Disneyland

We got back this week from a wonderful 10 day vacation. The basis for this vacation was 3 days in Disneyland. We've been planning this for a year so it was great to finally go. We left on Saturday the 7th and drove to Vegas. My mother met us there and we spent a couple days hanging out at Shea's new house. We celebrated Cole's birthday on Monday night. Shea made a cake that resembled Cole's favorite thing



There were pizza and presents and lots of good company. Both my mom and my dad were able to be there and Cole was very happy about that. On Tuesday morning, very early, we left for Disneyland. We arrived at about 11 and were able to do an early check in at our hotel, where Grandpa Junkles (AKA Uncle Justin) met us. We then spent 3 extremely magical days in Disneyland. The kids had a wonderful time riding the rides. Cole and Riian tried to get on as many of the roller coasters as they could. This was the first time either of them had been on roller coasters, and they loved them. They wanted to ride all of them again, except Riian would not ride the Tower of Terror a second time. I don't blame her, it wasn't my favorite ride. Jack didn't like the roller coasters and preferred the smaller rides with Izzy. He loved the ferris wheel. Izzy loved any ride she was able to go on. There were a couple of smaller roller coasters she was tall enough to go on, and she loved them. Her favorite was the carousel, she went on it about 5 times every day. She also loved Pirates of the Caribbean. I think the family favorite was Toy Story Midway Mania. We all loved that ride and we wish we would have discovered it before the last day. Cole's actual birthday was on Wednesday, so we took him to the Lego store and he was able to pick out a couple of Lego sets that he wanted. It was so great to have the kids experience Disneyland with my family. They even sang along with Grandma in the Pirates of the Caribbean











Cole, Riian and Riley were able to do a Jedi training academy, which they all loved











This was Jack's favorite part of Disneyland

















After Disneyland we drove back to Vegas and Nate flew out to his sister's wedding in Yakima Washington. We spent one day just recouperating at Shea's house. I think everyone slept most of the day. I was also able to try my hand at being an actual photographer. Shea wanted some pictures of her family taken so I said I would do it. Of the dozens of pictures I took, I got about 8 that I liked. I suppose that's not bad, but it made me realize how much more work I have to do to get my picture taking ability to be where I want it. You can view those pictures here.



Now we are home and frantically getting ready for Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Usually by this time I've started purchasing presents or at least have an idea of what I'm getting people. This year I don't have a clue. We are spending Thanksgiving at home this year so I also have to plan a Thanksgiving dinner. Hopefully I will write again before the end of the year, but I make no promises. So in case this is the last. Happy Thanksgivng, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

The rest of October

October has come and gone with much ado. The holiday season has officially come upon us. My favorite time of the year. I'm already secretly listening to Christmas music (shh... don't tell my husband). Nate's play is almost over. It's actually officially over, but I'm convinced the director will never actually let them go. He finished Saturday, but apparently they didn't get as good as recording as they wanted, so he's back tonight until all hours of the morning until the director is satisfied with the recording. And then the cast party tomorrow. I'm waiting for him to come back and tell me he has to do something next week so we won't be able to go on our trip. The rest of us have just been busy with school stuff and Halloween stuff. Cole has been busy building legos. I am quite impressed with his creativity. I am definately not creative when it comes to building or designing, but he comes up with the most creative things like this...





and a side view





We did the traditional pumpkin patch thing. We really like the pumpkins at The Vineyard pumpkin patch so we took the kids there and went through their corn maze and other activities





Izzy didn't quite get that she was just supposed to look through the hole









We also had our first taste of winter. We didn't get as much snow as Colorado, but enough that the snow clothes were brought out a little early and the kids were able to make small snowmen.





We carved pumpkins again this year. Jack really had fun poking the design on his pumpkin, but when we told him that he would have to help clean it out, he was a little less then impressed. Cole ended up making two pumpkins this year, one for the house and one for a book report he had to do. Izzy just had fun playing in the bowl of pumpkin guts









And of course Halloween. Riian out trick-or-treated us all. She ended up with about twice as much candy as everyone else. Izzy was a princess this year, Jack was a ghost, Riian was a phantom, Cole was Hyde, and Nate and I were doctors. Really I just wanted a reason to spend all day in my pajamas and not have people look at me funny. We still have way too much left over candy and I can slowly feel my teeth rotting and my waistline expanding.













