The BrehiThomas Family Blog: May 2018

USAA Spring Fest

Tasha and Andrew just happened to plan on a Spartan in Austin the same day as the USAA Spring Fest. We were babysitting the cousin gang that day and decided to take them all. Man the looks we got with 5 kids packed in a double stroller. No, they are not all ours, but all those we passed must have assumed so with all the double takes, wide eyes, and whispered we observed throughout the day. We learned last year to start with the bounce-houses & other games before it gets busy. The kids pretty much walked onto any bounce house/slide they wanted. Then we ate food (which was a bit of an adventure, Lehi would take 2 kids at a time to go pick what they wanted to eat, bring them back to me, and then take about 2). It was a process, but the food was free so we were not about to complain. The biggest mistake we made was doing all the carnival games after eating. We should have lumped that into the "get done first" priorities. The lines were crazy. So we let each kid pick a game to play and called it good. Lincoln was done at this point, so I walked around with him while Lehi waited in line(s) with the other 4 to play their selected game.

Mother's Day Cards

Maverick has developed a love for making cards for people; especially family members. I am pretty sure he makes Lehi a card a few times a month. In preparation for Mother's Day, I pinned a few cards that I knew Mav could make with little help and let him pick which one he wanted to make. He loved "Grandma you're great and I'm not lion" card. And he made them relatively unassisted by me!

Zoo

For their Christmas gifts last year, Mom & Dad got the boys season passes to the Zoo. These make for great spur-of-the-moment-let's-get-out-of-the-house trips for us. I am pretty sure we discover a new area each time we go and the boys "favorite part of the trip" changes every time. Lincoln loved the fish this round and Maverick declared his favorite animal is the giraffe. Since the admission ticket is free, I usually let the boys pick something within the park to do that costs additional money. Maverick decided to ride the carousel. I bought a ticket for both him and Lincoln, but Lincoln was NOT about to sit on any plastic animal so they let Maverick have two rides.

"Finding Nemo" tank, well played

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was filled with great surprises. At church we served up cheesecake with berry/sauce toppings and talked about women who influenced our lives for good. It was a very special and sweet meeting (both spiritually and physically). When we came home, dinner pretty much appeared in front of me; Maverick told me "he" wanted to make spaghetti and homemade meatballs for me. Lucky for Lehi, I already had the meat mixture in the freezer but it is still a lot of prep-work. The boys got me my favorite flowers, Stock and made sure I was well loved. Maverick made a super cute card in Primary and articulated the reason he loved me as "I like my babysitter." He explained to me later that he said that because I am nice enough to let him have a babysitter and he loves her. I was dying!!

....ok let's be honest; I didn't take this on Mother's Day, but I just love these boys & this picture so darn much.

Food Friends

Lincoln has this tendency to find something in the grocery store while shopping and clinging onto it. This item usually changes from trip-to-trip, but it stays in his hands the whole shopping experience and often ends up accompanying him in his car seat on the ride home. He practically cuddles with it like it is a stuffed animal...and it cracks me up every time.

Early Birthday Surprise

I have some of the best friends ever. Lehi told me one morning, "Now babe, you know I think you always look nice, so don't take this the wrong way, but our ministering brothers are going to come visit us tomorrow night, so you might want to be, you know, ready." After an evil-eye and scowl, I kinda-sort-of-ignored his comment. The next day when Lehi came home from work, he again reminded me that we would have company that evening. Again, I rolled my eyes and waved him off. That evening, when I went to answer the door, I was surprised to find a bunch of my favorite ladies waiting to take me out for dessert. I had an inkling something was up with how strange Lehi was acting, but it was so exciting regardless. April laughed and said, "there was another balloon, but it is up there now..." while pointing to the sky. It was perfect. We spend the evening taking up a huge booth at Cheesecake factory, laughing our butts off and eating our weight in cheesecake. We all picked one to share and the variety made it that much more delicious. So. Much. Fun. I am so thankful for phenomenal women in my life that are so thoughtful, can make me laugh, and light up my day.