Brad and Lincoln's solo camping trip

One or Two weeks before Christmas, Brad and Lincoln took off on their first overnight camping trip.... alone. They both have camped out with other father/son friends but always close by.

At first, Brad's plan was to go to a local spot called Virgin Falls. They were going to hike 1/2 way in, camp, and then come home. However, that made protective, pregnant mother here a little nervous b/c no one but me would know they were there (no ranger station). As you can imagine, all the "What if's..." started coming. Especially the "What if Brad gets hurt? What will Lincoln do?" It didn't help that the search for the missing hikers was taking place in Oregon- my heart was already with them and their families. So, I expressed my concern from the "I am pregnant, and my husband and firstborn son are going hiking/camping alone..... " angle and thankfully, Brad expressed that he too had concerns. But not about them being alone or getting hurt- but about Lincoln getting bored.

So, Brad decided to go to Big South Fork and get a campsite from the Ranger station. Friday, they set up the tent, searched for firewood, and played on a playground nearby. Night came early and the lantern decided to break(no, it wasn't the batteries) so it was off to bed at 7pm. Lincoln had no problems going to sleep after several, several stories. Saturday they woke up, and roughed it for breakfast by driving to a nearby McD's (they ran out of firewood) and then they went back and hiked to Twin Towers (0.7 miles one way). Brad told me they pretended to be Lewis and Clark. I didn't know Lincoln knew who they were, but Brad informed me that he taught him that day. It was an educational trip!

Lincoln came home completely worn out. Both he and Brad napped for about 3 hours.

Brad is always ready to go out hiking/camping with Lincoln. This spring if any of your husbands want to get with Brad (even you out-of-towners) and take kids (male or female) camping, let us know. We will both need that after this 3rd baby gets here!

Christmas Card Pictures

You know, there is nothing that gets a person's blood pressure up more than trying to capture a sweet moment of one's children for Christmas cards. Especially after the mother, who is so trying to keep her cool, takes approximately 25 pictures and then later finds that all of the shots (including the very best ones) have a fuzzy spot where the 4 year old had obviously played with the camera (pictures on the camera prove such allegations) and the simmering mother attempts to get more pictures again of a 4 year old who loves to push sister's buttons and a 19 month old who doesn't want her brother to touch her, more or less, sit next to her (I thought that would start much later!!) So, you all should get a Christmas card..... hopefully this week with both smiling (not just Lincoln as he aggravates Catherine!).

The once simmering... no, boiling over, mother is glad that she can write about this now without getting all stirred up once again! I learn lessons from our experiences everyday! Next year... NO PICTURES!! Just kidding- I will just try to take them much earlier. The week of Christmas is probably just a little on the late side!! :)

Catherine's Fight with a Boot

Yesterday, my normally sweet and quiet daughter had a fight with Lincoln's rain boot.... and lost. I was laughing so hard, I felt like Santa Claus with my belly shaking. The baby (name may be Grayson) was probably getting rattled.

First, imagine a black rain boot for a 4 year old. Next, imagine a 19 month old in a 12 month old body trying to put the boot on her foot while standing. Please note the boot is almost as long as Catherine's leg. Everytime "Little Bit" tried to put the boot on, it would fall over. After several tries, she started screaming and crying at this boot. She picked it up, squeezed it, and then bit it. Then she set the boot down to try again (she's persistant). Well, the boot kept falling over. So, she screamed and cried at it again. Only this time, during her fit, she decided to lay down on it as if to cause it pain, or maybe, to squish it flat.
I so wished I had had some sort of camera to capture the moment.

I am learning more and more about this sweet daughter of mine. She is going to be a determined little thing, and if she doesn't get what she wants, she WILL let you know about it and she will drag it out... which is lovely- ha ha. Brad's family jokes that she has "that Muse temper". I don't know what they are talking about! :)
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Anyway, I have included pictures of us at our Christmas parade. Lincoln just loves life and it can be seen in his picture. His excitement is contagious! Catherine was dancing in her picture. She didn't stop bouncing up and down. She had all of us laughing. I told Brad we needed to get her out more often. It was fun to watch her! I keep thinking Catherine is going to be a little bit quieter and more to herself than Lincoln (which it wouldn't take much), but she was waving "Hi" and "Bye" to more people than she ever has. She usually stares at people. In our family picture, the emergency vehicles were passing... so it's obvious why the kids are looking away.

Wow, its been a while since I last wrote. The fall season is busy at the Brown house not only w/ family activities but with my Pampered Chef shows. I never knew 7 years ago, the abundance of blessings that would come out of this home business. One of the best blessings is the time it gives Brad w/ the kids.

He has developed such a special bond with both Lincoln and Catherine during the evenings without mommy. The "mess" I come home to tells such a story. The extra blankets out and uneven cushions tell me a fort once stood in the den. The books dropped from the bookshelf to our bedroom tell me that stories were read. Seeing cat food all over the floor and clean clothes strewn out of the dryer onto the floor tell me that Catherine had some unsupervised roam time in the laundry room. :) I always find out the next morning the fun adventures they had!




