HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

this is hallie's favorite day! wednesdays are her horseback riding days. she gets to ride magic and live out her fantasy of one day becoming a real cowgirl on a ranch in wyoming.

 

i will post pictures tomorrow, because it is really cute to see. she is getting really good! she knows how to saddle him (mostly, and with help) and can walk, trot and weave magic around cones. she has zero fear, which i think is amazing. i think she is amazing!

 

and i think her bedhead is amazing. yowzers.

 

 

and here's some jesus for you today:

 

i know i will sit and complain and moan about my crappy somethings...but have i prayed about it? usually the answer is no. and usually prayer helps tremendously. even the act of praying is straight up comforting.

 

try it.

 

seriously. do you have a situation that just makes you sick to think about? just try saying a simple prayer asking for god's guidance and comfort. and see where it takes you.

 

or even if you have something silly and small - try it. you will be amazed at the power of prayer.

 

happy wednesday!  

MY KIDS ARE AWESOME. AND WEIRD.

 

henry prefers to eat food off of the floor.

 

and uses his middle finger for everything. everything.

 

he loves the vacuum cleaner and broom so very much.

 

he reaches for knives in the dishwasher while saying "no no no" to himself.

 

he loves to have things balance on his head while he's taking a bath.

 

he prefers to be without bottoms and plays with himself non-stop.

 

 

 

hallie prefers animals to people.

 

she makes up her own songs that are heartfelt and hysterical.

 

she talks about god a lot. i was explaining "god in three parts" and she interrupted and said "who cares mom - god is everything"

 

is a straight-up cowgirl. loves wearing her cowgirl hat and boots with real spurs.

 

sleeps with a giant bear that is literally bigger than she is.

 

demands to have her back, feet, legs, arms, head tickled if you sit down next to her.

 

if you don't sit down next to her she will move to sit by you and then demand that you tickle her back.

 

 

 

 

they are both just at a really funny, really exhausting stage. someone gave hallie caffeine on a school night last night (i'm looking at you, barb) and the girl was bouncing off the walls. but she was so funny and was cracking me up. i sorta didn't mind that she stayed up way past her bedtime. sorta.

 

and henry, geesh, he throws all of his food/sippy cups on the floor. it drives me bananas. he also is a very picky eater and will basically eat three things: hotdogs, mac n cheese and pizza. so different from his sister.

 

i don't know. there's not too much of a point to this story. i think just the act of writing down little memories like this is helpful to appreciate the blessings that god has given us.

 

"every good and perfect gift is from above" james 1:17

 

and it also reminds me how much i love being a mother. so here's a shout out to my lovely mother on her birthday today!

 

happy birthday, mom! love you!!!!

 

 

 

RUTH. OR WAS IT NAOMI?

sunday's sermon was about ruth. i think. maybe naomi? yes. naomi. both, actually. our pastor is a little...scattered sometimes, so it's hard to follow the point of his sermons. he veers off to baseball (?) trying to relate to the crowd, but then just loses us. stick to the point, i say. write it down if necessary!

 

anyway.

 

sorry.

 

naomi was bitter. god had dealt her some sucky cards - like really, really sucky cards. and she was feeling the pity party pretty strong.

 

"don't call me naomi, she told them, "call me mara, because the almighty  has made my life very bitter. i went away full but the lord brought me back empty. why call me naomi? the lord has afflicated me;e the almighty has brought misfortune upon me." ruth 1:20-21

 

much like i was last week. lame.

 

pity parties are so lame.

 

i don't want to be like naomi. i don't want to feel sorry for myself.

 

she couldn't see god's plan through all  of the crappiness and so she let herself get down.

 

I GET THE SAME WAY.

 

i think we all do. we forget that god has a plan for each of his children and we just need to be patient. and pray. a lot.

 

and just like naomi, things will be better and you can look back and be grateful.

 

the end.

 

 

WHADDA WEEKEND.

a successful 5k at illinois college with mah girlz:

 

 

a sick little lumberjack boy at prompt care (just a virus):

 

 

what a real cowgirl wears to the walmartz (complete with real spurs):

 

matching mustaches (hen's was from a spinach smoothie. he loves those things!):

 

oh  and pants-less choo-choo watching. good times.

