Painted Hands

One of Mason's favorite things to do outside is dig in the dirt.  He usually keeps the dirt off the sidewalk and it keeps him busy for a long time, so I really don't have a problem with him doing it.  A few days ago, after digging in the dirt for awhile, Mason comes over to show me what he had been doing. He decided to paint his hands with mud. He was pretty excited about it.

The Joy of Music

Dave and I love listening to music. Our kids love listening to music. We've created a CD of our favorite songs and play that whenever we are in the car. Mason has always loved what we've chosen to listen to, and amazingly, he knows the words to most of the songs. It's funny to be in the car and hear Mason sing along to some of our favorites. Right now some of Mason's favorites include "1,2,3,4" and "Meet Me in California" by the Plain White T's, as well as "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. What makes driving in the car even more entertaining these days is that Ellie is starting to sing along too! I especially like John Mayer's version of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'." I think this might be Ellie's favorite as well. During the chorus, she starts to sing "Feeeeeee, Feeeeee, Feeeeee" (trying to say "free") in a high pitched voice. It's pretty cute. I tried to get video of the kids singing, but of course, when the camera is on, they get all goofy. 

* I apologize for the poor lighting. It's hard to make it work in the basement at night.*

Here's Ellie singing "Feeeee!"

Here's Mason singing "1,2,3,4." 

(If you listen closely, you'll hear Ellie say "five" after they count to four)

I have been tagged...

1. Where is your cell phone? In my back pocket.
2. Your significant other? Dave, a great guy who makes me laugh.
3. Your hair? Brown. I'm trying to grow out my bangs. I always think they will work on me, and they never do.
4. Your mother? Trish, : ) She's always there with support and love,  and helps me be a better person and mother.
5. Your father? Mike,  He's also a great support and a good listener. I now see how patient he is as I watch him interact with my kids.
6. Your favorite thing? my family
7. Your dream last night? I don't think I had one.
8. Your favorite drink? I'd have to say chocolate milk.
9. Your dream/goal? I want my kids to grow up to be good individuals and I hope I'm doing everything I can to help with that.
10. The room you're in? My bedroom
11. Your hobby? scrapbooking, blogging, reading
12. Your fear? scary movies
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? In a bigger house with my family.
14. what you are not? a loud person
15. muffins? I love poppyseed and chocolate, of course.
17. Where you grew up? Martinez, California
18. The last thing you did? I cleaned up Mason's play-doh.
19. What are you wearing? a black t-shirt and khaki cords
20. Favorite gadget? I really don't know.
21. Your pets? none 
22. your computer? an i-mac. I love it. There are so many cool things you can do with it that are totally easy.
23. your mood? happy
24. Missing someone? I miss my family. They're so great!
25. your car? 2002 Mitsubishi Galant
26. something you are not wearing? shoes
27. Favorite store? Target
28. Like someone? I'm a pretty good mix between Mom and Dad.
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today with Kathryn. She's funny.
31. Last time you cried? I think about 2 weeks ago

I Tag Kathryn, Mandy, and Claire

Mason meets Charlie

Last Friday I was reorganizing our storage closet. As I was going through the boxes, I came across our Christmas decorations. I thought it would be wise to keep them out since I would be needing them fairly soon. 

The Christmas boxes were sitting in my hallway. I didn't like the crowded hallway that was now in my home, so I decided to start getting rid of the boxes...by decorating. This is probably the earliest I have ever decorated, but I'm totally excited for the Christmas season this year. Mason's excitement is contagious.

Our decorations are up and our Christmas DVDs are out. Mason has found a new favorite movie. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" has been playing in our house since last Friday. Mason has "TV tokens" he gets to use for an allotted amount of TV watching per day. The only show he has used his tokens for since last Friday is Charlie Brown. He even quoted a part of the movie at dinner tonight. I'm anticipating watching this movie at least 50 more times this season.

Trick or Treat!

