Twin's Birthday

The twinkies turned three on Monday, the 22nd!  We had a safari themed birthday party at our house.  It was a lot of fun!  First I had a craft for all the children to do with their parents.  They could choose from a lion, tiger, bear or monkey and make a hand puppet.  It is a Martha Stewart craft from Wal-Mart.  Scott took a picture of us from the balcony overlooking the activity.  Then the children played Pin the Nose on the Lion.  I also had a carnival game of throwing beanbags through the jungle animals for points.  And I had a safari themed growth chart to mark how tall all the children are but we never made it to that.  We did birthday cake and opened presents and the children escaped outside.  The twins didn't open half of their presents.  Scott and I had to finish for them.  Thank you to everyone who came to the party.  It's hard when your children have a birthday party so close to Christmas.  I was afraid everyone would have Christmas obligations and not be able to attend but I think we ended up with about 30 people. 

 Happy Birthday, my little babies!  I love you with all my heart!  I can't believe three years have passed us by.  Their birth was such a blur to me due to my own health at the time.  I was in the hospital 6 days (3 in ICU), Shep was in the NICU 18 days and Wynn was in the NICU for 28 days.  Leaving those babies in that hospital while I got to come home was absolutely awful.  A mother's heart can't take being separated from her children.  Not this mother, at least.  I was so happy to be able to bring them home.  When Shep came home I felt so torn.  I was happy to have him with me but sad that Wynn was there without a mother and his brother.  Shep was so sweet and such a good sleeper from the start. When Wynn came home I put him in the bed with me the first night and slept nose to nose with  him so he could feel my breath and hope that he would feel bonded with me.  I will never forget that night and smelling his breath as he slept.  Scott and I tried for 4 years to get pregnant.  It was a hard journey and I lost two babies in the process.  But those little boys are more than worth the wait.  I know many people who know why they were put on this Earth and what they feel like their contribution to the world is.  Mine is to be a mother.  I treasure it everyday.  I don't enjoy it everyday but I am so thankful God made me a mother.  I love you twinkies!

Christmas Program

Shep and Wynn were in their Christmas Program at their school on Thursday.  It was precious!  They sang three songs and it lasted about 7 minutes.  Shep was really into it and sang and did the motions.  Wynn picked at his lip during the first song, picked his nose during the second song and sat down on the stage during the last song.  During all the songs he yawned. Notice in the first picture where Wynn is pulling his shirt off. Luckily we made it through the whole program without either one of them taking their clothes completely off.  But it was priceless being able to watch them.  

Sick Update for Party

Hello friends!  For all my mommy friends who are planning on coming to the twin's birthday party tomorrow...my house is sanitized!  My cleaning ladies came today and cloroxed it from head to toe.  All the rugs have been washed.  All the hand towels have been washed.  Everything is crisp and clean.  All three children are on an antibiotic and therefore not contagious.  The pink eye is gone.  All we have left is ear infections (Noah got added to the list today.  Scott took him to the doctor and he had an ear infection.)  But you would never know they were sick this week.  They are wild today and everyone is outside playing in the warm air.  Scott is cutting the grass and he has Noah blowing leaves with the big blower.  This is Noah's first time to do real yard work.  He's having a ball but I'm guessing his arm will hurt tomorrow from carrying the blower.  Wynn has helped me clean the windows outside.  Shep is in his own world doing whatever Shep does.  We are ready for tomorrow and seeing all our friends.  Wynn keeps asking if it's party time.  My kids love to party!  So, I hope you guys will come and Bre:  you can come with your kids; I promise not to infect them! Ha, ha

Noah's Party

Noah made it to school today and had his Christmas party.  I have no idea where the hat came from.  It's not his and when I walked in the room he was the only one wearing a hat.  Maybe I should have asked.  When he saw me come in the door he asked me if I brought his eye drops (for the pink eye) and I told him no.  Then I asked if he needed them and he said "No, I did not want you to put them in my eyes in my classroom."  Well, OK.  They had lots of stuff to eat and he received a lot of gifts.  I'm glad he was feeling better and able to go to school.  While I was at the party, his student teacher came in.  Her last day was last week but she came back for their party.  On her last day, I sent her a gift.  I packed a bag full of  teacher supplies for when she gets her own classroom.  Well apparently when she thanked Noah for the gift last week, he told her I just put things in the bag that I had in my office, except the ruler, which he thought I actually bought.  She tells me this story at the party.  I could have died!  I bought every single thing I put in that bag.  She laughed.  He's a mess!  Now we have the twins Christmas program and party tomorrow.  They are feeling much better so they will definitely attend school.  I can't wait to see their performance!

