Auction At Our House!

Just Kidding, but goodness knows we need to do something! We have had a wonderful 2 weeks. Tis is heading back to the big city this afternoon and from the very night he flew in it's been a whirlwind. We've had a blast and made some incredible memories but I can't ever help every year but feel a little relieved when the tree is down and life returns to somewhat of a slower pace. The new year is just around the corner and although 2009 was a pretty good year to our family I am really looking forward to 2010.

Saturday night, right after Chris and Ali barely made it before the big blizzard, we had mama's family over for dinner. It was really great getting everyone together. It was the first time some of my cousins had even met Braxton! Braxton had a lot of fun hosting and loved having everyone play at his house!

Christmas Eve at Maw Maw's and Paw Paw's was one of the best Christmas Eves we've ever had. I can't really put my finger on it but it was different this year. Everyone was genuinely enjoying themselves and relaxed. Braxton was given a cowboy hat and a gun. We'd come to the conclusion that there was no way we could fight the inner boy in him any longer. He was going to find a way to play guns! He was so excited when he opened those gifts!

Christmas morning was great too. Braxton woke up at 7:25 and I kept him in my old bedroom playing with old toys for about an hour. When everyone was up and ready he bolted into the den and there before his eyes were a red fire engine, fireman's outfit, a horse (to complete the cowboy ensemble), puzzles, books, and I could go on and on. Santa was so good to Braxton!

Later that night we had Christmas dinner with Grandaddy's family here. We had a birthday cake and party hats for Baby Jesus! (I warned you we would).

We have a ton of new "stuff". We won't be having an auction but we will be putting some things away. Just think, his birthday is only 6 months away!

THIS is what it's all about!

I love Christmas. I have such wonderful memories growing up and I want it all for my son. It's so hectic and busy and I think because I have such awesome memories I'm trying to do TOO much. I am just running myself ragged. God always has a way of bringing you back to the important things. Last night Braxton helped me remember that.

I had just gotten him out of the bath and he saw the Nativity scene on the table in the hall. His "GG" actually gave it to him for his first Christmas so knowing that makes this story all the sweeter. He asked about the baby. I told him it was Baby Jesus. And Baby Jesus' birthday was coming up very soon. He looked at me and said "Birthday?" And then said "Baby Jesus get a birthday cake". I asked him who he knew that could get Baby Jesus a birthday cake? His response was "Grandaddy!". So, Grandaddy was called and TOLD that Baby Jesus needed a birthday cake!

For those of you that will be with us on Christmas day expect party hats and party horns!

A Special Visit

Click on the link to see who sent Braxton a special message!

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/0a918574d4ab6f0116176f5c2e9fd91a

The Perfect Tree

We went up to the mountains yesterday for our annual trip to pick out our Christmas tree. This year we thought it would be fun to stay over night so we called up the joint where we always stay and sure enough they had some availability. Now you say to yourself, "oh a nice little over night trip" but you should have seen the luggage I packed! There is no such thing as packing light with me and when I heard it was going to possibly snow 3 inches that didn't help my cause at all! Allyson told me as soon as we met up when I told her why I was running late that the snow had been canceled! I was glad I packed what I did! We left about 10am and had a nice drive up. We thought it would be fun to count how many trees we counted on the tops of cars heading home as we were heading up but after about the 11th one we passed a huge truck full of trees that was obviously taking some trees to a lot. Brandon decided the game was over!
Little Man was F--U--N at the tree farm this year. We've been going to the same one since he was 5 months old and this year he got out of the truck and acted like he knew just what he was doing! He loved watching them cut the trees down and drive them down the mountain. He had all his garb on so you would think by looking at the pictures that it WAS snowing three inches. It was cold but he just insisted. I think we picked the most perfect tree. As soon as it's up, I'll post and let you see.
Oh, and we haven't been up to the mountains since June but Braxton remembered about the blue ice cream we had then so before heading home this afternoon we stopped and let him enjoy some "bue" ice cream! He did enjoy every bite.

