31 January 2018

Today Rose Pink and Rosebud tried out a pediatrician and went in for annual checkups.  Happily, the pediatrician was satisfactory to everyone so we have one less doctor that we need to find.  Rosebud was due for another immunization, and Mr. Brown talked to her about which arm she wanted it in, and she was concerned but very calm and chatty through the whole thing.  It was extremely impressive, especially for a two year old.


Tonight we paused in the front yard to watch the moon rising - an impressive sight.  We don't have streetlights in front of our house, but the moon has been so bright the last couple nights that you wouldn't have noticed.  After getting pajamas on, Rosebud asked to go back outside and look at the moon again, and we did, gazing in silence at the huge silver orb still low over the trees in our backyard.

25 January 2018

Bobo got this bear blanket from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas.  He loves it.  He comes out every morning wearing it, which is just an explosion of cuteness and a wonderful way for Mama to start the day.  He's always cuddly in the morning but being a bear makes him extra cuddly.

22 January 2018

We were given a very large bunch of wiki-stix for Christmas, and it has resulted in creativity and hilarity.

I wish I also had a picture of our kitchen wall.  We've used them to make designs and write messages on the wall, too.  Super fun.

20 January 2018

Our friends the Scotts came to visit and we went to see alligators! In the wild! In some nearby wetlands.  It was totally cool.  We also went to see a natural spring with manatees, which was also very completely cool.  We are definitely going back there when it's a little warmer.

There's also a beautiful cypress swamp at the wetlands, very evocative. 

It was so good to see them.  It seemed completely natural for them to be at our house, rootling around in our kitchen and laying on the couch, because they are so much a part of our life.  I'm so glad that they came!  Mr. Brown and I miss them very much.

19 January 2018

Grandma and Grandpa went to a state fair of some sort and sent us souvenirs.

We added them to our dance party to enjoy them!

Nut Brown incited the dance party by going 'moo' in time with the music.  He's so funny!

18 January 2018

We've had a season of birthdays this past week, since the girls' birthdays are only two days apart.  Nut Brown prepared several things for Rosebud's birthday that were really sweet.  He bought and wrapped a gift for her:

 

and he made a piñata for her party shaped like a pizza, because that's one of her favorite things!

 

We made pizza for her birthday dinner, and then ended up having cake the next day.  Mr. Brown put lots of candles on her cake to celebrate, and helped her blow them out.  She was a little unsure about what to do as the star of the show, but she did blow them out with help, and looking at these pictures afterward she kept saying, "my birfday... my birfday..."

Her cake was a pound cake from a special recipe given me by an old friend!

 

Rose Pink had a mango cheesecake for hers.  I think she got more than her share of candles as well, but you know, lots of reasons to celebrate.   

Our friends the Scotts were visiting and gave her a pair of Wonder Woman socks (with tiny capes!) and my parents sent her a Wonder Woman throw which she loved immediately and wrapped around herself.  Rosebud went and got her boppy and wrapped it around herself the same way and followed Rose Pink around... it was super cute to see how she wanted to be like her big sister.

Some friends of ours came for dinner a couple days later and brought yet another cake to mark their birthdays.  Rosebud knew the drill at this point and was perfectly ready to light and blow out candles.  Super fun.

And we're not done yet... Rose Pink's actual birthday party is this weekend.  We're cooking out in the backyard with friends from church and eating cupcakes and playing games.  Should be lots of fun!  Rose Pink said she wanted a surprise party, and so we planned one (with Nut Brown, who really wanted her to get what she wanted) and then one of the kids at church gave it away!  Oh well.

17 January 2018

At night I sing to Rosebud when I'm putting her in bed.  She is intent on learning the words to the songs and surprises me sometimes with how much of them she knows.  The other night she sang the whole first line of "I Am A Child of God" with me.  She also knows a fair chunk of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas", which we are still singing together even though it's January.  Mr. Brown and the older kids have taught her 'I'm A Little Teapot', and when they sing it together, they pause for the last line and she finishes by herself - "...and pour me OUT!" which is so completely adorable.




We often go through difficulties when she is requesting a song and I can't tell which one she's asking for.  I'll start to sing what I think she asked for and she will shriek NO NO NO! at the top of her lungs and I take a deep breath and (usually) ask her if she wants to sing Merry Christmas, which she always agrees to.




A couple days ago she pulled a new one on me when after finishing a verse of a song, she announced, "The end."  I wasn't sure if I'd heard it right, so I went on to the chorus, but she interrupted me to say again, "The end."  So now I know that we're done with a song when she says, "The end."  I didn't even know she knew that phrase.

15 January 2018

Nut Brown working out what sort of pumpkin he wanted for Halloween this year.  He pays a great attention to detail when he is drawing or forming letters.

11 January 2018

Last night the older kids and Mr. Brown went off to church activities, and Bobo said that he wanted to jump on the trampoline (in the dark) so he and I got out the light sticks he got in his stocking for Christmas and he and I and Rosebud jumped on the trampoline in the dark with light sticks and told stories about Star Wars and ninjas.  It was amazingly fun.  He and Rosebud were both late going to bed because of it but it was worth it.

10 January 2018

Rosebud, when she gets creative, prefers to draw tiny circles.  (See above.)

8 January 2018

A talk written by Nut Brown on his own for Sunday school.  He's pretty amazing.