Brynn's 7th Birthday

Knowing that I would most likely be having our baby brother right around Brynn's birthday we decided it would be best to do her birthday party earlier in the month. Brynn really wanted to have a stuffed animal birthday.... again. Sticking with my previous decision to let the kids choose somewhere to have their birthday parties, we decided to have Brynn's party at Build-a-Bear Workshop. It turned out to be super fun and once again I was thrilled not to be doing any preparation or clean up.
We had an employee who lead the girls through the process of each picking out an animal, stuffing it, cleaning it, dressing it, and naming it while playing games along the way. It was darling and was the perfect way for Brynn to share her birthday with her friends.

Back Row: Collette Morrow, Madolyn Jackson, Brynn, Claire Perkes, Carlee Groff, Mason
Front Row: Anna Hatch, Noelle, Emily Meeks, Miles

When I asked Brynn what kind of cake she wanted I showed her all sorts of fun teddy bear cakes and cupcakes. She wanted something that she could make herself and so she chose to make these bear paw cupcakes. She made them entirely by herself and was very proud of the finished product to share with her friends.

We sure love our love bug and are so glad she has been a part of our family for the last 7 years.

7-year-old Brynn

• Has to sleeps with her feet out of blanket.
• Loves her uh oh and stuffed animals.
• Spelling is not her strong point. She always gets 100% on her tests, but spells everything phonetically when she is free writing.
• Loves to play school and has her own classroom set up in our basement. She brings stacks of paper home from the recycling bin at school to use when she plays school. She is a great teacher and has genuinely taught Miles a lot of what he knows about math and reading. She wants to be a teacher when she grows up and very well could be.
• Still is a mother to us all. She loves to take care of Miles and he loves for her to take care of him. She keeps us all in line.
• Loves to do projects and crafts. She loves to get out her sewing machine and do sewing projects with me. She also loves to paint. She isn't a perfectionist at all and isn't as interested in the final product as she is in the process of doing it. It is so fun and easy to do projects with her.
• Hates having her hair done. I have to negotiate to get her to wash and comb her hair. She despises having her hair styled and will not keep braids or pony tails in for 2 minutes. 
• She is terrified of dogs and pretty much all other animals. 
• Still a social butterfly and loves to play with friends. 
• Always tries to do what is right.
• Pouts when she is tired and things don't go her way.

Origami Master

It's been a while since I have written a post about just Mason. The rule 'If you don't have something kind to say don't say anything at all' might have something to do with that, but I can't let his latest obsession pass without documenting it. It all started about six months ago when Mason's friend, Jenson, started showing him how to do origami on the bus. Mason was fascinated by it and wanted to learn how to do origami, too. This sounds innocent enough until you understand that Jenson had been doing origami for a long time and was making very intricate and impressive things. Mason was not interested in starting at a beginner's level but wanted to jump right in with some very complex models. The first few weeks I was ready to ban Origami from my house all-together since I was spending my entire afternoon trying to help Mason with difficult folds and diffusing his blow ups when he couldn't get something right. The words Origami and Jeremy Shafer (Mason's favorite youtube origamist) became swear words to me. Now that Mason has started getting the hang of things and become more calm and independent in working through tutorials, it has become a great little hobby for him. We now have our very own origami master at our house.

Spring Sports

This is what our Saturdays look like these days. Running three kids all over Omaha to get to each of their respective games can sometimes get a little crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The majority of the games have been less than enjoyable to through with freezing temps combined with Omaha's bitter cold wind. I guess that's what you get with spring sports, though.

Mason is playing another season of flag football with his same team through the YMCA.  He has made HUGE progress since he started last year and is having a lot of fun while he's at it.

Brynn is playing another season of soccer on team Magic through Omaha Futball Club. She is a great little player and enjoys playing so much. Of course being on her best friend, Collette Morrow's team, is the highlight for her. We are excited to see where Brynn's future in soccer takes her.

Miles played in his first year of t-ball and never have you seen a more excited boy. After weeks of anticipation the season started and it has been everything he dreamed it would be! He is so excited to be on the Diamondbacks and has worn his new hat EVERYWHERE since getting it. Miles shows up to each game ready to play. He hammers the ball off of the tee every time and sprints as fast as he can around the bases. When he is playing out in the field you will always find him in ready position and completely focused on the batter. Since none of the other kids on Miles' team shared his enthusiasm or focus he would usually end up fielding the ball regardless of where he was playing and where the ball was hit. For example, if he was playing over on third and the ball was hit toward first Miles would sprint across the infield, passing all his teammates who were playing in the dirt, and get to the ball before anyone else to throw it to first. We tried to teach him to stay in his position and only field the balls that came to him, but since no one else would field any of the ball we eventually just told him to go for it. The only thing that rivaled his excitement to play in the game was getting treats after the game. After years of being the younger brother and watching Mason and Brynn get treats at their games it was finally his turn!

I'm sure this is the first of many many crazy sports seasons with these three kiddos and I simply can't wait to do it over and over again.

