g is for greta

Okay, so I’ll spare you from most of the reasons. I do really love my kids, though. Yes, they drive me to the brink of insanity almost daily, but they are the reasons for the highest peaks of joy, too.

They love tatoos. Seems like they are everywhere now: cereal boxes, prize at the dentist, pack of Nintendo cards, etc. Corinne and Mason decided they wanted to match.

I couldn’t get those suckers OFF when Sunday rolled around. Unfortunately, that meant they were sporting tats to church.

Mason is just plain silly. The kid just radiates fun (unless he is having one of his moments where he is flailing on the floor throwing an ear-piercing fit). We went to the Dublin Rec Center to swim. Instead of putting his clothes in the cube, Mason put himself in. Weirdo.

Corinne is coming of age. That has lots of different meanings. She whined on Saturday when I asked her to put her laundry away. I decided it was time for the “I am not your slave, I am your mother” lecture. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and put her laundry away. Ugh. On the other hand, she is so helpful and loving to her brothers. She gives them instructions for the day on how to be good boys while she is waiting for the bus then blows them kisses as the bus pulls away. The other day I captured this:

She and Ethan had decided to watch a movie together, but Ethan fell asleep. She was so proud of her ability to “mother.” She is a good girl with crazy teeth.

Ethan is plain insane. I honestly don’t know what this kid has for breakfast (okay…I do know what he has for breakfast, but apparently it affects him differently than the rest of us) that causes him to go into hyperdrive. My goodness! He is a sponge these days and wants to be just like his older siblings. Here is a prime example of him showing what he learned from Mason:

Looks like he took good notes during Fits 101. The top grade is from Melting Mom’s Heart 101.

He’s just so stinking cute. Especially now that he is talking in sentences. He is adorable to listen to!

Being a mother to these kids is an honor. I feel like I should give them a gift on Mother’s Day for allowing me to be their mom. I couldn’t be happier…

-g.

I have been trying to explain to the kids that Spring is the season that bridges Winter into Summer. The easiest thing to tell them was that some days would feel more like Winter while other days felt like Summer. The days in between are Spring. It’s been really confusing because Ohio weather is never predictable.

We woke one morning over Spring Break to snow. By the time the sun came up, only half of the yard had snow left. The kids took advantage of their ability to play in the snow without freezing off any appendages. We had a blast! On one side of the yard, we were playing baseball. On the other side of the yard, we were building a Spring Snowman:

A dear friend had her 4th child close to Easter. I invited her older two kids to have a sleepover to give her a bit of a break. We decided to go to an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning. Who knew they would be hidden in the snow?! I never even thought to take hats or gloves. They were FREEZING!!

Getting dressed in the morning is challenging because by lunch, the weather is completely different! I’m glad the kids seem to be able to go with the flow. Just to be on the safe side, we bought the kids sandals over the weekend. Corinne and I painted our toenails, too. Here’s to hoping for warmer weather!

-g.

My sweet Mason woke up on the morning of his 5th birthday and said, “Since I am 5 now, do I get to go to kindergarten today?” We had always told him that he would go when he was 5. That’s my boy. He LOVES school and can’t wait for the next stage.

Mason also loves video games. He picked a PacMan cake, and I was thrilled since it was such an easy cake to make. Bless his heart…he was so tickled by it.

All of his grandparents were here for his celebration plus Tia Stephanie and Uncle James. It was so fun to have all of us together. Plus it meant lots of presents! He was so spoiled!

Mason testing out his new SpiderMan scooter from Grandma Ann and Papa Bill.

Another favorite was his Mario toy from his cousins in Utah. He even gave him rides on his new scooter. Ethan broke his arm off a few days after his birthday. Poor Mario and poor Mason!

Here’s his 5 year picture with monkey…

and a 1 year for comparison.

-g.

For a long time, we have been talking about going to Kalahari. Stephanie took action and found a deal that was too good to pass up. The kids had a blast! Here are some pictures. Sorry if they are fuzzy or dark. It was tricky getting the kids to stand still long enough to capture the moment.

Mason LOVED the lazy river. He honestly spent hours walking/swimming the loop. He was so excited to be able to reach the bottom.

Corinne was a good sport and stayed with him for most of his laps.

One of the other favorite spots was the wave pool. Corinne was brave enough to ride the waves on a tube with someone closeby. Mason mostly stayed in the shallow part playing around.

Corinne was tall enough to do some of the waterslides and bigger rides. It was fun to see her so giddy with excitement!

Everyone was definitely feeling the love!

Thanks to the Rices and Woolfs for helping with the kids and making the whole trip happen!

(FYI–Ethan did make the trip with us. I know there aren’t any pictures of him. He spent the first day in the pool playing. Unfortunately, we didn’t take pictures until day 2 when he spent the whole time in the arcade/playplace with Abuelita.)

