31 January 2026

Rosebud asked for an ocean-themed birthday party this year.  We worked on it for all of January and finally hosted it the last day of the month.  We made a sign out of fish on a net that said "Happy Birthday Bridie" and put up seaweed in our ocean-colored dining room.  Nut Brown hung up a sheet over the fan to make it look like we were under water.

The girls started by painting treasure chests a solid base color, and then they played an egg-and-spoon game that was ocean creature bath toys instead of eggs.  Next up was making ocean-themed suncatchers out of cardstock, tissue paper and contact paper.  They turned out really well, although cutting out all that cardstock ahead of time was a lot of work for me.

We made a grotto at the bottom of the stairs where they descended to "rescue" a stuffed animal party favor.  For some reason they put them all on their heads for the photo.

Back to the table to decorate their chests with paint markers.

Next up: cake.  We ended up with fancy cupcakes from a local bakery because our plans for the cake fell through - it didn't turn out at all.  But the fancy cupcakes were awesome!

Good time for everyone!  Happy birthday, Rosebud!

 

30 January 2025

Blizzard of the year.  We got eight inches of snow on Sunday, and the top three were ice.  School was canceled all week!  The city did a pretty good job plowing - once we got our driveway shoveled, the road was clear for us to get out.  But we mostly just stayed home.  Only about half the people shoveled their walks, so we walked on the street when we went out.  Nut Brown still went to work, but I was off work as well and we had a quiet, restful week at home.  (School is so stressful for all of us.)

Also, Rosebud asked for the keyboard to be set up in her room because we needed the living room for something else, and she was so involved in her piano playing that she wasn't ready to stop.

 

24 January 2026

Playing video games together. D loves company and Rosebud likes to spend time with him.

 

22 January 2026

 Rosebud has developed a cute little exchange that we say to each other in a sing-song voice when she's being tucked in.  "I love you too, I love you too, see-you-in-the-moooorrning, love love love!" Recently she added, "Infinite lovies!" as an exclamation at the end.  It makes my heart happy every time.

19 January 2026

It snowed a bit and I insisted that D and Rosebud go on a walk with me on the Ma & Pa Trail.  D was not pleased.  

I made up for it with frozen yogurt + toppings at Sweet Frog afterwards!

 

18 January 2026

She's so pretty :) So lucky to be part of her life!

 

16 January 2025

 D and I went to the aquarium together this afternoon (half day at school).  He took a nap in the car on the way down and then told me that he hadn't eaten yet today when we were parking.  First stop, feed the boy.

The aquarium was a lot more fun.  We spent awhile looking at the horseshoe crabs and the moon jellies and asking questions of the caretakers there while D touched them.  We discovered puffins.  We looked at five-foot long lungfish and talked to the docent there.  D was very pleased to discover that there were fish experts around.  (Last time we went it was so crowded that there was no chance to find one or talk to one.)  And I found a great spot to watch the coral reef next time we go.  Also D pointed out to me that there's an entire other wing that we haven't even set foot in yet.

This evening was the Snowball Dance at the elementary school.  Rosebud and her friends planned attendance and had a good time together.  I brought a book and sat on the edge and read while they raced around together.  The dance looked like it was a pretty good time for all the kids.

At home before departure

soap bubble snow

14 January 2025

 Today is Rose Pink's birthday!  She's planning a beer party with her friends in Idaho for this Friday - root beer, ginger beer, butter beer, etc.  Happy birthday to her!

13 January 2026

Cake for breakfast in the morning!

Intense interest in the science kit this evening:

12 January 2026

 D just came into my bedroom and threw a squishmallow at me and hit me in the face.  He and I started throwing them back and forth at each other and had a mad pillow fight for about twenty minutes until we wore out.  He recently gathered up all his stuffed animals and bagged them up for disposal.  On Sunday, Rosebud decided to play hospital with all 7,342 of her stuffed animals, and D saw the cuteness and went and got his out of the trash to join in.  He doesn't like to admit it but he does love cute stuffed animals, which I think is really adorable.

12 January 2026

 Happy birthday, Rosebud!  When she went to bed the night before, she said to me, "Tomorrow I will be [this old]!" She was so excited!

She wanted to buy herself a Kindle, so for her birthday Mr. Brown and I contributed the other half of the cost and she now has an e-reader.  She'll be able to read library books on it, which will be really great.  She is so excited about it!

In a fun turn of events, she was coincidentally chosen to read the school announcements on her birthday, so she got to announce her own birthday to the entire school!

On her birthday, she asked for enchiladas (which were delicious) and a cake like the one she had four years ago with jello on top.  The enchiladas were so good that she asked if we could have cake for breakfast instead, because she had eaten so well already.  But we opened gifts that night for sure!

D gave her a squishmallow.  He also chose one for himself at the same time that he chose this one (see previous entry for the trip to Five Below a few weeks ago) for Rosebud.

Gifts from grandparents - flossers!

Heavy heavy hangover!

Science magic kit!  She was so excited and happy to receive this from her grandparents.

Happy birthday to our sweet youngest girl! We are so glad that you joined our family!

11 January 2026

Sometimes my boys are so handsome I just can't stand it.

 

11 January 2026

Our friend Holly invited D to join the gaming group she leads every other week that Mr. Brown participates in. Last night was the first night they played together, and D was over the moon. He had such a good time! He kept saying, it was like hanging out with more than one Papa!

3 January 2026

Rosebud decided to add squirrels to the calendar this month.

 

1 January 2026

New Year's Day sandwich party!  This year, it was breakfast sandwiches - eggs, sausage, bacon, cheese on bagels and english muffins.  Yum.