Today we had a field trip with my class. FREEZING cold out. I really thought they would have cancelled the trip because of the negative temps. Turned out to be a great day, but I am wiped this evening. 

Last night we went skating one last time before the Australians leave. Maeve & Brody had a great time skating around. We laughed because one of Marin's friends was working & he asked if Maeve was on a date! haha

Emmett was working so we said hello to him as well.

Maeve & Skyler posed for a quick winter pic before we left.

We have loved having them here, it was nice to have them in town later this year too. Lots more snow for them to enjoy after Christmas. We'll all be so sad to see them go, we always enjoy their visits. Brody came in to my classroom again too! The kids loved it!

Marin skipped out of class & came over for his presentation too. It was a lot of fun. Wish they could stay, it would be so great. xoxo

 Maeve had her friend exchange with her friends last night. 

Love these girls & their friendship so much!

A little late, but better than never. I think they were all pretty excited about their gifts. Lots of candy & facial products. They'll be filming a video about their haul I am sure. xoxo

 Happy Birthday Gary! Last night all he wanted for his bday was a fish fry, so we had dinner with a few friends & went out a bit after. Pretty low key, but we had fun. He got lucky with a Friday night birthday. Mine is Monday... yuck!

We also surprised him earlier with a Fortnite cookie cake- Two of his favorites!

More cake is not what we needed around here after all the Margaux celebrations, but it was delicious & he was pretty excited. One more bday yet, hopefully just a small dessert for my day or we're all going to blow up! haha. Love you Gary! Happy 44! xoxo

 Birthday #2 for Marg. She had to work last night so she had a quick dessert on the special plate when she got home.

Now tonight we celebrated with cake, two days later.

 Look at this cake for our Easy Mac loving middle...

Cake was definitely not as good as it would have been two days ago, but it is the thought that counts! We'll just keep celebrating her this week. Tomorrow, it is Gary's turn. Tis' the birthday season!! xoxo

 Happy15th Birthday Margaux!

All she wanted for her birthday was dinner at Rustique. {We teased her because she is ALWAYS there!} But she got her wish & she was one happy girl. Two big birthday desserts were delivered to our table too. That was what she was most looking forward to.

Whole crew showed up for dinner, except Grandpa. He was at an important fire department training.

Because she wanted dinner at Rustique, we'll celebrate at home tomorrow. I had a funny cake made for her too. She opened a few gifts tonight & the night was done. Long day for all of us with it being the first day back to school after winter break. We'll keep celebrating all week I am sure. Love you Marg! Now let's get those drivers ed classes done so you can start driving!!! xoxo

Happy 2024! 

We spent the evening all over the place. Gary, myself & Marg hung out with friends at Veraghens. Maeve was with Avi celebrating & Marin with her bunch of friends.

The adults had a little game time...

Margaux and the girls hung out & took loads of photos together. They partied in the basement & did their gift exchange too.

Maeve & Avi were with a few other families. Their night included fireworks! 

We all had pretty chill evenings, although we were all up very late. Everyone is feeling a little tired today. Hard to believe our week off has come to an end, but we are ready to celebrate Margaux this week!!! Happy New Year!!!! xoxo

 Happy 70th Anniversary to my lovely grandparents. Although the weekend is not going to play out the way we hoped (we had to cancel the big party tomorrow night), we are still so thankful that they've made it! My cousin Camille said that she read less than 1% of all marriages make it to 70 years. Such an amazing accomplishment. We are all so lucky to have them in our lives & love them dearly. 

Although they are separate, they both enjoyed the day. Here was my grandma this morning with the flowers my grandpa delivered to her at the rehab facility. She looks amazing & is working hard to get her strength back so she can be back with my grandpa.

And here is my grandpa tonight toasting to their anniversary with a cocktail. 

Lots of emotions over the past few weeks, but we are all thankful for where we are at today. Both of them smiling & celebrating their marriage. Hoping we can make this celebration happen at a later date... time will tell. We love you both! Happy 70th!!! xoxo

 Merry Christmas from The Brown 5!! Here is our 2023 Christmas card.

Next year we HAVE to get a family photo in. I am so bad! The fall season gets so crazy with all three girls running cross country. I promise to pull it together next year! 

And here is our tree in the basement with all the presents quietly tucked underneath. It is 8:30 am & all three girls are still sleeping. Gone are the days of early wake up calls, with excited little girls. They are still excited, but value their sleep! 

They'll be up soon enough & the present madness will begin. I am just happy to have my pajamas on & a full holiday coffee mug in my hand. Merry Christmas to all! xoxo

 Merry Christmas Eve! We continued our Christmas Eve movie theater tradition this morning. We went to see Wonka this morning. It was wonderful. Then the Packers played at noon & won! Go Pack Go!

Tonight we spent the evening at my mom & dads. Great appetizers & company. Not the same without our GG there, but we all got to take turns seeing her on Facetime. Just like years ago when they wintered in Arizona. We'll all go see her tomorrow morning at the hospital as well. 

