The Two Little Red Heads

This is Mason with his cousin Gracie when we were in Yakima last month. Mason has been mad at Gracie since November, when she stood on the stairs at our house, and screamed in his ear as he walked by. He got really mad at her, went to my bedroom, and cried because it hurt so bad. He was mad at her up until we went to Yakima in June. He was less than thrilled when he found out we were going to stay at Uncle Sam & Aunt Andrea's house, because Gracie was going to be there. I told him he didn't have to play with her. He said "hi" to her when we first got to the farm, and then they went off playing. This was the first picture I got of them together. I told Mason to move a little closer to her, and he said "This is close enough". It made me laugh.

Looking at her little face, and seeing that little smile she has, he couldn't be mad at her too much longer.

Then they became friends. They are cousins, so they are kinda stuck. There are only 3 grandbabies that ended up with red hair (from Papa Dawson). Kalen, my nephew who lives in upstate New York, is the oldest grandchild on the Dawson side. He's 19 now. We need a picture of Kalen, Mason and Gracie. That would be too cute.

Baptism

In our Church (LDS/Mormon), when you turn 8, you get baptized. Mason turned 8 in December, but we wait a few months when the weather is better so family members from near and far. Mason was baptized by his Dad (Lee) on March 27th, 2010. This was a special day for our family.
I didn't get the traditional picture of Lee and Mason, because Lee was not being cooperative. But I think Patty (Lee's Mom) was able too. I need to ask her. So I took this one of Mason in his white outfit.

Lee and Mason afterwards at our house. Mason is getting tall. Lee in his kilt.

The Bryant Men. (ssshhh, don't tell Pa Bryant he's on the blog, being exposed to the internet!) From left to right: Calvin, Lee, Mac, and Pa. Mason is in the front. As you can see, Mac is getting taller. He is almost as tall as me (1 more inch!). This is the only recent pic I have of Mac, because he is also an unwilling, uncooperative, picture taking participant.

Goings On..

We have been busy, but not really busy like when it's Football Season. Mac has decided to Wrestle this year. I don't know anything about Wrestling except they wear a one piece unitard thing (singlet is the offical term used) and they wrestle on the ground or mats. I didn't know what the object of it was until another Mom told me. Then it became exciting for me-and Mac is pretty good at it. He has lost 3 pounds so far since it started (which is common for when he plays an organized sport). It's a School sport and when I went to the school to pay for his fee, I found out a very generous donor paid for the 8th Grade boys to Wrestle. I was blown away. I also found out that Wrestling here in Lake Stevens....very big deal around here. People move thier kids to Lake Stevens for the Wrestling program. I had no idea. Another thing that suprised me....there are girls that are Wrestling too. I was very suprised and we talked to Mac about it before he had his first match. He didn't like the idea of having to Wrestle a girl. At his first Tournament, there were 5 girls from different School Districts who are Wrestling. Not in Mac's weight class though...prayers answered. The other day, kids from South Whidbey came to the tournament. He was excited to see them and they were all "Hey Mac! Is this where you moved too? Is this your School?" Mac told me he remembered them but not thier names (he gets that from his Dad). Alot of the kids who Wrestled were kids that he played Football with when we lived on S. Whidbey. He's doing well in school, and loves his school, loves his classes and has a good group of friends.

Mason has been obsessed with words, and reading his sight words. He's still obsessed with number and math, but the reading is a great thing too. He doesn't think he needs to practice things over and over (like his Dad). I think he may have a photographic memory like Lee in the next few years. He gets frustrated with me when I tell him we need to practice, because he does'nt feel the need too and can't be bothered with it. Yeah, he is definately his father's son. He has been in Cub Scouts for the last 2 months and loves it. It took him a while to love the idea of wanting to go to Cub Scouts. Mason is also getting ready to be baptized next month. A very big deal for him.

Lee has still been working (another blessing). His company has been bouncing him around from different jobs, fixing other people's mistakes, finishing up small things on jobs, and fixing other people's mistakes. Things are slow right now, but they have lots for Lee to do. This is a case where skills are more important than education. There are many Supervisors who have been laid off and are at home because there is no work for them and they have no skills, but a college degree. Don't get me wrong, I think a college degree is very, very, important. Lee is a smart guy, but didn't like to be cooped up in a room (or different rooms) to learn. Then he decided if he couldn't be cooped up in a room to learn, he didn't want to be cooped up in an office all day. He loves what he does, and with all jobs, he does get mad and frustrated sometimes. Right now, we feel very blessed.

