Silly Brendan

I just had to write and say my class was so much better today! I seriously thought "who are these children?" and wondered what happened to them over the weekend. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying all of this! So if you happened to read my plea yesterday and lifted up my little kiddos in prayer, thank you!

I've been meaning to write down these little memories of funny Brendan sayings for a while now. He is at such a fun age where he says little adult phrases and when they come out of such a little body, I have a hard time not laughing. Case in point, last night Brendan told me (complete with hand motions) "Mom, now this is the plan" and "Mom I have already told you two times!". Hmmm, those phrases sound a little familiar ;-)

A few weeks ago Brendan was brushing his teeth and wasn't wearing a shirt. He noticed all of his veins and yelled "Mommy I'm all cracked!". I think he was seriously scared that something was really wrong. He calls the elevator an "alligator" as in "Mommy, are we getting on the alligator?". He also calls Walgreens "Green Beans". These things crack me up and make me smile. I'll be a little sad when I no longer hear about getting on the alligator or picking up medicine at Green Beans.

Well, I'm to get my Bravo and Teen Mom fix for tonight. I'm so thankful there are only three days left in the week!

It's been a while

And boy have we been busy. I feel like the last month is just a blur and still can't believe it is September! I am, however, ready for some cooler fall weather.

Let me catch you up a bit. In August I wrapped up another school year, moved schools and set up my new classroom, Mom came to visit, went on a staycation just Justin and I at Caesar's Palace, Brendan started a new school, I took a class, started a new school year, and oh yes... Justin bought a boat. That's right, my first visit to Lake Mead in all the time I've lived here was to see the boat Justin had bought. And here we are on the lake, both the first time for Brendan and me.

It is really pretty out on the water. I've been out on the boat twice now, and the second time we drove over to the Hoover Dam. It really is incredible and the new bridge is unbelievable. I wish I had brought my camera.
Justin and Brendan have both been in the water, but I'm still building up my courage. It's probably been 10 years since I've set foot in any sort of lake water. I have issues with not being able to see what I am swimming in and around. Brendan loved it though.
I love these little feet.
And here are the slips where all the boats are parked. I've already learned a lot about boat stuff and Justin knows so much more than I do. I'm really impressed with his driving and parking skills too. It's definitely not like driving a car!

In other news, I would just like to say if you read this will please say a prayer for my new little class of first graders and me too? This group is probably the toughest I have had in my whopping 8 years of teaching. The girls are great, but the boys are terrible. Everything from following a simple direction (walk in line without talking) to write your name is challenging. I have six year olds who don't know how to write their name! My first week was a real disappointment as I was expecting to have a great group at a great new school. Well, thank goodness for a huge classroom and some awesome technology or I would by crying for my old school every night. I've always loved teaching, but I'm having a hard time finding the love right now. I'm trying to take a deep breath and stay positive, but it's tough. Here's to hoping for a better week and thank goodness it's just four days.

When Daddy cuts my hair

That sounds like a book title to me for some reason. Brendan is lucky enough to have a dad whose got some skills in the hair department. We go back and forth on having Justin cut Brendan's hair or taking him to the kiddie cut place. The past few times we've paid for a haircut, it just hasn't been very good. Justin makes Brendan's hair look the best plus it's free!

But there is a lot more crying and drama when we do this at home.
This face is the one we see most of the time while Brendan is getting his hair cut. Oh the pain!
But it's all worth it in the end when Brendan's got a great new do and we've still got money in our pockets.

Halfway through August

Well, here I am again a little behind on blogging. July was a very busy month! It just seems like by the time Brendan goes to bed each night, my brain stops working and blogging is just overwhelming. Kids are exhausting and I only have one! I spent the month of July gathering up ideas for my new school, meeting with my new grade level on the weekends to plan, visiting Oklahoma for a quick weekend trip to see my dad retire from the Air Force after 33 years of service, packing up my classroom, and finishing up the school year. Oh, and we had a few birthday parties mixed in there too!

