Soccer: in pictures

Mason started the season off with a bang! Four goals just the first game! And while he still loved his snack at the end, he really enjoyed playing too! Score!

Fun team (kids and parents)+ great coach + fabulous cheerleaders= 1 awesome season

Who needs pom poms when you have umbrellas?!

5 days

five days out of seven this is how Mason spent his afternoons last week. Poor little man. I am crossing my fingers that we are at the tail end of this nasty bug.

Ten

1. My baby is growing way too fast. These pictures are from several weeks ago. She's only gotten bigger. She now wears that dress as a shirt. (Thanks to my wonderful sis-in-laws who keep her so well dressed!)

2. I wish she could stay little for longer. She's learning and growing. I love to see her excitement and determination, but my arms ache at the thought of being empty. I know that's down the road a bit. Right? But life really does move so quickly.

3. Brittain, in her own words, is "so glad to have me". She has more personality crammed into her petite little body than you would imagine possible. I am so glad to have her too!

4.I'm thinking about printing this one on canvas. It is so Brittain:

5. Mason started soccer. He loves it! So I am an official soccer Mom. And I love it too! (Loved this post!)Also, I'm co-coaching his team and it is such a blast.

6.

7. Avery is not loving second grade. "Eh, it's fine." Recess has been nearly non-existent, filled instead with laps around the track until her class can learn to be quiet while the teacher is talking. Plus, her table hasn't earned Popsicles one. single. time. Life is rough.

8. She really enjoyed doing her North Carolina Geography project though:

9. I took the kids to the Health Adventure last week. The first exhibit had a chair of the spinning variety. When you pull your arms and legs in it spins faster, then extend them to slow down. I knew better. I should have known better. But Avery looked like she was having so much fun and she gets motion sick too. So I tried it. I was so SICK! Literally. Me and all four of the babes made a mad dash for the restrooms and crammed inside. I felt a little better afterwards, enough so that I could drag myself from one exhibit to the next and fall promptly into a non-spinning chair. It was super lame. And then Brittain had an accident. Of the poo variety. In her big girl underwear. Not good for an already weak stomach. Somehow we managed to clean that mess up and stayed 'til closing time. Some days are like that. No pictures for this one. You're welcome.

10. And some days are like this:
Whispers and giggles while little surprises are thought up and carried out. Melt my heart.

A Mason Post

Back before the dog days of summer were gone, Avery, Mason, and I were reading books on the deck. The kids were taking turns answering questions. The rhyming page was a piece of cake. So was the counting. Then we came to the "opposites" page, illustrated of course. Avery was first. I said up. She said down. Next came hot and cold. I said hot. Pause. "Mason, your turn." Nothing. Pointing this time, to the picture of fire, I said hot. "Ice cream," he hollered, proud as punch. It was in fact a picture of an ice cream cone. E for effort. Guess we'll be working on opposites next.

Hard at work, practicing letters.

We were strolling downtown one day near Pritchard Park. There was a sign that read,"Please do not feed the birds. It will cause a rodent infestation." That very day I saw squirrels dipping in to the bird feeder on our deck for the first time. Squirrels kind of trip me out. Mason had a great solution. "Let's make a stop sign for the squirrels!" Awesome. If they can read the sign maybe they can help Mason learn his opposites too!



Mason had a birthday. (See how super excited he is that he got a granola bar for his birthday?!) He's four. He can do all kinds of things now. His new talents, according to him, include, but are not limited to:
-swallowing broccoli without plugging his nose
-eating his bread crust
-peeing standing up (he's especially proud of this one. His dad might be too- he was afraid I had created a "sitter")
-jumping on one foot
-skipping

That's a lot to accomplish overnight.That's how it seemed to happen. I'm learning that's the way it is with kids.

Today was Mason's 4 year checkup. I had to fill out a questionnaire to track his skills. One section had questions for him and I had to write down his response. The first question read, "What do you do when you are hungry?" Then it listed appropriate answers, have a snack, eat something... Mason's response, "Say a prayer." So cute. Question number two, "What do you do if you are tired?" He answered with, "Read a story." He has the routine down.


