Flickr oops!

I didn't have the link to my flickr page set up correctly on the post labeled Catching Up. I apologize to anyone who tried to follow the link. You can find me here. Let me know what you think.

School's Out

School's out for summer and Branson is headed for 3rd grade.

Branson had fun and learned alot of things in 2nd grade. They took field trips to the fire dept and to Gulf World. They had Mexican fiestas in their classroom, multiple parties for meeting AR (reading)goals and many more exciting times together.

Earlier in the year we learned Branson had been accepted into the gifted program. This means he will be spending 1 day per week in a classroom with other gifted children. They will be learning many new things by spending time on the computer doing research, field trips, experiments and creative arts. We are hoping this will help to channel some of the energy that tends to get him into trouble in the typical classroom.


We attended the annual Awards Day where he finished the year with a bang earning certificates for all A average, creative writing and the National Physical Fitness Award. Branson delivered a gift basket to Mrs Robinette on his last day of school containing homemade chicken salad on a croissant, frozen grapes, lemon cheese squares and a few gifts for her desk. I got the idea for the basket here.We are so proud of him and looking forward to what 3rd grade has in store for him.

Memorial Day

These trips are beginning to turn out like the Griswold's family vacations. This year we had kidney stones, equipment failure, boat trouble, violent winds, stomach problems, firewood and charcoal shortages, etc, etc!

Here's how it went. Before we ever got there my Dad had a kidney stone and spent the night in the hospital. He came back to the lake with a stent in place and lithotripsy scheduled. He spent the remainder of the trip moving very slowly and needless to say no more trips into the water.

Daniel hurt his foot playing softball the weekend before so he was taking things slowly too. He had to take Daddy's place riding the kids on the jet skis and tubing because we have misplaced our boating licenses.

Michael ate too many fried squash and suffered through the night with appendicitis(over dramatized upset stomach, that is)!
The jet skis practically quit working again this year and the boat prop had been damage during a weekend outing to Lake Gant.
To top it all off a storm blew in quickly and ripped the awning from my parents camper sending the metal down bars flying across the top then slamming back down against the side of the camper while we were inside. I thought a tree had fallen on us and we were trapped inside by the drooping awning filled with water. Michael and the Martin boys showed up to rescue us by removing the awning from across the doorway. Michael climbed on top of the camper and the next thing I heard was a loud crashing sound. My heart stopped beating and my legs literally went weak because I thought he had fallen off the roof. The crashing was the awning being jerked from his hands when the weight of the trapped water got too heavy. It came flying over the camper to the ground and luckily no one was in its path. Naturally everything was soaked and several thing had to be thrown away, which we did when Daddy wasn't looking.

All in all we had a fun trip and great memories last a lifetime. If I had to guess we won;t have those jet skis next year!

Baseball

Branson wanted to play baseball at the Rec this year where the games are a little more serious than the ones we've been involved with at the YMCA. We were chosen by the Whitesox an our team went undefeated during the season due to lots of hard work and great coaching. We were really fortunate in the coaching staff we had in that they love baseball, they were spot on with their coaching and they both treated our kids with respect.

Branson played right field during most of the games and made several great plays to 2nd base. He really has a good arm and he is fast as lightening when he puts forth the effort. He has always had great hand-eye coordination but struggled at the plate after being hit in the elbow by the 2nd fastest pitcher in the league. I hated to see that happen to him and hope the memory will fade for him so he can keep that foot in the box.Some of his best games were played when only Michael and I were there to see him but Gram, Papa, Granmommie and Mama Walker were there to show their support as much as possible.

We ended the season with a pizza party at Pizza Hut. The kids gave the coaches a collector style baseball signed by each player and a coffee mug listing the games and scores.

CATCHING UP

I need to take the time to catch up on my blog since I've been gone for a while. My excuse is simple, Photoshop. Learning and playing can and did become an obsession so all my extra time was directed to my pictures. Now all I need is to up my grade my camera. If anyone is interested in checking out some of the work I've done check me out on flickr. Here is the link . Leave me some comments to tell me what you think.