Yard Sale/Bake Sale

Hi, Just wanted to let you all know that I am putting together a charity yard sale/bake sale for my very good friend's little girl. She is looking to be a candidate for a heart transplant, which we all know is not cheap. It will be at my house on August 15, please let me know if you would be willing to contribute anything for the Yard Sale or Bake Sale. You can check out her story at the link on my sidebar entitled "Vittorias Corner".
Mandy

Vittoria

Our very good friends James and Val Frandsen are praying for a miracle while their sweet little daughter is fighting for her life at Primary Childrens Hospital. Here is a link to their web site. We are praying for Vittoria.
www.vittoriascorner.blogspot.com (copy and paste web address if link does not work)

Bowling for Soup

We have a yearly family tradition of a rousing game of bowling. The boys like it more and more each year, and thus, so do we!
Here are some shots from the mayhem....


Don't even THINK about using my ball.


Strike!!!!!!!!!!


Give me five!


Tate wouldn't stop plugging his ears at first because it was too loud for him.


He's a Pro!

Vivian Park

We got back from California and Darrin was able to take a few days off to recover from working so much....most days for him are 11 to 12 hours.

In the heat.

Anyway, we took the boys up to Vivian Park. We took their bikes and a little lunch. We had a blast! Tate is so fast on his little bike, he will probably be riding without training wheels before Remy.

Did I mention I will pay anyone $20 bucks to successfully teach Remy how to ride a bike without training wheels?




My handsome boys


Mommy and Remy


Mommy and Tate


When did he grow up?


My baby


Who can resist that smile?


My little Climber


Remy on his bike


Tate on his bike

I am thinking in 3rd person, I have been on facebook too much.

It took me a little while to really get on facebook, and now I believe I am suffering Facebook overdose. I am thinking in 3rd person. I was lying in bed last night, thinking about my day and all of the sudden I realized I was thinking like this....


Mandy Owings Bradshaw is hoping that Big Brother episodes are online to watch.

Not good.

I think I need to take a break.

So, I will blog!

We just got back from a great vacation to California, it was so much fun to see my family and to get a break in our routine.

We spent 10 days hanging out with Aunt Lisa, and Cousins Trajan and Macey. In betweeen we spent some time with Uncle Mark, Auntie Doris, Uncle Phil, Cousin Sara, Papa and GG. We also got to see Bonnie with her "cone of shame"

It was so nice to see everyone, I was especially glad to be able to see my grandma. She is going to be 89 years old this month. She has always been so lively and spry. She is starting to show signs of age, and it is really sad to see that, so I am glad that I was able to see her and visit with her for a little while.

Here are some of the highlights:

**We went to the farmers market and indulged ourselves in all kinds of yummy fruits and veggies: strawberries, apples, pluots (plum/apricot),avocado's, beans, and eggplant. Side note: Darrin has always told me about the avocado's in Nicaragua that people would just cut open and dip their bread in like butter. I could never imagine that until I cut open the avocado's from the farmers market and they were just like butter....yum!

**We had a not so fun trip to Adventure City that resulted in one severely mangled knee, a wheel chair, a visit to the doctor and a one very brave 9 year old.

**Some of us (not including the aforementioned 9 year old) returned to Adventure City to finish our love affair with kid sized roller coasters,train rides, a carousel, firetrucks, airplanes and twirling balloons.

**A cool (as in cold) afternoon at the beach, making sand castles, dodging waves and seagulls chasing fruit snack holding children.

**6 people, including 3 kids in booster seats, in a silver Buick.

**Car seat style musical chairs

**A million Popsicle's eaten.

**A super fun day at Legoland with 3 semi-grumpy kids. Tate got to do the firetruck ride, Remy got to get wet in the waterpark, and Trajan got to go on the Bionicle Blasters with Grandma and Remy.

**Tate was not big enough to go on the Bionicle Blasters and was so mad he yelled at me the WHOLE time the ride was going...your too little to go, EVER!!!

**Having a million heart attacks every time Remy jumped into the deep end of Auntie Doris' pool using his budding swimming skills and a pool noodle for support.

**Eating scrumptious food at Aunt Lisa's Kitchen Bistro.

**Hugging my sissy everyday

**Enjoying 70 degree weather everyday

**Listening to songs on Trajans Ipod.

**Playing referee with the two 3 year olds

**Eating the all time best Nachos at Kings Hawaiian with one of my most favorite people.

**3 migraine headaches

**Two out of this world In-n-Out burgers with grilled onions, french fries and strawberry shakes. Oooohhhhh yah!

**Coming home and reminding the kids of what a real day is like again.

Thanks to my awesome Sister for her hospitality and patience with our little family, we had a blast!

Bragging Rights

You know, I don't usually use this blog to brag about my two fabulous boys and one great man, because, that might be seen as a little silly, but today....well, I just have to brag a little bit.

Tate is turning into such a wonderful little 3 year old, he helps out with the dishes every day (all but the sharp knives!), he makes his bed every morning without being reminded, has been riding his cute little two wheeler with out training wheels for 1 whole week now, he always asks for more vegetables at dinner time, he is learning his letter blends, like 'sh', 'th', and 'ch' and he even balanced my checkbook for me last night!

But, we have been having a few issues when it comes to mess making.

Case in Point:

1. We were at our friends, the Flinders, playing today when I looked out the back window to see ALL the boys playing in the super fun mud bog up to their knees in mud. And there is Tate, standing naked in the mud bog.

2. After a strong talking to, a spray down with the hose and a bath Tate was playing with Remy outside in our backyard. I was doing laundry in the laundry room when I hear Remy yelling, "No Tate you're going to flood the house!!!!!" I come running into the kitchen to find Tate watering our dining room with the hose.

3. While I am cleaning up the flood I look outside and see Tate peeing by the swing set.

4. After dinner we were cleaning up and I saw Tate pouring his glass of water onto his plate.

Yes folks, he is giving me a run for my money. But then, at bedtime, he shares his blanket with me while I rub his back and then rubs my back while I rub Remy's back. Then I look into those big blue eyes and forgive him for everything. Almost.

(By the way...Tate can't really do all of those fabulous things in the first paragraph...just teasing!)

Birthday Smirthday....

So the past couple of months we have had a few birthdays to celebrate, and Darrin's is coming up in a few weeks. We had a birthday party for Remy and Tate. They invited some friends and some of our family came too. It was a great time for the boys.


Grandpa and Remy built the cake topper for Remy's Star Wars cake



Tate showing us his big boulder



Who needs a girlie oven mitt? Get the "Man Mitt"



Remy's Cake....The gummy bears are invading!!!! (Remy's idea)



Tate's Construction Scene



The other Birthday boy and girl...happy birthday Grandpa and Madeline!




Uncle Brady came over the next day to celebrate with us since he had to work Saturday. We made creamy Nutella shakes. Yum!

Happy Birthday my boys!!!! I love you so very much!