Things kids notice

Connor: Daddy's don't cook very much.
Mommy: Hmmm.
Connor: Neither do Poppa's.
Mommy: (Attempts to stifle laughing.)
Connor: Maybe they're not very good at it.
Jake: Yeah.
Mommy: (No longer even trying... just laughing so hard I cry.)

Along the lines of "When I grow up"

Jake: Mommy, your minivan is so cool.
Mommy: Thanks Jake
Jake: Mommy, when I'm an adult I'm going to drive a minivan.
Mommy: Well, you might want to drive a different car. Something faster or cooler.
Jake: No, I want a minivan so that on daddy days I can drive all of my family around, including you mommy!

(Mommy's heart melts at this point. See why I'm cool with him living with me forever?)

Jake's Preschool Graduation!

May 19th, 2008 - Monday 7:00 PM



Jake's school had a big graduation ceremony for all of the PreK kids. It was pretty impressive. The kids all dressed in cute little cap and gowns and they all stood up there and showed off all the songs and dances and things they learned in preschool. Then they had a great slide show of the kids answering questions like, "What makes a good teacher?" and "What did you learn in school?"


Then the kids went to the back and the director called each child's name and they would come up front receive their "diploma" and walk over to a microphone and tell everyone what they wanted to be when they grew up.


Well let me just back pedal a little bit and tell a story from a few months ago. Jake was getting ready for bed and he was asking what he could be when he grew up.

Jake: Mommy what should I be when I grow up?
Mommy: Well you get to decide when your a grow up. What kind of things are you interested in?
Jake: Well it would be cool to be an astronaut.
Mommy: Very cool, what else?
Jake: How about a race car driver?
Mommy: Ummm, that's pretty dangerous.
Jake: What job could I have and still live at home with you?
Mommy: That's a great idea! You could be a telecommuter and then you could work from home all day long and live with Mommy!


Fast forward to preschool graduation day. Jake is the very first child called and he walks straight up to that microphone and determinedly shouts, "I want to be a telecommuter when I grow up!"


The entire hall cracks up laughing and Rob gives me the evil eye and says, "That's not even a job it's a method of working. And besides I thought we agreed we would encourage him to move out of the house at 18?"


Hmmm.... looks like I need to find an occupation for Jake where he can live next door to me.

Spring Break 2008

Okay, I know I'm over a month late posting Spring Break pictures... but they're here at last. We went with Nana and Poppa to Gatlinburg and stayed at the Westgate Smokey Mountain Resort. The boys loved it. As we entered the National Park, Rob and I kept saying, "Okay, boys were now in The Great Smoky Mountains." Connor immediately piped up and said, "It's not good to smoke. Why are the mountains smoking?" We had a lot of fun with that one! I'm not really sure that Connor understands our explanation of the name for the mountains still.

The resort was awesome. They had an indoor water park that was perfect for the kids. Of course they wanted to spend every free moment there. Even Nicholas loved it and got into going down the little kid slides.

We also went into Pigeon Forge and saw some shows. The boys loved going to see the magic show and were thrilled when we left with magic wands for them. They kept saying crazy things like, "Hocus Pocus now your a dragon!" Finally Mommy took the wands and made all the boys disappear!

We also spent two days at Dollywood, because of course the Bramhalls love an amusement park! We rode lots of great rides, although most of them involved us getting soaked. Luckily the weather wasn't too cold. We rode the bumper cars as well. Jake and rode together and Connor rode with Rob. While we were all getting buckled in, Connor looks right at me and says, "Your going down Mommy!" Of course I died laughing and Rob was thrilled that Connor had said what he told him to at just the right moment. So of course the theme for the rest of the trip at the park was, "Your going down!"

Nicholas' first amusement park ride! He was terrified and kept looking for Mommy to get him off. But in the end Jake and Connor calmed him down and he ended up really liking it!

Rob had to fly out to Boston for work for two of the days, but that didn't slow us down. We went hiking in the Park and saw a dinner show. Of course we swam so much at the water park that I couldn't get the smell of chlorine off of us!

It was an accident Mommy!

ARGH! So I'm enjoying some peace and quiet time at the computer while the boys were playing in the toy room when Connor comes running in saying, "It was an accident Mommy!"

Immediately I start quizzing him, "Did you go potty in your pants?"
"No."
"Did you spill food or water?"
"No, it was an accident in the toy room," Connor insists.

So I walk into the toy room to find that the curtains have all been pulled off the wall. He even managed to pull the brackets off the wall. Apparently he wanted a game on one of the higher shelves so he climbed on the chair and used the curtains to pull himself up higher!

I'm so angry that I put him immediately in time out in his room (more to keep him out of harms way than as punishment ;) )

Now every minute I get to hear, "Mommy, can I come out now?"

I tried to talk to him about what he did and he just keeps saying, "But Mommy it was an accident and I apologized so it's okay!"

So I have to amend this post to add Jake's comments. When I finally pulled Connor out of time-out and was talking to him about the correct way to get down our toys, Jake said, "Yeah, now Daddy will have to fix it. He's the master of fixing everything at this house." Ummm, hello? Is Jake talking about the same guy I'm thinking of?

The Bramhalls go Green!

So Rob has been driving his gas guzzling Acura for awhile now and the thing finally has finally started showing it's age (15 years and 215K miles!). So we started looking at new cars.

Well first we had the discussion about what kind of car are we getting. I wanted something fuel efficient and practical... like a hybrid! Rob wanted a BMW convertible. Trying to find middle ground between those two types of cars was impossible. So as usual, we just did what I wanted ;) Rob realized that with his commute (80 miles a day) it made more sense to get the hybrid.

