My Last Free Week...Before School Starts

I have been spending a lot of time in my classroom. Summer is kinda over for me. So I wanted to spend some extra time with B because she will start daycare next week. We went out to eat at Applebee's and B got to sit in a booster seat for the first time. She usually does very well in a high chair but she wanted nothing to do with it this time. So we asked for a booster and she was amazing!

Eatin Good in the Neighborhood

(you can't really tell but she has a ponytail in)

 And because her daddy loves us so much he took us to Cherry Berry after dinner! B and I love FroYo! She isn't much of a sweets person unless it is some sort of ice cream! Thanks Daddy! We love you!

Terrible Wind Storm Aug 8, 2011

We had a terrible wind storm come through on Aug 8, 2001. I was out at the school getting my classroom ready when one of the other teachers said her dad had called to warn her about a bad storm coming though. I decided it was time to wrap up and head home. I thought that I was going to make it but I was caught right in the middle. It was a little freaky. I had to drop my friend off at her house and when I left the wind was blowing so bad that I could hardly see where I was going! Thankfully I made it home safe and we didn't have any damage, just no electricity. the neighborhood my friend lives in had uprooted trees and lots of things blown everywhere!

Monday night we slept in the toter because it was way to hot to stay in the house with B. She was a little confused on why she was in the toter and not going anywhere!

Here are some pics of the damage at the fairgrounds.

(what used to be the Pit Shack, garage door by the stands, down power lines)

B's 1st Full Ponytail

I am way behind on blogging.

This is b with her first full ponytail. It was August 9th. Her hair is  really thin so I don't think it will be up in one much becase she also tries to pull it out. As much a I love bows and fixing her hair, she loves to pull them out! Ha

(this is from my phone so the quality is kinda poor)

We've Got A Swimmer

I have been working in my classroom for the last week. I was moved from the 3rd grade to the 1st grade. The room I moved into was beyond ugly. 5 different colors of paint on the walls from more than 20 years ago I'm sure. If you know me, then you know I need things to be clean and organized.....So I painted and then had to go through everything!

While I've been doing this my mom has been keeping B. My mom hurt her arm a few weeks ago and is now doing better but they haven't released her to go back to work. B has been enjoying staying at Grandma B's. My mom has a pool that is 4 ft. deep all around so B can't touch, but she loves to swim. The other day my mom put arm floaties on B and she just took off. Yesterday mom said she swam from one side of the pool to the other all by herself multiple times. She loves the water!

We went to OKC with Aunt Alea on Friday. She had to go pick something up and didn't want to drive by herself. We took the car seat out of Greg's truck for B. This is how she rode all the way home while swaying back and forth dancing to the music! She is too funny!

An unexpected trip to MO.

We haven't been up to much lately. Last Tuesday I got a call from my Grandma Penner. It was not a good call. My Uncle Cecil (my Gma's brother-in-law) was on his way to his granddaughter's wedding and had collapsed in the airport. They had transported him to the hospital and the results were not looking good. He had had a stroke and a collapsed lung. Things continued to get worse and he passed on Thursday.

My Grandma called and asked if I could drive them to the funeral service. We left on Saturday morning and headed to my Aunt Eva (my Gma's sister) and Uncle Benton's home in Nevada, MO. Brinley doesn't know her Great Grandparents very well only because we don' get to see them often. So she was a little leery of them at first but soon warmed up. She really enjoyed Aunt Eva and Uncle Benton. She loved Aunt Eva's baby rocker!

 My grandparents are Mennonite, a  Christian religion with very different beliefs. There are very few pictures of them because they don't believe in it, so no family pics on this trip. After cleaning up we headed to the church in Rich Hill, MO (about 25 minutes from Nevada) for family dinner and the viewing of Uncle Cecil. dinner was delicious. It is very rare the the entire family gets together so when they do I have to try to remember them all. My Grandma has 12 brothers and sister (5 of which are deceased)! After dinner and visiting we headed back to Eva's for the night.

Brinley was in a great mood Sunday morning so I quick snapped a pic of us before we left to go to the service.

 She also had to play with Gma's cane.

 The service was at 10:30. The church congregation served us lunch after the service. Lunch once again was delicious. After that we headed to my Aunt Maggie's home. (Maggie is Cecil's wife). We stayed there all afternoon and late into the evening. It was so wonderful to spend time with family I rarely get to see. Brinley loved all the attention (this was the first time any of them had meet her). I hope that we get to meet up again soon...but not to lay someone to rest.

We got up Monday morning to head home. We decided to drive through Joplin to see the tornado damage. I have never seen first hand any sort of devastation like this. It absolutely took my breath away. We drove by he hospital and through the center of the tornado path. It was amazing (I don't mean this is a wonderful sort of way!) There was absolutely nothing left standing. Piles of debris were everywhere. The most horrifying thing I saw was a home that had been completely destroyed and all that was left was the cement pad and the steps that led to what once was the front door. I tried to take a picture while driving. It's not very good. This used to be neighborhood with houses everywhere.