It's Beginning to look like Christmas

Yesterday Brandon got his toy train from when he was a kid out of the attic and set it up for Braxton. Oh my gosh. It sounds like Tweetsie lives in my kitchen. Braxton sits at the dining room table and just watches it. And pushes the button to make the sound. We have to keep saying "okay okay you can let the button go now!" This morning, Brandon's "big birthday", we got the blue Christmas tree out and set it up in Braxton's room and decorated it. He is so excited. I think it's going to be a great Christmas.

PosExpress

We had an incredible ride on The PosExpress. This is what Braxton calls it. I think we went at the absolute best time too. He was SO into the whole thing.
We arrived to pick up our tickets and there were already about 200 people there waiting and mingling around. The lady told me that our car was full and that it was first come, first serve seating on our car so if we wanted to sit together we needed to be in line early. I hate things like that. I get so anxious. Your whole experience depends on your seat and who your sitting with. The train began boarding at 4:45 but people began lining up before then. The confusing thing we figured out REAL quick was that we couldn't load at our car. We had to get on 2 cars away. So dad and Allyson went one way and the boys and I went another. So there we stood for 45 minutes waiting to get on! Braxton was so good. He held on to his ticket, which he was so proud of, and kept pointing to the train. When we began to load all four of us met back up about the same time and picked out a perfect table. Our car was "first class" so it was all decorated for Christmas and it had seats with tables in the middle just like on the movie. I sat across the aisle from the others because the table had only enough room for four. But it worked out great because when we got to the North Pole Braxton was able to come to my side and see "HO HO" and the lights.
They played the soundtrack from the movie and read the book and really entertained us the whole time. Braxton bobbed his head and danced. When they delivered his hot chocolate he got so excited. He stirred it for almost the entire trip and only took one sip! But if you ask him to tell about his Polar Express ride this will be the first thing he tells you! The conductor came around and asked for all the kids tickets and punched a hole in it. It was so cute!
One of the highlights of the ride was when Santa walked onto our car. He walked up to each child and asked what they wanted for Christmas and gave them a silver bell. Braxton pouted when he left him and said " My Ho Ho!". We pulled back into the train station and it looked like there were 500 people already lined up waiting for the next ride.
I'm pretty sure we won't go again for a couple of years. I think we timed it perfect with him this year. He loves the movie so much and is so into trains that it was fun. The songs were familiar to him and he was still young enough that nothing about the ride was "corny". Everything was exciting to him. The look on his face was adorable. Every dime we spent was worth it.
When we left we went and grabbed a bite to eat and then went back to our hotel and swam for an hour. Braxton swore he saw a witch in the pool!! So he stayed on the step, down at the shallow end! He still hasn't forgotten about the witch at Halloween. Later in the night he woke up 4 times dreaming. 3 of the 4 times he woke up talking about "Hot chocolate". The other time he said something about an"itch".
When we were just about home he was playing with his bell and we were watching The Polar Express movie, of course. He held the bell up to his ear and said " I believe!"

The Little Things

The older I get I am starting to really notice and appreciate the little things in life. ALL those things that my parents used to say that I didn't notice because I was a spoiled brat (true and true) I noticed now. This evening Braxton and I were coming out of the bathroom from washing his hands and I was carrying him. Out of nowhere he put his head on my shoulder and said "I 'ove' you mama."
What are some of the little things you have noticed and appreciate in your life lately?

