Sunday's Best

The Brauns (without my brothers...) at church on Sunday. We look like we should be at a funeral....HA HA! I thought we looked pretty schnazzy! The choir sang on Sunday so that's why my parents and I are in black.... Tyler and the boys just dressed to match each other. I thought it would be nice to have a picture taken. We all looked so nice.
That didn't last long though. I wanted to leave the boys in their suits to go to my grandparents house, but Zacharie would not stay in his and wanted to wear his "cars" shoes. He doesn't normally like wearing clothes.... He is very excited for summer when he can just wear shorts.

Zacharie's Party

Well Zacharie's Birthday party was Saturday. What a busy day! You never realize how much energy is in a three year old until there are 4 others running around with him!! We decided to let the kids burn off their energy at McDonalds Playland. It worked out very well! He had a Dinoco The King cake, which my mom and I made. The above is a picture of it. Zacharie, from the moment he saw it, wanted to eat it BAD!!! But he managed to wait until after they had played a bit.
I have added some more pictures to the side, of his birthday party. If you want a picture of anything let me know, I'll get you a copy!

Well Easter is almost here. Today, Zacharie and I decorated eggs, and made a cake for his birthday party this Saturday. Wow! This weekend sure is a busy one.
Ethan has 4 teeth now!!! He got his top ones a few days ago. They are really spaced out. He has a massive gap! But that's good, apparently, because then when he is older, he may have a hope of having straight teeth!
You know, you never realize that children grow up very quickly, until they are your own. Zacharie is turning three on Monday, and I never realized how quick he grew until I was thinking about making his birthday cake. I remember when I was first pregnant with him.... not that I'd want to go back, just remembering.
Now Ethan's the baby and Zacharie can count to ten and say his alphabet!
We are going watersliding next weekend, and I'm sure Zacharie will be very thrilled. It was funny, we were walking to my parents house the other day when it was very warm, and Zacharie says "time to go swimming!!". It's like he knows that once it gets warm out we go swimming! How funny.
He knows how to swim, so this summer we are gonna have to teach Ethan how to swim. Zacharie actually learned to swim when he was one, so it shouldn't be too hard to teach Ethan.
Well, I am hoping that summer comes sooner than later, however, it snowed last night so it's not looking too good. But hey, we live in Saskatchewan, anything could happen, remember the year it snowed in July????

Okay this is funny too!!

Well, you thought that one was funny....
Yesterday, I took the boys out shopping with me at Wal-mart (where else?), the one that my parents work at. When I take them out I make sure to put Zacharie in a pull-up so that if he has an accident, it won't affect his pants. Anyway, so before I left, I was having an issue getting Zacharie to sit in his car seat, let alone being buckled. This is a little abnormal but I thought nothing of it. Then at Wal-mart, I had an issue getting him to sit in the cart! Again, abnormal, but on the weekend we had let him help push the cart, so I figured that was why he wouldn't sit in the cart. Finally after coaxing him into the cart (as I was by-my-self and wasn't going to chase him around...) we went and shopped for a jacket for him and then to see my parents when they were finished working. So my mom came with Zacharie to buy his new jacket. And, as always, he wanted to go home with them, which worked fine, as I teach piano on Mondays. So we all went our vans and got in. Zacharie again, didn't want to sit in his seat, or be buckled!! Thinking this was ridiculous, my dad buckled him in anyway. They got to their house, and Zacharie kept pulling at his butt! So my mom figured that his pull-up was wet and went to change it. To her surprise she found, a compact mirror which Zacharie uses as a phone, in his pull-up!!! When she called me to tell me this, I realized that was probably the issue and was a bit confused as to why it would be in his pull-up. Then I remembered that I had dressed him in sweats, which of course, have no pockets!!! Now I understand why he doesn't like those types of pants very much!

Zacharie will someday be "em-bare-assed"!

Well as most of you know, we go to church on Sundays. Anyway, We went to church early yesterday so that I could practice for choir. While we wait, we let the children play. Zacharie had disappeared for a bit, and when he came back into the sanctuary, Anca (a friend of mine) had jestured to me what I thought meant he needed to go potty. So Tyler ran over to him to discover that wasn't the case. He had already gone potty, on the potty, and had his pants around his knees while walking into the sanctuary!!! Not really embarassing for me, but I'm sure this story will make it to his wedding, and at that point it will embarass him! I thought it was worth sharing... See my son does stuff like this all the time!
Hope you enjoyed! I thought it was funny!!

Busy-ness becomes me....

I have decided that I love taking pictures and editing them!! It is so much fun, especially ones like this one, of my boys!! They are so very adorable!! I have figured out a way to add lots of them to this page, I just want to edit and crop some of them, so you all need to be patient!
Well after a busy week, I have an even busier weekend! I am doing a starter show for one of my friends, who has decided to start with Partylite! I am so excited for her!! So we are spending the day in Moose Jaw with them, and then her and I are gonna have some fun in the evening. If you ever want to have a hilarious experience, have a candle party! The last one I did, was my mom's and we had so much fun....
Next week is St. Patricks Day! And then Good Friday, and then Easter.... then Zacharie's 3rd Birthday. Like I said, busy.
I can't believe Zacharie is three already!!! I remember when he was first born.... seems so long ago. Now he talks and goes pee on the potty! Funny how quickly kids grow up.
No, we're not having another one...yet. We'd like to wait a bit. And aim for a girl... so everyone pray that we have a girl! Ha Ha!
Not too much else is new. I got a new phone, a Motorola Q. Its like a palm pilot, only not that brand and its a phone too. I am actually looking to see if I can find a program that I can install onto it that is the bible. If anyone knows of one, let me know.
I should get going, have to clean my house.... again. We're having small group here, so I need to get on top of that right away.

