Monday, April 27, 2009

Weekly Remnants

Monday April 27, 2009

I learned a new exercise at my class this morning. Sit on your bottom and pull your knees toward your chest getting your feet off the ground. Now balance only letting your bottom touch the ground. Hold any item in both hands (I used my flip flop) and touch it to the ground first on your left and then right. Keep switching sides as quickly as you can for one minute. Don't put your feet down! I challenge you to do two sets and then leave me a comment letting me know you are still alive. Have fun!

While I was sweeping the floor at the shop today Silas was playing with the buttons on the microwave saying to himself "But but see de but!" Then there were some beeping sounds and giggling and then more "but but see de but!"

Cecily had a great time at karate. I was jokingly accused of giving her the bruises on her face and I had to fess up that it actually was me.

I just killed a big hairy spider.


Tuesday April 28,2009

Remembering our too hot park outing last week I decided to get an early start today. We were out of the house by 9:00. I buckle two car seats (Cecily buckles herself) and stop by McDonalds for some coffee. We arrive at the (different than last week) park to play. Unbuckle three car seats. After only a few minutes everyone was shivering and begging to leave. Back to the van buckle two car seats,and not wanting to waste all the getting readyness we headed to McDonalds to play instead. Unbuckle three car seats grab my coffee trudge to the play area. Closed for cleaning. Talk through a translator and find out it will be an hour until it reopens. Back into the van, buckle two car seats drive to chick-fil-a to play. Unbuckle three car seats grab my McDonalds coffee (yeah, I know) and arrive at the play area. The kids play and then by 10:30 declare they are starving. We take a bathroom break, where I manage (I think) to keep all eight hands off of everything that is potentially gross. This is everything. We eat chicken and then load back up into the van. Buckle two car seats. Stop at Old Navy to see if they have flip flops for the girls so the girls can go on a bouncy ball search. Unbuckle three car seats. I got some of what I needed and we head back to the van. Buckle two car seats. It is now around 12:00 I notice it has warmed up and I'm not ready to go home yet so yes, we head for yet another (different from the other two) park. Unbuckle three car seats. Play. I notice every one's chicken is wearing off and I mentally check the pantry for something that would be a quick snack before nap when we arrive home. I notice in my mental observation that we are out of fruit. We leave the park. Buckle up two car seats. Drive to Albertsons. Unbuckle three car seats. Load everyone into a cart so this will be quick and painless. Mall walk to the produce aisle and grab every fruit that seems to be reasonably priced. This includes mangos, bananas, grapes and strawberries. Pay, buckle two car seats and drive home. Unbuckle three car seats. It is now 2:00 and I put Silas down for a nap (he ate a banana on the way home) cut up the strawberries for the girls and put on a movie. Sigh. A moment for myself and then Silas was up. Sigh again.

I do realize that this is more than a mere remnant it's more like the whole bolt. However had I written-Today I buckled and unbuckled 77 car seat buckles (this is including my own),you may have been hesitant to believe me.

Wednesday April 29,2009

I didn't make it to my class this morning because I woke up at 8:30. Grrr.

Cecily had a great class. There were only three students total and they got a lot of attention.

It is raining and it has been raining since around noon. It is now 7:21. Our street looks like a river.

In the middle of his shower it suddenly occurred to Silas that he must watch his sounds video. He said "Watch upstairs all done" and he then proceeded to try to climb over the side of the bathtub. He is now watching.

I ate a brownie today and am now extremely remorseful.


Thursday April 29, 2009

We went to story time this morning and learned all about farm animals. This was the week the girls earned a book. Cecily chose Clifford and Clara chose a Crab story. They also got to choose a tiny plastic farm animal Cecily chose a white rabbit and Clara chose a goose. I chose a pony for Silas which now belongs to Clara because she lost her rabbit that she traded her goose for before we left the library. They also got to choose their regular treasure from the treasure box. The girls chose paper fans. Add to this the sample of ice cream sorbet (you know milk comes from cows ice cream comes from milk) the coloring pages and the videos we checked out,I'd say this was a pretty great story time day.

This is what goes on inside my head for the rest of the day on story time day.
Aligator...Ah-ha-lagator....Aaaaaa-la-gator...can be your friend,can be your friend,can be your friend too. Woo!
This song is by Dr. Jean if you want to try to listen to it. If you do hear it call me on Thursdays after 11:00 and we can do a duet.

