Life as a Brandtito

Just a lazy Sunday at Nana's!! Uncle Bob/ will be out of town for the week, so Ava will be staying with us a few days to keep us company while her Mama works the night shift at the hospital.. She is always a very welcome guest!  Since John is out of town this week too for work....I decided it was time the kids learned to fend for themselves at dinner time...at least partly. Introducing...make your own pizza night!! It was a hit...especially since they had ice cream dessert waiting for all who finished their pizza...

Loaded down for their camp out The girls had their first Girl Scout camp out this weekend! They camped at their camp leaders house, and they had a BLAST! They did a night hike, dinner by the fire, sang campfire songs (each girl had bring their own song to share), cooked smokes and made crafts. Needless to say they were sad to see me show up to pick them up Sunday morning. Their troop earned their camp out by selling cookies and working fundraisers. The girls worked at Nana's store yesterday selling hot dogs before their trip.  They didn't have too much luck, but they did get to make some cool crafts while they worked...which made it totally worth it to them! They got to get a book from Nana's store for all their hard work! 

AR Champ Tonight we celebrated Annabelle's second AR win.  She's actually got 1 more celebration day for the current report card, so we're running a little behind schedule.  She chose dinner at The Cutting Board (a local seafood restaurant) & then we headed out for a night of goofy golf. When we started, we had said the loser would have to buy yogurt....but as the night went on...and it was clear that John was going to dominate, us girls decided it would be better if the winner bought yogurt...especially since Annabelle doesn't have a job yet. In the end it was a great night and we finished it off with FroYo and diet cokes...can't get much better than that!  Please note the lip gloss....she got to go all out for her big night John was kind of a show off....he totally dominated This was how the balls were sent FLYING via Annabelle FROYO Time! 

We're going to have to have a talk about the going rate of teeth in this economy!!! This is Heaven's note for the tooth fairy. Penned by Annabelle....

Heaven lost 2 teeth yesterday!! Shesh. She lost one at practice, and then pulled one (BY HERSELF!!!) later that night when she was brushing her teeth. I cannot be a part of teeth pulling activities....because it is disgusting. :) The tooth fairy got busted sneaking in last night as she was waiting up for him/her....after a quick cover up we were able to make another entry early this morning. We told her no more teeth this week.

Happy 1 year! We went to the IP this weekend in Biloxi to celebrate our anniversary. The original plans had to be replace as my real estate class got canceled and rescheduled in the middle of our plans....SO Biloxi seemed like a fun plan B. Craig Morgan (whom I love) was performing Saturday night, and my stepdad Mark was able to get us some really good seats!! The show was SO good!! Craig Morgan We went to the Brazilian Steakhouse inside the IP for a late dinner. It's one of the steakhouses where they walk around with different foods (mainly meat) and you flip your card to green when you want them to bring you something. Surely we could have been stuffed on just the salad bar, but we opted to go all out!! I have never seen so much meat in all my life. I think it was Johns vision of Heaven on earth!! Needless to say, we ate WAY too much! I think I ate my weight in grilled pineapple!  John <3'd the green side... The next morning we spent some time in t

HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO US!!! This past year has literally flown by. I cannot believe it's been a year already!! It's definitely been a year of changes. Marriage is nothing like I expected and everything I imagined at the same time. Going from a single lady with 2 dogs, to a family of 5 with 3 furry friends, certainly hasn't always been easy, but it has been more rewarding than I could have ever believed. John has seen me at my best and my worst, and he's still by my side with a smile everyday. I am one lucky lady.  Here's to forever!!

I love Ft. Pickens!  After our day at the zoo...we headed for an afternoon at the beach. It was overcast, chilly and VERY windy...and some how, the kids still wanted to swim! <3 Annabelle finally agreed that it was too cold!  Hev We finished off the evening with dinner as usual....at Peg Legs!!! Overall, I'd give the day a 10!! My favorite matee's! 

Doesn't he look so friendly? Report card time again already. Annabelle made A honor roll again, Heaven A/B and Gav AB & 1 C! Not to shabby!! We decided on a day at the Zoo as a reward this time. I haven't been to the Zoo in like....10 years. Probably longer. We had a great time! They have a new addition called Budgiery. Basically you buy these sticks with bird seed glued to them and when you go inside the Budgiery, a billion birds attack you. Annabelle loved it, Heaven loved it over time....Gavin...well he hated it the whole time. Mainly thanks to his Dad who could not resist taunting him.... Cup of birds! Forced photo... Gavin was being a good sport about it and posed for a photo.... And then this happened....and he is now scarred for life. Thanks Dad!!  Bird lady In the end they both ended up liking it  After Gavin could take no more, we headed out to see what else the zoo had to offer... He was so cute and was loving being in th