If You're Happy and You Know It...

... then your face will surely show it. Ellie has learned how to smile and boy is it contagious.

The First of July

The beginning of July means it's Josh's birthday and summertime fun is officially underway. At this point we are typically fully into project mode and good times are easily found.  This year Josh's birthday fell during the week of "Music School" (scroll down to a previous post for more details). We were having a great time with Daddy. Mason had discovered he could dress like daddy in his "rad" shorts. On this particular day they were on their way singing, "We're going to Music School" one of the many renditions of "The Farmer in the Dell" that were sung that week.  

On Wednesday of that week it was Daddy's birthday and Mason and I had been planning some fun.  Mason loves to sing "Happy Birthday" and get people to blow out their candles whether they are real or imaginary.  He makes pretend cakes and loves to tell us "secrets" about the fun parties that we are going to have.  He and I had talked about how it was going to be Daddy's birthday.  He picked out some birthday candles that Daddy would get to blow out.  We decided to share another picnic lunch with him to celebrate his special day.  Grammie joined us at the workshop that day, too and shared in the fun.  We ended up staying on campus to gather lunch, so our candles and cake would have to wait until later. After lunch and a retelling of Mason's favorite story, The Three Bears, Daddy went to the afternoon session and Grammie and Mason gathered sticks for our "campfire" and roasting marshmallows (leaves). We found that a pretend campfire is a great way to pass some time on a blistering hot day.

 

Ellie looked on with admiring eyes.  She loves her big brother, or as he told me the other night, "Mommy, she likes me!"

All the excitement wore her out, so she decided to power nap under the shady trees, and Mommy was hoping Mason would follow her lead, but no such luck.  

He decided to power through as we journeyed over to our good friend, MaryEllen's, new place that afternoon. She had come by to meet Ellie and bond a bit Monday night and invited us to visit her as we were so close to her new home.

We are so grateful that she has a high tolerance for our chaos as she welcomed us with open arms. While visiting we successfully left our mark.  Mason emptied all her coin jars onto her carpet, chipping one of them.  Ellie power-pooped all over one of her towels. Josh was going to make up for these antics by helping her move a monstrous, unwanted desk down her stairs and successfully put scraps and holes in her wall before snapping off the light switches at the bottom of the staircase. Fortunately, we had stopped at the nearby bakery to pick up some birthday cake to help distract from the damages.  Mason found a clock that was waiting to find its hanging spot in her new home and was suddenly carrying it around.  I asked him what time it was and he replied thoughtfully, "40, time to eat cake." Well, who can argue with that?

He ventured into the kitchen with MaryEllen to find some candles and get the cake. They came in singing and grinning. Being the creative thinker he is, Mason wanted to put the candles into these fancy candle holders he found (her dogs' Kong toys). Luckily, MaryEllen was there to redirect that idea.

"Make a wish, blow out your candles Daddy!"


Happy Birthday, Daddy! Thank you for being the wonderful husband and father that you are. We love you with all our hearts and more.  We look forward to many more years of creativity, imagination, laughter and all around good times. 

Handy Mason

"Mommy, Daddy is a builder and I am a fixer," Mason told me as he loaded up his new tool belt with all of his tools from Uncle Chris.  He and Josh were working on building a play house in the back yard.  All the hard work was put on hold last week as we were attending the Education Through Music workshop, but that has not stopped Mason from being a "fixer". You never know when you might have a slice of banana bread that is just too big and you need it trimmed a bit. Call on Mason to chop it down to size with his trusty saw.  

He has taken on the big responsibility of "fixing" the chalkboard on the end of the island in the kitchen.  He saws it, hammers it, paints it, measures it, you know all the usual fixing jobs. It is very LOUD, important work.  Sometimes there it singing involved. 

(For those of you that are not familiar with Bob the Builder, he is singing the theme song.)

It Feels Like Summer

So the temperatures have kicked into summer mode just as we are beginning to have a bit of energy for outings with a toddler and a newborn. We met our wonderful friend, Valerie, downtown for dinner and frozen yogurt before her big cross country trip. It was tons of fun and we will miss her.

