Mayhem

Really has it been two weeks since my last blog post?? It has been crazy around the Brown household! I had the bright idea of planning a long Easter weekend getaway to west Texas and Sea World, but failed to consider that I had multiple projects due for school at the same time and had volunteered myself for classroom duties with Mason and to chaperone a field trip all at the same time!

Accordingly, last week was filled with tests and research projects and power point presentations and coloring Easter eggs with 21 Kindergartners and going on a field trip with Conner in tow to the fire station and park for an egg hunt with 80+ kindergarten students, not to mention packing for 4 people and planning meals and buying tickets and making hotel reservations!

By the time Thursday evening got here I was ready to pass out! We made it to a family home in West Texas around 1 a.m. Friday morning and we all felt like we'd been run over by a truck - on the rode for 6 hours not counting stops was tiresome!  But we awoke 5 hours later to wild turkey roaming in the yard and that was a neat experience!  We spent the day exploring and enjoying the quiet of the countryside.  The terrain is quite different from what we are used to - very dry and rugged! We even saw a roadrunner and lots of deer and tons of cactus plants!

The boys playing in the river

Now we know why they call it Texas Hill Country!

Saturday morning we headed to San Antonio where our first stop was Natural Bridge Caverns.  Mason loves all things having to do with rocks and caves and nature type stuff so I knew for sure he would love this and he did  . . . except for the fact that he understood it was holding us up for our ultimate destination - Sea World and the Lost Lagoon waterpark inside Sea World!  He was very anxious to get there!

Mason & Conner dinosaur hunting 

at the entrance to the cavern - we hiked 200 feet below the surface and then back up again

(and I carried Conner almost the whole way, definitely got my exercise that day!)

We finally made it to our hotel and to Sea World with 2 hours of waterpark time remaining and two hours of Sea World time.  Ryan & Mason headed to the big slides while Conner and I checked out the Lil Gators Lagoon and Lazy River.  After the waterpark closed at 6 we still had two more hours of fun ahead going on the rides inside Sea World; however with wait times and Sea World being crazy big we actually only made it on 2 rides.  We felt prepared for the next day though!

Mason was not at all happy about having to look at animals the next morning when he could have been sliding but he endured it!

Here are the boys feeding dolphins! SUPER COOL!

After that we went and saw the sharks and stingrays and then went to the Cannery Row Caper, a show featuring sea lions.  Mason finally got his way and we headed to the hotel to change into our swimsuits and then it was waterpark time!

All the waterpark fun is on our disposable waterproof camera so you'll have to wait for those pictures!! I can tell you that they boys had a great time and we totally got drenched by Shamu and friends!! We sat on the 3rd row and the splash was big and hard!

Conner and I hung out in the Sesame Street Bay of Play area while Mason and Ryan did the rides and slides and it was fun and exhausting and a little nauseating (I don't do rides well!)!

A quick roller coaster ride for the little's!

Monday morning we headed back home - I feel like I've been all over Texas - we drove to west, south, and back east - and it was long!  I had not turned in my research project yet so as soon as we got home Monday evening I headed to the computer to get it all turned in.  Tuesday we took it easy and washed a little laundry and got unpacked but it was a fairly leisurely day . . . if I only knew then what Tuesday night would bring I would have been a whole lot busier!!

The boys were upstairs having a "sleepover" together and we wrapped up in sleeping bags watching a movie when the rain and the wind and the hail began.  They barely noticed when the power went off because their DVD player was fully charged and kept right on playing.  Ryan and I were a little concerned and then we started getting texts (we had no power and no news) telling us to take cover that a tornado was on its way.  We darted upstairs and grabbed the boys as non-panicky as we could and set up their sleeping bags and movie in the closet under the stairs where we all hung out for about an hour.  We finally put them in our bed while we waited out the storm in case we needed another trip to our "storm shelter."  In light of the devatation in Alabama and other parts of the south we are so very fortunate that all we have is minor property damage.  It was inconvenient to not have electricity or access to water for 48 hours but at least we still had a home and each other.  My parents had a tree fall on their roof and their hay barn was demolished, my brother and SIL had their fenced knocked over, and my sister and BIL lost all of their crops at their produce farm, and we lost our trampoline, water well building, and our swing set is debatable (we'll know more when we get the tree off it!) but all in all we are very blessed!

