Up, up we go

Mack finished her Kindergarten book before Christmas so today I took to the park and then to Barnes and Noble to pick out a new one. Flipping through various kindergarten books, I quickly realized that Mack is ready for the next level up! So we swiped up two reading books and a math book and then I let Mack roam free through the books. I will never forget the sight of her, flitting through the children's section, scooping up books by the dozens. If I had a million dollars right then, I would have bought her every last book there. She must have whispered " I just wish I could have all of them" five times before we left. I understand that feeling, too, and often have to fight that urge myself. She settled on a snakes and reptiles book she found in the bargain area and has already had it read to her twice. I just can't get enough of that little girl.

Daddy date

Mack's school is having a daddy/daughter dance next week. Unfortunately, Mike has to work that night. After hearing Mack talk about how much fun it would be, Mike was racking his brains to figure out a way to take her. Coincidentally, he heard an announcement on the radio about a daddy/daughter dance being held this weekend in Greeley. Mike has this weekend off so he made plans to take her.

Mack was excited to lace up her sparkly dancing shoes. Once she did, off they went to Noodles and Company for dinner before they headed to the dance. Along the way, they met several other couples who were headed there, too. When they arrived, they were greeted by a reporter from the Greeley Tribune who interviewed them about the event. Despite the fact that Mack " Only dances at home" they had a great time together! 

Mike is far and away the very best father I know. It brings such joy to me to see him playing together and learning together with our kids. These days , these " every day" things, are building a foundation for a relationship that will out last tantrums of every kind- baby to teenager. No matter what life throws at them, Mike will be there , gentle and ready, an active participant in their lives.

My Mx2

Wacky Weather

Mack feeding Sonny on a jacket free day

After six days with highs only in the teens, Colorado has turned up the heat! We're hanging tight in the 50's and 60's and my spring bulbs have started to bloom. I love the warm days but it seems like we should have a bit more winter before we confuse the plants with this kind of weather. You can bet that we've taken advantage of the nice weather, though. Mason loves the swing Grammy bought him this fall and Macky and I have invented a new version of tag with Ellie as our third " person" . I've also tried to chase out the nasty cold viruses but opening the windows on the mild days. Despite it all, I sure hope we get some big time snow soon. While the mountains are rolling in feet upon feet of snow, we on the plains have had a measly 8 inches of snow so far in 2013.

Scientist at work

Our little scientist was so excited when she tore off the wrapping paper to find Grams and Papa had gotten her a beginners microscope! After seeing how interested Mackenzie is in seeing all things tiny, Mike ordered her some high quality slides similar to what he used in his ( first) masters degree! The two of them spent an afternoon squinting at the tiny cells of a dogs esophagus, various plants and other animal cells.  She's so impressed when I tell her that her daddy spent many years studying biology and, as a nurse, is a scientist as well.

9 months

I can't believe that Mason is 9 months. He's growing up faster than any of us like!
Here's a bit of what Mason is up to now:

Waving
Crawling
Pulling up
Cruising between furniture/people
" Hi!"
He's gone from 2 teeth to 7 in just a few weeks and loves his food. You can tell when he stumbles upon a new favorite by his " mmmm mmmm MMMM " noises. He loves potatoes and any kind of meat. Baby food in a pouch is a must for our mornings along with cheerios or other cold cereal. The only thing he's rejected is broccoli but we'll keep trying. Maybe one day he'll change his mind.

He's the BIGGEST charmer and he loves to be out and about.  He's battled one yucky cold/tummy virus after another the last few months but he remains such a happy little guy. I've met lots of interesting characters thanks to Mason's love of waving. No one can resist coming to say hello to this sweet , smiley baby.

When we drop Macky off at school, the kindergartners are outside playing and Mason giggles, wiggles and screeches at them , wishing he could be running and playing, too! At that rate he's doing, it sure won't be long.

He's due for his 9 month well child exam ( woohoo for vaccine free appointments!) next week. I'm excited to see how much he's grown.

Papa brings a chicken

One of my dads favorite things to do with all of the grand kids when they are babies is to bring in a chicken for them to see. True to tradition, he came through the door a few nights ago carrying a Rhode Island Red hen who was not the least bit happy with where she found herself.

Remember my post about how rough Mason can be?
This girl would have lost a handful of feather were it not
for the quick reflexes of Aunt Carley

Macky was right there next to Papa, ready for her turn to hold
the chicken. She's quite the animal lover.

