Mason turns 8!

Mason's birthday was on the 4th of this month, so we celebrated his birthday with a swimming party the following Saturday. It's Louisiana, so the weather here is unpredictable, therefore we had an indoor swimming party at Underwater Treasures in Monroe, LA. We had invited all of his class mates and fellow scouts, but only two little boys showed up. It didn't bother him too much because he was having too much fun playing with his brother and the other little boys. I think he realizes that the important people were there, his parents, step-parents and two sets of grandparents.

He is now 8 years old, which makes me wish time would slow down just a bit. Days, weeks, months, and years are going by way too fast now.

Here are a few pictures from his party. He had a Ninjago themed party like his older brother had back in January. I wanted to make sure that his party was a little different from Shaun's, so I made his invitations a little differently.

 I didn't want to pay someone to make these when I am capable of creating and printing them myself. I printed these on card-stock, cut them out and sent them with Mason to school and Scouts. He loved them. I tried to put his eyes on the Ninja, but Mason didn't like it as much as he did the originals.

 Shaun at the party! He found a starfish at the bottom of the pool.

 Mason, our sweet little birthday boy!

The Ninjago themed party favors. The take out boxes were filled with rubber Ninja throwing stars from a Karate Shop, along with Twizzlers.

 Me and the hubby!

 Mason and his friends!

 Mason wanted a cookie cake instead of the traditional birthday cake. Albritton's in West Monroe, LA has some of the best cookie cakes!

Trick Candles!!! He couldn't get them to blow out!

Celebrating Easter

Scott and I do not have the boys this year for Easter as it is their mother's turn to have them for the holiday so we celebrated Easter as a family last night. When I came home from work, the boys had hidden Easter eggs all over the front of our yard. We spent an hour and a half looking for eggs and re-hiding them for each other. We have been doing that off and on for the past week or so. I have really enjoyed it, as it has reminded me of the fond memories of hunting eggs as a child. We also exchanged small Easter gifts. We always give the boys a little something for each holiday. This year we gave them the movie Rise of the Guardians. If you have not seen it, see it! It is a wonderful children's movie and was our favorite of 2012. They were also given Cadburry eggs, a new toothbrush, pencils, notepads, erasers, and other small school supplies. Scott was given a few DVDs to add to his collection and some of his favorite candy and I was given a beautiful basket, ceramic bird (I love birds) and a candle that smells so good it makes you want to constantly eat! That may not be a good thing. It is always nice to receive a little something that your family has carefully picked out for you. Lily, Leia and Jay even received an Easter bone. They were quite happy with their little gifts. After gifts were exchanged, I made pancakes for dinner. The boys have been asking for me to cook breakfast for dinner for a week or so now, so I thought what better night? I know that our plans were nothing grand, but they couldn't have been any better for my little family. I was even able to snap a few "Spring" pictures of my two favorite little fellas. Here are a few...

 

Ring Pictures

At the beginning of the month, one of my dearest friends came to town for a fun little photo session. In our circle of friends, several of us love to take and edit pictures on the side, so Kristy was in luck! She came to town and we dusted off our cameras. We had a blast and we all put a little of our own style into the pictures. Kristy and Sean will be getting married in a few years. They want to have a long engagement, so we should have a lot of photo opportunities between now and then. Since they live in New Orleans, we added a little NOLA flair to a lot of the pictures. Kristy and Sean both love different comics, so we were able to throw a little of that into her pictures as well. I can honestly say this was one of the most fun sessions I have ever been a part of. Partly because the props were awesome and partly because I was with some of my favorite people. Here are a few of the pictures that I took and edited of Kristy!