ALL ABOARD

Next stop Bryson City, North Carolina. We leave Friday afternoon for the long anticipated Polar Express trip. We've been talking about it since the spring and we actually called and made reservations over Labor Day. I about died when I called to inquire and the "elf" that answered the phone asked what day I was looking into because they were almost SOLD OUT!! I got my fanny in gear and after making a few phone calls we had our 1st class train tickets reserved.
Our train pulls out at 5pm on Saturday night. We decided after much discussion that we needed to go on Friday so that we would have a hotel room reserved for nap time on Saturday! They will read the story over a loud speaker and if anyone has ever seen the movie they do a "Hot Chocolate" song and dance. That's when they'll bring out our hot chocolate (in our own take home mug)! The whole train ride is an hour and 15 minutes and that does include the stop to the "North Pole". The train will stop there and let Santa on and he'll give each child a silver bell. The cutest part is that the kids are encouraged to wear their pajamas. Allyson ordered him a pair of pj's like the kid wears in the movie but Brax's has his name on them. I know he'll be darling. Dad actually asked me while we were out a couple of weeks ago what kind of pajamas I was wearing and what kind he needed to get for the train ride! I about fell over laughing and said "Dad, YOU don't have to wear your pajamas!" He said later "That would've been kinda dorky, huh?"
I'm almost certain that considering the price we paid for our tickets that we won't get what we paid for and that's okay. The whole reason we're going is because of that little boy. He loves the Polar Express movie. He walks around saying "Tickets please" and "All Aboard" and he walked up to Brandon while they were sitting out back this weekend and said "Wake Up Kid" (quote from movie). But I'm even more sure that the look on Braxton's face when we're on the train and when he sees HO HO and the memories that we make will be worth more than anything I could have paid! And that's worth it right there.
I promise to post pictures as soon as we're back.

Does he forget ANYTHING?

Lately any time we go to the store Braxton wants to look at the cakes in the bakery. I've been telling him recently that "it's almost daddy's birthday we'll get him a cake soon". Saturday night we were at Sam's and he wanted to go by and look at the cakes. They had this cake with a football on it and he really wanted it. I told him if he started "pee peeing" in the potty I'd buy him a ball cake (as he calls it).
This morning I was getting him dressed and was changing his diaper. It was completely dry so I asked him if he wanted to try to go to the potty. He said yes so I ran in the bathroom with him and sat him down on the toilet. Sure enough he started going. He looked right up at me and said " Ball cake mama".

Sick Day

He's almost 2 1/2 years old and on Wednesday I had to call in for a substitute at 2:30am because I knew I was not going to be able to make it to work . I have had to take off for 1/2 days to take him to the doctor and such but Wednesday was my first real whole sick day. He was so congested and stopped up that he couldn't sleep. I was in his room every 30 minutes. I had flashbacks of what life was like with a newborn. By 2 am I knew that when my alarm went off at 5am that I was going to be struggling and it broke my heart to even think of sending him to Maw Maw's with no sleep.
I got up at 5:50 went over to work to write my sub plans and got back home at 7:30. Braxton laid on the couch all day. He got up and off the couch about 5pm. I think a day at home did him some good. (and he ate up laying on a truck pillow and under a truck blanket all day!)

Cute as a Punkin!

It was very funny. On Friday night we were discussing the next nights festivities with Braxton going over what all was going to happen and for weeks we had been telling him he was going to be a lion (again because it still fits). Well, Friday night he had in his head that he was going to be a "punkin". Anytime we'd ask him what he was going to be he'd say "punkin".
Last night I went to the closet to pull out the lion costume and there hanging right next to it was a pumpkin costume that a friend had passed down last year. I hesitated to even pull it out because the tag said '12-18 months'. I walked into the den and held up the lion costume and the pumpkin costume and asked which one he wanted to be. Needless to say the costume fit. He was so darned cute. I thought it was perfect considering our fascination with pumpkins this fall. He was only able to go to 2 houses Trick-or-Treating because of the rain but that was ok with him. He had a blast handing out candy.

A Little Monkey Business

It's finished. Braxton's bathroom received it's finishing touches this weekend and it looks fabulous. Brandon, once again, did an incredible job. The paint color turned our great, the motif is adorable, and most importantly Braxton likes it. After all, it is "bue".
I am dying to show you my newly re-upholstered dining room chairs from the dining room set that I was so graciously given by Grandmama but I want her to see it in person first. I have my china in the cabinet and we just got back all the chairs from the re-upholsterer on Saturday. The set is absolutely gorgeous. More on it all later.