That about sums up the rest of our month. I did finally end up seeing a hematolagist about my iron. She decided to do 8 weekly treatments of iron and see what that does. So every Tuesday from now until about Christmas, I get to go in and have iron pumped into my body. I'm really hoping that by Christmas I will be so full of energy I won't know what to do with myself.
I will leave you with a gratuitious shot of Izzy. This one was just too cute to pass up. We were at the school awaiting the kids Halloween parade and she was enjoying her sucker.

Favorite Photo

I took this photo of Jack this past summer and after playing with it in Photoshop, came up with a project that I really like. Now the only question is how to display it. Any suggestions?

September?... September?

September seems to have gotten the best of me this year, and it came and went with great speed. It is already October and our fall is filling up quickly. November and December are pretty much booked and October is starting to fill up quickly. This always seems to happen this time of year. Just when I want things to slow down so I can enjoy the season, it goes by way to fast. This is Nate's last month in his play. It opens on the 15th and runs through the 31st. We are all extrememly happy that it is almost done. The kids are around here somewhere. I am currently trying to convince my doctor to give me more iron. That's really about it in the Brown household. I'll just turn some time over to some pictures, as they tell much better stories then I do



This was Cole's "final" for his unit on Utah. We had to bake a Utah shaped cake, and then he took it to school along with candy to use for mountains, plateus, dessert, lakes, and rivers. Then the teacher asked them where such things were and they had to place them correctly. It was a neat way to end a unit.



I took the kids to the schools free skate night and they tried skating, but mostly they enjoyed playing on the bounce toys







This is how Izzy eats her pizza. Cheese first, then crust











Izzy has decided to fight fire with fire





This is what she does everyday as she waits for Jackson or the other kids to come home from school







This is the scene every week night as the kids do their homework





This is the face I get every week night when I tell Izzy she can't color on the kids' homework



A couple of weekends ago we went up the canyon to hike and enjoy the fall foliage. After about a mile trail, we came out onto a lovely open meadow area.





I would love to say this was a completely candid photo and that he wasn't posing, but that would be a lie

Tired

The Browns are tired. Why are the Browns tired? Well...

Izzy is tired because she has figured out how to open doors. So after we put her to bed at 8, she is not content until she has come out of her room 5-6 times. Usually not falling asleep until about 10. She is also tall enough to reach the light switch so her room light is often on, until 10 at night.

Riian is tired because Izzy is up turning on the light and trying to talk to her until 10 at night. And she doesn't have the luxury of sleeping in because she has school in the morning

Jack is tired because his older brother, who can't sleep past 6 to save his life, is a very noisy person. And no matter how quiet he tries to be, he can't help but jump out of bed, literally, open and close bedroom and bathroom doors with as much gusto as possible. So Jack, therefore, wakes up at about 6 every morning. By the time he as to go to school at 8:30, he is ready for a nap

Cole is tired because... actually Cole may be the only one who isn't tired

Britt is tired because her husband is in a play and he doesn't get home until after midnight every night. He also is only home for maybe 2 hours a day, on a good day, so I am physically worn out as well as emotionally drained. At least it's not iron related this time. That is something.

Nate is tired because of said play. Unfortunately for him, he is the only one of us I don't feel sorry for. He gets home very late every night, but he is enjoying every minute of it.

So I'm sure there is alot of updating that needs to happen, and several cute pictures that need to be posted. But I'm tired. And having to think that much is hard work. And now I better be off, my 15 minutes of free time is up and Nate is headed out the door.

3 down...

