Christmas Scraps

This year for Christmas, I decided to get ambitious and use my new photoshop toy and all of Kim Greenfield's awesome pictures and scrapbook my parents and Steve's calendars for Christmas. I also put together two scrapbook albums for my Grandmothers. Wow. Let's just say it took a little more work than I thought, but it was fun. I am glad I have now have a creative/artistic outlet and I am glad I can reach out to family. Here are the pages for the calendar.

Big Steve, Little Steve

First off, I'm late in coming, but I have to wish my husband a happy birthday. We have been married seven and a half years now and I have to say I thought I loved him when I married him. I didn't think that my heart could grow any bigger, but it has and it continues to grow. I have made many decisions in my life, some good, some bad. Marrying Steve was the best decision I think I ever made.

We had a simple birthday this year. One night we had pizza with the kids and opened presents. Over the weekend I took Steve shopping and made him spend his birthday money on himself. I won out and got him to buy a new white shirt. I'm very proud of myself for that one. I'm hoping I can talk him into buying a new pair of loafers to wear to work for Christmas. His are looking pretty shabby. Steve was Stephen's soccer coach this fall and we got a gift certificate to outback from all the parents. We used that one for a little date night. I forgot how much I like outback!


Soccer was stupendous this year. Steve did a great job with the kids. He was patient and fun. It was inspiring to watch all the kids on the team improve, especially with their ball handling skills.


Stephen loved having his Dad as his soccer coach. He was not the best kid on the team, but he ran hard. He improved greatly over the course of the season. Most importantly, he loved being part of the team. He loved all the kids on his team and they loved him too. He thoroughly enjoyed all the practices and games and is very enthusiastic about soccer. I have to say, I loved watching my husband and my son out on the soccer field. They did a great job.

"These things are important. . . . take pictures twice a year."

Dear Anna,
At first having you was not easy for me. I didn't want to be pregnant again. I had to give up all the excercise I like to do with my body and teaching at the gym. I wasn't sure if Daddy and I could pay for you and everything you would need, but Heavenly Father told me it was your time to come. He said it would all work out so I decided to trust him even though it wasn't easy for me. Now I watch you growing up. I watch you taking your first step. I watch you laugh and wave and give me kisses. And now I wonder why I ever doubted, why I even questioned. I love you my sweet baby. You were worth all of it and much more. Thankyou for coming to our family. Thankyou for bringing me so much joy.
Mom

Kim Greenfield recently took our family pictures. She got some beautiful shots of Anna . . . . Thanks kim.

Halloween Festivities

First off, Sorry for falling off the blogging wagon for a while. You would think I could get Halloween up faster. My photoshop program kept shutting down on me and when you get addicted to digital scrapbooking that is a HUGE bummer. Needless to say we are up and running. . . (by the way did you see the new pics? Kim Greenfield is so talented. . . much more to come!) Now onto Halloween. . .


This year the Brossards went a little bigger than usual and Mom and Dad actually dressed up. Dad was himself as Prince Charming, Mom was Cinderella, Stephen and Luke were transformers(ofcourse), and Anna was Dumbo.


Of course we had the usual festivities. Dad carved pumpkins with the kids. We decorated sugar cookies and took them to the neighbors, etc. The big change of the year, however, was deciding to start the tradition of an annual Halloween Pary with friends and their kids. It was a little crazy and a whole lot of kids, but it ended up being fun for all. Everyone was told they would not be allowed in the door without a costume. Here is some of the damage. If I don't have a picture of you or your weren't invited I'm so sorry! We had a really hard time figuring out how many people we could fit in our house. We mostly stuck with our neighborhood and joy school friends. If I could of I would have invited everyone. Sonja and Lynette kindly sent me their shots to use for this post, with all the hustle and bustle I didn't take enough pictures. See if you can guess who these rogues in vogue are. .