Sick House

We took the twins to the doctor Monday.  Wynn - double ear infections (and his tubes were out) and pink eye; Shep - sinus infection.  Then I went to pick Noah up from school and when he got in the car both his eyes were red.  I said "Noah, you have pink eye."  He said they itched all day but didn't tell his teacher.  I called the doctor and he called me in the eye drops.  Then Scott and I started with a sore throat.  So today, we were all five at home.  Merry Christmas was not the attitude in our house.  I am praying everyone is better by tomorrow.  Noah's Christmas party at school is Wednesday and the twin's Christmas program and party at school is Thursday.  

Sick Sunday

Welcome to the sick house.  This is what my family looks like today. All three boys want to sit with daddy under a blanket.  Here's the rundown:  Noah - sore throat, low fever; Shep - green snot, cough; Wynn - cough, pink eye.  I will be paying quite a big co-pay at the doctor.  If anyone needs to reach me today I will be holding a child.

Happy Birthday, Noah!

Today my little Noah turned 8!  Time has flown by.  I can't believe I have an 8 year old.  We had his party on Saturday at Game Zone.  Then he had two friends spend the night with us.  I'm not sure they actually slept.  I went to bed when they were watching Star Wars (I don't remember which number).  Scott said he turned off the tv at 11 but at 12 he heard Noah turning it back on.  He got a DS from me and Scott and a game from the twins.  His Aunt Marsha and Uncle Wesley gave him DS games also.  He loves it!  He got lots of other great gifts as well and I think he's up to about $140 in cash and gift cards from people.  He is like his mother and loves to shop.  I'm sure he will spend his money this weekend on more games.  Now he has a Wii, XBox, XBox 360 and a DS.  I should start having birthday parties for kids at my house and just let them play with all his game systems. Anyway... to Noah:

I am so proud of you!  I prayed so hard to have you and when you were born I kept saying how perfect you were.  I know you are not perfect but in my heart you are still that baby who changed my whole world and has brought more joy to my life than you will ever know.  I am so honored that God chose me to be your mom!  Happy Birthday, I Love You!

Parade

Our family was in the Alabaster Christmas Parade on Saturday.  We rode on top of this RV.  Our float (RV) was the City Council float.  We were the first float in the parade.  We told the children that they were going to throw candy at people and they were very excited.  Well, we should have given better directions.  Noah chose to stand beside the mayor.  We all had buckets of candy we were throwing.  Noah took his bucket and threw all of the candy at one time out to the people below.  Needless to say, he hurt some folks!  The mayor did a quick lesson on how you only throw a few pieces at a time.  So to all the babies who were left crying after the parade was over because of anything my children threw at you, I am sorry.  It was a lot of fun.  Scott said that in all his years of growing up in Alabaster, he had never been to a parade.  I think he had as much fun as the children.  

Happy Thanksgiving

This was our annual Thanksgiving picture in Aunt Margaret's yard.  We had a great trip to Memphis for Thanksgiving.  This is an annual trip that revolves around lots of food and fun.  Every year we have a BBQ feast on Wednesday night at Mom and Pop's house.  They have a banner that says Patterson Corral that they hang up for the night.  Mom always has everything decorated perfectly for the hoedown.  Unfortunately, this year Pop was too ill to host.  We had the BBQ at Uncle Pat and Uncle David's house.  Kendall decorated beautifully.  They were wonderful hosts.  I'll post pics later of the kids.  Kendall had a fire pit in the back yard with hay bales and the kids got to roast marshmallows and make smores after dinner.  They also played football.  Shep and Wynn didn't realize they were to little to tackle and dove right in with the older kids.  We had a delicious catered meal from Corky's BBQ.  