(only henry participated in that one)

 

the end.

POOR HENRY.

i'm home with a sick henry. 

poor buddy was up last night, burning hot. 

he's such a good sickie. he doesn't really whine or grouch. he just lays on me...and i love it. but i don't love it that he is sick. 

***

my blog yesterday was pretty whiney. most days i don't worry about dave's travel schedule. it's really a way of life for us here at the mason household. we are grateful that dave has a job that he loves and that he HAS a job. i just get down every so often and yesterday was one of those days. 

i just need to remember that this is god's plan for my little family right now. it's up to me to handle it well...or like yesterday, not so well. 

but that's okay. god's got my back. and so do lots of you - thanks for the text yesterday, lori. and the email, mom. and the comment, alison. and prayers from many others. 

we're doing good over here. but we can always use more prayers. 

and let's all repeat...

"consider it pure joy, my brothers when you face trials of many kind, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance." james 1:2-3

ahhhh....that's better.

DON'T FEEL MUCH LIKE BLOGGING.

i really don't.

i am forcing myself today because this has become my journal and by golly, you're supposed to write in your journal. so. yes.

i am doing another 5k on saturday? i'm not sure why, but i'm actually "training" for it this time. meaning i have run the last few weeks to prepare. i feel good about it. i'm excited about it? yes, that is a question. it's supposed to rain/thunderstorm. so there's that too.

the kids are good.

sorta sickly, but good.

dave is gone, as always. we have seen him five out of the last 30 days. let that sink in.

five days.

out of thirty.

please don't feel sorry for me, because i am feeling sorry enough for myself.

the end.

TIS THE SEASON FOR THE SNIFFLES.

both my kids have colds.

 

it really sucks. hen is up and down at night, fussy, feverish. just no fun. i took him to the doctor yesterday and it's just a virus. which is good - i was soooo worried about the ears, but they look good.

 

they also did a strep test, which traumatized mr. henry and he cried and cried. so sad. and then he cried again when the doctor came back into the room a few minutes later.

 

and hallie just has a disgusting cold, but seems to be on the mend. both kids are coughing nasty coughs. gross.

 

stay away from the mason house! lots of germs here!

 

 

UPDATE: HENRY PAUL MASON

oooh, this kid.

he just finished his 19th (and final) day of antibiotics.

that's 9 days of amoxicillin....which never works. and then 10 more days of cefdinir. i know both of those are spelled wrong and i'm not even going to look up the correct spelling. so there.

anyway, this has sucked. he has been cranky and hates taking his medicine. but man, oh man.

once the new and improved medicine kicked in, he was a different kid. happy, happy, HAPPY.

whew. i was afraid his awesome disposition was changed forever! but no more!

he's baaaaaack! and orenry as ever. a climber! and his hair! oh my!

he is still teeny tiny. like, maybe 20 pounds and super short. like his mama.

he says: mama, dada, sister, gerti, irma (mmm-a), no, hi, bye-bye, papa, ball (ba), moo, meow, thank you, all done and some more that are really hard to understand :)

he is a great sleeper. we read books, give smooches and lights out. he usually bangs around in his crib forever before finally going to sleep, but he never cries.

he looooooves baby einstein. it's like crack to this boy. that's my only way of getting him medicated. i get him good and distracted by the amazing, wonderful puppets and swirly things and then shove it in his mouth.

what else, what else? so much, but that's it for now. this kid is the bomb.com

MY HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED; MY HOW THINGS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME.

back home in mo! woo-hoo!

the new mason sound model :)

typical ocd patty cleaning up the kitchen...again. love that girl so much!

we haven't aged a bit. RIGHT?!

typical narco alison.

kendra and her cute baby bump!

girls weekend 2012 was a success.

i love these girls so much. it blows my mind that we have been out of college for almost 10 years. and yet we come back together as if nothing has changed...but so much has changed.

we are all so different but there is such an amazing foundation of friendship.

i love you, truman girls!

