Jesse Tree Update

Excited about our new Jesse Tree Josh made this weekend when I suddenly realized/remembered that I sold ours after Christmas last year.  Ha!  No worries, I meant to sell it ... with something more like this in mind for the coming years.  We just forgot to build it all year til now. :} 

I was even more excited to discover I had already pre-wrapped the ornaments for each day's devotion this year.  Nice move, 2013 Kimmie!

He Who is Mighty

Oh my word, I heart this song.  I heart the church I attend that seeks out such theologically sound and strong music.  Great anthem for Christmas .... and Easter .... and ALWAYS.  You don't even wanna know how many times I have listened to this song in the past 24 hours.  I lurve it.  Our God is so good. 

He Who is Mighty by Sovereign Grace Music
My favorite lines in bold, which is all of them - HA!



Oh, the mercy our God has shown
To those who sit in death’s shadow
The sun on high pierced the night
Born was the Cornerstone 

Unto us a Son is given, unto us a Child is born

He Who is mighty has done a great thing
Taken on flesh, conquered death’s sting
Shattered the darkness and lifted our shame
Holy is His name

Oh, the freedom our Savior won
The yoke of sin has been broken
Once a slave, now by grace
No more condemnation
 
Now my soul magnifies the Lord
I rejoice in the God Who saves
I will trust His unfailing love
I will sing His praises all my days

This Thanksgiving

Since we have another sweet trip to a GA cabin in the works for Christmas with family, we stayed home for Thanksgiving and have entirely enjoyed the down time together.  So restful, so relaxing, and so productive!  Firstly, we did the turkey dinner thing and it was delicious.

Once the pumpkin pie and chocolate pie ran out, Anna and I baked up some more sweet treats - smores cookie bars.

Josh and the kids have done a couple rounds in the hot tub and spent the afternoon at the park. I vegged out in Josh's chair and watched a chick flick.  BUT, I also got gifts ordered for my nieces and got our Christmas cards made - both tasks were entirely exhausting.  Seriously though, my head was spinning considering all the different sites and specials and prices and pictures and combinations and coupon codes.  Whew!  Glad that's done.  Here's a sneak peek of the card for my faithful few blog  readers. :}

 

Beyond dinner, sweets, rest, play, nieces' gifts, and card designing, we also managed to get some of the lights and ribbons on the front of the house, one of the wreaths on the door, and all our indoor holiday decor up - minus the Jesse Tree which Josh will try to crank out this weekend.  To kick off the Christmas season officially, however, we popped in The Polar Express.  It's tradition 'round these parts ... usually on Thanksgiving.  This year, the day after.

And - bonus - I was able to loosen up even more this year and let the kids do the bulk of the ornament placement. :}  Baby steps.   Feeling festive at the Browns and countin' down til Christmas.  Excited!

Brine at the Browns

Feeling like a rock star as I take on my first Thanksgiving turkey ever.  Trying out a Brine and Jive Seasoned Slow-Roasted Turkey recipe.  Today, I tackled the brine part.  

Poured it over turkey when it was prepped just right ...

Anna was entirely grossed out by the big raw turkey and the innards that came out.  Who am I kidding? I was grossed out, too. Now we wait til morning and get the seasoning and roasting going.

Thanks go to Cindy for the gargantuan stock pot assist and the brine consult when I had questions. :}  Thanks go to Noah for the funny coincidental Lego man purchase he made today - a chef with a camera that he giggles and says is me.

Here's hoping the end result tastes like a chef made it!

Redeemer Church

It's official!  After a year of attendance, a new member class, joining a Sunday School class, joining and now hosting our weekly community group, an interview with one of the elders, and being presented to the congregation this morning by our pastor, we are officially members of Redeemer Church in Hendersonville.

When I think back to how our time at FBC went and eventually ended and about trying churches again and about really, really scoping out our new church home, it sure seems like this was a LONG time coming.  It was! We did not want to rush this decision and are thankful for a like-minded community of believers who don't rush this sort of covenant either.  So glad to mark this milestone today and to look forward to growing in fellowship with this group more and more as time goes by ... starting tonight when we head back out for a Thanksgiving meal with our newly "official" church family! :}  Thankful!

