Quick Catch-Up

So much is happening in the Brown house that I have zero time to put thought into a blog. I miss blogging. Here's a quick list of the major things going on in this house!

We just got back from Hatteras on vacation and the weather was wonderful!! The kids loved the beach!! Can't wait to go back next year!

Madeline and Leah talk more and more every day. They are getting to be such big girls! I cannot believe that in less than a month they will both be 2!

Grace is doing excellent in school! She really loves it, most days.

Evan loves school also. He had a rough first few days but he loves going now. Evan has his first field trip on Thursday to King Farm!

We took our house off the market on Sept 22nd. We originally planned on listing it with another realtor but think that we are going to wait until after the first of the year to list it again.

One big reason for waiting on listing the house is that Matt's company is being sold. The takeover should be final before the end of this year. He will then be working for PBF instead of Valero. It's supposed to be a great move with more job security, however I'm still leery.

Matt is still training for his new position as FQO. I think the training will be done by mid November. I'm so proud of him!

Busy

Wow have we been busy! Grace started Pre-K 5 mornings a week and Evan started Preschool 2 mornings a week. That has been an adjustment, I drop them off at 9am, get home at about 9:20, then leave again no later than 11:00. I just can't seem to find a rhythm for that time in between dropping them off and picking them up.

Here are some recent pictures of the kids. The first one is of Madeline(r) and Leah on the mountain playing in the dirt! This one is of Madeline being silly in the tub!

Grace and Evan dressed in their Woody and Jessie PJ's!

The last one is of my big boy getting ready to leave for his first day of school!

A Request

I haven't blogged in over a month and here I am blogging for a selfish favor!! I need some prayers and positive thoughts - we have had our house on the market for 6 months. We haven't had a showing in a long time and decided it would be best to just take it off of the market for the winter and try again in the spring. We are taking it off of the market in 5 days, and now we have a showing tomorrow with another one possible for Tuesday. I'm praying that this is somehow a sign and that we will get an acceptable offer and close in a reasonable amount of time. Think good thoughts for us, we need it!

I need to find the time to actually sit down and blog because SO much has happened in the last month!! Maybe Tomorrow after the showing...

Grace

Grace is the sweetest little girl you'll ever meet...unless you catch her in one of her "moods". When she snaps, she snaps hard! She was in the middle of the mother of all tantrums on Saturday and when put in punishment, she took off her glasses that we less than a week old, and snapped them in half.
Grace will console her siblings and make sure everything is ok if one of them is hurt or crying. She gives the best hugs and snuggles. She's very thoughtful, and remembers everything!
Grace will be 5 in November. She starts Pre-K in September and I know she's going to love it. She loves to learn. She was so excited to show her grandparents how she can write their names and what words she knows how to spell on her own. She loves to add and subtract small numbers of things. Grace loves to be read to and to do her "workbooks". She asks 10,000 questions about anything and everything, and soaks is all in.
I was stunned at watching her play the Memory game that we bought for the car ride to NC. She is just scary good at it! I downloaded a Memory app to my iPhone and again, she is just too good at it!!
Grace is my little lady. She eats very neatly, and sits with her legs crossed. She loves jewelry and is thrilled that her new earrings have (fake) diamonds! She will wear a dress any day over pants or shorts. She loves her charm bracelet and wears it all the time!
I know every parent thinks this, but in this case it's true...My Grace is the smartest little girl I know!!! ;)

Mountains!

All of the kids eating ice cream Madeline and Leah playing in the woods at the cabin

Everyone playing in the dirt happily before a 6ft snake scared us off!

Matt and his Grandma!

Mini-Update

We are nearing our 6 month mark of having our house on the market and to say that we're frustrated and disappointed is beyond an understatement. To say that we hate it here doesn't begin to describe how we feel about this house. I guess it's not so much the house as it is the location of the house that bothers us like we've said so many times before. I had a friend come over to pick up a crib on the weekend and I was mortified to have them come to the house. Needless to say, we need to move. We've had 2 different buyers look at the house twice and then not put in an offer. I don't understand. We paid to have the house appraised so we know exactly what the house is worth, I'm praying that it's just the economy and hopefully things will turn around soon. I'm trying to just Let Go, Let God. It's just hard. Maybe switching Realtors will help things along...

On another topic, we're heading to the mountains this weekend and we all cannot wait! It's supposed to be beautiful weather all weekend, low humidity and temps at or below 80!

Grace got her packet in the mail for Pre-K a few weeks ago. I can't believe that she's going to be starting school. In 4 months she's going to be 5! And the twins are going to turn 2!! I'm starting to feel more and more like an old lady! We're taking Grace and Evan to Dutch Wonderland in August while my Mom watches the twins. I'm so excited to have a day to spend with just Grace and Evan, they're going to have a blast!

Vacation!

Taking a "swim" in the tub after a long day on the beach The best picture of Maddie and Leah that I could get, Maddie is on the right.

My girls building sand castles together

We left around 3am for the 8-1/2 hour drive home and I'm now suffering from a major vacation hangover! I have so much to tell about our trip but am just too tired, so for now all you get is 3 pictures! ;)