{Catching up // Strep throat}

Goodness gracious! It's been a hot minute since I've blogged. There really aren't enough hours in the day. Except for when you're sick...and that we have been! Ugh. 

Friday day I was able to have lunch with my boys! We went to Dairy Queen and had so much fun. I was texting in a huge group text with my Mama and all her sisters, a couple of cousins, and a Great Aunt and everyone was sending selfies back and forth...so Mason wanted to send his pics...and Nate didn't have a choice. ha

{It's a Texas thing y'all // Bluebonnets in the spring}

 

It's that time of year. The time when it's totally acceptable for cars to park all up and down the highway so that people can get out and take pictures in the Bluebonnets. We didn't brave the highway, but instead opted for a field next to a church in a town next door.

{Easter 2014 // Ranger game}

I know, I know...I am a little late posting this. But better late than never, right? Our Easter was pretty good. We visited my family early afternoon and then headed to the Ranger game. Mason was pretty excited about the game which made us excited. When we first walked up we saw a station to sign up for Junior Texas Rangers...so we did that for Mason! He got a neat bag, a water bottle that changes colors, a flag cape, a lanyard with a VIP pass, free tickets, coupons, etc. Definitely can't beat it for $20 bucks!! 

{Mason's Easter party at school // Pre-K 3}

Today was Mason's Easter party at school! It was a bunch of fun!! They had their Easter egg hunt before I got there, so I do not have pictures of that. But Mason said it was awesome. When I got there they were coloring pages out of a coloring book and 2 of the kids, plus Mason gave me their coloring sheets and said they were for me to take home. So sweet! I got to meet one of Mason's little best friends that he always talks about. He's a hoot, too! And small world...but Nathan and I both have known his Daddy since we were in elementary school. Wild!

The class got Pizza, cheetos, juice and cake balls for their party. Mason, of course, doesn't like pizza so I took him chicken nuggets. He devoured the cheetos and barely touched his chicken! We visited for a while and then headed out.

As we were leaving we saw the Easter bunny going in so we went back in to say Hi. Mason was too excited!! 

It was a great morning.

Then we came home.

And Mason through an epic fit!! For 30+ minutes. Why? Oh because he wanted the hotwheels I gave his class. He thought they were his and I gave them away! Oh boy...

But then he fell asleep on my chest after his fit. He hasn't done that since he was a little babe. Aww...

Does your kid have an Easter party at school?

{It's the Little Things - Week 12 - Thank you for loving me}

Linking up with Ashley and Jess for It's the Little Things - week 12.

Parenting Mason has been anything but easy lately. I feel like I am constantly getting on to him for his behavior. And at the end of the day I either feel majorly defeated or disappointed in my actions in trying to control his behavior. I don't like to raise my voice...but what do you do with a child that doesn't listen? 

{Blast Ball pictures with a silly face}

I posted this on Instagram...but wanted to get it here too! 

This past Saturday was one of those 'choose your battles' kind of days. Mason didn't want to get dressed much less go to his Blast Ball game. And, he had pictures before. I was trying everything to get him ready. Finally I remembered his silly glasses and cape!!! Bingo! I told him that he should wear that over his Blast Ball uniform and that his friends wouldn't know who he was! He was all over that!!! 

On the way to the fields I told him that he couldn't wear them in his pictures and he was okay with it. However, we get there all of the photographers and workers from the photography placed LOVED it! They were laughing and commenting on how awesome it was. It made Mason only want to wear it even more! 

It came time for pictures and I was about to take Mason's cape off when the owner of the photography place stopped me. He said, "Can we please take pictures of him like this before you take it off?" Oh my goodness! hahaha

And they did...and he ate it up! Such a ham.

This will be a picture day we never forget!!

{Mason's first trip to Six Flags}

This past Friday we took Mason to Six Flags Over Texas for the first time ever. The park shut down for a private even for Arlington ISD employees and family so we jumped on that opportunity. Nate's Mom works for one of the Arlington schools so she was able to get us tickets. It was awesome!! For each ride we wanted to ride we walked right up with little to no line. Now, that's the way to do Six Flags.

Mason had a blast. He wanted to ride all of the big rides and was disappointed when he wasn't tall enough. He rode everything that he could and loved every second of it. We all enjoyed watching him get so tickled!!

