Brother Dennis-isms

Y'all have to know how much I loved my pastor at Midway Baptist Church in Florida.  He was a big teddy bear of a man, a great storyteller, had the best sense of humor, was ultra-conservative, and was an unapologetic preacher of the Word of God.  He simply tells it like it is... and then embellishes a little bit to make a great story!

I have a journal where I keep track of quotes I like, and I went through my journal last night where I keep all my sermon notes and found these jewels that I then transferred to my quotes journal.  They are so funny and simple and profound that I thought I'd share some of them with y'all.

• All sunshine and no rain makes a desert.
• You have to do away with stinkin' thinkin'.
• Stop worrying, or worrying will stop you.
• There's no U-haul pulled behind a hearse.
• Stop being in a hurry when God's not.
• If you want a king, be a queen.
• You can't have all jelly beans and no green beans.
• Sometimes it's the bland leading the bland.
• Don't give to get... unless you're giving to get to give!
• You can't be a leader without being a follower first.
• Never confuse your net worth with your self worth.
• I always sing that prison music.  You know, where you're always behind a few bars huntin' for a key!
• Money talks.  It says "Bye!"
• You can't unscramble an egg.
• Anything with no head is dead, and 2 heads is a freak show (referring to wives submitting to their husbands)! 
• There are no illegitimate children, only illegitimate parents.

An event-full July

Since it's nearing the end of the month, I figured it was time to post something about how our life here in Tennessee is going. I'll say this, we're adjusting slowly. I've joined an all women's class at church and am being fed spiritually.  I joined the Y and am doing yoga and spin classes twice a week each, and that satisfies me physically.  Bradley gets to go the nursery at the Y and play with other kids, and he goes to the nursery at church, so he's being nurtured socially.  Mom and Laura cook often which feeds my belly, and we have ice cream often and laugh a lot which feeds my soul.

Here's B showing off his Stinky Feet!

A new favorite game- riding the horsey

And this one's right after a small glass of buttermilk, which he and dad enjoy from time to time.  I love his buttermilk mustasche!

Trying to beat the extreme heat & humidity, I decided to bust out the slip and slide that he got for his birthday.  Notice the progression of pictures.  I tried demonstrating how much fun this was.  Bradley wasn't buying it.

One of the reasons I love Nashville:  great music anywhere, any time.  This is Laura & I down at Musician's Corner in Centennial park downtown.  They have free music with great local artists every Saturday from 3-6pm.  We heard MPJ play a short set this day.

 For some reason the mosquitos LOVE Bradley.  Earlier this month we had to pay a visit to the pediarician to get some extra strength medicine to combat his bug bites.  We have now learned to douse him with bug spray before playing outside, no matter what time of day it is, and to avoid being outside during the dusk hours since that's when the bugs are the worst.  Unfortuntely, that means we have to get creative with how often we play outside, so we play baseball inside the house with a soft squishy ball.

While going through boxes in the attic, mom stumbled across some old college shirts.  Of course I made them try them on for posterity!

A great new place opened in Cool Springs called Peek-A-Boo Playtown, so I met a friend of mine from high school over there.  Rachel's son Mason is about a month younger than Bradley, and though we've kept in touch via Facebook and Blogs, our sons had never met.  The boys mostly ran around and played with different things, but we caught a few precious moments of the two of them together playing in the ball pit.

Outside is the little blue chair dubbed as Bradley's Peanut Chair. 

He sits out there on the back deck and eats peanuts with Grandpa B. 

A self portrait of Bradley and me.  I tried really hard to get him to sit in his peanut chair for this picture, but being a two year old, he didn't want to cooperate.  Most things are a battle these days, but I know we'll get through it.  I am full of a lot of things right now.  Food, ice cream, and the other things mentioned above, but I am also full of hope, and full of the Holy Spirit, so I can sit back and enjoy the meal I've tasted, and be pleasantly full.

 

Take B out to the ballgame

Last Saturday we took Bradley to his first baseball game: the Nashville Sounds vs. the Omaha Royals.  It was really hot & humid, but we braved the heat throughout the game so we could stay for the fireworks after the game.  Amazingly, Bradley made it through the whole event.  It helped that we constantly had food & drink to distract B.  Anyone who knows my family knows we love to eat.  Here's a list of all we ate between the 6 of us to occupy Bradley throughout the game:  hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries, pizza, coke, beer, pretzels, ice cream, icee, slushee, peanuts... am I forgetting anything??

