Brubaker Family Adventures

  I forgot to take photos of our actual dinner because I was too busy just enjoying the moment.  Ben was so happy we hosted thanksgiving this year at our new house. He had initially not wanted to but he really got into the spirit and took over cooking the ham and the turkey which was awesome.  He also made sure we got some new furniture to make our guests more comfortable.  It encouraged him to call a plumber out to fix the botched job our contractor did in the basement.  The contractor left us with a toilet that didn't flush right it made a gurgling noise in the sink every time you flushed it.  The first thing the plumber noticed was that the water heater vent was not sealed shut and carbon monoxide was leaking into our house.  He was so angry and upset because that could have killed our little family.  He took care of that and fixed the plumbing issue and only charged us $200 so we felt like it was a blessing in disguise.  Sam was impressed...

My little Briscoe rolled all the way down the stairs to the basement today.  I wondered how long it would be until that happened because the top of the stairs is so close to the door going out to the garage.  I have almost taken a tumble down them myself. He's been really into writing me love notes lately and I kind of adore him for it.  I'm going to miss it when he outgrows it. The kids were playing so well together last night and doing their operations again.  They made a pyramid, a triangle and a jet pack.  I love it when they work together even though they get so loud and crazy. Briscoe got to come with us to Peter's boys activities at church and I'm always impressed with Peter's artistry.  He is such a little artist.  He spent the most time on his tree and it turned out the best.  I think he may be a perfectionist like his dad. I've been making Ben's dad's rolls recipe lately on Sundays even though I don't eat gluten anymore.  I wasn't g...

 We went to the trunk or treat in town that is put on by the police department with our new neighbors and it was fun to have another family to go with.  After standing in line for an hour and not getting much candy we decided to leave early and go home and have dinner and try our luck in the subdivision across the street from our house. COVID has made Halloween another lackluster year with little participation from the community.   Peter and I googled funny halloween costumes for boys and settled on Abraham Lincoln.  He said two of his friends pretended to be his body guards for an entire recess and told everyone to vote for him. I guess it was a hit! Briscoe chose a samurai costume this year and Henry decided that he should be a ninja and Belle kept calling herself super girl even though she was dressed up as wonder woman.  She was adorable either way. They are all so cute we can hardly stand it. My mom had come down the weekend before Halloween and made s...

 I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving! Time is a thief and everday my babies get bigger and older.  I love them all so much my heart could burst.  We are in the sweet spot of childhood where its mostly enjoyable. We've gotten into a good routine with the kids now that we've been in our new house for almost 3 months.  They rarely watch TV or play video games because they have been able to play outside so much.  Today was cold and rainy so they even though they stayed inside all day they played with each other and did lots of artwork.  The blue cabinet I made Ben buy me at Costco was so worth it. I keep all of their arts and crafts and montessori inspired activities in there and they pull it out every day to create whatever comes into their little imaginations.  Peter was drawing faces tonight and naming them, to me they looked just like Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln, he really has a gift for art. Briscoe is such a determined little learner h...

  We had the best weekend four wheeling with Grandma and Grandpa in the mountains behind our house.  Poor little Belle fell asleep and Peter had to hold her to keep her from falling off.  I thoroughly enjoyed having Briscoe and Henry on the back of my 4-wheeler. Those two little boys crack me up they are both a lot of fun to be around I'm so glad they are mine.  They had non stop commentary about my driving which had me laughing the whole time.  Then at one point on our ride we were driving down the mountain at an angle and Briscoe says 'I love you Henry!' like it might be his last chance to say that to his brother.  He wasn't terrified he just wanted to make sure his brother knew how he felt just in case.  It was funny and sweet at the same time.  By the end they were tired of sitting on the back of the 4 wheeler and ready to get home and run free.  Ben really enjoyed the trip and said what a great day was and on the way out asked me to say ...

 We love living in our brand new beautiful house in the country. There are two mountain ranges to the east and west of us and our house is nestled at the west edge of the valley against the mountain range whose name I do not know. The mountains to the East Ben said are the Oquirrh Mountains. I love waking up to seeing the sun just starting to come up over the mountains and blinding me with its glorious light. It can be a little annoying on say a Saturday morning but luxurious still the same.   We roasted Marshmallows in our brand new fire pit for the first time last night on my 40th birthday.  We took turns snapping pictures of us and the kids to remember the momentous occasion by.  Ben made sure to send one to our landscaper Fred who finally talked us into letting him put in a fire pit for us.  He has 11 kids of his own and he wanted us to have that for our kids.  He kept saying he was just going to put one in for us for free and Ben didn't feel right...

 For nearly 10 years I have kept a blog called The Diaper Diaries documenting our life with little ones and we have been a diaper free home for about 4 months now.  Time is a thief.  I can barely remember those diaper days now and I'm so grateful I kept up my blog so faithfully during the cutest years of their life.  Having babies was a magical time. And now we are in the sweet spot of childhood where we mostly sleep through the night and we can send them downstairs to play loudly by themselves without the constant supervision that toddlers and babies require. I love being a stay at home mom.  I had no idea I would like it so much but I do.  Last year I did a homeschool preschool with Briscoe using course work from a company called the Good and the Beautiful and it was really fun.  Since I wasn't able to get Belle into a preschool this year I am doing the same program with her this year and so far we are enjoying it.  I also signed her up for some...