Isaiah43.567

새해 복많이 받으서ㅣ요!

2012-01-22T19:30:00.003-05:00

Happy Lunar New Year!

Mason wearing the hanbok his Omma bought for him. He's holding his Korean flag and the money pouch that came with his hanbok.

This is the face we get every time he sees a camera...he's saying "Keesa!" (cheese)

Proud to be Korean!!

To read more about the Seollal customs including dressing in hanbok, special foods, and traditional games click here. An especially Happy New Year to all our Korean friends and the families there who love our little boy!

What We've Been Up To

2012-01-17T12:35:00.000-05:00

Well, to be honest, we've been a bit lazy. We've been getting back into the swing of things since our Christmas Vacation and we've been enjoying all the great toys Mason received, and we've just been takin' it easy. Mama's having to revamp my Tot School plan for the next few months b/c my Tot is learning faster than I expected he would...Yeah Mason! We got some news on our adoption process for our sibling, but more about that at the end. Anyway, Mason got a wagon for Christmas...one with seats and cup holders!! So we've been making MANY rounds in the neighborhood on warm days.

Yesterday Daddy was off for Martin Luther King Day! So, we celebrated by taking advantage of a FL Resident deal that gives us almost 2 full days for free!! We LOVE to see the Mouse, so we headed to Orlando to take advantage of this deal. If you're a FL Resident you should totally check it out, especially if you live close enough to make day trips.

Oops! You'll have to forgive my laziness in noticing, but not fixing this picture... I really just had to tell you that last night when we were getting ready to ride our last few things and head home Mason kept saying, "Bye Cups!" When we left the park, when we got on the monorail, when we got off the tram, as we were leaving the parking lot... "Bye cups!" It's hard to tell if he loves the cups or the carousel more!

Saying "Hi!" from atop a horse.

With the biggest dessert that's ever been served to this Tot! He went straight for the chocolate ears, then ate half the cone. The ice cream wasn't nearly as yummy as the cone apparently.

Finally, time with the Mouse and the Missus.

Another of Mason's Christmas goodies was this camera that he can operate and enjoy all by himself. He took this picture during the Electrical Parade. I'm sure you're in for more of Mason's perspective on life in the future.

Winding down our day on the Carousel.

So, our adoption news is this...referral times through our agency could drop below a year come this spring! That means that instead of saving and praying toward news sometime this fall we could be looking at this spring or early summer for news of our new baby. Pray that all the pieces fall into place at exactly the right time for us and for this new member of our little family.

Christmas in Review!

2012-01-08T16:25:00.001-05:00

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

A Hike in the Smokies

2012-01-06T19:51:00.000-05:00

We traveled to East Tennessee after Christmas here in sunny (read HOT) South Florida. It was a wonderful change of pace and our trip was relaxing and very unhectic. Daddy and Mama agreed that the best part of the whole week was this hike we took in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We visited the Sugarlands area and found a simple, 1 mile trail. It was a mild day and Mason was in a great mood so we went for it...SO glad we did!

Daddy and Mason starting out

Mason was thrilled to stand on this huge rock in the path.

The trees were huge and you could play a great game of peek-a-boo with this one!

We crossed this creek...

and threw in sycamore balls we found on the ground.

And hugged a tree or two...it was SO nice to be outside, even Daddy couldn't wait to hug a tree!

Beautiful, peaceful, undisturbed...we were in heaven!

Then Mason was in a tree

The end of our hike was Cataract Falls. Not sure why the odd name, but it was pretty nonetheless and we were SO glad we decided to get outdoors.

More of our Christmas trip to come. We loved being home again, and we're glad to be back at our home.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T19:00:00.000-05:00

Love, Sam, Heather, and Mason

Christmas Week Fun

2011-12-22T13:20:00.000-05:00

Daddy is off for the next three weeks!!! So we're doing some special things this week as we get ready for Christmas.

Daddy and Mason built a toy train, courtesy of Lowe's. Mason LOVES to use his hammer.

Then we went on Wednesday to Lion Country Safari and Daddy almost got a surprise from a giraffe...wait 'til you see this guy's tongue! He could give a wet willy in both ears at once!

Mason says stick out your tongue like me...here's a snack.

"It's hard to communicate from so far away, could you come a little closer?"

Much better ma'am. Talk about up close!

Then we played in the splash park

and rode the Carousel.

Then we went out to dinner...Mason called a few people to let them know he was out of town for the evening.

We went to CityPlace to see the lights,

Mama and Mason

We rode the train with Daddy

And they make SNOW... it was about 77 degrees outside at this time of night! And we grown people discovered that they're really like soap, so we didn't stick out our tongues anymore!!
"Get me higher Dad!"

This is more like it!

It was a really nice holiday day in South Florida! But we can't wait for some cool Tennessee weather.

News from Korea

2011-12-19T09:16:00.000-05:00

News came out of Korea this morning that the leader of North Korea has died. I'm sure the American media will cover this important event, but here are some links to Korean newspapers (from the South, obviously) about the death of Kim Jong Il.

The Chosun Ilbo- Korea's first English Language Daily. There are tons of links to other stories below this short announcement.

The Korea Times- I linked their front page because it's always interesting, but here's one of many articles specific to the death of the North's leader. The front page has MANY more!

The Korea Herald- Again the front page is linked because it has tons of pictures and other news as well about the possible effects of this event, but here is the main article about his death. This paper is more English language friendly than the Times, but the Times is way more interesting!

No one really knows what this will mean for Korea and her people, maybe nothing at all in the long run, but we're praying for GOOD for Korea and ALL her people, though those in the North are required to mourn for 10 days.

Breakfast and "Baby" Games

2011-12-10T13:29:00.000-05:00

This morning was our church's Christmas Pajama Breakfast and despite some seriously rainy weather it was a HUGE success. Daddy's events are always fun and a little over-the-top and Mason enjoyed himself tremendously! Here we are eating our pancakes and goodies.

Smile Sleepy Face!

Then he took to the stage area to rock for a while. We made a craft and watched Charlie Brown's Linus recite the Christmas story. Short and sweet and very fun!

Our main Tot School activity this week has been this sensory bin I made for Christmas. I included the colored rice, a bucket from the dolloar aisle at Target, a house that Daddy made eons ago (hehehe), some ribbon, some whole spices, a scoop or two, a star tree topper, small ornaments and an ornament set that has all the nativity characters, and a Symbols of Christmas book that you can download here.

We enjoyed the jingle bells that I hid in the house and played hide and seek with the "Baby" all week. You never know where that Baby will turn up around here. It makes for easy opportunities to talk about Him being anywhere we are and everywhere we need Him.
We'll be doing lots more nativity things as we go along and working in more of our nativity sets with our Tot School time. There's a carousel of our Christmas Books a few posts down in you're interested in that.

Doxology in Korean

2011-12-05T14:02:00.000-05:00

This video is from a Christian Youth Conference held on Jeju Island, South Korea. You'll notice the groups with matching t-shirts (hehehe). But seriously, I just LOVE to hear people praising God. I think anyone with a love for Korea and her people will enjoy this video.

Advent at Tot School- Week 1

2011-12-01T14:36:00.001-05:00

We've begun our Christmas unit in Tot School and so far we're all enjoying it very much. I finally got my act (and supplies) together enough to make an Advent Wreath and to look up the readings that go with each candle. Mason LOVES candles so he's content to look at the candle while Daddy reads the Bible and prays, then he gets to blow it out! He loves it, but we're keeping it to once a week so it's a special time.

We started our week by making this very simple tree craft. I know it's not gorgeous, but my Tot enjoyed himself. Then he made up another game with the poms..

He ran for his hammer and found that the balls skitter across the tile with amazing speed when whacked.

Then he turned to "fixing" Mama's cabinets. Thanks buddy!

The centerpiece of Mason's school table is his Christmas tree and a set of ornaments that he can hang and play with on his own. He's mastering the fine motor it takes to hang an ornament and the big tree in the living room is so tempting we're not without opportunities to practice putting things back where they go.

I set these out on a whim and they've been a BIG hit this week. He's done them over and over and played lots of his own games with the shapes.

I did make his usual buckets with his art supplies, markers, and stickers. I wasn't sure how dot markers would fare next to a Christmas tree...

turns out they're still a hit!

He did three pages in a row, naming the colors he was using and making the sound for "X".

Then to finish our school week we made this wreath, another Christmas word Mason's learning to say. I let him use the Elmer's glue and he did pretty well with a little help. The berries are blue and purple because my Tot really likes purple and blue.

And we're using a bunch of Christmas books to teach Mason all the wonderful things about Christmas!

Decorating

2011-11-27T15:15:00.000-05:00

Grandma came for Thanksgiving and because Mama and Daddy are Christmas CRAZY we decorate the day after Thanksgiving. We'll be at our own home this year on Christmas Day for the first time ever and we're super excited to have Christmas morning festivities here.

Mason taking ornaments to Grandma for the tree.

Carefully placing the ornaments in just the right spot.

Using Mama's cookie tins as a drum set! Hysterical!!

YEAH for cookie drums!

'P'umpkins, but no Fall

2011-11-19T09:53:00.001-05:00

We're still learning about Fall in Tot School, but this week we started on the letter 'P'. Mason had been confusing the sounds for 'P' and 'B', which I have to admit are similar, but this week after focusing on them for just a day or two he got it all straightened out.

Here's his letter matching page. He enjoys these and does them well.

He also loves to play games with them like putting the letter tile on the wrong spot and saying "uh-oh!"

It's great fun!!

He can do it correctly and does come back to it every time he notices I've cleaned it up. All the printables this week are from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Then I put our number cards in this bucket with some unifix cubes so we could build towers and count the blocks. He enjoyed this and has really enjoyed having the cubes out this week. Last night he was trying to make the longest strand possible, and giggling at himself the whole time.

We used the number cards with our Melissa and Doug numbers to match.

Here are our towers!

We noticed that it's cooler to look at if you spread them out all down the table so you can see how they grow each time.

We did some pre-writing practice. He enjoys the dry erase crayons almost as much as he enjoys writing letters...almost! As a side note he's mastered writing the "A" this week. I'll keep watching and encouraging him, but he surprised me by trying until he got it this week. We haven't talked specifically about "A" in months!

I made this sensory bin for him to play with...partially to protect to the decor in the house. We talked about textures (smooth, rough, bumpy, etc.) The trees are WAY out of proportion, but he enjoyed the colored ones so I threw them in for him.

He always pours the beans over his hands first, then buries his hand before he gets to the items in the bin.

Dumping the pot of gourds...he filled it with beans instead. Then he put a gourd back in and covered it with beans...hide and seek. (Oh, and it was hot and humid again this week and Mason ran a slight fever a couple of days so he's topless again! We're really hoping for some truly cooler weather soon!!)

The pinecones were prickley and you could use them like a scoop for the beans...

But then it was "uh-oh"s all over the place when he noticed that the beans sometimes got stuck in the pinecones. I showed him how to get them out with his tweezers.

So, no Fall weather but we're enjoying pumpkin and apples goodies from the kitchen and exploring the best we can for a season we really don't have this far south. We bought our turkey yesterday and he's all ready to go for the big day! Grandma's comin' back so we'll have plenty of pictures of our adventures in the week to come. It's gonna be a busy one, but I'll try to blog a couple of times since we have big plans for photo ops!

