Ordinary Life

My little sister is 'in retail' and was the first one to bring the Little Mommy Cuddle & Coo babies to my attention. Apparently some parents weren't too keen on having their children reminded by the doll once every few seconds that " Islam is the Light " and began to return them. She mentioned it to me during a visit and I promptly forgot about it for a spell... the way she had described the dolls, I assumed they were an "off brand" doll and figured they'd be recalled in a short amount of time. Fast forward a month or so, I'm visiting Greenville again and need a gift for Christmas. Go figure, I'm looking for a baby doll and not just that, I'm in the market for a black baby doll. I find none at "The Evil Empire" (a.k.a.WalMart)  but am told by lil' sis that there is diversity to be found where she works... so I go there. I am on the doll aisle, Baby Islam long forgotten... I am bending to a low shelf when I hear a chorus ...

Christmas 2008 , originally uploaded by kellybrewer . In the event that you did not recieve our Christmas card, or we don't have the correct address for you, this is our Christmas letter, virtually.

Christmas 2008 , originally uploaded by kellybrewer . Not to sound like a broken record or anything but EVENTUALLY, I will blog something other than pictures. Tonight is not that time. From our family to yours, a very Merry Christmas and sincerest wishes for a New Year full of realistic resolutions and days lived to their fullest.

Before we went ice skating @ Savannah's SkatFest, the kids and I took a trolley around Savannah then picnicked with our lunch on River Street. It was a beautiful (and not too cold ) day for the outing. We learned some new things and just had fun together :

If God had intended us to move around on blades, He'd have given us ice skates instead of toes... Still, some crazy folks insist on renting a pair and risking their necks on the ice. Last night, we were numbered amongst them at Savannah's SkateFest.  The kids thought they were going to go out on the ice and instantly be doing figure eights, hockey slides, etc... they were humbled, needless to say. I have never been a big skater- ice or wheels. I prefer a little more control than those methods of travel which involve free gliding...nor have I ever really liked the idea of going endlessly in circles...WITH THE CROWD...  Still, it was fun to watch the kids give ice skating a go. They had a blast and were saddened when the session came to an end. They were asking to go again first thing this morning.... uh, oh...looks like we've started something.

We finally put our tree up the other night. All of our old Christmas stuff was lost or destroyed in the move (not to mention, eaten in storage by mice BEFORE the move) so we had to pick out new decorations and such... went with a gold, maroon, brown, champagne, winter white, sort of thing... my favorite are the peacock feathers... I am looking even now for a place to use those after Christmas :) Also, you'll notice a closeup of each of the kids' individual ornaments. They pick a new one each year... this year we took them to Hallmark. Chan's is the ESPN Santa & Elves, Logan's is the two mini Ariels and Fisher's is the Airplane. We chose the Polar Express one as a family ornament as we rode that ride at Sea World together just last month. 

In LAWN LIGHTS, I described a night of insomnia, insanity and Christmas lights... here are some pics:

I should first say that I despise yard ornamentation at Christmastime--and anytime really. It is such a frivolous use of time and money. I really can't appreciate all the work that goes into putting up then taking down elaborate displays for a mere month before having to figure out how to store the expensive yet tacky lighted sculptures for the better part of a year. I also can't appreciate leaving lights up year round, so bottom line is I'm scrooge-ish about decorating at Christmas. (yes, even the tree seems a little much fuss to my common sense detector, but that's another post) So, call it a Christmas miracle if you will, but we have lights on the lawn this year AND I put them out there. Yeah. I don't despise lawn lights any less, I just  love my children to the moon and back and they not only have Christmas Cheer, they have Holiday Fever. Clay was out of town one night this week and when he's gone, there is no one to tell me to go to bed, so I usually don...

   For those of you who've already seen all this on FaceBook, I am merely recording my Beanishness for those few family members who get all their latest Kelly & Family news from the blog.  Ben helped me give my photos a little face lift... I'm the Bean on the Right...the Right Bean you could say. A little brother who beans you, a little sister who elfs...aren't siblings the best?! (They really are.)

One of these days, I'll have time for Blogger once more... until then, random things that people send me or the occasional picture will have to (continue to) suffice:   Jamela elfed a group of us, including our Uncle Bean:

GIORDANO'S Lake Buena Vista , Florida Saturday, 11/29/2008

Fisher's First Lost Tooth ( Fairy Value:  $5! )

Sometimes, it's the little things we forget to be thankful for: * courtesy of Lil' Bro's friend, Neely

Fisher turned 6 on November One. We celebrated at Chuck E Cheese with one of his favorite pals from Savannah, Devin. We also got to spend some quality time with MeeMee & PaPa.I made a cake, as usual, but also got one in the party package as some folks - namely Chandler- don't care for chocolate. (Fisher insisted on a chocolate b-day cake--he's worse than me when it comes to chocolate!) Well... skipping ahead one warm drive over into Savannah and a melted birthday cake later and I was glad to have more cake than we knew what to do with. My creation was edible but ugly. Thankfully, I learned a long time ago to take the cake's picture immediately after finishing it, so there is proof of what he was supposed to have for cake :) ((the cake is a very central figure in all birthdays in our home...almost as much a guest at the table as the rest of us living breathing souls... it bears its own unique character, as requested by the birthday child)) Fisher's birthday is always...

