It's summertime so it must be Ted Drewes!




We took time out from packing for Vermont and headed down to Ted Drewes in South St. Louis. This St. Louis tradition serves frozen custard in a multitude of ways including concretes. During the summer there are usually a hundred or more people milling around the stand; ordering, talking and kicking back with friends. We met our good friends, the Ereksons, and spent a couple of hours talking while the kids jumped around in the van. Kate, the world's greatest babysitter, will be going to college before we come back in August. What a great way to spend a Monday night!

Master Monkey, Jackson Rhys



This is one of my many wonderful nephews. It's amazing that a family full of girls would have so many sons. Rhys is a character. When I last saw him, he was busy calling me "Aunt Julie" with a mischievous grin. He also likes to get on the phone and say, "Hi, Aunt Amy" then promptly hang up the phone or punch all the buttons. This picture is classic Rhys. Here is is trying to be one of the characters from the movie Kung Fu Panda. This is also typical of all of my crazy nephews.

Trouble in the Nursery

Well, it has happened twice in one month: Liam was kicked out of the nursery. The first time he was hitting a child. Today, he just couldn't stop running. Part of me is frustrated and then the other part realizes that life just isn't normal with Liam. His speech delay frustrates him especially in those 'that kid took the toy, but you didn't see it and I can't tell you situation'. His sensory issues come to play when he gets overtired, overstimulated, or hungry. All of the above send him into tizzy. It can be just as frustrating to him as it is to whomever happens to have the joy of taking are of him at that moment. He is a great kid, but even I am exhausted by the precarious dance each day. God must really trust me.

Girls Camp

Adria came back from Girls Camp and as usual had a great time.
Here's a shot of the lake. Camp is held at a Scout camp south of St. Louis.



The girls sleep on cots in the tents on platforms. In Adria's they set up a tent within this tent. This helps to keep out the brown recluse and northern widow spiders. Of course, as you can see, there is still plenty of room for raccoons to crawl underneath and hiss at you at night.



Adria took her good friend, Megan, to camp with her. In pic below, Megan is third from the right and Adria is in the purple shirt for those you can't remember what she looks like.

Trying to Be Patient. How am I doing??

Andrew went down to Girls Camp last night leaving me with the three youngest. Adria was already there and greatly anticipating having her Bishop/Dad arrive. For her this is one(probably the only!) perk to having a dad as the bishop. Adria LOVES girls camp and was excited to share this with Andrew.

I, on the other hand, am trying to be patient. So far, the kids have been great, but this is the second time in a month that Andrew has been away from home overnight. His two weeks in Europe were stressful for all of us. Two more days and nights on the heels of the first trip just doesn't seem fair. Which always lends to guilt, since the first trip was for work and the second for church. It's not like he's gone off on some pleasure trip and left me behind. He does have to sleep on a cot without AC, after all.

All of this brings me to the whole Bishop thing. Needless to say, it has been an adjustment. Andrew is gone two nights a week and all day Sunday and sometimes much of Saturday depending on if there is a baptism, ward or stake activity, etc. Andrew teaches on Wednesday nights so I have him home on Monday and Friday evenings. I am glad that our stake president told Andrew to only be gone two nights a week at the most and if it couldn't be done then it could wait. In retrospect, this was great advice. I think it encourages delegation. There is always something else to do and it would be easy for him to never be home. Our schedule has eased up a bit with summer. Thank goodness.

Suddenly being without that extra partner is hard. Elder Douglas Callister spoke to the bishops and wives at a recent stake conference. He reminded the wives that we wanted a good husband and we got them. This reminded me that I wanted a husband who would honor his priesthood, I got one and now I needed to support him. Elder Callister wasn't implying that it wouldn't be hard, but that we needed to be patient. I think that was the best advice this new bishop's wife could get.

So I will continue trying to be patient all the while eagerly anticipating his homecoming.

Flower Power

I've been trying to establish flower gardens around the house. Experimenting with different kinds of flowers in different areas of the yard. Last year I started several flower varieties from seed. Here is one of my successes. There have been others, but these Gaillardias have yielded the best results.

Last Pics

Having Uncle El around was a blast!



Trying to get all those arms and legs still was hard!

More Cousin Pics

The cousins have left, but we had lots of fun while they were here.

Picnic at Forest Park with cooperating weather!


The Grand Basin where we sat for the picnic


Eva looking adorable as usual


After the picnic, we hit the zoo and then Sonic(it's a family thing) for ice cream on the way home. The kids were exhausted after hours(!!!) at the zoo on the nicest day in a LONG time. Needless to say it was crowded.


Some of us feel asleep before reaching home



Back home, we continued to have lots of fun. Rhys found his monkey costume that we had borrowed.


