That's my boy!

I am often amused by how people will follow suttle suggestions, like
the line that formed outside the coliseum before the Billy Currington
concert.

We got there early. The doors weren't opened yet. A short line had
formed at the doors. Jill and I broke ranks and sat down down on a
bench-like concrete edging. As we waited comfortably, people rushed to
claim their place in line. The line followed the covered walkway. In
other words people were standing under the cover even though it was
neither rainy nor hot. It was amusing because there wasn't any real
need to form such a line.

On another evening, we took the kids downtown to Market Square for
dinner. Afterwards we wandered out on the Square to hang out. That's
when I saw a street magician setting up for a show. He began by
carefully placing a rope on the ground in the shape of a large letter
U. Then he positioned his paraphernalia top center of the U and people
instantly began to stand around the rope as though we had been
trained. Yes, I followed along this time.

After the magic show, we headed back to the van. Jill took the lead
and I took the rear. The kids filed along between us. I had Levi's
hand as we walked. Levi and I had a hard time keeping pace but I had
everybody in sight before me. We were spread out as we walked.

Suddenly a man approached Asher, who had distanced himself evenly
between us, not close to anyone. The man was talking to Asher but I
had no idea what he could have been saying.

I shouted, "Sir!" while trying to pick up speed against Levi's drag.

He didn't hear me.

"SIR!!" I knew he heard me this time. He continued at Asher's ear.

I didn't know what to say as we rushed along to catch up with them,
all the while not releasing Levi's hand. Jill was simultaneously
encouraging Asher to keep moving toward the van which was parked just
ahead of him now. I was worried what this strange man might do to
Asher. And I was very frustrated that he had ignored my "Sir!"s.

These words got the mans attention:
"THAT'S MY BOY!!"

With those words the man broke off from Asher and tried to explain to
me that he was innocently asking if my boy was going to the movies.

I've replayed that scene over and over in my mind. I am thankful it ended well.

And I am proud of "My Boy".

God bless,
Dadofmykids

Warning: Grandparent posts never-before-seen photos of Grandkids.

Meet Colten, the newest Brasfield.  

Father (Daniel) and son.

Mumzie and Colten.

Grandpa, Uncle Levi, Aunt Kk and Colten.

Aunt Tilley and Colten.

Grandpa and Colten, age 3 weeks.

As you can see, Colten is a precious gift from The Lord.  We are thankful that he is healthy and his mom and dad are well, too.

Here are a few photos of big brother, Drake.

Giving Drake a ride at the circus.

Daniel and Drake at the fall festival at church.

Drake uses The Chair as at the dinner table.


Here are some bonus photos for you.

Mumzie and Colten are content.

I took this from outside the window.



Colten, welcome to The Brasfield Nation.  
We love you very much.

Grandpa
(aka Dadofmykids)

Happy Memories of Baby Georgia

Today I want to share a few precious photos of Georgia Rose.  Today marks six years since she passed.

This first photo was taken the day we brought her home.  Jill wrapped her like a burrito in this home-made crochet blanket.  Who made the blanket?  I don't remember.  Doesn't she look sweet?

Homecoming was so exciting.  Here, Jilly shows off Georgia.  It was a great day for The Brasfield Nation.  We couldn't explain why Georgia brought us so much joy.  Maybe it was because we had come out of a dark period.  You can see the happiness on Jill's face.  There's not a mother on Earth that can take care of a baby better than my Jilly.

Look how little Levi was.  That's his Aunt Sandra holding his hand.  She rightfully wanted to keep him from touching too hard.

Here we are playing cards - probably Go Fish.  Or maybe it was Crazy Eights.  I like it better than Go Fish.  I think Jilly took this photo.  After Georgia died, I was thankful that we had held her so often.

This was also taken the first day.  A few days later, I shaved my beard because I thought my whiskers might be too rough on Georgia's face.  However, I quickly grew it back.

Today, I am able to see the happiness in memories of Georgia.  Other days, memories of her death over-ride.  Please say a prayer for Jilly and me, plus our whole family, today.

God Bless,
Dadofmykids

Thanksgiving, Elvis Style

Hello Memphis. The Brasfield Nation has invaded your city. We have all our kids together including our daughter in law and grandson. We are quite a force.

We drove most all day Wednesday then went out to eat with some of my kin. Asher and Levi asked about a million questions while I played an audio book by Cal Ripkin Jr. It all made the drive easier.

Today is thanksgiving and we went to my moms house. We got to see more family there including one of my brothers from Arkansas. We ate too much, as always. Now the leftovers are on the stove.

I took the youngsters down the street to the school playground and took some pictures. It's great to see little cousins getting acquainted and playing together. When we got back it was time for the annual exchange of Christmas tree ornaments. I got my first Grandpa ornament.

I have so much to be thankful for:

• I am thankful for God's grace and mercy. Grace is getting what I don't deserve. Mercy is not getting what I actually deserve.
• I am thankful for my amazingly talented, uniquely passionate, selflessly compassionate, terrifically beautiful and great smelling wife. Seriously.
• I am thankful for my children and my grandson. They are gifts from God. My quiver is full.
• I am thankful for all my friends and business associates. So many of you have come to my rescue in times of sorrow or need.
• I could go on and on. I am truly blessed.

We will be in Memphis for a few days to enjoy our family. Maybe I'll see some of y'all while we are here. Others I will see back in Knoxville or on the other side.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Dadofmykids

First in. First out.

I was kinda surprised at the boys for getting up early on Saturday morning to go to the tire store with me. Last night I told them I planned to get the tires rotated and balanced on the van because we are driving to Nashville today to meet up with my sister.

After my brother in law's accident, he was in the hospital and rehab. The doctors expected him to be there for a month so we took my nephew for a couple weeks. Jill home-schooled him along with our kids. My BIL went home this week, thank the Lord. Today, we are taking my nephew back to his mom who will meet us in Nashville.

Right now, I'm sitting at this old tire store in Lenoir City. It's a family owned, second generation business where everybody seems to know each other, and if they don't, they act like they do anyway. They know what they are doing and provide good service and value. My tradition has been to come here as early as possible on Saturday because they get backed up pretty quickly. First in first out.

Bringing the boys with me is cool. This place is really manly, but I would have brought the girls too, if they had been up. It obviously hasn't been updated or remodeled in many years. it's the kind of thing they will remember. I hope they will take good care of their vehicles when they grow up.

God bless,
Dadofmykids

The Brasfield Nation at the Cornmaze

I just wanted to share with y'all about the great time we had on Saturday.  We went to the Cornmaze at Oakes Farm in Corryton.  They take Tradebank;  Yay!

It was a good time.  Watch the video; you'll see.

All the kids got pumpkins, so we carved them last night.  The kids baked the pumpkin seeds.  Yum.

God bless,
Dadofmykids

How to pull a tooth, gently.

When I was a just starting out a s a dad, I didn't know the various methods for pulling teeth. The only one I knew was tying a string to a door knob, which sounded terribly risky. Now I know a better way.


Items needed for this project:

1. A dry washcloth.
2. A kid with a loose tooth.

Watch the video to learn a gentle method for pulling teeth.

God bless,
Dadofmykids
Sent from my iPhone

Two Pictures. Seven Years.

This weekend, we went to Pigeon Forge, TN and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. That's a mouthful. All the kids were with us, except Sean. He had to work. My mom and dad met us there. Daniel and his wife, Kelli, brought Drake, out six month old grandson. It was a good weekend.

2004

My mom and dad's car over heated Friday evening, so we located a local repair shop and dropped off the car Saturday morning. They were scheduled to attend a wedding in Gatlinburg on Saturday and caught a ride with others of the wedding party.

2011

Jill and I took everybody else up to Newfound Gap for pictures. We wanted to have a picture of the kids there because we have one taken there about seven years ago. It was a cool idea to have pictures of the kids at the same location from different times. It was cold up there. Brrrr. In the main picture - the ONLY one with everybody looking in the camera's direction - we had several kids doing their own thing. We like that.

Along the way, we stopped in Gatlinburg so some of the kids could buy UGLY hats. We saw Santa Claus sitting on a bench, decked out in a Santa themed Hawaiian shirt. So we took a picture with him.

You'll see a lot these pictures in the video below.

It was a great weekend, rolling with the flow, as usual. Never a dull moment. What a blessing.

God bless,
Dadofmykids.

Day 40 of #40Days - Life, as it Happens.

Wow! Forty days is gone already?!?!  It went by so quickly.  I want to close the series by reviewing and summarizing a few things about my Forty Day Project.  I will point out something I learned, my favorite posts and yours, based on site traffic stats.  Then, I will compare the finished project with the goal or vision I had at the beginning.  That all sounds so analytic, but hopefully it will be fun.

