Category Archives: Browns

Baker Mayfield Football ProCamp

This weekend Baker Mayfield held his first ever football camp at Mayfield High School.  Alan did not participate in the camp, but we stopped by the football field to watch the camp for a little while, since it was in our backyard.  Baker addressed the participants and the crowd at one point.  Later, after the local media finished interviewing Baker, I had a chance to speak to Mary Kay Cabot and Tony Grossi.  I wished them well covering a soon-to-be winning team again!

The atmosphere at the event definitely felt like that of a Browns tailgate.  Alan left with two pretty cool Baker shirts and a pack of football cards that we bought at the souvenir stand.  We were both glad that we stopped by.

Cassidy & Xavier’s Birthday Party

Alan returned to Wickliffe Lanes today for a joint birthday party for Cassidy and Xavier.  The party date was picked to be in between Cassidy’s birthday (November) and Xavier’s (February).  Alan picked up one spare on the day and had a great time seeing his friends, who he’s missed while on winter break.  That includes Brady, who Alan set a play date with on January 2nd.

The kids took one serious and one funny photo before eating cake and the famous “giant donut” that is always a part of Xavier’s party.  The Browns’ final game of the season was on TV during the party, and Alan celebrated when he saw the Browns score their first TD of the game.  Alan will miss football this winter for sure.

Family Party

The Christmas fun kicked off for Alan last night when he had a sleepover with Tyler and Carleigh at Grandma Debbie’s, and it continued today with the family party!

Alan was excited to share last weekend’s new toy — the Hot Wheels launcher — and open up plenty of new toys as well.  His favorite gifts were the Nerf gun from Grandma Debbie (he can never have enough Nerf toys!) and the electric train from Robbie and Jill (which came in a large, heavy box).

   

The party was held at the same time the Browns were closing their 5-2-1 home slate in 2018 with an exciting win over the Bengals.  The photo of Alan with his arm raised above actually captured his reaction to the Brown’s 2nd touchdown of the game!

As usual, the cousins had a great time playing together.  When it came time to leave, they wanted to take pictures together.  Carleigh had already put her hat on and preferred to keep it on for the photos. 🙂

Note: This year the party was held a little early because Alan is traveling to New Orleans Dec. 24th-28th.  Alan was very happy that he didn’t have to miss out on the fun.

Alan’s Favorite Activities

Second grade – Part III – edition of the Top 10:

-Reading Dog Man books!  After Alan was so excited to buy one of the books at the winter book fair, we ordered the other four books in the series.  They arrived tonight and Alan couldn’t wait to start reading them!  Some are being kept in his reading box at school, and others are being kept at home.

-Decorating the apartment for Christmas.

-Setting NFL match-ups with mini-helmets.  Similar to what Alan did with baseball bats, he’s now pairing up football helmets to reflect weekly match-ups.  He’s learned all the teams this year.

-Finding Elfie every morning.

-Drawing pictures of race cars.  Alan also recently bought “emoji” markers that he took to school to use with Brady to label race cars.  He loves them.  Both the Dog Man books and the new markers are a hit with his classmates!

-Browns games.  Alan has enjoyed following the Browns in addition to Ohio State this season.  The Browns played this past Saturday night against the Broncos in Denver for a special Saturday night game.  Alan followed on Gamecast as we drove from Luke’s house to Grandma Debbie’s.  After the game ended on a Jabrill Peppers 4th-and-10 sack, Alan called me to celebrate.  I loved getting that call from him!

-“Lexia” sessions.  Alan is up to Level 14 now.

-Swimming at the Wildcat Fitness Center.  I’ve been meeting Alan at the pool more frequently lately.

-Christmas crafts!

-Science experiments at school.  Gravity and motion have been two recent subjects.

Happy 8th Birthday Alan!!

My best buddy turned 8 today!

Alan passed out Justice League pencils (featuring Green Lantern, Flash, Superman, and Batman) to his classmates at school today.  He came home wearing a birthday sticker and slap bracelet (the same could easily have been said for me back in 1991).  I surprised him at the bus stop, after leaving work early, and he was pretty shocked.  Then we hung out for the afternoon during the lead up to his Sky Zone party!

Alan commented to me how his bus driver, teacher, and librarian were all celebrating the Browns’ big win and Baker Mayfield’s successful debut last night!  This Browns fan didn’t need to wait to hear it from me — Cleveland was on fire!

Birthday Party for Alan & Tyler

 

Alan and Tyler celebrated their 8th and 7th birthdays at a family party today at Grandma Debbie’s house!  The party was at the same time as the Browns’ season opener, so Alan and I were dressed accordingly.

Alan was in charge of setting up the candles on the boys’ vanilla cake.  When the boys blew out the candles, Alan took the top row and Tyler took the bottom row.

Alan got a lot of great gifts, including the one he really wanted!  It’s almost as if people knew he really likes Legos.

As always, Alan was so glad to have his cousins there!  He was also very proud to show off his new violin, after having his very first lesson yesterday.  He showed it off to the whole family.

Sunny in Cleveland

Today we arrived for Chinese class early, so we did some sight-seeing on the mall area around Key Tower and Cleveland Browns Stadium.  Alan loves seeing the Tower, whether it’s up close or from afar (He also went inside when he visited me at work to deliver Christmas presents when he was 3, but he doesn’t remember that).

It was a beautiful day in Cleveland – weather wise and sports wise.  The Cavs began their title defense with a win over the Pacers in Gm 1 of their first round series, while the Indians beat the Tigers right next door.

  

Centers, Sports Day at Millridge

Today was another centers day for Kindergarteners — the first after busy season at work for me — so I jumped at the opportunity to drive Alan to school and spend the morning with him and his classmates!

It also happened to be Sports Day at school, so Alan and I both went in Cavaliers attire. During bellwork, Alan had to write and answer the following questions in his journal:

  1. What is your favorite sport?
  2. What is your favorite team?
  3. Who is your favorite player?

Alan responded with “baseball,” “Indians,” and “LeBron James.”  All very understandable answers!

When it was time for centers, I manned a station with a math game.  The kids rotated through in groups of three or four.  Alan was in a group with his best friends Xavier and Grady.  I loved how all three kids combined to cover the Cavaliers, Indians, and Browns with their shirts.

Side note: Alan ended up winning the math game.  Later in the day, when I called Alan after he got home from school, he revealed to me that he thought he won because he was wearing his Cavaliers championship shirt.

After the math game, Alan and his friends rotated through other tables that involved puzzles, coloring, and drawing.  At one station Alan drew a plane and a truck (specifically a Target truck) that he gave to me to take home. Obviously I loved it.

At the conclusion of centers, I stayed with Alan as the kids ate their snacks, then left for work afterwards.  I would’ve stayed for the whole day if I could have!