Q: What do Santa, a Pirate Ship and Jungle Animals have in Common?

A: A birthday party designed by a 3-year old.

Birthday parties around here usually have a certain theme like, Star Wars, or Pirates, or Sports, or Lego Ninjago.  It's whatever they happen to be into that year.  But Bradley is really only into 2 things.  Books and Magnet Blocks.  And this is how it's been his entire 3 years of life.

When he turned 1, we had a book theme...

...and when he turned 2 we had a magnet blocks theme.

Since we couldn't think of anything else he was really into, we just let him design his own party.

Charles asked him what kind of cake he wanted, he said, "White cake, with white frosting."

Then Charles asked him what he wanted on top, and Bradley responded, "Santa."

Then he said he wanted a pinata, so I took him to the store to pick one out.   He chose a pirate ship.  He also wanted it to be filled with nothing but suckers and blue tootsie rolls.  We did our best.

I asked him if he wanted party hats, he chose jungle animals.

He's got a pretty eclectic style, that one.  :)

 

The funny thing is, when I was just about done making Santa on his cake, my mom showed him and asked him who that was.  He just looked at it with a confused expression and then said he didn't know.  

That was when I remembered...

The kid has only had one maybe two Christmases that he can remember.  And last year whenever he saw a Christmas Tree or Christmas lights, he would say, "Santa!"  So I quickly added a Christmas Tree to his cake, so he could have "Santa."  He was very excited when he saw the new addition.  Who is that weird guy in the white beard, anyway?

I let Bradley choose whatever he wanted for breakfast on his special day.  He chose his favorite food... No, not hot dogs... Ketchup.  The hot dogs just have to come along.

 

When he met his Preschool teacher, she asked him what his favorite food was and he told her, "Ketchup.  It's like blooood."

That night he also got to choose dinner.  The man demanded pizza and crazy bread.

After dinner the party began.  This kid is so lucky.  Because he has a summer birthday, he always seems to have cousins here to celebrate with.  I guess that will have to make up for not getting to celebrate it at school. :)

 

Loving Ethan's style...

Thanks to Bradley's self-chosen theme, we didn't have to waste money on wrapping paper, we got to use the Christmas wrapping... and not feel guilty...

...even though he didn't quite understand why the dude in the white beard and red hat kept showing up.

I had to add this picture, because of mom's expression.  Kaylee was having a hard time transitioning to a  bottle and after a million tries, this was when she finally started to take it.  No more weight loss for this baby girl!  Go Kaylee go!

Then it was time for cake and Ice Cream.  Happy Birthday, buddy!  You are one awesome dude! :)

Bradley at 3:
~MAGNET BLOCKS
~Books
~Backyardigans
~Bubbles
~Balloons
~Wiggle cars
~Tricycle
~Little bit of stuttering
~Not much interest in TV or movies
~Loves to hang with the adults
~Becoming more defiant, but too cute to regulate!
~Concerned with his and other people's feelings.
~Favorite Food: Ketchup
~Favorite candy: Suckers
~Favorite Book: 5 Little Monkeys
~Speaks very well for his age
~Chatterbox: Just talks and talks and talks.  Sometimes I tune him out, but he always cal me on it.  "Mommy?  You hear me?  You hear me, Mommy?"
~Can't say most of his "S's" if it begins the word, it's so cute. (Star= Dar, school=gool, scooter=gooter scriptures=gippers)
~First kid to not be shy at school.

Remember the Spider?

 Poor Kaleb and Brook had a little bit of trouble achieving lift off.

Thanks Kaitlyn and Brooklyn for the lesson.  :)

Summer Visitors

This summer we didn't go anywhere.  Between Charles starting a new job, and having a new baby... it just wasn't happening.  Which was nice because traveling with all these kids is becoming... funner and funner.  Brynnlee has decided she hates her car seat and so she cries almost the entire time we go anywhere.  It's special.  So special that we have decided to put our Disneyland trip on hold for a while.

That's why, we were so lucky that so many people came to us.  First we had Mere.  Mere came to see us from deep in the heart of Texas.  She is one of my roommates from college, Maid of Honor at my wedding and probably the coolest chick I know.  I love this girl. :)

Next we had Crystal.  Crystal,one of the 'Fabulous Four' from high school, drove up from California just to see me.  No, really! OK, maybe  to see another friend who lives here too... and maybe to find a nice hot mormon boy to make out with... but most importantly to see me!... and to meet Brynn. 

She brought her 2 "holy-crap-they've-grown-up-fast" boys along, Covin and Evran.  My boys loved to play with them. In fact they still brag to their other friends that they have "2 friends from California.  And one of them is ten years old."

Bradley just seems to love everyone who comes to see him.  Here they fell asleep watching Tom and Jerry.  Even though he told her, "I hate Tom and Jerry."

Then we had Barbara and David, making the flight from my hometown, Lancaster CA.  I don't know how long it's been since I'd seen Barbara.  But I think this was her first time meeting Brynnlee, and Bradley!  BAD Crissy!  Bad!  I sure love this woman.  She's the grandma of the family we grew up with as kids.  We used to stow away to her house a lot.  I like to think we were sneaky and that our parents were always surprised... but thinking about it now that I am a parent... I'm pretty sure they always knew.

Here's David stuffing his face.  :)  Oh! And I should add Ella, Cameron, Ashlynn, Shanade and Andrew to the list of summer visitors.  Since we are LAME and never see each other.  They visited us from the far away land of Sandy, Utah.

Next, from tornado-ville Missouri, we have Julianne and Bryce...

... and Ethan.  We had our Ashton family vacation at the end of July to the beginning of August.

