The Jeep

Yesterday was a warmer day, it got up to 60 degrees, but the sun was not shining. That's too bad because I love the sunshine. I had Matthew yesterday, and since it was a warm day I wanted to take the boys out to play in Brodie's new power wheels Jeep that papa and nanny Vick got Brodie for Christmas. When I say play, I mean that I sat them in there and they didn't know what to do. They looked at me like are you crazy? what the hell are we supposed to do with this! Anyway, well at least I got the pictures.

So it was off to other things. They were too busy for the Jeep this time, but I'm sure with practice they will soon realize that they can drive it themselves and that crazy mommy person will stop leaning over them trying to push the damn gas pedal for them all the while trying to get her feet out of the way before they get ran over.

Jay was home with us so he actually came outside to help me play with the boys. They wanted to eat, I mean play with the rocks in the driveway, as you can see in one of the above pictures. Although, you may have a hard time seeing Brodie what with his camouflage disguising him and all. They also loved playing with the neighbor's dog, Kelsey through the chain link fence. Brodie giggled everytime the dog licked his hand, and Matthew got a big french kiss from her. I know, gross. But it was cute and they had fun with her. Oh and they wanted to see-saw so Jay and I held each of the children on one end and they had fun with that, but I ended up dropping Brodie. Yes once again, Mother of the year, right here!

But I have an excuse, Brodie had a really runny nose and I was trying to wipe it with the inside of my shirt, and then he just fell off. Even though I was holding onto him with the other hand. He's tough though, so he didn't cry.

So, that was pretty much our adventure with the Jeep.

Brandon came home really excited yesterday afternoon. (sorry I don't have pictures, he's waay too busy for that) He recieved 2 awards for his acedemic performance last six weeks. I thought that saounded fancy! Ayways, he recieved one certificate for most improved, and the other was a Stallion Star award, which is the equivelent of honor roll or whatever means all E's and S+'s. I am so proud of him ya'll! I didn't go to awards day to see him get them because a.) I had Matthew and Brodie, and no thanks, I don't want to sit there for an hour with two toddlers, and b.) becasue I didn't know that he would be getting one. They didn't send home the little paper that tells the parents about it like they did last year. But oh well, he was excited and came skipping out to the car with them. Did I mention how proud I am of him?

Well, so that was our day!

A little sunshine in my life!

Today was a beautiful day! After being cooped up for weeks in the stale air in my house, the germs and the funk. We decided that today was warm enough to go out and play. It has been below freezing outside FOREVER, and today the temp got up to the mid 50's. The sun was shining for once.

After I picked Brandon up from school we came straight home and headed out the door. Brandon went to play with one of his neighborhood friends and Brodie and I went for a walk. I took him in his stroller down the street to the playground. (we're not really supposed to play there since technically we don't live in that neighborhood, but we did anyway, we broke the law).

I pushed Brodie on the swing and he loved it, and he slid down the slide. There was another mommy there with her almost 2 year old little boy and we chatted while playing with the kids.

Brodie and I had a lot of fun. We played for about an hour and then headed back home. When we got home, Brodie was not yet ready to come in so we played in the yard for a few more minutes.

Brandon came back home shortly after. I usually give him a certain time that he needs to be home. So he came in and was really worried about being late, although he was actually early. He said, "mom, I'm sorry I'm late, but I have an excuse. My pants leg got caught in the chain on my bike and I couldn't get it out. So I had to flag down this lady and she helped me get my pantsleg out of the chain." Me, "what?!! You flagged down a stranger! You know you're not supposed to talk to strangers!" But what else could he do? I wasn't around to see that he got his pants stuck and he couldn't go anywhere like that. Yes, I know, the mother of the year award should go to me! I told him he needs to quit riding that piece of crap bike that he bought off of a boy that lives in our neighborhood and ride the one we spent good money on. Oh well, I guess I will have to remind him every time he goes out to play not to ride the crappy one, but the good one to his friends house.

Well, I got over it and then the boys had a snack in the rocking chair. So it was a wonderful day for us all! Tomorrow it is supposed to be 60 degrees and sunny, so we are going to break out the power wheels Jeep that papa and nanny Vick gave to Brodie for Christmas. I will post pictures of that tomorrow.

Inauguration Day Jan. 20, 2009

Today history was made! The first African-American was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America! I am very proud that I live in a time where this was made possible. I am also very proud that my children live in this great country and they have an example that with hard work and big dreams, that they can be and do anything that they think possible. Today is proof of that. I wanted to take pictures of my children today because someday they may want to see the photos of themselves as history was being made. Brodie, Matthew, my sister and I all watched the inauguration ceremonies on T.V. I was moved to tears several times.

Brandon said that at school today they all got to watch this on T.V as well. I am so glad for that. I think that he will remember this day. Also, his whole class got to write a letter to President Obama, and he was really excited about it. I wish I could have a copy of that letter or at least know what he wrote. How exciting!!

I never knew that in my lifetime there would actually be a black president I am proud to live in a country with so much diversity and love for one another. So I wanted to write this as part of my on line journal, for my kids.

This is the second very historical event that has happened since I have been a mother. When Brandon was Brodie's age, the tragedies on September 11, 2001 was happening. I remember what we were doing that day, and how I felt, and the way the light came through the window.. that was not good history, but history none the less. Today, my youngest son, Brodie is about the same age Brandon was when that tragedy happened, and though the history being made today is much happier, I will remember what we were doing, how I felt, and how the light shined through my windows.

I am so glad to live in this great country with my family and friends. Let freedom ring!

God Bless America!!!

