Sweet Sunshine

Sweet stuff

 We decorated our gingerbread houses ! Fitting with the Charlie Brown theme, we found four little dog houses, equipped with gummy " Noopies" as Mason calls them. 

Just a tiny taste. Not much actually made it onto Mason's house.

Sad when she found out she'd have to wait to eat her house

but ok with eating a few jelly beans after dinner

Busy little elf

mmmmmm

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

 Or perhaps the phrase " Bah HUMBUG!" would better apply here. Grammy brought this little Charlie Brown tree to us and instantly, I knew I had to stage a few pictures of Mason ( AKA Charlie Brown) with it. Finally, snow started to fall and I started to plot a quick in and out photo op. Mason DOES NOT like to be cold so I knew it needed to be as fast as possible. Of course, this was also the day that our high for the day was -3. And so this is what I got:

A tale of two siblings...Mack LOVES the snow and could play in it for hours. Mason...not so much.

But he's oh so handsome!

Off we go!

The Friday after Thanksgiving, we set off bright and early for Kansas to witness Adaline Thueme's baptism. Andy and Andrea asked Mike and me to be Adaline's godparents, a huge honor to us ( they are also Mason's godparents) . Mike and Andy have been friends for most of their lives. We can't say that thoughts of an arranged marriage haven't crept up. The kids have been on many road trip and traveled like pros!Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Andie planned a very special trip to the Kansas State University Bug Zoo. It was  the perfect little trip for us. Mason had fun since all the exhibits were his height. While there, Mack found a box of chocolate covered bugs and wanted to try them with Mike. Who am I to stand in the way of a good bug tasting?

They decided that chocolate covered ANYTHING can't really be that bad.

Sweet girl

These two are off on a tree hunt

Andy and Mack decorated that huge tree!

Michigan fans in Kansas!

Adaline loved the lights.

Mackenzie and Adaline

Mike has been deemed " The Baby Whisperer" by Andie

A. Thuemes

Adaline in her baptismal gown and in her favorite spot- Andy's shoulder

Coming in for a landing

After all their jet setting, Grammy and Aunt Janet set their sights on Colorado! The kids couldn't be more excited. I don't know how Mackenzie made it through school the day they arrived! We had a great time, mostly hanging around the house catching up , having tea parties, making cookies , playing games, reading lots and lots of books. Grammy, Janet and Mike spent a few hours in Mackenzie's classroom , which was really special for her.  We also celebrated Christmas early together. It was such a nice visit and we are already looking forward to our next visit! Here are few of the gobs of pictures I took.

Grammy bought Mason a " CAKE!" . He showed us the proper way to eat it.

The adorable ( and insanely yummy) cookies that Grammy, Aunt Janet and Mack made to have with their tea.

Tea party!

The travelers had been to New Orleans just days before coming to visit us. Grammy brought this glass to us which has subsequently been used by each of us.

Mackenzie made bird beaks out of tea bag boxes for she and Aunt Janet.

Here they are reading from the bug book Janet brought for Mack. Aunt Janet taught Mack how to use the index of the book.

Cookie making

Look who was the Pretty, Pretty Princess!

It's me again....

 Were you starting to wonder about us?  We have been busy, busy, busy! I think things have settled down and I can start to chart our adventures for the blogosphere . It may be a slow process . Here are some odds and ends photos to chew on while I work on catching up.

Mason let me use the clippers on his hair! 

And Macky wore hers ultra crazy for crazy hair day

Mack invited Mason to a tea party. She quickly regretted the invitation after he ate her cookies.

But their anger doesn't last long before they're cuddled up together.

Happy Birthday, Great Grandpa!

 My grandpa's birthday is actually in September but this year he had to have cardiac surgery that kept him down a little longer than usual ( especially for him considering that he plays golf, cooks and polka dances very frequently) . Finally, he was up to celebrating and we were all ready to celebrate with him! With the already large family growing, having parties at my parents house works best. The kids have ten acres for which to explore while the adults can sit on the deck ( when it's nice) or hang out inside.  Here are a few pictures from the day:

There were nearly 20 children under the age of 10 there and my mom managed to keep them all happy and entertained with ornament decorating and caramel apples. Brooklyn just adores Mason and he asks for her several times a day. She says she can't wait to be his baby sitter.

Mason had his first ( second and third) horseback ride. He loves it so much, he cried when it was time to get down.

Magdalena had her mind set- she was going to FILL that ornament with glitter to the tippy top

Pretty Mack

Peppermint marshmallows have a strange effect on some....

Waiting her turn for a horseback ride

Grams and Mason having a snack before the party started.

I  love this picture of Mason and Great Grandpa sharing a hotdog . Gramps kept chattering away to Mason and he just kept shaking his head " yes", waiting for another bite.

This is beginning to be a familiar site

The moon was spectacular that night. Mack noticed it ( and the two planets next to it) and I tried to capture it with out the right lens. As soon as Papa came in from doing chores, Mason had him come to the window saying " PAPA! MOON ! MOONY!"