The Night Before Kindergarten

'Twas the night before Kindergarten,

And as he prepared,

Brayton was excited

And a little bit scared.

He tossed and he turned

About in his bed

As visions of school supplies

Danced in his head.

Erasers and crayons

And pencils galore

Were stuffed in his backpack

And set by the door.

His outfit was hung

On the doorknob with care,

Knowing that Kindergarten

Soon would be there!

In the morning it came -

School starts today!

Would the teacher be nice?

Would he still get to play?

His face was all washed,

His teeth were brushed white,

He posed for his picture,

With eyes sparkling bright!

He grabbed his backpack

And hopped into the car

And dashed off to the school,

Good thing it's not far!

He let go of mommy's hand

And then walked down the hall

And heard mommy promise

That she would not bawl!

The teacher then greeted

Each one with a smile

And invited the students

To stay for awhile.
The room was all filled

With books, colors and toys,

Such wonderful things

For all girls and boys!

Brayton was playing

And as happy as could be,

When he happened to look

And see his mommy,
And what to his wondering

Eyes should appear

But a very sad mommy

Who was holding back tears!

Her nose - so sniffy,

Her eyes - red and wet!

This was the saddest goodbye

Brayton had ever seen yet!

He ran to his mommy and daddy

On the magical rug

And then sent them away

After one final hug!

He waved to his mom and dad

From the door of the school,

"Don't cry Mommy! Kindergarten is COOL!"

(adapted from the book by Natasha Wing)

Myrtle Beach trip

Our "vacation" was fun, but we did miss Daddy during the days. It didn't seem right playing around all day while Daddy was working. But we at least got him back by 4pm each day! And...to make things much better...Ge Ge and Pa Pa decided to spend a week at the beach, too...on the water! The water was extremely rough. The life guards wouldn't let anyone go pass their waste. In fact, a man drowned right IN FRONT of my moms room while we were there. He was on vacation with his wife and kids...could you imagine? That is just horrible. Luckily, we weren't around to witness it.

We spent lots of time at the pool and collecting shells. Brayton and Brinlee got a new pet...hermit crabs. They totally creep me out. We spent some time at Broadway on the Beach, did some shopping at the outlets and flea markets, and of course...ate A LOT!!! We had a time with Brinlee and the sand...it seemed to stay in either her mouth or eyes...or in her poor swim diaper. She was a trooper, though- and she LOVED every minute of it :-)

And, Frank and I went on our FIRST DATE since Brinlee has been born! We went for seafood (mainly crab legs) and ended up driving around for 2 hours! It was nice and we enjoyed our time together.

what a PERFECT day...

Warning: I got a new lens (50mm 1.8) and I am still learning how to use it correctly, especially indoors! Some of these pictures didn't turn out so great :-(

I do love the lens, though...I've taken some really great photos with it, I just need more practice!

We had a wonderful family day today :-) I feel so blessed and overwhelmed with happiness.

It's been so nice to have Frank home with us all week!!!!!

We started the day off going to Facts and Fees at Brayton's school. The excitement and reality is definitely starting to hit us! I bought Brayton and I KES Tshirts, joined the PTA and got his car rider #. Fun, fun stuff!

He's proud of his school already! It's such an adorable little school. They have lots of animals painted on the walls....right up his alley!

You know we'll be at the Boo Hoo Breakfast boo hooin' away!!!

We then headed down town for the Kids Museum.

I pretty much read the school hand book on the way down there, ha! ha!

We were hungry first...so we made a stop here.........


oh my! It was soooooooooo good. Even Brayton fell in love with the "pizza style" nachos. We may have a new hang out!

After lunch we needed something sweet, so we headed a few doors down.....




I needed to know what all the fuss was about anyway :-)


Brayton chose this...



while Frank and I decided to share one of these


Brinlee had a taste of both, but she wasn't really impressed with either.




Julie, it's a shame we didn't hit this place up together while you were here.

Look what we ended up throwing away.


Brayton said it was "good, but too much icing". Frank and I had to agree. I know you Monahan girls love some icing...but it was enough to make me SICK! Do you see his cupcake in the background...yep, just a few bites is all he ate. That boy does not have a sweet tooth.