Here's Bradley cheering for the Sounds!

Bradley went from lap to lap as he got restless- here's B with uncle George

...and enjoying a slushee with Grandma B

Bradley & I after the game- the Sounds won!

Mr. & Mrs. Murdoch- this captures them perfectly I think!

Mama & Daddy B

The final scoreboard- Sounds win!

mom & dad with Bradley- after the game and waiting for the fireworks

 

For the fireworks I sat Bradley in my lap and wasn't sure what to expect.  He slept through fireworks this year so it had been a while since he had seen any.  I warned him that they would be loud but pretty, and to look up in the sky.  My little man sat perfectly still on my lap, covered his own ears and kept his hands there the entire time while he watched the fireworks pensively.  It was not one of 2 reactions I thought we'd get- animatedly-excited or scared.  He seemed fine when they were over, and has been talking about them for days. 

On one of Bradley's walks through the stadium, Dad bought Bradley a soft Sounds baseball, and so far B has slept with it every night.  he was so excited to have it the first night, that the next night I was shocked when I put Bradley to bed and upon walking out of his room, he started crying "My baseball!  My baseball!"  Down I went to locate the ball and delivered it to my wailing son.  After that he was fine.  Some kids are attatched to stuffed animals, my child is attatched to a ball.  Go figure.

He doesn't like to potty.

Call me a naive first time parent, but I thought that once my son decided to use his potty that from now on he'd be eager to try, and motivated by his sticker reward chart.  How silly of me.  I guess that's why it's referred to as potty training... as in to take a long time to teach and correct and rebuke after many many tries, and other words pertaining to training.

As it stands now, Bradley went on his potty twice- once on Sunday night, once on Monday, and ever since you'd think I was offering to torture him when I ask him if he'd like to try and go on his big boy potty!  This I was not expecting.  Sure, I figured we'd try and have many false attempts, but this disdain, nay, rather this hatred for the potty, I do not understand.  Guess we're in for the long haul as far as potty training goes, as it's very difficult to sucessfully go on the potty when one will not even sit on the potty to begin with.

One amusing thing that Bradley has suddenly picked up is referring to himself as "he."  When once it was "Bradley wants fruit snacks," now we're hearing "He wants pancakes."  To which I usually respond, "oh he does, does he?"  It's funny to listen to him exploring with pronouns.

We like to potty

I get annoyed at people's Facebook status updates that record the every move of their children.  I try so hard not to be that person, so instead of posting this on FB it can go here:  Bradley went peepee on the potty for the first time tonight!  (See, isn't that just obnoxious to read?  I'm writing this more for me than you, so sorry if that's TMI.)

I was so excited and so sad at the same time.  As each day passes my little boy is growing up.  Soon he'll be out of diapers, then starting kindergarten, and then dating girls- I shudder at these thoughts!  I didn't even think Bradley was ready to start trying yet.  We've had his potty since Christmas, and every now and then he would sit on it, but lately, right after he hit two (the age, not the corresponding bathroom duty (or doody)), he seemed more ready and interested.  I bought the Elmo Pottytime video (Thanks Rachel- I didn't even know it existed until I read about Mason watching it).  And after watching that a few times, Bradley seemed more vocal about wanting to try.

We were upstairs playing tonight, and he said he needed to go, so off to the bathroom we went, like so many times before.  You can imagine my shock when something actually came out this time! (Again, TMI for Facebook, I don't need hundreds of people reading about my son's number one habits, just you!)  We put a sticker on his new potty chart, so I guess tomorrow and from here on out I'll have to be diligent about sitting him on the potty seat first thing in the morning, after nap time and so on.  Now that he's done it once, we have to be consistent.