We visit Granny on Thursdays Story time days. Granny makes sure we don't starve.

Friday April 30, 2009

I went to class this morning and then after a shower the children and I loaded ourselves into the van and drove to Lubbock. Well,we drove to Starbucks and got Mommy a venti six pump chai late with no water first. This was for staying awake power only. I got no pleasure from drinking such a delectable treasure. Ahem.

Saturday May 1, 2009

After playing for a while on the mall playground I took my freshly laundered,nicely ironed, all laid out flat children's clothes to Once Upon A Child. They looked through them twice, took out what they wanted and then waded up and tossed the rest into plastic bags with a neon green note that said "Courtney Bradford No's" Ahhhhh. Thanks Once Upon A Child for getting these all ready for the garbage for me. I could tell my past month of Laundry Tuesdays meant absolutely nothing to them. I will not be using this consignment store again. I could have sold three of the items they chose on ebay and made the same amount.

The girls and I went Abbie's shower while Silas napped at home with Grandad. Cecily was one of three who guessed the correct (or closest) number of small items in a jar to win a prize. Clara had three brownies. Had I known she was eating brownie after brownie yes, I would have stopped her. There are no words to describe the way she acted tonight. Bouncing off the walls was coined by a Mother who's sugar deprived child indulged in a single brownie.

We had a world of fun and giggles at Chandler's expense.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Weekly Remnants

Friday April 24, 2009

I woke up at 6:45 this morning to a sound I thought was the front door closing as Shiloh was leaving for work but it turned out to be a minivan crashing into our neighbors parked car. No one was hurt and in fact our neighbor did the happy dance because she gets to get a new car. Turns out she is pregnant with number two and wanted an upgrade.

The children and I went to the Gainsville Zoo with our friends the Blevins. Silas was exhausted by the time we left and he slept the hour home and then all the way until 5:30.

I gave the girls rides on a little spinning stool we have at the shop cause it made them giggle so much. Then it tipped over and Cecily got a concussion. I felt really bad so I went through the drive through to get her a lemonade and that's when she threw up. :( While I was bathing her at home she told me she forgives me. :)

Saturday April 25, 2009

Shiloh mowed and did lots of yard work.

The girls and I finished reading the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and now finally,finally after months of anticipation the girls will see the movie. I wish you could've seen Cecily grin as Edmund bit into his Turkish delight.

Missy and John came over and brought their tiny niece Lillian for dinner. We made awful coffee and watched some t.v.


Sunday April 26, 2009

We went to church today and then after we went out to eat with our friends the Griffins and our pastor Bro. Thomas. We ate at Logan's Roadhouse and Shiloh and I had some nostalgia about the last time we were there. Silas was a teeny baby and we were meeting someone about purchasing some land to build our new shop. We didn't get that land, we ended up with something much better. The girls loved throwing their peanut shells onto the floor.

The Griffins came over to the shop to hang out awhile and the children played. So did Cecily, Clara, and Miles. :) Sorry guys but what would you call it? OK...they were shooting guns in a very manly fashion (but I'm certain there was much giggling).

Later at home we settled in for part two of the Lion the With and the Wardrobe. Cecily giggled through the fighting, grinned when she saw Aslan for the first time, and asked if they were going to catch the white stag a few minutes before that scene had even come on. I just finished reading it to her yesterday and I had already forgotten that part. When it was over she said "Sooo the white stag is a dear!" I just assumed she knew. If we hadn't read the story and then watched the movie she might not learn that for a long time. Shiloh began Prince Caspian before bed tonight.

Everyone is asleep and now for Chipoltle. MMMMMMMMMMMMM...

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Our Day

Just in case you are wondering what we are up to today. Nothing special in fact I don't even have a camera at home to give you a visuall but just in case you wondered...

This morning I worked on my clothes sort some more. At the end of every season when I do laundry I take out what we don't need any more. Then I seperate those things into piles. One pile to save for when it's cold agian (if I think it will still fit) One pile of things that are what I call ruined clothes. Consignment won't take them because of holes or spots. Generally hole things have to go into the trash and if the stain is light I try to get it out. If I can't then I bag it up for Goodwill. Things that are outgown and we know someone who it would fit and who might want it we give it away. I like to sell some of the dressier things so that I can support my shopping habbits.