Day 38 blew me away.  I was speechless because of the sweet things Jilly said in her second guest post of the series.  There's no doubt that our marriage is special and was ordained in Heaven.  If I had it to do all over again, I would.  My Jilly is amazingly awesome and I love her more than words can say.

Day 30 was a video blog entry or vlog.  I recorded it on the way to work one morning after Jill and I had been talking about childhood influences.  Ted Stolpe edited it for me and his work was wonderful.  I just asked to have something on the front and back of the video to ease it in and out.  Ted went way beyond that.  Thanks again, Ted.

After Day 1, which I linked to each daily post, Day 18 got the most hits.

The purpose of this series was to satisfy the calling I felt God was giving me to blog daily for forty days.  At this point, I feel it was completed, but it was certainly more than just writing forty posts.  Facing my fears of transparency and judgement has shown me that people are interested in what we've experienced; many of you said so.  Additionally, I learned that trying to do this or anything worthwhile by myself will lead to mistakes and to poor quality work.  When I asked for help, the result was way better than expected.  Jill helped me a lot with honest and constructive proofing and editing.

It was a lot of fun to look through old photos and videos.  Our kids looked at them too and asked a lot of questions about who what when and where.  It was great remembering some of the blessings I had forgotten and talking with Jill about stuff we've been through.

Thank you for participating by reading.  If you commented here, on Facebook, or on Twitter, thank you.  The encouragement was motivating.

This ends the intentional daily blogging, at least for a while.  Be on the lookout for life as it happens in The Brasfield Nation, here on Dadofmykids Blog.

God Bless,
Dadofmykids

This is # 40 of Forty Days, the last post of the series. Learn more here.

Day 39 of #40Days - The Chase

There for a while, phone calls from our birth mom were fairly common. Jill said she had given birth to our kids instead of having abortions, so she wanted to share pictures and keep in contact. At first, I didn't quite understand it, but now I see it as an example of Jill's compassion. She is the most compassionate person I've ever known.

Kaymie, one month old, courtesy of birth mom.

When Kaymie was born, the state didn't take her immediately; it was the same as Asher. It is confusing, since they took Riley at the hospital when he was newborn, but we heard that the new baby girl was born and staying with birth mom. We were concerned for Kaymie's health and safety based on the previous experiences. We prayed for her and wondered how she was doing.

After a few months, birth mom called and said she was having troubles with her marriage or something like that and asked us to take Kaymie for adoption. So we went to meet her at a Walmart parking lot. She never showed. We went looking for her, having a general idea of which neighborhood she lived in, we asked people to point us her way, but we didn't find her. We went home, without Kaymie.

This situation repeated itself one more time. We received the phone call asking us to take the baby girl. We went to get her, but no show. This time, the strangest thing happened. We were waiting at Walmart. I was standing outside the store; it was night time. Then birth mom walked directly by me to get a paper out of the paper box beside me, as if she didn't see me or know who I was. But I saw her and the chase was on.

After I said her name, she jumped back in the car her husband was driving and they took off. Jill and I followed. We hoped they would lead us to the baby, whom we didn't see in the car. They soon realized we were following and turned down some back roads increasing in speed. We gave chase thinking this could end badly, like something you'd see on tv, so we slowed down and found our way back to the highway. Again, we wondered where was the baby girl and was she ok.

It was then that Jill and I agreed that we would not go back there again unless it was official. A caseworker would have to call us, not the birth mom. The next call we got came from the birth dad. He was taking Kaymie to the Dept. of Human Services to hand her over. He and the birth mom had been arguing again, so he said he thought this was best for the baby. Still, we waited for the official call which indeed came. Our case worker asked us to drive up there, about an hour from our home, to pick up the baby.

On such short notice, Jill and I couldn't both go this time, so Jill went. When they got home, Kaymie was crying. She had cried all the way home and continued crying till bed time. At seven months old, she didn't recognize any of us. She must have been scared, and probably tired too.

The next morning, when Kaymie woke up, she was in a good mood, not crying. She looked like a different child. Jill had her decked out in a pink sleeper and Kaymie was so cute. I took her picture and printed a few to send with the kids to school so they could show their teachers and friends their baby sister.

Kaymie is a charmer; everybody likes her. She is a kind, helpful, beautiful, smart and athletic girl. We are very proud of her.

God Bless,
Dadofmykids

This is # 39 of Forty Days. Tomorrow is the last post of the series. Learn more here.