Life as a Brandtito

Heaven giving John's rental car a hug...she was a fan of the car John will be out of town for the next few days with work. With a week full of rain thanks to tropical storm Debbie, it looks like me and the Mini's are in for a rather slow week. We spent a rather dreary Sunday morning crafting. I found *this*  recipe for sidewalk chalk which pleased the girls immensely. Gavin wasn't interested in painting, but he hung outside with us enjoying the breezy and surprisingly cool day. I sort of disregarded the recipe's warning for using only a few drops of food coloring as I was expecting a rain filled day, however thus far we've had only sprinkles...and the driveway remains artfully & rather brightly decorated...

Too Cool For Summer Saturday morning me and some of my favorite girls loaded up and headed to the ARC Blueberry Bash. The girls had such a good time. There were games, crafts, horse back rides,a petting zoo,  blueberries galore & snow cones!!  It was insanely hot, so the snow cones were especially appreciated! Checking out some honey bees Cowgirl Heaven AvaRelli Much to my displeasure, Annabelle toted this chicken around for like 10 minutes. We'd planned on picking blueberries at festival, but it was so crowded and the trees looked pretty picked over, so we decided to head to Lundy's Blueberry & Pecan Farm instead. Though it was MISERABLY hot, in just under 30 minutes, we picked over 5 pounds of blueberries! Annabelle taking a rest in the shade Now the big question is what do we do with 5 pounds of blueberries....We'll probably do a repeat of last year, and make some Delicious Jam  one of these weekends soon!

This week was probably the most quite week I've ever had at the Brandt shack since John & I got married....why do you ask? BECAUSE THERE WERE NO KIDS!!!  Thanks to Grandma all the kids got to go to Extreme Kids Camp this week at Pace Assembly. I was a bit hesitant to let them go, because we do not attend Pace Assembly and have been looking for a church of our own. But the kids were SO excited, I had to cave. They have been looking forward to this for months (literally, I've been hearing about this since around Thanksgiving) and we could not get their bags packed fast enough on Sunday night.  Both girls were up by 5:45 on Monday morning (much to my displeasure) and Gavin was up shortly there after. As John had to leave early for work, the Mini's were forced to endure more than 2 hours of waiting at my office. I picked up Chick Fil A for breakfast though, and that did seem to help. We arrived around 10 to get everyone checked in and settled into their home for the next

Happy Fathers Day to all the AMAZING Fathers out there!! Especially the ones in my life!! I am the person I am today because of the fabulous family who raised me. My Dad has always supported me  & constantly pushed me to work harder and try for more. Even though at times it was hard, I can look back today and thank my Dad for a vast majority of my successes. The same can be said for my Step Dad. Being a step-parent is hard. Harder than I could have imagined, and yet more rewarding at the same time. Had I not had such great step parents, I would most certainly not be able to battle the ups and downs that come with raising someone elses child. I am blessed to have a step dad who always included and loved me as his own, while never pushing to replace my Dad. I love both of these men more than words can say!! Me & the best Daddy in the world #1 Step Dad!!! I am equally blessed to have married such an amazing Father. These kids have no idea what an amazing man they have bu

Art Class Phase 1 Tonight the Girls had their first art lesson with Ms. Michelle.  Michelle is one of my very best friends, and is basically idolized by the girls. She is also, to their pleaseure a skilled painter. We've been planning to let the girls take an art class at our local "Painting With A Twist" studio. But they haven't had any recent kid classes, so Michelle took matters into her own hands. She worked with the girls for about an hour and helped them create their own masterpieces one step at a time. Mid Shot Almost there! Our local Art critic supervised the process They were very pleased with their final product! We're going to hang them in the girls rooms ASAP! We <3 You Michelle!!

Pensacola 06/10/12-PNJ Photo I wasn't aware that we were expecting a Monsoon of rain this weekend...but apparently I was misinformed. Friday night, we made an unplanned trip back over to Destin. Jessica & Danny had decided not to stay, thus leaving the last night at the condo free. Gavin decided he didn't wish to go so me, the girls & John headed over for one last night. We knew Saturday was supposed to be rainy, so we'd planned to take the girls to see a movie or maybe do some shopping at the outlets to pass the time. Seemed like a pretty good plan to me. By the time we arrived in Destin on Friday, the tourist were already in full swing leaving every restaurant with a pretty terrible wait. In cases such as this, when children & waiting are involved... entertainment value of a restaurant beats possible quality of food every time. We decided on Joe's Crab Shack because there is a huge playground outside. Huge playground + loads of loud unruly children

I had told the kiddos' that if they brought home good grades on their final report cards I would take them to Sweet Frog BEFORE dinner on Thursday. They all did FANTASICALLY this semester! Both girls brought home ALL A's and Gav is back on AB HONOR ROLL!!! YAY!! :) So of course the minute I walked in the door from work on Thursday the girls were patiently (or not so patiently) waiting to head out the door to Sweet Frog. For some reason that I just cannot wrap my head around, Gavin didn't want to go. Craziness I tell you.  Success tastes so Sweet.  Heaven's Creation....Including Mango Soba balls, Fudge, Mint Andes crumbles, fruit, whipped cream, chocolate rocks & sprinkles atop cookies and cream Yogurt. AB's Creation....Cake batter ice cream with fudge, whipped cream, 3 kinds of sprinkles, gummy fish, Rieces Pieces, Cookies, M & M's and Chocolate Rocks.

School's out for SUMMER :) Here's a side by side of the first day vs the Last Day.  First   Last  First  Last      Last       First   

Gators. Gator Grimaces. Sunday we lounged a good majority of the morning in doors. The kids ate an exorbitant amount of powdered doughnuts & Cool Ranch Doritos for breakfast (something that would never happen at home) and watched movies in bed thru mid morning. When we had mustered the energy to stir, we packed our coolers and headed to the beach. The water was perfect, but the shore, it was HOT. When we'd had all the sun we could handle without an actual meal, we retreated to the condo for lunch. I decided my sun was just the right shade of pink, but John and the kiddo's went for a second round at the pool until the sun went down. We'd planned to grill out, but when the meat was still frozen solid we opted for a plan B. Fudpuckers. The tourist trap of a restaurant that just sucks you in. The atmosphere at Fudpuckers just screams vacation, and who can pass that up. As the wait time was an hour, we had plenty of time to explore the grounds. One of