Ordinary Life

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 ide...

Two of Logan's photographs were featured in the Spring 2014 Edition of the FLVS literary magazine VIRGE. They can be found on pages 62 and 65.

Chandler and Logan were featured in the 2012-2013 Florida Virtual School Yearbook with their answers to the theme question: " What does the phrase Cherish Today, Challenge Tomorrow mean to you?" Chandler: "Take each day as it comes and be ready for the challenges of tomorrow."   Logan: " I think the phrase Cherish Today, Challenge Tomorrow means that you should seek out what you want to do with your life and to challenge yourself to achieve the goals you have set."  They can be found on page 5.

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 gan...

   In FLVS Leadership, the students had to come up with a project that would directly touch/impact the community. Logan chose to collect money and baby supplies for our local CareNet center. She also crafted paper flowers from coffee filters and attached verses of encouragement to be given to women who come to the center. We brainstormed an initiative called Life Change that would utilize purple piggy banks placed within a community- all collected funds turned in to local Care Net center as well as a Life Change Perpetual Showers drive which would be an effort to collect physical item for babies and expectant mothers at set locations (in a similar fashion as Toys For Tots) Together we created a social media drive and received appx. 50 "LIKES" for the page. Unfortunately, this was only a concept and not an idea we have been able to commit energy or resources to at this time. However, it is being kept 'on the back burner' for such a time as we find enough purple piggy b...

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 ~

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

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...

The first sample flower  became the property of Riley. Logan's Sunday School Class made care packages for ladies in the care of  Micah's Place . We spent Saturday cutting out a million-dozen (it's a real number) circles, large and small, from decorative paper then assembling them into flowers for the packages. We used a pattern found online. (Who doesn't love Pinterest ? ) Flowers in progress Flowers closer to the finish Flowers ready to be shared Logan was unable to go to the assembling party, but that's another story. The girls were able to give much to the ladies and experience the Gift of Giving to Others. Logan was happy to get to share in the effort. SS Teacher Connie shared a photo of the care packages all ready to go  

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...

Logan closed out her first (and likely last) season as a cheerleader the week before Thanksgiving. They were given a team photo at the ending ceremony. Here it is, courtesy of  Pam Bell Photography :  (go peek at her photos, she's got some nice shots over there)

As Logan practiced for her first audition , Rye convinced her to take a small dance break on the moon:

When I had originally talked to the AMTC judge during Logan's audition , she had made a few comments that seemed to tip her hand that she would be calling back, possibly even the same evening. When I went to bed without a phone call, I thought perhaps I had misread her intentions. We started to move into the new week without expecting a call back and with a nod toward what fun we had had going to the audition. But while we were in church yesterday, she left a message on my voice mail and I caught up with her after a few rounds of phone tag. These were her conclusions: Logan is a cute girl with a cute voice. She doesn't have the pitch of the caliber they need but perhaps it is something she can pursue in the coming years. Because she didn't really meet their standards, she couldn't get a call back for singing. However, she is receiving a call back for acting and modeling. Her judge thought she had a natural timing and lean towards acting. She had asked for the modeling...

As I mentioned in the previous post , Logan found out less than 24 hours prior, that AMTC was in town for auditions. With very little time to deliberate, she picked a song and a monologue to sample for her "judge" She didn't truly settle on which pieces she would use until about one hour before these practice videos were taken. I took them to give her feedback as she practiced... and also, to have my sweet girl singing and acting and being brave on film :oP We have about a dozen or more takes of both, but I chose only two of either discipline to share. In all, she probably had appx. an hour and a half of practice time before the real audition. I may be biased, but I think she did a stellar job in that short amount of time. It does make me think that she would be well served by in-depth coaching from people who know singing and acting (as opposed to my off-key-no-acting-still-in-my-own-shell-self) Song ~"I Wish We'd All Been Ready"~ (she'd never heard th...

Logan Aleece Brewer This is Logan.  She has always wanted to be Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Literally. She has asked to dye her hair bright red.  She has threatened to change her name legally once she is of age.  And at least one costume in the past consisted of a mermaid's tail.  So, it should come as no surprise that Logan also wants to "sing and dance" I believe wanting to act is just another way to end up as Ariel on stage someday :)  And the singing... well, we all remember that singing mermaid... and the big ideas she planted in little girls' heads:  "Wish I could be.... part of that world..."  Logan  has "dreamed" of acting or singing or just somehow ending up "on the Disney Channel", but based on her shy nature, we have never really pursued it.  Not to mention, we didn't feel like a career in that industry is always an easy companion with maintaining certain standards. But recently, one of Logan's dear cousins (and frie...

Logan is a morning person... sometimes. Logan's oatmeal creation was a decidedly happy one. She wanted to share it with you.  SMILE and have a nutritious day, ya'll. 

...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'...

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!

She's going to cheer with UpWards this Fall...