Friday's Fun...(last Fri 11-29-08)

Now that you are caught up on Thanksgiving ....it's on to the rest of the holiday weekend....Friday was a fun and busy day. It is a tradition in my family to put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. The whole family pitched in. This was the first year that all of the kids were really able to help with the decorating. We unpacked about a kajillion boxes...and the decorating began...Allie found a santa hat in one of the first boxes we opened and a good time was had by all (until the fighting started over the hat...ugh!!!)

Macie in the Christmas spirit...

Scott "Ho-Ho-Ho"-ing pretending to be santa "...round little belly, that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly..."
During lunch the skirmishes grew...Holley and Allie had to argue (of course) over who got to sit at what bar stool...I'm glad my camera was handy...

Meme and Poppy unpacking the Christmas tree...glad Poppy still does the heavy lifting, I'm NO help in that area...

Yes, we have an artificial tree....apparently I am (or was as a child) allergic to real ones so I've had an artificial one for as long as I can remember...LOVE THEM!!!

Then we had to untangle all of the ornament hooks...this took a while...

Then we decorated the tree and sang Christmas carols at the top of our lungs while listening to our favorite Christmas CD's.

The final product...pretty good job Browning's!!!!

At this point you are caught up through the end of Friday. I worked on Sat. and the kids did a bunch of playing with friends and with each other...Today (Sun. we had another fun time...more on that to come)...stay tuned....

Backtracking a bit...

Happy Thanksgiving all...a few days late I know....sorry about that!! Life has been busy for the Browning bunch. We spent Turkey Day at home eating a bunch of yummy food (thanks Meme..and yes I did help too!!). Once our tummies were full and I mean STUFFED...we sat around feeling sleepy and wishing we could take a long nap!! But sadly, a nap was not in the cards for us. Why? you ask??? Because we were on 'chicken duty'. Scot's dad signed him up for 4H club this year. He (his Dad) decided it would be fun to sign him (Scott) up to show chickens this year. These chicks arrived last week? or the week before (I can't remember). Anyway...Scott's dad decided it was a smart thing to do to travel for Thanksgiving this year...never mind the fact that he has these week old chicks to take care of.... sorry...won't go there...anyway, the responsibility somehow landed on MY shoulders to get Scott over there to look in on the chicks. His dad assured me that Scott could do everything by himself, all I had to do was give him a ride. Yea right....NOT!! I was informed that the shavings the chicks had in their pen must remain dry and the heat lamp had to be a certain temp...etc. I begrudgingly agreed to drive Scott over there and when we got there...I noticed the shavings were all wet. Scott did everything that he was supposed to do, change water and fill the food trays etc. So, when we left, I called his dad and told him about the wet shavings and wet newspaper the shavings were on. He informed me that when we went back the next day (Fri) we needed to change out the entire bedding and newspapers that the chicks were living on. So what was supposed to be just waiting while Scott did a couple of quick chores, became a HUGE undertaking on Friday afternoon. Scott could not move all of the chicks (50 of them ) into other boxes, slide the boards making the pen out, sweep up all of the shavings, peel wet newspaper off the floor of the chicken coop, replace everything and push the boards back and replace all 50 chicks quickly so they didn't get cold all by himself... All I've got to say is that his dad better plan better the next time (ha-like that will happen) because I have no intention of doing that again. It would be one thing if it were an activity that I had committed my son to doing or that I had any experience with....but I am a city girl...grew up a city girl....I've got ZERO experience with barnyard animals....they were kinda cute though....but oh so
S-T-I-N-K-Y-!!! Poop everywhere!!!

Here is a pic of the chicks...the red light is a heat lamp

Scott holding a chick...
Typical of Allie....not afraid one bit....(I was terrified of these tiny fuzzy critters)

Cute to look at, but smelly!!

Holley joining the fun...

The infamous chicks...

The funniest thing is that while I was growing up I loved 'Little House on the Prairie'. I used to wish that I had lived back in those days....not now!!! I would never make it as a pioneer woman!!! There probably aren't many people who would be terrified of these tiny things...but what can I say?...the kids thought it was hilarious that I was afraid...I have to say in my defense that I was not as scared this day as when the cows on the property were coming towards me last year when I dropped the kiddies off...I freaked...they wanted to get me I'm sure of it....

Little things I'm thankful for....

Hello friends, it is THAT time of year again, the time when we all try to remember what we are thankful for, or MOST importantly, thank the Lord for, and here are a few of the things that I am most thankful for this year.....this has been one of the better years in recent history for the Browning clan....The first three pictures are three of my all time favorite pictures of the kiddos....my sister took them several years ago. She does a little free-lance photography...she put copyrights on the first two of the girls so I can't have copies made of them. The one of Scott does not have her name on it but I've tried to have copies made and Wal-Mart and HEB , but they won't do it because they are convinced they are professional shots. Good job MA!!! They are great!! Please make me copies before another three or four year go by...(Ha!)

