It's all good . . .

Our Swimming Dolphins

For the past month, I have had Lily and Derek back at Donna's Dolphins for swim lessons to refresh their skills before the summer.  They love being back in the water, and I am so amazed with how quickly they got back to where they left off last year.

Derek even got to have one of his lessons with Donna, the owner.  She got so much out of him, I wish he could be with her every week :)

Lily had a couple private lessons to get her going, and she is doing fantastic.  After that, she moved to group lessons.

Derek's biggest issue when he swims, is to keep his legs straight.  Last week, his teacher tried everything to force him to point his toes and keep his legs straight.  She tried the froggy knee straps, fins on his feet, and even a crazy belt thing.  Somehow he still managed to bend his knees.  Funny kid :).

Lily did awesome in her class, and she loved getting to be in the above ground pool.  It has a machine in it that makes a current to swim against, which was so cool.  And she loves her new green swim cap :).  Her swimming is coming along so well - we are so proud of her.

The next lesson, Lily got to play on a really cool floaty after her lesson was done, but Derek wasn't jealous, because he got to play with the water current machine in the other pool :).

And once again, Arthur gets to tag along, and is not all that excited about it.  At least it isn't as noisy as the track meets, but I don't think he likes how hot and humid it is there.  It's all good.  He'll get his turn to do fun things when he gets bigger, but for now, he has to watch his older siblings doing the fun stuff :).

And here is a little video of their swim lessons. 

A Magical Birthday

Lily is such a sweetheart, I really tried to make her birthday special.  When she woke up in the morning, her door was decorated and waiting for her.  I loved the look on her face when we all sang "Happy Brithday" to her :).

She came downstairs to lots of presents and a special surprize of Krispy Kreme donuts.

Kevin and I had picked up the donuts the day before in Denver, and we hid them in our closet, so that she didn't know we had them.  She was very happy :).

And then she got to open all the family presents.  There were quite a lot, although most of them were books.  She also got a cute new purse, a flashlight, and her favorite thing - a magician's costume :).

After she opened her presents, she had to try the costume on right away.  She sure makes a cute magician.

With it being Kevin's last day in town, we decided to do something a little extra, and we got her and Derek out of school for a special birthday lunch.  She picked Mexican food, and we had a great time.  We would have kept her home for the rest of the day, but she had a class party that she didn't want to miss.

The biggest thing for her birthday was her Magical Birthday Party.  We had planned a friends party back when Kevin was supposed to leave on Mother's Day, and so we thought he would be gone.  Little did we know that things would change, and that he would get to be here, but he didn't mind the chaos.

One of the funny things about her party, was that there were six little boys there, and only one girl besides Lily.  It turned out that there was a big dance recital dress rehearsal at the same time as the party, and so most of the girls couldn't come.  All those boys sure made the party interesting :).

When the kids first arrived at the party, they had to guess the "magic beans."  I had different flavored Jelly Bellies in cups, and they had to try and guess the flavor.  The winner was the one with the most right answers, and they won a bag of their own Jelly Bellies.

Then they got to make their own magic wand out of pipe cleaners.

Lily made a great wand :).  And although most of the kids used them more as wizard wands than magician wands, they had a great time.

Then it dinner time.  Originally, Lily wanted pizza, but since one of the boys she invited has a dairy allergy, we switched to ribs - which is her favorite food anyway :).  The kids loved them!

After dinner, it was time to play, "The Sneaky Magician."  One person sat on a stool blindfolded, and under the stool were a bunch of magical items.  The other kids had to sneak up to the "magician" and steal the magical items without being touched.  They had a great time.

Then it was time for presents.  Lily was pretty excited, because she got all books and cash - sounds pretty good to me too :).

For her cake, she had asked for red velvet cake in the shape of a magician's hat.  I did my best, and she loved it, but it was so much better in my head.  The black food coloring turned the frosting silver, but she thought that was cool :).  It tasted delicious though.

When the kids were singing Happy Birthday to her, they kept adding different lines onto the end of the song, until finally, she looked at me and said, "Can I just blow out my candles?"  I told her of course, and luckily that ended the song too :).

After cake, Lily put on her magician's costume and taught them all a card trick that they could show others.  Then they each went home with a chocolate dipped pretzle wand and a mini deck of cards (so they could do their own card tricks).

It was a really fun party, and I think everyone had a fantastic time, especially Lily.

It's Goodbye Again . . .

Saturday morning, about 4:45 am, we said good bye to Kevin for another six months.  My heart aches, and I miss him terribly, even though he has only been gone a day. The kids miss him already too, and Lily is showing it in tummy aches, and Derek has been a lot more whiny than usual.  But we'll be okay.

The first few days are always the worst, and then after a few weeks, we get into our routine and make it work.  However, even while we are "making it work," there is still a constant pain in my heart that sneaks to the surface when I least expect it.  But for the most part, I stay in "survival mode" any time he is gone.

We were so blessed before he left, to get to go to the Denver Temple.  It was very last minute, but we were even able to have my friend Liz come and watch Arthur outside the temple for us.  It was an amazing blessing, and just what both of us needed.

