ba-rix

Tonight,  I saw an unanticipated result of our current administration's influence on today's youth.

Chandler was describing an efficiency report for Fort Stewart that he had accidentally  "over-seen" while we were in Savannah recently.



His grandfather, an engineering contractor for McLean, had some reports lying on a desk, in a closed binder in the same room the boys were bunking.

Total happenstance report reading,  really.

What Chan was impressed by was the efficiency of the Army as detailed in the report.He was describing how the report listed amount of wattage used per army barrack.

And that's when I spotted it. 

He said "Army Buh-Rocks"

Bunk houses by this name would be the current President of the United States.

(And I'm pretty sure he didn't serve...) 

We often tease ChanMan about his creative pronunciation skills, and it is a homonym, so, I won't devote any more of this post to something that may embarrass him.

However, it is an ideal time to tack on a little praise-worthy note.

For all the things they are learning to pronounce or spell or do in life, I believe these Brewer kids are well on their way to becoming fine adult human beings.  

 (May this post serve ever a reminder of this worthy expectaion) 

 Chandler especially leads the charge in this thing I describe to you now, the others participating with joie de vivre:

They have learned to spot the bright yellow embroidery on  jackets, hats and patches denoting a seasoned veteran from aisles and aisles away. 

They know IwoJima, Vietnam, Korea, WWII.

 They stand on perpetual watch for the tell-tale car tags and camo fatigues of our service men and women.  

 They are ever-ready and ever-eager to grab a door, extend a hand, offer the respect they feel is  due:

"Thank you for serving our country" 

And to our local First Responders I often hear:

"Thank you for serving our community" 

Even the Coast Guard have met with their appreciation... 

 ...and when they were younger, Mall Security and  Citadel recruits too. 

(a uniform by any other name still respect demands)

They really are a good bunch.

I'm proud of you, BrewCrew. 

Do Not Microwave

Do Not Microwave. 

Not A Mere Suggestion (as Fisher learned while making Maruchan Cup O' Noodles for lunch) The whole house smells of burnt... days later. And inexplicably, I'm craving popcorn. (not burnt)

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! 

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.

Virtual Christmas Card

If you have already gotten a Christmas card from our family in the mail, you will recognize right away that this is our actual Christmas card's cover. (Unless you already live in Florida, then you got something a little different) Once you click on the links, you will see that the letter is the same as well. If you have not received a card in the mail, it is either delayed due to the antiquity of our local post office or...well, I was running low on stamps, see... and I knew that I planned to send this here virtual one... so... please enjoy this version and know we love you very much!

Even if you did receive a tangible card in your mailbox, there is a slideshow of the children in the virtual card.
Rather than try to get one good shot of the children all looking in the same direction at the same time, I had the realization that I could hit the continuous shot button and improve my odds...2000+ still shots later, I had another realization that a movie would be easier and after a little tweaking, we ended up with a stop motion-ish sort of slide show.

Every time I've played it back, I am moved to thankfulness again for the gift of our kids.
We hope this time of year finds you counting your blessings and enjoying the gifts that we have been given by God. They are innumerable, if only we start to count.

Brewer Family Virtual Christmas Card:
WARM WISHES FROM THE BREW CREW

Fisher's 10th Birthday "Avenger Adventure"

Fisher chose doughnut holes for breakfast on his birthday.

Don't worry- he shared his breakfast with the whole crew :) 

First Round of Wish Blowing

His chosen cake flavor was Carrot and his hoped for theme was Avengers

 (I always reserve the right to surprise/override themes in the event they prove to be too challenging ;) 

If it doesn't have icing carrots, it isn't a carrot cake- these were tucked around the back :)
((Fisher was startled to learn this year that ACTUAL carrots go in a carrot cake...))

Some bakeries/grocery stores will sell you just the topper kit from the cake book... life saver (I couldn't draw ONE Avenger to save my life, much less all of them...much less, in icing) This one could also have been purchased on Amazon, but it was cheaper and quicker to buy it from the bakery...plus no shipping & handling issues.

The nifty topper even lights up...

Let the second round of Wish Blowing begin... only two candles this time :) 

When asked, Fisher said he most identifies with Iron Man

Double..Triple?..Identity Fisher Kai Captain America Iron Man

He wanted so much to go to Adventure Landing to celebrate. We tried to trick him into believing we were just going to vote, but as we left our polling place and neared the entrance, he had already begun to figure it out.

