Mason is a whole handful!

I know I always say how late my posts are, but I couldn't not post about Mason's "whole handful" birthday. On June 6, Mason turned 5! He has eagerly awaited his birthday and was excited to have his first birthday party with friends! When we went to get a pinata, he instantly chose the Sponge Bob one, and that made it easy to decide what cake to request Daddy to make! As you can see, it was quite the success.

At his birthday, we played toss the sponge (soaked with water), catch the jelly fish (with butterfly nets and balloons), and fish, fish, shark (duck, duck, goose), hunting for buried treasure in the sand box, and of course jumping on the tramp. We also had a pin the tail on the donkey game that we lost at the last minute. Just a few days ago it mysteriously appeared, just in the middle of the hallway, still trying to figure that one out. I think Kaci had something to do with it, but that's just a hunch. :)

The pictures are out of order, but on Mason's actual birthday, we took the kids to a place called Pirate's Island. Luckily I had purchased a Groupon for that a while ago, so it wasn't too expensive. It's kind of like Chuck E. Cheese, but with pirates. I was very UNimpressed with the food, but didn't really expect to be impressed, so that's okay. Aaron and Cindy were able to meet us there so that made it extra fun for Mason. He was VERY excited to get money from his Great Grandpa and Grandma Park, as you can maybe tell from the picture.

I will do a whole post on memorable things about Mason at this stage and sign off on this one now just so that I can get it posted!

What we did yesterday...

We enjoyed the first nice day in quite a while by going fishing as a family. Kaci was more interested in trying to jump in the river and play, so it wasn't really as relaxing as it looked, but we sure did have fun! Mason was ecstatic to catch his very first fish! He told everyone we saw today about it. :) He was proud that his was even bigger than the one David caught.

Carter's 3rd Birthday!

Our Carter turned 3 on March 28! He has known for months now that March 28th is a special day and will excitedly respond with "March 28!" when asked when his birthday is. This year, Carter's bday was especially meaningful because he got potty trained about a week before. We had been promising Chuck E. Cheese for getting potty trained so it worked out perfectly to celebrate his special day there.

We are so grateful that David and I both have siblings out here and it's so nice that they can be help to make our celebrations fun! We certainly do miss the ones that are not here, though! Here are some pictures of the festivities. David made this T-rex cake. Carter had been asking for a T-rex cake since his last bday and he was not disappointed!

Finally!

The other day, I doing the dishes and the kids kept yelling at me from the playroom for various things, water, help getting off of a shelf that he had climbed on (Carter), etc...this time Mason yelled, "Take a picture of us, Mommy!" Well, I was a little slow in responding, but can never resist a picture opportunity so...I came in and found this. Of course I took the picture and when I saw it, I was in shock. I can honestly say I don't think I have one other picture of all three looking with normal looking smiles. and I didn't even try!! Of course I wanted another...this is what I got: a little atypical in that Mason is actually smiling and looking, but more typical of my normal shots. I guess my hundreds of attempts have paid off. We even tried to get a group pic at both JC Penney and Sears and Kaci would not cooperate. I'm pretty sure I'll be framing this one! :) I guess St. Patrick's day really is lucky...as you can see from their outfits...that's what day it was. :)

Leprechauns...

came to our house last night! and they left some sparkles with treats hidden inside...the trail led to the window, as you can see. Happy St. Patricks Day!

Pearls and Pajamas

Every day when I get off work at 9:30 a.m., if we don't have anywhere we have to be we usually hang around in our pajamas for a bit and spend some time together. Here are some random pictures.








































and because it's just so cute, here are a few pictures of pretty Kaci wearing her pearls. She loves them so much and never plays with them when they are on her. She just wears them like the little lady she is. She really loves them and always wants them on when she sees them.