Gus & Morris

A little over a year ago, Scott and I promised the boys that we would get them kittens as soon as we had a house. Therefore when Scott and I started looking to buy a house, the boys instantly reminded us of our promise. Turns out one of my best friends had just picked out a fluffy orange kitten from a lady at work. When I saw this fluffy orange kitten, I was in love. I asked her if she could get us one as well. She did and even housed it until we moved into our home. When she came to bring us our sweet little kitten, she brought two. She said that we could have hers as well b/c they were brothers and were inseparable. She said it would break her heart to separate the two of them as they were too precious together. It was so sweet of her to do that and the boys were ecstatic. We had previously named our kitten Gus and she had named hers Morris. They are both fluffy, orange boy kittens with completely different personalities. They are precious with the boys but are picky as to who they sit with. Gus loves for the boys to love on him, but he wants to be in Scott's lap or Scott's rocking chair at all times. Morris is more picky about who he lets love on him but he is not a mean cat. He is just particular about who touches him. He loves me and sits with me no matter where I am. He even follows me into the bathroom and trust me, it is kind of difficult to enjoy a bubble bath with a cat peering over the edge the entire time.

They are not "inside" cats, but they are inside when we are home. They let us know when they want outside as they sit by the door and meow until you open it up to let them outside. I think we have them trained pretty well. Our lives are definitely better with these little creatures in them.

This is a picture of Gus and Morris. Morris is the one facing the camera. He is shorter, smaller and fluffier than Gus. Gus is nearly twice the size of Morris when they are standing next too each other or when you are holding them both as you can tell that he outweighs his brother immensely.

 

This is Morris in the bathroom, watching me take my bubble bath. He is a mess.

This is a picture of Gus after he came down from the tree! He had us terrified that he was going to die from being stuck in a tree for too long. He climbed one of the taller trees in our yard and after a day of being up there, we started to really worry. Pleading, begging, calling "Kitty Kitty", feeding Morris treats in front of him, etc. did not make him budge. You could tell he wanted to come down but was too scared to even try. We called animal control and the fire department with no luck from either place. So we prayed, pleaded and begged some more. After being stuck in the tree for two days, he finally came down. I snapped this picture as soon as Scott snatched him up and brought him inside for inspection and food. The poor thing lost a lot of weight from lack of food and probably dehydration. He has been checked out and is perfectly fine. Scott wouldn't let on how worried he truly was, but I knew he was thrilled that his "baby" was out of the tree b/c he wouldn't put him down afterwards. 

This is a picture of Morris that I just couldn't leave out. He loves sprawling out on our bed. I think it has a little something to do with our big fluffy comforter. Look how precious his paws are!!! I love kitty paws. 

I will try to find a few pictures of Magic, Benny The Turtle and Jay before my next post. I want to introduce them to everyone as well. After all, they are part of our sweet little family and our lives wouldn't be the same without each and every one of them!!

Lily, Leia, Jay, Magic, Gus, Morris and Mr. Turtle

To say that we have a house full would be a slight understatement. Scott, the boys and I have several little fur blessings that live with us as well. I wanted to introduce them to each of you. Today I will tell you about Lily and Leia as they have been in our family the longest. 

~Lily~
Lily is our Scottish Terrier. Lily has been with me for nearly 7 years now and has turned my world upside down at times. She has a mind of her own and knows exactly what she wants. She can be a sweet angel one minute and a devil the next but I would never want to change her. She is extremely stubborn but she still has my heart. I love her to pieces. Lily came into my life when she was only 8 weeks old and she has been rocking it ever since. I was in college and had always wanted an inside dog. At the time I didn't know what I was getting myself into. Lily has never been too partial to children, so when Scott and the boys came into my we were quite nervous about what might happen. She didn't like the boys at first but has warmed up to them and is very protective of them now. When they are sick, she wants to lay with them and when we are having a tickle war on the floor, she takes up for them. It warms my heart that my baby accepted my new babies like she did. My family would not be complete without Lily and now I think she feels the same way about Scott and the boys.

This is a picture of Lily when she was a puppy. It is one of my favorite pictures of her. I love Scottie facial expressions. You can ALWAYS tell exactly what they are thinking or feeling as they show it on their precious little faces.

This is a more recent picture of Lily. I tend to keep her hair a lot shorter than the typical Scottie haircut as we live in Louisiana and it is very hot and humid in the long summer months.

~Leia~ 
Leia is our precious little rag doll. We are not 100% sure what she is or how old she is a rescue dog. The vet seems to think that Leia is around 3 years old now. She has been part of our lives for two years on Father's Day. Our family would not be complete without her as she has completely stole our hearts! She demands a lot of cuddle time and is one of the most loving dogs you will ever meet. She has the sweetest personality and somehow manages to bless your heart each day with her humble attitude. I honestly believe she is thankful for where she is today.

