Ahoy! Mates

Happy Late Halloween from the Bozeman Pirate Family!

We were pirates for Halloween and we even had our very own parrot! Will was precious in his homemade parrot outfit. David made the costume! He is quite the Susie Homemaker sometimes! Ethan was very excited about Halloween this year. Probably because he now understands you get candy, but he was also very excited to dress up like Daddy. We had a blast trick or treating at our church's annual Treat -N -Trunk.

Now the big question everyday from Ethan is..... Mommy, can I have just one piece of my candy?My answer is...Yes, but I get to choose!

Yesterday he asked me.....Mommy, can I have one piece of candy when we get home and I get to choose? So for yesterday only...he got to choose!

Until next Halloween............we are already thinking of our family costumes for next year!

This is what you do after you come home from trick or treating..... You are to full of candy and to wired to go to bed... so you play in your costume (or half of it) till you drop in your bedroom! Will was so cute crawling around playing with his parrot tail still attached. I tried my best to get a picture of his tail. This is the best one I got. He is just to fast and will NOT be still for just a second!

Fun memories!

My Preschooler

I wanted to share with you all just how big my Ethan is getting! He is such the little preschooler now days. Last week at school the three year old classrooms were in charge of chapel. On Monday, Ethan stood on stage for the pledge and the I am Proud to be an American song. Then he lead the school in a prayer! His prayer went a little like this...

Will you please pray with me?

Dear God,

Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, and our teachers.

Thank you for this day.

Thank you for Jesus.

Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, and Will.

In Jesus name Amen. (the last line was said really really fast!)

He was so proud of himself and so was I! During the week his class preformed songs and skits for the school. Ethan had no problem going on stage and preforming! I was so happy that I was able to see him each time his class did something special in chapel. It reminds me why I wanted so badly to be working at the school he was going to attend! I am so thankful for my job and the opportunity to be with him during the day. Daddy even came too!

OK.....so now I have to brag a little more on my little preschooler! Check out his name above and how well he is writing it! He loves to write his name. Every paper he gets his hands on he puts his name on it! If you ask him how to spell it, he will say.... E T hump A N. We are working on saying H! I know this is probably just the preschool teacher in me, but it has been so much fun lately! He is finding E's everywhere... at home, in the parking lot on cars, in books, etc.... He thinks every S is Sharon's name (a girl in his class) and every T is Tyler's name ( a boy in is class). He has started to ask what my name starts with and Daddy's. I am having a blast with him, and he thinks it is pretty cool too! Thanks for letting me brag a little bit!

Girls Weekend

These are "My Girls"! We all meet in college at Louisiana Tech! We try to have a girls weekend at least twice a year. Last weekend we spent the weekend together in Dallas hanging out talking, shopping, eating, and lounging in our pj's. Most of the time when we get together we usually have something to celebrate---wedding shower or baby shower! But this time we just had a girls weekend of talking and lounging around.... so we thought. When we arrived, we found out that Holly W is expecting her first baby in May! So we did a lot of talking about baby stuff and celebrating over her exciting news! We even had one of our newest girls, Baby Bailey, to tag along for the weekend --isn't she the cutest!

I look forward to our girls weekends every year. I probably count down the days until I leave town on Friday afternoon. Yes, it is a treat to be away from home, the husband, the babies, and the responsibilities for the weekend. But most of all it is just so much fun to be with my girls! It is like we pick up were we left off 7 years ago when we graduated college. Even though we are all approaching 30, we are still very close to one another! Aren't they the best looking 30 year olds you have ever seen? There is something special about being with people you can just be yourself and enjoy the time to relax and talk! I am so thankful to have each of them in my life! I love you girls!

Until the next girls weekend....... I am counting down!

This blog was dedicated to Holly W! Because she LOVES it when bloggers blog about other people on their personal blog! Love ya'

Ethan turns 3!

Ethan Bradley turned 3 on October 2! We got to spend the morning of his birthday with our family in Pineville. He had his favorite thing for his birthday breakfast.....donuts! On Saturday, we took Ethan and 2 of his best buddies to Dewberry Farm. They had a blast. The farm was such a neat place for kids as well as Mommies and Daddies! We rode on a hay ride to a REAL pumpkin patch. I think I was the one most excited about the real pumpkin patch! We saw pumpkins in all stages of development...vine, flower, small green, medium yellow, and ripe orange! I love the fall and pumpkins! I felt like I was living out one of the many children's books I read to my students each year during this season! We rode a train, feed goats, ate BBQ, saw farm animals, and had rubber ducky races. I think Ethan enjoyed the rubber ducky races the best! It was a great day, and everyone was ready for a good nap afterwards!

David and I can't believe that Ethan is growing up and is now 3! We are really enjoying this stage of development. Ethan is starting to have the neatest conversations with us and it is so much fun to watch him explore and interpret the world around him.

Happy 3rd Birthday Ethan Bradley! I love you!!!!

I'm on a Hurrication!

Because I have been out of school/work now since last Friday and will not return until Monday.....I feel like I have been on a Hurrication!

Top Ten things I have done on my Hurrication

1. Create 3 digital scrapbooks using Picaboo and Shutterfly....so much fun you must try!

2. Go on daily wagon rides/walks with my boys.....the weather has been wonderful!

3. Plan our family Halloween outfits...we are going to be Pirates and Will is our Parrot! 2 cute!

4. Plan Will's first birthday party.....The Very Hungry Caterpillar Theme because he is ALWAYS still HUNGRY!

5. Go shoe shopping for Ethan..... I thought because of the Hurricane the stores might be vacant and that was right...plus Stride Rite had clearance shoes!

