It's been a while

Well, as you have noticed, I have not blogged very much lately. The past few weeks at work were rough on me, and for those that don't know, I had surgery last week. Unfortunately, I've also been working at home while recovering from surgery. My mom came to take care of Brantley for a couple of days. He didn't know I was having surgery until after I had it. He understands doctors and hospitals now and I didn't want him to worry the whole day about me. He's been very concerned with me since. The surgery went fine and I came home that afternoon. I'm proud to report that my lower back which has tortured me for some time has not hurt a bit since the surgery! (The surgery was not on my back, but very much related.) I can lean over the sink to brush my teeth with no pain now. Just try brushing your teeth without being able to lean over the sink! My back pain had overcome my life and now it's gone. It's gone!! It's gone!! I can not tell you how happy I am! Now, I won't be telling Brantley mommy can't do something because her back hurts. I probably still won't be picking him up anymore, though, since he weighs about 45 pounds now. He's getting so big. He's trying to write sentences now, even though he still doesn't seem to have an interest in learning to read. The other new thing is that he loves taking showers now. I guess he saw Nathan take one and decided it was a big boy thing. It's easier for us, so what the heck. Oh, one more thing. Brantley was sitting on the couch next to me a couple days ago and said, "Have you lost weight?" Wonder who told him to say that?

The LOOT!!!

Halloween

I'm sitting here listening to The Monster Swim (by the same guy who did the Monster Mash) waiting for kids to come by so I can give them candy. Lawson took Brantley out this year. I did it the past couple years so I guess I can give out candy this year. I think it's even more fun for Brantley this year because he's running into his friends and I actually know a few of the kids coming by. I think he's going around with Xander right now. One of the things I have come to love about Halloween is carving pumpkins - now that I actually know how to carve them. Brantley helped me with this one the other day. At least he did for about 5 minutes, then he asked if he could go watch his show. Normally, I carve several but I've been working my tail off this month and just haven't had the time to carve them. I hadn't really planned on carving any but I gave into the urge. This next one I carved in about 5 minutes after I got home today. I meant to leave work at 4:00 and that turned into 5:00. Then it took me 45 minutes to get home., as opposed to under 20 minutes normally. Luckily, Lawson had already gutted the pumpkin so it was ready for carving. Not bad for a quickie!

Happy Halloween !!!

Weekend Events

Man has it been a busy weekend. First we had soccer yesterday morning, then we went to a Halloween party at the house of one of Brantley's classmates and today we went to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. We learned that the Halloween party was hosted by the parents of triplets, one of which is in Brantley's class. Brantley didn't want to wear his costume so he was the only one not wearing a costume. That was okay though, because some of the kids ruined their costumes. We had a great time. I picked this picture so you can see Brantley without a costume. But, I also want to draw your attention to the mom dressed in pink. Don't you think that costume is a little inappropriate for a family Halloween party? She wasn't leaving much to the imagination. Then today was Chuck E. Cheese. Let me tell you what I hate about Chuckys. Parents let their kids run amuck and Brantley gets run over. Brantley dropped his tokens and his classmate and another kid helped him pick them up while helping themselves to some of his tokens. Brantley can be playing a game and another kid will come up and start playing it and not letting Brantley play. It's quite annoying. At any rate, Brantley actually hugged Chucky this time and danced with everyone. Check out Brantley's moves.

GOAL!!!

Today was the next to last soccer game. And, despite missing practice this week due to weather, the team played great! Brantley scored his first and second goals. We were so proud of him. I didn't get the first one on camera because Grandma and I were chatting and not paying attention. But, daddy did get our attention just in time to see the goal. He took it all the way down the field. Awesome control! So, I had the camera ready every time he got near the ball after missing the first goal and I got his second goal on camera. I threw the camera down to cheer so you don't get to see him throw his arms up for the goal. Great game!!! Here is Brantley's recap of the game.

New Song

Brantley started singing a new song. At first he said he made it up, then he said he learned it from Ben (the new Ben from kindergarten). Here he is singing his new song.

How to get ink off of leather....

Brantley decided to take a ball point pen and scribble on my leather couch. Now, if the couch were new, I might have freaked out. But hey, the couch is 8 years old and is showing it's age a bit. So, I wasn't too mad. But, how do you get ink off of leather. Well, I tried several thing that didn't even touch it. Then, I decided to try Mr. Clean's magic eraser. It worked! Amazing. I can not believe it worked. I talked to Ben's mom about it and she said that Chase had taken a Sharpie to her hardwood floor and she used an eraser on it and it worked there too. Highly recommended. I don't know how that thing works, but I'm going to stock up!

Bowling birthday party

We went to a birthday party at the bowling alley this weekend. We all remember what happened the last time we went to a birthday party at the bowling alley. Well, I was watching their hands like a hawk. And, the funny part is that Brantley was too. He even grabbed some boys hands and said "Keep your hands out of there!" He really did learn his lesson.

Report Card

Brantley got his report card. Now, I'm not quite sure why we got the progress report. I guess the one today is the official one. Overall, it's a good report card but he does need improvement in a couple areas. This is the most detailed report card I've ever seen. It has the alphabet and indicates which letters he recognizes and knows the sound of. It indicates what sight, color and number words he knows. Some of it isn't accurate, but I know why. Brantley is terrible about not answering questions or answering them incorrectly on purpose. For example, there are 9 letters that are not marked as him being able to name them. I know he knows all of his letter. I just have to get him to show his teacher that. The other thing that bothered me was that it wasn't checked that he knew his age. Everyone knows he knows his age. But most likely, he told her he was six. What am I going to do with him!