Getting Fisher to stand still and smile for a picture is always... fun. 

Two Whole Hands!

Brothers gotta race!

Fully Involved 

Logan was made treasurer of all ticket winnings- at the end of our visit, the entire jackpot of 2000+ tickets went to the Birthday Fella-when he had spent all but 400 of them, he asked "Can we stop now?" But we didn't let him. He went home with weapons from every genre (Marine Machine Gun Set, Ninja nun-chucks, Native Bow & Arrows) plus a Flying Saucer, rabbit's foot and a matchbox skateboard.

Family Skee Ball Tournament

Present Time!

A much hoped for jersey...like Big Bro's...but, also....not exactly like Big Bro's

AirHog Hover Assault (finally, I can stop hearing subtle...and not so subtle...hints about this wonder of wonder toys :) 

Fisher's Special Day Screen Saver on the family computer 

Happy Birthday Fisher

Fisher~Age 2

Celebrating Fisher's first decade.

Two

Whole

Hands

!

WE LOVE YOU BUDDY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Play Ball!

Chandler & Fisher are playing Babe Ruth Ball.

 Tomorrow is Opening Day.

Two games, opposite fields, identical start times... this should be fun!

On the bright side, Logan cheers early in the AM...and finishes just in time to catch her brothers' games.

Dear God,
Thank You For Coffee.
AMEN.

:) 

Chandler @ a recent practice

Coach Dad encourages Chan before bat

Florida: The Other Rain Forest

Hey! UpWards....

...are you gonna win today? ....You know all you gotta do is put your mind to it, do it do it ...UPWARDS!

::Repeat ONE MILLION times::

Seriously.

Around our house these days, even the boys are walking around sing-song-ing cheer chants. Like chewing gum ground into shag carpet...(yes, first hand analogy) the lilting cheers are just stuck...and good.

Logan's first game was Saturday. She's loving it and already sad that her cheer career ends the same year it began

(UpWards stops at age 12 and we are unaware of local options that include both an honorable atmosphere and a lot of clothes ;) 

Thankfully, the Brewer Brothers and *Coach Dad weren't due on the ball field this past weekend and were able to be there. The coming weekends between now and November aren't always so pleasantly blended...

 Fisher was a big help with Riley- they played catch with her new bouncy ball. (She seriously loves the ball... I have to pry it from her hands to put her to bed...she doesn't understand why it can't sleep in the bed with her :)

He kept her entertained so well, in fact, that I had plenty of time to grab a cup of coffee from the concession stand and run upstairs to take a few pictures... because, at some point, when we looked around to find Chandler, we spotted him above us,  running the camera.

 He's been showing a growing interest in running the lights, sound board etc at church.
At one point, on Saturday, a buddy offered to take over the camera controls to  give him a break- at which Chan promptly kicked his buddy in the shin...he wants you to know I'm exaggerating... it was just a light nudge :)  No, really- he didn't do any of that, but he wasn't interested in a break. He's developing a new hobby...

Meanwhile-
Logan cheered her heart out. And she was very sparkly while doing so (because we had sprayed her down with glitter.... and good.)

Thanks in part to her brother, there is an archive of the game here. You can spot Lo during the first 40 seconds and then again around minute mark 27:00






Here's the little bit of video my tired old camera was able to capture: 

We have practice tonight. Logan is so excited to learn some new cheers (and we are so happy there will be a few more options on this ever-looping playlist in our heads)

Her game this weekend starts at 9:30, if you can't be there you can tune in live @ FBFirst.com... don't expect the cheerleaders to get a LOT of screen (scream?) time, but they open both the 9:30 and 11 games as well as provide a little segue entertainment during the half ("Now that the cheerleaders have directed your attention to center court, please listen to the message this pastor would like to share... "  tricky Baptists!)

* While walking through a frozen food aisle,Rye spotted this box and called the cover model DaDa :) 

New Blog*Stars

Where does the time go? (circa 2005!)

The BrewCrew has 3 new junior bloggers...

Meet: 

 Chandler-age 12 (going on 13) of CHANDLER'S CORNER & THE BANTAM BOARD

Logan-age 11 of LoLo's LOFT (there's LOL in there!) 

Fisher-age 9 of FISH TALES 

Our junior bloggers will also be contributing to the school's blog project: ALETHEIA ANTHEM

...this oughta be fun!