Hayden cuddled with his mom


Austin Cael found a banana


I have two more pics that I'm having trouble loading. I'll try to get them posted soon.

The Cousins have landed!!

Two of my sisters and the children(plus one spouse) are visiting. Here are some pics.

Rhys to the rescue!!


Bryn's Up a Tree


El's having TOO much fun

Why didn't I buy the same color????!!!!
I recently bought new lawn chairs. I decided to buy six. Enough for all of us to sit at the same time. Because we all know that if I bought less than that someone would scream. Not that it's likely we'd all be sitting at once, but I digress. I also bought two small chairs for Eva and Liam, in case we have company. Here is where I made the mistake. I bought two different colors. All experienced parents know, you always buy the same color whenever possible to avoid fights. It doesn't matter if they ask for different colors. Inevitably, after leaving the store they will want the OTHER color. So I guess I deserve whatever torture they inflict over these chairs. I have learned my lesson. Once again.

Andrew and Pierre Marcolini
Andrew came home from Europe last night. He has been in Belgium and London for the past two weeks. Before anyone asks, 'why didn't he take you?' , let me say that it is the last weeks of school and there was no way I could leave the kids right now. But he did this wonderful thing. He introduced me to Pierre Marcolini and his divine chocolates. If you want to see them go to www.marcolini.be/EN/accueil.html.
Apparently, the store looks like a jewelry store, plush interior with the chocolates behind glass cases like you are picking out an engagement ring and several stories tall. Those who live in Belgium swear by the chocolates and rightly so. They are fabulous. Which reminds me why do we always hear about the Swiss their chocolates? Andrew has brought back Swiss chocolate before and these leave them in the dust.
I understand a store opened in NYC so if you are there, RUN, don't walk. For some reason, I can picture my friend Heidi ditching her husband and spending the day eating chocolates.
They use interesting and unusual ingredients in their chocolates like puff pastry or thyme. One of my unexpected favorite so far is a fondant square chocolate with fresh Provencal thyme and orange peels. Sounds a bit gross, but it was wonderful. Have I used the word 'wonderful' and 'fabulous' and 'divine' enough?
Oh, and I love that my husband is home. But I thought you'd rather hear about the chocolates than our reunion.

Happy?? Mother's Day!
Today was one of those Mother's Days to be forgotten. Let's start with the weather. It was cold and rainy and windy today. I have been SO ready for summer or at least some pleasant spring weather. I actually turned the heater on this evening as it will be in the 40s tonight and I don't want to freeze.
Next, Andrew is in Europe at the moment. He's been gone a week and will be gone for another one. He has been a dear and has emailed or video chatted with me everyday. And he sent me flowers yesterday. But I miss that parenting partnership we have. It's hard with four bouncing-off-the-walls-standing-on-their-heads kids. Plus it's the last weeks of school and so reports are due and major tests are coming and all those end of the year activities. It also doesn't help that I can't sleep when he's gone.
Then, the kids were less than helpful. I wasn't expecting much because Andrew isn't here. No one wanted to wash dishes or help with dinner. It was another day at the Brown's. They did let me take a nap, but only because they did, too. Of course, the nap was late and so they couldn't fall asleep until late. I feel like Oscar the Grouch(see my sister's blog).
But the house is finally quiet. They all have school tomorrow except Liam. And Andrew will be home in a week. I think for my birthday I will disappear for the day.

One of Adria's Favorite Things
As soon as she comes home, Adria is on the computer. She's either looking at clothes, chatting with friends, checking email or going between what's new at CNN or People. I can't believe she'll be 15 in September and getting a driver's permit. Yikes! Where did time go?

Liam and His Birthday Cake

Liam's Birthday
Our 5-10-05 boy will be 3 years old, but Andrew will be out of town on Saturday. So we celebrated Liam's birthday. After hot dogs, french fries and strawberries, we went to the park. Liam loves to run, jump and swing off of anything nailed down. Colin was great and took lots of pictures for us. Those two are best friends.


Our happy boy! Not sure where he's getting the fake smile. Not too long after this pic a swing caught Liam in the lip. What's a boy's birthday without an injury.


Colin was a great big brother and played on the horses with Liam. Later we had cake and ice cream.

Earthquake. Really, we had one.

