The traditional Easter

I love holidays, and all the family traditions that go with it.  Saturday Laura came over and helped me and Bradley dye Easter eggs.  Dying eggs was a slow tedious process for Bradley.  He got good and messy though, and then we spent probably as much time dying eggs as I did scrubbing his hands afterwards.

Mixing the colors together at the end

 Blue hands

 All the pretty colored eggs

 Laura's relatively clean hands

Later in the day Bradley and I made Resurrection Cookies.  I was hoping this would become a fun new Easter tradition for us, but sadly, the cookies didn't turn out.  It was a cool idea though, and we will definitely try again next year.

We also made Bunny Rabbit cupcakes. Okay, so they were kind of ghetto, and nothing that would ever appear on Beth Allen's blog, but still, they were cute, and you get the idea. Bradley had fun sprinkling the coconut on the cupcakes, and eating the sugar!

 Easter morning we got up and went to the 8a.m. service- why not, Bradley's up at 5:30 a.m. every morning!  After we got home, the Easter bunny had come, so we headed outside to- what else- hunt more eggs!  Bradley had brand new "boat shoes" to wear, and a cute shirt and tie combo from Old Navy.

 Here I think he was distracted looking for worms

 After the egg hunt with all our spoils

 Bradley & the Bradleys, Easter 2011

 A typical photo of us sisters

 George's parents came over for lunch.  I love Craig & Diane, and am so glad they were able to join us today.  I wish I had taken a picture of the actual food, but it was amazing as usual:  Ham, fried corn, burned rolls (ha!), scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs, and the most incredible Brussels sprouts made by Laura.  (Brussels sprouts and blue cheese- who knew?)

 Instead of napping, Bradley got out of bed after about 30 minutes, so I gave up and let him stay up.  We had dessert, and then had our traditional egg fight.  This is probably my favorite Easter tradition.  Everyone gets a hard boiled egg, then you pair off, and hit little end to little end, then big end to big end.  If your eggshell cracks, you're out.  You keep challenging other family members until a winner is declared. 

Bradley & Ms. Diane

 Laura & George were the last two contestants, and George cheated to win.  This picture totally encapsulates the Murdoch couple!

After Craig & Diane left, we opened our Easter baskets (really bags) but were too full to sample any of our Easter candy!  Except I think Bradley had some Pez, and Dad ate one of his Peeps.  Laura cooked fish and shrimp for dinner along with bacon wrapped asparagus, and it was so light and perfect to compliment the heavier food from earlier.  Bradley was pretty cranky as the day wound down (a day without a nap will do that to you) but overall it was such a good Easter.

The Lord is Risen.  He is Risen Indeed!

Putting all his eggs into one basket

I loved something Mike said in his sermon this morning- the message of Easter is not 'Hang on, God's coming,' it's 'Let go, He's here!'  I hope each of you has had a happy and blessed Easter.  We have had such a good weekend.  Bradley doesn't quite grasp what Easter's all about, but at least if you ask him what Easter is about, he will answer "God's son."  Someday that will sink in.  Until it does, he enjoyed all of the different Easter egg hunts he got to do.

Thursday was Bradley's Easter party at daycare.  I smashed little boxes of Nerds to fill Easter eggs for his classmates.  My gripe with the candy companies is that they know that nowadays, you must put individually wrapped candy into Easter eggs, and yet pretty much the only candy you can find that fits that description is chocolate- chocolate candy that melts.  So I purchased little boxes of Nerds thinking they would be the perfect size.  Instead I smashed all four corners of the boxes and made them fit into the eggs!

Saturday was the neighborhood egg hunt.  B had his Easter basket ready. 

On your mark, get set, go!

An action shot, finding eggs.   Please notice how hardcore mom is about finding Easter eggs.  She stopped short of pushing the other kids out of the way.

 I was worried he would want to stop and open his eggs as he went, but this was not the case- he was happy to find the eggs, and worry about the candy later.

 The Golden Egg, right before Bradley found it.  Papa *may" have spotted it first and pointed Bradley in the right direction.

 Me & Bradley, with his prize Golden Egg

 The cool Easter basket prize he won

The weather was perfect, and I am so glad B is old enough this year to participate in fun neighborhood activities like this.  We went home and promptly opened several pieces of candy.  I might have shared some of it with B...

Worship Wednesdays

Yes, I realize I'm posting this on Thursday night.  I'm a day late.  So sue me!

