2019 is almost at an end. It has been a while since we have posted anything so here are some of our favorite memories from this autumn.
Samantha officially contracted in the Army ROTC program at UNC. Rich got to swear her in for an awesome bonding moment. In 2021 she will be an college graduate (second degree) and an Army officer!
Grant had a great season as goalie for the U8 Fuquay Varina Soccer team, The Menace! In a blow out final, The Menace dominated - or as Grant misspeaks "denominated" - over the opposing team. This is Grant's second championship team this year!
Cattan rules. Rich and I don't get Cattan, but everyone else does including Aunt Linda who came to visit for Thanksgiving. The kitchen table was occupied for several days looking like this. Sam's boyfriend, Mitch, will have to learn how to play to fill that fourth seat.
Run, run, get some! Getting ready for the 2020 Dopey Challenge means lots of miles now. The autumn sky has been spectacular this year. Getting to run with Rich (when he stays with me) is a good excuse to spend time together. I started doubling up on back to back long runs and will log over 500 miles for the year - a PR! Disney here I come.
Run, run, get some Rich! Rich ran the Holly Springs Half Marathon in November. He discovered that the hill out of Bass Lake and up Sugg Hill Farms can really wear you down but he pushed hard for the last three miles and finished strong. Rich set a PR at just over 1:45.We spent the afternoon at Shawn and Denette's house drinking beers, eating smoked turkey and listening to Rich and Shawn strategize for Disney.
Grant turned 9 years old - wow, where did that time go? His presents include Bey Blades (metal, spinning tops that battle each other) and a 750+ piece LEGO 3-in-1 set. For the first time, Grant did all of the work himself with dad locating the parts for him as an assistant.
Look who's back! Ho Ho Ho, our mischievous elf-on-the-shelf found his way back to the Brown household getting into the LEGOs, the Bey Blades, and just about everything else of Grant's. There must be some connection!
The holidays are here. We went to the very crowded Fuquay Varina Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. TJ is rocking the hoodies lately, yes he getting into "that" age. Even at this age, TJ is still a sweetheart.
How How from the Y-Guides Saber Tooth Storm Troopers who marched in the Holly Springs Christmas Parade! The lousy rain stopped just in time for thousands of people to line the parade route. The kids had a blast handing out candy to all of the spectators.
It must be time to decorate the tree because Santa has come to town! This was our second Fuquay Varina Christmas Parade. We had perfect seats across from The Mill to watch all the floats go by, ending of course, with and exuberant Santa on his sleigh!
This family has
trouble sleeping their own bed. When TJ was little, like any toddler, he would
wander into Lisa’s and my bedroom at o-dark-thirty to get into our bed and snuggle. Grant became a master at not staying in his
bed. He would start in his bed and then end up on the floor, underneath his
mini-loft bed. After that he just started sleeping under the mini-loft
altogether. Grant’s visits to our room
were frequent, often times it was several times in the night. Like me, he is an
early riser so add a 5:30am visit to get mom’s iPad.
Somewhere after my
deployment and I got home I struggled to sleep all night in the bed. I’d find myself up at 2am tossing to fall
back to sleep. It did not help that Lisa
has a tendency to breathe heavy (read, snore). I would end up down stairs on
the couch watching my phone until about 4am-ish and then sleep for another 90
minutes until the alarm went off. I
found the couch had a certain level of comfort that I could not achieve in bed
and the sleep there seemed to be the best sleep of the night.
Keep in mind that
sometimes Grant would come in as I was dealing with my insomnia by heading to the couch so that
two people were changing beds in the night. Sometimes it would be my turn to
snore and I would chase Lisa out of bed and Grant would come in; and if Grant
started snoring then I would go downstairs. That's three people switching beds.
Lately it has been Lisa’s turn to
deal with the early morning fits of sleeplessness. I have rolled over at 3am to
find her scrolling through her phone unable to settle down. When my alarm goes
off there is a vacant spot and I go to look for Lisa in one of several places
she might have crashed; Sam’s bed, the upstairs couch, in with the boys, or
down on the comfy couch. Today it was the comfy couch.
TJ has gotten much better at staying in his
bed. Now 12½ he falls asleep quickly and is hard to wake up in the morning.
The
only one in the family who does not play this game is Samantha. When she goes to her room, she closes the
door and is not seen again until daylight.
