New Headquarters

Not so shabby!

Point Pleasant Photos

Photos from our friends who have a place in Point.

Sea Bright Beach Club

Some Sweetness

...to help with Sandy's bitterness !

Henry:)

Extra hands...

Would send out another , but he's on a complete absolutely no clothing strike..maybe potty training has back fired!

Sending in Relief

Going in to help cut up down tree next door

Outside of Headquarters

It's eerie out here. Cold. And Smells like camp.

Tree at the end of our road...

The Sun Comes Up!

Here at headquarters- we are lucky lucky. Besides a blanket of branches on the ground- we still have power and no further damage . Wind has come to stand still.

The wind slowed down enough that we moved camp to our room. Some still sleeping!

What's the word out there folks?

StationI-Rumson

Barnacle Bills in Rumson.  Also, sounds like the ocean is getting close to overrunning Pier Village. in Long Branch!

 

 

Headquarters-Update

Maybe I shouldn't have announced ourselves as headquarters, as it has been reported, Frankenstorm , has increased in strength and is headed to our front door. As we await the unknown, we bake. Also, as long as   impressive achievements in the potty training department continue, we will withhold any photos of Bare Bottom Boy for the present time. Big plans for lunch when our Daddy cook returns from the office.

 Banana Bread Preparation.

Now out of the over, and really yummy!

Oh Sandy! Sandy!

Dear Faithful Brittain Barn Readers and Welcome Any Newcomers,

We are back for what I am hoping doesn't turn into an annual occasion. As with our old enemy, Irene, the Brittain Barn will work as hurricane headquarters for our new enemy, Sandy.

I will also reiterate that I understand the potential of the severity of this storm , but with school already canceled for two days , it is best for my sanity to keep things light for now.

If you plan to follow our hurricane adventures , subscribe to the Brittain Barn on the right hand column. This will update you automatically of any new posts.

Stay dry,

The Keeper of the Barn.

Salon MMB

While sitting at the dining room table working on some projects:

P: Mom! Look, its M's hair.

Mom: Nah, it's probably from one of her dolls.

M: ( No words. Just eyes getting really big)

P: No... it's her's alright. There's more! ( Climbs under the dining room table. When he returns to the surface he has a fist full of those same blond curls that were lost to Lighting McQueen last winter.)

Mom: Is this your hair!? ( Now remembering I mentioned to her yesterday, while having the art bin out... to get the scissors away from her hair!)

M: ( Again, no words. Just eyes overflowing with tears of pure guilt.)

Mom:  MMB!!

M: ( Her silence is broken through the huffs and puffs on the brink of an emotional explosion.)
                     But Mommy I can grow more hair!

*She doesn't look half bad with bangs. Of course, this is after a clean up with my scissors!

Getting to the point

After about 2 minutes of arriving to our house for a playdate for the first time, P's little friend, a little girl, asked " So , are you going to show me to your room?"

Personal Request

A couple months ago, M expressed her request for, "5 brothers and one remote boy."
In other words, Q isn't following his big sister's orders as much anymore. So maybe, just maybe, if there was a sibling controlled by a remote, life could be really good as a girl who is surrounded by brothers.

The Name Game

PWB: When I have a boy, I am going to name him Nas. Like after Nascar. Then I am going to make his middle name our last name, to remember our family. ( PWB's middle name is my maiden name)

Mom-Well, your son would probably have the same last name as you.

PWB-Why, did Daddy get to pick my last name?

Mom- No, its just that most of the time, you use the man's last name.

PWB- Well, aren't boys supposed to be nice to girls? Did Daddy say thank you?!

Mom's "Homemade" Recipe

For Mother's Day, Pearce brought home his classroom cookbook. Each child picked their favorite "mom" recipe and wrote down the ingredients and instructions. One of the sweet girls in his class wrote the following:

Mom's Recipe for Cookis: 
Ingredients: Dowe from the stor
1. Get the cookis out of the bag
2. Put the cookis on the pan
3. Put tum in the ofin
4. Then its rety!
5. Then et it!

* I did receive permission before posting this "homemade " recipe:)
Thankfully, Pearce's recipe for "Sim Rls"(Cinnamon rolls) skipped over the "take out of the package," step! 

Mother's Day Continues

After a thoughtful Mother's Day, I picked P up from school the next day.

While walking to the car, we had to go through a field of clovers, that M was unhappy about.

P said, "It's just a patch of flowers for all the moms."

Thanks Sweetheart:) 

Sweet Tooth

Mom-Are you ready to go? ( From the ice cream shop)

Sister- No, I want to finish my ice cream.

Brother- If you really want to finish your ice cream, then let me have some.

Who's the boss?

Not the pick up line I was thinking of...

5 year old who is ALL boy-

" There is a girl over there I would like to meet.
  Do you think she likes ninjas?
  I'll have to ask her. "

heckin'

heckin'-

An Interjection

(used as an expression of curiosity, confusion, surprise,  thrill, dislike, etc. ) 

(euphemism for heck.)

Ex: What the heckin?

Most effective when combined with ," ...in the world." 

Ex:

  

"Why the heckin' in the world is Quinn standing on the picnic table ?!" 

Modern Day Sacagawea

Mom- "How did you get those holes in your tights?"
Daughter- "I was fighting a tiger."

Motivation

P's reason for wanting to start his summer job at the family company:

" Because when Papa Pete and Daddy dies, who is going to the be the boss?"

180 Days of School

In every kindergarten class across America they celebrate the 100th day of school. 100 out of the required 180. My kindergartener had a wonderful week in school. He had the 100th day head banner, 100th day party etc etc etc...

But the days that followed 100th day, he seemed almost depressed.  To the point that he said he didn't want to go to school. Are you sick? No. Is there a bully? No.

Two mornings post 100th day, he finally confessed what was bothering him. Now that they got to the 100th day of school and were able to count from 1-100, they were going to have to start counting backwards from 80-1,...counting backwards!!

Best Behavior

Before visiting pretty much any public place, I remind the children before we get out of the car, that I expect best behavior. Today we were heading into the doctor's office. So I asked them to list some actions that are excepted as best behavior. Pearce, a studious as can be, rambled of the obvious best behavior that would be asked of most families. But to customize this to our barn occupants, he finished with, "And no tackling and no pulling the fire alarm."