Bye-Bye Summer!

Michael, David, Jason, Emma & Haili

Although I am one who LOVES summer...I am oh-so-glad it is over for a few reasons.

My Top 5 reasons why:

5 - No more hot days working in the yard
4 - No more sunburns (no one else in the family gets burnt but me)
3 - No more days at the pool showing off my stuff
2 - No more kids telling me they are bored
1 - SCHOOL STARTS

Don't get me wrong...I love to work in the yard, except my garden hasn't produced crap this year....that could be why, I didn't add any crap (manure) to my soil. I love to get tan, minus all the freckles and wrinkles and I LOVE to go to the pool with the kids. But I am so TIRED of the kids telling me that they are BORED. They could've had the funnest day of their lives..ie, gone to Lagoon, b-day party, Raging Waters, D'land... and then as soon as things calm down they ask, "What are we going to do tonight?" I for one am soooo glad that they start school tomorrow.

The twins are never a problem, they occupy their time between reading and tv, but Michael & Haili need a little bit more direction in this department, so to them especially, I say (or if I was their teacher I would say) "Welcome back to school!" I hope both of you have a great year in the 5th grade.

Michael - I hope you can meet more friends in your class...the odds are in your favor. 22 boys and 6 girls, you better come home with a new friend every week of the school year!

Haili - Have fun this year and be the great example you are to your friends and brother that you are each year.

Steph - This is your last year before High School, have fun...be good and learn Espanol as if you were 100% Hispanic and not just a muggle. Have fun in choir and sing your heart out as if you were Gabrielle on HSM.

Liz - Enjoy Seminary and choir and Spanish and the cafeteria lunch that you so look forward to. Respect your teachers! If not, you know Dad will race down there and have a meeting with your teachers....how embarrasing because you know he will!

Beezer - Be nice to Miss Marla and learn lots of new songs that you can teach Macey when you get home. Please don't pee your pants more than once this year... your friends will totally make fun of you if you wear your pullups to class.

Mason - It's just you and me...we'll go to the park everyday as long as we're home in time to watch General Hospital (my guilty pleasure).

Good Luck little bummas! We love you and know you will do your best!

Mason Alexander - Gonzo of The Week

It's Mason's turn to be in the spotlight this week. As I sit here typing this and thinking what to say, my heart just goes crazy because I love this little baby SO much! Mason is the last of our litter (Barb will like that term) and is the most loving little boy. He was a surprise to Leo and I...we (mainly me) knew we wanted one more baby but because of the difficulties we had in having Brandon we thought we would have to do IVF again. So, we planned on doing that in August 05' and SURPRISE in April 05' we found out we were pregnant! It was a really hard time for me to be pregnant (when is it a good time?)...we had just sold our house in Sandy and we couldn't find a house that we really, really liked. So, we moved into Leo's Mom's basement for 6 weeks with all 5 kids in tow. I was sicker than a dog and we were staying in Leo's Grandma's room which was adorned by Virgin Mary statues every where you looked. When I woke up in the morning, there the statues were staring at me...I almost felt like I needed to do that little cross thing that Catholics do over their forehead and chest each morning. (totally off the subject, I know)..Anyway, we survived and soon found our house.

We found out in August that we were having another little boy ...Leo had his heart set on a little girl, but I just knew all along our little Mason was a boy. I had always dreamed of having 2 little boys, close in age, playing together and being best friends. Little did I know the fights and screaming that would go along with that! Even though Mason is younger, sweeter, happier and a good little baby, I think it is only a matter of time before he'll put Brandon in his place. He is becoming pretty tough...I guess he has to be with B as his older brother.

Back to the pregnancy.. I gained the usual 65 pounds and was fatter than a pregnant cow. I ended up delivering Mason on January 16, 2006 and having an emergency C-section. I have to admit it wasn't too bad, it landed me a whole week in the hospital to myself, it was like a little vacation. Not to mention 2 extra weeks off from work...and the bonus was that I got to pop all those great pain medication that whole week...(I could really get adicted to those if I let myself) and I think I got a little extra sympathy from Leo after he watched Dr. Smith cut open my guts and pull out our beautiful baby boy. Our little Mason was a sweet, sweet baby from the beginning.

Mason is 18 months old now and he loves to play with Brandon. He thinks that he can do anything Brandon can do and follows him around like a little puppy. His favorite song is "3 Little Ducks Went Out To Play" and he loves sneaking onto the trampoline to have some "alone time" and have the tramp to himself. This doesn't last more than a couple of seconds before we notice that he has rigged a bike up to the tramp and uses that to climb on up. He loves getting into everything, and loves to drag around anything that appears to be a blankie. (Not to long ago, he got into the dirty clothes and was cuddling with Leo's dirty G's...ewww) We always know when he is tired because he'll grab his blankie and binky out of his crib and cuddle up with it against his cheek.

Mason's ideal afternoon would be watching Backyardigans, having a bottle of Apple juice, and taking an evening drive with Beezer in his jeep. Out of all the kids, I think that Mason's favorite is Haili Boo. After all, that was his first word. He loves to cuddle with her and just be around her.



We are so happy to have our little Mason in our family. We LOVE you Mason!