Dossier Sent

2011-11-15T16:21:00.000-05:00

HOORAY!!! I'm so happy I'm squealing...yes, like a piglet!! I can't believe this happened so quickly this time. It means nothing new in our waiting timeline. Just that Wide Horizons (our placement agency) has forwarded our completed file to Mrs. DJ You at Holt Korea in Seoul!! We have paperwork in her office once again and it's a little exciting, it's actually a lot exciting!
It means that at some point in time she's going to look at a picture of a baby and look at our family's pictures and information and match that baby with our family forever! It's nothing magical, but it's the way (and the person) God used to make Mason our little boy and the same miraculous way He'll bring another child into our lives forever.
There was a little bit of sad news in the update that I noticed. Here it is: from the time we're matched it will most likely be 6 months to a year before we get to travel to meet that little person. Babies now are being referred after 8 months for the most part so our new baby could be a full fledged toddler before we ever lay eyes on them. Sad! BUT... Any child God brings home at ANY time and in ANY way is a blessing!! And we will be blessed! The End

Falling Leaf Project

2011-11-13T18:53:00.000-05:00

I convinced my mess-phobic Tot to paint with me this week!! It felt like a victory since I'd seen this idea on Tot School and thought it'd be perfect for us in the absence of real fall leaves. Mason helped me paint a couple of pages of heavy-weight paper and I sponge painted some pages with leaves on them.

We cut the pages into spirals and glued the leaves onto them...

Here's a close-up of one of them, you can see another in the background.

And here's the full effect...Mason was pleased.

We did plenty of "red" dots! Red is the newest color Mason can say and it's adorable to hear.

Mason caught me sneaking into his room to make some pictures...and felt the need to smile for the camera.

He quickly returned to his regular activities though. I love to sneak up on him and see what he does when he thinks he's alone.

And I LOVE this picture because of those baby piggies. This boy has some seriously cute toes!

Then it was Daddy's turn to sneak up on Mama and Mason.

We're starting the letter 'P' this week. I have a new sensory bin I hope my Tot will enjoy and plenty of other fun things planned IF Mason decides it's a good week for Tot School. Mama, as always, has high hopes and big plans...just in case.

Grandma and the Farm

2011-11-06T15:43:00.000-05:00

We started a new unit in Tot School this week that will carry us for the next 2 weeks. We're learning the Letter "G" for goat which Mason recognizes and knows the sound of and we're reading all about Farm animals and apples in the fall! We've settled on a different method for part of our Tot School activities. I get the activities ready for the week and put all the supplies Mason will need for the week into a bucket or 2 or 3, and I try to match them with the season if Target's Dollar Aisle is kind to me! Here are our buckets for this week. The yellow one has his supplies for the week (crayons, markers, glue, etc.), the orange has his magnetic letters b/c he couldn't be happy without them, and the red has a number matching game.

And here's what they are like for my Tot...

This was he picks whatever supplies he's interested in using and I can give him something that matches whatever it is he's wanting to do...so we both get our way and he still feels a sense of control over his activities.

Here's the number matching game. The cards are from the Preschool Pack from Tot School.

There were tons of fun fall craft ideas there too and we only got one accomplished this week, but we're hoping to do more next week. Our leaves don't change colors so we just had to add fall colors with our crayon shavings. Mason enjoyed helping me strip the crayons, but in the end couldn't submit his blue crayon for shaving.

We were a little busier than usual with church and preparations for a visit from Grandma, Nana, Mammaw #2. She went by several names this weekend. Mason's trying them all out to see what fits her best! And he enjoyed playing with her camera...here he is smiling for a picture, but holding the camera himself. (A Christmas gift will fix this problem for him.) Funny though!

We found a bubble bucket on clearance so we used Mama's homemade solution to blow some bubbles.

And we went out front where the wind wouldn't destroy our bubbles right away. Better bubble success there.

Then we stopped to go eat at Seoul Garden. Mason's a HUGE fan! The rest of us are too, but he can eat his weight in rice and tofu.

Then we raced cars through the kitchen...

We had fun, we swang and laughed and shopped (thanks Grandma!) and just relaxed in the nice but breezy weather. See you in a couple of weeks, Grandma!

Welcome to Mason's Car wash!

2011-10-30T16:21:00.001-04:00

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Pumpkins and Zebras and Letter Review

2011-10-27T14:17:00.000-04:00

This week I realized that not only are we more than halfway through the alphabet in our Tot School, but Mason's grasp of his letters is pretty firm. (I NEVER force a Tot School activity, so the credit for ALL his accomplishments goes to him and his desire to learn. Truly...what he learns he learns because he wanted to know it! and I LOVE that!!)

So our first tray this week was this one... where he matched the color and colored the circle.

He enjoyed using the markers, coloring some, then writing his letters on the back of the page.

I don't have any pictures of that b/c I had a 2 yr. old with an open marker. :-)

This next one I made from an idea I saw somewhere... my most used sources are in my sidebar, but I don't remember exactly where this came from. The idea is of course to match the sticker to the letter on the page.

Mason counts among his favorite toys a set of wooden letters we got with his chalkboard set. He decided to use those to match instead, and enjoyed it enough that he did some every day this week!! That's some letter lovin' Tot!

He did use the stickers on occasion to match, but they usually ended up on his clothes.

All the magnetic letters placed correctly! YEAH ME! (And it was warm again...you know that story)

I found these buckets in the dollar aisle at Target and decided to use them for this week for our Tot School.

They held all the supplies we needed for the week!

We made a jack-o-lantern

Then somehow he decided it would be funnier to give it spots. I don't know how you'd give a real pumpkin spots, but if I can figure it out you can bet our jack-o-lantern will have spots! 'cause it's funny!

The sense of humor of my Tot is pretty hysterical and at times Tot School brings it out big time. He spent all week putting dots on these poor zebras heads, backs, and bottoms and laughing himself silly over it! He also moo-ed at them a few times. It was hard to correct him 'cause I don't really know what a zebra says? Anybody?

And there's nothing better than some time with Tigger and Pooh, and Christopher Robin and Piglet, and Owl and Rabbit... and on and on and on.

We'll be going to Fall Festival tomorrow night hence the early blogging for the week. Hope to have pics up Saturday evening to wish you all a Happy Halloween!

Eatin' my spaghetti

2011-10-24T21:06:00.001-04:00

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

A Big "H" Accomplishment

2011-10-22T13:11:00.000-04:00

We started Tot School this week in a hurry...Mason was ready to work before I was even finished setting up! The first thing he tried was a sorting/graphing activity using his ball stickers. He loves balls more than just about anything else...he's just starting to care about cars that pass on the road, but for playtime a ball is our best bet. So we sorted three types of balls onto a graph page Mama made. He needed a few reminders that he was sorting, but he did well and he's looked at the balls all week on the refrigerator!

Pulling off the stickers

Our finished graph! Oh, and it was hot here the first part of the week so he's in just his diaper...again!

Tracing his 'Z' for 'Z'ebra.

Not too bad for a first try

Matching the letters of ZEBRA with the wooden disks provided

"Piece of cake, Mom!" (All the printables you see this week are from Confessions of a Homeschooler.)

Then we had two days of rain like crazy! So we setup the play tent and tunnel to help us get through a rainy couple of days.

And only because he wanted to, completely of his own accord, he's learned to write 'H' this week. He practiced and had me show him a few, but mainly this is my Tot's determination and love for letters that you see. I took this picture because we were sitting together and he wrote 'H' with his left hand (the one on the far left, then he picked up the chalk with his right hand and wrote the 'H' on the far right. He did the middle one while I ran for the camera. Mama was way proud of her Tot!!

Separately, I don't usually recommend books because I assume Mason's favorites are books most people know about, but this week we got a book and card in the mail for Mason for Halloween from his cousins (and Aunt and Uncle) in Georgia. It's called Room on the Broom. It's a charming story about a witch who gathers animals as she rides over the fields and a crazy adventure they have on the way...but the last page will make even grownups laugh out loud. (Or at least it did me!) If you're looking for innocent, silly Halloween stories for your Tot I'd recommend checking this one out.

"E"verything but Tot School

2011-10-15T14:16:00.000-04:00

Mason has finally gotten to the classes at church where he stays while I go to "big church" and then I have surprises waiting for me when I return...

like this super cute set of handprints he did with Mrs. Donna last week!

He's a couch potato, much to Daddy's delight and Mama's chagrin! But I thought this picture was adorable. He loves to sandwich himself between the pillows while he watches his Leapfrog movies. The current favorite is "Numbers Ahoy!" on Netflix. He usually prefers working with letters so I let him enjoy this movie once a day...and that makes him smile!

He's mastered the sign for cookie and uses it often :-) So we made cute little bite size cookies this week. He loves them!!

He did his pre-counting practice with muffin tin liners. One per cup!

Here was our finished product. It's a small dab of peanut butter cookie dough with a mini Reese cup in the top. They were easy to put together and they only bake 10 minutes!!

So we did do a very little bit of Tot School this week. We were doing the letter "E" and we have some awesome books we're enjoying. Mason made his "E" all by himself. Very nouveau art wouldn't you say?!?

We read Pigs Make Me Sneeze and Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems. They're both part of the Elephant and Piggie series and they're incredibly simple, funny stories.
We also enjoyed Old Noah's Elephants by William Ludwig. This book is a fictional tale about trusting God no matter what and we enjoyed this silly take on Noah's story.
Then we found a sweet elephant story about a mother's love for her baby in No Matter What by Emma Dodd.
Next week we'll be practicing our Zs. And learning more about Noah and the zebras on the ark.

Some Tot Fun

2011-10-09T19:10:00.000-04:00

This week my Tot's Daddy went to Catalyst Conference in Atlanta and had a wonderful experience. He came back exhausted but refreshed and full of good ministry ideas. While he was away Mammaw came to stay and help as usual. Mason still loves to use this chalkboard and try to write letters as he watches Letter Factory, but after doing it at church last week he decided it was cool to trace your hand. We did that a lot and he tried to do it himself...with help each time, of course. Here's one when the chalkboard was fairly clean, must've been early that morning!

Thursday night I made bibimbap and miso soup...Mason's 2 absolute favorite foods!! He devoured most of his bibimbap, then drank the last of his miso, then combined the two and asked for more miso, then some more, then some more after that, until the whole pot of soup was gone. (It was only 3 cups to begin with, but my Tot easily ate 2 of those cups!!)

Friday we ran errands and it was actually cool this weekend so Mama and Mammaw got pumpkin spice lattes and Mason has his first Starbucks drink as well. (He likes the taste of coffee...he only gets a drip off my finger at a time and never more than a tablespoon per day total) But we decided on a kids hot chocolate.

It was super rainy the end of the week and this weekend so we brought the bike in the house and Mammaw helped Mason ride around the house.

Here he is saying stop after I'd asked him to stop and smile for Mama.

We got out the colored rice and he and Mammaw scooped and poured and transferred...

Then they buried their hands...it was funny!

Taking a break to get it just right.

We're doing Tot School as usual. This was a tray where Mason matched the animal to the card. He took an animal and put it on the wrong ones and said "uh oh!" before he did it right every time! At least I know he knows them. Tot sillies are wonderful.

