The Man of the House

I couldn't resist, Brady looked just like his dad, lounging in his flannel pj pants and watching TV, had to snap some shots of it. It was all over though when he realized mom was watching :-).

The business man

We were trying to figure out what Thanksgiving day outfit to bring for Brady so we put him in this one. As soon as we did he ran and got the phone and started talking on it. He's such a business man already :-). Love the tie.

Where's Brady????

Brady threw his basketball behind the bushes and then thought it was fun to play hide and seek. He was laughing hysterically through the shrubs. Too cute.

Daddy's Little Buckeye

Daddy got Brady dressed for the day and guess what he chose, Buckeye gear. Of course it was the OSU v UoM game so I don't blame him. Don't worry though Sparty fans, Brady is still a Spartan!

Hold Hold Hold

Literacy Festival

I had so much fun today working at our inaugural literacy festival. At first I wasn't excited about working on a Saturday, but when I saw the area I was going to I knew it was for a good cause. The festival took place in Coachella at the Coachella Library. Coming from a small poor town in Northern Michigan, it teaches you to appreciate your surroundings and what you've been given, because even though you don't have the best, there are other places that have it worse and Coachella is one of those places. It amazed me how tiny the library was and what little resources they had. The saddest part was the school across the street. It made Manton look like a state-of-the art rich school. Those of you from Manton know this is not even close to the case. What truly engaged me about this event was not the over 400 children and families that came out to get free books and enjoy cultural entertainment, but the conversation I had with an 11 year old 5th grade girl. She was brilliant, funny, smart and adorable. She also made me thankful for my family and friends as she spoke so highly of her parents and how they support her and how she wants to continue to make them proud and go to a university and become a teacher. When I asked her what grade she wanted to teach she started off with pre-school, but then said that she thought it would be hard to get them to settle down at that age so she wanted to teach kindergarten. She said she wanted to teach this grade because all the kids want to be inspired. She said they all just want to learn and I want to help them learn. She said much more in our 45 minute conversation but that really stuck with him. She also thanked us for being there and giving out free books. It was too cute and a lot of fun. One of the better days of work for me.

The jealous man...

Last weekend Aunt Mindy, Uncle Chris and baby Ethan came over for a visit. At first Brady was very lovey with him, kissing him and hugging him and then he started to get jealous. He wasn't too sure when he saw mom holding baby Ethan. This is one of the photos of Brady showing mom love since she was holding Ethan. I love that he's a mama's boy.

Murphy's Laws for your enjoyment...

Nothing is as easy as it looks.

To succeed in politics, it is often necessary to rise above your principles.

Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.

Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view.

Two wrongs are only the beginning.

If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong, and
circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.

Nothing is as easy as it looks.

Every solution breeds new problems..

If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then..

If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

Exceptions prove the rule ... and wreck the budget.

Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.

It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.

Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Trust everybody ... then cut the cards.

Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.

Everything takes longer than you think..

Two wrongs are only the beginning.

Fall

My sister took this photo at her house in Muskegon, MI. It makes me both happy and sad. Happy to see the seasons, but sad I can't be there to see it in person. Fall is my favorite season in Michigan. Even if you're from Ohio, you have to at least appreciate Northern Michigan for its beauty :-).

Jack

Here are some photos of my nephew Jack. He is doing much better after his surgery and so far things are looking up. Thank you to everyone for your love, support and prayers. We all appreciate it.

Sleeping Baby

Even the clocks fell back today for most people to catch an extra hour of sleep, thus was not the case for Brady. He woke me up still at the new 6:55 a.m. The poor guy stayed up until around 1:oo or so. Tried to put him down for a nap a few times, but he just wouldn't budge. Finally when reading him stories in his favorite Elmo chair he gave in and passed out mid-story. The perfect photo opp for mom!

Trick or Treat

For Halloween we went to a party at our friends house and went trick-or-treating with their kids. It was so much fun. Bman ended up going as Nemo. He was so darn cute. We could 't get him to wear the hat that came with it, but we settled for the body part. It all worked out :-)