Just pictures

Brodie dumped out all of his toys and sat in the basket

A surprise visit from papa

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were pretty interesting days for us here in the house of Warren. On Tuesday, Karen and Matthew came to visit. I babysit Matthew 1-3 days a week to make extra money and to help out his parents. They are good friends of ours. Brodie was acting very fussy that day and did not want me to put him down and he was sleeping for long periods of time pretty much all day. And he started running a fever.

I was supposed to keep Matthew on Wednesday, but I couldn't because Brodie was sick and I didn't want Matthew to catch anything. I was so exhausted from getting almost no sleep the night before because Brodie wanted to be held all night. By the time my alarm clock went off to get Brandon ready for school, I could not make myself get out of bed, and also Brodie was finally asleep. I went back to sleep. Brandon stayed home with me, so he got to play hookey! I know that this seems like a really bad example, but with the bitter cold and my baby running a fever and not getting any sleep the night before, I just couldn't bear to take them out of the house.

Then my mother called and told me that she took my 15 year old brother, Levi to get his braces off and he wasn't going back to school that day, so he came and hung out with me all day. He played hookey too.

My sister, Jenna called and said that she had taken a personal day at work and wanted to know if she could come hang out with us too. She kindof played hookey also!

Later on, my father-in-law, aka papa, called and said that he was in Nashville headed back home to Georgia and wanted to know if he could stop by and get some kisses from Brodie before he left town. This was such a nice surprise for us and I'm so glad that he stopped by. Even though it was only for a few minutes. So, it's good that Brandon played hookey because papa got to see him too!

Thursday, Brodie had his 15 month well baby visit at the pediatrician. He had to get two shots. Poor thing. He did really well with the first shot b/c the nurse gave him a sucker before she started. She stuck him with the needle and he just looked around, and then went back to his sucker. He didn't even cry! I was like, why haven't they ever given him a sucker before?! People, that is the trick. Just give them a sucker and they won't care about the shot. That's good to know now that he's almost done with his infant vaccinations. That figures!

All is well now in the house of Warren. I babysat Matthew today and he and Brodie played/ faught, all day long. Now Brodie is exhausted and has fallen asleep in his high chair.

Say Cheese

Brodie has been saying a lot of words lately and in this picture I got him to say cheese! He said "chee." How cute, right? Well, the kid never looks at the camera when you want him to, and hardly ever smiles knowingly at the camera. But in this one he did. So I thought today I would write about some of the cute things that he can say. And something really cute that Brandon said the other day too.

Those times are rare now because he is getting so much older, so I want to remember the cute things he says while he still says them.

Here is a list of the words that Brodie can say in his cute baby babble and imperfect enunciations: He can say ball; bath; book; light; dog; cheese; bite; something that sounds like Brandon; momma; daddy; outside; shoe; socks; shoo; juice; and trash. those are the main words that he can say right now.

The other night we were sitting at the table having dinner and Brandon was telling us about his future plans, what he wants to do when he grows up, etc. He has been on a kick lately where he says that he wants to be a clothing designer. He has even drawn some really cool pictures with some of his designs on them. I know, I know, it sounds strange for a boy his age to want to do this but if you know Brandon, then you know that he loves to draw and he loves art. So we were sitting at the table and this is what the coversation was like:



Brandon: "Mom, you know how my tractor can knock down trees with his bulldozier?"

(for those of you who don't know, tractor is what he calls his paternal grandfather, he has called him that since he first learned to talk and he did it on his own.)



Me: "yeah, why?"

Brandon: "well, maybe he can knock down some trees and build us a store out of the logs and me and you can make our own business."

Me: "what kind of business?"

Brandon: "we can desiogn and make our own clothes and sell them."

Me: "??"

Jay: "huh"

Brandon: " yeah, all I have to do is learn how to niddle!"

HAHA! He said that so seriously and Jay and I laughed so hard! Learn how to niddle.

Instead of Knit! We haven't heard him say anything quite so cute in such a long time.

So there it is, the cute things my kids say.

It looks good to me

This is a picture of the daily mess in our house. No matter how many times I pick the toys up they will immediately be scattered throughout the house again in a matter of minutes. This usually frustrates me and can sometimes make me anxious. I like order so chaos really freys my nerves. Here lately my house has looked disasterous because of all of the toys that my 15 month old son loves to drag out. So I was looking at the mess and decided that this is what I would write about today. When I took this picture I had a flashback of the first time my oldest son Brandon and I went to meet Jay's mom and step-dad, who live about 3 hours or so west from us. So it was an overnight trip. Needless to say I was very nervous about this first meeting and what they would think of me. Mainly becouse I was afraid that they would think that I had too much baggage for Jay. A divorce and a two year old and only 21 years old. Okay, so this sets the scene and now back to the story, and my point.

Jay's parents were very nice and I felt at home and comfortable around them right away, but I was still nervous about how they would react to Brandon and his messy messyness. Brandon had made a big mess in the floor of her beautiful livingroom with the toys that we brought and whatever else he could get his hands on. I was very nervous about this and I told my now mother in law that I was sorry that he was making such a big mess and assured her that I would clean it up as soon as he was finished playing. I knew that the mess bothered me so I thought surely it bothered her too. But you know what she said? With a big smile on here face she looked at me and said, "it looks good to me!" And I thought that was very sweet of her, and I really haven't thought much about that since... until today.

As I said before I was feeling overwhelmed by the mess when I took this picture and I was going to complain about it a little. But when I had that flashback I realized what my mother in law meant when she said those words. I realized that after a few very short years, I won't have two little boys playing and dragging out all of thier toys and making huge messes. It had been a long time since that had happened in her house. And I realized that today. I will try not to take this for granted. One day, I will miss these messes. So you know what?! It looks good to me!!