The Look

Maddox gives us this look ALL the time. Either he's smiling or he's giving us 'the eyebrow'. He got this look from Gavin. I see it on Gavin's face at LEAST once a day when I say something crazy. (happens pretty often apparently). It just cracks me up with the ONE eyebrow furrowed. We've been trying to capture his look on camera but he's so dang quick. But finally, i caught it! ;-)

From May2009

Zoo day!

yesterday we headed out to the FW Zoo. It was half price wednesday with really nice weather. We met up with our friends Jennifer, Jeff and Jackson and had a blast!

Here's Mason all ready for the zoo!!

From May2009

Maddox stayed at home with Daddy so I wouldn't have to be one of those moms with an infant strapped to my chest with a bottle sticking out while running after a toddler. (Thanks Daddy!) I was also worried about Maddox being in the sun too long, so it was best for him to stay home in the nice a/c. SO we took the double stroller and the boys loved it that they could ride side by side and get out easily too.

From May2009

Lets GO already says Jackson!

From May2009

Jackson & his Mommy & Daddy

From May2009

BOY did these 2 enjoy climbing on the fences all day!

From May2009

Feeding the parakeets. Mason decided to feed his to the pond. Jackson decided to snack on his birdseed stick.

From May2009

Jennifer and Jackson feedin' the birds

From May2009

This little guy thought we were the exhibit instead.

From May2009

Checking out the lizards

From May2009

Pretty lizard. He was probably thinking all those little toddler fingers look like a tasty snack

From May2009

What you can't see in this picture is the truck Jackson is playing with. Mason brought 2, 1 for him and 1 for Jackson. They never put them down all day. You'd think Jackson would be fascinated with the swimming turtle. not so much. moreso the truck had a road to ride on!

From May2009

CHecking out the tortoise eating his lunch.

From May2009

Must be a tasty salad!

From May2009

Mason and jackson walked a TON on the way back from the kids area to the front of the zoo. We were a bit sweaty and smelled like Zoo animals for sure! But we definitely had fun! Can't wait to go again and ride the train!

From May2009

I see you

Tonight was our last biblestudy /lifegroup for the semester. We have amazing friends and an awesome support group we've found in our lifegroup, we're SO blessed to be apart of this group and to see how it's grown in the past 2 years!
Monday nights Dee comes over to watch Mason. they dance along to dancing with the stars, take a bath and eat ice cream before bed. We figured we wouldn't bog Dee down with both kids just yet, so Maddox either goes to Amy's house for the evening, or he goes to the church nursery.
Tonight he went to the church nursery, and Gavin ran to the church to pick him up and came back to Martin & Marsha's house with Maddox so we could socialize for a few minutes before heading home after group. Of course everyone wants to hold him since he was awake- so he's making eyes at everyone and coo-ing and smiling. I think all the faces became a blur to him after a while, he just had this look on his face like, 'Now who the heck are you? I don't recognize you. But if you smile, then okay, I'll smile too!"
At one point I was standing next to Corlia who was holding Maddox. Maddox heard my voice and turns his head and the look on his face just said it all, "ooooh MOMMA there you ARE!" and just got the most love drunken silly grin on his face and just had a huge sigh of relief. I just love to see that look of recognition in his eyes when he sees me first thing in the mornings and he pumps his legs in excitement and starts tellng me stories in that baby talk. God bless that unconditional love and the comfort it brings. :-)

End of School

This week is Mason's last week of school for the year. I am a mean mommy and stick my kid in summer school. Hey, I'm a workin' mom too. So I'm not TOO sad about that. Last year Mason had great teachers in the toddler room. I wasn't so sure we could get as great teachers this year. Of course we DID. Ms Kari, Ms Tina & Ms Barbara are AWESOME and am sad that they don't get to move on with the kids. Ms Kari is retiring this year which is so unfortunate because our preschool is losing an AMAZING teacher. The other day Mason wore a shirt that says, "My dad has super powers" I thought, hmmm it should have Ms Kari has super powers, because she really does. She has a way with our kids that just makes sense to them, but she's very authoritative. Maybe they just listen to her because she's not MOM. who knows! She's just good!

The class had their little program (songs) last thursday and Friday, so of course I attended both days. Mason sat with the kids on thursday and just really stared at me. Friday he didn't want to have ANYTHING to do with the songs. (of course that's the day Daddy came w/his camera.)

This is what Mason wanted to do the whole 10 minutes of the class singing their songs.

From May2009

This is Jackson, Mason's best bud at school. Jackson is NOT a morning person and doesnt like music time in the mornings. HOWEVER, stick his daddy in the room and make it after NAP time, and you've got yourself a DIFFERENT KIDDO! he was so funny with his little dancing to their songs. Poor Jackson's daddy had to sit in the little kids chairs with them the whole time. (the whole 10-15 minutes) haha! Jackson is such an animated kid, he's so funny!