Are those not great costumes? How fun is that! Now, back to the party. First we gathered at our house for a potluck dinner and let the kids have costume parade and picnic out back. Then the adults left the kiddies with babysitters (yes I know I am brave to abandon my house to little crazy bodies full of sugar and adrenaline) and headed to the Marsaws for Bingo and charades. It was a little competitive (well not a little, a lot), but if you don't want to win, why play? Right? That's my motto anyway. Not really but still fun, fun. Here are some shots of the kids.



What a Halloween! I think I've finally recovered!

A Typical Steve Story

So before I move onto Halloween and soccer. . . and while I'm still recovering from our Halloween party, I have to share a "typical Steve story." Last Friday night we went to the temple. We are getting much better at it now that we trade our kids with another family and we carpool with friends and then go out to dinner. Its easier to want to do the right thing when 3 hours of driving is actually fun you know? Being that Steve was in charge of a golf tournament for Korean executives the next day (bummer when you have to work on Saturday), he wasn't sure if we should go to the temple because we get home late and he had to be there early. Because we set a goal to make it to the temple once a month and it was our last chance, he decided we should go anyway. We got home at 12:30. Steve had to "finish up" a few things to get ready for his tournament, so he got to bed at like 2:00. He got up at 5:00 the next morning (how do you work on 3 hours of sleep?) He drove 50 minutes to Arab (don't ask me where that is), set up and started his event, then he drove back to Madison and coached Stephen's soccer game. Of course people are still calling him while he is coaching the game.

After the game he drove straight back to Arab, finished his event, sent his employees home early (what?), cleaned up by himself, and got home at 4:30. Meantime, being my insane self, I got a babysitter during the afternoon and ran 18 miles. Yes, I am training for a marathon, but that's the longest I've gone in 3 years so when I got home I could barely walk, to say the least. It's adult stake conference session that night. I'm in bed complaining about the throbbing in my legs, he's exhausted and I say I don't really want to go to the meeting. We went to the temple last night, maybe we should just stay home? Tired eyes, he looks at me and says, "I just know the Lord will bless us if we go." How can I not love this man? It was a wonderful meeting. The spirit was so strong, I was crying, thankful I went. The talks and the music absolutely superb! And of course, I let Steve sleep in until 11:00 the next day and take a nap after stake conference until 7:00 that night. Now that's tired! What a guy!

Oh Where, Oh Where. . . .

My sweet little Anna. . . . where has she gone? I can't keep up with her and she can't even walk yet! She is pulling everything out of my cupboards. I find her in the bathroom playing in toilet water and pulling out the toilet paper. Someone bring me back my sweet little baby!

Fall is for Having Fun!

I love fall in Alabama! The weather is beautiful. The smells, the colors, the leaves, the trees. It just makes me happy.
Last week I was able to take Anna and Luke on a Kindergarten trip to Tate Farms. We had a wonderful time. It was a lot of fun for Stephen and Luke to eat lunch together. Stephen introduced Luke to all of his friends. Each class had a guide that lead us from activity to activity. Luke walked in the line next to Stephen and all of the rest of the kids. I was so glad that Stephen was genuinely happy that Luke was there. They are truly good friends and best brothers. Luke was so excited to go with the big kids and participate in all the activities.


First we went on a hay ride through the cotton fields. Anna loved it. It was bouncy and fun. After the cotton fields we made it to a humoungous pumpkin patch where the boys were able to pick their own pumpkin.

The rule was that you had to be able to pick up your pumpkin in order to take it. Once you found it, you would raise your hand until the guide came to cut it off the vine. Luke was elated. He ran through the patch until he found just the right one and raised his hand as fast as he could.

Stephen was excited too. He went for big first and it took us a few tries before we found one he could actually carry. Stephen has a wonderful kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Mittman. He loves her to pieces. It was really special to watch her with her class. I'm really grateful there are such wonderful schools here.


After picking pumpkins, we were lead from one activity to the next. The boys jumped from a barn into the hay, the played in the corn crib, went through a corn maze, climbed tires. They were completely exhausted when we finished. Infact Luke fell asleep on the way home and ended up taking a 3 hour nap.


