A rare sighting in the Brown home

What you are looking at is a boy with a permit to learn to drive. But more importantly you are seeing a real, genuine happiness on his face. I have not seen that for a very,very long time.

A Brave New World

I find myself developing unhealthy habits as a passenger.

Clutching my purse in my lap to keep me from grabbing the steering wheel.

Holding the "OH CRAP" handle that is above my door. (this works well on corners)

Pushing my foot so hard on my imaginary brake that I think I sprained my ankle.

Giving instructions in a ridiculously calm voice. Like the one you use when you are trying to convince someone not to jump.

I have also seemed to develop a severe lean to the left. I only noticed this though when we are driving by cars that are parked on the right side of the road. This lean almost always is accompanied by a cringe and purse clutch. I like to call this the "trifecta of not looking panicked."

J E L L O

I wanted to do something new with this years jello side dish. i remember my friend, Monica, making something similar to this several years ago and thought i would give it a try. i learned some new tricks and that it takes pretty much all day to do.

the kiddos had a lot of fun eating it and i like how bright and cheery it looked on the table. made me think of the 60's and 70's when jello was in it's heyday and could do no wrong.

easter....saturday??

We had our Easter luncheon on Saturday this year due to everybody's schedule. The usual fare was served.

Ham
Potato Casserole
Brussel Sprouts
Glazed Carrots
Green Salad
Croussants
Jello
and Strawberry Cheesecake

We played host to the Brown's this year. Here are a few of them at the table getting ready to dig in.

My Mother in Law,Barb kept me company in the kitchen.

This is my youngest sister in law, Jenna and her darling hubby, Matt. She looks so happy becuase she did not get any sleep the night before and neither did her kiddos. She had a very long day. Matt is happy because....well, I dunno why. lol

Then on Sunday morning we got together for the Easter Egg hunt. I divided up the park in half. One side had eggs easy to find for little ones and the other half was set up to challenge the boys.

Alana found an egg! Unfortunatly it was a real egg. She was only interested in the plasic ones filled with candy.

Ike teamed up with Ray.

Daniel and Jakey made up the other team.

out of the 23 hard boiled eggs I hid only 8 of them were found. I am thinking there were some very happy skunks and raccoons that night in the park.

All in all I hope it was a successful holiday for everyone.

A Brave New World

That's right folks. We have a driver in training in our house. The first of many. Daniel started Drivers Ed last Monday and got his permit last Friday. On the way home from the DMV I stopped at the local high school parking lot, which was empty, and let him drive around. He did pretty good. I only kissed the windshield once!





On Saturday we had the Brown's over for Easter. Aunt Amy, wanting to be the cool aunt. tossed Daniel the keys and asked him to drive her to the store. He was stunned. Looked at me, I said yes, and they were on their way.





Amy sat back and asked Daniel how he likes driving. He responded, "I dunno, this is my first time." Amy immediately sat up straighter and quit being the cool aunt and into panicked aunt. ha ha ha! Daniel tried to put her at ease by stating that he is getting the hang of the difference between the white line and the yellow line.

Later that day Grandma, Aunt Sue Sue and I went for a ride with Daniel. We only had one near head on collision. and that was only because he still is working on staying in his lane on a right hand turn. Sue Sue gave him the wonderful advice of just yelling out the window "I AM SORRY" as you drive by. Let's hope it never comes to him having to take driving advice from Aunt Sue Sue. :)

Sunday he drove BigRed to and from church. It became a very spiritual experience for us. We have never prayed harder as a family. I told the kids the first and most important rule is that no one talks. The only person allowed to talk when Daniel is driving. So as he took the right hand turn at 20 mph. I could hear the bodies as they hit the windows as the van careened around the corner but to their credit....they were quiet. just muffled "umphs" And even cornering at 20 mph he handled the van better than my sister, Regina, did. she screamed the whole time. At least I think she did. I honestly could not hear her over my screaming.

The rest of the turns he did at a wonderful 10 mph. I really like having all four tires on the road. Daniel drove Sonic (the ford explorer) to and from seminary this morning. he blew through one stop sign and thought a two way stop was a four way stop. I can't wait until he gets some time behind the wheel with an actual instructor. I think I am about to stomp through the floor boards on the passenger side where the brake should be.

My most favorite smiles

My favorite part of kids losing teeth is when the loose the front two teeth. The girls have followed a pattern to losing their teeth. First Anna then Maria a few days later. They have lost the same teeth in the same order. I dunno if that is just how teeth fall out or if it a freaky twin thing.

Okay, Maybe not my brightest plan.

So Anna Nelson, who I now think does not care for my well being, talked me into signing up with her to do this bike race from Seattle to Portland. Yes, Portland as in Portland Oregon. I was hoping maybe Portland was some street in Seattle. Turns out it is not. Well maybe it is, but that is besides the point because the Portland we are suppose to ride bikes to is 204 miles away.

I got the information packet for this fantastic race yesterday in the mail. I saw the map and my heart soared!! It does not look that bad. Look at all the stops. And all the first aid stations. Plus there is food along the way. How bad can it be if they are gonna feed you?
then i noticed this in fine print at the bottom of the map.

I cried. Yes. Big ol' crocodile tears. Sobbed.

Along with some ridiculous training schedule. 150 mile rides to prepare for this race?? Who has the time? Not I!