R.I.P. Aunt Lucille

We got a phone call yesterday morning bearing bad news... CJ's aunt Lucille had passed away. "Aunt Cille" is CJ's mom's sister... our thoughts and prayers go out to the rest of the family since we are unable to attend the funeral. We are saddened by the news that she is gone, but we know that she is in a much better place being reunited with her mother and sisters and other family members that have passed on before her. We love and miss you, Aunt Cille... you are gone but not forgotten...

Christmas 2009

This Christmas was one for the books! For starters, it started raining and sleeting about two days before Christmas Eve, only to change to snow the next day and dump 21 inches on us over the next three days!! Along with the snow came wind and ice, cancelling any travel plans for the holidays that we had. Once we made peace with the fact that we weren't going anywhere for Christmas, we settled in for a long, winter holiday...

I had to work on Christmas Eve, but was able to go home by early afternoon. It wasn't long after I got home that the wind came up and really started freezing everything up! About 4:30pm, we were sitting around discussing what our plans were for the evening... decided I was going to make taverns and we would open gifts after supper. Not more than 5 minutes later, the TV and lights went off... all the electricity to the house was off!! Thank God for cell phones, since our house phone is a cordless that doesn't work without electricity! We called the neighbors next door to be sure that it was a power outage and not just something that was affecting us. Found out that quite a few of our neighbors were without power. The next call was to Midamerican Energy (which of course is routed to Des Moines to be answered because of the holiday) only to have them tell us that they have been receiving calls for this area and are sending someone out to fix it. They also told us they would call once the electricity was turned back on... which I think is kinda unnecessary, since I would see that the electicity is on once the lights come back on!! We decided to wait it out and see how long it would take to fix the problem. Zach decided to take a nap and Brianna and I started playing board games. CJ just kept pacing around wondering when Midamerican Energy was going to call back!! When it started to get dark, Brianna and I gathered every candle we had in the house and lit them all! Since every single one of them was a different scent, we had a very interesting smelly combination -- some Sugar Plum Spice, along with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Baked Apple Pie, Citrus Melon, and even one called Angel's Kiss...

After two hours had gone by, CJ called the electric company back and they still couldn't give us an estimated time that they would have the problem fixed. The kids were getting hungry and everyone was anxious about Christmas, so we packed up a couple frozen pizzas and our gifts and braved the wind and snow to head over to my sister's house. At least she had heat and light, so we could fix some pizza and open presents! We finally called one of the neighbors shortly after 9pm and found out that the electricity had just come back on... so we packed up and headed back home to get ready for Santa Claus!!

I was the first one awake on Christmas morning... thanking God that the electricity was still on and hoping we wouldn't have a repeat performance of the night before. CJ and the kids got up shortly after and we opened more presents. The kids are pretty happy -- Brianna got her Nintendo DSi and Zach got his IPod Touch! This is the first Christmas that we spent together without any other family around. We missed everyone, but it was good to know that everyone was safe and sound in their own homes during this "epic" storm! By the way, CJ and Zach have been scooping ever since Christmas Day!! Everytime they get done, the snowplow either comes by and blocks the driveway in again, or we get more snow and have to repeat the whole process again!! Can't wait for Spring!!!!

Basketball Updates...

Brianna's basketball team had only won one game so far this season, until their last game the weekend before Christmas!! The whole team really put their skills to use and worked together as a team defensively to bring in another win!! Brianna was also so happy because she finally scored a basket in this game!! Way to go, 4th Grade Raiders!! Their record is now 2-4... hopefully this is the "turnaround" we've been waiting for!!

Zach's high school JV team is still undefeated, currently sitting at 5-0. These have been some great games to watch! Zach is playing well... I think the most points he has scored in a game so far has been 6 points!! Keep up the good work!!

Brianna's "High Commendation"

Congratulations to Brianna!!! Her SC History Project on First Bride's Grave has been selected to be on display at the Sioux City Public Museum downtown!! The exhibit will be on display from March 27 - May 16, 2010. Way to go! We are proud of you!!

Another Basketball Season...

