All the photos I forgot for September

Derek and I were able to go on a date the week he had off in the last week of September. We went to the Alamo Drafthouse and watched a movie and had this amazing pizza.

We went to the zoo with Grammy!

 The birds loved Derek.

We found this teeny tiny baby lizard.

Kael's Baptism September 24, 2016

Dear Kael,

It's great to be 8 isn't it?! Mom and Dad have looked forward and anticipated this day for many many years. We are so proud of you. We are proud of who you are, we are proud of the choices you are making, we are proud of the challenges you overcome, we are proud of how hard you try in all you do to do the right thing. We love who you are! You are kind, thoughtful, helpful, intelligent, fun, energetic, happy, generous, and loyal. We couldn't have asked for a better oldest son. Thank you for spreading your joy to our family. Thank you for letting us be your parents. We may not be perfect, but we love you more than you can know right now. We love you Kael. Never forget that. 

I want you to look back and remember how awesome of a kid you are right now. You love playing Minecraft and video games, you are loving reading more now and fly through the magic treehouse books, you love listening to Harry Potter. You love your animals. You love electronic things. You love to build new creations! You can sit and tinker and figure out just about any little gadget. You are smart! You are funny. You are kind. You have the biggest heart. You have so much empathy for those around you. You love your family very much. You are so sincere in everything you do. When you say something you mean it. You are forgetful, but so helpful, but what 8 year old isn't?!

You have learned so much and have really started becoming more and more independent in all that you do. You are learning to play the piano, and have advanced in karate, and LOVE cub scouts. You work hard for everything you do. Never stop working hard! It makes you, you.

We love you Kael. Always and forever!
Love,
Mom and Dad

Congratulations on your baptism day. 

Elara's 4th Birthday

Elara was spoiled rotten. That is all. In the morning she got to go to her favorite open gym gymnastics with Connor. They had a blast. We came home and finished making her cake. Then, after school there was a fall festival at the kids school, so we took the kids there for her family birthday celebrations where the kids got their faces painted and played games and won prizes and had Grammy there with us. Then, for dinner she picked to eat at Bay Seas and Grandma and Grandpa arrived from Utah. So she had Grammy, Grandma, and Grandpa all with her for her special day. Thanks Kael for postponing your baptism so she could share grandparent time. :)

She got to go to the Pet Store and pick out a fish for one of her presents. 

She named her Bloopy. Because fish say bloop bloop. Poor Bloopy only lasted a week, but she will always be remembered as a good fish and the epic melt down that Elara had that her fish was dead. It took a lot of convincing to let us flush that thing down the toilet and pick out a new fish.

Before the rainbow fell and my attempt to make a new 4 after it fell.

 At the Fall Festival

At Bay Seas with the grandparents.

Dear Elara,

Happy Birthday! You are a smart cookie little girl! You are a dainty, sweet, kind little lady. Mom and Dad love you and are so lucky to call you ours! You love being 4. You love going to joy school even though you miss home. You are a great friend. You are kind to other kids and share and are thoughtful. You are a strong independent girl just like your sister Eden. You know what you want. You know how to get what you want, but you are polite and kind always. You are the best at saying please and thank you in our family right now and at putting your dishes in the sink. However, your toys are everywhere always. But, I am ok with that because you still love to play with everything. You are the sweetest girl who loves baby dolls, animals, playing dress up and pretend. You want to be a Mommy someday. Right now if you were able. You want a little girl someday and you want to name her Margaret and your next baby would be "eat me eat me I'm organic"... Thank you "Inside Out". haha

You love your animals. You love your new fish. You cried all day when I had to tell you that Bloopy your first fish died after a short week in our home. You were so sad because there would never be another fish just the exact same as Bloopy. You were right and I sat and we cried together. Your heart is so big. It took a lot of hugs and promises of a new fish to get you to give Bloopy a proper flush memorial. Dad took you to pick out Princess Vanilla and he got you an ice cream cone, thus the name Vanilla.

