Back to School!!!

If you wondered why I missed my blog last week...the title says it all. If you are, married to, or mom was a teacher...you understand. Mason started daycare at First Baptist Church Whitehouse last Monday and is doing great! That is a real answer to prayer. Amber started school also and still has hair...that is an answer to prayer also! Ha!


That about sums up our week also. School, home, eat, sleep. Mason has not quite adjusted his sleeping schedule yet either. He is going to bed really late and getting up really early...go figure.
The last day or two he has done better. 6:15 on a Saturday morning is twice as early as the same time on a Tuesday!!!


Aunt Jaime was here for the weekend. She is leaving for Ireland this Saturday for a week. Hopefully she won't come home with some funny talking Irish dude like on "P.S. I Love You." I can't believe I just admitted to watching that girly mess. Anyway, we hope you have a blast aunt Jaime!!!


That is about all I know. We are heading for the beach Wed. afternoon. Many jokes have been made at our expense about getting sunburned and what not. I will definately have my sun screen on...SPF 250! Mason tans like his mother...but will still be sporting some. I will be back next week with lots of beach pictures and stories!

Bedtime...AAAGGGHHHH!!!!

All the sudden this week, Mason does not want to go to bed. He doesn't want to take a nap. Nothing...and I mean nothing can get through to him either. We've tried diciplinary actions, rewards, taking toys away, and others...nothing works. We are considering the no-nap option, but don't want to. UGH! I suppose one could see his stubborn streak from the picture above?

I guess he gets it from his mother! Haha!!!

Steven, Trisha, and Matthew Jones came over for a long overdue visit Saturday! We really enjoyed getting caught up. They are going to be our roomies when we go to the beach in a few weeks...we are so excited! I took several blurry pictures of the boys together...blurry because they were always moving when I was trying to take a picture! I did get this good one of Matt. He was about midway through his lecture on casting. He was making the point that Bill Dance does not flick his wrist correctly thus causing backlash, which leads to lost time while fishing. Very informative if I must say so myself!

Later Saturday evening, we went to Gigi and Granddad's for dinner. Mason had a heart to heart talk with a grasshopper. I don't know what they discussed, but Mason sure was listening.

Well, starting Monday, Amber and Mason will be back to school. Things will be back to normal around the house. No more dog days of summer. No more long naps and trips to the mall. Maybe the routine will make our little man tired in the evenings and want to go to bed!

Mason loves to cook...or pretend cook, so mama took a picture of us while we were "grilling" on the back porch. I know these times won't last forever, so I'm trying to stick as many of these good memories in the permanent memory bank as possible. Next time you are near Jacksonville, run on by the house for one of Mason's delicious hotdogs and hamburgers. You'll be glad you did!!!

2,200 miles ago

I posted our last blog 20 days and 2,200 miles ago. Sorry it has been so long. It is just so easy to watch some tv or go to bed, rather than this...but I tell myself it is worth it!!! Ha!

Just look at this guy! He has grown about a foot since I last talked to you all. Notice the Dustbuster...his mother is a firm believer in child labor. I lobby for more playtime, but she makes him clean, clean, clean! Ha!!!

So, we have been off to Colorado to see Nana and Gramps since we last spoke. We had lots of fun, played outside lots and soaked up as much cool air as we could before returning to the firey inferno we call Texas. We went to a chuckwagon dinner and singing one night. Mason loved all the fast songs and during the slow one's asked, "Daddy, when's it going to be over. Can you make it stop?" I don't think he is going to like "easy listening" music! Ha! Also, we played in a creek one day. Mason had a big time with that. Water was too cold for me!

He also got to ride the tractor with Gramps a time or two. He always loves that. We tried and tried to have a fire in the fire pit in the back yard and cook some hot dogs and marshmellows, but it rained us out each time. :-( Maybe next year.

Mason was a real trooper on the drive up and back. He didn't whine or moan, ask how much farther or could we stop. We actually promised him a stop at a playground, twice, and were not able to follow through and he understood. I am thankful that his reasoning skills are beginning to kick in! Makes things so much easier.

Since we have been home, things have been really hectic. It is tough taking off work for 1 1/2 weeks when you have a list a mile long of people waiting for things. Amber has been busy with getting Mason's daycare organized for this school year and planning for her school work. It doesn't help the temperature has been averaging 100 degrees and Mason doesn't get to play outside much. It rained the other evening and he had a blast playing in the cool rain.

Now that summer is almost over, Amber and Mason will have to leave their lives of luxury and come back to the working mans world. Ha! They have really enjoyed their summer. We have one more jaunt to the beach on Labor Day with some good friends and we are really looking forward to that!!!! I have lots more pictures from Colorado and the past 20 days, so I'll share them in the coming weeks!!!