Brennerson

Brenley. Brenley May. Bren. Brennerson. Binny. Bin Bin. Sissy. Sissy Pots. She goes by many names. She has many looks. Our doll.

Ranger Game and First Flight

WHAT A WEEKEND - and a quick one to boot! We were jet setters this weekend........taking off for the great state of Texas in a quick 1 hour 15 minute flight for a Ranger baseball game. It was Beau's first flight and experiencing this with him was so AWESOME! His eyes were so big and his head was so full of questions. We took everything in. Look at that, did you see that, check that out.........over and over. It was incredible. And he did so great on his flight. Big boy through security and lines. He was awesome.

Headed to the hotel for swimming and relaxing until our ride came for us at 5:30. Then we headed to the ballpark where the first 7,500 kids got a free jersey. That was cool. The suite box seats were, as usual, awesome. Hot, but tolerable. Great seats, good company, wonderful evening.

Then up and at 'em Sunday morning for the return flight home. Again, he was super pumped about being in such a HUGE airport. But here is the best part. He saw two soldiers in the bathroom and according to his Dad, was mesmerized by them.....watching their every move. Then one of them happened to get in line in front of us at the gate, and he continued to stare. And the soldier turned around and I said, sorry, my son is mesmerized by you. And he just smiled an "ah shucks" grin. And we headed down the terminal gate, and he stopped and turned around and said......."Do you want my blanket?" And Beau just gaped open his mouth. And Brian was like, "Sir, are you sure?" And he was like, "Sure, they are only like 99 cents. Please take it." And we thanked him, and thanked him, and Beau gave him a high five as we passed him in his first class seats. Beau hugged and cradled that blanket. That is what made him the happiest. It was the kindest gesture from an already giving solider. Incredible. Capped off a perfect trip and actually was the ultimate highlight. A forever memory we will have of that trip. One small gesture made a little boy's world forever. Something to take note of.........sometimes, it is about the small stuff.

We pulled into our driveway at 11:00AM to see a pretty little Brenley May and Me Ma anxiously awaiting our arrival on the front porch. We missed our girl, but we loved the time with just Beau. It was such a wonderful short trip.

I am choosing not to talk about this week, though. It's going to be tough. So I am hitting fast forward now.........FFWD...................................

Weird Week

Well, besides not being with my husband all week (another 5 day travel week for him)........it's been an odd week.

Monday: Jon and Kate announce their divorce. Ed McMahon dies. The Bachelorette kicks off Mr. Perfect, Jake. Bummer night on TV.
Tuesday: Brenley and I melted in 100+ degree heat for Beau's T-Ball game (while not a weird event, it is only late June, not hot, hot August).
Wednesday: S. Carolina Governor admits to an affair after coming back from a week with his mistress and lied about his whereabouts to everyone in his life.
Thursday: Back out of the driveway in the AM, and notice our next door neighbor put their house up for sale last evening. Farrah Fawcett dies. Michael Jackson dies. My daughter calls 911 (she was playing with the phone) and a police officer comes to our house - sure he does. At least he was nice. Head to swimming lessons where my son continued to cry like a girl. Came home and our across the street neighbor put their house up for sale. Now, I promise my non-Wichitian readers.......we didn't just all of a sudden become awful neighbors. They were victims of the furloughs and layoff's of the Wichita airline industry. Just 12,000 people in this city, to date, that were let go from their jobs. We are not sure what happened to our neighbors, but hopefully we'll find out in the days to come. Literally, the recession has hit close to home. Now in our 11 block cul-de-sac, there are 3 houses for sale. It's sad because both of these families have small children.
Friday: Who knows........hoping for a happy day. Daddy comes home tomorrow. And my Mom and my two nieces are coming to stay. But from here on out.........I'm looking at a lot of air travel and days without my family as I travel for work. And on the week I don't, Brian will travel. But I try to look at the positive. We both have jobs. We are both healthy. And our marriage is strong. Saying prayers tonight that those things continue.

