Camping Trip

Dana & I just got back from a Girl Scout Leader Camping trip. We had a blast!!! We learned how to dutch oven cooke. (Wanna hear something funny? ... I already have a dutch oven and didn't know it. HaHa.) Now I can cook in it during our trips and bonfires with my girl scouts. We learned some swap etiquette and made some awesome swaps. Yes girls we are going to do these at our meetings. Yeahhhh!!! We learned some ceremonies we can do, how to make morse code jewelry (that we will definitely do), we also learned how to teach the girls archery. Yeah here we come Anna-K. Archery it is!!! Yeah!!! I slept so good out there. I didn't have any spider incidences (Ash you can stop laughing now). We got some great recipes. We will definitely have to try the banana with choc chips and marshmellows over the fire. Dana and I learned alot and we got to see the whole camp. We will definietly take the girls to this camp. I loved it!!! It was well worth the trip. I was doubting on going at first b/c of everything going on and how I would handle it ebing away from home, but it helped take my mind off it. Now back to reality. I am now going to focus on getting my house organized and Brooke's room fixed. She is loving it. The dresser Ash and I painted looks great. It is about 95% finished. I have to return a broken knob and find a way to put a knob or pull where the wholes are 2 close together. I might try to find a decorative piece to glue there or something. I don't know. Maybe it will just hit me on how to fix it. Well I better go for now. See you all later.

hiking gear

Powerhouse's Award ceremony.

Ashley and one of my Brownie's Paige getting their trophies. Paige was on the Youth Squad and did an awesome job this year. I enjoyed watching her cheer before Ash. We would yell for ya Paige!!! Her's my cheerleader. She has come along way since last year. She has gained loads of confidence and amazing stage prescence. I have a feeling when she tried out this year the judges took one look at her facials and picked her right on the spot to be on the squad. She said they all were smiling and pointing at her. I think she blew them away. She is a little nervous about starting a new school, but I know she'll do great. She is such a people person. Everyone will love her. Except the pshyco cheer mom (she knows who this is HaHa.) she was just jealous. You are super better at grabbing the crowds attention and you have tumbling Ash. That makes you an awesome cheerleader!!!

hiking gear

Easter with the kids.

Look, even Sydney (AkA Sonny) is wearing her Easter dress. LOL.

At the church egg hunt.

At the race track.

Yeah you all see one child missing. Ash spent Easter break with my parents and got to sttend a cheer meeting and got fitted for her cheerleading outfit. Brooke, Jarrett, J and I tried to fill in the time with tons of easter egg hunts. So what does tons of egg hunts mean...... Tons of not needed candy. Shhhhh... I snuck 95% of the candy to work one day. They didn't even notice it. Yeahhhhh!!!!

hiking gear

Moving into the 21st Century Yeahhhhh!!!!

I have gotten high speed internet at home and a new toy. Life is Grand!
Ball has started. Had a blast at my Mom's night out scrapbook thing. Everyone had a great time and made some awesome memory pages for their girls.
Going Camping this weekend. Hopefully it is a pretty weekend. Ash is moving Friday for Tennessee. She is going to email me pictures and I'll post them of her cheering. I'll miss her tremendously, but I will always sacrifice for my kids. :)

Here is a pic of Brooke batting. I promise to get a better picture at her next game. She is turing into quite a little ball player and she loves it. She is their best hitter :)
Guess who this is? Yes they mispelled his name. I will go get his shirt fixed though. Yeah he likes ball as well, but his attention span is about 1 batting span and then he is bored stiff. Yeah that is fun for me.

Well I better go finish downloading all my stuff for our I-pods and things. More pics to come.

Brandi :)

hiking gear

So sorry I haven't blogged in a while.

So super sorry!!!! I have been a little overwhelmed with cookie sales and all of the responsiblilites I took over which I will not do next year. I will try to post more pictures this upcoming weekend. I am now getting highspeed internet at my house and will be able to post at night. I am having a career change as well. Not really 100% my choice, but ok in the long run. I will be transferred to the lab at downtown StFrancis. I won't be a supervisor, but will welcome the weight off my shoulders. This move is b/c of the changes coming at StFrancis North hospital due to the economy. I have a long career ahead of me and will one day be supervisor again, but I don't want it over someone else in line for it that has been there a lot longer than me. I have comletely turned my department around and kept it from being shut down. I feel like I accomlished something and that is all that matters. I am being transferred b/c I am one that can handle the workload at the other hospital and was hand selected. I feel honored. I don't like starting over in a new setting, but welcome the challenge and change of scenory. (spp?)

Ashley news: She has made the Independence High School JV Basketball cheerleading squad. She has to move sooner than anticipated, but I accept the sacrifice for my child. I know it is a great opportunity for her and will miss her greatly, but will love seeing her eyes filled with excitement over this accomplishment. I will try hard to go see her cheer next year. She will move in with my parents and my dad will become Mr. Mom. He is looking forward to it.

