Brantley will never be a pilot.

I took Brantley today for his first eye exam with an optometrist. His pediatrician always has him read an eye chart at his annual exam, but there are other tests that an optometrist performs that are important. I chose this eye doctor after I saw him earlier this year. I had been putting off my annual exam because I was dreading having my eyes dilated. A friend from work went to this eye doctor and she said they take a picture of your retina with a special camera and they don't have to dilate your eyes. Insurance doesn't cover it, but I think it should. They keep the pictures on file and can compare them from year to year. They are able to pull it up on the computer and they show you your optic nerve and all the parts inside. It's very cool. The doctor is really nice also and I thought Brantley would like him.

Brantley was a little apprehensive at first. All that big equipment can make you a bit nervous. They took pictures of the inside of his eyes. He didn't have to have his eyes dilated or have the puff of air. When we went into the exam room he read the chart with no real problem. Then, she got out the color test book. He got one right. That's all. ONE! He is completely color blind. I was rather surprised since he's never had any trouble identifying any colors. Apparently he has learned what they look like to him, but he doesn't see the same colors that we see. I'm fascinated by this and wonder what the world looks like through his eyes. On the circles below, he can only read the 25. He can't see any of the other numbers.
I found this image that shows what colors look like to those who are color blind. I wonder which one is him?
Other than the color blindness, his vision is perfectly fine. He is right eye dominant (just like me). The eye doctor even checked his baseball stance and said what he does is perfect. He said to not ever let anyone tell him to bring his lead foot in. The way he does it, he's looking at the ball with his dominant eye. He even brought in a basketball and had Brantley dribble for him. It was really interesting hear the medical science behind his sport techniques. Brantley thought he was really cool and had a great time. So, he'll never be a pilot but maybe he will be a star baseball player!

Replacing the CR-V

We've had our CR-V for almost 11 years. We bought it brand new and it now has 210k miles on it. It needs some heavy work done to it now, so we decided it was time to get something else. We drove a new CR-V and a new Pilot. The CR-V was fine. A little better than our old one but really nothing special. The Pilot was really nice but out of our price range. I also went to drive a Rav4 but decided it was too small, and the Highlander was too expensive. I also went to drive a Ford Edge. I really like the Edge, but again decided it was more money that we wanted to spend so Lawson didn't go look at any of those. Today, we went to look at a used CR-V, but we got in it and it smelled really bad. We didn't even drive it. We looked at a couple others and the X3 caught my eye. I've wanted a BMW since I was a teenager. So, we drove it. It was so pretty, a gold color on the outside with gorgeous dark brown leather. Brantley didn't like the color of the leather but I loved it. I drove it and of course loved it. But, after really looking it over and sitting in the back seat, we decided it really isn't a family car. I'm sure Lawson had the front seat pushed all the way back, but Brantley really didn't have a whole lot of leg room in it. He's only getting bigger so, alas, no BMW for me. Ten years from now when Brantley goes off to college, I'll be getting my BMW. So, we decided on a pre-owned Honda Pilot. We opted to spend a little less money and get a larger vehicle. I think we made the right decision.

Brantley's first library card

I'm really not sure why we hadn't already done this, but tonight we went to the public library and got Brantley a library card. He asked me yesterday about going to the library and I decided I needed to encourage the interest. I've never really been an avid reader. My mother says that I started reading when I was three, but I don't remember ever really enjoying reading. I have to have absolute quiet to read. Any distraction just makes me mad and I can't comprehend what I'm reading. I'm more of a numbers person. Give me a book of numbers and I'd probably be able to recite it to you backwards and forwards. Brantley was really excited to get his own card. We spent about a hour picking out his books and he checked them out. He got (and is reading first) Vampire Brat, Ghosthunters and the Muddy Monster of Doom, and Z-Rex The Hunter Book 1. He gets to keep them for 3 weeks. They are actually all big books so I'll be impressed if he finishes them in 3 weeks.

