See You Real Soon...

Despite Mickey Mouse's grammar issues, the family and I are heading to Disney World for the next 5 days. I promise to post a lot of photos when we return (including Mason's missing tooth)!

Tap, Tap...

I feel like I'm talking to myself...anyone out there?

I Love You Cards

Just in time for Valentine's day! Heidi was featured on Daily Candy for her I Love You cards. Get yours here!

Valentine's Day Fun...

For the last few years, I have designed Mason's Valentine cards that he gives to his classmates. Last year, I did something a little more traditional...these were printed on 4x6 photo paper. Mason wrote his classmates name in one square and his name in another. These were a big hit with mothers in his class; I'm not sure how well received they were by his classmate...I forgot to take a poll.



This year, I went off of a childhood memory of my own...cootie catchers. You've all seen them and have even played this game. This is the unfolded version....



Here it is all folded up. Look familiar? Yes, I reused our Christmas card...I was a lazy designer for my not-so-favorite Hallmark holiday. To get to the inside, the player chooses one of the heart squares and the other counts the number of hearts while moving the folds back and forth.



Numbers on the inside...the player chooses a number and the other player counts the number while moving the folds back and forth again...




...and the third time, the player chooses a number and the other player lifts the flap of the number chosen...




...inside is a fun surprise!




Unfold all of it and you get an even BIGGER surprise! Mason's little face wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day! Awe!

PTSC Fundraising Duties...

As a member of the fundraising committee, I find myself designing a lot of flyers for various events. I have designed flyers for the Garden Party, Monkey Joe's spirit night, volunteer flyers and the like.


I never have been big on the Hallmark holiday of Valentine's Day. Being that Brian's birthday is ON Valentine's Day has always given me an excuse to bah humbug the day for what other people see it as, so designing this flyer was more of a challenge for me. Above is version #1.


Then I had my first set of revisions from the powers-that-be. On the tear-off portion, they wanted to have more lines for children. I often forget that there are people in the world that have more than just one child. Funny how I get wrapped up in my own little world that revolves around my single child. Logical changes, I thought. No problem.

Anyone else out there bah humbug about Valentine's Day? Mason's Valentine's card coming soon...

I Believe Aretha Franklin Put It Best...

R-E-S-P-E-C-T. It's the word of the week for Karate and an overall theme for live in general. Respect for your things and respect for yourself and others. I like his karate classes more every time we go. Such good life lessons.

Honor and Self-Control...

If you had asked me earlier in the year about how Mason was doing in school, I might give you a response like, "Well, he does so well in his subjects, but he really struggles with keeping his hands to himself." After a few visits with the school principle, Brian and I really struggled with finding a solution for Mason's behavior. One of Mason's after-school teachers had suggested that we get him into a sport and thought that Karate would be a good fit for him...


I must say that Tae Kwon Do has been the type of discipline Mason has needed in his life. He looks forward to going to class 4 times a week. Mr. Bell stresses the importance of honor and self-control – not for only Tae Kwon Do, but for life in general. Mason just gets it...finally! We have seen a vast improvement in his behavior over the last few weeks and we could not be more pleased. Keep up the good work!

Super Callie...

Our dog, Callie (short for Calloway...guess who picked that name), is a rescue dog. She came to live with our family early in the summer of 2008.

To the best of our vet's knowledge, she is part Pit Bull terrier and Yellow Lab. Isn't she beautiful? I really think she could be the next big mixed breed. She's just the right size for our little townhouse and family. She has the sweetest demeanor, also.

Callie lives the good life. She gets up early with Brian, jumps into a freezing cold truck before dawn and works at a golf course. Yes, she has a function on the golf course – she chases the geese away. I think she actually enjoys her job.

The golf course is not all work, however. She also gets to ride around in a golf cart, swim in the ponds and chase squirrels and deer. When it's cold or Brian is spraying chemicals, Callie hangs out in the office. The crewmen like to feed her Mexican food...which could explain a lot.

Blogworthy Weekend...

It's getting to be that time of year again. You know, the Mason's birthday is coming up and I better take his picture, time of year. I wanted to play around a little to see what I could get inside, 'cause dangit, it's cold outside! This is one of the first shots I took.


And slowly I lose his interest.


Whoa Nellie! Look at that set of chompers! Those two baby teeth in the front are finally loose. I really thought Dr. Andy would have to pull them. Dodged a bullet there, didn't we?


...and here is the last shot. Notice the pouty lips and the desperate look in his eyes. Note: from the first shot to the last shot was a total of about 5 minutes. Boys...they never want to stand still long enough for a good shot!

Watch Your Back, Chuck Norris...

We missed Mason's regular class on Monday, but he got to practice with the white belts instead. It was a good thing for him to go back to basics for a little rehash. Before class begins, each child grabs their attendance card and sits criss-cross on the mat. Mason waits pretty patiently (except for the evil eye he's giving me for taking his picture).

Mason finally learned to raise his hand before speaking! He DID know the answer to the question!


Kiai (気合) (pronounced key-eye)! Left-upper forearm block, SIR!


Right front-kick, SIR! Open those eyes...how are you supposed to see your target?


Side-kick, SIR!


Chamber...


...kick. Chamber...kick. Good practice!

Covert Rescue Mission –

On an average Sunday afternoon, the family and I went to Boston Market for lunch. As usual, Mason's best friend Bear tagged along. We don't mind because he never fusses about where we go to eat or that Mason is touching him or breathing funny.

We had a delicious baked chicken lunch with the usual comfort food sides and headed out to run some errands...and left Bear sitting in his chair. Because Bear is so laid back, he was left in a restaurant to defend for himself. Poor kid. All he had to do is call out!

