Mom's Overture

Got this from my aunt - Think it's worth posting for all you Mom's out there.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzZJO3ZRNCo

Still Seeing

Braylon was good at school on Wednesday... Jury is still out on the new form of punishment. Need to try it out a few more times... For inquiring parents...

Blaine = Chucky

Ok, maybe not THAT severe, but..... Last night we came home from spending time at Granny's house and it was a race to get the kids dressed, teeth brushed, pottied, and medicined up before an early bedtime (Braylon is still under loss of privilege). I was helping Braylon get changed when I hear Blaine in the kitchen tinkering around in the dish washer. Ok, no this is not ok, but I didn't remember there being anything dangerous or breakable in it (mostly because it's nearly empty). Next thing I know, Blaine is on the sofa with me and is scratching me on my forehead with something sharp... I look at his innocent, little hand only to see a pear knife firm within in his grip! That little devil was either trying to give me a hair cut or get my attention for something! Talk about fast moving to get it away from him... EEK! I now sleep with one eye open...

And We Saw

Strike out. Braylon was bad again on Tuesday... Early to bed again last night. We'll see how he did today... Perhaps he'll get it after a few days of this....

We'll Just See....

Every now and again Braylon has a really bad day at school. And when he has a bad day, it's bad for everyone... Such was life yesterday. I got a note from his teacher listing his offenses for the day. Pretty naughty stuff. In the past, he's received spankings if he gets a bad note and there was a time where for a few months he behaved at school to avoid getting spankings at home... I'm afraid those days are nearly behind us. I think it's time to get a bit more creative with our discipline. SO, I thought of what means the most to him in the evenings and I took away that privilege.

For Braylon, getting to stay up 30 minutes later than his brother at night is a big deal. That means it's the only 30 minutes where he can watch a "big boy" movie that we don't allow Blaine to watch. Or he can soak up Mommy/Daddy time without having to compete for the spotlight. Last night, Braylon was sternly lectured and put to bed at 8:15 with his brother, much to his disappointment.

After a while of letting them fall asleep, I did my usual "rounds." Braylon was in that stage in between sleep and awake where he barely had anything of reason to say. I leaned towards him, kissed his head and whispered, "I just want you to start behaving at school, ok?" He groggily said, "We'll just see if I CAN be good, Momma, ok?" With that he rolled over and off to sleep and I giggled quietly as I crept out of the room.

Movie Review: We Are Marshall DVD

We Are Marshall starring Matthew Macconaughey and Matthew Fox

Story premise: This is a true story about the 1971 Marshall University football season. In November 1970, the chartered plane carrying the entire football team, coaching staff and many booster club leaders crashed into the woods during the landing, killing all aboard. This loss of 75 people in a small community left the town to grieve. Lead by one of the two surviving team members, the student body lobbies for the football program to go forward despite great emotional loss and physical obstacles facing them in the next season.

Becky's rating: B+

Anyone who knows me knows that I love true stories on film. It really doesn't matter the subject. Even football. There probably wasn't enough football action to satisfy my husband's taste in this drama, but there was just enough to keep the story moving. The story covers the angle of the true event from several different perspectives, giving the film dimension. Drawback: I don't understand why it is rated PG when there is enough cursing to warrant a PG-13 rating. Matthew Macconaughey gives a stellar performance - Enough to warrant praise and critical acclaim for this role. However, I can't figure out why he spoke out of the side of his mouth the entire movie. To me, it was distracting. But a notable performance, nonetheless. There were definite moments in this film that pulled on my heartstrings... It is a perfect movie for a couple to watch in that it has enough manly football mixed with emotional drama to keep it interesting.

Bottom line: If you like true stories, this one won't disappoint.

Smartie Pants

Braylon has really taken off learning this school year ~ He continues to amaze us with what he knows. Makes me think that these precious early years are rapidly approaching their end.

Over the last week we discovered that Braylon can: write his name very well, recite the Pledge of Allegiance word for word, follow simple directions on school work assignments, name the days of the week in the correct order and solve simple math equations (like, 3 + 4, etc). I am confident that just 4 weeks ago when preschool started he was not able to do these things. It just shows how malleable kids are when they are young! (And reminds me of the importance of good parenting!!!)

