Packed our bags & we made it to Florida!!! Look at this crew ready to head out yesterday am... when our friends heard about the cheap airfare they also booked on our same flight. So in addition to Veraghens who we were traveling with, we had additional friends on the flight! 

The girls enjoyed a very uneventful first plane ride, watching movies the entire trip. Thankful for their new iPads for sure.

Didn't take long for us to change into suits & enjoy the warm {much needed} sunshine as soon as we arrived. We have been soaking it all in.

The resort is beautiful & we are loving every minute of this weather. All week is forecasted to be in the low 80's... heaven!

We could get used to this winter break travel! Relaxing & enjoying some pool time before the next few busier planned days.

We plan to travel to Clearwater beach tomorrow & then head to Disney for NYE! So much fun to be had! We've got three really happy & sun-kissed girls. xoxo

 Santa arrived & our girls woke up pretty darn excited this morning. We decided to give them the family gifts a little early so all three of them got new iPads from Gary & myself. They were so unexpected & the girls were very excited. They'll come in handy for the trip/plane ride. This morning we all slept in a bit & headed downstairs around 7:30. All three girls looking pretty sleepy with the gifts all sorted by number. Marin-1 Margaux-2 & Maeve-3

Marin's haul consisted of mostly clothes/swimsuits, jewelry & cosmetics. All items on her Santa list were expensive!!!  Margaux opened some clothes, new swimsuits, a tiny baking kit, vines for the wall in her room that she really wanted & books. Maeve was excited to open Harry Potter Funko Pop figures, new pajamas/slippers, games & a Hamilton shirt. 

We had plans to do the big hang out in jammies all day relaxing with Veraghens but we switched it up a bit to give us all a little more time at home & to make sure that Maeve was still symptom free, which she was! Our jammies were so cozy & we all enjoyed some time together in the evening after relaxing at home all day.

Fun with snapchat filters...

And the only pic we took of the family. We literally have not been dressed in days!!! The theme of this Christmas is definitely cozy & comfy.

Love our crew & the time we were able to spend together the past few days. Looking forward to a few more low-key days before we get ready to head out on vacation!!! We are all so excited, Merry Christmas!! xoxo

Merry Christmas Eve! We've made it, the kids have been waiting & counting down the days until Christmas. Not nearly as exciting as we are used to, but we had a great day. No Christmas Eve movie this morning. I am not even sure the movie theaters are open?! We did get to attend Christmas Eve church/mass in our pajamas cuddled up in the living room by the fire. Pretty cozy for church!

After church we went to Katie & Mikes for dinner. We found out a few days ago that Maeve's bff Eva is covid positive. We took Maeve right away to get tested & it came back negative but just to be safe we masked at Katie & Mike's and kept our distance as much as we could. Thankfully Maeve is feeling great & we hope it stays that way since we leave Monday for Florida. Katie made the kids Grinch punch. Such a cute drink...

Complete with red sprinkles on the rim of the glass. So festive!

Brown Family Christmas Card 2020

We snapped this photo the first weekend of November when it was literally 78 degrees! We soaked it up & were sweating hot to get this pic of us with the Christmas tree on top of the golf cart. It was a hit!

Merry Christmas Eve to all! Time to snuggle in so Santa can make a stop at our house.

 xoxo

 Big day today! We put a new ornament on the tree & had the girls search for it. Hard to see in the photo but the ornament had a cut out of the Disney castle & read 2020. Once the girls found it, they were so surprised & very excited. Such a fun thing to surprise them with... Marin cried!! To say they were excited was an understatement. We have done our fair share of traveling but the girls have never flown. Last minute we found really cheap flights & decided to go for it! Fingers crossed we can continue to quarantine for another week-ish to avoid any contact. 

Tonight we had our neighborhood luminary event. 1,000 more luminaries sold this year than last year! This event is getting bigger & better every year which is great because all the money goes to a great cause. We also had a food donation again which seemed to have gone great, I saw piles & piles of donations as we walked through the neighborhood tonight. I didn't even take any pics of us! The Brown 5 were masked & making sure to keep a good distance. We can't risk the trip!!!

