Sunday in the Nook - Are You Ready For Some Holiday Cheer

It was a beautiful November day for Reno, the sun was shining, the wind was not blowing which lately we have to celebrate when that happens! Trevor decided we better take advantage of the sun because in this town it could go from sunny and warm to snowing and freezing!! So out came all of the Christmas boxes...we had a light fiasco last year with our lights not matching so we plugged them all in to make sure they still worked and to see what we needed to buy. Off to Home Depot we went!!

No we are not crazy Christmas fanatics...at least we pretend we are not!!

Oddly enough we were not the only people prematurely putting up our Christmas lights, spotted all over our neighborhood were Christmas lights going up! We have not and will not plug them in until after Thanksgiving...unfortunately for the other Christmas enthusiasts in our neightborhood did not get the memo!!

Bradshaw Nook Weekly Ramble - First Edition

This has been a FABULOUS week, we have gotten so many things accomplished! I hope everyone out there is enjoying themselves keeping up with our crazy clan! The boys had shots today, which was quite the adventure, but both were very brave!

I know everyone is so busy these days and with the holdiays just around the corner it's only going to get busier. But sometimes we need a little distraction so here are few things to make you smile:

BRADSHAW PIPSQUEAKS QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

Ethan: Mommy, Griffin's mommy has a tattoo that can NEVER come off
Me: Ethan so does your mommy and your daddy.
Ethan: Can you PLEASE save me one of them?
Me: No it doens't work like that, they get put on with needles and it hurts.
Ethan: Well when can I get one?
Me: When you're 18!!!
Ethan: Well I think it will still hurt when I'm 18...I think I will get one when I'm 32!!!

[Sits straight up in bed] Mommy!! Can you believe Daddy is ALMOST 32?!!!

(I had tears streaming down my face, I was laughing so hard)

OTHER THINGS THAT MAKE US GIGGLE:

My very special Mother's Day gift from Ethan...I giggle everytime I look at it on my desk. He apparently sees me with a tiny body and BIG head...LOVE LOVE LOVE him!!

I'm almost done reading my first book in what seems like forever! I have really enjoyed forcing myself to have some downtime and pick up a book. Any suggestions for future reads are greatly appreciated!

Finally, tonight is Grey's Anatomy night...BEST night of the week!!! Look forward to my mini girl's night with Michaela every Thursday!

Happy rest of the week - xoxo - The Bradshaws

A Moment

I was in the elevator on my way up to my routine prenatal appointment when a little boy with his grandma got in the elevator with me. I was a little taken back by the fact that he was carrying a toy gun. With the events that continue to transpire across the country with children bringing guns to school and the devastating loss our own community suffered only a month ago I was just surprised to see a parental figure out in public with a small child and a toy gun.

I am sure I had disapproval written all over my face as the grandma ushered her grandson to the back of the elevator as quickly as she could. Mom always says I need to work on keeping my face neutral, I just haven't been able to master that task yet. Whenever I feel my disgust, or irritation mounting I have a bad habit of immediately pulling out my phone and either texting Trevor or Christina so they can share my sentiments. I'm sure it was obvious I was more than a little shocked.

As soon as the elevator stopped on the fourth floor I rushed off full of emotions that I can't explain even now. It made me so sad, so deeply sad. I am not anti-guns or against owning guns, I just feel like small children should be taught to respect them and how to handle them properly. I know this was just a toy but after what happened last month Trevor went through and removed all the guns from the toy box until he could have a real conversation with Ethan about them.

After my appointment I sat in my car a little haunted. These days it takes less than a second for a heart to shift.

Mop Tops to Buzz Cuts

People often use phrases like "the kids grow like weeds" to describe how tall their children have gotten or how fast it seems they grow. I use that phrase to describe how quickly the boys' hair grows! It seems that we cannot go longer than 6 weeks before we are sitting in the barber's chair! I know some people love longer, shaggier hair on their kids, but if I let my kids hair grow they would look like cousin It!