 " Don't we eat these?" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bittersweet

JoAnne Ellen Phillips
1933-2013

It has been a sad week for us as my grandma's long journey with cancer ended. Being with her in her last few days made me realize how lucky I am to have had my grandparents as long as I have. Mason and Mackenzie are lucky to know three of their great grandparents ( Mason won't remember his encounters with Grandma JoAnne but I've got pictures to jog his memory).

Grandma was a beautiful woman. She was never with out her lipstick and a brilliant , pearly white smile. Her favorite color was red, which complimented her naturally rosy cheeks. I remember as a little girl thinking she was Lucille Ball. She had a fiery streak and a bit of a quick temper ( which she passed down to each of her 6 children, my dad getting the heaviest dose) . I described her as sassy but she was the 9th out of 12 kids and her sister said it was "survival" . 

Losing a grandparent feels a bit like losing part of history. Suddenly, I am full of questions I never got to ask her. I feel honored to have been able to spend the last few days of her life with her . Holding her hand, examining the lines of her face as I scoured my brain for all the memories I've collected over my life was a gift to me and, I hope, a comfort to her. Though her life is over, I do know that she makes the most beautiful angel and ,somewhere in Heaven, she is reunited with my grandpa and has kissed the face of my brother and that thought brings comfort to my heavy heart.

Two of a kind?

I noticed it almost immediately, the difference between Mason and Mackenzie. Not the obvious difference but their distinctive, not so subtle approaches at life. Mackenzie was a quiet, content newborn. She would lie and look around the room, examining the faces of those around her as they cuddled her close. Rarely did she cry unless there was something truly wrong. When Mason was forced into the world, he let the world know he went by his own rules. He announced this by foregoing the usual newborn status quo ( laying in quiet awe of the bright and blurry world around,) and screaming from the second he could until he was taken down the hall, bathed and bundled and was being gently rocked in the arms of his daddy. I noticed it then and I notice it every day.

Mackenzie has always been more of a thoughtful creature. At nine months she would sit and flip the the pages of a basket of books for long periods of time. She listened to every rule and put it to memory ( so she could remind us all of them later). Mason has one mission- to touch, bash, bang or toss everything he can. When he finds something, he examines it for a second, throws it to the side and hunts for something new. Books are chew toys and something to be scattered about unless he's in the comfortably drowsy state just before bed and with a belly full of warm milk.

Mackenzie listening to a story at 5 months old

My little thinker takes a moment to cuddle.
She cuddles more now that she ever has.

Mason grinning at his pile of mess, a newspaper
he demolished

Mackenzie noticed ( and still notices) the tiniest things- a little bug skittering by, a tiny pebble that made it's way into the house. When holding her, she'd gently travel the crevices of your face. Mason doesn't stop moving long enough to notice the little things. He does love to sit and spin the wheels of his favorite helicopter toy but the second he's done, he's off again.  He is not a gentle boy at all. He's a hair grabber, face scratching  , screeching to get your attention, kinda guy. When he's drinking his bottle, he bangs and scratches his own head.  Despite all of that, you can count on him to gently lay his head on your shoulder and wrap his arms around your neck when you first pick him up. Sometimes he even doles out a much coveted kiss.

Mack, 7 months, examining her basketful of toys

In some ways, they are birds of a feather. Both kids are screamers. They love to make their voices heard but letting out high pitched squeaks when they are happy. They both love to be out and about, exploring new places. They both are quick to smile and laugh. Mack loves to play in the dirty and I think this summer will be full of fun days, chasing each other and playing in the sand box.

Regardless of how busy Mason is, when he's sitting still, his legs
are ALWAYS crossed but his toes still move.

I was warned about this difference from other mothers who have a boy and a girl.  I love that Mackenzie and Mason are so different and have their own unique personalities. I already know that I will have to create all new projects and activities that are geared for busy and more impatient hands thank Mackenzie's when Mason is ready. I still love that I can pull out a host of different crafty objects and Mack and I can spend the afternoon creating funny things. I truly have the best of both worlds and love seeing how each one will change and grow. Now that Mason is crawling and cruising furniture, life has suddenly gotten even more exciting! At least I have the help of Mother Hen Mackenzie who has a firm grasp on the rights and wrongs of the Long house.

Thank you!

