Briggs Says...

Briggs's Thoughts on Small Group:
"Not everybody at small group is small.  Only Ellowyn is small because she's a baby."

Briggs's Thoughts on Danger:
Briggs:  "What is the most dangerous animal?"
Me:  "I don't know.  Do you think maybe a lion or a shark?"
Briggs:  "No.  Those aren't dangerous because they are in cages."
Me:  "Well, they are in cages at the zoo, but they are not in cages in other parts of the world.  Sharks swim in the ocean and lions live in Africa."
Briggs:  "And that's why no one lives in Africa, right?  Because of the lions."
Me:  "People do live in Africa.  They just have to be careful to stay away from the lions."
Briggs:  "Yeah.  Like they just never go outside their house."
Me:  "Well, they probably have to go outside to go to school or the grocery store or church.  Don't you think?"
Briggs:  "Yeah.  But then they would just go in their cars because lions can't eat cars or houses.  Just people."

Although we did talk about how lions probably live far away from the people and the houses in Africa, I have a strong suspicion that my son won't be planning to visit there anytime soon.

Briggs's Thoughts on Baking:
The other day, Briggs and I made some loaves of banana bread with the over-ripe bananas we had on the counter.  When he was sharing some with Uma later, he told her, "This banana bread is full of rotten bananas!"

Briggs's Thoughts on Nap Time:
Uma and Papa watch Briggs on Tuesdays after pre-school.  He usually requests taking his nap at home rather than at their house.  Uma offered that he could nap one day at her house and sleep in the big bed that his cousin Cade sleeps in.  Briggs was worried because he wouldn't have any hand socks at Uma's house, but then he reasoned that if he was sleeping in Cade's bed, he could just borrow Cade's hand socks too.

Briggs's Thoughts on Chapstick Flavors:
The other day, Briggs and Uma were looking at some chapstick we have at home.  Briggs had one of Adelie's fruity chapsticks and one of his chapsticks that has Chase (a dog from Paw Patrol) on it.  After smelling Adelie's, he said that hers smelled like fruit.  Then he looked at the fruit on the tube and determined that it tasted like peaches.  When he smelled his Chase one, he decided that it smelled like blueberries, but when looking at the tube, he determined that it tasted like dog skin.

Probably not exactly what the marketing team was going for.

I love how his little mind works.

Celebrations

Before I dive into posts about our Christmas celebrations that have already begun, I need to reflect upon our November celebrations.

Adelie got to enjoy a Chuckie Cheese party for her friend William's birthday.

She loved the party, had lots of fun with her friends, and was thoroughly obsessed with how many tickets she could get with each game she played.

After the party, Adelie declared that she was going to have her next birthday party at Chuckie Cheese.

The kids also got to enjoy Elliott's birthday party at Elevate Trampoline Park.

I wasn't sure if Briggs would enjoy it as he's generally a pretty cautious kid.  However, he LOVED the trampolines and the foam pits and was pretty brave about jumping and climbing and trying new things.

Staley also had a great time.  She climbed and balanced and jumped, although her favorite activity was doing running tumbling tricks (mostly cartwheels) on the long trampolines.

And, of course, Adelie was in her element.  She loved jumping off things onto the trampolines, playing on the balance board, and burying herself in the foam pits.  Of course, she was also my child that made me the most nervous as I watched her fling herself around on the trampolines without fear.

After the party, Adelie declared that instead of Chuckie Cheese, she is going to have her birthday party at Elevate.

We also got to celebrate Lucy turning 2 by playing with cousins at Aunt Melissa and Uncle Evan's house.  Spending time with cousins is always a highlight.

And, of course, we enjoyed celebrating all we have to be thankful for with some fun Thanksgiving celebrations.  Briggs enjoyed his Thanksgiving party at pre-school with Uma while Zach attended Adelie's Native American activity at her school.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my extended family where we could once again enjoy the fellowship of family and reflect on all the many blessings in our lives, including a Thanksgiving Day Bear's victory.

Good-bye November.  Thanks for the fun celebrations and all we have to be thankful for.  Good-bye fall.  Wish you had lasted a little bit longer.  Hello Christmas season!!

Big Boy

It's officially official.  No more night time pull-ups at our house.  We are now 5/5 on individuals who can sleep in underwear all night and wake up dry in the morning.  Hooray!!

My big sleeping-in-his-undies-now boy!!

Proud

There are many things about my children that make me proud.  I am proud when they do well in school.  I am proud when they learn a new skill.  I am proud when they work hard to accomplish a task.  I am proud when they show increased responsibility and independence.  I am proud when they make good decisions.  But nothing makes me feel more proud than when I see them exhibiting kindness, love, and generosity towards others.

Yesterday, Staley had an orthodontist appointment to get her expander removed.  It did not come out as easily as anticipated.  Although there were some tears, Staley remained brave throughout the removal process.  The orthodontist felt bad that the process was not as quick or easy as it was supposed to be, so he gave Staley a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble.  (To be fair, with the amount we are paying for her orthodontic work, that gift card was actually from us 150 times over.)  Nevertheless, she was thrilled.  After her appointment, Grandpa took her to Barnes and Noble.  Without prompting, she told him that she wanted to get books for Adelie and Briggs too.  They were so thrilled with their gifts from their sister, and after giving them to her siblings, Staley then proceeded to sit on the couch to read the new books to them.  My heart was so happy.

Although we definitely have our sibling squabbles, all three of my kids demonstrate this love and generosity towards each other.  They get so excited about deciding what they want to make for each other for birthdays and Christmas.  Each time Staley and Adelie go to the Caring Coupon store at school, they generally buy something for themselves as well as for each of their siblings.  When looking through toy catalogs and magazines, they like to point out what their siblings would like as well as what they like.  Today at lunch, I gave Briggs a small bag of M & M's as a treat and he saved a few of them for Staley and Adelie to give them after school.  All these small moments of thoughtfulness and generosity make me more proud than any ribbon, award, or prize ever could.

Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for in my life, but my family tops the list.

#blessedbeyondwords

#thankfuleveryday

Lesson Learned

Just a week or so ago, I was complaining about spending a few hours raking the yard only to find it full of leaves again the next morning.  The universe must have heard my complaints.  

Is my yard still covered in leaves?

You bet!

But can I rake them?

Not unless I shovel them out first.

It's a sad, sad time when you've had multiple snows before all the leaves are even off the trees.  I'll think twice the next time I complain about having to rake leaves.  Lesson learned.

What Happened to Fall??

Remember how it was cold and snowing into the middle of April this year, giving us minimal spring weather before we jumped right into the heat of summer?  And then remember how most of October was cold and rainy with only a handful of nice fall days to enjoy?  And then this happened today...

Please excuse the purple mittens.  Sometimes you have to take function over fashion.

Snow days in April?  Snow days in November?  Spring and fall are my favorite seasons, so it just seems cruel that 2018 doesn't seem to think they are necessary.  Come on, Illinois!  You can do better than this.