The park was open from 6-11 and we stayed until the last minute. So much fun!

Oh and by the way...Mason wore those silly glasses almost the whole time we were there. And about halfway into our night he won a Batman cape and added that to his outfit.

{Five on Friday // Six Flags, Blastball, sunset, silly face}

Happy Friday!!! Linking up for Five on Friday.

{O N E}

Tonight we are going to Six Flags. It's been over 10+ years since Nathan or I have been there. And Mason has never been. I'm kind of looking forward to it. Growing up I had a season pass almost every Summer. Nathan is not one to like rides so he's a little less excited than I am. I'm sure that we'll spend most of our time in kiddie land for Mason, but that's okay with me. Oh, and tonight is only open for Arlington ISD employees and their families. Nate's mom works for one of the AISD high schools so we get to go! I'm looking forward to no lines!!

{T W O}

I've almost given up diet soda. Besides the headaches, I am okay with it. I've been drinking water like it's going out of style. The other day at supper I tried making myself a diet dr pepper and took one drink out of it and instantly wanted water instead. And, I've had a headache for several days straight so yesterday I grabbed myself a diet dp from McDonalds. Blah! Took one drink and that's all I could do. I'm excited about this! I've been know to drink several diet sodas throughout the day. No mo! 

{T H R E E}

So, our little ball player is actually a lefty!! For the last two seasons Nate had him batting right handed...but not this season! During our 2 months of gymnastics we learned that Mason is a lefty when it comes to physical activity. His coach did a couple little tests on him and it was always left. Nate started having him hitting left and he was killin' the ball. So crazy!!

{F O U R}

We had the most amazing sunset last night! I just love when God takes his paintbrush out. I mean, just look at these colors.

{F I V E} 

Mason went to school like this...

Never a dull moment with this kid. Oh and when I took this picture he said, "Who are you sending that to Mama? My friends Teale and Kolton?

And I'm gonna throw in an extra...I won a necklace this week!!! Isn't this beautiful?

One of my Texas Blogger friends Carly is raising money to bring her son home through adoption.  

What do you have planned for the weekend? Have you been to Six Flags lately?

{It's the Little things - week 11 // Sweet neighbors that are like family}

Linking up with Jess & Ashley for It's the Little Things. 

What a day yesterday was! I woke up not feeling great {thank you to Spring in TX - helllllllo allergies} so I decided not to take Mason to school. I had sinus pressure and a migraine that was making me nauseous and I didn't want to drive. It was my day to work 9-5 but something told me to get out of bed and start working at 8:00. It's a good thing I did because I had about 2 dozen emails already waiting on me! Work continued to be a nightmare and Mason was needy/fussy all day. Those two are not a good combination, let me tell you!! 

At 5:15 I was still working and Mason was begging to go outside. I still had a million things to do, but I decided that I could use some good ol' vitamin D. So we went outside! It was cold and windy...but there was sunshine! And after the stressful day I had....I needed it. Oh and Mason's little frog LeRoy that he's had since before Christmas died yesterday. I didn't have it in me to tell him, though. So, that's coming. Ugh! 

Nate got home and we went in to eat supper. After supper Nate noticed that our neighbors were outside so we went over there to visit. Mason and I were in our pajamas, too! But we didn't want to miss an opportunity to visit with them. During the colder months they do not come out as much and they've also been spending a lot of time working on their lakehouse that is about an hour away. I'm pretty sure we met them the first week that we moved into our house {7 years ago} and instantly became so close to them. We adopted them as another set of Grandparents!! When Mason came along he dubbed them as Papa Jim and MeMaw...all on his own! They got a huge kick out of it.

So, last night we visited with them outside for a while. They were working on their camper when we came over...but dropped that to visit with us. About 45 minutes into our visit we mosied on inside their house where MeMaw Nancy showed Mason and I picture albums of her Kids, Grandkids and Great Grandkids that live in Kentucky. With every page she turned and every story she told about the pictures you could see how much she loved and missed them. Her eyes just lit up! 

Papa Jim and Nathan ended up coming inside too. Papa Jim wanted to give Nathan a book he had read and thought he'd like it. He brought it out and read the first couple of pages to Nathan out loud. It was the cutest! He really enjoyed the book and couldn't wait to share it with Nathan. 

