New Teeth!

Just a little picture to show Brody's mouthful of teeth. He has the six basic baby teeth now. When I left for Nashville, his top left two teeth were just popping, and when I returned, it seemed as if his teeth has grown down a half inch!

Brody loves drinking from a cup, especially one without a lid. Most of it ends up in his bib pocket, but he loves it!

Teeth!

Just a little picture to show Brody's mouthful of teeth. He has the six basic baby teeth now. When I left for Nashville, his top left two teeth were just popping, and when I returned, it seemed as if his teeth has grown down a half inch!

Brody loves drinking from a cup, especially one without a lid. Most of it ends up in his bib pocket, but he loves it!

Nashville

I returned on Sunday from my sixth Annual Girls Weekend with my two great friends from high school. This year we met in Nashville, and we had a fun time. Grandma and Papa Luther stayed with the boys, while Brian worked most of the weekend. It was nice to know they were being taken care of and I didn't worry at all! Thanks Grandma and Papa!

Jean enjoyed a classic Nashville beverage - PBR!

We spent a lot of time on Broadway, hanging out in the honky-tonks. There is such a fun vibe in Nashville, and I really enjoyed the classic country music they played. Who doesn't want to get tipsy and sing to Alabama, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Johnny Cash, etc?!

I met Elvis...a few times!

We spent Friday evening at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, followed by ice cream for dinner at Mike's, then some dancing at Decades. Whew...I hadn't been up this late or had this much to drink for a looooong time.

Saturday morning we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Though I'm not a die-hard country music fan, it was very interesting, and also fun to see some of the displays. The building was designed to look like a giant keyboard.

Inside, we saw Elvis' solid-gold Cadillac. It's not solid gold, so I don't know why it's called that, but it is. His gold piano was also on display, and that really was covered in gold. We also saw many other instruments and costumes from country music legends.

After lunch at B.B. Kings, we took a cab out to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. I am glad we went, because it was very neat. The resort covers 56 acres and is broken up into three giant conservatory areas. Waterfalls, ponds, orchids, palm trees, it was all there. They even had a building facade store front area that reminded me of the resorts in Vegas. There was a river, and you could take a river boat ride.

Saturday night we started at Robert's Western World. Boot store by day, honky-tonk by night. It is one of Brian's favorites in Nashville, so it was fun to experience it for myself. We heard a great band, and learned the upright bass player had toured with Johnny Cash for the last ten years he was on the road. It is amazing to hear so many truly talented singers and musicians, and realize that only a few will be lucky enough to be noticed by record labels. There were so many very talented people there.

After leaving Robert's, we had a little fun in a souvenir shop.

We stopped at Legends Corner before heading back to our hotel. I was surprised to hear a country version of Enimen in this bar. I guess it takes all kinds.

Another great weekend and another year of Girls Weekend has passed. Looking forward to next year Girls!

Nashville

I returned on Sunday from my sixth Annual Girls Weekend with my two great friends from high school. This year we met in Nashville, and we had a fun time. Grandma and Papa Luther stayed with the boys, while Brian worked most of the weekend. It was nice to know they were being taken care of and I didn't worry at all! Thanks Grandma and Papa!

Jean enjoyed a classic Nashville beverage - PBR!

We spent a lot of time on Broadway, hanging out in the honky-tonks. There is such a fun vibe in Nashville, and I really enjoyed the classic country music they played. Who doesn't want to get tipsy and sing to Alabama, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Johnny Cash, etc?!

I met Elvis...a few times!

We spent Friday evening at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, followed by ice cream for dinner at Mike's, then some dancing at Decades. Whew...I hadn't been up this late or had this much to drink for a looooong time.

Saturday morning we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Though I'm not a die-hard country music fan, it was very interesting, and also fun to see some of the displays. The building was designed to look like a giant keyboard.

Inside, we saw Elvis' solid-gold Cadillac. It's not solid gold, so I don't know why it's called that, but it is. His gold piano was also on display, and that really was covered in gold. We also saw many other instruments and costumes from country music legends.

After lunch at B.B. Kings, we took a cab out to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. I am glad we went, because it was very neat. The resort covers 56 acres and is broken up into three giant conservatory areas. Waterfalls, ponds, orchids, palm trees, it was all there. They even had a building facade store front area that reminded me of the resorts in Vegas. There was a river, and you could take a river boat ride. 

