Happy Birthday Mason!!

We began last week with Mason's first birthday! It is so hard to believe that he is already one! He has been such a joy and continues to remind us how lucky we are to have him in our family each and every day!

It was a short work week due to Thanksgiving. Neither Matt or I had to work Wednesday, so we headed to Iowa early. We got a hotel room for Wednesday night so that it could feel like a little vacation and the boys could swim. Zane was so excited about it all week long and kept telling Jo his schedule (Preschool, Jo's, Preschool, Hotel). When we got there he said, "This is like cation (vacation)!" He didn't want to leave "cation" but also wanted to see his grandparents!

The boys in the pool

Mason hanging in the pool watching Zane
My three boys jumping on the bed!

Thanksgiving started for us on Thursday at my grandparents' house. We were also celebrating their 60th anniversary! Grandpa had a stroke and is currently in a rehab center, so we visited him there after dinner. Friday Zane went combining and choring with Papa. He was gone for 8 hours! Friday night we went to the Beggs Thanksgiving. Saturday the Bearcats WON their football game...and I was watching it at a "watch party" which was a lot of fun.

Saturday night we had Mason's party at Matt's parents' house. We ordered pizza, opened presents, and had homemade cake and ice cream. It was a lot of fun! So many family members came to celebrate Mason's special day with him and we are so thankful for each one of them! We also got to meet the newest member of the Beggs family, little Kenna. Zane was really excited and kept wanting to hold her!

Zane, Tate, Keaton, Porter

Relaxing and eating...what a life!

Mason with all of his gifts

Opening presents

My very own 4-wheeler!

Mason enjoying his new toy!


It was so cute to see him waving!


Gimme that cake!

Birthday boy Mason

That was good!

A little ice cream cone to top it all off...

Check out the slice of cake Zane had to have...

Us cuddling baby Kenna

Sunday morning was our last Thanksgiving of the weekend. We had breakfast with the Baker family. Zane, Porter, and Tate had a blast playing together and got along really well! Grandma bought some door hangers for crafts and the boys had a blast with them. They were the first thing Zane got out and hung up when we got home!

It's hard to believe Christmas will be here in 4 weeks! We are trying to make the most of every moment of the Holiday season. There's nothing like having a 4 year old to make you appreciate the small things! Have a great week!

Catching up...

Wow, what a delay in posts for me! Sorry about having nothing for awhile...we still do not have a working computer at home and I've been taking my laptop to and from work every day, but they have our laptops set up so the drives don't work unless you're at school, so I have not been able to upload any pictures. Finally I got a moment to work on it at school, so bear with me as this post is going to be long!

When I was sick a couple weeks ago, Matt took the boys and headed to Iowa so that they could combine (or as Zane calls it, "pick corn"). They had a BLAST and I got some much-needed rest. I was so much better even after one day of resting and medicine. Here are some pictures from the farm:

Old Papa, Mason & Zane

Checking out the combine...
Farmin!

Mason loved to drive!

Zane made his toy combine have headlights!

Mason's reaction to coming inside and being left...

Zane and Mason have really started playing well together! Zane sometimes isn't the most gentle with Mason...but he will have his revenge soon! It's so fun to wacth them interacting together! Mason wants to do everything Zane does and gets frustrated when he can't do it all...and Zane gets upset when Mason wants to touch or play with his things!

4-wheeling!

Riding around the yard


Zane was so worn out he fell asleep like this!

All it took for me to get excited for Christmas was waking up to snow on the ground one morning! All of a sudden we were making chili and decorating our house for Christmas! We put up our tree and the boys were very into it! Zane wanted to know if Santa would know where our tree was. The next morning Zane said, "Mom, should we see if there are any presents under the tree?"

The boys in their matching jammies

The boys were so much help...

Putting on the ornaments

Mason putting on ornaments

Mason admiring the tree (we had a photo of Zane like this)

Oogling over the tree!

Zane has been really into drawing, writing, and coloring lately. It seems like that's all he wants to do! The other night Matt was building me some shelves for school and Zane sat down there with him for 2 hours working on coloring a piece of wood with a pencil...and he presented it to me as a gift! Whatever he colors, he has to fill the WHOLE thing in with color. It's funny!

Those cookies with chocoloate on them were great mom!

Mom, look at the board I colored for you!

This weekend some friends came down for the Chiefs/Steelers game. Our friend Chris has always been a Steelers fan, so he got a group together (there were 17 of us in all). Let's just say the game didn't turn out like any of us thought it would! It was a very fun game to be at! GO CHIEFS!