My Little "Punkin"

Brax is into "punkins" BIG time this fall. He loves going to Wal-Mart and Target and walking up and down the Halloween aisles. He's a little freaked by the "itch" which surprises me because he loves the Wizard of Oz but he really gets spooked by the witches in the stores. I think the fact that they are motion censored freaks him out a little. He will hide his eyes and bury his head and this past Sunday (so cute) he stood at the end of the aisle watching me while I walked down. He didn't want to have any part of the "itch".
Anyways, we have gotten a new pumpkin every weekend. We have a "daddy punkin and a grandaddy punkin" outside on the porch. We have 4 more real pumpkins inside and just this weekend we picked up 3 more fake ones. 2 of which are blue, Brax's favorite color. Brandon is on fall break this week and he's actually painting our hall bath blue for him. I think it'll turn out real cute. I'll put up some pictures when it's all done.
We are really looking forward to the holidays coming up. We have LOT'S of fun things planned and great times planned with family. I promise to keep you posted.

A Day for Treva

Saturday marked my 10th time walking in the Komen Race for the Cure. I've walked in every one since mama died in 1998. I have been so amazed every year at how many people are affected by it and how proud people are to be survivors. I regret that my mom never saw that. When she died, she was ashamed and people didn't talk about breast cancer like they do now. I wished that she could have lived long enough for us all to rally around her and for us to show our support for her.
Although she wasn't there we did go out to support her yesterday. Dad and Allyson were there at 4:30am to help blow up the 3500 balloons for the survivors to release. 14,000 participants came out to help walk for a cure. Charlotte alone raised over 1 million dollars. I took a picture of one leg of the race. It was amazing! Braxton did incredible. We had to get him up 15 minutes earlier than we do on a school day and he just popped out of bed. It was almost as if he knew the cause. He was a real trooper and at one point even got out of the stroller and held my hand and walked alongside me.
I know Treva was watching. I know she was proud.

Campfire Boys

Monday was Labor Day and is was awesome. We didn't do anything major but that's what I loved about it. It was nice and breezy outside so we were able to open the french doors leading out on to the screen porch. Braxton laid out on the screen porch and watched The Bee Movie (for the 500,000 time this summer) and ate cashews! It was nice being at home and not having to rush off to work, or class, or the store.
Later in the evening the boys made a fire in the fire pit out back. I had to take some pictures of that!

Changes

Yes, 2 in one day. I had to post about the latest goings on around here and now I have to post about the latest changes in Mr. Braxton. If you haven't seen him in more than a week you wouldn't believe how good he is talking now.
Last week I had to secretly sneak Busch into the washing machine and dryer. We were about to head out for our evening walk when I went to check on the status of Busch when Braxton saw me get him out. He said "Busch!" I responded with 'Yeah, Busch got a bath and now he has to dry while we go for our walk" Braxton said, "Busch go walk with me!"
In this photo, Braxton thinks Busch needs something to drink.

I'm Back!

It's been a long time since my last post. I apologize and know I have to do better. Just in the last week Braxton has changed so much.
The school year has gotten off to a excellent start. With all the changes at school due to the budget crisis I have been assigned a new assistant. My old one, with whom I had worked with for 3 years, was moved to kindergarten because they had to let 6 go last year and my "new" assistant was moved up from 1st grade. She is great but it's been a time of learning about one another and readjusting. I also have a college intern working with me this year. She's actually a graduate intern so this is her second degree. She's not actually student teaching until after Christmas but for the first semester she's just "floating" and observing. She's really helpful but it's different having someone new around all the time and that has taken some adjusting to also. She's awesome to have around. My class seems to be a really good group of kids. The 10th day of school is tomorrow. In the education world the 10th day of school (just like the 100th and just like the 180th) is a huge milestone. Things seem to calm down a bit and become more concrete. I On top of everything else Brandon has returned to school in addition to working full-time. I couldn't be more proud of him but I am SO tired in the evenings. I have been staying at work much later than I normally prefer just to get as much stuff done at work because when I pick Mr. Braxton it's all me and he makes sure that I am doing nothing but tending to his every whimper.
Every night I have made dinner (this is only going on week 3. I'll post about this subject periodically) except one and that was only because Allyson and dad wanted to come to see Braxton and brought dinner, done the laundry, packed lunches for the next day, gone for a walk, and given Braxton a bath before Brandon gets home from class. I want him to be able to walk in and and not have to do anything but spend time with Braxton before we have to put him to bed.
We try to have him down by 8:30. And we try to be in bed by 10pm. 5am comes very early. We get him up at 6:30 and they are out the door to Maw- Maw's by 6:45. Needless to say this school year has started very busy but seamlessly. Brandon seems to like his classes and doesn't mind having to study after Braxton is in bed. Keep him in your thoughts this semester!!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Today was my last Friday of summer vacation. I return to work on Wednesday. We had a very close family friend die unexpectedly on Monday so our plans to go to the mountains mid-week were scratched. We couldn't even think of not being there for the services.