Noah and Anna's Lego Club

Noah and Anna (and Josh) came up with an idea to start a Lego Club.  The kids each invited two friends to be on their teams and a build theme was picked for the event - Castles.  All four invited buddies were able to come and I was quite IMPRESSED with how productive the kiddos were and how well they worked together within their teams combining all their different ideas.

Anna invited her good buddy, Claire, because she knew Claire would represent girl builders well.

She also invited a classmate she knows loved Legos, too, Sonny.  He also likes donuts which is great because Josh picked some up for everyone.  Ha!

Noah invited a friend from church, Colman, and a friend from co-op, Cole.

Colman's sister, Kellin, stuck around to help the younger team. Sonny's dad, Evan, stuck around for the event, too.

Noah's team got some assists from Cole's dad and from Josh.

Group photo with the finished product.  Anna was not happy to have be kneeling in the pic. :}

Close up of their masterpiece.  They were VERY into the castle's interior and holdings. Nice work!

Noah's group photo at morning's end.

This team put the bulk of their effort into the walls and its intimidating exterior.  Well done, boys!

It was a successful Lego Club launch and the kiddos all decided that the next meeting's theme should be vehicles.  

Precious Moments

I found a note scrawled in red marker on a little piece of paper that said, 'Come to the weting Daddy,' decorated with hearts and a bouquet and an envelope.  Intrigued, I {sort of} woke Josh up so I could hear the rest of this story...

I whisper into the darkness to Josh, to see if he might be even a shred of awake still.  "Hey."

Without opening an eye, he mumbles, "What?"

"What is with the note in the bathroom about a wedding?"

Without skipping a beat, without opening his eyes, he says, "There's going to be a wedding on November 30th."

Completely smitten by her plans and by him being so serious on her behalf, I giggle and ask, "Oh really?  Who is getting married?"

Again, into the darkness, all serious, eyes still shut, still trying to go to sleep, "Her two bunnies."

Heart stolen to consider her official paper invitation and the dialogue that surely transpired.  Heart stolen to take inventory again in my heart of how fantastic Anna's relationship with her Daddy is.  Heart stolen by the effort of planning Anna puts into her ideas.  Heart stolen that that man of mine keeps up with his daughter's earnest details and NEVER acts like he would rather be doing anything besides hang out with her and her brother.  Heart stolen to picture this wedding that will surely take place and that we will surely attend ... Then again, I wasn't on the invitation, was I? :S  Maybe she will let me be Daddy's +1. Ha!

So entirely precious to me.  All of it.
So thankful for these precious moments.

Crunch!

You hear that sound?  

That crunch, crunch, crunch?

That's me tiptoeing one step further onto granola turf.

Exhibit A

Got my hands on my first ever essential oil last night.  That cutie pie bottle contains a sample of melaleuca (tea tree oil) that I am putting on Noah's ringworm spot.  Wish us luck! 

If it doesn't work, I have the doctor's recommendation of Lotrimin AF on hand to use instead.  But I am really excited about the oil!  We shall see...

SNOWvember

This might be a first for me.  I can't say I have ever seen snow in November ... until today.  

Noah, bless him, couldn't wait to get out in it even though I told him it's not enough to play in and Josh told him there wasn't going to be enough for a snowball.  Hopeful boy set out to prove Daddy wrong.  He scrounged up enough to make just that - one precious snowball.

I had so little faith that he'd actually have anything to play with that I didn't even really suit him up.  Beyond that puffy coat, he only has on his pj pants and regular tennis shoes. :}  He was happy to have it that way though, because he got out there quicker not having to change clothes.  Didn't even take the time to put his hat on right!  Precious.

Anyway, happy first official snow day!  May there be more to come this season.  We have a four year old sled that has seen almost no action in its life.  It's being sledded down a slightly icy workshop ramp in the back as we speak, but that's just not gonna cut it in the "sledding" department no matter how hard that boy of mine wants to believe it will.  Pitifully Precious.

