3 posts in one

Since its summer I'm a bit behind. I'll do this in groups and chronological order.
I marked something off of my bucket list by trying out for a community play at the Nuart. And lucky me I got chosen for the part of Jane in the play Men are Dogs. I had so much fun doing this play, here are a few pics from the play and cast. It was extra fun because Steven my little bro had the part of Tony.

Steven (Tony) and I (Jane) hanging out backstage.

Jane, Allison, and Madeline at group therapy.

Bob and Jane role playing, Loretta in the back ground.

Second Bradach loves trains. We live next to the tracks and he loves watching them. So when Operation Life Saver came to town and offered free tickets we jumped on it. Unfortunately there weren't enough tickets for us. Fortunately a family that new we wanted to go had extra! So we got lucky and boarded the train. Bradach I think liked the outside more than the actual ride. But he did enjoy it. Here are some pics of this day.

On our way!!

This last weekend we went to the Panter/Daley family reunion. These happen every two years and I look forward to everyone. I actually can say I do love my relatives. They are a blessing to my life, and the time I spend with them is few but cherished. This year we went to Hebgen Lake near W. Yellowstone, MT. Near Hebgen was Quake Lake, witch was created in 1959 by a huge earthquake that killed 29 and injured many. There are reminders of that day all around the area, including cabins on shore lines, skeleton trees and not to mention the mountain that is half gone.
On our way home we stopped at Mesa Falls with some of the fam. We got to watch kayakers go down the lower falls. That was totally awesome. The falls are beautiful, last time I was there there were no nature walk ways, no up kept buildings. Now it is more developed so the land will stay in tact for more and more years to come.

Hebgen Lake. One night it stormed and lots of lightning stuck, lighting up the lake and these beautiful mountains every few minutes.

Bradach and Mommy doing a little fly fishing. He wanted a fish so bad.

We had a cowboy themed dinner, complete with line dancing. It was great.
Upper Mesa Falls, it explained on the far side of the falls is a different climate so different plants grow there that wouldn't if the falls didn't keep it so moist all the time. Its called a "micro climate"
Lower Mesa Falls of to the left is where the kayakers went down.
Bradach enjoying the falls....one of the quiet moments in a two year old's life.

Bradach is TWO!!!!

My little man is two! Can you believe it? We did a little birthday party at my moms today since Sunday is easier to get together on than Monday (his real Birthday). We had dinner that he chose, cake that I made, ice cream, and his cousins Andy, Emma and Gracie came over to play with the balloons, bubbles, eat and play with the cars and John Deere.
Here are some things about Bradach:

• Favorite movies: the puppy show AKA 101 Dalmations, the doggy show AKA All Dogs Go to Heaven, the fishy show AKA The Little Mermaid, and Signing Time (any of them)
• Favorite Food: Really the kid doesn't have one, he eats anything...just the other day Uncle Kent gave the child a Smoked Oyster and he ate it all. Need I say more?
• Favorite toys/play: Trucks, balls, animals(especially horses, dogs, cats and cows),dirt, outside, tractors, driving (yes he screams to drive), reading
• What he knows (and has let me know he knows it): His ABC's, counting to 10, Colors, almost 100 signs (ASL) including colors, foods, animals, my personal two favorites are when he says "eat breakfast" and "may I be excused" in sign language. He is talking in 2-5 word sentances and articulates very well for a 2 year old. He memorizes where people sit in the house, and the cars people drive.
• Chores: Bradach is in charge of taking out the bathroom garbage, helping change loads of laundry, wiping up spills, putting his socks away, and putting his toys away
  

All in all I think my little boy is amazing but I think all moms think their children are amazing too. I'm so lucky to have him in my life and he truly is the best reason I have for taking each breath. One thing I have learned as a mom is that there are always dishes to do but my little boy might not always want to sit on my lap for a story, so take advantage of the time you have.
Here are some pics of today's birthday fun:

Uncle Scoobs and Bradach playin some tunes.

The Birthday cake I made....the animas have wheels for legs....two of Bradach's favorite things!Balloons and Bubbles!! totally awesome!!
MMMM.....cake!!! I think he licked all the frosting and left the cake.

Bear with me on this one!

