we love family

Over the holidays the girls have been blessed by a sleepover with each grandma. They look forward to these so much. On this particular day, our girls were eagerly waiting by the door for their Grandma Karan "G.K." The sign that my oldest made just cracked me up. She was waiting curbside for her grandmother...with her GK bus signage.

Kids are cute. I think they are especially adorable when they light up around family. Each of my kiddos really loves their family members. We have fun with them and depend on them so much. Over the Christmas break we heard sad news that our dear Amy (Adam's sister) has cancer once again. I told my oldest daughter today and held her while she cried a little bit. She loves her aunt so much and doesn't want her to be sick. We all feel that way and wish that this wasn't happening. With that said, we are very hopeful she will recover. It is not as serious as other times that she has faced treatment, but it's still alarming. And still makes our hearts sad that this road is not over for her. Our time with Amy over Christmas was so incredibly sweet for us. We really treasure her and what she brings into our family. She is a loving aunt and sweet sister. Amy has always impressed me with her strength and steadiness. We are praying for her health and peace right now...knowing our Lord can sustain her through this trial like He has been merciful to do in the past. love, KC

goofing off with first words

Toddlers are fun to goof around with. I never know just what she is understanding exactly or thinking. But it's not hard to tell if she's having fun. This little squirt brightens my days.

Every time we are at the changing table we practice our vocabulary. It's part silly and part purposeful. Here she is just before bedtime on Christmas Eve. It's late so she's in a goofy mood and is very difficult about saying my name...I think. (And I blame the darkness for my horrible videographer skills, even though I clearly have no video skills to begin with).

merry christmas!

brunson family christmas card 2009

a new level of dress up...

...dressing their baby sister up in every tutu in the house.

I'm happy to report that baby sis' thought it was a lot of fun too.

there are so many Advent ideas out there...

Our Advent tradition has been the same for the past 3 years. We've used this tool from FamilyLife. This year I was in the mood to try something new (I think our oldest would appreciate something new too).

I've asked a few friends and searched the web and there are a lot of great ideas out there!

Advent ideas:

• List of Christmas readings (#1-#25) :: this is from a neighbor from our seminary days and it helped me. I put one reading in each of out 25 "mittens". I also love her idea to pray as a family for other loved ones by using the Christmas cards they get that day (so sweet).
• I printed some sheet music from this church's Advent guide. I loved that they wove in a worship song that applied to the lesson for that day. Adam has said that he will try to lead us in worship with his guitar. I love it when he does!
• For the little ones, I thought this video was a neat idea. It's a storybook style presentation of the Christmas story.
• I appreciated reading a little history on Saint Nicholas.
• My friend, Mary, sent me this link that is full of Advent ideas. I was happy to see a long list of ideas of activites that we can do as a family. I didn't want the whole Advent activity turn into a "25 presents until we get to the big day of presents" ritual. Her ideas were the perfect example of what I was going for.
• Some of the ideas that Mary had already helped me brainstorm were: smores, hot cocoa dessert, living room picnic/Christmas movie night, a Christmas craft...I had a list last year of family activities that I looked back on too.

Wow! Those are a bunch of links. It helps me to get them all written down in one place. Hope it helps you too.

We have already enjoyed 2 new Christmas outings for us -

Bethlehem in Burnet with my parents

& Marble Fall's Walkway of Lights

We had fun doing a little spinning under their tall tree of lights...and getting very dizzy.

you have to celebrate a little snow in texas!

For about 5 minutes we enjoyed the novelty of snow. I promise it's there...just a little hard to prove. :)

let it snow, let it snow...

We are spending some time in the Hill Country this weekend. I am so ready to see some snow! Even just a little snow sounds amazing to my little Texans.

I just found my new favorite Pandora station - The Choir of King's College (Holiday). It is a collection of Christmas carols. I love carols. (Plus the classical music makes me feel a little more intelligent, you know?)

I was excited about an easy craft project I accomplished this week. I thought my family might be interested because all the ladies in my family have these mitten-giftcard-holders from Ashley (who got them donated from Starbucks). This year I made them into Advent garland by adding stick-on felt numbers from Hobby Lobby. No sew. Just hung them up. I'll post about what we fill them with soon just for fun.

thankful...

thankful for...

our home. toddler kisses. family nearby. a husband who leads us well. his job. God's unfailing love. girls in dress-up. sweet friends. laughter. pictures + sweet memories.

I'm looking forward to celebrating tomorrow with my lovely grandparents, enjoying a feast & watching the game.

These photos are not really related, are they? Oh well, they were the ones that got edited tonight. Goodnight.

her wish list...adam and I are in so much trouble.