-g.

Tony’s birthday is on the 8th. (Mark your calendars, everyone.) Normally he doesn’t get his own cake because Corinne’s birthday is on the 10th. This year, she was having a birthday party so I decided to get Tony’s his own strawberry casada cake. It was divine! I highly recommend it!

I don’t even have any pictures of the actual birthday boy. We all know what he looks like, right? On to Corinne then…

On odd numbered birthdays, the kids are allowed to have a celebration. Corinne picked Galaxy, Games, and Golf for her party this year. It was a good time had by the kids. I did cupcakes and let the kids decorate them so there isn’t a picture of a gorgeous cake made by yours truly. Ha! Some of the kids took it so seriously. Check out their faces:

Corinne’s favorite part was playing with her friends and the presents. What kid wouldn’t love those things?

So here’s my 7 year old looking so big…

…in comparison.

Sigh.
-g.

I think we have used 4 out of 5 allotted snow days. Ugh. One of them was a lame excuse for wanting another day off. Don’t they realize how hard it is to entertain kids that are stuck inside their home for numerous days in a row?! We were all bouncing off the walls! Here are some things that kept us busy:

LOTS of playing inside and out

I thought this sign was cute but felt bad for my buddy Ethan for being banned. (No Ethan aulood–Privit)

Decorations for birthdays/Valentine’s Day–We hung “Happy Birthday” and the numbers Tony, Corinne, and James (brother-in-law) were turning from the chandelier.

The kids didn’t like that it wasn’t easily readable. Corinne had another idea that worked PERFECTLY!!

That left the chandelier all lonely so we did this:

Any reason to stretch out their attention spans a little longer and eat some time off the ol’ clock!

One of the mornings we woke up to some chaos.

I guess that snow day was warranted. Eventually the roads got cleared and life was as normal as it could be with my three wonderful yet crazy kids!

Today I noticed my daffodils creaping up through the mulch. Spring is on the way!
-g.

The kids were so excited for Christmas to come. They were too cute getting everything ready for Santa.

(Dear Santa, We hope you are safe and… we wish you a Merry Christmas. Love, Corinne Mason and Ethan)

We were so busy opening presents on Christmas morning, that we didn’t get a single picture! It wasn’t until after the chaos was over that we realized our mistake. We did get some video, though. Thank goodness! There weren’t any blood relatives in town, so we had the closest thing to it–THE MORANS–over for dinner with Misti’s parents. It was a delicious meal. The kids had fun playing with their new toys.

Papa Tom and Abuelita came to town later in the weekend with the Woolfs so we were sure to get some pictures then.

Mason was feeling the love!

Isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

-g.

One of my favorite times of year to decorate is Christmas. The whole house just feels cozier. I tried something new for the fireplace this year and thought it turned out nicely! Wish it had been real pine. I love the way it looks and smells, but the needles dry out and get stuck in the kids’ socks.

I put white lights in it and plugged them in after dark. I loved the way it made the room glow. It was really pretty even though this picture doesn’t do it justice.

The kids helped decorate the Christmas tree. I don’t think they noticed that I moved ornaments around after they went to bed. I blame my OCD tendencies for not being able to leave well enough alone!

Finished product:

My little buddies also helped me make treats for our friends. These are some of my favorites. You soften a rolo on top of a pretzel then push it down with a pecan. Yum! I was making cornflake wreaths in the front. Tony loves those!

It was a fun time of year. The kids could barely wait for Christmas to come around!

-g.

I am so very behind on updating. Prepare yourselves over the next few weeks for an onslaught of posting. First things first, Thanksgiving.

If you remember, Mason was in a full cast. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, he was downgraded to a walking cast.

I love Mason’s “I’m really happy but acting scared but don’t know what to do with my face” face. Tony came along for moral support–not sure if it was for Mason, me, or both.

THAT’S the face I know and love!

The day after Thanksgiving he was allowed to remove it. Boy, was he ever terrified. The first few steps involved major limping and lots of tears. However, by the end of the week, he was doing things like this with his cousins visiting from Utah:

Don’t worry, the other kids were in on the fun, too!

For some reason, I have no pictures of Ethan. Probably because this boy never stands still long enough to get a picture taken!

It was fun to see the Paynes and both sides of our families. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays!

-g.

Especially a KitchenAid Mixer. However, luck is not a lady tonight…yet! I have entered multiple times on Pioneer Woman’s website with no luck. Today I find a friend from back in the day started a new website www.gourmetmomonthego.com. It’s fun! An added bonus is that she is having a giveaway. Score! I sure could use that mixer.

I did win an ice cream party online, though, so I shouldn’t be whining. I’m just so good at it!

-g.