Mason loves Valerie and isn't afraid to show it.

The other night when she came over he wouldn't give her a hug goodbye, it is his new phase: boycotting hugs and goodbyes, but as soon as she walked out the door he realized it was Valerie and he said, "BUT I WANTED TO GIVE HER A HUG." I said, "Hurry before she leaves." So he ran to the door and out onto the porch in time to give hugs and goodbyes.

Dinner and dessert were delicious and we had great quality friend time. On our way home Ellie decided to freak out and want to get out of the carseat.  We stopped at McKinley Park in time for the concert in the park.  Mason had a great time on the playground and we took a family walk around the duck pond. It felt like summer.  

Mason loved the baby ducks. People were throwing bread into the pond to feed them. He was on the verge of asking them if he could share some and have a turn to feed them.  

I couldn't get enough of the cuteness. We would have stayed longer if we weren't melting in the heat. Be sure to notice the little head peeking over Josh's shoulder.  We'll call it a little game of where's Ellie?

Music School

"Hey Ellie, wake up...it's time to go to Music School," whispered Mason.

Last week we had the pleasure of attending the Education Through Music (ETM) workshop with Josh.  Mason was invited to participate in the observation classes with Josh each morning. This  gave us a change of scenery each day.  It also got us all up early and moving out of the house before 8:30 each morning.  We would trek over to Sacramento State to the music building and drop Josh off for the morning session, then go get breakfast and return for the children's session. The trip was filled with many attractions, crossing the bridge and "two rivers" (Mason could actually see the river under both sides of the bridge, so he thought it was two rivers and would announce it each time we passed.) We also went through several "tree tunnels" and went by the train tracks.  "Could we ride on that one?" Mason asked the first day when we saw a freight train. When I said no, he of course asked, "Why?" I told him it was a freight train and not a passenger train.  He proceeded to tell me this information every time we saw another train. 

After class our first day, we decided to venture out and return with a picnic lunch to share with Daddy on his break.  The trees near the music building are amazingly huge redwoods which provided a peaceful, shady spot for our lunch.  The busy morning wore the kids out and they were asleep as I pulled into the parking garage.  Luckily, our enormous stroller could still hold the sleeping Mason as well as all the picnic gear, so we were off to meet Daddy.  

Bringing a picnic to Daddy takes a lot out of a tiny month old Ellie...

..and a mighty, two and a half year old Mason.  Mommy didn't mind so much, she had a mini-date picnic.

Happy 65th Birthday Grandpa!

Grandpa, Grandma, and Chris came to meet Ellie a couple of weeks ago. Mason has been so fascinated with singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out candles lately that we thought it would be fun to have an early birthday party for Grandpa. June 26th is his true birthday, but since we wouldn't be able to travel to see him that day, this was close enough. Mason showed him our cupcake cookbook and found out that Grandpa wanted chocolate cupcakes with white icing and sprinkles.  

Ellie decided she would keep Grandpa company while Mason and I made the cupcakes.

Mason and I cooked up some chocolate cupcakes and decorated them with whipped cream frosting and sprinkles.  

Josh made ribs, chicken, and asparagus for dinner and then it was time for our birthday dessert.  We sang "Happy Birthday" and tried lighting the candles Mason picked out.  I had not accounted for the wind, so it was a bit of a challenge to keep the candles lit, but we did it.

We are so happy to have had the opportunity to have celebrated your birthday with you even if it was a little early.  We hope your actual birthday was fabulous and that your southern California celebration was filled with love and laughs.

Happy Father's Day!

"I love you Daddy." 

Mason just found his little tiny microphone recorder and was trying to record the above message on it while Josh was outside picking fresh basil from the garden for his homemade pizza.  It is so hot today that playhouse construction has been put on hold until the weather cools off this evening a bit.  Instead, Josh has been on a cooking streak today. He made chicken in the solar oven. He made a raspberry dessert. He made his own dough and is now keeping cool by making homemade pizza in the hot indoor oven.  

