Decade & A Half

Fifteen years ago today, Chandler Brice Brewer took his first breath.  

I was there. 

He was tiny (I was not).

Debuting as a featherweight at 5 lbs 14ozs and 18 in long, his current 150lb, 5'9" frame is proof that apparently pizza and macaroni DO count as vegetables after all. 

We are blessed with our 'ChanMan' and enjoy getting to know the young man he is becoming. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHANDLER!

LoLo's 13th

Logan turned into a teenager back in March... we asked her politely to age backwards, but she insisted on continuing towards young lady-hood. She's doing so beautifully.

This year she wanted a mustache party and she was brave enough to ask for a chocolate cake. You see, a certain family member who shall remain unnamed (but not unidentified)  has decreed that all birthday cakes should always be Jell-O cake...even when it isn't his birthday. Which kind of loses the point of the birthday boy or girl getting to have the treat of their choice. And she does so love her daddy... but apparently she loves chocolate too... enough to break his heart and nix the Jell-O cake in favor of a chocolate one. 

I was pleased, because I like chocolate too :) So we went big. Which led to cake disasters, left and right. But it's okay because they were tasty disasters. 

Chocolate Fudge Cake with a Whipped Cream & Cherry Raspberry Filling, iced with Black Beast ganache. (Black Beast is a ganache topped torte that we sometimes make for special occasions- a mix of dark & bittersweet chocolate is involved)



Her favorite gift was a guitar.

Three, Little Bird!

It has been three years since Riley Wren flew into our life. 

Happy Birthday RyeBird!

We Love You!

From Terrific Two to Tremendous Three... Oh, what fun this will be!

Little Boy Blue 11

  Happy Eleventh Birthday, Fisher Kai!

You are a wonderful part of our family. It is a joy to watch you grow and explore your world. 

We love you! 

Firstborn 14

Our firstborn is Fourteen.

Happy Birthday Chandler Brice!

You are an awesome young man. 

What a tremendous gift it is to know you and be a part of your life. 

We Love You!

Happy Birthday Grammy

Happy Birthday Grammy!

We are blessed to have you as "Momma" & "Grammy"

Without you, we wouldn't sing " I see the moon" or a dozen other songs. 

It is unlikely that we would sing at all. 

You love so many of us, so thoroughly, so well. 

You spend your time on us, you spend your prayers. 

Thank you for fun childhoods. 

For teaching the joy of children and the value of remaining one at heart.

Thank you for the love of music. And color.  And art.  

To the moon and back for sure, 

We love you a million miles and more. 

~*~

Logan, On Her Birthday.

Logan's Twelfth Birthday Cake

After watching Wreck It Ralph, Lo asked for a candy covered cake

A Candy Cart

~MAKE A WISH~

~BIRTHDAY LUNCH ~

~ Enjoying The Restaurant Birthday Song ~

Happy 12th Logan

I prayed:

 "Dear God, if you could allow me a daughter..."

And He did. 

A quite marvelous model too... 

We love our Logan so.

Happy 12th Birthday, LoLeece. 

We Love You. 

So Much. 

~*~ 

Logan Aleece Brewer~Day 1

Family Birthday

She said "I NEED A PARTY HAT!" 

We sometimes call our anniversary a "Family Birthday". Especially during seasons where sitters are scarce and we will be celebrating with the entire family. This was one of those celebrations. We have been very busy with baseball & the business and our family's 'birthday' fell during a particularly Extra Busy Weekend. On Wednesday night, as everyone was busy with Duck Dynasty (I tuned in from my dish washing station in the kitchen) I secretly concocted one of Clay's preferred treats: Jello Cake.

(He's forever in the debt of his mother in law for the passing down of this recipe :) 

One thing about Jell-O cake is that it calls for Whipped topping- an element that always makes for a decorating challenge... a blank, white, slippery canvas to be improved upon. 

I began to rifle through Riley's small plastic toys for something quirky when I came to these two finger puppets. I was quickly inspired to dress them up appropriately for an anniversary cake. It's just some scraps of ribbon and a few pins but it took concerted effort to get everything just so. 

The Family Birthday/15th Anniversary Jell-o Poke Cake: 

When I was in between steps on the cake, I was also secretly working on my special gift to Clay. We have always sort of played with those traditional and modern gift listings- usually picking something with a bit of a twist. According to this year's list, the appropriate gift would be a timepiece or crystal. I figured out a different take on a timepiece and that was the 'serious' gift. But, I couldn't figure out what Clay could really use made out of crystal. Somewhere in the brainstorming process, my brain switched to Krystal. So I made him a tiny Krystal...with real crystal onions. :)~ the 'not-so-serious-or-as-expensive-but-my-favorite' gift"

 Final touches on the tiny burger were finished around 1 AM. There were multiple coats of glaze to be applied, and a crack in the box to repair due to some miscalculations on the thickness of the cheese combined with the thickness of the mustard...

And then- it was cake for breakfast. Jell-o cake never lasts long in this house, nor can those who devour restrain their forks for long.

 The cake was gone almost as quickly as it was made.

 And that is how we kicked off our "Next 15 Years" (just imagining what those years hold...children in college & finding their spouses... maybe even welcoming grandchildren...wild, I tell you. And me?  I'm looking forward to every second of it.

Happy Birthday Reagan!

   HAPPY 5th Birthday Reagan! 

We Love You Buddy!!

My all time favorite Ray Gun pics...

(cause it was just me and him as I  stole him away into the yard to play with the camera... 

...and the angel))

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

Nicholas Mark, 1985

I have known Nick for as long as I can remember. No, really. I don't have a childhood memory that doesn't also include Nick's existence. An existence which started a handful and half years ago on this very day. 

Happy Birthday Little Brother 

(who has always been like an Older, Wiser and Better Looking Brother  ;)

When I think of our sibling-hood, several key memories always come to mind first...

Climbing over The Ugly Sofas & Red Eyeball Chair (*see picture below) in games of " I Can Do Something More Dangerous Than You Can" A game in which one of us would do something 'dangerous' like leap from the ottoman to the sofa and the other one had to take that dare then up the ante by jumping from the sofa back to the ottoman with our eyes closed!

I think of hours and hours riding around in the backseat of our various family cars -usually in the  hot, sweaty, summertime- making up games to keep ourselves entertained en route to small country churches in need of a pastor, or with our Granny squished between us en route to the beach. 

(Why yes children, we DID have television way back then... and yes, it was even in color... we just didn't have them in our cars yet.)

I think of countless backyard games & play time with cousins. Of Super Man. The 80's. Knight Rider. St. Nicholas. Sky City. Lucky Touches (Nick had the 'Lucky Touch' with coin op machines... like The Fonz to a Jukebox, a free soda was Nick's for the knocking. Change return slots held other customers' change hostage in wait for Nick's arrival- always paying his searching pinchers with a little jingly change.

I think of games of Alligator on the First Church of the Nazarene front stoop; throwing rocks in the grate behind the church in Wrens. We played games of "Get A Long Gang" that lasted entire minutes before one of us 'messed it up' with a squabble; net-less badminton on Rosemary Drive.

Together, we became expert U-Haul loaders and even shared "Grandma's Attic" seats to get to where we were going.

We were always new in school together- Nick much quicker to make friends than me. Because of Merriweather's combined elementary and middle grades, we never even knew a time where the other wasn't in a classroom nearby on the same premises.

I could spend a lot of time drumming up warm memories of Nick, for as I said, most of my childhood memories feature him too... but he is older now 

(much, much older ;)

And now? Well, now, when I think of Nick-- I think of a fellow follower of Jesus. A man who loves his family, church and serving others.

 I am proud to call you brother Nick, and proud of who you are allowing the Lord to call you to be.

Happy Birthday, Little Brother. 

Keep Obeying Jesus. 

 He has made you an even more awesome person than back when you could fly from the top bunk.
(not that you still can't... just don't try it without some aspirin handy ;)

I love you. 

*sofa & chair in question

Benjamin Jacob

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

(a.k.a. MeMe)

~Check Out This Day In History: November 15~

My first memory of Benjamin is the phone call we got from the hospital to announce that we were the proud new owners of a baby brother. 

I had been praying for a sister for a long time but God always knows what's best. I think there was some expectation that I would be disappointed, but I really wasn't. When you are a 7 year old girl and a real live baby comes to live at your house... how can you be disappointed? Besides, my baby doll Moses was the happy recipient of all Baby Benjamin's hand-me-down clothes and... ironically, his Moses Basket. 

All it meant to be told we had been given a brother was that I must continue praying. Which I did. Until it worked. Which it did. 

...my Prayed For Sister would be delivered by the next stork two years later. But, how lucky am I? 

I got more than I asked for in a good way...doubly blessed, you could say.

:) 

I also remember helping dad convert the toy room into a nursery- helping run a Muppet Babies wall paper border around the room... I still think of Ben anytime I see Baby Kermie :) 

When I think of Ben, I think about many of our shared tastes in reading, food and music. I think back to when we both lived in Kentucky and he was learning to drive. About how we stayed up all night making marzipan Veggie Tales for Chandler's birthday cake. The storm thru town we made, looking for an appropriate liquor (& cheese) to make fondue (Barren County is indeed dry & barren when it comes to alcohol) We used Cooking Wine if I recall. 

I don't have time to list all of my favorite Ben Memories- but I can say that I am glad there is a Benjamin Jacob Carnes in this world~ and I am blessed that's he's my brother. 