And so it goes...

Well March is here!!! And the weather is awesome. I'm really hoping that it stays this way.
So I have been busy. I am lining up Partylite show, and becoming a team leader. I also can't wait to see the new line in a few weeks!
My boys are growing like weeds. Ethan is 22lbs!!! We took him off formula and put him on straight milk, and guess what? No more puking!!! Praise the Lord!! So we think that the formula must have been to heavy on his stomach, or something.
Zacharie is going through a little bit of a wild phase, and pushing the limits. We are trying to deal with him, with patience.... but we don't have much of that....
Tyler has been working alot, the season has picked up. The earliest he was home last week was 6pm, and that was a 12 hour day.... So I can see him being very busy.
Not much is new, except the busy-ness.
On Sunday, we have arranged a mini drama, and it's a very powerful message. I am really looking forward to having it done. So if you want to see it, Sunday at 10:30am at Avonhurst Assemblies.
Anyway, I am gonna see if I can get some pictures posted!

Yeah, it's been a while....

Okay, so I haven't been here in over a week, I know, shame on me.... But we're really busy people! Well I'm not 100% sure I have mentioned this before, but Ethan has 2 teeth now, and is starting to crawl!!! Wow he is growing up fast.
Like I said we are busy.... let me share why. Monday's in the evening, I teach piano. Tuesday this last week was movie night, and this week worship practice for a womens event. Wednesday last week was Partylite meeting, and every week choir. Thursday's are usually free, I try to book shows on that night or, just spend time with my family. Friday is small group night, although we have had other things going on that we haven't made it to small group in a while..... Saturday was mom's candle party, and after that I hung out with my friends, and my parents. Then Sunday, church.... See so you can't say that we have a lot of time, we don't. Just day time, time.
Zacharie is almost completely potty-trained. He can go out in just underwear and not get them wet!! We are just working on night-time.... that's the hard part.
We are waiting for spring to come... and then SUMMER!!!! I love summer. Well I'll be back later, lots to do, always.

Long Week-end...

And so our long weekend is coming to a close. I love long weekends, not that I have to go back to work the next day, but Tyler does and so do my parents. We spend a lot of time with my parents, Zacharie especially. This weekend for us was kinda blah.... nothing interesting happened.
But today, I discovered that I can make a Partylite website!! So I did!! If you want to check it out, it is really cool!
Anyway, I have a busy week ahead of me. I have 2 meetings that I am supposed to go to, my mom's birthday is tomorrow, my grandpa's 75th birthday is Wednesday ( one of the meetings is that night) and I am getting our piano tuned (yaaaaaayyyy!!!). WOW... lots to do.
I also just realized that I forgot to reply to an email.... I'm not with it today....
Anyway see ya....


Oh yeah that website is :
www.partylite.biz/naomiyoner

Happy Valentine's Day

So, I usually don't like valentine's day, I usually expect my hubby to do something sweet, and I usually get let down. Not that he doesn't try, he usually forgets. It's okay.
Last year on Valentine's Day we found out that I was pregnant with a "boy". I was a bit disappointed, to be quite honest. I had my heart set on having a girl.....
I wasn't upset that he was a boy, I was upset that he wasn't a girl. So my valentine's day kinda was an emotional trek. By the end of the day, however, we had decided on what we were gonna call him. Ethan is Hebrew and it means strong, firm, and impetuous. Some days, like today, I wish we hadn't named him that, he is a very stubborn and strong little boy! Sometimes that's a good thing, though. Not when he's cranky....
Anyway, back to Valentine's....
Tyler and I were actually initially planning on getting married on Valentine's day. Since we got engaged on January 9th, my mom convinced us to give her more time to plan an actual wedding. So we did. We spent our Valentine's that year, in Regina, planning a wedding.
I'm not sure that Valentine's was such a great idea. It's a lot of pressure on couples to spend a "romantic" day together, which I'm not sure a lot of couples, especially married ones, with kids, have time for. My theory is be romantic whenever you want, instead of waiting for an anniversary, birthday or holiday, like Valentine's Day to be romantic. Besides, it's only a way for retail stores to make more money selling you chocolates ( not that I don't like chocolates), flowers (which die anyway, although, I like getting flowers too.....) and cards (does anyone ever keep those???). I'd rather spend my money on something more worth while.
But for lots of people, who aren't married or dating someone, Valentine's is a drag.... And I don't think that it should be that way. I know a lot of my "single" friends hang out with each other, and see a movie, or something like that. Valentine's day, I don't think, is being what it was meant to be.
The history of Valentine's day is actually a very interesting one, as no one really knows why it is.
Here's what I found....
Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
Another one is that Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today.
And this one is certainly an interesting prospective of it :
The Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture.
Wow there are a lot of different aspects.... so see, Valentine's Day isn't necessarily a romantic day....
There's your "learned something new..." for the day and a little history lesson.
In any case, whatever or however you are celebrating Valentine's Day, Have a good one!!!