{Monday - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly}

{Note - this was written on 11/20/12 - but still wanted to post}

Oh Monday, you won! Ya hear that? You won!

Guess I should start on the positive, right?

The GOOD:

 We had a wonderful evening together, just our little family of 3. From Taco Casa, to crazy stroller rides through the house, to hanging out in Mason's room and ending the night all three of us cuddling in Masons new twin size bed {more on that to come}. 2nd night Mason having a big boy bed and he has slept all night both nights!!

The BAD:

 It was very stressful...to say the least. First of all, it was Monday {enough said, right?}. Work was extremely stupid busy. My co-worker is on vacation this week and I'm covering for her. But, here is the worst part...she got a virus on her computer last week so I have to use web mail. Ugh!! I have no access to her computer, or anything she did prior to last Thursday. Kinda makes it hard to cover someone. AND I have to work 8 until 5 every day this week. I should be grateful for the hour of overtime each day, but honestly, I'd rather have that hour with Mason.

So, needless to say, all day I kept looking forward to getting home and getting "Monday" over with. 

It was going good and then BAM...a text message comes through that raises my blood pressure and gives me an instant migraine. 

The UGLY:

Masons teacher {and one if my best friends} got a new job and next Wednesday is more than likely her last day at FCA. 

I want so much to be happy for her {and deep down I am} but right now I am weighed down with sadness. My heart is breaking for my sweet little boy. His most favorite teacher/person {and most times our saving grace} at school is leaving. How do you prepare a two year old for something like that? You can't. 

She loves Mason and he loves her and she's leaving. My heart has been filled with so much peace knowing that she's there during the day to care for Mason. And now that's gone. I know I'm being a little selfish, it's just hard. I know Mason is going to be sad. And that? Just crumbles my heart. She is like his safety net.

I pray, pray, pray that Mason adapts to this transition with as minimal of heartbreak as possible.

{Picture not related, just wanted to end this post on a happy note!!} 

Update - today was our first day without her. Mason did fairly well. It just so happened that we had a nice distraction. Another sweet teacher was talking to Mason and helping me. Mason was in the middle of telling her a story and saw that one of his classmates had a bottle of glue. So he went with said teacher to help her tell that child No No! I just pray that he didn't have a major fit once that was over! I will find out later.

Today is weird. I will not know how his day went until I pick him up around 4:30. I will miss being able to chat with my friend in the afternoons and her telling me how Mason's day went.

{Citrus Lane - our first box}

Last month sometime I saw a tweet about a Groupon for Citrus Lane. I had always been curious about this box. But at $75 for a 3 month subscription I wasn't sure that it was worth it {for us, anyway}. The Groupon was 3 months for $35 bucks! I couldn't pass it up.
Well today {11/21} we got our first box. And? Pretty happy with it.

This month's theme was "fun with food" since it was to be delivered around Thanksgiving.

Here is what we got:
I Can Do It Too! from Chronicle Books - a book all about growing up. I read it to Mason and he liked it. $9.99 @ Chroniclebooks.com
Green Eats set of four snack bowls - we can always use more snack bowls. I like that they're made from recycled milk cartons.  $6.99 @ Greentoys.com
Goodbyn Small Meals - I was super excited about this! I have been looking for a Bento box, or a container with divided areas for Mason. $6.49 @ Goodbyn.com
Plum Organics Training Meals - Mason has never been a fan of "pouch" type foods...and I don't think this vegetable stew with beef will be any exception! $1.49 @ Plumorganics.com
DHC Deep Cleansing Oil mini - a treat for me! I've never been a fan of "oils" but I will give this a try. $4.99 @ dhccare.com
BabyGanics - Smooth Moves - Daily Lotion - curious to use this on Mason to see how it does with his Eczema. $11.99 @ babyganics.com
Tiny Prints - 20% off and free shipping code

Do you get the Citrus Lane box? Have you been happy with it? I guess after our 3 month subscription we already paid for I will decide if I want to renew it.

