Kindergarten

Dear Mason,
I just dropped you off at Coral Cliffs Elementary for your first day of Kindergarten. You were SO excited. You flashed a little "I love you" sign to me as you found your place in line, and I got a little teary eyed. I tried to be tough so you wouldn't be embarrassed. Your teacher came out to get you and your classmates and you all filed through the door in a straight little line of new shoes and backpacks. All of the other kids turned around to wave at their Moms and say goodbye one more time as they went around the corner, but not you! You were so ready to just get in there and go for it. You have always been like that. Not afraid to try new things and confident in yourself. I hope you never lose that. I hope as you learn that there are mean kids out there and people who don't believe the same things we do, you will still be just as confident. I am so proud of you Mason.

I remember the night we brought you home from the hospital. You cried and cried and I felt so helpless. I already loved you so much and wanted to protect you from the world and whatever was making you sad, but I didn't know how! Slowly, as I learned how to be a Mom, I figured out how to calm you down and wipe your tears and keep you safe. Today as you walked into that big school I had the same helpless feeling all over again. I don't know how to protect you from the mean kids, bad language, and other things of the world that you will surely run into during your time away from me at school! I don't know how to make you understand how truly special and great you are. So while you are there, learning to read and write and be a good friend, I am having a few lessons of my own. I have to learn AGAIN how to be the Mom and keep you safe and happy and protected, just in a different way. I'm sure I will still have to wipe a few tears. I'm sure you will make a few bad choices. I hope you know I will ALWAYS be there for you. I love you so much!

I can't believe what a neat young man you are turning out to be. You must have been such a strong spirit in Heaven. I know you have so much good to do here on earth! I learn so much from you every day. How to love unconditionally, how to dream, how to be carefree and enjoy life, and how to have faith. I can't wait to hear about this new adventure you started today. I hope I can help you become a good person and that you will continue to do the right thing always. You are a great example to your little brothers, and to me. I can't describe how proud I was, watching you walk into that classroom, giant smile on your face, ready to take on the world. You are an amazing child of God and I am so very blessed you call me Mom. I love you Mason! You changed my life the day we met and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Mom

P.S. These are just the pics from my phone. I'll post the ones from the camera later. :)

P.S. Again . . . He LOVED it!! He came RUNNING to me after school and gave me a big hug and said, "Mom, that was AWESOME!"

And Another P.S. One of my great friends from college teaches at Mason's school and she sent me this message today, "FYI- I spoke to his teacher today after school. When I mentioned Mason's name her face lit up and she got a big smile. She told me how today there were scraps of paper dropped on the floor and when she asked if someone could pick it up, Mason was the first one down on the ground even though it wasn't his. She knew then what a great helper he'd be this year!!!!" I teared up yet again. I am so proud of you Mason!!

Something is missing. . . .

The boys got jump ropes from the Easter Bunny and they've been playing "puppies" ever since. I only let them tie the rope around their wrists for safety reasons. ha ha ha. Anyhow, Mason kept putting it in his mouth and I kept telling him not to. Finally, I just grabbed the jump rope and pulled it out of his mouth, in the process his tooth became loose. He was so excited. All day he made comments like, "Thanks for making my tooth loose Mom!" and "You're so nice for loosening my tooth!" My favorite conversation of the day:
Mason: Mom, I can't remember what got loose today?
Me: Your tooth?
Mason: Oh yeah! That's right. Thanks Mom!
After much wiggling, he went to bed. The next day he was very diligent in his efforts and when Spencer got home, he pulled it out. You couldn't have found a prouder 5 year old!! The tooth fairy brought him a gold dollar. He carried it around for 2 days. Spencer and I were both kind of sad about the whole thing. He also got a haircut the next day and between the two, he looks like he's twelve! He is a handsome little man, that's for sure.

Ew.

Sitting in church yesterday I saw something weird in Carter's ear. You may be wondering what it was. Hint: We had Kix for breakfast. Yup. It was a soggy, milky, Kix. SICK! I tried to pull it out, but it was kind of disintegrating in there. It had been a while & it was squishy. I missed some apparently, because Carter took it out and ate it. I told him that was disgusting & he said, "No, it not gusting, it Mmmmmmmmm!"

Our First Garden!

On a whim this week we decided to build and plant a garden. Produce is SO EXPENSIVE anymore, so I decided we should take matters into our own hands. We have no idea what we are doing, and I'm sure we did a whole bunch of things wrong, but we're learning a lot as we go right? We dug and built and mixed and planted all week with our little helpers in our shadows the entire time and the baby rocking away on the patio.



We asked Mason and Carter what they wanted to plant so they had a little say in what we were doing. Mason wants to grow brussel sprouts, his favorite! We have to wait until fall to plant those though. Carter had three requests, broccoli, nuts, and cheese. I think it may be the wrong climate for the last two, but we're giving the broccoli a go. We're also trying tomatoes, yellow squash, peppers, green onions, lettuce, carrots, beans, peas, strawberries, zucchini, cucumbers, and a few spices. It has been a really hard, fun project. Some of the vegetables we are starting from seeds because it's so much cheaper. The boys "helped" me plant them. Carter ate more cucumber seeds than he planted. I poked little holes for the peas and they dropped them in and covered them up. A few minutes later, Carter dug them back up and ate them as well. He doesn't quite understand this whole concept. ha ha ha. I hope that we have a yummy selection of fresh healthy food this year and the boys learn the value of work. It has been a fun family project so far!





P.S. Thank you my love for putting up with me and going along with my hair-brained ideas! Spencer is so good to help me when I come up with these crazy plans. Love you babe!
Isn't he handsome? :P

Green FHE for Uncle Scotty Pants & St. Patty's Day

wFor Family Night a few weeks ago we decided to put together a Saint Patrick's Day package for my brother Scott who is serving his mission in AZ right now. We went to the store and picked out all of the green things we could think of. The boys had a blast! Some of the items included a green pen, green shampoo, green Hawaiian Punch, green soap, green Jell-o, a green toothbrush, etc. etc. etc. We filled the box and then sprinkled in green confetti. The boys just giggled. We hope it made a big fat mess. ha ha ha. Anyway, then we got green paper and markers and wrote him a little note from each of us. We packed it all in tight, sealed the box, and decorated it with stickers. Last of all, Carter and Mason sealed it with a kiss! Hopefully it was a little bit useful for Scott. The boys love sending him things and writing him letters. We are so proud of all the hard work he is doing. Here are a few fun pictures from the night:















And speaking of green, we had a fun Saint Patrick's Day this past week! We had green leprechaun pancakes and green milk for breakfast. We spent the day building our new GARDEN! More on that to come. . . . .

Riding the Storm Out

Well our biggest little man just keeps getting bigger. The latest indication of this was the removal of his training wheels. Mason was apprehensive, to say the least, but we decided Tuesday was the day and off they came. We rode up and down the street with Spencer holding the seat or me holding his shirt. He was so afraid of going it alone, even though his Mom and Dad both knew he could do it. (It gives me the SMALLEST glimpse at how our Father in Heaven must feel about us. He knows what we are capable of LONG before we do! If only we would put our trust in him our fears would stop getting in the way!) Anyway, there were lots of tears and a few scrapes. We told him he couldn't go inside until he could do it all by himself. At one point he was just sobbing and screaming at us that he didn't want to do it. A short time later though, HE GOT IT! He was riding back and fort like a champ and even learned to start and stop bu himself. Before we headed inside he excalimed, "I love riding my bike with no training wheels guys!"










We're so proud of you Mason! You can do ANYTHING you set your mind to. Love you!


Here are some little videos of the whole ordeal: