Goodbye, Dear Friend

We are grieving in the Bradshaw home this afternoon for the loss of our beloved friend, Veda Welch, who has returned home peacefully to her Heavenly Father. She has been suffering from the effects of a stroke since September 2006 and has had several mini-strokes over the last few months.

As mentors and kindred spirits, she and her husband, Keith, have been like second parents to me from the moment we met in the mission field. She loved deeply and served the Lord well in all she did. We will miss her greatly, but are pleased that she has been released from the confines of her physical infirmities and limitations. If you knew and loved her as Justin and I have, I do have funeral arrangement information. Please contact me via email for further information.

Basement Garage

No, Tanner's not OCD. Why do you ask?

Favorite Lunch Recipe

"Eat Your Lunch Without Complaining Pasta"
Ingredients
1 can beefaroni
Dash of impatience
Pinch of exasperation
Inadequate sleep to taste

Directions
Open can, pour into microwave-save cookware. Warm unti just above room temperature (to avoid the "it's too hot" argument). Serve immediately. Bibs and/or aprons recommended for all diners. If feeding toddlers, for your sanity, just spoon feed them yourself. Cartoons in background optional.

Girls Night Out

Last night I went out with some girlfriends to a late dinner at the Macaroni Grill. Can I just say, there is nothing more therapeutic than some downtime with just the gals and some fabulous food? I highly recommend it. That needs to happen a lot more often.

Of course I got in late, stayed up later, woke up very early this morning because my stuffy nose returned in the dead of night and I couldn't breathe. So.... after blowing my nose a few times, thinking that would be enough, I finally broke down and took some Nyquil around 6:30 this morning, about and hour before the kids got up. Guess how good a mom I've been today??

Oh, and um... back to the stuffy nose. I swear I didn't know it was coming. My sincere apologies to those who also ate chocolate cake and cheesecake last night. Please forgive me. :(

Peaceful Purchases

Kinley went to play at Alex's house this morning and I took Tanner to Wal-mart for a little shopperoo. Oh. My. Goodness. One child shopping? ONE CHILD??? Oooooooh, it was so peeeeeeaceful. And so pleasant. He was positively angelic. What a difference just one more wild, demanding little body can make.

I very rarely have alone time with Tanner because he naps when Kinley is at Joy School and when she is home she is so..."present"? "Visible"? "Underfoot?" "In my face?" "Center of the world?" "Pasaules centre?" It was so nice to just be able to focus only on him for the morning. I can honestly say that we had a wonderful time. Then when we went to pick her up, he sang sweetly the whole way "Nini Rose! Nini Rose! La la la, Nini Rose!"

Helen Keller

A while back a book about Helen Keller's life was strongly recommended to me (in a conference, so I neglected to get further information after, since it was just a sidenote). The speaker made it sound like there was only one major Helen Keller book in print, but Amazon seems to have a bazillion versions. Does anyone know what the definitive Helen Keller book is? Written when and by whom?

Birthday Dominoes

Credits: Font is Batik Regular, Kit is "Orange Berry Fizz" by Michelle Coleman. Messy notebook paper is from "Second Spring" kit by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds and Wildflowers Design

Binkie Baby

Credits: Fonts are Unicorn and Wesley. Kit is "Schnookums" by Laura Deacetis

Kinley's Response to President Hinckley's Passing

While almost bursting with excitement:

"Oh, wow! Now he's going to get a new body and live forever with Heavenly Father! I can't wait to see him again! But Mommy? I'm going to miss him. He always talks on our tv and says lots of important stuff.

"Wait a second...who killed him? (I explained that he was just very very old and his body was very very tired; nobody killed him.) Oh. It's going to be a long time before I'm that old because I'm just a kid."

Of all lessons that I could have dragged out of the FHE bin this afternoon (our first FHE with an actual formal lesson in quite a while); I'm so unbelievably grateful that we discussed the plan of salvation. And Kinley's enthusiastic reaction to the news that President Hinckley returned to be with Heavenly Father tonight helped me realize that she understands the plan better than I do.

Being Ignored Is No Fun

I was busy talking to Justin when this transpired:

Tanner: Mommy.

Tanner: Mommy?

Tanner: Mommy!!!

Tanner: MOMMY, MOMMY!

Tanner: MEGAN!

Mommy: Aaaaaagh!! No!!! I'm Mommy!! What do you want??!!

Tanner: Hee hee! Megan! Drink! Megan! Hee hee!

FHE Lessons

Mommy: What was Heavenly Father's plan for us before we were born?
Kinley: Oh, He wanted us to come down to earth, so that we could get bodies and leave Him and Jesus alone for a while.