This week was Jack's official start to school. After a week of "Why don't I get to go to school today". It was finally his turn. If you asked him, he said that he wasn't nervous or scared to go to kindergarten. But as I dropped him off that first day, I could see the apprehension in his face. I can understand this, I mean this kid loves to learn. He spends hours doing workbooks. He can already read, count to 100, he can add and subtract, he just loves to learn, but at the same time, he is a homebody. He takes after his mom in this aspect. He likes to be home, he likes having all his comforts around him, especially his blue blankie that he isn't allowed to take to school, but carries it with him wherever he goes if he's at home (we have nicknamed him Linus). So when I saw the apprehension on his face, I knew what he was probably going through. But despite these fears, he loves school. On the way home from school I was asking him about his day, did he meet any new friends, does he remember their names. He said he did make friends but, he didn't remember any of their names. I then asked who he played with at recess. He couldn't remember their names. I then asked who sat by him. At this point I think he was a little frustrated with me and responded "As I told you before, mother, I don't remember any of their names". Apparently parents can be a little exasperating at times.







Nate was gone all this past week. He left Sunday and got back late Friday night. I must say that I do not enjoy it when he is gone. I don't sleep very well. I spent the first 21 years of my life sleeping by myself and now after only 11, I can't sleep unless he's there. On top of that I had really bad allergies. I never had them growing up, and really not very much at all as I've gotten older. The Cottonwoods has always bothered me a little, but that was about it. But the past week has been awful. I don't know what is in the air right now, but my body doesn't like it. Both Cole and Riian have asked on multiple occasions, why I was crying. I had to explain that my eyes were just watering and I wasn't sad. I did pretty well though. Despite the lack of sleep and not feeling well, I was functioning quite well. And then Nate came home and was home all yesterday and I think my body could finally relax, and I felt exhausted and just achy and sick. I got a good night's rest last night and feel much better except for a nose like a faucet and eyes that are constantly teary. Oh well. Nate enjoyed his conference in Chicago, but was glad to be home. Now he just has to do a presentation on anything he learned while he was there. I would love to tell you what it is he learned, but he talks to me about in computer programmer language, and I haven't mastered that dialect yet.



The other kids are still really excited about school. Cole loves that there are twin girls in his class. He has a crush on them, and if I ask him which one he says "It doesn't matter, I can't tell them apart". Riian is busy making new friends, in a class where she had none. The other day she got a note from someone in her class. It said "Do you want to be my BFF". After she read it to me she turned to me and said "That means Best Friends Forever". I told her I may seem old but I do indeed know what a "BFF" is.



Izzy is trying to busy herself without any of her siblings here. She doesn't understand why they get to go to school every morning and she doesn't. She keeps asking me "Where are my guys?". Her favorite thing is to jump on the tramp with them. At first you had to be very gentle when you bounced with her. But now she can bounce with the best of them.





Look at that height!

Return to School

Well it's official, summer has ended. As of yesterday, we are officially back in school. The schedules have returned, the homework, the making of lunches in the morning, new clothes, new haircuts. This year the kids were excited to get back, actually Cole and Jack were excited, Riian didn't care one way or the other. Cole was excited because he found out that he has 6 friends in his class this year. With 5 classes per grade, it's been hard for him to have all the friends he wanted, but this year he has quite an abundance. Riian doesn't know anyone in her class. Being in kindergarten, Jackson doesn't start until next week. They give the kindergarten teachers a week to test each student and see where they are. Jack had his test yesterday, and now has to wait a whole week to go back. He's constantly asking me why he's not going to school that day and when can he go. I can already tell this is going to be a very long week.











Just a few first day pictures



Izzy was unconcerned about the first day and all the excitement, and just found it a good time to go outside and do this...







Nate is still enjoying his play. He says the director is hard, but really good. He is leaving on Sunday for a week. He has a work conference in Chicago. Unfortunately it won't be too much different then it is now, he just won't be here the two hours a day that we see him.



I am glad that school is back in session. I really like the unscheduled breaks, but I also enjoy getting back into a schedule and mostly I like the fact that the start of school means that fall is just around the corner, which is my favorite season. I have had 3 of my 4 iron treatments and I am feeling quite energized. I still will probably have to do another round of treatments before I'm back up to a good range, but just this little amount has made a huge difference.



Not much else going one. Here's on last parting shot of summer...





now on to fall....!