Bilbo

Briggs thinks Josh Groban looks like Bilbo Baggins.

Ty's 7th Birthday

 This weekend we celebrated Ty's 7th birthday. I've gotten so use to my baby being six. Now I'm a mom whose youngest is 7.  That's not cool. NOT COOL ROBERT FROST!!!! (please feel free to click on the link through Robert Frost to watch a super cute video.)

 This soon to be 7 year old loves to read. Auntie Mae and Uncle Kevin got him the newest Stink Moody book.

 He's excited to be opening Mario Kart 7 for DS from Nana and Papa. Can you just hear his little lisp in this picture?

 When asked by his Nana what he wanted for his birthday, he said, "A mini gumball machine to put in my room." Can you say "left field"? But guess what Nana got...

 A mini gumball machine for his room. And the old Brown-eyed charmer strikes again!

 Grandpa got little man a slip n slide, because we like to be versatile in our ways of beating the heat in Sacramento!

 Ty needed a hooded sweatshirt. And he needed a red one.  Because red is his favorite color. And when he grabs a sweatshirt for school, he only has pull over hoodies and he's always worried about messing up his hair.

 The brothers checking out his new stuff. I'm pretty sure Briggs's legs are 4x as long as Ty's.

 And 3x as long as mine.

 My boys are no strangers to the ubiquitous Minecraft craze that is sweeping the nation. So...

 ...this had to happen. And mom wasn't too happy about it. I'm not really a fan of cake decorating. But the boy wanted a minecraft cake! And you can't buy one of these at the Nugget Bakery. So I just put up with the nervous stress sweat that I break out in when I frost cakes and GOT IT DONE!!! Whatever...

 I think it's funny when he gets shy.

Notice he's already wearing his new sweatshirt. Little man had fun with Grandpa and Nana and Papa and hamburgers and chips and Italian Cream sodas for dinner. 

Ponytails

Ashlynn creating one of her impromptu masterpieces with cardboard, oil pastels and lots of glitter!

Today as I was pulling Ashlynn's hair back into a ponytail, I was keenly aware of the fact that my days as Ashlynn's ponytail do-er may be numbered. She's turning 12 this year and entering 7th grade. Is she going to want/need me to do that anymore?

I don't know.

So I'll make sure to enjoy every opportunity I get when she brings me the brush and a pony keeper.

I Came From Your Body

Ty told me on Sunday, "Mom. I think I figured out that it's because I came from your body that I like you better than Dad."

True dat!

More Briggs

 Briggs and I are reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows together. So while I read to him, he takes crazy selfies.

 He recently participated in the pinewood derby. He likes a simple sleek design. Red, with very little embellishments. When he turned it in the scout master asked him what the name of his car was. Briggs looked at Brian as if to say, "Are you kidding me?! I don't care!" With almost no thought he said, "Red". Someone suggested "Red Racer". Briggs agreed to that with very little thought. done. NEXT!

 Around Valentines day, I found this little love note from Briggs to Ty.
"Dear Tennyson,
You are AWESOME!!! (sometimes) I like to go on the trampoline with you. Playing Minecraft with you is fun, too. when we wrestle it is EPIC!!! (also sometimes) You are nice.
Love, Briggs
P.S. Good luck in the Minecraft match today!
B.T.W...
Abe Lincoln Wife! She's a congress Lady!
3D square version of you
2D version of you"

These boys love each other.

p.s. Minecraft is a video game where you build world out of digital lego-like blocks. Its' the most recent obsession with these boys.

Briggs Gets His Cake

 Last night Briggs noticed that there was one piece of chocolate cake left. When he asked if he could have some cake, he was bowled over by my answer. "Sure. Just get a fork and eat it off the platter."

"REALLY?!" Boy, did I make that kids day!

Ty tried to get in on the action, but I told him, no, Briggs got to eat it by himself.

Boy, did I doubly make his day! This middle child ends up sharing a lot of things with his somewhat more verbal brother and sister.

Just look at the happiness on his sweet little face. He savored every last morsel of that cake.

Disneyland 2013

 Are you ready for a ton of Disneyland pictures? We spent a couple of days in sunny Southern California with Grandpa this last week. Cars land was new to us, so there are a lot of pictures of Radiator springs, which, by the way, was awesome. They did a really good job (with the exception of the tire ride, it was kinda lame).

 Ash and I wanted to get frosties here, but it was closed.

 Brian getting ready for the Radiator springs racer ride. This ride was soo much fun! You drive around the town a little, then race another car through the mountains. We went straight to the fast pass line when we got into the park, had our tickets 5 minutes after the park opened, then rode the ride an hour later after waiting about 10 minutes. I hate lines.

 Ty trying out the "rock climbing" course.

 We ran into the Brundages while at the park! The kids got to ride Toy Story Mania with their friends.

 We only managed to talk Ashlynn into riding on California Screamin'. She said it wasn't bad for being her first upside down ride. But... her glasses did fall off and into her lap during the ride. Whoops!

 We sat down in the evening and watched the parade. Sometimes we just needed to sit. I kept trying to snap pictures of the kids to show how excited they were about the show, but my camera kept reacting too slow, or my picture taking skills were too slow. One of those two...

 Each of the kids had "goals" while visiting the park. They wanted to try rides that they had previously been too scared or too short to ride. Indiana Jones was that ride for Ty. And he was so excited when first thing Friday morning, there was a zero minute wait for the ride! He was so worried he wouldn't be tall enough that he stuffed his shoes with padding that morning to guarantee a ride! He liked the ride, but the anticipation was too much for him and he mostly rode with his ears plugged. Baby steps.

 Space Mountain was Briggs's goal ride. We knew they would all have fun on it, so we bribed Ty with an extra day of video games to ride. And they all loved it! In fact they said it was their favorite ride in the park!

 This was the picture from the first ride of the day. Ty insists he wasn't scared, he just didn't know his picture was being taken. So the next time he rode, he posed. Goofy kid. And yes, I look a little silly too. Oh well. It's Disneyland!

 As we were riding the Alice in Wonderland ride, I noticed that Ashlynn had taken her Mad Hatter hat off. I suggested that if she put it on, maybe it would grant us special powers and we would be able to ride on a special track or something. Just as she put it on the ride broke down! The kids started panicking and I started laughing. We ended up climbing out of our car and walking off of the ride. I thought it was so cool but the kids didn't. I don't get it! I made sure to snap pictures of walking in the ride. Wish I had taken video.

 Mickey's house

 Father son twins

 Ashlynn's 5th grade teacher was there, so we snapped a picture. Who gets the chance to see your teacher at Disneyland?!

 All of the brave people went on Matterhorn while Ty and I rode the carousel. And took selfies.

 Ty's souvenir pillow pet. How many stuffed animals does this kid need?

 The whole time we were at the park, we kept bringing up memories of Grandma Caroline, and how much she liked Disneyland.

Briggs's teacher loves Tigger, so we made sure and snapped a picture for her benefit.

We had a great time with Grandpa at the park. (but my feet were done after 2 days...wimp.)