Macie Elizabeth Browning

Holley Paige Browning

Walter "Scott" Browning

Allie's picture was long enough ago that she still looked like a baby and NOTHING like she does now...The other three still pretty much look the same.

Allison "Allie" Brooke Browning

(proof that Allie CAN be an angel when she wants to be! Ha!)

St. Helena's children's pageant 2007

The Fab Four September 2008- visiting the dentist




Halloween 2008

Camel and Kings 2007 St. Helena's Church, Boerne, Tx.

One of the rare moments everyone is getting along watching 'Enchanted' 2008

After the kiddos, I am most thankful for my family. I would not be where I am today without their support, love and babysitting!!

Mom and Dad (aka Meme and Poppy) Christmas 2006

This picture was taken at Creekside, my parents previous home here in Boerne, around Easter time(?) in 2000
Mom, Dad, Perry, Me, Mary-Austin

Poppy with the grand-kids (except Rachel) at the Friendswood Fourth of July Parade 7-4-2008

Rachel was marching IN the parade. This was MA and John's wedding day as well.

Mom (Meme), Perry, and me in the back. Friendswood Fourth of July parade 7-4-2008

I am also very thankful that I successfully earned my RN license this year. I graduated in May from the Baptist School of Health Professions. I love being a nurse...

A pic of the diploma I worked soooo hard for...now it's my Bachelor's and Master's still to go but I promised myself to wait at least a year to spend some time with the kiddies.

This is why I do what I do....to help little guys (and gals) like these come into the world. L&D is getting less scary by the week. I now find myself pretty much knowing instinctively what to do when an emergency happens.

I am extremely thankful that we are able to send Allie to two great pre-schools this year. SHEEP and First United Methodist Mother's Day Out. She loves school and will be well prepared for kindergarten (boo-hoo) next year. Plus Meme works with her on "school" on the days she is home.

This picture is from the pumpkin patch. Allie's class at SHEEP went the first of October. This is Allie and her little friend Nicole.

Thought this was cute and an appropriate representation of how I feel by the end of a 12 hour work day. Too bad the lady is not in scrubs and tennis shoes: it would be as realistic as you could get!!!Ha-Ha!

Seriously, I am very thankful that my back has held up as well as it has. This time last year I wasn't sure how I would make it through until graduation. I was in school Mon-Fri and working every Sat and Sun. I hurt my back in the spring and had problems all year long, resulting in epidural steroid injections multiple times last fall. I also had to be on medical leave from work from Oct- Jan 1st. The last injection I had was one year ago now, in Nov. My MD thought she'd have to do injections every other month just to get me through graduation. Thankfully, switching jobs from Med-Surg to Post-Partum last Feb. and no longer having to lift patients has saved me from having to have any more injections and a spinal fusion. I had a good scare a couple of weeks ago but my back has rebounded (thanks to prayer I'm sure- thank you). I know that eventually I will have to have surgery again...that is a given according to my MD, but hopefully we can hold it off until there is some decent artificial disc technology available. Of course losing some weight would do a world of good, but haven't tackled that yet....hopefully in 2009....


Hee-Hee, this is SOOOO my life!!!

I am extremely thankful for my good friends....Also especially for my friend Robin's little boy Landry....If you don't know Landry's story explore my blog a little further...I don't have any recent pictures of most of my friends. Most of them live in Midland and in Lubbock and I never take a camera to work to snap shots of my work friends and .....blah-blah-blah...

This is Robin and her little boy Landry (I stole this pic off her blog!! Hope that's ok Rob-ha!)

Another thing that I am thankful for is that there is a new member in our family his year. My sister Mary Austin found "Mr. Right" and married him this year on the Fourth of July.

My sister Mary Austin and her husband John with their children. My niece and nephew, Stephen and Rachel are on the left and John's girls are on the right. His daughters are very sweet and very TALL!!! (not to mention gorgeous!)

Yup, more pics I swiped....Hee-Hee

Mary Austin and John on their honeymoon....congratulations guys!!!

I am thankful (and somewhat surprised) that Texas Tech has done so well in football this year!!!

And most of all...I'm thankful to get to be the mom to four of the greatest kiddies in the world...yes I get tired and grumpy and overwhelmed by the responsibilities upon my shoulders ...but I could not ask for better kids. I hope you guys know how much I ADORE each one of you....I will treasure these priceless moments...

and Barack Obama handing out B's....(if you do not know what I'm talking about check out the blog). I hope to capture many more "Browningisms" as I've come to call them so that years from now we can all look back and remember these sweet days..... Love y'all.