The next day we went to Aunt Margaret's for lunch.  We had just walked in the door and I had not even made it into the living room when there was an accident.  Aunt Margaret has a pool and a hot tub outside.  Both are covered for the winter.  Well Shep went outside with all the other children and walked right out onto the pool.  Sam (10 years old) came running in and got Scott while Noah "watched" Shep.  Scott fished him out as he was sinking into the pool.  It scared him to death.  We had not even had our picture taken yet.  We took his pants, socks, and shoes off and put them in the dryer.  The family picture of us was taken after the incident.  Noah is standing in front of Shep to hide that he doesn't have shoes on.  Shep is still clinging to Scott because he was still upset.  Luckily, that was the last accident of the day.  We had a wonderful lunch with all the Thanksgiving fanfare!  We stayed all day and had a wonderful corn chowder soup and sandwiches for dinner.  We finally went back to the hotel around 9:00.  We were all exhausted.  

On a sad note, we came home on Friday afternoon and on Sunday morning, Pop passed away.  Scott and I will travel back to Memphis on Tuesday for his services.  He was such a patriarch in their family.  His absence at all our festivities this year was noticeable.  I am so thankful we were able to spend some time with him on Wednesday.  I am thankful God allowed all of us to see him one last time.  We will miss him beyond words can say!

Sleeping Update

I thought I would update you on the twins going to bed last night.  I couldn't sleep and about 2:00 a.m. I thought I heard them.  I waited a few minutes and decided I better go check on them.  As I'm walking up the stairs I can hear them and notice lots of lights on.  They were in the playroom with the door shut.  I tried to open the door but they had locked it!  I demanded they open the door and I heard someone unlock it.  I opened it and there they sat, playing with toys.  I took them back to bed and told them I didn't care what they did but they had to stay in their bed.  Then Noah starts calling me.  He said the twins were keeping him awake.  He was watching t.v.  IT WAS 2:00 AM!  Anyway, I went back downstairs and all was quiet.  I fell asleep.  Scott and I were talking about it tonight at dinner and he said "What about when Shep came downstairs?"  I said I had no idea what he was talking about.  He said about an hour after I put them to bed that Shep came downstairs and asked for some milk.  Scott got up and fixed him some and took him back to bed and said he cried and cried because he didn't want to go to sleep.  I never even knew any of that.  Another eventful night at the Brakefield house.  Did I mention that the night before our smoke alarm went off at 3:00 a.m.?

Jesus Loves Me

Shepherd has become impossible to get to sleep for the past 6 nights.  He screams!  The twins have slept through the night since they were 10 weeks old.  Bedtime has never been a problem for them. But for some reason lately, Shep refuses to get in his bed.  Once he falls asleep though, he is fine.  Anyway, I was rocking he and Wynn before bed the other night and I was singing "Jesus Loves Me'.  All of a sudden Shep says "Mommy, Jesus lives in my family."  Oh my goodness!  I kissed him and affirmed his statement.  Then I kept singing and this time Wynn said "Mommy, Jesus loves you?"  What?  They are familiar with me telling them that Jesus loves them and they have heard me sing that song a million times but all of a sudden it hit Wynn that Jesus loves his mommy and he was surprised by the fact.  I said "Yes, Jesus loves me too Wynn!"  It was funny.

No Shave November

November 30th cannot come soon enough.  No one in my family wants any kisses from this scruff.  And he constantly scratches it.  I wonder if Pastor Les' family feels the same way.  Probably not.