I am faced with a few decisions to make. I am feeling the need to go back to school. I'm still working out the how and whens. I know a person can take anything online, but I'm the type of person who needs "hands on" and I ask alot of questions. I'm still working it out, still thinking, still wondering how it's going to affect the boys-all 3 of them. Lee is suportive in everything I do. We have talked about it in detail, and he told me he would "step up" and help out more with the boys when he could or when needed.

That is about all. No pictures...I need to take more. Mac won't let me. Mason is a willing participant, Lee not so much.

Avatar

Over the weekend, we saw Avatar in 3-D. I have to admit, I wasn't nearly as excited as Lee and Mac were. There has been sooo much hype and media coverage on this movie-I guess that's what turned me off on it. But here I am...posting about it because it impressed the HECK out of me. I loved the movie. Lee thinks that all other movies will be a great disappointment after seeing this movie. Mac thought is was very cool. Mason liked it, he must have because he sat for the WHOLE thing! That is impressive for Mason. It was funny to watch him try to grab things in the air. It made me giggle a little. I did my homework before we bought tickets ( before we got to the theaters-the only way to go). You can see it on IMAX 3-D or just regular 3-D. We saw the regular 3-D and it was still very cool. I can't imagine watching the IMAX one, it would have been sensory overload. Avatar was made to be seen in 3-D. This movie is a must see in theaters (near you). It was a 2 thumbs way, way up from the Bryant Fam...which is hard for ALL of us to love 1 movie.

Hit by the FLU!

Last weekend, was probably the worst weekend our family has ever had since...Mason was in the IICU at Childrens after he was born. I am not exaggerating when I say this. I had the stomach flu for the first time in I think 9 years. If I'd had it after Mason was born, I can't remember it.
Mason had the stomach flu the night of Lee's birthday. He ate dinner, and then 1 hour later, puked. He then proceeded to puke almost every hour on the hour until around 3:30am Thursday. I wasn't too concerned because after he would puke, he wanted to drink water and/or Sprite. He slept most of Thursday, and only puked 2 times. He felt better on Friday, but I kept him home from school, and then he started to crash or fall asleep, late afternoon/evening. Lee came home, we ran some errands, got some Taco Bell for dinner.....then around 8:00pm I puked. If there is anything on this earth that I hate more...it's puking. This thing came really fast. Then around 10:00pm (I think), Mac started puking! I told him "Mac, you have to make it to the toilet to puke, because if you miss it or if you don't make it, I can't take care of you, I can't clean it up. You are on your own." Not a nice thing to tell her teenage son, but I was busy taking care of myself at this point. And if anyone knows anything about Lee, he's not a "caregiver". He's not one to play nurse to us when one is sick. He does alot of things, and does them well-but caring for the sick, nnnoooo! He was ready to check into the closest hotel after Mac was puking. Mac and I both felt bad on Saturday, slept most of the day. On Sunday we both woke up like nothing happened. We stayed home from Church so not to "spread the wealth" so to speak. And Lee waited around to see if he was going to get sick, because he felt it was inevitable....but he didn't get sick. Whew! I never would have heard the end of it from him. Oh, but Lee did order Pizza Hut on Saturday night...Mac and I did NOT partake of the pizza fest he and Mason were having.

Apple Cider Pressing!

Last weekend we went to Grammy and Pa Bryant's house to go Apple Cider Pressing. Every year, since Lee was Mac's age (so back in the old days) The Bryant family would press Apple Cider. When we used to live in Ferndale (1994-1998) Lee and Mac would press Apple Cider, I was working every Saturday. I remember doing this once, a very, very long time ago. Anyways, Mac had a BYE (no game weekend) so Patty and I made plans to press Apple Cider with the boys. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day...no rain!

Mac with a wagon full of apples.

Apples on the trees at Grammy's house. Mac, Calvin and I think Mason helped pick the trees.

They got a trailer load of them. Patty has grown apple trees on thier property since they moved out there (almost 30 years I think). And this is the first year they have had a big enough crop to press cider with. They have had apples for some pies, applesauce, etc. But you need alot of apples for cider.

Mac is officially taller than Grammy by a few inches. But you can't tell from this picture.

Grammy taking Mac's glasses off. He is such a teenager.

Patty and I weren't sure how involved Mason would be. As it turned out...he helped with everything. He was loading the apples in tub to get washed, then he was holding the bowl full of cut apples for feeding them into the chute, then he was turning the cranking thing that chops the apples, then he was helping Calvin do something. He was all over the place, but sticking my us helping.

