Brennan = Eleven

 Here we go - Brennan is ELEVEN! 

The 13th

On his birthday, he took swiss rolls to school for his treat to share with his classmates. For dinner he picked potato soup and rolls. For his dessert, he picked variety cheesecake. 

For his gift, we gave him $50. It was a big drawn out tear-fest the night before because he felt overwhelmed by indecision, and Ryan and I couldn't think of anything to get him. Sigh. This way he can pick something when he wants something, rather than stacking a birthday gift on right after all his Christmas gifts.

Urban Air

I think Ryan is officially sick of this place, but like the other boys, Brennan picked for his activity to go to Urban Air with his friend Jackson Carroll (there are two Jacksons that are both his best friends). Ryan picked him up, and they drove there together.

After playing for a few hours, they headed to lunch - MOD pizza, just like Collin's bday.

Jackson got him a Walmart gift card. Jackson also came over to play at the house for a couple hours. He's a nice kid. They had a great time, and Ryan wants a break from the place! 

***

Oh Brennan! We had a few easier years in there (age 8-10), but I think we are headed into some more nightmare ones. I think his teen years are starting now, at 11, and that doesn't bode well since Collin really is 13. Yikes! 

This kid is a ball of pent-up anxiety. He doesn't talk about feelings, and he can never make a decision.  He keeps secrets, and he's a spectacular liar. So far, his secrets and lies have never been a very big deal, but we all know how dangerous middle school and high school are. I'm so grateful he's got Collin by his side, but... I'm terrified. I wish he would talk to us (Ryan and I), but when we press, he shuts down even more. Sigh.

Brennan likes art, coding, Minecraft, and YouTube science videos. He likes to stay home - more than anyone except Ethan. He likes comfortable jammies, tagless shirts, back rubs and lotion. He still gets random rashes/hives, and his skin is crazy sensitive. 

He rarely feels strongly about anything, except food. He is very opinionated about food. He still hates anything with marinara sauce, though he does eat pizza now. He likes rich, creamy soups and casseroles (which my tummy hates). He also loves meat - steak, hamburgers, carne asada, etc. He won't eat any pasta or rice. He does do rolls and bread though. Very picky! 

Brennan is a very talented artist, specifically drawing. He goes to an art school after school each Monday, and they do acrylic painting, watercolors, clay, charcoal, and pencil. His favorite is by-far pencil and charcoal, and he's really good too! Ryan put up this display wire in the Lego room upstairs because I was having a hard time finding good places to display things on the main floor. He's embarrassed about it, but I love it! 

Collin and Brennan share a room, and it has been the best. When asked who his best friend is, Brennan answers without hesitation that it's Collin, and vice versa. I don't know if it's because we have moved so much or because of Covid and lockdown, but I can't complain. Collin already has a strong testimony of the Gospel and a desire to choose the right. Brennan is still learning. 

Brennan is super smart. In Math, his teacher lets him take the end-of-unit test on the first day of each unit. If he gets 100%, then he gets to do the spiraled-6th grade curriculum for that unit. When that happens, she literally gives him the material, and he teaches it to himself. The teacher is available for questions, but she is - of course - busy teaching the 5th grade content. There are no other kids in his class also doing the advanced material, so he has to be self-motivated. It's amazing! If he misses even 1, he has to participate with the class for the month-long unit. He hates when that happens, which so far has only been once. He's a great reader, even though he doesn't love it. He read about one Diary of a Wimpy Kid per day of Christmas Break, so thank goodness there's like 15 of them! He and Collin read in their room before bed on non-school nights. I'm excited for the extension opportunities that will be available to him at the middle school next year through gifted & talented and honors classes. 

With a January birthday, Brennan has one more year of Primary as the big dogs. He still sings in singing time, and he loves his teachers, so I think it will be ok. He already sees all the work that Collin has to do (passing the sacrament, organizing the deacons, bringing the bread, teaching his quorum, planning activities, visiting the inactives, etc.) that he knows that he's got it made waiting one more year. He does enjoy attending his weeknight Primary activities twice a month, and I'm glad he has such great dads leading that group. 

Brennan is my most inquisitive child, and he always needs to know why. Unfortunately, he is also the most mouthy of my kids, always responding with a smart-aleck retort. He almost always catches me off-guard. His reasoning and sarcasm are not bested among the other kids, though Ryan can usually deal jab for jab. Sadly, I'm usually dumbfounded and just send him to his room.

