21 January 2025

Happy birthday to Rosebud!  She set a record this year with THREE birthday parties.  When she and I started talking about planning a friend party for her, she said that if she invited all of her school friends and church friends that it would be too many people for her.  So we had two parties, one for each group.  But we started with a family party!

Rosebud wanted pudding for her "cake" and asked if she could set up a teddy bear picnic in the forest.  We made trees out of rice krispie treats and scattered mini m&ms for flowers.  And then she played "Happy Birthday" on her ukelele while we sang!

Happy birthday, Miss B!

 

School party: this time the teddy bears had a picnic on an island in the ocean (colored vanilla pudding), with Swedish fish and a campfire!

 

Church party: now the teddy bears are tubing down a river.  This time the pudding was made with oat milk because of allergies among the guests.

The second friend party was a repeat of the first, so it was not much additional work.  We had them back to back, on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, and I think Rosebud felt celebrated!

19 January 2025

It was really fun to see D mentoring the new deacons passing the sacrament today.  He prompted them about where to stand and when to move and so on. Very cute to see him supporting them as they learned their new roles.

6 January 2025

 Oh joy! Oh bliss! Six inches of snow and a snow day!

There was outside play in the morning for D and Rosebud, and after Nut Brown got up and everyone had lunch, he took them sledding at our neighbors' house up the hill.

There was also math homework for everyone, which was accomplished with no drama for Nut Brown and Rosebud, and several episodes of drama for D.  But it was all accomplished.

Chili and cornbread for dinner tonight.

5 January 2025

 Tonight was the last night of the 12 days of Christmas, so we sang the last verse with all 12 items and ate ice cream cone "drumsticks".  We also did 11 days of Christmas today too (pipe shaped cookies called piroulines) because it's been a kind of mixed up 12 days this year!  We had root beer floats last night for 8 maids-a-milking, and 9 and 10 just got skipped.

Afterwards Nut Brown and D "put on their fighting trousers" by pulling the pants up as far as they would go and throwing pretend punches at each other.  When D is in a good mood, he is the life of the party and he was tonight.  He initiated the fighting trousers activity.

On Thursday night, D was suffering through some math homework (Nut Brown was a champ and willing to help him - what a great teenager he is) and at one point told me that he didn't need to know how to graph and equation because he just wanted to work at McDonald's when he grows up.  I told him that was irrelevant to the discussion and he still had to finish the problem.  He did finish it.  He actually knows how to do most of it, but struggles with the exactness that's required in higher level math and makes simple mistakes (like multiplying three and four and getting ten).  

Today I bribed everyone to go for a walk in exchange for a video game turn.  D came out and decided against wearing gloves - said he would just put his hands in his pockets.  (28 degrees outside)  He said, "I'll be fine without hands."  Nut Brown retorted, "You need hands to work at McDonald's!"

4 January 2025

Mr. Brown and Rose Pink are out in Idaho, and with only D around to make noise, it's been awfully quiet.  Nut Brown decided to make bread every day over Christmas break, and he's continued to even after school starting back up. (Kids had to go back on 2 Jan.). He's been making baguettes over and over, and they are getting really good!

We had issues with D and video game time and honesty, so the computer has had its password changed and D is on a crash diet from Minecraft.  He's responded by tidying the house somewhat obsessively. He went through his room and got rid of things he doesn't want any more, and this morning I came home from a grocery run and discovered that he was helping Rosebud go through her stuff! In general, the sudden removal of video games has been very pleasant. Both D and Nut Brown are more available and we have spent more time playing games and talking and being together than we have in quite awhile.  It's been a big adjustment for D because video games were one of the primary forms of emotional regulation for him.  But we are all being patient with each other.

2 January 2025

And they're off!

Mr. Brown and Rose Pink left this morning for Idaho to get her moved in for her first semester of college! I took them to the train station this morning to take the train to the airport.  There's been a tremendous amount of planning and worrying that's gone into this trip, and it hijacked New Year's Day with preparations and anxiety.

Lots of feelings going on - excitement, anticipation, anxiety, sadness.

31 December 2024

Right now, a game of Quarriors is happening in the dining room involving Mr. Brown, Rose Pink, Nut Brown and D. Rosebud is eating her lunch, yogurt and blueberries and Kashi, which she made herself. I am in the bedroom listening to the happy noises of the people I love most in the world. How lucky am I? So blessed!

29 December 2024

We usually get donuts for "five golden rings" on the 12 days of Christmas, but it's Sunday.  So I made biscuits and cut out the middles.  I was very proud of myself and excited to eat them.  They were terrible!  Mr. Brown said, "How much baking soda did you put in?" and I said, "Three tablespoons" and he said, "It's three TEAspoons, my love."  They were inedible.  Very sad.

25 December 2025

Sometimes I feel bad for Rosebud as the youngest.  Her older siblings are growing out of things that she is still excited about, and her parents are less interested in creating magic for childhood than we were when Rose Pink and Nut Brown were little.  Christmas is a prime example.  She finds Christmas magical and wonderful, as most children do.  D is on the cusp of moving out of the magic (not quite there) and Nut Brown and Rose Pink are definitely on the adult side of Christmas.  

So Rosebud had a somewhat difficult Christmas morning.  She woke her siblings up early, like always.  Mr. Brown and I had found some small fake Lego kits that we'd put into the stockings, and we wondered why the kids didn't come and get us around seven like they usually do.  Finally we got up and went downstairs and discovered that the Lego kits had about 170-250 pieces each, and the older three were engrossed in doing them.  The kit was a little too advanced for Rosebud, so D and Rose Pink did hers when they'd finished theirs.  Then Mr. Brown said we had to have breakfast first, so we did.  Rosebud was DYING to go back to the tree and open presents, but she was very patient.  Finally we all finished eating and we went back downstairs.

I only took one picture from Christmas morning:

I loved seeing my boys hang out next to each other and opening gifts.  When D is happy, he is so much fun to be around, and he was definitely happy on Christmas morning.  Nut Brown really enjoys being with him when he doesn't pester too much.

Oh, looks like I took two more photos.  Aunt Jenn sent fake mustaches and they were a lot of fun.

We were really tired - but dinner happened! Ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, brussels sprouts and pear custard pie.  I like Christmas Day, because my family is so happy that they are kind to each other all day.

22 December 2024

D is headed into puberty and we've been teasing him about the trials of being a middle schooler and the hormones he's starting to experience. This embarrasses him. Today, unrelated, Rosebud asked about some other bodily process, and Mr. Brown's response began with, "It's caused by hormones..." and D, who was reading on the couch, threw a blanket over his own head and exclaimed, "Hormones! They're coming for me!"

Tonight Rose Pink and Mr. Brown are making pasta together using the KitchenAid. Her New Year's goal last January was to eat a lot different pasta shapes and she's finishing off the year by making her own. 

21 December 2024

Kinda hard to see, but Rosebud has made a telephone out of cups (she saw it in a book) and she and her brothers are experimenting with sound wave interception.

18 December 2024

First snow this afternoon! It wasn't very much and it didn't last long but it sure was beautiful, and Rosebud was very excited by it!

14 December 2024

Grandma sent us some wooden ornaments and markers.  Rose Pink and Rosebud and I had a good time making them lovely!

11 December 2024

Rosebud has been learning to write essays at school in a particular format.  

I had to put in all three pages of the last one... it's my favorite.

10 December 2024

Mr. Brown helped me plan out Christmas again this year, and we even had gift packages for friends ready to mail before Thanksgiving.  We finished our gift shopping for the kids the first week in December. 

Rosebud helping fill the advent calendar with candies

Rosebud and I also went to see an abridged version of The Nutcracker by a local dance studio, with photo opportunities afterwards.  It was very abridged, but she and I had a good time together.

Then I got sick, really sick, and that kind of sucked up the next two weeks.

7 December 2024

I planned our second 2024 visit to DC around an opportunity to see the light show at the DC temple with Mr. Brown's sister and her family.  We went to the Natural History museum (fun but exhausting - lots of people) and then over to their house for dinner.  

They had just returned from a trip to Denmark, so we ate aebleskivers (yum) and hot dogs, which we pretended were sausages.

The light show was pretty terrific.  I can see why Mr. Brown's brother-in-law is so amazed by the quantity and thoroughness of the decorating. We went in the visitors' center as well to see the display of nativities as well.  It was crowded.

1 December 2024

Thanksgiving week started with a visit from my sister and her kids.  They did some sightseeing in DC and came by to see us in the evenings.  The second night all those teenage boys (her three plus Nut Brown) did a weigh-in to see who weighed the most.  Her son Joshua won.  It was fun to see her surrounded with all these almost-adults that she and Tom have raised.

She went up to see my parents, and we followed a couple days later.  My brother and his family were there as well, but my sister had left by the time we made it up.  First evening's dinner was a second round of Thanksgiving, which is always good eats!

We attempted the purchase of fireworks, and my sister's son amused D and Rosebud in the back of the minivan by taking selfies with them on his phone.  Unfortunately the fireworks shop was closed.

Rosebud was insistent on having "her own room" in the closet.  She was very pleased with it.  She also enjoyed the opportunity to be a big sister to my brother's daughter.

all of us but me

Grandpa took us to the children's museum downtown.  I thought the kids would be too old for it, but they weren't at all.  Grandpa was also in great form and amused D and Rosebud in the hospital/medical section for quite a while as they diagnosed and re-diagnosed him with a variety of "diseases".  Other fun included a large grocery store section, with working cash registers (at least, they booped)...

and a giant lite-brite set.

Reading on the couch together:

D also went on a VERY cold bike ride with Grandma and Grandpa and his cousin James.  The rest of us wimps stayed inside.  D and Rosebud tested out the walkie-talkies while D was on the bike and found that they have a pretty good range.

We left after church on Sunday, drove home, and had the first Sunday of Advent, just us singing and eating cookies!

22 November 2024

20 November 2024

Hooray, Rose Pink is home! She drove herself to Texas for ten days to see friends and arrived back today! We missed her and are glad that she is safely back with us again!

Church held a Linger Longer last Sunday, and we all got nametags to help us get better acquainted.  Nut Brown came home, took his off, and stuck it on the ceiling of our bedroom, saying, "I'll stick this somewhere my dad will NEVER find it," which is a reference to one of our favorite movies. It's fun to have inside jokes!

16 November 2024

Mr. Brown's brother called last week to say he and his girlfriend would be at the Naval Academy today to watch her son play in a rugby game. So we loaded up and went down to join the fun.  

We went to a very small museum about ships and oyster fishing to start. Then we ran to Wawa for hoagies for lunch, and headed over to the game. It was a beautiful day and we had come well prepared with camping mats to sit in that protected our bums from the cold bleachers and a couple blankets and jackets and hats and mittens and sunglasses and water bottles and snacks. The game was really fun!! Navy won, and it was a great time cheering with the midshipmen.  I think we may go to some more next fall!

16 November 2024

Reading in the hall closet.

Eating breakfast together on the back porch.

15 November 2024

There's a group of teenage boys at church who have "bro night" every Friday, and Nut Brown joined the group when we moved here.  Recently, all their younger brothers have started having "bro night" too, but since they're the younger brothers, we call it "mini bro night". It's eagerly anticipated by all of them every Friday. 

We were hosting the mini bros tonight, and Rosebud was sad and lonely because she couldn't join in. So she and I looked at family photo albums and played Bohnanza and pickup sticks together.

11 November 2024

D was headed to a friend's house today and told me seriously that he does NOT have playdates any more. He hangs out with his friends now.  Noted! Growing up.

5 November 2024

Rose Pink casts her first vote in a presidential election!

3 November 2024

Rosebud's school pictures for this year