Mason doing his job.

Calvin was there the whole time filling the gallon jugs. I didn't get a picture of them, because it got dark pretty quickly. Lee had to work..putting siding back on his bosses house. We had a great time, but wished Lee was there. We pressed about 30 gallons that day.

The Farm

Over Labor Day weekend, the boys and I went to Yakima for the extended weekend. I helped my sis-in-law Andrea can peaches, and we stayed with my brother Sam and his family at the Farm. The farm that they live on used to belong to my Great-grandparents. Sam is the 4th generation to live there, which is pretty cool. My Grandma and Grandpa Bocz (pronounced bows) are my Mom's parents and lived about 30-40 minutes away from us growing up. My brother Sam spent darn near every Friday night over there and all day Saturday. And I won't mention the endless summers he spent there as a child too. All of us grandkids spent time on the farm with Grandma and Grandpa growing up, and I have some really nice memories there too. When I take the boys to Yakima, they want to spend most of thier time at the farm, it's a boys paradise truthfully, full of old things (that thier Great-great-grandparents used to use). This was the first time I went there and was "armed" with a camera.

This looks like an old barn, but inside, it's a Shop. Full of old tools & stuff. Grandpa used to fix his trucks, cars, and his tractors inside of there. He spent alot of time in there.

This is the old John Deere tractor. Sam learned to drive it when he was 9 years old I think, maybe younger. Grandpa rigged some wood blocks on the pedals so Sam could drive it, back it up, etc. I was shocked the first time I saw him drive it.

The Chicken Coop. My Great-grandpa built this, and grandpa used it too. He had it full of chickens. Sam does not like chickens to this day....I won't get into it. But he puts up a really good arguement about it.

I'm not sure what this wagon thing is. My Great-grandpa had a team of Belgian Work Horses-or now they are called Belgian Draft Horses, they are smaller than Clydesdales (are you shocked I know this?) I have pictures of my Great-grandpa with his horses, pulling some wagons. I'll have to dig them out and scan them. *****CORRECTION**** This is an old Manure Spreader. My Dad let me know via Facebook this morning. Thanks Dad!

Another old wagon. I know, that my Grandpa donated an old wagon thing to the Yakima Musuem a long time ago, and I'm not sure if it's still there. But this wagon-is just a wagon. Mac likes to go to the Farm and ask me questions about my family. He loves old stuff, he loves to learn about things people used in the past. There is an old wood cookstove in the house, that is hooked up, that my Great-grandmother used to use. She NEVER used an electric one. Mac is dying to fire it up one winter to see if we can cook on it.

It had been YEARS since I had been to Yakima right before Apple Harvest time. Mason had never seen all of the apple trees full of apples as we were driving by on the back roads. My Grandparents didn't grow apples on the Farm, these are just some apples from a random orchard. I took seeing these for granted when I was growing up.

I couldn't pass this one up...my nieces Morgan and little Gracie. They are so cute! Gracie has my brother (her dad) wrapped around her little pinky. It's funny to watch him with her.

I couldn't pass this one up either. This was taken in our back yard just before we left for Yakima. We were roasting marshmellows in the Fire Pit.

Good Bye Wes!

Lee's youngest brother (and the youngest of his siblings) Wesley, moved to Wyoming for a job a few weeks ago. He stopped by before he left to say good bye to Lee and the boys.

We don't believe in choosing favorites...but Mason seemed to cling onto Uncle Wes more than Uncle Calvin. Wes (and Calvin too) would come over here and there, help Lee with some of his side work, work on the Motorcycles, or just hang out over here. The boys got to know Calvin and Wes more when they were helping build the Spec House together. They would come over most Friday and Saturday nights to play X-Box or watch Movies with us. When the power would go out in the Winter, they would come and stay with us.

We were a little sad to see Wesley go, but he is done with his Diesel Mechanic schooling and now he's off to live his life-working his tail off from what I hear.

I'm grateful that Wesley has been a good Uncle and a great example to the boys. We sure do miss him!