I'm sort of in a matching phase and I'm trying to find ways to match the girls and Silas. Its harder to do but I've found a few combos. Generally when I do buy things new I leave the tags on until the previous season is completley gone then if I'm sure I want to keep it I won't miss out on the right sizes. Some places give up to three months to return/exchange. Lots of times I find something I like better that wasn't out yet and I exchange. Sometimes we are given clothes and I can't justify having so many things (plus it makes for more laundry potentiall) so I'll return what I bought and focus on accesorizing the gifts! Accesories are always more fun anyway!

Well, anyway while I was working on getting spots out I brought myself to a dead end because I filled up the washer to soak a few things in Nature Bright. I couldn't do anymore laundry so I walked around the house wondering what to do next. I picked up a few choking hazards and realized I didn't want to start another long project until the sorting was done.

I loaded up the children into the van and brought along some yogurt, a blanket and Thumbelina. We ran and got some chicken nuggets to go with the yogurt and found a park. I read while the girls (and Silas) ate lunch and then we played for about an hour. This April weather already feels like June. The park we were at still had all old equiptment so therefore it's all metal. The slides were scorching hot. The girls knew this but still couldn't resist a slide. They both had on sun dresses and hopped off the slide at the end whispering (hot hot hot) and rubbing the affected area. :) They didn't complain and it made me laugh. I went to the van to see about some shorts. Luckily I had two pair and that helped. They didn't slide anymore but now the could swing.

When they were properly red cheeked and smelling like puppies we headed home for some cold water. Silas is now sleeping and the girls (having bathed) are working on their spanish skills watching Diego. Cecily has karate in 45 minutes and after that supper,bath agian (maybe),and bed!

Today has gone really fast! Well I'm off to put on my face before we leave for karate.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Our Wonderfull Road Trip to MO Day Four

Day Four: Tuesday March 17, 2009


Silas and I had breakfast together this morning and let the others sleep in all the way until 8:30. Then one more swim for the girls and we set out to the capitol building. In this photo you can see the evergreen tree on the left. Under the tree (harder to see) was some ground cover. The girls played My Little Ponies there for about 15 minutes before we headed inside.

Really prettily decorated that ceiling.

There was tons of great detail and an interesting museum. This is under the stairs it is a narrow passage for carriages. If you are in there there is a set of doors to enter.

We wanted to tour the governors mansion but didn't realize we needed advance reservations. (Drat)

The outside was pretty though and there is a garden behind where we frolicked for a while.

Shiloh wrangled up a snake for a good petting. Now we are off to St. Louis so it's back into the van we go. One Two Three Four Five.

On our way to St. Louis I was looking at our "Things to do in MO" magazine (which you can get for free by visiting the official state website, get the map too!)and I read about a town called Washington that had an old 1790s trading post up for tour. We thought this sounded too good to pass up. So off we veered. We did get caught for about an hour in traffic but got to spend a little time on the bridge over the MO river.



A quick stop at the visitors center for hours and directions we learned we again would need advance reservations. Grrrr...

The lady here told us of a park so we went there instead.



Here we finally got in some fishing time we had been promising the girls. It was during Cecily's first cast she spotted,right there in the water's edge,a rock shaped so perfectly like a goose egg that she insisted I get it for her. I grabbed a stick,rolled it on over and pulled out a real goose egg! Forgotten was the pole. She cradled it so gently promising to take care of it and keep it warm until it hatched. I had to convince her it would defiantly not hatch because it had been in the cold water and she reluctantly agreed to put it back. I'm not sure why but I know God put that egg there for her to find. All trip long she has collected rocks and called them goose eggs. Building nests for them and bringing them along for the ride. Our gas mileage may be suffering. But thank goodness for extra side trips!

After the park we ate Mexican food at a place so SLOW I'm sure they were out back killing the chickens. Or for Cecily's sake we will say growing the lettuce.

Then we stayed the night at a hotel that smelled of stale cigarette smoke.


Sigh. I was starting to think aside from the goose egg our side trip was a wasted day.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Our Wonderfull Road Trip to Missouri Day Three

To read from day one please scroll down and read up.

Day Three: Monday March 16, 2009

Sleeping in just a little today we got a late start. But we made it to the Arabia Museum by 11:00. This is so far the HIGHLIGHT of our travels. Souvenir shopping while we waited for our tour to start I added a bird to my collection and picked up a button bracelet made with (replica's of course) the buttons found in the lost loot of the sunken Arabia.