Any one that has actually talked to me this summer knows that because of the budget cuts I walked on egg shells all summer unsure of how the cuts would affect my district. I do have a job and at the same school. I am so thankful!! I am really looking forward to the new school year. We have a new principal and I anticipate a lot of fresh and exciting new changes. It's a bittersweet time for me though. I am glad I have a job to return to, I'm excited about the new year, but I am going to miss my baby!

I have had an incredible summer with him. It's the first summer since he's been born that we've been able to go and do as much as we have. He is so much fun (as long as he gets a nap, right Maw Maw!) and everytime someone asks when I'm having another baby I always tell them I am having too much fun right now. It's the truth! We didn't get to do all that I had planned or had wanted but we tried to not go somewhere everyday and those were the best days. Just hanging out at home. He would actually say "Stay hooome."

I couldn't have asked for a better summer though. We attended a beautiful wedding, went to the mountains and rode the train, went on a fabulous vacation, spent time with much missed family, read lot's of books, played on the swingset, met daddy for lunch, celebrated birthdays of loved ones, and walked and walked and walked this summer. We spent a lot of time together and had a lot of fun.

I'll never get the days back but I'll forever have the memories in my heart.

Happy Birthday G.G!!

....................................This lovely young lady is my grandmother whom Braxton affectionately calls "G.G" . We grew up calling all of our grandparents "Grandmama" and "Grandaddy" so when Braxton came along my grandmother became his Great-Grandmother. "Great-Grandmama" was quickly shortened to G.G. When it's bedtime, I tell him he has to go night-night and before I put him down he goes through EVERYBODY'S name. He'll call out Paw Paw and I'll say "he's gone night night", then he'll say Grandaddy and I'll say "he's gone night night" and he does this with everybody (did I say everybody?) and he always ends with G.G.
My aunt, Lisa, had a Tomato Sandwich party at her house yesterday afternoon for Grandmama's 85th birthday. Tomato sandwiches are her favorite meal. Being that I am not a fan of tomatoes, I wasn't quite sure what I'd be eating but lot's of people brought something to share so there was plenty to eat. A lot of her friends from church came and my sister and cousins(we're in the second picture) were there too. We ate lunch, looked at pictures of the past 85 years, opened gifts, and ate cake. It was a wonderful afternoon and I'm so glad that I was able to be there. Everybody said what an elegant and sophisticated lady she was and has always been. I couldn't have agreed more or been more proud to call her my grandmother!

CAUTION; Could cause laughter

Happy Hump Day to all you hard workers out there! The video below is of Braxton helping me sing "If You're Happy and You Know It". We made up our own little verse. Don't click on it unless you want a good laugh. Excuse my singing.....

M-I-C-T-O-N

Braxton wanted to help water the lawn (play in the water) on Sunday while Brandon worked out back. I took him to his room to put on his swim gear and he saw his Mickey Mouse ears, Matthew and Sarah picked them up for him last year at Disney World, and he had to have them on. How many of you would just love to have a gardener at your house that looked like this?!

We're baaack!

