Happy St. Patrick's Day

I claim to be Irish because both of my family names, maternal and paternal, can be traced back to Ireland. Of course, the families have been here so long, I'm sure my percentage of Irish is way low. Brantley informed me that I can't be Irish because my eyes are not green. Anywho, may the luck of the Irish be with you today.

Snowballs are good from something

Yesterday, before the snow melted, we played in the snow. We tried to make a snowman but the snow would not stick together when you rolled it. But, it did make an excellent snowball. We had a little snowball fight. Lawson accidentally hit Brantley in the mouth with a hard snow ball. He was upset about it but we didn't think to much about it. Later that day we were dropping him off at Grandma and Pops (they watched him so we could go to Dewayne's 40th birthday gathering---thanks Grandma and Pop!) and Brantley was complaining his tooth was bothering him. I looked and the tooth had been pushed up and back. I could see why it was bothering him, but he wouldn't let me pull it. I thought it might come out while he was eating. So, when we got back to pick him up later that evening, he came over running to me with a ziplock bag. He had pulled it all by himself. I was so proud of him. Now, I just have to get him to pull the one that really needs to come out.

Is snow safe to eat?

Brownies!

We never have cookies, cakes, brownies, etc in our house. Some might think I'm a terrible mom because Brantley has never really eaten all that much junk food and still doesn't drink soft drinks. I think it's a great accomplishment. I decided to make brownies tonight. I have made brownies very few times since Brantley was born. This was the first time he participated in licking the bowl and the spatula, because you know you can't make brownies and not do that. He seemed to like it and was excited about the brownies. When they were done and I gave one to him, he took a tiny bite and said he didn't like it and went to the trash can and spit it out. I was very surprised, but it made Lawson happy because he finished it for Brantley.

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.

Snow

I meant to post this the other day. We got some more snow. Here's a picture of our back yard including the bird feeder that Pudge watches intently every day. Of course, it doesn't compare to the snow Uncle Matt and Aunt Rosemarie get.

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!

Brantley Speaks

On February 23 we went to see David copperfield.AT first they showed David copperfield in a box.On a motorcycle.David copperfield and a girl disappeared to Australia.Only David copperfield came back.And nest they had picked a girl and the girl picked a card and the scorpion picked a card and the scorpion got it right.A man and gave his tie to David copperfield and mad the tie danced and mad the tie drink some milk and the tie burped.David copperfield made hemself as big as a new born baby.David copperfield send about ten balls out.And we were like hippity hop ball whoever had the ball they got to git disappeared to there favorite place



The End

More cute and funny

Okay, I debated whether I should post these stories or not, but, what the heck. Because I am not a skinny girl, when Brantley gets me laughing really hard my belly shakes. Well, Brantley started coming over to me and grabbing my mid section and makes this funny noise. I had asked him to stop doing it. This morning while I was putting his toothpaste on his toothbrush he did it and again I asked him to stop. I said, "Brantley, I know I'm fat. You don't have to do that." He look at me and threw his arms around me with a big hug and said, "Mommy...you're not fat!" How sweet is that!

Since I told an embarrassing story on me, time for one on Lawson. Recently Brantley's school had Donuts for Dads. Lawson took Brantley to school and asked if Brantley wanted to go get Donuts and he said no. When Lawson asked why he said, "Cause I want you to lose weight so you can play with me more this summer." Okay, that wasn't so sweet.

And finally, it's time for Brantley speak. You have to guess what it is you think Brantley is talking about. I love this because he always seems to make up his own words for things. So, we are watching our favorite show...SpongeBob Squarepants. The episode is 'The Algae is Always Greener' in case you want to watch it for hints. In that episode, Plankton and Krabs switch lives. Toward the end of the episode, Krabs has just tried to steal the krabby patty and he's flying through the Krusty Krab naked. SpongeBob says ,'No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service' and starts shooting at Krabs with a cannon. Brantley laughingly says, 'Look, he's going to shoot boobie cases at him!' There's your test folks. What do you think boobie cases is/are?