This is Leia. She weighs a few pounds and is fluffy and white. She has a terrible under bite, but she wouldn't be our Leia without it.

This is a picture of Lily and Leia together. They love each other most of the time and are jealous of each other, all of the time. I did not pose them in this picture, this is just how they like to relax. The chair is just big enough for the two of them.

Later I will post about Gus and Morris, the fluffy orange cats that grace us with their presence. Aren't cats hysterical!

March Pack Meeting...and random thoughts

Monday night, Scott and I took the boys to their monthly Pack Meeting where they were each presented with a few new patches, pins, beads and belt loops. I did not think to grab a decent camera, so I had to take all of my pictures with my phone. I should be punished for forgetting, as the pictures turned out blurry and dark. I attempted to edit them, but I think it made them worse. I am usually so good at remembering to bring my camera to their Pack Meetings but we were running late and it never crossed my mind. I know, I know, excuses are like something else that I won't mention on here and we all have them. Speaking of, I have been having a lot of little talks with our boys lately about excuses. Children pick up on things and if you use an excuse for something, then they will learn the value of a good excuse and try to use it on you later. We need to stop making excuses for things we do not want to do and do them anyways for the better of our children. We are one of the biggest examples in their lives and we need to always keep in mind that everything we do, say, let them watch on T.V., etc. will always have an impact on them in some form or fashion. I will get off of my soap box now and get back to my original post...where was I...oh yea, Scouts!

The boys had a great time at the Pack Meeting, as did Scott. He recently went through the Baloo training to become a Scout Leader. He was asked to do this and was very thankful he was able to attend. I love that I married a man that is so involved with his children. Scott is the best father he can be for Shaun and Mason and they realize that. I have never seen a child look at their father quite like they look at him and it warms my heart every time. Scott only does as much as he does with Scouts to be closer to the boys and to enjoy activities with the boys. I try and attend all of their meetings to support them in all that they do, but that doesn't compare to all that he does.

The training took place last weekend and Scott was presented with the "High Energy" award at the Pack Meeting. That is definitely Scott when he is having a good time. That is another reason I love this man as much as I do. He is a lot of fun and knows how to act like a kid when appropriate. He makes me laugh harder than anyone else and I have more fun with him than I have with anyone else. That is what is really important, right? That you end up with the person that makes you laugh and that you want to spend all of your time with? There I go again...getting off subject.

I guess this post is going to be a modge podge of topics and not focus on the March Pack Meeting like I originally intended. That's fine. I created this blog so that I could have a place to document the things that my precious little family does everyday. These are the things that have been going on in our lives and through my mind recently. Who better to share with, than the blogging world? With that said, I guess I will share my "terrible" quality pictures from the meeting the other night. I tried to take one of each of my babies while they were getting their awards. The first picture is a picture from Baloo training. This is Scott's group that he was assigned to for the weekend. Apparently he was in a group with two guys that were just as mischievous as he was. They stayed in trouble and captured the other team's flags all weekend long. The second picture is Scott's award that he was presented with. The third picture is Mason with his awards and the fourth is Shaun with his awards. Again, I apologize for the terrible quality of the pictures, but I had to post a picture of our sweet boys in their uniforms. Aren't they handsome! My plan is to take bunny pictures of them on Sunday and I would like to take a few shots of them in their uniform as well. First, I will need to sew on their new patches...but that didn't turn out so great last time, so I am very worried about trying it again! I need to take a sewing class in a bad sort of way.