Justin has been very busy too with work at the Hard Rock, plus studio work for JW Audio. He's doing very well and works so hard! I'm so proud of him. He has been extremely patient and helpful with my classroom move. I packed and boxed for the last five weeks of school and Justin came up once a week to load and unload it into the living room at home. He did this FIVE times with no complaint!!! And lived with the boxes in our living room too. I joked that we should apply to be on an episode of hoarders! Oh, and he took Brendan to California all by himself to see Rachel's family while I went to Oklahoma for the weekend. Yea, he's a rock star!

So now life has slowed down just a bit while I am in between school years. Brendan spent his last week with Karen while I moved into my new school. I was sad not to be spending time with my little guy while I was off work, but I did get unpacked and set up this week plus shopped for some new things for my classroom. And there are still two more weeks until the kids start! Plus I know he really enjoys going to Karen's house. He loves playing with his friends. When I pick him up and say "Are you ready to go?" he always says no. It's a great boost to my mommy ego ;-)

Brendan starts his new school in one more week. I think he's pretty excited. One of his friends, Hayes, goes there so I'm hoping Hayes will be there on Brendan's first day. Hayes is 6 months older than Brendan and loves this school so I think Brendan will too. Brendan said "I can't wait to go to Hayes' school!". Keeping my fingers crossed all goes well on that first day. Daddy is taking him because I have to go to a training. Justin said it is only fitting because he has done all of Brendan's "firsts" (first bath, first bottle, first drop off at daycare, etc). He's an awesome dad!

Since no post is complete without pictures (because that's why you're really here anyway, right? ;-) I found these taken in July. Marley is Brendan's brother, did you know? That's what he says anyway.

Marley and Brendan playing superheroes.
I promise my child does own and wear pants, just not on a regular basis. Kidding! I'm just a little lazy to put them on when it's so hot outside and we aren't going anywhere.
That's brotherly love ya'll.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! Here's a flashback from last 4th of July. Brendan and I went to see Rachel and Bob and the girls. We had so much fun with them! I'm not sure what we'll be doing this year, but whatever it is I'm happy to be spending the day with my boy again. Justin has to work as most people in entertainment do on major holidays. Otherwise we'd be enjoying the day together too.

Brendan loves Uncle Bob and probably could have talked to him all day. All I heard was "Uncle Bob...".

Cousin love.

OKC Zoo

This post is a long time coming. Back in June my best friend Katie and I took our kids to the OKC zoo. Zora and Brendan always have a fun time looking at all the animals, plus it was a pretty overcast morning so the heat wasn't terrible.

This was in the petting zoo area. Brendan and Zora were looking at a hog or something. I can't remember now.
The kids got to pet the many goats that were walking around.
Brendan was showing these guys a lot of love, probably a little too much love.
That poor goat. He probably didn't know what this kid was trying to do to him. At one point I had to tell Brendan to stop kissing the goats. Yes, KISSING!!! Gross!!! I'm happy to say that Brendan did not later develop any illnesses from all that close contact with the goats.

Awww...this picture makes me smile.
We even got to ride on this train for a while. That's definitely my way to see the zoo!
This was at the end of our visit. The sun was coming out and you can tell by their hot, tired faces.
We had such a fun time! Thank you Katie for letting us use your zoo pass and sorry it took me so long to post these!!!

Just like Daddy

Brendan got to go to the studio this week while I had an evening baby shower to attend. Justin was working with long time friend/client so he had no problem letting Brendan tag along for his session. In fact, this friend Greg was one of the first people to know we were expecting and took us out for a celebratory dinner. So it was nice for Greg to see our baby as his little man self.

Justin took these pictures with his iPhone so they are a little blurry. The drummer at the session, Ron, asked Brendan is he wanted to play the drums. Justin told me Brendan said, "Uhhh, I don't think so my legs aren't long enough. I need to get a little bigger". Ha, ha, ha!
Working the console like a pro. Must be taking lessons from his daddy. I'm so glad Brendan was able to tag along for this session and I'm thankful for a patient Daddy who said it was no big deal. Maybe I'll start dropping Brendan by the studio more often ;-)