Brian turns 34 - finally!

Well, the old man is finally as old as his ole lady. Happy Birthday, honey! We love you!

Brenley May - 20 months

Where do I start with this one? She is so funny. Let's see.......her hair is so pretty and long and blond and now she has started to push it out of her eyes when it gets in the way. Such a Diva! She is still not much of an eater, unless there is some nutritional value in Wendy's chocolate frosty's.

She knows pretty much all of her body parts. Our favorite one for her to say and point to is "Elbow." She knows a lot of animal sounds and motions. Really can't pick a favorite there, but she does a mean elephant and penguin waddle.

She likes Elmo, and says it quite well. She now she says, "Ah man" when she drops something. She loves babies - any kind - dolls or real ones. And she loves to be sung too. Her favorite is The B-I-B-L-E, where she shouts "Bible" after it is over. "Deep and Wide" is another favorite because of the motions. Mind you, she is learning these at school, but we keep them going at home. Calms a crying baby so quickly!

She really likes books, probably her favorite "toy" if you will. And instead of wanting to color with crayons, she has taken a liking to markers - of course.

She LOVES her brother. And she loves pointing at the family pictures we have in the hallway of our extended family. She says "Me Ma" and "Pa Pa" and "baby" (that is for Carter and Luke). She is just a lovable little lady and we just really love her so much!

She is getting so big. I can't even believe it sometimes. She just struts into her classroom every morning and gives us a MMMMWWWWAAAAHHHH kiss and a "Bye Bye" in the sweetest voice you have ever heard. She drinks from a cup. Goes to bed so well at night. I know the time will come when all that will be a fight, but right now, we just soak it all in and count our blessings.

Momentary Pause

I've got a lot of great posts, but am waiting on our computer to come back (it's getting all "cleaned" up and maintenanced) so I can download pictures. But here is what is upcoming on the ole blogspot.com....

1. Our Outstanding Character of the week Nominee....Beau Grant
2. Our 20 month old, Brenley May Grant (sweet pea, she is)
3. Daddy's birthday

Stay tuned......early next week I am hoping. Got some good pic's to download. And I suppose I could write the blog without the pictures, but they give me so much inspiration........especially when you see the smile on the 20 month old sweet pea.

Beau, our scholar

Well, no pictures to post from this week, mostly because Mom forgot the camera for our Saturday visit to the State Fair. Ah well. It was fun. Both kids enjoyed it, and thankfully Brenlita never made an appearance and she actually stayed in her stroller.

But I will brag a bit on our son. We had his first parent teacher conference Wednesday evening - a month into the school year. I was ready to pounce on the puny stuff they have been giving my son to work on at night. It's ridiculous. But they started off with how great his behavior was, and how kind he is, and his great manners..........so I warmed up a bit. Then they told us what he scored on their assessment tests.....and I warmed up some more. And basically they told us that he reads like a second grader, and he will be put in a "level" that gives him more access to library books and pushes him to read more and harder books. And his math, and spelling, etc. they said they will look for more ways to challenge him, because he is well ahead of some of the other kids. Whoo Hoo.....that's my boy! :) Seriously, though, it's from his all day private school Kindergarten. I wouldn't have done it any other way. It started him off on the right foot, that is for sure.

Tonight, we were reading a level 2 reader book, and he was rockin' it! He knew words I just new he wouldn't know or even recognize, but he got it. I think I was smiling the whole time he read it to me. Our hearts are filled with pride over how smart and kind he is. He is so special.

This week, he is Star of the Week in his room. So he'll be taking lots of stuff to school to tell the class about himself. Oh to be a fly on the wall to hear those stories!!!!!!!!!

Football Weekend

Beau played in his first flag football game of the season on Saturday morning. He is a member of the Eagles and is playing in the Maize Recreation Football League. It's real cute. Brian is helping our friend, Dusty coach the boys. And we have some ringers on the team, let me tell you. A third grade boy on the team is a force to be reckoned with. Helps that his Dad is the defensive coordinator for one of the largest high schools in the state - Maize. Good football genes.

Anyway, our guy did real good. Big improvement over last year. And he had fun, and we had fun watching.

So we celebrated with a quick trip to Stillwater to watch our Cowboys take on the Houston Cougars. Well, the game ended on a sour note, but nothing like watching a football game outside in the rain! Even with the loss and the rain, we had a memorable day and were able to snap some great pictures. It was a great family Saturday!!

Hot Mama with her Hot Rod!

Tell me who can't love this face?! See - this is why we put up with Brenlita..........so darn cute!

Brenley May - 19 months old

Brenley May is a mess. We took her and Beau to the zoo today and we had to leave early because someone was throwing a fit - and it wasn't Brian or Beau! She wanted out of the stroller. She wanted my drink. She didn't want anyone to hold her. Then she wanted to push her own stroller. She wanted to stay and look at snakes, while we wanted to go. She only wanted to do what she wanted to do and that was it. So after screaming from the gorilla's to the exit, she just decided to stop and was fine as a fiddle. At this point, we were all exhausted and embarrassed so we climbed into the truck and went home.

This is the animal lover that at 19 months old can do the sounds of almost every farm and zoo animal in her large board book. The book that she SHOVES in our face to read 30 times a day.

But Brenley May..........oh how we love her. Because she can turn on the charm in a minute and you forget about "Brenlita" (her alter ego name we have given her when she throws fits, screams, and cries come out).

Let's see.........our 19 month old can say a few more words. The cutest ones are apple and baby. But her famous line still is, "where did it go?" She has gotten in her two eye teeth. I think she is working on some more in the back, because lately she has had her fingers or something in her mouth constantly.

She goes to bed at night so easily. Runs down the hall into her room and we just put her into bed and she rolls over and goes to sleep. Wonder how long that will last? Beau did the same thing when he was about that age - but it eventually stopped.

We resigned the highchair to the basement and she now sits in a booster seat to eat with us at the kitchen table. She can feed herself pretty well with a spoon. She LOVES fudge Popsicles. And when they melt down her arm and onto her white shirt......just don't worry about it, otherwise the rath of Brenlita will come out.

That's it for our little Lita. We love her. We are charmed by her - alter ego and all.

Now for our big 1st grader. He has successfully completed 3 weeks of school. Forgotten his backpack only once on the bus. He takes his lunch on "not so good" food days. He is making new friends. He likes computer lab and PE. He is just so big and grown up. We are very proud of how well he has done in the transition of kindergarten to first grade. Our school conference with his teachers is in a few weeks so we will find out more.

He has started flag football. Brian is helping coach. First game is next Saturday!! Then we are taking him to a Cowboy football game later that day. Go Pokes!

Well, that is it for now. Labor Day weekend draws to a close tomorrow. Brian and Beau are headed to the golf course. Not sure which one is more excited. Lita and I will stay home and chill. Certainly not headed to the zoo!