Before the game

Chris at the end of the game...

Here are a few pictures and videos that are random...

Mason loves to dance!

Mason with two favorites...his blankie and a remote! (We call him Linus)

Zane doing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes"

Mason finally did "touchdown" on camera for me!

Thanks for bearing with me for this long post! Not sure when I'll be able to do another one...but am hoping it will be soon! We will have Mason's birthday party pictures to post after this weekend! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Illness and Prayers Requested

Sorry for the delay in posts...we are dealing with the flu at our house! Zane, Mason, and now Mom have had influenza! Dad is the only one left.

We are also without a home computer, which makes it difficult to upload pictures!

In the meantime, I would like to ask for your prayers for a girl who was a couple of years ahead of Matt and I in high school. Here is the story of Baby Brooklyn, written by her mom:

Brooklyn Marie McCutchan ~ Stillborn Thurs. Nov. 12, 2009 ~ 7 lbs. 8 oz. ~ 21" long. Our beautiful little girl had lots of long black hair like Mommy, she also had Mommy's lips, ears, hands & feet. Brooklyn was blessed to have her Daddy's eyes, cheeks, & his cute little button nose! Our perfectly healthy & active little girl never stopped dancing around in Mommy’s tummy, and unfortunately got the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around her precious little neck. She is now dancing in heaven with Jesus! We love her & miss her desperately!!!

Our hearts are breaking for the family. Please send prayers their way as they are going through a very difficult time right now. Thank you so much!

Happy Halloween!!!

This first picture is out of order...I can't get it to move but I love it so it's being included! See below about the leaves at Jo's house.

Zaner

Zane wanted to take pictures of our carved pumpkins at night, so here is his picture. Yes, we have a pumpkin for Mason, but it was too small to carve, so it has stickers for a face!

Jo's yard gets full of leaves at this time of year. Dale (her husband) always blows the leaves into a pile for the kids to play in. Zane has been waiting and waiting for this! I showed up on Tuesday to pick the boys up and Zane was "missing" (covered in leaves). Here are some fun pictures from that afternoon:

Sammy, Zane, Ryan

Braeden, Nora, Mason
Mason...Zane's throwing leaves on him!
Mason & Zane in the leaves

This week I had conferences so Matt and the boys had quite a bit of quality time together! Wednesday he took them for their flu shots. Zane had to get the nasal mist because they only had 9 shots and were saving those for infants. Thursday Jo called me and said he was sluggish, saying he didn't feel well, and covered up on the couch. Matt got him and said he definitely didn't feel well. He was quiet...a huge sign he's not well! When I got him his temperature was 102 so we gave him Motrin and he fell asleep soon after that. He slept well, but was unable to go to his Halloween party at school or the sleepover at Jo's house. Luckily he didn't remember either of those things so he didn't realize that he was missing out. All he was worried about was if he could go to Papa Farmer's house...cause, "Mom, you said that after Preschool we would go to Papa's. You said Mom!"

We were originally going to go to Iowa Saturday morning because of the sleepover at Jo's house, but decided to go ahead and go Friday night. We stayed at Papa Farmer's and Zane was as happy as a clam! Saturday we went to a church dinner, Zane farmed with Papa, and then we went into town for the Halloween parade and a little trick-or-treating. Zane wasn't too into it though and seemed to care less if he went, so we just stopped by the grandparents' houses and then went home.

Zane as "Lightning McQueen"

Mason the lion

Zane pulling on Mason's tail

Sunday we went to Matt's grandma's for dinner. It was a gorgeous day so the boys enjoyed the outdoors. They were TIRED on the way home and slept the whole time! Lucky for us the time change hasn't affected them!

Mason the "cowboy"

Zane-isms

• On the way home from Preschool last week, I asked Zane what he learned that day. He said, "Oh, just little "e.""

• I was talking to Zane about who was at school one day. He said, "Austin. He's my best friend. I love him."

• Zane wanted something the other day and said it to us without using his manners. All of a sudden he goes, "Stupid head! Use your manners and ask nicely." So now everytime he doesn't use his manners, he blames his brain!
  

Mason's Marvels

• Mason is really into talking on the phone. This weekend he took the phone, put it up to his ear, and was pacing back and forth as he was "talking." I am going to try to get it on video!
• Lately Mason has really been into getting on the bed or couch. He likes to crawl, bounce, and play all over!