There's Brennan! He has grown up so much since we moved here, and we really have had a good couple years. Here comes teen B though... 

Christmas with the Rob Morellos!

It looked like it may not happen right up until they dropped their car in long-term parking in DC, but Rob, Rachel, and Peter came to San Antonio for Christmas. It was 80 degrees and beautiful - except for  a few foggy, misty mornings - and we had a fabulous time! 

Land Bridge

We wanted to do a "Jingle Bell 5K" on Dec 23rd, but I hurt my back, Ryan was recovering from strep throat, so we opted to go for a nature walk instead.

We headed to Phil Hardberger Park, and we ventured across the new land bridge that they just built over the highway. It was misty, but we hada great time. Katelyn would have pushed that stroller all the way back to DC!

San Jose Mission

After Peter's nap, we headed back out for more exploring. We took them to our favorite mission - San Jose. It was all decorated for Christmas, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

Alamo & Riverwalk

After wandering at San Jose, we headed downtown. First, we stopped in at the Alamo. We were able to wander around a bit there before heading down the stairs to the Riverwalk. It was fun to show them around our town. 

Bowling

Christmas Eve morning we headed to our traditional bowling activity. It was much more crowded than we expected, and one of the bumpers was broken on our lane, so it wasn't our best time, but we still enjoyed ourselves. We even headed across the street to Torchy's Tacos afterwards. Yum! 

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, Peter got to open his "something to wear" present, which was matching pajamas to his cousins'. 

The elves are Musical, Princess, Littlest, Snack, and Tallest.

We ate appetizers, sang Christmas carols, and lit candles to remember those who had passed away this year. 

The kids snuggled up, and we listened to the story of the first Christmas that we lovingly call "The Tape." If you know, you know. 

Christmas Morning

Peter loved the boxes. We got him some board books. 

Collin's favorite gift was the used 3D printer that Papa gifted our family. 

Brennan's favorite gift was a squishmallow now named Snakey. 

Ethan's favorite gift was a small flying toy called a gravitator. 

He also got this fun Grogu blanket. 

Katelyn's favorite gift was her squishmallow that she named Nemo. 

She also got a craft to make your own soap that she and Rachel spent an hour on that morning.

Christmas Afternoon

It was 80 degrees, so we headed to the neighborhood playground. Peter loved the swing and the slides. 

We even splashed our toes in the water of the pool. 

Even though the air was warm, the water was frigid. Ryan has always wanted to do a polar bear plunge, so Ethan, Katelyn, and Rachel joined him. 

Sunday

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. I always hate when big, much-anticipated events end. It makes me so sad. 

Their departure came way too fast, but we had the best time meeting Peter and hanging out with Rob & Rachel. Love you guys! Thank you for coming to visit us in Texas!  

*** 

Seeing as the kids and I had THREE weeks off school, we enjoyed lots of other activities over our LOOOONG Break. 

Ward Christmas Party

My Primary Presidency was in charge of decorating this gingerbread house for the party as a backdrop for Santa pictures. I was so happy with how it turned out! 

Bell-playing

Our friends invited us over for a night of caroling, and they introduced us to bell-playing. Everyone was surprisingly talented. We had a lot of fun! 

Christmas at Six Flags

We also made it to Six Flags one last time before our passes expired. We enjoyed all the Christmas lights and lots of bubble snow. 

We rode the train and Ferris wheel. The kids still love Looney Tunes Christmas, and Ryan and I still love their Nativity - with live sheep, camels, and flying angels! 

Spurs vs. Jazz

We got Katelyn a babysitter and took the boys all to an NBA game. We went to Red Robin first and had a great time staying up late. 

The Spurs lost to the Jazz, but we had a ton of fun.

Anniversary & Temple

Ryan and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary by going to an Argentinian restaurant and doing a session in the temple. With Covid, traffic and busy schedules, we hadn't gone together in a long time, and it was nice to be the witness couple together. 

New Year's at Sea World

New Year's Eve we headed to Sea World. We saw their Christmas lights, as well as the orca show and the dolphin & beluga show. 

Last but not least, we saw the BEST firework show... at 9pm. PERFECTION! 

Fondue, Fireworks & Football

New Year's Day was filled with football (Ohio State eked out a win against Utah in the Rose Bowl), fondue (yum! chocolate!), and fireworks (because that's what they do in the south!). 

