Bringing up Baby Brang!: Look Out Disney World....Here We Come!

This was way back on one of the few days in January we actually still had some snow! We've had some crazy weather this year!

Getting ready for Valentine's Day...

The kids got valentines from Grandma and Grandpa Brang in the mail! It's the most exciting thing to get mail!

For Valentine's Day Laney's class sang some special songs to their families. Grandma and Grandpa came to listen too.

Grandma and Grandpa also came with me to Carson's class party! Thank goodness because Everson was NOT HAVING IT and Grandma had to rock her to sleep in the hallway so I could help out. I have to give her it was right smack during nap time.

She did like all the class books for a little while.

Oh Mrs. LaReau's Class...we just love this teacher and this class. Carson's best yet by far! A parent told me before this school year, "Every child deserves a Mrs. LaReau." Wow was she right. If every student could just have a "Mrs. LaReau" this world would be a better place for sure. We are so grateful Carson was put in her hands this year. I won't get too mushy it's not the end of the year yet...I just want to keep her forever!

And with Valentine's Day comes Lexi's Birthday! And what's a birthday without a party?! Lexi is a whopping 12 years old! She's still a pup deep down that's for sure. We had a special cake Laney picked out from the bakery and Lexi got some new toys, bones, and special treats!

Carson recruited my Dad to help him package meals at our church. Patrick and Laney went too but the task was a little too much for Laney...she was more interested in running around and playing at her age. But Carson was a workhorse apparently! He gets the job done!

Carson's basketball fan club. Another week and we found ANOTHER surprise visitor at Carson's basketball game. Grandma Brang!

We kept Grandma busy during the few hours she was here visiting...Carson had a basketball game first, then a soccer game across town, and last, a family hike down the Grand River Trail!

Wrestling buds.

Carson started taking snowboarding classes and he loves them...these were a few pics from the lodge where we were trying to stay entertained. I got Laney a hot chocolate and she was so thrilled that it came in a "coffee cup". She kept saying, "Look Mom I'm drinking my coffee". Last week my Dad met me there so I could bring the girls home, it was 62 degrees outside and sunny! They still did the snow boarding it was crazy!

Laney found this purse in her closet and she was insistent that she would help me grocery shop and buy something using her purse. I didn't really want help on my BIG weekly shopping trip, so, we hopped into the grocery store after preschool one day. She wanted to wear her purse "Just like you do Mom". Melt my heart! So we went in and she picked out a HUGE candy bar, I paid, and she stuffed it in her purse. She turned to me and said, "Do I look like a Mom now?" Haha I wish I looked as cute as her wearing my purse! It was pretty adorable...although when you look at the big picture she kind of scammed me into taking her into a grocery store and letting her buy a piece of candy, which we would not normally ever do. So....cute or ingenious?

I could post 15 pics of Evie in a swing. She absolutely loves swinging at the park!

With all this nice weather I've been putting Evie in the grass and sand too...she didn't like the grass at first it was hysterical! Better get used to it baby girl!

Everson and Carson spent some time on the deck together during lunch one day. I thought it was so adorable until I took this pic and realized Evie was eating dead strawberry leaves from the pot. Mmmmm. It did keep her occupied for a while!

More sun means more time to go to more parks! On President's Day I packed the kids up to meet Kate, Bennett, and Renley at a local park and I let each of them bring a friend too. It was one packed van!

Carson loved double swinging Evie, ALMOST as much as Evie loved it!

I love these two pics because it shows how Evie just keeps trying to get in with Laney and her buddy Kate when they are playing. Look at that face AHHHH!!! She bugged them enough that they eventually moved to the dining room, then after Evie found them there they moved to the front porch. Oh Evie :-)

Big BIG news at our house...the Brang's are going to DISNEY WORLD! We got everyone Mickey tee-shirts and we left them in a box on the front porch with a special note. We have a video of them finding out...Patrick was so excited to tell them, I mean just jumping out of his skin, but they didn't really perform like he expected. He thought there'd be lots of jumping and screaming, I mean, they were happy, but we had paused their show and they had more to watch. The kids have told everyone they know and the countdown is on now. They are pretty pumped!

Banana at Fresh Thyme...could you be any more messy?

One night Evie was playing on the floor and Carson just got up from his chair, sat on the floor, pulled Evie on his lap and started reading books to her. My heart could hardly even take it.

In other news, we had to get a whole new roof put on our house because of all the wind/hail damage we've had. I swear our house gets hit by wind gusts way more than other houses on our block. We are just lucky like that! Carson was bummed to be at school when the work was getting done but he wasted no time getting out there to watch it all as soon as he got off the bus. He grabbed a bag of crackers, a folding chair, found the perfect spot and just watched and watched. He also helped them all pick up nails towards the end of the night.