Brain Age

For Christmas, Lawson got me a Nintendo DS with the game Brain Age. Yes, I asked for that...don't laugh. Well, Brantley loves playing with it. He's actually really good at some of the exercises. Sometimes he plays with it when I'm not aware. He loves low to high, head count, and triangle math.

One of the things that the game does is each person sets up a profile. Sometimes when you begin it will ask you to draw pictures or answer a question like what color are you wearing today or what was the most interesting thing you saw on tv today. Once more than one person has drawn the pictures, it will show them to you side by side so you can compare and discuss. Brantley has drawn pictures for Lawson before. Now, he's answering his questions. Lawson opened up his profile and it asked what was the most interesting thing you saw on tv on 2/22. What you are supposed to do is remember what you wrote that day. Of course, he wasn't the one who wrote it so when he clicked enter and it brought up the answer from that day it said 'fidel castro'. It was even spelled correctly although Brantley didn't capitalize the names. I'm guessing he was playing with it while the news was on. Believe it or not, he really likes watching the news too.

David Copperfield

I remember watching TV specials of David Copperfield when I was growing up. I kept watching until he started doing the things that were obviously not real, like making the statue of liberty disappear. I never liked it when he did those things. I was happy just watching the normal magic he did on stage. So, when I heard David Copperfield was coming to town, I decided to take Brantley and his cousins to see him. Brantley had no idea who Copperfield was. I thought my niece and nephew might know, but they didn't either. My niece was skeptical about it. Before the show they had a large movie screen on the stage displaying descriptions and accomplishments of David Copperfield like the fact that he is the only living magician on a postage stamp, or that he was named Magician of the Millennium. She said, 'Is this just going to be a movie or is it going to be in person?' Boy was she in for a surprise. The show opened with a large box on the stage. The stage hands came out and showed the box was empty, spun it around like they do and then revealed David Copperfield sitting on a motorcycle inside. His first big act was coming through steel. He lay down on a table and a piece of steel was placed on top of the box. Then they draped a shiny silver sheet over the entire table and David Copperfield came through the steel. Brantley was unimpressed. (Today I found out he figured out basically how Copperfield did that trick.) What did impress Brantley was when he got a volunteer from the audience and borrowed his red tie. He took the tie and made it dance and do other things. Brantley was amazed. I wish I could have taken a camera inside just to get a picture of his face. The rest of the show was complete amazement for him. The look on his face was priceless. We all enjoyed it. My nephew even wants to go see him again, and I think I wouldn't mind seeing him again also.

Happy Valentine's Day!

What else do you do on Valentine's Day but pretend to brush your teeth with frosting!

SNOW!!!

Well, we finally got some snow, but it was gone by the time we got home. It was really pretty coming down this morning. Since it didn't get above freezing all day, I thought for sure it would still be on the ground when we got home. No such luck. I didn't even get a picture.

Family Photo

We don't get many of these.

How about some basketball?

Today was the final day of basketball. This has been great for Brantley to get some good winter exercise. It's hard to stay active when it's so cold outside so it's nice to have something active that is indoors. Baseball will get started in about a month and it's always so cold at the beginning. Now, I have to be the bad sportsman mom. I'm really proud of Brantley being such a team player. He always passes the ball to his teammates, however a couple of his teammates are ball hogs and won't pass the ball. We kept hoping Brantley would just take the ball all the way, but being the good team player his is, he would pass the ball and run to the square and wait for a pass...exactly what the coach told them to do. You can see in the video he's wide open waiting for a pass and gets a little annoyed. That's his buddy Houston that's about a foot taller than he is. On the way home, Lawson told him next time when he isn't getting the ball, not to pass it. Brantley said that was a dumb idea. He's already a good sportsman.

Blah Blah Blah

Almost a month without a post and no comments saying, "Hey, where are you guys?" I don't know about you, but Winter just makes me blah. The weather is crappy. Brantley has sensitive skin so his cheeks and lips get chapped all the time. He hates for me to put stuff on it, but he let's me because he knows it really does hurt when your skin cracks and bleeds. He continuously licks his lips because some kid told him that it makes it better and we all know that makes it worse.

