Mason at 2 1/2

Mason turned 2 1/2 on March 11 and he is such a fun, little buddy to have around!

Loves: 
"Semper" (Spencer), Daddy, Kiki, garbage trucks, construction vehicles, all other trucks, the smoke jumpers toys from Planes Fire and Rescue, books about vehicles, playing outside or in the garage, nursery at Church, playing in Semper's room, sucking his fingers, snugging under a blanket while reading books, Paw Patrol, Daniel Tiger, Mickey Mouse, and all animals.

Dislikes:
Brushing his teeth, washing his hands, coming in from outside, being locked out of Semper's room, all cooked vegetables except for carrots.

Funnies:
-Mason must have had a nursery lesson on obeying Jesus because he kept saying, "I happy. I obey Jesus!"over and over for a week or so.
-When we told the boys we would be staying at a hotel with a pool over spring break, Mason said, "I be a fish!"
-Mason full on belly laughs whenever I drive the shopping cart over the "bumpies" on sidewalks. I have no clue what those textured parts of sidewalks are really called.
-Our family theme for this year is a quote from Elder Holland.  Last week, I caught Mason repeating the first part of the theme over and over, "Keep loving, keep trying, keep loving, keep trying, etc..."
-Recently, I often hear him saying, "Mommy, Daddy, Semper, Mason - That's our family!"

A day in the life of Mason:
7:00ish - Wake-up. He had always slept until 8:00 until about a month ago. I was spoiled and his new wake-up time has been a bit of an adjustment for me. ;)
7:25 - Say prayers and good-bye to Spencer. (Alan leaves long before either of them are awake.)
7:30 - Breakfast, usually toast with almond butter and a green smoothie with Mom.
8:00-10:00 - Play with Mom and Kiki and get ready for the day
10:00-Noon - Run errands or go to clogging, story time at the library, or playgroup at the Church with Mom.
Noon - Lunch, often a cream cheese and jam sandwich shaped with a cookie cutter and fruit
1:00 - Stories with Mom and nap
2:30 - 4:15 Wake-up, play with Spencer or Mom
4:15ish - Daddy's home! Play with Daddy, dinner, more playtime.
7:00 - Time to get ready for bed

He think it's hilarious to get dizzy.

"My smoothie maker!"

We love going to the library for story time and to play.

Mason loves birthdays and randomly started singing this at dinner a few days after Lindsey's birthday.

A rare moment of sunshine!

Playing "knock out" with Spencer.

Wearing his "pack pack" like Spencer.

A new favorite book from the library:

He loves to go all the way under blankets and usually pesters someone to do it with him.

Mason is still a very busy boy and we have to keep a close watch on him, especially when we're outside not at home. He disappears quickly! He has such a funny and loving personality though. Mason likes to be the center of attention at dinner and still gives the best "lovies." It's hard to remember what life was like before Mason came to our home.  We all adore him!

Oregon Battle of the Books

As a 3rd grader, Spencer was eligible to compete in the Oregon Battle of the Books this year.  His school got a late start in the program and simply put teams together by kids that wanted to participate in each class.  I volunteered to coach Spencer's group because it was a good way to help out in Spencer's class, bond with Spencer, and do something I enjoy.  Spencer's teacher was very accommodating and let me meet with the group once a week during silent reading time for a couple of months.  Alan was able to be home with Mason most of the days I went so it worked out well.

The OBOB organization chose 16 books for the 3rd-5th graders to read this year.  Each kid was supposed to read and become an expert on as many of those books as possible.  Spencer devours books and had all 16 finished with a month or two to spare.  Clara, Sam, and Shane read 15-9 books each.  I think I got through nine of them as well.  Some I really enjoyed, others were definitely written for elementary school humors.  :)

Edy Ridge had their school battles during the final week of February.  19 teams competed in two pool play battles and then a single-elimination tournament.  Spencer's team chose to call themselves The Gladireaders so we decorated paper shields which I then laminated.  They wore the shields during each of their battles.