Our amazing neighbor puts up an impressive light display every year. The girls just love it! We are so fortunate that we have the perfect view out of our dining room. He even bought a new FM transmitter this year so we can listen to the radio station in the house & watch the display which is set to music. The girls could sit here for hours. We have it on almost nightly.

So much excitement in the air. I am really looking forward to this not-normal low key Christmas. It's become our new normal! Counting down the days.... xoxo

 Tonight we made all of our holiday treats. Not nearly as much as we'd normally make but it was still enough sugar for all. Cut out cookies, Rollo pretzels, Oreo balls, peanut butter blossoms & mint Ritz crackers. The kids had the most fun decorating the cookies together. Big mess but lots of laughs.

And way more sugar than they needed, they were all bouncing off the walls by the time we were done.

And we have enough holiday baked treats for an entire year! I am not sure we'll be able to eat what we have without having any friends/guests over in the next few weeks, maybe I'll have to freeze a portion of it. All so yummy! xoxo

 I feel like the days are getting lazier! It's pretty cold now & gone are the days of the girls getting outside to rollerblade or walk. They have no interest because it is "too cold." Marin & Estelle laid around all day today watching trash reality tv {they are true teenagers} and look how cute Marin & Margaux were this morning when I snapped them sleeping together. Margaux has still been sleeping upstairs with Marin most nights. They have all become so much closer with all this togetherness. It is pretty sweet.

Maeve is still spending most nights here... on the floor beside my bed. She is such a mommy's girl & just needs to be near me at all times. We try to get her to fall asleep in her own bed. Sometimes we are successful & other nights not so much! Regardless of if she falls asleep in her own bed, at some point during the night she ends up back on my floor. She is not a fan of being the only one in the house who has to sleep alone!

In an effort to get some fresh air we drove out to the nature center near our house & walked the trails for a bit this afternoon. It felt so good to just be outside, even if we were cold. Lots of complaining at first but in the end we had a great hike & watched the sunset along our fast hike back to beat the darkness.

Stopped at Katie & Mike's on our way home & at some point I realized when Marin was near Katie that she officially passed her height wise! Made us all laugh a bit, we needed them to stand back to back to know if she was in fact taller. And the answer was yes! 

Fitz for some reason was showing Gary his finger, made us all laugh so hard. Gary did the obvious & gave him the finger right back. Home now & snuggled in. My bedtime keeps getting earlier & earlier. Really turning into an old lady over here. Most nights I am the first one sleeping. Maeve & I like to get our beauty sleep, the others are night owls. xoxo

 Well the temps are dropping & we are still working to keep ourselves busy during this odd time. Margaux even made her own jam today, we're getting desperate for some normalcy! She had fun mashing it up & adding a little sugar to make a delicious sandwich for her lunch. She is also feeling refreshed because she got some good quality friend time in this past weekend. Much needed.

Merry has been busy making herself at home this year. She's been pretty crafty in her placement each day. Maeve just loves her & even sent her home to the North Pole with a letter for Santa the other day.

We're counting down the days until Christmas. The girls & I have been snuggled in watching all the Hallmark movies. It's so fun that they enjoy them as much as I do. Keeps us busy with all the downtime. We've also started doing puzzles again so that has been keeping us busy. Today was my first day back at school. The district decided to bring the kids back for these two weeks leading into Christmas. Gary & I decided to keep the girls virtual through the new year just for the sake of keeping them minimally exposed. And they are all doing so great, why ruin it for only a few short days {they would only attend every other day, so 4 days total in the two weeks}. So my mornings like this are done for two weeks...

And as of today look more like this.... me masked in the classroom I am working in all set up distanced from the kids at the front desk/podium. Today went well, just hard to get back into the swing of things after being home for so long. These two weeks will go fast & the holiday will be here before we know it.

