A Few Mason "Funnies"

At my nephews 6th birthday party, someone asked Mason if he knew a little girl named Jamie with blonde hair and a missing tooth. He thought for a second and said, "Well, there is a girl with yellow hair in my class but she stuck her big teeth out at me and I didn't see any loose ones."

This past week, Mason went to the bathroom to go potty. He was in there a few minutes so I went to check on him. We all know what happens when Mason is left alone in the bathroom for too long! Anyway, there he was standing in front of the toilet, going potty while reading a book. I asked him what he was doing. He responded by saying, "I want to be like my dad and read while I potty."

I've been thinking about a lot of things lately but mainly I have been thinking about hope. I find myself always saying things like, "I hope it doesn't rain", "I hope that Mason doesn't cry when I drop him off at school in the morning" or even something as simple as "I hope that the power doesn't go off tonight because my coffee won't come on the morning!" I think that everyone has their personal "hope chest".

But what is hope without prayer? I hope that Bernie can break the chains that bind him but do I pray about it enough? I hope that Angie can hold things together until Buddy gets home but am I taking those concerns to God in prayer enough? Do you ever tell someone that you will be praying for them and then you don't remember to do it? Am I the only one that is guilty of doing this?

I know from experience that the power of prayer is awesome. Take my dad for example. God took a broken man and made him whole again. What a great example of the power of prayer! My sister has made it through 3 years without her husband and still has some time to go but in return she is getting back a man of God.

I hope that whoever is reading this stops and says a prayer for someone in their life that needs a prayer. Who doesn't need prayer? Or even better, I pray that whoever is reading this stops and says a prayer for someone!

To Floam or Not to Floam

Around Easter I ordered Mason some Floam. I'm sure that most of you have seen this stuff on t.v. It's sorta like putty but it has beads of tiny foam in it. My plan was to let the Easter bunny give it to him but I totally forgot to remind the Easter bunny! Anyway, yesterday Mason and I were watching t.v. and a commercial came on about Floam. Mason asked me to buy him some. Man, was he surprised when I said, "Ok, I'll be right back." When I came back in the room with four tubes of Floam, he looked at me like I was the best mom ever!! (Of course, I am but it's nice to get the looks that prove it.)

I found a tin bucket and decided that this would be our project. We sat at the dining room table and went to floamin'! It turned out really cute and Mason is very proud!

Mason and Porky Pig (This is Porky Pig, right?)

Mason must have liked how Bugs Bunny's stomach felt.
Relaxing after a long day!
Molly PocketRemi

Burning some calories with Brookie!

Adventures in Vacationing - Part Three

On Sunday, we all went to Six Flags. It was crowded and hot but fun! Brett, Brook and Justin went to ride the super high, fast, crazy rides and Mason and I headed over to the kids section of the parks. There were swings and rides and so many kids! There was one roller coaster in the kids section that I rode. Let me tell you that I did not like it and won't get back on it. My stomach just can't handle it. Mason, on the other hand, wanted to ride it again. It was a fun but long day. We were all exhausted when we got back to Brook's house.

Thanks Brook and Justin for a fun weekend. We will see you soon!

Adventures in Vacationing - Part Two

Saturday we shopped and shopped and shopped some more. After shopping we went swimming at Erin's in-laws house. They have an amazing home and a really great pool. Mason was sleeping when we got there. He woke up WAY before his nap was over and anyone who has a three year old knows.... NEVER interrupt the nap of a sleepy child!! He had a major meltdown and cried and hit and kicked and cried some more. I eventually had to put him in the car and let him cry until he couldn't cry anymore. After that, he had a great time swimming. Thanks to Derek and Erin for the invite!

Picture Gallery

Mason and Aunt Brookie

We may have been in the nose bleed section but look at our view!

Can you shut these people up?

Are we there yet?

Mason modeling daddy's new Yankee hat.

Adventures in Vacationing - Part One

Hello everyone! We are back from our mini vacation. We had a great time and we are all tired. We need a few days off after our few days off, ya know?

