Bright Idea

I had a really bright idea the other day.

First, let me set the background. It was 9 am on Friday morning and I was scrambling to clean up the kitchen from breakfast before the Parents as Teachers lady was scheduled to arrive at 9:30 am. Before you say to yourself - Half an hour? That's plenty of time to clean a kitchen, let me also add I had not had time to get dressed yet, fix my hair, or put on any makeup, and I still had a few things I wanted to pick up in the living room. It was one of those mornings. Brady was doing his best to "help" by constantly being under my feet, putting things into the dishwasher that don't belong there, taking things out of the dishwasher that do belong there, pushing a chair up to the counter to see what's going on in the sink, etc., etc.

This is where my bright idea comes in.

I decide to set Brady up at the counter with a pencil and paper, so he has something to do and he can see what's going on. I think to myself, a pencil, that's a good choice, it's harmless, right? Brady starts scribbling away. I tell myself I am brilliant and go back to loading the dishwasher. I look up after a couple of dishes and he's still happily drawing away. Wonderful. I turn back to the sink where I can see out of the corner of my eye that he is really getting into this drawing thing. I begin to tell myself that I am a problem solving genius - Brady's happy, I'm getting things done, life is good. Then I turned around and saw this.




















Ack!!!

Things I've learned.

1. Pencil draws very well on a counter top.

2. Ball point pen will not make a mark on a counter top, at least not ours. (I plan to keep this in mind for later.)

3. Even though your child has done a wonderful job of staying on the paper every other single time you've seen him draw, that doesn't mean he will this time.

4. Wash cloth and water do not remove pencil marks from a counter top, even when with frantic scrubbing.

5. Soft Scrub works wonders. It does so well that when you're writing this post, your husband says, "Brady drew on the counter?"

Easter Pics

We had a wonderful Easter weekend visiting friends and family and celebrating the resurrection of our Savior.

Brady got to go on his first Easter egg hunt on Saturday. He figured out pretty quickly that his basket had a hat attached to it for decoration.















Here he is waiting to get started with his game face on.


















When we got outside, he wasn't quite sure what to do, but he had lots of help from mom, grandma and an aunt and uncle, his personal group of paparazzi.


















After he picked up 5 or 6 eggs, Brady decided it was time to take the eggs out of his basket and put them back on the ground. Once we got it straightened out that the eggs were supposed to stay IN the basket, Brady decided he was done with the whole egg hunt thing. He then proceeded to sit down and start stuffing grass inside his eggs. After all, what else would you put inside Easter eggs but dead, brown pieces of grass?














Next we went inside for story time and to decorate foam visors which Brady enjoyed. However, we realized later in the day that we had made an unfortunate color choice going with the orange visor as he kept saying "cheese" and putting it in his mouth.















And we can't forget the obligatory Easter outfit pictures. Brady did really well visiting with his cousin all weekend, calling him "baby" and keeping tabs on him wherever he went.

The Cutest Picture of All Time

"The Cutest Picture of All Time" - my husband's words, not mine. I'm creating this post at his relentless urging. I'll relate our conversation.

Husband (reading over my shoulder as I write a post): Have you posted the picture of Brady on his tractor yet?

Me: No, there's not really a story to go with it.

Husband: It doesn't need a story, it's the best picture ever. It's got Brady, a John Deere tractor and Carhartt overalls.

Me: And your point would be?

Husband: It's the cutest picture of all time. (Yes, that's a direct quote, my husband used the word cute.)

Me: Would you like to write the post?

Husband: No.

And then he walked away. Men, gotta love em. And without further adieu, the cutest picture of all time.

Houdini... Almost

Brady has become rather interested in helping to undress, and ocassionally dress, himself. This is what Brady looked like when I put him down for a nap the other day. Granted this picture was taken after his nap, but the dazed look was pretty much the same.




















This is what I found when I went to get him up. It's quite a look.















I don't have any idea how he did it, but he managed to get the front part of his shirt over/behind his head and the sleeves completely pushed up without actually getting his shirt off.

Here's a view of the back.















He was VERY proud of himself.














I had to take the shirt completely off and unroll it to get it back on. He then proceeded to spend the rest of the day trying to recreate his fashion statement, but he couldn't ever get the sleeves quite right again.

Duet

My friend and her daughter came over the other day. I think we have a couple of budding virtuosos on our hands.

Welcome Ethan

Congratulations to my brother and sister-in-law on their new little bundle of joy. Brady is excited about being a big cousin and showing Ethan the ropes. I'm excited about being an aunt to such a sweet little cutie.