We played, pretended and had loads of fun over at the museum. I don't know what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't that Brinlee would roam around and want to play, too. She had a blast! She was in heaven with all the balls. The girl loves a ball!!! She even played Publix with Bubby and Daddy :-)

He made me close my eyes for a surprise...then he went over and "bought" me some flowers...sweet thing!

He LOVES the new pirate boat!

This lady bug was a favorite....I'm thinking we may need to buy her one?!?

She loves balls more than babies right now, ha! ha!

For our last stop, we went school supply shopping. We still have to get the backpack and lunch box, but the supplies are out of the way. I'm afraid of what he is going to pick out for a back pack. I'm not sure what's worse...Transformers or Ninjas. ha! ha!


We found the mother load of Beanie Babies for Brayton. Oh, that's another new interest he has...thanks to Grandpa and McDonalds!


OH, Brayton learned how to snap his fingers.


We came home and played outside for a bit. Frank took the training wheels off of Brayton's bike and they practiced for a while. Brinlee ran around in the grass with all the balls. Frank, Brayton and some neighbor kids played soccer.
Horrible picture, I know. I was running and holding Brinlee and the video camera AND across the street in our yard.


It was a wonderful fun filled day with my favorite peeps.....I am one happy girl :-)

we jammin'

I bought this CD at Target and little Miss Brinlee absolutely LOVES jammin' to it :-)


I love looking back in the back seat and seeing that little head bob back and forth and her little hands clapping. Brayton is funny, because the CD makes him "sad and miss Daddy."
Frank is a Bob Marley fan for sure!!!


Brayton has been jammin' to something a little different...

He has become a huge Michael Jackson fan. I have had the CD for years now. You see, I have always been a MJ fan! Brayton has been asking questions about his death (not sure how he actually knows he died). I told him he had a heart attack. Then he asked me who scared him...ha! Guess I use that expression a little too much.

PROUD MOMMA!!!!!!!!!!!

Excuse me while I brag on my boy..... :-)

We went for Brayton's Kindergarten testing today and it went extremely well. It looks like we have one smart cookie on our hands (we always knew that, ha! ha!). The teacher that tested him said he had one of the highest scores she had ever seen. There were several other teachers standing around that chimed in as well. The were all very impressed and went on and on about how smart he was :-) Of course, Frank and I were grinning ear to ear and couldn't stop! And you know me, tears swelled up in my eyes and I just wanted to hug him to pieces! (I'd feel that way NO MATTER WHAT...even he didn't know a thing!)

He scored PERFECTLY on the math portion. The score he made today is the "goal" score they have set for the end of the year. She asked him to count to 100, and he did. He told her he could keep counting if she wanted him to, but she didn't, ha! ha!

He scored high on the literacy portion also. He seems very excited and anxious to get started. I'm starting to warm up the idea, too. The teacher that tested him was very sweet and Brayton liked her a lot...so, we requested her :-). We'll go for registration on Wednesday (Aug 5) meet the teacher on the 14th and start school on the 17th!

We still need to go school supply shopping and do all the fun stuff. I'm getting excited. Nervous, but excited. I wish he'd want a cute little lunch box and back pack, but I know it's gonna be something like ninjas or Star Wars or GI Joe....that's OK, though. I'm ordering cute little Tshirts, too....can't wait to reveal them :-)

Frank is off this week and we hope to get some things done around the house (pressure washing, cleaning out the garage, organizing the playroom and my office). We also want to do some fun things with Brayton before school. I know a movie and children's museum is on our list. I also want to take him to Possibly Piccaso.

The beach was fun last week, but we're so glad to be back home. I'll save the details for another post.


Uh, I hate a post with no pictures....sorry!!!!

summer, summer, summerTIME!

Remember that song from Will Smith? Summer, summer, summertime! ha! ha!

whew! It has been some kind of crazy around here. Where does the time go? Between karate practice, soccer games (for Daddy), free movies, birthday parties and water park days....it seems like we stay on the GO!

Brayton (& Brinlee) LOVE these home made popcicles we've been making!

