Notes for Santa

What a day! We realized this morning that the wind blew all of my lights down out front and I was not kneeling on the hot roof in 80 degree temps today! I plugged them in as is tonight and am balling them up and tossing them into the trash tomorrow. It's been a blur of a day and we attempted to attend a new church tonight. As we tried to get everyone ready I found Mason diaperless upstairs- he had done both kinds of business on Kassidy's carpet. Immediate steam cleaning was required so that spiked the to-do list. Then I walked in on Matthew chopping off his curls in the bathroom downstairs. Serious bald spot in the back. And that is how he went to church! To say it was an intimate parish is an understatement and we were not likely to slip under anyones radar. After the Pastor entered the church he was in the front, head bowed in prayer. Ole Mason took off and went to stand next to him. I had to scoot down the center aisle and tackle him from the left then swoop him out of there. We came in and tried again. He found the piano. The pastor's wife casually put the piano lid down. He pulled it up and banged a few keys then we left again. 3rd time in he crawled under a row of chairs to the sound board access and then proceeded to throw Mickey Mouse with all his might when I lured him to our chair. My mother in law stayed in church with the older three and Mason and I went to see an inflatable nativity for a mini bible lesson. All in all the kids received afirmation that they are on the NICE list from a personal video email from Santa just before bed and Matthew was honestly afraid he was on the NAUGHTY list. We tracked Santa on NORAD and hurried to bed. The plates of cookies were placed out on the counter as well as carrots for the reindeer and some really cute notes. Merry Merry everyone!

Happy Birthday, Mason

My sweet baby, Mason, is 2 today. Here are a few pictures from his bird themed birthday and a cute video. Enjoy everyone.......we missed you, Daddy!

Japanese Steakhouse Review

My mother-in-law flew in today and we decided to dine at the local hibachi restaurant. The kids and I were really looking forward to reliving some Japanese memories and good food. Our last dining out experience was when my mom was in town and we ate at the new T-Rex restaurant (like Rainforest Cafe)and Mason spent the initial part of dinner terrified then obsessed with the flying dino on the other side of the restaurant. Tonight they set the table on fire at the hibachi restaurant which Mason found particularly troubling. He kept yelling "SCARY" and then "CAR!!!!" and eventually resorted to yelling "STOP IT" to the chefs. It was lovely. I may have had 3 bites at the table and spent the rest of the time chasing him to the door. Everyone else loved their food and I did too- at home an hour later. Tomorrow is his 2nd birthday and we will not be dining out! We're celebrating here at home with a cake with a bird on it :)

Happy Holidays!

This past week was absolutely off the charts crazy! The kids had soccer, martial arts, tests, homework, Kassidy had a wonderful Chorus concert, classroom parties x 3 (and I made it to them all!!!) We started our winter break a bit tired but we did celebrate 9 MORE FRIDAYS UNTIL DADDY COMES HOME. We are in single digits now for our Friday night parties which is uplifting. We crossed the halfway mark and hope the holiday hoopla will help make our time pass but I feel it must be so hard for my other half- breaks my heart. It is hard to be separated, hard for me to be in the thick of the shenanigans without a switch hitter but then we (the kids and I) are all together and comfortable in our familiar surroundings. My hubby is out there somewhere on his own in his own groundhog day hell of day in and day out without a break or holiday :( Whoa- what happened to holiday cheer? Sorry- that's my sweet and sour holiday viewpoint.........

Painting and Pinot

I put away the paint roller after finishing up the bathroom and now have out my acrylics and glass paint. I did a bizillion personalized tiles, then moved on to my wine theme (um....besides drinking it!). I did some wine themed coasters and a set of palm tree wine glasses with white lights and busted out the drill to make some lightbulb wine charms. I need some for me :) Walgreens here I come for a pack of replacement bulbs tomorrow!

Matt meets a really big cheese

I get soooooooooo little info out of Matt so this is definately blog worthy. I truly don't know where he is, what he is doing, who he works with or even when he is coming home. He told me that he has been "very busy" and that today everyone left and he was the only one at work. In walked the Chairman of Joint Chiefs Of Staff, Admiral Mullen, and he had 20 minutes to brief him while waiting for the rest of the staff to reassemble. Admiral Mullen serves as the principal military advisor to the president, the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council. Apparently Matt is low man on the totem pole but he carried his own and got a picture with him and a coin :) Go, Schmoopie!!!

Once a runner always a runner?

