23 September 2017

Being the youngest means you get training in a lot of things your older siblings weren't allowed to do quite so young.  Nut Brown is enamored of a card game called Smashup at the moment, and Rosebud always wants to participate.  So she is allowed to hold her deck of cards and lay one down sometimes.  She's really remarkably patient with the limited involvement that she's allowed, and when her cards slip out of perfect alignment, she fusses in frustration and hands them to me to straighten up for her.

18 September 2017

Bobo: Papa, next time I play in your world in Terraria, I'm going to wear my "Don't Mess With The Best" shirt, because you are the best!

17 September 2017

Nut Brown: Mom, I have to tell you something I feel really guilty about.

Mom: Okay.  I'm ready.

Nut Brown: Remember when I was scraping the tar off the floor in the bedroom in Michigan when we were getting ready to sell the house?  And remember how I found a better way to scrape it that made it so much faster?

Mom: I remember.

Nut Brown: Well, it helped to hit the scraper with something to get it unstuck.  Don't try a hammer, though, it will dig into the floor.  I know because I tried it.

Mom: Okay.

Nut Brown: So I tried something else.  I used your lotion bottle, and it broke the bottom of it.

Mom: Which lotion bottle?

Nut Brown: The big one.  The expensive kind you buy online.

Mom: The Aquaphilic?  Oh!  I didn't even notice!  Well, thank you for telling me.  I'll check to make sure it doesn't melt or leak onto anything.... Did you learn anything from that choice?

Nut Brown: No.  Nothing.

Mom: Nothing?

Nut Brown:  Well, I learned not to use stuff made out of plastic as a hammer, because it will break.  And I learned not to use expensive stuff as a hammer either because you'll feel bad if it breaks....  Wow, I know more than I think I do.

15 September 2017

Being in Florida, there are lots of bugs, and lots of bugs that bite. Nut Brown was furiously scratching some bites on his feet during scriptures last night. 

Mom: I know this is hard to believe, but if you ignore the itch, it actually stops.
Nut Brown: I know, Mom.  I learned that the cave man way.
Mom: The cave man way?
Nut Brown: I tried it for myself.  You know, because cave men didn't have anyone to teach them because they were the first ones.

13 September 2017

A few weeks ago, I said to Nut Brown, "Can I tell you a secret?"  He said, "Yes.... wait, you love me?"  I said, "Yes!" and he said, "That's not much of a secret, Mom."

11 September 2017

Hurricane Irma passed over us after midnight last night, and it was so much wind and so much rain.  It seemed like being on the ocean, with the ebb and flow of the bands as they passed.  Mr. Brown and I played D&D while waiting for the power to go out.  It never did, so we eventually went to bed.  This morning the power was still on, and we found some branches in the yard, a couple roof leaks, and the doors blown off the big shed.  Otherwise, it's all fine, and we have nothing to complain about for our first hurricane!  The kids were relieved that it's over, especially Bobo, who has offered lots of anxious prayers lately about Hurricane Irma.

I forgot to add, church was cancelled this morning, so we had home church.  Nut Brown set up the pews with the furniture from the front porch that's currently hanging out inside, and made a podium.  We sang "Master The Tempest Is Raging" and had a testimony meeting, and then sang "God Be With You Til We Meet Again" at Bobo's request.  Rose Pink took the other kids off for Primary (she assigned Bobo a talk about following the Spirit) and I went to "Relief Society" in my room and read the Gordon B. Hinckley manual lesson.  It was cute but also surprisingly spiritually refreshing for me.

Also we've been eating everything out of the fridge since we're expecting power loss, which means a vast consumption of eggs.  Mr. Brown has been making lots of cakes and omelets.  The kids have been so pleased to be allowed to consume ice cream in much larger quantities than usual!!

10 September 2017

We've spent the last week worrying and preparing for Hurricane Irma.  We've been in our house for three weeks and although we knew that hurricanes were common here, we were still in unpacking and settling in mode and hadn't started to consider disaster preparation yet.  Well, now we've considered it, and we know exactly what we're going to do as soon as this is over so that we'll be better prepared next time!  Thanks for the welcome party, Irma.

We did a lot of cleanup in the yard, which was great, and we filled sandbags for our doorways.  We were really worried about our windows but fortunately our neighbor up the street came by and offered to help us cover them with scrap he had in his yard.  What a blessing.  Mr. Brown joked about how we're familiar with boarding up in Detroit, but it's usually for a different reason!

I didn't think about what a big difference it would make to me not to be able to see out.  I hate it.  I keep going over and opening the door. 

We're expecting to lose power, and then we'll lose water because our well is powered electrically.  So we have filled the bathtubs and a lot of other containers with water for drinking and flushing.  We took a walk this morning, but it started raining for real after lunch, so I think we're in for good for awhile. Mr. Brown and I have both secretly always wanted to sit through a hurricane, so we'll get to check this one off our bucket list.  I'm very grateful that it looks like it's not going to be Cat 4 winds in our area though, which was one of the predictions that we were working with this week.

So, welcome to Florida, and here's to our first hurricane!

7 September 2017

In the hotel, we watched a lot of Food Network and HGTV, and when we unpacked in the house, the kids started playing "Chopped" with their plastic food.  They'd bring us dishes comprised of colored plastic vegetables and tell us about how they'd chosen 'for texture' and 'to garnish'.  So funny!!

5 September 2017

Florida- it's awesome!

5 September 2017

Cousins here for a visit!  My sister and her kids came over Labor Day weekend.  We had a great time together and we're looking forward to seeing each other again soon.  Her kids overlap with our kids in a way that means everyone has someone to play with, which is really nice.