In what seems to be an unsinkable subject, my children have decided they are the go to experts on drivers from Ohio. At least, to hear them talk, you'd think they know every nuance and mannerism of a Buckeye behind the wheel. Take yesterday for instance, when I was exiting a parking lot and recieved a cheerful toot from the horn of a fellow driver ( of course I wasn't in the wrong!) Immediately this low growl began to rumble through the back seat "Darned Ohio Drivers!" my children cried... (not realizing that maybe, just maybe they were in the offending car) And so, I began my intercessory mediation " Just because someone blows their horn does not mean they are from Ohio" and really whatever else I said is not important, because they were ignoring me, continuing their line of conversation instead: "Did you see her plates?" Chan asked his sister, craning his neck to see out the back window in the event the car came near enough for him to share his d...

I am so many decades behind already, I'm not sure catching up to the current date in pictures, stories and activities is even possible, but for those of you who are still paying attention, a few pictures from Halloween and the day before. The alligator you see lives in one of the water hazards on the golf course... he/she is one of several that we call neighbor in Island West. I took my picture to "comfort" Momma :) The playground pics are the day before and if you ever want to play there too, it can be found  on Hilton Head @ one of my favorite places to hide from the world, Shelter Cove Harbour. We walked around taking in the calm of the boats bobbing on the water and then played in the playground for a while... conducting weights and levers experiments, seeing how many kids it takes to lift me- mom- on the teeter totter. (2 of the big ones :) Halloween morning it was pumpkin & skeleton pancakes with "Boo-tiful" orange milk for breakfast and then the pumpk...

In school, we were discussing Abraham, Lot and the story of Sodom & Gomorah. We talked about God's command for Lot to take his family and flee and the unfortunate pillar of salt incident that soon followed. Logan's observation was quick and resourceful: " Oh!... well, they could've used her to cook with then!"

So, apparently our neighborhood has its own googlesite... and there's evidence of our little soiree: Chili CookOff Victory Picture (Don't we all look thrilled?!) Also, see a few of the kids on this page .  ( most duplicate of what has already been posted here prior)

Some common sense from my brother's site: & Don't forget to check out more of ZO on his YouTube channel: MachoSauceProduction (links to MySpace & Facebook listed there too)

A tip of the hat to Dr. Howdy for sharing this video with me, (his loyal reader):

Over the weekend we went to two Fall Festivals in the area. The first one was on Saturday, after our neighborhood costume party. It was held at Honey Horn on HHI and was mostly an assortment of inflatabled for the kids. In the pictures you will see Potty PuttPutt... or whatever clever name they came up with... I was impressed by the creativity of this game and love the expression of the man after Clay didn't make it on his first try. The second festival was held by our church on Sunday evening at Huspah Platation . It was more in the line of an old fashioned Fall Fest with hayrides, bonfires and game booths for the kids. It was absolutely beautiful on the plantation with these old trees whose limbs sprawl along the ground. There were free roaming cattle too. We discovered this on our hayride, when a herd or two decided to follow the "hay trail". There's one last picture in this group that doesn't fit the descriptions here, and that is because it was taken in Char...

Island West (our neighborhood) held a costume party this past weekend for residents. The children were encouraged to come in costume and the adults were invited to enter a chili cook off. We indulged in all the available fun. My chili took third place- my prize was a maple leaf pancake turner and some halloween pancake molds with changeable face expressions. ( pumpkin & skeleton) I had nudged the kids to think of costumes in lots of three... the three musketeers, Peanut, Butter, & jelly, etc. While in a local thrift store, we came across a yellow suit coat that Fisher fell in love with. It didn't take long from there to come up with The Man In The Yellow Hat, Curious George and A Banana. It did take a lot of coaxing to convince Logan to be a banana, and contrary to what you might believe, pointing out that she could call herself "Hannah Banana" didn't help matters at all. Finally, she agreed and our costume was a hit. The children painted pumpkins, guessed how...

