HA!

Brad hates school. I mean he HATES it. Who knows why, but he just walked in and the following converstation took place: Brad: Momma, can you pick me up early from school tomorrow? Me: No, sorry Brad. Brad: But people get to go home early all the time. Me: Right, they probably have dr appointments. You do not. I would have to turn in a doctor's note to get you out of school and you don't have an appointment. He was not happy with this answer and stormed off.... Minutes later he was back. Brad: Momma, How do you make yourself throw up because I want to make sure that I do NOT do that at school tomorrow? Please tell me so I don't get sick at school.

A letter to Brad

Without going into details something happened last weekend. It was a huge wake up call for me and I had to make quick choices that were very hard. My Dearest Bradley, You scared me. A flash of what could have been has haunted my dreams and thoughts ever since. I hope you understand how much you are loved. I couldn't breathe without you in our lives. I physically want to be sick when I imagine not seeing you, talking with you, playing with you, taking care of you, raising you, or flat out knowing you are ok. It breaks my heart when you don't realize your value in our lives. I feel like I'm failing you as a mother when you don't understand God's purpose for your creation. YOU are a LOVED little boy. You were created by the KING of all things. You were made in His image to do great things here. You were made unique to stand out as Brad and Brad alone. You hold our hearts with a slight smile. I live to see the world from your precious eyes. Please know that I will exhaust my last ounce of strength making sure you know this. I am making a commitment to you. I want to help you in every way I know possible. It's hard as a parent. I will not always know what the right thing to do is, but I promise you there won't be a decision made that wasn't well thought out. I promise I'm researching, weighing all sides of an issue, asking questions, and most importantly praying. I'm praying for you all the time sweet boy and your brother too! I am VERY honored God choose me to be your mom. I love you so so much and I hope you understand one day your importance. I want you to realize your self worth, your gifts, and love for yourself. I will do all I can to help you and I know for a fact your father feels the same way. We love you little man, Your mom

Funny things

The boy's school had hearing and vision testing this week. They needed volunteers to help out so I headed up there for two days. As Brad went into the room for the hearing test he made sure to tell the nurse..... "Watch out for Tristan. He has really bad ears because he is in trouble ALL the time. He can't hear." HA! The I was helping with 3rd grade. This little girl said "Are you Cole's mom?" I told her I was and then I said... How is Cole doing? Is he nice to everyone? Tell me everything! She said "He's good. He's got blonde hair and green eyes...." WHOA - slow down little ball of hormones! Don't make me get all crazy up in the school! Ha! Oh, and I realize I live in a small town when the UPS driver recognizes me up at the school and delivered my packages there. It tells me (A) I am at the school too much (B) Yes, it is a small town or (C) I have an amazon.com addiction. (D) ALL OF THE ABOVE!

Ding Ding Ding

Man, there are only a few things in life that I have been able to accurately predict. Experiencing first grade reading with Brad is one of those things. Ahh... my sweet B. He is very upset today about homework in general. One of the sentences doesn't make sense to him, so he refuses to read the whole page. He has quietly flipped through the booklet a couple of times and says "I'm done. I read it three times. I'm going outside." Brad will you read it to me aloud...... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! This is exactly how I predicted this experience to play out. Today was day 1 of homework. We have a full year ahead of us. Yea!

Summer Vacation

Last summer we spent the majority of it moving from one house to the other.... painting, unpacking, reorganizing. Lots of fun! I was really looking forward to this summer because we could actually enjoy it. Now I'm sitting here thinking WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SUMMER!?! Cole had a soccer camp with the Texans in June. In July we planned a trip out to Tennessee. We spent a couple days in Memphis looking around and trying to cram an entire city tour into 24 hours. The boys went to Graceland, to see the FedEx headquarters, Daddy's crash pad, Beale Street, Gibson guitar factory tour, Loraine Motel, Civil Rights Museum, the entire Memphis Zoo, Collierville Music on the Square with a slice of homemade cheesecake - ALL IN ONE DAY! Cole wasn't impressed. He just wanted to fish! We spent a day driving around and looking at houses/neighborhoods/land. We have a big decision to make as to where to live. It really deserves a post on it's own. Our hearts are so torn and we really aren't leaning for one place over another. After our house hunt, we drove out to Gattlinburg to meet up with the Thomas family. The McThomas family was all together again. We got a little cabin we camped in for a few days complete with a black bear. I almost lost my first born to said black bear - no lie. So, we spent the rest of the visit locked inside. The boys hated me. It was good to see Steve and Ashley, but next time we are going a little more urban ;-) Keith was able to take the majority of August off. We were **thisclose** to buying a camper and heading up to Colorado. Instead the boys wanted to vacation with their grandparents in Dallas. We loaded up MV and spent a few days with all of them. The plan was to save money and plan for a trip to San Diego in October. We were able to wrap the season up with a family trip to Castaway Cove. This is what the boys remember the most! Figures!!! Keith is playing soccer with the Air Force all of September. The last week of games are in San Diego. Since this is his last time as a player, we wanted to go out and watch his games! We blinked our eyes and school started. There was our Summer of 2012 in a nutshell!

Bradisms

Brad says a lot of funny things. He will say things that make NO sense to me and then things that make me melt. Here's a few things he said the past few days that have won my heart. "Mama, can I sit in your lap because you are beautiful, soft, and cuddly?" "Mama, this will make you cry.... look how awesome this clayball is!" "What about Mickey, will he drown in the pool?" No Brad "Oh, that's right. He's smart!" He was crying because he didn't want to get ready for soccer "Is this where I play in front of people?" Yes, it's a game. "I don't want to go, I hate soccer. I hate it when I score and they all cheer for me. I don't want people to look at me. Delete soccer!" "Delete soccer" "Delete soccer!" - can you tell I have a total gamer on my hands. "Mama, can you upload my itouch?" Oh, you want me to download new updates? "NO, UPLOAD MY iTOUCH!" Brad where do you want to go eat "At home, I just like to be at home" Brad what do you want to do if you quit soccer? "Nothing, stay at home" Brad want to go to the movies? "No, I just want to go home" He was playing with an ant bed and got bit by a red ant (screaming) "Owie... my finger!!! Am I going to die?" I painted a picture and he told Cole "Mama painted that all by herself because she worked very hard on it. Good Job Mommy" Cole was looking for Brad and said "Brad where are you?" and Brad said "a special little place I call hell" - I said WHAT?! And he replied "oh, I mean a dark and scary place. Where does he get this stuff?

Another 1st

I dropped Cole off at soccer practice yesterday and left. I hated it. I have been to EVERY practice possible, and if I wasn't there, Keith was the coach. I just left him there trusting his coach to take care of him and keep his best interests at heart. I knew he would. My mind the whole time was playing "what if he gets hurt and I'm not there", "What if the coach tries to call me and his phone is dead", "what if Cole is passed out and can't give the coach my number to call on somebody else's phone?" And you can see where I went from there.... Crazyville. But, thankfully, all went well. Cole had a good time and a girlfriend brought him home just as the carpooling plan had been crafted. A first for me, I still don't like it. Sniff. Sniff.