Life as a Brandtito

             The mini Brandito's finished their week of "Zapped" VBS this morning.  The WMC youth provided the entertainment for this mornings service with singing, dancing and a drama production (done by a few of the older youth).                        Here is a video of the kids closing the service with their "Zapped" song. Annabelle is closest to the camera (red bow), Heaven is a few kids over more in the middle  (past the girl in blue/green pants look for blue/turquoise shoes) and Gavin is in the back row...far away from the camera refusing to do any of the movements or participate in any way. I don't think you can spot him with all the other jumping around taking place...               You can see much better if you click to view it on YouTube...I really need to invest in a video camera...

                  Heaven has been a girl on a mission this weekend! She has been working hard over the last few weeks to raise money for a trip to  Camp O' The Pines  summer camp. She is registered to go July 14th - 20th. She needs to raise $215.00 to go plus spending money while she's there.  As of tonight she's at $181.00 with a little over a week to go. This weekend she worked for Bubs on Saturday and Nana on Sunday. She's also got jobs lined up for Aunt Jessica this weekend  and a few at home too.                   Here's a few shots of her hard at work. Here's a shot of her chart she's using to track her savings

Not our best photo attempt           I've heard wonderful things about  Steve's Farm  and we decided it was about time we checked it out for ourselves....besides the girls have been BEGGING to try out their new poles. We had SUCH a great time and we will most definitely be back. We ended up getting caught by the rain, but we had just enough time to catch the perfect amount needed for dinner! Gav Annabelle's Catch!  So pretty....even with the rain clouds One of Heaven's catches Mini Brandtios                         We ended up coming home with about 10 lbs of catfish. The super friendly staff at Steve's cleaned and filleted them for us so all we had to do was cook them up and fill our plates! Not bad, and the kids felt super proud that they had provided dinner for us!

           Much to the pleasure of the children my family devotional arrived recently and this week we have started our weekly family bible study.  Growing up, my Mom lead a family bible study a few times a week when we were young. Though as we got older, we phased out of "family" bible studies and became more involved with church group bible studies, I feel like that planting of the seed at home both opened up the doors for deeper family discussions later in life and encouraged a special closeness in my family. I hope to do the same for the mini Brandts. I did a bit of research and selected the Josh McDowell devotional. It's a 365 devotional, but we're just starting from the beginning and going forward. Some of the messages are a bit too "pre teen" for the kiddos but for the most part, they seem to be spot on.            This week, we took turns reading verses and then each read the short story. This proved to be a mistake, as though  Branditos are

Our favorite Monsters have returned after a week in St. Augustine. We thought a showing of Monsters University would be the perfect way to welcome them home!       Of course Annabelle needed one of her own...with a little help from Dad. (She was too short....I can relate)

I'm not a fan of the heat. Or the bugs. Or the hurricane threats. Or the Snakes.  But a perfect day at the beach makes it me remember that being a Floridian has its perks.  We spent our first official summer weekend in Destin.  To get in the staycation vacation spirit, we had dinner at  Joe's Crab Shack  on Friday evening. It's a full fledged tourist trap, but the food is surprisingly good and the waiters and waitresses sporadically bust into song and dance.  Besides, Heaven is REALLY into crab right now  (It would be better if she were into something cheaper...say grilled cheeses maybe) and honestly I haven't the slightest idea how to cook/boil/season/steam/grill crab.  Also, they make you wear bibs at Joes. Score one for being able to possibly re.wear these clothes without washing them.... Just kidding, you know the kids will definitely still wreak the clothes they're wearing. Even with a bib. Gavin was a big fan of the bib. OBVIOUSLY

For a few months at least. Anymore school and the kids were going to LOSE. THERE. MINDS... And to be honest... So was I.. It's been an incredibly busy last few weeks and we're very appreciative for the temporary break from school. One more week and I probably would have started sending the PRE teachers gifts as a trade for no more homework. Thankfully, summer break arrived just in time. So another PRE year is complete....onward and upward we go. First Day of School Last Day of School Adios 4th grade... Peace out 3rd Grade Cheerio 2nd Grade!!  Bring it on Summer. Bring. It. On.

Look at these mini Brandts rack'n up Awards!  Annabelle recieved an award for AR and a Fitness Award. For some reason, second grade didn't get awards for A or AB Honor roll at their ceremony.  Gavin received an award for making AB Honor Roll for the year and an award for Perfect Attendance! Add caption

I could really use a weekend of nothingness....a weekend with no plans, PJ's and movie marathons. This does not appear to be in the cards for us anytime soon.  This weekend was as all others seem to be. Crazy Busy. Friday evening John & Gav headed to a Wahoo's game to celebrate Gavin's  AR victory. Much like, Annabelle did last year  Gavin topped the mini Brandts AR reading goal every semester for the entire year! Needless to say, this sort of celebrating did not involve girls tagging alone...most especially sisters and step moms.  So the lady Brandts settled for dinner out and a movie in. We even ate ice cream. IN THE LIVING ROOM. You heard that right folks, it was a crazy night. Saturday the mini Brandts had their Awana end of the year water party & I had a gun safety class at the Sheriff's Department. I'm applying for my concealed weapons permit (you know since work now involves going into vacant houses with strangers and all). Besides, I love