Where have I been?

I pull up this blog almost daily to get my fix on the other blogs I read and don't even update my own. This is RIDICULOUS! I am using this as a tool to document raising these two beautiful children and need to fill you in:

Braxton:
I am in the process of planning his 5th birthday party. I still can't believe my baby is going to be 5! I watched him last night walk to his bedroom (after he got out when he shouldn't have:) and seriously, the kid has grown like a weed. My children have always been little and will always be little. I am only 5" 2' and Bryan's 5" 8' - we aren't big people. But Braxton has sky rocketed. Last summer even he was wearing some 2T (I swear they were mis-marked) but all of a sudden 4T is getting small.

We are going to celebrate his birthday with a pizza party at the house. We will do cupcakes at school to celebrate and then I am taking 1/2 day off like I do every year to play with him.

He still makes me laugh EVERY day! Apparently last week he asked Olivia Williams to marry him. He had gone to the dentist that morning and got a bracelet as a reward for being good and told rather than asked Olivia to marry him with it. John, Olivia's dad, called me to break the news to me. Ironically Braxton had a horrible day that day at school, to the point where the first go around Bryan had to go to school to talk to him and things continued to go down hill and I actually had to pick him up from school. Never in a million years did I think I would have to pick up my child at 4.5! I regress, so John tells me our kids are getting hitched. Due to the day Braxton had, I had to break it gently, Braxton was grounded and unfortunately will not be allowed to get married today:(

Speaking of rough days - 2 weeks prior to the above day, I received a phone call from Gateway saying that Braxton had been in an "altercation." Dude...my kid is 4.5, what kind of altercation? Apparently, one of his best buddies (hear me now - best friends) pushed him off the table outside at school. Braxton used his words, told the teacher and Andrew was told not to do it again. Well, it happened again. So Braxton tried to take Andrew to the teacher and A wasn't having it, so he started hitting B. This all happened in literally seconds while the teacher was handling another situation. Before she knew it Braxton was then on top of Andrew and punched him in the nose causing it to bleed. The teacher told me it was like a middle school fight. The director and assistant director said that Braxton followed the rules by using his words and telling the teachers (things he had gotten in trouble for not doing in the past), but when the situation wasn't handled, Braxton took it into his own hands, literally! Again, not what I expected at 4.5!

HUGE NEWS!!!! Last week I registered my sweet goose for school. I had to take a deep breath as I passed the enrollment packet over to them. I can not believe he will be in school this fall. We live in a really good district. I thought we might do after school there as well, but it sounds like Gateway will still be the better option for holidays and teacher workdays when after school is not offered.

Attached are a couple of pictures of him from our family shots we did last year - I might sound a little biased, but I have some really, REALLY cute kids!