Brown Bear, Brown Bear Special Reading

Last Saturday we told Mason we’d take him to the library to look for books and videos on magic since suddenly he was interested in having a magic wand and magic curtains (I guess I started it after asking him if he wanted a magic wand while watching the Fairy God Mother change mice into horses on Cinderella). By the time we actually got out of the house, the library was closed so we took them to Barnes and Noble instead. We haven’t taken them there before and both kids had a blast in the kid section. Mason immediately stepped up on the stage and pretended to perform.

It was fun to see some of the books I read as a child . . . Morris the Moose, Amelia Bedelia, Bernstein Bears, and others. We came across Brown Bear and although we don’t own it, I know that Mason has enjoyed reading it at preschool. Mason sat down and read the whole thing through by himself! Dan about fell off his chair because he wasn’t aware that Mason knew it. It was cute.

Tristyn just wanted to read The Hungry Caterpillar over and over again—along with a few other books that we own. I guess she wanted to stick with what was familiar. She bad a blast pulling the Thomas the Train sound books off the shelf and lining them up on the floor. I think she liked that they all looked the same and all made the same sounds. She also liked the stuffed animals, of course.

The kids both loved it. We didn’t look real hard for magic books, though. I guess we’ll have to head back to the library!

Golf Pro

Poor Dan got beat in Wii golf by a 4 year old!  Great job, Mason!

Great Idea

I asked Mason if he wanted to pop some popcorn and he said "great idea", then pushed a stool over to the cupboard and said "splendid"! I'm not really sure where he learned that word since I don't think Dan and I have ever said it around him, but it was cute! I love it when he says things that we haven't prompted him to say. He's very creative and sometimes surprises us with the things he can articulate (proof that he is thankfully progressing quickly).

He and Dan are downstairs digging through all the toys looking for a missing puzzle piece! He noticed it was missing last night when we put it together and it took a while to coax him into bed and convince him that we'd look for it while he slept. I looked in a few places, but couldn't find it. About 10 minutes ago he came in and started dumping out baskets of toys and saying "puzzle piece, where are you?" He's really worried about finding that piece! It drives me crazy to have it missing too, so I hope they find it!

Mason also gave me a heart attack earlier today. I took a few Christmas things down to the basement to put away and when I turned to go back upstairs, he was standing in the doorway of one of the bedrooms. I didn't know he was down there, so it freaked me out! As a side note, I have a fear of opening one of the bedroom doors and coming face to face with a spider . . . not a spider the size of a nickel, but a spider the size of a Volkswagon! Hopefully it never happens!

Dan got Mason to wear his tie today, so he looked super cute. He got a CTR ring and colored a CTR shield in Primary, and he loves them! Hopefully he'll learn that Primary is fun and he doesn't need to lay on the floor the whole time . . .

Update: Mason just tooted and said "I smell flowers" . . . pretty sure he learned that from his dad!

Christmas Outfits

We were out of town the week before Christmas and I didn't want to pack the kids' Christmas church clothes, so they didn't get to wear them until last week. They looked adorable! Mason's shirt was a little snug, but it was a Christmas miracle that he actually wore a button up shirt! We had to bribe him with the blue candycane, but at least he wore it! Hopefully he'll wear it again! Tristyn also kept her hair up long enough for a few photos, so that was another miracle!

Dan just wanted me to add that we have the cutest darn kids in the world. I have to agree!

Christmas

Luckily Mason didn't get up early on Christmas! He was anxious to open presents right away, but we managed to distract him until Tristyn woke up (after 9!). I really hope that continues . . . I don't want to get up at 6 am next year! When Tristyn finally woke up, Mason carried his chair into her room to try and help her out of the crib so she could come see the presents. He's a great big brother. As a side note, he will go in to her room and wiggle his fingers and say tickle, tickle to her. I think he learned it from Ni Hao Kai Lin (not sure how to spell her name) when she tickles the sun to wake it up.

