12 August 2024

11 August 2024

D picks up random words and uses them incessantly for a few weeks before abandoning them for the next phrase that feels good in his mouth.  For a long time when we first got to Maryland, it was "chicken nuggies". Last month it was "Wisconsin", and right now it's "thermonuclear war".

10 August 2024

In sacrament meeting last week, Nut Brown stood up and bore his testimony and shared that after skipping church while we were on vacation in Michigan earlier this year, he was surprised to find when he attended church the following Sunday how much better he felt. He concluded that there is something special about church attendance.

Rosebud also wanted to share her testimony but she was intimidated by the size of the crowd.  She wanted to talk about how she knows that God answers prayers because whenever D loses Legos, he prays and then he finds them.

And D had something to share too, but Nut Brown couldn't quite convince him to get up. So D wrote it down instead on his white board.

"I was thinking about word searches and realized that life can be a lot like word searches because we can't find out answers to the questions we want. However you can find your answers and sometimes you need help from God to find your answers."

I love to catch glimpses of faith growing.

9 August 2024

Busy day for me today! It's Friday so it was date day and Mr. Brown and I went out to Wawa for breakfast! Then Mr. Brown took D to his last day of STEM camp and he and Nut Brown and Rose Pink went on to the gym.  D says he has enjoyed STEM camp, and he talks a lot about the card games that he's learned how to play during breaks. He also says that they extracted strawberry DNA, built a radio from Snap Circuits, constructed furniture out of newspaper and built a teepee from newspaper, ate an MRE and met an active duty Airborne soldier. So I guess there was also some science.

Rosebud and I play tested her board game this morning. It was a pretty fun game. We tried a couple different rules variations and had a good time together. She "did her dots" (the four projects she's working on this summer - math book to learn multiplication, cursive handwriting, dribbling a basketball, and piano practice - these were all her ideas) while I did my shoulder exercises.

Rose Pink and I went clothes shopping and found a great consignment shop! Very excited for this, because the thrifting scene in town is really not good. So that was encouraging. 

This afternoon Mr. Brown and Nut Brown spent almost two hours on dance practice. Rose Pink was a helpful partner... My shoulder keeps me from being great at the moment. Rosebud and I dashed out for a rain walk in the last trailing storm from Hurricane Debby, and that was nice, to be out in the rain. It's been so nice to have cloud and rain for awhile instead of the unrelenting sun.

Mr. Brown danced with me in the kitchen 🥰 and it was so nice to do something so close. He said that we were meant to be dance partners because we dance so well together, and even twenty-five years ago it was that way. 🥰 It is so nice to be together with him.

I helped Rosebud make dirt pudding with a little kit that she got from her Primary teacher on Sunday,

 and we had pizza for dinner, and then the girls and I went shopping for a small surprise birthday gift for Nut Brown. He'll be away at camp next week when it's his birthday so we want to surprise him with a little gift on his birthday even though we're saving the big celebration until he gets home.

Busy, happy day.

9 August 2024

Tonight Nut Brown was driving to bro night with both of his sisters and me in the car. Rose Pink and I were giving him some flak about driving five miles below the speed limit on Wheel Road, and he responded irritably, "You all are pirates and robbers but I'm a law abiding citizen!"

Here are the proofs from his senior yearbook picture, proudly displayed on the fridge!

6 August 2024

We get a lot of compliments about Nut Brown from his teachers, his church leaders and his friends' parents. On Sunday, Mr. Brown was telling us about a young woman at church who told him that she was not looking forward to when Nut Brown left the youth program, because he is apparently the one who makes activities fun. Nut Brown says that this is because no one here, not the youth and not the leaders, know what makes a good activity. But since he's been in so many wards as a youth, he's had a lot of experience with activities and knows what it takes to make them fun. (Finally a silver lining to all the ward changes in Texas!)

Rose Pink chimed in to add that she was told at girls' camp that the young women think Nut Brown is "hot".  Mr. Brown looked at Nut Brown and said, "We-ell! What do you think, Nut Brown?" Nut Brown paused reading his manga and then replied, "I don't think I'm particularly hot, but compared to the other priests..."  It was such a classic Nut Brown response!

1 August 2024

Happy birthday Mr. Brown!! We started the day with Wawa breakfast. He asked for a pan of gyro meat from Mr. Souvlaki's for dinner, so we had gyros and they were amazing and delicious.

The kids made pillowcases for him, and he also got a popcorn popper, which will be great because we can't make popcorn on our stove!

Kids with the pillowcases they each made

Preparing to enjoy the first batch of popcorn

The next Saturday D and Rosebud and I performed the annual car cleaning for him. They are old enough now that I don't have to do too much, which was so neat to see. 

I was so glad because I got the birthday right this year. He had a great day and seemed very happy with how he was celebrated. I love you, Mr. Brown!