Mason & Thomas the Tank Engine

Ever since Mason was 2-3 years old, he has been obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. We kept the Brio & Thomas Wood train track that Mac had and Mason played with it as soon as he could put the track together. He watched the Videos/DVD's that we had, he loved the books, etc. It always blew us away how when we went to a Toy Store and it showed ALL of the Thomas the Tank Engine trains with his friends-how Mason knew ALL of them by name before he could read. I would pick him up a train for him after he had shots from the doctor, a medical proceedure, or after a hospital stay. Promising him an "engine" at the end of something big was always good bribery or leverage to get him to cooperate with something. In April or May, I found out that Thomas was going to be a the Train Museum in Snoqualmie. I got us all tickets to go a few weeks ago. We didn't tell him what we were doing that day when he asked, until we were on our way there.

Mason w/ Thomas the Tank Engine. His face really lit up when we walked towards him.

Mason with Sir Topham Hat (yes, I know almost ALL of the characters).

Mason walking to board the train. This was Mason's 2nd train ride.

Mason with Gordon, Percy, and James.

They had a LEGO "Island of Sodor", that was really cool. He was very interested in this. He's really into LEGO's now.

Mason in front of this big old train. He loved looking at all of the older trains they had. For the Thomas Event, there were alot of toddlers ages 1-5 years of age. As we were there, I could see that Mason was having fun, but sort of growing out of the Thomas thing a bit. I couldn't believe the parents bringing their 1-2 year olds, I don't think I would have done it.

Mason on the train...he really loved it.

Mac and Dad enjoyed it too. Although, Mac told me that he sort of wished he would have stayed home. That's a teenager for you!

Afterwards, we went to Snoqualmie Falls. It was beautiful. It had been years (alot of years) since I had been there.

But I think I appreciate it more now, than I did almost 20 years ago.

4th of July 2009 (kinda late)

This year, we went to Lee's parents house for the 4th of July. It had been a pretty long time since we had celebrated the 4th with them. They live about 2 hours north of us, almost on the Canadian border. We used to live about 1 mile down the road from them for about 4 years, and when we moved to S. Whidbey, we ususally stayed home to celebrate. This year, we camped out (they live on 5 acres) and Lee thought it would be fun to "camp", which it was. The 4th of July with The Bryant's is usually packed full of Fireworks, Food, Motorcycles, and Flag Cake. It get's pretty loud. We were really blessed with awesome weather this year too! The 4th of July in Western Washington is usually cloudy with a big chance of rain....but not this year.

This is our niece Blaise. She lives in Alaska now, and she usually comes down to spend about a month or so with the Grandparents. Years ago...Patty would make a Flag Cake decorated with blueberries and raspberries (or strawberries). I baked the cake this year, and Blaise helped decorate it.

She had fun (I think) and did an awesome job! I did the frosting part, she did the berries.

Because there were so many people there, I did a 2 layer Flag Cake, something that had never been done before, and something we won't do again...it was just too much cake. But it was really yummy (if I don't say so myself). With this particular cake, simple is better tasting. I made it with a White Cake mix, I did Vanilla one year, and it tasted bad. The frosting is the Wilton White Buttercream Icing-you can get the recipe off thier website, I can't "link" things yet.

Mason and Uncle Wes, blowing stuff up in the morning. This was a big white bucket (5 gallons I think)-it's what paint comes in (when you buy alot of paint). Mason was sssoooooo proud! He made me go and get my camera.

The dirtiest feet in the world....belonging to Mason. His feet were dirty, not tan. And the bottom of his feet were BLACK. I'm not kidding.

Mason with is "tank" fireworks. This is all he wanted, were these tanks. I have alot of pics of Mason, because Mac was on one of 2 motorcycles almost the whole time we were there. 1/2 of Lee's body on the far left hand side, sitting, wearing his KILT. That is a post all on it's own. He's been wearing Utilikilts for 5 years now. Apparently, it's not a phase with him, like I've been telling myself for the last 5 years.

Mason, on his motorcycle....just sitting on it. Lee found some training wheels (yes, really) for motorcycles. He's still kind of affraid of his motorcycle. As he tells me "Mom! It makes my heart affraid!". This is a prime example of how 2 kids from the same parents can be so different. Mac, at the age of 4, wanted to ride motorcycles. When he was 5, we were at Cycle Barn, where he found a Quad Runner, and he came running from who knows where hollering "Mom! Mom! I found a motorcycle that fits me! And the guy says he can finance you!". Yes, Mac said that, at the age of 5. Having no idea what "financing" was.

There he is! Mac, with Uncle Calvin, sitting around the day after. Mac lit fireworks this year, he thought he was pretty "big stuff". We were all tired the day after. I had to take a nap before I drove home.