Oh, and of course a book about the Arabia's whole ordeal. And some minty chocolate things for our starving children (we brought a small grocery store along for the ride but we left it in the van). The Arabia is a steamboat that used to travel the Missouri River and hit a snag that caused it to sink in 1856.

No lives were lost except for one poor mule who's owner said he cut its line and couldn't get it to move so he had to leave it. Poor thing. The Arabia was found over a hundred years later (1987)with all its oh so perfectly preserved cargo. This includes the mule who was still saddled and STILL tied up! I wonder if the owner lied often or if he was just embarrassed to admit he forgot to bring his mule on the life raft. The treasure hunters only actually found 0.26 and very little gold (some jewelry). The things that were recovered may not be treasures to you but to me they certainly are.
It was mutually decided that these treasures could not be sold or separated. The five men found resources to open a museum so we could all see these amazing things. They are cleaning each piece i-n-d-i-v-d-u-a-l-l-y I mean nail by nail. They have been cleaning since they finished digging it all up (it took four months) and they estimate it will take 15 more years to finish. Hundreds of shoes,tools,dishes,windows,jars. Awesome! Thousands of nails, beads, buttons. Skeleton Keys. Sigh. Canned pickles and fruits. OK, that's it get into your cars now and go see this place. Now. Leave tonight I will meet you there. I may have to dedicate my entire blog to the Arabia. Maybe I will become a treasure hunter. If I do I'll give all of you the pirate-y kind. I only want this kind. To see those things brand new makes you feel like we are not so much further advanced than they were. I'm pretty sure you can still get the same dishes at Crate and Barrel. You should have seen the barrel of ipods,blackberries,cell phones...OK JK. I could probably live without the shoes that didn't have a specific right/left though.


I could talk about this all day so please click on the link and check out the website where you can read all about it and see photos too! If you ever make it to Kansas City, MO you can not miss this museum.

Here is the only remaining paddle all patched up.


Oooh just one more thing the boat was found in the middle of a cornfield. Curious? Click the link.
After this we went back to the Union Station to eat at the Harvey House Diner we had seen the day before.

There is a movie about the girls that used to work here starring Judy Garland. We have not seen it yet...

Then leaving K.C. we headed to a town called Sedelia to check out the Bothwell Lodge

(which was closed for tours on this day :( sad). There was a nifty hiking trail on the property where we collected "goose eggs" (rocks) with fossils of sea shells and other sea creatures. One even had a real shell still inside when we broke it open. That's right a sea shell. On the top of a mountain. In a rock. Hmmm I wonder...Oh yes, the Flood. There is no denying it now. The Bradfords have proof! Even if it is in a walmart bag currently sitting in the living room floor. Cecily also collected some flint and then entertained herself for many miles making pop pops. Oh,dear.
We ate dinner at the Wheel Inn

where the Guber Burger was so highly recommended on the Internet this was the actual reason for the stop in Sedelia. The Guber Burger is a regular hamburger with P.B. melted onto the meat. You heard me people. And you know what? It tastes exactly like a regular hamburger with P.B. melted onto the meat. Don't knock it till you try it and all that. Would I have bought the t-shirt if it was, as Silas would say eww-wah? A great little diner 50's style. Super clean, nice people, and a little car that Silas loved to drive around. Cecily played Pac-Man and Clara put on some tunes at the Juke Box. Yes, we may just move in.
A short little jaunt over to Jefferson City for the night. The girls were super hyper so they swam in the pool till it closed and then bed. Ahhhhhhh.

Our Wonderfull Road Trip to Missouri Day Two

Day Two: Sunday March 15, 2009

Ignoring thier late night the children woke up bright and early. The girls and I walked to the showers while the men cleaned out and loaded up the van.

The KOA geese greeted us on our way back from the showers and we ran to the van for bread to give them a whole wheat snack. I told the girls to walk slowly toward the geese so they would not run away. While the girls inched foward some other shower goers came at the geese from behind and they honked and flew away.The honking and wing flapping may have scard Silas for life.

We decided instead to feed the fish in the pond.

Soon we were ready to hit the road. Here are the children all bundled up having one last swing.


While Shiloh checked out I spied some ducks in the pond close to the office.


We quickly grabbed more bread and tossed some in before I realized the ducks were decoys. Once agian some lucky fish had a good breakfast. This time however after feeding a few small fish the super mega giant catfish came and grabbed some grub. Cecily would have stayed there all day if we would've let her. However shivering Silas and quaking Clara wanted the warmth of the van.

We drove about twenty miles into Kansas to visit Big Brutus. Definatly worth the little side trip. He was HUGE. Shiloh was in mega machine heaven and I'm pretty sure we helped support the museum for at least a year by the time we were done souvinier shopping.

Here you can see a speck in between the tracks of Big Brutus


Oh, wait that's not a speck. It's my husband and girls standing in between Brutus' monstrous tracks!


Here we are "driving" Brutus. See that water? That is the trench Brutus dug in the 1960's that has filled up with water. It goes on for miles. For the rest of the trip when we passed by a large body of water Cecily would say "Brutus has been here too!"



We are playing in the shovel. This is the biggest snort we ever saw!




Leaving Big Brutus behind. We continued North to Kansas City. We stopped at Union Station and had a blast playing at Science City and watching a 3D film about astrounaut Buzz Aldrin (no,we did not name Clara after him) It was here that our digital camera met its demise. Oh,you mean the diaper bag is top heavy?!?!?! After the third topple the camera had had enough. So alas bloggers you will have to summon your imaginations.
Union Station is a huge old train depot


that makes you wish you were there 50 years ago.

We passed through the Link over to Crown Center
(Here is the link and Crown Center)


where everything was closed already (Sunday)so we passed back through the link
(Here is an inside view)

and then left there to eat! Our first meal all day. (Snacking mostly in the van...no time for fancy feasts) We pulled into the first thing we saw which was Gates and Sons BBQ.

I recognized the name from all of my google serches and was glad to know this restaurant was highly recomended. Scrumptious.
Off to our second KOA Kabin, slightly larger than the first, to sleep. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The girls spent quite some time choosing just the right rock (or egg) to bring along for the journey.
Lesson Learned #2: It is not cheaper to stay in a $45.00 KOA Kabin if you have to drive thirty miles to get there and then backtrack the next morning. Besides the gas its such a time waster!

Our Wonderfull Road Trip to Missouri Day One

Day One: Saturday March 14, 2009

Today we loaded Grumpy,Sleepy,and Whiny into the car and proceeded to torture them for exactly 287 miles. Muah ha ha ha ha.

We did stop once some of course. Here we are on a sidewalk outside of a gas station/casino in Oklahoma having a strawberry picnic.





Silas did some serious giggling on the hood








Then back into the torture device car seat he went. Please note the foot above his head. Cecily took it seriously when I told them to stretch their legs because we weren't stopping for at least half and inch.


Arriving in Joplin by eight o'clock we checked into our tiny KOA cabin and went to eat at Fazzolis while we waited for it to warm up. Brrrr.



During dinner we thought about how it was going to be cold sleeping on those plastic mattresses with just a sheet in between so we headed to Wal-mart to pick up another blanket so we could use the others that we brought as mattress covers.
Lesson Learned: It's not really cheaper to stay in a $40.00 KOA Kabin if you have to buy a $27.00 blanket for warmth. You could just stay in a hotel but you might miss out on the wildlife.

Meet Preston



This is Preston,my middle younger but taller brother. Today is his birthday so I thought I'd introduce him. He's 18.

Preston,Prep,Preppy Poo,Peepsie,Peeps,Presty Poo,Laney,Laney Baney...you did this to yourself you know. All because of one little cartoon on a Sunday morning involving a stinky skunk with a french accent who you thought stole your name.

Here's why I think you're great:

1-You can out argue even me! Yes,you can. Yes,you can. Yes,you can. Yes,you can. Yes,you ca...argh. See?
2-You never speed.
3-You could write a book and call it "1001 nicknames for the name Preston"
4-You can drive a standard...I think. :)
5-Because of you I know that my children are not the first to leave tiny bits of
apple peels all over the floor.
6-You really loved your hoo-hoo.
7-Because of the time we played tug of war with your hoo-hoo, and you lost cause I thought it would be funny to let go but then you smashed your head into our antique case, I now know that bleeding busted open heads are nothing to get worked up about. Clara's scar is bigger than yours I think.

Well,that's seven things,you could read one each day and feel great about yourself for a week!



OK OK 8-You make sand boarding (sand duning?) look easy!



9-I'm almost positive you got your crazy mad defense skills from me. You're welcome.



10-Able to leap tall small buildings in a single bound.


Any hoo-hoo Happy Birthday!
P.S.This is a couple days late cause I wanted you to be surprised. Ahem.

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