Saturday night we started at Robert's Western World. Boot store by day, honky-tonk by night. It is one of Brian's favorites in Nashville, so it was fun to experience it for myself. We heard a great band, and learned the upright bass player had toured with Johnny Cash for the last ten years he was on the road.  It is amazing to hear so many truly talented singers and musicians, and realize that only a few will be lucky enough to be noticed by record labels. There were so many very talented people there.

After leaving Robert's, we had a little fun in a souvenir shop.

We stopped at Legends Corner before heading back to our hotel. I was surprised to hear a country version of Enimen in this bar. I guess it takes all kinds.

Another great weekend and another year of Girls Weekend has passed. Looking forward to next year Girls!

Time-Out for the toys

Last week was kind of a rough week around here - with Dylan that is. His behavior seemed to escalate from naughty to naughtier (is that even a word?) all week long.

His behavior towards Brody was the problem. Dylan feels territorial about his toys, which I understand. He's been pretty good about taking away a big boy toy and replacing it with a baby toy. But last week he started to yank the toys away from Brody and then proceeded to push him down, or peel his fingers off the table or chair that Brody was barely hanging on to. It seems he is purposefully hurting Brody, and I won't tolerate that.

On Friday, I went out to get the garbage cans and mail. The boys were playing somewhat peacefully in the toy room. By the time I brought the garbage cans up from the curb, I heard Brody screaming through the door. I came in to find Dylan had dumped every single toy bin on top of Brody, and put a toy wagon on top of the pile that was Brody for good measure. We're not just talking soft little toys either. Hard wooden puzzles, metal cars, his laptop computer; some heavy things with sharp edges.


The only thing I could think to do to punish him enough was to take his toys away. So, while Dylan went to his room or a few minutes, I put all the toys in the basement. I told him why his toys were gone, and that he would have to earn them back by being a nice boy.

The only toys I left for him to play with were his books, stuffed animals and his tent.

He came downstairs, fully briefed on the toy situation, but he still didn't like what he saw. He looked around, then peeked in the empty drawers of the train table. I heard him mutter to himself "No trains..."

Brian and I both noticed that he didn't really seem to miss his toys (other than the trains) that much. He found other things to entertain himself with, like coloring, and baby toys. We haven't had any "mean" incidents since then, so I hope it made some kind of impact. I'm out of effective, legal and sane discipline ideas!

Time-Out for the Toys

Last week was kind of a rough week around here - with Dylan that is. His behavior seemed to escalate from naughty to naughtier (is that even a word?) all week long.

His behavior towards Brody was the problem. Dylan feels territorial about his toys, which I understand. He's been pretty good about taking away a big boy toy and replacing it with a baby toy. But last week he started to yank the toys away from Brody and then proceeded to push him down, or peel his fingers off the table or chair that Brody was barely hanging on to. It seems he is purposefully hurting Brody, and I won't tolerate that.

On Friday, I went out to get the garbage cans and mail. The boys were playing somewhat peacefully in the toy room. By the time I brought the garbage cans up from the curb, I heard Brody screaming through the door. I came in to find Dylan had dumped every single toy bin on top of Brody, and put a toy wagon on top of the pile that was Brody for good measure. We're not just talking soft little toys either. Hard wooden puzzles, metal cars, his laptop computer; some heavy things with sharp edges.

The only thing I could think to do to punish him enough was to take his toys away. So, while Dylan went to his room or a few minutes, I put all the toys in the basement. I told him why his toys were gone, and that he would have to earn them back by being a nice boy. 

The only toys I left for him to play with were his books, stuffed animals and his tent.

He came downstairs, fully briefed on the toy situation, but he still didn't like what he saw. He looked around, then peeked in the empty drawers of the train table. I heard him mutter to himself "No trains..."

Brian and I both noticed that he didn't really seem to miss his toys (other than the trains) that much. He found other things to entertain himself with, like coloring, and baby toys. We haven't had any "mean" incidents since then, so I hope it made some kind of impact. I'm out of effective, legal and sane discipline ideas!

Funny!

I can't get the link to work, but if you have a second, go to www.youtube.com and search for the video "Charlie bit my finger." It is so funny!