Did I say I hate Winter?

We've just been busy with school work. Brantley started to type a post the other day but he didn't. He was excited about the 100th day of school and the trail mix that they made. Lately, we have been working on math skills. They have this math superstars thing going on. He has these tests that have 20 addition problems and they are timed. The problems are single digit addition. They have 1 minute to complete them and have to get them all correct to move on. He's really good at math but gets flustered because he wants to finish as fast as possible. I think his best time so far was 37 seconds. He also brought home another worksheet that we aren't supposed to help him with. It has 3 word problems on it. I listened and made sure he read them correctly, but I didn't help him with the answers. He got the easy one and the hard one correct. The medium one he missed. I didn't tell him, but he'll be upset when he finds out he missed it. I was really surprised that was the one he missed and he got the hard one correct.

I can't wait until Spring.

Are you ready for some....basketball!

Brantley is. He is playing in a recreational/instructional league. All they will be doing is learning the basics. They don't have to try out or anything. It's nice because he gets some winter exercise in before baseball gets started. I jokingly told Lawson this is probably the only time he will play for UT. And, probably his only chance to play basketball. He'll get to do it until 5th grade. I'm guessing in middle school they have to actually try out for the team. Unfortunately, my camera won't take pictures inside a gym but it will take video. Go figure.

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.

A little accident

One of the hardest things about being a parent is when your child is sick or injured and deciding at what point do you go to the ER. Almost 2 years ago we went to the ER for fear of a broken finger. Today, Brantley either slipped or tripped, we still are not sure, and busted his head. I know he hit a ceramic planter that was not broken so I was shocked when he got up with blood gushing out of his head. The only thing we could figure out is that he hit the planter and on the way down to the floor, hit the stand that it was sitting on. It had a sort of sharp point but not one that I would have thought would have made the gash he had. It really wasn't that big. We put pressure on it and then when the bleeding subsided we put a cold compress on it. He was so freaked out though and couldn't stand the thought of going to the hospital for stitches. Then, he was complaining his stomach was hurting which worried me. I think it was just from his just eating and then getting so upset. All he wanted to do was go home. So, I sat in the back seat to keep him awake until we got home. Then, as I was cleaning it I noticed how deep it was. I swear I could see the bone under there! It was so small though, I thought they would just laugh at me if we took him in. The wound actually closed up pretty well when I pushed it together so I cleaned it with peroxide, put on some neosporin and closed it with a band-aid.

Our Anniversary

Since Brantley was out of town, we went out to a really nice restaurant for our anniversary. We went to the Stockyard. It was very good and very expensive. I would definitely recommend it for a special occasion where you are not really worried about how much you are spending! I also made a really good meal. I cooked steak, seasoned green beans, and mashed potatoes with carmelized onions. YUM!

Score one for Santa

Santa did a good job this year. I have to say I was worried he was going to be disappointed, but Brantley was very pleased with his remote control Ferrari F50. I think he mostly liked the Santa dollar though. Brantley pretended to faint twice when opening presents at Grandma and Pops house. He got the Vince Young jersey he has been wanting and he got a Fathead of Vince Young. Of course, when he opened the Spongebob sheets from Mom and Dad, we got the 'What the heck.' You mean sheets were not on his wish list? He got tons more gifts in Cookeville, too numerous to list. Merry Christmas everyone!

What are grandmas for?

Why, a shoulder to sleep on of course!

'tis the season to be busy

It's been busy lately. It wouldn't be the holidays if it weren't though. Thought I'd share some more of Brantley's spelling tests. I love how creative he is getting with his sentences.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!!

Brantley got to 100 books today! Everyone congratulate him on being a good reader!

Happy Holidays!

I went to a football game - a story by brant

On December the 23 me and my unkle are going to the tennessee titans.The tennessee titans was very very good.And the tennessee titans win the champenchip game!

by brant



bye Everyone did you like my story




100+100=200

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 are you thankful for....

