Random Samantha Moments

Samantha recently had her Spring concert. She practiced really hard and was very excited about it. I just wish that all my pictures of Samantha didn't have the boy next to her with his fingers in his mouth.


Samantha's class at the Spring Concert.


Samantha swinging. We have caught her doing this a few times. One time she actually sat in the swing with the tray across her legs. She had trapped herself in the swing. Jamie and I had a hard time getting her out of the swing because we were laughing so hard.

Random Andrea Moments

Andrea seems to be developing a bond with Riley. Often times I find them playing together, or snuggled up. I think Andrea really enjoys the role of big sister, especially when Samantha is at school.


Playing with Riley.


At Samantha's Spring Concert.

Random JJ Moments

I know this picture is blurry, but it still captures one of JJ's favorite things. He loves to put on any shoes he finds around the house. Sometimes it's really cute and he does a good job putting them one and walking in them. Other times, it is the cause for many tantrums. He gets made when the shoes doesn't go on right, or if he can't walk in them. But this is JJ, walking around in shoes to big for him.

JJ often surprises me with his new skills. In the past, we put JJ's food on his tray and call it good. I have been trying to introduce silverware and dishes to him. Some days he does well, and others, he dumps his food out on his tray and throws the dishes on the floor. This day I gave him a spoon. He did pretty good. I imagine it's like eating with chop sticks though. You can do it, it just takes longer to eat. JJ now now gives us a reason to lock the garage door. There isn't much storage space in our kitchem, especially out of his reach. So we have some shevles set up in our garage with our canned goods, Capri Suns and such. JJ has figured out how to open doors around our house, the garage being one of his favorites. If we forget to lock the garage door, JJ goes out into the garage and grabs a drink and brings it to us to open.

JJ has shown an interest in cars and trucks for a while now. We kept putting the "Cars" movie on for him thinking that he would love it. It took a while, but finally it clicked, or something, and he watches most of the movie now in one sitting, hardly moving. Sometimes, it is the only thing that pulls him out of a tantrum.

















JJ with a ring pop from Easter.

Random Riley Moments

Here's a collection of funny pictures of Riley over the last month.

I thought this was a cute picture of Riley.

Deep in thought, or falling asleep?

Playing with a spoon.

Eating a bitter biscuit. I was surprised that he ate this. As you can see from his jammies, he is still not liking cereal.

Easter

This year we had a simple Easter at home with just the six of us. The older three colored eggs on Saturday. Then the Easter Bunny brought their baskets Sunday morning before they woke up, and came back later in the day and hid some candy filled eggs.

Samantha coloring eggs.


Andrea coloring eggs.

The girls, as always, had a lot of fun coloring eggs. I managed to save out a couple eggs for JJ to try coloring this year. I let him have his turn when the girls finished. I gave him an egg and he wasn't to sure what to do with it. I showed him how to putthe eggs in the dye, and hewas hooked. Maybe I should have saved him a few more eggs...

The search has begun!


I tried to help JJ find Easter Eggs that the Easter Bunny hid, but he wasn't very interested. JJ loves to be outside. So as soon as we let him outside, the first thing he did was grab some sidewalk chalk and then started climbing on the out door toys we need to put together. He was more excited about that then the eggs, until...

...JJ realized there was candy in the eggs. To bad that by the time he figured this out, the girls had already found almost all the eggs.

Bath Time

I think that I have posted before that Riley is growing quickly and sitting up for baths in the tub. I think that this goes on the "can't wait for them to hit that mile stone" list. It is so much easier to give babies a bath when they sit on their own. The boys enjoy taking baths and don't mind if it's together. Often, when I bathe them, I end up with my second shower for the day. They are always surprised when they get get splashed from the other.

The Boys, JJ and Riley

JJ

Riley

To Oregon and Back

Jamie and I have decided that our time with the Air Force is at an end. We are excited to move on to this new part in our lives. That means job searching and interviews, all that fun stuff. Since we are looking for jobs close to family, we are able to get in a few family visits. We were lucky enough to do that in March. While we were there, Samantha got to show off her reading skills, that have really come a long way this year. I am so proud of her. She really enjoyed reading to great grandpa.



Grandma Roberts set up a "tea" party. I was able to keep it from the girls until a couple days before the trip, which turned out to be a good idea. All I heard from the time I told them until we had the party was questions about the party. We all had a lot of fun. They can't wait to do it again. This might have to be a regular event at grandma's house for a while.

Andrea

Samantha

I'm sure Katy and Valerie will be happy with these pictures.

What a Week, and it's Only Wednesday Morning

Sick kids.
War games.
Evacuations.

That's been my week. Samantha brought home a cold from school. When Sam gets sick, she does it well. She's been congested, had red eyes, throwing up, fever, all the fun stuff. She passed it to Andi, so they have been sick together. And, Riley has something. He isn't sick like the girls are, but he has thrown up twice, but only at bedtime.

There is base wide training right now and lucky Jamie, he is working nights. So he was trying to get on that schedule this weekend. I hate this schedule. I feel like I don't get to see him. And since it has been a year since he's been on shift, it's very weird to be going to bed with out him home. At least it's almost over.

And the hi-light of the week, we were evacuated from our house yesterday morning. They were drilling at the end of the street, for some reason, where somebody had improperly marked the gas lines and hit a pipe. And of course, it is almost always windy here, so it was blowing down the street. We are just three houses from where they were drilling, so we had to get out fast. I got the joy of waking up Jamie, and rushing the kids out the door. We drove over to a spot where we could watch the road blockades from a distance. After some time, Jamie called the fire department to get an update and found out there was another gas leak close to where we were. Then the kids started getting bored. So we moved to a new spot, back near the house and we could actually see the gas "spraying" out of the pipe. After a few more minutes, the kids get bored again. Then we decided to go to the fire station, through the war game area, so the kids could walk around the tv room and and watch some tv. Nothing like a grumpy husband that needs sleep, two sick kids and a baby that is wanting to eat soon (I did grab formula and a bottle before we left). We were there for about 30 minutes, before they told us we could go home. We were gone about two hours. Then we got to think about how long we would be with out gas (stove, oven, hot water, heat...) while they fixed the pipe. That was another couple hours.

At least everything is over or will be soon. Always fun at the Mason house.

Congratulations Bradley and Christy!

Bradley and Christy welcomed Aiden Scott into their family Friday morning, March 27, 2009. Aiden weighed in at 6 lbs 14 oz. Knowing David, Daisy, and Emily, I am sure that they are very excited to have Aiden in their family. I am sure, too, that Bradley and Christy are spending a large part of their days protecting Aiden from hugs and kisses of his excited siblings. I think nieces and nephew are like my kids and want to show how much they love the new baby and get a bit carried away. It's a good thing babies can take on the "thoughtfulness" or older siblings. Congratulations!

P.S. I will post a picture of Aiden when I get one. Bradley sent me some pictures, but they were weird attachments and don't post well.