Category Archives: Brady

Brady’s First Day of Pre-School

Posted in Brady, Education, Family, Projects/DIY by

Today was Brady’s first day of 3 year old Pre-School. This year he will go Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9:15-1:15. He was so excited about playing with new friends and seeing his teacher, “Miss Cwad-yah” (Miss Claudia.) He specifically requested a special lunch for his lunch box…a bologna sandwich, grapes, and a muffin (a cupcake.) He couldn’t wait to wear his new Gator backpack and his “Vroom Vroom” shirt. I love that he was so brave and ready to take on a new school year!

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Breakfast with Nolan on the 1st day of school

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A little first day gift for “Miss Cwad-yah.”

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His first lunch box!!

I couldn’t help but think how cool it was that over 11 years ago Chris and I met at UF and now, here we are with a 3 year old going to school with his Gator backpack and an Orange and Blue cupcake in his lunchbox!!!

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Nolan fit right in…and couldn’t quite understand why he couldn’t stay and play!

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Had to sneak one picture after we walked away!

Yay for our big boy!

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B-Man is Three!

Posted in Brady, Family by

Our big man, my first love, is 3. Three is the beginning of “big boy” world- no more diapers, constantly asking “why?”, off to real pre-school, and so much more. I just wanted to take the time to write down some memories of my sweet lil’ guy so I’ll always remember him at this age.

Brady loves all things golf. Putting around at Dick’s Sporting Goods with daddy is about the best thing in the world.

His favorite foods are hot dogs, popcorn, and fruit (all of which he requested for his birthday party.)

He loves Disney Junior and would watch Mickey Mouse all hours of the day…if I let him.

He’s fearless around water. Since he was a baby he has always wanted to dunk his head under and doesn’t understand why we won’t let him go to the deep end of a pool.

He loves music. From singing nursery rhymes, to jamming out to Disney songs, to our nightly dance parties with the “Happy” song, the kid just loves music.

He always wants to do things himself. He’s stubborn, short tempered, and easily frustrated, and always refuses help when trying to accomplish a task. (Gets those traits from daddy.)

He’s checked out almost every book about trains that the library has. Airplanes and tractors are pretty cool too, but trains are where it’s at.

He’s totally daddy’s sidekick. When it’s time to mow the yard, he’s got his bubble mower right there. When Chris has to fix something, Brady has his tools too. If daddy gets the motorcycle out, he’s right there waiting to honk the horn.

He loves his little brother so much. They are absolutely best friends. {Melts this momma’s heart.}

He pronounces his own name as Brady Chri-a-pher Miff (Brady Christopher Smith)

He still snuggles with mommy- gives hugs, plays with my hair, and asks for kisses on his “boo boos.”

Brady has such a sweet, soulful disposition. He studies people and is always thinking. He’s tender hearted and a little praise goes a long way. One of my favorite things he says is, “I make you happy!” when he does something that makes us smile.

Happy Birthday Brady-Boo. You make us so, so, happy.

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Drop a Beet!

Posted in Brady, Education, Family, Projects/DIY by

Recently, I bought a whole bunch of beets for a recipe that Brady and I made for Food Revolution Day. I’ve never been a beet girl, per se, but they were pretty tasty in the Rainbow Salad Wrap we made. Nonetheless, we had a whole lot of leftover beets. I wasn’t sure what to do with them, but after seeing how amazingly vibrant and purplely-red the juice was, I thought, this would make a fabulous paint color!

I sliced the beets in different directions so they would all have a different shape. Then, we went outside and used the beet chunks like big stamps. This was easy, and not nearly as messy as I would have anticipated. If you ever have a leftover beet or happen to find them at a farmer’s market for a really cheap price, give this activity a try with your little one!

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Daddy-Brady Day

Posted in Brady, Family by

I just wanted to do a quick post about the importance of giving our little ones some one on one time. It’s hard to carve out a whole day dedicated to spending time with your little one when you have more than one kiddo, have errands to run, house projects to work on, are stuck inside for endless snow days…you get the point. Obviously we try every day to give our kids some special attention, but it’s rare to give one of our boys an entire day of undivided attention, but that’s what Chris did on Saturday! Nolan and I stayed back and ran errands and played at the house while Chris and Brady had a daddy/big boy date. Chris said it was a blast to hang out with just B-Man and was shocked at how much Brady had to talk about when they went out to eat and went to Bass Pro Shop to look at “big boy toys” and watch the fish. They also stopped for ice cream and went to see a live “Dinosaur Train” show at Hershey Theater. Brady had so much fun!!! (So much that he completely passed out on the way home with his toy dinosaurs in hand.) I can’t wait for my turn for a mommy/Brady date, but I have to admit, it was pretty sweet to have a whole day of snuggles with just me and Nolan.

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Brady in the Kitchen!

Posted in Brady, Kids Cook Monday by

Ever have those days where you are scrambling to find something, ANYTHING, to feed your family?! Usually I’m a big weekly meal planner, but I haven’t gotten the hang of lunch planning. Today was one of those days where I did some creative “winging it.” Let’s just say, I’m thankful for grocery store BOGO’s…without which today’s lunch would not have been possible. Seriously, always stock up on these items; bagels, shredded cheese, and spaghetti sauce. Thanks to these ingredients, bagel pizzas were born!

This is not only an easy meal to prepare, but an easy one to get a toddler involved in. Brady was such a cute little “helper” today. He loved sprinkling his bagel with cheese…and eating cheese. He carefully put on his toppings…and then picked the toppings off and ate them. It was adorable and just kinda fun having him the in kitchen with me. Let’s just say, make sure your little one washes their hands before getting involved in the food prep because they’re going to end up touching EVERYTHING!

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The great thing about this meal is that you can top it with whatever you have on hand- White sauce, red sauce, mushrooms, green peppers…or in our case, basil, onions, and black olives. It’s as healthy as pizza can get; a whole wheat bagel and veggies! We made a little side salad to go with our pizzas (Brady loves salad) and we were good to go. Not only was it cheaper than ordering a pizza, but I also got to cook with the cutest sous chef around!