sweet stuff

elder mikey feliciano returned home from nicaragua last thursday!

we've known mikey since he was a babe and chris was able to be his young men's president for a little while (the first time he was YM president). we are so proud of him and cant wait to see the amazing things he'll accomplish! he's headed to BYU-I, so you know he'll be extraordinary ;)

 i love this picture.

like father like son.

lila, mikey's mama, asked me to make cupcakes for his homecoming.

ellie helped make some caramel apples for a halloween party.

she is a great baker/chef/scientist in the kitchen.

it's frustrating for me at times because i like to be in control when cooking (aka no messes or sticky fingers), but im glad she can look past that and enjoy being there by my side. cause i'm certainly grateful to have my mostly sweet girl with me.

we had a great variety: 

m&m, apple pie, toffee, plain chocolate, and good ol' caramel.

very tasty. 

except i tried a new type of apples that were terrible, which definitely tainted the yumminess factor.

a few random pics from the past few weeks:

ellie in the kitchen again, making cornbread i think.

charlie and louie, watching thomas the train while wearing soccer cleats.

saturday morning run to trackside donuts, 

then to the park to eat and play.

fritters the size of jack's noggin.

special lunch date after school with mama to panera for mac n' cheese.

a morning ride.

and charlie being charlie.

who what where when why & how

Who: the Brower Clan

What: ice blocking

Where: Estero Park

When: today, October 1st. 4pm.

Why: to live on the edge.

(ok, maybe it was a good activity for family home evening)

((ok, ok, maybe chris needed to test out his idea for wednesday evening's youth activity, but we didnt mind being the guinea pigs))

How: gliding down the only hill in southwest florida at high speeds on a block of ice that was purchased at a bait shop on the beach.

then ice cream cones to seal the deal.

we watched these videos on the big tv tonight and the kids LOVED seeing their expressions.

not too many people get to ice block in shorts and have ice cream cones afterwards! we all had such a great time with this activity and ellie said it was her favorite thing to do ever.

Who: Charlie's Alien

What: a growing alien

Where: in the kitchen

When: Sunday, September 23rd- Monday October 1st.

Why: because grandpa brought it back for charlie from Devil's Tower, Wyoming.

and the package said it would grow 600%.... so why not?

How: put it in H2O and watch it grow grow grow! 

it started at 3 1/2" and grew to 10 1/2". not bad.

we took it out today because i need my counter space back and it's neck was getting weak and disturbingly floppy.

Who: the Brower Clan

What: 5000 for Ali

Where: around town

When: mostly tuesdays and saturdays

Why: the entire brower family is supporting chris's amazing sister Ali while she is fighting, wait, no, more like pulverizing, B Cell Lymphoma by walking, running, riding, and/or swimming 5000 miles. 

How: We bike 2-3 miles together on saturday mornings and the kids run like crazy at soccer on tuesdays. we also do random other things throughout the week as well.

this is the look i received after accidentally pinching charlie's chin while putting on his helmet :(

we have had a blast coming up with ways to add up our miles (except for ellie, but we choose not to think about all the whining and complaining she does about being hot, tired, and thirsty-sometimes a parents job is to say, "suck it up, kiddo!"). we've played a bit of tennis along with our bike riding and jack is getting pretty good. it has been great talking with the kids about how the WHOLE family is doing this together and wearing our awesome shirts each saturday. i have overheard both jack and ellie telling friends at school how we are "riding for aunt ali"!

soccer

is there anything cuter than 4 & 5 year olds in soccer uniforms???

jack and ellie are on the green team, which has named themselves the vicious "green dragonflies". i guess thats better then the "green soccer balls" which one of the kids came up with.

they are #5 & #2

jack is still learning that soccer is a team sport and its not all about him. but, i gotta hand it to him, he's pretty good for a 5 year old. he made 2 goals the first game and a couple tonight too.

 we have been very pleasantly surprised by little ellie. she is not afraid to get in there and get a piece of the action. she even scored a goal the first game! 

we got pretty wet tonight, but it sure beats the heat and the kids loved it.

this next picture has nothing to do with soccer, as im sure you noticed. i need to preface this story by saying that chris is a very very intelligent person and i value his opinions and input in most situations very highly. well, last week we had my mom over for dinner because my dad is still out of town on a cross-country motorcycle trip. chris was grilling chicken and it started to pour, which made grilling a no-go. we couldnt find our dang umbrella for chris to use while he took the food off the grill to bring inside to continue cooking. my mom and i both offered to go out and hold a towel over him and the food so it wouldnt get wet, but he thought he had a better idea:

when i took this picture, they both thought the flash was lightning hahaha!

afterwards, very seriously, chris admitted that maybe it wasnt the best idea to reach through the kitchen window to get food off the grill :)

1st Annual Art Show

we had our first ever 

browne cousins art show!

it was SO much fun to plan with jack and ellie, and SO much fun putting it together today with my special helper ellie.
it's safe to say we will be doing this again.

we invited all the kids to submit up to 5 pieces of art (any form), put them on display in our "gallery" and had everyone join us for fine art, even finer company, and bubbly & hors d'oeuvres.

i know- bubbly and hors d'oeuvres- we is classy.

gosh, this was fun!

seriously, i think everyone should do this with their kids, whether its with cousins, friends, or just siblings. the kids loved seeing their pieces on display and it was great coming up with projects over the past couple weeks. even our hawaiian 'ohana joined in the fun and sent some pictures!

we love you cousin Quinn!

here is an insane amount of pictures of our grand evening: