Brooke's Top 10 Favorites of 2007

In no particular order...

1. Spray n' Wash Dual Power stain remover (3 kids...lots of stains...this stuff really works!)

2. Weight Watchers (lost 18 lbs. so far)

3. Your Reflection My Style Photography (in Bloomington, IL...amazing portraits)

4. Ann Taylor Loft "Curvy Bootcut" jeans (for those of us that have had kids and who have hips!)

5. Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer (got one for Christmas and can't wait to use it!)

6. "Bed Head" hair products--Self Absorbed shampoo & conditioner & Hard Head hairspray

7. short hair!

8. TiVo (Gives television a whole new name. I will never miss another episode of Grey's Anatomy again...how did I ever watch TV without this!)

9. Everest: Beyond the Limit television series on the Discovery Channel (Each week I watched in amazement and awe at the determination of a group of climbers striving to summit Everest)

10. Disney World (the kids are still talking about it)

Mini Duke Fan

Go Duke!!

(We love the shirt, Uncle Brad, Aunt Mindy, Elsa & Max!)

Oh Boy!

Today, Jordyn, my mom and I went to the mall to get our nails done. This is the first time in forever that I've had a manicure. When I got home, I was playing with Camden. He started to touch my fingernails, then giggle. He has decided that my fingernails are "balls" (his favorite word).

Merry Christmas

For a Hair Worthy Cause...

After a few years of growing her hair out, Jordyn wanted a shorter style. Last night she had 8 inches cut off, which was enough to donate to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths organization. This organization makes free wigs for women who have lost their hair to cancer treatments. Not only did she get a cute do, she is helping someone in need.

Before the big cut!

8 inches exactly!

That's a lot of hair!

A new, improved Jordyn!

Drum Roll Please...the Fenton Tree

Finally, after 3 weeks of having our tree stored in our garage, it is up! Yeah.

Recipe for a Perfect Day of Baking Cookies

48 Hershey Kisses to Top Yummy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 Young Lad to Be Our Taste-Tester (Camden's 1st Pizzelle)

A Nap in Between Batches

Sweet & Salty Chex-Mix

1 Grandma, 1 Grandpa, 1 Mom & 2 Helpers

One's Own Workstation (This was Juke's)

Instructions: Mix togther all ingredients, overlook the eggshells in the batter (thanks Kye!), laugh a lot, & listen to Josh Groban's Christmas CD, "Noel." Makes several batches of Christmas cookies.

A Must Have During this Holiday Season

Oprah was right. You must rush out to get Josh Groban's new Christmas CD, "Noel". You won't want to listen to any other Christmas CD again! Oprah featured Groban on her favorite things show.

It was a No Go

Today was the drawing for the $5,000 shopping spree and I know you are dying to find out if I was the winner or not. I'm sorry to inform you that I was not the winner. I had fun dreaming about the TV (that I could really live without) & the camera (I just have to have!) for the past couple weeks. On the bright side of things, I got the new Carrie Underwood CD from the radio station.

The Golden Ticket

A few weeks ago I won a radio contest on B104. I didn't have to do anything special...just be the 9th caller. Automatically I won the new Carrie Underwood cd. I also qualified to have the chance to win a $5,000 shopping spree. There are 104 contestants and the winner will be chosen at random. $2,000 has to be spent at the Shoppes at College Hills. The other $3,000 comes in the form of a debit card. You have 104 minutes to spend the money. Although I know that I have a very slim chance at winning, Brandon and I went to Best Buy on Sunday to scope out the selection. If I win (and yes, I know it's a long shot) here's what I'm going for: a Canon-EOS 10.1 MP Digital SLR Camera and a Sharp 32" Flat Panel LCD HDTV. If time persists, I will be heading over to Von Maur to purchase lots of goodies. Wish me luck!

It's a Wrap

One of my favorite things to do around Christmas time is shop for wrapping paper. I had quite a bit left over from last year, but couldn't resist buying a few a few more rolls (okay...maybe like 7 or 8 more rolls!) Call me a bit obsessive compulsive, but I prefer the wrapping paper to be mainly red or green and I like Santa and snowman paper. I also like the presents under the tree to be wrapped in a variety of paper so I will wrap a few presents using one style then open a new roll (even if the other roll has paper left on it.)

Tonight marked the first night that I began wrapping. To prevent snooping from the big kids, I wrapped their presents first, then decided I had enough for one night.

For all of you who have shopping to finish...good luck and happy wrapping!

Trick or Treat...wait a minute...It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

It's been a while since I've taken pictures off our camera. I had both Halloween pictures on there and the beginnings of our Christmas pictures. I thought I'd share a few with you. Here are the pumpkins we carved for Halloween. Jordyn's was the pirate ship, Kye's was the spider, and Camden's was the cat.



Brandon and our neighbor, Frank, put up our Christmas lights. This is the first year we've done the icicle lights. I finally broke down and said it was okay to staple gun them up! That's the only way they were going up because we don't have normal gutters to attach them to. We have our Christmas tree in the garage. I've been holding off putting it up because Camden is into everything. Maybe this weekend....

Amateur Bloggers...Giving It a Shot

Welcome to our blog. We're hoping it give you a glimpse into our lives. After I figure things out on this website, I will post more in the next few days.