped Conner with his mummy.  Conner missed his nap on Friday and refused to pose for a picture with his!

Last year I took the boys to the pumpkin shine by myself last year and it was chaos! We convinced Ryan to the miss the hockey game and come with us and I think he had a lot of fun!  I am so glad he was there because even though we were both watching the boys in one jumper Conner still managed to sneak out without us knowing and head over to the big boy obstacle course jumper.  We were so scared!  Luckily I happened to glance in the right place at the right time and I caught him running to get back in and start over!  It was a fun family down home night!

Bret, Great Wolf, & the Truth

I've been behind on my blogging lately . . . I come up with all kinds of posts in my head but its just a matter of finding the time to do it and deciding on whether or not I think people would be interested.  I've been thinking of changing the blog name . . . the only thing I've thought of so far is something like "Down the Brown Dirt Road." Thoughts? Ideas?

Also, goodness knows I don't do this for the comments since hardly anyone leaves one (hint, hint), but I do get the most feedback on my more editorial posts as opposed to daily life in the Brown house so I've just been trying to find a good mix of the two and I name to fit.

Which leads me to the crazy title of this post!! A random sampling of what goes on in my head in a week!

First, Great Wolf was so much fun!!! Everyone had a great time! We also went to the Fort Worth Zoo, which was only about 25 minutes away, and I recommend everyone go - it was fun and the exhibits were nice!  Great Wolf was a little pricey but I really enjoyed that it was a place FOR KIDS!  If your kids were loud or had races from the elevators to your room, which mine did, no one even looked twice at you.  They sent me a survey yesterday telling them about my stay and I had lots of nice things to say.  My only two complaints were that it was cold in the waterpark! They boast about keeping it 84 degrees which would be OK if you were dry but not wet! Second was that everything there from water to ice cream to pizza was about twice what you would pay anywhere else.

This morning as I was driving home from taking Mason to school I realized that I left out my most serious complaint . . . PEPSI! Who drinks Pepsi? Not me . . . good thing I brought my own Coke's or else they would have heard about not having any Coke anywhere in the resort!

Now on to Bret Michaels! Any of you who know my  husband know he is a HUGE Poison/Bret Michaels fan.  I am embarrassed to say that I've even been to a Poison concert!  Bret's new reality show, Life as I Know It (I really wasn't paying attention when it came on so I'm not 100% sure that's what it is called), came on recently.  Ryan watched it while I was making my grocery list since he knew it wasn't something I'd want to watch with him; however, I couldn't help but listen (you know, like a train wreck, you can't help but look). 

Anyway, with a flip of his hand he said that whoever was up there was watching out for him and he was going to embrace his second chance at life after his medical issues.  So . . . Dear Bret - Whoever is named God and He goes by a lot of names but I don't think Whoever is one of them.  I also don't think that he really wants you to use your second chance as an opportunity to continue living with your girlfriend of 16 years and the mother of your two children . . . he created this thing called marriage and he'd like you to use it or move out.  And I'm pretty sure he didn't gift you with a voice for you to sing about "drugs, sex, and rock-n-roll," that doesn't give him much glory for your abilities.  I could go on but I won't . . . and please don't misunderstand this as me being perfect, because I do have one or two flaws (!), but I am trying and I think people with that sort of fame need to think about how their decisions influence others . . .

Lastly, I small snippet of something I'm learning, trying to comprehend . . . I am doing a Bible Study Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shrier and it's AWESOME! Do it if you ever have the chance.  Here is my question for me and you . . . if we believe God's Word is true, without error, embellishment, etc., that it is the literal word of God, then how come we are so hesistant to follow His will even when he tells us that He has it all figured out?  How can we believe a fish swallowed Jonah and Daniel sat in a den of lions if we can't believe that doing what He desires for us is best?  I'm just wondering why this is such a hard concept for me to understand and why I keep thinking my easy way is best?

2nd Annual Stonewall Long Haul!

Everyone needs to come out and join me next weekend for the 2nd Annual Stonewall Long Haul 5k Run/Healthwalk! I will be walking for sure!!

Last year lots of money was raised for the Alzheimer's Association and this year all the proceds will go to the Jake Owen Raborn Foundation.  Jake was a little boy from the Monroe area who died as a result of pediatric cancer and his parents provide financial support for housing, travel, etc. for other families going through a similar situation. 

