Matthew Alasdair is Crawling

It's official: Matthew can crawl.


He assumed the new skill three days ago, on December 4, 2008. He crawls like Andy did -- the Army crawl (with one arm and one leg only). It's been a long while since we have seen the crawling stage (since Peter went to scootching instead). We're very thankful for this big development.


(Those are pre-planted Cheerios, if you're concerned about what he's eating off our floor.)

Fellin' Christmas Trees, Episode II

Like last year, we travelled to the Snicker's Gap Tree Farm in Bluemont, Virginia to cut down our Christmas Tree.  The weather felt just right. Debbie says this was the biggest crowd she has seen there.  Remembering last year's stump-cutting event, Tom broke away from his studies to handle the fellin' himself.

The kids had a great time picking a tree.

Andy's favorite part was watching Granda cut the Wallis tree, he tells us.

The boys were a big help dragging our new tree off for purchase and the trip home.


Now we're all set for the start of Advent tomorrow.

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving from the Brown Family.

(taken today at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Dulles, Va.)

Scottish Games

Three weekends ago we went to the Anne Arundel Scottish Festival and Games.  We enjoyed watching the pipe bands march on:
Jessica's parents made an appearance too. This photo was taken while watching the Border Collies herd sheep around, just before Mom got lost:
Ian, Peter and Tom enjoyed listening to the band competitions, as well as the solo pipers in the Piobaireachd competition (results), while others looked for Debbie.The day was rounded off with eating overpriced haggis puffs, mince meat pies, and "Scottish" pies, as well as shopping for overpriced practice chanter reeds.  As always, it was a good time.

Wicked Good Teacher

Photo by Wesley Ennis. Some rights reserved.

The Plymouth, Massachusetts news outlet Wicked Local has an article about Tom's sister Amy Brown and her summer training in Washington, D.C.  It also describes her recent award:

"The Massachusetts Council for Social Studies recognized Brown for her efforts in 2007 with the John Reilly Outstanding Geography Teacher of the Year award."

Visit the article for other photos, including some from her trip.

Matthew Alasdair at Six Months

Fresh from tonight:

Old Skool: Andy Graduates Pre-School

We uploaded this old video of Andy graduating from preschool in June, 2008 to see how Blogger and our videos get along. It appears that it will work, which may bode well for the future.