Brenny's Valentines Box Feb 2017

This year Brennen was the only one who got to make a Valentine's Day box.  I personally don't like Valentines day but this is one part that I do like to do.  After all my suggestions of super cool boxes all of which he turned down I finally decided to hone in on his favorite things.  What does Brennen love more than popcorn?  I don't know... he really does love popcorn and he eats it in a weird way.  He starts with the white ones and then slowly eats the slightly yellow kernels and finally the very yellow ones.  Did I mention he only eats them one by one.  Weird kids but we love him.  When I mentioned a popcorn valentines day box he perked right up.  It was a simple box to make, it only took us a couple of minutes but he was happy so I was happy and it turned out pretty cute.

Lesson on repentance

Apparently Peter didn't want Brennen to touch is squirt gun so Brennan decided to recite the Scout oath for Peter to promise him that he wouldn't touch his work.

All of the sudden Peter was worried the breaded would break his oath and that would mean that he would have to go to"heck"

He was so worried about it he asked me if heavenly father ever breaks his promises. I told him no heavenly father never breaks his promises. 

So Peter began to explain to me that he hoped Heavenly Father would break his promise because he was worried that Brennen is going to break his oath and therefore would be sent to "heck" and he didn't want his brother to have to go to "heck". So I we were in the car Peter begin to pray to his heavenly father to have mercy on his brother.

This little car ride turned out to be a wonderful lesson of repentance. I explained the steps to repentance to both boys and told them that as long as the one  who committed the offense repented, heavenly father would have mercy on him and he could be forgiven.

After our discussion both boys felt so much better. Why is it the greatest lessons come in a car ride?

Geek of the Week July 2015

I swear this kid gets more geek of the weeks than anyone else.  He is such a ham most of the time.  I am glad that he could really care less about what others think.  It will serve him well over the years. This is him dancing like Michael Jackson just because.  Brenny has a song in his heart that just wont quite and sometimes he just has to get his groove on.  Even if he is a dork doing it. 

Brennen reminds me so much of my dad sometimes.  They look a lot a like their eating habits are the same (produce junkies, and popcorn) They even have the same mannerisms and tender heart.  I see so much of my dad in him everyday.  Here he is driving my dads beloved Pontiac.

Martial Arts May 2015

William and Brennen have been taking Marital Arts for a year now.  This is the perfect sport for them.  They get to wrestle and fight and play with swords.  They just love it.  I love that I found a place very close that I can afford and that they love it.  The other great thing about this studio is that they only have 1 tournament a year.  This happens to be one of the tournaments.  My boys take this very seriously.  Brennen did great and won 2nd place in swords for his level. I only let him compete in 1 event this time because it costs to enter the event.
 William was able to compete in 2 events this year. He did swords again and grappling this time.  William took first place in grappling even though we just moved him up to the next level  He also placed in swords but not as high as he would have hoped.  He was so disappointed in himself because he swept the swords tournament last year. I told him it was okay becuase he did so well in grappling. I bet with a little more pracitce he can get right back up on top of the podium for swords with his new higher level.
I am grateful that they have something that they love and we are able to give it to them. 
  

Brennen Baptism May 2015

I am so happy that Brennen decided to get baptized.  This guy is truly and old soul and I love to seem him grow into that.
It was a snap decision when I went to do his pictures for his announcement.  The date really snuck up on me and I had very little time to get it all done.  I had an hour and told Brennen to put his suit on we have to go take his pictures for his baptism announcement.  Thankfully he was very cooperative.  We lucked out that his is a natural in front of the camera.  I took plenty of great pictures in only 10 minutes.  He is such a handsome guy.
For his baptism I really wanted to do the song called Glorious.  I had to get special permission because ours was being held in the chapel.  For the musical number we had Scott and Brennen do it as a duet.  I originally was just going to have Scott sing it but Brenny loves music so I agreed to let him learn it.  It was such a sweet duet, it fit perfectly.
Ellie's drama teacher was being a super stinker and wouldn't let her miss her matinee performance because she had a main part and there was no understudy for her.  We were going to have her give the talk on baptism but when her teach refused to be reasoned with we had William give it.  I had William write it all by himself and then practice it with me.  When he gave the talk he didn't have it actually written down (against my nagging) He told me he had it all in his head.  I was a little nervous about what he would say but he did a great job.  I love ti when my kids surprise me like that.
The baptism was sweet and Brennen was so proud.  What a great day to be able to celebrate it with all our family.

Brenny Mad Scientist BDay 2015

I was really excited for Brennen's birthday this year.  My Brenny is really into science so we thought we should have a science party.  I realize I did a similar party for Ellie many years ago but its is such a good one I thought I could do it again.  To outfit all our scientist I bough some plain white T-shirts in the men's section and cut them right down the middle.  Voila  instant lab coat.  I priced out the goggles and they were just too much for the amount of people we were inviting.  Remember I am a cheap skate and my partied can't cost more than $50.  I did happen to find these swim masks at the dollar store that were perfect for our safety goggles.  Our dollar store didn't have the other kind of goggles, but these worked great and they counted as part of the party favors.  With the party favors the kids got some glow in the dark silly string that I happen to pick up months earlier as a clearance item at Michael's for only 25 cents a piece (super score)

This party was all about the experiments.  The Internet has a million ideas on different experiments you can do with kids so I just picked a few I thought they would like the best.  I made this party a little educational by asking them questions like, what do you think will happen when I mix these? and should I use this bottle or that bottle, how will it change the outcome?  They were riveted.  I love it when I can sneak in some learning.  

We did the elephant toothpaste, the Mento's in the diet soda, exploding baggies, and balloon races

All the kids were loving every minute of it.  They all got to do the experiments themselves.  When you make everything hands on no one gets bored and causes trouble.  The winner is always the Mento's in the soda.  I don't know why they always love that one but they do.  

I love doing this party.  Probably because I myself love science, and partly because the kids are so engaged no matter what their interests.

Happy birthday our Widow.  We love your goofy tender heart.  Keep smiling, and equally important keep laughing.  You do have THE best laugh!