Busy Little Bees!!

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I've been slacking on my blogging duties lately! I've been sooo busy the past couple of weeks. Last week, I helped out with vacation bible school at our church so my days were filled with work, followed by church....not much time for anything else! I helped out in one of the craft rooms for elementary aged kids. It was mass chaos, but the kids had a good time. Here are a couple of pictures from the night the kids made crosses filled with sand (noooo, that wasn't messy at all!!!).

This past weekend, we went out and got a new printer/scanner/copier. We needed one desperately. We had been without a printer since we got our new computer a year ago and it was getting pretty annoying. I'm excited to use the scanner too!! After we went and got a printer, we decided to go see "The Dark Knight". It definitely lives up to the hype! Great movie...go see it!! We also rented the movie "21" over the weekend (yes, we like movies!) We had already seen it at the theater, but we're going to Vegas in a little over a week so we decided to get ourselves psyched up for it by watching the movie. It's a really good movie too.

Four out of the five people in the picture above are going to Vegas.....Greg, me, Andrea (my sister-in-law) and my brother, Jimmy. We've never gone on a vacation as just the four of us before so we're really looking forward to it. And what better place to go than Vegas? It's been a couple of years since I've been there.....I LOVE VEGAS!!! The best things always happen when we're there. For example, one year I won $1200 (yes, that's twelve hundred!!) playing bingo with Greg's grandma. Then, another year, me, Greg's sister Heather and his brother Mike were all laying out at the pool at Bally's and this lady from VH-1 asked if we wanted to see a free Goo-Goo Dolls concert. They were looking for young adults to put in the front rows of the crowd because they were taping for some show. We got to sit in the front row!! I wonder what will happen this time around?

This is a picture I took last week of the "Jack-hole". This is pretty much what he does every morning while we get ready for work. Most of the time, we have to physically remove him from the bed to get him to go potty because all he wants to do is sleep. It's like we have a teenager in the house!!

I've been thinking of another fun post I can do and I think I'm going to do a "Hair-u-mentary". Kind of a documentary of my hairstyles over the years. I've seen it done on another blog I read and it is HILARIOUS!! I had some pretty bad hairstyles growing up....I mean, I grew up in the 80's/90's so bad hair is kind of a given. Not to mention, I definitely had some "awkward" years so it should be pretty funny! Not sure when I'm going to do it, but I'm looking forward to it. If you can't laugh at yourself, then what can you laugh at, right?

Well, that's it for now. I promise to post more often than I have been. Now that VBS is over, things should starting slowing down a bit!

Later--

Brooke

This and That

Hi everyone!
Not too much going on at the Reynolds house, but I decided to go ahead and put up a post anyway. This was a pretty low key week/weekend. Work was busy as heck but that always makes the day go by fast, right?

Greg and I stayed in on Saturday and had some Chinese food and then we ordered a movie called "Untraceable". Diane Lane is the main character. It's pretty creepy. Typical serial killer movie.... I was afraid to be by myself afterwards. We had originally wanted to go see "The Dark Knight" but it's opening weekend so we decided to wait a week or two.

Today we just went to church and then did some yard work. It was scorching hot today. I think the high was supposed to be 98!! Don't know if it actually got there, but it sure felt like it. We were both drenched after about an hour of work. Gross.

Tonight there's this reality show on called "High School Musical". Similar to American Idol where they go across the country and audition kids. Anyway, I'm watching it because a girl that I was in show choir with at Millikin is one of the three or four people who decides who makes it. I think she will also be one of the vocal coaches or something. Her name is Jen Malenke. I've seen her in several of the commercials promoting the show. She's an AMAZING singer.

That's pretty much it. Hopefully my next post will be more exciting. Hope all is well with everyone!

