Ode to Mason

To say the least, Mason makes our lives very interesting:

On the first day of kindergarten the principle was called in to help deal with his behavior and he told her that he wanted to be bad, because if he was bad he wouldn't have to come back.

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Two weeks ago Gabe took the boys to Toysrus.  Gabe was with Mason near the Little People toys when Mason saw a 4 year old girl looking around. He went up to her, introduced himself, then began giving her a tour of all the toys and how they worked. 

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Last weekend Mason went missing for a couple of hours, (which is typical because he has so many friends houses he loves to go play at in our tight knit neigborhood). When he resurfaced Gabe asked him where he had been. He said that he was at a birthday party. We were a bit puzzled because he hadn't been invited to any parties. We noticed that our Spanish speaking neighbors a couple houses down had a bounce house set up in the backyard, festive music playing and lots of balloons.  We asked if that was the party he was at, and he replied yes. Gabe told him that it wasn't polite to go to a party if you haven't been invited. Mason quickly retorted, "I was! I knocked on their door and said, can I come to your party, and they said yes!"

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I often have people relate funny conversations they have had with Mason, whether they are complete strangers or people in our neighborhood.  This summer while we were at Seven Peaks water park, an old man came up and tapped my arm. Pointing to Mason he asked, "Is that your son"?  I looked over and saw Mason and Gage sitting on some of the rock landscaping and assuming that Mason had done something to offend him, I gave a hesitant, "yes"?  He continued, "I saw him kissing a rock and I asked him, "Is kissing a rock better than kissing a girl?" and he told me "YES!"".

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My visiting teacher related this story to me after she watched him for a couple of hours. He had walked into her house and noticed her 11 month old niece playing on the floor. He curiously eyed the baby, then asked, is that your baby? She replied that it was her niece. He didn't quite understand, so he asked, "did that baby grow inside your tummy?"  She answered, "nope, she didn't grow in my tummy". Then very dramatically he queried, "Well, if that baby didn't grow in your tummy and it's not yours, THEN WHO'S BABY IS IT!?!"

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Now that Mason is in kindergarten, part of his his homework is to read 15 or more minutes a day. The other night he was whining and complaining and wasn't following directions. He wanted Gabe to read to him but he kept misbehaving until Gabe said, "Mason! Why should I read to you? You have been whining and not listening and are being mean to me! Give me one good reason why I should still read to you?" Mason paused a moment to think, then replied, "because I like you daddy."

Dancing "Gangnam Style"

Gabe introduced the boys to the new worldwide dance craze.

Here's the link if you want to learn how to dance Gangnam Style 

Your Monkey, My Monkey

Gage really loves reading books. When I read with him, he usually has to be the one holding the book and turning the pages and he likes to repeat all the words. I suppose this is very educational, but I now have to limit our reading to just 2-3 books at a time since it takes sooooo dang long : )

Before bedtime a few nights ago I took a video of Brianna reading with Gage in my bed. Once you view it you will understand the title of this post : )

The view from our porch

This week we've had some "crazy" weather, which is actually typical of most Springs and Falls in Utah. We had a couple days that reached 100 degrees, then a few with lightening and rain and strong winds. We love the rain and wind and the awesome scenery that sometimes follows after.

This is the first full rainbow any of us had ever seen. Theses pictures show it from right to left. 

 Mason and Gage posing their cute and crazy faces

Secret Agent Birthday Party

Tucker turned 8 last week and he had his very first friend party ever. This was the first year since his birth that we haven't been traveling or at a family reunion, so he was pretty excited. Tucker received some spy toys for his family party so I thought doing a Secret Agent theme would be fun, and luckily he did too. We sent out invitation in manila envelopes marked "Top Secret".

 The premise of the party was that he and his friends were training to become Secret Agents and the games all centered on skills they would need to become spies. Gabe made this poster for our front door.

When the guests arrived they each received a passport with their training course

Next they were given Secret Agent code names, these were created by drawing two slips of paper from 2 jars: One with a color or adjective, like spinning, jumping, lightening etc. and one with a noun, like ninja, tiger, rider ... then we wrote their names inside their passports.

OBSERVATION SKILLS:

We played a memory game where you put several objects on a tray and let everyone look over it for a minute or two, then you take away the tray, remove 2 items, then bring the tray back. The kids had to figure out which items were missing.

ART OF DISGUISE:

The kids designed their own secret agent disguise on a sturdy paper plate, then we cut out eye holes and fastened the plates on with yarn. The kids had a fun time choosing their mustaches.

Disguise Kit by The Project Girls

TARGET PRACTICE

Using nerf guns the kids took turns shooting at the target that Tucker helped to make, which we created on a piece of styrofoam  from a refrigerator box.

LASER COURSE

I got the idea for this game from the internet, so I can't claim creative license, but it was a big hit and the kids had a lot of fun. They had to go through the course without touching the laser beams, retrieve an object, then come back through.

CLUE IDENTIFICATION

The final mission was to locate the loot. We put the loot bags in an old briefcase that looked very spyish and hid it. The objective was to find and decipher the clues that would lead them to the loot bags.