2 in June

Our good friend Joe just did a photo shoot with us for Bradley's 2 year pictures on Tuesday.  He worked super-fast and got me a slideshow on Wednesday, and now I've put together a short sampling for you...okay, and me, because I can never look at too many pictures of Bradley!  :) 

Some 2 year old stats:

• weight is 30 pounds, 74th percentile
• length is 33 3/4 inches, 30th percentile
• His response when you ask most any question is a resigned, "Okayyyy"
• Sleeping in a big boy bed for several weeks now
• Can throw and catch a ball well, & has hit the ball with a bat a few times, kicks a soccer ball well
• jumps with both feet
• walks up and down stairs
• People who know these things tell me he talks a lot for a kid his age.  I have no clue about that, I'm just glad we can have conversations now!
• Sings Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, the ABC's, You Are My Sunshine, & various Mary Poppins tunes
• Likes Sesame Street, Elmo, & Mary Poppins
• Does NOT like having his diaper changed
• And no, we're far from being potty trained.  He has zero interest in the big boy potty.
• When asked how old he is, his response is "2 in June."  (Thanks, Grandma Ann for teaching him that!)

Supercalafragilisticexpialidocious

Recently Bradley has become enamoured of Mary Poppins.  He's watched the movie several times now (stopping and starting again when he gets antsy, of course), and he often sings one-liners from the movie's many songs.  No, in reference to the title of this blog, my genius son is Not singing Supercalafragilisticexpialidocious, but upon watching the movie with him one day, I stopped and thought about the practically-perfect-in-every-way person's description of this nonsense word. 
"It's something to say when you don't know what to say."

And that's how I've been feeling about blogging lately.  So much has overwhelmed me in my personal life these days, and most people who read this blog I assume already know what's going on, but besides chronicling Bradley's every cute move, I use this blog to vent my feelings, and write as a creative outlet.  But with everything going on... Supercalafragilisticexpialidocious... I haven't quite known what to say.  There is a fine line between transparency and airing one's dirty laundry.  It's also freeing however to just say something out loud and stop hiding behind evasiveness.  So here it goes: 

Brian and I are getting a divorce.

Other than that, I'm dealing with things the way Mary Poppins has taught me to- with a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down- and consuming mass quantities of sweets!

CD in DC

This blog is a long-overdue recap of my extended weekend in Ellicott City, MD (a suburb of Washington DC) to visit my best friend Heather  her husband Jacob.  With everything going on in my life right now, it was decided that a few days away might just do the trick, and Jacob had some extra frequent flier miles, so off I went. Heather & I have known each other since the 7th grade when we were both cheerleaders at MLK. We have been through a lot in life and though our friendship has ebbed & flowed over the years, when we get together we never skip a beat.

It had been about 10 years since I'd flown on an airplane by myself, and I tend to have travel anxiety that gets worse as I get older, but aside from a few minor hiccups, I arrived in DC on Thursday morning to greet a smiling Heather.  As she weaved in & out of traffic expertly, I clung to my door handle, and realized it had been a while since I'd ridden with her.  This would come into play later on.

We grabbed lunch at Subway and brought it home to eat.  Home for Heather & Jacob is their new condo Chateau DePriest that I was getting to visit for the first time.  The home is classy & modern, decorated in muted shades, with pictures hanging up all over of the places she & Jacob have travelled.  Heather would describe her style as plain.  I would disagree.  Being a week day, Heather had some work she had to get done that afternoon, least of all was an hour long conversation with a client of hers who, no joke, believes Heather's an angel.  I would agree, though in a much more figurative sense of the word.

We hung out at the house that night- just the four of us- me, Heather, Jacob, & Betsy, Jacob's sister who's living with them this summer while working in DC for her internship.  Heather's house backs up to some woods, and she decidedly does not like the "creature" aspect of this locale.  They see deer all the time, have found a snake in the front yard, and just last week Heather called me in a panic about a massive spider downstairs, which we all made fun of her for her claims of how big it was, yet I no doubt looked for spider relatives every time I was down there too.  Keeping in the creature-friendly abode theme, I helped re-locate a small frog not once but twice from her deck, and am pretty sure I saw a badger run by in broad daylight.  We capped off the evening with some heaven in a cup from Coldstone Creamery.  Do you know the best part about Maryland this time of year?  No humidity!  That in itself was heaven as well, as we spent a lot of time this weekend sitting outside enjoying the pleasantly warm temps.

Friday was insanely busy for Heather and I.  She's a slave driver, really.  But then again I did volunteer my services.  To-do list in hand, we left the house at 9:30 Friday morning, and returned around 4, going to no less than 9 places.  Included in these stops was a trip to IKEA (oh, how I love this store), a walk with Heather's friend Laura, but more importantly, Laura's infamous dog Boomer, and the best part, lunch with Ari!