Love ya,
Brooke

Dog-Mate of the Year

Hello everyone! Welcome to my (Greg wanted to make sure I put MY and not OUR) long-awaited post....Dog-Mate of the Year. I've been noticing lately how many funny pictures we have of Jackson. It's a little ridiculous really, but hey, he's our only child. You can decide for yourself which "centerfold" is most deserving of "Dog-Mate of the Year". NOTE: The following information is utter nonsense. I promise the next post will be an update on Greg and I (not that our lives are very exciting as is evident in the babble to follow).


Mr. January:
Mr. January enjoys long walks and creating yellow snow. In this picture he is modeling the winter season's hottest dog-cessory...the human stocking hat.

Mr. February:

Mr. February enjoys the feel of a bear-skin on his fur (ok, so it's a faux fur blanket...just go with it). He considers himself to be the sexiest centerfold of the bunch.

Mr. March:

Mr. March is a handsome devil. Simple yet sophisticated, he considers good grooming to be of the utmost importance. He also considers himself to be a connoseuir of hamburgers with squeakers in them (such as the one laying at his feet).


Mr. April:

Mr. April counts Hugh Hefner as one of his greatest influences. With his seductive stare and silky fur, few can resist his charms.


Mr. May:

Mr. May is a very passionate dog. He may have a quick temper and razor-sharp teeth, but he can melt his mother's heart with just one look.

Mr. June:

Mr. June loves a good glass of wine. He describes himself as the life of the party, but most of his friends just consider him a drunk. Here he is "sleeping it off".


Mr. July:

Mr. July is an all-American dog. Right down to red, white and blue bow on his collar. Although he considers himself to be highly patriotic, few are convinced given his violent outbursts in response to fireworks.


Mr. August:

Mr. August is the rugged, outdoorsy type. He is an avid hunter of dirty laundry. Above he barks with victory while standing over the carcus of his latest prey.

Mr. September:

Mr. September enjoys sun-bathing and star-gazing. A self-described "typical Pisces", he is highly emotional and strong-willed, but also considers himself to be a sympathetic dreamer.


Mr. October:

Mr. October has somewhat of an identity crisis. Although he is an extraordinarily handsome dog, he believes that he is actually an owl. He has been atop many a roof in the neighborhood consorting with owls of all walks. Very strange.


Mr. November:

Mr. November likes a good meal but is also a bit of a glutton. After years of gorging himself on treats and "pigars" (pigars are a real thing by the way...it's a pig ear shaped into a cigar), he can barely even roll over. Rumor has it there is an upcoming special on Montel Williams where Mr. November will be rescued from his home by a crane.


Mr. December:

Mr. December also goes by the nickname "Obiwon". Enough said.

Love to all,

Brooke

4th of July Weekend--Part Deux

Ok, so here is the second round of pics from our 4th of July weekend in B-town. During our trip, Greg, Heather, and I went over to the Michaels' homestead to visit Jon and Tiff and meet the quads for the first time. It was so fun!! Not only did we get to hold the babies, but we got to feed them too! It was so great to see Jon and Tiff. They were so relaxed...like a couple of pros. The babies are completely adorable. Just take a look for yourself......

Here is Greg holding Maggie. She was in great spirits the whole time and was just STARING at Greg. It was so funny.

See what I mean?? She just kept looking at him the whole time. It was so cute! She smiled a couple of times too. Jon thought it was probably gas though...

Here is Heather holding Reese. I have to say a big thank you to Heather for taking pretty much all the photos (except for this one of course). She did a great job! We have all kinds of cute photos of the babies thanks to her!

This is me feeding Reese. She ended up falling asleep multiple times while she was eating. It was like the minute that bottle hit her mouth, her eyes would close. She ended up eating almost her entire bottle though!

Here is Jon feeding Lauren. She was such a good little eater while we were there. She finished her own bottle, Maggie's leftovers, and some of Gavin's leftovers. She is determined to be just as big as her sisters and brother. Eating like that, it won't be long!

Jon showing Cubby support while feeding Lauren.

Here is Tiff feeding Gavin and me feeding Reese. Gavin looks so much like Jon! And, I have to say, Tiff looks AMAZING!! I don't know how she has managed to look like that so soon after having QUADRUPLETS. Kind of sickening, really :-)

Awww....I love this picture of Tiff and Gavin!