{Weekend Wrap-up}

We had a very nice and festive weekend!!! We opted out of Black Friday shopping and went to the gun range with some of our best friends instead. Mason stayed with his Nana, Papa and Uncle T-Ty. We shot for over 2.5 hours and had a complete blast. Nathan and I laughed on the way there about how many guns and ammo we had in the back seat. It looked like we were going to war! We shot everything from pistols to ARs. We shot at pumpkins, targets and Pringle cans. It was also nice to just hang out and catch up.    {warning! this is going to be a picture heavy post}

I fell in love with this place across from the gun range. They had the greatest setup complete with a Blacksmith barn and the neatest stables. I'm a huge fan of all things rustic!!

After the gun range we took Mason a burrito {his favorite} and visited with the inlaws for a couple of hours. We were perusing Pinterest and found the cutest little Rudolph made out of wine corks. My MIL had everything on hand to make them...so I whipped up a few. They came out so cute!!! I'm in love with them.

That evening we just hung out. I tried for almost 2 hours to get Mason to take a nap, but he just wouldn't fall asleep. Although, we did relax and he was nice and still for 2 hours. We headed to town to grab a pizza and movie and Mason fell asleep {at 5:45pm}...right in the middle of a major jam session to Aaron Watson's new cd! Seriously...one second he was nodding his head and singing as loud as he could and then he was OUT! It was the craziest thing. If you know Mason then you know that he doesn't just fall asleep!    Before we left...  

  And when he crashed...

He was still asleep when we got home, so we put him in bed. We were so nervous. We didn't know if he would sleep all night or wake up at 8, 10, 12...ready to party! BUT - he slept until 8:45 the next morning. Can you say growth spurt? Seriously! He was pretty great on Saturday, too. Well rested. That's for sure. 
Saturday afternoon we went to eat at Oma's one of our favorite little town diners. Then we went to get a {real} Christmas Tree. Mason had a lot of fun! We picked out a really nice Frasier Fir - somewhere between 6 and 7ft. It's huge! And beautiful. And smells divine!
Oh, and Mason picked out his own tree, too!

Cute, right?
I tried to get some better pictures, but he wasn't having it. You get what you get with a toddler.
And our huge tree...

Nate is standing on the tailgate of a 4x4 pickup, if that helps to visualize the size of the tree!!
Trimming the tree...

One of my best friend's mom made that hat for Mason his first Christmas back in 2010. I'm so happy that it still fits. And he loves it. I told him that Krista's mom made it for him...so every time we pulled out a new Christmas decoration he would ask me if it was from Krista's Mommy! So cute.  

 
Sunday Nate went to the gun show with his dad and brother so Mason and I hung out a couple hours. Then we headed to town to get ingredients for ornament making! Mason was pretty fussy all day on Sunday. It was quite exhausting. He threw a HUGE fit in Big Lots and I had to leave...with a screaming toddler in tow. Then he proceeded to kick, scream and cry when I tried to put him in his carseat. I'm sure people thought I was kidnapping the poor kid!! It was an epic fit, let me tell you. We went home and just hung out the rest of the day. We made ornaments and played outside. It was a beautiful day!! 

How was your weekend? I hope it was amazing!

{Thanksgiving 2012}

Our Thanksgiving{s} were wonderful this year! No stress and all in all a good time. Usually it's hard every year...trying to split your time between all the families. But, this year we got really lucky. We celebrated with my family on Wednesday evening and with Nate's on Thursday. 
I didn't take one single picture on Wednesday night. I regret it now. But when you have over 50 {yes, 50+} people in one house, it's kind of hard. It was a nice night, though. The food was delicious and the company was awesome. There were several little kids around Mason's age that he played with. He had a complete blast and of course was a complete ham!!
 Thursday morning I took Mason outside for a few pictures before he got dirty! We had his clothes starched at the dry cleaners and he looked too incredibly cute. However, he was being a little toot and didn't want to look at the camera. So, I just  have candid shots. But, I still adore them.

  Then we tried to get some pictures of Mason with Daddy...

  After our little photo session we went to Nate's Grandma's house in Grand Prairie for Thanksgiving lunch. The food was delicious and we had a really nice time. Mason was on great behavior too! That always helps...since they pretty much live in a glass house!!! :)
Uncle Jo Jo made Mason a paper hat...

We have so much to be Thankful for. So blessed!