The Big Move

Checking in to let all know that the Bradshaw clan made it to our destination safely. We are all doing well, with the exception of the slave driver who thinks a house should be completely unpacked, organized and clean in a matter of days... wonder who that is?!?!? For those who don't know we just moved from our beloved home (with 4 bedrooms and TONS of storage on a few acres) in Idaho to a tiny little apartment just outside Seattle in Kent. (I suppose if you compare this apartment to the one when we first married we really are moving up in the world:) ) So far so good.

Dillon & Kenzie seem to be adjusting well. Yesterday was beautiful and sunny so the kids were outside playing in the play ground (along with about 20 other kids!) They were the only white ones, Dillon didn't even notice. I thought he'd have questions about that but not a word. He's made friends with a little Mexican girl from across the way, she only speaks Spanish so they talk back and forth not understanding a single thing the other one says. Every now and then Dillon will throw in a little made up garble trying to sound like Spanish - it's pretty funny. He has a follower too. A tiny little girl (Kenzie's size but clearly older) walked right up to me and said, "Hi-ya, I'm Darcy, what's your babies name, she's pretty cute, why's she so sad, my moms at home talkin' but I'm here with my... (she went for quite a while:) ) (the Texas accent made it even cuter) She followed Dillon around most of the day yesterday, he didn't seem to mind too much.

Church on Sunday was good. The ward seems really friendly and excited about new blood:) The kids did okay too. Kenzie has previously done really badly in nursery - if she'd go at all, there is a very take charge nursery leader, when Brandon walked in she took Kenzie and kicked him out. She said she'll have Kenzie enjoying nursery in a few weeks. Good luck to her on that one.

All in all we are doing pretty good. Missing my family and friends terribly but doing well. As soon as I find my camera I'll post a bunch of our new place.

Ohh, super cool, we found out that next month the whales are migrating, so we are going to the ocean!!! Tomorrow is Brandon's b-day and we are planning to go to the aquarium - depending of course on the rain... On of our goals for this year, for the year we live here, is to be tourists. We want to see everything. Thinking of it makes me tired:) but sooooo excited!

Oh, a definite down side is that you don't have any tv unless you get cable or something - how do you survive no tv???

You've never seen green until you've seen Seattle! The week we picked our apartment was my first time here. It's so beautiful, jaw dropping, almost tearfully beautiful. How could I have never been here before?

I know my posts are few and far between but forgive a crazy lady her failings a few more times. Man, I was looking at some of your blogs and got all depressed, FYI - your blogs are sooooo much cooler than mine:)

We are all alive...

Brandon got back on Friday from two weeks in Oregon for a work training test. WE ALL LIVED!! I didn't think it would happen, but it's finally over and I am a much happier mommy. Brandon and I were having the "who had it worse" debate, whether it was worse to be gone from your kids and wife all alone in a strange city, and eating out every night. I think I win, but it was a really close one:) During the long, lonely, two weeks...

Kenzie is a daddy's girl to the core and lets anyone around her, who is not her daddy know it. She was (and still is) teething, complete with fever, runny nose, diarrhea and all out misery, combine that with missing her dad, we had a fun two weeks.

Dillon was trying to see Kenzie at the store and tipped the cart on top of himself, Kenz and all. He has my screaming ability and he uses it each time he is injured, just bruises for both of them, thank goodness.

I had to spend my b-day without my wonderful husband:( He did send some beautiful flowers though and let me shop all I wanted:).

A few days later Dillon fell and cut his chin really badly and I had the mental debate (without my very calm husbands presence) of whether we needed to get Dillon stitches - in the end he got a butterfly bandaid, a movie and a sucker:) The next morning he peeled off and threw away the bandaid and informed me that since it was gone so was his owie. I noticed that while I was not trying to calm a little screaming boy dripping blood off his chin and praying he was okay so we wouldn't have to go to the hospital at 9pm and wake his sleeping sister, that his cut was much smaller than the amount of blood spilled. Stinkin' head wounds! (He's sleeping there, sorry for the up the nose shot:) )
He's being Mr. Cool here by the way. I bribed him with YoGo's to have his picture taken but he still wouldn't do a normal smile.

Kenzie got some hand me down shoes - if we haven't already established, Kenzie, in true girl fashion is obsessed with shoes - she insisted on wearing these ones and was being so cute I had to take her picture - probably for the first time in her life she participated willingly!!!
Dang it, have you seen how cute these kids are??? I think he wins, I would go crazy with neither of them to take care of - though a day or two might be really nice . . .
She looks like a girl who has had 20 tons of hairspray, a pick and a blow dryer. Not that though, hers is combination green bean juice, and pulling her piggy tails out:)
Dillon decorated this house all by himself. I took the kids to mutual with me while Bran was gone, the older girls were doing gingerbread houses for other kids in the ward and Dillon jumped right in.
All in all, we survived, but we are glad our sweet daddy/husband is home to take care of us!

