It’s Ring Day!

I hold Valentine’s Day very dearly in my heart, as many of you do, I’m certain.  I have such a love of celebrations and today is no different.  Cupcakes and cookies (or heart-shaped chocolate chip cookies, as Reece so subtly asked me to make this morning!), sweet cards (two of which I am the proud, teary-eyed recipient of!), and melt in your mouth chocolate.  There is no better day to tell your Sweetie that you love them. 

But wait!  There is!  How about EVERYDAY?!  Why not make everyday Valentine’s Day?  No, not the sugar high, full of indulgences kind, but the I-love-you-so-much-it-makes-my-heart-hurt kind!  The I-can’t-imagine-living-a-day-of -my-life-without-you kind! The come-over-here-and-snuggle-with-me-on the-couch-and-let’s-read-a-book kind!  We have it in our power to make everyday Valentine’s Day in our heart or hearts!  We just have to do it!  Make the commitment…take the plunge…love your love allllll year-long!  I’m sure it would make attitudes better and gratitudes grow!  Try it!

As for the once a year sweets (okay, so maybe we have sweets more than once a year in the Brown Homehold), those are good periodically.  One thing that probably won’t change is my yearly ritual of wearing MY Honey’s high school ring.  You see, on this day, 19 years ago, Rhett Brown stood on my parent’s doorstep and under the front door lamp, he asked

Only on Valentine's Day!

me to wear his ring.  To be his only girlfriend.  To go steady.  And I said yes. And so now, on the anniversary of the day he asked me to wear the ring, I wear The Ring! I look forward to the day, love telling the story of the day, love remembering the day.  The first day in my step towards becoming Mrs. Rhett Brown.  I love that name!

So, Rhett Brown, I’d choose you.  Every time.  Thank you for making me Your Girlfriend….I won’t tell your wife!  😮

Until Next Time, I’m Fondly Yours,

Jeanne

The Final Girlfriend of Rhett Brown

My Experiment

This morning I began my experiment.  I love to pay it forward!  Let’s see if my love for the act can inspire others!

Last year I took the Boys for biscuits before school every once in a while.  If I had extra cash, I would pay for the person’s order behind me.  No big deal…”Just tell them to have a fabulous day!” I would tell the person working the window.

One day I went to get biscuits and the woman told me that the last day I had been through the line, 12 people had followed suit and paid for the person behind them!!  TWELVE!!  I love that!

This morning I tried to get out of the parking lot before the gentleman who was behind me could get up beside me.  I wasn’t trying to be rude!  There was just no thanks needed and I didn’t want to him to think he owed me anything.  Traffic prevented me from turning out and so I got a honk, a smile and a big ol’ wave of  thanks.  I smiled, honked and waved back.  Now instead of just me having a fabulous morning, I was helping someone else’s morning start that way too!!

Here’s the experiment part…I’ll go back later this week and try it again.  We’ll see if we and get this to catch on…because who can’t use a smile and sweeeeeet tea in the morning?!

Well now I’m off to school so that one day I can make enough money to pay it forward on more than biscuits!  Check back and see how it goes!!

Until Next Time, I’m Fondly Yours,

Jeanne

Queen of the Drive Thru

Remembering

What do we remember?  Good times?  Happy times?  Births, weddings, Christmas, last days of school? 

The Day of Logan's Birth!

Stephanie's Wedding!

Reece's End of 4th Grade Celebration!

Christmas time, 2007

We remember too the not happy times.

September 11, 2001.  

We watched a documentary last night as a family about the events of 9/11.  Reece remembered some of what happened from hearing us talk about it before.  Probably from conversations we had on September 11th, 2009.  Garett didn’t have any recollection of us talking about it before.  He couldn’t believe that someone would hate America so much as to commit those horrible acts.  

George Clooney said something at the Emmy’s that has stuck with me.  He wasn’t speaking about 9/11 specifically, but about all heinous and horrible events that the media shine a spotlight on for a time and then when the light moves to another event, our attention does as well.   Flooding, famines, natural disasters, what has happened in the countries where this has all happened?  Where this is still happening?  