Both kids have started their basketball seasons... Brianna's team has only won one game so far (their very first game of the season!) and Zach's team just started two weeks ago... they are 2-0. So far, the EHS JV team has beaten Council Bluffs Lewis Central and then defeated Storm Lake last weekend. Zach scored two points in the first game and only one point in the game against Storm Lake! They have been really fun games to watch, though! I am posting Zach's basketball picture... Brianna hasn't had one taken yet...

Christmas Concert 2009

Brianna had her annual Christmas concert the other night! The evening's entertainment was the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade choirs and band. Brianna's 4th grade class sang four songs while on the stage, then came back out at the end of the concert because all three grades sing the final song together. It was a wonderful concert and really put us in the mood for the holidays!

Brianna in front of the Christmas tree:

Brianna playing a tambourine during one of their songs:

Brianna's History Project

Brianna has been working on a Sioux City History project for over a month now... she finally got it all done!! All she has left is giving her oral presentation to her class next week!! She chose to do her project on "First Bride's Grave", which is a lone gravesite at the top of an Indian burial hill here in Sioux City. The first bride of Sioux City is buried there. Brianna researched at the library and learned quite a bit about this piece of history. She had to write a final report, turn in a visual project (such as a model of the site) and also made a poster board of pictures that she accumulated from her research and from actually hiking up the hill to the site. I know she will get a good grade on this project -- she knows all about it inside and out! Check out the pictures of her project!

Happy Turkey Day!

We packed the car and headed to Laurens for our annual Thanksgiving feast at mom's. CJ, the kids and I arrived Wednesday evening after work. My brother, Derek, was also coming home for Thanksgiving, but would be getting into town late Wednesday night, since he had to wait until he got off work.

We did go uptown to have a "cocktail or two" and see who was out and who came home for Thanksgiving! Derek kept saying that the kids we were seeing in there could not possibly be old enough to drink -- that would mean he was getting old!! I know how he felt! Some of those kids were babies last time I saw them!!! We did stay up really late visiting, but were much better behaved than last Thanksgiving! I did get up and help Mom in the kitchen early on Thanksgiving morning and was able to enjoy my dinner!!! It was a nice visit, but too short, as always... we stayed for the football games, then headed back to Sioux City. Looking forward to the Christmas holidays... hope to see more relatives!!

School Conferences...

The end of the first quarter of school is here... and we are really proud of the kids! Zach is getting A's and B's and Brianna has all A's!! Let's hope they keep up the great work!!

Happy Halloween

The weather was gorgeous for a night of trick or treating... Brianna went as a black cat! We hit the neighborhood and filled her bag, then went out to eat for supper... she wouldn't even wash her face!!! So she was a black cat up until bedtime!!!

EHS Football Parent's Night

Parent's Night was held at the last home football game of the season! All the parents of the players were brought out onto the field, where they waited until their names and the player's name were announced. Players and parents then met on the field, where moms were given an orange carnation (and a hug!), then walked off the field together just before the start of the game! Brianna took some pictures, see below!: ( I apologize for the blurriness -- Brianna is only 9 years old! And she had to zoom in quite a bit from the stands!)

CJ and I waiting to be announced:

Getting my hug!!!!!

Walking off the field together before the start of the game...

Continental Math League... Again! Such An Honor!

Congratulations to Brianna! She was nominated by the teachers and selected to be on the Continental Math League again this year! For those of you that don't know, Continental Math League consists of kids who are skilled at problem-solving, analytical reasoning, and reading comprehension. Each of these student participate in a national problem-solving program called Continental Mathematics League (CML). Students participate with other students of the same age and grade level across the United States! Once a month, from now through March, these students will participate in a "meet", which will consist of a six-question test. Their scores are tabulated and sent to the CML offices in New York, where they will be ranked with other student's scores across the nation!! Brianna is very proud and excited to have accomplished this two years in a row! Congratulations, Brianna!! We are rooting for you! -- again!!!

Seizure #3...

