Brown Family 80AZ

Dear Family and Friends:

It is Sunday afternoon. I have come to love Sundays after the beatings administered to my Broncos football team on Saturday nights, plus the craziness of the week and weekend in general. Our calendar is SO full right now it is hard to find time to do anything but go from one thing to the next. I’m looking forward to Jan. 2, when life will slow down again.

Prince Sam:

I’ve been reading Josh’s books about The Diary of a Wimpey Kid and they are really funny. (The book concept is really good – it’s told from a middle schooler’s perspective. And it has pictures! When I’m done reading, I let Josh have the book back. But then Scottie confiscates it and Josh has to fight him for it. When Josh does get the chance to read it, it inspires him to write about his own childhood, including the now infamous dog-poop-in-the-eye incident, which Scottie still denies.)

Anyway, the “Wimpey Kid” in that story has a three-year-old brother – the youngest in his family. He says his little brother can basically get away with murder and his parents treat him like a “some kind of prince.”

That basically sums up Prince Sam. Except Jill gets mad when I call him “Prince Sam”. She says it will ruin him in front of our other kids’ eyes. But as the Wimpey Kid observes, it won’t be news to them.

Just to prove my point, we recently moved Prince Sam into Zach’s bedroom and Josh into Scottie’s bedroom. Prince Sam’s not too happy about (finally) being kicked out of the crib and the nursery and, more importantly, losing his bottle of milk. Prince Sam thought it was cool that he got to sleep downstairs for one night and then he was ready to move back upstairs to the nursery and his crib. So I had to actually take down the crib so it was no longer an option. He says he’s scared of the dark so I tell him stories and that seems to help, unless he’s afraid of the three bears or the wolf that chases pigs or the troll that guards the bridge. I don’t know.

Anna:

Anna recently spent a weekend in Montana. Apparently there are some really cheap flights up there right now and my sister-in-law, Cheryl, loves to take advantage of that. Twice now she has flown up there with one of her kids and one of our kids. So, Anna took the most recent trip and came back with a ton of new clothing. Apparently it is really cold in Montana right now and there is nothing to do there but shop until you drop. My hell. Anna’s paradise.

Anna also recently took a trip to the orthodontist and man, oh, man she apparently has every problem with her mouth known to womankind. In addition to teeth spacing problems, she has an underbite and a crossbite. She’ll basically be in braces for many, many years. She’ll even have to wear one of those headgears thingys when she sleeps at night. Right now, though, she’s excited about having braces and stuff and brags about not getting to eat anymore popcorn or “sticky stuff” – just like her brother Josh.

We were also told a year ago that Anna needs glasses. So far we are avoiding that trip to the eye doctor. She doesn’t run into doors and she can read words and numbers just fine, so we’re not that concerned about it yet.

When Anna gets a modeling contract someday, Jill and I are taking at least a 50% cut.

Zach:

Zach also recently spent a weekend in Montana. I think he played outside a lot more than Anna did, mostly because he hates shopping and doesn’t mind the cold. I actually have no idea what he did there, just that he is back safe and sound and had fun.

Zach also recently went to the orthodontist. He has an underbite and will need braces and headgear soon, too. The doctor told us that the underbite problem is a one in one thousand problem. We are the fortunate parents of two children with the same problem. At least Zach and Anna won’t tease each other about their new sleeping attire.

Zach is finishing up his soccer season soon. He’s an intense soccer player and is a lot of fun to watch. At home, however, he is a fragile young man who needs a lot of his mother’s mothering. The other day Jill was gone to some meetings and Zach hurt himself outside. He came in to the house screaming like his hand had been cut off. I could hear him going through the whole house screaming and looking for his mom. When I finally informed him that mom was gone and I would help him, he simple said “nevermind”. Then he stopped screaming and ran back outside to play some more.

Josh:

Josh started the teeth problem in our family. He’s the first to get braces and not eat popcorn or “sticky stuff”. Not only does he have braces, but he had a special surgery to bring down one of his front teeth that is still hiding in the roof of his mouth. The surgery worked and the chain is indeed pulling down the long lost tooth. But at a recent visit the orthodontist told us that the tooth was cracked and in decay, probably because it spent so long hiding around his nose. He’s thinking it might be the subject a root canal in the near future.

Josh just finished his soccer season. His team did pretty good – 2 losses; 2 ties; and the rest wins. Whose counting, though? And speaking of counting, the fathers played the sons on the team again and we fathers beat the sons for the second year in a row. Most of the fathers don’t care who wins and try to let the kids get a couple of extra goals, but a few fathers are seriously competitive and will play hard the entire time, including kicking hard shots against the sons’ goalie.

Scottie:

Scottie’s football season came to a screeching halt recently. Every team makes it to the tournament, but it is single elimination. We had the second lowest seed and it showed. It was 28-0 at half time and most of my players were pretty much resigned to another loss and wrapping up the season. I tried to build them back up, but it’s the same story I’ve been telling them at half time for most of our games, so it didn’t help them that much. Despite the bad season, I think most of the kids want to play together again. I’m trying to put together a 9-10 and 11-12 team next Spring. Jill’s not too happy about that, especially since I told her I’d be taking a break from coaching after this fall season.

During the off-season Scottie is going to brush up on his singing and acting talents. Scottie got a part in Fiddler on the Roof as a villager. I think it should be something he’s proud of. Maybe he is but he’s just biding his time before making his grand debut.

Scottie’s not happy about his new sleeping arrangements. He has had his own room for 3+ years and was quite content to live out his days as a hermit. But now he has to share with Josh and Josh is ecstatic. He feels like he has finally moved into the big time. Really, all he did was move into the smelliest room in the house.

Jill:

Jill spends her days visiting the orthodontist, decorating the new rooms for the boys and undercoating the nursery, attending physical therapy, and trying to convince me to not coach in the Spring.

Scott:

Scott is slow at work, even though he’s a bankruptcy lawyer. Apparently the economy is so bad that businesses can’t even afford bankruptcy lawyers. It’s a huge blow to his ego. He is also undergoing rigorous 12-step therapy for recovering flag football coaches. “I am powerless over my ability to win games.”

We wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all and pass along our love.

The Browns