The Boys' First Babysitting Job

Two weeks ago we had the privilege of babysitting Baby Mason to give Vanessa and David a date night.

The boys were very excited for their first babysitting job. They took turns holding Mason in their lap.

And overwhelmed the poor child with some very helpful toddler boy sharing.....of every toy in the playroom =) Mason took it all in stride. 

Besides the fun of having a baby in the house again and watching how stinking adorable the boys were with him, by the far the best part was the family trip to Safeway.

With the Friedman's permission we used Mason for a trial run with three. We loaded the family of 5 into our car and trekked up to Safeway. We found one of those annoying long and impossible to control carts with the little toy car in front and piled our boys into the car part. Then we put Mason in his car seat on the cart and we were off like a heard of VERY VERY LOUD turtles. Oh, I forgot to mention....to help you with the visual, I am of course, quite visibly pregnant at this point.

A picture insertion here would be perfect.....but alas, that was not the first thing on my mind at this point, so there is no photo documentation of the adventure.

From the second we stepped foot outside of the car, the looks began. These weren't just quick assessments of my baby bump or my little red head, which I am quite used to these days..... NO...... these were long drawn out looks filled with analysis and judgment on just how many kids we had, their approximate ages and most importantly, just how old is that baby and how far along is the mom...AGAIN!?!? The looks were so overt I had to simply laugh out loud many times. Numerous times people would walk by, take at all in, and then as they passed J pushing the cart turn right around and hover over J's shoulder to try and assess just how old Mason was.

We thoroughly enjoyed the game =)

So, around the store we strolled, and I mean strolled. This was certainly no display of speed shopping! 

The trial was a HUGE success. All of the kids were good, we had no tears and I think we pretty much remembered everything we needed.

The day also warmed my heart to see just how sweet and loving the boys treated Mason.

Madi, you are going to be one spoiled and loved little sister [and probably tormented at times!]

So I say.....Bring on baby 3.0!!!

"Snakes: Diamondbacks and Rattler" by Ayden William Riley

So apparently as Ayden turned 4 (yesterday) a switch flipped and he starting writing. Not simply his name and some other common words which he has been doing for some time now, no, he is now writing his (famous!) books himself!!

Tonight, he started his third book, "Snake: Diamondback and Rattler". He is writing with a combination of Daddy spelling big words and Ayden sounding out some of the smaller ones. He (apparently) knows how to write all his letters [I suspect a Ms. Sarah influence] without being shown. The story, as always, is Ayden's creation, and now both the letters themselves and the illustrations are his as well. [Can you tell I might be a little proud of my little man??] While writing tonight, he took a pause to "think about how it goes," then said "AHA!" and went back to his drafting. 

Since you are his most dedicated fans, he graciously allowed me to share the first couple pages of his next story....

[Note the title page and dedication to "Daddy". And incase clarification is needed, the illustrations are snakes with red tongues and rattles]

Page 1: The Rattler got the Diamondback.
Page 2: Another diamondback came. This time he got the rattler.

Sorry for the cliff hanger but you will have to wait until the masterpiece is complete.

Gavin Turns Two - A Celebration!

Celebration #1

To celebrate this milestone we began with an impromptu family trip to Trail Dust Town for dinner, playing and a wild-west cowboy show.

At dinner little red was sung to by the whole room....



He was a little surprise...a little embarrassed, but in the end....really excited!

Dinner was following by some Superhero playing in the town center.

Then we had a surprise visitor.... Ms. Sarah came to celebrate with us!!  I've said it before and I'll say it again. These boys couldn't be more blessed to have such a loving and caring nanny. On a complete whim (not to mention a Saturday night) she came to spend some time with the family and celebrate Gavin's birthday. She is the best.

While waiting for the cowboy show to start, the boys took turns being put in jail and arresting the adults.

Cutest jailbirds ever!

The boys both enjoyed the show this time, despite some very loud gun fire and hot dynamite explosions. Gavin was all over identifying for the crowd who in fact the "bad guys" were. After the show we headed for a train ride around the town and then treated ourselves to a little "special dessert" =)

Celebration #2

Sunday, the celebration continued with a family gathering at our house. Tata, Grandmere, Nana and Mimi joined us for a simple but perfect lunch & ice cream cake for our littlest man.

I can't quite tell...but do you think he was happy???

 Someone loves their Nana!

Gavin also got long distance lovin' from Pop-pop Joe, Grandma C, Grandpa and Trish. Here he is opening his cards...

Thank you to everyone for the doting, love, and gifts to make Gavin's special day extra special.

Life is Good!

A Note To My Gavin

Gavin,

Whether I want to admit it or not, you, my little red, are TWO. You have enchanted my life for two whole years. With each passing day my love, adoration, admiration, and infatuation has exponentially grown. Since the moment I held you in my arms, two years ago...I knew you had the soul and wisdom of an astute old man - more specifically, I could sense my Grandpere in your eyes and your incredibly contagious smile.

Today you are no different. You have a calm about you that settles my soul; you are laid back, yet independent; you are opinionated, yet compromising; you read quietly for hours, yet have more 'boy' energy than one could attempt to contain.

As you begin the third year of your life you continue to be obsessed with Whale Sharks and Coral Snakes. You have followed Ayden's lead and jumped head first into the land of Superheros. You role-play with Ayden and Daddy and spend hours at the activity table engaged in imaginative play with our superhero action figures. You read for hours a day with us all. You go to bed each night with a book under your arm and wake up each morning and read out loud to yourself (in the dark).

Most of all, you adore and love your big brother and he loves you.

Never lose your mischievous streak and heartfelt laughter.

Love,
Your Mum-Mum