Celebrating Brooks Tubing and Ice Skating

To celebrate Brooks turning 6 we did two special things.  The weekend before his birthday, we did a cousins day at the ice skating rink.  We had Gigi and Uncle Joel take turns steering the kids around the rink. It was surprisingly packed… I had no idea ice skating was such a popular Sunday activity.

The cousins had a great time and they really improved from start to finish.  And yes, Brooks looked a lot like baby Bambi on the ice. The first picture is a perfect representation of his wild legs flying all over. It was adorable!

After skating, we headed home to have a pizza and cake party all together.

Then on Brooks’ actual birthday (a Tuesday), Dean and I surprised Brooks and Landon and picked them up from school at lunchtime to take them on a special birthday adventure.  You see, for his birthday Brooks told me multiple times he wanted a snow party.  Living in Charlotte, we see snow maybe 1 or 2 times a year and typically it’s a light dusting, so I knew chances were not good we’d have a snow party.

We packed up the car with our sledding gear and drove 2.5 hours to the mountains to go snow tubing at HawksNest in NC.  There were 9 total people on the runs and we were 4 of them. It was awesome – we had the entire place to ourselves.

It was so much fun.  Especially when we made chains with our tubes and rode together.

I’ll definitely say that after one hour of our two-hour window, Brooks was exhausted from walking in the snow (even with the people conveyors to help get you back up some of  the runs).  It was hard work for 6 year old legs!  So they slept really hard that night.

And wouldn’t you know, God heard Brooks’ birthday wish and sent some snow on Wednesday morning (the day after his birthday). With a whole 3 inches, they were out of school the rest of the week 😉

Happy Happy Birthday to my sweet, funny, confident, silly, awesome 6 year old boy.  I love you Mr. Brooksie

5 is a big deal.

This week my youngest babe turns 5.  And I love how it’s a big deal for him.  In the past month, I’ve noticed an overall improvement in his behavior.  Less fighting at meal times.  Less fighting in the mornings.  (Notice I didn’t say none, just less. 🙂 )

Many mornings he hops out of bed, gets dressed, brushes his teeth and makes an attempt at his bed without any prompting.  When I commended him for a great job, he responds, “it’s because I’m almost 5.”

When I ask him to run up at bedtime and get a shower, dry off, hang up his towel and get pjs, he does it quickly.  Less fighting us to  go up the stairs.  And when I tuck him in and say great job on his bedtime routine, “It’s because that’s what 5 year olds do.”

This sweet, fun, compassionate boy of mine.  He loves being loved. Snuggles, affection, praises.  He openly soaks them in.  He gets up at dinner at least once a week just to give me a hug during the meal.  Many weekend mornings, I find him nestled next to me.  Sneaking in our bed around 7am for a weekend wake up.

He’s so tough.  Being the little brother does that to you.  He can hang for several rounds of “Fighter” – a made up game between he and big brother that involves a lot of wrestling.  And he’s not just physically tough but also mentally.  This boy has a strong will.  It’s a fine line to parent him so that he keeps this strength but can also be obedient.

I love that Brooks is so excited about life.  He wakes up each day with a smile on his face.  Ready to make the day awesome.  He’s my little optimist and I love that his joy is contagious.  I’m so excited about what 5 means for him.  It means he’s going to kindergarten this year. It means he gets to skip more naps.  It means he can earn allowance for chores. And it means he gets to start sports this year – spring baseball here we come.

Brooksie Bear, You are my favorite snuggler with the biggest heart. I love that you’ve started seeing “need” around you and wanting to change it.  You want to make our world better.

I love how you love being around people.  You’re this confident little boy who can do anything.  I cannot wait to see you do all sorts of new things this year – sports, kindergarten, special trips.  And because of your adventurous spirit, I know you’ll excel.  You’ll have no problem making new friends in school and on your teams.  You’ll work really hard in everything you do and I know you’ll make me proud.

There’s still so much in this great big world you haven’t seen or experienced and my goal as your mom is to expose you to as much as I can.  So here’s to another year of adventure.  Cheers to 5 baby boy!

Love,
Mom

 

Courage.

Courage is something you’re born with, not learned.  I think you have it or you don’t.  I believe God places an innate ability in you from the beginning of your life to be a courageous person – to step out in confidence and stand for what you think is the right thing, to stand tall in fear and to know your true self.  Yes, you can practice being more courageous if you don’t have the trait but your natural default is going to be conforming or fear.  But people born with courage – they have that extra edge.

Brooks has that true self-born courage.  He knows who he is.  He stands confident in his ability to try new things. He amazes me with his fearlessness.  No matter what anyone else tells him, he already knows what he believes.

I love that about this boy. I love his daily courage.  I love he knows who Brooksie Dean is.

Noah minus an ark

Last week was spirit week at Brooks’ preschool.  One of the days was favorite character day and in true Ginger fashion, I completely forgot about the assignment until 8pm the night before.  So I went into Brooks’ room, grabbed the top book on his dresser – which happened to be his toddler bible – and told him we needed to pick a character.

