31 August 2025

Friday night D was out for mini bro night, and none of Rosebud's friends could come over.  She and Mr. Brown had a video game session together, with her watching and advising and him playing. She and I went out for ice cream together and then went to pick D up.  

She said "See you later, Papa," as we were leaving, and told me that she got to have both mommy daughter and daddy daughter dates this evening. :)

31 August 2025

Went out on the porch after church to sit on my new couch!

Was shortly joined by my favorite people!

Who decided to eat their lunch out there with me...

And then D made lemonade, and we played a few hands of Swap together.  Lovely time together.

28 August 2025

After D walks away from the kitchen sink, leaving the water running, to check out what Nut Brown is doing in his video game:

Mr. Brown: are you just going to leave the water running!?

D (heading back to the kitchen): I earned that water by taking a four minute shower! 

28 August 2025

25 August 2025 (2)

I acquired this patio furniture today from Facebook marketplace, and Mr. Brown and Nut Brown did the heavy lifting to bring it home. It is really heavy, so I really owe them!

We made it part of Family Home Minute. Rosebud shared her thoughts on the Word of Wisdom and read us the promised blessings while we stood in a football huddle over her, and then we went and picked it up, and then went to Sweet Frog for froyo. We played a game that D and Rosebud introduced to us that involved yo, ho, ho and guessing how manuy fingers the group would be showing.  Lovely, lovely evening and a lovely time together. 

25 August 2025

D spent his own money on this model and then spent 3-4 hours assembling it on the living room floor on Saturday.  When he finished, it didn't work like it was supposed to, and he got some valuable experience troubleshooting.  He and I tested a couple of simple hypotheses about where the issue might be, but neither solved it.  D decided to completely rebuild the base, so he detached the arm, disassembled the base and started over.  He had me review and concur with each step as he completed it, and found that he had omitted one piece.  After completing the rebuild, he had added the missing piece and had three other pieces left over, and the model works now!  He is so pleased with it, and with himself for getting it all together.

24 August 2025

Yesterday was school supply shopping day! I love the ritual of taking kids shopping and helping them choose what they're going to use for the year. My favorite was when we shopped at HEB in Texas, and I would turn them loose with their printed lists and help them check things off to make sure they got it all. Now D is in middle school so it's just me and Rosebud, and this was the next to last year with her.  We had a good time together this afternoon, and we wrapped it up with buying gummy candies to celebrate completion. She got sharks and I got peach rings. 

She and I also stopped at the shoe store in the mall to look for Sunday shoes for her. She found a pair that have a bit of a heel and an ankle strap, in black patent leather, that she was very pleased with. She checked to make sure that it wasn't too high a heel by standing on one foot to check the balance! When we got home, she put them on and wore them all afternoon for all her activities, including walking around outside listening to her audio book. I love that she loves them so much. (Also, bonus, they were on sale for nine dollars!)

20 August 2025

Nut Brown opted for volcano for his birthday.  He did the decorating, and Rose Pink made the cake.

Our friend Colin obliged with the latest edition of the rules for the gaming system that he's creating, and which Nut Brown loves.  Definitely his favorite gift.

A few days later we had a graduation party for him!  Taco bar, music and friends in the Bloods' backyard.  And there was a cake with a picture that said, "Max My Million Don't Cry Up", which is what Rose Pink sang to him when he was a fussy baby all those years ago.

 Mr. Brown and I are so proud of him!  So excited for whatever comes next.

19 August 2025

D worked on building this model all summer.  We got it from Hobby Lobby, and it involved glue and paint.  When he would get frustrated and quit, I encouraged him and helped him focus to decode the instructions.  He opted not to paint any of it, and he wasn't pleased with how it came out (it was a first attempt at learning, and there was definitely room for improvement).  I was glad he did finish it, and although he threatened to throw it away, he still has it.  He was interested in starting another model (an AT-AT from Star Wars) and chose one that didn't involve glue!

 

18 August 2025

Here we are playing a game (Doomlings) for Family Home Minute.  D and Rosebud in particular love FHM and are disappointed when we don't have it.  They don't have the opportunities to spend time all together as a family that Rose Pink and Nut Brown did, so they value it much more.

15 August 2025

Mr. Brown had a birthday and we scrounged candles like we usually do and so he only had one to blow out.  This inadvertent tradition makes me laugh.

This year our family birthday marks the year that Mr. Brown and I have been married for half our lives, so we celebrated with a bunch of 'halves'.  We drove halfway to my parents' house and ate at a restaurant called "Mexitalia" (half Italian, half Mexican), and then had two scoops of ice cream from Handel's.

(ice cream at Handel's)

14 August 2025

The Bloods and Knoxes organized a tubing trip on Rock Creek! This always reminds me of one of my favorite signs, posted by a restaurant in Michigan near a river commonly used for tubing: "Welcome tubers!" 

Melissa took all the pictures. Here we are about to set off.