Anna did a great job of hanging in there for the day. She had lots of fun too. Stephen was very proud of her and kept telling all the kids that that was his little sister. Anna particularly loved playing in the corn crib. She loved scooping up the corn with her hands and watching it fall through her fingers. All and all it was a great day and a fun field trip.

Fall Break

Fall break was simple for us. Stephen and Luke spent everyday playing together. Watching them made me remember the good old care free days of childhood and the times I spent playing with my own brothers. The boys collected leaves outside to make art projects. We created bats, and a haunted house. They had picnics under the tramp with their friends, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was a simple, but carefree week.

Trick time!

The boys spend a lot of time on our trampoline, especially with the gorgeous weather. They beg me to come out and jump with them every afternoon, which most of the time I do. I take Anna with me and she likes to jump as long as I hold her. The boys love to do tricks on the tramp. . . enjoy.

Its all about Legos

The boys kinds of go through phases, but right now they are totally into legos. They spend hours building star wars spaceships and flying them all over the house. Ofcourse there are a few tears here and there. Luke, especially gets frustrated if he can't put something together the way he wants it or if a piece of his creation breaks off or doesn't hold together. Big Steve has a lego problem as well and is often found on the floor with his sons building a new type of space ship. He says, "Is it so bad that I'm 33 and love to play with legos?"

Story Time

Anna is becoming more and more her own person. She loves to play with her brothers and crawls all over the house following them around. Luke adores her and I have to constantly remind him not to kiss her too much. He can make her squeal with laughter more than any of us. Anna loves to read stories and she spends a lot of time sitting on the floor in ther room looking through her basket of books.

Turning Lemons into Lemonade

Yesterday was a great learning day for me. I learned a lot from my husband and was reminded again of the many reasons why I'm glad I married him. A few months ago we ordered about 400 lbs of wheat for our home storage. I assumed the wheat came in 10 lb. cans along with others in our stake, and although the order form wasn't specific, to my dismay I received 40 sealed plastic bags of wheat. They have been sitting under beds in boxes, but need to be canned in order to last. Yesterday we decided to go to Nashville to buy 40 cans from the church cannery. We thought we would make a fun day of it and try to do some sight seeing along the way. We called the cannery in the morning to make sure they had the cans and they told us to be there before 4:00 to pick them up. After Stephen's soccer game we all piled in the car and made the 2 hour trek to Hendersonville, Tennessee. We got there at 3:15, just in time we thought. The cannery must have had a slow day because it was locked and closed with nobody home. We called, but got no response. I have to admit it, I was VERY frustrated. I just sat on the ground for a long time. Gas is rather expensive these days and I could think of many things that needed to get done--things we had set aside to make this trip. My positive, wonderful husband set me straight. He just said, "Let it go. We can't change it." So after working throught my grumpiness, we all piled back into the car and found a nearby lake. I sat with Anna on a blanket while the boys threw rocks and logs into the water. Then we used litter on the ground to make goals and had a family soccer game. I think that was the most fun we ended up having all day. It was Luke and I vs. Steve and Stephen. Steve and I took turns carting Anna around while we played. After our legs were bitten by many a mosquito we headed back into the car. The story gets better! We drove about 30 minutes and then started looking for Steve's phone to make a phone call. We couldn't find it anywhere so we had to turn around and go back to the Lake. Luckily we found Steve's phone on the ground. We had planned on going to a friend's orchard to pick pears on the way home, but by the time we found the phone it was too late so we went to Wendy's for dinner and drove all the way back home. The amazing thing to me through all of this is that although I felt like the whole day had been ruined twice, and was fighting off personal grumpiness left and right, my kids had a great time. The were so excited to "go to Tennessee" and throw rocks and play soccer and eat at Wendy's. We honestly ended up having a lot of fun together. Steve and I were able to talk alot on the drive and the leaves were beautiful. Again, I learned yet another lesson from my husband and that is this: a positive attitude determines the success or failure of a day. My sons reminded me to take pleasure in simplicity and that grattitude is the key to happiness.