THESE GIRLS. TODAY.

well, minus one of them, but I REFUSE TO ACCEPT that she isn't coming, so she will remain in the pictures.

*sniff*

*SOB*

NINE YEARS. WOWZERS.

happy anniversary to us!

it's been nine years full of ups and downs. but you are mine and i am yours and we're in this for the long haul. i truly believe god brought us together and he will continue to bless our marriage as he has for the past nine years.

love you, dave!

HENRY AND HIS APPLE: A SERIES OF PICTURES.

I RAN A 5K AND DIDN'T DIE.

almost, but i didn't.

let me preface this by saying, I AM NOT A RUNNER. not even close. i think i would like to maybe some day maybe try to run more, maybe. but i'm not a runner now, period. i haven't been on a run in years and years.

but the school sent a flyer home about a 5k to raise money for teachers and it was a weekend dave was home and ya know, why not?

so i asked my mother-in-law, who is a runner, if she wanted to do it and yes, of course she does.

now, my mother-in-law is not your typical mother-in-law. the woman is in SHAPE. she runs FIVE MILES A DAY, people. it's just not natural. and rides her bike, and does jillian and a body former. she's not normal.

so anyway. i sorta started dreading the race the week before. and then i started questioning my sanity at the starting line. and then i started running. and oh geez, what was i thinking?

i didn't even try to keep up with barb. she sprinted on ahead of me while i just tried to keep pace with some dude in a red shirt in front of me. my goal was to finish. to try not to walk, only run. if i could do it in 30 minutes, great.

mile 1 - seriously, i've only been running a mile? two more???

mile 2 - i am a fool, a total fool. if i squint i can almost see barb's navy and orange workout pants ahead of me. way ahead of me.

at some point they passed out water, which was fun. it broke up the run a bit. and then i passed red-shirt guy, so that was cool.

finish line - i did it!! i didn't walk! i did it in 27 minutes! goals = met.

and then i went behind a truck and dry-heaved for a few minutes.

oh, and barb totally WON for the ladies 50+ division!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and beat me. by an entire minute.

shame, shame.

PICTURE DAY.

never let it be said that hallie doesn't rock her own style.

today is picture day at school and she is STOKED. she spent a lot of time perfecting her outfit and hair accessories. and then she put on lipgloss.

people, this is hallie to a "t". ENJOY:

i'm sorry for the blogging break. i just haven't been in the mood, which is weird because i love to blog. this summer hasn't been my favorite. but we're rebounding into fall and i have lots and lots to look forward to.

also,

last night i opened my eyes and saw a man standing next to my bed. i did the normal thing and pretended like i didn't see him, closed my eyes and just rolled over until i thought he had left our room. and then i quietly, quietly poked dave, trying to gently get his attention. unfortunately, it just ticked him off and he yelled at me, which really defeated the point of quietly getting his attention.

anyway,

i whispered - someone is in the house! and he leapt out of bed like a good husband and searched the house while i followed behind him with a kitchen knife. and apparently i was wrong. but he was SO GOOD to humor me, especially when i couldn't sleep still about an hour later and made him get up with me AGAIN because i thought i heard a noise coming from the monitors in henry's room. and then again when i asked him to search our bathroom again.

it was SO REAL. i should have realized it was a dream, but it was so vivid - i can see just what he looks like - short and stocky, black shorts and NO SHIRT, haha. and hairy.

and this morning we found my phone and dave's computer in his suitcase. so i must have had quite a night or sleep walking. or maybe the shirtless man moved our things?????

SOAKED. AND MORE TEEF. AND FRIENDS. AND SUCH.

this is how my morning started.

except it was pouring buckets when it happened.

but who cares?! because IT WAS POURING BUCKETS!

yee-haw!!! bring it!

in other news, hallie lost her other top tooth. it is pretty dang adorable. i never knew i wanted a kid with missing top teeth. she slurs her words and everything :)

(sorry, crawfords, she wouldn't pull it at your house!)

also, i went to a wedding that had donuts for the cake. and a chocolate fountain. and was at a winery. ftw.

and got to hang out with these peeps.

and this guy is home (until tomorrow, but who's counting?)

all caught up?

yes.