Daddy

Thanks to everyone who said a prayer for Daddy today.  He successfully had a pacemaker put in this morning.  Please read Marsha's blog for all the details.  I actually enjoyed the time I got to spend with him today.  He stays so busy and we never get to talk to him for an extended amount of time.  Considering the fact that he was tied to his bed, I could actually talk to him and he had no choice but to talk back.  My dad has always been such a hard worker.  I don't know anyone else on this earth who works like he does.  He lives for it.  When we were in the waiting room today there was a volunteer who told us about her grandson.  She went on and on about how he was lazy and had graduated from high school but didn't go to college and slept all day.  He has never even gotten a driver's license.  I told her how when we were growing up the idea of college was never discussed as an option.  It was just an unspoken fact that we would attend college and we could not live at home.  I am so thankful my parents did that.  My dad was the "Because I said so" kind of dad.  When we woke up every summer morning, there was a bucket of freshly picked vegetables on the porch for us to snap or shell or shuck or whatever.  We didn't question whether we were going to do it or not.  When I was a senior in high school my curfew got moved to 11:30.  I didn't ask for any later and knew that I was lucky it wasn't 8:30 because "Nothing good ever happens after that."  When he let me go out with my friends he always made sure we had a quarter in case we needed to call home (this was before cell phones).  When the Galleria opened my family went to see it.  While walking in the mall he grabbed my hand and tried to skip through the mall with me.  I could have died.  He would drop me off at school and turn his country music up loud in the truck to embarrass me.  I made sure I got to school early so no one would see us.  On my senior spring break trip he took me and my best friend to the beach.  While we laid out on the beach he told boys that walked by and looked at us that we had terrible attitudes and not to talk to us.  I have so many stories about him and am so thankful for the memories.  Today I am glad that I had the time with him to remember who daddy really is.  He still likes to embarrass me, still works very hard and thankfully may now have a stronger heart so he can keep it up.

Sweet Shepherd

This is how Shep sleeps in the car.  He puts his hands under his seat belt and clasps them together.  I love it!  He has the sweetest little face and voice.  

Party People

Scott sent me an e-mail (yes, that's how busy we are ...he notifies me through an e-mail) on Tuesday saying he wanted to have a few people over on Saturday for the Alabama/LSU game.  I think we ended up with 34 (16 adults and 18 children).  The guys in this picture have been Scott's friends since elementary school.  They may have changed over the years but when you put them all in one room you notice they really haven't changed that much.  Three of them went on to play baseball on scholarship in college and the other went to college on a football scholarship. I love that Scott still has most of his friends from high school and college.  

 Those who know me well know that I love having people over to my house.  I love having a house full of friends and family with children and chaos everywhere.  We certainly had that all on Saturday.  I had to ask Scott on Sunday what happened during the game because I think I only saw one play.  Thanks to everyone who helped with the food.  Some of the highlights for me were as follows:

1.  Kristi and I going to the store in Karen's car and not knowing how to turn off her rear windshield wipers.  So they stayed on the whole time.

2.  Playing music and watching the little kids dance.  

3.  Joey asking "Who made the meatballs?"  I told him it was Jen and he said he didn't know she could cook anything.  I told him to try one and he said "No thanks."

4.  Tre having church with Jen and I at the end of the night.  He missed his calling; he would have been a great preacher.

5.  Pretty much everything Blaine said.  He cracks me up!

6.  Scott dancing.  Did anyone else see this?

7.  Looking over at Wynn and noticing he was naked from the waist down.  He was standing right in front of Joseph and Bryan yet they never noticed until I said something.  When football is on, guys really don't pay attention to anything else.

The whole night was so much fun.  The children had a ball! I can't wait to do it again.  Please tell me some of your highlights from the night.