Thanksgiving is the time of year where we should all thing about what we are thankful for. There are so many things to be thankful for, but I am most thankful for my sweet little boy. I have been blessed with a wonderful child. I am thankful for him for bringing so much joy into my life.

Quotable Quotes

"Before I was in my mom's tummy, I was invisible scaring people to death."

Now, doesn't that make you scratch your head.

Laughter is the best medicine

Lawson and Brantley were playing Polar Golfer and I heard this laughter coming from the room. I thought to myself, you only laugh like a kid when you are a kid. When he grows up, I won't ever hear this again. So, now I have it so I can hear it whenever I want. I hope it makes you smile as much as me.

Discombobulated

I was helping Brantley read a book that he brought home from school today. The book was very silly. It was about a boy's bed and all the things that were in it. Brantley described the book as discombobulated. I just looked at him and said "What?". I can only assume that his teacher used that word today. He used it right though, it means confused and everything in the book was confused because none of it should have been in the bed.

Brant is very, very cool

My house is vary vary cool also I live with my dad and mom.It is vary vary fun at my house.we are going to be dooen something else.we are gong to the titans they are playing agist carolina.we are going to see the titans win.The titans rock.we are going to see carolina loose.the titans are vary vary fun.the titans are vary vary cool.we are vary vary cool.my dad is vary vary cool.my mom is vary vary cool.my cat is vary vary cool.my house is vary vary cool.



from brant bi for naw.


(Brantley couldn't wait tho get up this morning and type. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.)

A post directly from Brantley (this should be good)

my frieds name is ian.my othrs frieds name is jordnna.I like to play with them.Taey are fun.Thay are vary vary fun.Ther is going to be a new one.I like to play at a park.Parks are fun.my park is vary fun.Parks are fun for kids.Parks are vary fun for me.Ther is going to be a other one wr'er going to the titans game I am going with my dad and my pop and grmom.we are going to have fun.The game is going to be vary vary fun at the going. BiBi thas enough for now.




from brant have a grat weekidn



(That took over an hour!!!! Of course he was wataching tv and eating popcorn while doing it. Already a multitasker. I had to resist the urge to make corrections. Enjoy!)

Spelling

Brantley has been doing very well on his spelling tests. Today's test was an S though. You don't realize how much English words don't make sense until you try to teach a first grader. Included on today's test were the words friend and walk. I had tried to be funny with the word friend by calling it fry end and made a joking sentence with it. I thought he had it but he missed it on the test. I think the reason he missed walk was more of a accent thing. He spelled it wock. Phonetically it works, but it's hard to explain how it is correctly spelled. By the way, Brantley is sitting beside me trying to read this. It's pretty funny.

Spelling

One of Brantley's spelling words this week is not. I was calling out the words to him and when I said not, he looked at me and said, "Is that the k-n-o-t knot?" I didn't know he already knew that those two words sounded the same but were spelled different. Impressive.

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.

Quotable Quotes: Brant vs. Brantley

Brantley came home the other day and said he wants to be Brant now. He said, "You should have named me Brant." I'm still calling him Brantley, but don't be surprised if he tells you he's not Brantley!

The Entertainer

If there was any doubt in your mind about Brantley's entertaining qualities, this video should set you straight! We went to a Halloween party last night where Brantley discovered karaoke. He had everyone joining in, although you can't see that in the video, but you can hear everyone singing and camera flashes.

If you go here, you can see a photoshow of the party courtesy of Ginger and Leslie. I went as 'bad' Sandy from Grease. Lawson went as Michael Myers. Brantley went as Batman. Brantley won the award for best costume in the kids category. The theme was the 70s so we were supposed to be anyone from the 70s. Other notables in attendance were Kojak, Daisy Duke, Cheech and Chong, a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, Rocky, Clint Eastwood, Dorothy Hamill.....

Happy Halloween!!

Dinosaurs

Everyone knows how much Brantley likes dinosaurs. When I heard about this show, I had to take Brantley. I think he really liked it. Here's a clip.

