An afternoon on the farm

Mike had worked a pretty stressful stretch and I thought he would enjoy the silence that comes with an empty house. Off to the farm we went! What a gorgeous day we had helping Gram's prepare the garden and Papa gave horseback rides.  Kaleb was there to play, too, which is always exciting for Mackenzie who daily declares that Kaleb is her best friend. Grams taught them the general rules for throwing horse shoes and they had fun doing that and looking for early emerging toads. Mason, who was still battling a cough and running nose, wandered a bit and following Papa as he worked around the farm. There were several fits in the sand, though, which drove us inside to give him a long warm bath.

My dad loves to lead the kids on horseback rides. He keeps saying that he thinks Mackenzie won't need him to lead the horse much longer.  She'll be doing it on her own.

What a great big sister!

Down the road with Buddy dog

I took this photo for my sister. Over the hill is my parent's drive and each time I turn onto their road at this spot and I hear the gravel beneath my tires I always feel a sense of " Home".  Home would be even more home-y if she were here.

A country moon. I couldn't pass this sprinkler with out stopping for a picture. Good thing my Littles are used to " photo driving" with me. They even point out things to take pictures of, too.  Like this:

Mack liked that you could see the calves in the field.

Starring MASON!

I cannot believe that Mason will be two in just over a month! With his long torso but " barely there" butt, his height matches that of a two year old. He rarely stops moving and is far too busy to sit and eat any thing more than what he can stuff in his mouth with in a two minute window at meal times is proven by the fact that he is barely 24 lbs.  But he's a chatterbox and can express himself quite well.  It's fun to watch him discover the world and see that he can make people laugh.

In the first video, Mason has discovered himself in the reverse camera on my phone. He's eaten a full cup of partially frozen blueberries , accounting for that sweet but messy face. The second video, he's putting his raisins to bed.

Photo a day fun

Half

Cut

nature

Chair

" I am"

sweet

Vegetable

Fresh

Magic

Snip snaps- this and that

If Mack doesn't feel like cuddling, Mason makes it impossible to ignore him.

Mason's slushy snowman.

Snoopy dog

Look what Cass made me!

The best use of birthday balloons

Mack added some cool little crabs to her fish tank. Each of spends some portion of our day checking out what's going on in our little section of sea.

Snoozy girl

Mason's creative vase

These two are peas in a pod

Uncle Andy and Aunt Andie sent Mack brand new crayons, colored pencils and coloring books. She spent DAYS doing nothing but coloring whenever she had free time.

Mason's nightly ritual is putting his cars to bed before he goes to bed and then waking them up again in the morning.

Warm weather means we get to walk to pick Mack up from school. This day, she had a case of after school grouchies and wanted to walk alone.

Birthday parties a plenty!

Sarah, one of the March '08 birth group , recently moved to Colorado. We are so excited to be able to celebrate special occassions with her and her family. Grace is her original Marchie and Charlie came two years later , a day before her big sister's second birthday. Tammi lives in Brighton , about 10 minutes away. She has Mason ( her 08 Marchie ) and Emmersyn who is just two months younger than our Mason.  We've enjoyed attending each others birthday parties. Grace and Charlie had their party at the aquarium! Imagine Mackenzie's delight! Mike kept Mason home with him and we girls went down town to spend the afternoon with our friends! The party package included a guided tour where we learned all sorts of things about the aquarium we never knew in our trips before. An early dinner and cake followed with lots of play time ( oh...and they got to meet a SLOTH!) . Birthday party success.

Quick! They're still!

Mack's been gobbled up. She seems ok with it.

Big Bad Birthday post

Birthday Crocus

Little Miss Six had to be woken up for school the morning of her birthday! I thought for sure she'd be awake and ready to begin her special day. Not the case! Mike and I crafted a little surprise that she'd find when she tried to leave her room. It wasn't as complicated as last years but it was exciting for both Mack and Mase- not so much Gunner.

She was all smiles and used the phrase " When I was five" about five times before she left for school.

She had a lot of fun celebrating at school with her friends. We brought in bright pink cupcakes with princess rings on top. Even the boys were excited! Who doesn't love cupcakes?

While Mack was at school, Mason had a bunch of fun trying to catch these giant sized snowflakes on his tongue. Thankfully, those flakes had stopped and melted away before we left for dinner!

When she got home, she opened the rest of her presents. Her two favorite things ( from us) were the scooter and her tap shoes. She tried to combine the two things, which didn't go so well. She also received a new CD player with the Frozen soundtrack for her room, a " Grow and Go" pogo stick , something she's been drooling over for a while and a few books and little goodie.

Mack picked "Wholly Stromboli" for her birthday dinner. It's a favorite for all of us. She had her usual spaghetti and giant meatball with a special birthday sundae. The staff sang to her which left her feeling quite shy. Out side of the restaurant is this stamped concrete that dates back to Fort Luptons' early days. I found the perfect opportunity to snap a picture of Mason with it. After dinner, Mack wanted to go to our favorite farm store, Murdoch's. Rumor had it that they'd received their spring chicks. They did have a few of them but were still awaiting the biggest part of their shipment. It was still fun!

Checking the mail is extra exciting around birthday time! Thank you again to every one who sent gifts and cards. Mack said " Wow! A lot of people are excited that I'm six!"

We invited a few of our close friends and family to join us at one of Mackenzie's favorite places- The Butterfly Pavilion. Almost 30 people came to celebrate . It was fun for Mackenzie to see so many from different aspects of her life all in once place. While  few couldn't make it and our reservation required us to limit our numbers a bit, we all had a fun time.

Mike and Mack making tye dyed cupcakes for her birthday party

Pretty groovy, yes?

Mike worked even after Mack was in bed. He frosted them green, placed a gummy worm on top and covered it with " dirt" -  ground up Crunch bars.

While I got ready for her party, Mack decided to take a little snooze

Gram's made Mack a collection of hand crafted stuffed animals, including a group of owls, ranging in sizes.

A few party guests making butterflies. As they made them, a few brave souls snacked on real ( once) live bugs covered in chocolate. "Don't worry. They taste like chips" is what Mack told each guest.

Mason was in pretty good spirits but he was no in the mood to be contained to one room. Thank goodness for " Sazzy" . She kept him pretty entertained!

James came, too! He was so excited about the gift he picked for Mackenzie.

Macky finally had a butterfly land on her!

The butterflies were friendly this day

By the end, our toddler boys had reached their max. Cass and I could see a little humor in their dueling tantrums.

Sarah, one of the March Moms from my online group recently moved to Colorado! So that makes three of us with in driving distance ( a two more in Colorado Springs). Here are the Marchies ( Charlotte, Grace's little sister, is an honorary Marchie, born in March of 2010)  , the one second they were all together. We've had fun making the rounds at each other's birthday parties.

Dinner at Noodles and Company! It made us miss our Michigan peeps since we visited Noodles and Company so many times with Grammy and Aunt Meg. Artys Cass painted faces! Mack wore her butterfly to school the next day.  It was a great birthday for her and for us. She enjoyed the company of her friends at school and at her party. We missed those of you who are so far away. Auntie Nikki and the gang have kept Mack entertained with the sea monkey kit they sent.  Grammy's rainbow loom was a  big hit and Aunt Janet's books are always at Mack's bedside table.