Brianna had her third seizure the other night. Same exact scenario as the other two... it happened within 30 minutes of her falling asleep. This time she woke up coughing and thought she was going to be sick. While I was trying to get her in the bathroom, the convulsions started but probably only lasted 15-30 seconds total. She was very coherent right after and told me that it didn't even feel like a seizure to her this time. I called the pediatric neurologist the next morning and he increased her dosage of medication and wanted to see her earlier than her already scheduled appointment in January. Right now, they can't seem to find an opening any earlier, so we are sticking with the January appointment. They said they will call if a cancellation opens up an appointment spot... I have lots of questions to ask the specialist when we do see him, such as why it didn't feel like a seizure this time? Is it the meds she is on, or was this seizure somehow different?? And why did she have a seizure while taking anti-seizure medication?? So much for my peace of mind... I will let everyone know if I get any answers come January...

The Illnesses Have Begun...

I posted earlier about Brianna having bronchitis... amazingly, we must have caught it right away because she was up and running and fever free by the next day! Zach, on the other hand, is a different story...

Poor guy started getting sick the night after his birthday. He had the chills, body aches, and coughing. When he woke up the next morning, he was running a fever, so we kept him home. He pretty much slept all day and then tried to get up today to go to school... luckily I was home to stop him! He had a temperature of 102.3!! We got in to see the doctor this morning. He doesn't have bronchitis, but possibly a cold or influenza... they aren't testing for H1N1 anymore because it costs too much and Iowa City isn't even processing the tests anymore because they have been too overwhelmed with them! Anyone with influenza symptoms is advised to stay home and ride the virus out. They don't even want to give Tamiflu, unless someone in the house is pregnant, diabetic, or going through chemotherapy treatment... so Zach gets to stay home til the fever goes away. Oddly, his temp was almost normal at the doctor's office! He was also sweating, so perhaps he has broken the fever and is on the downside of this illness!! Keep your fingers crossed!

Happy 16th Birthday, Zach!

I can't believe it!! My little boy has actually turned 16! What happened to all the years in between?!! Needless to say, it was a very full day -- Zach had football practice and I had to work for the morning. We ended up taking Brianna to the Urgent Care and sitting there for three hours while waiting to see a doctor... turns out she has a sore throat and the start of bronchitis! We did finally manage to celebrate Zach's birthday in the late afternoon by having Mom, Jenny, Matt and Sydney over for ice cream cake from Dairy Queen! We also went out for supper and had an enjoyable evening! For those of you who are wondering... NO, Zach did not get a car for his birthday!! He knows he will need to get a job in order to have a car, so for now he gets the privilege of driving the family Taurus!!! Hey, at least he gets to drive!!! LOL

Harvest Festival

Brianna's school held a "Harvest Festival" where the students and families came and decorated pumpkins, played games, got faces painted and enjoyed caramel apples, kettle corn, and hot cocoa! It was a lot of fun -- especially for the kids! This is a picture of Brianna after she got her face painted! She had them do the East High colors on her face, then had "Black Raiders" written on her cheeks!!

JV Football Tragedy...

The East High JV football team suffered their first loss... to Sioux Falls O'Gorman. Final score of this game was 34-13. This is our JV team's first loss since 8th grade! They had a nice run, with a record of 17-0 before losing to one of the best teams in the state of South Dakota! Keep your chins up, guys!! You are still an awesome team!!!

First Snow

We got our first snow of the season during the night last night. It started to snow around midnight -- this I know because I was still up waiting for Zach to get home from the Varsity football game in Council Bluffs. (East Varsity team beat Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln 30-25!) By the time I got up for work at 5:30 this morning, it was done snowing. The vehicles and the grass were covered, but the sidewalks and streets were dry. I got off work at 10:00 am and all the snow is already gone... Thank God!! This is way too early in the year to be getting snow -- whatever happened to that season between Summer and Winter called Fall???! We definitely don't want to be out trick-or-treating in snowdrifts this year!!

JV Football Team Is Now 6-0!

Zach's Junior Varsity football team played Sioux Falls Washington and won, 20-8! This puts them at 6-0 for this year's record! Great Job, Black Raiders!! Zach also made the first touchdown of the game! YEAH!!!! The stats from the paper are shown below:

Cheerleader In The Making

East High held a "cheerleader camp" for the younger kids to participate in one Saturday morning. During this camp, the high school cheerleaders taught the younger kids five different cheers along with moves. These kids then got to perform their cheers and moves during the second quarter of the next Varsity home game! Let's hear it for our future Black Raider cheerleaders!! YEA!!!!