Sharing more schoolwork

Brantley is doing some good work at school. He did bring home his first 'N' yesterday. It was a math worksheet. He wasn't paying attention and the problems switched to subtraction but he kept doing addition. We had to talk about paying attention and not rushing through things. I must say he does have really good handwriting for a 6 year old boy. I think his writing is more neat than mine.

Baseball Conclusion

Tonight was the last game of the fall season. We almost didn't get to play because of the weather. Brantley had some good hits. He got hit in the head with the baseball while playing pitcher. It wasn't a direct hit, it was deflected by his glove. He cried nonetheless. At the end of the game, they all got trophies and I, mom, got a game ball for helping in the dugout and keeping everyone straight. It was nice that he thought of me. He also gave game balls to two of the other dads that helped out a lot during the season.

School Work

I thought I would share some of Brantley's awesome school work. He's doing very well in first grade.

What a thug....

Brantley looks like such a thug in this picture. He's a good boy though. There is a boy on his team that has been giving me attitude all season. I have been helping make sure all the kids get a chance to bat first/last. To do this, we bat in numeric order and have rotated numerically for who goes first. Last Thursday, this child said to me, "I'm the first batter today." I told him no, it was number 2's time to go first. He got mad. His dad talked to him and after that he goes up to Brantley and says, "Brantley, I'm glad your mom isn't my mom." Right in front of me. I told him that was not nice to say and explained I was trying to be fair in making sure everyone has a turn. He rolled his eyes at me. Brantley seemed to ignore him. I definitely won't be encouraging him to be friends with that thug. It's sad, though, because he went to pre-school with that boy. They started there as babies together but got separated at about age three. I thought about telling him mom, but decided against it. I figured I was just overreacting and she'd probably roll her eyes at me. Just kidding. I think she knows what she's got.

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.

Pudge's 2nd favorite place

Pudge's first favorite place is the sun porch. Brantley and Carson caught her in her second favorite place....Brantley's bathroom sink.

Friends

I feel as though by moving we have entered a new chapter in our lives. Today I went to pick Brantley up after school and as we were leaving Carson's mom pulled up. Brantley was so excited to see her and started blabbering about everything and then asked if he could come over tonight. Sure she said. So, I came home without my child. He rode home with Carson. I'm not sure what to do with myself. I have tons of things I should be doing, but I just don't know where to start. Hmmm....

School Days

I met Brantley's teacher last Thursday. I was very impressed with her. She has been teaching for 29 years and has a lot of experience to draw from. She talked about respect and never comparing one child to another. Her philosophy on homework is just getting used to setting aside the time each day to do it. She had a lot of good things to say.

Well, every day Brantley has been so sad about going to school. He hates school and first grade. He says first grade is no fun and all they do is work all day and the day is just too long. Every morning is a struggle.

Tuesday I got an email from Brantley's teacher telling me to disregard the reading letter I got (good thing because I was going to call and ask about it) so I replied and told her how upset Brantley is every morning. I asked her how he is doing in class because I was worried he wasn't adjusting well. She replied and was very surprised to hear that Brantley was so upset each morning. She said he never seems upset in class and seems very well adjusted. She said he's making friends and smiles a lot during the day. (Oh and he's on grade level with his reading, the letter I got from the reading specialist was supposed to go to another child). So, this tells me that Brantley is just pushing my buttons.

I'm not sure what his teacher did after our email discussion, but Tuesday evening, Brantley said he wanted to go back to school. He said today was a really fun day. And, this morning was much easier than it has been. She must have told him that I was on to him. Such a con artist.

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?

Quotable Quotes

Mom, today is my last day at school, 'cause I'm really smart and I don't need to go.