We arrived back home early yesterday afternoon after a wonderful and relaxing week away. We had a great trip and Braxton was quiet(er) the whole ride down and back. The DVD player has been a life saver this summer. Not only has it been great entertainment to our destinations but it has been a great distraction in the mornings by keeping him in the bedroom until EVERYONE else is awake!
Braxton loved the ocean this year. Last year he was perfectly content by just playing in the sand. This year he'd run and play in the water and splash around. He especially liked when we would go back out to the beach in the evening. Until I can get all the pictures, enjoy this video of him playing in the ocean.

Did someone say beach?

Looks like Braxton is ready! We leave Friday for our family vacation and we can hardly wait! We always stay at a beach house owned by some friends that's about 2 blocks back from the ocean. It's a perfect walk and although you can't see the beach from our front door you sure can hear the ocean and smell the salty air. I'll try to post once more before we leave. I know I'll come back with some fabulous pictures.

Whistle While You Work

I had a funny flashback today when Braxton and I were playing in his "clubhouse".

When my brother and sister and I were younger we had the most incredible double decker play/tree house ever! My dad built it and the top was a tree house for Chris and his friends (No Girls Allowed!) and the bottom was a play house for Allyson and I. In both the top and bottom it was just one room but still to this day when I close my eyes and think about it, it was the biggest room ever! We had our little kitchen in there and in my mind we had a dining room! Above all the windows were our "shelves". In reality they were the tops of the boards of our windows! Allyson and I thought every time we played out there that we had to bring stuff from the house. We never thought about it until we were actually playing but we'd decide what we wanted and I'd send Allyson back inside 4 or 5 times to get stuff. We had food and toys galore. Of course, most of the time by the time she had fetched all that I wanted, I was done playing and was ready to go back inside.

Over the course of this week stuff has started appearing in Braxton's clubhouse. The chair made it's way up earlier and after discovering some dead bugs and spider webs the broom, that Grandaddy bought at the Mast General Store, made it's way out there. I came back outside and Braxton was sitting in his chair eating goldfish. I thought 'he really is my son'. Not too much longer and I'm going to be making 4 or 5 trips inside to get stuff for Braxton!

Naked Cowboy

Today was the day I had been dreading for weeks. Cleaning day! I had a busy month of May. I had my friends from work here for dinner one night and then I had the bridal shower a week later so for 2 weeks straight this place was spotless.....and then we kinda let it go. We kept it maintained but it was nothing like it had been. I knew that there was going to come a day where I did nothing but clean from top-to-bottom and the day had arrived. I started first thing this morning and finished about 1:3o! I then went through all of Braxton's new '2T' clothes and washed the ones that can be worn during summer and took some out from last year to make some room (he can still wear a lot of them)! I then made a lasagna, from scratch no less, for dinner tonight. After doing all of that I took a quick shower and went and picked Braxton up from Maw Maw's.

As soon as he walked in my spotless house was no more. He dropped the cup of goldfish he had been eating almost instantly, smeared his hands on my freshly cleaned glass door, and noticed real quick the basket of freshly laundered clothes. He started throwing the clothes, that I had mistankingly decided to put up after I picked him up, onto the floor. But then he started noticing what was on the shirts and realized they were his! He found a fire engine shirt and wanted out of his clothes right then. After I got his clothes off he decided he didn't want to have any on so I let him watch as I hung up his new wardrobe. That's when he saw Uncle Tis' cowboy boots sitting on the floor of his closet and he had to have them on right then! I told him I was going to take his picture and it does look like he posed for both of them!

I have learned in the past 2 years that a spotless house isn't everything. Most days I'm real good about letting most things go. At least until he is in bed. You all would be so proud of me!

He'll be comin' round the mountain...

On Monday we headed up to Blowing Rock for our annual early summer mountain week. Brandon had to work most of the week but he was able to come up after work on Monday so we could take Braxton to Tweetsie Railroad on Tuesday. He came back home early Wednesday so he could get back to work.