I love that he loves the creative art of cooking.  Especially when I am feeling like the only thing I cook up lately is milk for Ellie.  While Josh was making his pizza, Mason said, "I'm going to make baby sister into a pizza."  I thought he was thinking of making Ellie into a pizza like one of his favorite books, Pete's A Pizza. Instead he found his little baby doll, a blanket, and a book called Slug and went to the table and said he was reading his recipe like daddy and making baby sister into a pizza.  He said the blanket was so she wouldn't get "cauliflower" aka flour on her.  It was all too cute.  

On Father's Day last Sunday, Josh made us homemade cinnamon rolls as the three of us slept in, well two of us anyway.  The third was unable to move from her location so she was content just looking around.

When we finally all got up we took the party outside to enjoy our tasty treats.  Thank you Josh for being the wonderful father you are to our kids.  I love all you do for us and look forward to many more amazing meals, adventures, laughs, and all around good times with you.  

Happy Father's Day.

The Art of Summer

Today I was inside feeding Ellie and Mason was outside with Daddy.  I was gearing up for a day of planting our corn in the side garden.  Unfortunately, the cool weather we have been having melted away just in time for me to be feeling up for some yard work.  As I was bonding with Ellie, Mason trekked in with a big 'ol stack of "washable" ink pads.  They are about the size of salad plates. I asked him what he was doing and he said quite matter of factly, "Bringing these in here." Oh, of course.  Silly question.

I said, "Please don't bring them in here, they are for outside artwork."  

"Why?" Mason asked as he proceeded to venture toward the carpet with them.  

Seeing that I was not going to change a 2 and a half year old's plan with mere words, I had to act quickly. I thought perhaps I could detour him a smidge.  "How about you put them on the kitchen floor instead?"  Cool, that worked and will be way easier to cleanup.  "What are you planning to do with them?" I asked.

"Put them on my hands." said Mason.  

He then proceeded to peel all of the sponge ink pads out of their containers and stack them in a pile of 6.  "Where are you going?" I asked.

"Outside." Whew, okay, still messy, but outside. I can live with that. So I watch him leave.

Minutes later he returned...

"Whoa, what the heck is that?" thought Ellie.

"It's just me, Ellie."

"Oh, my Mason. Why is he all colorful? I want to try that." smiled Ellie. (Too bad she can't escape the loving hands of Mommy or she would be abstract art as well.  I know it's only a matter of time.)

What to do in a situation like this? Embrace the moment and go outside to play in the water.

"I love summer!" sang Mason.  

Me too.

Quotable Quotes

In college I used to love the idea of writing a book of all the quotable quotes I heard in my various adventures.  These would not be famous quotes, rather silly things people say that made me laugh or think. Things you overhear at restaurants, things students say, things rowing coaches say, etc.  I had many a good ones, all that have escaped me as I type, should have written that book.

Today we were outside at the water tub with Mason. The first day we were motivating to weed and plant the side garden corn patch it decided to get blistering hot. The mysterious cool weather vanished just in time. Josh had gone in to get an iced tea and came out with the cap quote. (This is a new collection we have growing on our kitchen windowsill.  Collect caps with interesting quotes for a writing center next year in Josh's classroom.)  I like to hear them, but today's is one that struck me and I would like to save it in my heart and mind.  

"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world." Unknown

I thought about it as Mason was so excited to show Daddy his jumping skills in the water as he was covered in colorful ink, I was holding a sleeping Ellie, and the wonder of summertime was washing over me.  I couldn't help but let my eyes flood as the magic of the moment overwhelmed me.  

Our Family Just Got A Little Bit Bigger...

... and filled with a whole lot more love.  We are home, and today is the official due date of our little baby girl.  I am loving that we have spent the last 5 days welcoming her into the world and our family.  As I sit here with her sleeping on me, Mason napping, and Josh heading out to buy some groceries, I finally have a moment to write some of what I have been experiencing as I fall head over heals for my sweet Ellie.  