We've been going to Hollylocks for the past few years and we love it! It's not the cheapest haircut in town but the kids love to sit in the chair and watch the movies they play; the best part for them though is the lollipop they get at the end.

We hadn't cut the kids hair since the beginning of September so it was definitely time for a little hollywood-esque treatment! By the time we got there yesterday the place was PACKED! I should have known better, it being a holiday. I should have called ahead but we've never really needed to in the past...note to self call ahead next time!

Here are out BEFORE photos:

And here is after approximately 5 minutes of magic in the chair:

The kids happily picked color spray for their hair and let our favorite girl put gel in it. I alwawys try to do the kids hair in the mornings before school, but for some reason I can never get it to look as cute!

Now they look a little less like Beatle wannabes and little more like Superheros in the making!! Aren't they super cute?!

To Connect or Not

Oh internet, you great connector you. You have made everyone in the universe virtually just a click away...for better or worse.

I am thrilled by the way social media has allowed me the option to connect our family with family and friends all over the country. I get excited when someone I haven't seen or spoken to in years comments on a blog post or a picture of the kids!

But what about when you don't want to connect or even better yet there has to be etiquette to posting on social media. Trevor and I have been to several wedding in the last 5 years and only one bride asked that nobody use their smart phones to post photos or videos to the plethora of social media outlets...that's why they pay a videographer and photographer!!

We went to a wedding yesterday and multiple people were filming different aspects of the event on their phones, snapping picture right and left which got me to thinking about my cousins wedding a couple months ago when the wedding ceremony hadn't even ended and there were 300 photos posted on Facebook. This doesn't just apply to weddings...when Carter was born a picture of him had been posted to Facebook by a family member before I was even in recovery. Am I just old-fashioned in thinking that should be up to the couple/family to post video and photos to facebook?

Now don't get me wrong I have been able to politely deflect and happily embrace all the different online connections. I tell myself that not all periods of life lend themselves to nostalgia or even need to be shared. I love where the internet has taken us, especially lessening the degrees of separation as I want my friends and family far and near to be a part of our family. I just can't help but wonder if sometimes we're all just a little too available.

Holiday Head Start

I am so excited about the three-day weekend this week!! I am so looking forward to starting our Christmas shopping (I'd like it done prior to the holiday rush)and more importly meeting with our friend and family photographer Kristi Bowman to go through our photoshoot we did last month to start designing this year's Christmas card. I am hoping to have these cards ready to be sent out the first weekend in December...I don't want to be late with them! Especially since I love coming home to a stack of Christmas cards, the art of the Christmas Card better never die!

This wasn't our Christmas Card photo last year...I may just have to use it as part of this years because it makes my heart sing just looking at it!

Anyway...among all the 5 million other things we have going on I am starting out traditional yearly ornament this weekend as well! I might as well take advantage of having Monday off and put my time to good use! I of course found this idea on Pinterest (does anyone find ideas any other way in this day in age?)...I'm looking forward to giving these fun little Christmas tree trinkets to our friends and family. Best part is, the girl at Michael's gave me $25 off my purchase today...the ENTIRE price of the ornaments!!!

So excited to be getting a head start on the holidays this year...maybe Christmas Eve won't consist of me last minute shopping...

Our Cozy Little Nook

I've gone back and reread the post I did at the end of last year, outlining all the hopes, dreams and plans I had for 2013. Sadly it's November and I'm just now disciplining myself to update this regularly and get back into posting pictures of the kids.

I really meant what I said when I posted this: "I really want to make our Crazy 4 [soon to be 5] a part of everyone we care abouts' lives. I want our family everywhere to be able to watch our kids grow up and our family expand. I want to make sure that even if we don't get see them everyday, they still feel like they saw us yesterday." That is the intention with this blog, and I suppose this post is a gentle reminder to me that I said that!!

I can't promise to update everyday, but I hope you'll continue to visit our cozy little nook every now and again to keep up with the face-paced lives of all us Bradshaws!