Family photo time. These girls are just as tall as Gary & I. Our family photos have changed so much.

The group photo is always a fun challenge. Marin did a nice job setting up the timer on her phone & capturing the group. This morning we decided to surprise Maeve with one of her gifts. A ticket for this March to go see Zach Bryan. Her reaction was priceless. I wish I would have taken a video of her opening the gift & erupting into tears. She was so surprised. It was so fun. We are both excited to go to the concert... Maeve's first!

Excited for our chill day tomorrow & to just relax and spend the day together. Even though there is no snow, I love this season. xoxo

 Today was our first official day of winter break. Felt good to be home & have coffee in my pj's. Marin didn't waste any time. She & Emmett spent the day skiing.

This was me yesterday at school. Borrowed the costume from our friends & the kids loved it! The mask was short lived, way too hot!

Marg & her friends went ice skating this evening too. 

Excited for a relaxing week. Doctors said my grandma has to stay at the hospital through Wednesday, so we'll be spending a lot of time there with her. Hoping to make Christmas special for her. xoxo

 Gingerbread house night at grandmas...

Katie found these great gingerbread houses from Ikea & bought them for all the kids. Thankfully our friend Natalie had a huge bag full of candy left from a gingerbread party she attended. We made a mess, but the kids had so much fun & the houses turned out great. We learned a few things that would have sped up the process that we'll keep in mind for next year. 

Maeve's...

Marg's...

And Marin's...

All so great! Hoping we can continue this tradition moving forward. xoxo

 I am really not doing well taking pictures these holiday weeks! We've all been a little frantic with my grandma's health as well. Just hard not to worry!

Today it rained ALL DAY! No good when it is the night of the luminaries. Gary & I waited as long as we could to get the bags set up in the driveway, hopeful that they'd survive the mist that was still happening.

Everything looks so odd this year. It doesn't feel the same without snow. It has been so mild, it almost feels like September.

Gary even joked he may need to get the lawn mower out! That would definitely be a first in December. I would say the overall cars in the neighborhood is way down so far this evening. Hoping that we still get a decent amount of donations for our school district food pantry. Marg & Maeve were out with friends and didn't take any photos. Marin had her holiday friend exchange this evening so she missed it all together. They had a great time making cookies & opening gifts together.

Cozy inside, out of the rain! Hopefully we'll get some fluffy white snow soon! xoxo

 Twice since Thanksgiving my grandma has been in the hospital. This is the second time. We are all really hopeful that this stay will be her last for a LONG time. Today when we visited she facetimed the girls. My sister took this cute pic.

She sure is happy to see the kids. Her heart is having some issues that are causing her to gain water weight. The cardiologists are telling us that it is a game when trying to get the right balance of medicine. Fingers crossed this is it for her. Big anniversary coming up in a few weeks! xoxo

We took a little weekend trip to Milwaukee this weekend with Veraghens this weekend. Once we got checked into the hotel, the kids wanted to hang a bit before our evening activities so the adults went to check out this fun holiday decorated bar. So many lights, hard to even take it all in. I could hang out there every weekend, it was so festive!

By 5:00 we were headed to Enchant Milwaukee. Pretty incredible light display! Puts our little small down botanical gardens to shame!! The kids spotted the glowing light bulb drink cups within 5 minutes. They couldn't wait to get them. 

So many fun photos. The lights were just beautiful!

This was a view of the display from up high. The whole thing was set up on a baseball field & the tree in the middle was something! 

Despite the somewhat moderate temps, we made it about 2 hours & the kids were done. The girls were so worried about their outfits & what would look the best in photos. They probably should have worried a little more about just staying warm. Really fun, we were all so happy we made the trip! xoxo

 Reminiscing about the CC season & all the random photos I never posted... so here some of them are! Proud dad with his running girls. Just missing Maeve in this one. Wish their meets could all be together, how nice would that be?

Marg with a smile at the start line!

Marg + Naina and the rainbow after one of their meets.

And one random picture of Maeve in action. She yelled at me all season & told me to stop taking her picture. haha 

I need photos Maeve! Ease up on your mom & smile. xoxo

 Last night we celebrated Travis' birthday. After dinner we made our way to the bar & Wendy and I posed with Santa! haha Fun night & a great dinner. We didn't stay out too late knowing the girls had their piano recital today.

The girls did great at their recital. I didn't record them at all, Margaux said I could record her at home to send a video to GG. It was nice to just watch/enjoy them without feeling like I needed to record it. Look how cute they all are... our little pianists! 

Margaux with her friends. I love that they all do piano with the same instructor.

They all did great!!! This recital is my favorite because of the Christmas music. Much more fun to listen to when we know all the songs. I love Christmas & the fact that they've been playing holiday piano music for months already with all their practice. We can keep it going all year long girls! xoxo