KIND OF LIKE SISTERS

Dear Brooklyn,

We are more like sisters then mother and daughter right now.

We are either best friends...

or fighting like cats and dogs.

It makes life interesting, but I do love interesting.

Sincerely, Lori

SAINT PATTY'S DAY

Dear Brooklyn,

Last night I sat you down and told you all about St. Patrick's Day. Well, I told you what I knew, which wasn't a ton, and there's a possibility that I made up a few things... It's not like you'll remember. I'll make sure I get the details right next year.

Any who.... One thing that I told you was about the leprechauns and how a leprechaun might come to our house and play a few tricks and maybe leave a few goodies. We decided to leave a little trap to try to capture him. We stuck some candy and money under a box to lure him in.

After that it was bed time. I told you that when you wake up we would go check our trap together. That's when everything went down hill. Fast.

You started getting really upset. You did not want a leprechaun to come to our house while we were sleeping. You told me you were really scared and started crying. I backtracked by telling you that leprechauns were nice and really small, like kittens. Fuzzy and cute, like kittens. This just confused you and made you even more scared. Go me.

Finally you walked around that house with me, making sure all the doors and windows were locked so no leprechaun could get in. You, even went so far as to have your dad shut and lock your bed room door.... like I said: downhill.

But.... this morning you woke up excited to see our trap! We followed a trail of rainbow candy all the way to the fallen trap. You did refuse to open it, but after I took care of that, you were ecstatic about all the goodies the leprechaun left when he magically escaped the trap. 

You were highly entertained by the fact the leprechaun turned our milk green and loved that he left candy hidden all over the house. But I think your favorite part of St. Patrick's Day (which is my favorite too) is the pinching. Let's just hope you didn't leave any bruises on your friends at church.

Hopefully next year you won't be afraid of the leprechaun and we will spend more time making a better trap that no leprechaun could escape from. Then maybe we could have green milk and hidden candy all year long.

Sincerely, Lori

 

DINNER PARTY

Dear Kurt,

One day, while sitting on our couch, I had an awesome dinner party idea. An hour later it was set in motion.

This evening every person, young and old, showed up with a different ingredient with plans to create an epic dinner by combining said ingredients into a creative, mind blowing meal that we would write about for years to come and whose recipes we would pass on to all future generations.

Ummmmm...... not so much.

It started off great. Meaning, yes, everyone brought an ingredient, but that's where we became stumped.

We had sausage, ground beef, bacon, cream of chicken, carrots, canned pineapple, eggs, flour, cream cheese, and butter.

After much consideration we decided to exchange the ground beef for hash browns, and the cream of chicken for cheese. With those, plus the eggs, sausage, and bacon, we made breakfast burritos.

The eggs, butter, flour, and carrots became carrot cake (a healthy version - just for me! with a pineapple cream cheese frosting.

It all turned out really good! We were a little hesitant about the cake but everyone loved it and the kids had seconds and thirds.

It really was epic, just not exactly the way I had pictured. I'm pretty sure a BBQ version of this is in our future. Plus, I'll do anything to hear more of everyone's embarrassing stories.

Sincerely, Lori

WHERE WILL BROOKLYN FALL ASLEEP?

Dear Brooklyn,

You use to be a sleep-in-my-own-bed-only type of girl.

But not lately.

Lately, I find you curled up in odd places.

Most of the time there is some part of you stuck under your bed.

It is quite adorable and you have fast become a little side show when people are over.

Even now I wonder where I will find you when I sneak into your room to check on you.

Good night, little one. Sleep tight and don't let the floor bugs bite.

Sincerely, Lori

SLEDDING AND DREAMS

Dear Kurt,

Our date last night was amazing.

We waited till it was dark and then drove up to the hills to a huge sledding hill.

We flew down the hill on the frozen snow, not being able to see where we were going to end up.

After we popped one tube, we both loaded up on the remaining tube and sped down the hill. At the bottom we just laid there and enjoyed the night air and each others warmth.

The last tube's fate wasn't any different than the first: a hole.

After that we were left with just a truck tailgate, a bottle of sparkling cider and talk of our future.

We shared our dreams for ourselves, our family, and our loved ones. We talked of ideas to make a better life. We shared future traditions and goals. 

It was an easy conversation. One that left me inspired and even more in love with you.

I will always cherish our moments like this.

I love you.

Sincerely, Lori

GONE SHOOTING

Dear Kurt,

Yesterday we went shooting with Josh and Serena and your brother up in the hills.

Here are everyone's titles by the end of the day:

Kurt: "The Gangsta" specialty: the kill shot.

Lori: "Killer" specialty: hitting the target every single time. Don't mess with me.

Serena: "Determined" specialty: never giving up trying to get a good shot. (Yes, that's a nice way of saying she couldn't get a good shot.)

Josh: "The Observer" specialty: observing. Just kidding, but I honestly didn't see him shoot. I did see him load his gun though... he could be called "Bullet".

Ethan: "Bulls Eye" specialty: very accurate shooting

Brooklyn: "Huh?" specialty: not being able to hear with her ear plugs in.

Trey: "The Explorer" specialty: exploring everything as fast as he could before his mom called him back.

Molly: "Ice Cube" specialty: being super happy even though it was freezing cold.

Niyah: "Momma's Girl" specialty: always staying by her momma. Really this is always Niyah's title.

Sincerely, Lori

A HAIRY DEAL

Dear Brooklyn,

Last week we made a deal.

The deal was that you could grow your hair out like Rapunzel (I'll probably have to eat those words someday) IF you do three things:

1. Let me brush your hair everyday. Simple, right? Not so much. I basically have to wrap my legs around you and brush like crazy for ten seconds before you break away and hide under your bed. 

2. Let me put your hair up. You use to never let me do your hair, but since this deal you have been asking me to put your hair up. Miracles happen.

3. You have to let me wash your hair when you take a bath without screaming bloody murder and acting like the world is going to end any second. This is the one that will give us trouble and although I love your short hair, this is the reason I made the deal with you. I want bath time to not be I'd-rather-poke-my-eyes-out time. 

To say you are excited about this is an understatement. You basically tell everyone we see that you are going to have hair like "Tangled". 

I'm not going to lie, though, I will miss your cute little bob haircut. 

Sniff.

Sincerely, Lori