Joining the family vacay,  from blistering hot Arizona, was Kare and Curtis...

  

Baby Nathan (although he is no-longer the baby)...

  

...and new Baby Kaylee.

  

 Then in August we got to have Grandma and Grandpa Socci come for a visit.  Brynnlee met her Grandpa for the first time, and we all had so much fun.  And somehow, Grandpa left in one piece... barely.  :)

Last we had another one of my BYU roommies.  This is Julie, and she was our farthest traveler.  She came all the way from Florida.  I'm so glad she came cuz I haven't seen her in forever, and I also got to meet her beautiful baby girl, Nohemi.  I know a lot of Julies, but the boys remember her as "the one who took them sledding a long time ago."  She's so sweet!

 

Bradley and Kaleb hit it off with Nohemi real fast.  They had her belly laughing so hard in just 5 minutes of meeting her.  She's so cute. 

Thank goodness we're so popular and everyone wants to see us... Okay, maybe not.  Thank goodness we happen to live close to people's original traveling destinations, so we could snag us some visitors. Our summer was relaxed because we stayed home, but still full of fun.  I wonder if we can luck out again next summer...

Fishing w/ Daddy and Grandpa

Back in July, the boys asked Charles if they could go fishing.  Would Charles pass up an opportunity to fish?  So they talked to Grandpa and planned a boys trip.  This was Bradley's first time joining the fun.

These 2 were already pros.

Grandpa's line caught one, but he let Bradley reel it in.

Bradley's first fish. :)

They had a great time.  They all caught one, and that night they came home and cooked it up for dinner... (gag!)  Jaden and Bradley weren't too interested in eating it, but Kaleb just scarfed it up.

Today at church...

(During the Sacrament)

Bradley:  Mom!  I see Jesus!
Me:  You do?
B: Yeah, And-and-and-and you know what, Mom?
Me: What?
B: Jesus made me.
Me: That's  right!
B: And he made my's body. He make my's leg and-and-and-and-and- he make my's foot.
Me: Very good!
B: Jesus make my's leg, and my's foot.  (thinks for a bit) And he make my's BUTT!  (Giggles) And my's PEH-PAY!
Me: Sshhhh!  (Whispering...) That's right.

*****

Kaleb playing with Brynn...

K: THIS little piggie went to the park, and THIS little piggie had some, and THIS little piggie had none, THIS little piggie went to the market, and THIS little piggie went WEE-WEE-WEE all the way home!

Letters to Alli

We had a Family Night tonight about Alli and her mission. This is about how it went...

Charles: Who knows where Alli is?  Bradley?

Bradley:  A missions.

Charles: And what’s a mission?

Bradley: What Alli is.

Charles: What do you do on a mission?  Kaleb?

Kalab:  Learn Spanish

Charles:  What else?

Kaleb: Learn to cook.

Charles: And what else?

Kaleb: Learn to build houses

Charles: What else? Jaden?

Jaden: You teach the gospel.

Charles: What’s the gospel?

Jaden: The church

Charles:  Why do missionaries need to teach the gospel?

Jaden:  Because some people are too busy with work.

…..

At this point Bradley was standing on his head laughing, and Kaleb is making farting sounds on Charles’ lap.  That is about as far as we got. Before sitting down to write letters.

Here are the kids' letters:

Hi Alli! 

I miss you so so so so so…. Much!  That’s 20 “sos.”  Are you having a good time?  I hope you are having a good time. I’ve been busy this summer playing with friends, and doing chores… which I hate.  But I do them for money.  I like to watch Rio and Pirates of the Caribbean.  I like to watch a lot of stuff. The computer game that I really like to watch is called “Poptropica.”  I’m not doing Hapkido anymore.  I’m taking a break.  I’ve been not liking it for a while.  My friend, Brighton gave me his username and password to Poptropica.  I can’t tell you it, but I can tell you what his guy is.  He’s a big star that grows.  Sadly, I can’t play it cuz mom won’t let me.  My favorite story in the Book of Mormon is the last chapter.  When Moroni dies.  He hides the plates, the sword of Laban, the bow that Nephi carved, and a few days later he passes on to the 3^rd dimension.  Heaven is the 1st dimension, then he came to earth and that was the 2^nd dimension, then he went back to heaven and it was the 3^rd dimension. And now I will end the letter with this sentence… “I miss you, I love you, goodnight.”

Love, Jaden

 

Hi Alli!

You say, “What?” I got a paper for you. It’s a temple. I go to school. 2 schools. One and two. (This means he has gone 2 days now.)  My teacher is Miss Teresa. I go to a new Sunshine Square.  My friends is, Kinsley and Coleton.  I have a batman backpack and a blue folder.  I had a birthday.  I got this (pointing to a Yoda chair).  You know why? Cuz I liked it.  And I got napkins, toilet paper, magnet blocks, and that is all.  I got a punching bag. I got a piñata. It was just a piñata with a pirate ship.  I wanted a white cake, with white frosting and Santa. I miss you and I love you.

Love, Bradley

Dear Alli,

 I’ve been going to school at Sunshine Square everyday. And I miss you Alli, a hundred this (spreading arms out).  My teacher is Miss Michelle.  Cassidy and Cannon are in my class. That’s all I know.  I forgot the other names.  I been doing reading lessons all day.  Brynnlee is a cute baby.  The computer is important.  I want you to be safe.  You are so nice.  Brynnlee is a cute baby.  I can stand up on my own at the pool at the little end. I can put my whole face and my whole body in the water.  I love you and I love you this much. (arms spread open.)

Love, Kaleb