Since it's Easter week, today's focus on worship will involve a really cool Easter cookie recipe that I heard about from a friend last year. They're called Annie's Resurrection Cookies, and you can download the recipe here. The idea is that you make them with your kids, while you tell the story of Jesus' resurrection, and then enjoy the cookies on Easter Sunday, after the cookies have magically "risen" overnight, and are hollow inside to represent the empty tomb!
Now I can't attest to the taste of these cookies (one of the ingredients is vinegar, after all) but the meaning behind them is amazing. The recipe also gives you several scripture verses to read with your kids while you make the cookies, but I will likely skip this part with Bradley this year as it's too detailed for him, and focus on simply telling the story of Jesus instead.
Hey Readers:  Let me know if you have made these cookies, or end up making them this year!

Terrible Twosdays

In an effort to blog more consistently, I am toying with the idea of themed blogging days of the week, so I thought I'd give it a shot starting today  Terrible Twosdays suggests that these posts will provide a brief update on the life and anecdotes of my favorite two year old.

Yesterday you would have thought the world was ending.  Bradley got his first splinter.  I came into the scene mid-trauma from my yoga class, wherein mom & dad had already tried pulling the splinter out with tweezers, numbing it with ice and baby Oragel, and finally putting a little bit of Elmer's glue on the splinter site.  (Someone on the internet suggested this.)  After dinner, it was my happy task to gently peel the Elmer's glue off and see if the splinter came out with it.  I bribed Bradley with watching cartoons after dinner while I gathered my supplies- my "special tweezers" and a rubbing alcohol pad to sterilize the special tweezers.

I sat the little guy on my lap in hopes that he would obliviously watch cartoons while I examined the offending finger.  No such luck.  The child screamed and writhed in my arms as if I had just told him he could never see Buzz Lightyear again.  I called in the reinforcements, and even with mom helping to restrain Bradley, or dad trying to distract him, Bradley was jerking so much that I couldn't even look at his finger!  Finally after several tries, I went in for the kill, and ripped the Elmer's glue patch off his finger.  This remedy did not prove successful.  Off came the glue, but the splinter remained a fixture in the finger. My next idea was to give him a bath, so off to the bathroom we went, but not without a fight!  In all his distractions with me poking and prodding, he never got to watch cartoons!  The problem was, it was getting late, and we had already spent so much time trying to get him to calm down and be still so we could pull the dried glue off that there was no time for TV.  The tantrum that ensued was not about the splinter now, but the lack of TV.

Once this storm had blown over, it was bath time.  I was betting that a nice warm tub of soapy water would soften his skin and loosen the splinter.  After getting out and drying him off with his towel, I sat B in my lap and went back to work with my "special tweezers."  (For future reference, I thought calling them 'special' would intrigue him enough to distract him, and let me do what I needed to do, but kids are smarter than you give them credit for.)  Special or not, he was not about to let me anywhere near his sore finger with those tweezers. Reinforcements were called in again. 

This time after carefully timing my attempts with the tweezers to the rhythm of his jerks, in one swift motion I grabbed and pulled, and knew instantly that it was a success!  Upon calming down (finally) Bradley was able to see the tiny splinter that had been stuck in his index finger, and all was right with the world!

Queen MAB's birthday celebration

The ever fab Queen MAB hit the big 3-0 this week, and to celebrate, she threw herself one dang good party.  She rented a hotel suite in downtown Nashville, and provided her guests with wine and snacks while we hung out and got ready on Friday afternoon after work.  Then we drove over to Sunset Grill for a 7:30 pm dinner, shared her yummy birthday dessert, and regrouped at the hotel before cabbing it over to the trendy Tavern bar in Midtown.

We ordered a cab for 8, but somehow I ended up sitting on the floor, and holding onto the OS handle while the crazy cabbie wove through downtown.  It's okay- it was a short drive.  (Yet somehow, still $13... I think his math was a little shady) Actually, we made a brief stop at the next door Broadway Brewhouse first while waiting for our table at Tavern.  Of course, I just Had to have a Bushwacker at BB- it's like an alcoholic frosty, if you've never had one.  They are quite delish.  At Tavern, we had a big roomy round booth, perfect for conversating, and people watching.  Someone might have gotten a piercing that night if the place hadn't been closed (Not me!) but alas, it was not meant to be.

After a couple drinks, we cabbed it back to the hotel, trying to explain to the foreign driver that while we were "from here," we were staying in a hotel.  The drive was too short for him to get it, I think.  Back in the suite, we changed into our jammies, MA opened her birthday gifts, and we enjoyed champagne and cupcakes.  (The girl knows how to plan an event, doesn't she?)  We were in bed by 2 a.m. and were totally exhausted!  After breakfast at the hotel the next morning, I was anxious to get home and see my little man.  It was a blast, MA- thanks again for being born, and for being a great event planner.  I enjoyed my night out with the girls.  I also napped both Saturday and Sunday to catch up on sleep!