Today our oldest daughter wrote out her wish list for Christmas. After she read it to me I was amazed! First thought, all of her misspellings are adorable. Second thought, if our goal is to raise a little materialist...we are looking pretty successful. And finally, oh my goodness...how are we going to bring some reality into this situation? I asked her (after her little presentation), "this list is really big...what do you expect to receive for Christmas?" To which she responds, "Mom, I don't expect to get everything (sigh)." (I don't know though).

Her list translated:

American Girl - Rebecca, tights, cardboard house, bracelets, dress, iPod and cell phone, scarf, necklace, doll clothes, Leapster, shawl, dolly bed, picture frame, fairytale book

Oh, goodness.

I had her read it to dad when he got home. His response was classic, "well, sweetie, I think we can afford to get you the cardboard house." (My thoughts...exactly!)

Note to grandparents (and all relatives): this post is for humor-sake and is not meant to be informative. We'll discuss reasonable ideas very soon! :)

I had to grab my camera quick

I was doing some chores in the kitchen & the kids were playing quietly. I was surprised when I turned the corner and found a wedding ceremony in progress. This totally took me back to when my sister and I played together. My favorite part is the petticoat from a dress-up dress used as a bridal veil.

just humor me. i took a lot of photos that night.

Halloween = one fun photo opp! I just had to post a few more.

We all got excited about this hot air balloon costume. My daughter and Adam had fun making it together (my contribution was painting the box...I had to pull out my skills from 8th grade art class). I'm putting this one in the attic. It will come out again, or maybe borrowed?

Here are our fun neighbors, Yobany & Denise, enjoying the big reveal. They're cute & expecting a baby, so she's extra-cute. They peeked in on the fun we were having carving pumpkins with our across-the-street neighbors Steve & Mariella. Mariella made these adorable "mummy" mini-pizzas & "mummy" hot dog wraps. Adam carved that pumpkin from scratch...just kidding...he had help from an intricate stencil. But still...that's looking pretty amazing!

This costume idea of the bathtub was a lot of fun. Thrown together totally last minute & you have to notice its greatest feature...she's buckled in the whole time! That made trick-or-treating a little easier with 3. The balloons gave her some entertainment too.

The peacock was my attempt at recycling an old recital costume by adding a little felt & a headband. You pay a lot for these outfits...and only wear them once? Big sis donated her Barbie Island Princess peacock feathers to the cause. Well, it was a hit for our little girl. She loved it and the memory of her peacock impression will bring Adam and I delight for a long time.

Trick-or-treating

they should be dreaming sweet dreams...

...after fun trick-or-treating & sorting their 10lbs of candy.

Our little peacock, bubble bath baby & hot air balloon enthusiast

I LOVE the little things

She is in a "kissy" phase right now. Particularly, when she wakes up from naps. She gives her bear sweet kisses...gives mom kisses...gives big sis - nothing. Haha.

One day this old iPod will really date this photo, am I right? It is a little sad, that once such a prized possesion, is now a toddler toy. This one is really, really old...we're talking 2004.

we both wake up a little cranky

...it is one of our many things we have in common.

coffee with the kiddo

I wanted to document our impromptu mommy-daughter date from this weekend. I wish I could say this was planned & purposeful time with her. Honestly, I saw a coupon for a free cookie and kid's hot chocolate at Barnes & Noble...it just sounded like fun. On Saturday, while the other two were napping, we slipped away for a little time together. I am so glad that we did.

I gave her some money and she enjoyed purchasing the cookie-the-size-of-her-face, all by herself. She loves acting grownup. There are little adventures, like this, that are fun to witness. She was also proud of her whip-cream mustache.

We looked at books. I tried to be really excited about all of them (not so subtly trying to encourage a love for reading). The excitement rubbed off on her & she wanted to buy a load of books right then and there. I didn't see this coming (all the way)...and then had to act really excited about the library! This was when she got her first lesson on taking notes of book titles & authors, "We'll look them up at the library for free, honey, & we'll be able to enjoy more that way!" (wink, wink)

Next, she wanted to go to Oo La La. It's so funny to me that she loves this store. The truth is...the store owner bought her affection with lollipops. On this trip, her loyalty was sealed forever when the store owner gave her a "V.I.P" pin, which ensured that she could have as many lollipops as she wanted the next time she came in. That lady is brilliant!

As a little treat, I bought her a little beaded ring. We thought it was cute.

I got this one photo of her before we left. I see a hint of sweetness & a little mischievousness, behind that smile. It is so "her" to me.

