Tales of Summer

Mom gave the warning before it happened, "you had better put some shoes on before you go out on the deck." But going barefoot (or actually in Adam's case, stocking footed - he can't stand bare feet) in the summer is often more fun than wearing shoes. Going without shoes on the deck has proven in the past to be cause for painful foot cosequences. He got the consequence . . . a nice little splinter. It was really very small, but it hurt and needed to come out. The wood on the deck is quite weathered and the slivers . . . well, they just don't come out as easily as they go in. These are the kind that come out hard in what seems like a million pieces. Being forewarned and knowing mom would be a bit disappointed in the choice to not do what he should have to prevent the problem, my Adam took it upon himself to fix the damage. I was very proud of him for dealing with the consequence bravely and quietly. I was also very thankful that he had a loving father near by to help get through the painful part and finish it off with lots of love. The pictures tell the story best. My little Adam is growing up.

I love these sweet boys.

Where he rests.

Not the happiest thing to share, but, for our family and loved ones
who could not be here with us, here is where our little tiny one lies.
He was born the evening of October 30th and laid to rest on November 10th.
His resting day was thankfully a beautiful, frosty, sunny fall day.
He rests with many little angels "gone too soon."
Thank you for your thoughts and love.


In the center is the monuments for all the angels buried here,
and to the right is where our little one now rests.

"A full hand" celebrated a little at a time

Mary Alice turned 5 two weeks and two days ago. She woke up early on her birthday morning, ready to celebrate her very special and long awaited day. Mom and dad knew Thursday Evening was going to be way too busy to have a family party, so we had a super birthday breakfast and reassured our patiently cute little girl we would have a super family cake, party and friends on Saturday. Thankfully, there were cupcakes to share with our pre-school friends for lunch. Thursday evening Mary Alice went to somebody else's party for some birthday fun and looked forward eagerly to Saturday until . . . she got sick with the flu late Thursday night. By Saturday morning, she was mostly ok, but not well enough for a party. Instead of a party, we got to celebrate with the computer. Actually that would be Grammie and Grand-dad on skype. They got to watch her open a special gift from Adam. Later in the week, Mary Alice skyped the grands again so they could watch her open their gift that had arrived in the mail. Finally, today, we had 5 little friends come dressed in their pretty things for a party - Yea!!! We found jewels for necklaces in the sand, decorated purses with our names and other sparkly things, danced with scarves and fancy hats, found treasure, had cake & icecream and opened presents. These little girls were sooooo quiet and nice and well mannered. It almost wasn't a party . . . at least it didn't sound like one after two rowdy boy parties earlier this season. The girls were pretty and everything was just "girl". What a great little gathering.

Thanks for being my little girl Mary Alice. We love you just the way you are!

Mary Alice's special birthday breakfast with the ones who love her most!
I love her pretty, bushy bead-head hair.



Pre-school birthday crown decorated by the birthday girl.

A prince from Adam . . . who do you think likes it most?

Blowing out the table candles with daddy on Saturday night.

Finally . . . the long awaited birthday cake we celebrated with today.

(Sorry there aren't any party pictures to share . . . my helper (Daddy Dave) decided to abandon party plans when he realized the moms were staying with their little girls. I think he really missed out . . . I sure wish I could have taken picts and done everything else at the same time!)

on a brighter note . . .

Meet Chippy. Our bird.
The kids have officially named her Chippy,
but Dave still calls her Piper . . . He likes that name better.
She(?) is colorfully pretty, sings quite loud (thankfully not all day) and she really likes Dave.

If we let her out of the cage, she goes where Dave goes.
If he leaves the room, she wants to leave too . . . with him.
She likes his shirt collars, his shoulders, his head . . . she just likes Dave.

She likes him more and more and the rest of us less and less.
I don't mind. The kids might.
We all like Chippy. The kids are soooooo happy to finally have a pet.
Especially Adam. He has wanted a guinea pig for ages but,
the bird was free and the guinea pig could not be found, so we got the bird.
The bird was actually given to us by the missionaries.
One of the elders saw the bird outside. Somebody was trying to catch it and couldn't.
It wasn't his bird. The Elder went outside and the bird landed on his head.
So, he walked into their apartment with the bird.
They couldn't find the owners, so the branch got the word that the bird needed a home.
As soon as the word came to the boys, they came running to us.
They wanted the bird, so we got the bird.
We have since learned that she is a Peach Faced Love Bird.
Or in other words, a Dwarf Parakeet.
I get to clean her cage and feed her . . . that's just what mom's do.

And at night, I tuck her in too.
I put a sheet over her cage and she's quiet and cozy all night.
Good night.

birthday science

Eli opted for a science party this year.
I was thinking of something easier and quiet, like rock climbing with a few friends.
But, I kindly gave him his wish, after all, it was his birthday, not mine.
So,
Here's the birthday boy . . .

Here's the birthday party.

Have you ever had 10 rowdy 8-9 year old boys running through your home?
It was a lot of fun, but I must say it's a good thing I have a year to recover!
After the crowd collected at our house and ran crazy for a bit,
we organized ourselved and had some scientific fun.
First we dressed the part, mom was thinking "nice science"
but of course, this is what we ended up with.

Scary.

Fun.
Don't they look great?
After dressing the part, we got busy with experiments.
Balloons, water, baking soda, food coloring, vinegar, paper, string,
pins, tape, oil, toothpicks, soda bottles, sticks . . . lots of fun with lots of stuff.
We were busy trying things out while making noise & messes.
Most of us had a blast watching and learning while a few were upstairs
playing laser tag, spy, chase . . . just running crazy.
Thankfully there were no injuries and no injured things.

After the science fun, we ate dinner
then made icecream sundae "inventions" which we ate with cake.

I had fun making this cake and it wasn't really that hard!
And, I thought it turned out pretty great. WOw.
I love it when other people share their neat ideas on the web.

I daresay, it was a great party and . . . I could maybe do it again sometime.
Happy Birthday Eli! I love you!

Haven't we had a few birthdays lately?

I am soooooo sorry that we have not shared our birthdays with you this year.
We really like sharing them with you,
so I hope you don't mind getting the birthday fun all at once!!!
We started our birthdays this year with Daddy's!

We made him a big fancy card and lots of special pictures

warmed our hands over his candles

then helped him open his special presents.
Can you figure out who helped mommy wrap them?
We love this daddy very much!


Next:
ADAM's #7!

Adam wanted to have a rock party for his birthday this year . . .
as in those rocks your kids find all over this wonderful earth
while they are out and about, which collect in odd places around the house
(both inside and out - I must say they are often a part of my laundry).
SO, we had the most awesome rock party ever. What a great idea, Adam!

We made rock critters, searched for neat-o rocks in a box of sand,
learned about rocks (thank you Daddy - the kids really paid attention too!)
and looked for "fossilized" dinosaur eggs
which we had lots of fun making the week before the party.
Adam loved his rock climbing cake,
which was made from Great Grandma Brown's special
banana cake recipe which Adam loves!
I think Adam had the most perfect birthday ever.
After all the birthday fun, he lost another tooth! On his birthday!
Could things get any better for a 7 year old?
WE love you Adam!

Next: Eli's birthday . . . but, I've got to sleep so I'll post that one later.
Good night.