Baby always in trouble!!

Grayson was caught!! getting into the fruit basket, such a cutie!!

grayson is always in trouble! you will see her doing things like in the previous picture...she dug in the trash can and was eating trash....and got mad when I took away the old apple core!

Grayson has 2 teeth now!

Standing in front of the house, November almost and it is still in the high 60's!

Fall is finally here again!

Fall is finally here, the leaves are changing and our situation is changing just the same!
*John was laid off from the Billy Graham association in September
*John is looking for work
*Our house is for sale, again, and we are looking to move into an apartment
*Kids are healthy and happy
*Renee has just begun a Masters degree..headed towards becoming a nurse practitioner

Keep us in your prayers, and I will begin to update the blog as much as I can!

Busy Busy Week!!!!

So, we were at the lake today where we took Hines to swim...retrievers love water, right?
well not this one, I had a vision in my mind of our dog running off a dock and diving into the water and doggy paddling back to us...Not what happened.
Hines sniffed the edge of the water and took off the other direction.
so we threw a frisbee into the water thinking he just needed a reason to jump in...and it failed miserably. We were suspicious and curious so,
Then, little John walked over to the edge of the water where some paddle boats were parked and pushed one over...look what slithered out! Baby copperheads! there were 3 or 4 of them within inches of us. The girls were barefoot and playing with tadpoles and minnows just a few inches from the baby snakes!!!! God was watching us and protecting our children...no bites today, not even the cautious puppy!



This was our Chic Fil A dress up day! We got kids meals and a meal for myself all for FREE! You know how I love free stuff!!! Yesterday we went to Long John Silver to try the free fish taco but they did not have those out here in redneck land!

Rub a dub dub...hines in the tub

This dog has the life...

last week we took him to the "doggy wash" and left with him smelling like Mango Madness!

All the kids got involved and wanted to take a turn making him smell good and clean! We brushed him and cleaned his ears and cut his nails and dried him...smelled just like a...mango flavored wet dog! haha!

Cheap Entertainment

So the other day we were looking for a cheap way to spend the day....

we went to the grocery store and got boxes of candy for a dollar and gatorade for everyone to split! then we drove to the train station and took the public transportation train down to Charlotte for a ride! almost like the subway except above the ground...

The kids had a blast!

The newest member of the Brassell family!!

One more Brassell?? yep, another one...a boy this time....handsome with hazel eyes and brown hair and lots of muscles!
Ok ok,,, a puppy! yaya!
a chocolate lab (AKC) that we got from some nearby people and needed a new home!!
So, his name is Hines Ward (just like the Steelers player!!! Go Steelers)

The kids adore him already, and he has some pretty good manners too!

he is mostly housebroken... :-)

barks when strangers come to the house,

chases frogs,

licks everyone in the face,

and loves to fetch anything that you throw!

Hines is 7 months old and still a sweet puppy who will put his head in your lap to go to sleep and still needs his naps! He likes to get up with me at 4 or 5am when I am getting Grayson her bottle and follows me through the house...how nice that will be when John is on his trips this summer!

kids at park

these kids are growing too fast! Grayson is lying in the grass and trying to figure it out while the other kids run and play...

Camden poses in front of a beautiful birch tree with a hydrangea she picked....

Maddy and a classic poser picture! still beautiful as always!

And finally..all together now! John is really much taller than you can see in this picture...i had him stand with the girls sitting...he is 5'6 now and wears a mens 12 shoe....what is he eating?

After talking to my brother and hearing that his little one (Nathan), who is one day older than Grayson, had eaten honeydew..Grayson must have heard about it and decided that she would stare down the watermelon I was eating. So needless to say I decided to let her try it...

she loved it! looks like I know what she will be eating all summer!

Grayson is 4 1/2 months old now and has crawled off her boppy numerous times..it's really funny, we lay her on her tummy on the boppy (a semi circle shaped pillow used to prop the baby up) and keep finding her several feet away in front of the pillow. She has mastered rolling over both ways now and says "muummm" when she is upset. Of course I know she is not calling me yet, but she is practicing her favorite sounds.

She still goes to bed at 8pm and wakes at 5:30 am which is so nice!

she loves to eat, sweet potatoes are her favorite but she wont eat the baby ones just the stage 2. Baxley still calls her "him" and often says "he's cute", and I realized that she has never seen anything but little girls :-) so to her there is no difference where gender is concerned! haha!

School is almost out!

I think the kids say there is only 11 days left at school...sigh, where did it go?
Camden is going into kindergarten, Baxley is starting preschool, Savannah is going to middle school (at home) and John is going into 8th grade...
Grayson is 4 months now and rolling over, laughing, eating baby food and being a great baby!
I am almost considering one more..haha! NOT.
The weather is starting to warm up a bit, 80's mostly now and the kids are outside every day playing in the yard.

Last week the kids had Spring break so we tried to find fun things to do..cheap! so here, we went to a local lake and rented boats for the morning! we needed 2 boats because there are so many stinkin people in our family! so Baxley is there between John's knees and Madison and Camden are helping to paddle..
Me, John Savannah and Grayson took this boat and had her first boat ride! (not counting when she was in my belly in Alaska..)

My daffodils finally came up last week, and so did the pink and red tulips! this picture is a little late, most have been picked by the neighborhood kids and otherwise died..but I still have fond memories! Our last house, I planted 220 bulbs and never got to see them bloom..here I planted 125 and enjoyed them so much! If you look back on a previous blog page Baxley was helping me plant, and she loved getting to see the fruits of her labor! (whatever...she just liked ripping them out of the ground and bringing them to me!)