Normally, these steps lead to a trampoline! We noticed it was gone during the storm but it was too dark to see where it went.  Things didn't look hopeful the next morning when it was nowhere to be seen in wide open pasture.

Can you see the swing set under there?

The boys in I started walking in the direction the trees fell

and we finally found the trampoline behind some trees.

this is what we first found not too far from our house (pieces of the trampoline)

and I knew then it wasn't going to be good!

On the bright side the boys are enjoying climbing on the trees!

Ryan has been busy at work and is sick so we haven't been able to move them yet!

I wish I had pictures of our road - it was terrible - downed trees and power lines everywhere.  I lost cell service during the storm and my parents couldn't reach us and started to drive to our house.  Even with a big 4WD truck they couldn't get through and they only live 1 mile away!  Ryan and Dad went out in the rain with tractors and chain saws to help a neighbor get home and both said they'd never seen anything like it.

Anytime anyone prays Conner always starts saying "God is good, God is great" and in this instance and all of them really God is Good and just witnessing his power during these storms proves how great He is as well!

So there is my mayhem and chaos and what kept me from blogging!!

Means/Moore Wedding

Yesterday one of my dear childhood friends, Anna, got married! I knew it would be an affair to remember and it was! The wedding took place on the front lawn of Roseneath Plantation in Gloster.  The weather was beautiful and everything was gorgeous.  We parked across the road and were shuttled to the plantation where freshly manicured lawns and a horse drawn carriage (decoration) awaited us. 

While waiting for the wedding to start Ryan & I and Elise & Wayne admired the exterior of the plantation home.  Elise and I had been there many times as children and we commented on the renovations and many "remember when" memories to share with our husbands!  Our favorite memory was going through old trunks/chests on the ground floor and discovering letters dating back to the Civil War.

Anna's dress was gorgeous and the wedding was the true epitome of a classic Southern plantation wedding . . . bridesmaids and groomsmen lining the steps to the second floor centered around Anna & Justin, a string orchestra off to the side . . . white flowers everywhere . . . classic!

The reception was around back and the food was good - the band was awesome - good friends and company . . . I ran into long lost friends, relatives, former clients, and my "Gloster Girls" - Elise, Mary Lea, and of course, Anna! Lauren and Rachel were unable to attend but we surely missed them!

It was a great time!

Elise & Wayne

view of the wedding area from the second floor balcony/porch

Ryan & I during a tour of the newly renovated plantation home

Elise, Mary Lea (and baby), and me

my favorite part was the on-site photo booth complete with props!

Anna's wedding also made me a little nostalgic for times of old; I can probably safely say the she is my friend that I have had the longest.  We are six weeks apart and were in the nursery at church together as soon as we were old enough to go. So for the past 31 years I have called her friend!  We went to church and school and VBS and summer camp and everything together for our first twelve years of life; after that I changed schools so you can take school out of that equation but everything else stayed the same!

We made potions, we played dress-up, we rode horses, we made green chocolate chip cookies, we went to Western Sizzler after basketball games and our older siblings called us laughing hyenas (I won't even mention here what we were doing to make us laugh so much - it was pretty terrible), we talked on the phone, we had crushes on boys, we spent many a spring or summer day fishing at my parents' pond, we swam at her house, we rolled houses, we played basketball, we decorated too many cookies to count - basically we grew up together and had lots of fun and lots of memories doing so!! I still tell people the story about learning how to curl my hair with a curling iron in her bathroom at age 17!

After high school Anna went to Northwestern and I headed to Tech and life took over.  We still made time for get-togethers but the reality of life took place and we grew apart.  Not over anything or because we wanted it to - it just happened.

Which brings me to her wedding . . . her new husband went to Tech and I recognized a lot of faces at the wedding from my college days and many of them were asking "and how do you know Anna?" And I really wanted to wear a name tag that says "LIFELONG FRIEND!"  Because once I have written you letters and signed them "Lylas" (Love you like a sis) or written something to the effect of Anna -n- Mindy BFF, I absolutely positively mean it - I am going to claim you for life regardless of whether or not I only see you once a year!! I am so happy that she is made many dear friends, as evidenced at her wedding, over the years and it is  obvious how happy she is and I am very excited for her!! However, a little piece of me wants to shout I HAD HER FIRST!! ha, ha!