I was so blessed to have lunch with 2 of my favorite people on earth  (Conley, we certainly missed you). Ari was on her way through town to meet up with Bart, so an hour or two was all we got, but it was totally worth it.  We ate at this little sandwich shop where a man got up to sing & play guitar to provide lunchtime patrons with entertainment.  Looks like we're not in Nashville anymore, Toto I said to the girls.  The musician was not great to say the least, so we opted to move to an outdoor table to finish our conversation and drinks.  I was sad to have such a short visit with Ari, but she had places to be, and we had more errands to run.

Saturday night was the unofficial housewarming party to break in the new Chateau DePriest.  We spent all day cleaning and getting ready for the shindig that ended up being about 35 people.  I was excited to finally meet work and church friends that she's been talking about for several years now.  No one ever looks how you picture them to look!  I bonded with several people over lamenting Heather's poor driving skills.  Heather defended herself saying she's just an efficient driver.  Yes, her friend Ken said, if by efficient you mean driving in such a way that your life is shorter.  The party was a success, with plenty of food and drinks to go around for the 35 or so guests.

I got too busy eating and mingling, so this is the only picture I have from the party- a sampling of the yummy food.

Sunday we went to their church- a very modern approach to what most would call non-denominational.  I mean, their church building looks like a barn, and it sits on several acres of land, and the church members take turns working the farm on their land!  Heather mentioned one of the things that they do with the fruits and vegetables that they grow is to give it away to the homeless.  It's a very Shane Claiborne kind of concept, and I like it!  Here's our one group photo of the 4 of us, taken after church:

I tried my hand at Rockband that afternoon while Heather took Jacob to the airport for his business trip, and then we three enjoyed some girl time that afternoon and a yummy dinner at Chipoltle.  I was leaving that evening, or so I thought.  It wasn't that I was anxious to leave Heather, since our visits are so few and far between, but I was ready to get home and see Bradley.  Unfortunately, due to some heinous lines at security at the airport, and a few miscalculations on our part, plus a quick detour so I could snap this picture (BHS alums in particular will realize why this was so funny):

And voila!  I was spending an extra night in DC!  By the time Heather came to pick me up from the airport (again) it was around 10 pm, and after taking a wrong turn on the way home and laughing hysterically, we were in bed by midnight, only to be up Monday morning at 5:30am.  We were both so stinking tired that everything was funny that night.  Thank you to Heather, Jacob, and Betsy for allowing me to come and visit you all at Chateau DePriest.  I love you tremendously and can't wait for the next visit.

The terrible Twos

Something weird is going on.  I sincerely believe I have been cursed with a case of the terrible twos- and it has nothing to do with Bradley.  Just last week, I attempted to enjoy a couple beers with my pizza.  The first beer went down fine, no problem, but upon receiving my second beer, my stomach was so full I couldn't bring myself to imbibe the brew.  Not only could I not finish it, I barely began it before letting it waste in dismay.  And here's another two-fer: I only ate 2 pieces of pizza that night.  No, we're not talking about crap-in-a-box pizza, we're talking about mouthwatering Mellow Mushroom.  No matter how intoxicating the smell and taste of it this night, I could not force myself to eat another piece, or even bite, and I am a notoriously famous over-eater, if by famous you mean among my close personal friends and family.  Two pieces of pizza was all she wrote that night. 

Days later we went to get ice cream.  I spurged and ordered a double scoop on a sugar cone.  Two wonderfully complimentary flavors, one tasty crunchy cone, one disapointed me.  I could not make a dent in that cone.  I'd say I barely finished one scoop before I had to relent, and force my cone upside down in a cup to be thrown away, mostly uneaten.  I didn't even make it to the deliciously sweet and crunchy cone! 

What is going on here?  Are pigs flying here?  Is oil spilling in the Gulf of Mexico?  My stomach is shrinking, I am being deprived of my favorite comfort & coping mechanism- eating large quantities of my favorite foods- and I am being tormeneted with a tough curse of the terrible twos.  What's a gal in distress to do???

Let's Go Surfin' Now...