How going out in your 20's differs from going out in your 30's

After the girls night out on the town this weekend for Mary Anna's birthday, it has given me reason to pause and think about how different a night out can be for the twinkies versus the thinkies.  Allow me to draw some comparison and contrasting thoughts.

In your 20's, you go out to meet men.  In your 30's, you have learned, probably the hard way, that a bar is so not the place to meet a man.  Instead you go out with your friends with the intent of actually talking to your friends (novel idea, huh?)

In your 20's you close down the bars without a second thought.  In your 30's anything past midnight is pushing it.

In your 20's you crawl in bed at any and all hours of the night with full makeup on, too tired to wash your face.  (College Roommate Stephanie will attest that I ruined her white pillowcases with mascara stains on more than one occasion.)  In your 30's, you are anal about skincare, and would never, ever go to bed without washing and moisturizing your face.

Broadway Brewhouse is a great twenty-somethings bar- it's loud, it's crowded, it's smoky.  You will wait forever for a drink from the bar, but that's okay because it gives you plenty of time to scope out the frat boys while you wait.  Of course you won't be talking to your friends because it's too dang loud in there.

Tavern was perfect for the older age group.  Groups happily chatted with their own tablemates.  The lighting was low, and the food & drink menu was quite respectable, because, you know, this generation comes out and enjoys a nice dinner.  If you want bar food, Tin Roof will suffice, but if you want a good meal And a good time, Tavern is it.  They had this smores dessert that we kept seeing that was all flambe and whatnot, and smelled delicious.  We had our cupcakes waiting on us, so we didn't try it this trip.  They played Radiohead.

Let's face it.  The 20's are about going out and getting drunk.  The novelty of drinking in a bar is so new you drink whatever drink has the most liquor in it, just for the heck of it.  By the time you've reached 30, you know what you like, and you can enjoy it in moderation.

In your 20's you wear makeup to cover up your acne.  The dark smoky eyes detract from the acne.  In your 30's you wear makeup to cover up your wrinkles.  The dark smoky eyes detract from your wrinkles.

You haphazardly go out in your 20's and figure out the driving situation once you're out.  In your 30's you are responsible and plan ahead.

In your 20's you pre-party with jello shots, and drink from plastic cups.  In your 30's you sip wine, from real wine glasses.

In your 20's you comment on your friends MySpace account about the evening of debauchery.  Now Facebook is the grown-up classy way for the 30's to casually mention their fun night out.

The 20's- You wake up with a headache from too much to drink.  The 30's- you wake up with a headache from too little sleep.

For the 20's and the 30's, the headache is worth the good times had the night before... guess some things never change!

More birthdays

Dad celebrated his 59th birthday this week.  We went to Uncle Buds for dinner, and then came home for banana pudding and presents. 

Dad proudly displays his Final Four t-shirt

 My ghetto wrapping job.... it was a big present, and I didn't have enough of one kind of wrapping paper.

 Bradley's homemade stepping stone.  This gift is appropriate because he flips over the stones outside in the backyard to look for bugs.

 Dad's new toy- a new blower

 Dad and his kids

 Mom and dad- notice the banana pudding stain on his shirt!  (I really like this picture of them)

 Oscar cheers for his Sox.

Now the birthday week is over.  Happy birthday mom & dad.  Next on the birthday review:  Queen MAB.

Spring Pictures

My good friends Rhonda and Joe came over last weekend and took some spring pictures of Bradley.  I had two requests:  I would like one of he and I together, and I wanted a close up of Bradley's freckles.  Joe did that and so much more.  In chasing Bradley around the backyard, I feel like he truly captured the spirit of this 2 1/2 year old little boy.  Thank you Rhonda & Joe!

If you want to see all of the pictures, feel free to click HERE.  Otherwise, here are a few of my favorites:

Any Nashvillians looking for a great photographer can check out Joe Hendricks Photography at their site here.

Mama B's B-day

Yesterday mom celebrated her 58th birthday.  I can be honest about her age because she isn't vain enough to care about a sily number.  Her eldest daugher however, remains 21 and in college.  (Riiiight...)

Bradley and I made her cupcakes with Pooh Bear sprinkles.  I think Bradley ate as many sprinkles as went on the cupcakes, but he enjoyed the "pupcake" project.

 Bradley also enjoyed helping Grandma open her presents!  This one is the one from him:

 Two wooden magnets that Bradley painted to put on Grandma's refridgerator.

 Bradley & Aunt Laura

 Birthday girl and grandson

 Dad shared this on Facebook, but it's hard to believe he has celebrated every birthday with mom, save the first 13!  They are truly an inspiration to me about the example they have set about what it takes to be in committed marriage.

 Mom and her girls

 Tim & Sandy joined us for dinner at Macaroni Grill.  Bradley loves his "Ya ya"

 Whoa- is that cake on fire?  No, it's just got 58 candles on it!

Happy birthday, Mama B!

Warren G Belongs to Me

Continuing my trend of not blogging about important events, I am belated in shouting from the proverbial world wide web rooftops that as of last week I am now the official proud owner of Warren the G6.  Yep- I made my last car payment, and like Brandy and Monica might sing, That. Car. Is. Mine.

It's a big step for me in moving towards financial freedom.  Now all I have to do is pay off my credit card, and then save up for a down payment so I can buy a place of my own.  Yep, that's all, she says casually.

What took me so long to actually get this posted was that I could not find a single stinking picture of Warren to put in this post!  There were 3 hilarious car blogs that were posted way back in 2007 that you can read here, here, and here, about when I purchased Warren, but alas, I could find no pictures.

No worries.  It's time for me and Warren to regulate.  Mount Up!

Final Fourtune

So I'm a little behind on my blogging, but as we head into April, I must exclaim that March has truly been Madness when it comes to Kentucky Basketball.  We are playing in the Final Four this weekend in Houston for the first time since 1998.  I was 17 the last time the Cats went to the Final Four, and man does that put things into perspective!  I had no idea what it truly meant to be a Cats fan then- I just took it for granted that we were awesome and would just always be a top tier program.  I now look at these kids burning couches on UK's campus to celebrate, and I think smugly to myself, those dumb kids with their $5 student tickets, they just don't understand!  They just have no idea what it means to be a loyal UK fan year after year- to watch Dwayne Wade's Marquette team beat us, to falter to UAB in the 2nd round of the NCAA tourney when we were a favorite to win the whole thing, to watch grimly as UNC gets another banner, or, yes, I'll mention it, the agony of losing to Duke in the infamous Laettner shot that these young whippersnappers weren't even a glimmer in their mother's eye when it happened!

But now I'm older and wiser, and am able to appreciate the journey the Cats have gone on this season.  And how does it feel?  Exactly like this:

Family, pizza, family, and more pizza

We had family visit on back to back weekends.  My uncle Jerry, aunt Lisa, and cousin Eric came down two weekends ago.  It had just gotten warm here in Tennessee, so that Friday night we joined the rest of the city of Franklin and waited over an hour to eat pizza at Mellow Mushroom.  Bradley and I were both sick, but we hung in long enough to eat some cheese pizza, then made an early exit.  Saturday night we went to the new-ish Brewhouse South for dinner.

 Laura, George, and Eric

Lisa & Jerry

In the trend of funny sleeping pictures, Stockwell snuggled with Eric on the couch...

 And Bradley got out if his bed during his Saturday afternoon nap, took his cars, and walked all the way down the hall to my bedroom, closed the door, and climbed onto the bed and passed out like this!

I panicked when I went upstairs and noticed his door was open and went room to room until I found him like this.  This was a first!  We had a good weekend, and watched the Kentucky Wildcats win another SEC Championship.

Then this past weekend, Michael, Missy, Braedon, Garrick, and Addison came to visit.  The weather was gorgeous, so we left the basketball games on tv, stayed outside, and periodically checked the scores (after we watched UK win, of course.)

Bradley & Addison enjoying snacktime

The Cul Hanes aka how many people can we fit on a couch?

Laura made her famous quesadillas and fresh guacomole for dinner, then we finished the evening with Smores in the fire pit.

Mom & her baby brother

The early risers, watching cartoons together

We spent Sunday at Pinkerton Park, and ended the trip with a hike up to Fort Granger.  I was disappointed to discover that after carrying a 34 pound Bradley most of the way, there was no fort at the top!  It was a big open area that we explored and had a great view of Franklin, but still, no fort.  The signs were misleading.

 Cousins Braedon, Bradley, Garrick, and Addison

Sunday night we went to- where else- Mellow Mushroom- for dinner again!  To kill time, we walked around the Franklin sqaure, and B & Addison played on the civil war cannons.

 The four cousins on the couch- and no, that's not Justin Bieber sitting there!

 Until next time!

