Back to School

At the end of August Mason started Kindergarten, and the beginning of September Archie started Preschool.  They both love it.  Archie only goes 2 days a week for a few hours, which is plenty for him.  He actually cries before school because he doesn't want to go, but when we get there, he runs right in to class and doesn't look back. Mason goes every day from 9-3.  I thought that I would end up taking Mason out early every day because 9-3 seems like such a long day, but he never complains about it, and sometimes he even says that the day seemed too short and he doesn't want to go home yet.  Mason goes to a charter Montessori school that is just amazing.  There are no desks in the classrooms, which I love because I can't imagine making Mason sit in a desk all day.  There are different stations, or jobs, in the class and they can decide what they want to work on that day.  At back to school night Mason's teacher said that he is friends with everyone and I believe it because when I pick him up from school every girl in the class says, "Bye Mason!"  One day when I picked him up, a girl in his class said, "Mason, remind me tomorrow to play that game we were playing today."  I asked him what game they were playing and he said, "Oh, I pretend to be her puppy." LOL!

Archie on his first day of school.

Mason on his first day of school.  (Yes, they both chose to wear Angry Birds shirts).

One of Mason's first assignments in school.  Notice the colors?  He's color-blind like my father, but we (and his teachers) are mostly impressed with his amazing coloring skills.

We are so proud of Mason for getting an award at school on Friday.  Only a few kids from his class were chosen for awards.  His was for "Best Effort."  His teachers said he always tries his best, even when he doesn't know how to do something.

Car Show

 A few months ago we took the kids to the car show.  We were not expecting much, since we live in a small town, but let me tell you, this show was amazing.  At least four streets were full of every car imaginable.  Mason and Archie loved it!  Mason wanted a picture in front of every car, which made Archie want a picture in front of every car. 

The owner of this Model T saw the boys admiring his car, so he let them sit in the cab.  How cool is that?!

 One of Mason's favorites

We're impressed.

The coolest tow truck we've ever seen.

Swing!

Our new house has a huge oak tree with a rope swing! The boys would swing for hours if we let them. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but it has a little loop that goes around their butts, like a seat.

Mason says, "higher, higher!" the whole time, even if he is going way too high (in my opinion).

Archie always wants to go higher too, but I don't really trust him to hold on, so for a while he's staying close to the ground. :) That is our new house in the background. It used to be a barn. I actually really like it. It's really cozy and homey on the inside and our yard is amazing.

Little Tigers

A couple of weeks ago, our church was having a family fun day. The boys got to have their faces painted like anything they wanted. Mason chose a tiger and Archie chose a dog. Well, after Mason got his painted like a tiger, Archie decided that's what he wanted too. After the party, we went on a hike. The boys loved pretending to be tigers in the forest.

Mason dresses himself now. For church he always wants to wear something "handsome." I think he pulls off the look pretty well. :)

Our New Home

In mid-January we made the move up to the Sacramento area. We had been trying to decide for months where the best place to move our family would be. We kept driving up and down the California coast trying to make a decision. My parents had been talking for a while about this area and how beautiful it was. We decided to take a look at it for ourselves and completely fell in love with it! It is so beautiful and green and what you can get for the money is just amazing! So, here we are on our own little 15 acre soon-to-be ranch. :) The boys absolutely love having all of this land to run around on. On the days when it isn't raining, we go out exploring. We have been having so much fun!

Mason loves climbing on the big boulders on our property. Behind him is our little house and a horse arena and barn.

Look at that view out our back door! We found a horseshoe set at a garage sale and it is our new favorite pastime.

Notice the binoculars Mason likes to bring on his explorations. :)

Big Bear Zoo

On Sunday I took the kids to the zoo, while Max and his dad stayed behind to watch some football. The zoo is right around the corner from Max's mom's cabin, where we were staying. The boys were so excited to go to the zoo, and I have to say they were slightly disappointed because of how small it was (they're used to the San Diego Zoo), but, I think they still had fun. :) We got to see a snow owl eating a mouse, which was the highlight of the trip for Mason. He's still talking about it! What a sight for a 4 year old boy! All in all it was a fun little outing, and I'm sure we'll go back the next time we go up there!

Mason really liked these boas that were bigger than him!

My boys

I think the mountain lions wanted a taste of Archie. They kept coming over to the glass where he was standing!

Big Bear Lake

Last weekend we went to Big Bear to hang out with Max's dad, who was there visiting. It had been about a year since our last visit with him, so it was great catching up. We went to the lake and hiked around and let the boys throw rocks and get wet. Then we went walking around the shops downtown. Big Bear is a really fun place to visit and the boys had fun with their grandpa!

On our "hike."

The boys just couldn't stay on the trail. It was more fun to hike through the tall grass!

And, of course, they just couldn't stay out of the water. :)