Is this "summer" or what? This picture cracks me up every time I see it.


Mason- with your freckled nose and sparkling eyes, just when I think it's impossible to love you anymore you prove me wrong again and again. I'm so glad you're my boy!

Teamwork is...

Avery plugging Mason's nose while he attempts to swallow cauliflower.
(that his mean Mom made him eat for dinner.)

A Simple Wish

My three year old son wants a Nutcracker for Christmas. I have no idea why. He asked for a Nutcracker for his birthday actually but they are a little hard to find. In July! I thought surely he'd forget about it and move on to more, uhh, exciting things, but every time I ask him what he wants his face lights up and he replies, "a Nutcracker. And some candy."
So Santa, if you're reading this...

(I sure hope he's not disappointed. Because really, what can you do with a nutcracker? It's hard to find one these days that actually cracks nuts.)

In other news, we got dumped on yesterday. 11 inches of snow. (It's been 16 years since they've seen that much snow in these parts.) Crazy!
Avery and Mason loved it. Brittain stood in the driveway crying, "scary, scary." And while it's fun for a day or two, it is definitely not something I miss from back home!

boo!

May your Halloween be as spooky as what lurks in the depths of my refrigerator.
Mwaahaahaa ha ha...

You can see my little spooks here. (Sorry for linking. The pictures posted better bigger.)

"D" is for Doughnuts!

Last Wednesday was a teacher's workday. Which presented the perfect opportunity to give in to my craving (can you call them cravings if you want them just as badly when you're not pregnant?) for Krispy Kremes. I know all that stuff about, "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" and all that jazz, but really, I can't think of a better way to have started the day. Especially considering how the rest of the day went.
I'm in love with these pictures. And also, looking at them makes me want another donut. (Doughnut?)









When can we do it again?!

I never said I was a fast learner

Note to self:

Do not send 3 yr. old child to room for time out.

If you must, please check the premises for any scissors, child variety included, that may be stashed in the vicinity.



Failure to do so may result in altered jeans (aka holes in the knees.) As you may remember from the two previous incidents.

Thank you for your attention to this (less than minor) detail.

3 and counting...

I'm quickly remembering that age three is not a favorite of mine. So much harder than two. It's the age when naps no longer make a regular appearance whether needed or not. (And believe me, they are needed!) The age where indecision and independence collide.

But it's not all bad. I still get glimpses of my favorite little guy. And he slows down enough for a cuddle now and then.

We celebrated Mason's birthday first with the Blau side and the next week at my parents. My grandparents came over as well so I told Mason to tell them how old he was. "I'm four," he answered confidently. I reminded him he was actually only three. "We just had your birthday, remember you turned three?"

His response, "But, I've already been that." He figured he turned 3 the week before, it only made sense that now, since he was celebrating again, he must be 4.

I can't imagine my life without you in it, Mason. One of your favorite things to do is make people laugh and you are very successful at that. You are a such a sweet brother. I love you like crazy little man!

Quick story:

For months Mason would say his prayers and pray for Jesus to come to our house. One day we'd pulled into the church parking lot and I was talking to him about which friends he might see in nursery... Van, Jared, Lily. He interrupted, "And Jesus." The conversation took a turn when he said, "Look, see his car!" I looked to where he was pointing and saw Brother Jevne, with his brown hair falling below his ears, step out of his car. It was so sweet and funny at the same time.

So I don't forget

(and also, so I can refrain from knocking heads together. It's been that kind of a week), I wanted to jot down a few things that I love right now.

-the way Mason pronounces his "r"'s like "l"'s and now we all call Brittain, "Blittain".

-the way Brittain covers her ears when we play peek-a-boo and I say "Where's Brittain?"

-the way Avery's face lights up when she makes me laugh.

-the way Avery makes me breakfast almost every Sunday and how she discovered the heat vent can double as a toaster. (Yum.)

-the way Mason says,"Mom, I want to hold you", when he needs some extra lovin'.