We played with our animal stamp set. And made some finger prints as well.

And we decorated for Fall. This touch of cooler weather came and I couldn't resist buying a nice selection of gourds for inside.

Back to our routine this coming week, Daddy's home and we're glad to have him back. Mammaw's safely back home, and Mama and Mason will be enjoying more about the animals on the ark next week as we learn the letter "E".

"T" is for Turtle

2011-10-01T13:57:00.000-04:00

I decided to incorporate a do-a-dot page again this week for 2 reasons: Mason loves to do them and the one-to-one practice is still good.

I got the do-a-dot and this letter matching page from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Mason enjoyed matching the letter disks and got them right every time.

I got this cute idea from the Princess and the Tot...a homemade abacus!! SO cute, eh?? He threaded the correct number of beads onto the pipe cleaner.

Then it was back to do-a-dots...he's finally learned to take off and put on a screw top cap so he practiced and did some free play dots. (And it was hot again this week so he's been naked, sigh!)

Mason been doing more and more of the projects at church too and I thought this was a cute one. They're learning that God can help us do anything and they incorporated the Little Engine that Could. This is Mason's slightly abstract version of a train! I love it!!

And on this sunny Saturday we finished our landscaping by planting a few flowers and spreading all the mulch. Mason of course was on hand to help. Here he is using Daddy's glove.

Then he got the idea with the shovels and trowels to help put in the plants.

Daddy's speaking tomorrow at church and Mason will be 2 and a half tomorrow as well. Then Daddy's birthday is Monday, and Mammaw flies in Tuesday. We're excited about the coming week!

Summer Again

2011-09-24T14:31:00.000-04:00

This past week we've had summer come roaring back with fierce humidity and high temperatures. So as lofty as my goals sometimes are...to get back outside, to enjoy some fresh air, to run and jump (which Mason can now do!) and play...it didn't happen this week. Not much anyway, we did make it to the park Monday morning but we were sweating and red faced in 15 minutes so we only stayed half an hour. We retreated back indoors and vowed to try again this coming week. They promise we're going to get rid of the humidity sometime soon and we can't wait!!!

For we South Floridians summer is tolerated and winter is time to play out, open the windows and let the breeze blow through. But this week was still hot so we learned about the letter "T".

Mason's work might appear to be getting sloppier, but the reality is that he's doing more and more by himself and therefore, in my view, it's getting better and better...wouldn't you agree?

We counted our glass gems into our turtle cups. He didn't have any problem with this at all. He didn't want to do it much, but the couple of times he did it was flawlessly done. So, Mama's happy!
One of the things about allowing your Tot to choose their activities as they're interested is that they may not want to count for weeks in a row, but this week he did just enough to show me that he can...it's just not as fun as letters right now, and I'm good with that too.

We put our stickers on the letter "T". I got this page from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Then we did some pouring and beading with our pony beads and my supply bins. The best part of this was sitting on the cold tile floor!

Putting the pony beads into an old vanilla bottle...then pouring them back out.

I only allow Mason limited screen time each day, but this week Mom didn't feel great so we had a little more than usual, a little...not too much! And he discovered a couple of new Leapfrog DVDs on Netflix that he loves. Every day he would get his chalkboard and sit on the couch and we would draw and write letters and numbers as they came up in the movies. I don't know how clear the picture is, but you can kinda make out his "I".

This one's a little curved, but in general his "I"s are very straight and good. And he LOVES writing them.
The new thing lately is to touch his tongue, and then draw "I" on the windows and mirrors in the house...GROSS!

Our Week in Food

2011-09-17T13:53:00.000-04:00

Mason is both a great eater and he loves to help me in the kitchen stirring and measuring and pouring. Many kitchen tasks are also great Tot School projects! He gets fine and gross motor practice and when he's a little older it's a fun way to teach fractions to your Preschooler. So here's our week in food...

We made sundaes during the football game.

(Mama prefers frozen yogurt so with the right mix of toppings this is a truly healthy snack!)

After Mason's nap on Wednesday we made a mix similar to Chex muddy buddies, but it was a MUCH healthier recipe I got from EatingWell and tweaked a little for my Tot. You can see the original recipe here.
First you unwrap the chocolate squares- we used 2 semisweet and 1 bittersweet.

Then you throw 'em in a bowl...and microwave for a minute, then in 30 second intervals until they're melted.

Then you pound your peanuts, walnuts, or whatever nut you prefer until they're small pieces.

Stir your chocolate and peanuts in with whatever other trail mix things you like. We followed the recipe here and used Wheat Chex and pretzels.

And our own little touch...powdered sugar! Helps coat the chocolate and cut down on the mess, and it's yummy. And you shake it all around.

And enjoy with your favorite Little Einsteins show!

Mama also made this recipe for Banana Crunch Muffins. They're one of Daddy's favorites and as you can see Mason enjoys them also! They are best when you dive right in.

Tot School - Sept. 5-9

2011-09-10T15:49:00.000-04:00

First this week a couple of pictures from our Labor Day...it was hot! The humidity was lower than usual so we were able to enjoy some time outside. We can't wait for people further north to be cold so we can get back outside and really enjoy the best of South Florida's weather. (I say that without malice...it just is what it is) Here's Mason enjoying some homemade strawberry ice cream.

And we grilled burgers...here's my tot showing off his cheese burger!
"Look, here it is! Right here!"

I remade my orange bin from a couple of weeks ago into a purple one. Mason's starting to say purple and it's so cute plus he loves the bright colors like purple and red! He smelled the flower and laced the beads, and dropped beans through the beads. He used the spoons to fill the little ice cube tray and spun circles to his heart's content. These are simply a time filler for my Tot. He enjoys the beans and when he's bored on a long hot day inside some time with a bin is just the thing he needs...keepin' those fingers busy!

I made these ponds to go with our new unit and letter "F". The goal was to take a fish sticker and put it on every letter "F". He did this perfectly and is getting better and better at the fine motor skills it takes to get his own stickers off the page.

Then I bought wooden disks (like the one Princess and the Tot used for her letter disks) and made number disks for Mason. He just had to match up the numbers to the ones on the page and he did very well.

I had this letter tracing page out and he did well, but the second cross piece threw him a little. He also colored on his new table and the sheets on his bed while Mom wasn't looking. All cleaned easily, and Mom learned her lesson!

We have a new toy at out Tot School...this sequencing set! Mason is of course too young to do the detailed sequencing this set allows, but for this year he enjoys lacing the beads to the dowels...the beads are big and chunky and all different shapes! Next year he'll be able to builds patterns based on the colors on the cards, and when he's 4 he'll have the visual discrimination to sequence the beads with all the different colors and styles. Mama loves a toy you can use all kinds of different ways for many years!!

Filling ALL the dowels...

Very proud of his handiwork!

And a little work on our shapes with a folder game I got from Homeschool Creations Preschool Corner. He likes the bright colors and it's a confidence builder for him! You can link to them a loads of printables for your Tot on my sidebar.

We'll be doing another week of "F" this week. Our second week of a letter is usually more laid back and I expect the same this week. But we'll be playing as usual and I'll post pics of whatever we find to get into!

What's on the Table?

2011-09-04T16:05:00.000-04:00

(my title is a blatant take off of "What's on the Tray?" by Princess and the Tot. I get loads of great ideas from their Tot School! Check them out here or in my sidebar!)

This was our first week with our new table! My idea is to use this table to leave Mason's Tot School trays out all week instead of having to clean them up every night. Since we don't have an extra room in our house for school this is our solution...maybe someday we will have a room devoted just to homeschooling, but this isn't that day. So here was Mason's table for this week...

His attention span was short (I'll show you the culprit later) so we only counted through three. We used round office magnets that Mason loves and this magnetic chalkboard.

I decided to try a little more difficult matching tray this week. This is a Montessori style nomenclature page with a separate identical page cut apart for matching cards. I got this page from Tot School.

Mason understood the concept almost instantly and repeated this activity over and over again on his own. I would often go to his room to find this activity completed with no mistakes! I'll be doing more of these style matching trays in the future since my Tot thinks they make perfect sense.

I used the letter tracing page in a page protector again with his dry erase crayon...the other side is a line tracing activity that he enjoys also.

Mason doing another familiar fave from Tot School...tracing his letters.

As I mentioned before his attention span was short, but he did have a few minutes of great focus and we sorted our leaves by size...he knows the concept of small, medium, and large and that's good for now. This page is also a part of the Tot School Letter "L" materials available here.

I used a bin of black beans to hide orange items for him to play with in those moments when he just doesn't want to do much of anything. He'll always pour and scoop and play in the beans (or rice). Using his mini tongs...

He's been learning a few more signs just to ease some of his toddler tantrums and it seems to be helping him a great deal. Here he is signing "hurt" b/c he skinned his knee. He reminded me all week that he had a boo-boo on his knee.

He made a few self portraits with the camera.

And here's the grand distraction...this battery sucking remote control car!! It lights up and the lights flash different colors...it's like tot gold, but it's also like battery murder!

Typhoon Lagoon

2011-08-28T15:21:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday was extremely hot here so we decided to enjoy the last of our water park days at Disney. We chose Typhoon Lagoon again and Mason started at the splash boat...with Dad's help.

They only have one raft ride for toddlers at this park, but it's longer and more adventurous with dips and turns and Mason loves it for all those reasons...he rides it at least three times in a row!

They have water hoses that gush water all day long and Mason gave himself a face full.

The kiddie slides are separate at this park, but all near one another on a splash pad with a super soft "floor". Mason loves them!

A general look at the splash pad where the slides are located. And because it's Typhoon Lagoon there's also a washed up boat, some random barrels, and a leaky tower for ambiance.

Peek-a-boo!

Playing with his shadow.

Taking a break to eat some frozen grapes.

Riding the lazy river and playing in the water.

The actual lagoon...the largest (and in my personal opinion) the most powerful wave pool anywhere!

The waves are strong enough to sweep my Tot off his feet every time

Mason and Daddy between waves

Mason's heard the wave beginning, and he's SUPER excited. Mama's watching intently as it gets close so we don't both end up on our bottoms!

Here it is...

Here it is in our faces...they really are very strong waves.

Then we headed back to our shelter for lunch and Mason's nap. While he slept Daddy went to the Shark Reef. You can snorkel or scuba through these waters, but I don't much see the appeal when they have perfectly good windows through which to see sharks without them actually touching (or getting within 1000 feet of) you!

After nap and a brief thunderstorm, we returned to the raft ride!

So glad we did...not too long after this it thundered again and we rode out a pretty nasty afternoon storm under our shelter before heading to Downtown Disney for dinner and dessert.

"L" is for Leaf and Ladybug

2011-08-26T13:59:00.000-04:00

We were back to Tot School around here this week and I decided to change my setup a little in light of Mason's love for the familiar and his desire to have some control over what he does. Instead of setting out a couple of tot trays per day I'm doing 5-6 per week and leaving them out for him to come and go from pretty much as he pleases. I help him some and interact with them myself to encourage him, but he takes some time to warm up to new things so my goal is that he'll master the trays for the week rather than just exposure to a larger variety.

