Jenna's 30th Birthday!

Yesterday was my 30th birthday...happy birthday to me! It was a great day that started out with a present and coffee on the counter from Brian. 

Mason and Micah and I went for a walk before Micah's morning nap. I was feeling extra fun and Mason convinced me to stop at the church park to play.

The flower delivery man dropped off a beautiful bouquet from Brian while we were gone.

Brian worked until lunchtime and then came home to spend the rest of the afternoon with me. We dropped M&M off at Rosemary's house to play and nap while we went out for lunch and shopping.

Oh look - sales! I didn't actually find anything even though Brian wanted me to since it was my birthday!

We enjoyed a late lunch at Sixth & Pine, the cafe at Nordstrom, before walking around the mall.

We celebrated with pizza and ice cream cake with my family and Rosemary and Dean and Prudy. Mason was so excited to help blow out the candles and open my presents. Pizza and ice cream cake, shopping, family...it was my kind of day!

So thankful for my family and the life I've lived in these 30 years. Looking forward to many more years with them!

Mason's 4th Birthday!

Mason was excited for his birthday...I think four is the age where you start to be excited for your birthday and understand all the fun that is attached to it. 

 Ready for bed, his last night as a three year old...scratch on his nose and all!

 Micah and I went into Mason's room once he was awake and sang happy birthday to him.

 Micah loved Mason's birthday balloons.

 Donuts to start the day off right.

 Mason was excited to help make his birthday cake.

 Can he really be four?!

 Standing next to his growth chart to put the sticker up for his fourth birthday. Mason loves to check his height regularly.

 Helping Micah stand up for a brother picture.

 Daddy left work early and met us for lunch at T&C, one of Mason's favorite places to eat.

 He was so excited to open presents, so we let him open one before his nap. He was a little sad he couldn't open more...

 Birthday dinner from the Dariette with Nonie and Grandpa.

 Joel joined us for the party via FaceTime. Micah was happy to see him.

 Mason was more than ready to open presents. He couldn't wait to open the big one, which he just knew was the tall fan.

 Just what he wanted, except it wasn't white (like Martene's).

 He went from one gift to the next!

 Posing with his new tall fan.

 Excited to blow out the candles.

Happy 4th birthday Mason! So glad to have you as part of our family!

Mason :: Four Years Old

Today is Mason's fourth birthday! Hard to believe four years can go so quickly! 

Mason likes:
- Playing outside: riding bike, digging in the dirt with his new shovel, hoe, rake and wheelbarrow with neighbors, Karey and Myah, jumping on the trampoline, helping daddy, playing at the park, blowing bubbles, writing with chalk, bike rides in the trailer with daddy, hiking, walks in the stroller with mommy, exploring…you name it and he's happy!
- Going to music class and story time and especially enjoys craft time. He enjoys Sunday school and Jr. Church as well.
- Fans, tools, and ladders! Loves to explore the farm and climb various ladders and inspect fans and other equipment and things in the shop when he's with Rosemary. He usually has at least one tool bag packed or strewn about at home.
- Listening to books. We usually read a few books in the morning, at least one at nap time, a few with daddy before bed, and one with mommy in his room before bed. He enjoys almost any book but a few particular favorites are (always) Curious George, Click Clack Moo books, The Giving Tree, Little Blue Truck, and his High Five magazines.
- Watching shows on the iPad or TV. He likes the PBS Kids app and is into Word World right now. He also likes a few shows on the Disney app, Mickey Mouse and Handy Manny especially. He watched his first full Disney movie in its entirety with Rosemary, Silas, Ezra and Martha a few weeks ago and has asked to watch it over and over again - Frozen!
- Drawing and writing on paper and in his "checkbook". He also enjoys using the Aquadoodle and Water Wow water coloring books.
- Playing with Micah. Though Micah gets into whatever Mason is doing, they usually play well together and he tolerates Micah's messing up his things. Occasionally he will close the door so Micah can't get in or out, but is willing to reconsider and play with him.
- To eat very slowly and chat while eating. He has never been a quick or big eater, unless it's something he really likes. I wouldn't say he's picky because he eats what he's given (unless it's too spicy), but he's just not a huge eater. He likes chicken salad, turkey and cheese and peanut butter and jelly for lunch. Tomato soup, spaghetti, pizza, hot dogs, veggies and hummus, apples, pancakes, cinnamon toast, and meatballs are all foods he'll eat quite willingly. Sounds like typical kid food! We spend lots of time reminding him to eat and explaining that he'd have more play time if he'd finish his food sooner.
- Snuggling in bed or on the couch. He loves if you lay with him for "one more minute" at nap or bed time. He likes to "talk about what we did today" when we're laying in bed at night. It's fun to review the day and hear his thoughts on what we've done and what he remembers.