-the way Brittain comes running every time the washer is on spin cycle and she'll lean her head against it and smile. Or the way she appears out of nowhere when I open the dishwasher so she can (climb up on the door and jump up and down) help.

-I never want to forget the way I whisper, "I love my baby" in Brittain's ear and she smiles and then leans in close to hear it again.

-the way Avery is so helpful with her brother and sister and how she can make Mason gut-laugh-giggle.

-the way Brittain comes over to give me a hug or lay her head on me for second and is off playing again.

-the way every time Mason sees me putting on makeup he asks if we're going to church. Really, I need to get "ready" more often. Or how he tells me every time I really am getting ready for church that I look beautiful or "like a princess". This morning he told Brittain she looked wonderful.

-the way Avery and Mason will snuggle up in a twin size bed and dream the night away together. Only after much whispering, giggles, and more stories.

There. So now I can remember. And I don't even want to bang their heads together anymore. Two birds. One stone.

Gap teeth and little rewards (thankyou blogher for title)

I just wanted to give an update from the last entry. Now, where to start?


Avery lost her tooth on Sunday!




So we ran outside for a picture to blog. And then we sat down for lunch and her other wiggly tooth was all over the place. She ran to the bathroom and came back with a bigger gap than I had remembered.



She had lost another tooth! Only this one was really lost.

Not just from it's home inside her mouth. But actually, truly (gulp),lost.

I don't do the whole wiggly, bloody, teeth losing thing very well as it is and now her tooth was actually missing? I retraced her steps from bathroom to bathroom frantically scanning the floor with my eyes, bending occasionally to pick up what I thought would save the day but,upon closer examination, found instead a dried cheese stick crumb and then later a piece of a cracker. Avery was hysterical at this point and I was praying that Brittain, aka she-who-eats-everything-off-the-floor, would not find the tooth first. Uuugh! We finally surrendered to the fact that the tooth was never going to be found. I tell myself that it got flushed down the toilet with some of the toilet paper she had stuffed in the gap. (I really do not want to stumble across that tooth in the future.) But how to calm Avery down? Then my brilliant husband came up with the idea of printing the picture where only one tooth was missing so the tooth fairy could clearly see that she had lost not one but two teeth. He convinced her it would work. It did.



Now on to my other update. Knock on wood. Mason has been accident free for 2 days. That in itself is a miracle. But more than that, he has told me every single time he's needed to use the bathroom. Every single time, folks. What worked? We revamped his reward program. It was as follows:
pee= sticker
poo= chocolate (matchbox car when available)
The new and improved program:
pee= chocolate
poo= chocolate
zero accidents= 1 matchbox car per day.
It has been working like a charm.

Does that make me a bad mother offering my kid a small piece of chocolate every time he uses the bathroom? Maybe. Am I on my hands and knees cleaning up a puddle of pee? Nope. Can I live with that? Definately!
I realize it's only been 2 days but on the other hand, IT'S BEEN TWO DAYS!!! (Hope posting this doesn't jinx us somehow.)

Good night!

Post Edit: Can I just tell you what a dope I can be? While doing my nightly blog reading I noticed that one of the blogs on Blogher (see my left hand sidebar) rotation was titled "Gap teeth and little rewards". I felt compelled to check it out because I am living a parallel life with all the title suggested. So imagine the "duh" smile it brought to my face when I clicked the link and was brought back to my very own blog. Go figure. (And I really like that title Blogher. Thankyou.)

More pictures. Really?

I think this may be one of my favorite ages. Smiles, cuddles, unconditional love, sleeping through the night (most of the time). I love watching Brittain explore and just delight in simple things.

I know I've been posting pics of the kiddos like crazy but we've been cooped up. Writing hurts my brain. Photography is therapeutic.

There are more pictures of Brittain here. Some of my favorite to date. If you're bored.