We recently attended the SC State Fair and a Jeremy Camp/Toby Mac concert held inside. During the night of the concert, it rained constantly and there was no humor left over for rides, candy apples or cotton candy. But the music was good and the concert a lot of fun despite the downpour. The next day, Clay and Chandler headed to a Carolina football game and because the cost for five tickets to the game far outweighed three tickets to the fair, I opted... volunteered.... begged... to go to the fair with the younger two kids instead :)  We had a lot of fun and blew throughh 50 tickets in rides with ease! Strangely, as I get older, I find I actually WANT to see all the exhibited art, food and contest entries. This doesn't carry over to my children... they were interested but didn't find it as fascinating as bumper cars. My favorite part of the fair has got to be, will always be, the food. Especially fried things.. namely cheese on a stick. This year I tried a deep fried Oreo too....

Making greehouses from 2 liter bottles and baby food, plus some funky fruit we had for breakfast:

CarysAugusta 022 , originally uploaded by kellybrewer . We recently visited Augusta to welcome a new baby cousin into the family. While in the hospital, waiting on baby and new momma to come out of recovery, we happened to run into Dr. George Williams. Chandler has wanted to meet "his" doctor for years now. It was definintely a chance encounter, as Dr. Williams is one of the area's most sought after physicians. One is lucky to see him when they go into labor or set an appointment at his office, much less passing in the hallway of the hospital cafeteria. It was a lucky day for Chan and a great reminder of the many blessings I've received all along the way- from being in the care of an excellent and caring doctor when I was pregnant to the healthy baby boy he delivered for me 9 years ago. My how time flies!

My chili took third place at our neighborhood Fall Festival today. Mostly, I just copied the "brown bag" instructions and like usual, did things my own peculiar way. I used the above picture to describe my dish and I really think it helped people like what they were ABOUT to eat before they had even tasted it, because, you know chili can be such a murky thing to eat. Sour cream and cheese are a must with me, when it comes to chili, so those were offered in my "chili station".  I am not typically a vain sorta gal, but it did make me feel good when several neighbors made a point to stop by on their mingling route to suggest the judge should have picked mine for first. :)

Using some of the play doh made earlier , we rolled out "snakes" of varying colors. The children then rolled these colors into one piece and cut them out using a small juice glass. Using a diagram we had printed, we then labled our atmosphere models in an effort to commit them to memory:

The Ice Age was COLD and from the biblical worldview, a resulting climate effect due to the Deluge. We are learning about this in both Science and History. The project was simple: Who can hold an ice cube the longest? Who can hold two? Whose will melt the fastest? We set the timer for three minutes: Logan won & no one wanted a second round :)

In (Mystery of) History, we began to discuss Creation and the design of man.  The project  was to "create" our own little people out of clay. Using Crayola Air Dry Clay, we each sculpted a "Mini-Mee" of sorts, as we contemplated the great care that went into our very design. We were also challenged to create a new animal from scratch... one that no one has ever heard of before, in the same manner that all animals were first dreamed up. Everyone got REAL creative here, not to mention MESSY! . CHANDLER & his creature: LOGAN & her creature FISHER & his creature This was a great discussion builder and personally gave me a whole new attitude about those little "flaws" I seem to notice about myself. When I was "creating" my little Mee, there weren't any flaws... it was just the way she turned out and I liked each small detail that made my sculpture unique. I have not worked with clay a lot in this manner before, but I have always wanted...

SCIENCE PROJECT: Fossils & Earth Strata Our current studies have included fossils and how they are made, as well as the different layers of Earth and the strata formed by different textures of soil. Our project involved adding several differently weighted ground materials to a jar ( we used pebbles, rocks, sand and twigs). We then filled the remaining space in the jar with water. Each child took a turn being the "earthquake" and then we set our jar on a table to settle. We checked the jar one minute later and then another 30 minutes later. The longer the jar sits and settles, the clearer the water becomes and the layers of soil are more easily defined. It has been a few weeks since we did this project, the water is now pretty much back to it's "pre-earthquake(s)" state. Through this project, we were able to observe the effects of the Deluge on the Earth's surface. We could see how different objects were covered quickly enough under the moving sludge to ...

HOME EC: Blueberry Biscuits We put our measuring skills and instruction following ability to the test one morning not too long ago. The result was (thankfully) edible! Step 1: Find Early Birds Step 2: "Stir it up, lil' darlin'(s)...." Step 3: Place resulting concoction on cookie sheets & bake Step 4: Pour the milk, breakfast is ready! ( I mean, "Class Dismissed!")

ART PROJECT: Fusion Beads Each child was given a bead board and got to spend a little time on their "design". I then took a low heat iron and melted the beads to cries of "Wow!" and "Cool!" and "Awesome!" After their first design, they took a few beads and slid them onto toothpicks to make "worms". Chandler's design: Logan's design: Fisher's design (w/a little help from Mom): various worms: This was a fun, new activity; one they look forward to repeating many times again.