From May2009

The next 2 pictures is of Brooke & Presley (the twins) i ADORE these girls. They are so cute and quirky. Brooke Loves babies. baby dolls, baby blankets, baby bottles, baby boppies (pacifiers). The funny thing is when she carries around a babydoll, its not just one, its 2! which completely makes sense- she has a twin so she's used to 2 of everything! Presley is quiet and very inquisitive (i think she's just thinking thru her plan of action before making the trouble! LOL) and SO curious of baby Maddox. She just loves to stand there and watch him.

MIss Brooke- i LOVE her curls. sometimes she reminds me of a Dr Seuss character with her cute hair done up!

From May2009

Presley has gorgous blue eyes and that just stand out from her dark pigtails!

From May2009

And this little Man just gets their attention SO quick! The ladies SURE love MADDOX!

From May2009

So back to the big kids.....Mason is a croc hunter. no joke. Brooke and Presley love taking their shoes off, which happen to be brightly colored crocs with jewelry. Mason takes this chance to wear them himself! I think the girls have now learned to keep their shoes on and Mason thinks its a fun game to steal their shoes!

Here's Mason teasing "Pressy" about taking her shoes. OH, and look I'm even in the picture. CAN you believe it? Sorry but you wont be seeing anymore of me in pictures until I'm a little more further postpartum and hopefully carrying around LESS baby weight too!

From May2009

Notice the hand trying to steal Presley's shoe again! I finally ordered Mason some bright red crocs last week- hopefully they're here SOON!

From May2009

Mason and his 'after nap hair' with his pink balloon. Pink is his color choice lately. I blame the pink overnight diapers. oh well its a phase and soon he'll be onto purple I'm sure!

From May2009

I really really wanted a picture of the 4 kiddos and Ms Kari together, but sadly it didn't happen. Mason was done with pictures and decided he'd rather meltdown than take a picture. But again, Ms Kari to the rescue, she finally snapped him out of it!

Weekend Wrap up

I'm never sure how to really fill these 'weekend wrap ups' out. I read them on Friends' blogs all the time. However, we work half of 'real' weekends, and our days off are generally Sundays & Mondays..so I might start filling these out towards Tuesdays!

Worst part of the weekend: Mason having a meltdown AT school on friday after school. I wanted a picture of him, his teacher Ms. Kari and his 3 friends. He wasn't having any of it and major meltdown occurred. I can normally snap him out of tantrums pretty quick, but these meltdowns he's been having lately are a whole different level. they've been several times a week- guess it's a 2 year old thing? not sure, but he's been great all weekend since then!

Best part of the weekend: getting to sleep IN each morning. Mason's been sleeping in late (only if he ends up in our bed) and Maddox is a sleeper thankfully ;)

Most random part of the weekend: A 3.3 earthquake centered about 5 miles from here (??????) my thoughts exactly.

People I saw this weekend: Gavin, mason, maddox, Dee, chris, nana & pa pop, Tiffany, neighbors & clients

Something I wished I did this weekend that I didn't get around to doing: 90% of the things to get done on my list...laundry, packing away newborn clothes, reorganizing masons closet, gathering some items that we can do without for a family in need at church

Things that I am looking forward to this week: a slower week. haha is that really possible? i fill those up fast. Umm...a possible playdate with Jennifer & Jackson at the Zoo on wednesday morning, WHILE my house gets cleaned!

Things that I am not looking forward to this week: tons of computer work to do, masons last week of school with his awesome teachers.

Interpretation

Mason LOVES to draw, paint, color, etc. A month ago or so, I bought him an art easel from Ikea and he's just been loving it since. He was doing some interesting drawings today, so I had to ask what they were. I'm amazed at how his 'drawings' have evolved over the past week now!

This is what his normal drawings looked like a week ago. "Circle Circle" as he calls it.

From May2009

Drawing #1
The yellow on the bottom left hand side, he said is 'Papaw's house' (he went to papaw's house today). The blue in the top right corner is 'big church'. and the figure in the middle is wearing an umbrella as he said. (I'm not quite sure about that one!) but not bad, right?

From May2009

Drawing #2
I asked Mason if this was a blue sun, he said, "No, blue SPIDER!" (They're learning about bugs at school)

From May2009

Drawing #3
In this one he's drawn 2 people, (a mommy, but not Mason's mommy he said), another spider and a 'Buff-ay" (Butterfly)

From May2009

Drawing #4
Now this one slightly concerns me. I asked what it was, He said "Fall down" (lately he has a fear of falling down, falling off his changing table, a chair, anything that has some height, he's never been dropped, so not sure why!) It sort of depicts a crime scene to me (haha, NO he's not allowed to watch ANYTHING like that or remotely violent, we're extremely protective over him & what he watches on tv) so maybe his stick figure just fell down and got a boo boo?