I can’t go to these places and physically work to make things better, but I am going to try to keep the events in MY spotlight.  In MY prayers.  That’s all I can do and I hope that others will remember too. 

Until Next time, I’m Fondly Yours, 

Jeanne 

Queen of the Browns 

P.S.  Next Post will be more uplifting…I promise.  Check back…I’m starting an experiment!!

We’re Still Here!

School has started and life has ramped up in a big way!!  The Boys are loving school and Logi is reading and writing and amazing us everyday!  Garett is flying through books and came home last week telling us about the Algebra that he is learning!  Learn it now, Bug!!  Mommy won’t be much help when it gets harder!  We’ll have to wait for Daddy to get home….or go visit Aunt Jaimes for some tutoring!!  Reece is in a new school this year and loving it!  If he doesn’t have Chorus then it’s Creations…or Animal Lovers Club after school!    SOOOO glad to be part of a carpool! 

Harry is doing great and adjusting to being with me during the day.  We have speech therapy once a week and so he calls that “going to school”!  He takes his backpack and everything!  He has an attitude and a temper,  but can also be the sweetest of My Boys!

Rhett is doing great and loves that Logi seems to have caught the golfing bug!  They love to go to the driving range together and if they aren’t putting or driving together then they are practicing soccer.  Logan is playing again this fall and Rhett is truly the At-Home-Coach!  He’s a fantastic Dad and not a day goes by that he doesn’t play with or read to the Boys. 

I have returned to school…again….and hate to wish my life away, but can’t wait until each class I take is over!  I am taking 3 now and hope to get into the Nursing Program at the beginning of the year since all of my prerequisites will be finished.

It’s a busy life and a fun life.  It’s a full life and definitely a blessed life.  Thank you for wanting to share in it with us!

Until Next Time, I’m Fondly Yours,

Jeanne

Queen of the Brown Family

Update!

Since my last post…..

…Logan turned 5!!

…Rhett and Jeanne celebrated 14 years of wedded bliss!!

…Jeanne turned 36 (and celebrated with a fabulous surprise party)!

…Jeanne went BACK to school.

…Harry turned 3 (no more Babies)!

…Reece, Garett and Logan finished school for the year (and are going to be in the 5th grade, 3rd grade and K-5)!

…Rhett remembered that he loves golf (after not pulling his bag out for more than 2 years)!

…Rhett built full over full bunkbeds for the Big Boys (so we are finished with toddler beds now)!

…Reece and Garett both learned how to play “Sunshine of My Love” by Cream on the guitar. 

…summer is in FULL swing and we are milking the most out of each and every day!

Pictures will follow when:

 1. I take time to clean all 360 pictures off of my camera.

and

2.  I take time to post them!

Till then, I am Fondly Yours,

Jeanne

Queen of the Brown Family

Do Re Mi…

So last weekend was spent in Charleston for Reece to take part in the SC Elementary Honors Choir Program.  We arrived on Thursday and he rehearsed Thursday afternoon/evening, Friday all day (with time off for lunch), and then the performance was Saturday morning.  Can I just tell you how amazed I was at the talent these children exhibited?  Reece, Mark, Amaris and Selah were 4 of the 243 students from all over SC who auditioned and made the choir. This picture was taken at one of the rehearsals.  Their music teacher, Donna Barrick, worked with them twice a week for 3 months to learn 8 songs and on Saturday, all the hard work paid off!  The sound of these children’s voices was astonishing!  I know I had tears more than once during the songs.

The weekend was lots of hard work, but the kids got to have fun too!  We ate at Bubba Gumps on the Market with everyone Friday night so the kids loved that.  It was nice to watch them enjoy themselves after all of the sitting still that they did the previous two days. Amaris’s little brother Joe was there so Logan had fun clowning with him at dinner too!  What a fun time we all had!

