Sevens

Alright Tina, here goes.....





Seven things I plan to do before I die:

1. Build our house
2. Celebrate with my kids when they graduate from college
3. Celebrate with my kids when their babies are born
4. Return to school for my doctorate degree ( Dr. Reynolds sounds pretty good)
5. Take the kids to Disney World
6. Take a vacation with my mom ,dad, brother and sister-in-law
7. Retire early and enjoy some quality time with my hubby (nice thought isn't it)




Seven things I can do:

1. teach alternative school and LOVE it
2. cheer my friends up when they are having a bad day
3. LOVE my kids with all my heart
4. laugh at just the wrong moment
5. check my oil in the car and check the tire pressure (thanks to my daddy)
6. ski (both water and snow)
7. make super cute cakes! I really enjoy making birthday cakes



Seven things I cannot do:

1. Fix my hair like Donna does at the salon :) it always looks so much better when she does it

2. give good driving directions
3. teach pre-school (I don't know how how pre-school teachers do it)

4. make dinner and everything be ready at the same time
5. make everyone happy all the time
6. watch ultimate fighting on TV, I can't stand it
7. win the lottery :(


Seven things that attracts me to my spouse:
1. His hands
2. His need to do the "right thing"
3. Watching him with our kids
4. He is a tree hugging hippy at heart
5. He loves me just the way I am
6. His kindness and generosity
7. His strength


Seven things I say most often:

1. "Do you have shooey pants?"
2. "Do you need to go to the potty?
3. "Hey Mom, I need help!" (maybe this should have been number one)
4. "Love You"
5. "Did you have a good day at school"
6. "Guys please" (I say this ALL day long to my students)
7. "Oh Geez!!!"


Seven celebrity crushes:
1. Dave Matthews
2. Ryan Reynolds
3. Patrick Dempsey
4. Peyton Manning
5. Dave Matthews
6. Dave Matthews
7. Dave Matthews

What Happens....

when you give Cooper spaghetti and no spoon.........

I fixed him mickey mouse spaghetti and apparently forgot to hand him a spoon. I was unloading the dishwasher and looked up to this mess. Needless to say the spoon in the pictures was delivered a little to late.

Field Trip to Fender's Farm

On Tuesday Cooper's school went on a field trip to Fender's Farm. Bryan went with him and they had a blast. Cooper had so much fun decorating his pumpkin and proudly told me all about it when he got home. Apparently not only did Bryan have the responsibility of watching out for Cooper but also keeping my mom sane (and for all of you that know my mom that is one HUGE job :). We are so blessed that my mom works at the kids school and keeps an extra eye out for them and is there for extra kisses and cuddles throughout the day.

I asked Bryan if he could go on the field trip with Cooper (not knowing that there were 3 bus loads of kids 4 and under) going on the trip. I SWEAR I never realized the kids school was that big. On Tuesday afternoon when I went to pick up the kids some of the parents were talking about the field trip and the number of kids that went. I knew for sure that Bryan was going to kill me for not warning him. Much to my surprise when I got home we was so excited about the day and just laughed it off. Whew, that was a close one. So I guess I am technically married to Super Dad and I love it!!!

Why Mommy Why???????

As everyone with a two year old knows, the most often spoken workd out of there mouth is WHY? Cooper is obsessed with the sun and moon and WHY the sun is not always up and WHY the moon is not always up. He asks WHY the we can't see the sun, WHY is it gone, WHY did the sun go down, WHY the moon is gone. You get the picture, right? Well it my great mommy wisdom we had this conversation and I must admit my mommy wisdom did not carry me as far as I thought it would. Cooper and I had the following conversation one our way home from "school."

Cooper: "Where is the moon?"
Me: "The moon is tired and it is taking a nap"
Cooper: "Why"
Me: "Because just like you the moon has to take naps"
Cooper: "Why, I don't like naps and neither does the moon"
Me: "Well honey the moon was tired so it had to go to bed for a little bit"
Cooper: "Where does the moon sleep"
Me: "I'm not sure we will have to ask Daddy where the moon sleeps"

Today was a good day because....

• I got to cook breakfast for my babies while Bryan attempted to sleep in.
• We completed Cooper's first homework assignment: going on a circle hunt and going on a square hunt. We had so much fun finding both of these shapes around the house.
• Cooper helped me do laundry. I was in our room putting away laundry and Cooper wanted to help, so I asked him to carry clothes to the laundry room. He disappeared for a second and then returned on Brylee's Barbie jeep piled the clothes on and drove them to the laundry room.
• I got to catch a matinee with my mom in the middle of the afternoon. Thanks for the movie Mom it was fun!
• I ate a yummy dinner courtesy of my husband!!!!!!
• AND I got to tuck both of my babies into bed and tell them, "Mommy loves you to the moon and back"

One Year Later

Brylee when she was just 3 days old

Brylee now : 1 year old
It is simply amazing how much children change in such a short period of time. We had Brylee's one year check up this past week and I was amazed when her pediatrician showed me the chart of her growth over the past year. Her check up went fantastic and she is healthy, healthy, healthy. THANK YOU God!

