Serious talk

2 Cuties!!

Bradley and Alex climbed up into the glider the other day to discuss Alex's broken collarbone. It was mostly one-sided.

Bradley: does it hurt, Alex?

Alex: no!

Bradley: are you okay, Alex?

Alex: no!

Bradley: do you want to play cars?

Alex: YES!


Or something to that effect! They were having a conversation, but I didn't catch it all. Cute little cousins!

Bradley's 1st day of Pre-K

Good Morning sweet boy!
Good Morning baby boy!

Good Morning sunshine!

Look at my cool dragon backpack!

handsome pre-k boy!

ready to go in!

making himself comfortable on the classroom rug!

(doesn't he look nervous?!) :)

Bradley's 1st day of pre-k was today! We are so happy that he got to have the same sweet, patient, wonderful teachers that Rachel had. Ms. Jan and Ms. Kim truly have a gift for working with 4 year olds and I know Bradley is going to love this experience! The entire class seems very sweet and all the parents I've met so far are friendly too.

We've been talking about the 'big day' for some time and Bradley was more than ready. He wasn't nervous or anxious at all and I think part of that is because he's seen Rachel experience school and see how much she loves and enjoys it. He was so excited about carrying his "how to train your dragon" backpack and wear his new skechers. "Mother" Rachel did her best to prepare him for Pre-K too. She told him what to do if someone wasn't nice to him. She said first he needed to tell the other kid to "stop!" and if that didn't work to tell the teacher and just walk away. Great advice, I thought. Bradley did have a great first day although he didn't share too many details. We've been very spoiled by Rachel and her elaborate details of each day: what they did and how everyone acted, etc... The first thing Bradley said was, "we didn't get to play in the gym." I said, but you got to play on the cool playground, right? Yes, but we didn't get to play in the gym. I know he was REALLY tired when we picked him up and then we told him we were going to get McDonald's for lunch (YES, we eat it way too much!). He immediately perked up at that news. Once he got in the car, he just started chugging down his juice and was sorta in a daze. I asked him if he had made any friends and he mentioned one boy, Logan. I asked him what they ate for a snack and he said cupcakes and cheezits, but he couldn't remember the girl who's birthday they were celebrating with cupcakes. He did remember several of the instructions or rules that Ms. Jan had told them, so at least he was listening well. I guess Bradley got tired of answering my questions, because he started saying, "I went down the slide, the end." Or, "the weather was cloudy, the end." I thought it was funny that he didn't want to offer any more details and thought "the end" was pretty blatant that he was done talking. We definitely missed our sweet boy while he was gone, but I have to say teaching just Rachel (with Trenty playing around us) was much easier. I think we're going to get so much of Rachel's schoolwork done while Bradley's at pre-k and we can save the fun stuff like crafts, cooking and science for when Bradley is home. I'm so proud of my precious son and what a kind, sweet boy that he is! Yay for Pre-K!!!

Siblings Rock!

My children are so blessed to have each other! I know their bond is like no other bond they'll have for the rest of their lives! I'm so thankful that they have each other... for play and companionship now, but also to hug and love on each other and teach each other things. Of course, their relationships will change and they will love and support each other and be close to each other at different times and in different ways as they grow older and more mature. I've always felt so blessed to have both a brother and a sister! I'm thankful that my kids will get to experience the same joys that I have! Siblings Rock!!

(these pics were from Bradley's birthday morning when he got to open a present from Rachel...they were both very excited and Trent picked up on it too.)

The Spider Man cupcakes

For Bradley's actual birthday, we ate yummy Spider Man cupcakes from Sam's club. We thought they looked so cool in the store with their vibrant blue and red color! I didn't really think about how extremely messy they would be. But, they were! We enjoyed them anyway, but took a bath shortly after eating them!

Dixie...still going strong!

Dixie is a survivor. She's the most low-maintenance, sweet, laidback, self-sufficient dog I've ever heard of. We think she's about 10 years old and she's still hanging in there. No problems that we can see and she just gives us no trouble. And, this poor dog is usually ignored, by me at least. Obviously, the kids love her; particularly Rachel and Trent. Bradley is more or less indifferent. Anyway, Dixie sure is a good mutt and she's been a perfect family dog...perfect with the kids and tolerant of their kid treatment. We love you Dixie!

Bradley's Pirate cake (FINALLY some birthday pics!)

We had a great time celebrating Bradley's 4th birthday! From the awesome presents: an awesome new bike, a sword, a pirate costume, cars and stuff, books, coloring books, a Toy Story flashlight, a bug catcher, etc... to the super cool treasure hunt, to the sprinkler, a pirate ship pinata, and finally a yummy pirate cake...we had a BLAST!

I am such a mess!

Whether we're just playing around, eating a meal or actually trying to clean up or do dishes, Trenty likes to be in the middle of it all. This was what he decided to do today while I was standing at the sink washing dishes and loading the dishwasher. Little stinker!!!!!!! We love having him around to "mess-up" everything, though!!