Kevin got in lots of extra cuddling time with his sweet Chewie.  They sure are going to miss each other.

And Friday night, we got together and watched one last Price is Right.

After we dropped Kevin off on Saturday morning, we were all exhausted - especially since I hardly slept and was up a little after 3am.  Because of that, we rested for most of the morning, and then I took the kids out to Cici's Pizza for lunch.  It really helped distract them from their daddy having left.  And later that evening, two of my friends stopped by to check on me, which helped as well.

Kevin is such a wonderful husband and father, he will truly be missed, but while he is gone, I know that our Father in Heaven will be watching out for us all.  The time will fly, and although this was a sad goodbye, the hello we get to have in November will be happier than I can say.

Four Months & Already a King

Oh, how we love this baby boy of ours.  He makes us laugh, he melts our hearts, and we just can't imagine our lives without him.  He has the cutest personality - he'll stick out his tongue at us, rub his hands together like he is being sneaky, he'll get his sparkly eyes like he is flirting, or sometimes he just sits like a lump.

He came out to lunch with me the other day, and he even has a cute little chubby friend - she is just one month younger than him.

And he still gets bored when we drag him around to Lily and Derek's activities.  He actually really enjoyed Lily's part of the concert, but once the band started, he fell asleep.

Speaking of Lily, she gets more helpful with him every day.  It sure is going to help me, especially with Kevin gone.  She even changed her first diaper, and luckily, Arthur didn't pee on her :).  She loves him so much (and so does Derek).

She played with him for a long time the other morning while I got ready, and she decided to make him a crown, so that he could be King Arthur.  It was so cute!

She even built him a kingdom to go with his crown, and instead of him being "King of the Brittains", she made him "King of the Desert."  I was cooking in the kitchen, and when I came into the living room, she had him sitting on his "throne."

And so yes, our little Chewie is King Arthur, and as sweet and amazing as ever :).

Sweet Lily is Ten

Ten years ago, Kevin and I were blessed with the most amazing baby girl - our sweet Lily Elizabeth.

Lily is one of the most amazing and unique children I have ever met.  The ideas that she comes up with, the creativity of her imagination, and her ability to remember things are astounding.  Kevin and I are always saying how we wish we could peak into her brain :).

Lily is also one of the sweetest little girls ever.  She is so quick to be helpful, she is kind to everyone, and she is intrinsically happy.  I don't know what we would do without her in our family.

The other day, I asked her about a few of her favorite things, and here are her answers . . .

Color: green

Season: Spring

Food: German Pancakes, Pizza Rolls, and Ribs

Dessert: Carmel

Song: What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction

TV Show: Cupcake Wars, Chopped, Sofia the First, and Octonauts

Movie: "Winnie the Pooh", "Tangled" and "The Muppets"

Subject: Science

Scripture Story: Birth of Jesus

Thing to Wear: causal clothes, like sweats or shorts with a t-shirt and a hoody

Favorite Job: Practice Piano

Thing to Do in Free time: Read

Video Game: Nintendoland, Just Dance 4, and Legend of Zelda

Book: any book (because "I love all books")

Game: The Price is Right Decades (It's an app for the iPad)

Sport: swimming

Place to Vacation: an amusement park

Place to Visit: a friend's house

Place to Be: in my room while reading a book (she is her mother's daughter)

Thing to do with Dad: play Legend of Zelda and read

Thing to do with Mom: read and play games

Thing to do with Derek: Play pretend

Thing most Looking Forward to in the Future: Going to College to study science

Music, Music Everywhere

We have had a lot of music in our house lately, and even more so because of the recitals and concerts that happen at the end of the year.  Last weekend, Lily and Derek had their spring piano recital, and they both did a fantastic job.

Derek played first, and he played a song called "Midnight Pow Wow."  He did a fantastic job, especially with the dynamics in the song.  I am so amazed at how far he has come in just one year of lessons.

Lily played two songs, "Strawberry Malt" and "Minuet in G Minor."  She did a fantastic job, and after months of Kevin, her teacher, and me telling her to slow her songs down (she likes to play in super speed), she did!  She was fantastic :).

Here is a video of their performances, if you want to check them out.

Lily also had a choir concert.  Things have been a little crazy with choir this year.  Her poor director had all sorts of conflicts that came up, and had to cancel a lot of their practices because of them.  This led to them having to postpone the concert, and also shrunk their choir from sixty to about twenty kids.

They did a wonderful job, in spite of a few technical difficulties.  At one point, the entire choir got ahead of the music - everyone, but Lily.  I couldn't figure out why she wasn't singing, but it turned out she was waiting for the right entrance :).  I am so proud of my sweet girl! 

And both Lily and Derek have loved the new music teacher, Mr. Phipps.  Here is a video of the concert, if you want to check it out :).

When Grandpa Comes, Hurray!

We were so lucky to have a last minute visit from Kevin's dad, Dennis, this past weekend.  He came to spend some time with Kevin before he deploys, and it was so great to have him here.  He got in late on Thursday night, and so when the kids woke up on Friday morning, they were so excited to see Grandpa!

Kevin had to go into work for a bit on Friday morning, and so Grandpa got some special time with Arthur.  They even took a nap together :).