I set out one tray with this sheet for tracing his letter with his dry erase crayons...

with this sheet on the other side of the page protector! Fancy, huh? He's getting very good at tracing these lines which works not only on fine motor and pre-writing skills, but the left to right concept as well. Both pages are from our Tot School printables.

I also got through the same printables page some cutting strips. Usually I just give him different kinds of paper to cut, but I thought I'd try the strips and he did very well, both holding the paper and cutting the lines unassisted!

Then I made him a sticker book (inside are pages for all the colors of stickers I gave him: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, and purple) His task was to remove the stickers and stick them to the correct page. He did great taking off the stickers, but had trouble holding the sticker and getting to the right page, so Mom helped.

His insects are in the container that he loves to play with. The top has a butterfly shaped lever to pinch and it releases the pressure and opens the container. Mason thinks it's great, for reasons known only to him.

I made a color bin...orange this time. He loves to dig in beans and rice so here we can work on saying our colors and he gets to pour and spoon like he loves to do.

Our Tot School mainstay: gluing the items that start with our letter onto our letter! I got the pictures from Preschool Corner on Homeschool Creations. You can link to them both on the sidebar.

Here's Mason doing some more fine motor work with his stickers... why he likes them on his legs I don't know, but it's such a typical tot thing to do I had to laugh!

He was pretty proud of the final effect!

Watching Irene blow by on Thursday...we had a blustery day as the outer rain bands swept over, but only enough to ruffle the trees.

We stayed inside and colored our "L" picture. Mason enjoys tracing the letters...he's traced the lowercase "L" all week and said "I" every time. I've not corrected him. We'll work on lowercase letters next year in Tot School. Right now I'm just glad he knows almost all his capitals.

Our newest Tot School project...a new table for Mason's room. We'll put our Tot School things on it for now, but eventually it will double for blocks and trains and such. You'll see plenty of it in the weeks to come.

Mason doing a little work on his table to help Dad.

Summer Saturday

2011-08-22T13:04:00.000-04:00

In South Florida seasons as most people would think of them are relatively non-existent. But, school still starts and the temperatures cool 10 degrees or so and we call it "Fall" (and another 10 degrees cooler we call it "winter" LOL). So, with that in mind you may roll your eyes as I say summer is winding down here and we decided to take advantage of a steamy day by getting the kiddie car wash back out for Mason to enjoy. He loves more than anything to find the spot where the water pelts him the most, and just stand there!

Here he is doing exactly that...

Daddy took a run through!

Then Mason found the bubble machines and our bubbles have lately been lying on the grass instead of popping! I choose to believe it's a miracle just for my bubble-lovin' Tot!

He scoops up a hand full once his hands are all soapy and pops them one by one after examining them very closely. This serious faced Tot is hard at work!

We'd planned to go to Typhoon Lagoon this coming Friday, but I think we may have an actual Typhoon on our hands so we'll postpone a week and hope the height of hurricane season stays a little quieter after Irene passes by. We've got good Tot School fun planned for this week so I'll post later this week with those pics...maybe as I sit in the hallway riding out a storm. (sigh)

Summer Storms

2011-08-20T13:51:00.000-04:00

Neither Mommy nor Mason have had much of an attention span this week. It's still pretty hot here in South Florida and it's been quite stormy the past couple of weeks. It messes up our motivation to find dark skies all afternoon. We Floridians need our sunshine! It has been cool enough after the rains in the evenings to get outside a little bit so we've taken advantage of our cooler temps.

Mason's taken to throwing random objects up in the air to see where they land. Here he is throwing a pop-it in the air!

We went to church Wednesday night because Mrs. Marion is teaching this month. Here's Mason throwing Jonah (a beanbag) off the boat!

And dancing to music with the scarves...

and trying to hide from God (like Jonah did). You can see that doesn't work!

Trying to blow bubbles. His face is a little downcast because the wind was strong enough to blow the solution off the wand before he could even pucker those tiny lips.

A Tot School project...he enjoys gluing and he's gotten used to the rhythm of this project. Glue on the back, turn it over, pat it down, repeat! And he knows this letter so we've focused on other learning this week.

We used our Sensory Bin some more and played with our ant and dragonfly.

Then on an off day he asked for one of the bins where I keep some of my Tot School supplies...I lovingly call it my junk bin b/c it contains old spice jars, cheap funnels and spoons, drinking bottles, and dollar aisle finds, but they are things we use and enjoy regularly around here!

And we're still working on mastering a free flowing cup - not a tot school task, but WAY important nonetheless. He got a new cup with Mickey Mouse on the front so we've made it one of his back porch cups. One time he drinks perfectly from the spout, and the next he covers his shirt in water! But practice makes perfect and Mickey makes practice more fun.

A little more time at the sand table.

Mason's Splash Party

2011-08-15T14:07:00.000-04:00

We had a few friends over Saturday to take advantage of our still brutally hot weather! Daddy built this kiddie car wash and it was a huge hit with kids and parents alike.

We also set out Mason's sand table

and the bubble machines! It's hard to see but those girls are popping bubbles, not just waving at the sky.

We stopped midway through for popsicles. Here's Mason eating a chocolate popsicle with Mrs. Marion...his very favorite of our preschool teachers at church!

We all had messy faces!

Mason's pop drooped considerably...

but he wasn't deterred. The adults were however a little grossed out!

Here we all are...except me (somebody had to take the picture)!

Inchworms... and a tot mess

2011-08-12T20:26:00.002-04:00

We've had another light Tot School week this week. Mason knew the letter "I" before I started teaching it so I'm really just reviewing what he knows and adding some sensory and tot tray things to keep him busy.

When I found and purchased a couple of Phineas and Ferb buckets in the dollar aisle at Target I honestly thought they'd increase Mason's interest in some of our transferring and fine motor activites...they did, but he's only interested in the buckets! He's so delighted to see the familiar characters that he can't seem to focus on anything else! (sigh!)

'I' in for inchworm! Mason's getting more and more into using his crayons, especially since he can reach their "hiding spot" and I now find them dumped all over my kitchen floor. He is occasionally productive with them though.

This was a fine motor and color matching tray. The object being to take the stickers off the paper and place them on the matching color dot! I got the idea from The Princess and the Tot, who has become a source of tot tray inspiration for me!

Here's Mason working very hard at removing those stickers...he only finished 5 or so and was done, but it was the first time he's given this task concentrated effort so I was pleased with that!

He's enjoying glue more and more so I got this craft from Totally Tots (their button's on my sidebar!) and Mason used School Glue, applied with a Q-tip! He's getting the routine of applying the glue, turning the object over, and patting it down.

And the Sensory Bin for our Insect Unit... ta-da! I used aquarium gravel, a couple of flower pots and flowers from the dollar sections, the rocks leftover from my rock garden bin, blue gems for water, and these bugs! They're remarkably accurate and also (and this is important to me) not remarkably gross!! They're hard plastic so there are no wiggly legs and pieces. I included the grasshopper, ant, bumblebee, caterpillar (we call him our inchworm), a ladybug, a butterfly, and a dragonfly.

He loves to use his scoops and spoons to dig in the gravel.

We fed our inchworm some grass.

He loves to try writing some letters that he knows well..."M", "O", and "I". Here he's writing I in his paint bag.

And here he spilled salt all over the kitchen table while Mommy and Daddy were busy and practiced writing "I" in the salt. I wasn't upset at all over a mess this small. He helped clean up with the vacuum because he loves to be our helper. Sometimes Tots are too fast for their grown-ups...what can I say!

Tot School Aug. 1-5

2011-08-06T14:55:00.000-04:00

This Tot Tray was quite possibly Mason's favorite this week. It's not too much of a challenge for him anymore to sort by color, but the poms aren't so easy to grasp with his tweezers so the task was more fine motor and to a lesser extent color sorting!

Here he is getting started...

And here he's noticed that Mama found buckets with Phineas and Ferb on them! He's beyond thrilled. He was turning the bucket over and over while I said "Phineas!...and Ferb!"

This was another fine motor tray this week... lacing pony beads to stir sticks.

Let me see you concentration face! There it is!!

And there it is again...he works SO hard!

We used this toy to review our letters that we've done so far. I wrote the letters on the board and he used the stampers to black them out...we said "bang!" each time and it increased the fun big time so he totally enjoyed this activity.

As our week slowed we opted for less structure and more free play time, we made these binoculars to look for fish in our ocean books!

I'd swim miles for that sweet face!

Then we traced our lines. Mason loves the eraser mitt that came with our dry erase crayons so he'll do just about any sheet in a page protector so he can use the eraser!! But he did the bottom 2 lines by himself!

Mason's First Movie

2011-08-01T13:02:00.000-04:00

Mason is a huge fan of Winnie the Pooh! We own the original Disney movie based off A.A. Milne's stories and it's the longest movie Mason will sit and watch. He laughs and responds to the characters throughout and it's all out hysterical to watch him watch this movie. So, we decided that since the new Pooh movie in theatres isn't much over an hour we'd take him to see that as a fun outing. He did really well and only got restless during the last 15 minutes or so.
*The new movie is quite different from the original though, and not quite as light-hearted and story driven. It's full of new songs and there's as much drama as laughter. In my humble opinion.*
That said, we enjoyed the time and here are Mason and Daddy in front of the movie poster!

Before we went I had made these peanut butter honeybees for a snack after the movie. They're super easy and they come together in no time. You can link to the recipe at Totally Tots.

Mason loved making his bees fly around. He loved eating them too!

The chocolate made his hands messy, but how would you get pics this cute without those messy fingers to show off?!?

In other news: we had some crazy storms roll through our area this past week so we found a good, cozy, stormy night solution... the tent and tunnel! You can see him looking warily toward his window as the thunder rumbles continuously, but with his Leapfrog drum in there he nearly forgot about the storms in no time! He LOVES this toy and it's been with us since he came home.

Eventually Tigger got a little spooked so he joined Mason in the tent.

Tot School swims through 'J'ellyfish!

2011-07-30T14:48:00.001-04:00

Monday morning Mason found that he could reach the cabinet where I keep some of my Tot Tools and he got out these matching wheels and wanted to play with them... he loves being able to have some control over what we do, so lots of my Tot School stuff is down where he can get to it with just a little help! He matched the shapes, which don't match by color on purpose (it makes him focus on the shape! ;-) )

... then he wanted to match them to the colors. You'll notice I don't have anything for gray or black, but somehow this slight made him notice them more and he now knows the color gray! (We usually use this tot tool with toys from around the house in the respective colors.)

We're still enjoying the ocean so we made an ocean scene with our stickers...good fine motor practice!

For some reason this activity has become a staple of our letter learning. It gives him another example of the letter to see and touch and the time spent gluing on the objects that start with that letter gives me lots of time to talk about the things we're gluing and the sound they make. He's doing this more and more independently every time! Not that it's becoming "old hat" so to speak, but he gaining confidence and the knowledge of what's coming when Mommy cuts out our letter!! Oh, and I download my letter pictures from here.

He's enjoying his crayons and markers more and more and he likes them naked for some reason, so he stripped the purple with the greatest of ease and he's pretty pleased with himself as you can see from the look on his face! It's good fine motor work to peel a crayon, though it's not exactly what I had in mind.

He did however set right to work coloring his "Jj" page with me. Another time when I talk nonstop about the pictures and letter. We trace the letter at least once. This coloring page was part of our printables pack from Tot School this week.

