Gotta Love Brady!!

Like I have said so many times before Brady is going to be my challenging middle child, but God how I love that little boy. He makes me want to pull my hair out one minute and wrap him up in hugs and kisses the next minute. The other day Dane and Kade had left and I couldn't find Brady anywhere when I came back in the house. I called him and called him and of course he didn't answer. I knew right then he was doing something he was not supposed to. I found his socks and pull-up in the hallway, so he was naked somewhere. I finally found him buck naked sitting underneath the kitchen table rubbing his little "wee wee" down with purple, berry flavored chapstick. Now who is going to want to put that chapstick on their lips after that? He thought it was the funniest thing ever.
We are finally making some progress in the potty training department. We kind of did it backwards. Normally you get the tee tee in the potty down first and then pooping in the potty comes last. Well, Brady starting pooping in the potty first, which was great, but he refused to tee tee in the potty. This last week I just sent him to school in underwear, and low and behold he stayed dry all week and did great for Mrs. Connie. Hopefully we are almost there completely.
Brady is most definately our mealtime entertainment each night. We usually get a song and dance which eventually leads to him getting in trouble because he either falls off the chair, spills his milk, or knocks over his plate of food.
Brady has become quite the mocker as well. He loves mocking everything Kade says, and it drives Kade absolutely crazy. Brady is really good at it too; he can repeat everything word for word. Kade tries to trick him into saying something else, but it doesn't work very often. We call Brady our little mockingbird now.
I have to say he is not nicest of children either. Most of the time he will refuse to say he is sorry for anything he does wrong, won't pick up his messes, and will beat up on Kade for no reason at all. He is so rough. In the mornings when they leave for school Kade gives me a big hug and kiss, but Brady says "No kisses for you Mamma." He does have his loving moments though, but they can be few and far between. Challenging or not, I think we will keep him. I wouldn't want any other little Brady!

CHRISTMAS (Round 4) with Popo Loewe, Aunt Lolo & Uncle Joe

The day after Christmas we celebrated the holiday with Popo Loewe, Aunt Lolo & Uncle Joe. We had them over to the house for supper that evening and to exchange gifts. The boys were excited to get more presents. Brady got a new four-wheeler from Popo, and boy was he excited to have his very own to ride all by himself. He also got a new bug sucker, a wild game caller, a new fishing pole, and an ornament from Aunt Lolo and Uncle Joe. Kade got a real Red Rider BB gun from Popo; look out all you birds. Aunt Lolo and Uncle Joe gave him a duck game, a bug sucker, and an ornament as well. It was a nice laid back evening to celebrate a little more of the Christmas tradition.

Brady with his new four-wheeler & Popo

Uncle Joe helping Brady use his new wildlife call

Popo with Kade and Brady


Uncle Joe and Aunt Lolo with Kade and Brady


Kade with his new BB gun & Brady with his new fishing pole

CHRISTMAS (Round 3) at Great Granny Loewe's House!

Granny Loewe celebrates Christmas on Christmas Day at her house every year. The family has grown quite large. Between eight grandkids (all but one married) and eleven great grandkids with two more on the way, the family has grown substantially over the years. It is always lots of fun to get together with all the cousins, aunts and uncles, and celebrate together. Every year at Thanksgiving we all draw names for Christmas, and then trade our gifts on Christmas Day. Kade got a football and sleeping bag from Emily, Brady got a old west shooting game from Reyce, Dane got some whisky from Laurie, and I got a sweater from Joe. After a huge lunch and all gifts were opened, the guys started their annual domino game of 42. We enjoyed spending the day with family and relaxing. Granny is really starting to get up in age, so we cherish each year we still have with her and celebrating the holidays at her house. We have never celebrated any of the holidays anywhere else. Thank you for yet another great holiday memory Granny!

The great grandkids opening gifts

Kade, Maddie, Brady, & Markie playing in the leaves

Markie and Brady have a cup of fruit

Christmas Morning!

The boys were very excited about Santa Claus coming to visit this year. Before we went to bed, Kade got the milk and cookies all set out, Brady got some carrots ready for the reindeer. You can bet there was no sleeping in for us Christmas morning. Kade was up at before 6:30am ready to go see if Santa had left him anything. We told him he couldn't go in there without Brady, so he went and got him up. Kade was welcomed with a new orange fourwheeler. He was very excited because it was a big one. Brady was just as excited about it even though it wasn't for him. Brady was so much fun this Christmas. He was thrilled about everything he got no matter how big or small the gift may have been. Everything was "Whoa, I got a ...! or "Whoa, that's cool!" Santa answered Brady's wish for a new gun; a big one for shooting big bucks and a little one for shooting birds. He was one happy little boy. It melted our hearts to see the boys so happy and full of appreciation. It was worth it to see those big smiles and excited gestures.

Homemade Christmas Cookies!

Kade wanted to make homemade sugar cookies and cut them out in different Christmas shapes and decorate them. I promised him we would do it so that he could put some of his specially made cookies out for Santa Claus. Even though we had fun making them, it was quite a long process and mess. Kade managed to spill two bottles of sprinkles all over the floor, and the icing, well that was a whole other story. When we finished though both of the boys were proud of the cookies they had made. I don't think we are going to make this a Christmas tradition though.

CHRISTMAS (Round 2) with Nana, Papa, & the Hardys!

It has become a tradition of celebrating Christmas with Nana and Papa Rau and the Hardy family on Christmas Eve. We all attend church together to take some time to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas; the birth of Jesus Christ, and then head over to Nana and Papa's house for some good home cooking, good company, and the opening of presents. This year we had beef fajitas, beans, rice, and all the fixings for dinner. It was sooooooo good. I hope we keep that up as a traditional Christmas Eve meal as well. After we ate, we gathered the kids and opened presents. It is so much fun watching them get so excited over their gifts. Brady got some new crocs and bath toys from the Hardys, and a hooded sweatshirt and hunting target game from Nana and Papa. Kade got a slingshot and t-ball cleats from the Hardys, and a hooded sweatshirt and buck hunting game that plugs into the television from Nana and Papa. The buck hunting game is most definately Kade's favorite gift. We have to pry him away from it. We had a great time celebrating Christmas with Nana, Papa, Aunt Stacy, Uncle Trey, Jenna, Leah and Luke. It is such a blessing to be apart of such an outstandingly amazing and loving family.

Family pic at church

All dressed up for church

Waiting to open presents


Kade's new buck hunting game


Brady's new target game.


New hooded sweatshirts

Miracle on Main Street!

Last Sunday, the children of our church put on a great Christmas program. Kade and Brady were both able to be a part of it. Kade was a caroler in the beginning of the program. He had a couple of lines to say, and he did a great job. Towards the end of the program he and Brady dressed up as shepards and were a part of the "Precious Moments" manger scene. Kade was all about doing a good job, but Brady was a whole other story. They were standing up front with their staffs and Brady decides that he and Kade should fight with them. He kept asking Kade, "Bubba, you want to fight?" Kade kept telling him "Cut it out." Then Brady decides to give Baby Jesus a poke in the cradle. After causing an uproar of laughter in the church, I decided it was time to go get him and take him back to the seat with me. The kids all played their parts well and the program was a big hit.

Kade and Jenna getting ready to say their lines.

The Precious Moments manger kiddos.



"Bubba, you want to fight?"



"Are you awake Baby Jesus?'