The BrehiThomas Family Blog: April 2020

Holy whirlwind. This month has been crazy with COVID, birthdays, Easter, showings, conference, etc. But it sure went by fast!

General Conference

Saturday we did our traditional donut & PJs while watching conference; I had the great idea of letting them play with their marble run set, which was significantly more loud than I thought possible. ;) Sunday we got dressed in church clothes and played a couple of games--the boys pick a topic/word and whenever the speaker said the word, they got to get a jelly bean, which they put in a cup to play blackout conference bingo. We started with the squares full of jelly beans and they got to eat it when they heard the word underneath. There was certainly a lot of help/prompting involved from us, but I think it helped them listen (at least a little more than normal). I do love how Maverick gets SO excited to see President Nelson and does sit quietly and try to listen when he speaks. The restoration "theme" was a pretty cool experience--with the announcement of the church logo, the hosanna shout, and the new proclamation--The Restoration of the Fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A bicentennial Proclamation to the World."

Maverick Turns 6

If you asked Maverick a few days after his birthday how it was, he would give you a sly, sideways grin and say "well....we kinda broke the law a little bit...."

I woke up early to get some decorations together and fill Mav's room with his favorite colored balloons--green. Lehi convinced Mav to have all his presents in our new cooler and then it would be like a treasure chest when he opened it (aka mom & dad didn't have to wrap any presents). That sounded like the best, coolest idea ever to Maverick, so that is what we did. The big present he asked for were Bokugon toys (basically, tiny animal figures that collapse into a ball that you "battle").

I went outside to grab the mail fast when I was stopped dead in my tracks. Our driveway had been artistically decorated for Maverick's birthday. I hurried inside and told him there was something outside for him and grabbed the camera--his reaction was priceless! I was legit moved to tears because having a birthday in quarantine is just not very fun and it is easy to feel alone. Our primary filled his heart (and mine) with their sweet surprise
.

Tasha asked if we could go to Sonic with her and her kiddos for lunch. Maverick was thrilled to be able to spend time with his cousins, after Texas when on a pretty strict COVID lock down (no groups other than immediate families together). So we jumped into Tasha's car and went to get some lunch to eat in the car. Mav's cousin also surprised him with one of his favorite cereals (Cocoa Pebbles), a new Beyblade, and Sour Patch Kids. After hugs in the driveway, we headed inside...and then ran back out to see if Tasha was ok breaking the ~~law~~ rules and letting Parker and Tayson come play. We made Pokémon waffles for dinner, complete with whipping cream and soup patch kids and then Tasha, Andrew, and the girls joined us for cake and ice cream. The awesome Marsha made Maverick's Beyblade stadium cake, which he was absolutely elated for.

Maverick is a huge help in our home. Lincoln adores him and wants to be with him all the time. He enjoys school, playing with his friends, reading books, and trying to be independent--like making his own lunch. He loves learning about Jesus and had the most insane memory of random things that take Lehi and I by surprise. He says he was "born in the cold" and wants to go back to build snowmen. He is cautious in trying new things, but loves adventures and being with his family. He is competitive and likes challenges. Board games and card games are one of his favorite things to do together, and obstacle courses. He can be stubborn with lots of attitude but is quick to give you a big hug and tell you thank you.

Maverick also lost his first tooth; after failed attempts to tie a string around and shut door/shoot nerf gun, etc over the course of a few days, he decided he wanted to eat and apple and have it come out that way...and it did!

Easter Eats

Easter Eve, Bobo and I decided we needed Cold Stone. We found the most ridiculous Easter filter and dubbed this the "some bunnies love ice cream" photo. Cake batter with brownie was just what we needed, along with each other. Yay for being quarantine buddies!

Our sneaky Easter bunny hid the baskets again, it look Lincoln awhile to find his this year. They boys dumped their baskets while storing through them, as usual. Then we headed to Bobo's house for a modified Easter egg hunt. Everyone collected 10 eggs, which had paper inside with a point value. Then you got to total up your points and "buy" candy of your choice at the store. The loved it almost as much as Mak putting another bow of Brielle. ;)

Strawberries, Ice Cream

Tasha and I loaded up the kids (minus Brielle) and drove about an hour out of town to a strawberry farm to have the kids pick strawberries. Due to COVID, you had to have a time reservation and the only one available was 4:00 pm...which is pretty much the equivalent of standing on the sun that time of day in Texas. But we did it for the kids...who then said they were done about 10 minutes into picking. We bribed them with a "fill two baskets get ice cream on the way home" negotiation, which sent them back to the plants. After about an hour, we were all dripping sweat, but had some beautiful heaps of delicious strawberries as a reward. ….and ice cream.

