People ask me all the time why I don't talk more about my son. My son is very very different from his sisters. He doesn't like me posting things about him, he doesn't like me talking about him, and goodness sakes I barely get pictures of him at his age. He has went as far as wearing the same jersey for picture day year after year just so I won't buy the package. The only time I manage to get a photo of him is when he is actually participating at something for school so that he can't dodge the camera. (That being said the lighting almost always messes with the camera so the picture turns out too dark.) All that being said he has forgotten about my blog so I should be able to post all about how proud I am of him here.
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He just turned sixteen and is growing so fast I can't keep up. He is driving with his permit now. He is the last of my children I have to teach to drive, and either I'm completely beaten down or he's just a good beginner. We drive and I barely have to say anything to him, except 'watch your speed'. When I was teaching his sister she would drive for 11 min. and try rounding up to 15 for her hours, not Brandon he is exact on the time. So I have a feeling we will be permit driving for awhile.
The amount of food this kid can eat completely amazes me. Long ago it was us parents eating more than the kids, not now. I have talked to the dr. about this and they say it's completely normal. It still amazes me. Even with all the coupons and deals I get our food bill still racks up there as one of our bigger expenses. We go through almost 50lbs of potatoes in 2 wks, and the produce drawers are packed on top of the whole bottom area being nothing but veggies and fruit. That doesn't include the 6lbs of bananas on top of the fridge, the big window sill has all our tomatoes, and oranges, and the quick reach counter with all the apples, starfruit, and mango. I have to look up to him when I'm talking because his height is way taller than mine now.
He's chosen one sport to keep up with throughout the year instead of multiple ones so he spends all the time he can in the weight room, open gyms, and any outside hoop he can get a game going. Our television is primarily used for sports. He can always tell you what players have been switched, their stats, and what time any game is playing that night.
His school work...well now this could take a minute. He's always been super smart, but as he gets older he isn't driven to be the best but settles for slightly above the norm. (I can not begin to tell you how many many times we argue about this.) We had a little encounter early in the year with a math teacher and the compromise was for him to take his math course online. It's a lot harder than you may think. There is no teacher looking over his shoulder, there is no teacher giving short cuts. We wanted him to be challenged and be able to complete this class and still be ready for pre-cal so Brandon is learning as he goes and having to retain more than he expected. When you go to complete the tests there isn't time to look through your notes if you were tempted by such a thing, and the math projects have to all be done online so you can't just hand draw a graph. All that being said he's not falling in the all A's group, but more of the A's and B's category these days.
He may fight and scrap with his sister at home but when he walks out the door he's a young man finding his balance in this world with confidence, pride, commitment, hard work, and respectful nature.
Yes I went ahead and tried embroidery with a crash course via telephone from my cousin Christy. I fell in love with it!! I went ahead and tried it out on a quilt I was making for Maddie's wrestlerette advisor. The embroidery was fine, the squares were fine, the borders were fine....it was the backing that brought me to tears. I was pushing it super close to the deadline, I tried a different backing than I originally planned. The seam ripper & I became the best of friends needless to say. It wasn't exactly how I envisioned it, but it was still lovely. I quilt with a purpose meaning for summer quilts lighter batting, winter quilts heavy batting, and certain fabrics for different things. That being said this one is one of those quilts you display or tuck away in a hope chest. I didn't design it to be that type, but that's how the recipient chose to use it.
It was her senior banquet, and most of the girls didn't have a lot of money to chip in for a gift. Since she was captain, and the responsibility fell on her we decided on the quilt since we already had most of the material. She helped me iron pieces and sew and she even did one of the embroidery squares after school. As proud as she was of the quilt her speech and presentation of it to her advisor had me holding back the sobbing tears. She was giving her speech while the senior wrestlers held the quilt out for all to see while she talked of how much her advisor had meant to her and the rest of the girls. After the presentation she not only received applause, but standing applause. I couldn't have been prouder of the young woman who stood before me.
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His school work...well now this could take a minute. He's always been super smart, but as he gets older he isn't driven to be the best but settles for slightly above the norm. (I can not begin to tell you how many many times we argue about this.) We had a little encounter early in the year with a math teacher and the compromise was for him to take his math course online. It's a lot harder than you may think. There is no teacher looking over his shoulder, there is no teacher giving short cuts. We wanted him to be challenged and be able to complete this class and still be ready for pre-cal so Brandon is learning as he goes and having to retain more than he expected. When you go to complete the tests there isn't time to look through your notes if you were tempted by such a thing, and the math projects have to all be done online so you can't just hand draw a graph. All that being said he's not falling in the all A's group, but more of the A's and B's category these days. 
