Halloween Pregame

We've already been to 2 church festivals and a school Halloween party, and Halloween is still 4 days away. Oh, and we have a small group Halloween party on Wednesday night. By the time Friday night comes Mason is going to be a pro at eating a bunch of candy and wearing his costume. Here are some pictures after school today. He is wearing a pair of sunglasses he got in his treat bag. He has taken good care of them by keeping them in Jonathan's glasses case.a

Arboreteum

Mason and I went to the Dallas Arboreteum with Aunt Catherine and Cousin Amelia (pronounced Amima by Mason because he can't say his "L's" very well) on Friday. We had a picnic and let the kids run around while we tried to get a few good pics. It was a fun day!

Climbing and jumping on the hay was Mason's favorite part of the day.

Fall Break and a Weekend Full of Zoos

My parents and my sister came last week during their Fall Break to visit us. I had to teach on Thursday so they kept Mason for me. I felt bad leaving them, but I don't think I was the main reason for their visit anyway! They took Mason to lunch and then to the park to play. By the time I got home Mason was completely worn out and asleep.

My mom let Mason put mascara on while she was putting her make-up on. He loved it and now he throws a fit because I won't let him do the same thing. Thanks, Mom!
Zoo #1: On Friday my family and I decided to go the the Fort Worth Zoo. It was great, and we had such a good time! I think the thing I was most impressed with was the Primate Exhibit. Usually you go into a stinky, cramped room and look through the glass in order to get an akward glance at a gorilla and that is if you are lucky. This was just the opposite. There was tons of trees, waterfalls, and rocks and you could see all of the monkeys and gorillas so easily. There were also so many of them, and you could watch them play and interact with each other. So cool! Anyway it was a great day and we left completely worn out.

Mason's favorite was the penguins. He loved watching them swim.

Zoo #2: Jonathan did not go with us on Friday so when we were discussing what we wanted to do on Saturday he suggesting riding the train to the Dallas Zoo. He has a pass that he uses to go to work and it only cost $3 for my ticket. Anyway, I thought Mason would really like the train ride so I was all for it. Why not go the zoo twice in one weekend? Mason loved the train, and he also had fun at the children's zoo which they don't have at the zoo in Fort Worth. Okay, so we are on our way home, worn out and anxious to put Mason down for a nap. We are almost to our stop when we realize that both sets of our keys are in my purse which is locked in the trunk. Eventhough I was soooo frustrated and tired, everything ended up working out okay. We checked the bus schedule and it was coming in fifteen minutes. This was perfect considering it only comes once an hour on the weekends. We waited and rode it home then Jonathan had to ride the bus back to get my car (We didn't have an extra key to his car). The buses are a tad skanky, but it wasn't too bad. Jonathan said I got the full DART experience--I'm so glad! Crazy day, but it could have been a lot worse!

Kissing the gorilla on the lips. No germs I'm sure.

New Trick and a Visitor

Two things: 1.) Mason has figured out a new thing to use his step stool and ability to climb for--getting into the medicine cabinet. He had just used the bathroom yesterday, hence no diaper, and was supposed to be washing his hands. I went in the other room for a minute and came back to find him standing in the sink going through the cabinets like it was completely normal. Fortunately, we don't keep medicine in the cabinets. I couldn't help but laugh! 2.) My cousin Jason is visiting from Chicago this month to do a medical rotation in Fort Worth. He had the afternoon off yesterday so he came and hung out, ate dinner with us, and spent the night. It was so great to see him, and I had tons of fun visiting with him. We hadn't spent that much time together in a long time, and we talked non-stop for several hours. I hope I didn't drive him crazy, but he was talking too! Jason is so special to me, and we've been able to share some wonderful experiences together. Besides spending a lot of time at my grandma's together as children, we were also blessed to do the Vienna Foreign Studies program together in college. Anyway, I look foward to seeing him some more while he is here. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if his wife Morgandi could have come to. We missed you Morgandi!

Mason and Jason--I love that their names rhyme because not much rhymes with Mason. Because of this, we frequently make up songs with Mason and cousin Jason's names in them. I know, kind of dorky.