We had gotten all the way home before we realized that Bear was missing. I knew exactly where he was. Of course, Mason was in tears. It seriously felt like someone had ripped the heart right from my chest. So, we headed back to Boston Market. Mason, being the intuitive kid that he is, asked me, "What if he isn't there?" Again, a tug at my heart. I had to explain to him that there ARE honest people in the world and that hopefully someone did the right thing by not taking him home, but if he did go live with another family we hope that he's happy.

Boston Market is about a 20 minute drive (with traffic) from our house. That was a very long drive, especially for a little boy worried about his friend. When we arrived, we looked in the seat that we left poor Bear all alone. Bear was no longer sitting there. I felt a twinge in the pit of my stomach. As we walked up to the counter to ask one of the employees about Bear, I saw a very familiar face sitting there. It was Bear. Thank goodness! The look of relief on Mason's face was enough to let me know that he had learned his lesson about keeping track of his things.

Mission successful!

I will not shed a tear –

As President Bush prepares to leave the office he has held for the last 8 years, I will celebrate the coming of a new administration. Although a great achievement, I will not be celebrating the election of a black President, but a new President with a fresh set of eyes. What a great time to be an American!

Good Eats Tuesday:

Brian went to watch the K-State/KU basketball game with a friend last night, so Mason and I had the big screen all to ourselves. We LOVE to watch Food Network, and MY favorite show is Good Eats.

Mason caught me taking his picture and rolled to the side. Sneaky. Anyway, Alton Brown, the host of Good Eats, is an Atlanta resident. Alpharetta, to be exact. I secretly hope that every time we go to Whole Foods that we will run into him taping a show or shopping. I just love that guy.


Nothing like a little liquid refreshment to make a good show more enjoyable.


AH!


"Mommy, give me a hug," he said. I will miss the days when he will demand random affection from me. I will thoroughly enjoy it for now, though.

Karate Mason:

New Life Academy, the elementary school Mason attends, offers karate as their physical education class. He liked it so much that Brian and I decided to enroll him in regular classes. Yesterday, was his first class and he was in with kids that were a bit older than him. They were practicing punches and even kicks! Above is a short snippet of Mason's first attempt at a round-kick. Tee hee.

He got to be the leader of his line and give it the first whack!


Cheering on his classmates and waiting patiently for his turn. Yes, that kid is really THAT much bigger – it's not just a camera angle.


Mason is getting a little personal instruction on how to move his body toward the Wavemaster. Much needed after it kicked his butt earlier!

And the Oscar goes to...

Angela and I went to see the movie "Doubt" last night, and I must say that if Meryl Streep doesn't sweep the Oscars, I will be amazed!

Un Nütencracker

Tiffani recently moved to Alabama for her clinical rotations, and although her schedule has been hectic, she and Athena came to Atlanta last weekend to stay. This time our family got a special treat and got to meet her boyfriend, Ethan.

Athena and Tiffani have a tradition to see The Nutcracker every year, but the closest place the Moscow Ballet was having a show was Jacksonville, FL. So, this year they bent tradition a bit and came to see the Atlanta Ballet perform. She was gracious enough to extend the invitation to Mason, Brian and I. However, with ticket prices as they were, Mason was the only one that went.

The four of them got all gussied up on Saturday morning and headed downtown to the Fox Theater. The Fox is an old-school theater where they still have ushers that dress in a traditional usher uniform and escort you to your seat via flashlight – part of the whole experience, I suppose.

Come back any time! Miss you already!

Wii Fit Fun

The Tree –

This year I wanted to share a fond childhood memory with my family – cutting our own Christmas tree. To some this seems like only work; but to others it's about the experience of going to the Christmas tree farm and choosing the perfect tree.

I scoured the internet to find a Christmas tree farm in the Atlanta area. Okay, so I didn't have to scour...Google worked just fine. Anyway, we found Thompson's Christmas Tree Farm in Lawrenceville and off we went.


Most of what Thompson's had were Cypress trees. Cypress trees are a little flimsy for hanging ornaments on and we were looking for something a little more sturdy. They did have Fraser firs, but they had to be shipped in from North Carolina because that type of evergreen doesn't grow well this far south. Who would have thought I could have learned so much looking for a Christmas tree?


We found a beautiful Fraser fir and Brian started sawing. Woops, those were already pre-cut (you know, because they were shipped from North Carolina)...so no sawing necessary. It was the experience we were after, mind you.


Mason got to visit with Santa at the tree farm as well. He ran up and gave him a squeeze like they were old friends.


"Have you been a good boy this year?" "I'd like Bolt, in 3D, please," Mason said, totally avoiding the good boy question.


Cheesy 5-year old grin for the camera. Yay!


I am guessing the experience of Thompson's wouldn't be complete without a hay ride behind the 1952 Ford tractor in 30º weather.


Nothing like relaxing on itchy hay bales.


I took this photo with the camera at arm's length...and Mason was warning me not to drop the camera.


We got our beautiful Fraser fir home and Brian trimmed it up so that we wouldn't have to cut a hole in the ceiling. I had made paper origami stars to decorate the tree with, but Mason seemed to prefer the more traditional ornaments...


...so I hung the stars myself.


Mason stood on the arm of the couch so he could reach higher. I have visions of him falling into the tree and being stuck in the needles. EEK!


Of course, we had to put our K-State ornament front and center. Go Wildcats!


A closeup of one of the many paper stars that Mason and I made.

...and the final product! Merry Christmas!!!