Jeep Buddies

We were fortunate enough to receive a used Jeep for our children to drive around in from my cousins Jeff & Jamie. Our children have absolutely loved having it and driving it around our neighborhood. Brigden frequently enjoys driving it, too fast, of course, and with much yelling guidance from Mom watching from the front porch. All the neighbors enjoy sharing a ride. This particular ride included Brigden's buddy; Korbin.

Bevan's First Haircut

Bevan was not blessed with a full head of hair as a baby. She's only even getting her first haircut at the age of 2 because she barely has any hair now. The only hair cut she's getting is to even out the bottom. When she saw Harris and Brigden, she wanted to get her hair cut. I found it quite interesting that she wanted to have one because Harris and Brigden don't put on a very appealing show while frowning during their own hair cuts. Regardless, immediately after the last boy jumped off the chair from getting his hair cut, Bevan climbed in and was all ready for the cape and cut.



Maybe that haircut wasn't such a good idea. Her smile is sure gone, but at least her hair is even on the ends. We just have to make sure she has a bow in her hair most of the time so she clearly looks like a girl.

Boy Toy Sidewalk Sale

Frequently, the children will ask me if they can sell one or some of their toys. This particular afternoon, Harris came home from school bursting through the door begging to have a boy toy sale. I told him to gather the items he wanted to sell and then I'd pass off the items that could be sold. He and Brigden gathered about 3-5 things each and after being passed off headed out to set up their sidewalk store. Brigden found some of his cars, pictures, and planes to sell. Unfortunately, his smile wasn't for sale!

Harris gathered some of his toys, including a large flexible frisbee, dominos, army guys, and cars. He even took the time to make signs for the price of each item. The frisbee he was trying to sell was donated to us from our neighbor.

I found it hilarious that one of Harris' first customers was this neighbor's son and laughed as I watched Harris try to sell this boy his old toy back. It didn't quite work, to Harris' dismay, but Harris didn't let this get him down because moments later Bevan was playing with the frisbee and Harris turned to me and seriously declared, "Mom, you need to give me some money because Bevan is buying the frisbee." I laughed so hard, but then had to explain that Bevan wasn't buying the frisbee, she was just window shoppping. Wow, what bold moves! Quite the con-artist with his neighbor and his Mom. Unsuccessful, thankfully! We'll have to keep a watch on this one.

Brigden's 5th Birthday

Brigden chose a Toy Story birthday party to celebrate his 5th birthday with friends. Brigden chose to dress up as a dinosaur, Halen and I were cowgirls, and Harris was a cowboy; like Woody. Brigden invited his bestest friends and was extremely excited for this party for months before the actual event. One of my favorite memories of Brigden's excitement for his party was his constant requests to be surprised at his birthday party. I kept trying to explain the impossible nature of holding a surprise party for a boy who planned his own party, but he wouldn't hear of it. He just kept saying, "But, Mom, I can hide downstairs and then you can tell me when to come up after everyone has arrived and then they can all yell 'Surprise!' " Just one look at his super dinosaur grin and you can understand why such a giddy silly boy would dream up such a surprise party.

We were able to enjoy many Toy Story activities including, pin the star on Woody, Woody Woody Buzz (Duck Duck Goose), Buzz Lightyear Air Glider Contests, Find your Toy Story friend, and Coloring Pages. It was fun to watch some children buzz right through their coloring jobs and others really take time to do detailed work.

The party was a huge success regardless of my error in forgetting to "surprise" Brigden. He was still able to end the event with a smile enjoying his pizza and bug cupcakes. What more could a kid ask for, besides a surprise party, eh?

As a family we celebrated on his actual day with yummy cupcakes, lit candles, and even more presents.

Bet you can't figure out which of his presents was his favorite in these pictures!

Yep, the pillow pet. He loves it!!! He thought it was the most ingenous thing to fold it up into a standing pet and then change it into a pillow. Seriously? Why didn't I think of something so ridiculously simple to earn millions off of? He still sleeps with this pillow pet and smile nightly!

If giddy, silly, flightly, cheerful, ambitious, tedious, detailed, loving, and active personality is to your liking, then you should spend more time with Brigden! He can be such fun with his infectious giggles and large hugs. His energy is amazing and sometimes overwhelming. Bringing him down from Utopia to Earth is our greatest difficulty as his parents. He lives on Utopia and vacations on Earth. The truth is his trips to Earth aren't usually vacations, however, because they are filled with chore lists and activities which include requirements for a 5 year old boy who is learning responsibility.

As a toddler, he loved to watch CARS, and now he rarely watches it, but still loves to do CARS puzzles and draw CARS characters. He knows his numbers in preparation for Kindergarten, but also knows the number 65 because it is the number he puts on all the race cars he draws. He loves to draw speedy fast fire cars, trucks with dinosaur heads, and other strange vehicles.

In primary last year, he learned the 4th LDS Article of Faith and now he not only still knows the 4th, but has learned the other 3 before it. He's very diligent in reading his scriptures and saying his prayers and remembering to pray for others in need. He has become great friends with his sister Bevan and is frequently found sitting on the couch next to her with his arm around her as they watch TV together.

We absolutely adore Brigden and feel very blessed to have him in our lives.

Bevan's Beautiful Hairstyle

Bevan loves her bows and combs. She loves to brush my hair, Halen's hair, the boys' hair, and tries to brush her own. She usually isn't very successful, but somehow manages to wet her hair with the spray bottle and then comb and mat it down into some sort of a hair style. She's always very proud of her creation and shows it off with a big smile.

Sunday Journal Writing

In an effort to make our Sabbath more sacred, we've been working on writing in our journals on Sunday afternoons. I assumed it would be a lot more work than it actually was to get the children to write in their journals. They love to write, color, and draw in their journals. It's really only a battle to remember to sit them all down and do it, but once I get the journals out, they are all game.

It's so fun to watch them get into their drawings and writings. They always think very carefully about what events occurred over the last week to include in their journals. We've been doing it for a few years now and the children have loved reading back through their previous entries. Hmmmm. Sounds like me and my efforts to blog more so we can have a family journal. Harris always thinks very seriously about what he should write about and does great drawings!

Bevan doesn't do much of entries yet, but sure loves hanging out with everyone during the journal writing party!

I love how happy and loving Halen and Brigden look together. You would think they actually love each other and want to be together eternally! What a very brief piece of Heaven we are able to enjoy during Journal writing time.