Fall Break

Brantley had an awesome weekend with his cousins. He got to go camping for the first time. I'm not really sure of everything he got to do, but I do know he got to pretend to be a firefighter and learn how to make rope. I have lots of pictures thanks to Aunt Tracy. He was so sad to leave them.

Soccer Update

Another great practice, although only half the team showed and it was freezing! Brantley's coach again said to me that Brantley is the best player. He asked "And this is the first time he's played? Does he have an older brother or something?" Nope. Don't know where he learned it. The coach said at this level they just want to kids to get the dribbling down and he said Brantley is the best one at it. I hope he keeps enjoying it, although I'd like him to keep playing baseball too. For, now I think he can do one in the fall and the other in the spring. In a few years though, he'll have to play both seasons in order to keep up so he'll probably have to choose what he likes better. I'm just glad he's enjoying himself and getting some exercise.

The Tooth Fairy

We've never really discussed how Brantley will lose his teeth or who the tooth fairy is. I'm assuming one of his new friends at school must have lost a tooth and been talking about the tooth fairy. The other morning Brantley said to me "Mommy, you know how we lose our teeth." Uh huh... "And, the tooth fairy comes to get them. The tooth fairy comes to get them so that babies can have teeth." I'm not sure where he came up with that, but it was such a cute thought.

Soccer Update

Saturday's game was great. Soccer is so much more fun to watch than baseball. The boys played great. At this level they split the field into two fields and then they play 3 on three. It's good that they do this because at practice the kids just get all jumbled up around the ball which is why they get hurt. The kids really showed improvement about knowing the ball needs to go to the goal and that only one goal is theirs. They don't keep track of who wins at this level, but we only scored one goal and the other team scored one for us, so technically they scored four I think. Brantley was close to a goal but he needs to work on the aggressiveness. He's doing great though. Just look at his form.....

Check out the rest of the pics here.

Soccer

Just when I thought that soccer wasn't going well...Brantley missed the last practice and the last game because he was sick. Today, we made it to practice and again Brantley got hurt. Probably 10 or 15 minutes into practice Brantley was out there crying. I didn't see what happened but I went out to get him and carried him off to the side. He just wanted to go home. Finally I coerced(threatened with everything I could think of) him to get back out and practice. The rest of practice went smoothly with only 1 other kid crying. After practice, the coach (assistant really) came up to me and said "He's really good. He has the best control and coordination of any of them." I told him that I didn't know where he learned it, he just came home from pre-school one day knowing how to dribble. He said "Some kids are just naturals." Now, uncle Matt isn't the only one who thinks he's a natural. After we left I really tried to play it up to Brantley and tell him not to be afraid to get the ball. Be aggressive. Get the ball. SCORE!!!

Progress Reports

I'm not really sure how you grade kindergarteners or even what standards should be imposed. But, I think this is a pretty good report. Brantley brings home a behavior calendar each day and each day it has been stamped "Terrific Job" until today. Today, he got in trouble. For......are you ready.....talking at rest time. Imagine that. Growing up my report cards would say "Talks to much." Guess we know where he got that from. I feel like he has finally gotten more comfortable with kindergarten. He's been acting more like himself and has made some friends. He's even invited to a birthday party in a couple of weeks. He was so excited the day he got the invitation. He still doesn't like the after-care program so I've dropped it. It actually has worked out pretty well as far as me getting home to meet the bus and it saves me even more money. It's actually really nice to be able to watch him get on the bus and be waiting for him when he gets home.

Family Trip

I'm taking suggestions for a location of a family trip. I want to plan something but I just can't decide on a destination. I really want to go somewhere that I haven't been before, possibly out of the country. I also want it to be somewhere that has some sites that Brantley would be interested in. Any ideas?

Thumbsucking

Brantley broke himself of sucking his thumb at least a year and a half ago. However, he still sucks him thumb in his sleep with out knowing about it. I've been trying to think of ways to get him to stop because he already has a bad cross bite because of the thumbsucking. We have to get him to stop before his permanent teeth come in so that, hopefully, his permanent teeth will come in properly. I tried the stuff that you paint on nails to stop biting. He woke up with a horrible taste in his mouth. A girl in my bunco group gave me the idea to put band aids on his thumbs. I thought this was a good idea until the next morning when we could not find one of them. I was so afraid that he had swallowed it. Wouldn't that be an interesting call to the pediatrician? We ended up finding it, but then I was afraid that he might choke on it if he were to actually suck on the band aid. So, I'm back to the stuff that you paint on the nails. He didn't wake up this morning with a bad taste in his mouth so that means he must not have sucked his thumb last night. Now, I just have to figure out how long I should keep putting that stuff on.

Soccer

This fall Brantley is playing soccer. He seems to like it. However, in 2 seasons of t-ball, I don't remember Brantley ever getting hurt and crying during practice. We've had 2 practices and each practice, something has happened. During the first practice, Brantley got kicked above his shin guard. He cried and got over it. Second practice, Brantley was going for the ball and got tripped up. He landed on the ball which apparently hurt. He cried and got over it. Is this going to happen every practice. I'm not too sure about this soccer thing. Baseball is looking better and better.

After-care

Well, today was Brantley's first time in after school care. He didn't like it. My idea was that he would get to play for 45 minutes or so instead of sitting on a bus. The problem is that they spend the first 10 or 15 minutes checking everyone in and getting organized. Then they give the kids a snack. When I got there, Brantley was just sitting there. He looked so sad, and relieved that I was there. I thought he was going to cry, and I was just about to myself. They had all kinds of cool centers and things. Brantley saw a box of pirate toys and another box of dinosaurs as we left. But, to get to play he'll have to be there longer than I wanted him to be there. He really wants to ride the bus home, but I just don't know. The bus really isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The driver seems really nice and Brantley seems to like it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what works for us.