Happy Father's Day!!!

We enjoyed a lovely weekend together. On Saturday, we headed to McPherson for one of Brian's best friend's wedding reception, then we hung out with his parents. The original plan was for Brian to play golf with his Dad, brother, and BIL, but the weather stopped that. We headed out of there around 7:30 before the severe storms kicked in.

Today was a Happy Father's Day for Brian, as he got to make his annual trek to the Sedgwick County Zoo car show with his son, Beau. They've went every year since we lived here and I am not sure who loves it more. Then we had some BBQ for lunch, and just chilled out at home this afternoon with a few naps in between.

I have a great father for my children, and a really good role model in my amazing Daddy, Fred Levings. And even though I don't think my three brothers read my posts.........I have brothers that are pretty amazing Daddy's too!

More Birthday Parties

Beau had two more birthday parties this weekend. One was for one of his favorite classmates, Jolei. It was Saturday at All Star Sports. He was a roller coaster ridin' fool!

Today, we drove down to Stillwater, Oklahoma to my nephew Dylan's birthday! We had such a great time. We first stopped by my other brother's house and took a dip in their pool. Anything we can do to get Beau more comfortable with the water.......we are going to do it. (We had a very tough swim lesson this past week........too long too write about).

So we headed to the party at 2:30. It was at Kid's Kingdom (like a gymnastic studio), and they got to jump and run and swing. It was so much fun!! Both of the kids played hard and then slept hard on the way home.

Happy Birthday to my 10 year old nephew, Dylan Kyle Levings!

Sum-Sum-Summertime!

We had a great weekend, but little catch up from last weekend where we celebrated Brian's Mom AND Dad's 60th birthday. It was a really nice party and the kids were so cute!

Then this weekend Beau was invited to 3 birthday parties. We made him narrow it down to 2 parties, which he did, but one of his parties took place at a Wichita Wingnut baseball game (an independent baseball team for you out-of-towner blog readers) with one of his T-ball teammates.

It was a family night and we had a great time. We weren't sure how Brenley would fare all 9 innings, but she did great. Beau and his T-Ball teammates wore their shirts to the game, mitts ready for fowl balls, and they got front row seats down the third baseline. Beautiful evening and fun night!



Then today we got the pool out and enjoyed some sunshine and cute pictures of our little hottie in her swimsuit. Our goal this year is to get Beau more comfortable with the water, and he enjoyed it today - even though the water was soooo cold!

But it was a great weekend, and we loved being together. Brian was gone all this past week traveling, and our house is not the same without Daddy in it.

Brenley - 16 months

My girl, my girl, my ornery girl. She is fiercely independent at the ripe ole age of 16 months, and stubborn as all get out. Where does she get that from....one wonders. Any hoo.......my girl is 16 months old!
A bit about Miss Brenley.............
- She hates all shoes except for her ratty old sneakers, so the cute sandals and summer shoes just sit in her closet. How that doesn't break Mama's heart, but I keep trying.
- She loves the phone and has perfected the word "hello" although she never says it when I ask her to show off, only when she is playing "phone."
- She gets red rosy cheeks when she plays outside for any length of time, but she loves to be outside.
- She pulls out about every bow and hair clip I put in her hair. I just keeping buying more and putting them in.
- She gives hugs and kisses on demand. Ah.......sweet pea.
- She has discovered how to flush the toilet and does it as often as she can without her parents catching her.
- She loves to brush her teeth and eat toothpaste. Not her toothpaste, but grown up toothpaste.
- She can drink out of a straw - already!
- She growls like the Green Hulk toy that her brother has. Except she growls ALL the time, not just when she is playing with it. Her daycare teacher even said she growls when she sits her sippy cup down in front of her. It's like her way of saying, thank you, I guess.
- And if she could turn into a Gerber cheesy puff, she would, because sometimes that is all I can get her to eat, well, besides ice cream, of course (Mother of the Year, right here).

She is perfect, and funny, and just one of the greatest loves of my life.