Some thoughts on the season....

I am not sure what happened to me this Christmas Season but I think I was channeling an 80 year old grumpy man for most of it, possibly Andy Rooney!

I don't know what it was but I couldn't really find the spirit?

I think part of the issue is the commercialism that is shoved down our throats. Seriously! Can we not keep our seasons separate anymore. Before Thanksgiving I couldn't find any thing "thanksgivingish" because it was already Christmas. Call me a traditionalist but I like my pumpkin pie season and than my pecan bar season, which starts December 1st!

There is already Valentines deco out!

Of course in the midst of my Bahumbugness there was a ever so cute and entertaining child.

His teacher begged me to bring him to school on a non-school day because Mason and the girl next to him were the only 2 of 12 that would sing! She wasn't lying.

And than of course there is Santa and Mason's adorable innocence about the man from that north place. Mason asked Santa "what would you like for Christmas?" Santa looked surprised. Had anyone ever thought about poor Santa. Maybe he is sick of only cookies and milk, maybe he needs a gym membership or a gift card to take Mrs. Claus out to a nice dinner? I don't know but Mason simple question made me love him even more. Is that possible?

I digress....

So we did the usual Christmas activities...and I mustered up some smiles.

And than I grumbled because I had to clean up flour.

 The season did bring time with Grandma Bert and her teaching Mason the beloved recipe of Thumbprints.

Watching the two of them made me melt a little and just as the tears started to form the two of them broke out into Jingle Bells.  I knew my grumpy man had to leave this 32 year old body soon.

BUT THAN....

Our Christmas tree died.

I know yatta yatta we should go artificial....well I don't like them, I like real trees! Just for the record I like other peoples artificial trees. We bought this Noble knowing full well it was from Washington State and in Washington State they have humidity in the air. In Colorado we are shriveled prunes.  This poor guy was shriveling up and looking more and more like a fire hazard as the days past.

So one night Matt could sense my stress about it! He suggested "Babe there is a 4-ft artificial tree downstairs. We could turn our laundry hamper upside down and put it up there and place the tree skirt around it!"

Ummm NO!!!

and while Mason listened to us bicker he interjected "Where will Santa put my presents if there is no tree?"

And that was enough for me to take matters into my own hands. Here is my "I am woman here me roar" moment. I single handily went out and bought a new (negotiated price) tree, took it off my car, undecorated and took the other one down, vacuumed every pine needle, put the new one up, re-vacuumed and re-decorated it! All with a 3 year old home! Boo YA!

I than drank a bottle of wine!

Tree #2, just for you Mason so Santa has a place to put the presents.

Two days later I got the stomach flu, the really bad kind that you don't leave the bathroom or bedroom! At that point I was channeling the Grinch, Scrooge and a grumpy old man....it was bad!

But than a few more days past, I felt better and the presents were wrapped.

Our house comic was off work for a few days! 

and it dumped 10-inches of glorious white stuff outside.

the old man exited my body and I finally began to hum "The Christmas Song" and I decided there is always next year. Maybe some Christmas Seasons are less exciting? For me its the few days before and the day of that I need to get that feeling! That one that makes you all tingly because you can feel his grace and energy in the air. The true reason we celebrate this season.

and here is a little snippet of Mason singing his "Snowman song!"

How many am I? I'm three

Dearest Mason,

The three candles have been blown out on your cupcake. Friends and family have gathered to celebrate you. Our little light. Its funny because this year you weren't as amped to be the center of attention at your birthday party, which is totally the opposite of me. Baffling. You did want to sing "Happy Birthday" as long as it was to Papa or your George.



At three you are already a giver.

Its amazing what this year has given us. Not only big life changes but all the changes in you! Your personality, emerging daily and lighting up our house. Books would define you as a "spirited" child, you are! You are full of spunk and God's goodness, all wrapped up in one little package. You are stubborn, loving, active and imaginative. You are smart and kind. You are our hearts!

You love to play pretend. You are my little creative monkey, the stories you tell and the magical powers you have are extraordinary. You are able to turn our chairs into flying cars and jump to the top of buildings. You love to talk on the phone and you are the first to respond to an imaginative fire....right after you put on all of your fire gear of course. You remind us daily that channeling our inner kid is so much fun!

The simplest things make you radiate. Just this morning you climbed into our bed to announce "that you went out to the living room already to check and "yup, it was still Christmas , the tree was here! but you didn't see any presents so Santa must still be in that north place!" Dad and I are so excited for Christmas this year because God's light shines bright through you when we think about this special season.

 We love waking up to your sweet voice. The big kisses you plant on our lips with "I love you so much Mom or Dad!" Sometimes we are woken up in the middle of the night and we scoop you into our bed and snuggling. I kiss your cheekies a lot when you do this and in your sleep you smile. These moments will always be in my heart.

I think one thing you do get from me and possible your birth order as first born,  is Bossiness.  Ya its hard to believe but I was very bossy...its ok because as you get older you learn to channel this trait as being direct and assertive. Right now you practice this dominate trait on the dogs and your stuffed animals. Poor George, has sat on a lot of time outs lately.

 

But you also like giving praise.

Maybe just maybe Dad and I are doing some of this parenting stuff correctly!?!?Some days it doesn't feel like that but than there are those moments you show us you have been listening.

SCHOOL!!!  When I come to pick you up at school, I sit outside your class room to watch you...creepy right?:) You are so kind;sharing toys, giving hugs to classmates and helping your teachers. You have a new best friend everyday. My favorite part of these days is when you see me, nothing melts my heart like the way your face lights up as you throw yourself into my arms. The worst parts of those days are the mornings. You have been going to school two days a week for almost a year and every time its a struggle. Its tears and "Mom don't leave me." It stinks but I know how blessed we have it, so like, many things in life, we just do it.

