Somewhere Over the Rainbow

We have a beautiful view from our deck and kitchen. Along with it we get magnificent views of what mother nature offers.

Welcome

Never a dull moment around here. Rob and I went outside to look at garage door colors and when we come back around to the front door we are greeted by this beauty. One will never know why she took off all her clothes and decided to dance in front of the open front door?

Chocolate Dream Cake

Oh, I know you wish you had a friend and neighbor like I do. My hips don't like having them as neighbors, but my taste buds are in heaven. I never got the official name of the cake, but my friend Anne's husband can make cakes. We are talking fancy cakes, this chocolate dream had 3 layers of yummy goo with carmel as well. Oh, and the drizzle of sea salt on top was just right. My favorite used to be his carrot cake, but now this wins hands down.

Independence

The time has finally come. Mason has started expressing interest in picking out what he wants to wear. My mornings used to be easy, but now I have to clear what to wear with the Mr. We have now gone to picking out our clothes the evening before. I have also had to give up some control and allow him to wear what he wants even if it doesn't match or make any sense. I still get to pick Sunday outfits and any party outings, the best deal I could make with a 4 year old. What is happening?

Bryson 9 Months

I can't fix this picture for some crazy reason. It is getting harder and harder to take them since Bryson has a obsession with eating anything and everything with a flare for paper. To date I have fished out silly bands, carpet pieces, paper, and barbie shoes. We know for sure silly bands swallowed pass without any problems. We are all doing a better job at keeping appropriate things in reach and inappropriate things out. He remains happy and eating everything you put in front of him. He is taking bottles when I am not around and still breastfeeding all the other times. I have only bit once and I screamed and scared him, I haven't been bit since. He has 8 teeth with more coming. He loves to watch Mason and Ellery play and attempts to follow them around. A good eater, great sleeper, and a happy baby what more could we want!

Happy Birthday To Me

I am not sure if I did something smart or foolish. I told Mason my real age. He has been repeating it to random and not so random people. I hope it is just a phase. We celebrated low key. The highlight of my day was a sweet card made my Mason. We have a game we play on saying I love you 110 and the next person says I love you 111. We also play I love to a specific destination and the next will say that specific destination and then another destination and possibly back. I need to take a picture of the card, very very sweet. Rob and I plan going out for my birthday later this week to celebrate adult style!

Hanging Out

This one is happy as can be hanging out as long as someone is around to watch him hang. He also eats anything you put in front of him.

ZippleBacks-How To Train My Dragons

Oh, the Easter bunny aka Rob found these wonderful PJ's. They already have wings built into them, just like the ones Nana makes. If I am doing a load of laundry these get put in. When these pjs go on I no longer refer to my children as Mason and Ellery, they have named themselves Smokey and Sparky. Mason tells me that Sparky has never met Mason and maybe when Mason is 5 he will meet him. Sparky doesn't like 4 year olds. The zippleback dragon is from the movie How To Train Your Dragon and it is two headed with two personalities. The two heads give it a deadly weapon. One head breathes a green, flammable gas while the other head uses an electrical spark in its mouth to ignite the gas, creating a lethal explosions. So picture Smokey and Sparky running around pretending to breath green gas while the other one lights it with a huff.

Meet Smokey and Sparky

Happy Easter

One of these little ones wake me up at 6am on a regular basis, while the other one makes a frequent appearance at night for an extra hug and kiss even if it is at 3am. The one not pictured is the one who usually sleeps through the night without a peep.

I hope you enjoy your Easter and have as many blessings to count as we do!

I forgot to take a picture of the Easter baskets this year. Grandma Debbie and Papaw gave our kids some chocolate bunnies in the Easter baskets they made for them while we were visiting and I joked saying if the kids didn't eat the bunnies here I would recycle them and use them in our Easter baskets and I did just that! They had no idea, but they were a bit more insistent on eating the chocolate bunnies so maybe they did know???

Tennis Pros

Uncle Tom and Aunt Laurie came to town and finally delivered Ellery's birthday present. It was an adorable pink tennis racket. Ellery was excited to finally get a racket like Mason, but she was more interested in wearing it around the house on her back in the carrying case. Rumor has it that Uncle Tom is going to start a Tom's Tennis camp in the summers for all the little loves of his life!

Got a Hang Nail

I think I will let the video do the explaining of this. Not sure how to interpret it into words to give it the justice it deserves! Enjoy, I know we got a hysterical laugh out of it!

When I grow Up

While we were back at Papaws we got a VIP tour of the fire station. Mason wants to be a fireman when he grows up so he was in heaven. After he is a fireman he wants to be a policeman, racecar driver, and then a zoo keeper. Ellery is pleased to hear he wants to be a zookeeper because she still wants to be a monkey when she grows up, but we have now progressed onto a mommy monkey.

Hazards

I now understand why they say don't leave plastic alone with children. Again, I don't understand why we buy children toys. In this case I do understand not to give plastic to children, but toys actually came in this container. Do you see the child playing with the toys, nope the container was more inviting.

Bunny Baskets

We made cute bunny baskets for friends this Easter. The sad thing is that I would have made them for Mason's school friends, but since it is a religious holiday and not celebrated at school we chose to give to other friends. The fun part was the kids getting creative with helping me make them. We only put one eye on the green eared bunnies because Mason called them Mike Wazowski bunnies from Monsters Inc. I love doing craft projects with the kids and I think they enjoy them as well!

Wish from the Stars

I am not sure what Mason has watched or read or if he came up with this idea on his own. He has started wishing on the stars and when I returned from my trip I got him a Batman toy. He looked at me and told me it was exactly what he has been wishing for.

Threes Company

Our three little blessings!

Bryson is usually our happy go with the flow kid. It took multiple tries to capture a picture of him, he wasn't going to cooperate for anything. He cried almost the whole photo shoot. I was confused until we get home and I realize he is running a fever. The perks to having a PICU dad is that we discovered he had his first ear infection. Ouch!

Old Friend and Fun Trip

My friend Kristin is getting married next month so we thought we deserved a weekend away in Chicago before the big day. We already had the formal bachelorette party, if a bachelorette party could ever be considered formal so we attempted to keep our weekend low key. We arrived early Friday morning and hit the shopping. KP has always been a shopper, so we hit the magnificent mile with force. I learned about the store Lulu Lemon, bought my first pair of Cole Haan sandals with Nike Air support. They are so comfortable and make my other sandals feel like I am wearing a block of wood. We then decided to go out for the evening but keep it low key. Well that went out the window. We could have ordered better weather for the weekend, but it was tolerable. We took a cab to Cafe Spiaggia. We read that the Obama's love going to the non-cafe side so we decided to try the lower end and go to the Cafe. We sat down at our table and I am talking away when KP stops to ask what I am going to order. I quickly glance at the menu and see Polipo Octuopus, Gnocchi Wild Boar Ragu, Bucantini Braised Goat, and other things I have no idea how to pronounce or what I would be ordering. We decided to ditch the Cafe and find a place to eat on our owns. We set out on foot, have to duck inside an awning to keep dry from a down pour of rain, and then we finally make it to Carmines. They have a live piano man and looks like fun. We score a nice table order dinner and a bottle of wine and who knows how many drinks later we hit the dance floor raving on how great this piano man is, only to realize the piano man is long gone. It was a night to remember, but not a morning to remember the next day. After a slow start, shopping, and an afternoon at the spa, we ended our next day with a fabulous meal at The Tavern on Rush. YUMMY is all I can say! It was a much needed weekend and great memories were made. We have decided this should be a yearly trip!

Hacking

For all of you who got emails from my yahoo account I am sorry for the junk email. My email account was hacked. We changed the password on my account, but the hackers were smart and learned all my answers to my secure questions, so they hacked me twice. I have now changed my password and all of my security questions. Rob looked up where they were hacking from and I never knew I had friends in South East Asia and Vietnam.

The funniest part of the whole thing is that my mother in law commented on the email I sent her on Canadian drug prices. After I explained I didn't send it and I was hacked she then commented on how she thought it was funny that I was sending her information on sex drugs. It gave me a good chuckle. I am amazed at how Ellen can find the good out of a sex drug email in it showing her how inexpensive the drugs can be in Canada!

Giggling

For some reason Bryson thinks I am funny. He gets all of my jokes and even laughs when I say no! He is so so sweet!

Locked Door

Accident? Freudian Slip? The kids went outside to play and I locked the door behind them without realizing it. I had no idea I did it until they were knocking on the back door when they were ready to come back in. This only puts me higher on the list for the un-mother of the year award.

Potty Words

Oh, the words kids find humor in saying. We have deemed fart, but, poop, and burp "potty words". Words one can only say in the bathroom now. When we go the bathroom Mason can't stop talking about farts and one day he looked at me and asked me why I wasn't talking about farts and reminded me that we are in the bathroom so I can talk and say fart all I wanted. Our poop parties still happen, but now songs are being sung with the word fart in them. I found it only fitting to pull out a book I bought Rob after we got Hudson called "Walter The Farting Dog". The kids LOVE IT!

Also, Mason had a play date with one of his friends from school. We are sitting around the table having lunch when G decided to make a statement about three kids in his class being on "the dark side". I am thinking we have a kid who is a Star Wars fan and I asked what being on the dark side meant. He said it is using "potty words and not following directions." Mason without missing a beat looks at his friend and says "yeah, that is just like licking toilet seats." It was a hilarious conversation.

Church singing

While we were at Papas the kids missed singing at Church. Really not a big deal since Mason never sings when he is on stage at church, but it would have been Ellery's first big debut with the preschool room. We were able to put on a concert for everyone. Grandma Debbie had a fantastic idea and created a curtain to open and close after each song. The kids really enjoyed the stage created and serenaded us with 4 songs.