Bring it, winter!

SHOWing Off

This week Josh and I went to see Tim Hawkins live while he was in town on tour.  Was such a good show!  And it was PACKED.  I had no idea so many people knew about Tim.  The line to get in was wrapped around the building (and it's a big long string of buildings technically) in the freezing cold on a Sunday night!

Josh originally did not care about going, but I think he is glad I made him come.  He laughed some seriously hard laughs, struggling for air right along with me at different points during the sets.  I laughed so hard I was coughing and choking by the time I could come up for air.  And then this was only made funnier by the impersonations and jokes Tim Hawkins made about people getting old and laughing so hard it morphs into coughing spells.  HA!

Noah got to take in a show this week as well.  The Nashville Children's Theatre hosted a homeschool day, complete with a private performance of their current play, James and the Giant Peach.

We were pretty excited to see the show since we just so happened to have read the book earlier this year. The play was sooooo well done and we had great seats right on the end of the second row.  With no one actually in front of us, it felt like the front row.  And that circular stage you see just behind Noah served as the peach for much of the performance so the characters were RIGHT in front of us.   I didn't know it would be a musical performance, so that was a treat.  The actors' voices were so beautiful and interesting.  I am just sorry we couldn't stick around for the Q&A with the performers and the craft activities they offered our kiddos. :(  Had to hurry home to get our girl after school.  Looking forward to not straddling the homeschool/public school world next year for reasons just like this.

Speaking of our girl and school, Anna, while not necessarily seeing a show, did go on a field trip to Discovery Center children's science museum this week and was thrilled to the core to go on that adventure ... and to get there riding in a real live schoolbus. :}  First time ever for the littlest Brown and it was a really special detail for her.  In other showing off news, Anna built this masterpiece freestyle this weekend.  It's a Lego bunny pencil box, that's a carrot she made for it, and she even has a bunny tail situated there in back. Josh and I were beyond impressed!

Noah, really getting into the spirit of two chapter books he's just read relating to artistic endeavors, created this mosaic from Anna's loom bands.  In case you can't quite make out the theme, it's a garden with fruits and veggies and flowers and even a cloud and rain.

This boy is not at all ever interested in artsy stuff,  and, accordingly, nor is he really any good at it, so to walk in and see what his downtime and initiative had to show for itself one morning really had me floored.  There's just no limit to a how a good and/or well-chosen book can open the mind and expand horizons.  Thank you, Chalk Box Kid and Paint Brush Kid books!  This alone made my week. ♥  Can't help but show his work off, too.

Fall Ball Finishes Up

Welp, it wasn't one of his winningest seasons so far, but today's last game of the season went down as a big win at least, 11-1!  Noah was amazing, by the way.  He has rocked his second base position all season and we are quite proud of what a reliable hitter and fielder he has been for his team.  He's already looking forward to playing again in the spring, which is music to my ears. :)

Our little slugger ...

.... didn't miss a single hit at bat. So strong!

Headed for first!

Waiting to run for it while his buddy, Renzo, was at bat...

And he was off again!

Rounding third.

Ended up making it home this inning.  Here's a little clip I managed to catch.

Working the field at second.

Baseball ready!

He and the first baseman made so many stops.

Noah would field the ball and throw it perfectly to first to get runner after runner OUT.  My throat hurts from all the hootin' and hollerin' I did. It's so fun to cheer him on. ♥

The second to first connection is a new honor this year.  Last year he played third base and never got all that action.  We are really proud of him being even more "with it" this season.  He feels pretty great about it, too. :}

Anna kept busy with other little bro/sis buddies that were there as she usually does.  This was after MUCH leaf war action and a group hug.  :}

Noah's good buddy, Hayden, was on the opposing team.  He was so excited to finally get to share a game with him and was a little bummed to miss his other buddy on that team, Cole, who was out of town during this game. 

 

Even cuter was finding out they share the same number.  Go Big 3!!

