The PARTY!!!

Ain't no party like a Bradshaw party cause the Bradshaw parties don't stop!!!

These two monkeys probably thought their b-days were a whole week rather than just one day! We left to see Brandon's parents on Tuesday and that night they had cake & ice cream for Kenzie (and presents of course!!! His parents took the kids to Toys R Us and let them pick out their own toys - it actually went better than I thought it would - there was very little screaming :) ) Then we got to my sisters house Wednesday and played and played, we were so busy! (I'll do the trip in a separate post) Friday we had a wedding reception (Congrats Erin & Taylor - I was taking pictures of EVERYTHING - except your wedding!!! Can anyone email me pictures???) with candy and cake and cheesecake - divine cheesecake - Saturday we had a BIG b-day party with all 16 cousins plus a few of our Boise friends and cake and ice cream... then we went back to Bran's parents on Sunday (it's on the way to and from Boise) and they had a little party for Dillon, and then we got home Monday and we had presents for the kids... were they partied out??? Nope, we got home and they wanted to go back to Grandmas house!

Kenzie has two new expressions when anyone tells her to smile, she either squints her eyes really tight shut or opens her mouth. Take your pick... :)

My Dillon Is Four

A Post to Dill Pickle

A few months old and such a happy baby

My lil gangsta'

First ice cream cone...

Halloween 2007

Well, I've been having difficulty with this one, I think I've finally wrapped my head around it. My Dillon is four and proud of it. So we are milking it for all it's worth :) We keep telling him things that 'four year olds...' do or don't do, mainly don't do! :) Man, I am such a blessed mom. Dillon is the best kid - he tests me now and again but really he is a good kid. He is so smart too, another brag moment - I found this "quiz" online to test if they are ready to start kindergarten. He and I worked on it together, they recommended a score of 48-57 (out of 100) to show readiness to start kindergarten and a high score of 65 to show they are ready to learn how to read- his score??? His score! His score, my genius of a child, my perfect little brainiac got an 82! It said, "Begin now! (kindergarten) Capitalize on your child's superior motivation and readiness." I can't tell you how much that means to me, I am not one of those "smart" people, learning was NEVER easy, even a little bit, I don't care now cause my little boy is!!! I am bustin' over here, I can hardly keep it in!!!

Happy Birthday my sweet son, you can't read this yet but I'll read it to you until you can!!! :)

This post is only a little bit late, his b-day was Monday! I'm getting better :)

I can't believe she's two ...

A post for Kenzie Laree

First Halloween - a bee with no stinger... 2006Kenzie's true selfI love a double fountain head

2nd Halloween - the pumpkin stole the candy.

Sigh. I've been looking through my Kenzie pics for at least the last 20 minutes since sitting down to post this - just having a mommy moment. My little girl, oh man, she's a heart breaker already, you see her with her little coy smile, you want to give her a cuddle, she comes a few steps and then runs off, laughing all the while. I cannot believe it, how can she be two??? I have to say though, my child could make Mary Poppins sweat, Super Nanny wouldn't stand a chance. She is, ummm, sassy and opinionated and stubborn and the sweetest most wonderful little girl there is. She is also so tender, the other day I was crying and she came in and hugged me (well, my knees:) ), she wiped a tear away with one tiny finger and said "Momma, otay now?" yes, momma 'otay' now! She can rough it with the best of 'em and bring her brother & any cousin to tears in a second flat but then she will grab her baby doll to give it a cuddle and a kiss. My baby isn't a baby anymore! My mom made her a tutu and a head something-er-other and a cape for her b-day, she was instantly in love, she wore her tutu for the rest of the party while all her other little girl cousins played with all her new toys, she twirled. She jumped on the trampoline, swinged, went down the slide and had a blast all in her tutu and cape. The head thing didn't stay on long though :)

I know, I know, her b-day was last week, I've been neglecting the blogging world since we got home!

Silver Dollar Oat Pancakes

(I fixed it just for you Jess :) )

My kids gobbled these up! (It could have been that I put ears on them and told Dillon they were Aurthur (PBS kids) ) that's okay with me :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 c. buttermilk
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce (we no sugar added applesauce and added some cinnamon)
2 TB butter - melted (I left out this ingredient - I didn't see it until just now... oops)

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a small bowl beat the egg, buttermilk, applesauce and butter (which can be left out for a healthier version ... hehehe) stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Cook just like normal pancakes... Oh and they freeze really well.

Back in Business

Alright my followers - my glorious return is now at hand! I had a nice little break - that break included checking google finder a few times a day but not actually logging on to my blog, then deciding my blog needed a face lift - which meant, dang it, I have to log in, and hey while I'm here why not do a few of those posts I've had rattling around in my head and not post them but just have them as a draft . . . what a break it was, isn't that how it always is :)

Well a few weeks ago I had a friend, Michelle, from Boise come to stay. She has two girls - Nicole is 5 who Dillon is convinced is the girl of his dreams and Alayna who is 2. Just before we moved their favorite activity was making "beds..." T R O U B L E :) I was so excited about her coming! I had a few (dozen) activities planned and we were going to be happy and busy the whole time :) Enter - Seattle weather :) Oh well, we had a few nice days. My friend Karri and I planned a big trip to Seattle - anything is big when 6 children are involved! We walked a few blocks to take the bus and took up the entire handicapped section! Kids from left Thomas & Kiersten (Karri's kids) Kenzie, Alayna, Dillon & Nicole.
It was such a blast!!! A little crazy and hectic at moments but so much fun. We got off the bus at Pike Place Market, walked all over the market, then walked to the ferry and went to Bainbridge Island. We had planned to get off there but we had done enough walking, so we got off the ferry and then got back on the ferry to ride back to Seattle :) Then we had to walk back to the bus stop wait for a bit, ride the insanely busy bus with 6 very tired children (all of us separated because it was so crowded) through a few dozen stops, then walk back the few blocks to our homes. We walked a lot! It was very worth it!
What better thing to do when you are exhausted? Lay around and watch a movie - well actually this was a different day - when we got home we ran around frantically trying to get the house ready for dinner company :)

Now I'm sure you are wondering how I could be in Seattle for 9 hours and only take 2 pictures... the camera was just too difficult to reach in my backpack, I got insanely lazy, I forgot - take your pick. Another fun little thing about this day-cation is that on the way back from Bainbridge I just happened to run into an old high school fling - what are the odds!!! For my PHS friends - I saw JD Mulder - and he looks good ladies, really good :) You know those times when you know you are going to see old friends and you get all dressed up and lookin' hot, this wasn't one of those times... On the plus side at least I was wearing mascara and hadn't been covered in peanut butter and pee at that point in the trip.