Our "Rising Star"... LOL

As most of you have probably seen on FB, Brianna got her "15 seconds of fame" tonight!! Sioux City is building a new children's museum downtown, and several of the museum's "creators" wanted to get input from the children that would actually be visiting and making use of this type of museum! What better way to do that, than to meet with a group of kids and have a "talk session" about what kids what like to see in the museum.

Several local news stations were on hand today at Brianna's school, and Brianna happened to be one of the few chosen for the meeting and interview by the news team!! She came home from school, so excited to tell us all about her "meeting" and all the questions she got to answer!! She was such a natural in front of the camera!! (Not sure where she gets that from!!)

To see the video from the news segment, click on this link:

http://www.ktiv.com/Global/category.asp?C=132524

Go to the Search box located at the bottom right of the video box and type in "children's museum". This will bring up the video, just click on it and watch!!

Royalty In The Family

Congratulations to my cousin, Jessica!! She was voted in as Homecoming Queen for her high school!! Great job, Jess! It is well deserved!! You have a winning personality (like your mom!) and we are very proud of you! Hope your senior year continues to be full of many more accomplishments!! Love you! (Sorry for the slightly blurry pic -- it's from a cell phone!)

Would Have Been 40 Years...

I wanted to post this yesterday, on the day of what would have been my parent's 40th wedding anniversary if my dad was still living. Happy "would have been" 40th anniversary, Mom!! Love you...

More Football...

Zach finally got to actually go on the football field during a varsity game last Friday night... in Urbandale! We were sad that we couldn't go to see it, but excited for Zach that he actually got to participate this time!! CJ had to work Saturday morning and we wouldn't have gotten back from the game til about 2:00 am, so we decided not to go. Zach was on special teams -- he went on the field for the kick-off return -- but he never got to actually touch the ball! Hang in there, Zach!! East did end up losing the game to Urbandale 57-37.

In Junior Varsity news... the East High JV football team beat Sergeant Bluff-Luton this past Monday night! The final score was 25-12. The East JV team is now 4-0!!! Zach did play some during this game, but no touchdowns for him!! LOL! They played a lot of kids that don't always get "field time" during this game!! Way to go, Black Raiders!!! WOO-HOO!!

Talk About A Baby Boom!

Just this month alone, the Brown family has added three new members!!! We just want to say "Congrats!" to the new parents and "Welcome!" to the new precious little bundles of joy!

September 4, 2009:
Madison Grace Brown
6 lbs. 6 ozs.
September 5, 2009:
Ja'Kylon Lashar Ray
4lbs. 2 ozs.
6 weeks early, but doing well and is now home from the hospital!
September 14, 2009:
Drayden Steele Brown
7 lbs. 1 oz.

There was one more baby born back in July... just don't have any pics of her! Welcome to the world, Chelsi Lashae Pace!!

Happy Birthday Marla!

Happy Birthday, Marla!!! Hope you are having a WONDERFUL birthday!!! I am looking forward to our annual tradition of going out this together to celebrate our birthdays!!

Boys Volleyball Team

During our Homecoming week, the high school boys and girls "traded" sports for an evening! The girls had a PowderPuff football game and the boys played a volleyball tournament! I am posting pics from the volleyball, but I think both the guys and girls had a lot of fun playing the "other sport" that night!

Zach waiting to see if Austin needs "help" with the ball:

The Sophomore Volleyball team picture:

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Happy (belated) Birthday to me!!! My birthday was actually on Tuesday, September 15th, but I didn't get a chance to post it on our blog!! Thanks to all the friends and family that posted all those birthday wishes on FaceBook, though!! You are the best!!!

Haven't celebrated my birthday yet... with work, school, and football going on, we didn't have a lot of time on Tuesday. But Zach is supposed to get out of practice early tonight since they have a game tomorrow, so we will go out for supper to celebrate... just not sure where yet! Famous Dave's???? I also haven't gotten my birthday present yet, but I do know what it is! I am getting a new pair of Nikes since my other ones got ruined when we did the roof!!! I just have to find time to go shopping and pick some out!!! Good thing I have tomorrow off!!!

