Berkely LHS

We went to the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley before Griffin's helmet fitting day. This is a place that Brett used to visit as a child with his schools or with his grandparents, so there was a certain amount of flashback for him in taking the family there. Some things have changed and surprisingly some things have not.



Come on Daddy take us inside so we can see what you remember...


Ahh, my last day without a helmet, I almost forgot what my head looks like...

I can't believe that Daddy got all the boys on top of the big whale on the deck outside the LHS.

Mommy climbed inside the alpha helix that is DNA with us...you try saying deoxyribonucleic acid when you're two or four years old!

We had complete control over much of the museum , so we left our mark in the wall, can you figure out who is where?

October 2009

October was a fun family month. We started the month by getting Griffin's helmet. We went to two weddings (yes all five of us attended), visited a pumpkin patch, concluded a soccer season, celebrated Halloween, flew to Seattle, and, besides all that, we took lots of great pictures. We may have been a little under the weather for the last part of the month, but we didn't let that stop us. Because of all the activities we have put the blog together much later than usual, but hopefully it is just as enjoyable and we even included the first part of November just to give you a flavor for the start of this month.

Garrett 4y 4mo

Garrett has had a coming-of-age month. He began playing on an official soccer league team with friends from church. He had preschool and soccer pictures taken; you'll see them on the site when we get them back. He has received his first homework assignments. He has started coloring more inside the lines and putting multiple colors on a page and he is enjoying tracing shapes, maps, or pictures of various vehicles. What's next?


You can't score on me, Daddo!




I turned yard work into tackle Daddy.

Here is my activity day where I get to do gymnastics with teacher Darla and tap dance with teacher Meg.

My friend Caleb and I are enjoying our teacher Mrs. Purcell for Classical Conversations. Extra points for my teacher because she likes Star Wars!

Just working on some of my baking skills with Mommy, gotta make something yummy.

Uhhh. So I made a big mess, but they sure did taste good.

Relishing my role as big brother.

The whole idea of a cone is to avoid it, not knock it over, Bryce.

Raise your hand, if you're sure! What, that was a commercial jingle back in the day...

One of my favorite destinations for a bike ride, the park!

Bryce 2y 2mo

Bryce has enjoyed some time at home as the biggest brother while Garrett is at preschool. He is starting to try and do nice things for Griffin and has enjoyed some "mission" mornings with Daddy, where the two youngest go with Brett shopping to various locations for the family. Bryce still enjoys watching Garrett and tries to prove that he can do anything that Garrett can. The funniest instance lately has been with Garrett's memorization work for Classical Conversations: Bryce stepped right in when Garrett said "I don't remember" and rattled off "kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus" he only forgot species--not bad for a two year old? Look out Garrett you've got a competition brewing.

So after I score a goal, am I supposed to rip my shirt off? I keep telling Mommy I need some bigger shoes.

Mommy said: "New Star Wars episode" and we all looked.

What can I say...I like shoes and I like them in my order. You gotta problem with that?

Just because my brother tells me to do something doesn't mean I have to.

Garrett and I took turns putting each other in the laundry, I think I won that round.

When I get older do you think I'll be able to grow a white goatee and chest hair? Or maybe I'll just end up pushing a walker around...

Griffin 5 mo

Griffin is working on catching his brothers' and parents' attention with just about anything. He is grabbing onto things including glasses, necklaces, and toys. He is smiling and laughing, especially at his brothers. Griffin is also trying to keep pace with his brothers by staying awake as long as possible. Honestly, though, he has been the best sleeper of the bunch. He is turning over and fighting his way to turn back over. With Joy having gone back to work a few days a week, he still is refusing to take a bottle. He just figures Mommy will get home eventually and make it up to him, fortunate for him she only works a half day twice a week. We also found out this month that Griffin does have plagiocephaly, which is a big word that means crooked head. He was seen by a specialist who graded it as moderate to severe and we had him fitted for a corrective helmet that is due to arrive at the beginning of next month. Please pray for his and our adjustment to the helmet. Hopefully he will only need it for 3 to 6 months since it was caught early on and we may be able to prevent him from having depth perception issues, facial bone abnormalities, and chronic TMJ issues.

Keep doing whatever you're doing because it is hilarious!

Oh, yeah, did I mention that I found my tongue?

I may be the little brother, but I sure am trying to get bigger. See check me out in the swing already.

I'm really trying to show off my cuteness and work on my neck muscles at the same time. Gotta get ready to lug around that helmet.

I know I was looking pretty old in those pictures before, so here I am practicing my baby face, but be warned, I don't stop moving much.

I still love my bath time, sometimes I even pee on myself on purpose just to get a little personal attention from Mommy. But don't tell her that.

Wow, did you see me stick my tongue out really far...I gotta check and make sure I stuffed it all back in there.

Soccer Season Begins

It is still hard to believe that our son is old enough to play in an organized soccer league. He is having a blast and Brett is receiving his first formal soccer training (since his only soccer experience was being asked to play in an intramural game in college for a friend's team that was short players, well the story goes that Brett got a yellow card within five minutes of entering the game and still doesn't really understand why, so maybe he will figure it out by watching his sons). Garrett is the youngest guy on the team but that hasn't stopped him from getting in the middle of things which has included a black eye from getting elbowed there--barely flinched and just kept after the ball. Bryce sits on the sidelines, begging for a chance to play for his big brother's team. Bryce has attempted to enter the game without permission on a number of occasions and has been interviewing people to see if someone can forge a birth certificate that declares him old enough to play now.


Hey, Dad, it's my first game, are you sure you prepared me well enough? So I just hop up and down on top of the ball and make chicken noises...for real?

Put me in coach, I'm ready to play...NOW! I really don't want to wait two years for this opportunity.

Tyler and I are going to beat all the orange men down the field.

This is where I, oh so patiently, wait the call that I too, can play someday. But just between you and me...I'm ready now.

We are Mike's Mini Men! That's me #2, I asked Daddy who a famous #2 was and he said Derek Jeter...then I said, in soccer!

I'm coming after the ball, look out! Did I mention I'm doing my Michael Jordan/Lightening McQueen imitation on the field?

My friend J.J. and I made peace with each other after the game, during the game we had fun knocking each other down.