Music

Just so you all know, Lawson says that I have ruined Brantley's taste in music. Can I help it if he knows what he likes? Anyway, can anyone guess which one of the songs on the player is his favorite?

Enjoy the music!

I added a playlist to the side. Hopefully it works for everyone. I just picked a couple of his current favorites to put on it. It's funny when we are in the car and I start flipping stations. Brantley is always asking me to go back because he likes a song.

4 Year Blog Anniversary

Wow! I was just looking back and in just a couple weeks, I will have had this blog for 4 years. I can't believe I have kept up with it that long. I still wish I had started this when Brantley was a baby. I might have to get out his baby book and do some memory posts.

I've had this same layout for the entire time, I believe. I think it's time for a change. The pictures at the header are when Brantley was much younger. I know I need to upgrade my blog to take advantage of some of the newer features, but I'm afraid to click that upgrade button. I don't want to lose any of it.

Well, I will get brave in the next couple weeks. My goal is to have a new look before my 4 year anniversary!!

The History Channel

My child watches the history channel. There, I said it. I think it's great. History was never one of my interests or strong points. This morning he started watching the history channel and it was the "Heartland Explosion" episode about a high decibel boom rocked houses in Kokomo Indiana. I started watching and heard someone say April 16, 2008. Hmmm.....wasn't that when the earthquake was? Since I wrote a blog entry about it, it was easy to look up. The earthquake was April 18th. Coincidence? I think not.

You make a loop de loop and pull....

Having Brantley learn to tie his own shoes has not really been a top priority. Most of the shoes for his age don't have laces or even velcro. They just slip on so there hasn't been a push to tie shoes. I've tried a few times to teach him and got so frustrated that I quit every time. I finally decided that he was going to learn to tie his shoes this weekend and he did. It's one of those things that so simple yet so tough to teach. It finally clicked for him and he can tie a perfect shoelace bow now. The whole thing reminded me of the spongebob episode where he forgets how to tie his shoes. There's a cute song in that episode about tying shoes. Here are the lyrics.

Want to learn how to tie your shoe?
It's a very easy thing to do.
Sit on down and I'll give you the scoop.
What's that?
It's called the loop-dee-loop!
You take a lace in each hand.
You go over and under again.
You make a loop de loop and pull,
And your shoes are looking cool.
You go over and back,
Left to right,
Loop de loop
And you pull em tight.
Like bunny ears
Or a Christmas bow.
Lace em up
And you're ready to go!
You make a loop de loop and pull,
And your shoes are looking cool.
(Instrumental solo)
You make a loop de loop and pull,
And your shoes are looking cool.

We now return to our regularly schedule programming....

I went back to work today. Yippee. Just in time for all the holiday hustle and bustle. I had hoped that I would have all my Christmas shopping done online while I was on medical leave, but I didn't. I did do some browsing online, but I just couldn't seem to make any decisions. Brantley hasn't decided what he wants for Christmas so I'm not sure what we will be getting him.

The Election

Yesterday was 2 weeks from my surgery so I'm allowed to drive now. Brantley didn't have school yesterday so we got up early to go vote. Lawson had early voted but I didn't get to. My voting location was Brantley's school so it was really close. I remember my mom taking me when I was little so I think it's important to introduce our children to the process. Brantley had already been talking a lot about the election. They had a mock election at his school so he got to vote. We both got 'I voted' stickers. The touchscreens are just not as fun as the old booths used to be. I remember going in and closing the curtain, making your selections and then pulling the lever. Brantley didn't get to experience that but he still thought it was cool. And, it only took about 30 minutes which was about all I could take standing in line.

Shake Shake Shake

I woke up at 4:38 this morning, shaking. Half asleep, I thought It must be me that was shaking. I was very confused, but then I heard the window rattling among other things. It was some pretty significant shaking, but I thought I must be crazy. I wasn't going to say anything, but I asked Lawson in the kitchen if he was up at 4:30. He wasn't. Then, I said it. "I think there was an earthquake this morning." To this he told me I was crazy. Then, not 5 minutes later they were talking about it on the news. Thank goodness. I really thought I was loosing it.