Sniff-Sniff

Ok....so we were slaughtered last night!!!! My poor Red Raiders. It was fun while it lasted!!! I still love you TT!!! Worked today....sigh....it was a pretty good day as far as labor and delivery goes...no major problems, thank goodness....Off to bed...goodnight....Stay tuned.... p.s.have not heard anything about Landry since Fri. They were going to ride a train (? Amtrak-I think) for Luke's birthday...please keep praying that he wil not react to this antibiotic he's on...

Go Tech!!! Beat OU!!!

Come on Red Raiders!!!!! We're rooting for you.

Could not stand that old template for one more second. Yes it was cute, but all those dark colors, golds, browns, orange....they aren't for me....can't wait to find a cute Christmas background.

A night with the Spurs...

Hello all, here are the pictures from Holley's performance with the Fabra dance team at the Spurs game last night. Unfortunately, the video is too long and requires too much space for me to post here. You may want to pause the mixpod music before you enter smilebox. You can click on each individual picture to enlarge it. Holley is in the row on the right in most of the pics....third from the back of the line, there are two girls behind her. She is on the far right on the picture of the jumbo-tron. She is holding her poms up. She thought it was so cool that Aunt Perry got a picture of her on the jumbo-tron. Thanks again, Aunt Perry!!! Scott went on a hike this morning with Aunt Perry (wow she's a busy aunt!) and Poppy. Allie has a birthday party later....and we are waiting impatiently for our beloved RED RAIDERS to beat OU tonight!!! Go TECH!!!! WOO-HOO!!! Stay tuned.... S

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A "funny" thing happened on the way to the AT&T Center....

Actually, several "funny" (more like strange) things happened on the way to the AT&T Center to see Holley perform with the Fabra dance team during the Spurs game half-time show. Things did not start off well this afternoon. After I jumped in and out of the shower, it was 5:00. Holley had to be at the school to leave on the bus by 5:15. I threw my clothes on and ran out of the house with wet hair and no make-up!! The horror!! So when I stopped at the stop sign along the access road, I was rear ended by a high-school kid. Knowing Holley would likely miss the bus if I didn't get her to the school, I threw her in the first car I saw. Just kidding....kinda. Actually a couple of cars behind me I saw a mom driving her daughter who was wearing the Fabra dance team uniform. I flagged her down and asked if Holley could go with her. The moment Holley opened the car door I heard the other mom say "Oh, that's Holley....no problem come on in Holley!!!" It wasn't until she started driving away that I realized I'd been so worried about Holley missing the game that I had NO IDEA who I had just entrusted my daughter to....not overly smart!!! Oh well. What can I say?? OOPS!!! It is in times just like these that I am glad Boerne is such a small town. We don't have much of a crime problem here, at least not major crime anyway. So after I wrapped up the accident stuff ( my car was relatively unscathed ) I ran home to get dressed and do hair, make-up etc. My sister went to the game with me (Thanks Perry!) and she drove us because I had never been to the AT&T center and tend to FREAK out driving downtown to places I've never been. We ended up in a major traffic jam. We were not sure we would even make it to the game for the half-time performance. While we were sitting in the parking lot on I-10, we saw smoke and about 20 min later (20 feet down the road) we saw this....

Yup, a grass fire. Too weird. It got a little smokey....Then we finally made it on the on ramp to I-35 and several yards down the freeway we found the cause of the back-up... a tiny fender bender that caused a back-up miles long.

I know, it's a little dark.. I forgot to turn my flash on....I'm sure people were wondering why I was taking a picture of the accident. So then we arrive!!! We only missed about half of the first period. Go Spurs Go!!!

Then it was time to find our seats....OMG!!!!! I have never been more terrified in my life!!!! This was our bird's eye view.....

Please take note that we are looking DOWN to see the scoreboard/jumbo-tron thingy....yikes!!! Perry was visibly shaking when we finally got to our seats....Yes this was taken during the game...can you see the players on the court?? I didn't think so....we couldn't either. Ha! No wonder they call these the cheap seats...

We were in the rafters!!!!Took this pic to give another angle of how high we actually were.

We were pretty much on the same level as the championship banners that hang from the ceiling!!!
We were seated in row 11 and there were only 16 rows!!!!Only 5 rows were behind us!!!!