We stopped in Tulsa at Hideaway Pizza to eat lunch and B wanted to sit with Gma. Gma was just thrilled, as you can see by her expression in this photo.

Brinley did wonderful on this unexpected trip. I am so thankful that I got to see m Grandmother's side of the family once again. Thank you so much Aunt Eva and Uncle Benton for opening your home to us and for the wonderful breakfast every morning and nightly snacks. Brinley especially enjoyed them. We hope to see you again soon.

Family members who Brinley met on this trip: Aunt Eva and Uncle Benton and their children, Aunt Maggie and her children, Aunt Hannah, Uncle Henry and Aunt Gladys, (Eva, Maggie, Hannah, and Henry are Gma's siblings), and many more cousins that I can't even begin to keep track of.

Happy Birthday Maleah!

My cousin Maleah (Amanda's oldest girl) turned 5 on Monday 7-18-11. She had her birthday party at Splash Zone.

Of course Brinley had a great time. She loved playing in the water as always. She really enjoyed it because there were so many kids there that she knew! Maleah raked it in. She got lots of neat gifts. She is a very lucky girl!

I let Brinley hold this capri sun all by herself. This doesn't happen often because she usually squeezes all the juice out of them. But she took a few drinks with out loosing any of the juice. As soon as she saw the cupcakes the juice was put down.

Brinley loved the cupcake. The first thing she did was poke her fingers in the icing and lick them. She usually doesn't like sweets, but I think she enjoyed it so much because there was no parental control. I just let her do what she wanted. We were outside at a water park. I wasn't to worried about having to clean up a big mess.

She dug right in and pretty Mich finished the entire thing. After she finished the cupcake she drank some water and back to the pool she went. We had a great time. Thanks so much Maleah for inviting us.

Maleah,

You are such a sweet girl. Brinley and I are so happy that you are part of our family. We love spending time with you at Splash Zone. I know Brinley loves going down the slide with you and I thank you very much for helping her like you always do. You are almost like a big sister to her.

We love you very much,

Becky and Brinley

Happy 15 months Brinley!

Brinley turned 15 months old on Thursday 7-21-11! I know I am a bit late on posting but better late than never.

Can this really be true? It is so hard believe that my precious little baby girl is now a toddler. Where have her infant days gone to? No I do not have baby fever, B is just growing up way to fast!

What is Brinley up too?!

• Her schedule: wakes up between 9-10am and has a sippy cup of milk and some breakfast, 12pm - lunch, 2:30ish - nap, 6pm - dinner, 7:30pm - bath and milk, 8pm - bedtime.
• She snacks all day. mainly on animal crackers or grapes.
• She wants to eat whatever you are eating at the time and by no means is she a picky eater.
• She loves grapes and watermelon.
• She has started drinking juice out of the box, but she loves water.
• She runs everywhere. It is so funny because she swings her right arm like crazy when she does it.

• Words Brinley says: peas (please), uh-uh (no), no-no, me (when she wants something), hi, bye-bye, momma, dadda, baby, papa (she no longer just whispers this word), ba (bath and sippy), toto (Coco), tee (teeth), nana, mine, eat, bite,sho (shoe)  and she babbles a lot! She will have a conversation with you if you keep answering her back.
• She has started talking on her phone.
• She has started to play with her baby dolls. She loves them and feeds them. Makes my heart melt!
• She sleeps 12 -13 hours at night. Since I don't have to get up to go to work for the summer I let her sleep as long as she wants to.
• She has 8 teeth, 4 on top and 4 on the bottom.
• She is cutting 8 more teeth,  4 on the top and 4 on the bottom (2 on each side of the ones she already has).
• She is still in size 3 diapers.
• She still wears a size 3 shoe.
• She can still wear 12 month clothes but we are slowly moving into 12-18 month clothes. 18 month stuff is still to big.

• She gets to stay home with me for a few more weeks.
• She loves the water park.
• She is starting to hate her baths again. Crazy because she loves playing in the water at the water park.
• She goes to the door when you ask her if she wants to go bye-bye. She can reach the doorknob and tries with all her might to turn it.
• She pulls out her highchair when she is ready to eat.
• She loves to trick daddy! She makes kissy sounds and when he gets to her for a kiss, she turns and runs away laughing hysterically.
• She doesn't like to weat shoes. She takes them off the minutes she gets in the car or walks in the door.

• She gives kisses and high fives.
• She helps me put her clothes on. She puts her arms in the sleeves and her legs in her pants by herself for the most part.
• She know where her belly button, ears, and nose are. We are working on those words as well.
• She will throw things away for you.
• She will go to the door and yell for Coco when she is outside.
• She loves to slide. I got her one at a garage sale and I can't get her off of it when it is time to come in the house.
• She claps when you tell her good job or say yeah!
• She loves to ride in her stroller and her red wagon.

Brinley Nicole,

I have no words to tell you how much I love you. My heart just explodes every time I look at you. Even when you are throwing your little big tantrums. I hope that your daddy and I are raising you to know right from wrong. You are the most precious thing that I could ever ask for and I thank God everyday for choosing me to be your mommy! I love you sweet baby girl!

Mommy