THREE cheers for a lot of growth and a lot of play and a lot of fun! 

Good work this season, Noah!

So proud of you!

Noah Photo Sneaks

We did our annual family photo session last weekend - hooray! It will still be awhile before I get those proofs back, BUT I happen to have just created and ordered a photo book all about Noah in 2014 for his birth mother and the photographer was kind enough to hurry up a few of his shots to me yesterday so I could slip those babies in the book. 

Isn't he beautiful? 

And is it just me or does he make snaggle teeth look GOOD?!

I love him to pieces.

Browns Build a Bridge

Our backyard empire expanded a smidge this weekend when Josh and the kids completed an addition to the playground - a bridge connecting it to the tree.  Turned out great!  

First came the boards ... way too slack.

After tightening and a rope rail.

Then a bit more of a guard wall that I requested.

Then some floor covering so little fingers don't get pinched.  It bounces a bit so smashed fingers in between boards would HURT.

I am still a little nervous about kiddos falling off if there are too many out there or too much rambunctiousness going on, but we will watch and see how to proceed when visitors of different ages are over.

In the meantime, Noah and Anna have quite an expansive outdoor space to enjoy.  So much fun!  Such a handy Daddy they have.

Adventure Science Center

So, when our zoo membership expired in August, we looked forward to finally checking out our local science museum for a change.  We made our way there in early October and joined right away, we liked it so much!  That day was a BUSY day though, so the kids were pretty distracted from the actual learning opportunities.  That's why I was eager to go again on a school day so Noah could actually learn while he explored the exhibits.  Halloween presented the perfect opportunity to take a field trip and visit again.  It ended up being pretty busy still - ha! - but we made the best of it and were able to take in so much more than last time.  We'll call it a win!  And not just because Noah had a great time. 

First, we checked out the RiverWorks Discovery exhibit which will only be here til January.  We did a number of things there, but didn't think to pull out the camera til this photo op on a steamboat. :}  We really enjoyed the Plinko-style Species Survival Game and the Noodle a Catfish station. We also watched a short movie on barges and checked out touchable river fossils.

We absolutely spent most of our time this visit in the BodyQuest area.  This Body Battles interactive laser game was Noah's favorite.  We did this more than once.  :)

Med Center area.  Oooh, but Ick.  There were also real organs on display in cases and an ambulance to explore.

After operating a robotic hand, we wandered over to this life-size model of organs.

We only did the heart, stomach, and lungs, but I definitely wanna go back and practice this more.  This is exactly what I was wished we had last year when we did different body systems.

Noah was proud of himself for figuring it out.  I kept trying to fit that stomach where the heart goes.  Ha!  He knew better.

The Down the Hatch play area was way fun, too!  Different stations model different steps in the digestive system.

 

This marble maze of the intestine was so smart!  You navigate a marble through all the intestinal coils and it either gets absorbed (falls in the holes) along the way or makes it way to the end (poop).  Sound effects galore in this area, if you know what I mean.  Noah was quite amused!

Since we did the Planetarium and Space Chase area pretty heavily last time, Noah and I only ventured over there for a quick turn on the Moonwalker.

Noah enjoyed this twice, though they are sticklers for the rules and made him wait 30 minutes before getting back in line.  Even though there was no line.  Ha!  We checked out the Tilt a World naviagation table, rockets at the Trajectory Trails exhibit, and walked through the to-scale Planet Globe display.

There's also an excellent Adventure Tower play area with a million activities to explore.  This trip, Noah did the Vertebrae Ladder, the Parachute Drop, the Walk On Piano, and this PlayMotion wall.

So pretty.

And before heading out, we sampled some freeze-dried ice cream.

It wasn't great.  Noah only tried a few bites and quit that little taste test.  I tried a few bites and didn't care for the fuzzy feeling in my mouth and how it made my tongue feel like it was swelling.  Anna tried a bite, too, and STILL we couldn't finish it off.  No matter, trick or treating that night fit the sugary sweets bill just fine.  And now we can say we have tried astronaut food, too.  :}