Once Kevin got back, they were able to go out and play some golf.  It was a little rainy, and even hailed on them, but they had such a fantastic time.  While they were gone, I baked a banana cake for Dennis - it is one of his favorites.

We had a great time hanging out on Friday, and once the kids were in bed, Kevin, Dennis, and I watched "Jack Reacher", which turned out to be a pretty good movie :).

The next morning, we all went to the local donut shop for breakfast.  Getting donuts with Grandpa Dennis has become a new family tradition, and we love it :).  Arthur was a little jealous of us all and our yummy donuts.

Once we got home, Kevin and Dennis had the project of finishing out new bookshelves and hooking them to the wall.  I absolutely LOVE how they turned out!!  Kevin has some special shelves to display his Star Wars Legos, and now we have more room for our many, many books.  These are just a fraction of them.

They finished up the project with time to spare, and so they got to watch some golf together before Lily and Derek had their piano recital.  They were so excited to have Grandpa there, cheering them on :).

On Saturday night, Dennis was so wonderful as to give Kevin a father's blessing.  With the upcoming deployment, it was so special for Kevin.  Then he volunteered to watch all three of the kids so that Kevin and I could go on a date.  And Arthur was pretty good for him.  Lily and Derek had such a wonderful time with Grandpa, and even got him to watch "Winnie the Pooh" with them :).

After the kids were in bed, Kevin and his dad stayed up late watching some of the golf tournament they had recorded earlier.  And then bright and early Sunday morning, we all got up to say goodbye before Kevin had to take him to the airport.  It was a wonderful weekend and we were so lucky to have him come :).

Our Amazing Landsharks

On Monday night, Lily and Derek wrapped up their spring track season with Landsharks.  They did such a great job, and we had such a wonderful time watching their races.  The first and last meet were the long distance meets, where Derek ran the 400 meter.  Right before I took this picture, he looked up at us and waved.  I sure love that kid!

And they both love getting their ribbon, water bottle, and fruit snacks when they cross the finish line.

For the second meet, he ran the 50 meter dash and the 200.  He was awesome!

For the long distance meets, Lily ran the 800.  She did really well, and has been really working on getting a better stride when she runs.

Her favorite meet was the shorter distances (those were always my favorite to run too).  She got to run the 100 meter dash and the 400.  

Arthur wasn't all that excited to go to the track meets, however.  When we would yell for the kids, we scared him to death every time and he would cry.  And the second track meet started out with nice weather, and the temperature dropped 20 degrees while we were sitting there.  I am so glad we happened to have two cars there, so I could take him home early.  He was so cold!

The meet last night went so well, and the kids did a fantastic job.  They even got their medals, which they love.  We are so proud of our little runners.

And here is a little video I took of some of their races, if you want to check it out.

Science Fair Time!

One of the reasons Lily was so excited to be in fourth grade this year, was because she knew she would get to do a project for the science fair.  She researched ideas in books, online, and all over.  Kevin and I even tried to give her ideas, but she didn't like them. (For example, which diaper is the most effective for absorbing moisture - diapers are on our minds a lot these days - or which surface makes socks wear out the fastest.)

What she really wanted to do, involved using engineering and building dams - something a little too complicated for us to help with.  With an idea from our friend Marilyn, she was able to do her original idea, just on a smaller scale.  She decided to see which material made the most effective dam.

We had the guys at Home Depot cut down a rain gutter, and then we used it for her to make her dams.  One of each material; stones, pebbles, sticks, and cement.  Then the testing began.

She had her science journal ready to record her results, make a graph and plot the outcome.  It was so fun to watch her in action.  The cement was the only effective dam.

 

I helped her get her board put together for the science fair, but she typed every word and did most of the work.  It was the most fun to go to the school and watch her explain her project to the kids that came though to tour them all.  And her teacher, Mrs. Gillam, was pretty happy to get to hold Arthur :).

It was such a fun experience, and so great to see our little scientist at work.  She can't wait to do it again next year.

Brown Family Banana Cake with Penuche Frosting

I have a had quite a few requests for the recipe for Banana Cake, and so I thought I would post it on my blog.  This is a family recipe, and a true favorite of the Browns.  My favorite part is the Penuche frosting - so amazing, that I have made it by itself before and ate it like it was fudge.  So good! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do :).

Banana Cake

Sift together the following ingredients:

• 2 c. flour            
• 1 t. baking powder
• 3/4 t. salt           
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 1/2 c. sugar

Mix together:         

• 1/2 c. shortening       
• 1 t. vanilla         
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c. buttermilk (milk with 1/4 t. lemonjuice)
• 1 c. mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)

Beat together dry and wet ingredients about 3 minutes.  Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.  Frost with Penuche frosting.

Penuche Frosting      

• 1/4 c. milk or cream
• 1/2 c. butter/marg.
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 2 c. powdered sugar

In a small saucepan, put in milk, brown sugar, and butter.  Stirring constantly, bring to a boil, and boil 1 1/2 minutes.  Remove from heat and beat in the powdered sugar until it is a spreading consistency.  (You may want to add a little extra powdered sugar.)  Frost while still warm.