Each battle consisted of 16 questions directed between two teams.  Team members could work together to come up with an answer and then a spokesperson had to give a final answer to the moderator.  Spencer was the only one on his team who wanted to be the spokesperson so he filled that roll for every battle.  I was amazed at the details the kids could remember and at Spencer's confidence in answering the questions!

The Gladireaders did amazingly well and didn't loss a single battle.  The final school battle was against a 5th grade team and was held during a school assembly.  The Gladireaders easily won with 45 points to 10!  I was super proud of them for making it so far when they were the youngest grade to participate.  We took Spencer to Menchies for ice cream to celebrate that evening.

Since the Gladireaders were the school champions, they got to go to the regional competition in Beaverton the following Saturday, March 11.  We had to miss running in Uberthon's Luckython for it this year, but we weren't too sad when it turned out to be an extremely wet morning.  I decided to leave Mason with a babysitter rather than try to keep him entertained and out of trouble and it's a good thing I did!  There is no way I would have been able to do what I needed to do while trying to keep track of a 2-year-old.  :)

76 teams competed at the regional competition which worked the same way as the school competition: two pool play battles and then a single elimination tournament for the top 16 teams.  The Gladireaders did very well in their pool play battles - tieing one and winning the other, but did not have enough points to advance to the tournament.   They were disappointed when it was over, but I wasn't too sad to come home early.  These four did such a great job and were good sports besides doing so well.  Spencer is already looking forward to next year's battles.  This is a great program to encourage Spencer to read other books/genres than he normally would in addition to teaching team work and sportsmanship.  Way to go Gladireaders!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is usually one of my favorite holidays because it's a bright spot during the gray and wet winter, this year didn't turn out quite as well as I would have liked.  

I set up a photo shoot for Valentine's pictures, but the lighting was terrible and my mediocre photography skills couldn't make up for it.  The pictures didn't turn out good enough to print and mail out, but these two are still cute!  

This picture I quickly snapped on Valentine's Day itself turned out better.

Mason and I went to our normal Tuesday morning activities: clogging at the church and story time at the library.  He is slowly getting better at sitting and listening to the stories instead of running around the room.

Alan came home and had lunch with Mason so I could go to Spencer's class party.  There was way too much candy, which of course made the party awesome.  Spencer decorated his Valentine's box like a Lego.  We gave homemade play dough for his valentines this year.

The loot!

Valentine's fell on a day with basketball practice and Cub scouts in the evening so we didn't have much time for our usual fancy dinner and games.  I borrowed Debbie's fondue pot and we had bbq chicken with veggies and cheese fondue.  It was really yummy even though it was quick.  I didn't have to make a dessert since we had lots of cheesecake left over from the Chocolatathon.  

It was a busy day and I didn't get to celebrate the way I wanted, but I am happy we got to celebrate the loves in our lives.  And, appreciating that love is what this holiday is all about.  I love these three boys fiercely.

Basketball '16-'17

Spencer just finished his 4th season of basketball.  He aged out of the YMCA league and joined the Sherwood Basketball Organization this year.  It was a much longer season (mid November through the first weekend in March!), but I was happy with how even the teams were and that the games were at schools, not the small, crowded YMCA.  Mark Dunn (a member of our stake) was the head coach and Alan was able to assistant coach Spencer's team again this year, which I think they both loved! The team chose to call themselves the Blazers and Spencer got Alan's old #3 by coincidence.

These are terrible pictures, but they are all I have!  The lighting, speed of the game, and trying to keep a toddler in his seat and happy all made taking pictures difficult. ;)  I loved that they didn't keep score at this level.  The focus was on leaning skills and having fun - just what it should be in 3rd grade.  Spencer was happy to learn some real plays this year.  The coach just introduced one position, point guard, and that was enough for this year.  They practiced twice a week and had games on Saturdays.  The season would have been a week shorter, but three games had to be cancelled because of snow so they scheduled one make-up week.

I don't always love the busyness sports add to our schedule, but I'm glad that Spencer likes to be active and is learning lots of new skills in addition to teamwork.  Plus, it's a great bonding activity for both of my sports lovers!