A picture of the boys: Jon, Gavin and Greg. I have no idea why Greg's head looks so enormous in this picture!?!

Well, that all for the 4th of July post. We had a fantastic time! It was so great to see everyone. Hopefully we'll make it to B-town again soon!

Love,

Brooke

4th of July Weekend--Part One

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a GREAT 4th of July weekend! I know we did! As many of you already know (because you were with us), we went home to good old Illinois to celebrate our country's Independence Day. I decided to split this weekend into 2 separate posts because we have a lot of great pictures to share!

We made the 7 hour drive to Bloomington on Wednesday evening after work. Then, on Thursday, I drove to my parent's house in Mt. Zion and spent the day with them. Unfortunately, the weather was not great, but we still got to hang out and visit which is always the most fun part for me anyway. Here are some pics:

This is me with Pepper. My dad brought her home from the "adoption agency" back in 1994 when she was just a puppy. She'll be 14 this year, but she's still going strong! She is hands down the sweetest dog in the world!

Here is mom and me. Mom was complaining about her hair that day, but I think it looks fine and I thought this was a really good picture so, Mom.... I hope you don't mind that I posted it :-)

This is a hilarious picture of my brother's dog, Lillian. My mom and dad were "dog-sitting" over the weekend and Lillian just decided she was going to hang out on the couch like a human. You can't really tell in the picture, but she had her entire weight leaning up against the back of the couch just like a person. She is too funny!!!

Here is dad and me. I have another really funny picture of Lillian jumping on us, but my dad looks really ticked in the picture, so I opted for the happy photo instead!

A great picture of dad and mom.

This is a really cute picture of our niece, Reagan. Greg and I were so excited to see her. We hadn't seen her in about 6 months and she has really grown. Isn't her dress adorable?

I wish this picture was a close-up because the goggles were pushing Reagan's nose up like a little pig. It was so funny. If you click on the photo, you might be able to see it full size so it will show it better. I must say, she is an excellent swimmer. She's only 3 1/2 and is pretty fearless in the water. She was jumping off the diving board too! I know I sure wasn't doing that at 3 years old!

This is another picture that I wish was closer. Reagan and I were playing a game she had called "Pretty, Pretty Princess". It's this cute little game where you get to wear a bunch of "princess" jewelry. We both had on several items of jewelry, but I got to wear the crown because Reagan said I was the Queen :-)

This is one of a few pictures taken where the subjects of my photo requested that they not be posted on the blog. Normally, I would abide by their request, but this is such a good picture that I couldn't help myself. Sorry guys :-) This is Reagan and her parents Kelly and Matt (Greg's identical twin brother). Aren't they such a cute family?

This is another picture where I received the request not to post. But, again, it's such a great picture, I just had to post it!! This is Greg's mom and dad, Jerry and Peggy. We stayed at their house over the weekend and, as always, they were wonderful hosts! A huge thanks to them!!

This is Greg's brother Mike and sister, Heather. I took this right before we left to go see the fireworks at Lakeside Country Club (I use the words "country club" loosely..hee, hee...sorry, Matt, I had to throw that in there!). Actually, the fireworks were great! We thought for sure we were seeing the grand finale several times but the fireworks just kept coming! After that, we went back to Jerry & Peggy's to set off our own fireworks that Greg and I had picked up in Missouri. Those were surprisingly good too!

I love this picture of Greg and Matt. The look on Greg's face is priceless.

Awwww....brotherly love! Aren't they cute??

This is one of my favorite pictures of the weekend. I wish I had gotten one of the whole family together! This is Greg, Reagan, Matt, and Heather.

Well, that's all for this post. The next post will have pictures of our visit to the Michael's homestead where we got to see Jon and Tiff and feed the quads! Also, don't worry, I'm still going to do a post on Dog-mate of the Year. It is just being postponed. So much to blog about, so little time!

Brooke