Just had to brag!

No More Basketball

October 4 is the "big" day. Brandon will have his surgery and we can start putting this frustrating basketball incident behind us after 4 months of pain and rehab! I've forbidden basketball at our house - At least for the next year or so until I can forget all the "hoops" we've had to jump through dealing with this injury (not to mention the expenses!). It was cute because the other day Braylon saw Brandon throwing a small ball through the basketball goal outside and he said, "MOM!!! Dad's playing basketball! Oh no!!!" We had a good laugh about it....

Brandon's Knee

The verdict is in - Brandon will have surgery to fix his knee. (We already knew this, but today it was 100% confirmed.) It will be to repair his ACL and lateral meniscus. The surgeon notes that it will be mostly orthoscopic (yes, I'm aware that's misspelled), but will require one small incision as well.

We should know in the next day or two when it will be scheduled. I'm sooooo ready to have this behind us!

Oh No! ~Gasp~

That was my response when I realized that Blaine had left his "lovie" (a small quilted piece of material that has been washed so much that the royal blue coloring has faded to light blue) at school yesterday. For anyone who really knows Blaine, you know that this was a major oversight! He never leaves home without it...Nor does he hardly set it down and definitely he doesn't let it out of his sight. It has been a major battle to get him to even turn it over to be washed every so often after he drags it through all sorts of mud, dirt and germs. (Most of the time we have to trick him to wash it!)

Anyway, I just KNEW I wasn't getting any sleep last night.... But kids will always surprise you, especially when you think you have them all figured out.

My strategy was simple. I told him, "Blaine, I'm sorry but we left lovie at school. We'll have to get him tomorrow. Until then, here's a Bob blanket." I was prepared for the fiercest of battles. Had on my full armor and everything. But, Blaine looked at the "sub" lovie, put the Bob character to his face and said, "Ok, Momma." Straight to sleep for us all! No battles in the a.m. on the way to school....

Ahhhh..... Days of lovies seem very numbered at this point....

Personality Test

I ran across a personality test of Brandon's last night that I myself have also taken before. It tests for one of four categories that interprets your main personality type. Of course, Brandon and I both fell into the GOLD category (in case you are familiar with the COLORs testing). That means that we both value rules, tradition and justice, etc.

I tried to find that test to put on my blog. I was unsuccessful. However, I did run across one personality test that I found very interesting.... Take it and see what you think. Interested in your feedback.

http://shapetest.com/

I've never seen one quite like this before....

Blaine's Party

Blaine actually turned 2 on the 1st and his actual day was celebrated with family at Chuck E. Cheese Pizza (ICK!). Since that day fell on a holiday weekend, however, we opted to post-pone his party until a week later.

Blaine had a lot of fun at his Veggie Tales themed party! We invited his church friends, most of which are Braylon's age or babies. BUT he didn't care - He had fun especially eating his cake and opening presents. The kids enjoyed playing at the fenced-in park and the weather was perfect with a cool breeze. He got lots of Diego toys, his new favorite.

With my "baby" now being a full-fledged, card-carrying toddler, I am at a loss for words... Next will be potty training and preschool. WHAT happened to my baby Blaine????

Well Again, Well Again

Jiggity jig jig!!!

Dare I say it out loud??? Kids and husband back at 100% - Now just waiting the proverbial incubation period to insure I don't come down with the Hamilton plague after caring for all these boys!

The Sickness Saga Continues

I've often noted that our family (mostly the kids) tends to get sick more often that your average family. Perhaps it just seems that way from my perspective, who knows? I do know that I probably have helped build a west wing and horse stable onto my pediatrician's ranch house...

Blaine cleared up his cold/croup/ear infection over the weekend only to greet Brandon at the threshold of getting a nasty sinus infection. He went to the doc and got a basket full of meds and is on his way to getting better. Now it's Braylon's turn - He is running a good fever and coughing something fierce. Doc says, bad cold. (And I'm here to agree - BAD cold).

Ok people - With a house full of sickies, Mommy has somehow avoided it as of press time. Let's all chant me on to stay well so I can care for these pitiful Hamilton men...

Promise to blog with interesting things coming to a computer near you soon....