30 September 2026

 

27 September 2026

 It was stake conference today so we had steak for dinner, at Nut Brown's suggestion.  Tee hee.

26 September 2026

 Rosebud and I went down to APG to a STEM Day event put on by one of outreach office.  It was super fun, because there were actual scientists there to talk about the things that they work on.  We looked at a model of a satellite and watched a rubber ball dipped in liquid nitrogen get smashed.  There were drone flying simulators available, and a guy talking about universal batteries.  Another pair of researchers let us try out their airborne radar sensors.  One of the more interesting was a lady who is focused on insects in food and had bakelite boxes with cereal grains and the corresponding weevils.  It was all really cool.

Also there was a helicopter.  Rosebud got to sit in it, and then we watched it take off- there was a storm coming and the pilots decided to leave early.  It was a morning well-spent!

22 September 2026

Nut Brown being a very cool young man leaning on the counter in the kitchen talking with Mr. Brown while Mr. Brown is making dinner.

 

20 September 2026

D has started insisting on helping Rosebud clean her room after church on Sundays. He harasses her about it until he is able to get her to bring a little more order to her room, which right now is cluttered with an amount of possessions that exceeds the reasonable capacity of the room. 

Mr. Brown and Nut Brown have started to make Sunday dinner a thing for us. They choose a menu on Saturday afternoon and then work together on Sunday to make it. I wash dishes. They're at it right now, chatting about different things as they make potato broccoli soup, frittatas and bread.  D is in the kitchen right now too, making brownie cookies for hygge night at our friends' house later this evening. 

Rosebud is reading in her room and I'm working on my crosstitch on the couch. Our playlist of religious music is playing. It's a really peaceful afternoon. 

This week Rose Pink texted that it was raining where she is in Idaho.

Mr. Brown have been laughing about her plants taking a field trip out the window all week.

14 September 2026

 D helping Rosebud with her math homework.

11 September 2026

In the mornings, Rosebud likes to get out of bed and lay on the couch for a little while snuggled up in one of her fuzzy blankets before getting ready for the day.  Yesterday I was sitting on the couch when she came up, and she snuggled up next to me.  I said to Mr. Brown, "Did you hear that the Bayeux Tapestry is on display in Britain for the first time in 900 years?"  Rosebud said, "What's the Bayeux Tapestry?" I looked up some images on my phone and we brought up the wikipedia article and talked about the Norman Invasion in 1066 and King Harald being shot in the eye.  It was very cozy to be learning together all cuddled up, and I decided to be late to work so I wouldn't miss any of it.

Last night I took D to Chili's so he could hang out with his volleyball team and have dinner.  He successfully negotiated the entire process and had a good time.  Watching him figure it out brought back difficult memories from adolescence and I'm glad that he persisted and solved problems and had a good time.

10 September 2026

 Poor Rosebud!  Home sick from school already and it's only the second week! She threw up on the bus yesterday on the way to school and decided to stay home today.

She sends me emails from her school email account:

We recently switched bedrooms with her.  When Rose Pink painted the house three years ago before we moved in, she painted our names on our bedroom doors.

Mr. Brown and I assumed that she would want to have her own name on her new door instead of ours, but she told me that she would rather keep the door as it is, because it's like having a little piece of Rose Pink still with her.

9 September 2026

 Yesterday D came across a new song that he loves so much that he wants to listen to it on repeat and learn the words.  It's "House of Memories" by Panic at the Disco. We turned it on going to Mutual tonight and he sang along with the lyrics on my phone, and then we turned on going home.  And then he listened to it and sang along while he was doing the dishes.  He said he wished he could get piano music for it for Rosebud so she could play it and he would sing along.  He said if he could find the piano music that he might learn to play it himself, just that song.

7 September 2026

 First school holiday!  Happy Labor Day!  We cooked hamburgers over the fire and burned some old school papers.  D crumpled all of his up and then he and Nut Brown put them in all at once.  It made a ten-foot tall fire for about three minutes.  Very exciting.

6 September 2026

Heading up the street to a neighbor's house for hygge - snacks and games and good company.

playing Skull King together.  The kids love to go for the snacks.  I think the neighbors are growing on D.  Their youngest son (now age 20) also has ADHD, and they were patient with him last night as he got louder and louder while he was enjoying himself during the game.  And they don't mind that he gets up and leaves when he's done being social.

 

6 September 2026

 Rosebud went to the high school open house with Mr. Brown and D, and decided that she wanted to be in the marching band. The viola is not an instrument that she will get to march with, so we've been working on what she should switch to.  I think she's going to end up on the trombone.  

There was discussion this evening about middle school band, and D commented that he didn't think Rosebud was going to like middle school, that it's not what she thought it would be.  It's pretty bad, he said.  The classes aren't good.  Well, said Mr. Brown, except for chorus.  Oh yeah, D responded.  She'll like Mrs. B.  

And Mrs. Wagner's class? prompted Mr. Brown.  Yes, said D.  I loved Mrs. Wagner's class.  That class was so good it doesn't deserve to be called middle school.  

Mrs. Wagner was his 8th grade English teacher. D and Rosebud had very different experiences with English teachers this year.  Rosebud's teacher censured her for reading ahead and finishing the book ahead of her group. I found that so hard to believe! And now she's not happy about reading for school this year because she doesn't like getting in trouble!

On the other hand, when D finished his book for Mrs. Wagner in three days instead of three weeks, she got him the sequel to read while the other kids kept reading.  And she bought the next book, so that he could stay engaged with a series that had caught his interest!  She also gave him and his friends a chance to eat lunch in her classroom together.

Mrs. Wagner goes to church with us and she's in my book club.  When it was held at my house last month, D came out to sit with us for awhile because she was there.  He has actually verbalized to us how much he loves her and her class.  And he sent her a completely unprompted thank you note that she shared with me. 

I'm so grateful for the way that she treated my son with respect and encouragement!

5 September 2026

 Rosebud and her three best friends had a seven-hour pool party today.

The hosting mother said that when she said it was time to leave that the girls insisted that they had to get out of the pool holding hands, and it took them several tries.  When I talked to Rosebud afterwards, she giggled and said, "We did that on purpose.  So that we could make it last longer."

When she got home, she told me a long story about their game that involved a magic boarding school, a wealthy family, orphans and choosing an element (hers was water).

Meanwhile the rest of us went to the ward barbecue, ate some delicious meat, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  The boys engaged in some gymnastics, or maybe cheerleading lifts.

Also D reorganized all his shelves.

He was very pleased with himself.  He found more space without getting rid of anything, and also made space on the library book shelf in the living room so he can check out more library books (a self-imposed restriction).

When Rosebud finally got home, he engaged in some relieved teasing, which she was made about until I told her that's actually how he shows love right now.  I told her to watch for it in other boys too - when they want to show they like you, they'll do something that really annoys you.  Her eyes widened in understanding.

1 September 2026