Brantley says we can't have earthquakes here because we are don't have any canyons near us. I think that is what he said, I'll have to ask him again.

Earth Hour

Did you participate? We turned off everything in the house. We tried to read by candlelight, but that just wasn't working, so we had to get out the flashlights. I tried to explain to Brantley why we were doing this, but I don't think he got it. He didn't really want to read so he played with my DS. We are thinking about making this a weekly thing, except we will turn off everything except for a reading light. It's nice to turn off the TV and computer and listen to the quiet. We all need to read more anyway.

Check out Detroit during Earth Hour:

The Answer

Either no one is reading, or no one wanted to venture a guess. Only my long time friend from junior high school commented on what Brantley was talking about. We are sort of kindred spirits. I have one child, she has four. Does that mean four times the Spongebob? Knowing how hard it is to raise one child, I have the utmost respect for anyone raising multiple children. But, now I feel old. Isn't Tyler getting close to driving age? Anyways...on to the answer. Spongebob uses a cannon to shoot articles of clothing at Mr. Krabs. One of the articles of clothing that lands on Mr. Krabs is a bra...hence...boobie cases. Only in the mind of a four year old.

I'll end this post with a couple of quotes from Albert Einstein:
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."

We should always try to have and encourage the curiosity and imagination of a child.

New Wall Art

I just got some new art for my desk area. The pictures are by this new artist named B. A. Freeman. What do you think? Look out Van Gogh!

Officially moved in

Well, it's been over 5 months since we moved and I think we are now officially moved in. We finally got furniture for the great room. I'm really happy with what we got. The couch that I really wanted cost about 3 times as much as what we spent on this one, and that wasn't including tax or delivery. We decided the first one was just too big. We put tape down on the floor so we could really see how it would fit and decided it was just too big. Just as well because we saved some moolah by getting this other one. I was nervous about it because we ordered it online and didn't get to do the sit test with it. But, it was a lot cheaper and delivery was included so we took a chance. After we ordered it, I found a magazine page that I had ripped out a long time ago and it was practically this same couch. It worked out great. I think it fits in the room perfectly and it is so comfy! What's really cool is now we can watch tv from the front living room and the great room.

I do not like the Tooth Fairy

3:40 AM "Mommy, I think I lost my tooth."
Half asleep, "I'm sure you didn't lose it. It probably fell off the bed."

This was the beginning of over an hour his dramatics. It was after 5 when I fell back to sleep. Good thing I didn't have to work today or I would have been more mad than I already was. He slept until about 9:30 this morning. He comes down the hall and has a sad look on his face. He hopped up in my lap and said the tooth fairy didn't leave him anything. So, here we go to search his bed. We ended up pulling out his bed and the golden dollar left by the tooth fairy was there on the floor. We are going to have to talk to that fairy about leaving it on the shelf instead of under his pillow. ;) Oh well, his sheets needed to be changed anyways. By the way, if you click on the picture and look at the big version, you can kinda see his black eye from the boo-boo from Sunday. I ended up taking him to the doctor today to have him look at it. It had started bleeding again and I was a little bit concerned. It's all fine though. He's never had a band-aid on that long and he was actually having a little bit of reaction to that and the neosporin. The bleeding was more than likely from him not being able to sit still for 5 seconds and being too rambunctious. Note to others with sensitive skin, gauze and paper tape are better for your skin than band-aids.

Brantley the Builder...sort of

We were very busy today. Since my dad and sister put a floor in where we used to have stairs, we have to get all the finish work done on our new pantry. I thought we would just get the painting done this weekend, but we managed to get it painted and get the floor down. Brantley helped with both and did a great job.

Daddy helped too.

And, check out this groovy linoleum we found under the old tiles.

What is that?

Lawson and Brantley were throwing football outside when they found this. I'm used to finding the wooly worms but this one was almost smooth, no fur. And it was huge!! He could probably eat a whole tree in a week.