In honor of 31 years of friendship and in celebration of her new life as Anna Means Moore here is a small trip down memory lane (really I picked out like 20 pictures but time just does not permit!)

Want to see more pics? Click here!

playing dress-up in her mom's bedroom, 1987

Panama City church camp, 1997

April 16, 2011

CONGRATULATIONS ANNA & JUSTIN

FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

The Worst Thing I've Heard All Week

Read a quote this week in Annie's Mailbox (Ann Landers) and it seriously depresses me!

A son is a son until he takes a wife;
A daughter is a daughter for life.

Really whoever said that is just cruel!

Monday Morning Surprise!

My normal morning routine is to drop Mason off at school, pick up the paper, fix breakfast for myself and Conner, and then eat breakfast while reading the paper.  Everything was going according to schedule and I opened up the paper on Monday morning and who was staring back at me from the front page? ME, MASON, & CONNER

Surprise!

I had no idea anyone had even taken our picture so I was very shocked to see us there! I wish I would have been smiling or something, but instead I was earnestly watching Conner at his first ever swim lesson!

You can find the article on swim safety here.

Mason enjoyed his lesson and started working on learning how to dive.  I never learned how to dive so I was excited for him to learn!

Conner was anxious to start and anxious to finish - he is not a fan . . . yet . . . but I know he'll get used to it!

Eden's Garden

I am not a decorator - I'm no good at it - therefore by the time my kids leave home perhaps I'll have their rooms finished!  My only motivator that actually gets me moving is having functions at my house.  This summer I'll be having a sip-n-see for little Miss Eden Huss and her mama, Lauren, and have already given Ryan his honey-do-list for the shower.  One thing on the list was flower beds. 

However, we clearly had a misunderstanding because what I said is "I'm hosting Lauren & Eden a shower with the girls here in July and I want you to put it some flowers." What he heard was, "Let's do some flower beds together." Clearly we have a problem here because I never mentioned wanting to help with said flower beds simply that I wanted them done and I gave him a deadline and ample notice to tackle the task by himself!

But alas on Sunday afternoon we skipped the family Sunday lunch and came home from church and got straight to work - tilling, raking, spreading, digging, planting, and lots of interruptions for popsicles, push-ups, bruised knees, hurt feelings, lost flip flops (you know, for the kids!).

Really I don't do hot and I don't do dirty and working in flower beds at noon in April is both hot and dirty and I was not in the best of spirits.  Then I got to thinking about the reason for the flowers, precious little Eden, and I tried to redirect my thoughts.  Instead of grumbling while I worked I prayed for Eden and her parents, Lauren & Ben, and for their wait for her to be short.  And then I began to sing my standard staple of old time hymns that I know by heart - Victory in Jesus, The Old Rugged Cross, Amazing Grace, I'll Fly Away, To God be the Glory, I Will Enter His Gates (with Thanksgiving in My Heart) - quietly at first but then a little louder because I'd really love my boys to have a memory of me sitting in a garden in 90 degree heat singing to God!

Gardening soon became a little easier (for me, Ryan says it became unbearable because I sing so badly) and dare I say, even enjoyable, when I began to worship the God who made the flowers, and the dirt, and the sun, and the wind, and the water, and me and my family and the Huss family!

However, this post isn't about me choosing to sing and pray instead of grumbling, it's really about the power of a little girl halfway around the world that is touching people she has never met, may never meet, and does not even know exists, all because her parents are taking a leap of faith and trusting in God and loving the orphan as we are all commanded to do.

Lauren sent out an email this week and talked about a church service she attended where the sermon was about the exact same song I was singing yesterday and she talked about the following (totally stealing her words without her permission):

If this has tugged at your heart even a tiny bit, please consider supporting adoption. Pray about it and truly be open to what God calls YOU to do about the orphan crisis. Don’t wait for someone else to step up—YOU step up! Don’t get overwhelmed by the number of orphans—just help ONE! (“Don’t fail to do something because you can’t do everything.”) I believe that, while God doesn’t call all of us to adopt, He does call all of us to do something to defend the cause of the orphan. What will YOUR response be?

