#1 Concert

Hello, it's Marley. I have not blogged in awhile.
So welcome me back!

Ella is acting crazy.But she has a good reason! Guess where we went?
A Miley Cyrus concert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We went to the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Our seats were pretty high up. But we still rocked out!

Going to our first concert was sooooo amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But the opening act Trace Cyrus' Band-Metro Station was not so amazing .

We just wanted to see Miley Cyrus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, Miley made her grand appearance in "Before the Storm"

Here she is "Kicking and Screaming"

She slowed the show down with "Bottom of the Ocean"

The entire band joined her with "These Four Walls"

One of my favorite parts was when she played the piano.

But this was the best of all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are dancing to "Party in the U.S.A."

Here is "The Climb"

Her final bow.:(

This was soooo fun!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope next time we can see my new fave ,Taylor Swift.

October is.............

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

My god-daughter, Abigail gave me this geranium for Mother's Day. Lowe's sells them every year to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I have enjoyed watching it bloom on my patio all Summer. This month, the green leaves turned PINK too! A gentle reminder that I need to urge all the ladies I love to take care of their Ta-Tas and do your monthly self exams. This is especially touching this year as two of my co-workers have recently been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

October is.....

High School Football

This week was SPIRIT week in our school district. Friday was homecoming and everyone was encouraged to wear our Thunderbolt team colors. Marley cheered in the Pep Rally and marched in the parade. Trey and I went to the Pep Rally and sat with Ella's class. We tried to win the Spirit Stick for Rolling Acres, but those crazy high school kids won again this year.

My little BOLTS are so adorable!

Marley's cheer squad-JV Bolts do a mount during half time.


This picture leaves my speechless. Those boys are in seventh grade! I don't like them looking at my cheerleader that way.



October is..........
the time to put the Pumpkins out.



Our family took advantage of the beautiful Fall weather and took a trip to our favorite pumpkin patch today. The Kehr family is selling pumpkins on Basehoar Road. Please stop by if you live locally and need pumpkins. Ella is good friends with their daughter, Ellie. We picked 5 pumpkins totaling 126 pounds! They look great in front of our house now. I will have to try to get a picture posted after we carve them. The girls are now hunting for jack-o-lantern templates on the web.

October is .....
my favorite.

Puppy Dog Eyes and Pouty Lip

Who can resist a face like this?

The face that melts all hearts.

Trey is 3 months old

and according to his sisters, "He is the cutest thing ever!"

I love my sister but..........

I really wish Ella would stop dressing me up in her clothes!

I just found this photo on my camera when I uploaded some pictures from the weekend. I have no idea when Ella did this to him. I don't think he was too happy about it.

ACE of CAKES, Jr. Edition

My girls and I all love the show Ace of Cakes on the Food Network.

So much so, that we once spent an entire school vacation day watching an Ace of Cakes Marathon. We could not pull ourselves away from the TV. We have six hours of the show recorded so we can watch it over and over again.

Duff is my Hero. He reminds me of a younger version of my own father who happens to work his skills in the kitchen creating cakes instead of in the flower shop creating floral masterpieces.

I do believe that Duff is the "Cake God.".

The god who inspired this............

WE MADE

The Cheeseburger Cake

Marley has been asking me to make this cake for three years. It is not one the Duff made on his program (his are much more creative than this), but rather one that Marley saw on the TV program Zoom on PBS when she was six. This kid has an incredible memory, she never forgets anything. When she asked again this weekend, I finally agreed to give it a try.

Much to my delight, it was far easier than I had imagined. I figured it would take us an entire day to finish. But it took far less then that. We baked the hamburger (brownie mix) on Friday night. And also made the cheese (melted Starburst), pickles and tomatoes (candy fruit slices).

Saturday morning we baked the bun (yellow cake) and created the lettuce (fruit by the foot). We put icing on each layer and assembled in no time. Marley topped it off with sesame seeds (Rice Krispies). We were finished by noon.

This allowed us to still watched the Penn State game and head out to the pool for a four hour swim.

The cake was enjoyed by our family and friends on Sunday when we returned home from the Hanover Chili Cookoff.

I am so grateful that both my daughters enjoy the culinary arts. It was a wonderful experience for me to be able to teach them and to show off my baking skills. I look forward to more time like this spent in the kitchen with my children.

"Triple Poo"

From the title of this post, I know you must be thinking that this story is going to be about Trey's latest diaper explosion. I must admit that I could tell a story or two in that area, but this will not be my subject of interest today. This is actually our first day of school blog.

Ella (age 7) is entering Mrs. Abrisch's second grade class and Marley (age 9) is entering 4th grade in Ms. Aldinger's class.

Ella was particularly excited about going back to school this year. She had picked out her outfit weeks ago but at the last minute re-thought her choice. She decided against the purple shirt/vest combo and beige denim jeans and went with the pink top and princess capris instead. After all, pink is her best color.

Marley was all set with her new rock star outfit from the Hannah Montana collection. You can't notice it here, but she used a gift certificate she received for her birthday to get a matching manicure.

Tuesday night before school started, there was so much to do. We opened all the new school supplies and packed the new backpacks and pencil cases. Prepared snacks and water bottles. Read the lunch menu. Then it was off to the bathroom for showers.

Marley was in and out fairly quickly, hurrying to get back downstairs to finish watching America's Got Talent.

Ella, however, was in the bathroom much longer. When she finally came and joined the rest of us in front of the TV, I asked her what she had been doing. She explained that she had brushed her teeth, used Smart Rinse, flossed, brushed again and then used the Smart Rinse again. I thought to myself she either wanted to have very clean teeth and fresh breathe for school or she is developing obsessive compulsive disorder.

I commented on how she was doing such a great job in getting ready for school and the extra amount of time she had been in the bathroom. She then responded with the announcement that she had also washed her entire body four times using every bottle of shower gel in the bathroom and she.....

"Triple Poo-ed".

Now we are all cracking up.
Brushing your teeth twice is one thing, excessive body washing another, but a

"triple poo!!!!"

C'mon.

How does anyone "triple poo?????"

Through our laughter, Ella explains that she "triple poo-ed and double condition-nerd" And that is why her hair was so soft and shiny!

SEE!

What else could it be?

Once we all finished laughing, I really did wonder if I should have her checked for OCD. But instead I chalked it up to first day of school excitement.

In the morning I made chocolate chip pancakes. And then we headed out for our walk to school. This is not only the first day of school but also the first day of my new exercise routine.

We made it to Ella's school first.

With Marley in a new building this year, this was the first time I was sending Ella off by herself. She doesn't have her big sister looming around the next corner to watch out for her anymore. I think she was a little bit nervous going through the door. I thought to myself that she suddenly looked very small going through that big door all alone.

Then we walked a few steps further to Marley's new school building. She admitted to being nervous and told me that she felt small. That was all soon forgotten when we quickly caught a glimpse of her good friends already waiting in the crowd.

Marley left me hanging in the street and ran off to be with her friends.

And before I headed off with Trey on my stroll around town, I stood there wondering if any of them had "triple poo-ed."

2 months old

I was ready. I was gonna put up a good fight. Yesterday Mom took me to that doctors office again. And she warned me that I would be getting more of those nasty shots. I wasn't going to take it laying down this time. I was gonna fight back. I was gonna punch that woman right in the nose.

But it didn't happen like that. The doctor came in and examined every part of me. Poked and squeezed. Shined bright lights in my eyes, ears and mouth.
Even had to press around on my cute little belly button.

So BIG! I weighed in at 10 pounds 8 ounces. Doc was full of all kinds of compliments. She sweet talked me and I let my guard down.
And I got my vaccinations. I am now protected from 6 different diseases. One was an oral elixir and the rest came in 2 different shots in my legs. And against all my best efforts, I took them laying down. And then I screamed!

And then I passed out for three hours.

And then Daddy came home and felt real sorry for me. We snuggled all night.

I've been doing so well in the growing department this month.

I don't understand why they put me through this torture.

It is SO tough to be the baby!

Peace for Patchie

May 31,1996- August 11,2009

She came into my life the night before my wedding. Found in my parents back yard along with 4 siblings. Patchie had an eye infection which led my sister and I to take her to the vet to get fixed up. She became our pet. We felt so sorry for the one-eyed cat. This is how she got her name. The eye healed and she saw many bright and beautiful years on this earth. Many changes have happened in my life over these years. She was apart of all of it. Three homes and three kids later, I have so many wonderful memories of times spent with Patchie.

She was a good little, bad little kitty. Good in that she always made me smile, was affectionate and adorable. She wanted to be with people. To sit with them and to be petted. She did not want to be held. And she definately did not want to be kissed. She was bad in that she always managed to find herself in trouble. She ran uncontrolably through the house, swung from the curtains, got stuck in the drop ceiling where we listened to her cry all night long; unable to find her way back down. She was a great escape artist and manage to find her way outdoors to eat grass. Only to come back inside and vomit. She chewed up my plants and never did master the correct way to use the liter box.

After thirteen years, she started to slow down in life. Today we chose to end her pain and suffering. We said good-bye to our dear sweet Patchie. Tonight she sleeps in God's bed. At his feet she looks down on our house and knows that we loved her.

Rest in Peace my Patchie-Girl.

Quick Update

Don't I look tired? I am not sleeping very much at night. If you think I look exhausted, you should see my mom.

More girls! Here I am with my sisters and my cousin Hannah who is visiting from Texas.

One month check up

Here I am nice and happy before my shot.

I weighed 8lbs 10oz.,

gaining just over one pound since my one week check up.

I would write more, but I am too tired to think of what to say.

Favorite Spot

Today I am three weeks old! My mom spent the morning holding me on the bathroom scale. We must have stepped on and off that thing a dozen times. She is now convinced that I have regained my birth weight and am close to weighing 8lbs 6 oz again.

In the three weeks that I have been here, I have spent a lot of time trying out different baby furniture. I have a crib, which I like. I will sleep there at night and be fairly happy. I have a bassinet which is okay too. I have a Boppy, which I don't like as much. I will only lay in it for a few minutes. Mom only puts me in here when I am awake. After a few minutes, I holler for someone to pick me up.

I also have a bouncy seat which I do not really like. I will only tolerate it for a short time. Here I am sitting nicely so I can get my picture taken with my sisters and cousins, Mya and Adam. I definitely do not like to have the vibrating feature turned on when I am in this thing. That just makes me mad. Dad got out my swing a few days ago and I like that much better than the bouncy seat. We have also been going for stroller rides almost every day. I do kind of like to ride in that too.

But what I have discovered over the course of the past three weeks is that this is my favorite spot in the house. Laying on my big sister, Marley.

Marley has the most comfortable belly in the house. I once took a two hour nap right in this spot. She is so good to me. She has already learned what my different cries mean. She knows when I need picked up, when I need my pacifier and when it is time to hand my over to Mom so I can be fed. It is so awesome to have someone in the house who understands me so well.

4th of July

Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July.

The Bradners will be taking it easy this weekend. Mostly hanging out around the house. We plan to have a BBQ on the patio, build a fire in the pit and make some s'mores.

Most importantly, we will be watching in awe at our newest little firecracker.

Thank you, Diane, for making Trey this beautiful blanket and for the gift of the outfit. It is a very special heartfelt gift we will always treasure.