Eager for Spring!

It's hard to believe that Spring is here (at least it is supposed to be here!)!  It's been a pretty long and dreary winter, at least weather-wise, and I sure am looking forward to seeing the sun for more than 5-10 minutes a day!

Lauren's Spring Break is this week and the boys are off next week.  After realizing that I haven't posted here since the beginning of the school year, I figured it's time to pause a bit and recap how we all are doing!

Lauren

Lauren continues to thrive at The University of Akron!  She still gets fantastic grades, even with a larger than recommended course load to fit in her two majors.  She has gotten very involved in student government this year and is known personally by much of the administration there.

She also continues to love her involvement with the many ministries of the Chapel in Akron.  She co-leads a small group, teaches the mid-elementary class of Reach Akron (outreach to inner-city children) every Monday night, helps out with another community outreach called, "First Glance," and even just signed on to be an intern with them this summer.

Lauren will be traveling to Thailand for two weeks this summer, then spending the rest of the summer ministering to  Burmese refugees in the Akron area.  She is thrilled about this new opportunity and is eager to grow still more as a result of this experience.  If anyone reading this would like to know more about how they can be a part of her summer, or get the link to her blog about her experiences, feel free to contact her at laurenbrown@woh.rr.com!

Justin

Justin is in the final stretch of his senior year.  He, too, is having a fabulous year!  He is the senior class president and remains very involved with the Drama Club.  The final weeks of rehearsals are winding down and he is super excited about playing "The Beast" in BGHS's spring musical, "Beauty and the Beast."  We are all so eager to see the show, April 18th-21st and will even have family travel from as far as Texas (thanks Mom and Ed!) to join us!

Justin also keeps busy with his rigorous academic schedule, as well as working at Kroger and serving as a Senior Intern for Cedar Creek Church in Perrysburg.  He has also been a leader in the worship services for the youth ministries there and he has grown so much in his musical abilities!

Justin has decided to also attend The University of Akron in the fall!  He will also be in the Honors College like his sister, and is very ready to embark on this next season of his life!  He will be missed so much by the rest of us next year, but we are fully confident that he, too, is more than ready for the challenge!

Logan

Logan has made a fabulous transition to the high school this year.  He, too, has loved being a part of the Drama Club.  He will be "Chip" in the musical, and we are so eager to see him shine on stage, as well!  Logan continues to write many of his own raps and has become quite good at this genre of music!  He even sang a rap as the opening to a professional fashion show in Toledo a couple of months ago.

Logan will turn 15 in a couple of weeks and looks forward to his traditional birthday party with 50-75 of his friends!  This year, he plans to remake the YouTube crazed, "Harlem Shuffle" as a part of his party.  I am sure the video will be posted, so be on the look-out for it!

Ethan in "A Christmas Carol"

Ethan has enjoyed many aspects of his final year in elementary school. He performed with the BGSU Theatre Department in, "A Christmas Carol."  He had good week at 5th Grade Camp in the fall.  We have been blessed with his having a good family friend from church as his teacher this year!  His favorite day of the week  though, remains Fridays when he attends the area's 5th grade gifted class, known as, PACE.  This year, he did his independent study on puzzles, one of his favorite hobbies.

Fresh from making quite a bit of money in the stock market, Ethan is now also dabbling in the eBay business!  After researching a lot about it, he enjoys making purchases at Goodwill and then selling his finds on eBay for a profit!  Michael and I don't remember all that we did in 5th grade, but agree that we never did anything quite like this!

The Brown Brothers have been quite busy this year, so they have not been able to make many covers.  The one that they created during Christmas Break, though, displays their talent, creativity and camaraderie!

                                              Press "play" to see, "Christmas Style"

Jameson before his bang trim

Jameson remains, well, Jameson!  He keeps our days full with his high activity level and love for playing!  He still gives us much to write about with his famous "one-liners."  We still have intentions of writing a book about him, although that work is still in the very beginning (as in "not-quite-started) stages right now!

He continues to love his preschool and his friends.  At a recent parent-teacher conference, his teacher commented on how eager he is to learn and his very fun personality.  It's hard to believe that our "baby" will be in kindergarten next year!  BG continues to be one of the few districts in the state with only "Half Day Kindergarten," so I will still have a companion in the afternoons next school year.

I am mourning a bit today, though, because yesterday, Jameson decided to "secretly" (because he knew it was wrong) give himself a hair cut.  We found several clumps of his ringlets of hair around the house.  And he is now sporting a very "interesting" hair style, especially around his newly acquired bangs on the left side of his forehead.  Jameson would not be Jameson without his trademark beautiful curls, and I will be eager for the "bangs" to grow out again.  In my almost 20 years of parenting our five children plus another 12 foster children, I have never had a child cut their own hair.  But we are learning to "never say never" with our precious Jameson!

Some of the many ringlets found in the trash

Sporting the new bangs

Michael remains busy, but in a less stressed way now that his PhD is behind him.  He continues to co-lead the SEARCH Community and Vanguard (for men) organizations on campus, among many other things.  He also keeps busy speaking at various conferences, being the Chairman of the Elders at our church and most recently, being the Dayton area host for Walmart commercials!  When people hear this they often ask, "What does Michael Brown NOT do?"  One thing is for sure, Michael Brown does NOT passively watch the world go by!

I stay busy just keeping up with our very active family!  I have enjoyed some more free time, now that Jameson is at school in the mornings and our foster daughter is in both the morning and afternoon sessions of kindergarten.  I have dabbled in some re-decorating and organizing of our home (much thanks to Pinterest - I am not very creative on my own!), as well as going through our old photo albums and scanning pictures onto our commuter for easier access. It has been a rather tedious process (we only started using a digital camera in 2006, so that is a lot of years to sort through!), but I have loved the memories that they have brought to mind.

Thanksgiving 2003

Fall 2012

Despite the busy-ness of our days, we truly have been blessed in so many ways!  Sorting through pictures has again reminded me of all we have to be thankful for and to cherish the everyday memories of our family.  So for today, I will enjoy the sun and the hints of Spring in the air.  And I will try to embrace whatever challenges come our way (but please, no more unexpected haircuts!)!