Well, haven't talked to you since Oct. 28th...we have lots to cover.
Mason was a farmer for Halloween, and Anslee was a pumpkin. They were both very cute and cooperative with pictures. They actually didn't get to go trick-or-treating. We gave Mason a bunch of candy and took him to mom and dad's for a visit. He didn't seem to miss it. We will do better next year!
This one is all smiles! As of late, she has three moods: happy, hungry, and sleepy. Her personality and demeanor is totally opposite of Mason at her age. She is so very sweet and always excited to see me when I come home. I think her favorite thing to do is watch Mason. He is always babbling about something and she is quite happy to sit and listen. She doesn't like to let her mama get out of eye sight though. Spoilt child!
I forget all we did in November, but we have been busy. Amber is teaching children's choir at church (Mason's age) and she is getting ready for the Christmas musical. They had a warm up during the Hanging of the Greens service Sunday night in which they sang two songs...Mason played with a piece of string in his pocket and adjusted the microphone. The rest of the kids she taught did great though! Mason and I had a talk afterward...he will be singing next time.
We decorated for Christmas a few days before Thanksgiving. Mason was a big help. It is neat seeing him more interested each year. I know it will peak soon, so I enjoy it while we can! He has only watched Polar Express 627 times. And that is just the past few weeks! Ha!
Puddin' pop is eating some food these days with some rice cereal mixed in. I think her favorite is sweet peas. She has also had carrots, green beans, apple sauce, and bananas. She seem to really enjoy eating each night. She lunges for the spoon which makes it difficult to feed her sometimes.
We had a great Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt and uncles this year. Many of my mom 's family came from Houston and we all enjoyed the time together.
Our gifts are definitely under the tree! What a blessing they both are. I thank God for each day He gives me with them.
Have you ever seen eyes that blue? She pretty much rules the roost around here. She decided to pose for mommy while sitting with daddy. She is such a joy. She is saying "da da, ma ma, bub ba," and some other noises we can't quite decipher! Standing when she is brave. She can balance for probably 3 seconds, then back down. She is a speedy walker when she is holding onto something, it's only a matter of time before she takes off!
Here is "prissy pants" and Anslee, oops, I got that backwards! Ha! Amber and the kids went to a flower garden with Jen, Maddie and Molly Carlile. They had lots of fun. Didn't realize the kids couldn't play in the flowers and what not, had to stay on the path and behave. Where's the fun in that???
Here is our sweet Maddie. She loves Mason and they play so great together. They are such hams when they are together, this is the best picture I have of them when they are both smiling and looking "towards" the camera!!! 
The new header picture is our best Easter picture as well. Aunt Jaime came home for Easter and may have some better pics, but I haven't seen them yet. Jaime started a new job last week and from all I understand, she loves it. I am so very happy for her! We just wish we got to see her more. Mason loves it when she is home!
Sweet smiles from a sink bath!
Finally, Mason said to tell you he will rough you up if you give daddy any lip about not blogging in so long! Haha! He battled a stick at the flower garden and the stick won. We would have more pictures of him, but the only thing he is ever doing is playing Lego's! I love my little guy. He has decided to run and hug me about every third day when I come home...I'll take it! I want so much to never fail him, to never disappoint him, to always encourage him, to be all the things my father was to me, and the things he wasn't. Maybe you can't be all things, I don't know. I am going to try though. "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Phil. 4:21 
Well, I think she is lacking enough iron in her diet and is trying to let us know. Really though, two teeth and this is the best thing you can find to chew on?! Ha! She puts everything in her mouth. She doesn't go directly to the mouth, she is intelligent about it. She picks up an item, briefly inspects it, then...in the mouth. I guess she is deciding if it is worthy! 
Mason is always in one spot in our house. The Lego rug. We have told him to keep his Lego's on his play rug for safety sake with Anslee. He does pretty good with it. The Lego's are the only thing the boy wants to play with. Hours upon hours. We have contemplated doing an every-other-day schedule or something. I suppose it is good on some levels and bad on others. The picture is his rendition of the "Magic School Bus," if any of you know what that is. I thought it was pretty good myself! He is really creative and does some awesome stuff.
A few weeks ago, the letter for the day at school was "F." The teacher gave mason a piece of paper with the letter "F" in the bottom corner and then finished up the word with "ish." Well, if a teacher gave me a paper with the word fish on it and wanted me to illustrate it, I would draw me some fishes! Not my boy. He drew a submarine with a periscope. The sub had an arm extended from below it with a net on the end to catch fish. Also, the sub had windows and a propeller. He threw a couple of fishes in there for good measure. It is a shame that as we get older and conform to the world that we loose such creativity. It is almost inspiring to see the things he comes up with in his head. I can't come up with anything worthy of the fridge :-( !!!
WHAT TIME IS IT!!!!!! Acceptable answers are: 1:00; Mickey Mouse Clubhouse time; and cartoon time! Mason is always up for a good cartoon (if you can peel him away from the Lego's). And Anslee seems to take an interest from time to time, but only for one to two minutes. About the time we notice she is still and watching, she moves on to something else.
Anslee has started sitting up to go along with her standing and walking along the furniture. She hasn't tried to walk on her own yet, she seems content with her current progress. She is such a princess when it comes time to sit from a standing position. She eases down, ever so gingerly, until she is seated. The drama levels are going to be high at our house in 14-15 years! Ugh!!!
Mason is really a big help around the house. He helps watch his sister and picks up so that she doesn't get things she shouldn't. She will crawl towards some of his things and he will run over and pick her up, much like this picture, and carry her to the other side of the living room. Only takes her 3.2 seconds to crawl back, but it is a funny chess match to watch!