The kids were excited about the gifts Santa left. Tristyn wasn't sure what to do on the first gift, but she caught on pretty quick and was tearing the paper off after that. When she opened her doll, the paper was torn away just enough for her to peak inside to see what it was. Their expressions were priceless!

I meant to put the kid's photos on first, but I can't ever remember how blogger uploads the photos! Santa went overboard on gifts and I got way more than I should have. I love the little tile that Mason painted at school and am excited to put it in the kitchen window!

Dan got a certificate for new golf shoes, to go with the clubs he got last year. He also got a few things for the Wii and radios so we can communicate during that disaster that is supposed to hit sometime! Hopefully we can figure out how to use them before that.

We've loved having Melissa with us on Christmas for the past couple of years! Santa likes dumping her presents here so the reindeer don't have to carry them to Wyoming. She was super excited about her digital camera and all the fun clothes. Santa apparently has great taste!


Mason got the pirate ship he asked Santa for (or would have asked for if we had actually made it to see Santa--he didn't dare sit on his lap at daycare when he came by). He was probably most excited about the Cars umbrella. He carried it around the house, opened, for several days. He was so excited when it finally snowed a few days ago so he could try it out.

Tristyn got a little doggy that flaps it's ears and barks. She loves it, but still has room in her heart for the white doggy she got for her birthday. She carries them both around with little burp rags for blankets. She also got a new baby doll that looks a lot like her. She wore her cute fuzzy brown dress with leggings that day and was adorable! If she'd only keep her cute pig tails in!

After presents and breakfast we got to talk to Elder Charlie in Rhode Island! We were on speaker phone from my parent's house and it was really hard to hear through all the static, but he sounded awesome and is doing great on his mission! It's crazy that he's down to about 5 months! Can't wait to see him. I can sense from his letters and emails a mission has been a great thing for him! Gotta love that kid!

We had a yummy dinner at my sister Suzy's house and spent a little time with them before heading home for naps and of course . . . more food! It was so great to have Christmas on a Friday so there was a couple of days to recouperate and play before heading back to work! Christmas is so magical with kids and I'm greatful for the child whose birth we celebrate. We are so blessed for His sacrifice and for the love He offers each of us. I hope you all had a great holiday season with your loved ones.

Some of the collage photos are small, so you should be able to double click on them to see them larger.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

We had a great Christmas Eve! Since we didn't officially make any Christmas treats this year, we decided to let the kids make sugar cookies for Santa. Mason helped mix up the dough and roll it out. Tristyn joined in to cut them out. Mason's had a great time with the flour and his clothes were covered in it! They helped frost and decorate the cookies, but more sprinkles ended up in their little mouths then on the cookies! It was a fun project and based on the note left by Santa, he and Rudolph both enjoyed the cookies!

After cleaning up the cookie mess, we got to open our Christmas Eve gifts . . . new pajamas. Mason liked his robot pjs and was so excited about opening more gifts that he ended up opening all of our pajamas! They also opened a couple of books for their bedtime stories. As you can see in the photos, Melissa started with the Eeyore pjs, but we ended up switching since Santa got the sizes a little confused!

After we read stories, both kids peaked through the blinds to check for Santa Clause! It was so cute! It took Mason a bit to get to sleep, so I'm sure he was super excited for Santa to sneak in a and leave presents under his tree!

Bonsai

A couple of weeks ago we went to Bonsai with my sister, DanaRae, and her family. It was our first visit there and the food was yummy (I need to find a recipe for their salad dressing), but Mason freaked out the second we sat down and flames shot up from the table next to us! He covered his ears, buried his head, got down on the ground and didn't come back up the rest of the meal. Tristyn was asleep at first and it took her a minute to wake up and enjoy the atmosphere, but she loved the food and probably could have caught a shrimp in her mouth if we had given her the chance! I think all of us caught at least one of the few that were tossed to us. Braxton was the only one brave enough to eat with chop sticks (they were jimmied to make them easier to use, but I'm more comfortable stuffing my face with a fork!).

We had a great time, so thanks for inviting us, Bennetts!