The Inauguration

He's official.  Scott was sworn in Monday night.  As he placed his hand on the bible and swore to uphold his duties, the boys and I stood behind him and we were very proud of him.  Well actually I was very proud.  Wynn had his finger in his nose, Shep was looking at Papa Jack and Noah was eyeing the food on the tables set up for the reception.  After everyone was sworn in they took their seats at the front of the room and began their first official meeting with the new council.  That's when it all started to go down hill.  My mother, Scott's mom and step-dad, and Scott's dad and step-mom were all seated at the back of the room.  I was at the front on one of the pews they had roped off for family members.  Shep and Noah decided to sit in the back with the grandmothers who brought them cereal and m&m's to keep them occupied.  Wynn, however, decided to run up and down the isle between me and them.  He had a nap yesterday and he had leftover Halloween candy and now he was eating again.  He was on a sugar high and wow could you tell.  Once when I tried to get him to sit with me he yelled "You're hurting me!"  I was sitting with the mayor's wife, and the fire chief and police chief were behind me.  I came very close to pinching him but was afraid of either being written up by the reporters there or being called out by some "official person".  I decided to get up and take the twins outside.  I was able to Scott make his first "Second" announcement but missed the part when they opened up the floor and let the new people speak.  I was told he thanked his family but unfortunately I was outside with his family because they couldn't behave inside.  When it was over, they had a reception.  Of course Wynn went straight for the m&m cookies.  He only ate the m&m's out of them and then would lay his cookie down wherever he saw fit.  I spent the next 30 minutes cleaning up after the boys.  They jumped off the stage, sat in all the council's seats, tried to talk on the microphones, stole food off the tables and candy out of "decorative vases" and literally drove me crazy.  But you know I held it together.  I apologized to all the council and mayor and most of the people in attendance and promised not to ever bring my children back to another meeting.  But the important thing was that Scott did great.  He looked very handsome and I thought he did a great job.  I'm so happy my boys have him as a role model.  They couldn't have gotten a better father nor could I have gotten a better husband!

The Real Joey

Welcome to Joey.  Saturday, he came over to my house to watch football.  I feel pretty sure Marsha made him.  This was the look on his face the whole time.  After the Auburn game he said he wanted to go home.  Now, he didn't try and hide the fact that he wanted to leave.  He said it out loud.  "I want to go to my own house."  So funny!  Joey doesn't really like socializing.  He talks as little as possible, which is a good thing since he married Marsha (who never stops talking).  The only time he really perked up was when we talked about Celebrity Rehab and he had actually seen it and commented on the characters.  Luckily since we're family I know this about him and it didn't hurt my feelings that he wanted to go. I did send a text later that night to see if he was ok and he didn't understand why I would ask.  That's just Joey.

Has anyone seen the ad for Get Snuggie?  Why do I want one?  It advertises while I'm watching Little House on the Prairie every morning from 9:00-11:00.  Visit their site at www.GetSnuggie.com.

Mandrell Sisters

My mother dressed my sister and I alike when we were little.  Marsha likes to compare it to the Mandrell sisters.  We wore the same outfits but in different colors.  Well Saturday, she and her family and Jen came over to watch the Auburn game.  When she walked in the door we noticed we had on the same shirt.   We bought this shirt together at the Gap outlet in Foley last year. I guess we've come full circle.  We tried so hard to go our different ways from each other and here we are, looking like the Mandrell sisters yet again!

Trick- Or- Treat

It's over.  We succeeded in all our Halloween activities.  We started at 4:30.  First we went to my dad's (my old house) and let the kids run around outside and they collected some major chocolate candy.  As soon as the candy went in their bag they wanted to start eating.  Then we went to the church.  When we were driving up to the church, Noah asked if he could go on his own and not stay with us.  We said he could.  We went straight to our work station.  It was called The Toddler Zone.  It was a very cute bouncy thing for children 4 and under.  The twins stayed in it forever, which was a good thing since we couldn't take them around to the other stations.  I only saw Noah twice in an hour and a half.  Once he came by to watch his brothers jumping and then once he came by for $20.  He purchased his own dinner and I have no idea who he ate with.  Scott ended up taking the twins to some of the games and then he located Noah.  Noah did not want to leave the church but we were all freezing.  We went home and I put on more clothes and then Noah and I headed to Marsha's.  We trick-or-treated for an hour with them.  It was 9:00 by this time.  Noah said to me on the way home: "When I get home I'm taking a hot shower, putting on my p.j.'s, laying on the couch and popping in a dvd.  I'll lay there till I fall asleep."  I thought that sounded like a good idea.  We had a lot of fun and we were all exhausted.  Then this morning I woke up to Noah shutting our bedroom door.  He does that on Saturday mornings because he gets up early and doesn't want to wake anyone else up.  I fell back asleep and heard all the kids.  I opened the door and couldn't believe what I saw.  The twins had woken up and Noah had fixed their cups of milk, pop tarts and cereal.  He had them seated at the table and was feeding them breakfast.  How beautiful!  I'm so thankful for him helping me.  I'm enjoying him getting older and being more responsible.  His brothers are very lucky to have him!  I hope everyone had as much fun as we did!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Brakefield's!  I love giving my children presents.  Halloween is just another excuse for me to do that.  I filled each child's (monogrammed) spider basket with new dvd's, spider spoons and forks, silly treats and lots of candy!  I also sent little treat bags to all of the students in Noah's class.  I can't wait to take them to church tonight.  Scott and I have to work one of the inflatables for the first hour at the Fall Festival so we will have to switch out duty with the kids.  Noah hopes to get more candy this year than last year.  He hates the "Only Take One Piece" rule.  That's why this year I bought more for them.  We don't get to hand out candy at our house because we don't live in a neighborhood.  I'm glad our church has the festival so we always have a place to go.  Also, it's one-stop shopping.  Different area restaurants have booths set up with their food to sell.  All we have to do is show up, eat, get candy, play games and have fun!  So...if you're close to Westwood tonight, come on by!  We would love to have you!

