30 April 2018

Nut Brown was reading the grocery list in the car on Monday as we whisked off to do the shopping.  "Tom paste?" he said.  "Tomato paste," I translated.  "Mmmm," he said.  "Like tom sauce and chop tom."  Pause.  "Poor Tom," he said.

27 April 2018

Happy birthday, Bobo!  He's been eagerly anticipating all week.  Mr. Brown went into the hospital on Monday night with what turned out to be flu and pneumonia with a side dish of migraines, so we've been scrambling a bit this week.  Fortunately our friends in the ward have been able to help watch the kids, because I've used so much leave the last two weeks already. 

Bobo wanted pizza and Spiderman tv for dinner, and he wanted to spend the day at his best friend's house.  He got both of those wishes.  He also got some super fun gifts - Mr. Potato Head from his sisters, a foam sword from his brother, new scriptures from his parents, and a cool bed tent from his grandparents, plus birthday money from his other grandma.  He was so pleased with all of them and clearly felt very special and loved.  He is such a sweet and wonderful boy, and deserved every bit of the fussing over that he got today.

Mr. Brown is home from the hospital now, but is basically on bed rest for awhile.  He is getting better, but slowly.  He gets migraines from looking at any sort of computer screen, though, and so he's on an Internet diet, which he has been really grateful for.  Going to the hospital also revived his sense of humor, which has been a blessing to us all! 

19 April 2018

We've had the flu for a week now.  Bobo kicked it off last week when he put himself in bed at 4:30 pm and didn't get up again til the next day.  He ran super high fevers (102, 103) and we started going through ibuprofen and acetaminophen like crazy.  Rosebud succumbed briefly (put herself in bed at 6 pm one night) but then had no other symptoms.  We gave Bobo lukewarm baths to help bring his temperature down, and they always had a miraculous effect.  He would go from weeping and incoherent to a cheerful (but sick) little boy who would laugh and tell jokes and get himself dressed.  Amazing to see what a difference a drop in body temp of a couple degrees makes.

On Saturday, Mr. Brown took him to urgent care and they said, "Flu."  At this point Nut Brown and Rose Pink were also sick, and Mr. Brown wasn't feeling so hot himself.  Rosebud and I spent the weekend taking temperatures and dosing people with ibuprofen and acetaminophen and then got a lot of quality time together working on my projects, because everybody just wanted to be left alone.  It was actually kind of a gift.  As Mr. Brown said, having the flu is actually kind of a blessing - you have an acceptable reason not to go anywhere and not to have anyone over, so you can really rest.  Super nice.

I worked half days all week so I could come home and help while Mr. Brown was trying to feel better, but this morning I definitely woke up sick, so no work for me at all today.  Mr. Brown is starting to get better but he's still pretty sick.  Rose Pink and Bobo and Rosebud are all basically better. Nut Brown caught a throwing up bug in addition, so he's having the extended version.  The hardest part right now is trying to take care of Rosebud, who is her normal healthy energetic self and wants much more engagement than Mr. Brown and I have to give right now.  Hopefully we'll be better in a couple days.  Or a week.

15 April 2018

Rose Pink, my redheaded fairskinned fully sunscreened daughter, at the beach, looks at the group of girls in bikinis tanning and says, "Why do people want to be tan?"  Gia and I began with some vague explanations and she followed up with, "But if people are discriminated against because of their brown skin, then why would you want to have brown skin?"  I love watching her think.

13 April 2018

A friend of ours started a volleyball group at church on Tuesday nights.  Rose Pink baby-sits for us and Mr. Brown and I go play.  There's been some disagreement about the format and structure of the group, and Mr. Brown spent a large amount of emotional energy the last couple days listening to people and trying to help them choose not to be offended.  Then last night he had Cub Scout committee meeting, where he again had to spend a large amount of emotional energy to get people to move through the planning.  He came home exhausted and frustrated and said, "I hate this."  There are some things about Florida that have been really, really difficult for us.

12 April 2018

Our camera broke (sad face) so no pictures for awhile.  Two weeks ago Gia came to visit and we went birdwatching at the Orlando wetlands, and to the beach, and watched a lot of General Conference together.  Rosebud has really begun to get over her fear of strangers and had no problem making friends with Gia, and going on walks with her, and reading books with her.  We walked down to the Blanchard trail and park several times too.  It was a good visit and I'm glad that she came.


Friday night, we had Cub Scouts over for a cookout - about 35 people, who all actually fit pretty nicely into the yard.  We have plenty of space for running around!  On General Conference Saturday, we invited a lot of people over for an egg hunt in the backyard, which was really fun.  It was super easy to set up since most people brought their own eggs and we just set up snacks and some chairs and hung out. On Sunday morning, Mr. Brown asked me cautiously how many people were coming over that day!  (The answer was no one.)  We continue in our quest to be a unifying force in our ward.


Last weekend, I took the kids and ran up to see my sister in Tallahassee.  Highlights include a fabulous parade on Saturday morning celebrating Tallahassee history - it poured buckets but we stuck it out, and it was so worth it!  The kids came home with approximately 652 bead necklaces.  Also my sister and I sat up late late late both nights talking and talking.  On Sunday morning the kids and I went to church and found that the ward there is amazing.  I was greeted and looked after in a way that was warm and welcoming.  The Relief Society meeting was incredible.  I told Spencer we should move to Tallahassee and move into that ward.  Also of note, Bridie went to nursery in a strange ward all by herself without fussing, although she was nervous!


It was an exhausting weekend and Mr. Brown and I spent the first couple days of the week recovering.  My sister's family will be at our house this weekend.  Her oldest is in a residential facility near Tampa and they have a family therapy session on Sunday so we'll be watching her other kids.  Yay!  I'm glad we live so much closer now (although four hours is still far) and can see her so much more often.

6 April 2018

The other day Mr. Brown and the kids were playing around with the tongue twister "The sixth sick sheikh's sheep's sick" and as they fooled with 'sh' noises, Nut Brown said to Mr. Brown, "Be careful, Papa, you're getting awfully close to swear poo." (a reference to the word s***).  "Swear poo" is our new favorite exclamation.

4 April 2018

Gia was here visiting over General Conference/Easter weekend, and Rosebud really warmed up to her.  She would hold her hand and ask her to read books and was really interested in spending time with her.  We were walking the other day, and Rosebud said to Gia, "My mom actually cut my hair."  Her vocabulary is so amazing!

Since the dryer broke, we've been drying laundry on the line and Rosebud has decided against wearing pants mostly.  I think it's because of the harsher texture of some fabrics when they're line-dried.  So we went to the thrift store and let her pick out some more dresses and some super soft pants.  She was completely thrilled to be in charge of choosing her own clothes and was so excited to come home and wear them.  One of them (camera is broken so no photos, sadly) she calls her princess dress and wants to wear it all the time.  It's super cute, and she's super cute.  I was working in the yard when she came out to show me the dress (Rose Pink had helped her put it on) and I said, "You look so cute, Rosebud!  You look so pretty!" and she said, "Thanks, Mom!" and went back inside.

2 April 2018

Bobo, showing me a rug burn or something on his knee:

"Mom, I have an ow on my knee."  He pokes at it with his finger - it's already scabbed over. I make appropriate sympathetic mom noises.  He pokes at it again and says nonchalantly, "Yeah, I gotta regrow some skin."