Oh, WOW!

It has been a crazy couple of weeks and I promise to update on Monday with photos even. Here are just a couple of teasers:
1. I didn't get saved from having to stay the night (or two as the case may be) with the in-laws.
Yeah... that was... um... yeah...
2. Mason was spoiled rotten with all the gifts he received. He only threw 4 tantrums while opening presents. I was so proud...
3. We have our new-to-us car but it is currently stuck at the in-laws. Thanks to the blizzard like conditions.
4. Christmas was wonderful. How could a celebration of the birth of Christ be anything but wonderful.
5. My sister turns 30 on Monday (ha ha ha). I am sure there will be much more to this story. We are going out to celebrate tonight. I don't drink and will have a camera that by the time I pull it out the rest will be so drunk they won't remember even getting their pictures taken. My favorite kind of photos. Real candid and embarrassing.
6. Did I mention that I have been untethered from the mother-leash since Christmas night. I am hoping it becomes our family tradition. Well maybe, we'll see how I am doing about it tonight. I won't leave you hanging on this one...
Christmas night Austin, Mason and Hyde rode home with his parents and I stayed for my sisters birthday party and to do some things with my mom. I have so many feelings about this that I will go into more detail on Monday. I have to find out some opinions on this. I have to know if what I am feeling is normal or not. Over all I think this experience is good for us because now Austin gets to see what my days are like. I talked to him about 9 last night and he said he was E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D. Really made my heart soar to hear that. He said he didn't even get to shower yesterday. I know the poor baby.

So there are the teasers. My moms dial-up is more than I can stand after my blink-fast internet at home. Just checking my bank balance was a lesson in patience (excuse the spelling I don't have the stamina to wait for the spell check- Translation- I really have to pee but am dancing in my chair holding it until waiting until I post this so that my nephews don't delete it or fill it with naughty words)

What did he call him?

Mason recently has been into renaming things and has decided to rename Hyde, Sid. The sad thing is that he actually comes to it. Mason loves to watch Sid, the Science Kid on IPTV in the mornings. It is so cute he tries to mimic him. I have no clue why he thought that Hyde needed to be named Sid but I guess whatever works.
For the longest time Austin couldn't figure out why Mason was calling the dog Sid. I finally had to explain it to him. He actually asked me why I didn't stop him. Um... because... he is one and doesn't care what I say. He wants it his way and only his way and I am sure he will grow out of it... eventually... I am sure of it.
Mason has started to call me Momma Rura. I am not a huge fan of this. Austin thinks it is hilarious. At least until Mason started to call him Papa Oney (Honey). I sure have got a lot of laughs out of it. I swear sometimes Austin has no sense of humor.

Hot! Hot! HOT!!