Home Today

Well, Brantley and I are at home today. He had what I thought was a bug bite but it created a rash this weekend. It's in a bad spot, at his tail bone between the cheeks. The rash had gotten pretty bad and I was putting lanacane and benedryl on it for the itching. Finally, I put some neosporin on it last night because it was so open and raw. This morning it looked better, but after breakfast Brantley started itching and was hysterical. He said he couldn't go to school like that. Fine. I gave in and took him to the doctor. I told him the doctor was probably going to give him a shot. On the way he said it wasn't itching anymore. Too bad. We were going to the doctor anyway. Good thing I did because it turned out to be a staph infection. It may have started out as a bug bite, but the staph took over. His doctor said it's often mistaken for a spider bite. I read a little about it and staph bacteria normally lives on your skin and doesn't cause problems. But, if you have a cut or an open sore, it can cause a nasty infection. He has to take a really strong antibiotic. The doctor warned me that the pharmacist might say something about it. They didn't, but I guess all I would have to do is say he had a staph infection. He had to take 2 teaspoons 3 times a day and apparently it doesn't taste good. We also have to put a prescription ointment on 3 times a day. Fun times.

Costa Rica

I uploaded pictures here and here. I had trouble uploading so many pictures and I don't think I got them all uploaded.

Our flight into Costa Rica was uneventful. We got a little turned around in the airport in San Jose, but it wasn't bad. Jorge picked us up and took us back to their condo so we could leave some of our luggage. He said he had the beach house ready and we would spend the weekend there. So, we packed up enough stuff for the weekend and headed for Puntarenas. It wasn't really that it was hot, just very humid. After the weekend at the beach house, we headed to Arenal. The Arenal Volcano has been active since it woke up in 1968 after 400 years of inactivity. It's really something to see. We didn't get any good night pictures, but some beautiful ones during the day. I would definitely recommend the Arenal Springs resort. It was really nice.

After two nights in Arenal, we headed to Monteverde. We took a Taxi Boat Taxi from Arenal to Monteverde which takes about 5 hours. If you don't cross the lake, it takes about 8 hours to get there from Arenal. Monteverde is very pretty. It's so high that you look down on the clouds and the clouds come in like fog. It's very cool to see. I managed to sprain my ankle there so I had to take it easy our second day there. The roads and sidewalks are terrible so be very careful if you ever visit Costa Rica.

After our two nights in Monteverde, we finished up our vacation just relaxing in Heredia. I even went and got a pedicure, even though I had a sprained ankle. I figured I deserved it. And, where else can I get a pedicure for $15.

The trip home was unreal. We got through security and everything in Costa Rica with no problem. We got to the gate about 45 minutes before we were supposed to board. Another plane was boarding and we watched one take off. It had started to rain, but the plane that had been boarding had started to taxi out only to be stopped. They closed the airport. CLOSED!!! No one could land, no one could take off. It wasn't very long before they told us the plane that we were supposed to get on had circled all that it could and would be diverted to Managua, Panama to refuel. It would be at least 5:15 before we would board and there would be no connecting flights for any of us in Miami. At his point everyone rushed the counter to start making arrangements. Luckily the nice family we were sitting with gave me the number for the hotel in the Miami airport and a calling card so I could call. After being herded around the airport, we finally got to on a bus to be taken to our plane. We ended up in Miami about midnight. It was good we got a room because we didn't get a flight back until noon on Monday. The next morning was a mess. Miami must be the worst airport I've ever experienced. We finally made it back to Nashville about 1:00 - only 14 hours late.

All in all, Costa Rica is a beautiful country. It's very mountainous and the vegetation is unreal. If you go, don't go expecting a cheap vacation, let someone else do the driving, and be careful on the sidewalks. Oh, my only other tip is make sure you wait until you get there to change you currency. Most every place takes dollars and you will get a much better exchange rate there.

Scrappy (5/98 to 8/07)

Today we said goodbye to Miss Scrappy. Brantley is very upset about the loss. Losing a pet is one of life's hardest things. Here is a picture of her with my shoes. Scrappy had a thing for shoes....

Update coming....

I promise an update soon. We just got back from Costa Rica - 14 hours late I might add. I'll update with pictures and stories soon.

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!

Let them eat cake!

This year, I let Brantley make his birthday cake. Hope everyone enjoys it!

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.