In the meantime, the girls are home for two weeks without mom! Aside from the occasional day when I have been gone, they have never had home alone time like this. I have always been home with them. I've left them with chore lists & specific instructions to keep the house clean. Gary is going to do his best to check in on them & work some afternoons from home. Wish us all luck!! xoxo 

Last year when we celebrated our 40th birthdays in St John we all decided that we'd return a year later to celebrate Travis' 40th. Here we are a year later in the middle of a pandemic & unable to celebrate the way we had all anticipated. Although travel is increasing & it is safe, it is still difficult to travel outside of the country. Wendy did an awesome thing & hired a private chef from one of our favorite restaurants to come to her house to prepare a birthday dinner for Travis & co.

I bought Gary a shirt to celebrate the big day. Big deal when Gary pauses his Fortnite game to attend a gathering!! haha We have become so comfortable hanging out at home & doing nothing. More than enough time for Gary to play video games.... he's slightly addicted & we love to tease him.

We have yet to have dinner in a restaurant since the pandemic started. Although I know some feel comfortable, I do not! We've had our fair share of takeout but not been in a sit down restaurant in almost a year! It's such a crazy thought. For that reason I was very excited for this dinner. We all had a great time & Wendy did a great job distancing everyone during the meal... which was amazing! One of our best meals ever.

I am hopeful this trip to St John can still happen in the near future. Maybe 2021 will bring us better travel or at least make it easier for us to leave the country. We'll see! xoxo

Slow month of November, it is hard to believe we've made it to Thanksgiving already! Since we aren't doing our traditional Thanksgiving the girls decided this morning to work on this turkey day table cloth for my grandparents. All 6 of them worked so hard. Even Acre got up there & we helped him to a little scribble. It turned out so cute & was definitely appreciated by my grandparents.

We also went to Veraghens this morning to make turkey donuts. Something different & fun for the girls, didn't last too long before they were eating them. Too good to just look at!

Dinner was at Katie's. It's been easier to hang there because of Acre. With our house all decorated it's all too much for him, he just wants to touch everything!!! Very chill, low key dinner.

Surprise! Merry returned too! Maeve has been waiting for her for weeks. She was so happy to see her this morning when she woke up. And she brought a turkey! 

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Hoping we are near the end of this odd living in a pandemic world. We are all hopeful that next years holidays will look a little more normal. Fingers triple crossed!!! We are so thankful for our health & the extra family time the Brown 5 are getting. xoxo

 Maeve got a visit from her teacher today! Much needed & it really made her smile.

The virtual learning is going great for all three girls but I know they all really miss the face-to-face interaction that they get on a normal school day. We love Melissa so much & are so thankful Maeve has our friend as her teacher! She's definitely made it easier on Maeve with her great teaching.

The weather has still been really mild! We have been taking full advantage, the girls are doing a lot of rollerblading & we've been walking the neighborhood often. We need the fresh air! 

Bonfires too! Nice to just relax outside. Acre & I snuggled up to one the other night. Tired little Fitz out so much he fell asleep. 

Before Gary & I ever had kids we used to talk about how we wanted boys. I think it was familiar to us because of all the time we spent with the Anguil boys. Our girls are wonderful & I wouldn't change it for the world, but I am thankful my sister & Mike brought these baby boys into our lives. We love them so much. xoxo

Election 2020, we had to fuel the fire mask up & bring my grandparents election cookies. My grandpa has been telling everyone that his vote didn't count because my grandma voted opposite him! Makes us all laugh & this dessert was fun for the two of them. My grandma won, no more Donald Trump for president... Joe Biden won the election.

And weather wise, this does not fee like November! Today I was teaching my classes virtually in the sunroom & on a break I came out to check on Maeve. I had no idea where she was until I found her on the front porch doing her school work. Way to take advantage of the nice day Maeve!!!

T-shirt & short leggings in November is definitely not normal but we'll take it! xoxo

With all the time in the house together & the weather getting much cooler the girls were in need of a space for all their crafting. Throughout the summer they did all their painting in the garage or out on the driveway. It was so nice to keep the mess outside, but it can't stay that way all winter. So we cleared out a big piece of the unfinished space in the basement & created this craft room!

