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! :)

Feeling Better, Looking Worse!

Thanks for all of your prayers! Conner is feeling so much better today! The doctor did warn us that the rash would get worse before it got better and the spots did grow overnight.  However, he is running around and playing today so that is a vast improvement from yesterday!

Overall, the rash really isn't a huge concern (well except from all the crazy stares!).  It's just the fact that he hasn't been sick in over 9 months but in the past 30 days we've been to the doctor 6 times and his blood work is all over the charts.

Anyway, thanks for all the emails and texts you've sent checking on him!

The Conner Chronicles: Part II

Since my last post about Conner he was healthy and happy for about a week - yea! That however was short-lived because exactly a week later, which was this past Monday, he began to run fever again.  We were at the doctor first thing Tuesday morning.  The doctor found ulcers and sores in his mouth and diagnosed him with stomatitis, which is a viral infection.  However is blood work came back dangerously high and indicative of a bacterial infection.  Then he did a strep test, which came back negative.  They also gave him a shot rocephin.  Up until yesterday when all this took placed he LOVED the doctor, but now he is discovering no amount of suckers is worth all of this.

He came home and immediately went to bed and then woke up with a rash, which has progressively gotten worse since then.  We had to go back this morning for a repeat blood test anyway.  I assumed the rash was a reaction to the shot but the doctor doesn't seem to think so but we aren't really sure why he has it.  He cannot wear his shoes and it hurts to walk or to be carried.  His white blood cell count came down a little but is still more than twice the normal limit and the rest of the blood work is being sent away and we won't know anything until probably Monday.  I will say that catching urine in a cup from a not quite potty-trained little boy is VERY HARD!!  Thankfully that test, whatever it was for, came back good!

So for now we are waiting for the test results and we will not go back to the doctor unless his rash isn't better in one week or until he starts to leak puss out of eyes - nice, I know, - or until another mystery illness comes our way.

Here are some pictures of my precious little one from this afternoon and I know he has a pacifier and I know we got rid of it but really that's the least I can do is give it back when he cries for it after all he's been through!

Isaiah 40:28-31

DO YOU NOT KNOW? HAVE YOU NOT HEARD? The Lord is the EVERLASTING GOD, the CREATOR of the ends of the earth.  He WILL NOT grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He GIVES STREGTH to the weary and increses the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those WHO HOPE in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they WILL WALK and not be faint.