We've also enjoyed some lazy days at home. Seems like when we are home we have a yard full of kids...I love it! Sleeping late is definitely something we've been doing a lot of! We've got to start getting to bed earlier and practicing getting up at the crack of dawn! ha! Speaking of that, I FINALLY registered Brayton for school this past Monday. I missed early registration. Well, not really missed it, more like..didn't go! I think I have been in denial, plus I am a major procrastinator! I think he is starting to get more excited about school. He did say he didn't want to go because when he gets up early "his eyes hurt"...poor fella.

Our basket full of garden goodies. The garden is about dead now:-( Hopefully we'll still get 2 watermelons from it, though!

Brinlee is growing and changing everyday. She says "ball" and "momma" and "tanks" (thanks).
She really tries to say a lot, can't always understand it, but she tries. This morning she got off the couch all be herself. She LOVES to play ball. Her new things this month are guacamole and asparagus...she loves them both. She also cracks up laughing with this cheesy little smile and fake laugh when she hears others laughing. It cracks me up and melts my heart. She is definitely a clown! She is an animal at the water park! The girl is not afraid one bit! She keeps going and going, and when she finally falls under....it's all good. She's learned how to hold her breath under water already! She dances and looks around to make sure someone is looking at her while she is doing it, she loves to be the center of attention.

We had VBS at my mom's church last week. It was the Studio Go theme and Brayton LOVED it! Brinlee and I stayed most nights, too, so she got a little certificate, too! VBS at our church was at the beginning of the summer. It was Camp E.D.G.E. (Experiencing, Discovering, God Everywhere). I helped with the 7-8 year olds...whew, what a group. I have lots to look forward to!

VBS at Stallsville. This is where they have their bible story.

Believe it or not, Brayton and I have started discussing birthday options. I hate to say it, but it will be here before we know it. I love me some birthday parties, so I try to start planning early.
We have it narrowed down to these:
wolverine and xmen
ben 10
karate
ghost busters
star wars
Ben 10 and Star Wars is old news...karate, wolverine and ghostbusters are his new obsessions. I can hardly keep up anymore. Oh, and magic.

this is from Michael's Star Wars party we went to a few weeks ago. Brayton just loved it and thought it was so cool. They all had Jedi suits, cute!

Michael and Brayton

We leave for Myrtle Beach on Friday for a week. Frank has training so we're gonna make a family trip out of it. First we'll go to my grandma's to visit her. We'll head to the beach on Sunday and we'll have some special visitors waiting on us...Ge Ge and Pa Pa! YAY! They decided to take a little vacation, too!
When I get back I will FINALLY post Brinlee's 1 year slideshow and our MB pics!

Grandma and Brinlee! Two Peas in a Pod!

I can't wait to see her!

Fathers Day

I wasn't even going to post...but then decided I need to, this is my scrapbook after all.

My dear, sweet Granddaddy went to be with the Lord today at 12:30pm. He died at home surrounded by his family. He's been so sick, and has fought so hard... still, it doesn't make it any easier. Please keep my mom and the rest of my family in your prayers. Granddaddy is spending his Fathers Day in the arms of our Heavenly Father. He has a brand new body now, free from medicine, pain and oxygen tubes.

I have been blessed with two of the most wonderful, good hearted granddaddy's. I love them both so much and both have been very influential in my life. Both are with Jesus now...and with my Daddy in Heaven. Today is tough.

On a lighter note...I have the best BABY DADDY in the WORLD! Seriously! They don't get much better than Frank. He always makes time for his kids, ALWAYS! It is so important to him to spend quality time with them, and he makes them priority. He plays with them, he snuggles, he feeds and he bathes (he gave Brinlee a bath by HIMSELF last week during vacation bible school). He does it all. And he does it all with a smile on his face. I love him more and more everyday.

Frank and I have decided to do his "Fathers Day" next weekend. He got his card from Brayton this morning, but that's about it.

And while I may be officially "grandfatherless" and "fatherless", I still have one awesome father-in-law (A.K.A. Dad) and an amazing step dad. And most importantly, I have the love from the most important father of all, our Heavenly Father. He is the one that matters most. Without Him and His love, I'd be nothing. I am a child of God, and He is the ultimate Father.