How do you spell catsup?

Ketchup? Catch up? Let's go with that last one and start with Brenna. For heaven's sake, I haven't even posted her birthday photos yet.

On her 9th birthday, February 25th, she had "Donuts with Dad" at school that morning, career day during the day (with a father whose "making of chips" presentation was reportedly even better than the firefighter), and was invited to a birthday party for one of her friends from church. She was so excited to go to a party and had a ton of fun with a big group of girls. They even saw the Justin Bieber movie. Thank goodness she didn't come home with Bieber Fever. So we celebrated her birthday on the 26th, beginning with breakfast in bed. Muffins, fruit, bacon, and hot chocolate, all sweetly shared with a little sister who couldn't resist climbing into bed with her and snuggling up for a snack.

Dinner that tonight included steak and a strawberry cake decorated in a dragon theme. She contemplated her birthday wish thoroughly.

She declared the cake good.

Now, on to softball season. Brenna is playing softball for the first time this year and seems to have a knack for it. Even more importantly, she really enjoys it. Here she is before the first game.

Up to bat for the first time. She always taps the plate with her bat before each pitch.

She was walked to first, then stole second and third. On a wild pitch that the catcher couldn't recover in time, she made a break for home plate and scored a run.

At her second game on Monday she stole home plate on a similar pitch and scored the game winning run in the bottom of the last inning with 2 outs.

And now to Brenna's least favorite subject, her new braces. She has thus far refused any pictures but I fooled her at the 3rd grade awards assembly this week and got an actual photo of her smiling. But that's what you do when you make principal's list for the zillionth time, you smile.

She'll have these bad boys on her four front teeth for about the next year, just to correct her overbite and pull those teeth into proper position for her other adult teeth to grow into the right place. Then the braces will come off until her adult teeth are all in, at which point she'll get a full set and learn what misery really is! Just kidding. It will be fine. I can't believe how much her teeth have already shifted in just 2 weeks.

So there. You're all caught up (mas o menos) on the life of Brenna for the last month.