It was a fun night, but we're all exhausted! We went to Bountiful to trick-or-treat in Grandma Nancy and Papa Steve's neighborhood (from past experience we know they give full size candy bars there). We met up with Uncle Cameron, Aunt Brittany and cousin Cade, and we all went through the neighborhood together. 

Mason has really been fascinated with "package trucks" these days. Anytime he sees a UPS or FEDEX truck, he points it out to me and is so excited about it. Therefore, it was only appropriate that Mason dress up as a "package man" for Halloween. He was a UPS guy. As my sister put it, "So many kids dress up as super heros like Spiderman, Superman, or Batman. Mason is going as the working man's hero...the UPS Guy." So true! 

Ellie was a pretty little lady bug. This was Ellie's first year trick-or-treating, and after the first few houses she wasn't as nervous and grasped the idea. She was walking up to the door, reaching her hand in the candy bowls, and placing the candy in her own pumpkin bucket. By the end she was even trying to say "trick or treat." 

While we were out, I told Mason that we were going to go to a few more houses and then it would be time to go home. He laughed at my comment and said, "Mommy, you're just kidding! We are going to go to a lot more houses!" It's so fun to see genuine excitement in your children.

Mason, the UPS Guy

Ellie the pretty ladybug

Ellie and Grandma Nancy--off we go!

Ellie, Mason and Cade

Ellie combing her hair and Mason doing UPS Guy paperwork

Out in the neighborhood

Brittany, Cade, Mason and Ellie

Pumpkin Patch

We took a trip to the pumpkin patch a few days ago. Mason and Ellie had a great time wandering through the pumpkins. Here are a few pictures of the fun.

This is a typical interaction between Mason and Ellie. Mason loves playing with Ellie's ponytails and Ellie hates it.

Mason finding his way out of the hay maze all by himself! 

Eeeewwwwyyyy!!! Squashed pumpkin!

Finding the perfect pumpkin.

Visiting The Foths

We went to visit Grandma Trish, Grandpa Mike and Aunt Brooke a few days ago. It was great to be able to see them. We had a fun visit and always love the time we get to spend with them. 

Grandma Trish and Grandpa Mike with Mason and Ellie
Ellie and Aunt Brooke
Ellie dozing on Grandpa Mike
Of course, we had to make a trip to the beach while we were there.

Mason Turns 3!

Mason had his 3rd birthday yesterday and it was a great day. I wanted to make the day special for him so we did two of his favorite activities. We started out by going to the "duck park" to feed the ducks and play. Then we went to the pet store to look at all the animals. Mason was very excited because there were 7 cats for adoption that we got to look at. We had to wait for Daddy to get home before we could open any presents and that was hard for Mason. He asked me so many times during the day "When is Daddy coming home?" He convinced me to let him open "just a little one" before Dad got home and I gave in. His new sunglasses look awesome! Daddy finally got home and we ate Mason's requested dinner: chicken nuggets and chips. It was very tasty! Mason was excited about his gifts. He is so genuine with his reactions that it is fun to watch him open them. Uncle Cameron, Aunt Brittany, Caden, Kathryn, Lilly and Sophie came over for cake and ice cream. It was a fun celebration and we were glad we could share it with so many people. Mason stayed up late playing with his toys. When I put him to bed that night, he asked me, "Mom, will I still be 3 tomorrow?" He really enjoyed his day and is thrilled to be 3 years old. We love you, Mason!

Mason is 3!
New baseball glove from Daddy
Birthday Boy
Make a wish!
Ellie's reaction to not being able to play with Mason's new toys.

Haircuts

Mason and Dave showing off their new matching haircuts. 

What a couple of handsome boys!

Dressing up

When we were younger, my sister, Brooke, and I would sometimes open up the Halloween box when we needed to entertain ourselves. It was such an adventure as we sorted through old costumes and dressed up in them. Well, the other day Mason, Ellie and I needed something to entertain us, so we opened our Halloween box. We don't have a huge collection of costumes seeing that Mason has only experienced 3 Halloweens and Ellie 1. But there was enough in that box to provide lots of entertainment. We all had a fun time seeing what our lives would be like as blonds.

