Monday, March 31, 2008

More drama in the life of Mason

He is SO naughty!! Okay, I had to get that off my chest. LOL

This afternoon he was up in his bedroom watching TV for "down time". I was on the main level of the house and walked into my scrapbook room, which is right under Mason's room. I heard a bird fly into the window, but thought nothing of it because it happens all the time (there are lots of windows in that room). So then I hear another bird hit the window, and another. I look out the window to see if I can see the birds, but instead I see a shoe falling from the sky.

Since I heard some shuffling from up in Mason's room (which is quite normal), I ran upstairs. There stands Mason, window open and screen laying on the floor, next to his pile of ammunition. Among the ammunition was books, DVDs, shoes, toys, etc. Apparently he thought it would be a good idea to throw things out of his window. Did I mention he is SO naughty? Our areaway is under his window, so everything landed in the areaway (stairs leading up from the basement). After explaining to him that he was never to open that window again, I made him march his little behind down to the areaway and pick up every last piece of ammunition. I guess those birds hitting the window in my scrapbook room never existed. Sigh.

Now I have to find a pole to put on the top of his windows so he can't open them ... I'm afraid he will fall out and landing in the cement areaway would not be fun. Kids.

My Ode to my Grandfather

On August 7, 2007, my grandfather passed away. Today as I was going through some old paperwork, I found this eulogy that I wrote for his funeral and thought I'd share it here so I always have it ...

The man whose life we are here to celebrate is my grandfather. My name is Bethany and I am the third of 15 grandchildren.

When we were growing up, my sister and I were always so excited when it was time to go to Florida to visit Grandpa and Grandma. As soon as we arrived, they would take us to the grocery store to get us our white bread and 2% milk, because we did not want their wheat bread and skim milk. This sounds ridiculous to me now, but I say this because Grandpa and Grandma lived and breathed family and they always made sure we had the little things that made us happy.

When I was younger, I remember trying to bring some fashion into Grandpa's life ... not that he wasn't fashionable in his own way. For as long as I can remember, he has worn socks that were almost knee high. We used to roll those socks down to his ankles and flip his collar up. I think one time we even forced him to go to dinner at Ryan's like that ... of course he obliged ... anything to make us happy, right? Eating as Ryan's, by the way, was a ritual in our family. I'm not sure that a visit went by that we did not go to Ryan's for dinner.

I remember often begging to drive Grandpa's goft cart through the neighborhood ... I mean where else can you go and drive a goft cart down the road? We also used to beg for a ride in his 1969 Ford Mustang convertible, that happened to be the same color as split pea soup. I think Grandma took us for a ride one time and I also think that I'm lucky to be alive after that trip.

As I got older, I always knew that a collared shirt would go a long way with Grandpa for a gift. Oh wait, a collared shirt with a pocket, of course ... or else it was useless to him.

Watching TV with Grandpa? I always knew that I would never hear a commercial thanks to that handy mute button. Oh, and if you were talking to Grandpa and he ignored you, that was usually solved by a wave of your arm to cue him into the fact that he needed to pull out his remote control and turn up his hearing aid. Being the electronics guru that he was, it only made sense that he would have a remote control for his hearing aid.

Speaking of electronics, how many 90 year old men do you know that know how to instant message and use a webcam on the computer? Many of us have talked at length with Grandpa though instant messaging ... those conversations are ones that I hold dear to my heart. Through the webcam, you would see the top of his head as he typed his message key by key ... it always caused me to chuckle and my heart swelled with pride to know that this man was my grandfather. I'm so proud of him.

I now have two children of my own and I'm so thankful that they have had the chance to spend time with Grandpa. His favorite thing to do with the kids was play "head thinker, eye blinker, nose smeller, mouth eater, chin chopper, gully gopper" ... it melted my heart every time.

Our family could not have asked for a better patriarch to lead the way. He has shown us all what it means to be a hard worker, and more importantly, what it means to have such an awesome family. As much as he wanted to make us happy, I hope that we made him even happier. I feel blessed to know that he is still leading the way in spirit and that he is now rejoicing with our loved ones in heaven. I love you Grandpa and please give Grandma a kiss for me.

Rock Star

Tonight we were sitting at the table eating dinner. Mason wanted to sit really close to me, so he pushed his chair right up against mine. He hooked his elbow with mine, laid his head on my shoulder, and said, "Mommy, I wish you were a rock star." God, this kid cracks me up!!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter 2008

We had a good day today, just hanging out. Here are some pictures from when the kids woke up... the easter bunny left them each a lawn chair. Payton also got a watering can and Mason a bug catcher.