That's Loud

I have to share a conversation Wynn and I had this weekend. We were all in the Yukon on our way to Tannehill.  Wynn asked me a question and I answered him.  He asked me the same question again and I answered him again, a little louder.  He asked me the same question again and I answered him again, even louder.  Then it went like this:

Wynn: "That's loud."

Me:  "What?"

Wynn:  "Your mouth!"

Well, wow!  Scott immediately began laughing and all I could do was pick up my magazine and resume reading.  I completely ignored him.  As my sister has pointed out, we are doing a bible study around the book Boundaries With Kids.  Clearly I need all the help I can get.  Wynn calls himself Bully Bear. 

Fun pics from Tannehill

Noah is Star Wars Clone Wars Storm Trooper Rex and the twins are Handy Manny. Can you tell Shep didn't feel great?  Aren't they cute!  Is it wrong that I still make Noah carry his spider trick-or-treat bag with his name monogrammed on it?  After the twins were born I got them one just like it.   

Starting Over

It has been a long time since I was a blogger.  But for some reason I feel the need to jump backinto this world.  This blog will be devoted to my family and friends who I love so much.  I absolutely do not have time for this. But I feel like I should make a little time to capture the moments my boys capture me...in their every moment (awake or asleep).

Friday night I had the great idea to cook chili and make Halloween crafts.  Jen and the girls came over.  All five kids made Halloween foam craft pictures.  There were Halloween stickers everywhere!  Then we baked pumpkin cookies.  After baking cookies, all five kids painted.  Then we cleaned up and ate dinner.  I was exhausted by 6:30.  Finally, Jen, Scott and I were able to sit down and relax.  Marsha and Karen came over about 8:30 and entertained us.  Karen couldn't get over the fact that the kids were still crafting at 9:30 and noone was ready for bed but the adults.

On Saturday we went to the Halloween Extravaganza at Tannehill State Park.  Scott's mom and step-dad took their camper for the weekend and invited us to partake in all the festivities.  We arrived about 2:30 and we were off to the inflatables and pony rides.  The twins have had a sinus infection and Shep still didn't feel super.  He would not leave my arms.  Wynn and Noah, however, had a ball.

About 4:30 we started getting them dressed in their costumes.  The trick-or-treating didn't begin until 5:00 sharp.  Everyone at Tannehill had to choose from 3 different lines to get in. Then they said start and we walked from camper to camper getting candy.  There were thousands of people there.  It took us about 45 minutes to get into the park that day and when we started trick-or-treating there was still a line of cars coming into the park.  WOW!  Who would have thought!  There were many campers with tv's outside surrounded by men watching football.  The twins didn't care as much for the candy as they did for looking at all the people in costumes and seeing all the Halloween decorations.  We left about 6:30 and the twins were asleep by 6:32.  Noah stayed with his grandparents and got to cook marshmallows and hot dogs over a camp fire.  He was in heaven and didn't come home until 5:30 Sunday night.

Just another weekend in the life of the Brakefield Bunch!