Of course his first choice was the evil serpent from Adam and Eve. I quickly nixed that idea because I didn’t want to promote my 4 year old son being Satan.

Then he wanted to be Adam. And as easy as that costume would be, I’m pretty sure going in the buff is not something that would be approved by the school.

So we finally agreed on Noah.  Of course, he wanted to carry about 11 different animals, but I finally got him to agree to two puppies.

He asked where his ark was, and I told him mommy wasn’t that crafty! Plus it was well past his bedtime 🙂

My Brooks.

My Brooks is such a sweet boy.  He truly is a leader who lives by his own rules.  He doesn’t get embarrassed.  He loves anything that can be turned into a game. He’s very observant. He loves making other people smile.  And he loves helping.  He  wants to do anything Landon, Mom or Dad are doing.  Age means nothing. In fact, he regularly asks for adult tools (saws, hammers, etc.) for birthday gifts because he doesn’t want kid stuff, he wants to be a big boy.

As I was scrolling through my camera phone, I found a day which was particularly “Brooksie-esque.”

1/ Yes, that is Brooks in just his undies helping with the new sink install. Daddy and Papa had run to the store for some last plumbing parts and while they were away, Brooks climbed under there to see if he could “connect some stuff”.

2 & 3/ We were in a long return line at Costco, Brooks decided to be a greeter/bridge for people exiting.  He’d put his hand out like a rail crossing and each time a cart got close he’d raise it up to ‘let them pass’.  Then he’d give out high fives to everyone in the party.  So many people got smiles on their faces from this little boy just giving out high fives.  I bet he got 30.

4/ Lastly, this picture is typical.  Marches to the beat of his own drum.  Backwards jeans. check. Building something or taking it apart. check. Look of complete concentration. check.

I love this little boy so much.  I love how God made him so perfect.  He puts a smile on so many faces and just isn’t afraid to be himself.  And his cheeks are just kissable.

My Brooks.

He wants to be like his brother.

Brooks really loves his brother. He looks up to him and wants to do everything his brother does. Whether it’s tying a shoe, playing a sport, riding a bike, or reading. He wants to do everything that Landon does.

In fact, at the end of 2015, we really started pushing hard for Landon to stop wearing bedtime diapers.  Brooks decided he wanted to stop wearing diapers just like Landon – and sure enough 1 week later, he was nighttime potty trained.  We haven’t bought/used diapers in 2 months, so I think we’re officially a diaper-free family!

Brooks also really loves homework.  He gets jealous whenever Landon has homework and he doesn’t have an assignment to work on.  We recently had a parent-teacher conference and Brooks’ preschool teachers were saying how well he does in class and with his letters. I’d had no idea he’d been working on them so much.

So I decided to test him at home. I had him write “thank you” on some thank you notes for his birthday presents.  (I told him the letters – he doesn’t know how to spell yet 🙂  ) And he did a great job!

And when it comes to sports, anything Landon can do, Brooks wants to do to.  From practicing dribbling on the sideline of Landon’s games/practices, to playing catch and taking swings with daddy in the backyard, he wants to do it all. He’s asked so many time for Dean to take off his training wheels – still gotta get the balance part down!  Yes, my wild, crazy, independent, marches to the beat of his own drum 4 year old. He wants to do it all!

And Landon does a great job taking it in stride and helping his little bro learn new things every day.

 

 

Brooks is 4.

Tomorrow, my baby turns 4.  My crazy, wild, snuggly, sweet boy will celebrate with cake, balloons, presents and fun.

The boy who loves dinosaurs, Paw Patrol, his elephant puppet “Digger”, laser tag, construction equipment, his green blankie, PB&J, and exercising his will.

This kid makes me laugh every day.
Mom: “Brooks what do you want for your birthday?”
Brooks: “I want a real saw. Not a kid saw but a real one like daddy has.”
M: “What is another idea, a real saw is not something that kids should have.”
B: “How about branch cutters?”

Mom: “Brooks, what special, fun activity do you want to do on your birthday? ” I even prompted him with some ideas to get him thinking, “painting, swimming, bounce houses…”
B: “I think I want to do a Disney cruise on my birthday.”

Oh this boy. He challenges me as a parent each day and forces me to try new things to connect with him.  He’s stubborn yet sensitive, confident with a bit of shyness, unafraid to fail, full of energy, so quick to forgive, adores his brother, and loves a good snuggle.

And I especially love the mornings where he sneaks into our bed and cuddles right next to me for a few extra minutes of sleep.

Brooks Matthew, I’ve loved you for 4 years and I’ll love you for a hundred more.  In so many ways, I wish I was more like you.  You have a confidence in yourself – you know who you are and WHOSE you are.  You are so smart. You’re so determined. You’re hilarious and fun.

You are the highlight of so many of my parenting stories.  And I love seeing you grow and change each year.  Happy birthday my sweet boy.  I love you times a million bajillion.