Bike Ride

With an unprecedentedly warm Christmas Break, I took advantage of the 70-80 degree temperatures to take the kids on a bike ride. This was no easy feat, since I had to transport our 5 bikes to a paved trail. 

But we all had a great time, and the Oreos sandwiches at Freddy's were the perfect conclusion. 

Exercise

Ryan spent New Year's Day switching around our exercise room so I could still watch the Today Show. Unfortunately, no matter how he pointed the antenna, we still didn't get NBC. I guess I'm an ABC GMA watcher now, after 13 years with Today. :-( 

But the new set-up got Katelyn on an exercise kick, and she made the goal to exercise with me on weekdays when she doesn't have school. She likes both the elliptical and treadmill, so we switch back and forth. So far she is 5/5! Go, Kate, Go!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and thank goodness school starts again in the morning! 

Collin is a teenager!

Collin turned 13 right before Christmas! I can't believe we have a teenager in the house, and neither can he. Here comes the rough years, or so I hear.

Urban Air

For his activity this year, he picked going to Urban Air again. This time Ryan picked up his friend Aidan, and they all had a great time. 

Since Aidan is also a growing teen, they went to MOD pizza afterwards, where they each ate their own entire pizza. 

Aidan got him this crazy Rubik's cube, and unlike all the 3 crazy ones Santa got him, he has still not solved this one (as of Jan 13th). Go Aidan!

21st

This year for his birthday, I took him to Walmart to spend the gift card he got from Aidan, but in his own words "everything I love is either $300 or free online" so it was an epic failure. Afterwards, I took him to Chick-fila - just the two of us - for lunch, and I think he enjoyed that more than the shopping. 

His dinner pick was carne asada tacos, and his cake was chocolate mousse pie. 

For the evening activity, he had requested that everyone stay home together and play a game. Isn't that sweet? In reality, he opened his new Raspberry Pi and decided he'd rather play with that all evening. 

***

Ahh, here comes the teen years! I love this man to pieces, but every once in a while, he forgets he loves me too. It's not pretty, and I hope we can keep those moments as few and as far between as possible. I can see his emotions ruling him more and more, and his armpits are definitely ruling out any doubt that puberty is on its way. 

Over the Break, the ortho officially cleared him to get his second round of braces, expanders and springs, so I need to get those appointments rolling. It's gonna be rough, but then it'll be done, or so I keep telling him. The good news was that the ortho no longer thinks we need to immediately remove his wisdom teeth, so we can hold off on that until he's a bit older. 

Collin is a master computer programmer, tech specialist, Rubik's cube solving (he's got 8 now!), piano performer. He played at both Ethan's baptism (duet with Nana and Ryan on violin) and in the sacrament meeting Christmas program (with Ryan on violin). He doesn't get ruffled at all, and he's not sure why others get nervous about things. The kids in his computer class at school have nicknamed him "the hacker," and he's quite proud of it. He loves the new 3D printer from Papa, and he's enjoying creating little toys with it. 

He is still excelling in school, always getting straight As. He's spent a lot of this school year alone, since I take the other three with me to the elementary school to teach every day. I've missed him, and he and Brennan are counting the days until they are both at the middle school together (in the fall). 

Collin has been the deacon's quorum president in our ward this year. With only 3 total deacons, he has to recruit older young men, the missionaries, and fathers to help them pass each week. Since Ryan was called to the Bishopric, he has also been counting the sacrament meeting attendance each week too. He's looking forward to being a member of the teacher's quorum and handing off that responsibility, I assure you, and he has never complained, and all the old ladies text me and tell me how much they love seeing him fulfilling his priesthood responsibilities. He bears his testimony in sacrament meeting from time to time, and he's given his fair share of youth sacrament meeting talks as well. 

He is super into EDM, wordless techno remixed music. He hates songs with words, and he DJs all our car rides. I'm getting a little sick of it, but I guess it's better than other types of music. He has one of Ryan's old phones that he uses as an iPod to listen to music on the bus, which has been our solution to all the bus problems we were experiencing last year (swearing, dirty language, throwing paper, etc.). He still hates riding the bus, but he suffers in silence, and I appreciate that. 

And that's our sweet 13yo Collin. 

Happy birthday, Tall-Tall!