So........my puppy has been crazy. His collar broke and I couldn't walk him for a few days. I had a good neighbor examine it and he fixed the pinch collar. I've taken the baby and 2 dogs for a run around the nature trails the past 2 days in 80 some degree temperatures looking for "birdies". We pass 4 ponds and Mason is crazy over the ducks, Egrets, Ibis and other water fowl. Mason yells QUACK QUACK at all of them so we'll have to learn the right names soon! Aside from Juno wanting to swim or dine on a bird the dogs are calmer the rest of the day. I'm running like I never quit and let me tell you I FEEL IT tonight!!! I need to get out daily so hold me accountable! I recently saw a rear view in the mirror and have been in such denial that I would have never known it was me in a line up!!! Time to get moving!

Powder Fresh

It's been a while since I blogged because life has been totally nuts. Every day is so crazy I'm braindead. My printer is making an unidentified noise and won't print. I can only guess that Mason shoved something in there. My lipstick is smeared all over my makeup bags and ruined one of Mason's outfits. Yesterday in the blink of the eye we had an incident involving deoderant. I was unloading the dishwasher and went to check on a quiet Mason. He had my deoderant and had stroked it across his shirt, pants, the floor, cabinet doors, front and back of the door and on the 2 dogs. Everything was "powder fresh" and it appears that there are some bite marks out of it! I cleaned up the bathroom in a hurry then found him in the back yard poking dog poop with a stick. This discovery came as we had to leave to get the big kids at school so the 2 dogs and baby went covered in SECRET.

Holly Roller

I am now covered in splatters of 2 shades of paint. Friday and Saturday night I painted our half bath a dark denim color. Sunday I started painting Kelsey's bedroom a Granny Smith Apple green and I have been at it every day since for a few hours here and there. I'm almost done and she is most appreciative after having plain white walls in base housing all of her life! She says "it is soooo beautiful". I've been keeping the roller in large ziplocks between jobs in the refridgerator which is really confusing Matthew. Kassidy has already mentioned that she'd like her room to be next in a turquoise....

Someone in our family has Self Control

Miss Kassidy was awarded the Terrific Kid award from her class this month for Self Control. Thank goodness someone in our house has some! Who cares about honor roll..........we need some self control!!!! (Just teasing- she's on honor roll, too) Congrats to Kass :)

Beach in 63 Degrees!!!!!

On Sunday we met a friend of Matt's from high school (Tom Martin and family) and his family at Pass-A-Grille beach for a few hours. It was pretty windy and chilly for Florida standards. We had some complaints from the Florida natives concerning the freezing temps until they all decided to feed the sea gulls. This was quite entertaining for all! Mason truly loves birds and he was just over the moon!

R&R Ranch Party

Matthew had a birthday party today at the ranch for his classmate, Stephanie. Her mother generously extended the welcome for all siblings and we are so thrilled that she did. We all really had the best time there! We were all getting aqainted and Mason went right to the horse riding line. The guy opened the gate and said "Come on, little guy". That child is not even 2 but walked off with a man he's never seen, climbed up on the platform, got on the horse and said "Go, Horsie". Amazing! I walked next to him and he loved every second and naturally threw a fit at the end. Matthew was next, then Kass and finally Kelsey (2 turns). No one was afraid and all enjoyed the ride. The let Kelsey man the reigns and the horse trotted with her. She's sooooooooooooo into it now and totally wants to scrap tennis for horseback! Kassidy walked a goat on a leash and loved on some sweet bunnies over and over. Matthew roamed far and wide- he was chased by the girls in his class and had to be speedy. Mason loved all of the animals- so fun to experience all of these firsts again! He did try to pick up the duck by the neck and almost choked it. He chased a chicken like mad, tried to give a horse his pizza, and actually had his everyday footwear on in the appropriate setting! My personal favorite was Petunia the potbelly pig. I so would have one running around if we had land! Lots of pictures but it was such a wonderful day I had to share lots! Turn up the volume too because I added Christmas music :)

Kassidy's Soccer Pictures

Today we had soccer pictures and then a game. Here's Kassidy and her undefeated team 4 games in a row!!!!

Why ask Why

So, Kelsey and I were working on her long division yesterday when my big black dog was staring in the window at me at eye level from the lanai. Why on Earth did he get on top of the table? Matt and I try not to ask questions like that. Why is there playdough on the floor in the living room? A spoon in the garden? Pencil on the walls? You get the idea.........why ask why We have a lot of mysteries in our life!

Mason finds some direction

Mason just started playing with planes. He likes to fly them around and noticed that we seem to have a lot of them. Matthew was really into planes at this age! So, Mason accumulated about 6 planes that he likes huddled together or lined up in a row. When he decides to go play in another room of the house he makes 6 trips carrying his planes to the new location one at a time. I, of course, love this announcement that he is leaving the room and the tip as to where he's going next!