Easter Gifts for Teachers

The boys and I wanted to make their teachers a little gift for Easter. I did a lot of research on inexpensive gifts that would be cute, fun and easy to make. I ended up deciding on turquoise mason jars filled with pastel Easter candy and adorned with ribbons and bunny figurines. I was going to glue the bunny to the lid of the mason jar and spray paint them a pretty coordinating pastel color. While shopping for my supplies at Target, I came across a find I couldn't pass up. It was a cute little clear plastic container with a pink lid and blue Easter candy on the inside. I snatched them up because I figured plastic was probably a safer alternative for our boys to carry to school and they were already filled with pretty Easter candy. I was able to find bunny figurines from the local dollar store and voila, cheap supplies for our Easter gifts! We didn't spray paint the bunny or the lids. The lids were already a beautiful pastel pink and the bunnies were quite cute left unpainted. We hot-glued the bunnies to each of the lids and tied a precious little bow to the jar. The boys were both happy with the way they turned out. I believe the total cost of the project was $4 each. You cannot beat the price and I know if I were given one as a gift, I would be excited as they are extremely festive and cute. Below are a few pictures of our Easter Gifts for the boys Teachers. Please disregard the terrible quality of the pictures. I could not find my memory card so I had to use my camera.

 Shaun with his bunny jar.

The Easter candy is blueberry bubblegum. They had candy corn and gummy candy, but I thought that if they were dieting or watching what they ate, then at least they wouldn't feel too terrible about chewing a piece of blueberry gum.

 Mason with his bunny jar.

Aren't they precious?

Catching up...

I cannot believe I have not posted anything in over a month. There have been a lot of great things going on in our lives and I hate that I didn't get on here and blog about them. Therefore, I am going to try and mention everything that has happened in one post. Here goes...

1) Blue and Gold Banquet - The boys had their annual Blue and Gold Banquet with Scouts back in February. This is the ceremony where they each move up to the next level if they qualify. Shaun and Mason both moved up. They had their face painted to represent the changes and challenges and were awarded new badges. Hopefully I will do a better job of sewing the new ones on. Shaun became a Webelo and Mason became a Bear. Scott had the honor of painting both of their faces while I attempted to take their pictures.

2) Blue and Gold Banquet Cake Contest - Each year at the annual Blue and Gold Banquet, each scout can enter the cake contest. Last year the boys made cakes decorated for Easter as the banquet was so close to Easter. This year the Cake Contest was themed and the theme was "Trustworthiness". Mason decided to decorate his cake with firemen and Shaun decorated his cake with the US Army. We thought they chose excellent examples of trustworthiness. Shaun won 2nd place and Mason had fun trying. I must say the cakes were super cute and tasted amazing. We used my mother's icing recipe and OMG!!! I could eat it straight from the mixing bowl.

 Mason's Cake

 Shaun's 2nd Place Pin

 Shaun's Cake

 Me with the boys :)

Scott with the boys :) 

3) Weekend in Crowville - Our weekends in Crowville with my parents are never long enough. We end up trying to catch up with everyone and end up only getting to see each person about an hour at a time. That is just not long enough. We need to vacation in Crowville for a week just to enjoy all of its fabulosity. I love the country and I miss living there. For now, I will have to settle with our weekend visits when we are blessed to take them. This trip to Crowville was a lot of fun. We went to the Friday Night Auction with my parents, my sister Katie and her husband Daniel. The boys had a lot of fun eating ice cream and watching us bid on different things. My dad bought them each a Cowboy hat. I cannot tell you how cute they were in them! We spent a lot of time outside at my parents house riding my dad's new mule, "Peppa". The boys took turns driving around in their orchard. It was a great weekend, but like I said before, it was not long enough. 

 My beautiful Mom, me and my beautiful sister being silly in the kitchen.

 Shaun and Mason in their new hats. Aren't they handsome!!!

Mom, Katie and Mason making Tea Cakes in the kitchen. Mom's Tea Cakes are awesome.

4) Dad & Lad Camp-out/Weekend in Natchitoches - This past weekend, Scott and the boys went camping for the annual Dad & Lad Camp-out at Camp T. L. James. They had a great time and only experienced one mishap the whole weekend. Shaun fell on a stick and cut his chin up pretty bad, but he is tough and survived. While they were out camping, Mom and I went to Natchitoches for the weekend to visit with Katie and Daniel. We had a lot of fun shopping at the Flea Markets, playing Scrabble and eating great food. I love spending time in Natchitoches. Scott and I want to take the boys soon. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures from this past weekend, but at least I am somewhat caught up on my posts.