I couldn't help but get a little misty when I clicked back to 2006, to the first entries Josh wrote about the birth of Mason.  What a life changing experience and so magical!  The way he captured it all in words was so moving then and still today. Mason has brought so much love, laughter, and joy to us these past two and a half years and continues to share his love and excitement for the world as he woke up announcing that he needs some more "too mick" while half asleep this morning.  We had to giggle as we realized that he just declared the need to go buy some more "trail mix" because, "we are all out of some."  One of his rituals at Whole Foods is to stop by the self serve trail mix bar and scoop some "too mick".  This is after he cruises by the meat counter to see if they have any meat samples.  I can't help but wonder what he was dreaming of as his day began.

Okay, my little diversion has made me laugh and get rid of my misty eyes, so I am back to the topic at hand...introducing Mason's little sister.  

There is a song I love about little sisters that sings: 

"I guess we never knew how much we needed you, 

'Til you came into our life, 

Things were pretty nice. 

All the presents round the tree 

Were mostly meant for me, 

But if that's how its gotta be, 

We'll split 'em evenly, 

Because you're worth it, 

Maybe more..."  

"Yeah, we're doing cartwheels and somersaults, 

And it's all your fault,

Yeah it's all your fault.  

It's yoooou we looooove.  

'Mama, can I hold her?' 

It's yoooou we loooove. 

'Yes, put her on your shoulders.'..." 

I am not quite ready to recap the story of her birth, for although it was speedy, yet painful and amazing all in one, I will go out of order to share this first.  Mason has fallen in love with Ellie. "I want to hold her," he told me yesterday.  His baby sister is here. She's real. She is no longer in my belly. "Why she decide to come out, mommy?"

They snuggled on the couch together. 

Ellie pooped on him.

Being the boy he is, Mason returned the love by saying, "I love you Ellie."

Hey everyone, grab your mom's flip flops and come see the garden.

Things are getting bigger in the garden.  They are even bigger than these shots, but I can't seem to update fast enough.  The tomatoes are halfway up their cages and some have baby tomatoes on them. Mason has harvested many red, ripe strawberries and has been generous to share one or two with me.

The herb garden is thriving with dill, lemon balm, chamomile, lavender, sage, oregano, echinachea, rosemary, and thyme.

We've made vegetable dip with our dill, flavored water with the lemon balm, and shared bouquets of lavender with friends.  We've also harvested and enjoyed several artichokes from this booming plant.  The first night we made them Mason said, "I don't want to try them.  Maybe when I am bigger."  The last time we made them he said, "I am brave and I will try them."  After a bite he said, "Hmmm, not bad. (a quote from his Charlie and Lola book)"  Then he proceeded to enjoy several more buttery bites.

Our pumpkins from last year were rototilled into the soil up on the hill and have regenerated into this raging pumpkin patch.  Mason likes to visit the baby pumpkin and give it a little pat. Hopefully we will have several more in time for his pumpkin patch birthday party in October. 

Snap peas, snow peas, and swiss chard have been harvested and enjoyed from the side garden and sunflowers have popped up from rouge seeds from last year's plants.  I prefer cooked chard, but Mason likes to grab a leaf and eat it like a lollipop as he strolls around the yard.

I made a flower fairy with our hollyhocks.

We harvested and enjoyed several carrots.  Mason practiced his photography here and actually got a shot with my head in it.  (Usually he gets everyone's mid-section.) 

 

Next time  you're are in our neighborhood stop by and see things in person.  We'll have plenty more tasty treats to share.

Let's go check the blueberries...

Mason has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the day when the blueberries are no longer green and he can pick them.  We went through a week of picking and trying a green berry each day until he finally decided (with a little persuasion from Mommy who told him we couldn't play outside if he was going to continue to pick the green ones) to wait patiently for this magical day to arrive.  Early this week we ventured out first thing in the morning to inspect the plants.
Mason searched high and low and found this...

Tah Dah! BLUEBERRY! 

And not just one, but a 2 and a half year old sized handful of them.