The kids looked for their easter baskets when they woke up ...

Nope, not in here!
Look Payton, here is yours!
Ah hah!


What do we have here?


We attempted to go to church ... got dressed ... even got in the car, but by that time church was starting so we scrapped that plan. Some day we will be on time for church. Some day.

Since we were all dressed up with nowhere to go, we took pictures ...
Shay and Jeremy came over and I cooked supper. I was quite the Martha, if I must say so myself! I made a ham with a brown sugar/pineapple/etc. glaze, seven layer salad, scallop potatoes, and crescent rolls.

After dinner, Mason was playing outside and Payton was sadly watching through the glass sliding door ...

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Decorating Cookies

Today Mason and I decorated cookies for Easter tomorrow. He LOVES to decorate cut outs, although he has yet to learn how to restrain himself from way too much frosting and sprinkles.

Little stinker in action ...

Mason's finished project ... scrumptious, eh?

Monday, March 17, 2008

Signing ... finally!

We have struggled with signing with Payton. She has had pretty much zero interest, although I know she understands some of the signs that I sign to her (the basics). I have got her to sign a few times, but nothing that ever lasted or that she initiated. Today during speech therapy, a whole new Payton joined us. I was signing to her and her totally mimicked every sign I did!! Her therapist about fell on the floor because it was totally out of nowhere. Some of the signs she mimicked were more, eat, all done, night night, please, ball, bath, stars, milk ... I'm trying to think of what else. She knows eat, more, all done and night night without prompting. The fact that she says all done and ball makes her signing them useless, but I'm excited nonetheless. Now I need to find a sign language class!

Devious Little Guy

When we first moved Mason out of his crib, we put a TV in his room thinking that would be a stellar way to get him to stay in his big boy bed. Ding ding ding, we have created a monster. He he obsessed with the TV. He knows that there is no TV for naptime (which is a rarity around here anymore), but he historically has been allowed to watch one episode of a movie before bedtime. That, of course, has spiraled into way more than one episode.

Yesterday Mason was very, very naughty. He was sassy, not listening ... just not being good at all. We had planned to take him to the aquatic center to let him swim while Payton attended her Special Olympics class, but we told him he could not go because he was being so naughty. I later asked him if he knew why we didn't go swimming, and he somberly answered, "Yes mommy, because I was naughty."

Well, apparently that was no lesson learned. He continued to be naughty throughout the day, so I told him no TV before bed. He cried and threw a fit. He was SO exhausted that I sat by his bed and talked to him about being a good boy and listening in an effort to distract him. I left the room, thinking he really would just fall asleep. Moments later I heard a few thuds from downstairs and came up to find him watching TV in his room. He had gotten up and turned it on. I turned it off and unplugged it. He cried again and I left the room. I never heard him again so I assumed he had fallen asleep.

About two hours later, Kyle and I went upstairs to bed, only to find a glow under Mason's closed bedroom door and a LOCKED door knob. That little stinker locked his door and turned his TV on again. We got a key to the knob and broke in, only to find him sound asleep with his TV playing.

This morning I asked him why he locked his door last night, and he said (with a mischievous little laugh), "I locked you out so I could watch TV!" OMG since when is he old enough to understand things like this?!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Shay's Baby Shower

Today, I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Shay. She is due late April/early May (they aren't really sure) and she is having a boy!


Playing games ... this picture is of Shay, my mother-in-law and I ...


The favors I made in honor of Shay's LOVE of chocolate chip cookies
(well, my mother-in-law did the baking, I made the labels) ...
Personalized note cards I had made for everyone ...
The fabulous cake that my sister made ...
I also made a "well wishes ring" for Shay and Jeremy. There were lots of friends and family who live far away and could not come to the shower. So I sent them all note cards to write well wishes to Shay, Jeremy and Baby J. Everyone sent their cards back to me and I attached them to a silver ring with ribbon. Here is a picture of the final product ...

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Wink wink

Somewhere along the recent road, Mason has learned about winking. It took a couple days for him to master closing just one eye, but he has got it down. He is so funny ... he will walk past you, stop, wink and then keep walking. Wink wink.

Follow up to T&A

Yesterday we had an appointment with Payton's ENT for follow up to her T&A surgery. My concerns have been clarified ... she does not have a submucous cleft palate. She does, however, have a bifid uvula. In light of that, the surgeon palpated the palate, but did not feel any evidence of a cleft. Despite this, she was very conservative in removing the adenoids, basically acting as though she did have a cleft, even though she does not. I feel comfortable with this. We have not noticed her speech turning nasal since surgery, so it seems that all is well. Who would have known there could be such issues?!