U2 360 tour :: we loved this concert

Most all of my photos are of the images on the giant screen above them. (It was definitely a night where I was dreaming of an amazing telephoto zoom lens).

The set was incredibly cool. Visually, I couldn't believe how many elements there were. With all of the camera work on the band, it felt like we were watching a live movie...if that makes any sense. I had forgotten how much you feel a rock concert...it shakes your insides! Such a blast though.

Bono plucked a 14 yr. old boy out of the audience and ran around the stage with him...looked fun for that kid.

The band's exit. When you wait for a concert for 6 months, 3 hours goes really fast! We loved it.

U2 360 | Dallas, TX | new Cowboys Stadium | Monday, October 12, 2009
opening act : Muse

Our show:
Breathe
Get on Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Stuck In A Moment
No Line on the Horizon
Elevation
Until The End of the World
Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy - Remix
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On
One
Where The Streets Have No Name

Ultraviolet
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

look at these supercute babies!

I took some baby portraits for my cousin & 2 close friends at the end of the summer. I just wanted to post some, even though they are already filed away in the archives. These 3 wonderful families have adorable babies, don't they?!

it is still hard to believe...

...that when we get our daughters together for a playdate - there are 6 girls! Mary and her 3 girls joined us today for lunch & a little playtime. They are so sweet.

Each month they memorize a poem in school.

This is the poem from September. I had to record it while she still has it memorized.

A Pizza the Size of the Sun by Jack Prelutsky

October's "Autumn Greeting" author unknown + some outtakes.

our baby's a toddler now

She's been walking for a few weeks now, but she is still incredibly proud of her accomplishments. She is still seeking endless praise and flashing big smiles when she takes a long stroll.

I love her tight grip. It melts my heart.

Do you think she likes this?

I think they will always have memories of Dad being a fun dad. (One little memory for me: This girlie is obsessed with layering her clothes. However, she says, "Look at my laders. Do you like them?" Adam always catches her mispronunciations better than me. This is one I hear everyday, but never noticed until he pointed it out.) Laders...she's cute.

I need Jesus everyday.

what is around my house right now - Ephesians 6:1, Colossians 3:1, James 1:20, Psalm 143: 8

In the moment just before I hit "publish post" on this post - I heard my daughter spill a glass of orange juice on the playroom carpet. I got upset & raised my voice. In this moment, I was reminded why I wanted to share this in the first place.

I'm not so spiritual that I have scripture written all over my house. The reality is...I'm such a mess apart from Jesus and His Word. My friend, Barie, encouraged me this week to write out scripture all around my house. It is already helping me turn to God when I need to the most, during those everyday moments, when I'm tested.

We love where we live.

Tonight, we took part in National Night Out. We were so glad that Pflugerville chose a later date for the event, so we could beat the heat (well, sort of...it's was a little better than August). Our neighborhood does a great job with the event. We enjoyed hot dogs, sno cones, a clown, bounce house, music and door prizes. The girls had a blast. Adam and I had enjoyed visiting with neighbors (we think more than a 100 people were there, at its height). It was a fun family night.

finding fall :: the morning breeze

It was actually cool this morning in our backyard! It has been so hot for so long that it felt like the biggest treat to be outside for an hour and not sweat-like-crazy.

They were finally playing on the slide again because it wasn't sizzling hot. Yay!

Will you swing me instead of taking pictures?

Here is our enormous okra plant. Do any of us like okra? Not really. So, of course, it would be the one thing that this fledgling garderner could grow humongous and plentiful.

S-U-P-E-R-W-O-M-A-N!!

I loved this as a kid.

What you learned today...

Babies have it so good, don't they?

We are so glad that Dad is home!

I made it! It hasn't been the easiest 5 days, that's for sure. But the swine flu is disappearing and I have my guy back (he was on a long-awaited trip with his dad...I was so glad that he went). Things are looking much better now. I had some of the sweetest phone calls this week. There were a few friends from church who would call and provide me with some company on the phone (while I was quarantined at home). I could tell that loved ones were praying for us. It was just so obvious by the way that the kids and I made it through the weekend peacefully. So thank you, friends.

I needed to take some pictures today.

I love this little camera that Mary & the kids gave her.

I've just got to teach her how to use it!

She's been giving me a lot of "fives" lately.

I love it and she thinks she is amazing whenever she does it.

I'm always suckered by little toes.

She's a fun sweetie.

Well, this one too.

Just the 3 of us on another day at home. We've been home a lot lately and I've enjoyed these little moments. It has given me a little perspective on how much we are running, running all the time...I've been thinking about that today.