Bad Names

Tonight Brannon told me something funny. It went like this:

Brannon: Mom, Jackson called me a bad name today!
Me: Really? What did he say?
Brannon: He called me a food!
Me: A food? What do you mean?
Brannon: He called me chicken!

My mom was in the same room and we just busted up laughing! :)

Spitting Image

My mom and dad just got back from Gatlinburg tonight and stopped by so that we could see them. They also brought back goodies for the boy (those poor boys are so unloved!;). Here is a picture of two of the things they brought back for them; a cool blowup spider decoration and PaPaw shirts. They were so proud of the shirts that they had to put them on tonight after they got them. I don't know which picture goes better with the saying on the shirt, the first picture or the second? ;)

We love you Dad/PaPaw!!!

Bat's at the Children's Museum

On Thursday, Shawn, the boys and our friend Jennifer and her son Jacob went to the Children's Museum. Despite the crowds, we had a really good time. The highlight for me personally was a bat program we were able to see. I had read about it in the museum magazine this summer, and I wanted to make sure and go and see it. No, I'm not a complete weirdo, but I do a big bat unit with my class every year, and I thought that it would be really cool to see real bats up close! I also thought that the boys would think it was cool too. I couldn't believe how close we were able to get to the bats! They brought 2 small bats (a dog face bat and I believe a little brown bat...yes that is their real names...and yes the latter can be found in Indiana) and 2 big bats. For those of you who know and love the book Stellaluna, they brought a fruit bat that is just like the one from the book (it is the bat in the last picture...isn't it SO cute!!!...ok, maybe I am a bit odd ;). The other bat they brought is the largest kind of bat that I believe is called a Malaysian fruit bat. If you are interested in seeing pictures of this bat, check out my class blog. I didn't want to gross people out. :)



As always, we also spent awhile in the superhero exhibit. This time it was really cool, because a real cartoonist was there drawing pictures of Superheros for the kids. Brannon thought it was cool because he drew a Spiderman for him and he was able to color it there with their special oil crayons. Brannon really watched and listened to him as he drew the pictures and tried to go back to the table and draw a picture using his techniques. We think that he is going to be our artist. :)

Upward Soccer Awards Night

Well, a couple of weeks ago Upward Soccer ended. I can't say that I miss it. Brannon really wasn't into it at all, and it has been so nice to be able to sleep in on Saturdays! Here are some pictures from the awards night. Brannon did have fun at practice, but for some reason he just didn't like the games. He did get a really cool duffel bag!

Brannon's Drawings

Here are some more of Brannon's drawings. I am always so impressed by what he comes up with. The one on the top left he drew for Simon. He said that it was Simon, Anna, his mom and dad, and him. For some reason he is into drawing belly buttons. :) I'm sure that has some meaning behind it. The top right picture is of him and Alex. :) On the bottom left, he drew Cookie Monster. I later had him go back and put arms on poor Cookie Monster...how could he eat his cookies without arms! ;) The picture on the bottom right corner is of Batman. :)

Alex and the Firefighters

A few weekends ago, the big fire station in New Palestine had a big community open house day. We were all suppose to go, but Brannon got really whiney and had to stay at home with Shawn. So I got to have a nice little outing with just Alex. We were able to get into the fire trucks, play "firefighter", see a helicopter, pet some rescue dogs, eat some popcorn and candy, and do a lot of other kiddie things. We had a nice time, but we decided that we would have rather done it all with Brannon and Daddy. Alex just kinda wondered from one place to the another, and was really lost without his big brother. This happens a lot with Alex. He really needs his big brother to direct him and help him know what to do a lot of times.

It was a beautiful day, and he let me take some cute pictures! :)

Brannon's Field Trip to Tuttles

Brannon's birthday week was a big week for him. Monday was picture day and parent's open house, Tuesday was his field trip to Tuttle's, and Thursday was his birthday, show and tell AND Bookmobile (this was a big deal to him) day! As a kid, when you have your birthday, it makes it all the more special and exciting when there is a lot going on the week of your birthday! It's like it was all planned just because it was your birthday week! :)

Well, I am finally getting the pictures I took from Brannon's field trip on the blog. Hopefully his birthday party pictures (and Shawn's...from August) will make their way onto the blog soon too! ;)

Here are some group pictures of the kids in his class. The boy in the blue jacket is Peyton that he talks about a lot.

These are his buddies in class. I think the little girl in the red coat is SO cute! They were all sweet kids! I'm not sure what the big deal was about sticking their tongues out...must be a 4/5 year old thing! ;)

Here's Brannon picking his apples and pumpkin. After going to Tuttle's twice with 2 different classes, we have lots of apples and pumpkins around our house! Tis the season!

What would a trip to Tuttle's be without jumping in the hay?!

Brannon is our little gymnast / monkey! He has perfected the monkey bars, and loves to flip, climb and swing on anything!

Here are some pictures of me and my big 5 year old! I can't believe he is already 5!!! I realy had a nice time with Brannon. I always enjoy watching him interact with the other kids. He was so sweet, because a couple of times he called me over to different places so that just the two of us could play together. I love my big boy! I hope and pray that we always stay close. We have always spent time in bed right before he goes to sleep just talking about any and everything. I hope that never changes, and that the time I spend with him now will build a foundation of trust that will continue on through the teenage years (that I am terrified of!) and adulthood.

And they're off...
This is Brannon and his friend Nate on the bus waiting to leave to go back to school. Big surprise...they are sticking their tongues out! :P

Alex's Field Trip to Tuttles

Today I went on a field trip with Alex and his Mom's Day Out class. They went to Tuttle's to pick a pumpkin and apples. The weather was wonderful and we had a great time! Here are some pictures from today.

Here's Alex picking his pumpkin. He took a long time to pick his pumpkin because he said that he needed a small one. When he found his treasured small pumpkin he raised his hand and waited for someone to come and cut it off for him. He was so proud of himself!

After we picked our pumpkin, we got to pick apples. We both got to pick 3 apples.

They told us that at the end of May when we had the tornados in the area, the hail destroyed / damaged over 90% of Tuttle's apple crop. Almost all of the apples had what looked like insect or worm "damage", but it was actually from the hail in the spring. This is a picture of some of the apples.

Alex was so cute carrying his little sack of apples!

After all the pumpkin and apple picking, it was time for a nice picnic lunch.

After lunch Alex had a ball playing in the big hay stack. He would climb to the top and jump into the pile of hay. Unfortunately he began to cough a lot while he was playing in the hay, so I am thinking he may be allergic to it.

Here we are at the end of our fun trip. Alex was so good to let me take pictures of him. The last picture is of Alex looking at a girl in his class named Ella. She is so cute, and a really sweet little girl. He talked about her a couple of times during the day. When we were picking apples he said, "I need to pick an apple for Ella." What a sweet boy!

I get to do this all over again next week with Brannon and his class!