Happy New Year!

We're back from Ohio and recovering and cleaning. The dogs had claimed the house for their own while we were gone, so it was very smelly and the couches were covered in fur. So there has been plenty to do. Number one on Mama's list (after starting the laundry) was to organize Mason's new and old toys and put away things that are definitely too young for him. One of his favorite toys is the Mack Disney play set from the movie Cars. But it is not Dada's. Mason asks for the toy to be opened, then closed, then opened, then closed. It is flimsy and not easy. Wish we'd ready the review on that one before buying it, but then again Mason loves it so much. He was better today, maybe he got over the initial excitement of its transformation.



We had a wonderful time in Ohio, it was great seeing everyone! Mason really loved being with everyone also. He was still talking about the trip when we got back, rattling off names. He even said "Ramanda"! We can't wait to see Uncle Loren and Ramanda again soon!



Thank you for all of the wonderful gifts! Mason still loves the road carpet, calls it his "racetrack." Of course he plays Thomas. He actually used his pillow book from Nancy as a pillow! Mama put together the frog tent from Uncle Gary and Aunt Susan and he thought that was fun. We played "where did Mason go?" "There he is!"



Our New Year's resolution should be to keep the buckeye/play room more organized. It looks like a disaster right now with all of the new toys!

Cursed Christmas Cards

So, the rule of me trying to do Christmas cards this year - if it could go wrong, it did. First problem was me procrastinating, but I still thought I could get everything done Sunday and mail them Monday. My grand idea was to do Christmas postcards, it seemed simpler and cheaper. The latter was the only thing that turned out to be accurate. Sunday Kevin wanted to stay home and clean, so I took Mason to OfficeMax to buy supplies and print the photos. The photo machine wouldn't read my camera card and I couldn't find the supplies I wanted. Mason was being a brat, so I just went home. Monday at lunch I went to a different OfficeMax, knowing exactly what I needed to buy, and still needing to print photos. I bought what I needed, but their photo machine was down. On my way home from work that day I stopped at Walgreens and ordered the photos, not to be ready for 3 more hours. So I went home, printed my letter up beautifully, had the labels all ready. I went back to Walgreens 4 hours later and they told me their printing machine had died. More wasted time and still no photos. Tuesday after work (no time at lunch) I went to Target to print photos (I was very upset with Walgreens and didn't like their photo options anyway). I chose the one Target in the city that does not have a photo machine. On my way home I stopped at the post office to buy postcard stamps, but the office was closed and they don't sell stamps in their lobby. At this point I'm near tears. I didn't think there was any way I would get my Christmas cards out in time for even New Year's! Hubby to the rescue. He suggested go up north near my parents house where it's not busy and there are a lot of businesses. That post office did not have postcard stamps either. Walmart had the right stamps, that place was a zoo. We went to CVS and successfully printed the pictures, they are lovely. So that night while relaxing and watching TV I made out the postcards and put them in the mailbox this morning. Kevin asked if it was worth all the trouble (probably on Monday) and if I had known it would be that terrible, no I wouldn't have done the pictures. But Monday everything was ready except for the photos, it seemed silly not to finish them. I'm so happy they're done and hope you enjoy receiving yours! -Erika

Winterhaven

Tonight we went to a community in Tucson called Winterhaven that has become a touristy holiday event. Every home decorates with lights, some quite extravagantly. They have horse-drawn carriage rides and trolleys, but we walked. There were huge displays, like the "12 Days of Christmas" and a large Thomas train going around a track. Mason almost cried when we left that one, but he was great the whole time, enjoyed the "Pitmas light."



This display was like a mini Bellagio water show. The lights and water were synchronized to Christmas music. The water was simple, but the entire display was very impressive for someone's yard! We enjoyed the neighborhood immensely, forgot we live in a desert.

Happy Holidays!