So happy Mason is part of our family! He keeps us laughing and smiling and is such a fun person to spend our days with.

Family Fun Saturday

Mason turns four on Tuesday, so we decided to start the celebrating early by going to McKinley Monument and Museum on Saturday.   

We took a little detour to start the day with a donut and apple juice for Mason and an iced coffee for mommy and daddy!

We chose a beautiful day to visit McKinley! There were lots of other people there too…most of them using the steps and grounds as part of their morning exercise.

 Mason ran up and down "the ramp" several times. He could book it down the ramp and had to wait for me to catch up.

 After playing at the monument, we went inside the museum.

 This dinosaur moved and made noise when it sensed movement. Mason kind of liked it and kind of didn't! He did enjoy climbing up the "rocks" to get a better view.

 He also enjoyed digging for fossils, though I don't think he actually found any fossils. He was more interested in filling the bucket and shoveled around the fossils!

 Can you guess what he's looking? He noticed the bird had a ladder! The first thing he told Brian when they walked into the room was that he heard a fan. Forget the exhibits, Mason hears fans and sees ladders!

 Mason (and Brian) really enjoyed the science part of the museum. Mason is recently interested in robots and much to his enjoyment, he was able to control two!

 Micah was able to do lots of looking and pointing.  That little L he makes with his finger and thumb is so cute! He found lots of lights and really liked watching the green ball hover over the air hole.

 Upstairs, we walked around the historical part of the museum and these boys were happy to spend a few minutes playing at the train table.

 Family selfie!

 More monument fun after we'd explored the museum enough. Micah had his turn at going up the stairs, but decided he only wanted to do a few.

 Mason couldn't look at the camera because it was too sunny. He can't look for pictures on most occasions and I just have to laugh and remember that's it's all part of being almost four years old!

 We drove to a local BBQ spot and got sandwiches, bean soup, macaroni salad, and cornbread muffins for lunch and sat at a picnic table at the monument.

And then went to another local restaurant, Taggerts, for ice cream. We over ordered since it was our first time and we didn't realize just how big the brownie sundae and kids hot fudge sundae would be! But boy was it tasty! And just the perfect ending to a beautiful day spent together!

Brian's Birthday!

Brian turned 31 several weeks ago and his parents came to visit for the weekend. 

It happened to be Valentine's Day when they arrived so they had a few extra goodies. Mason is excited to play outside with his new bat and wiffle balls.

They also brought donuts. Lucky boy!

Mason and Mimi spent lots of time reading, especially the High Five and Hidden Pictures magazines.  Mason loved spending time with her!

Since we had in-house childcare (which was wonderful!), we took advantage and went on a date to celebrate Valentine's Day and Brian's birthday. We had a good time together!

 Micah was dedicated on Sunday, Brian's birthday. He didn't like when Carl held him during the prayer, but didn't make too much of a fuss.  Mason, on the other hand, had some dry skin itches he was trying to take care of!

Brian made his own birthday lunch - how about that! I told him I felt bad that he did most of the work, but when he's good in the kitchen (and enjoys it), why take away the fun just because it's his birthday!? We had steak, sweet potatoes, and roasted broccoli.

Brian picked out his own birthday meat…and lots of it!

We celebrated with our parents after church.

At least Brian and I have nice smiles for the camera!

Mason couldn't wait to help blow out the candles.

And eat the chocolate cake that he helped Mimi make. It was good! We had a great weekend and fun celebrating Brian!