Friendly Neighborhood Helpers

 In April the first graders put on a show about our friendly neighborhood helpers.  It was so cute!  They sang songs about the different community service jobs, such as police, doctors, bus drivers, and Brighton's group, garbage collectors.

 Brighton's trio kept jumping up and "campaigning" with signs and pom poms for garbage collectors to make the Top 10 list.  They were finally successful.

 Boston liked the show.

 We had to snap a few pics after the show.  I love that gap-toothed grin of his!

 He agreed to smile nice for me, then I let him do a face of his own.  Arg, boys!

 Waverly has the same problem with her tongue, evidently.

Spook Alley

 In March, the kids treated us to a Spook Alley.  They decorated the basement, including the Barbie house, and we walked through the dark, while they jumped out and scared us. 

 The "pumpkin" had a tea light behind it, making it glow in the dark.  We had 2 zombies, a ghost, and can you guess who Brighton was?  Hint: he's there, inside my mind.

The contents of a Little Boy's Pockets

After we went sledding the last time with our campfire, I sent everyone's coats and gear through the wash.  When I emptied out Brighton's coat pockets, this is what I found.  I chuckled to myself as I pulled everything out for it was SO Brighton.  Most of this stuff is things he picks up while walking home from school every day.  I get so exasperated with him sometimes, but I love how all-boy he is.  Every day is an adventure, and everything is waiting to be discovered and figured out.  Brighton, I hope you always keep your sense of curiosity and discovery!

Basketball star

 Brighton expressed an interest in learning basketball (actually, he already knows everything there is to know about it, or so he says, but he humored us anyways), so we signed him up for Little Hoopsters this winter.  He sure has the height for it, but the coordination, well, looks like he inherited his mother's lack of it.  Hopefully we can teach him some because it would be a cryin shame to let his height go to waste!  The kid is built to shoot! 

 He had fun and learned a few things anyway. 

If it floats your boat...

 In our house, we don't usually allow tv on Sundays, so the kids have to get creative sometimes to avoid boredom.  That's actually what we prefer, since I hate how entertained this generation thinks they need to be, but that's a whole other soapbox post:)  One Sunday, Brighton (usually the mastermind) decided to build some boats from some empty cardboard boxes and float them in our bathtub.  He added the tinfoil as a barrier to see if they wouldn't sink so fast, and experimented with different shapes and designs to see which held up better.  I was really impressed with his creativity and critical thinking.  I think this boy has finally found an outlet for his creative mind. 

It floats!  Great design and thinking, Brighton!  That was a good use for the last roll of tinfoil.

A' campin we will go

 Like I said earlier, the boys (including Scott) have been a little tent happy lately.  Scott made a semi-permanent tent over both the boys' bunks, which they thought was so fun.  Brighton kept his for several weeks, but Keaton got scared the first night, and we took his mostly down.  The next morning when I got up, they had taken the camping theme to heart and made their room look like the outdoors, with the fake tree from the living room, and a hand-drawn "fire" over the night-light, and a camping scene.  Plus some luggage with a few "necessities".

 (I think it's time to repaint the walls!)

More randomness

 Every holiday, no matter how small, the kids get SO excited to pull out the decorations.  Ok, Christmas might engender a little more nagging from them because it means present overload is coming.  When I pulled out the boxes, I stressed to them NOT to open them because they have a tendency to just throw it everywhere before I've even finished unloading the shed.  Keaton swore he wasn't, until he came prancing in with our Santa costume on.  How could I be too mad with this cute face?  He and Waverly played Santa and Mrs Claus for days, until I hauled the boxes (with the Santa costume) back out to the shed.  When I asked later what the twins wanted for Christmas, Keaton told me "a Keaton-sized Santa suit, with a sled that can really fly like Santa's."  Waverly asked for a miniature North Pole and Mrs. Claus suit.  When I explained that Santa doesn't bring magical presents, she came back with, "ok, then I want a leprechaun for Christmas.  Then I can wish for everything else that Santa doesn't bring."  The girl is brilliant, I tell you.  I'm in trouble...

 We have become obsessed with Studio C in our house since Savannah got the first 2 seasons on dvd for her birthday.  For awhile, the little kids would climb on our shoulders during scripture study and claim to be Shoulder Angel and Shoulder Devil.  It's hard to tell which is which.  They both look evil!

 We got a visit from Peppermint again this year.  We welcomed her with a North Pole breakfast.  This is one of the pranks she pulled.  The kids' favorite prank was when she took a dry erase marker to our family photo and drew mustaches and hair on everyone.

One day after school, the twins begged for a Christmas lunch so they could have a Christmas party downstairs.  I took their lunches down to the playroom (a special treat, since we don't allow eating downstairs usually), and they had decorated it with stuff they stole from other areas around the house.  It was really cute.

