March Update

Things are going good, even with the crazy weather and the kids being cooped up.

Here's what we've been up to.  When it's snowed we've enjoyed the weather and played in the snow with snowball fights, sledding, and building snowmen.  Mason was in heaven and could have stayed in the snow all day.  Paige on the other hand loved the idea of the snow and was so excited to show anyone and everyone, multiple times a day but would cry if she had to walk on the snow, sit in the snow or be out in the snow for more than one minute.

Don't let this picture fool you, she really didn't like it.  I dropped her on the sled and waited for a break in her crying and begging for me to hold her.

When it wasn't snowy and got above 35 degrees we would take advantage and go outside.  It was nice to be outside where Paige wouldn't need me to hold her the whole time and was happy enough to walk on the ground.

We made sure to go outside anytime the sun was out.  One day Mason decided it was too warm for a jacket, and Paige decided that if Mason wasn't wearing a jacket she wasn't going to either.

We love meeting up with friends and exploring.  The boys were so proud of themselves for being able to lift the big log.  Paige was happy to sit in the stroller for a lot of the outings where she was sitting bundled up and able to watch everything.

We were able to go on a mini scavenger hunt on our trails and Mason loved telling me what he wanted to put on the list to look for.  We were able to find the big and little rocks, a tree and other things, but thankfully we didn't find a bear which he put on the list.

 We went to the park where Mason was so excited to dig for buried treasure with a stick and we all had a picnic.  We only lasted a short time once they started eating because it was too cold while sitting still.

Mason has been really into riding his pedal bike.  We had a hard time tracking down a replacement pedal but when we finally got it he was so excited.  He loves to ride around in circles and hopefully soon he will get the pedaling down so he can get the training wheels off. In between him riding in circles we find times to color with chalk.  Paige is really funny and anytime she pulls out the chalk she has to color in a certain spot on the driveway.

When we do have to be indoors the kids played really well together and have lots of times laughing and giggling in their room.  It makes me so happy to see them getting along and being friends.

 Lots of night time wrestling/jumping on dad, before bed time.

This is the nightly view for prayers.  Mason once climbed on our back to pick the person to say the prayer; since then Paige has climbed onto us during the prayer.

We also made a few trips over to Grandma B's house per Paige's request after us being outside.  She has become so used to going over anytime we go outside that she will yell, "B's house, B's house," until we go over and see her.

Grandma B also got them some awesome new clothes.  Paige loves her dog sweatshirt and Mason insists on wearing his Minions jacket and pants as frequently as I can wash them.

Mason also got to play basketball through the YMCA and did pretty well.  He still has a difficult time trying/starting things that are new to him, but it was fun to watch him learn something at practice and want to come home and dribble or shoot on the big hoop.  He also made sure to let us know how much better he was getting.

Mason is also getting better at writing letters and is being better at playing by himself and using his imagination, especially with the legos and a little bike to copy the trick bike videos Christopher shows him.

Mason requested the crocodile shirt that as he said, "Is like the one that Dad wears when he goes behind the boat."

Mason is also becoming more mischievous and during one of his quiet times he decided that my mirror looked like a good bridge to walk on.  Luckily he wasn't seriously hurt and only had a couple small scratches on his foot.

Paige is getting bigger and talking better.  She is looking more and more grown up with longer hair and moving around with a little more coordination.  She has also started to ask to ride Mason's old balance bike while he is on his pedal bike and can barely reach her feet to the ground, but she loves it.

Glad to know that even though she is looking older and talking more, she is still my baby a little bit and looks so serene when she's asleep.

We've also had some really good church activities, Mason and his friend who is a year older got read word for word instructions on the game Exploding Kitties.  It was awesome to see the two little boys sit and listen, even though they looked like they had no idea what he was saying, Mason actually ended up winning the game.

He has the best primary teacher who really loves him and is constantly sending him home with fun gifts and awesome pictures.

He also go to go to a primary activity where he go to live out two of his natural roles, a lion and a man attacking people with a knife.  I'm so proud.