Putting together a photo collage, as I did on Jamela's birthday, would not be gift-like to Uncle Ben. Another thing we share is a "super-critical-of-photos-of-ourselves" gene... I am almost certain he dislikes just about every photo I own of him, save perhaps the baby ones that have yet to be scanned in. 

So, the BrewCrew collaborated on a Wordle instead...each kid gave me at least three words that came to mind when I said "Uncle Ben"- if a word appears largely in the Wordle, it was offered by more than one contributor.  I added some words from my own memories...and then we tweaked the colors to fit the kids' insistence that it contain red, white and blue.
This UncleBenBen Birthday Wordle is in no way exhaustive...but it is created with lots and lots of love :)

Of course, I think a birthday isn't a HAPPY BIRTHDAY without at least ONE photo from the past.
So...

This one was taken after Ben's graduation from NGU.
He's so awesome, he not only graduated with honors but was also bestowed with an honorary
  RED HATTER Membership.

Little Known Fact: Only Two Men In The Whole World Hold Honorary Red Hat Membership:
 Benjamin Jacob Carnes & CHUCK NORRIS.

Now We Are Two

When Riley woke up on her 2nd Birthday, there was a "pincess" outfit waiting for her...a present...and underneath the bucket- a bunch of balloons.

"Purple my favorite" ~Rye

What I didn't take a picture of was re-inflating all of the balloons--they had apparently lost their verve overnight, under the bucket (I guess I would too, if I had to sleep under a bucket all night...)

A heart necklace like sissy's... and also, importantly, not like sissy's either :) 

"I love balloons, I love, I love, BALLOONS..."
She sings it a hundred times a day. 

Fatal Attraction :) 

Cheshire Cat is a new favorite friend


We ran a few errands- including a stop by the Dollar Tree for balloons, and Zaxby's for  "my chicken" as Rye calls it every time we drive past the sign. 

Outside is one of Rye's favorite places to be...

Stepping out for balloons...

sisters

The Whole Crew

Fisher, the double digit dude sports his new duds

Singing "I Love Balloons" complete with hand motions
(this must work like a rain dance, for she had no balloons when she sang/danced but she came home with a handful :) 

Back from our errands, it's time to celebrate...

BALLOONS!

Riley runs  to the elevator with her prized balloons. For the last month, every trip to the grocery store (or anywhere with mylar balloons), Rye has wanted a balloon, and we kept telling her "On Your Birthday" so that, maybe she would see a distinction when her special day finally arrived... I think it actually may have worked a bit. 

Riley Loves Balloons

Movin' On Up... 

RyeBird & Balloons

Almost Party Time...

...just as soon as Daddy gets home...

Taking a small rest before the fun begins...

~~~~****NAP DID NOT OCCUR****~~~~

This thing looks like fun... 

Learning to toot her own horn...

Let's Get This Party Started!

The cake I am about to show is NOT the cake I originally decorated...well, it is the cake, but not the decoration... that version fell over (the top layer toppled onto the tray- Jell-o cakes are moist and so was this particular icing mix). This cake is also NOT the version that resulted when I put the cake back together and tried to salvage the decorating scheme (a purple layer atop a pink layer atop another purple layer) because that second version also toppled... this swirly, tie-dyed THIRD version was "good enough" and "stop while you're ahead" and "making do" Everyone ate it, and that's what counts, right?

Riley Wren's Cheshire Cat Cake

Make a wish, Baby Bird!

Purple & Pink Birthday Cake for Riley Wren

...Start Small...

You did say this was MY cake, right?

" Dewishus, Mom! " 

"Present Time! Present Time! Open A Present, See What's Inside!" (once Blue's Clues gets in, it never...ever... leaves :) 

It's a piggy!

Baby NEEDED a new pair of shoes

Hmmm....

Riley is always singing and dancing and, much like the balloons, asked for a microphone whenever she spied one in the store... we told her, much like the balloons, "On your birthday, when you open a present" And so she did...

My Pink Microphone!

Ever since discovering Doc McStuffins on my phone, Riley has been a big fan of doctor tools. She likes to "check your heart" and calls herself Doctor Rye Ye or Doctor Rolly (different days, different dialects)  She has used the little plastic "bump-bomp"  (stethescope) until it wore out... so, the big idea for her birthday was to go on ebay/Amazon and get REAL stuff (you can get most standard equipment for $10 or less.) Her "doctor bag" includes an Otoscope/Light, Stethescope, & Reflex Hammer (poor, Chandler, she got him good with it last night...) Can you guess which kids play with the equipment the most?

" I Doctor Rolly "

The Loot (some of it brought over by our wonderful neighbors)

"Performing" the next day @ LoLeece's UpWards Game

Riley Wren  

"I  SO mad!" (acting out a scene from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood....she's not really mad, this is just her intro into singing "When you feel so mad, that you want to roar, take a deep breath and count to FOUR...1...2...3...4!')

Color Hopping

~RyeBird~

Now We Are Two