And finally, I took the big dog camping last weekend. He loved it. It was a lot of work for daddy though. I didn't put too much thought into not having any other supervision or help in many of the tasks that are required in camping. He did help me pitch the tent! We had hot dogs and smores, slept all night, and then bacon and eggs for breakfast. He was a great camp buddy! I look forward to us going again!
She did...not really enjoy grandma's 90th birthday party. It may have been because she got her first tooth last week!!! Now she will not let you put the spoon in her mouth without chomping the rubber coating with her one tooth and making you fight her for the spoon!
He did...not want to quit playing in the snow after about an hour in the freezing temps. I was so glad we received our 4-6" on Thursday night so that Mason could play in the snow. With Nana and Gramps in Colorado, he talks about the snow a lot...at least this year he got to play in some!
She did...nothing short of melt my heart when she touches my face, ever so softly, and says "da da." She is so happy to see me each time I come home and has brought even more joy to my life.
He did...have some wicked spills on the trash can lid while sledding Friday! How much fun does he look like he's having?!?!
She did...confirm that I am her father, by trying to down the last of the Dr. Pepper Saturday afternoon. How can I deny that this is my child? Who needs DNA when you have DP?
He did...bounce off a little energy Saturday afternoon at Tyler Vinings birthday party. Bounce house establishments are just stinkin' fun. I just hate that I have to take a shower after we leave. Ugh!
She did...turn eight months old today. In addition to the new tooth, crawling for twelve days, and saying, "da da," she decided today that she would pull up and stand up next to the ottoman and play with her purse. Let's just say she takes after her mother. She is quite the over achiever!
This one is about to crawl. She has taken a try at it several times, then face plants...it is just any minute she will be gone. She is pretty quick with her army/belly crawl, especially when motivated by Lego's or any other toy of her brother's she is not supposed to have. Katy bar the door, when she is mobile, we are going to be in trouble.
And this one is about to be grown. He took his little sister for a ride in his Gator the other day. He shielded her eyes from the sun, held her hand, and took very good care of her while he drove her around. Although she looks scared, she really liked it.
They are both getting so big. Mason is doing great with school. Things have seemed to really click since the holidays, he is coloring very meticulously, and able to communicate what they learned at school EVERY day. He tells me the letters, sounds, and combinations of sounds he learns, and what words go with those sounds. I think that is my favorite part of the day to see the pride and joy in his face as he remembers the words he learned. I am so proud of him. Anslee terrorizes him because he things she is going to druel on whatever she touches. It is a funny cat and mouse game with those two.
This one is loving being home with the kiddos!
The next week Mason got to go to Chuck's for pizza and games with Maddie, Molly, and Mrs. Jennifer. I don't think he had fun. Ha! There are many pictures from that day, but this one sums it up!
We really were going to send Christmas cards, even had attempts at a Christmas photo, but had an unwilling participant. We are since planning a happy New Year's card, possibly happy Valentine's, or even a happy Memorial Day card...all depends upon the speed in which that project gets finished!!! Look for it in the mail!!!
Santa did come to our house, and we had a great Christmas this year. I think this is the first year Mason "really" got it. He was all about leaving the cookies in just the right spot and making sure we turned the fire "off" so that Santa didn't get burned. This is a picture of his rocket ship he asked for from Santa. He loves it. He also loves his box of Lego's he received. He builds things all day long.
We had a great day with both of our families together at our house. Entirely too many gifts and too much food. All in all, a success for our first Christmas to host. We just need to dispose of 75-80% of Mason's toys when he isn't looking. Ha! Fat chance of that!
Our beautiful little girl is growing up so fast. She is pulling up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth...then springing forward in the direction she wants to go. Crawling isn't far off...we aren't looking forward to that! She is eating well and sleeping fairly well. We have had a couple of entire nights lately. She is all smiles though, and we think those blue eyes are here to stay! I sure hope so. She is so much fun, and in a totally different way than Mason was. I love her the same as Mason, but it is different...I guess because she is a girl. What a blessing she has been to us. I will probably sound different when she wants me to give her money and drop her off around the corner from the mall so I don't embarrass her. We'll see!!!
Well, these two are our life. This is what we do! You know, I had a pretty good streak going until this year. I had a new year's kiss probably every year since I was 15 yrs. old...that is like an 18 year streak. Pretty good for a country boy like me. Well, this year I was watching a bowl game while laying on the floor in front of the fireplace when last I looked at the clock it was 9:00p.m. I awoke at 1:30 a.m. to my wife already in bed, the TV off, and me no kiss at new years! I will be over 50 years old before I can get back to a 18 year streak...and that's if I don't fall asleep again!!! Unbelievable! 
Well, after the chlorine quit burning our eyes and nostrils, we headed home. This brings us to "my child." He had his Christmas program at school Tuesday night. After much lecturing, he agreed that it was good to stand up tall, sing loud, and mind the teacher. Very clear...right? My child was the one...you know, the one...that turned around backwards the whole time, looking at what was going on behind him. Then when it was time to sing, he leaned over the railing and looked all around. His friends...the ones from the water park...tried to talk him down, but no, he was determined. His mama went the front row to lay down the law...he smiled real big and turned back around. What am I going to do with this guy? He is something else.
This picture doesn't do his misbehavior justice. He is much better at it that what his reflected here! And that brings us to the next picture. I must say, it is of my own doing...maybe...karma, as "Ed" would say. I told Amber about two weeks ago that we don't need the plastic things in our plugs anymore. Mason is big enough and not going to stick anything in them, Anslee is too small to and we will be hopefully moving before she is big enough. This is what I found when we came home from the musical.
Let's take this in order, shall we:
