Fishing

We went fishing in Papa's pond this weekend. When I was growing up, the pond never really had much in it other than a few snapping turtles. My dad put a few bass in it a couple years ago and it looks like they have grown! We saw several baby fish also so it seems they are thriving. Brantley caught two fish, while the only one that I got broke my line. The bigger one that he caught is in the picture. He said it was too heavy for him to hold up so his cousin is holding it for him.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to Brantley! He is now 9 years old which means that he's officially out of his booster seat. I also checked the law and it states that ages 9-12 are recommended to sit in the back seat, but not required. Brantley SO wants to sit in the front seat. I let him some this weekend but I told him not to get used to it.

We've been so busy with baseball every weekend, including July 4th weekend. Luckily, the team had this weekend off so Brantley got to celebrate his birthday. He has wanted to have a sleepover for so long, so that's what he did for his birthday. It was a small sleepover and worked out okay. They stayed up late and got up early. :)

For his birthday lunch with Grandma and Pop, Brantley wanted to go to I55. I was pretty surprised at his choice, and we were even more surprised when we got there and they only had Sunday brunch. Brantley wanted the gator basket which was not on the brunch menu. I thought for sure they would make it for him anyway but they wouldn't and we left for another restaurant for the birthday boy.

Well, it's back to baseball. Practice on Tuesday and 2 more tournaments to go. Overall, it's been a good experience for Brantley. He has learned a lot and finally hit his first home run which was so awesome. I wish I had my camera ready to get that photo op, but I haven't been taking any pictures because it seems to make him nervous. The whole team went out to congratulate him after he crossed home plate. His face was beaming, and I think he was standing taller in the dugout. He was so proud of himself. Here he is after a long day of baseball.

Sox Weekend

I guess Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer. I'm actually kinda ready for it to be Fall. Brantley celebrated the end of summer by going to Chicago with Lawson to take in not one, but two baseball games. They went to see the Red Sox at the White Sox. The weekend was actually Adrian's parents idea. They are big Red Sox fans. Since Brantley's baseball team was the Red Sox a while back, he actually had a Red Sox hat to wear, however I think that looks like a new White Sox jersey he's wearing. Hmmm. (Sorry about the picture quality. Lawson sent these to me with his phone.)

Don't worry about me though. I actually did plenty of fun stuff this weekend. Of course, had it not been for my good friend Roger, I'd probably just sat on the couch all weekend watching movies and eating popcorn. I went to see the movie Inglorious Basterds (not sure of the significance of spelling it with an e instead of an a). It was surprisingly good and I'd recommend seeing it. Definitely not a kid friendly movie though. I also got to go see Wicked at TPAC. Also very good and recommendable. And of course, I had to get some shopping in. Today, I'm trying to get the house cleaned up a little. I've made some progress, but it's really hard to get motivated.

Caricature

This past week was the annual summer party at my work. The past couple of years they have blocked off the drive in front of the building and had sort of a carnival. It was really hot and humid this time. The lines were long, and Brantley didn't really have a good time. We did wait in line to get a caricature drawn. And, he sat at my desk and pretended to work. He told me my desk was messy. I like my mess...Wow! Is my mouth really that big? Don't answer that!

Summertime slacking

Okay, I know I've been slacking. It seems I do that in the summertime. So let's get updated.

A couple weekends ago we went up to Cookeville to celebrate birthdays. July is a big birthday month for us. We have Brantley, my dad, my niece, and then me close behind in August. This year we decided just to celebrate them all together. The weather here has been unseasonably cold and it was freezing that weekend. It was too cold to get in the pool, although Brantley and his cousins did anyway.

Earlier this year, our dog Salty died. My sister thought it would be a good idea to get my dad a pup for his birthday. He had mentioned he wanted a Blue Heeler. He didn't want a dog that was real big, and he wanted one with short hair. He also wanted one that would bark at the deer and the raccoons to scare them away. They like to eat the strawberries, corn, etc. My sister managed to find a Red Heeler, Blue Heeler mix. We all made suggestions on the name but my dad settled on Bandit. He's very rambunctious. He's now about 10 weeks old. Here is a video (and a picture of the horses) of him barking as some horses in the field behind my parent's house this past weekend.I would think he would be afraid of the horses because they are so big. But he isn't....