Sophomore Football: EHS vs. Yankton, SD

On Monday, September 14th, Zach and the rest of the sophomore football team travelled to Yankton, South Dakota to play against their JV squad. Zach had an awesome game!! Two touchdowns and he also made both kicks for the extra point!!! Way to go!!! We are quite proud of how well he has been playing!! Here are the stats from the newspaper and some pics from the game:


Zach getting ready to kick the ball and start the game:

Zach just kicked the ball -- it ended up in the end zone!

Zach getting ready to punt the ball:

My Superheroes

During Homecoming week, the kids had "theme" days. One of the days was "Dress like a Superhero" day! Zach made a Superman t-shirt, but instead of an "S", he put a "Z" in there! And Brianna wanted to be Wonderwoman, so we transformed a cheerleading outfit from a previous Halloween! Check out the pics!

Another Varsity Football Game

Zach got to suit up with the Varsity football team again for the Homecoming game on September 10th. East High played Indianola -- what a game!!! Zach didn't get to see any action on the field for this game, since the score was so close the whole game. We ended the fourth quarter in a tie and took the game into two overtimes before Indianola ended up winning the game 45-38. East High probably could have kept the game going, but we got a 15 yard penalty for "illegal formation" -- one too many players on the field -- and that set us back too far to be able to score. The boys shouldn't be disappointed, though... Indianola is a very good football team and we are the first team they played that actually gave them some competition!! Most other teams are lucky to even score when playing against them! Great game and hope the kids continue to play this well in the future! (Without the illegal formations!!)

JV Football: East High vs. West High

Zach had his second JV football game on September 8th. They played city rivals, West High, winning the game 45-8. I didn't get the stats from our newspaper for this game, but Zach didn't score any points. Keep up the good work, Black Raiders!!

A New Roof

CJ and I decided that with a three day weekend for Labor Day, we would put new shingles on our roof... what a CRAZY idea for a relaxing "extended" weekend! Whose idea was this, anyway???!! Oh yeah... mine.

We thought we would do the roof in the spring of 2010, but when we saw a sale ad in the paper, we decided to just go ahead and do it now. All I can say is that I am never doing it again!! We did everything manually -- you know, the "old-fashioned" way. We didn't have a nail gun to make the job go quicker, just good ol' regular hammers. The first day was CJ and Zach doing the work while I did most of the running up and down the ladder for more supplies, bottled water, etc. The second day, CJ, Zach and I were all on the roof. When Zach had to quit to go to football practice, my brother-in-law, Matt, came over and helped for a few hours. We quit a little earlier in the evening and had a barbeque since Mom was in town for the weekend and Matt and Jenny had come over. The third day, it was just CJ and I on the roof because Zach had football practice for both JV and Varsity. By the time he came home later that afternoon, he was too tired to help! Who could blame him?? Luckily Matt came back over and helped us finish up the roof. Even Brianna came up towards the end and pounded in a few nails!! The only thing we didn't get done was the hip and ridge pieces that go over the peak, but CJ and I finished those up the next night after work. Everyone was sore and tired from all the manual labor... I have never had so many bones and muscles ache at one time in my life!! Some muscles I didn't even know I had!! I even still have a blister trying to heal on one of my hands! Well, at least it got done and we don't have to worry about doing it again for a long time (hopefully!) Thanks to everyone that helped us!!!

Happy Birthday!!

I just want to give a shout out to two cousins that have birthdays today!!! I know I don't always post all relatives' birthdays, but I happen to be off work today and I also happen to remember the September birthdays... probably since they are so close to mine!! HAHAHA!


First I would like to say Happy Birthday to my cousin, Dan!! Miss you and your family and hoping you have a wonderful birthday!! Be sure to take some time out and do something special with the wife to celebrate!! Love you!! (and I just had to post the "Sheriff Dan" pic -- gotta love it!!! LOL!!)


Second is my cousin, Tammy!! Here's hoping you have the best of birthdays and that Dan and the kids treat you extra special on your day!! I couldn't find any pics of you by yourself, so I posted one of the whole good-looking family!!!

Love to all and hoping for many more special birthdays to come!

EHS JV Football Team Rocks!!!