She Kills Me

Absolutely true, word-for-word conversation this morning:

Kinley: I'll be back in a minute; I need to go potty.
Mommy: Ok, hurry up. You don't want your cereal to be soggy.
Kinley (without missing a beat): Yeah, well, I don't want my pants to be soggy either.

I stood there in the kitchen, dumbfounded, and watched her walk nonchalantly down the hallway. How am I going to parent this teenager?

Nikki's Basketball Adventures

You must read this, from my neighbor friend, Nikki, but only if you need a really good laugh!

Baby Baths and Banana Bread Bombs

Credits: I used Rhonna Farrer's "Splish Splash" kit. White brads from Shabby Princess' "Celebrate" kit. Font is "Journal"
Credits: "Folk Art" kit by Meredith Fenwick with Songbird Avenue. Font is "Journal".

Siblings

Hee hee hee! I was chuckling over this tonight, so I had to share. The first baby is Kinley, the second one is (obviously) Tanner. The pics were taken roughly the same age. Check out the little pursed lips and pug noses! Those eyes may have nothing in common except the enviable lashes, but their facial resemblance can't be otherwise denied! At least to me, I guess. Can you see it?

YW Night

For YW this week we invited a speaker to do a personal safety presentation for the girls. It was fabulous; she is a former police officer and crime scene investigator. She discussed many things about protecting our homes and making safe choices when out and about. She also taught us several simple defensive positions and encouraged the girls to balance their natural desire to be helpful and polite with a strong commitment to personal safety. It was a great presentation and she has the cutest haircut, don't you think, in the blue floral shirt on the left? :) I brought Kinley along while Tanner went with Daddy to a BYU basketball game (isn't he swell?) Oh, she loved practicing the defensive moves. So much fun! We took this picture to send to Sister Tanner, with a thank you card from all of us.

I just LOVE our YW!!! I'm so lucky to be a part of this fantastic group!

Trains, Twains, and Automobiles...

"Listen up, Mommy. This may look like an ordinary car, but I assure you it is part of something much more exciting...a twain...." "See"? I present to you a "twain".

Many Uses for a Crib

Cribs are so versatile...

Garbage Day

Ah, simple pleasures....waiting for the garbage truck.

Princesss Kinley

Playing one of our very favorite new family games, Aye, Aye, Nephi.

What's Normal, Anyway?

Is it normal for a child to sleep with a drawing tablet and a sword? How about for a princess to do laundry?

Little Chicken

Conversation as reported to me by Mindy, who can correct me if I get the details wrong:

Kinley (while shaking a bobble head Shrek toy): What is making that sound inside?
Mindy: I don't really know
Kinley: It sounds like a chicken. Ther must be a little chicken inside.

Later...
While Charlie is swinging it around without sound, complaining that it's "broken"
Kinley: No, it's not broken, the little chicken is just sleeping.

Biggest Loser

Mommy: Wahooo!! Come on, Kinley! It's time for the Biggest Loser!
Kinley: Not again! I don't want to watch the biggest loser! When are they not going to be so fat anymore??? They are eating good things and they are still so fat!!!! They have just been fat for sooooo long!

Good Week Continues...

So, while I greatly enjoy having little friends over to play, sending my kids to other people's houses...now that makes for a delicious morning, as was my very happy experience today. Ahhh... sigh... blessed tranquility...

Good Week

This week has been going well so far, knock on wood. We've stayed healthy, happy, and busy. We've had friends over, which has helped keep the children very happy, and I've even managed to find time to do a little reading in the evenings, since I haven't done any scrapping since last week. I like having friends over, my own as well as my children's. It gives me happy sweet songs in my heart to hear the gleeful (preferably non-destructive) sounds of happy kids. Plus, it keeps Kinley and Tanner's attention away from their default entertainment of choice -- the television.

My kitchen is clean (the secret is running the dishwasher after lunch whether you think it needs it or not, and emptying it before you start dinner preparations) and while I haven't yet found the New Year's motivation to exercise, I'm proud of the food choices I've been making recently...more or less, anyway.

I do have a fun little obsession that started creeping in the last few days. If you haven't been to http://www.goodreads.com/ yet, you must check it out. I'm so excited about all of the recommendations I have found from my friends. My gigantic list of books to-be-read is comical. I hope to make it to the library in the next day or so to get started on a few. I do so love reading.

I also stumbled online to a french website that used one of my templates for a scrapping challenge. 36 scrappers participated. It was terribly flattering and exciting to find it. You can see what they did with it here. My original designs for it can be found here.