We baked in the heat! Friday it was around 100, Saturday it was 101, Sunday it was almost as hot, and Monday was another hot day. The whole weekend was miserably hot.
Friday I drove down to the Sidney area for a weekend of fun and rodeo. The original plan was for Mason and I to go alone. Well we found out some info and I put my foot and told my husband that he had better make an appearance. I really try hard to get down and see his grandparents whenever I am down with Mason. I have given up hope on getting Austin down very much so he didn't throw too big of a fit. Lucky for him!!
Friday around noon I had the car all packed and ready to go, Hyde included. Since Austin would be riding the motorcycle down. We got to Austin's grandparents house around 3:30 or so. Mason was just a doll the whole time. About 5:30 I was getting ready to head over to my parents house for supper when Austin's parents show up and Grandpa informs me that Mason and I are going to go to supper with them. Not a big deal Mom and Dad didn't think I was going to get over there until around 8. So we went to Shenandoah and had supper at the Depot. Thankfully Mason decided to behave and ate his supper instead of throwing it on the floor.
I got over to mom and dads around 8 so I wasn't even late. It was so hot outside that the sweat was dripping down my leg and my carpi's looked as though someone had sprayed me with a hose thanks to the leather seats in my car. The black leather seats in my black car. Why my father-in-law ever wanted a black car is beyond me. I did notice though that his next car was silver. Mason went right up to bed much to the chagrin of my family. I really hate to get Mason off of schedule just because they want to keep him up to play. I ended up staying awake really late talking with Mom and Marianne. (When will I ever learn?)
Saturday Mason woke up at 7. Yes 7. I was thinking just shoot me!! Again will I ever learn to go to bed instead of staying up gossiping. Probably not. Again it was hot outside. Even at 7 in the morning outside letting Hyde go pee I could feel the humidity surround me and weigh me down. I gave up on my hair for the weekend and just put it in a bun and took two Tylenol for the head ache that would follow. I really should get my hair thinned out but I hate dealing with it then because not all the hair is one length and there seems to be more flyaways. Anyways it was hot.
Marianne, mom and I went down to one of moms houses in Thurman and cleaned. It is a super cute house it is... just... in... Thurman. It does have air though. Trust me I wouldn't have been down there cleaning it if it hadn't.
Saturday night we went to the rodeo. We always sit on the north side at the very end of the general admission section because with the addition of kids someone is always having to get out and go to the bathroom. This year there was a wonderful cool breeze and we all had fun. No one puked or spilled anything sticky on me so by my estimation this year was huge success.
We ended up getting over to Grandma and Grandpa's house about 10:30 and Mason didn't wake us up until 8. We spent Sunday morning with them and watched Mason be a loon. Austin had planned to leave after lunch to go home. I almost felt bad for him because he rode the motorcycle down with a tank top on and got sunburned so he had to wear a long sleeve shirt on the way home. He has informed me that it wasn't too bad because he didn't have to listen to me yammer on and on. (I read while he drives so I know better than this.)
After some lunch in Shen Mason and I headed over to my moms house only to find out that hey were headed up to my grandma house to show my cousin Jessie and her boyfriend Rapheal a house close to grandma's. So I turned around and headed north. I couldn't believe it but I beat them there by like 20 minutes. So glad I have a key to grandma's house.
We also got to look the house and let me tell you it needs some major work. The houses in the area are assessed around $200,000 and the house was listed for $139,500. I guess it didn't deter them. They put in an offer and got it. I can't wait until they are done working it. I am sure it will end being a show place.
Sunday night Mason and I stayed at Austin's grandparents again because we planned on being there for lunch on Monday and everyone over at mom's works full time so they wouldn't be there.
Monday we made it up to my Grandma's house about 2 to go shopping with her. She works at JCPenny and gets a pretty good discount. Austin needed a new suitcase because he came home with a hole in the last one. JCPenny was have a huge sale on luggage so I ended up getting him a really nice suitcase for about $80, or literally a third of full price. I also got Mason some shoes and clothes and Austin a couple of work polos. All for under the sale price of the suitcase.
I had planned on going home Monday afternoon but again it was so hot that I decided to stay with my grandma. She was thrilled. I don't get up to see her as often as I should. I also spent a good part of Tuesday with her also. I figured Austin doesn't get home until 5 anyways so why should I. So I didn't. I did have to stop at the store on the way home. I don't why he couldn't stop on his way home. No instead it had to be with a car full of stuff and the dog with me. Sometimes things like that irritate me. I guess I'll just have to get over it because it isn't going to change.
So that was my whole weekend. Nothing too exciting. Mason behaved for the most part. Hyde was a good puppy and didn't bite anyone. Not that he ever has but I wouldn't blame him if he ever wanted to take a chunk out of one of my nephews. They have all been warned. The naughty little cusses that they are. I know Mason just sits there, watching them, soaking in all the naughty.

WOW!!