Mason had just woken up Tuesday morning when he spied some of my supplies out and ready for the day. I had this idea for some fine motor work combined with a pouring tray so I pulled together small pouring bottles (vanilla extract, a spice jar with small holes, a tiny funnel, and a few other things). He did pretty well, and it kept him busy 'til the pancakes were done!

I honestly don't remember where I got this file folder game for shape matching, but Mason loves it above all our others! I'm pretty sure it came from Homeschool Creations: Preschool Corner which you can link to from their button on my sidebar!

These were another part of our J printables pack. It's supposed to be a sequencing activity, but it turned into a great way to work on small, medium, large. Then Mason wanted to count since the shells were still out from an earlier counting activity. Here's our work:

We also had a sheet that I decided to try that introduces tracing lines but more importantly the concept of left to right...you know like we read! Ah ha! I did one line, and I guided his hand on the next one, but he did the third by himself! I was proud!!

I got this Jellyfish craft idea from Totally Tots (in the sidebar). They have a whole bunch of ideas related to the ocean, and we enjoyed this one. It took a few minutes to complete but my little man hung in there and did all the gluing himself!

I set this out for number matching...cute right? The blocks are from our Melissa and Doug lacing bead set, and the cards have very light pictures of jellies on them. They're from Tot School.

He did them all by himself! He is starting to get the 6 and 9 and see their differences every time. Mama's pleased! :-)

We had a pretty eventful weekend as well...I'll try to post pics of the weekend separately maybe Monday or Tuesday.

Mini Upside-Down Cakes

2011-07-28T08:51:00.000-04:00

I found a recipe in Food Network Magazine that I was dying to try and we finally did last weekend. It turned out great and if you're a fan of pineapple upside-down cake you'll love how simple this is to make. Plus, we don't eat tons of dessert around here so these 3-4 mini portions was perfect for a rainy afternoon snack! Here's the finished product...

And here's the recipe:

Spray 4 four-ounce ramekins with cooking spray. (I used 3 seven ounce ramekins and it worked fine too.) Sprinkle brown sugar in the bottom of each and line with slices of pineapple. (I used frozen, thawed b/c I had it on hand, but canned or fresh would also work.) Whisk 1 egg. 1/4 c. buttermilk, 3 T. melted butter ad a dash of vanilla extract in a bowl. Then stir in 1/2 c. flour, 6 T. sugar, 1/2 t. baking powder, 1/8 t. baking soda, and a pinch of salt. Divide among the ramekins.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350.

(Mine had to bake closer to 30 b/c I used the larger ramekins, but they were still perfect!)

Let them cool before you invert them onto your serving plates.

Top with confectioners' sugar and enjoy!

As you can see Mason loved his...and Daddy just likes to have his picture taken!

Yes, he kicks his little foot up on the edge of the table when he eats...he's relaxed! What can I say?

Disney's Blizzard Beach - Round 2

2011-07-23T19:31:00.000-04:00

We took another trip to Blizzard Beach- a day trip- and we have decided that we absolutely LOVE this water park!! The lazy river is long and only 2.5 feet deep, the water's cool (which fits the theme well), and it's a little quieter atmosphere than Disney's other water park Typhoon Lagoon. For everything you could possibly want to know about Disney's Water Parks click here!

Mason and Daddy havin' a splash fight!!

Our little guy is part fish. He wants to stick his head under water so badly he can't hardly stand it, so here's Daddy helpin' him get as close as possible.

Playing Peek-a-boo with Mama on the lazy river.

A few shots of the Tike's Peak area...for kids 48" and under...strictly enforced by the Disney lifeguards so the Tots always have the best slides all to themselves in these parts!! The story behind this park is kind of interesting, as you may know Disney themes everything and leaves no detail unattended! The Blizzard Beach Legend.

This snowman thinks he's beat the odds!! LOL. I love this little guy and the others like him all over the park, half-melted and smirky!

A view from the top of the hill at Tike's Peak. There are 4 body slides and a tube run that wind off this hill, but none too dangerous for my 27 month old tot! There are also 4 slides that are smaller behind this view. It's a little fishes' paradise. The rocky creek you can see at the bottom of the shot is the waterfall from our other pics...it's one of Mason's favorite places to stand.

Mason on a body slide! This is one of the four smaller ones at the top of the hill.

Mason on the raft slide! He LOVES these rafts. Truly loves them!

Those are the highlights for the most part...we always take loads of pictures. There's some video posted below this post...make sure to check it out.

Oh, and if you follow this blog regularly...THANKS!! I'd love to do a giveaway of some sort once my number of followers gets to something nice and round...maybe 30 or 50! Leave a comment letting me know what type of things interest you and I can try to cater posts accordingly. Thanks for following our family's journey. We hope you see what a miracle it is when God makes families through adoption!

Our day at Blizzard Beach! Part 1

2011-07-22T19:24:00.002-04:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tot School and the Octopus!

2011-07-21T16:57:00.000-04:00

This past week we finished up the letter "O". Mason recognizes and can say "O", even from the print in a book so I'd consider that Tot School success!! He got a letter this week in the mail and after giving it to him he copied me by smiling and giving it back to me. I tried to explain that it was for him and after he got it he hugged and carried around tha envelope for a while before we opened it! It had stickers inside!!

A Tot Tray for this week: Octopus numbers which he matched with the numbers off the fridge.

Starting simple...two and three.

I made a paint bag so he could practice tracing his letters and drawing in the paint! Here he is tracing the "O" I drew...His Os are considerably more crooked! :-)

Our newest find and favorite skill this week: CUTTING!! We bought these scissors and they're designed especially for children just learning to cut. They are as great as could be and Mason was thrilled with them! I don't have any pictures of him cutting because I had to hold the paper for him...we're just learning. One step at a time!

Our octopus craft... we glued googly eyes to a small paper bowl and Mama cut legs from craft foam. We glued those to the bottom of our bowl and let it dry. Cute, huh?

We did some Tot Tray pouring: Mason chose his ladle...

.... and the yellow bucket. He's pouring some plastic fish and sea shells to go with our ocean theme. I got them on clearance at Target...they were supposed to be table scatter for a summer party! And yes, he's nearly naked again...Mama sighs.

Playin' in the "O"cean (and VBS!)

2011-07-16T09:56:00.000-04:00

This week we're starting the Letter O...it's a hectic week with VBS every morning and Mason already recognizes and can say "O" so I figured if we didn't get to ANY Tot School at all he wouldn't miss much by spending only one week on this letter. We did end up doing a few things, but mainly his Ocean bin...he spent an hour of solid concentration with this on Monday, and 30 minutes or better on a few other days! He's playing in it now as I post with his Daddy! He went to the cabinet and pointed to it, and was so excited to sit on his towel and get ready to play! So here it is...

I included blue aquarium gravel, and aquarium plants...mine were only a couple dollars a piece, sea shells, blue and green glass jewels, and a set of bathtub ocean creatures we already had. Mason loves to use his measuring spoons to dig through the gravel and pour the water.
We played a counting game that he initiated by pouring from the little scoop to the big one and counting how many times he poured. He smiles and enjoys hearing the rhythm of saying the numbers.

What a curious find!! It took him a day to learn to manage the strainer b/c the handle is too long for him to control it, but by day 2 he was using one hand to stabilize it and the other to turn it over and dump the gravel.

This was one of our few tot trays this week...using chopsticks to transfer erasers to this cute ice cube mold I found in the clearance aisle! Mason loves how wiggly the mold is!

Mason at VBS with a few friends in the ball pool!
"Could one of you big people spare a cup of juice?"

On the sit and spin!!

Showing off his first day craft...reluctantly...

and with a little more enthusiasm this time!!

Sleepin' it off! He was a little more than bothered that HIS mommy was holding and playing with other kids this week. It was a long week and he was exhausted and overdone every day, but we're back at home this coming week for some much needed time in the yard and some R&R!!

I know some of you may be thinking...if you live in Florida why on Earth didn't you go to the beach for the Ocean unit??? Because it's SUPER humid outside! We'll be having sand play on out porch in the shade under the fan, and some time in the evenings outside, but seriously...it's just not worth it! We do however LOVE going to the beach in the cooler season!

'W'atermelon week!

2011-07-09T16:01:00.000-04:00

This past week was our second week doing W for Watermelon along with our 4th of July sensory bin!

Here's Mason doing his dot markers on our 'W' page.

Here he's playing a color sorting folder game that I got here...matching the paintbrushes to the color pouches!

Ok, I forgot to turn the picture around, but you can tell he's learning to drink from a cup...it's only water and he's on the tile floor in the kitchen for easy clean-up!

Number cards for counting...we used colored glass jewels because he always finds them interesting to work with...he's starting to get the routine of counting and taking initiative in this activity!

Some fine motor work with chopsticks...Daddy enjoyed this transferring activity with Mason since he was home during our Tot School time!

A twist on a familiar theme...this transferring my chopsticks to yours was followed by a chopstick duel of sorts. (Daddy initiated of course!)

We spent some time lacing these beads, but they make great stackers and an even better sound when they crash on the kitchen floor! And it's great fine and gross motor practice in one!

And last but not least, Mason has learned that he fits in his Tot Tools cabinet if he cleans out all the stuff onto the kitchen floor! Yeah!!

Oh, and he's nearly naked in all these pics because we've hit that time of summer when it's hot...even in the AC you can feel the heat from outside. And he sweats like crazy, and he's cranky when he's hot so it's easier this way...so blog followers will see LOTS of tot tummy this summer! :-)

Our Cincinnati Trip!

2011-07-04T15:40:00.000-04:00

Since Daddy was out of town this past week Mason and Mama spent time with Aunt Molly and Uncle Matt and Mammaw. Auntie M and Matt have a wonderful 100 yr. old home that Mason enjoyed exploring! We did lots of running around and taking advantage of the city of Cincinnati and enjoyed meeting Henry, the puppy.

Here's Mason swinging with Auntie M at the park.

He played with the ball while we watched Uncle Matt's church league game! Then he laid down in a mud puddle and went home in just a diaper!

With Aunt Molly and Uncle Matt...whom Mason always snuggles upon seeing! He loves this pair! It's mutual.

Aunt Molly and Mason. What you can't see is that he's playing the key remote to her car so he's flashing the lights and blowing the horn...and it always makes him smile!

Molly's sunglasses are WAY too big for my face!

Relaxing in the yard...Mammaw saved this chair that's just Mason's size!

Picking tomatoes in the garden.

Playing peek-a-boo through the fence

Mammaw's yard had fresh blackberries..yum yummy!

Mason loves Mammaw's hammock! and his blanket which he currently calls his "night-night"

We're all back together this week and are enjoying spending lots of time at home playing in the yard!

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon!!

2011-06-26T14:47:00.000-04:00

Since we're going to be apart this coming week (Daddy's going to Centri-Kid with the kids from church) we decided to take Friday and head to a Water Park for some extended family fun!

Mason got right down to it...walking on his hands!

Then it was to the lazy river to do some floatin'! You may notice that Mama's not a huge fan of being splashed in the face! (sigh)

This ride sure makes me sleepy. I think I'll lay back and...Ahhh!!

