Brady's Dream House

Yesterday my friend Beth invited Brady and I to go along with her and her daughter to her cousin's house to swim.  Brady and Emily had the whole pool to themselves and had a blast!  You will see in the pictures why Brady said this would be the house of his dreams! 



Wait for it...

                         wait for it.....

A tennis court right down off the pool area!

Ahhhhh....it's nice to dream isn't it?!

Have a great weekend!

~Kerri

I'm Still Here!

Has it really been over a week since I last posted?!  We've been a little busy around here and I just haven't had the  motivation to blog...maybe it's the heat?!  Boy was it a HOT here this past week!

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Brady finished his 6 weeks of tennis camp on Friday.  He still has match play every Monday at the high school...but at least we are now free the rest of the week.  Well, for a short time.  He's attending the girl's camp at the high school the middle of August.  I thought I would be complaining by now about how much time tennis has taken of our summer...but I can't complain.  I sat on the hot bleachers everyday of camp watching Brady have the time of his life.  The camp was for middle school age and up.  All of the campers were so kind to Brady and treated him just like everyone else.   It was funny to see them all fighting over him at times because they wanted him on their team!  Brady especially became close with these two guys:

Austin plays tennis in college and Manly will be a senior this year.

These guys were both instructors at camp.  Brady never played Austin, but Manly was the only boy in the entire camp that Brady couldn't beat.  It's crazy. 



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We had a great weekend.  Brady slept over at Eric's parents Friday night so we could go to a friend's suprise 40th birthday party.  We were a little early so we stopped at an Irish Pub nearby.  I wish I had my camera with me!  The next morning we went out to breakfast and did a little shopping and then met Grandma and Grandpa and Brady for lunch.  I love date nights....I wish we could have one every weekend!

"Get busy living or get busy dying"   A quote from my favorite movie.  We were changing channels yesterday and it was just starting...so I watched it for the umpteenth time.  Do you know what movie it is?



Have a great week!

~Kerri

Signs Signs Everywhere there's Signs.....

There's so many signs in our area.
All of these signs are within a couple miles of our house.
These are not businesses either...just people that put signs in their yard.

The funny thing is, our township does not allow us to put a sign at the entrance of our development advertising a yard sale.  It doesn't make any sense to me!  Oh well!

Do you see lots of signs in your area?

~Kerri



We Need To Do This More Often...

Yesterday on our way home from camp, we stopped at the library.

I don't think we've been to the library since last summer.

I know that's terrible.  But, Brady gets books from school, I pick up

books at consignment shops and we buy them.  We need to get to the library more often.

  Brady was excited to pick out his books...and I got a few books too.

After lunch, Brady and I layed on a blanket under a tree and read for over an hour. 

We were in the shade and there was a slight breeze...it felt perfect. 

 It's so true that the simple things in life make us the happiest. 

We both layed there reading our books quietly.  It was one of those times that I didn't want to end. 

 A couple of times Brady put his hand on my back and rubbed back and forth...as if to say he was enjoying our time too. 

As I was tucking him into bed last night he said, Mom, maybe we could

read out on the blanket again tomorrow? 

My heart is filled with so much love for this boy.

Life really is about the simple things.

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I read this quote at the library yesterday:

I thought my mom's whole purpose was to be my mom.  That's how she made me feel.

~ Natasha Gregson Wagner

I love it!

More Tennis

This is my son...sweat dripping off his hair.

It's 96 degrees out there today...it feels like 106.

Brady doesn't care about the heat.

He's in a serious match with the garage.

A 5 set game to be exact.



He's been hitting against the garage now for almost 4 hours.

This morning he was at tennis camp for 3 hours.

(he ate lunch in the van on the way home.)

So, we're already at 7 hrs. today...and after dinner he will go

play with the girls highschool tennis team for a couple of hours.

I just went outside and told him he had to come in.

Isn't he sweet?!

(He's probably just trying to persuade me.)

He said he needed to finish the set.

He was up 2 games to 1.  The first set he lost in a 5-7 tie break.

(Remember, he's playing against the garage.)

I told him if he didn't come in now...he would not be

going back out this evening to play at the courts.

He decided to come in.

On another note...kind of, I've been thinking about starting a tennis blog.

I feel like I am always talking about tennis...and I don't want you all to stop visiting!

On the otherhand, tennis is an everyday part of my life.

Brady probably averages 30+ hours a week playing tennis.

I will probably keep the blog private...I don't want people to think I am gloating about my son.

There's so much I'd like to blog about...great things are happening for him.

So, not sure what I will do...the idea just popped into my head.

Hope you're staying cool today!

~Kerri



Peanut Butter Chocolate Squares

 

If you need a treat in a hurry...this is the one to make!

I am not kidding.

I think it took all of ten minutes to whip together.

I'm not sure where the recipe came from.

I had it scribbled on a piece of paper and thrown in my recipe box.

Must have been pre-blogging days!



Here's what you'll need:

2 bags white chocolate chips

1/2 bag milk chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter ( I used a tad more)

mini pretzels

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Melt white chips and peanut butter in microwave; stir

until completely mixed.  Line cookie sheet with wax paper.

Pour mixture onto cookie sheet.  Melt chocolate chips in

microwave; stir.  Drizzle chocolate chips over peanut butter

mixture.  Immediately press mini pretzels into mixture.

Place cookie sheet in freezer for 5-10 minutes.  Remove and

cut into squares.

 

Enjoy!

Ten on Ten {July}





Happy tenth everyone!

You can join the fun HERE.

~Kerri

Camping



The guys talked me into going camping last weekend.  It's been about 10 or 11 years since I've gone camping...so I decided to go.  We went to Promised Land State Park in the Pocono Mountains.  Eric and I use to camp there once a summer...back in the day! 

This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

I love how the sun is coming through the trees on my two favorite guys in the whole wide world.



We had great camping weather.  Not too hot during the day and cool enough in the evening for a sweatshirt and a campfire. 

We experimented with making s'mores in these things...but it didn't work so well!  They were good though for heating english muffins!

I was most excited to take Brady on this 2 mile trail.

I think it might be the most beautiful place I've ever been to in Pennsylvania.

When Eric took me on this trail 15 yrs. ago...I never could have imagined our life

as it is today...or, that I would

be back someday to walk the trail with our son.  It was a little emotional for me.

The beauty of the woods, and the rocks and the water...it's such a spiritual place.

The trail starts on this bridge....come check it out with us!

That's the end of the trail....are you with me?

There's still more to our camping trip!

We had a serious checkers tournament one evening.

I bet you're wondering who the big winner was.

I'll just keep you guessing...I don't want to brag or anything. :)

We played a little frisbee...this boy never minds posing for pictures!

Went to get some ice cream!

Collected sticks and chopped wood.

We checked out the beach area...which was crowded by the afternoon.

  Hours of fishing...and only a few fish were caught and one big turtle.

The turtle snapped the line and got away before I could get a picture!





I'm glad I joined the guys on this long three day weekend...even if camping isn't my most favorite thing.  In all honesty, I'm not a very good camper.  Well, I am good at packing up and organzing all our gear and bringing good food along.    I think if it weren't for all the dirt, I would enjoy it more.  It really bothers me too when Brady is dirty.  I know, ridiculous.  On the way home, I told Eric and Brady that the next time they go camping, they can do themselves a favor and leave me at home!  They both claimed they had a great weekend and want me to come again next time.  I think they were just being nice...because I'm pretty sure they would have a better time without me!