Sami Show & Lunch

Today my mom and I met Stacey, Reagan, B.K., Louise, Melissa, Kate and Sara at the Sami show. We did a little browsing (not much buying considering it was a group of 9 girls!) and then went to lunch. Here is Reagan trying out a "time out" chair. Look how sweet she is. I bet she will never need to sit in a time out chair, right Stacey?!


Stacey, B.K., Reagan, my mom and I went to lunch at the Texan Cafe in Hutto. Reagan fell asleep on the way there and continued to sleep on B.K. for about 20 minutes. After her power nap she was a little entertainer! It was really bright in the restaurant and since I still haven't figured out how to use my camera in certain lighting none of them turned out. I am bummed because she was showing off! But here is a precious picture of Reagan on the bench outside of the restaurant.

Meeting Tyler

Last night we went to dinner at Casa Garcia's with my parents, Heather & Casey, Sara (my parent's boss), Sara's daughter-in-law Nicole, and Sara's son Tyler. Tyler is the one that made Mason that really cool scooter. Tyler was SO sweet to the boys. He talked to them the entire time. He showed them pictures on his phone. He catered to all of their needs. At one point Mason said he wanted a flour tortilla, so Tyler went to get Mason a fresh, hot flour tortilla. It was so sweet! He is such a good kid. The boys really enjoyed meeting him and can't wait to hang out with him again. The boys were excited to see Uncle Casey and Aunt Heather too. They haven't seen them in awhile. As soon and Heather and Casey got their they ran to give them a hug and wanted to sit by them at dinner. It was cute!

Our baseball player

First, I have to say, these pictures have terrible quality. I still haven't figured out how to use my camera with different light settings. (Michele or Natalie, I need some tips!) But Mason LOVES playing baseball. The first thing Mason says to Andy when he gets home from work is "when can we go play baseball?" He found these safety glasses and decided to wear them during batting practice yesterday! He has a great stance and hits the ball 9 times out of 10. He loves baseball and golf!




If Mason ever does miss the ball he lets Andy know that it was a bad throw!

Alex

Alex has been sick since last Saturday. He caught a cold from Mason and it went straight to his lungs. He has been on the nebulizer and oral steroids. He finally turned the corner yesterday and is doing much better today. It has been quite a journey to get well! We stayed home yesterday from school so he could continue to recover. He built an ice cream shop for his petshop pets.



Building the ice cream shop wore him out, so we had to get a breathing treatment after that. He has gotten extremely tired of the nebulizer this time around.

Exercise in the Park

After school Tuesday Mason asked to go to the park so he could do some exercising! Here he is doing his workout!

These sit ups are hard!

Mason said next time we go to the park I can ride the exercise bike! Is that a hint?!

Preparing for the Auction

Well, Mason left his art inventory in Brenham so he and Alex had to create more masterpieces.
They spent Monday painting some great paintings to be displayed in the art gallery. After a few days on display these one of a kind paintings will be auctioned off.



Mason dressed himself and got his microphone out so he could practice being an auctioneer.

Alex also dressed himself and found his microphone so he could assist his brother.

My parent's boss Sara is an auctioneer and has graciously offered her services free of charge. So once Mason is ready to hold his auction Sara will come do her magic! I am not sure who the audience will be. At this point it's immediate family and the family pets. But whoever raises their hand first will be the proud owner of an original Mason or Alex painting!

Dove hunt

Here are some pictures from the dove hunt yesterday. This was Alex's first time to go hunting! Mason is an ole pro now!

I love this picture!

Here is Mason actually driving the gator. He did a great job!

My dove hunters

Yesterday Alex got to go dove hunting for the first time! I will check with Andy to see if he has pictures from the hunt, but here is a before pic! Alex wasn't into taking a picture so Andy was trying to make him smile. He is half laughing and half crying in the picture below! Mason drove the real gator! Andy said he could barely reach the gas petal but he sat at the edge of the seat so his toes could reach the petals. Andy said he can start the gator, switch the gears, steer & use the gas and break all on his own. I thought that was impressive. Andy even sat in the backseat and let him do it all on his own. He is such a big boy! Hopefully he will be a great driver when he turns 16 with all of the practice he is getting now.

Preparing for the Art Gallery

Mason decided he would like to open an art gallery in his room. He wants to auction off his paintings. He is going to make a big sign to display in front of the house so people know there is an art gallery inside. Then he is going to make direction signs leading people to his room (home of the gallery!) Then he will have an auction. "Whoever raises their hand first will get the painting". He said the gallery will open at 8:30 every morning. On days he is in school he would like me to conduct the auction without him. So, if you are reading this blog consider yourself a VIP. You will receive a sneak preview of some of the valuable water coloring paintings that will be for sale in the new gallery! We even have some pictures of the paintings in the making! Here Mason is being assisted by co-owner of the gallery, Alex.

This is serious work!

It takes just the right mixture of crayola water colors and Brenham tap water!

And finally, what you have all been waiting for, a sneak preview of the finished products!

Stay tuned for more info on the upcoming Art Gallery on Acanthus!

Washington County Fair

The boys couldn't wait to go to the annual fair in Brenham. They love seeing all of the animals and this year we even checked out the frisbee dog show! Mason said he would like to show animals when he gets older. He went back and forth between a horse and a rabbit (two extremes to say the least!). I think we will try to sway him toward the rabbit! It was really neat to watch little guys a year or two older than Mason show cattle, pigs, etc. It teaches them so many things like responsibility & confidence. In the picture below the boys are petting the show rabbits.

These are the wild horses they use in the rodeo.

This is one of the show horses. They loved attention!

This paint horse had beautiful blue eyes and was so sweet!

The boys loved the petting zoo. The baby deer below was scared of some of the kids that were trying to pet her. But Mason was so gentle with her that she sat still and let him pet her.

I think she was actually enjoying the attention!

This sheep was a little scary to me! It's a show animal so the owners had this contraption on it's body to keep it's hair nice before showing. I guess the muzzle was so it wouldn't eat a ton before the show (not sure!)

Interesting!
Alex loved petting the rabbits (along with every other animal!).

Alex tends to be scared of Andy's cattle but this baby calf was just Alex's size!

The pigs were a big hit with the boys! They were cute until they started dumping the buckets of water out into the dirt. Once it turned into mud, they rooted around with their noses and then laid it in. They were just doing what pigs do best!


Andy made me promise I would put this picture on the blog. He said it was a true representation of my excitement about the petting zoo!

Mason said one of his favorite animals in the petting zoo were the silkies below. He said they were just like Natalie and Harpers!

Before we left the fair we stopped to see the "Disconnected K-9" dog frisbee show. It was really cool. I tried to get pictures but we were facing the sun and none of them came out. All the dogs were rescue dogs that were taught these amazing frisbee skills. It was neat to watch. Right now the boys are in the country helping Daddy and Grandpa plant rye grass at the deer feeder. I took a pass so I could update the blog!