Brantley also got his first fishing pole so we went down to the pond to practice casting. We can only practice because there are no fish in the pond. We wanted to go to Aunt Artie's, but they were not home. When we moved (almost 30 years ago) to where my parent's live, the pond was much bigger. The years of drought have shrunk it down to nothing. I believe it has even gone dry a couple of years. Can't have fish in a pond that goes dry. It's been wet enough this year though that the pond has quite a bit of water in it. Enough that we could practice casting. Brantley did pretty good, except that he cast it into some brush on one side of the pond and got his hook stuck. We had to tug on it until the line broke. Brantley was upset about loosing his bobber so we got a really long stick and tried to get it. Brantley ended up slipping in the mud into the pond. I wish I had my camera with me for that. It was all fun and we got the bobber back.

School's Out for Summer!

This past Thursday was the last day of school. It was a half day, so I took the day off and took Brantley and one of his friends to the zoo. They had a great time. We ended up spending 3 hours there and could have stayed longer. The highlight of the trip was the baby tiger exhibit. They were so cute and playful.

That ain't no hummingbird...

I figured out what it is. It's a female downy woodpecker.

Someone's moving in...

Since I don't have any hummingbirds coming to visit the feeders, I decided to put up a bird house. I thought it was too late for anyone to move it this year, but check it out. This happened within a week of putting it up.

Time sure flies

We spent last weekend in Chicago and I'm just now posting about it. It was a big baseball weekend for Brantley. On Friday, he got to go to the cross town classic. For those that don't know, that would be the Cubs Vs. the Sox. It was at US Cellular Field which was nice since he has already been to Wrigley. Unfortunately, the Cubs lost. On Sunday, the boys went to see the Schaumburg Flyers. I guess that team is a couple steps below minor league. Brantley still enjoyed it and came home with an autographed ball. Who signed it? Who knows!

Thursday was Aunt Rosemarie's birthday, so we also got to celebrate her birthday with her and her family. She has a big Italian family and it's fun getting to know them. Rosemarie wanted to have a cornhole tournament, but the weather didn't cooperate so we were stuck inside.

The other highlight of the weekend was the Wii. Brantley had so much fun playing the sports games. He became a pro bowler in no time. Uncle Matt hasn't even achieved that status yet!

I didn't take many pictures, but here is one of the birthday girl with Matt, her mom, dad, and brother and a couple of the boys playing cornhole before the weather turned off bad.

Crazy Bluebirds

I was sitting on the couch and heard the familiar thumping on the window, but it wasn't coming from the sun porch. Those crazy bluebirds were at the front door!

One serious bubble bath

Brantley was stinky after a whole day with Carson. He needed a good bath. I think we did a pretty good job.

It's baseball time again!

This is the first time we have played fall ball and now I know why. It's freaking hot!!! Brantley missed his first practice Saturday but they only made it about 30 minutes that day. Today they only did about 45 minutes. Man was it hot. And it didn't start until 6:00. When is this heat wave going to be over?

Birthday Party

Saturday was Brantley's birthday party at Pump It Up. I decided to go there so we could invite everyone he knows and I wouldn't have to do anything. It's great. The kids love it and all you do is bring a cake. I also had goody backs to give to the kids. We only had half of the kids that were invited come to the party, but I still managed to give away all of the goody bags. Which, by the way, were a huge hit. We got camo bags filled with all kinds of camo stuff for the boys and pink poodle boxes filled with girly things for the girls. Brantley had a blast. I think this is the picture of him saying "Yeah BAABA!' And doesn't he just look so proud in the other picture. Oh, and he lost his second tooth yesterday. Believe it or not, I pulled it. I tied the string on and it popped out into my face!

Chicago

Brantley had a great time in Chicago. My sister-in-law has a great blog entry about the weekend here. I wish I could have gone. I stayed home since I have a new job and PTO is a bit limited right now. (I've been there a month and a half now!!) It was nice to have a weekend without the boys, though. Brantley ran to me at the airport and gave me the biggest hug and told me he missed me. And, they brought me pie!!! Yum. I can't believe they let them bring that on the plane. Then he told me about the guy at the game who was holding nachos and caught a foul ball. That's about all he told me about the trip. Typical Brantley.

Swimming Update

As you have noticed, I have not posted in a while. Not only is summer just plain busy, I have a new job, and we have decided to move. Whew. Too much going on. But, it's all exciting.