Mason's 9th Birthday

This year for birthdays I decided that I wasn't up to hosting parties at home and that I was going to pay for convenience. Mason was thrilled to get to choose somewhere to have his party. When we found out that The Mark (the local bowling alley/game center) had just started doing bubble ball parties it was a no brainer that this was the party Mason wanted. It was amazing to just show up and have the whole party taken care of for us, including a person who directed the whole thing. Totally worth every penny!!
The boys started off by playing Bubble Ball. These 9 and 10 year old boys were in heaven. Technically they were playing a game of soccer in the bubble balls, but let's be honest, they were really just running around knocking each other over as much as possible. Miles wasn't technically big enough to play, but there was no stopping him from jumping right in a bubble and taking off. Thankfully the employee didn't stop him and let him play. He ran around knocking everyone over and absolutely loved every second of it. Brynn on the other hand wanted absolutely nothing to do with it and we couldn't even get her to try out one of the bubbles away from all the crazy boys.

Miles, Austin Neeley, Jenson Groff, Logan Applegarth, Jack Meeks, Mason, Eyston Behrens, and Caleb

After Bubble Ball we moved onto laser tag. I wasn't in there, but when all 10 boys emerged dripping with sweat and talking 100 mph recapping their great moves and shots it seemed like a success. Once again, Miles was right in the thick of it all and Brynn chose to stay out with me.

Mason, Austin, Jenson, Miles, Eyston, Jack, Ethan, Logan, Caleb

After laser tag we all went back to our table and had pizza and opened presents. Mason didn't want a cake this year, but wanted to have doughnuts instead. Easy enough for me!

We finished off the party by giving each of the boys an arcade card and letting them play games and get prizes until their parents came.

We had an absolute blast and as soon as it was over we packed up and left! Once again, totally worth every penny! If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery than I would say all the boys thought it was pretty awesome since several of them ended up having the same party when their birthday rolled around. Miles has even declared that he wants to do Bubble Ball and Laser tag for his birthday this year. I believe it since it was probably the funnest night of his whole life. Most importantly, Mason had a wonderful birthday!

Memories of 9-year-old Mason

• Smarty pants. Mason scored in the 99% in the nation on all his standardized testing this year. He qualified for the district's HAL program for Reading and Math which is quite impressive. 
• Loves Football. Talks frequently and very matter-of-fact about when he plays in the NFL.
• Is still an avid reader and can most often be found with his nose in a book. 
• Is a great creative writer and wants to be a writer after he retires from the NFL. He wants to write a book and have it published by Scholastic - but his attention span isn't quite long enough to get through more than the first chapter before he is on to something else. Those first chapters are actually some very great writing, though. Maybe one day.
• Has an almost photographic memory.  He will often quote things he has read word for word long after he read it. 
• Loves to play sport video games way more than I like him to play them.

Mini Me

Miles has always been Scott's mini-me. His smile, his hair, his hands, his feet - it's all Scott. But Scott decided to take it one step further by following in Miles' footsteps and getting glasses. Turns out Scott is far sighted too and working in spreadsheets for 12 hours a day has taken a toll on his eyes. He's looking good with his new look and now these two can continue to be twinners.

Easter

Easter is an interesting Holiday. On one hand it is the day we celebrate Jesus' atonement for our sins and his resurrection. On the other hand we decorate eggs and get baskets filled by the Easter bunny. Am I the only person who is completely confused why these two things are connected? They really should be completely separate Holidays. We usually spend Saturday celebrating Easter in the world's way and then save Sunday for focusing on the Savior.

We kicked off the World's Easter holiday when Grandma Nancy was visiting over spring break with her Easter Egg hunt. This taught us a few things: 1) our backyard is perfect for egg hunts 2) eggs that are filled with dollar bills are way cooler than eggs just filled with candy. 3) we have the greatest Grandma.

When Easter weekend rolled around it was cold and rainy, but that didn't stop us from participating in the Griggs family egg hunt, an Omaha Easter tradition we have enjoyed the last two years with some of our ward friends.

The kids always look forward to decorating easter eggs and this year was no exception. It is debatable who has more fun, though - Scott or the kids.

It may have nothing at all to do with the real meaning of Easter, but we sure had a fun time with our Easter activities this year.

Staples

March 25, 2015

When your little brother surprises you at bedtime with an overzealous hug which tackles you into the corner of the wall and cracks your head open,

 resulting in a 6 hour ER wait and 4 staples in your head,

 then there's a good chance your mom will get you a new Beanie Boo for being so brave and cooperative. 

And if you're really good, then you might be able to talk her into getting you the giant Beanie Boo you've always wanted (but only if you pay for half of it with your own money).

Check first stitches/staples off the list for us.

*Side Story*

Miles felt AWFUL when he caused Brynn to crack her head open. While we were cleaning up the blood and examining the damage Miles caught sight of the wound and grabbed his own head saying over and over, "Ohhhhh, I do not like that. Ohhhhh, my brain hurts. Ohhhhh, I never want to do that." This didn't do a whole lot to help calm Brynn's nerves, but it sure made us laugh. 

Brynn was extremely nervous when I told her she was going to need stitches. When we got to the ER and the triage nurse took a look at her head she informed us that they would use staples to close a head laceration in the hair.  Brynn almost booked it out of the ER the minute she heard them say they were going to put staples in her head. It took every ounce of courage she had (along with the previously mentioned bribe and the help of a mommy hug restraint) for Brynn to snuggle up on my lap and let the doctor come close to her with the stapler. I was extremely proud of how brave and cooperative she was even when it was very hard for her to do.