Mom

Life as a 3 year old – Brooks

When they were little, I used to track the boys every few months with their routines, favorite things and any funny stories.  Now that they’re older and our routines are pretty similar all the time, I hardly post updates on what they’re doing.  I posted an update on Landon yesterday and today it’s Brooks’ turn!

Brooks – at 3 1/2, he brings the excitement to our foursome. This boy has no fear, is so tough, and is also so cuddly. He’s a compassionate, fun-loving, smart, rule-breaker.

His favorites:
food – PB&J, waffles, nuggets, spaghetti, fruit, yogurt, and dessert! That boy can kill an ice cream cone!

activities – swings, playing on the slides, learning how to catch with his glove, riding his bike, swimming (with a floating device!), playing with cars, trucks, dinos, etc., watching YouTube videos (of dinos), loves playing the matching game and is REALLY good at it!

learning – this boy is a dino-machine. He knows the names of so many dinos and will often tell you if they like plants or like to eat people (i.e. meat eaters), when a dino shows up on tv or somewhere -he’ll say – “look at that Anklyosaurus, Gallimymus, Pteranadon, etc.”  He just knows them all. We also practice our bible verses. Not as much as we used to but mom needs to get on that!  He knows how to do some counting and easy subtraction (i.e. you have 5 cucumbers and you eat 2, how many are left)

color – green or orange – depending on the day
friend – Lawson and Isla – he and his cousins are forever playing together at school
comfort item – his green blankie, and lately he’s been into having a rotation of “lovies” during bedtime.
future job – he likes the idea of a garbage truck and I recently explained to him about what a paleontologist does and so that seems to be his favorite future career for now!

He is such a special boy who has grown so much this year. I am shocked at how much his listening and obedience has picked up over the summer.  He’s really worked on it and I can tell.  I’m so proud of him for his fearlessness in life. He is so confident and fun, he’s going to be popular with the guys and the ladies some day! He’s just so loveable. And I give him more kisses than appropriate at bedtime each night because he’s such a sweet thing!

This 3 year old brings the excitement in our family.

Preschool Graduation

Yes, I’m the mom who gets teary eyed at all her kids events.  I can’t help it. It’s adorable.  But even more so, it’s a reminder of how quickly this journey is going. A reminder that they are only my boys for a limited amount of time and I have to work with what God’s given me.  It’s also a reminder of how far we’ve already come. From the mom who had no clue about baby anything heading home from the hospital to a mom who now has no clue how to teach sightwords and reading!

At the boys school they do a sweet graduation program at the end of the year with a bunch of the classes participating.  Brooks class was also part of the entertainment.

He was really into the song at the beginning, with the hand motions and routines:

And the slowly fell off the wagon and began ad libbing his own Magic Mike-esque moves on stage.

And he was too busy checking out his props to actually use them!

All in all, a great three year old performance! Our boy sure does bring spice and life into anything he does! 🙂

Then the Pre-K class hit the stage to get their diplomas and sing some songs.  Before they got in there, the kids did notes to their family.  Of course, Landon showed his true Bradbury DNA with lots of food items:

The Pomp and Circumstance got me teary eyed. I totally envision this to be exactly what Landon looks like 13 years from now at his high school graduation. A little devious smile. A sweet grin.  This will probably go in his senior year graduation ad!

They did superlatives for the class and Landon is expected to be a success.  I concur! That little boy is driven and I hope he continues to love learning and trying to do new things as he grows.

And finally, some pics on stage and with his BFFs (P.S. the girl in the picture – besides his cousin Harleigh – is a high school friend of my sister and I’s growing up. So cool that our kids are also growing up together!)

The GRAD:

My sister and I with our graduates. By this point they were all pictured out.

 

Yes, he seems delighted with himself!  Or just really ready to finish with the picture taking and get to the class party!

Landon, while Pre-K graduation isn’t a huge milestone, the true milestone are all the life lessons you’ve already picked up on in your short 5 years. You’ve learned patience with friends. And how to show grace to other kids who may not deserve it. You’ve learned to respect your teachers and others in authority. And worked on showing other kids respect and asking for forgiveness when you needed to.

So no, cutting paper and reciting your alphabet wasn’t what this graduation was really about. I think it was more to show us you’re ready for school – to make new friends and to be a friend to others. We are so proud of how you’ve grown and cannot believe that you’ll be in kindergarten in just one month. What a blessing this ride has been so far, and I’m sure even more excitement is to come!

 

 

Dino Arms.

One evening this week, we decided to bust out the chalk and do some art.  I wrote Brooks’ name first, then asked him if he could write it.  For his first try writing his name, I think he did a bang up job:

I remember being so proud when Landon first started writing his name. It makes them seem so grown up!

Then we did some other abstract art of their favorite thing right now: Dinos!  We tried our hand at a diplodocus and then moved on to a T Rex.  Mom freehanded the outside and the boys colored it in.

After it was done, Brooks looked at it and said, “Mom, T Rex only has two fingers!” (I’d drawn 5!)

That boy, he’s absolutely right!
#futurepaleontologist