Mason
Ellie
Mommy

We got Ellie dressed up in Mason's old chicken costume. I took a few pictures to document how much Mason and Ellie look alike. Both Mason and Ellie are just over 1 year old when the pictures were taken. Crazy how similar they look! 

                          

The Things Kids Say

Mason and Ellie continue to amaze me. One of Mason's new interests is rhyming words. Pretty much everyday he will ask me about certain words. "Mommy, do bee/tree rhyme?" or "car/bar" or "four/door." Sometimes he uses words that aren't actually words "snuke/tuke." But he definitely understands the concept of rhyming. I guess I'm amazed because he just figured this out on his own. He is always listening and watching and it's crazy to see his mind absorb so much information everyday. 

Ellie is also talking. Her new words are "hi" and "mine." We were walking around the halls at church yesterday (which is usually where we spend our time during Relief Society), and every time Ellie saw someone walk past us, you heard this little voice say "hi," and her cute little hand would be waving in their direction. Now, I think being Mason's little sister, she has had to pick up on the word "mine" fairly early. It is definitely her way of making it clear to Mason that he cannot take certain things away from her. It's so cute when she says it because she enunciates it so well and stretches the sounds out "mm-ii-nn-e." 

Birthday Video

Ellie loved her cake. She was a little hesitant at first to really get into it. I think she thought it was weird that everyone was watching her. But by the end she ate most of it. It was definitely a different experience than watching Mason "eat" his first cake. Mason had one bite and that was enough for him. 

Birthday Video

This is Ellie opening some gifts (and Mason being a good big brother and helping her). This doll was from Grandma Trish and Grandpa Mike. Ellie immediately hugged it and held it forever.  It was the cutest thing. 

Ellie's 1st Birthday!

Ellie turned one on September 7, 2008. We had a great day celebrating with her. It was fun, because she knew it was her day. I think being able to wear a tiara and carry a wand around all day kinda helped her feel special. We are so happy Ellie is in our family. She is a wonderful little girl and we love her so much! It's amazing how fast this first year has gone. 

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Ellie Accessorizes

 

This morning I decided to put Ellie's hair up in a ponytail. Mason wanted to help too. He added his own unique style by placing a pink headband on her head. I thought it was funny and left it in Ellie's hair for a few minutes. When I went to take the headband off, she got upset and insisted that I put it back on. She already loves accessories! Anytime I put anything in her hair or around her neck, she loves it and knows it makes her pretty. Her new thing is shoes. She loves them and gets so excited when I bring them out. It's so funny to already see how girlie she is!

Ellie's Toothy Grin

I've been trying to get a picture of Ellie's two top teeth. Her smile looks so different now that they are in. These pictures give you an idea of what they look like. She's growing up so fast! I can't believe she'll be 1 in a couple weeks!

Ellie is Walking!

Ellie has been taking some steps on her own the last couple of weeks. She's getting very confident in moving around on two feet. I think one of her main motivations is to keep up with Mason. She adores him and always wants to be right with him. This clip shows one of her better walking sessions. I'm pretty sure the reason she took so many steps was because she was heading towards Mason who was eating a cookie.

 

Geoff and Erin Long

Geoff and Erin were married on August 19, 2008 at the Salt Lake Temple. 

Here are a few pictures from that special day!

Geoff and Erin

Jackson and Mason..looking good!

Mom and pretty Ellie

Claire and Mason saying "Cheeeeeeeeeese"

Ellie trying to climb up the stairs to play with all the big kids.

Actually, she was quite successful at climbing up them. 

Mom, Dad, Ellie and Mason

Mason and Ellie Dance Party

Mason and Ellie love to dance! 

Here's a sample of their talent for your viewing pleasure! 

(sorry about the poor quality of video, the lighting was really bad)

Here are some pictures from our trip to Antelope Island. We were lucky to see hundreds of buffalo the day we went. At one point they were only 10 feet away! Mason wanted to get out of the car, but we waited until they were a little farther away.