We've had a great couple months of staying busy but are looking forward to maybe getting some more sunshine and to seeing if winter ever decides to be over.  Until then we'll be keeping ourselves busy inside; and making sure to take advantage of any outdoors time we get.

Christmas

It was a California Christmas year, the kids and I flew down to spend some extra time with family, and not 15 extra hours driving in the car.  Christopher had to bite the bullet, and drive the car down by himself. Luckily he was able to leave after work one day and stay at a relative's house about half the driving time to help split it up.

We did tons and lots of relaxing at the same time.  The kids all had a great time playing throughout the day and were often out of sight; outside, or upstairs and we could always still hear them.  They loved to run around the backyard, swing, jump and play deadman on the trampoline, and lots and lots of video games.

We did sugar cookie decorating, our own Family Feud, lip-sync battle, a few bike rides, a White family dinner with present fishing, and lots of baking and eating.

Paige did her best to keep up with the older kids, sneak outside anytime the door was open, and use her cuteness to get lots of cookies.

And there was a lot of napping.

Mason would wake up almost every day asking to play Smash Brothers, and could often be found playing in the room by himself.  The kids did a pretty good job of governing themselves, and only asked for help when someone was crying or happened to be throwing toys...again.

We were able to have a night for my sister, Tori, to go through the temple and were so happy to be there with her for that, and all of our family too.

The cousins had a great time watching movies together and eating fun treats and lots of popcorn!

Christmas Eve was a lot of fun, we of course had the little kids do the Nativity which Mason was only persuaded into by the idea that he could wear a crown and carry a golden present.  Paige was a sheep but mostly wandered around the house so she was just a lost sheep.

Christmas morning was crazy, fun and chaotic.  We had church at 9 am, a Skype call from my sister who is in Spain at 8 am, and kids waking up at 7:15 am to open presents, all of which had to be done before 8:45 am because some of my family going to be gone till later in the afternoon.

We ended up squeezing in enough presents to make kids happy, skype my sister, and get kids ready for church on time. We opened the rest of the presents once people were back that afternoon, and the kids actually liked having two rounds of presents.

Mason loved his present he got from Santa.  He had asked for a t-rex helicopter.  He even told the Santa we took pictures with that he wanted one, and was a little confused when we were leaving that Santa didn't give him his present.  I had to tell him that he would get it Christmas, and that the elves still had to make it now that they knew he wanted one.  He is so funny!

He spent the next 2 days playing with his toy non-stop and was so happy with everything he got, he said that Santa knew he was a good boy because he didn't "pout".  He was really into singing the different Christmas songs this year...and often sang lots of things to the tune of Frosty the Snowman.

Mason also got a bike from Grammie and Paka and had a good time putting it together with Christopher and Paka.

Paige got Mickey Mouse Clubhouse figurine toys, she knew as soon as she saw them that they were for her.  She walked over to the couch and grabbed the box, held them in the air and started to squeal.  She was so excited to open all of her presents and had fun playing with all her toys the rest of the time we were there.

Christopher and I both got some amazing things; one of which was a Santa cookie jar that each of my siblings got. They are replicas of the one my grandma had at her house every Christmas growing up, it was a great surprise and something I can't wait to have out for our next Christmas. 

We were also excited for the presents we were able to give.  The presents included a homemade wood Mickey coat rack and an arrow scarf/hat rack for my sisters that were so nice to watch our kids while we went on vacation with my parents this summer.

We left to drive home at 3:30 am and the kids rocked it!!!  The kindle they got from my parents was a lifesaver.  Mason threw up twice; the first time all on his clothes and we couldn't get to where we had packed his, with all of the bikes on the back of the car and tires on top of the luggage.  He ended up wearing my athletic shorts that I had and looked like a little samurai when he walked.  Paige blew out of her clothes 15 minutes from home and finished the trip in her diaper.

 Neither of them complained, Mason was a champ and was totally resilient to throwing up and just wanted to keep playing games. Paige was happy and slept a lot of the drive.  I love that kids can be so easy going!

We loved all the time we were able to spend with my family, making memories and continuing traditions.