At camp, they gave Brantley a red necklace. The necklace was to remind him which slide he could go on in the pool since he can't swim. Today, I noticed a green necklace as I was signing him out and I asked him why the change in color. He said because he passed his swim test!!! YAY! I'm so proud of him. Since he passed the swim test, he gets to go on the other slide. He did say he was a little afraid to go on it though. I told him he could wait since he still has more swim lessons to go through, then maybe he'll be more comfortable going down that slide. Way to go Brantley!!

Fishin'

We have spent the last 2 weekends visiting with my parents and other family. This time, we got to go visit my Aunt Artie. She is my great aunt, which makes her Brantley's great-great aunt. (Actually, I'm not positive of the lineage...I've always known her as aunt Artie.) They live on a 23-acre homestead with a log cabin and a large pond for fishing. So, we went fishing. Me and Taylor caught a couple fish each. I lost track of how many Nathan caught. Brantley didn't catch any fish, he only caught himself. Yes, you read that correctly. He caught himself just below his lip. The barb of the hook didn't go in...thank goodness. Brantley was pretty freaked out. I carried him inside telling him to calm down. It bled quite a bit but stopped pretty quickly. We cleaned it up with some peroxide and he was fine after he calmed down. We'll have to keep an eye on it until it heals. He was just upset that he didn't catch any fish. He did ride in the paddle boat with dad after the accident. I think he enjoyed that. Here's a picture before the accident and a picture with aunt Artie.

Swimming...WOW!

Well, another fun filled day at camp. Today, Brantley said he got to ride the horses, go kayaking, and play hockey. He also had a swim lesson today. I took him to the pool after dinner so he could show me what he learned. He went down in the water! I thought, "Oh my god, he's going to drown right here." He kicked and paddled and came back up. He was fine! He can swim under water without holding his nose!!! He's not as good above water, but Wow! He is swimming. And, he's jumping in the pool without his ring. We are talking air time here when he jumps in now. I guess swimming is just like everything else, they do it when they are ready.

Summer Camp Update

Well, week 2 has begun. Man, the days of summer really are long. Brantley must be napping on the bus because I still can't get him in bed at a decent time. This week he is taking swim lessons at camp. He said that he was almost swimming today. He thinks he'll be able to swim by the end of the week. We'll see how that goes. He also got to play tennis today. He said he hit one out of the court to which daddy told him that's not the object in tennis. He needs to stick to baseball. On another note, I had bought 3 different backpacks to try out for camp. We ended up with a pull behind because the pack was just too heavy with all the stuff in it. I don't know if that thing is going to make it though the week. It already has holes in it!!! The bad thing is that we are not putting anything extra in there. It's a towel, his lunch, a water bottle and a change of clothes.

Summer Camp

Well, today was the first day of summer camp. Brantley has never been one to tell me much about his day, but I think he had a good time. He said he didn't get to ride the horses, he did get in the pool, and they will be doing different activities each day. He saw 2 kids from his kindergarten class and a girl from preschool. None of them are in his group though. According to the schedule, he went to the ranch, the games pavilion and had beach time. Tomorrow's schedule includes the splash park, pontoon boat and archery. I wish I could go. :) Oh, I just realized that is a sample schedule. Still, sounds like fun activities.

Sleepover Birthday Party

Brantley went to a camping birthday party last night. There were 10 boys there. I told the mom I thought she was nuts! We didn't get any phone calls and he had a great time. He was ready to go this morning, although it looked like he was still having a great time playing. We came home and he wanted to wash my car, so we did. Before we finished though, he took off inside. After a few minutes, I poked my head in the door and asked what he was doing. He was crying and upset and asked me to come see something. I took off my wet flip flops and came in. He had come down the stairs and was naked. He pointed at his groin area and was crying and asked what that was. He had a tiny tick that had bitten him (lower abdomen area so not on his privates). This was the first tick that had bitten him and he didn't know what it was and was afraid it would stay there. I tried to calm him down. We went upstairs and got the tweezers. I completely blanked on how to get a tick out. We put some alcohol on it. It was hanging on pretty good but I was able to get the head out without it breaking off or anything. We did a head-to-toe tick check after that. I told him it was a good thing we just cut his hair -otherwise it would have been tough to check his scalp in all his thick hair. He did ask me though, "Mom, how did it get there if I wasn't naked?" I was surprised that it had crawled all the way up under his underwear but I explained that it was tiny and had no problem crawling under his clothes. It must have been a long night, because he is passed out on the couch right now.