And now for a totally unrelated tidbit. I know I've posted before how crazy Sunday mornings tend to be. But I do love Sundays. Here are a couple of reasons why. First, every time I get ready for church Mason says, "Mom, you're beautiful." or "You look like a princess" albeit a little incredulously, but still, so sweet! And lately Avery has taken it upon herself to make my breakfast. String cheese, an apple, or occasionally hard-to-swallow-toasted-on-the-floor-heater bread (I eat it anyway, even though I know where it's been.) She can be such a sweetheart. It really gets the Sabbath day off to a good start. Last Sunday Ryan didn't have early morning meetings so he was home and Avery made breakfast for both of us. Ryan told her it was Fast Sunday so he couldn't have any. A little later she asked why I wasn't eating my breakfast. I told her again it was Fast Sunday so I wasn't eating. She got wide eyed and asked, "How fast is it going to go?" Honey, not fast enough. Guess we need to explain that in a little more detail.

Light Weight

Brittain is small for her age. She is barely at the 3% curve, at least for her weight. She has 3 more pounds to go before I can turn her forward facing in her car seat. She can easily put away more than her older brother and sister at meal time. I don't know what the deal is. Maybe the fact that she has a minimum of 4 poopy diapers a day has something to do with it. Is that normal?
My 6 month old nephew? He's not so little. He's not HUGE, but he easily outweighs Brittain who is 8 months his senior. Sadly, I haven't even met Braxton in real life. My cute sis-in-law Beckii thought it would be fun to compare their size and came up with the laundry basket idea. You can see her cutie pie here.
This turned out to be much more fun (and difficult) than I ever imagined, as Brittain was much more interested in standing and pushing the laundry basket rather than sitting in it. This girl must be starving. At least that might explain why she was eating blue and green watercolor pencils as I went to fetch the laundry basket.

Mason thought it looked like great fun too.

I love this one of them doing the exact same thing. The best part? They were entertained for the next thirty-something minutes.

Because he can

Mason picked his own outfit today. Right down to the shorts he donned on his head. Because he's a bunny. Of course.



I think he's more of a monkey. Either way, this kid makes me smile!

Laffy Taffy Worthy?

You decide.

Jokes in these parts have evolved. It used to be the "knock knocks" that had us laughing. This is the type of comedy that has us in stitches of late:

me: "Why did the horse go to the mall?"
answer: "To get her neigh-ls done." Get it? (I totally made that up.)

Avery followed with: "Why did the horse go downstairs?" (We keep the tools and such in the basement.)
answer: "To find some neigh-ls." Pretty funny.

But this one takes the cake...
Mason: "Why did the horse go downstairs?"
answer: "To get the ta- weezers (nieghs the word tweezers, like a horse.) You're on your own with this one. (I'll admit it had us laughing the hardest.)

I feel like a new me. I seriously hibernate during the winter. Thankfully it's not very long in these parts. Now that the sun is smiling, and the birds are singing I have a skip in my step. The other day I took Mason and Brittain to Fun Depot, they have this great soft play area that is usually jam-packed with little bodies. We had that place to ourselves for more than an hour. Mason was afraid to go down the slides himself. He usually hangs with Avery but since she was at school he convinced me to go down a couple of times. It was so much fun! Brittain laughed almost the entire time we were there. I was so bummed I didn't have my camera.

We've also been diggin' the park scene.



And the front porch.

I love this picture of Brittain! I just want to grab her out of that picture and twirl her around. She is just getting to be so much fun. Yay for sunshine!!

Food for Thought

Or,more accurately, conversations at the dinner table:

Last night as I sat down at my place at the table exhaustion caught up with me.
"I'm soooo tired," I said.
Avery, who had just finished exercising replied, "I'm soooo hot."
Mason immediately followed with, "I'm sooo pretty."

Who is this kid? Then we all laughed hysterically and I didn't feel nearly as tired after that.

A few days ago we were having dinner and Mason disappeared to find his toy computer. When he came back I told him we could play after we finished eating. This obviously did not go over well. Thinking fast- I told him to put it under his chair so that it would be right there and we could play as soon as we were done. That seemed to appease. I turned to get something for Brittain. When I turned back around Mason was sitting at the table with his computer. His plate? On the floor directly under his chair!! Well, how 'bout them apples.