This may be our last post for a while, we will be going to Ohio for Christmas! We are very excited, it has been four years since we've gone home for Christmas. We miss our family very much! We've been having fun getting ready for Christmas. Mason loves the tree and the ornaments and is mostly good about leaving them alone. He demanded to play with the train ornaments, so they're a little beat up now, but not too bad. He loves snowmen, and loved a snowman snowglobe. We knew better than to let him play with it, but he usually listens. He smashed it once on the table and Kevin said "No." He promptly smashed it again and it broke. Still, we're enjoying the season and can't wait to see Mason's face when he opens his presents.



Mama and Mason made some crafts, Mason really likes the snowman. He is upset it doesn't have a hat, though. Mama didn't know how to do that one. Mason did well making the crafts, you can tell he's maturing. To look at him you'd never guess he was still not even three, but he still can't ride a tricycle and talks a lot of baby nonsense. Every now and then he says some really funny things. He says "Get booty!" when he wants to play the game where we chase him and then tickle his bottom :)

Trains, trains, and........still trains

Mason's typical day: wake up, play "choo-choo", eat breakfast while watching Thomas the train, play choo-choo, go outside, play choo-choo, watch Thomas, nap, play choo-choo, watch Thomas, play choo-choo, go outside, play cars, play choo-choo, maybe watch Thomas again, then bed. He is officially obsessed now. His favorite book is "The Caboose That Got Loose." We read it twice a day and he must have it memorized because he read an entire line himself: "The engines were steamers with puffing smokestacks" (though pronounciation was not precise). So, when he vomited on that very book this morning, panic set in. Erika tried washing it, which only got the entire book wet. That damage on top of the already degrading binding means we'll be asking for a new one for Christmas. Don't know why he got sick, he's fine now. We went to the library and got more books by the same author, but they don't have the caboose book. The positive of his train obsession is that the train set we bought him last May was not a waste of money. He also loves the Disney movie Cars and has a few diecast replicas of the characters that he loves. He's very much into the transportation theme. We've already gotten him a few Thomas trains for Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a fun Turkey Day, relaxing in the house and cooking as few things as possible to reduce leftovers. Though Mason usually likes chicken/turkey, he would only eat bread, tomatoes, and marshmallows. Untypical of the desert is that it rained all day, leaving us inside on Mama's day off:( Not that it totally mattered since someone had vandalized the playground and completely ruined the slide.



Now that Thanksgiving is over, everyone will be thinking about Christmas, especially toymakers. Mason was looking very intently at the Toys'R'Us ad. Thank goodness he doesn't understand what it is or that Christmas is coming.



He's such thoughtful boy. We bought new tennis balls for Dizzy and Mason wanted to give one to her. He said to her, "You have it."



He was being so cute one day, wanted to wear Kevin's hat.


He loves rough-housing and made up a car-crash game in which he would slam into Kevin's car and they would fall to the ground.


Mama stepped in to give Kevin a break, tile floor is not pleasant to fall on.


Yea! OSU beat Michigan, go Buckeyes!

Nana in Town

Nana came to town and we of course have been non-stop busy and having fun. We went to Chiricahua National Monument where we did an easy, amazing hike. It was cold there, we were at about 7,000 feet elevation. But Mason did great. He only got upset when we showed him the lizards and we wouldn't let him out of the backpack to play with them. He was quiet on the hike and got tired of us wiping his running nose (because it was so cold), but when we finished he said "That was a nice hike." Then we came down the mountain and had a picnic in a slightly warmer valley.

For more pictures go to http://www.slide.com/r/e6Pv9Ygm5D9-m-zV5xzh03ijwooKHKl7?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

Mason loves his Nana, but really misses Paw-paw who couldn't come on this trip. Nana is so great about taking Mason to fun places and doing fun activities. She made bathtub fingerpaints and Mason loves making a mess with those!

We did like the instructions said and played with the paints in the tub, and that was such a mess! Mason did little painting and they just dissolved in the bath water. He needed a separate shower after that.

The next day Nana gave him the paints in the shower with no water and he put his creativity to work! He still got a shower afterwards, but the adults felt better about him not sitting in dirty water.