twin baby boys have a conversation - part 2 ORIGINAL VIDEO

I stole this from a friends status on Facebook and it was too good not to share. It really makes you wonder what they are thinking. I love the mismatched/missing socks.

Because It's Been A While

So I've been thinking I need to do a blog post but haven't sat down to put any thought into one until now. I don't have very many new pictures to work with because in our hurry to get to the airport on time we left our camera in Idaho earlier this month. There have been a couple of times I wished I had it here to capture some of the things that Mason has been up to or getting into. On the other hand, when I do pull out the camera he usually stops what he's doing and stares, glares or he hides. I guess I'm not sneaky enough.

Here are a couple of pictures. They are a little random but I thought they were worth sharing.

We stayed with Nick and Jenny for a night last time we went to Idaho and Mason had fun playing Wii with Uncle Nick. I love how he aims by resting the butt of the gun on his eye.

Lately, Mason has really been liking our bed. He loves to get in and play with my clock radio, baby monitor, touch lamp and doodle with the pen and paper I keep on my night stand. On this particular day he stuck the post-it on his forehead by himself and left it there for quite a while.I snapped a few pictures and left. A while later, Travis brought Mason out to the kitchen where I was cleaning or making dinner (I don't really remember which but it's not important anyway) and showed me what Mason had drawn. Unfortunately his latest work of art was up and down his arm. Also unfortunate, I didn't take a picture of his very pink inky arm. We later discovered that the drawing didn't end with the paper and his arm. He also started coloring on the quilt we have on our bed. I guess he thought it needed more pink in it. Luckily, it all came out. I think. I can't see it anymore so it's good enough for me.

A Conversation...

Annie was in the kitchen making dinner, and Mason and I were playing in the back of the apartment when we had the following conversation:

Mason: Daddy, you go find Mommy.
Me: Okay. What do I do when I find her?
Mason: Ummm...Okay.
Me: Should I give her a kiss?
Mason: Ummm...No hanks (thanks).

What We've Been Up To

Anyone who knows Mason knows his love for trains. Thomas in particular. He brought home a pretty decent haul from Christmas in Idaho. He has a lot of fun driving the train around the tracks but not before having Mom and Dad "help" set up the tracks for him.

Travis works from home when he can so as to avoid wasting time walking back and forth to the library. Quite often Mason wants to go back to daddy's little workspace in the bedroom. I pulled out the gates and have used them a couple of times to keep him out in the living room so Travis can work but Mason lets us know how unhappy this makes him. Travis thought he would make a quick little fort in the couch to keep Mason happy one day and it worked better than I thought it would.

BEHOLD THE BLIZZARD OF 2011

We started hearing last Friday or Saturday about this blizzard we were going to get. Apparently it was quite the storm spanning over 2,000 miles. Chicago received 20.2 inches while we ended up with 18.7 inches. I saw reports of snow drifts that were 3 to 4 feet high. That's a lot of digging out.

So here's how we handled this paralyzing storm. As soon as it stopped snowing and blowing we went out and made sure we could get to our cars. Getting to our cars proved to be pretty easy. Digging out the cars on the other hand... we'll see.

We wanted to take Mason sledding and we had thought about this before the storm blew in but never made it out to buy a sled for him. This was our solution. We put a pillow in a laundry basket and used one of Travis's old belts to pull it. It was quite a success and Mason loved it. That is, until he saw and wanted to go to the park. The snow was too deep and the "sled" kept tipping over. We gave up there and decided to just walk around. Mason didn't agree with that decision and we ended up going home with the promise of watching Cars (one of Mason's favorite movies). Three times we went out and three times Mason was promised a movie or rather bribed with one so he would come inside quietly.

We will have had Travis home most of the week. He worked Monday and Tuesday. Places starting closing early on Tuesday due to the storm, and Wednesday and Thursday were snow days. Sometimes it's weird to have him home this much and I have to keep telling him to get back to work. Hopefully next week will be business and usual and we can all get back into our normal routines.

Christmas Vacation 2010

With Christmas Vacation 2010 came a few more firsts for Mason. He saw Grandma Smith and Aunt Tara shoveling snow one morning and decided he better help. Grandma and Grandpa Turner got a little 4-wheeler for the grandkids to share and Mason loved riding it. If you look closely you can tell he is a lot like his mommy because he wore his slippers while he rode. Not the greatest picture as far as showing what is happening here. Christmas morning Mason's cousin got a sled and we all went sledding while Grandma stayed home and got Christmas dinner ready. Mason loved going down the hill with Aunt Tara. I wasn't wearing proper shoes for sledding and the one time I went down one of my shoes fell off. It was still fun. Cold, but fun. The first half of Christmas Eve was spent with the Turner side. Mason loves playing with his cousins. He wasn't very interested in having his picture taken so this is about as good as it gets. Maybe an aunt or uncle got a better one with their camera. Best buds. Being dressed alike was not planned. I think they were watching a movie or they probably would have both been looking at the camera. We got home from church the first week in Idaho and there was some good snowman snow so I told Travis he should go make a snowman for Mason. Travis' dad got there about the same time and helped build it. Then Mason went out and helped put the face and buttons on. They made him facing the house so Mason could look out the window and see his snowman. Another first and he loved it.

Christmas Tree Take 2

This is the first Christmas tree in our 6 1/2 years of marriage and it didn't even last 24 hours [Travis here with a correction: We had a Christmas tree in Boston. It was about 18 inches tall and had the fiber optic twinkling and color-changing lights. I guess it wasn't very memorable for my wife]. The sweet little boy in the picture (aka Mason) tipped it over twice and I took it down instead of waiting for him to do it again. I get tired of those games a lot sooner than Mason does.

This is our second tree. Made entirely out of paper and tape, it doesn't tip over or take up any room which is great because we don't have a lot of free space for a tree at the moment.

Mason had a lot of fun helping me decorate it. I'm not sure if he liked the candy canes on the tree though because he kept taking them off.
I think my favorite ornament is the gingerbread man holding the candy cane. That wasn't the original plan. They were going to be separate ornaments but I think I liked them better as one.

Thanksgiving

We were forutnate enough to spend Thanksgiving in Idaho with the family again this year. It was a blast, of course. Any time spent with family is time well spent as far as I'm concerned. Thanksgiving day was great. Good food was eaten, paper turkeys were made, young cousins played, and naps were taken (but only by adults).

The best part was being able to watch the kids play with each other.

Mason loved riding his cousin's 4-wheeler.

The making of turkeys and a napper in the background

The end result

I wish I had taken more pictures but I was busy having fun and enjoying good food and company. It doesn't get much better then that.