Typhoon Lagoon has one of the biggest, nicest wave pools in the world...here comes a wave!

Mason versus the wave...Mason was declared the winner after we pulled up his trunks!

Mason's first raft ride!
He did great on the mini rapids and the dips and turns...made Daddy and Mama a little nervous letting him go the first time, but he did great and it didn't hurt that the lifeguard walked beside him the whole time!

Check out his face here...LOL!

Hey-o!

I LOVE being in the water!! Signed, Mason

It was a great day and we can't wait to return...4 weeks and counting!

Disney's Blizzard Beach!!

2011-06-22T14:04:00.000-04:00

Mama's all of a sudden got a mean spontaneous streak that strikes when Mickey crosses her mind! We'd never been to Disney's water parks because we prefer to see the Mouse in the off season when it's cooler in the parks, but too cool for water play. Our trip this time though was for our anniversary, May 29th, and it was plenty warm to enjoy some splashing!!
The toddler play area is huge and full of things that toddlers really can do all by themselves...Mama was major impressed with Mickey's water parks!

Mason enjoyed walking backwards on his hands...he loves being in the water!!

These wobbled on a spring and Mason thought they were funny.

Mason and Daddy going down the big kiddie slide!

Mason and Momma chillin' in the Lazy River.

Mason and Daddy floatin' along

Most of the time he was very serious about holding onto the handles of his float...he sat straight up and treated it like a ride. He was also a little possessive about anyone touching his float!

This was one of 4 slides that he could climb to and slide down completely unassisted!

He feels SO big boy...can't you tell!

The other funny thing is that we have passes for 3 more days at Disney water parks so we're taking 3 more Fridays this summer and going to see the Mouse and his Water! Typhoon Lagoon pics should be up later this weekend...maybe Sunday afternoon if all goes as planned! We're SO looking forward to this weekend!!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-18T20:43:00.000-04:00

...to the best Dad we know!! We love you, Daddy.

Mason couldn't have a better Daddy than YOU!!

(from Disney's Blizzard Beach...more of these to come soon.)

A Slow Week

2011-06-11T21:11:00.000-04:00

I decided that this week instead of a sensory bin to go with our jungle theme I'd go with a color bin...guess which one I chose! All these things I found around the house, but combined in a new way gave us new ways to play with our same old stuff.

Here's Mason enjoying the yellow Lego car.

And here's Mason enjoying mom's camera!

We did "M" for Monkey, but I found this M for m&m sheet and had to print it...sometimes with the dot markers he hurries or just bangs, but sometimes he focuses and takes his time...

He actually took his time and did a really great job!

We played with our "penny" bank and then used our monkey number cards to count the pennies.

Then we played Play-Doh and while I left to go potty he dumped all the cookie cutters in the floor...and found a circle to spin! (eye roll)

Disney Fun!!

2011-06-03T12:00:00.001-04:00

An after dinner brownie/cupcake!!! Babycakes just opened in Downtown Disney (inside Pollo Campero) and their sweets are gluten, soy, dairy, and refined sugar free so Mason can have one right before bed and still sleep!! Mama and Daddy got yummy treats too!

Mason had trouble understanding that while in the jeep through Kilamanjaro Safari was moving he was allowed out of his seat, so here he is missing almost all the scenery with his hiney firmly planted! hehe

When I got him up to look at the baby elephant...he stared at the wheels and the water under the truck! Whatever! He did see the elephant long enough to imitate it, which is hysterical!

Breakfast in the room...looking out our window from 15 floors above the Disney property. We could see every major landmark but the Kingdom from our room.

Hugs for Tigger and Pooh.

The Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it! Street Party. This is awesome...they parade out like any other Disney parade, but the floats all park in the castle forecourt and the characters, dancers, and stilt-walkers dance there for 15-20 minutes, leading conga lines and dances through the streets!

Mason's recently learned to "choo-choo" so he wanted to ride the train, loved it. We kicked our shoes off and enjoyed our smoothie's and the breeze!

Then we met the Mouse and Minnie...a mandatory Magic Kingdom activity...with A/C!!

Mason couldn't have been more pleased with his dinner at the Plaza Restaurant...a turkey sandwich, apple slices, carrot sticks, grapes as an appetizer, and chocolate chip cookies to go for dessert! He ate like he'd never seen food.

One last ride on the carousel with Daddy while Mama stood in the balloon line.

All in all a VERY GOOD trip and there's no place this bunch would rather be! We're suckers for the Mouse! Oh, and we're starting a Jungle unit in Tot School doing M for Monkey (or Mickey Mouse) and H for Hippo...those pics later on.

7 yrs. of wishes coming true!

2011-05-26T19:15:00.001-04:00

Happy Anniversary to an unbelievable mom and amazingly beautiful wife!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Daddy's Haiti Week

2011-05-24T13:47:00.000-04:00

It was a warm, buggy week last week and Daddy was gone, but here are a few shots of our week with Mammaw. We put the pool on the back porch and here's Mason demonstrating "cheese!" He's finally mastered the face, beautiful smile and his Mama loves it!

Here I am again...in all my glory! and my cute swimmie trunks.

Mama and Mammaw had Sewing 101 after Mason went to bed every night...good mama times and a cute playhouse for Mason resulted from one session. We also made a new cover for the pad in his high chair and 2 shirts for Mama. This draped over our kitchen table and I got the pattern from Family Fun Magazine. The decor is all our own though.

I did LOTS of banging with my hammer...

and Mammaw got to pull out the nails so I could hammer again! Yipee!!

Here we are deciding what we should add to our potato next. A very important decision!

It was a good week and Daddy got back safe and sound from Haiti. Thanks for prayers for he and the team. They made good friends and God used them to help a few Haitian families get back into a home of their own and out of the tent cities!! Slowly but surely good things are happening and we're praying for Haiti.

Just a note

2011-05-13T13:06:00.000-04:00

Here are a few snackin' pics from the week. Mama made granola bars and adapted the recipe a little to make it more Tot friendly...no hard nuts or seeds. Mason LOVES them so they'll make regular appearances at snacktime from now on.

He always wants to see and use the camera so I told him to smile and I'd make his picture and show him...I said "cheese" (which he adores) and he thought it was funny so he practiced copying me. Our first attempt at a forced smile...

a little better...

OK mom, now you're just bein' silly! But Mama got a great picture of a smiley boy so it's worth it!

Here's the recipe for the granola bars...makes an 8x8 square dish, but could easily be doubled.
Melt 4T. butter with 1/4 c. honey. Mix 3c. oats, 1c. nuts (any kind you like- I used crushed peanuts and walnuts), 1/2 c. seeds(I added a few more nuts instead, but pumpkin or sunflower work well), 1/2 t. cinnamon, and 1/4 t. salt. Then mix with butter. Spread on a large sheetpan and bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes, stirring every five.
Cool granola mixture and add 1 c. raisins.
Combine 1/3 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. light corn syrup, and 1/2 c. creamy peanut butter. Heat until the sugar dissolves. Mix with granola and press into 8x8 baking dish, sprayed with PAM. Allow to cool and harden. They save for a week in a plastic bag once cooled and cut...healthy snacks all week!!

We did a few Tot School things this week, but mostly just creative play and feeding the bears in our sensory bin.
Keep our Daddy in your prayers next week as he leads a small group from our church to help Rebuild Haiti. Mammaw will be coming to play this week! Safe travels for all.

C is for Caterpillar

2011-05-09T14:00:00.000-04:00

This week was back to normal and we started a new unit! Our letter for last week and this is C. Mason has come to LOVE his do-a-dot markers so we do them often. Here he is doing his C page. He knows exactly what to do with these now so he enjoys taking charge and dotting all the circles!

His finished work gets one final dot!

Daddy gets in on the Tot School action with a shapes puzzle.

Here's our sensory bin for this unit. I modified an idea from Totally Tots that used bears as a winter theme to make them more spring/summer for us since it's already HOT outside! Our bears eat red berries and nuts and they like to climb the mountain and eat fish from the lake. I love all the textures in this bin and Mason does too.

His other favorite this week has been a Winnie the Pooh book...I've moved it to his book basket with other bear books like Paddington, Corduroy, and our Eric Carle bear books plus lots more. He enjoys the familiar Disney artwork and saying "hi" to the characters.

Our week was a little more relaxed than some (maybe due to the heat) so I gave in to some TV time. Watching Wizards on Disney Channel on Tigger!

Do-a-dots again!! A Caterpillar in the shape of a C, and Mason picking the purple marker...

then he went to town making purple dots on his caterpillar!

Some fine motor work...poking penne pasts through pre-punched holes in a Cheerios box. He prefers this kind of activity above some others so this tot tool makes an appearance every other week or so.

More fine motor: pony beads on a pipe cleaner. This was harder than putting them on a straw or stir stick and he gave up fairly quickly, but it was late Wednesday night so we played the rest of the evening.

"B"e better!

2011-05-02T13:35:00.000-04:00

So this was the second week in a row that Mason was sick, but this week as opposed to last, he didn't feel bad. So we played as usual, and being our last week of our spring theme we used our number cards to count to three.

I cut these pieces from foam and mismatched the colors on purpose so he'd focus on the shapes. He needs a little help now, "put the green star on the purple star," but this tot tool will grow with him.

It's such hard work!! Makes me sleepy. (he'd just woken up from a nap!)

I set up this color matching game with a muffin tin and foam circles.

We sorted the poms by color, and then threw them one by one across the room. I didn't mind, but I think he thought I'd be upset since he said "ut-oh" with each throw! It didn't keep him from throwing them ALL though! :-)

"B" is for ball...week 2! Do-a-dot markers are one of his favorite tot school activities...it's great one-to-one work and he totally gets it so he enjoys it!

"B"all stickers= lots of fun and good fine motor practice! I take the backing off the page for him so it's a little easier.

By Wednesday, Momma decided that enough was enough of being inside and "stay out of the sun" so we put his little pool on the porch, under the shade and the fan and played there...doctors orders followed and stir crazy averted!!

This is another tot tool idea that was a MAJOR hit with this tot!! There are instructions to make it here. He loved matching the colors and watching the pipe cleaners disappear down the can.

We try to get in some one-to-one counting every week, sometimes more than once, but it's more challenging for this tot than colors and shapes so I try to take it easy and do it when he has the energy and mood to enjoy it. Here we're matching poms to velcro dots on teh numbers. The folder goes 1-10, but we just do 1,2,3! And that way it's fun!

Easter Week!

2011-04-25T12:38:00.000-04:00

This week was intended to be the start of 2 glorious weeks of "B" is for ball!! Mason loves balls and circles and we were going to bounce and throw all week long. Instead he got sick for the very first time in his life and as a result we weren't very productive at all. We did manage a few things throughout the week, but only a very few.

Our first "B" activity was a basket of every ball I could find in the house.

I know we own more than this, but Mason likes to stash things in secret spots and therefore Mommy doesn't always know where things are! ;-)

He actually did evjoy sitting in the balls all week, even dragging his blanket in with him for cuddles in the balls!

We glued our "B" objects on our "B".

Our finished work on the fridge.

I hid "B"s and "B" items in his rice bin.

We found them and then used the rice to pour and scoop.

Mason loves stickers and so I peeled the backing off this page and let him put them on his paper. I had to start most of them, but it's still good fine motor work.

