Conversation with Brayton

My how time flies. It's been a month since I've posted here. I know we've got at least 20 minutes of video and tons of photo's I've got to go through to get a really good post up, but my conversation tonight with Brayton deserved it's own post.

Sometimes I don't know where my child comes up with the topics he chooses to talk about. Tonight after we said our prayers, he proceeded to tell me a little story. That story went from one thing to the next and was just hilarious. I had to do my best not to laugh while he told it. I think what planted the seed in his head is after we said our prayers, we do a "Conversation with God." We proceeded to thank God for our food and our house. We proceeded to thank him for all Mommy and Lauren. Then we thanked him for all our Grandmas and Grandpa's, Aunts, and Uncles.

When we got done with our prayers, here's how the conversation went:

Brayton:
Daddy, when Grandma Coke and Pappa Allan come they sleep in the room next to me.

Me:
Yes they do.

Brayton:
When Grandpa Gordon comes, he snores.

Me:
He does? How do you know that?

Brayton:
When I go to Grandma Cindy's house, I sleep with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Gordon sleeps in the other room and Lauren sleeps in the baby room in the baby bed.

Me:
Really, how do you now Grandpa Gordon snores? (I wanted to figure out how he knew this, if he actually heard it or if he heard someone else talking about Grandpa's snoring)

Brayton:
When I sleep in Grandma Cindy's bed, I can hear Grandpa Gordon going "Hnnnooooggg, ssshhhhh, Hnnnnoooogggg, sssshhhhh." (He was doing his best to imitate snoring).

Brayton:
When Grandpa Gordon and Grandma Cindy come they sleep in the room next to me too. And when they go home Grandma Cindy sleeps in her room so she doesn't have to hear Grandpa's snoring...

It amazes me how perceptive a 3 yr old can be, and what a long memory he has.

Rugby, Belly Buzzers, Chows, a Garden, and some ABC's

Hard to believe the month of May is almost gone. It's been a really fun month, with so many activities to talk about, most I won't even be able to write about here...

May started off with Brayton and Lauren going to Grandma Cindy's and Grandpa Gordon's for the weekend so that Daddy could go and play rugby in the All Iowa tournament. We had a great time, the Des Moines Old Boys went 2-1 for the weekend. Actually losing our first game in a couple of years. The third picture is me running with the ball on Sunday against Central College which was basically their football team disguised as a rugby team. The Des Moines Old Boys turned out to be a bit too savvy for these youngsters as we won 54 -10. Nick and I got to play together quite a bit in this game so that was really fun for me (I think Nick had a good time too.).

The next weekend we concentrated on getting our garden in. Brayton was a great help to us, moreso this year than last. Last year the corn got scattered all about and didn't really stay in the rows too well. Brayton also got to help plant the cucumbers, cantaloupe, green beans, peas, tomatoes, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries. He got to help me harvest a bunch of asparagus this year too.

Sometime during the month Colette found 2 tu-tus (not sure how to spell tu-tu) at a garage sale. The kids both loved them, especially Lauren. She dances around in her tu-tu almost every day. The arrival of May means lots of outdoor activities and that means we get to wear fun summer clothes and put the kids in funny hats and Lauren in pig tails sometimes. What fun.

May 21st was my 35th birthday. Amazing how the years fly by and I still feel like I should be 25 years old. I suppose someday I'll be 80 and still think in my mind I should be 25.

Our neighbor Jenna Rogers 4th birthday also came in May. She goes to Chow's gymnastics studio for dance and gymnastics lessons. Chow was the coach of the US Women's Olympic Team at the Beijing Olympics last summer and also the coach of Shawn Johnson, a gold and multiple silver medalist. Jenna's folks paid to reserve the entire gym for a Saturday afternoon to have her birthday party (wonder what that cost?) and Brayton got invited. He got to jump on all the trampolines, swing on the rings, do the balance beam, and jump off a high tower (about 6 ft high) into a "pool" of foam blocks. Jenna's dad is the one helping Brayton on the rings. I think he had a great time as attested to by the video. We've thought about enrolling both kids in the programs there (they can start as young as 18 mos), we're still thinking about it but it isn't cheap. I don't think Chow is handing out discounts these days, considering every gymnastics wannabe is moving to West Des Moines to get coached at his gym.

Last but not least, Colette has been trying to teach Lauren her ABC's. She's not the ready performer in front of the camera that Brayton is. She does pretty well when the camera's off. She gets all the way to Q then seems to forget what comes next. In the video she gets to G then decides she's done.

May was a very fun month for us, the kids are really growing up and learning to play well with each other. It's been a good ride, especially since I didn't have any school to worry about. But that changes again next week. Oh well.