We are slowly but surely getting ready for this baby to come. One of the things we did right before Thanksgiving was paint Lincoln's room. Here is Lincoln painting the small spot we saved for him. Sometime later this month, we will move Catherine and her baby bed into Lincoln's room. Baby boy will sleep in the pack-in-play for about 3 months. That will keep Catherine in her bed until she's 2- unless she learns to climb out before then.




Below, Lincoln and Brad made a Lincoln Log house. You can see is how proud Lincoln is. What you don't see is the demolition that occured by Catherine right after the picture was taken. Lincoln wasn't to thrilled with her, but quickly got over it.



Lincoln and Brad sat down Thanksgiving morning (I was coooking) and made a Thanks tree. Of course, Lincoln put on there friends, family, trees, etc. but 1 really surprised both Brad and me: blood. You never know what will come out of the mouth of a 4 year old.

More to come soon!

Baby Needs a Name!

We are taking suggestions on boy names that end in a 'n' sound.

Other things to consider: The middle name is Wade and the name would need to flow with Lincoln, Catherine, and ____________

Thanks in advance!!

(I will try to fix it if there isn't a place to post a comment.)

FALL FUN!!!

This is Lincoln and Catherine with big cousins Shelby and Tyler ("Big Tyler to Lincoln). They are Jeff and Tammy's kids. Shelby is 13 and Tyler is 8. The little cousins think they are the greatest people on earth!
Lincoln was watching Uncle Jeff toss leaves and decided to get in on the act. I love being able to see his little grin through the leaves.
Here are all of the cousins on my side: Tyler aka "Ty Ty- Amy's, Tyler, Shelby holding Madeline (8 months)- Greg/Andrea's, Anna Lea (Amy's) holding Catherine, and Lincoln.

We were all together for my Dad's birthday. I love being together Occassionally, I would like to put the kids on mute and freeze just to get a good conversation in. It is such a blessing having Shelby and Tyler to get down and really play with the younger kids. That way we, as parents, just referee from our seats- sort of. Now that it is dark by 5:30 pm we are becoming more creative with some structured play for the kids. We actually played "Mother, may I?", "Red light, Green light", and "Simon Says". Let me tell you, the 4 year old boys can really hang in there with Anna Lea, Tyler, and Shelby on the first two games but really don't get "Simon Says" or should I say what Simon doesn't say. It is amusing!!

I love being with my family. I don't know how to say this, but I am proud of my family and how we've grown together over the years. There have been hard times that we've weathered as a family and as individuals, but I am glad we chose to use those times to grow closer and not to build walls. I give God the glory for that!

This was our unofficial lighting of the Jack O Lantern. The pictures you don't see are the ones of Catherine sticking her fingers in the pumpkin's mouth. Catherine didn't really get to help carve this time, but she was ready to eat the raw pumpkin (which Lincoln was too afraid to touch). Catherine is 18 months.

We had a tree fall in a rain storm. Lincoln and Catherine both enjoyed playing and balancing on it (as did mommy). Lincoln was the only one sitting still for a picture this day!

Close-up of Catherine. She is in a pink Tennessee onsie for a big game day (I think the T is on her rear??). The bow in her hair lasted long enough for the picture.

Hot of the press! Lincoln and Catherine in their Halloween costumes.

I forgot until last night just how much I love this time of year. After we went to our church's Trunk or Treat, we went door to door through some of Brad's parents neighborhood. It was a great night to be out. Even though it was wet from the rain, I didn't miss the smell and feel of the season. Lincoln and I noticed the ring around the moon and after I told him what it meant (the science teacher in me) he said "No, the aliens put it there." But never fear because "Larry Boy will get the aliens." Note: Lincoln's favorite hero is Larry Boy from Veggie Tales.

But isn't it odd being on the parent end of Halloween. It really doesn't feel like it was THAT long ago that I was a roller skating clown going through our neighborhood. I can't be that old. I mean, I think I was as excited as Lincoln about getting candy. I knew that after the kids went to bed, I could dig in (a plus of parenthood)! However, once they did go to bed, I didn't want it. It was almost disappointing!

This morning, Lincoln told me he had a great idea. He said we should get in our costumes and go Trick or Treating again. I told him we would have to wait on the Trick or Treating part until next year, but he could wear his costume again. He went on to say something about that, but my thoughts were on the fact that Lincoln would be 5 next year (impossible), Catherine would be over 2 years old, and we would have another little fellow in the baby stroller!! What a reminder to enjoy all of the precious days between now and then (even the ones where I want to pull my hair out!).

6 months ago, you could have asked me what a blog was and I would have told you it was something that a smart, computer person made to publicize all of their opinions. But then a couple of friends (who are definitely smart) sent me their blog addresses and I found that I was wrong. Anyone could have a blog, even a non-computer person like me. I saw that my friends' blogs were a great way to stay connected to family and friends and I've even learned a few things along the way. So, I have decided to give this blog thing a shot in hopes to stay better connected with all of you. I can't promise that there will be new postings of the kids and/or life every week, but hopefully you will enjoy the pictures of the kids (which will come once I learn how to do that) and knowing what happens day to day in the Brown household.