Our grown up Madison (we have little Madison friends and a big Madison friend!) is finishing up her senior year at Charleston Southern University so she joined us on Saturday morning.  Rhett’s parents also made the trip down on Friday to spend the weekend with us so Reece was not hurting for a Fan Club at all!!  Reece,Amaris, Selah and Mark all did a phenomenal job and I hope that we get to be a part of this special weekend again in the future…maybe even with Garett Bug!  Who knows?!

The rest of the weekend was spent playing!  We went to the noisy Oyster Saturday for lunch(where Reece was so tired he fell asleep immediately after eating!) and then walked around the Market and King Street.  Sunday found us at Folly Beach to look for seashells and then on the pier at Locklear’s for lunch.

Rhett and I renewed our vows on Folly and had brunch with our wedding guests at Locklear’s February 28th of last year so Folly holds a special place in out hearts.  You can read all about it here!

Self Portraits from the top deck of the Folly Beach pier.

Three SC Crabs...get it?! HAHAHAHA! I make myself laugh...I don't, however, make Garett laugh.

Reecie and one of the MANY live starfish we found on the beach...we threw him back. "Made a difference to that one"...has anyone read that story?

Rhett took this picture of his Mom while we were at Locklear's.

Thank you Reece for giving us a reason to go to Charleston!  We had a great weekend!

Until Next Time, I’m Fondly Yours,

Jeanne

Queen of The Charleston Going Browns

8 Year Old Bug

Garett turned 8 in January but I am making the celebration last longer by blogging about it today!!  We had a great day starting with pancakes with candles for breakfast and his and Reece’s basketball games (which they both won!).

Afterwards he choose to go to Steak n Shake for lunch…they LOVE that place!  An Oreo ice cream cake was enjoyed and fun abounded!  Fun usually abounds around Garett…he is just that kind of guy!

He is the jokester, the song maker upper, the good natured Brown.  He craves attention, but if you give him attention for GOOD things then usually the BAD things don’t happen, but attention is attention and he’ll take it anyway he can get it!  He loves reading and riding his bike, he loves playing wii and playing superheros with Logan.  He is the light in my eyes and the warmth in my heart.  He has the title of Oldest middle Child and wears it well.  We love him humongously and hope to celebrate 108 more birthdays with him!  We love you Bug!

Until Next Time, I’m Fondly Yours,

Jeanne

Queen of the Bug Lovers!

The Boys are Back in BBall Town!

We started basketball this past Saturday!  The Boys loved it and can’t wait for this weeks game.  Want to come watch?  Just let me know!!

Until Next Time, I’m Fondly Yours,

Jeanne                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Queen of the Brown Boys Fan Club!!

These are Favorites…

These are  Our Favorite Smells.  Smells that bring smiles to our faces.

Reece:  hot cocoa, soap, ice cream cake

Garett: cookies, brownies, tomato soup

Logan: pizza, roses, cupcakes

Harry:  clean taggie, “loved” taggie

Rhett:  hot chocolate chip cookies, the ocean, the air after it has rained on a spring day

Jeanne:  the smell of “play” on the top of my Boys’  heads, the smell of my Babies’ necks after a bath with Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Bath, honeysuckle on a warm summer night

These are Our Favorite Sights.  Sights that make our eyes light up when we see them.

Reece: Cinderella’s Castle at the Magic Kingdom, the Grand Canyon, my Family

Garett: Signs for Disney World, my Mom’s smile, a clean house …author’s note:  where in the world did he see this?!?  🙂

Logan:  Bubba, my Mommy coming home, my Daddy coming home from work

Harry:  taggie, a ball, his Daddy

Rhett: the ocean, a starry sky, my Wife

Jeanne: 10 new fingers and 10 new toes, the underside of a trees leaves viewed from a hammock, my Husband walking toward me.

These are Our Favorite Tastes.  Tastes that make out mouths water just thinking about them!

