Merry Christmas

Thanksgiving Recap

We had a great time in Ohio for Thanksgiving.  The weather was beautiful and it is the first time we have been there without snow on Thanksgiving.  We had fun visiting Mark’s family…

Papa Jim & Grandma Thelma

And we finally got to see Uncle Mike & Aunt Linda…we always seem to miss them when we visit.  And they  gave me the best gift EVER…More milk glass for my growing collection.  Thank you Mike and Linda!  I love each piece.

We got to catch Bailey’s basketball game.

He is growing up so fast and it is a glimpse into the future of what Adam will  be like at that age…Oh, time please stop!

Adam had fun sleeping in the basement with Bailey & Noah each night and Colton was the entertainment for everyone and was spoiled by his Pop & Gram!

Gigi’s Annual Halloween Party

We all look forward to Gigi’s Annual Halloween Party.  My mom always goes ALL OUT for Halloween.

Funny Story about the skeleton in the above picture.  When we got home last night Adam kept saying he was “soooooo hungry”.  I said “what do you mean you are hungry?  We just left a party full of good food”.  And he said “every time I tried to eat at the party I would look up at that skeleton head and I would get sick and couldn’t eat anything”.  I laughed so hard…but felt kind of bad for him.

Colton REFUSED to wear his adorable Mickey costume.  He screamed and threw a FIT.  My dad and Josh even tried to get him in it.  This is the only picture I have of him with it barely on. 

Colin was a policeman and Levi was the jail bird complete with ball and chain.  It was s cute!

Bentley cracked everyone up by showing up in a KISS costume.

Adam was an Army Man…These two were a funny pair!

Gracie was adorable as a Flapper Girl.

Fun and Yummy food.

Tommy & Carrie brought the FAMOUS German Ham Sandwiches…YUMMO and home made roasted pepper soup…SUPER YUMMO!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Fun Day Monday

My sister Jenny and I have been making a habit of getting together on Mondays and working on random projects together…Jenny refers to it a “Fun Day Monday”

Neither of us were planning on a photo shoot today…no showers, no makeup, grubby clothes.  But my mom stopped by so we took a second to document ourselves and asked her to take our picture …not sure if that was the best idea after seeing the results?

Colton and Levi always have fun playing together…or FIGHTING over toys.

When I say we work on random projects…I mean RANDOM…like…

Hemming Jeans so that the original hem stitch stays in place!

Painting everything in sight with Chalk Paint.

Including these matching frames that were FREE!  Completed project pics coming soon.

And working on THIS project for a certain sisters upcoming birthday.  Shhhh!

Another “Fun Day Monday” down. I am exhausted, but glad to have some projects finally checked off the list.

Feeling Like Fall

Saturday was the PERFECT Fall day!  I met up with my mom, Uncle Tommy, Aunt Carrie, Liz & Gracie…out in the COUNTRY… for some free pinto beans and cornbread at Old Mill Primitives!  Oh, it was so fun and YUMMY!  We were on the hunt for some more Chalk Paint and old blue Mason Jars so I can make some of THESE.  I didn’t find any jars! Boo.  But we did all walk away with some Chalk Paint.

Then the ENTIRE Brewer clan met up at Layman’s Farm for more Fall festivities. Fried Oreos, pumpkins, cow train rides, apples and CHAOS! 

Good times and great memories!

Ganny

A few hours after I posted Ganny’s Red Velvet Cake recipe, I got  a call that she had passed away.  We are so sad to say goodbye to her but know we will see her again one day and so glad her suffering is finally over.

This is the image of Ganny & Paw that will stay with me forever and always brings a smile to my face.  Some of the best memories of my childhood were made inside those gates and inside their house. 

Love you Ganny!

Ganny’s Red Velvet Cake

My grandmother “Ganny” (not to be confused with my other grandmother “Grammy” inventor of the Summer Cake) was famous for her Red Velvet Cake.  She would make it every Christmas and we would all be so excited when we saw it on the dessert table.  She would always say that she needed a quiet house and complete concentration to make this cake…and I now understand why.  I made it for Colton’s birthday party.  It was so yummy and brought back so many good memories.

Her original recipe was handwritten and passed down to my sister.  It has take several years and several people to figure out all the steps and ingredients involved because her writing was hard to read and the recipe card was so torn and stained.  But I think we finally got it sorted out.  It is very important that you follow each step and not just throw all the ingredients together.  You should be able to double click on the recipes below and print them.

And don’t forget to try THIS technique for “ruffle frosting”.

And here is a funny picture for my family members who read this blog…to make you smile!  This is Ganny attending a luau at her nursing home a few years ago.  My mom bought her a bikini koozie for her can of Shasta! HA!  She has not been doing well in the past weeks and she has been on my mind constantly.  We love you Ganny!

Baseball with Poppy

My dad took the boys to a Cubs/Nationals game last night in DC.  They got home a 2:30 am!  Best Poppy EVER!

Spring Break in DC

The theme of our spring break trip to DC was…

“WHAT WERE WE THINKING”

So, we knew it was going to be a busy and crowded time to go.  Crowds don’t typically discourage us from doing things, but this was beyond what I ever imagined.  MISERABLE!  We did not do half of the things we had planned on doing and the breakdown of our time was as follows.

65% – waiting in bumper to bumper traffic

25% – looking for parking (and paying a FORTUNE for it)  We did take the metro to some places, but had to take the car sometimes too.

10% – waiting in LONG lines

…does that equal 100%?  I am not real good at math.

Our first destination attempt was the Zoo.

This was what it was like inside.  EVERYWHERE.  And imagine trying to get a big, bulky stroller around in this crowd…”What were we thinking”

We did manage to see some of these cuties…but it took a lot of waiting, pushing, dirty looks and fighting!

This display cracked me up.  I was not aware that Bees & Wasps were a Zoo attraction.  No thank you!

I was so excited to take Colton to the Zoo because he LOVES animals and calls them all “dog dog”.  We knew he would be so excited.  But this is what happened after being there only a few minutes…

This child has NEVER…NEVER…NEVER fallen asleep in his stroller, and this is the day he finally does!   AAAAGH!

Adam was SO EMBARASSED to take the picture below.  I thought he was going to cry!

The next day we planned to do the Museums.  first up was Air & Space.

Adam with the “Spirit of St. Louis”

Then we tried American History.  We waited in a long line in the rain to get inside.  Once inside it was so crowded that we could hardly move so we left.  So frustrating.

We checked out of our hotel at this point and got in our car to GET OUT OF TOWN! 

We went shopping at some outlets and IKEA!   Ahhhhh…much better!  Stayed at a nice hotel in Woodbridge and the kids enjoyed the indoor pool.  So sad that this was the highlight of everyone’s trip.

Lesson learned.  NEVER try to go to DC on Spring Break.