Lehi's 30th

I had concocted some pretty awesome plans for Lehi's big 30th birthday, but COVID pretty much ruined all of them. Rather than trying to come up with a surprise, I asked Lehi what he wanted to do. Since we are moving soon, he decided he wanted to drive to Lockhart and get BBQ...from a lot of different places. So BBQ we got.

...but I did have a small surprise. I contacted family and friends asking them to share some of their favorite traits/memories of Lehi. I compiled all of these into a document, ran out of ink a quarter way into printing them (in a most COVID appropriate way) and the made sure they were all saved to my phone. Every few hours, I would share a couple of written/video comments with him and make him guess who it was from. He was excited to hear what everyone had to say, laughed a lot, and usually guessed correctly.

After collecting many pounds of BBQ, we headed home with the spoils, labeled each location on the saturated brown paper wrapping, and proceeded to do the ultimate taste-off with the top BBQ joints from the BBQ capital of Texas. We determined Kreuz had the best brisket, followed by Blacks/Smittys (I voted Blacks, Lehi was Smittys) and last, Chisholm. (I bet you can guess which the kid's got the most of). ;) Lincoln pounded super spicy sausage, claimed half a loaf of bread as his, along with a cup of BBQ sauce. Then we gave Maverick a designated cup of sauce and they both ate all of the dinners for the next 5 days, because we let them dip everything in their "own" sauce. Best decision ever.

I asked the boys how old Lehi was...Maverick said 23, Lincoln 90. Then Mav guessed 30. I said, "He is an old man!!"to which Maverick rapid-fire responded with uttermost enthusiasm," He's not an old man, he's the birthday man!"

Mav's Sauce & Linc's Sauce, dinner days later

Adventure: Bandera City Park

Sometimes, I try to be a cool mom and take my kids to new places (or places outside the house in general). I am a big time home-body, so it takes effort on my part. We decided to explore Bandera City Park, which did not disappoint. We walked along the river and found a sweet place to play. It was pretty windy and the water was deep and flowing fast, so we didn't put more than our feet in the water, except Maverick, who leaned over the edge a little too far and fell in. With Brielle on hip and toes as close to the edge as they could go, I stretched as far as I could to haul in a scared and yelling Maverick while telling him everything was ok and I was getting him and he had his puddle jumper on so he wouldn't sink. I am sure it was an amusing scene for any passer-byer. It was a perfect day, Brielle loved putting her feet in the water and the boys soaked up the fun of the tree fort while I soaked up the beautiful view.

Shorts & Quotes:

-Lincoln running into my room in utter distress, "Mav tooted in my room!" (Progressed to whining/crying on the floor by my bed) "I don't want him toot on my room!"

-Maverick calling fasting "feasting" (I was explaining why I wasn't eating/drinking for the COVID world wide fast). Oh how I wish feasting has the same effect....

-Kid playing at Bobo's house while our realtor took pictures of our house; I snuck in the house while kids playing outside. Mav & Linc came in to go to the bathroom a few minutes later. Lincoln walks up, gives me a big hug and says "I so happy you here, mommy."

Weeding the flower beds: Maverick. "Mom. When I am 12 or 30, can I change my mane to Redeye?" (Bayblade character)

Mav's UNO FHE--when you have cards it means you can't be with Jesus. But when you get rid of your cards you get to be with Him. Lehi and I took his thought process and ran with it, elaborating to cards are sins and when you give them to Jesus you can be with Him. Out of the mouth of babes!

Home inspection--we had to be out and were wasting time. Lehi ran into the store, for what u thought would be quick. I was wondering what was taking so long and voiced this question aloud.
Maverick "he probably got in a fight. About who has the cooler mask."

Gave boys assignment to remember scriptures & prayer. Huge success. Promoting Lincoln to remember by saying, "Time to go to bed....." while pausing for him to object and shout "bu we forgo o say paye!"

I taught Maverick the term 'pillow talk'--a few nights this month he has requested pillow talk & for me to sing him songs.

SELLING THE HOUSE--we had 4 walk through the first 36 hours the house was on the market and an offer in 48 hours. It was a stupid low offer though that our realtor brought back, telling us their realtor told him that this couple kept low balling everyone with their offers. We ended up doing a bit of negotiations with them and they took our final offer! Now all the million other steps and paperwork and we will be on our way to Utah!