Reece: pepperoni pizza, M&Ms, sour gummy worms

Garett: Skittles, corn dogs, gummy bears

Logan: vanilla ice cream, chicken nuggets, french fries

Harry: orange juice, applesauce, grapes

Rhett: salsa, chocolate chip cookies, coffee

Jeanne: vanilla creme brulee, Strawberry Haagen Das ice cream, Marion’s Pizza

Until Next Time, I’m Fondly Yours,

Jeanne

Queen of the Lists

All for Love

I blog for my family.  I have found a website that will bound my blog into a book and so this is my record of our lives for future generations.  My Grandma wrote in a diary, my Great Aunt writes a weekly letter to the family, I blog.  Not well, I admit, but I try.  Here is my latest attempt to catch us up to date.

My last post was at the beginning of October and so I’ll begin with Rhett’s 38th Birthday.  We celebrated with lots of friends at El Mariachi and had a great time!  Ashlynn was Rhett’s cutest date, but Jimmy and Hoss were the most unusual pair!  🙂  As I’ve told Rhett each year, I don’t mind him getting older (and I don’t mind getting older either) as long as we are together!

 

The Brown and Campbell Families at Boo in the Zoo

Halloween was full of fun, friends and candy as we celebrated the whole month of October!  We had Halloween Hoopla,  Boo in the Zoo and Halloween night with the Tuckers and Gunters. The Boys loved getting to wear their costumes so much and we really felt like we got our money’s worth on them!  The Big Boys (and Daddy) made Horton and Dr. Seuss pumpkins for the Storybook Pumpkin Patch at school and we even visited the Chick-fil-a Cow for the Halloween Party he had!  In October we found out that Reece has been accepted into the SC Elementary Honors Chorus!  This is such a huge honor and we can’t wait for his performance in Charleston in February!

 

November started off with the Brown Family being SO extremely proud of Bug for being chosen as his class’s Terrific Kid!  Wee Hew!!  It couldn’t have happened to a greater 2nd grader!  The next week we celebrated both Reece and Garett in the Pinning Ceremony of the Student Council

Logi, Reece, Brayden, Bug and Abby...Future Leaders!

Members!  This is the first year either of them have been on the Council and we are so proud of them!!  The end of November found us celebrating Thanksgiving and being thankful for all that we have.  We celebrated with Poppa, Beba and Teba and Mimi and we all had full bellies when we left.  My heart was also full of love for my entire family.  We are truly blessed.

 

 

 

 

 

Katelyn and Reecie

December was a FLASH!!  We decorated for Christmas the weekend of Thanksgiving because every moment of December was spent celebrating, planning or doing!  Reece participated in the Bill Drake Christmas Celebration at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium with other 4th grade choirs from District 5.    He played Santa in the

Mr and Mrs Claus...aka Reece and Amaris

Christmas Program at school and had a solo to sing in one of the songs.  By the time we left for Disney World on the 11th we had already celebrated more Christmas events than the whole month of December in years past!

 

One of my Christmas gifts was a Girl’s Night Out with my Marriott friends!   Although only one of us works there still, we all met there and the history that we share from there is unbelievable.  Stephanie, Melanie, Anne, Jackie, Sherry and I had a great time and laughed so hard remembering good times we’ve shared.  These are some of my Friends with History!

 

 

 

 

The Boys and the Gingerbread Christmas Tree at the Contemporary Hotel

We hadn’t been to Disney at Christmas since I was pregnant with Logan so the decorations were all overwhelming to us!  We loved it!  Beba and Teba took us and Mimi and we had the BEST time!  It was so warm, the Boys got to go swimming at the beginning of the week!  We did everything we wanted to do (and some things twice!) and Logi even rode Space Mountain!  This was his first

Mimi and Reece in front of the Tree in the Magic Kingdom

BIG rollercoaster and Garett rode his first rollercoaster that went upside down, Rockin’ Rollercoaster!  Logan says he won’t ride Space Mountain again, but Bug rode his rollercoaster twice!  It was all still brand new to Harry and I love the wonder in his eyes in this picture….and it was just taken on the bus!!