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

Well, I guess it was fun if you call chasing a two year old all over the place, acting ridiculous so that he will look at you and smile ( still didn't work), being swarmed by a thousand bees, and fighting your way through 4 buses of elementary school kids fun. Seriously, it really was a fun day, just a little hectic. What isn't with kids, though? Mason had a great time. He was all over the place and climbing on everything in sight--such a boy! I rode with my friend Rae and my sister in law Catherine and niece Amelia met us there. It was fun to get to be around Amelia. She is growing so much and is doing more and more everyday. Here are a few pictures. I was happy that I got some cute ones even though Mason would hardly look at me!

Mason on top of the wagon. He was trying to climb in it, but I wasn't sure if he was supposed to.

Mason and sweet Amelia. He loves to hug her, sometimes a little too much.

I love this picture because this is the look Amelia was giving Catherine when she was trying to take her picture. It looks like she is thinking, "And just what do you think you are trying to do?"

So exciting!

Mason's New Hobby--Handwashing

I bet Mason has the cleanest hands in Texas. He washes his hands about 20 times a day and would wash them more if I would let him. It is one of the bribes I use to get him to use the potty. "Go to the bathroom and you get to wash your hands." Kind of weird, but it works! Our neighbor made him his own stepstool that he steps on and hoists himself up on the counter to do it by himself. Almost there...
I've got it...
At last!!!
All clean and sitting on his step stool

Donuts With Daddy

Jonathan does a lot to help out with Mason, such as bathing him every night and getting him ready for bed--soooo nice! He will also get up with him on Saturday mornings so that I can sleep an hour or so later--also very nice! Well, lately he has a new responsibility which is taking Mason to get donuts on Saturday mornings. Mason knows that Saturdays are donut day, and he gets super excited. He will go and get Jonathan's flip flops and take them to him ready to go. Mason always gets a pink donut or one with sprinkles and will eat the whole thing in about a minute . Oh my! As you can see from the pictures below Mason takes his donuts very seriously. By the way I wouldn't recommend pink donuts--yuck!

Talking, Talking, Talking

Let's just say Mason loves to talk--I wonder where he could get that from? If he is not talking to himself then he is talking to me. His favorite question right now is "What's that?" which he says about 1000 times a day. It's funny, he will ask it about things that he already knows what they are. Maybe it's just to drive me crazy, but it's kind of cute.

We have also been working on following directions and minding. One of his favorite things to do is run away when it is time to get his diaper changed. He thinks it's a game, but I think he has quickly figured out it is not. He has learned (most of the time) that when we say "right now!" we mean it. He has even tried this little game at school. Thursday when we were driving to school, Mason and I were talking about how he should not run away from Mrs. Kendra. Kendra told me later in the day that Mason was walking around talking to himself saying, "Mason not run away from Mrs. Kendra." She said she couldn't help but laugh. It made me happy that he is trying so hard to do the right thing. He is such a sweet boy eventhough he is a little ornery at times!

Mason's 2 Year Pictures

I like this picture because he makes this face all of the time.

Sesame Street--Round 2

I promise this is my last birthday post for Mason until next year, but I had to write about our fun party with Jonathan's family this weekend. I think Mason's getting used to this whole cake and presents thing (especially the cake) and would probably do it every weekend if we would let him! When he woke up from his nap and saw his cake, he came close to having a meltdown because he couldn't have it right then. Somehow we managed to distract him, though. Mason got so many fun presents including a plasma car and basketball goal, and Jonathan and I got him a kitchen. He and Amelia had fun playing together with all of his new things, and Mason even shared with her. He has still been talking this week about sharing with Amelia. Anyway, thanks to Jonathan's family for coming over and hanging out and for all of the gifts. We love all of the quality time that we get to spend with them now that they live nearby! I'll leave you with a few pictures. Some of the pictures are from Catherine. She took some really cute ones. Thanks, Cat!

Catherine pointed out the similarities in these two pictures from last year and this year. It's kind of funny!


Mason loves his new basketball goal, but is not particularly fond of sharing it. It's only fitting that his new favorite word is "mine."
Amelia riding the Plasma Car.