So, this week has proven so far to be about 4000 times happier and more productive than most of last week, thank goodness. It turned the corner on Friday night and has been steadily improving ever since. Energy up, attitude improved, outlook not so gloomy, hallelujah. I've also gotten a lot more sleep at night this week, which I suppose has some correlation...

Now I'm going to go do a little reading, possibly a little napping myself. I like having good days. Keeping fingers crossed for three in a row...what is the likelihood?

The Robe

My sister Heather gave me a new book for Christmas, The Robe. I just finished it and I loved it! It was really great! Thank you so much!

Book Description
A Roman soldier, Marcellus, wins Christ's robe as a gambling prize. He then sets forth on a quest to find the truth about the Nazarene's robe-a quest that reaches to the very roots and heart of Christianity and is set against the vividly limned background of ancient Rome. Here is a timeless story of adventure, faith, and romance, a tale of spiritual longing and ultimate redemption.

First published in 1942, it was written by a former minister; he is also the author of "Magnificent Obsession".

PS - I have heard that the movie is absolutely horrible and nothing at all like the book!

In My Head

This has been in my head all week...

YW Surprise

What a funny day. I say that because it's not every day that the General YW President wanders into your church building and sits in on a regular YW lesson. Such was our experience today when Sister Susan Tanner snuck in during opening exercises this morning. I'd be less than honest if I didn't confess that I was very glad that I taught last week and not this morning! But Melanie did a fabulous job, as she always does. After her lesson, Sister Tanner addressed us for a few minutes. She encouraged us to verbally express more love within the our families, in our homes. She also challenged us to review the challenge and promises from President Eyring's last General Conference talk.

Between Melanie's inspiring lesson and Sister Tanner's wonderful message, I feel a lot better. I have had a sad little week, but that often seems to happen when something good and uplifting is around the corner. It's that whole equal and opposite thing in full force in my life.

Anyway, crazy, huh??!!

Green Grass and Green Eggs

Credits: "Welcoming Spring" kit by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds and Wildflowers Design. Font is Stamp Act. Staple from Shabby Princess kit "Painted Summer"
Credits: "Chirpy Days" kit by Jackie Eckles and Jomi Van Bekkum. Fonts are Stamp Act and Whackadoo.

Babysitting Club

Well, yes, babysitting club started up again last night, after a 6-week hiatus through the holidays. As I mentioned already, we had some new families join the fun. I was so nervous about everything running smoothly and the kids being ridiculously happy and getting along that I went a little crazy; I basically unnecessarily micromanaged the entire evening. All in all, I think (hope) they had a really good time, but they probably would have been just as happy to have been left alone to enjoy some free play. I'm convinced a few of them wondered what was up with that crazy manic wild woman that Kinley and Tanner kept addressing as Mommy. They had the respect to not address me as "Crazy 'Simon Says' Lady", so I appreciate that. I was concerned about the age difference, particularly adding a 6-year old to the mix, and a boy at that, but I needn't have been worried. It's a good thing because Justin is going to be working part-time in the evenings at his old job during tax season, which means I'm on my own on Friday nights.

Tanner was happy to share his cars with a fellow mechanic. He found a sympathic outnumbered friend in Eli. Bottoms up!
"I'm good for now right here. Give me a minute to think about how I feel about all of this foolishness."

The girls invited Charlie to play a matching game, which he eventually did join, to their delight.
Ok, these little stinkers saw the flash and both immediately paused the action in order for me to capture the best shot. Then the battle continued.
Dancing to "Hannah Montana"
Lucky Ducks. Now that was a major hit.

Charlie taking his turn.


Not everyone fit at the table for snack, so the big kids (and Tanner) had a picnic snack. We hadn't gone to the store in quite a while, so everyone got craisins, withered mandarin oranges on their last legs, and toast. They weren't thrilled, but they didn't stone me with it either.
Tanner tooted. That was funny for a really long time. Of course, Kinley thought everything that Eli laughed at was just hilarious.

Oh, look how thoughtful Kinley is to make such a large space available on the other side of her for anyone else to join her...
Thank you, THANK YOU, Heather, for originally recommending The Magic School Bus to us! We had one from Blockbuster and the kids absolutely loved it! They (ok, let's be honest, we) learned about outer space!

Justin pretending he's not totally engrossed in the Magic School Bus. But we all know better...

Three-Legged Kick Ball

This week the YM hosted our combined YM/YW activity. We played 3-legged kick ball, followed by a game of "A Cold Wind Blows". I, for one, thought the night was a success. Next time belts or bandanas would make better ties than twine. I'm sure our guys and gals went home with a few bruises for their trouble! Here are some pictures of some of the highlights. The lighting is never good in the gym, and my batteries died before the game was fully underway, but I still got some cute ones!