After Holley performed, we mountain climbed back up to our seats (we had to go down to a special section to be able to photograph and video her performance). We made it 'till the beginning of the fourth period. The Spurs were winning by 20 and we decided to bail. Guess the oxygen was too thin up there...we were still freaking out a little. We made the trek to the car and started for home. Once again, we found ourselves in a traffic jam on I-35. After driving a few hundred yards we saw ANOTHER accident...Gee whiz people...The weather was awesome...Cold but dry....We got home as fast as we could before we could run into anything else "interesting".

This was the rear end of the police car on the right shoulder ...bet he was wondering what the heck I was doing taking pictures of his patrol car.

I know this is blurry....sorry folks....we were moving quicker by then....thank goodness.

Will post pics and hopefully a video of Holley's performance tomorrow. The video may be too long to post here, but we have pictures too!!! Holley was excited because there was a picture of her on the jumbo-tron....How cool is that??? Meme said there was a second or two of their performance on TV too. Neat-o.... Stay tuned....

p.s.....so far so good with Landry....no reaction as of yet.... please keep praying it will stay that way and this will be the one antibiotic he can take.... S

Update on Landry...

Thanks so much to all of you prayer warriors out there! I didn't get home from work until 1015 due to having to finish a c-section...but I received an email from Robin and checked out her blog and Landry is doing ok for right now. He woke up with the hives pretty much gone this morning. They started Biaxin this afternoon which he will take twice a day for the next 10 days. So far he has not shown a reaction. However, Robin said that the last time, he didn't start a reaction until day 7 and then it was pretty bad. So please continue to pray for little Landry and his Mom and Dad too. Tommorrow Holley will be performing with the Fabra dance team at the Spurs game during half-time. I hope to get some pictures to share with you all. Am off to bed....am dead on my feet.....Stay tuned....keep praying....

Little Landry...

Hello all, I promised you a story about a neat little boy named Landry. Some of you already know Landry's story. I e-mailed a lot of you this afternoon asking for prayers for this little boy. But there may be some of you visiting this site, who I don't have in my address book, who do not know this story. You see, this little boy was born with an allergy to all, yes EVERY, class of antibiotics.

Landry is the son of two fantastic parents Robin and Casey. Robin and I went to Methodist Nursing School together in Lubbock back in 1996. She actually finished while I chickened out (but that is another post). I guess you tend to bond with someone that you learn to give bed baths to. Yes, we actually had to practice on each other as well as give injections to each other. Robin was (and may still be) so thin that the smallest needle I had actually touched her bone. I felt physically ill after giving her the injection and I still, to this day, shudder at the memory. Anyway....I still think about it each time I give an injection at work too. I have not seen Robin and her husband since that long ago day when they moved away from Lubbock heading to Iowa. They are back in Texas now, and even after all of these years, she is still a very dear friend of mine. She has three precious children- the 3 L's - as she calls them : Lauren, Luke and Landry.

Last year Landry got really sick and it was then that they learned that he cannot tolerate ANY antibiotics. He has been to numerous doctors and specialists, each fascinated by his history. Apparently this type of total allergy is very rare. I asked some of the doctors at my old hospital and even asked an infectious disease MD about Landry, but all I got was a bunch of doctors telling me that they must not have tried everything and I don't think they believed me. Anyway...these are some pics of last year when Landry had a very bad reaction to some of the antibiotics. Robin shared them with me and said it was ok with her to post them. She honestly believes that if anyone can be helped by Landry's story or grow in their faith in God by his story, then she wants it told....from what I remember these pics were of one of his "milder" reactions. I think he had to be hospitlized at one point.

Today, after being healthy for quite some time, Landry and his brother Luke, were diagnosed with strep throat. Strep throat can be very serious if it is not treated promptly and adequately. Consequently, Landry needs antibiotics to kill the strep. The doctor put him on a med with instructions to take Benadryl 1 hour prior to each dose to try to combat an allergic reaction. Within a few hours the tell-tale hives began to appear. The meds were completely stopped and the Bendaryl will continue over night tonight. Tomorrow they are supposed to start a new antibiotic, Biaxin, that he has never taken. He did take another med in the same class of antibiotics, last year and did react to it, but they want to give it a try. If that fails then it may be time to hospitalize Landry for more powerful antibiotics not approved for use in children. He would have to be in the hospital so that he is in a controlled (somewhat) environment while receiving the meds.

This is a picture that Robin sent me this afternoon around 3pm. He took the first (and only) dose of antibiotic at noon. You can see the hives starting on his little face.

Please join me in lifting this precious family up in prayer. That the doctors will find something for Landry that can fight the strep infection and for Robin and Casey, that they will find strength in the Lord and hold each other up through this trying and I can only imagine terrifying time. I will post updates about Landry as I learn more...or you can use the link to Robin's blog listed here on this site. I will be working tomorrow but should be home by 830 or so. Stay tuned....