After the race, there will be a bounce house, games, food, and lots of fun! Make it for the race but if nothing else, come out and join us for the post race party at the school!

Fall Break

Mason has been on Fall Break this week and he has had quite a busy week! Lots to be thankful for during this fall season!

Saturday, Conner and Mason spent the day and night with my sister and Blake.  The main attraction was getting to ride the combine with Blake and harvest soybeans!  That is all I heard about all Saturday morning - when, when, when!! Conner has not spent the night anywhere yet, with the exception of 2 nights when he was 6 months old with my mom, so I was a little anxious, excited, depressed over that big milestone for him!  Of course, their ReRe took great care of them and all was fine!

My dad and Mason were going camping in Arkansas on Monday but after church they got the itch to get on the rode so I quickly threw some camping gear in a bag and off they went Sunday evening!  Conner & I had some fun days together sleeping late and playing outside while the Mason was rock hunting with Papa! They came home Wednesday and I am not sure there are any rocks left in Arkansas!  They are in the front yard, kitchen, and I was still finding some today in Mason's suitcase!  Those boys love rocks!

Thursday is Conner's "school" day and Mason did not want to leave the house, which I don't really blame him, but I had a day planned for the two of us! After dropping Conner off, we headed to Sci-Port Discovery Center.  We've never been to Sci-Port and I must say that I was a tad bit disappointed by the exhibits.  Overall, Mason had a good time but it wasn't really what we expected.

Here is Mason using the pulley system to lift himself up!

Digging for fossils!

He had the best time in the Kid Corner!

After we left Sci-Port we walked by the river and of course the fountains were irresistible!

We picked up our sweet Conner and headed over to the pumpkin patch! I thought today would be a great day since Mason was with us and Conner needed to wear a fall shirt to school that day for a project.  BTW, trying to cut my spending on their clothes so for every fall photo op they probably will be wearing this shirt!!

My cute lil' pumpkin!

Sweethearts!! Conner did not like the hay poking his legs!

Mason picked out a HUGE pumpkin so we needed some help getting it to the car. 

 Of course, it the wagon got much heavier when we added two boys to it!

Tomorrow we are headed for Great Wolf Lodge and are so excited about that (well except for part about being in a swimsuit in public!)! More Fall Break fun to come!

Fun Times at the Red River Revel!

Friday Mason got a rare treat - to check out of school!! Then he joined Conner & I as we headed to the Red River Revel to meet Holly & Bailey and Elise, Ryleigh, Mary Ashtyn, and Stinson for some good times!

We were a little disappointed in the options the kids had for arts & crafts but it was still fun!

Here are Mason and Conner showing off their "ink" aka finger and hand painting!

Conner got a pumpkin and Mason got a bat.

Conner didn't really follow his list - he just picked up stuff at the grocery store he wanted!

He also tried to eat a fake bagel!

Mason, however, was a very serious shopper!

 Bailey & Holly are having a serious talk and I think it's probably going a little bit like

how come EVERYONE has an Icee but all I have is juice??

Elise & Baby Stinson

I think you can tell how Mason feels after learning

I didn't bring enough cash to buy him ice cream!

What can you do with one leftover Revel coupon?

Eat it!

My beloved little boys!

Some how this got out of order but

Ryleigh & Mary Ashtyn are showing that teamwork is best!

A fun day with friends!

Update On Conner

We heard from the doctor on some of our tests late Friday and he called back this afternoon (Monday) with the remainder of the results.  All of our test results came back good!  That is fantastic news! Especially the test for Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis because one doctor suspected that was the cause.

It is great news but I still find it odd that he was getting sick so often with things other than the common cold and ear infections.

During the past month, we've seen two different doctors so I am going to request that the second doctor also review the tests just to make sure.

Our course of action at the moment is just to treat the Summer of Fever as a random set of coincedences and hope the shot on Tuesday killed whatever was lingering in his body.  The rash is completely gone by now so he looks like a normal child again!

We still have to repeat a test in one month . . . each time he has had the test run the results get better but they still aren't exactly where they need to be.

Thanks again for everyone who prayed for Conner and our family.  I feel a little silly to say now that possibly nothing was wrong with him but that of course is what we were all praying for! :)