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.