We went up to Tweetsie a couple of years ago and we're so disappointed. We weren't sure if it was because we had just grown up or because we remembered it another way but we left a little sad. We were a little sceptical about this trip. Because of the extremely busy month we had had I decided to skip throwing Braxton a "2nd" birthday party and thought we'd celebrate by taking him to see the train while we were in the mountains. He's into "planes, trains, and automobiles" big time. We were so excited with the way the trip turned out. This time it seemed to be similar to the way we all had remembered it. The Indians stormed the train and we thought Braxton was going to jump off! He was a real trooper the whole day pausing for only a 20 minute nap while we sat on the train and waited for one last train ride. The weather held off for us and it wasn't very crowded at all. Braxton even rode a couple of the rides by himself. We stayed all day and just as we climbed in the car the heaven's opened up.

The week overall was very relaxing. It was cool most of the days (this messed me up big time. I had only packed shorts and tank tops!) and every day, except for the last one, we turned on the gas logs for the majority of the day. Braxton had his first taste of Blue Moon ice cream. He loved it. I found myself having to bargain with him to get a bite! We made great memories and hopefully we'll be able to go back up in August!

The new Mr. and Mrs.

This afternoon Matthew and Sarah became the newest Mr. and Mrs. in the family. The weather was beautiful. It was very hot and I have a nice little sun burn on my right side but it was a great day for an outside wedding. The ceremony took place on the front steps of an old house. It was really rustic. I think the professional pictures will be absolutely beautiful. Braxton was a good boy. He didn't see much of the wedding though. Early this morning he went with Paw Paw, Maw-Maw, and Brandon to help set up the chairs and he discovered that there were "chicks" on site walking around. We had to bribe him with all kinds of things to get pictures in BEFORE he saw them. (Gum was the overall winner) When the ceremony actually began, Braxton wandered off and Grandaddy went after. Poor dad didn't get to see the wedding at all! Allyson came too and they were both a huge help. I had an enjoyable afternoon.

The pictures are of the bride and groom, Paw-Paw and Braxton having a heart-to-heart, and mommy and her baby sitting before the ceremony.

It's Summer time!

It is so obvious that Braxton is a summer time baby! Tonight after we ate dinner we went ouside and played on the Taj-ma Swingset and then headed back inside to play. (Only after convincing him that it was too hot to be playing outside!) I took his shoes off and his clothes at the back door because he was not only soaking wet after pouring a whole bottle of water on himself but pretty dirty. All he had on was a diaper. He received a portable DVD player for his birthday to be used for his road trips this summer and Brandon and I decided to get it out and start charging it and seeing how it worked. We put a movie in and next thing we knew Braxton's diaper was off.

We had to get a picture of him lying nude on the living room floor watching A Bee Movie on the miniature DVD player! Enjoy!!

Last Day

So today was the last day of school. I had a really good class this year. Very sweet and they had parents that really cared about them and were supportive of me and my decisions. I was sad when the afternoon rolled around. I

actually had a couple that cried as we were walking out to the buses.

One of the units that we do in writing is on poetry. I had a friend that recommended this really awesome poetry book that had great ideas on how to teach various poems. One of the last poems we did was a "blues poem". We wrote blues poems about different things and because it tied in so close to the end of school they were really were able to get the idea.

This morning above their morning work I wrote "I've got the last day blues!". Can you guess how I really felt?

Happy Birthday, Braxton!

I can not believe that Braxton is 2 years old. It seems like just yesterday he was born. The past 2 years have flown by. I've learned so much and enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. He has brought so much joy to my life.

I had a meeting after work and was unable to make it to Dottie's early enough to be at his little party. I picked up a few things I thought the kids would enjoy eating. But it's what his Great Aunt Cathy did that made the party fantastic! She had 24 balloons delivered to Dottie's today. There were balloons all over the house when I got there and a huge bouquet of them outside tied to the porch. I had to get a picture of Braxton and his little friends in front of them. As you can see, they are all so excited.

After we left, we headed to dad's house where we met up with Brandon, dad, and Allyson. We went out for a lovely dinner at one of our favorite joints; Chick Fil A.