We've watched more Pooh this week than I can tell (without embarrassment) so we got out the Pooh crayons on a break and colored our ball.

Hard at work...

Then the Easter bunny came... his favorite Gerber fruit twists!

a slinky which we make walk off furniture and such since we don't have stairs. He also loves to lay under it and have Daddy bounce it toward his face!

Easter egg chalk for his chalkboard.

Mommy and Mason are dressed for church, though only as ready as one can be while sick. Yuckys!

We enjoyed our Easter dinner and a cherry buckle for dessert. Mason finally started eating again after almost a week of denying just about everything, for which Mommy was VERY grateful. We got a new antibiotic that shouldn't give us the tummy troubles the first one did, and Mason ate mac and cheese for dinner and fell asleep in the floor after a nice walk outside. It's been a tough week, but we're on the mend and hope to be more ourselves this week. We're still doing "B" things and today we'll make "B"anana "B"read for "B"reakfast in the morning!

Tot School #2

2011-04-18T13:03:00.000-04:00

This week was slower than some around here due to Mama being busy cleaning the house, running errands, and Mason being cranky with his 2 year molars coming in (how long does it take these suckers to come through? anybody?). We were still somewhat productive in Tot School. We practiced our one-to-one counting...just 1,2,3 so as not to overwhelm or discourage my tot. We've found lts of ways to work this sing-song rhythm into our play...banging the bed or drum 3 times and chanting for example. I just want him to get these first, then we'll worry about all the ones that come after.

And he's a champ at shapes! I made this folder game for him to match the shapes, but again I didn't give him all the shapes at once. I'll add more as we go, but I want him to feel successful and proud of what he can do, not overwhelm him with all that he can't do yet. You can see he placed the crescent first...he learned this shape 'cause he loves to be out at night and look for the moon. He finds it first thing out the door, even in the day (if it's visible)! and the circle goes here...

and the star...

and the square...

and the oval and triangle! He completed all the shapes I gave him without help. I simply showed him how to match the shapes and he did this in just a minute or two. "And without assistance," Mama crowed proudly!

I found this sheet with apples at all the points of the A. He doesn't want help with much of anything now...it's all "I do, I do, I do!" so he struggled with letting me guide his hand to write the letter. Here we said "apple to apple to apple and cross!" and he found it fun! He clapped for us when we were finished and then added his own decorative touch!

We rehid our As and A objects in beans this time..."hiding" is such a loose term, but he gets more excited to see the alligator peeking out than if he's totally buried. Peek-a-boo gator!

"Here's an A, mom!"

So that's pretty much our week. We're working on "B" this week and we're still playing springtime and baby animals with our "B" fun!

Tot School- Week 1

2011-04-08T14:38:00.000-04:00

We are beginning around here something called Tot School...it's NOT school. It's just time every day when I make creative games or activities to expose him to concepts he might not otherwise encounter or to reinforce what we learn through our play times like colors and shapes and letters. You'll see...

This first month we're checking out all kinds of library books about springtime, kites, baby animals, and Easter! We're reading and enjoying.
Here's our sensory bin for this month: I made a springtime garden...a rock garden b/c they're fun and easier to get off the carpet than dirt! I got the idea here. He dug in the rocks, filled the pots, and enjoyed the different feels of the rocks.

We're also working on each letter for recognition (mainly uppercase) for 2 weeks. We'll be able to complete all the letters this year and go back next year to work on lowercase and tracing. Our first tray (red) is gluing apples and alligators on an "A." The yellow tray was a matching game with baby animals. He got them all right, they match by color as well. The third tray was finger paint with Apples which he was ok with until it got on his fingers. Then he wanted to go wash his hands, something he signs by rubbing them together vigorously! For more on the tot tray concept click here.

This was his first experience with glue, but he did well.

Another tray was for fine motor fun...moving poms from one container to another with training chopsticks...they work like tongs and ours have animals on them.

Then we put them aside to color on our letter sheet. I put it in a page protector to make a dry erase surface. I love how quickly he's moving here...blurry arm!

Then we played a game with all kinds of "A"s.

I hid them in a bin of colored rice and we had fun finding them!

Then we hid them again and poured and played with the rice.

Then we used do-a-dot markers to find all the "A"s on an apple.

I showed him how to use the marker and he did pretty good.

Those are our first week highlights. We'll be doing more "A" and more springtime things next week.

Mason's 2!!!

2011-04-05T14:16:00.000-04:00

It's taken a while to post (computer issues) but Mason had a WONDERFUL 2nd birthday at Disney World! It took us 2 days to celebrate and they were two great days. The day before his birthday we ate a cupcake, opened presents, and went out for a birthday dinner. Then on his birthday we went to see The Mouse, whom he loves almost as much as Mama and Daddy!

The icing on the cupcake was weird for him but with the help of a fork it was yummy too!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Drinking Miso through a straw! He adores this soup, including the tofu and seaweed in it!!

Day 2: I think Mickey's around that corner...

Oh my gosh, he is!! I'd like a hug Mickey Mouse. This is Mason's universal sign for hugs! He always does this when he wants one.

Finally, a birthday hug from Mickey!

And a picture with The Mouse and Minnie

His favorite ride...strapped in on his very own horse. Wheee!!

On the new Winnie the Pooh ride...he's just started to enjoy the Pooh movie and characters within the past couple of weeks so he really enjoyed this ride, though his teeth were buggin' him all day! (2 year molars- ouch!)

Tryin' to control a teacup

One last carosel ride (we rode 4 times).

We couldn't have had more fun! Mason's really beginning to enjoy interacting with people and he's figuring out how to get reactions, even from strangers! He's cute as could be (in my opinion) so that helps. He's remembering the rides and characters and it's wonderful to see him noticing the world around him in new ways.

Footnote: he had his 2 year check-up today and he's growing well. He weighs 24 pounds and he's 32 inches tall...he's still a little bug, but he's right on track and doing so well.

2011-04-01T16:58:00.000-04:00

· Those of you who love Mason, at some point today or tonight, would you please raise a glass, a mug, or a prayer of thankfulness to his birthmother? It's 6:00am (April 2) in Korea as I type, and today her son is two. How we WISH she could see him: so beautiful, entertaining, mischievous, bright, theatrical...SO LOVED. She has blessed more than we could ever repay and we are better for the influence she has in our lives.

Birthday Week!!

2011-03-29T18:25:00.001-04:00

Mason's birthday is this Saturday so we thought we'd put up some pictures from the last year...he's grown and changed so much from this time last year. He'd been home a little over a month on his First Birthday and we did a traditional Korean Tol. It was a special party and he wore the hanbok his foster family bought for him. He picked rice for abundance from his Tol items.

His first holiday home was Easter ...he climbed all over Daddy and played with plastic eggs.

Then in June a friend from church came over with her very nice camera to take some pictures of Mason. She caught this one of one of the first games he'd play with us...Bucket Head! It made him laugh to see himself in the mirror like this.

We learned body parts quickly thanks to a very enjoyable book by Karen Katz called "Toes, Ears, and Nose." These are my ears!

This one was also made by our friend...he's always been a finger-sucker.

I danced to "Ice Ice Baby" with Aunt Molly at her wedding last summer. He did great until he noticed everyone was watching and got a little stage fright!

My first Halloween- Grrrrr!

My first Disney trip- November 2010.

The Carosel is my favorite ride because the horses go round and round.

Any water sprayer is good too!

My first Thanksgiving dinner... yum yummy!

Sweet potatoes are the best.

Decorating our Christmas tree on a day when it was 80 degrees outside.

My first Christmas!

Christmas morning!!

We learned to dip food into a sauce. This may not sound like a big deal, but this boy loves to dip any food into any sauce. It's a favorite new skill!

We fed giraffes.

We learned to eat a banana straight from the peel, again not a HUGE deal, except to us. It's fun for him and hysterical to watch!

We celebrated the return of warm weather with a trip to the beach.

We celebrated Family Day, February 22nd, by eating at our favorite local Korean restaurant.

Here we are with our friend Mrs. Jane on Family Day.

It's been a busy and wonderful year. We're looking forward to another year with our little boy. We'll be starting some new things soon, like Tot School (see the link to the left) so keep watching our blog.

Mama had an idea...

2011-03-21T13:43:00.000-04:00

Mama doesn't usually do anything as spontaneous as going to Disney for a day, let alone going to Disney for a day and buying tickets to return 3 more times in the next 6 months...Mama's not acting much herself lately!! Disney is only a couple hours from our house so in my defense: it's not completely crazy!!

Saturday as I was getting Mason ready for the day I said, "If I had annual passes I'd go to Disney today." We went from that comment to packing for the day in less than an hour!! We knew we wouldn't get on the road until after Mason's lunch so we planned to stay until his bedtime...it worked wonderfully and he enjoyed it immensely! We packed snacks and drinks and Mason's PJs and toothbrush and left the house right after lunch. We got to the park around 1:45 and enjoyed ourselves until 8:30 that evening. It was a perfect day and we had such a good time!

He remembered the carosel from a previous trip, so we did that first!

He did this by pointing madly at the horses and indicating that they go round and round, and "yes" he'd like to go round and round with them!!

The little girl next to us was clapping along with him!

And it was just as fun as we remember it being!

So we rode again, with Daddy this time!

Then came our FastPass time to ride the new Pooh Bear ride. While in line we were next to some teenagers from Japan and Mason was making eyes at the girls and they were cooing at him. He LOVES balloons and kept pointing at the balloon of one of the young ladies. She relinquished the balloon (and after Mama's protests that she really should keep it) he kept the balloon and said "thank you" for the rest of the day! They were gracious and kind and Mason totally loved the balloon! :-)

He loved it so much that it had to be in our family picture...it looks nice, don't you think?!?

Then we ate dinner at the Plaza Restaurant (yum yummy!) and from there had time for only a few more rides. The carosel was first (surprise!), then we made our way to Small World! Here we are looking at all the wonderful things we recognized...elephants, drums, balloons, monkeys, etc.

The last thing we found was the Korean characters...they're in the same room as China, Japan, and India and are appropriately dressed in their hanbok!

So it was a wonderful day and by the time we arrived back at the car we were all tired, but happy. Mason got dressed for bed and brushed his teeth. Then we set Scout (Leapfrog Puppy) for 10 minutes of bedtime music and by the time the music was over Mason was sound asleep! It was a wonderful day!

Ahhh, Florida in February!

2011-02-27T13:58:00.004-05:00

We've been having beautiful weather lately (lows in the 60s and highs in the low 80s) and we took full advantage this weekend. We bought seeds for lots of veggies and herbs and planted those; carrots and lettuce, basil and cilantro, cucumbers and zucchini and green onions and more. We're planning to fence the yard within the next few months and plant a real garden out back but since we're not there just yet we used lots of planters and pots for our garden this spring. Mason of course helped some and played in the dirt a lot, but we had a wonderful time outdoors. Here are some of our gardening pics:

His very own bag of dirt!

by the handful...
and into my pot. Ta-da!

I'm a gnome!

planting cilantro with Mama

He's almost the height of the bag of soil!

What a little guy.

Then we had dinner outside on the back porch!

We grilled chicken teriyaki and pineapple and had rice and sauted veggies on the side.

