Mason's New Trick

Here is Mason's new trick. What is this new trick you ask...instead of explaining, here are some pictures to show you.
First, he opens his closet. I don't know when or how he learned this but my control of when his toys come out is now over. One minute the closet will be closed and his room will be *spotless* and within a blink of an eye it somehow has toys, balls, and books strewn all over the room.

He takes his FAVORITE box of balls out of the closet.

He then makes sure that they are thoroughly spread around the room, including under the bed, in every corner, and he even sneaks some out of his room.

Once he makes sure that they are spread out enough so that I don't have enough time to pick them all up before he gets back to them, he gets the box out of the way.

That's right...he puts the box back in the closet without me prompting him at all.

Then he closes the closet to make sure I have no idea where the box is so I couldn't possibly be able to clean up all the balls that he has just dispersed.

This is Mason in action throwing balls at me because I just documented his whole strategy.

18 Months Old Today!

Mason I hope you have a fun-filled day. I can't believe I have an 18-month old little guy running around my house. Never let anyone tell you you can't do something because I know you can do anything you set your mind to. Oh the places you'll go!

Kid, you'll move mountains!!

Mason Update

I was on the phone with Grandma Schroeder the other night and I happened to tell her how cute I thought Mason looked in his new Fall clothes that he has been wearing. Well, she obviously wished she could see so she said that a picture needed to be taken and posted. So here you go Grandma. Mason says "Cheers!"
This is one of Mason's new favorite activities with Dad. Reese leans Mason forward and Mason tries to stay up instead of flopping in half.
I am surprised that Mason stays like this for so long because he laughs the whole time!

I have a problem. I can no longer vacuum my house. It's not like my vacuum is broken or anything. It's just that once I get the vacuum out I take the cord to go plug it into the wall, then I turn around and someone has taken the vacuum from me. If you haven't guessed by now, Mason takes the vacuum from me. He loves to push and pull it all over the house. It would be very helpful that he loves to vacuum except for a couple things: He isn't quite tall enough yet to be able to operate it effectively, he doesn't get all of the floor, and he won't let me touch it. Once I do take it I have to put it away or else I have a sobbing little boy grabbing at my legs. The same thing used to happen when I would use the lawn mower and mow the lawn.

Guys and Kids

Last Saturday night, as some of you may know, it was General Women's Conference. Alicia, Jessica, and I left our husbands and all the kids at Reese and my house and headed off to the local stake center. The messages that were shared were amazing and the ice cream afterward at Bluebird was also enjoyed to the fullest.

Meanwhile, the guys and kids were having a ball...in boxes! Jake was playing in one of the boxes and I guess all the kids then needed to have their own box. Good thing we saved all our boxes from our most recent move.

Kids from top to bottom: Jake, Mason, Ashton, and Kate.

Once us girls got back, the house was a mess but overall every single person had a great time so it's worth the mess!

MESSY Saturday!!!

If any of you truely know Mason, you will also know that he LOVES popcicles! While he was thoroughly enjoying one of his frozen treats I grabbed the camera. I couldn't pick just one picture out of the sequence of messy Mason so here is the collection. Enjoy!

Test Your Color IQ

Here is a link to the quiz where you must put color chips in order by hue. Try it out.
Here are my results:

• Your score: 0
• Gender: Female
• Age range: 20-29
• Best score for your gender and age range: 0
• Highest score for your gender and age range: 1410

Leave a comment telling how you did. Thanks for playing!

I got this from the How About Orange blog

And Now a Message From Mason...

Summer is over so soak up the sun and get wet as much as you can while it is still warm...

I am the best sprinkler system money can buy. I won't stop until the water is gone and even then I'll ask for more and more and more...

You should always squirt someone if they are taking what seems like endless pictures of you...those paparazzi can get really annoying...

Take it from me, the thing to wear this Fall is your Mommy's shoes and no pants so that you can show off that great tan you got this past Summer...

If you help your parents with their homework while they are in school, one day they will return the favor...
Sticking out your tongue and your chest can possibly make you the King of the Playground...

Looking good on the golf course will give you the confidence you need to become a good golfer...

It is a good idea to get a nap in whenever you can, especially when you are heading to the park...

Hit up the hot spots in the park. My favorites are the slides and the swings...

Make sure your parents have a little fun every now and then. They're kids too, just bigger.

Thanks for all the advice Mason!

There are a few more posts that I just added today so keep scrolling down if you would like.

Anne Geddes Baby

Anne Geddes is known for her photography because she takes pictures of babies mostly while they are sleeping and in a curled up position. Anyway, while I was getting dinner ready and Mason was watching Brady Bunch (he will sit still while Brady Bunch is on...weekdays 5:30-6:00 Mason sits still), it became unusually quite so I went over to check on him and he had fallen asleep. He always curls up his blankets underneath him and then settles in for a nap but since he wasn't in his crib, I was able to get my Anne Geddes shot! What do you think? I know he has clothes on and is a bit older but it is the classic Anne Geddes-baby-picture-taking position.



Anne Geddes is known for her photography because she takes pictures of babies while they are laying in

Idaho Trip Revisited

Here are a couple more pictures from our last Idaho trip. Here is Mason playing in the his cousin's backyard. Of course he went down the slide and of course he found the tiny bit of dirt they had and played in it.

BLOG H...O...P...P...I...N...G...

I have been doing a lot of blogging lately...too much...as you can see from all the new links in the "Places I go when Mason is asleep" section. It is probably because he is actually taking longer naps now and I am, to say the least, addicted to blogging. I have found myself getting frustrated that people were not updating their blogs every 30 minutes. Come on people!

So, I have decided that I am going to blog hop every other day...Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. I know it will be very hard at first but I am switching my blogging time for something more important...Scripture study! I figure that I should use all this quite, Mason-less time to really work on the spiritual aspects of my life.

Thanks for keeping me up-to-date with all your happenings through your blogs I really enjoy it. I'll be looking forward to seeing all your new happenings on Sunday. Have a great weekend!!