Skitterbug

Mike found these little " creatures" at Target called Skitterbugs. They are basically a little vibrating piece of soft plastic that looks like a bug. This simple toy brought a lot of excitement for Mason and Ellie:

Old toys new

Just love those little fingers

I've always been fond of the idea of taking half of the toys the kids own and putting them up. Then on " rainy days" where boredom strikes and it's too cold to go outside, you pull those babies out and it's like a brand new toy!

That's what we did today with the play kitchen and accessories. The kids played for an hour together , rediscovering this old toy:

Please pass the grapes, Sister!

Lost in thought

 Mackenzie was so tired after staying up late with me on New Years Eve that she could hardly keep her eyes open by noon on New Years Day!  This is the sweetest thing ever! 

Someone is loved.

Happy New Year!

 There was much to celebrate, 2013-  1st and 5th birthdays , health, a stable roof over our heads, many trips to visit family and friends , new starts to school, some hardships that made ups stronger .- but now we look forward to a new year with new experiences and perspectives under our belts. There are some challenges ahead; there always are. Even more, there are memories to be made and life to be taken in.  This year, I hope to conquer my anxiety, slow down the pace of life and continue to hone the skills of photography. Mike and I together joined Weight Watchers- we are a team and hopefully this year you will be seeing less of us! We're hoping to see less home repair in the new year and more improvements! We hope to grow the kind of garden that sustains us and teaches us to appreciate the earth. We hope to travel more to see those we love.
Not a lot in life is certain but there a few things I know. In 2014, there will be much growing, much learning and much love.

This year's celebration was another quiet one with just Mack and me staying up late-ish to send out the old year ( at 10 pm , as long as I could stay awake!)  We toasted each other with apple cider and I was awakened by a little blonde busy bee bright and early to greet the new year.

Mike worked on New Years eve so we shared a toast at 8:30 am on January 1st.

Happy New Year from Mx4 plus our herd of creatures 
 

Christmas day 2013

Finally! It was here- Christmas day! Mike and I , after going to bed later, were up, filled with excitement and wouldn't you know it? I had to wake BOTH kids up at 7 am!  Once down stairs, we saw that Santa did not disappoint!

Mack's gift from Santa. A Merida doll with Brave game to go with her brand new LeapPad. Santa knew she had work out her other learning game . Not pictured- two African dwarf frogs- Sparkle and Twinkle , which have been a lot of fun to watch.

Mason's train track with airport from Santa.

Science kits for Mackenzie! Mike and Mack have spent a few hours over break working on science experiments.. That seems to be a theme this year for Mack. Andrea and Andy got Mack this toy invented by women engineers who want to teach little girls that they, too, can build and create what they imagine, just like boys:

Busy at work with her Roominate

All done!

Mase was pretty overwhelmed by the whole idea but he still had some fun.

Mackenzie picked out that Thomas pillow for her brother who loves it!

Humans weren't the only ones who gathered gifts.

Macky in her new jammies and rain boots. Mason also got new boots; he isn't so fond of them just yet.  She also was given an Asian fan ( like the kind you see The Royals using) , nail polish, lip glosses and perfumes galore, new markers,  as well as some gummy teeth and frogs , a true hit with everyone. Plus some I'm not remembering, I'm sure!

Someone is ready for a nap!

Cat toys are pretty fun, too!

Mike's gift was the sweetest of all. He stayed up after I went to bed and built me a custom back drop for more posed photography. I had shown him a picture of it a few months back and he remembered it and put my little dream to life. I found him a Leatherman Raptor which is a specially designed tool for paramedics. It has a seat belt cutter, window breaker, ruler as well as a few other tools all with in bandage scissors.

The most fun was hearing the true awe and appreciation in Mackenzie's voice. Each present was something we'd heard her comment on throughout the year and had tucked stuff away starting in July. They weren't BIG , expensive presents but she was so happy and grateful to have them.  I lost count of the number of times she said " THANK YOU! I've been wanting this for 10  months! " " Oh! Santa sure knows me and know how much I love frogs! " . It was sweet to watch Mason wander from thing to thing, exploring it and then he was on to something else. His stocking included new pacifiers and those were high atop his priority list. 

Now 10:00, it was time to head over to Grams and Papa's house for our traditional breakfast. Nicole and Ben are taking turns flying in for weekend trips to see the families but they spent the holiday at home. We missed them but we still enjoyed spending the day with Carley and Mark and the kids as well as Clay and Kim and their family.

Mackenzie picked out some little trinkets for Kaleb and Brooklyn.

Brooklyn and Kaleb wrote letters to my dad to let them know how much he means to them. I think everyone was a little weepy after that.

Best buddies

Mason used to call Carley " Shells" because she works part time at the Shell Gas station and wears a shell on her name badge. Gone are those days. He know calls her Carley. One more bit of baby gone.

My mom used these pictures I took to make this for my dad. He loved it and we all were kinda jealous!

Rose Boys. Cam is going to pass up my dad, who is over  6 ft tall, before too long!

Grams and Papa picked out tractors for Mason. You can see that they were a big hit!

Christmas eve

Traditions! We love them around here! So we enjoyed our usual Christmas eve- driving around to find the very best Christmas lights ( " Chrees"  to Mase) . When we were successful at that, we picked up our favorite Chinese food (Thai for me) , opened up our Christmas eve jammies and watched The Polar Express before the wee ones were sent off to bed. Mack was extra excited to leave out our homemade muffins and a cookie for the Big Guy.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

It was an ordinary evening, bed time was approaching, the kids were watching A Micky Christmas Carol on TV when this happened

We never figured out why that naughty Rudolph was playing silly reindeer games so close to Christmas but at this point, it didn't seem to matter.

Mase liked Santa from afar. Here, he was a little too close for comfort