One little, two little, three little Indians

 Warning:  The following post is NOT very politically correct.  Proceed at your own offense.

Question:  What's a boy and his dad to do on a Saturday afternoon with a bunch of sticks gathered and brought home from a day in the canyon?

Answer:  Build this, of course!

 With Thanksgiving coming up, the kids had Indians on the brain.  I came downstairs to the playroom one afternoon and found this tepee that Scott had built for the little kids.

Of course, you can't be a proper Indian dressed like a 21st century American kid.  So we got this little Indian Princess:

And these 2 little Indian Braves:

 

 And then a little Indian Papoose (not very willing, mind you)

 Then we had 4 little Indians:

And finally, FIVE little Indians:

Brave Wild Cat out on the hunt.  Looks like we'll be dining on wild snake and monkey for dinner tonight...

Later we'll have a pow-wow and do a rain dance, and hunt some tatanka.

How.

Slingshot

 Trust Brighton to find another use for the teeter totter Scott built.  He found that it worked great to attach the slingshot to each handle and slingshot the bouncy ball he won at Trafalga over the summer to the other end of the yard.  I was quite proud of him for his creativity actually.  And it didn't involve weapons of mass destruction either.

The first step is to attach the slingshot.

Second, add the ball to the pouch, and pull back.

 Ready, aim...

 aim lower.  (Boston is learning from the master).

 Fire!!!

 It doesn't work so well to catch your own slingshotted ball...

 Run it back to base to try again.

 Finally, Irelynd gets involved.

 It became a contest of who could fire it further than the other.  These 2 played with this for over an hour, which is a long time in their attentiveness.  It was a great way to spend a warm, late fall, Sunday afternoon.

Deep thoughts of a 7-year-old boy

I'm always excited to hear Brighton's thoughts, as he really is a deep thinker.  He really contemplates the mysteries of life; how things are put together, how they work, why, and what the logical reasons are behind it.  This kid really keeps us mentally challenged.  All. Day. Long.  If what they say is true about mental exercising, there will be no danger of Alzheimers affecting either Scott nor myself as long as Brighton is around.  That said, I asked him about his favorites, and life in general.  These are his answers.

Q:  Who is your favorite person in the whole world?
A:  Grandma and Grandpa Henry, and Grandma LeBaron.  And Dad {upon a verbal prompt from the latter}

Q:  Favorite color?

A:  Blue.  And red.  And green.  And orange.

Q:  Who's your biggest hero?

A:  Santa.  {when asking this question, Keaton piped up, "Keaton?"}

Q:  What is your favorite thing to do with Keaton and your friends?

A:  build towers and play with the pillows.

Q:  Favorite tv show?

A:  Scooby Doo

Q:  Favorite ice scream flavor?

A:  Peppermint

Q:  Favorite food?

A:  Mashed potatoes and gravy!

Q:  If you had one wish, what would it be for?

A:  a jillion dollars

Q:  Favorite song?

A:  Scooby Doo song.  And Cars 2 song.

Q:  What vegetable do you hate the most?

A:  Brussels sprouts.  Funny story:  at Christmas dinner at Grandma Henry's, we had Brussel Sprouts in butter and bacon.  I hate these veggies too, but tried them, and they weren't too bad.  We made all the kids try them too.  Brighton took one bite and was begging to spit them out.  Scott made him swallow it with the promise of no more.  Big mistake.  Vomit ensued.  All over Grandma's floor in front of everybody.  Brighton was deeply embarrassed.  More so than I've ever seen him.  But we learned a valuable lesson that day that when Brighton says he really hates a vegetable, believe him.

Q:  Favorite cereal?

A:  Reeses

Q:  What do you want to be when you grow up?

A:  A Builder

Q:  Favorite book?

A:  Curious George

Q:  What are you good at?

A:  basketball.  And spanking my sister's butt {Savannah}

Q:  Where do you want to go on vacation?

A:  Hawaii and California

Q:  What would you buy with $1000?

A:  a billion remote control helicopters

Q:  What are you looking forward to most about turning 8?

A:  Getting baptized, getting scriptures, and learning to read better.

Happy birthday Buddy!  We love you!

Lucky 7

We had a family birthday party with Brighton on his actual birthday with Grandma LeBaron.  We celebrate the months' birthdays with the Henry side, so we just invited Grandma LeBaron for dinner and to celebrate.  It included all of Brighton's favorites, plus a whole lot of bonking.  Both older sisters exacted their just dues, after being bonked good by Brighton.  It was hard for this mom to offer any sympathy, and it was done in good fun.

Brighton got a ninja vest to go with his nunchucks.

Grandma gave him an outfit and a wood set.  Looks like both him and Scott will be very busy for the next few months!