St Patrick's Day

Mike had surgery on his elbow early St Patrick's Day morning.  Miles and I didn't wear green...I didn't decorate...there wasn't any special food...the leprechauns didn't do anything destructive at our house.  BUT we did have green water during bath time.  Let me tell you, it was enough.  The day was a huge hit. 

Early Father's Day

Noah and Griffin's school had a donuts for Dad last week.  It was so cute (from what I hear). Noah and Griff were SO EXCITED for Mike to come to school.  They literally talked about it every day for a week prior. The day before the event Noah said to me very seriously, "mom. we are only allowed to have TWO donuts." I guess the teachers had a pretty direct discussion with the kids and set their expectations.   haha

Here are the cute things they boys made for Mike (I apologize for the direction of the art - trying to get these posts out quickly).

{dad...love, noah}



(dad...love, griffin)



Apparently Mike has photos on his blackberry. Maybe someday we'll see those.... :)

Dental Floss Art

Noah and Griffin's school is really so sweet.  Periodically they come home with these cute little notes.  Griffin came home with this one recently.


Griffin talks non-stop at home, so we were surprised to learn from his teachers that he's quiet at school and is just as happy to play with friends as he is to get involved with an activity and play by himself (I got feedback last year that he and his friend "I" could sometimes be found standing on top of tables, so I thought Griffin might end up being a wild one). His teachers said he is super sweet and incredibly easy and they'd love to have 12 kids just like Griffin {yes, I know they say this to every parent}. Funny that Mike and I breed quiet, slow-to-warm up boys. No wonder they all get along so well - apparently they are all insanely similar. :)

Honesty

I was in Miles' school taking photos for the yearbook a few weeks ago and passed by a 'character trait' bulletin board.  I looked up and saw this photo of Miles w/ the character trait "honesty" attached.


Had I heard of this before?  No
Am I surprised that I hadn't heard about it?  No
Did Miles recall anything about it when I showed him the photo?  No

Seriously, people.  Do I have any hope of knowing ANYTHING about my eldest son once he enters middle/high school?  {all together now: No}

***
I am proud of Miles for being recognized by his teacher for "honesty".  My guess is that a different student is recognized each week for a different character trait.  But who really knows.  :)

Valentine's Day

The boys all made their Valentine's cards this year.  I took a photo of Griffin's.  He made the owls' eyes and taped candy on the back of each one.



Now that Griffin has shorter hair, this long hair makes me laugh.


Trish made Noah this "super N" shirt a couple of years ago for Christmas.  He loves it.



It truly cracks me up that these are the best "group shot" that I can get of my own boys.  Its hopeless.  :)  Happy Valentine's Day!

My New Trick

I kid you not. It has taken me MONTHS (and HOURS) to figure out how to put a 'logo bar' on my photos to go along with my logo.  As it turns out, it was pretty darn simple.  I'm pretty sure I'm the most remedial photoshop elements self-study on the planet.  {Sigh}  Somehow I altered the look of the photo (colors, etc..) just by pulling the photo into elements -- but that's a self-study for another day.  Until then, hallelujah.  This old dog just learned a trick.

Begging, Pleading, and Begging Some More

Griffin has been BEGGING for "super-super-short hair" for months. When he begs he gives me this face that I imagine is the same face a girl gives her mother when she is begging for pierced ears. I LOVE his hair long and have been pushing him off. Until yesterday. I decided that at 3 years and 9 months old, he is living his very own life. A life where his say matters, especially on a contextually little issue like hair. So off we went.

I tried for "pre-photo" and he curled up and said he was cold. This was the best I got. 


We went inside a cutsie haircut spot (we usually take the boys to SuperCuts type spots). He climbed into an airplane and saw glimpses of his first ever princess movie (Cinderella) while he waited for his turn (which he loved, by way. note to self, break out that VHS the next time we're at gram & pop's house.)



While he watched I showed him photos of little boys with kind-of short hair. His response? "No mommy. I was super-super short hair. Like Noah." So that's what she did. He stared at himself in the mirror and smiled the.entire.time.




After his cut was done I asked the stylist to put some gel in his hair to add some fun-factor. She added a TON of gel and spiked it up. Poor guy's lips curled down to a frown and tiny little tears came out of his eyes. He said he wanted his hair "down" so she quickly combed it down, but it was so loaded up with junk and he was devastated. It was so sad. She quickly grabbed him and brought him to the sink in the back and washed his hair. In the process, water poured down the back of his neck/shirt so he jerked forward and soaked his pants. It was like a comedy of errors.


Once he was cleaned up and blown dry he was thrilled again. He gave the stylist a hug and asked for an extra cookie to give to Noah (his inspiration so sweet). Here he is outside the car with his little cup of animal crackers, picking one out for Noah.


I texted Mike a photo of Griffin's new haircut. He was SHOCKED by the photo (and that I went through with it) and called us immediately. Griffin was very proud to talk about his new look.


When Noah jumped into the car at preschool pickup it was a love fest. They got really close together. Noah said, "Griffin I really like your hair. Do you really like your hair?" Griffin said, "Noah, I have your hair!" They had a sweet little back and forth for about 10 minutes. I just sat in the front seat and let them have their special time. It honestly made me cry to witness such a precious, pure, honest brotherly moment. I was filled with joy.



They were so stinkin' cute when we got home too.





Miles was in shock when he got home from school. Then he quickly announced that he is the brother with the longest hair (he's begging us not to make him cut it...he wants it "long" - haven't figured out exactly how long he's thinking yet).






Love this little guy. So very much.

Great Day

The boys have been so sick over the past few weeks. Strep. Stomach Bug. Pneumonia. Yesterday we got the clear that no one is contagious/sick anymore (barring some coughs that should remain for at least another week). We busted outside and played around. It was great. Couldn't help myself but get out cameras.

Untitled from Brooke Brown Photography on Vimeo.

PS got excited last night when i realized its feb. i'm two-for-two on doing a movie every month in 2011. :)

Weekend in Summerville

Last weekend the boys and I went to Summerville so I could do a maternity shoot for one of Dana's friends (Mike stayed home and got some much needed r&r...he's been traveling like crazy and had to leave again on sunday).  While we were there, we checked out a local dog show.  It was small and the boys loved it.  Griffin (the dog lover) was entranced -- as we knew he would be.  Noah (the dog fearer) was cautious -- as we knew he would be.  Miles was in the mix, ready to run on the empty ampitheatre after we milled around a bit.






kickin' it in the ampitheatre and by the water





on the way home we stopped by charleston southern university and checked out my dad's office. he's got the coolest office on the block, full of photos and treasures from all of his travels. i just love it in there.






{this painting was in our house when i was little. it will always be one of my favorites. it takes me back.}

while at my parents' house, we all played chinese checkers. i hadn't introduced the game to the boys yet and they loved it (esp miles and griffin...noah got burnt out) and did great (miles came in 2nd - behind by only one move!). it took forever since all 6 of us played -- so we broke it up over 2 days/3 sessions. (my parents have a great set w/ colorful wooden pieces -- it would have been all over after 20 minutes if we'd been playing with a marble set.)

my mom played jenga with the boys, too. i love that all the boys have crossed into an "adult game" stage. {miles and i play some sort of game almost every night. our recent favorite is qwirkle...will have to do a post on it soon...}


thanks for a great weekend, mom & dad!