Margaux was most excited. It's a quiet little space for them to paint, draw, make slime, or anything else craft related. They couldn't wait to get the glue gun plugged in & get started. Between the new craft space, Marg's room & the piano... Margaux doesn't need to leave the basement at all!

So happy we invested in the quarantine digital piano & put Margaux in lessons. She had been asking for so long & she is doing so great. We never need to ask her to practice, she is down there playing all day. And unlike the painful sounds of the plastic recorder, we could sit & listen to her play all day. It is so peaceful & relaxing. Amazing to see the progress she's made in just a few short weeks! Can't wait for the Christmas songs Margaux! xoxo

In the year of craziness why not add new traditions?!? Maeve & Sloane have been learning about the Dia de los Muertos in their world culture class & Sloane loved it so much she suggested we celebrate. So glad she did because we all really enjoyed it.

We gathered all of our framed images of the loved ones we have lost & lined them up across the mantle with candles & candy skulls. We told stories about them & even talked about how traditionally we were supposed to prepare their favorite foods. Next year we'll add that to the celebration.

Love these kiddos & the fact that we got to talk & share stories about so many loved ones that they didn't get to know or spend much time with. So much love to share.

I think it was fun for all & we'll all be looking forward to our celebration next year. I have a feeling our decorations will continue to improve too! The kids were really into it. xoxo

 Halloween 2020 Quarantine Style!!

While this year continues to look much different than the others, we made the best of it & enjoyed Halloween on a Saturday! We've waited years for Halloween to fall on a weekend so we could really enjoy the evening without it being on a school night... well we got another weekend holiday but it didn't include a celebration like we had hoped. The girls were still excited to dress up! Margaux was Mario, Maeve a box of donuts & Marin was a trendy cheetah girl?!? If that is what you want to call it!

7 happy kiddos looking forward to trick or treating...

Margaux & her Mario crew along with Maeve and a few of her sweet friends.

Lots of photos before they masked up & headed off to do some socially distant trick or treating. The littles ran around our neighborhood masked collecting candy but were home much earlier than they usually are. Just not the same, but they had fun in the short time they were out.

As soon as photos were done, Marin went to a friends house to meet up with her crew. They had a fun outdoor party celebrating together without trick or treating. She'll be annoying her sisters for their candy tomorrow I am sure!

Happy Halloween to all... Almost time to officially start decking these with jolly! xoxo

 Not sure it has ever been snowing while we carve pumpkins?!! First time for everything & 2020 is definitely the year of crazy things. Also, the snow was great inspiration for Margaux's pumpkin carving. Last year a christmas tree, this year a snowflake!

Maeve carved the Harry Potter symbol, Marg the snowflake & Marin the Chick-fil-A logo.

They all turned out so great. Funny  how they can all three pretty much carve on their own. Not the case watching my sister with her three kiddos!

First snow of the season, the fall front porch scene looks a little odd, but also pretty. The first snow is also always the best time to jump into the hot tub. They couldn't wait to get in.

So hard to believe it's already the end of October. My days off are drawing closer to an end as I approach time to start my 12 week long term job. Enjoying my morning coffee & embracing for teaching from home for the first time ever! Hopefully I can rock it just like the girls are. And their teachers are simply amazing. We are so thankful for them. Wish me luck! xoxo

One of our kids favorite seasons, apple drying season! Hours spent in my parents garage washing, drying, slicing, soaking & loading rings of apples onto drying trays before they go into the dehydrator.

The girls have become apple assembly line pros! We've got the whole process of filling up the dehydrator down to about 45-60 minutes. Very efficient!

Last year they dehydrated 12 batches. We'll see what gets done this year. Later in the year once the supply goes down they begin to hoard them!

And a photo from Grandma's birthday... minus Katie & Mike who were drinking wine in Michigan & Maeve/Sloane who didn't want to come up for a pic.

So much fall fun! Girls are home from school again. Not sure if I mentioned that. They made it in person about 4 weeks & now we are all virtual from home again. They are rocking it, all doing such a great job. We are so proud of them making the most of this odd school year. xoxo