Your teachers comment frequently about three things:
1. Your communication skills. You are a talker. You ask A LOT of questions. Some of them I really have to think about how to answer. For example, the other night while saying our prayers you asked me "where is Jesus?" I told you he is everywhere, kind of a lame answer since you are three and everywhere is an odd concept. SO I said he is in our hearts, your heart, and my heart and Daddy's heart. You looked down your shirt and said "ok, yup I see a baby Jesus in there but I think mine's in my belly!"

2.Your helpfulness; you are a roll your sleeves up and help kind of kid, praying you carrying this through your teenage years! You love to help Dad outside with the yard work. You will stay out there for hours with him, telling me that "this is work for you and Dad only!" It really breaks my heart to have sometime to myself:) but I do have to tell you Girls can mow lawns and Boys can cook dinner!

You do love to cook. Our pancake breakfasts and blueberry muffin making are so fun.

Its funny because with how much you love to help you sure do not like to pick up your toys.

3.Your athletic skills. Mrs. Maria thinks you are a MBA star in the making. You do have one heck of a shot. You can thank Uncle Nick and Aunt Ang. for getting you that basketball hoop for your birthday. They are just helping you on your way to our meal ticket:) You are sports obsessed. Many objects in our house become a bat and a ball and I am forced to utter words my parents frequently shouted at us "no ball throwing in the house!!!"
You started riding a bike this year too! You will go on 2-3 mile adventures with me and 90% of the time you don't complain or need me to carry the bike. Hey we can't be perfect.

But to your Dad and I you are perfect. We are enjoying all these moments, even the challenging ones. We know these days will pass and if we could, we would slow the hands of time. God truly has given us the best gift of being your parents.

All of our love,

Mom (and Dad)

Fun October

We had our first time pumpkin patch adventure

with Mason's sweet cousins Ellie

and Lauren.

And of course his Aunt Theresa who I did not get a photo of:(

They are so good to him.

We had our first pony ride, not exactly what I imagined but fun none the less. 

We had homemade applesauce on a pumpkin table. Do you think he brought enough pumpkins home? What? He's my first born!

We raked (and our still raking) leaves.

25 contractor bags full so far.

I love the raking, great arm workout, but the picking up not so much! Luckily I have this one to help.

We had fun birthdays with close friends. Sawyer turned two and Thea turned one!!! FUN FUN FUN!

Most of my pictures were out of focus except for this one:(

We of course carved pumpkins and Mr. Design Star Dad really got into it!

We celebrated four years of marriage...no photo:)

We inched closer to age three! He is such a little boy now, love love love.

and of course we went Trick - O - Treating.

Such a cute shark.

Although he insisted he was "a mean shark and would bite!" Oh boys...

GG even joined in on the festivities, gladly accepting candy at each stop.

Thanks Funtober, you so groovy!

Letting go of the purple bag...

When Matt and I moved into the house, this purple bag (that looks like a Crown Royal Bag) appeared on my kitchen counter one day. Thinking it was a gift from a new neighbor, I peaked inside. It was a basic metal tin. I asked Matt was it was. He told me it was his Nana Schissler, Grandma Bert's mother.

Of course I politely introduced myself and asked Matt is she would be staying a while.

He was bringing her down to GG's house that day....

Fast forward to fall and Grandma asked me one day "what I thought she should do with her mother's remains?" She said "I know its just her physical being and she is singing in Heaven's choir, should I just flush them!" She of course was joking.

The cute little town of Pinecliffe is about 40 minutes west of where we live. Grandma had always spoken so fondly of this place. It was where her family would summer. Her father had purchased a very modest cabin there in the 1930's. It had/has no running water and one hell of a stair case up a cliff side, to the one bedroom structure. They called the cabin "Jericho."

 Her dad would even hold Sunday service at the local post office and they would have youth groups from their church come up in the summer. Her mother would do all the cooking and entertaining. She loved this place as much as her father did. After Grandma graduated high school her parents let her and some girlfriends go up for the weekend. They of course invited boys and they had 3.2 beer...can we say necking? Oh ya! Go Grandma! She did happen to already be dating Grandpa:)

ANYWAYS just a little back story...

SO I suggested the cabin as a place to "free" Nana's remains and she loved it.

We weren't sure if anyone was living there. Mountain people are weird, I should know. So I parked on the road and went up by myself to check it out. After climbing the first very steep set of stairs, this sign greeted me...JOY! It was eerie and the exact place a serial killer would dwell....but it was vacated, so I went down and got Mason and GG. The whole way back up I was thinking my husband would be seriously ticked if he knew what I was doing with our first born child...

But as I got them up there the sun appeared over the crest of the cabin and a very calming energy settled in.

I thought about all the generations and how this little piece of history was being shared with Mason. How family we have never met were probably rejoicing in us being there.

When I turned I saw this sign. Grace is a special name in our family. I was so glad we had this little adventure.

The beauty of the mountains always have a my heart and I am so thankful for that day

and I know she is too!

This life really is beautiful!

Hello...Hello...is anybody out there?!?!

I guess we went silent for a little while, an unintentional hiatus!

 I have a lot of pictures I would like to share with my four readers...soon.

Maybe my silence is a result of all the laundry and cleaning I have to do these days.

Between potty training and typical toddler behavior I am learning to channel my inner messy beast...its not easy for neat freaks. I am in therapy.

Seriously when does the percentage of food he eats increase and the food on the face,clothes, and carpet decrease? I know guys that are still mastering this in their twenties.

Lucky he is so darn cute!

And did I mention the dirt...my goodness the dirt....oh well I guess kids will be kids and that is exactly what Mason is!

Be back soon....