Inch Worm or Army Crawl

Not sure if I should call this an army crawl or an inch worm move. He is on the move and loving every minute of it! I laugh at myself now with baby proofing. I remember reading books about baby proofing after having Mason. It suggested you get down on the floor and look around and see the world through what the child would see. I have to admit that I did what it suggested. I laugh now because baby proofing gets trickier and harder as you have more children. Rob and I weren't into legos, silly bands, leaving crayola colors on the floor, or miniature action figures......etc etc

Grandma Ellen

Grandma Ellen came and met us in Hutchinson while we were back. She went though the Cosmosphere with us and as we were leaving suggested she take the kids though the gift shop. The kids were excited to pick out a play pack of astronaut figures and space ships. It is comparable to a green army man pack, but all space related. Grandma Ellen spoils the kids with all sorts of love!

One For Mankind

I remember visiting my grandparents and going through the Cosmosphere with my family when I was little. Our kids might have been a bit small for the museum, but Rob enjoyed going through with them along with his mom. The highlight for them was putting on the astronaut costumes. They pretended to talk to each other though the pretend head sets and had a great time playing.

Granny & Grandpa Wilson

While we were back in Kansas we decided to take a day trip to Hutchinson and see my grandparents. Granny Wilson fell and broke her leg in two places and has been in assisted living doing rehab and we thought we would drop in for a visit. The kids enjoyed seeing Nana's parents and Grandma Gray's daughter.

Three out of the five generations.

We Got One

We finally got a fish. We went fishing the last time we visited Papaw and it was too cold to catch a fish. Then when we went fishing in Omaha, I did not pick the best location. Finally this trip we were able to catch a little perch for Mason. We were beginning to wonder what he thought fishing really was because he was thrilled to go cast and hold his pole without even reeling anything in. We did have to change hooks and sights on what kind of fish we were fishing for to get this guy, but we wanted Mason to reel in his first fish with Papaw! The things you do for your children, my dad used to bait my hook with a real worm because I didn't want to "hurt" the worm and now I am willing to "hurt" the worm so my kid can catch a fish.

C is for Cookie

Grandma Debbie has conditioned the children. Every time we visit or she visits she makes them yummy cookies. Not only does she make a double batch of cookies with extra chocolate chips, she makes them each their initial out of cookie. The kids really enjoy eating them. They also have learned to eat the regular cookies first and their initial last since no one usually eats their initial.

Papaw had a captivated audience on the floor playing with him. He always has a captivated audience and helpers when he puts his legs on and off. Ellery is becoming a fan riding in the wheel chair with him as well.
Bryson had a good time being cuddled by everyone and even though we captured him crying it isn't his usual happy self. I had to snap a picture quick because Grandma Debbie isn't a fan of having her picture taken.

The kids also enjoyed a picnic outside.

Go West One Man

We loaded up the family and headed west to visit Papaw and Grandma Debbie. I think everyone had a great time, and I am not sure who wore who out more.

Rob showed Mason a map of our route to Papaws, and instead of asking "are we there yet" multiple times, he kept asking are we on the red or green road now. "Mom when we got on the green road the map showed an airplane, I didn't see the airplane, so are we on the green road or the red one?" Funny the things they focus in on.

Sleep Habits

Ellery feels compelled to tell random people how I poked her in the eye yet fails to mention it was in the dark and I was groggy as I reached out for her. Since the incident she hasn't made near as many night time appearances, although she has fallen out of her bed twice in the last week. I think it might be due to all the books and stuffed animals she is sharing her bed with. She also unzips her PJ's not because she is hot, but so she can feel the silky side of her blankie. If she doesn't have on zipper pj's she lifts her shirt up and requests you cover her up with her blankie, silky side down. She also can't keep the books out of her bed. I have given up cleaning them up for her or with her every night because when we wake up in the morning we are back to having 20-40 books in her bed. She keeps her favorite books tucked under her pillow, so if I do happen to clear them out while she is asleep, I don't get the "good" ones. We also have started lining up her animals in bed with her. It changes every night. Some nights we have to round up all the dog stuffed animals and they sleep with her, or baby dolls, etc. It is usually a category well thought out on her part. If she had her choice, I would be in her room perfectly placing them with her for a really long time. Since, patience isn't a work anyone would use to describe me, I give her 5 animals/things with two positionings each. Once we max out the number I kindly kiss her goodnight and leave her to her perfectionist ways. Which Rob would also say she gets from me!

Mason Thoughts

Mason and I were looking at the art hanging on Bryson's walls. It is the hand and foot prints we did for each baby when they were born. Mason's pictures only has hands on it. The others have a combination of baby feet and either our hands or feet. Mason asked me why he didn't have any feet on his. Before I could get an answer out he asked me "Is is because I didn't have any feet then?" Shows you how little minds work and always giving me a smile.

He also hasn't learned the most commonly used name for short pants. He doesn't call them shorts, he just calls them "short pants". Mom, I am hot so I am going to go put on some short pants.

Also, another one of our friends painted their house and Mason says "Look mom, they got a new house."

I could go on and on and I need to get better about writing them down, because I probably get a daily dose of something humorous every day!