Brooke news: She is becoming a great little softball player. She loveeeeesssss it!!!!! She wants to play in high school she says. We are enjoying her softball season right now.

Jarrett news: He is playing Wee Ball as succesfully a 4 yr old can do. It is a challenge on me and his coaches due to his short attention span. He likes it though. I also get to see that other 4 yr olds are just like him with their attention span. They are just so darn cute, but hyper at this age!!!!

Loving life and my kids!!!

Brandi :)

hiking gear

Mardi Gras Parade & Haircut.

Well first I'll start off by telling you that I tried to go get his hair cut 2 times the other day and tried to send hubby yesterday unsuccessfully. Finally I decided that I have watched it enough to be able to do it myself. Well I did. It took some trial and hopefully no errors and I successfully cut Jarrett's hair like the salon does. Even hubby says it looks just like it was cut in a shop. I know it is easier to cut it short, but that is how we like his hair the best. Jarrett was a doll. He stayed so still and let me cut it. He might have been afraid if he moved I'd cut his ear or something, but I was using clipers that wouldn't have cut him. I did try telling him that.
You can see Brooke's amazement in the background. No I won't try to style her hair. I know my limitations.

Yesterday we happened upon the Mardi Gras parade in Farmerville. Since I had to pick Brooke up around that time we went and partied with my friend Steph and her family. It was a wonderful parade and the kids really enjoyed it. Here is the chicken float that threw rubber chickens to each kid. They love them.

This really was Jarrett's first parade. He went as a baby, but he was too young to understand to pickup the beads. This year he loved it. He ahd a blast and so did my sweet little Brooke. She would throw beads down and show them to Jarrett just so he could pick them up. I think she loved playing the big sister role and introducing him to parades.

She even taught him how to hold up his hands and try to catch them. She caught alot!!!

This is before while they were patiently waiting for it to start by a very busy road that made me super nervous.

The kids got so many beads. Here is Jarrett trying to take them off.

Here's Jarrett's stash. (I divided them up equally when we got home)

Here is Brooke's stash. They each got 2 T-shirts, several cups, a rubber chicken, tons of candy, and tons of beads.

All in all we had a great time while hubby was trying to get his truck out of the bottom of our backyard. He had parked his truck on an incline in our hilly backyard to wash the oil out of it and when he finished his tires spun and he slid down the backyard into the bushes and fence at the bottom. His Dad & brother came over and pulled his truck out. I should have gone and taken a picture, but I was too busy wrestling overly excited candy filled kids with beads. Oh well I doubt there'll be a next time picture op. like that one.

hiking gear

Super Super Bowl :)

Here are my guys routing for their team the Steelers!!! Jarrett loved twirling his terrible towel with his Daddy.
He didn't pay much attention to the game, but he loved snacking on everything my grandmother and myself made for the party. Yeah we all broke our diets.... For one day only though. I have now lost around 25 lbs. Yeah me!!!

I know I know I know I didn't add any pictures of the girls. They weren't that interested in the game. Brooke & Ashley took turns playing on the computer and watching TV in the back bedroom. There was a stressful time in the game when I really felt like the Steelers were going to lose, but I am super glad they didn't. Not that I am a big fan. I'm not I just like to have a happy hubby. You know how guys lovvveeee their football teams. I guess I'm raising a future fottball team lover. See below.

I am also super sorry that I haven't been blogging as regularly as I had been. I am soooo busy with Girl scout cookie selling and cheerleading with Ash. It should level out after the cookie sale is over. I have bitten my nails down to the quick b/c of the stress of being over all of West Monroe's cookies this year. I still don't know when and where the cookies are going to be delivered. I gave the person over cookies and deadline. If I don't hear an answer by Wed then I won't have them delivered anywhere except at the warehouse and oh well for them. I can't ask of work with a short notice and that is what they are making me do. That really frustrates me at how they are not respecting that I have a full time job that is PAYING me. No I do not get paid anything for the work I do for the girl scouts. I am strictly a volunteer. I feel like free labor right now b/c of the cookie people in Shreveport. Our area paid girl scout workers don't make me feel that way at all and I really appreciate that. I now wish the merger had never happened. I was looking forward to it and dislike everything that has happened since it has happened. They now cancel stuff left and right and it is disheartening to get the girl's hopes up about something like camping and then they cancel it. They don't sound like they are doing things for the girls. Whe I have a chance I am going to voice my opinion and maybe that is why we haven't had the chance since the merger. Before the merger they were up her telling us how we'll love it and how it will benefit us and the girls. Well it hasn't. Sorry I went off on a rampage. I feel better. Thanks for letting me vent.

hiking gear