Happy Halloween!!

Every year for Halloween since Callie was one year old, we've attended the Fall Festival at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Ruston. We always have a blast! This was the first year that Halloween fell on a weeknight, so Callie and Drew had the opportunity to both attend the church function and trick-or-treat. So, for both kids' very first trick-or-treating experience, we went all out! We went with Jenny to Jenn Golden's house for a Halloween party and trick-or-treating through Jenn's neighborhood on a flatbed trailer with a dozen other kids. OMG to the amount of candy my two children brought in! It was great! And just when Callie thought the fun was over, she got to dress back up like a little Louisiana Tech cheerleader one more time and go to Emmanuel's celebration. Drew made a perfect little Drew Brees New Orleans Saints football player, too. We had a wonderful double dose of Halloween this year!

Bobby and Holly Hollis Wedding

Again, an older post. The wedding was in August, but the pictures made it to my computer in November! I am soooo very glad we were able to attend Bobby and Holly's wedding! Not only was it a beautiful ceremony at a beautiful lodge, but we had a blast! Father and daughter danced, and it melted Momma's heart! Callie Lynn continued to dance, and dance, and dance all night! We had to stop her; she never got tired! Drew enjoyed himself, too.

Nickelodeon Story Time Live!

Yes, it was a few months ago in the summer, but I am just transferring the pics from my camera into my iPhoto. Callie and Paige had a great time watching Dora, Wonder Pets, Backyardigans, and Kai Lan. Let's just hope they did, because Mom's not quite ready to go back anytime soon! Can you imagine a sold out theater of toddlers through pre-schoolers?? Well, it was worth it for the girls!

Introducing Willy Wonka Brown

Allow me to introduce our new puppy. He is a Shih-Tzu named "Willy Wonka Brown." With our other Shih-Tzu being almost 11 years old, we thought the family needed an addition; something to liven old "Tiny" up! Tiny and Willy are almost identical in color, so they look like brothers! Willy was the perfect name for various reasons. First, my favorite and very first stuffed animal as a child was a puppy (that I still have to this day) named Willy. Secondly, Callie is still very into the movie Free Willy after her trip to SeaWorld this summer. It was perfect since Willy the whale and the puppy are both black and white. Third, Callie's all time favorite movie is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder, 1971 not to be confused with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Johnny Depp, 2005). Anyhow, he is a sweet puppy and is doing quite well with kennel training, just not being quiet at night!

It's been four months since I've updated...

It's been almost four months since my last update; where did the time go?? I can only use working too much for one and a half months of excuses! Drew is 18 months old, and is talking my head off in fragments of sentences. He hasn't put a complete sentence together yet, but he's on his way! Callie's newest obsession (other than Justin Bieber, urg) is dance at Missy Crain's. She is a big kindergardener now. We work on real homework every night, while Drew destroys the house by pulling out each and every single tupperware bowl and lid out of the cabinet!

October marks the beginning of a shift in family night. We now go every Thursday night to Chatham to feed the deer and eat out (yes, Chatham does have at least one good restaurant-J&H). I'll try to be better at uploading pics and updating blog especially with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and CHRISTMAS upcoming. It's official Christmas shopping season! I'm counting the days down 'til Black Friday!

Callie Lynn is Five!

On June 7th, Callie turned 5! We had her birthday party Saturday June 12th, and it was a huge success! Her chosen theme was "Littlest Pet Shop". Mamaw, once again, made an awesome cake that was a pet shop house with lots of Callie's little pets surrounding it. Since last year's inflatable water slide rental was such a hit (with adults as well), we invested in purchasing our own version. It was the perfect size for the kids! They plunged down the water slide, waded in Drew's pool, had a water balloon fight, and enjoyed Pop's homemade slip and slide (tarp + liquid soap/water=fun)! We had so many kids show up! Maybe next year Mommy will learn to make enough favor bags. It seems this has happened before. Check out her slide show below!

Mommy's Being a Photographer Again

Occasionally I like to snap my own portraits to frame at home. It's always been fun with Callie. She loves the camera and wants to try a hundred different poses (literally). Well, I can't say the same for Drew. He cannot be still and is destined to destroy every snap! But, I did sneak a couple of good ones of him, but no so much of the both of them together!!

Playing in the Yard

Whew! It's Spring Break, finally! Here are some pics of my babies playing in the yard.

Happy Birthday Andrew Alan Brown

Drew is one year old today! Happy Birthday little one! Below you'll find an awesome slideshow from Drew's party yesterday at the Jungle Gym in West Monroe! Thanks to all that attended! We had a blast. Drew played and played, and he especially loved the big tree house. He had a ball in the ball pit (pun intended!), but didn't get to stay long. He was so very sleepy by the time it was cake time. He could barely hold his eyes open and didn't even tear into his cake and make a huge mess. Oh, but how beautiful was the cake!! Mamaw made it herself, and if you are interested, she does NOT make cakes for sale! She had several offers at the party but told them all that she only makes them for her grandbabies. She is great at it! Drew loved all of his gifts, and the company of all of his friends even more.

What's that, SNOW??!!

It's been a while, but here's a little update. Drew, 11 months in the pictures, and Callie, 4, had a great time in the snow this February. Well, at least Callie, Aunt Jenny, and Uncle Joey did!!! Drew didn't care for it much, so he didn't spend long outdoors. Callie, however had a great time snowball fighting, making snow angels, building a snowman, and making snow ice cream! We had a wonderful snow day off of school! Woo Hoo!! Even Tiny, the dog, loved the snow! We took plenty of pics, because who knows when it'll be back!

Christmas 2009

Drew had a great first Christmas, and Callie had a great time playing with double gifts: all of hers and Drew's!! Some of her Santa gifts included a pink guitar, a pet shop house, a pink gun, and an art supply stocked art desk. In one picture Grandpaw and Callie play dueling guitars! Drew loves all of his monster trucks, music table, music stage, and toys, toys, toys!!! We had all of our Christmas in one busy, long day. After we discovered what Santa left at home and played a while, we headed to Nanna and Papa John's to have Christmas with my side of the family. Then, we headed to Robbie's to have Christmas with Andy's side. The following day we headed to Nanny and Paw's. We also have a few pics from when we went to Jonseboro to see the Christmas lights. Here are just a few of our many, many pics...