I think we all made it here safely  after I set my blog to private. I really appreciate those of you who care enough to jump through that hoop. The truth is, I looked at the " stats" for my blog to see who had been looking at my posts and , honest to goodness, for one day, January 9th, there were over 100 page views, very few of them were by people I actually know, most of them were "scouting" companies, looking for info about people for advertising and such. Harmless? Maybe. But I just can't, in good conscious, put these ( probably boring to most but none the less) personal details of my life and pictures of my family out on the internet with out some sort of barrier to protect them. It's a tough line to walk- enjoying this awesome invention that lets me bridge the gap for my family in other parts of the country and also not allowing those I love enough to blog about to fall victim in one way or another because of it.

Anyway. Thank you!

New do

 Mack asked for a hair cut. I tried to just trim it but she begged for short hair. Once her makes it about half way down her back, she typically gets tired of the tangles and time that it takes to brush it in the mornings so I shouldn't have been surprised.  I admit, though, even though I think it's so fitting on her, I did cry a little when I saw the pile of long locks on the floor ( click collages to enlarge).

In her element

She fulfilled her picture posing duties. Here's how she felt of taking more

Solar!

We've been studying up on the solar system and, though it's taken us a while, we finally finished our own ( not scaled) model of it.  We both had so much fun researching each planet ( and figuring out why Pluto has been demoted from planet status). I love relearning things I've long forgotten!

And a gentle reminder to Ellie
" No Chasing Cats"
complete with arrows

Sweet reward

Mack's reading has really taken off! She loves being able to read signs and labels so I've been finding creative ways to keep her excited about reading. This way us a favorite- a way to dole out Halloween Candy and challenge the mind.

Strike a pose

Mack put on a fashion show for me a few nights ago. Here are a few if my favorite looks:

" auntie" up

Mack and Mason sure won the Aunt lottery! Between Michigan , Colorado and Arizona, these kids are so well loved.

My sisters aren't the type to hold back! Mack and Mase both get smothered in kisses each time Carley or Nicole are around. I'm so happy that  our kids have so many great aunts in their lives.

Surprise!

A late night visitor showed up at our door tonight- Nikki flew in by surprise from Arizona. Grandma Joann has been sick for a long time but has taken a turn for the worse. Ben surprised us all by flying Nikki out for the weekend to be with the family!

Creativity is messy

And so are four year olds. So here's what you get when you mix the two:

 It makes my heart smile to see her snipping, gluing and glittering away at her little work station. An added bonus- Mack is excellent at cleaning up after herself at the end of most days.

Catching up

Being sick meant lots of time at home  but we didn't have time to be bored! Here's a peek at what we've been up to:

Mason perfected his pulling up skills

Sickness, especially the tummy kind, means lots of extra baths

Mack used every single art utensil this last week!

Lots of extra cuddles around here . Mike and Mack
reading Beverly Cleary's "Socks"

Playing together is fun!

We visited the park on one warm afternoon

Lots of time to paint nails

Once we were all mostly illness free ( aside from Mason's amazing
ever-flowing nose) we broke free and spent the afternoon at the science museum.

Under the weather

Pardon our absence! We've all been battling another round of viruses which started out as a cough/cold variety which was compounded by a tummy virus that Mason picked up at the church nursery ( and quickly passed to each of us ( including Ellie! and my parents)). Because of it, we've been been adhereing to a self imposed quarantine.  And so it goes in the winter with little ones.  I think we're back on track now!

Real life

My attempt to snap a quick picture of my little family catches , instead,a glimpse of how life really goes . Not always sweet smiles around here.

It thrives!

Not only is Mack's preschool pumpkin plant from way back in October still alive, it's thriving, show casing a bright orange flower!

2013

We rang in the new year with bellies full of peanut pad Thai ( courtesy of Mike). After Mason went to bed, Mike, Mack and I cranked up the Wii and played Wii Resort ( Mackenzie is freakishly good at many of those games) and shared snacks until the new year came early to our house. At 9 pm, we toasted with sparkling blueberry juice ( thinking of Aunt Janet) and talked about our plans for 2013. On Mack's agenda for '13: learning to tie her shoes and growing freckles.

A peaceful house on a cozy new years eve

Working on our banner

Mason won't be left out.

2012 was a time of change for our family. Going from a family of three to a family of four with the addition of our fiery Mason erased life as we knew it and brought about a new kind of normal. He is by far the brightest star in our 2012.  We look forward to lots more memories being made in 2013. With the possibility of a trip to Arizona in February, celebrating a five year old in March and a one year old in April, a planned trip to Michigan in May/June, there won't be time to hesitate! Off we go!