From May2009

I wasn't expecting my 2 year old to already graduate from scribles into drawings that might depict something quite yet! I have to say- we're 2 proud parents considering our artistic skills, we plan to just FEED the imagination and any creative skills in our boys!

A Delicate Day

Today was a sad day, I went to the funeral of a very close friend's mom. My good friend Erin lost her Mom last Thursday. Right before Mother's Day. Right before a trip scheduled to Italy. Just so sad, and unexpected. My heart goes out to her and her sister, and Dad. I only hoped that none of my friends would lose their Mothers (or any parent for that matter) at a young age. I was kind of hoping I'd be the only one in that club (along with my sister and brother) amongst my friends. I just hoped that none of my friends have to go thru that pain. Unfortunately Erin joined my club, but she knows she has an extremely supportive friend in me.

Just the reminder of how delicate life can be made me hug my husband a little bit longer tonight, stay on the phone with my sister and chat about nothings longer than normal, give Mason a few more kisses, hug Maddox a little tighter, spent a few extra minutes in prayer, sat for a while and listen to Mason's chatterings and Maddox's coo-ings, put away my computer work for a while and just BE. Thanked God for his graces, my friends and wonderful family. Life is too delicate to not appreiate those things.

Celebrating my Mom

Feb 19th is a hard day for me, the day my mom passed away. That's a hard day to smile on every year.
April 30th is my mom's birthday- and it's a bittersweet day. I think about her life, but still cry I don't get to celebrate her day with her.

Mother's day seems to be a different story. My first Mother's day without her was very hard, but I was pregnant with Mason so it did make it a little easier so to speak. This year I've been able to smile, remember and celebrate my Mom because she was my Mom. She was the most amazing woman I knew and still today she holds that title. The list goes on and on why I think she was such an amazing woman, but most of all she taught me how to be a Mom.

From favs

She taught me how to laugh at myself. on a daily basis.

Thanks to her, I love food- and she taught me how to be creative with it.

My mom showed me how to embrace my individuality, and how to become a leader.

I owe my love for all crafts and things creative to her, she saw that creativity in me and watered it to grow. I owe my talents and gifts to God.

She showed me how to appreciate my board straight hair that didn't frizz in humidity like hers

She taught me patience. and that patience pays off when it's revenge on your older sister. ;-)

She gave me my sense of adventure and likeness for spontaneous fun. She loved all things outdoors, camping, hiking, exploring... (i can't tell you how many times my mom took us camping as kids, don't ever remember Dad taking us (sorry dad!) )

She attempted to teach me how to drive stick shift. And I still remember.

She fed my love for travel, and she was bitten with the same bug.

She told me the importance of finding a friend in my sister. That finally made sense after she passed away, but I know how happy she is for her girls to be best friends.

She taught me that strength isn't in your muscles.

More than anything, I thank her for the unshakable faith she instilled in me. My faith is what drives me through life.

Now being a Mom myself, the things I take most from her that I will pass on to my children are:
1. Pray for your children everyday. (and spouse too!)
2. She told me she loved me everyday and how proud she was of me. I can't express the impact that made on me.
3. Make decisions with self assurance. Life is too short for regrets.


TO sum it up. MY MOM ROCKED!

Mom taking us on one of those 'adventures' even as adults. Summer 2003- our last trip to Payson, AZ to see Grandma before she passed away. You can only do so much shopping in a small town, so she got creative and a bit spontaneous. Note to self: keep good tennis shoes in the car when traveling. Hiking 3.5 miles into a ravine and back up in FLIP FLOPS makes for VERY sore feet & muscles.

From favs

I truly believe that the reason God has Blessed me with boys is because the relationship between my Mom, sister and I can't be compared.
Hyde Park in London Easter 2003

From favs

Making a memory together while Traveling in Australia

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Losing my mind

okay maybe I already have done that.
Twice in the past 2 days, I've opened the freezer door. Once I found the pepper shaker in the freezer. 2nd time i found an onion. I know I put both there. oops.
in my defense I think I was on the phone once.

On a side note- maybe putting an onion in the freezer isn't such a bad idea. maybe it won't make me cry when I chop it!

Quackin' around

Remember our duck friend? Well normally I'd have a link to my previous post, but I'm bad and don't tag any of my blog posts, so it's only my fault i guess that I can't find my previous post.
I think it was last year or maybe even 2007 that we had a momma duck and babies come in our yard/pool. they were cute but we were concerned for their safety with the pool skimmers and all since the babies couldn't get OUT of the pool on their own. Momma is back this year, but no sign of any babies which is a good thing. We know she has some somewhere, probably the house behind us (pretty sure that's where she hatched them last time) but Gavin blocked off any holes so the babies can't come into our yard.
Yes we're mean. No babies in our backyard. We don't like dead baby animals in our pool. Gavin fished out 2 dead bunnies a few weeks back. Momma doesn't like dead babies! Momma duck seems to be enjoying a nice quiet swim by herself though, I would too with 10+ kids!