Weekend at the Cabin

We had a great time last weekend at the cabin. We dyed and decorated Easter eggs, had an egg hunt, played on the playground, enjoyed the weather and watched movies at night. I love the age that the kids are right now. They all have so much fun together. Enjoy.

Stranded

Saturday morning after a large pancake breakfast we headed out to enjoy the weather on the new mule at the cabin. This mule had six seats so we could all fit.

All buckled in and ready to go!!

We were about 5 minutes into the ride and fairly far from the house when we noticed white smoke coming out the back. Uh-oh.. We decided we should get back to the house since something was obviously wrong but when Eric hit the gas the engine sputtered and died.

So there we were: 3 adults, a three year old, two year old, and one year old stranded on a gravel road...and so we walked.

We didn't have to walk too far to reach some of Brooke friends that were renting out the cabin down the road. They had the golf cart so Eric ran down and picked us up.

Here's Eric towing the new mule with the old mule

Got Chicken?

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to expand my cooking skills. I am slowly working on this goal. Sure I can make spaghetti, tacos, and anything out of a box but one thing I have never attempted is a whole chicken. I got this great new deep covered baker that literally makes anything I throw in there come out tasting really good... so I decided to take on the challenge with my baker by my side.
I purchased a 4lb perdue chicken from Publix on sale for less than $5! I thawed the chicken all day and once thawed removed the giblets. Okay, let me back up and say that touching raw chicken REALLY grosses me out so taking the insides out was not a pleasant experience but I was determined to accomplish this.


Recipe
Quarter a lemon put half in the cavity of the chicken and squeezed the other half over top of the chicken. Take half a head of garlic (unpeeled) and placed that in the cavity with the lemon and peel the other half and put that on the chicken. Cover the chicken in salt, pepper, and a little bit of butter. Marinate overnight. I added petite red potatoes right before baking.

Cover and bake in the oven for 1-1/2 hrs at 425 degrees.

So yummy! Much better than the lard injected, pre-made, rotisserie chicken that sits under the heat lamp in your local grocery store. :)

The finished product.

20 months 1 week

It's been quite a while since I have documented "things Mason says and does" but before I bore you with his stats here are some pics and footage from the last couple weeks. I apologize for the length of the video. It's been a while since I have compiled a video and well, since I am the mom and it's my blog, I think they are all cute so I didn't exclude any.




Mason's favorite new place to hide.

Eric and I had a fight in the Walmart about purchasing the bunny ears...I won...obviously.

Getting ready for baseball season.

Mason Says
When a person leaves- "Where ______ go?" (while holding his arms out and scrunching up his face.)
" I want it"
"I wantto readit."
Schnack, Schnack= Snack
beeps= grapes
"I Pooped" (while grabbing his butt and wrinkling up his nose)
Mick= Milk or any other drink

Mason Does
Moooooos all the time. He is obsessed with cows.
Pretends to sneeze.. (Ahhh....shoo)
Puts finger to his lips and says shhhh!
Differentiates between Yes and No and answers questions accordingly (This has been the most wonderful thing he's learned)
Loves wearing Mommy's necklaces.
When he falls down he says, "em okaaay" while getting up.
When the wind blows real hard, he tries to hold his hair down, ...like he's wearing a toupe....preparing for the future, perhaps?
Grabs Mommy and Daddy's hands to play "Rosie" (ring around the rosie)
He likes to put stickers in his hair.
He still sleeps with about 7 pacis (3 in each hand, and one in his mouth) but isn't allowed to have them if he not in bed)

Favorite foods
Eggs, chicken nuggets, pizza, peas, bananas, and other assorted fruits

Foods he hates

Broccoli and hamburgers. Up until now, Mason has rarely met a food that he doesn't like. However, recently he's turning away foods that he used to love. ie. carrots and spaghetti.

Weight- 24.6lbs

Height- 2 ft 8inches

25% for both.

Strange and Unusual things

It's been a strange week compared to normal life. I spent the week working at the Keller Williams Green Hills office helping out while they are understaffed. It's a nice change up from my normal week and gets me out of the house wearing heels and pants that have zippers. After I working a half day in Green Hills on Tuesday, I then drove over to my old stomping ground (KW Franklin) and had a meeting about coming back to work part time. Emily, who took my job when I went on maternity leave is now prego herself and starts her maternity leave next week. Starting Tuesday, I am taking my old job back...only part time though. I just have to get a lot of work done in a little amount of time..... Go ME!


In other weird news, my polymorphic light eruption (for those too lazy to click on the link- it's an allergy to the freaking sun), has somehow "erupted" in March without the sun. Not sure what's going on here but this familiar itchy red rash on my arms is not fun.


And lastly, I jumped on the zumba train tonight and jumped quickly back off. Everyone talks about how great this workout is. In Zumba, you "wave your hands in the air like you just don't care", and "Shake it like a salt shaker (shake it like a salt shaker)." I don't mind looking dumb..because I did ....but I just prefer a more regulated workout class I guess. You know, squats, lunges, push-ups,.... old school stuff.. I will say that I burned about 400 calories in the class and got a good sweat going. Maybe, I will try it one more time just to be sure I hate it. :)

I hope to get some "Mason videos" posted soon.

Where does the time go?

Two weeks have passed since I have updated pictures of Mason and I know Uncle Adam is itching for something to read at work besides facebook updates...so this picture is for you. Mason took a great nap on this day and believe me when I tell you there were no hair products involved in the photo below. Also we didn't get Mason's belly button pierced, there was a mis-hap with a zipper and a very full belly. I am just glad Mason wears diapers...if you know what I mean.

We were saving this toy for summer but the weather was so nice a couple weekends ago, we couldn't resist pulling out the T-ball set. Mason loved it, and was quite good at it. Somehow, Eric agreed to go to Opry Mills on a Saturday. In fact, I think it was his idea. He had some Dave and Busters gift cards and thought it would be fun to play some games. While we were there we stopped by the Rainforest Cafe and stared at the fishies for a while.
He loved it when the "meeemo" (aka: Nemo) fish would swim by.Once we made it to Dave and Busters we played by the rules until one of the employees told Mason he could climb up on the ski ball machine to get closer. We didn't argue.

He loved being close enough to almost make the shot.

After skiball we played Daytona USA. Mason took complete control of the wheel and loved it. The seat bounced all around when he drove over cones, medians, and ran into the wall. We came in 51st place. I was so proud.

Cousin Alex came to spend the morning with us. They had a great time playing together. Alex is quite the music buff. He named every artist (correctly) that was played on the radio all day. His favorites were Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, Lady Antebellum, Miley Cirus, Beyonce, and Rhianna. He even knew the lyrics to many of the songs. I came in the kitchen to him singing Lady Antebellum's, "Need You Now"... ♪It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now♪ He had me cracking up all day.

This fun didn't last long. Poor Mason has had a fever for the last 24 hours. Daddy put a wet rag on his head at dinner and he loved it. He looks so pitiful here.

Mason hasn't had much of an appetite while sick. This is the face he gave me when I offered him a chicken nugget. Notice the spit coming out...very dramatic.

He begged for one episode of Mickey Mouse clubhouse before bed. When they're sick it's so hard to say no. I have a feeling we'll be doing a lot of this tomorrow.