 

 

 

 

 

We always love Disney and this time was no exception.  It was a fabulous way to begin Christmas Break for the Boys (we took them out of school a week earlier than break started) and the memories that we made will live on.  I loved seeing Rhett with the Boys and spending so much time with my family.  The drive home was like childbirth…horrible at the time, but now that it’s past I don’t remember the bad part and would do it again tomorrow!  Disney’s theme this year is “What will YOU Celebrate Today?”  I think that’s a wonderful question to ask yourself everyday!  You don’t have to be at Disney or have a birthday or anniversary or special event to be in a celebratory mood!  I think that each morning of  2010 the Brown Family will continue to choose JOY and we will talk about what we celebrated each day in the evenings.  That way we can start each day with a smile and end each day with a heart full of celebration!  Thank you Beba and Teba for taking us to Disney World.

 

When we got back it was CHRISTMAS!  We celebrated our Savior’s birth with Communion (Garett’s first time) Christmas Eve with Poppa at Pelham Road Baptist.  It’s where I grew up and Rhett and I were married so it’s always nice to go “home” and see friends and hug necks we haven’t hugged in a while.  We opened a few presents before we left for church and here are a few smiles I captured!

 

 

 

 

Christmas morning was great!  The Boys slept til 9:15 and then the fun began!  I was ready….the tree was on, the fire was going, I had the video camera to record their faces as they came into the living room…it was great!  About 6 or 7 minutes into the festivities, after I had been talking to the Boys about what they had gotten I realized something.  The clock on the camcorder wasn’t moving….I was still in standby…not record.  OH NO!!  Rhett told me I couldn’t “re-enact” Christmas morning and so I started from where I was in my interviewing and went forward.  I will make sure THAT mistake doesn’t happen again!  It was a wonderfully relaxing day spent with Beba, Teba and Mimi and we enjoyed talking with my Mom and Marty later on in the afternoon.

 

When Rhett and I celebrated Christmas 10 years ago, we had no idea that our biggest gift of 1999 would come 4 days

Reece (2 yrs old) holding Garett. This is the 1st digital picture I have of Reece.

after Christmas.  This is the day that I had Timothy Reece Brown.  Ten years.  I am the mother of a ten year old.  I can not believe it.  The years have literally flown by.  We celebrated with dinner at the restaurant of his choice…Steak and Shake.  Beba, Teba, Mimi and Poppa joined us and we have definitely moved from Little Boy gifts into Big

Reece on the day of his 10th birthday

Boy gifts.  I enjoy every day I have as a Mother, because I am aware that number one, it could all be taken away from me in a split second, and two, when I look back, childhood will all be over in the blink of an eye.  Someone recently told me that they don’t understand how I can divide my love between 4 children.  I don’t, every time we had another son, I grew another heart full of love.  So now I have 5, one for Rhett, one for Reece, one for Garett, one for Logan and one for Harry.  My love is never divided, only multiplied.  To fully understand, I think you have to experience multiple children…but be careful…it can be a wild ride that you are never fully ready for!!  🙂

 

We celebrated the end of 2009 with friends and way too much food!  Scott and Vickie were our hosts and it was fun catching up with friends. Friend to All Children, Jimmy, was there

Jimmy and Jada

and the Boys loved playing with him and with Jake.  Everyone was very laid back and it was a great way to say goodbye to 2009.  We left early to be home safe and sound by midnight.  We got home, woke the kids up and got inside and started to get settled in when the power went out!  So, we didn’t get to see the ball drop, but we did make memories by the firelight and candles. 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a good New Years Eve with everyone sleeping in our bedroom, all safe, cozy and together.  That’s exactly how a family should be and we wish your family a safe, cozy and full of togetherness 2010.

 

 

Until Next Time, I’m Fondly Yours,

 

Jeanne

Queen of the We’re Celebrating Everyday Brown Family