We love you Elara. We love everything about you. You are going to be an amazing Mommy one day and I promise to be the Grandma you keep telling me I'll be. Just slow down a little K.
We love you Princess! Always and Forever!
Love, Mom and Dad

Setpember until Dad gets home.

 The month of September was busy. Derek was in Corpus Christi and every weekend we went to visit on top of figuring out the new school year and surviving while Dad was gone. We managed to have a lot of fun, and get a lot of pictures of Connor sleeping. Dad came home in time for Grammy to arrive on September 23rd and Grandma and Grandpa Heaton coming for Kael's baptism on September 24th and to celebrate Elara's 4th birthday. September was a fun filled month!

Connor got bitten by ants! grrr

Kael got a volcano kit and made this awesome volcano.

While waiting at Discount Tire Connor and Elara met Santa Clause. He sometimes needs his tires checked too. He is the Santa at Sea World.

 Here is what I wrote on facebook.

Today was magical and I want to tell you about it. Kael had an appointment this morning and after I got him dropped off at school I took my van to discount tire. It's always busy there, but Connor was just wandering around being his usual silly self and Elara was trying to read me her version of "The Princess Bride" I had in my bag; when what to my wandering eye should appear but Saint Nicholas there he was oh so near! He sat down and his sweet wife was at the counter. Connor spotted him first. He walked right up to him and held up his sweet little 1 year old arms and grunted at him. So, being Saint Nick he picked my sweet boy up and plopped him on his knee. Connor very rarely comes to me and holds his arms to be picked up... Only if he is super super tired or hurt. He loves to explore; not sit quietly. This kind man didn't have a toy, a treat, nothing to entice my little boy. Simply his sweet, kind, jolly spirit. This man truly could be Santa Clause. Shortly after Elara saw Connor sitting on his knee and ran right up and started telling him about her little brother Connor. His sweet wife joined him and they just sat and talked to my children. He picked Elara up and sat her on his other knee and you could just feel his sweet spirit of love towards children. After talking for a few minutes I learned he is Santa at Sea World during the holidays. And he very kindly let me take his picture. It was simply magical all while waiting at a busy discount tire. Now I'm just excited for Christmas! 

Visiting Dad at the hotel in Corpus Christi.

The first weekend we went to an Art Festival and they had a bunch of fun crafts for the kids.

We also were able to try out a new sea food southern grill restaurant. It wasn't Bay Seas but it was fun and they had deep fried frog legs. Derek and I didn't care for them, but Kael sure liked them.

 Gross frog legs that he LOVED!

 We also were able to go to a children't museum one weekend and the beach another weekend however we didn't take a single picture at the beach.

Because we love him.

 Because she wanted pictures and we love her too.

The birthday cake making request began! Elara wanted a rainbow unicorn cake. I had my work cut out for me, but I was determined!

Eden learns to ride a bike!!!

Huge day at the Bradley house! The kids had a bike rodeo the end of September at school. In which time Eden is bound and determined to not miss out. The only problem is she couldn't ride a bike without training wheels and that was not allowed at the rodeo... So, the weekend before we attempted in our front yard to just take off the training wheels and go with it. Well, it wasn't working for any of us. Time went on and Mom panic mode set in so we googled how to learn to ride a bike in a day! It worked! I took off the pedals on her bike and after school we went to the church parking lot that was empty and we went down a hill. It took 30 minutes and the girl firgured out how to balance and then we put the pedals back on and another 5 minutes and she was riding a bike everywhere! I was so proud of her determination and overcoming her fears! It was an awesome Mom moment to see your kid work hard for something and get it! The kids had a great time and we were all soooo HOT and sweating before we headed home. They all slept good that night. The next day she went to the bike rodeo. She struggled a bit because she had to ride on a straight line and a circle, but she was able to do it! We can do hard things in our family!

This pretty much sums up my life when Derek is gone. What Mom? We were just playing...