6. Box up Will's newborn size clothing and get the 12 month old clothes out of storage.... my baby is growning up way to fast!

7. Feed the ducks at the pond with the boys.....by the way where do the wild animals go for shelter during hurricanes?

8. Go to the park with the boys!

9. Enjoy visiting with the neighbors outside while Ethan plays in the cul-de-sac with the neighborhood children......again the weather had been absolutely a dream!

10. Wash our sheets....pretty sad, but unfortunately it does not get done as much as it should while I am working

I guess these are all things stay at home moms get to do on a weekly basis. I on the other hand have enjoyed my week pretending to be a stay at home mom and will be glad to return to work on Monday. Don't get me wrong...I love being with my babies, but I also love my job and working.....it makes me a BETTER MOMMY!

So until the next school holiday.............

We survied IKE!

We survived Hurricane IKE! I just wanted to let you all know that we are safe and sound after a very scary and rough Friday night. We are so blessed to have a safe family and home. Thank you to all our family and friends who have called, text messaged, and prayed for us. We are safe! God is SOOO GOOD!

We chose not to evacuate, but that decision might be different if we ever have to experience another visitor like IKE. I had the camera all ready to document Hurricane Central at the Bozeman house, but of course I was a little busy keeping 2 little boys entertained so I took NO pictures. We were definitely Hurricane Central. Our dinning room looked like a Red Cross station-- equipped with flashlights, water, batteries, can foods, box foods, ice, etc.... Our suitcases were packed at the front door. I even have a new use for our master closet....a fourth bedroom! Yeap! It was quite the adventure....we had our futon mattress set up with pillows and blankets not to mention the food, flashlights, weather radio, laundry basket full of toys, DVD player, IPOD, water, medicine, bottles, and sippy cups. So for the entire Friday night and early Saturday morning David, Ethan, Will, Kirby, and I "camped out" in our closet! It was an interesting night. The boys did not sleep at the same time! Ethan asked many times for his bed and coughed all night long. (Probably from the dust in the closet--who cleans their closet?) If Will could talk, he would have asked for his bed too. Instead he just gave me this look--like PLEASE put me in my BED!

The wind was horrible, and the house made some very strange noises! Our neighbors and us text messaged each other the whole night. We did lose our fence...like everyone else in Houston. In the middle of the night David and our neighbor were outside trying to take most of it down so it would not hit the house. I told him just go around and kicked the rest down (I really want a new fence)! He didn't, but no worries IKE took care of that for us! In the morning we were relieved to see not much other damage. Just a lot of debris everywhere. David and I were pooped. The boys on the other hand were sound asleep-- of course!!!!


We have had electricity since about 6:00 am on Sat. We are very fortunate. Our sweet friends Courtney and James have been staying with us with their 3 month old baby girl since Sat around 10:00 am. They still have no power! I know you have probably seen the news and what is left of Galveston. It is really sad. Houston and the surrounding areas look like little tornadoes just landed everywhere. People are hot and hungry. We delivered our extra ice to a few strangers yesterday on the side of the road. They had walked to the gas station and were putting gas in their car. They were so grateful! They looked so hot and tired. Ethan wanted to know who they were. We tried our best to explain it to him. After our explanation, he wanted to go give Popsicles to the people. So we went back to HEB to the line of people we saw waiting for ice to hand out our Popsicles. When we went back the line was gone. HEB had ran out of ice and everyone was gone. I was so glad we were able to create a teaching moment for Ethan during a not so wonderful time.

All in all we are so blessed to be safe, cool, tummies full, and with our family. We have no school until Monday. David is working off and on. Mainly taking care of business from his phone. Please continue to pray for our friends in the Houston area who are dealing with challenges. Please pray that trucks can arrive soon with food for grocery stores and power is restored to stores and homes. The Bozeman pantry is starting to look a little bare. Our friends that are staying with us have "moved" in their food. So we are OK for a few more days, but after that we need to go shopping!


Thanks again for your prayers and concern for us! We are so blessed to have such caring people in our lives! Have a great day! GOD is so GOOD!

Back To School

Wednesday was Ethan's first day of preschool and Mommy's first day at her new school and position. We survived the first week! YAHOOO! Ethan did great and enjoys playing with his new friends. It has been really neat to see him during the day. I try not to spy too much on him because he is learning how to see me in the hallway and just say Hi instead of running to me! We are not there totally, but we'll get there eventually. I love going by his room and looking in on him at circle time, lunch time, and nap time! I LOVE watching him in chapel when he is singing or when he is bothering the little girl sitting next to him! I get to see it all!!!! I think he is going to have a great year and doesn't he look so CUTE in his uniform!

As for me...my first week as the Preschool Director went well! I am enjoying me new position and the staff! I am so blessed to work with such wonderful people that love the Lord and His children! On Friday, I had to go into the classroom for a few hours and teach while the teacher had to leave (it happened to be Ethan's classroom..so that was interesting). While I enjoyed being with the children and teaching them at circle time, I also enjoyed the fact that I LEFT when the teacher returned! I never thought I would say that! Maybe God does have a GRAND plan, and I am meant to lead in this new position! It is totally different, and I have had to adjust to a different pace and responsibilities. I really feel that I am going to love my new position ...just as long as I get to have some interaction with the children!

For those of you who do not know..I am the new Preschool Director at Sugar Grove Christian School and Ethan is attending the preschool there with me! (Which is at our church..Sugar Grove Church of Christ)

Hope everyone has a great school year! Please keep both Ethan and I in your prayers. Pray that God will continue to give us strength during this transition in our lives. Pray that He will continue to guide me in my new position and in the decisions that I make. Thank you!