Woo-hoo!!! Congrats to the East High JV football team on winning their very first game of the season!!! They played SC Heelan and won 36-8!!! Zach played a very good game, even running in a 27-yard touchdown!!! What a great way to start off the year!!! Great job, Zach!!! Keep it up!!!

Here is a copy of the stats from the paper:

A Letter from the School...

Got home from work last night and headed straight to the kitchen counter... that's where CJ usually piles the mail when he brings it in from the mailbox when he gets off work. I start going through the pile, separating the "junk mail" from the actual bills, etc. On this particular time, I come across a letter from the School District addressed to "The Parent/Guardian of Brianna Brown"... and in those few seconds before I got the letter open, I went through so many thoughts and emotions.

My first thought was that it was not time to get a report card already for the year!! Next, I started to feel dread! (Not sure if this had anything to do with a friend's story about a recent "not-very-good" visit with her son's teacher!!) I started wondering what happened that Brianna didn't tell me about... then thinking about how both of our kids know better than to get in this kind of trouble... this thought actually calmed me down a little bit and I thought I might as well just open the letter and see what it was all about...

Well, those few seconds of all those feelings and emotions were for nothing!! The letter was actually a good one!! Turns out Brianna has been selected and put in the TAG Program!! TAG stands for the Talented and Gifted mentoring program that meets weekly with certain students to provide further challenge in the areas of math and reading!! Wow, we were really amazed! And so proud of our little Brianna!! She is quite happy, also!!! Way to go, Brianna!!! Keep up the amazing work!! We love you!!

EHS Varsity Football

Last night, East High had the first Varsity Football game of the season!! We played against Des Moines Roosevelt and won the game 46-21!!! Go Black Raiders!!! Hope this is the start to a great football season!!

Zach is on the Junior Varsity football team and has his first game on Tuesday, September 1st against Sioux City Heelan. Last Tuesday, the head Varsity coach asked Zach if he would like to suit up for the Varsity game!!! There were no guarantees that he would get to actually play, but Zach was so excited just to be out there with them!! I am posting a couple pictures from last night.


Zach (#70) standing on the sidelines:


Zach's picture from the Varsity football program:

Hangin' with "Slider" and the Explorers

Recently, Brianna and her softball team got to go to a Sioux City Explorers game and go down to the dugout before the game to meet the players and get autographs! They also got to go out on the field with the players and even have their names called out along with the players' names!! Brianna ran out with the center fielder, as you will see in the pictures below! The whole evening was a lot of fun, especially since the Explorers won this game! And having a picture taken with Slider, the mascot, just made the evening complete!

Brianna and teammates waiting outside the dugout:

Brianna and teammates hanging out with Slider:

Brianna out in center field with #2 -- can't remember his name, though!!

Softball City Champs!!

They finally did it!! After getting third place two years ago, then second place last summer, Brianna's softball team finally won the city championship!!! Way to go, girls!!!

1st Day of School

YEA!!! School has finally started!! Here are some pics! Zach is starting 10th grade (and not enjoying having his picture taken!!) and Brianna is going into 4th grade! Where did my babies go??

This is a picture of Brianna with her best friend, Madi, outside of the school when they first arrived!

Finally... A Family Reunion!!!

It has been a long time coming, but we finally managed to have a family reunion on the Hoben side this year!!! (We did try to make it a Hoben/Boblit one, but most of the Boblit side live too far away...) It seemed that the only time we were seeing each other was at funerals, so we decided we needed to get together for a "happy" occasion!! Hopefully we will be doing these more often!!

A big "Thank You" to my cousin, Greg, for hosting this family party! He has a huge machine shed that is partially being converted into a home that is situated right on a lakefront. Perfect place for our gathering! There was plenty of space to set up tables and chairs and a huge backyard for the kids to play games. He even has his own little "beach" area and dock! People were fishing and going out on the lake in the boat!!

I also want to put a huge "THANK YOU" out to my cousins, Tammy and Michelle, for all their work and organizing this event for all of us!! They did a wonderful job!! My last "Thank You" goes to to my cousin, Kristie, for making all the foods that our grandma used to bring to these reunions way back when we used to have them... and for all the pictures that gave us that trip down memory lane!!

Here are some pictures of the families that attended! The last picture is of my mom riding on the back of Greg's motorcycle!! Great times!!!!