Bountiful Bubbles & Blessings

We LOVE bubble baths here and the kids recently discovered turning the jets on in the tub - hence the monster amount of bubbles!! Kenzie isn't so sure if this is the thing for her but she always comes back for more, maybe because she wants to eat them. Dillon begs to have a bath everyday now.

I love the picture of Dillon with the shadow across his face, I'm not certain why I like it so much, possibly because I'm his mother and everything he does and everything to do with him is adorable:)

We are trying our hardest to survive the next two weeks - Brandon is gone to Oregon for some very in depth training and tests to see if he is ready to take over his own branch. It's going to be tough (on all of us), but I expect lots of emails and phone calls from you guys!!! Little daddy's girl Kenzie seems to be having the hardest time with it, combine that with 2 teeth coming in and a cold and we're having a great time. It's only Tuesday, it feels like it should be Friday. This should be interesting.

Man, I cannot believe how quickly Dillon is learning things. Everyone says kids are like sponges, I've learned that is so true. He was playing and something wasn't going right so he stood up and yelled,"What the heck?!?!" He is totally eating up letters right now. He loves his name. Everywhere we go he looks for the letters in his name and mommy, he'll starts yelling like theres a fire if he sees one.

Have I told you all how much I love Christmas? It is the greatest feeling on earth. Christmas just makes me feel happy. It's so much more fun now that I have kids. It's more about giving than it ever was before, which is maybe why I like it so much better. I miss the 12 days of Christmas though. My mom made us special pillow cases with pockets in them and starting on my b-day every year we'd wake up with little treats in the pockets. Not big stuff but special stuff, like a note saying we could make cookies with her that day, we could get a back massage, or little things like nail polish, candies, a tape. (back in the day:) ) It was like Christmas everyday! I tried doing it for Brandon but it just wasn't the same, he doesn't get too excited about stuff. Oh well. I want to do it for Dillon but Kenz is probably a little young. Well, Merry Christmas everyone.

This is how we potty train...

This was the re-beginging of potty training. It didn't work the first time but it took this time:) We are finally done!!! Don't worry even though these underpants are 2 years old - they've never been worn:)

6 Random Things

Well my friend Alexis "tagged" me. Apparently I have to put 6 random things about me on our blog - she doesn't think we use it enough:)

1. I am not in any way shape or form, crafty. I tried scrap booking and Dillon's book is maybe 12 pages long and covers his first year of life, Kenzie doesn't have one. He's three and she's one. I should get on that, it's not my forte. The crafty gene shows itself once every 2 or 3 years and lasts about 5 days - then I quit cause I can't stand it anymore. I wish I were better.
2. I cannot stop reading. If I didn't have kids I would forget to eat when I have a good book. It's an obsession. I go to the library once a week and I say it's so Dillon can do his art or silly songs class I always sign him up for but really it's for me, I love books. Oh, and he loves silly songs and art. Kenzie pretends she's a big girl during silly songs and dances around the room. I would love to write someday, I just need a good story:) Stephanie Meyer here I come!!!
3. I am a clutter bug who isn't very good at cleaning and my husband is a neat freak who can't sit still unless the house is spotless - we need a happy in between. If I start cleaning all of a sudden Dillon will ask me who is coming over. Anytime we have to clean he says it's cause daddy doesn't like our house dirty.
4. I am super cheap. I can always find something cheaper. There is a thrift store, Other Mothers, (kids clothes and stuff) here and the last Friday and Saturday of the month there is a 25 cent sale - I'm in heaven. Big Lots, The Dollar Store, Ross, anything on clearance, I love good deals, it makes my heart happy. My husband is lucky in that way, he could give me a gift card to the dollar store and I'd be just as happy as if it was roses:)
5. I still daydream about being a famous singer, regularly.
6. I hate marshmallows. They are just plain gross! The only reason they are on this earth is to make rice krispie treats - which I love, we put in butterscotch chips in them and melted chocolate chips on top... mmm. Other things I don't like: onions, I don't mind onion powder and green onions are fine too, I discovered I just can't stand the feeling when I crunch down on them - ewww, green peppers have a similar crunch, all pie except pumpkin, chocolate cake (I like brownies though - strange...) mushrooms (when I was little my sisters used to tell me they grew on cow poop and I've never been able to eat them since - even though I found out everything grows with cow poop - I just can't swallow them) rutabagas, cantaloupe and that's all I can think of now but I'm sure there are more. I am trying to be a grown up though.

This here's for you Lex, but ya'll can feel free to read my ramblin's if it suites ya.