AAron...piggy piggy piggy! all the way home!

Aaron was about to eat a huge plate of pie, ice cream, whipped cream and strawberry shortcake!! Incredibly..he ate the WHOLE thing! in record time!!! (just so you know, this was after he already ate a huge helping...two helpings actually..of dinner!!!). Aaron, Megan will have to roll you home!

Company at the Brassell house!

Tonight our best friends in Charlotte came over for dinner! This is Megan, she and the girls are so close and to all of us they are family! Megan and her husband Aaron were in our small group in PA...(look back to the old posts to see them!) and then moved here shortly after we did! Megan nannied for us for a few months when I was transitioning into my new job..the girls played play doh and had their nails painted all the time! It was so much fun!!

Ron Coder is here too! (he is holding Grayson in another post last month)..We enjoyed a great dinner of potroast, mashed potatoes, asparagus (with kalamata olives and goat cheese sprinkled on top!!) and dessert of homemade strawberry shortcake, and a homemade blueberry pie!

What a great night this has been! we plan to play a rousing game of phase 10 in a minute...and see who wins! Everyone knows the Brassells are very competitive!! :-)

grayson's first trip to the park

the park was so pretty the other day..took all the girls even Gray who loved every minute of it!

only a month late!

A trip to the Valentines dance....the girls school had a dance and we all got to go except little John who volunteered to watch Grayson without pay if we wouldn't make him go!

South Beach and the cutie....

Here's the cutie..2 months old now...can't believe it! She can smile now, but the pictures I keep taking are of her right after the smile..can't seem to catch one quick enough! She goes to the doctor tomorrow for a checkup and I'm sure she has gained a ton of weight...maybe up to 8-9 pounds now?? my guess. Such a good baby, still staying up a lot at night, but I enjoy seeing her!

As far as south beach goes? no, I'm not talking Miami and thongs here...I mean South beach diet..yuck..I'm on day 4 of the diet in phase one...and I would love a big mac and a nasty chocolate brownie sundae right now...but..I'll go and have my lean protein and veggies again..and wait for the pounds to melt away..haha! seriously though I lost 5 pounds already...and maybe a little of it is water weight, but I have been doing so much more physical activity since I quit spending all my time eating chocolate! (all the valentines candy was 90% off and I had to take advantage of it...I'm so embarassed). Yesterday I carried the girl's new mattresses upstairs by myself and pushed a stroller laden with children down to the park...

for snack we had celery and Trader Joes peanutbutter (organic and sugar free) mmmm so good!

Anyway, I'll let you know how that one goes...still trying to convince John he can do it with me but he loves his carbs too much!

Grayson...have you seen enough?

more pics of our newest member

Uncle Ron and the baby!

Ron holds Grayson like a football! haha! (for anyone who didnt know, Ron played Pro ball for the Steelers and some other teams!) Ron and his beautiful wife Kathy are such good friends the kids feel like they are family! Besides...we feed him goodies so he has to like us!

girls with the baby...mommy's helpers

mom and Grayson....

Grayson is a month old now..growing so fast! She has her 1 month visit to the doctor on Friday and I expect her to be over 7 lbs..ha ha right where her sweet cousin Nathan started out!

Grayson in Black and White

so a recent picture of Grayson with her eyes open..for once! Black and white was something a little new and exciting. She went to the mall with us today and loved every minute of it!

February in Charlotte!

We revisited the park that we went to the very first week in Charlotte, the kids have grown so much! Plus there is an extra one now! Weather is going to be in the 60's all week so we are taking advantage of the picnic weather already!
Baby Grayson is now almost 4 weeks old already..cute as can be....
of course..she is a Brassell! haha!

We got 4 inches of snow the other day, and today it was 60 and we played at the park! Go figure!
the kids got to see snow once again and had a blast! School was cancelled for 2 days and the kids enjoyed the days off! No plow trucks though, but it was still fun!

Here are the proud sisters...each of them fighting for their turn with the baby!

Grayson is doing so well, she is the most complacent child, sleeps lots and only fusses when she wants to eat, she lets baxley jump on her and play with her ears...

Baxley is obsessed with Grayson's ears..she says "ki touch his ears?" she still hasn't associated the fact that Grayson is a girl! haha!

More baby Grayson!!!

Grayson is 2 days old now, and we are finally home from the hospital. Grayson has maintained her weight and is doing great. I am doing well too! Neighbors brought over dinner which was greatly appreciated, thank you so much for everyone who is thinking of our family and praying for us, we are doing so good!

Baxley is adjusting well to the baby, following me around the house asking "ki hold her?" which is can I hold her! and the other girls are playing little mommies as well.

Welcome to the world baby Grayson!!

Here she is! all 5 lbs 3 oz of her! She was 2 weeks early and super tiny..only 17 inches long..she is too small for preemie outfits/diapers, but perfectly formed...blonde hair, blue eyes and the most beautiful red lips you have ever seen!

These pictures of her she was only minutes old, born on Tuesday 1/13, and the delivery got scary at the end, they could not find her heart beat after several minutes towards the end and we had a room full of doctors and nurses preparing to send me to the OR for a C-section. Someone then had the bright idea to look and see if she was coming out, which she was! and that was it! One good push and she became the newest member of our family!

We named her Grayson (since all the girls are cities in Georgia), her middle name is Love (because the other girls are Joy, Faith, Hope, and Grace) her second middle name is Teegan (because the other girls all have 2 syllable names that end in the letter "N"..Lauren, Ashlynn, Eden, and Haven) and then Brassell of course! So now if anyone asks you can give an educated answer!! haha!