For Memorial Day weekend we try and get out of the house at whatever cost and go anywhere even if its just to the end of the street. If you lived in the cemetery you would too. Phil stayed our first year and found out its not worth the trouble. This year we have a touch screen and a comments box so its all taken care of. Sunday my parents took us on a road trip to Hebgen Lake. Its near W. Yellowstone just passed Island Park. So here are some highlights: When we started the day I told Bradach that we were going to the Mountains to look for bears, elk, deer, and turkeys. He looks at me and says giraffes, elephants and long neck dinosaurs too! So we set out on our journey and stopped at Bear World. This place is great, all the animals are there...except some certain ones, lol. Bradach was pointing and yelling "I found it!" the whole time. The petting zoo was great, Bradach chased everything! They had a kiddie amusement park which was great because it was clean and FREE! We went to lunch and the newspaper there had a pic of a giraffe and an elephant! Later we traveled to the lake and walked around, also we went in and found a place with brochures, again score! We found a brochure with a long neck dinosaur! On the way home we stopped at W. Yellowstone for some window shopping, home made ice cream and to play in the park. For dinner we stopped at Pond's Lodge (or something like that) and Phil and Rocky both swear up and down that those were the best ribs they have ever eaten. If you know those two you know they have been around the block with the ribs. I tasted them, they were pretty delicious. Anyways here are some pics to highlight the day.Bradach "cautiously" driving us through Bear World.Ok, it took like 10 pictures to get one of Bradach's head in the hole and noth through the hole.

Bradach was being so nice to the little goat.....no really he was this time. Just loves.
I think I liked this toy more than Bradach, it was soooo soooo fun!!!

Eating...I mean making dessert

Today is the end of the year softball banquette. We just got back from a B-B-Q at a friends house and loved loved loved the dessert they served, so that is what we are making for the party tonight. They are Oreo cookies blended with cream cheese, rolled into balls, chilled and dipped in chocolate. Bradach wanted to help so here he is, and here is Phil making them. Only 153 balls were made, lazy husband, LOL. Waita go Phil, thanks for always making the desserts for all the parties we go to! This pic is gross, he has oranges and chicken along with the chocolate on his tray. Sorry. But he had it all over his hands and I wanted to capture the look.


This was the before dipping them in chocolate picture. And this was only one of the trays. They were a hit though! Thanks Shani for introducing them to us!!

Weekend trip

Oh yeah its been busy in the Meline house! Besides the fact that spring is here and Phil is out doing the yard :o), Softball has been in full swing since Feb., my job at the station has bloomed into part time, Bradach has been doing swim lessons and reading time at the library in between terrorizing his mommy and daddy, lol. Instead of going way back in time I will just post some of the pics from a fun yet crazy trip we took to Ontario, OR. Our itinerary went something like this: Saturday afternoon we left for Boise to meet up with Heather. When we got there Heather bought us dinner and then bought Bradach an awesome red truck. After dinner we went to Heathers house which was being remodeled and Bradach got to meet Romeo the squirrel. He liked to look but was a little afraid to feed him. I think Bradach found a new best friend this day (thanks Heather!). That evening we traveled the rest of the way to Ontario, OR and slept in the hotel. The next morning was filled with swimming and a trip to the park. What a park! This was so cool, half of it was developed with toys the other half looked like a nature walk though these ponds with loads of ducks, geese and swans. After the park we took another drive to get to Dawn's baby shower, we had lots of fun there and Bradach especially thought the cake was good. Oh you should have seen his face when we played the game to guess the candy bar in the diaper...lol. He thought we were crazy and kept saying baby poop...ewww. After the party we drove back to Boise and had a short visit with Jess and Julie. Then we were on our way home! What a busy weekend, full of great friends though!The ONE and ONLY Heather!

Feeding Romeo a piece of apple, the closest he got was touching Heathers hand while she fed him.Climbing at the park.


I got some good pics on this bridge. I love love love the one of Bradach walking down, this by far is my fav pic of the day.

A night of shooting

I've been a little stressed lately. Mostly because I hate waiting for things to happen....like softball, we have been doing open gyms, hitting and pitching for months now. However tryouts are not until the 1st of March. I hate this time I get to think about what I want to do but not do it. I need to learn to take a step back and breath. So I took a night out after hitting/pitching and went with Kane, Phillip and Bradach to go shoot. I loved it, I have shot clay pigeons and done some target shooting before but there is nothing like it when you are wound up tight. The best part was that Kane brought his 9 mm handgun.....ahh this was the best. I hit the can first shot and then hit it again while it was laying down. I know I'm that good, lol. Every time I would shoot Bradach would say "whoa" but only when I shot. Phil hit a quarter that was mounted in a board, well at least we think it was him, it coulda' been me. As soon as we started shooting the coyotes started howling, it was cool. Here are some pics of this fun night.
Phil shooting at the quarters, I think this should be considered cheating since he used the truck to stay steady. Oh and notice how he is dressed in shorts and I in snow pants...it was cold!
My little buddy Bradach with Kane. Bradach had in ear plugs, don't think we neglect him.
Thanks Kane for letting me play with this gun, it was a blast!!!
Me shooting Phil's rifle....it was getting so dark I couldn't see past the end of the gun.
Phil and Bradach watching Kane...he was so nice to go last and let me shoot and shoot and shoot.

$ Saving and other ideas for making life easier.

• Shave your legs with conditioner instead of shaving cream. I buy it at a regular store and not the dollar store because you can sometimes get it for as low as .67! If you are saving by not buying shaving cream try this, your legs are just about as smooth as using the cream, and it lasts longer too!
• Wanna a cheap family night? We love to eat pizza but who can afford it every week?! Instead we make homemade pizza, it takes about 30 minutes to make and most kids will love to help! We use the Jiffy Pizza crust, about .30-.90 a box (usually found by the pizza/spaghetti sauces) we use two boxes for one pizza. Its just add water too, oh and we don't pre-cook it like it says in the directions. When we don't want to spend more than $2 on sauce we buy a can of already seasoned spaghetti sauce, a big can costs about .88 and you will have leftovers for something else. We usually add Italian seasoning once its on the pizza dough. The big spender on the pizza is usually the cheese. Then add the toppings! Bradach loves helping to do every step of this pizza making, and then he usually out eats us no matter what the toppings are. We usually cook ours on a cookie tray which will leave you room to make any size or shape pizza...try a heart for V-Day!
  
• Make your own baby food. Most people have already gone on to the next bullet...lol. But I did this and I have a strong opinion that my son has a better love for his "real" food because of it. When you feed or fed your baby peas did you taste it? Would you eat that? And when I made peas they were bright green, not that dull green. Also I tell you bananas do not stay that white not even when all measures are taken naturally to keep them that color. So what do they do to the food? Who knows, but when you make your own you know exactly! For example I would go out and spend a few dollars on some apples and sweet potatoes (maybe a bit of cinnamon), steam them, use that steamed water when I blended the food and poured it into ice cube trays, covered with plastic wrap, then when frozen put into baggies dated and labeled...just under $5 and I had enough for a few weeks, and I knew exactly what the food looked like before it was prepared. That's compared to $35 at .88 cents a jar. Bradach now loves his fruits and veggies and is willing to try just about everything, and a bag of apples costs about the same as a bag of Cheetos. Feel a little shaky about doing this? Go to www.wholesomebabyfood.com this site tells you how to prepare food, when your baby is ready for the food, the nutritional value, what goes good together and some tricks on storing and traveling with....plus loads more info. Still not going to be that mom? The web site can still guide you as to when to introduce foods.
• Saving Gas. Do a test drive if you commute to work on the interstate do the math. Find out your time difference when you drive 65 mph compared to 75mph. I drive about 45 minutes to my work and the 10 mph difference makes just a few minutes difference in time. But I do see a huge difference in my pocket book for gas. Try it, I hate driving slow but until gas is cheap I think I will slow down.
  
• Coughing at night? Tis the season! I can't say this works for adults since I haven't had a cough lately, but it works like a charm for my son. Get the vapor rub and put it on the soles and heels of their feet then cover with socks. Phil thought I was nuts one night until the coughing stopped instantly. No drugs to take, no measuring and trying to force nasty medicine. Plus I hate hate hate giving my son meds if not necessary.
  
• Diaper rash? Bradach has gotten some nasty rashes when he was first teething, nothing completely cleared it up only helped a little bit. This is one of the few products that you spend the money for it to work. Its Triple Paste and its about $8 for 2 oz. But even on the worst rashes it cleared them up within a few days. On mild everyday stuff within a diaper change or two. Try this before you go to the doc and spend a ton of money on a quick fix.
  
• Allergies? If you know me then you know I hate putting unnecessary medication into my body, and especially my sons body(is that repetitive?). Last summer we found Bradach has bad allergies outside. We tried a few different "non" drowsy medications for children but all of them had the same effect...falling down, sleepy, glazed eyes and not a huge difference in allergy symptoms. We spent the money and will continue to pay the price for Little Noses, its just a gel that you put around the nose and somehow it keeps those allergy symptoms at bay. And the best part, its not a medication! No drowsy side effect or measuring. But be prepared for the cost compared to the little tiny tube it comes in.
• Signing early. I'm not claiming this one to keep all tantrums at bay but it sure kept me sane. At about 10 months or so I started showing some signs to him for words that he would use regularly if he could talk. This helped him to not be so frustrated when he needed to communicate with me. The signs that I have found most useful and easy to learn are eat, more, up, milk, and please. You can look these up online, babies will pick these up if you use them every time you say the word. Instead of a guessing game you will know what they want. Bradach has continued his signing and now has over 20 signs that he does.
  
• Itchy dry spots or eczema? I think those are the same thing, but Bradach was blessed with this too. The doc suggested a cream with a steroid. I know its harmless, but how do I know for sure? We found that applying Disney's Eczema cream to the dry spots after baths and at least once a day cleared it up within a week. Just keep checking for those troublesome spots daily. You don't want to use that cream on their whole bodies though...its greasy, so I use it for spots then normal lotion. But it works and there is no steroid.

Well, I hope you may have gotten some new idea from this post. Please give me feedback, and I will keep turning my little wheel and thinking of things that have made my life easier.