This morning around 4:30am we had an earthquake that measured at 5.2 on the ole Richter scale. Later, around 10:15am an afterhshock measured around 4.5. Both were centered about 130 miles from St. Louis in Illinois. Now, I know those of you who live in the West are thinking, "Big deal they happen in California and these parts all the time." Well, according to the U.S. Geological Survey the ones here can be less powerful, but can be felt more and cause more damage. Because of our soil differences, we have more shaking and vibrating and less of a feeling that the ground is rolling. Also ours tend to be more shallow in depth. I know my brother-in-law is rolling his eyes and thinking, "And you want us to move there? You have droughts, floods, tornadoes, humidity and now earthquakes! Sheesh" Yes, we do,but you still live in a desert. (Sorry for the digression)

Anyway, around 4:30am, Andrew and I both woke up to the house shaking. As we were wondering aloud if it was an earthquake, here came Adria and Colin asking what was going on. Colin had slept in the basement (he'll do anything for cable) and felt the foundation bounce him around. Eva and Liam slept right through it. Later that morning Liam and I felt the house briefly shake again.

Not really any damage. Our house is fine, but some of the older homes have some cracked windows. St. Louis is always preparing (at least mentally) for the Big One. We sit on the New Madrid fault line which produced the biggest earthquakes in the U.S. back in the 1800s. If something like that happens again, St. Louis won't be so lucky. What a cheerful thought.

We've entered the 21st Century!

Much to the delight of the kids, we have entered the 21st century and installed cable. Yes, yes I know what you are thinking. How could a family that has a wireless network in the house, owns three laptops and five IPods NOT have cable?
Well, Andrew has managed to find ways through research accounts and teaching technology grants to acquire them. So the kids no longer have to fiddle with the rabbit ears and tin foil. Colin is excited at the prospect of watching reruns of Cops. Eva and Liam loves having multiple Disney/Nick/Cartoon channels. Andrew loves the Sci-Fi channel so he can watch the current Battlestar Gallactica. I am happy that ITunes is no longer nickel and dime-ing us to death.
Thank goodness we don't get the Game Show network that being one of Adria's guilty pleasures!

Liam the Superhero

Lately, Liam is seldom without his cape. It is a hand me down from Colin. Recently, Liam saw a picture of Colin wearing it when Colin was around four years old. Liam became upset that someone else was wearing the cape. Last night I decided the much worn cape needed to be washed. I tried to hide it while putting it in the washer, but Liam's eagle eyes spotted me. He became distraught, jumping up and down crying, "Mine, mine, no, no". He was reunited with the beloved cape this morning and all is well. Of course, this means he is back to jumping off chairs and running down hills just to feel the cape billowing behind him.

In the family pic, Eva was a little hidden behind Andrew. And, let's face it, the pic was old. Here is a current pic of her. She has a great teacher(Miss Toybes) who is always taking pictures of the kids and placing them on the class website. Instead of a holiday party in December, the class had a New Year's Eve party complete with dancing. It was hilarious to watch 15 kindergarten kids dance which mainly involved jumping around and bouncing off one another. What was their favorite dance tune? "I Like to Move It" from Madagascar.

Our Crazy Family
I thought I should give a quick run down of our family.

Liam is our youngest. He will be three in May, is absolutely spoiled, and we all love granting his wishes. He loves cars, dinosaurs, capes, getting dirty and playing with Colin. Liam will swing, crawl or jump off of anything hence his nickname, "Monkey Boy". He has so much energy that sometimes I ask Colin to wrestle with him.

Eva is six years old and one of the most cheerful, bubbly children you could meet. Beware though, behind that gregarious outerlayer is a will of steel. She has been hardened by years of older sibling torture. Eva is our girly princess. Disney came along with their princess marketing just in time for her. Eva loves reading, school, anything to do with art, Hayao Miyazaki movies, and reminding everyone that we forgot family prayer.

Colin is eleven years old and already on girls' radar. He has an amazing sense of humor and has a knack for summing up the moment in succinct, hilarious ways. He is currently playing the violin, but will switch to the guitar next year. He loves old movies especially those with Buster Keaton, the Marx Brothers, and 80s movies( Ferris Bueller, etc). Colin's taste in music runs to The Clash, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, Weird Al, and generally music Andrew doesn't have a taste for especially current music like Foo Fighters.

Adria is fourteen and a freshman in high school. This is her first year of seminary, and the early morning has been hard on all of us. Okay, harder on Adria and Andrew who takes her, but I don't enjoy hearing the shower running at 5am. Her interests run towards politics, history, and literature. Of course, boys are also a prime interest. She gave up the flute this year and is concentrating on piano. She will always have a calling in church!

We are happy to say that Andrew just received tenure. This takes a lot of stress off of the family, but it has been replaced by the stress of being Bishop. His job has him traveling a lot. He just came back from Argentina and will head to Europe in May. This summer we are all going to Vermont where Andrew will be teaching a graduate course at Middlebury College.

I am at home with Liam and the cat(Midnight) most days. Aside from a chef, I am also working as a chauffeur, receptionist, tutor, domestic servant, decorator, nutritionist, handyman, gardener and counselor. Motherhood keeps me busy. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up this blog.

~Amy