Vacation was good but it is sooooo nice to be home. We got home at 2:30 this morning and the rest of the day was shot with going to the store and laundry. Not to mention my nephew came home with us. He won't be leaving until Sunday. Let me tell you Sunday cannot come soon enough. What was I thinking? Never again will I willingly offer to keep one of my nephew for a couple of days. Never!! I don't know what came over me. It was definitely a weak moment and she took advantage of me. I cannot wait until Mason is old enough to stay at her house over night. Pay back will be sweet!!
I will update later on the going ons and happenings of vacation. We really did have a lot of fun!!

How It Really Went

Well we did spend 5+ hours in a car. The storms didn't end up holding off.
I got up early Saturday morning to start getting ready before Mason woke up. By the time Mason woke up I was ready to just jump in the car. Couldn't do that to him though. I like to stick with our same morning routine while at home so I had to wait for Mason to get done eating breakfast before we could go. We got on the road about 9:30 and Mason did cry all the way into town. I am a radio listener. I am not a fan of CDs because it is the same artist for 10 songs or so. Mason is a music baby in the car. He likes the male artist with the deep voices. So for that reason I keep a Trace Adkins CD for last resorts. Saturday was a last resort! I popped that CD in and in less than one song he was out. I like Trace Adkins but I'm only good for one song in a row of anybody. So we continued with our thankfully uneventful drive. We got to the b-day party about 12 and Mason was so good. For the day he was the perfect cute little kid. Didn't cry, blew kisses, didn't bite or throw food or tantrums. I got lucky because it was hot and humid and just plain sticky outside and that can make anybody cranky.
So after food, gifts, and good times we were ready to go. Now all day the sky to the northwest was getting darker and darker while the wind was coming out of the south sometimes southeast. Anybody who grew up in Iowa knows that hot humid with clouds and wind going different directions is bad news. Before jumping in the car I decided to check the TV in the camper for weather and discovered that all the counties that I would drivethru to get home were getting hit by t-storms pretty bad so I made the decision to wait it out. After all it wasn't a very wide line of storms. (I also got to see Big Brown lose the triple crown. I was really hoping he would be able to pull it off.) Anyways so an hour later I decide to check again and what do you know it looks like they hadn't even moved. That was when I gave up on going home.
My younger sister Cammie and her troupe were going to camp with everyone else but they were going to be in a tent so they decided to go stay in a hotel and I joined them. We finally left the campground about 9. (I couldn't believe the weather held out that long other than the occasional sprinkle) Mason didn't take an afternoon nap and he was asleep before we were to the highway. Thankfully he stayed asleep on the way into the hotel and didn't wake up until 9 the next morning. (I am going to invest in some room darkening shades for Mason's bedroom) So after checking out of the hotel and grabbing some McDonalds for breakfast, that we aren't going to tell Austin about, we are all finally ready to hit the road. It is then we hear this beep. The same beep that plagued the hotel room all night. We knew it wasn't any of our cell phones because they were either off or in the vehicles. It is coming from Cammie's purse. (the cutest purse I have ever seen) So she dumps her purse out in the truck seat and come to find out it was Marianne's phone. After some laughing it was decided that I would be the one to take Mare back her phone seeing as how Cammie and them were heading south and my main destination was north. Mare was shocked to see that we had her phone all night. She thought it had been lost outside and was ruined for sure if she could even find it. So at 11am Sunday morning we finally get on the road to head home.
We roll into the driveway at 1:15pm and we have to be to Du & De's by 3. We both needed a bath so a quick shower was in order but true to my husband's pain in the butt way he was in the shower. He knew what time we would be home. So after wasting 15 minutes waiting for him to get done with something he had all morning to do, Mason and I finally get a turn. (multi tasking: Mason had to shower with me after I was done because we don't have a tub and didn't have time to pull out his baby tub after Austin's stunt) We get to Hy-Vee, to buy a side salad because we are good cooks like that, right at 3. We did make it to Du & De's by 3:15 which is as close to on time as we have been in awhile. We finally made it home at 10:20pm after some good food and good times with some good friends. It was all I could do to get Mason and I up the stairs to bed.
So today we are doing nothing and it feels wonderful. When he goes down for his nap I am going to go out side and play with some bubbles and set up his little pool. I have tons of stuff I could be doing but it is all grown up stuff and I just want to be a kid today. The sun is shinning and the wind is nonexistent. Perfect for bubbles and swimming pools.