Mason, with Wes. They were pretty tired too. This particuar weekend was the first time Mason got to really run around, and get dirty, and tired at Grammy and Pa's house. We all had fun. Thanks for having us!

Grammy Bryant Stopped by.

Grammy Bryant came over before she went to Florida to be with Jessica (Lee's sister). She just had a baby boy a few weeks ago? (what day is it?) Jessica also has 2 girls Natalie and Ashtin. Anyhow, I take care of Janean when Patty goes someplace like Florida. The last time I took care of Janean, we had just moved into the house, it was Christmas night, and Derick and Whitney were getting married. That was for 5-6 days, Janean will be with us for 8 days this time.

Janean is pretty good when she is here. I got a picture of her at the dinner table. Janean is #2 in the line of 9 kids. Lee is #1, and plays up the big brother part. He picks on Janean and "eggs" her on-especially at the dinner table. It's close to IMPOSSIBLE to get a decent picture of her, but I did.

I've been trying to keep her busy with outings here and there. I took her to get her bangs trimmed-that was an adventure in itself.

Lee, eating his favorite summertime thing-cherries. Acting all innocent, like nothing's going on . A few seconds before, he got Janean to snort like a pig, and she drank a tall glass of water all at once. He usually says "breathe Janean, BREATHE!".

Catching Up!

I honestly can't believe a month has flown by......and I'm behind on my blogging. The honest truth-it takes a while to download/upload pics for the blog. My patience isn't what it used to be a year ago. When I started blogging I thought this was a good way for our family members (mostly aunts and uncles that live on the east coast) to keep track of us. And...my Dad likes to read this blog too. My goal: to get my Dad blogging by the end of the summer. If I can convince him to get on facebook, I can get him blogging. I think it will be a challenge, but one that I'm willing to take on.

Some of my time was spending with Mac....getting him to do his homework. His grades were sliding...and I found this out through Skyward, a website the school uses to post grades. He has developed "test anxiety", something I really struggled with when I was his age, something my Dad and I think my Mom struggled with when they were in School (over 40 something years ago). I have never shared my test anxiety issues with Mac in fear that he would use it as an excuse to slack off. We will be working and addressing this issue over the summer. He's become a great kid. He is going to be busy working on Merit Badges for Scouts, Boy Scout Camp, other family camping trips, and Football that starts in August.

This is just random....Lee made this arched doorway-in our Family Room. It was still pretty cold outside and he couldn't make it in the garage. It's custom made, out of Fir. There is a piece of "art glass" that is being custom made for this-he's not making the glass of course. He did this for a client on Whidbey Island at a beach house. Pretty darn cool. Now if only I can get him to work on our house. Actually, that will be soon enough. We are discussing plans for our main floor. I use the word "discuss" loosely. I will just say...he has a VERY strong opinion of my Kitchen, and is arguing why I need more counter space. And I ask him- "why do you need a 2 car garage full of tools and stuff"? I would actually like to tear a big wall down. This topic-is another post all of it's own. Lee is done remodeling a bank and is now working regular hours. It really sucked that he was working at night. It's really nice to have him home in the evenings now.

Mr. Mason....my now 1st grader. He made it out of Kindergarten alive. Now we have to talk about going to school all day. This makes me a little nervous of course. I get concerned about if he's going to eat there or not. He will eat lunch at school, I just don't know if he's going to eat 1/2 a sandwich and then throw EVERYTHING else away. Mason is going to take swimming lessons this summer. We had some really nice hot weather earlier this month, and he voluntarily puts on sunscreen. And wears his hat. He doesn't want to get sunburned. He loves to be outside. LOVES IT.

This is my Dad with Mason. This was taken on June 11th, on my birthday. I share my birthday with his lovely wife, Audrey. She is my step-mom, and I really hate using the term "step" because it sounds so ugly. She's my other mom. Anyways, we went out to lunch together with her daughter Teresa and oldest granddaughter, Alexandra. I don't have any pics of the lunch (forgot my camera)-and, she doesn't like her picture posted all over the internet (sounds familar). My Dad was sweet enough to babysit Mason so I could go out to lunch with just the girls (thanks Dad!). Mason was really excited that Papa was going to babysit him. Just before I took this picture Mason told Papa "Now, look straight at the camera Papa", and my Dad told him "well if it's a good picture, maybe she will put it on her blog". So...here it is. And...this is why my Dad needs to start a blog. I really enjoy living fairly close to my Dad (about 20 minutes away). I think he likes it too, especially when I come over with freshly baked cookies.