Brett quote of the day

While cleaning his room. Brett brought me something he did not want any more. He said, "Maybe you can save it for when the boys or Paige have kids, because I am not planning on it." Oh, okay, I asked him why he didn't want to have kids.  He said, " I don't want to spend the money." What a funny kid, I hope he has a kids just like him!

Pottery Garage

 Grandma and Grandpa have had their own pottery studio in their garage for many years, but it took the upcoming sale of all their supplies to finally get us out there making our own pots.

 It is not easy, but it is fun and messy. Everyone made their own piece (with some help from Grandma!)

 Grandpa and the kids had fun pounding the clay to get it ready for us. We can't wait to see how they all turned out.

Appalachian Highlands Trail

One of the things Dave's dad always tells us about when we visit is the Appalachian Highlands Trail.  This trail goes all the way from Pittsburg to Washington, D.C.  It took a little work to round up bikes for all of us (the rental place is closed on Mondays???). Grandpa drove us to Frostburg where we headed down the trail toward LaVale. 
Mostly the trail follows railroad tracks, but we didn't see any trains.  The weather was a  little cool, which made it perfect.  The trail was easy, fun and beautiful. We stopped for lunch at a spot over looking this pretty town.

We saw a waterfall, pretty streams, new spring blossoms...

The kids loved riding through the tunnel so much that they went back and did it again.

Spy School

I tried really hard to convince Brett that he did not need to invite friends over for a party. We could go do something really fun as a family, but he would not be swayed. So, we had a Spy School party.
There were bombs to find and diffuse, lasers to crawl through and avoid, fingerprinting, and code names were chosen.
There was soooo much red yarn in our backyard. The boys loved it and had a great time. They went back and forth through the lasers and found the bombs over and over. Code names were chosen by picking an adjective and a noun from a bowl, we came up with such titles as "Stinky Ninja", "Slippery Eagle", and "Hidden Ghost".
And Brett was so happy to have his friends over. What more can you ask for when you turn nine!

Poor Neglected Blog

posts coming, but I won't be catching up all I have missed. If you are really dying to know what you have missed, call me!

Brett quote of the day

I know, I know i haven't posted for ever and I will get around to it one day. For now enjoy this "Brett Quote of the Day". Brett has been playing with a couple of friends this afternoon. They are nice, normal boys around Brett's age. They have been running around making gun noises and arguing about who shot who first. They played this way for at least an hour. Now, Brett never plays like this so I was enjoying listening to them. When Brett got the chance he leaned over, rolled his eyes and said, "This is humiliating."

Alphabetical Woes

A recent conversation started by Brett stating that he wished our last name was in the middle of the alphabet. When I asked why here are some of the responses he gave me: At school, you are always first in line so, if you forget your belt or don't tuck in your shirt, a teacher always notices. And, if you are leading the class line to enrichment and forget if you are going to music or p.e., you might go the wrong way. You always have to go first, so you don't get to see how anyone else does anything before you have to do it. He is fully aware that there are two boys in his grade that have last names that come before his and he wishes he was in their class.