Best day of work ever

I challenge anyone to have had a better work day on Thursday than me.  It's impossible.  Whatever you did that day, my day was better.  Why was its so awesome?  Because the NCAA tournament began.  I clocked out for a late lunch hour at 3pm, and never went back to work.  Instead, I walked across the street to a sports bar and got to watch the second half of the UK game, which we won by a buzzer beater, and then watched all of the Vandy game while having deep fried bar food and beer with a few friends.  The weather was perfect too.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if UK had won by 30.  The close games are too stressful for me.

Who's down with RSV? Yeah you know me!

Bradley and I spent the weekend sick, but I am optimistic that we are both on the mend.  He had what I thought was a cold all week long, and so by Thursday night, I decided not to risk the weekend coming on by not making a cursory trip to see Dr. Davis just for them to tell me he was fine.  Everyone knows Bradley in this office.  It seems B has been sick every 2 weeks like clockwork ever since he started day care (just one more reason for me to lament my former days as a stay at home mom).  And whereas before when Bradley would get sick, I would exhaust every home remedy before heading to the doctor as a last resort, now I am much more apt to request an appointment and an antibiotic since Bradley being sick keeps him from going to daycare and me from going to work.  And then the cycle continues because he goes back to daycare and catches something from some other snotty nosed kid.  But that's neither here nor there.

Friday, we find out that the little guy has RSV (a viral respirtory infection) and a double ear infection to boot, which was likely a side effect of the RSV!  I felt like the worst mom ever for letting this go on for an entire week, and even sitting there in the pediatrician's office with the diagnosis, I asked Bradley if his ears hurt and he said no!  The kid has inherited my high tolerance for pain I do believe.

Within minutes they swept in there with a nebulizer (am I the only person whose never heard of one of these contraptions?) that looked like Wheezy from TS3, hooked up a mask, and we sat there for several minutes while Bradley did his first breathing treatment.  We were sent home with our very own nebulizer, and 3 drug prescriptions.

I actually napped when he did Friday, another sure sign that I most likely have RSV too- except that I'm too stubborn/cheap to go to the doctor myself, and I hate taking medicine. 

Bradley looks so pitiful doing his breathing treatments that I of course had to document the event.  There's Rosco the frog, the nebulizer, in the background.  I turn on an episode of Little Einsteins, and away we go!

 Anyways, we went for a re-check today (Monday) and go back again on Friday for them to re-check one of his ears (I'm not lying when I tell you they know and love us at the doctor's office!).  I am praying that no one else gets this nasty virus.

Sunday's stream of consciousness

I have been uber-unmotivated to blog lately, so sometimes you have to just blog, even when you don't feel like it, and the motivation will come later- kind of like obeying God, or going to the gym.

A few random and funnies to share:

"If I can stand at the garage door and hit the garbage can 5 feet away with the dirty poopy diapers 99% of the time, then why can't the Kentucky players hit a free throw every single time?"  -me

Today while eating lunch:  "Bradley, why do you have your hand down your pants?"  -me
"So I can touch my weiner."  -Bradley
(it was like, "duh, why else would my hand be down my pants?")

I tripped down the last few stairs the other day while leaving work.  I caught myself by crashing into the door leading into the parking garage.  Thankfully it was more funny than scary, and there was only one other guy who witnessed my clumsiness.

Dad and I took Bradley to Chic-Fil-A for dinner this week.  Guess whose kid was the only one to climb up to the top of the play area, and cry for their mommy, have all the other kids trying to help him get down, and one of the teenage workers had to climb up into the thing to rescue him?  My son!!

I have been praying fervently all week for my boss' wife, whom I've never even met.  She delivered their baby boy at 29 weeks on Tuesday, and then has suffered serious complications since.  The baby is doing great.  Monica is doing a little better.

We started Luke 10 in my Sunday School class last week.  This is excited because we were in Luke chapter 9 from October through February!  Craziness- but awesomeness!

Some peculiar phrases that Bradley has picked up recently:

• referring to his sweat pants or comfy pants as "fat pants"
• "it's okay sweetheart."
• "What's that supposed to be?"
• "Uh-oh! I just realized something."

I am amazed at the miracle of spring happening over night.  Seriously- I woke up on Saturday morning and the grass was really green, the flowers were in bloom, and the trees had budded.  How does that all happen simultaneously??

Ellen came to visit, and we have more company looming on the horizon-yay!

While watching a dvr'ed episode of Gray's anatomy, Lisa Patton, the news lady broke in and warned of the bad weather and thunderstorms headed our way.
"More storms again?!" I asked incredulously?  (We've had a lot of rain and storms lately)
"Amanda," mom replied, "this was from Thursday night."
Oh right.  DVR'ed episode. ha ha