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Oh Bradley, my little ladies man. He scored his first girl's phone number today. He brought me this tiny little piece of paper with 5 year old handwriting of just numbers. It was Charolette's phone number. Today was her birthday and Brad said we have to go over to her house tonight. The boy was adamant! So, I gave it a call. Sure enough, it was Charolette's mom. And today was actually her birthday. We were kinda invited to her party on Saturday at 3:00. She said she would bring an invitation tomorrow. I apologized and didn't want to invite ourselves, but Brad was sure he was coming to their house tonight.

After I told him about the party, he said he wants to buy her a ring as her gift. I can't decide if I should be afraid of the smoothness or think its still sweet......... Until I heard this:

Chase lynn: brad, did you play with anyone else while I was gone? Like Emily?
Brad : no.
Chase lynn: oh, cause you said you would if I was gone too long


WHAT! New rule, all of Brad's communication will be done through ME!

Day 11 (Sorry Erin)

Today Keith has been gone 11 days (you gotta start somewhere). I will be the first to admit we miss him dearly. But the Air Force has prepared me for times such as these.

So far I've:

* sent a fax. This is a big deal because I am secretly afraid of fax machines. I mean, really, how does a paper WITH pictures go through the phone line? I don't get it, and find it to be the creepiest techie invention yet. Don't rebuke my argument with the tiny hand-held computers (smart phones). Those are just magic.

*scanned a couple of documents and saved them according to Keith's instructions. A feat within it's self

*filed our web taxes for both businesses

*returned phone calls and scheduled estimates I will be doing myself. I'm kicking ass at the CEO stuff.

*mailed off crashpad leases

*shipped off Keith's broken camera (thank heaven for insurance!)

*cleaned out the pool skimmers, and filled

*watered my flowers

*checked the mail. I ehat checking the mail. In fact, I didn't even know what mailbox number we were before Keith left. Not my job. And those bills can sit there! Oh, speaking of... I should go pay those. The next place we move will HAVE to have a mailbox at the end of the driveway. End of discussion.

*Kept up with a clean house, fed my children, grocery shopped, and basically held the house together (which as every woman knows requires too much paper and ink to list)

*oh, and answered questions such as "Who was the first man in the world?" "Well then, who was the third man?" "Why did God come back as a baby?" "Does that mean we're all related?" "Where are my shoes?" "Can I play my itouch?" and "Is the tooth fairy real because Morgan says mommies sneak in your room and put money down while they steal your tooth?"

Overall, I feel like I've got a real handle on things. Basically:

Starting A New Trend

Did you know my children can rip holes in jeans in less than 10 minutes after purchase. I would say it's a real gift they possess. Always the left knee? What is up with that?

There's a dress code at school that states there can not be any holes in denim. So this is my handy dandy patchwork. I'm torn between homemaker gone wild or expensive designer distressed. You know - the $200 jeans that look like they've been worn for 10 years.

In an effort to save money and NOT spend another $15 on kids jeans, I'm hoping to convince my boys how COOL they will look with the Dad's-white-tshirt- patch job. Or maybe my problem is the fact I refuse to spend more than $15 on their jeans. NaaaaH!

I'm Spreading The Word

Starts with an L

I picked the boys up from school yesterday and told them I had a surprise. We were going somewhere and I gave them clues:

Me: It starts with an L
Cole: Loony Tune Land
Me: It has thousands and thousands of these things in them
Cole: ??
Me: Dewy Decimal Point System
Cole: I don't even know what that is.
Me: Card Catalog
Cole: Are we going to Best Buy?
Me: Second letter is I
Cole: Loony Tune Land

I wanted to hit my head on a wall.... what in the world are they learning in school? And I really should have taught them this sooner. We went to the City Library and they each got library cards. I showed them how to use the computer catalog and told them how it use to be all these cards in a little box. They looked at me like I was crazy. We found the numbers and how to find the aisle it was in.... and we picked out...... How To Eat Friend Worms.

Crazy enough, the kid's name is Billy - the same name of the boy in Where the Red Fern grows. So far we are 50 pages in and they find it "alarious" Makes me happy!!

Boys Updated

Cole recently stopped saying "redult" instead of "adult". I don't know who taught him the difference, but I'm a little upset by it. He's not allowed to grow up so clearing his vocabulary from cute baby sayings is forbidden.

However, on the flip side.... yesterday he was telling me a story about something that happened at school and he said it was "alarious" (as in hilarious) Be still my heart!! I need a few more years of hearing "alarious" ;-) Don't ruin it for me!

I'm still absolutely shocked every time I pick up Brad from school. I can't wait to take a look in his folder. I'm also noticing a difference in how Mrs. Dylla is treating him. She's hugging him and commenting on how sweet he is. I'm sure it's difficult for a teacher, but knowing that she's seeing the kid inside that I know he is, delights me to no end. She's always cared for him and looked out for him, but now I feel like she's really LOVING him. Brad is writing EVERYTHING! I call it his "tag", but he's writing "I love Cole, Mom, Dad, God, Jesus" on each and every paper he brings home. I find this a far cry from the boy two weeks ago saying I hate everybody, everybody hates me, and I want a new family. He even told me the other day "I don't like the days we don't go to school!" HOLY COW!

The child who Keith and I thought would never grow out of whining, has stopped. He's not throwing fits, he's understanding directions and following them. He's telling me about problems with words and not screaming and crying. I'm bummed Keith isn't here to see the differences. I think he will be FLOORED when he gets back next weekend!

Day 3

Today is day #3 for Brad. It was the first day I've been able to spend the day with him to see his reactions. AMAZING! He never cried or became frustrated. He was able to follow my directions - more than 2 things at a time! We had a conversation that I could feel he understood. Again, I can tell when it's wearing off. Very irritable and cranky. Crying and anger. I'm sure he's not use to his little body feeling fine and then all scattered again. We're still going to try a few more days to see if he starts to understand how it's helping him and how it's ok when it wears off.

I guess I never wanted to medicate because my though process was "how can you tell if he's really ADD/ADHD when he's just four or five?" Let him be four or five and we will cross this bridge when we really have school work. Even though we have had him certified tested to prove it, I didn't REALLY believe it because he wasn't the kid running and jumping, or climbing the walls. His thoughts were so rampet, so jumbled, he has so many ideas and things he wants to express, but he couldn't. Lord, please let this give him the self esteem he needs. I don't think I could ever breathe again if he decided to hurt himself.

Today is also kinda Day 1. Keith left for Memphis. He's off to find his fortune as my Grandmother would say. FedEx training starts on Monday. He will be back in 2 weeks before he starts up again for 3 months. We can brave the next couple of weeks before our lives get really busy soon......

Next post: I eat stress for breakfast!