Everybody's learnin' how, come on and safari with me!  Once Mom had been at it for an hour, she proclaimed she was spent!  We had paid for a 2 hour surf lesson, so Brian wasted no time taking his turn.  Of course he did great, but he had also surfed years ago when he was stationed in Japan.  Look at him go!

Baywatch-esque running shot of the guys

Catching a wave, and sittin' on top of the world

After Brian took a turn, Ben turned to me and asked me if I wanted to try.  Sensing my hesitation, he chided, your mom did it.  And that did it.  Despite my heart pounding in my chest, I realized it was now or never.  Mom tossed me her rash guard, and off I went. 

Practicing standing on the board, with Brian & Ben holding the board in shallow water

My surfing video!

The gauntlet had been thrown, and since Mom, Brian, & me had already tried, it was now Laura's turn to surf. 

paddling out to sea

Laura's money shot!

We were all sore the next day, but it was totally worth it!  I would highly recommend Innerlight Surf Shop (locations in Destin/Gulf Breeze/Pensacola Beach, FL) for anyone who would like to take a private or a group surf lesson.  It was so much fun, a great workout, and a once in a lifetime experience.

Surfin' USA

For mother's day this year Laura & I got mom a 2 hour surf lesson with a personal instructor.  She has always wanted to surf as a child growing up in the 60's, and this event was at the top of her "Bucket List."

The weekend they were here for B's birthday we set up her lesson with Ben from Innerlight Surf Shop, none too soon too, as the oil is infringing on the beaches as we speak.  Ben met us out at Navarre Beach, and taught mom the ABC's of surfing.  Ironically, the ABC's started neither with A, B, or C.  Here is mom and Ben, having their lesson on the beach.

 
Time to get out in the water!

I have to admit, I was scared for mom.  She's not the strongest swimmer, and it was a Red flag that day, meaning "dangerous surf" aka the waves were pounding pretty hard.  Here she is starting to stand up.

Check out our Little Surfer Girl

 

Coming in to take a break

Getting the seaweed out of mom's hair

Yay, mom! 

Surf's up, dude!  Mom poses with Ben, her surf instructor

Finally, a short video compilation of all her surf attempts caught on film

Elmo's World

For Bradley's 2nd birthday party, I had everything planned to a tee for an Elmo's World birthday party at Tiger Point Park.  The kids would play on the playground, the adults could stay under the pavillion and nosh on snacks.  I had decorations galore, and had thought of everything- a magic marker to write names on drinks, coolers to keep the cupcakes and ice cream cold, extra toilet paper for the park bathrooms, and even a towell to dry off the playground equipment should a rain cloud pass.  I was stressed-out, but prepared!  However, no matter how much I thought I had everything under control, there was one thing out of my control... the weather.

What appeared on the radar as a few tiny rain blips before we left the house turned into a full on monsoon just as the party was about to start.  I began to field phone calls texts from party guests left  right as we tried to decide how to handle things, &  I remained in panic mode, beyond discouraged by the rain.

Bradley with Grandma Ann, Grandma B & Papa

Family photo- notice the pouring rain in the background, our soaking wet clothes, & windblown-decorations!

This face says it all.  I had wanted a picture-perfect photo of me and the birthday boy, and this is what I got... wet clothes, soaked hair, and a fussy boy not wanting to smile for the camera!  If there is one picture that represents the day, it's this one.

After 30 minutes of heavy rain, thunder, & lightening, we gave up and took down the decorations at the park and loaded everything in the middle of the thunderstorm back into the cars, and relocated the party to our house.  20 adults and 10 kids in my house on a rainy day was not my ideal party scene, but you know what?  Bradley had no idea what was going on, and so I'm sure he was happy no matter what.  The kids played inside and out back on the patio, the adults hung out, and everyone celebrated our little man turning two.

the party decor

Blowing out the candles... the cute Elmo 2 candle got lost in the shufle between the park & our house, so I settled for two regular birthday cake candles.

Finally the birthday boy gets what he's been asking for for weeks- Cake!!!

opening presents- a toy guitar

Family members caught sitting around amidst all the chaos- Laura, Ann, Mom &  dad

I hope someday soon we will look back at this party and laugh at the circumstances surrounding it. I'm not to that point just yet, however.