We used this QR code generator to create printable codes that would be the clues. I then downloaded a QR code reader onto my cell phone for free. When the kids found a code, I would scan it with my phone and it would generate the text clue that would lead them to the next QR code. Here is the link if you want to view the clues I created, http://goo.gl/RMSxJ

SPY CUPCAKES

Rather than making an elaborate, time consuming cake, I let the kids create their own spy cupcakes. We used the following supplies: regular and mini m&m's, jelly bellies, licorice string, chocolate sprinkles (for the stubble), and chocolate frosting to pipe on details.

(I didn't get a picture of the cupcakes we made, but this is where I got the idea from)

If you want to see any more ideas for creating a Secret Agent party, then check out these two websites frugalfamily and chickenbabies

Happy Birthday Mason

Mason has been anticipating this day for months! He was so excited to turn five and was equally as excited to celebrate his birthday in Washington with his grandparents and cousins. Because he loves the beach so much, I made him a sandcastle cake. Everything was edible on it except the little seashells.

Even the "rocks" were edible

 He was excited to get binoculars

And overjoyed to get a cash register just like the one grandma has

Earlier in the day we met my friend Tristalene and her kids at the Harbor view park in Bremerton. It is right next to the Naval museum by the shipyard and ferries. This park is so interesting, it has 5 submarine tops (the kids like to call them volcanoes) out of which water spouts from the tops and comes raining down like a waterfall. It also has lots of things carved out of rock as well as huge boulders that the kids could climb and play on.

Fun at the Beach

I don't normally keep up on my blog as frequently as I have been, but that's one of the great things about being on vacation, I don't have much cleaning to do : )  One of my kids favorite spots to go in Kingston is the Arness park, which we called the Slough when I was growing up. Hayden's main focus was swimming, but the other kids were content to play in the sand. Hayden caught a crab in a bucket, but was afraid he would get pinched if he held it. Kaitlyn on the other hand is fearless and just picks them up. So after Hayden saw how effortless it was for a 2 year old he "manned up".

Kaitlyn would bring home all sorts of creatures

if her mom would let her

It took awhile, but Hayden finally picked up the crab

 Crab close up

Hayden is truly in his element at the beach

Tucker is still trying to figure out his element

 Mason and Abi are practically joined at the hip!

Ahhh, the Insanity!!!

Tonight was a rough night for me and some of my children. During the evening Hayden kept getting in trouble for not listening and then was emotional and a bit physical about the consequences. The other boys were doing fine until it was time for bed (not a big surprise). But by the time they were in their pj's and teeth brushed, my patience was gone. (As a side note: Mason thinks it's his job to report any and all misbehavior and he thinks he should be rewarded for reporting to me, rather than be scolded for "tattling".) After I had finally gotten the 3 older boys in their beds and lights off, I went to rest on my bed. A minute later Mason came in and said, "Mom, Hayden is out of bed!" I hesitated because of the irony of the situation, then replied, "Mason, do you need a spank on your bum because you are out of bed"? He quickly replied, "No, it's Hayden who's out of bed!". I gave him a look, the one with the raised eye brows, and then he connected the dots. He quickly ran back into their room and I didn't hear from him again... I almost wrote "and he was never heard from ever again". Ha-ha, if only... I'm just kidding, may be... ugh, I just need to go bed and start fresh again tomorrow!

Wild Waves

Yesterday I took Brianna, Tucker, and Mason to Wild Waves. It's a water/amusement park that I went to as a kid and wanted to share the experience with my children. My mom stayed home with Gage, for obvious reasons, and Hayden who decided he didn't want to go. I knew he would have a lot of fun, but I also knew it would be soooo much easier if he didn't, so I didn't try to convince him : )  We met up with my cousin Naomi and her two older kids, Noah and Kaylani. Luckily she had 3 friend passes we could use, so it was great that we didn't have to "break the bank".  I wanted to travel as light as possible, so I used my phone to take pictures, which is why they aren't crystal clear. But for a phone camera it isn't too shabby.

There weren't very many people at the park, so a lot of times we would be the only people on a ride and if they kids wanted they just stayed on and rode as many times as they wanted, which made the experience even better! In the last picture of the slide show Mason is riding "Silver Lightening". I thought it would be fun to name our horses on the carousel : )

"Point No Point" Beach

We spent part of the day at Point no Point beach in Hansville. Mason, Cody and Abigail spent most of their time exploring the beach away from the water. The driftwood was all they needed for their imaginations to run rampant. Gage was not as excited about the beach as I had hoped. He didn't like to get sand in his sandals and he refused to walk in the sand bare foot. He wouldn't even let me put his feet in the sand. From his screeching and wailing you would have thought I was trying to lower him into a vat of boiling oil. So he spent most of the time on my lap and some on Grandma's. Hopefully when we go to the ocean next week he'll be more willing to explore the sand. I'm planning on dressing him in socks and shoes and hopefully that will make a difference.

When we arrived at the beach we found a cool driftwood fort someone else had made.

Mason and Cody log jumping

 Gage and Grandma... he really does know how to smile. You can also see

Tristalene Morgensen and her daughter Capri in the background.