We paused partway down near a high rock for jumping. Rose Pink jumped off. D and I hung out guarding other tubes.

At one point we made up a really long tube chain, which was fun and lasted about five minutes.

The creek was much shallower than Mr. Brown and I expected and we had to wade through several parts, which was less fun.

We got out of the creek at a picnic ground downstream.  While we were waiting for the cars, the kids made piles of the tubes with someone inside.

And then knocked them over!  Good times.

It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.  Wish the creek had been a little deeper, but the play afterwards was also a lot of fun.

10 August 2025

Rose Pink is home for about six weeks from college!  So excited to hang out with her.  She's been helping Mr. Brown with projects to earn some money for fall semester, and also a plane ticket to visit a friend in Washington state.  Here she is engaged in one of her favorite activities: burning things.  She also sorted all our loose firewood into buckets by size (see the background of the picture).

9 August 2025

Mr. Brown has begun preparing D for youth dances!

8 August 2025

Rosebud has been evolving her art.  Working on facial proportions. 

On this one she did a good job showing depth in the cat + scratching post in the foreground. 

She was very proud of this one. She told me she'd put a lot of effort into the color fade of the sunset. 

And then there has been a bunch of super cuteness going on!

 

6 August 2025

Mr. Brown decided for his birthday that he wanted to feed the hungry so we signed up to make dinner at a local homeless shelter tonight! In spite of his anxiety, everything went well and there was plenty of food for the 25 or so people there. Rose Pink and Nut Brown joined me as assistants. They both have culinary training and have held ServSafe certifications, so way more helpful than I was. I was allowed to wash the dishes though, because I am happier with my hands in really hot water than any of them. I was really glad we went. It was lovely to have an opportunity to show love. 

Last week Rosebud and D had a playdate with a brother and sister they know from school.  It was rainy weather, and Rosebud and her friend put their swimsuits on and went out to "take a shower". All good until they decided to wash their hair and discovered that rainfall is not enough to wash shampoo out! Her friend's dad sent them upstairs to rinse it out in the shower. 

Lately D has been playing with the wooden blocks in the basement and he and Rosebud have been making stop motion movies with our old digital camera. 

Nut Brown went to FSY last week at the University of Maryland campus. He said that it was hard because every minute of the day was so tightly scheduled, but that it was a good experience. He had to come early because he scraped his knee pretty badly playing an outdoor game, so he missed the last evening's activities. But he has a trip to the temple to do baptisms set up with the group of kids that he was assigned to. 

3 August 2025

Last week we had a singing testimony meeting at church. Nut Brown was one of the first people up, and he asked for us to sing the third verse of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, because he is moved by the plea to "bind my wandering heart to thee". Rose Pink also stood up and chose Abide With Me (p 165) because it was one of the first hymns she had her ward choir sing in Idaho. Rosebud wanted very much to get up too, and finally agreed that he would if I would come up with her. She chose "True To The Faith" because she likes to think about how young people can choose to embrace their parents' faith. ♥️  What great kids they are!

This morning for actual Fast and Testimony Meeting, Mr. Brown bore a beautiful testimony of how much Jesus and God love us. He told everyone that he had restrained himself last week not to get up, so they should be proud of him, but that wasn't going to keep him from sharing a hymn this week! He read us the second verse of How Firm A Foundation. 

After him, a lady stood up and thanked him, and said she didn't know his name, just knew him as Nut Brown's dad.  Nut Brown got up to share his testimony as well, and introduced himself as Nut Brown's dad's son.  Then later Rose Pink also got up and introduced herself as Nut Brown's dad's son's older sister. They are all so funny!

3 August 2025

Last Sunday was singing testimony meeting, where members of our church congregation spent the main meeting choosing favorite hymns for the congregation to sing together, instead of having talks.  Nut Brown jumped up to be first, and he chose the second verse of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing", which he's been singing and trying to get D to sing with him for the last few weeks, because he loves the line about 'bind my wandering heart to thee'.  Rose Pink got up a few people later and asked us to sing "Abide With Me Tis Eventide".  Rosebud wanted very much to get up also, but had a hard time getting her nerve up.  I offered to walk up with her, and she stood at the pulpit and asked to sing, "True to the Faith", because, she said, she likes the idea that the youth of Zion won't give up.  She was so nervous and brave!  It was really great to hear from all three of them.

This week was Fast Sunday, and both Nut Brown and Rose Pink, plus Mr. Brown got up to share their testimonies.  I love to hear from them, every time!

2 August 2025

D went to a STEM camp at APG this week.  He was not happy about going - anxious about being around strange teenagers - but came home the first day with this brain hat that he'd made and was very pleased about!  They did lots of other really interesting things, like building elementary robots and making a video game controller out of a potato (seriously).  He decided not to go on Wednesday because he was tired of people, but then finished the week, and as a bonus, the camp paid him $125 for attending.  So now he also has a bank account!