Interesting tidbit: drivethru on spell check comes up with the suggestion of diphtheria. I wonder if the symptoms are the same.

It's Friday

Well it is Friday, the sun is shinning, the wind is blowing and yet I feel totally unprepared for the weekend. I know just how does someone prepare for the weekend. Well by bracing themselves for the fact that her husband is going to drive her nuts.

There are some things that I know will happen this weekend that I have little control over. On Saturday Mason will wake up early. Austin will wake up late. He will then get right in the shower and refuse to help me get ready to go. I will be stuck in the car for over 5 hours. Mason will scream all the way to town and refuse to nap until we are 20 minutes away from our destination. When we get home Mason will have used the 2+ hour drive as a nap and will be up until midnight. While I am gone Austin will do something dangerous and then refuse to tell me what it was until I notice that something is different.

On Sunday Mason will again wake up early. Austin will again wake up late whereas he will then get right in the shower and refuse to help me get Mason ready to go so I will have to listen to him cry the whole time I'm in the shower. Mason will again decide not to nap until we are close to our destination. We will be late for lunch thanks to Austin procrastinating. Austin will not tell me what he wants for supper and whatever I make will not be right. Mason will go to bed early and keep crying out in his sleep until midnight.

So now that I have told you how my weekend will go I guess I could tell you what we are going to be doing: Saturday Mason and I are going to, my nephew, Major's b-day party. It is being held a little over 2 hours from here. (Hence the 5 hours in a car.) They are having it at a park this year so I will have to remember to pack the sunscreen. It should be fun and hopefully the storms that are in the forecast will hold off until after I get home. Austin is worried I won't come home until Sunday and he would be right if we didn't have plans for Sunday. Lucky for him we do though. Mason should have fun with all of his cousins. I will have to keep an ear out for what they are trying to teach him to say. My youngest nephew, Hunter, was trying to teach him to say shit. Hunter is 3 but he should know better. I haven't figured out yet who put the little kid up to it but I am sure he didn't think of it all on his own. I personally can't wait to get there. A whole day with my family without Austin watching over my shoulder making sure I'm not misbehaving (smoking). I know I will have a couple but I look at it this way some people get together with friends or family and have a couple of beers. Well I don't drink, I guess you could call me a social smoker. So those are the plans for Saturday. Mason and I are going to a birthday party where I will get totally 'smoked'. Yep, totally smoked. At least I won't wake up with a hang over.

Sunday all three of us are going to Du & De's house. They had a baby on the 22 of May and I am yet to see anyone but Mr. Du hold her that would be including Mrs. De. I think it is strange. When Mason was born I wouldn't even get in the door before someone was trying to get him out of the car seat. They came to the b-day party and little K stayed in her car seat the whole time. So now back to our plans. Du & De wanted to have everybody over to their house for lunch and then we can spend the rest of the day in the pool or playing cards depending on the weather. We will probably end up playing cards because there are way too many kids to have in the pool. It would be fine if the parents were going to be focused on the kids but we will be socializing and accidents happen. All 7 kids are 3 or younger. S & J are coming with their 3 kids. H is 4, Di is 2 and Da is going to be one in July. (he is 5 weeks younger than Mason) Je and Jo are also coming with their 2 little kids. R is going to be 3 here in a couple of weeks and V turned one in March. They are also expecting another little one the first part of November. Eight adults and 7 kids makes for a loud full house. That will take up most of Sunday. We should be home in time to put Mason to bed.

I am already looking forward to Monday so that I don't have to do anything and can recuperate. Just to get Austin out the door quicker I might even get up and make his lunch. Maybe, I haven't decided yet if I want to be that nice. We will have to see if he is good this weekend.