MeMaw Nancy went to her bedroom and came back with an envelope that said 'Mason Hall' on it. She had pictures of him from birth on up. She also had every birthday invitation and card we'd ever given them in that envelope. It was so heart-touching! 

MeMaw filled Mason's belly with milk and graham crackers and sent him home with two new books.

Visiting with them for that hour and a half was so.so.so. good for the soul. Especially after the day I had. It's funny how little things can turn around a bad day in an instant. 

Through our little visited I was reminded of so many little blessings. Family and fellowship are important. Cherish it.

When we left they sent us off with a "we really enjoyed visiting. please come over more often." And with that...I'd like to think it was good for their soul too.

{Pallet Projects // Table & American Flag}

I briefly mentioned here that hubs and I completed a couple of projects over the weekend. Both were with Pallets we had lying around our shop. I love spending time with my sweet man out in the shop!!

{Texas Rangers Opening Day - 2014}

Ohmygoodness it's freakin' baseball season! Off-season is just entirely too long if you ask me. Do you know how long I've waited to post the words #hellowincolumn on Facebook {even though I didn't get to do that on Monday}? Too dang long!

{It's the little things - week 10 - Mason's school}

Happy Wednesday! Linking up with Jess and Ashley for It's the Little Things. I just love this linkup. Every week it makes me stop and just appreciate the little things in life. Its amazing how something so little can have such a big impact on your life!!

This week I wanted to talk about Mason's school. First of all, we feel so blessed to be a part of Fire House Kids. We are reminded daily how great the place is and that we made the right choice by moving Mason there.

Yesterday was definitely one of those days of affirmation.

When I walked up to Mason's classroom and he saw me at the door he said, "aww man". And while this should totally break a Mama's heart...it didn't! It really made my heart happy. Crazy, right? I am just so happy that he likes his school and that he's okay with being there. That was definitely not the case at the other school. He would be waiting for me everyday and we couldn't get out of there fast enough! His teacher told me that Mason was a little sad because he had lost his little jeep he brought to school that day. Somewhere between the transition of lunch and nap time it got lost. His little heart was sad. His teacher told him that she would check with the nap time teacher in the morning and they would find it. He wanted to stay at school and wait on her. ha. Also, they were just about to get coloring pages out of fun coloring books and Mason wanted to stay for that. So his sweet teacher let him pick a page out of whatever coloring book he wanted and he got to bring it home with him. It cheered him up a tad, but he was still upset about his jeep.

When we got downstairs he had tears rolling down his cheeks. The two directors saw him and immediately started asking what was wrong with him. So he told him. And y'all...they put on a little search party to find his jeep! They didn't want him to be sad and all started looking for it. So sweet, right? We waited about 10 minutes or so while they assured Mason they would find it. Oh, and it wasn't any normal hotwheel...it was one of those micro-machine cars. The tiny ones. A tiny little jeep lost in the school. But, they found it. His teacher brought it to him and he was so excited. She gave him a big hug and kiss on his cheek. {that had him grinning for a long time. and he couldn't wait to tell his Daddy}

This meant so much to me! That they would go out of their way to help him find this little jeep! Mason's previous school was very anti-toys. They even had notes plastered on the doors and front desk to not bring toys from home. And, I guess we are rule breakers because Mason always took a toy. I mean...the kids are away from their parents for 8 or more hours a day and if bringing a little something from home makes them feel better....why not? That's my philosophy at least. Mason has lost toys at the previous school and their response/attitude was 'well, he shouldn't have brought a toy to school.' 

So yeah, it's something little but it meant a lot to me! Just another reason we love FHK.

{Weekend Wrap-up - outside, projects, swimming, playing}

Happy Tuesday!!! We had such an awesome weekend. I need more weekends like this one in my life, for sure!! We spent the majority of the weekend outside just playing and having fun. If you know us, you know that we're always on the go. It's rare that we have a weekend at home. And when we do I realize how much I love and miss those rare weekends. 

Friday Nate didn't have to work overtime which meant that Mason got to stay home from school, too! I was a pretty slow day at work so I got to be outside with my boys almost all day. I stayed close to the house and left my screen door open so that I could hear my computer and phone. It was an awesome day! Nate cleaned out his shop and Mason played his little heart out. He was so filthy by the time we came in that day. 

That's a sure sign of a good time.