My response for now is Brenda and Mey (click on links for sponsorship information) and prayer and maybe one day it will be more.

But hopefully all of us will do something however big or small to help!  Right now I have a visible reminder in my front yard of God's beauty and His love for me and His love for Eden and His love for you and now when I see it I can be reminded to pray for the orphan and to praise him when little Eden is an orphan no more and I can be reminded that in the worst of times he is still worthy of my praise for all the beauty that surrounds me . . . and that is what Eden's garden is all about!

When we finish completely I'll post some pictures!

Hurry home baby girl!

8 years and 4 washing machines down

Ryan & I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary on the 5th! We finally managed to secure a baby-sitter for this past weekend and we had a whole evening planned . . . until our washing machine broke!  Our next two weekends are booked solid with ball, birthdays, weddings, and going out of town so we had to go to Sears washing machine shopping for our anniversary date!

But I supposed that is life with two kids, a job, school, and many other commitments!

I am so looking forward to our next 8 years because I know they will be even better than the last!

Hapy Anniverary Ryan!

Let the Games Begin!!

Saturday was opening day at the ballpark and I have the sunburn to prove it!! We started off at 10:30 a.m. for Conner's game.  For those of you following along for a while you will remember that last year Conner was d-y-i-n-g to play . . . so we signed him up this year at age 3 to avoid the meltdown at Mason's games.  Well now he hates t-ball and refused to play for the last half of the game!

Here is the best part of 3 year old T-ball though - the "dog pile!" Conner is laying down with his back to the camera (#24)!

Conner's #1 fan

knocking it out of the park

Later that day at 1:30 p.m. we headed back to the ballpark after a quick lunch for Mason's game!  He is playing on the same team as last year and we love all his teammates and their parents!  We added two new cousins to the team (if you are counting that makes four Burford's on the team) and we enjoy the family atmosphere!

the other team better watch out, Mason looks serious!

hitting a double!

home at last!

It was great fun! Can't wait to do it again next weekend and the weekend after that and so on and so forth!!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good - one tiny spot on my laundry room floor is minty fresh and sparkling clean . . .

The Bad - Conner's toothbrush looks like he cleaned the laundry room with it . . .

The Ugly - we still brushed his teeth with it because I couldn't decide what was worse, not brushing or brushing with a dirty toothbrush!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Signs We Are Sick Way Too Often

Number 1 Sign we are at the doctor's office all too much - when leaving this past Monday the doctor cheerfully bid us good-bye by saying "see you next week!"

Number 2 Sign we are at the pharmacy too much - when you hand over your prescription the pharmacy tech always says "have you filled here before?" But for my family she says "Have you filled . . . oh, look it's my friends!"

Actual things said to us on Monday while Mason was at the doctor for an ear infection!

Tender Heart

My dear beloved Mason has such a sweet tender heart for God and we spend many a night lying in bed discussing deep spiritual matters of the heart . . . the Trinity, baptism, why Adam sinned, etc. And every night Ryan or I, depending on who puts him to bed, leads him in a prayer.

He is so tender and introverted that he will not say his prayer out loud but he tells me his requests and I pray them for him.  I have been trying to teach him to "say them in his head," but that confuses him just a little.  However, the past few nights he has told me that he prayed to God real quiet during my prayer and last night I even got in trouble for distracting him during his time with God.

Tonight both boys were attempting to sleep together and I stood by the door listening to the late night whispers and Mason could be overheard telling Conner that they needed to hug and kiss good-night and he told his little brother that he loved him and then he told Conner that they needed to pray!  In my anxiousness to see how the slumber party would go I had forgotten but Mason had not.  Without prompting Conner said "God is good, God is great. Amen" and then Mason uttered up the sweetest prayer "Dear God, help take care of us, and please heal our ant bites. Amen." OH MAKE MY HEART MELT! First prayer I had ever heard him say out loud and he was leading his little brother in a prayer session - what a little man of God!

Don't dare tell Mason I'm sharing this because really I am only writing it here so that I'll never forget!

Later on when I went to get Conner to put him in his bed (Mason only gives him three chances to "not talk, not wiggle, and go to sleep" and after that he's out) Mason was very proud to mention all of this to me! Can't wait to see what the future holds for those little guys!

Matthew 19:14 (New International Version, ©2011)
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”