Here are her one year stats:

Weight: 22 lbs 8 ounces

Height: 29 inches

Birth stats:

Weight: 7 lbs 10 ounces

Height: 20 inches

A glimpse into Brylee

• She loves going to "school" and she adores her teachers especially her "Nana Pat" but when Mommy gets there in the afternoons she comes running to greet me
• She adores her brother and follows him everywhere he goes, she is his little shadow
• She absolutely lights up when her Daddy walks in a room and is a "Daddy's Girl" in every sense of the word
• Her vocabulary is amazing and she can now say: Momma, Dadda, Bubbee (cooper),
  Gagga (my mom), Poppy (my dad), Nana (Nana Pat at school), bites, milk, bye bye, hello
• She loves to sing the Tuddie Ta song my mom taught her and dances while she sings it
• Her favorite songs are Itsy Bitsy Spider, How Much is That Doggy in the Window and Tuddie Ta
• She loves water and loves soaking us during bath time
• When she is sleepy we lay here down in her crib and she snuggles with her pillow and goes to sleep AND she sleeps ALL night
• She is completely off bottles and baby food now if we could get rid of that pesky paci
• She loves to eat her favorite food grapes, and she is not a fan of green veggies.
• Mommy calls her "punky"
• If you ask Cooper what her name is he will say "Sissy Brylee Grace"

Weekend Fun in Murphy, NC

We just returned from a fantastically fun weekend in Murphy, NC. Bryan's brother Chris, his wife Penny and their daughter Jordyn moved to Murphy a couple of years ago and we LOVE to visit. It is absolutely beautiful and the kids really enjoy spending time with Chris, Penny, and Jordyn. Unfortunately, I learned soon after our arrival that my batteries were dead on the camera and of course I didn't take the charger so I only have a couple of pictures that Chris took with his phone. On Saturday we got a real treat and went to visit Dreamer, Jordyn's horse. Cooper was a little apprehensive at first but with a little encouragement from Jordyn finally decided he would give it a try. He climbed on with Jordyn and Miss Anne led Dreamer around the ring and Cooper loved it. Brylee didn't get to ride him but she did atleast sit on him for a cute little photo op. We spent the afternoon at an apple orchard and both the kids had lots of fun tasting all the different types of apples that they cut right there for you. YUMMY! We came back with lots of different types of apples and I am going to try my hand at making some home made apple butter, I'll let you know how it turns out. On Sunday Chris and Bryan took Cooper
and Jordyn to the lake for a little canoeing and fishing. Cooper came back on top of the world screaming at the top of his lungs that he had caught a fish. He was so excited and told me every time he cast he caught a fish. While listening to his stories I began to plan the rest of my life living comfortably while my fishing prodigy son supported my retirement. This day dream came to a screeching hault when Bryan told me he had put a tiny minnow on the end of Cooper's line to use as bait. Oh well, atleast Cooper thinks he is a skilled fisherman :)

It's a PACI world

This picture says it all. Brylee loves loves loves her paci. We are finally getting to the point that we are only giving them (yes I said them) to her at nap time and bed time. She is a paci fanatic and often times a paci thief. She will take anyones paci at any time, so watch out kiddos if you are within arms reach and have a paci. She did fantastic leaving the bottle behind and we overcame that obstacle right at eleven months but her paci's that a whole different ballgame. Come naptime and bedtime you have to come prepared with 3, yes you read that correctly 3 paci's: one for the mouth and one for each hand. Did I mention that she LOVES her PACI.

IT'S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!

I am so excited it is time to break out the ORANGE and WHITE!!! The kids and I got up Monday morning and of course had to get decked out for the first big game of the season. We went to Cracker Barrel with Gaggy and Poppy and enjoyed a big ol breakfast. Of course, Gags and Poppy were "game day ready" in their orange too!! When we were finished eating we were outside taking some cute pictures on the rocking chairs. Gaggy told Cooper to say "Go Vols" well of course my little comedian starts screaming "Gumballs."

LABOR DAY !!!

Our Labor Day weekend started out with so much fun! On Saturday we went to Uncle Howie's and Aunt Lisa's for some fun in the sun. The kids got to enjoy their first ride in the convertible, it is in the process of being sold but we decided we had to enjoy it atleast for the afternoon (for those of you who don't know Bryan has started a used car lot- a post later on that). The kids LOVED it and kept raising their arms like they were on a rollercoaster. Cooper kept telling his Daddy to go: "faster Daddy faster." We had a ball at the pool and of course a day at Howie and Lisa's is not complete without some yummy grilled steaks, so we thoroughly enjoyed the delicious food. Cooper braved the deep end all by himself, well with a little help from his trusty friend Mr. Lifejacket and Brylee absolutely loved jumping in and going under. I, of course, was not a big fan but she kept holding on to her Daddy's hands and jumping in. She is such a water baby it amazes me.

Sorry these first pictures are so small. I took them with my cell phone and I can't get them any larger.