Eating rice literally by the handful!

It's so nice to make a mess/eat dinner outdoors!

Family picture!

Happy Family Day!

2011-02-23T13:34:00.006-05:00

We celebreated our first Family Day yesterday, the 22nd! Family Day is the day they placed Mason in our arms forever and we became a family. Since there was a 4 day weekend last weekend we took advantage by taking special trips... see posts below! Daddy had to go back to work today so the morning and afternoon were more like our normal days at home, but we read Mason's lifebook and looked at lots of pictures of his time in Korea. We bought a small Korean flag that he played with and waved around. (there's a full size Korean flag on the house today!!) We went out to eat at our local Korean restaurant and enjoyed as always a delicious meal. Here are a few pictures of our evening...

The veggie pancakes are my favorite!

The dipping sauce is wonderful...on everything!!

Miso soup is great...especially when Ms. Jane brings extra tofu and seaweed! Yum Yummy!

Daddy's galbi hits the spot too, and the soybean sprouts, oh, and the broccoli too!

As you can see he ate lots of everything and he LOVES Korean food! Our friend Ms. Jane works at the restsurant and shared so much of her story with us. It was great getting to know her better and letting her dote on Mason. He blew her a kiss as we were leaving! It was a wonderful night and a delicious meal with a great friend.

Not too get too mushy, but this day a year ago was delightful and exciting and scary, but we were finally a family after such a long wait! Mason has fit into our little family so perfectly and we couldn't imagine life without him. As Mason's Mammaw said on our family day, "God has richly blessed us!"

Daddy and Me

2011-02-22T20:57:00.001-05:00

Our first day together as a family in Seoul!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Beach Day!

2011-02-21T18:03:00.008-05:00

For Presidents Day, we decided to go to our local beach. It was beautiful weather! 80 degrees and a slight breeze gave us a great day. Mason, as always, charged the waves with gusto and giggled all the way.

Mama, this water is really cold! (By the looks of things, she already knows)

Snack time.

Catch me if you can daddy! I goin' to the ocean!

Lion Country Safari

2011-02-18T19:33:00.007-05:00

After a long week, we decided to start this long weekend with a "roar!" We had discussed getting season passes to Lion Country Safari in West Palm Beach as a fun activity for this year. After our trip to the immigration office this morning to get Mason's Certificate of Citizenship (YEAH!), we drove around according to mom's directions. Needless to say, we got lost (Dad wasn't a big help with directions either). So we got proper directions and finally found our way. We arrived just before lunch and purchased our tickets and off we went discovering all kinds of animals. We had lunch, then walked around the Safari world park looking at all the birds and other animals that they had. We got to feed little birds up close and even giraffes!!! After that we walked to the splash park and cooled off. Mason really enjoyed the splash park. After that we were ready to finish our day with the drive-thru safari that the park is known for. Wow, what a trip! We got to see all kinds of African animals walking all around, even some lions as we drove by. What a great day!

I'm a monkey!

Feeding the birds.

Mama and her little man

Feedin' Giraffes

Daddy, the water is cooold!

The splash park was my favorite!!!

Mammaw's Visit

2011-02-13T11:42:00.005-05:00

Mason's Mammaw came for a short visit this past weekend. It was uncharacteristically cold for South Florida so we shopped a little one day and just hung out around the house the next. Here are a few pictures of our visit...

We made beautiful music on the "meowsic."

We read lots of books together!

"When I got my ABCs in the right spots Mammaw was so proud of me!"

"I love to hang upside down!"

"I had SO much fun with my Mammaw this weekend! She makes me smile and giggle."

Quick Thought

2011-02-09T18:33:00.002-05:00

One year ago today we received our Travel Call from Wide Horizons telling us that our baby boy was cleared to travel home from Korea. They requested that we wait until after the Lunar New Year holiday to arrive in Seoul so his foster family could take him on their family vacation. We were happy to oblige but began making plans immediately to fly to Seoul to meet our baby boy! It was a VERY exciting time, but I much prefer today where we took our boy to the park to play and can hug him anytime we want! He's done so great in the almost full year that he's been home. We couldn't be more happy or more proud of our little man!

Super Bowl and other "Couch Potato" things

2011-02-08T12:49:00.005-05:00

One of Mason's favorite things is to find and push every button in the house...this makes the remote something he covets always and rarely gets ahold of. But every now and then mom or dad leave the remote where Mason can reach and move onto other things. The boy's quick, but we caught him... cute couch potato, isn't he?!?

He always wants crunchy things so we found these veggie sticks by Snyder's.

They're healthier than a chip and SUPER crunchy!!

Yes, he's watching TV.

We did let him carry around the bag long enough to get these pictures.

He actually didn't spill a single one!

Our Super Bowl balloons...
we were a little torn this year since we like a player or two on both teams.

Mason thought about the Steelers first...

But decided the Packers were the team to win this year.

I know you tend to see him half-clothed most of the time, but the boy's hot-natured like a furnace and it was almost 85 last Saturday when these pics were taken!

Happy Lunar New Year!!

2011-02-03T20:26:00.005-05:00

On Lunar New Year families all over Korea travel back to their hometowns to visit and pay respect to their elders. They dress in their traditional hanbok and bow to their parents and grandparents. They show respect and usually receive advice and blessing from their elders for the new year. We wanted to make some pictures of Mason in his hanbok to send to his families in Korea. We got the pictures, but I seriously doubt I'll send them anywhere.

He tried to get the hat on his head himself, but it was tricky!

Then he decided the fabric was scratchy...it is a little.

But isn't it gorgeous?!?!

Then he decided he'd take it off himself.
We took it off right after this picture.
He was mad about not being able to get his feet out...the pants are almost as tall as he is.

I'm told that the fussing over wearing the hanbok is almost as traditional as the actual wearing of it!

To make up for this photo attempt we had a delicious Korean dinner. Spicy Chili Chicken, Rice, Cucumber Salad, and Seasoned Spinach. Mason ate everything by the handful! (I left the spice off his chicken.)

Mason in the kitchen!

2011-01-20T13:43:00.005-05:00

Mason has taken to being Mama's little helper in the kitchen lately. He begs to see what I'm doing every time I'm making a meal, so when it's safe to do so I ask if he wants to help Mama?!? He runs to the kitchen table to get a chair to stand in (which I really do for him...he's strong, but he can't hoist a chair just yet!). This particular day I was making a round of cucumber kimchi!

Our cukes in the brine!

Course pepper powder, garlic, green onions, etc.

Seasoning mix made from the stuff above...
I wish the camera could show how beautiful the pepper powder is.
It looks like ground garnet, SO sparkly!

Mason's ready to stir...and snack!

Checkin' to see how many grahams he has left!

Our finished product...it will ripen in the fridge in 2 days

and be good for up to 2 weeks after that!

Recently, we've been making loads of Korean meals around here and they're super fast and easy. Best of all, Korean food is a wonderful blend of hot and cold, sweet and tart and salty all at once and it's super healthy!! The recipe book I"ve found that I love so much is by Cecelia Hae-jin Lee called "Quick and Easy Korean Cooking." I've made at least 15-20 of the recipes in the last few weeks and there's not been a bad one yet. Enjoy! (Mason doesn't eat kimchi just yet! in case you were curious.)

Ketchup!!

2011-01-17T13:34:00.002-05:00

Mason had ketchup for the first time the other night at dinner. We had fish and chips (yum!) and after Mason ate a filet of cod, a whole banana, and some peas, he wanted a "chip", then he wanted ketchup with his second one because what toddler doesn't want everything Mama and Daddy have. He LOVED it! so much in fact that he decided to use the chip as a scoop for the ketchup, licking it off each time and scooping up more ketchup. This boy can put away some food when he decides it's good enough, and does he ever like fish and chips and KETCHUP!! Enjoy the pics!

tater as spoon, not food

Mason & The Hill!

2011-01-11T10:41:00.001-05:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mason's Snowventure!

2011-01-05T10:03:00.001-05:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mammaw's Backyard

2011-01-03T17:02:00.001-05:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ride'm Cowboy!

2011-01-02T15:22:00.001-05:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Christmas in Review

2010-12-30T13:38:00.008-05:00

We took a week from our normal life and traveled to TN to enjoy Christmas and let Mason have his first Christmas with us and see family that he doesn't get to see often. We stayed at Heather's moms' house which is always cozy and calm around the holidays. This year, though, we had six people in the house which made it a little crowded, but still a delight. The first few days we spent with close family running about town and to the mountains enjoying our hometown sights and sounds. We then had to make some different choices as we all began to get the sniffles and the weather forecast was predicting more snow than expected. So instead of traveling up to Heather's grandparents' house on Christmas day as usual, we made a quick run on Christmas Eve. We ended up going on Christmas day as well, but wanted to make sure all of her family had a chance to see Mason, so two trips ended up being much better than one. I for one love going because of all the Christmas goodies like the true Apple cider that her grandfather makes! I must've had several gallons. And the weather did come through for us as it snowed some on Christmas day and gave Knoxville the first white Christmas in many years. It continued to snow through Sunday and Mason had a chance to play and sled a little. He loved it! On Christmas Eve, we traveled to my cousin's house were Mason was able to see more of my family. He did so well where ever we went, playing peek-a-boo and enjoying every minute. We ended up with so much for Mason that we had to ship a box back of toys and things that it filled our hallway at home. What a wonderful Christmas it was! Thanks so much to our families for helping us make it a great one for Mason!

Playin' in mammaw Shanda's backyard

Me and mammaw Jan!

I love me some Christmas cookies!

Me and my great papaw!

Christmas day is here!

Uncle Matt and me love to play peek-a-boo!

I'm drivin' the heck out of the back seat!

Me, Daddy, Mammaw Jan and Papaw Steve

Me and Aunt Molly

Thanks for lettin' me stay at your house mammaw. I love you! Bye, bye.

I played in the snow!!!

2010-12-28T17:12:00.002-05:00

Christmas comes early! Sort of...

2010-12-17T18:51:00.006-05:00

Christmas came early at the Fowler home Thursday night. Since we're traveling to TN for Christmas, we decided to open a few gifts with Mason here at the house. It was so much fun to watch him learn to rip open the gifts and enjoy the fun children have at Christmas time. We can't wait to see the fun he'll have all next week with our families and on Christmas morning.

Opening my first present!

As usual, he plays with the box it came in!

Look at all the fun things my Zany Zoo box can do! Thanks grandma and grandpa!

Helpin' daddy open his present!

My new playset!

Christmas uh oooh!

2010-12-17T18:42:00.002-05:00

I'm making sure it smells like Christmas with all these cinnamon sticks.

Need any ribbon for presents?

Helping Mom make breakfast

2010-12-17T18:38:00.003-05:00

Can I have a Christmas Cookie, pleeeease?!

I'm helpin' mommy make waffles!

Cousins

2010-11-29T14:24:00.003-05:00

As promised, a picture of Mason's cousins meeting him for the first time! Lots of fun.

From left to right, Haley, Lauren, Audrey and of course, Mason!

Happy Holidays from the Fowlers!

2010-11-28T18:33:00.005-05:00

We just wanted to wish everyone the happiest of holidays this year as we share a few of our favorite holiday pictures from Disney!