Rob and I have NEVER bought a new car off the lot so it was amazing to us to start talking with sales people and realize just how much buying a new car sucks. I absolutely hate doing it. The salesmen will tell you anything about a car just to try and get you to buy it then and there. And it was next to impossible to find anyone who knew anything about hybrids. So Rob and I had to do a lot of research online. Well we were really close to buying the Honda Civic, but Rob decided he liked the Prius better, so we got that instead.

The Prius is so fun to drive and the technology in it is amazing. Of course, I'm very glad to be driving a hybrid car as I am the one in the family who worries about recycling, buying organic and reusing old things in new ways! But I am doing a good job brainwashing the rest of our family! Just ask Jake why we recycle, "Because if you don't the Earth will be covered in trash!" Even Rob loves his new Prius, on vacation he actually said he missed my his new car. When we brought the car home, my dad just shook his head and said, "I never thought Rob would be the first person I know to buy a hybrid!"

While we love being "green" we decided to be slightly more understated than the other ecofriendly drivers and leave the actual green colored car behind. Instead we opted for the magnetic grey!

Soccer Season has started!

Well I officially feel like a "soccer mom!" Jake has me busy all week running around taking him to Tae Kwon Doe and Soccer practice and then Saturday mornings are taken up with games for Jake and Connor.

Although disappointed that Jake wasn't on his team this season, Connor was consoled by the fact that two of his friends from the neighborhood are on his team. He is trying very hard to score a goal! During the first game, he was kicking the ball when a teammate took over and kicked it in the goal. Connor was very sad and started sulking. His friend Whitnee noticed and from then on held his hand during the game and tried to "help" him score! It was so cute.

Jake is trying to adjust to being on an older team. All of the kids have played before on his team and they can all run fast. So now Jake isn't the tallest and fastest kid on the team. He has a great time at practice playing "pirate" and running drills. Hopefully he will find his way on this new team!

Easter 2008

The weekend before Easter our neighborhood had an Easter Egg hunt and Jake and Connor met up with their friend Whitnee!





Easter was nice this year. It was so early that the weather was very cold but sunny. We got up early and met Nana and Poppa at church. The boys were very good except for when Nicholas had a break down right while Father was blessing the Eucharist and the church was completely silent!



After that we went out to brunch because neither Nana or I wanted to spend all day cooking. Jake, Connor and Nicholas were very lucky boys as the Easter bunny came to visit them at Nana's house and our house!




Nicholas tries to get some candy before the big boys get it all!




Jake and Connor compare their loot!

Laundry Day!

So the other day I was doing the laundry (as usual) when Nicholas climbed in and started "helping" me by tossing all the clothes out of the basket. How cute is this kid??

Jake starts Tae Kwon Doe!

So Jake has been going to Tae Kwon Doe for almost 3 months now. He's doing amazing and really loves it! I thought it was about time to post some pictures of him in his uniform. He's just so adoreable in it.

Big Boy Connor turns 4!

For Connor's 4th Birthday we went down to Grandma and Poppa's House at the beach! Connor had a fun-filled birthday. It started out with a trip to the North Carolina Train Museum where we saw lots of model trains and played with all the toy trains in the play room.

Then cousins Austin and Julia came down for a Thomas the Train Birthday party with a train cake and Thomas the Train Pinata! Connor loved having his cousins there to celebrate with him. It was such a big hit that Jake is already saying that he wants his 6th birthday at Grandma and Poppas with Austin and Julia!







Now matter how hard the kids whacked at it they couldn't bust open the pinata so they finally had to pull the strings!

When Nicholas figured out there was candy in there he wanted in on the action!

Rob and I enjoyed a great night out with Chris and Kimberly to celebrate Chris' birthday which is the day after Connors! We had a great weekend and can't wait to see everyone again!

Connor and Julia playing on the beach.

Pretty girl Julia collects sea shells!

Catch Up!

Okay, I know it's been almost 2 months since my last post! But the holidays were hectic and somehow I just got out of the habit of doing it.

Christmas started off with another big trip to Orlando the week before. We went with Nana and Poppa and had a blast as usual. We went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, Epcot Center and MGM. The boys also had a great time hanging out at the pool and playing on the pirate ship. It was amazing to see Disney decorated for Christmas and watch all of the great shows and parades for the season. We sure do love our Mouse!

We came home from Disney and Nicholas stood up and just started walking! 11 months old and off he goes. It was a big shock for Rob and I since both the other boys didn't walk until about 13/14 months. Nicholas never bother with couch surfing either... he just stood up and took off. Of course, now my quality of life has drastically decreased since he progressed straight to running and gettting into anything and everything he can find.

Christmas was wonderful! We had both sets of grandparents here to celebrate. Way too many toys and way too much food!

January was pretty uneventful except for the huge milestone of Nicholas turning one! He got the worst cold I have ever seen and was miserable for the entire week after his birthday. Hopefully the next one will be better! We tried to celebrate as best we could but poor little Nicholas just wasn't up for it. Can't believe my baby is one! Hard to believe there won't be anymore little babies in our house anymore.

January was also a great month for snow here. That's right, snow in Atlanta! We had two decent snows this month and we loved cuddling up and watching movies after playing outside!

Jake has started Tae Kwon Doe and LOVES it! We have been going twice a week and he is doing great! He works very hard at it and cant' wait until he can test to move up to a yellow belt.