Alright, let me give everyone a recap of part of the weekend. Friday night we went to the Atlanta Braves game. They played the Boston Red Sox. My husband is a die hard New York Yankee fan so Brett, Brook and I all wore Yankees stuff.... Shirts and hats. Can you believe that our seats were smack dab in the middle of all the Red Sox fans? I thought we were going to get jumped! The people behind us chanted, "Yankees suck!" the entire time we were there. Mason was as good as a three year old could be at a baseball game. On the way to the game, we got stuck in wonderful Atlanta traffic. Mason said that it was taking way too long to get to the game and that he wanted to turn around. We told him that if he wanted to go to the game that we were going to have to fight the traffic to get there. He said, "Well, let's just go leave our eyeballs at the game and take our feet back to Brookie's house." We all got a chuckle out of that!

After the game, more traffic. Even worse.... Sitting in traffic with the gas light staring back at you. We rode all over downtown Atlanta looking for a gas station. We were really in the middle of the a scary part of town. We were so low on gas that we had to ride with our windows down. Every time that we had to stop, I rolled my window back up. I was afraid that we would get car jacked or something. I promise that we rode around for an hour, at least, looking for a gas station. I was about to have a panic attack! In my mind, I could see us running out of gas and sitting in the car while our tires and rims were stolen. Anyway, in the mist of our gas station hunt, Brook and I noticed a sign the was high on a building that said, "Jesus Saves". I thought to myself, "Save us now!" Guess what was on the next corner? A Shell Station. I have never been happier to see a gas station.

I'm going to close for tonight and go to bed. I will write more about the rest of our trip tomorrow!

Brave and Fearless

We are leaving in the morning to go to Dawsonville, Georgia to visit Brett's sister, her hubby and their canine kids. They have added a new puppy to their family since we were there last so we get to meet Remi. While we are there, we are going to a Braves game and Six Flags. Mason is so excited about Six Flags. He has talked none stop about riding roller coasters since we went to Disney World in May. He really wants to ride an upside down roller coaster. I will definitely be watching from the ground when he rides that one! He told me that Uncle Justin will ride it with him because he is brave. So, Uncle Justin, you better be prepared to ride some big rides! Mason told me that he thought that Aunt Brookie might ride the big roller coasters but he wasn't sure if she was "brave and fearless".

So, I will be gone and away from my computer until Monday. I hope that all the daddy's have a great Father's Day especially my daddy!

It's Raining! It's Pouring!

Tropical Storm Alberto is here bringing with him rain and wind. I actually love the rain and we definitely needed it terribly. What I don't like about the rain is driving conditions, my dogs won't go potty in the rain, my pool may overflow or collapse from being too full and Mason goes crazy when he can't go outside to play. Luckily, this week is VBS. Last night was the first night and he loved it. He told me that he learned about courage, sang songs, ate and made a "pretty" craft. When I asked him what he ate for dinner he said, "Well, there was a bun on the bottom with crust on it. Then there was jelly. Then there was some peanut butter. And then there was another bun with crust on it." I asked him if he had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and he said, "No mom, I had it on a bun." So, I guess he had a peanut butter and jelly bun! :)

Bubbling Over!!

Can you believe how adorable my new look is? I am so excited about it! Susie over at Bluebird Blogs designed it for me and I couldn't be any happier with it! I showed Mason and he thought that he looked really "cool". Thanks to Susie for my new dress! It shows off my best side!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Today is my mom's birthday. I have blogged about her in the past so today, as a tribute to a part of her, I am going to tell you about my dad.

When I was little I remember when my dad would say, "What's your name?" I'd respond by saying, "My name is Lori Neiel Graves and I am proud of it and Jesus Christ is the light of the world." He taught us all to say that. But Jesus wasn't always the light of my dad's world. He went through so many battles with the devil and a lot of times the devil almost won. But through God's grace, my daddy is now Preacher Bobby. It amazes me that God can take someone and make them a new person.

My parents were divorced for about 20 years so when I was growing up, I lived with mom and visited dad whenever he would have me. I would call and beg him to pick me up from school just so all the kids could see my big, bad dad! I loved going out on the shrimp boat with him on the weekends. I had him all to myself out on the ocean.... I loved it!

When Mason was 10 days old, my mom and dad got married with all of us kids standing with them. You just have no idea how that felt. I have tears in my eyes right now just thinking about it. Something that all of us kids thought would never happen did in fact happen.... Our parents were back together.

I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of my dad. He has walked through fire and come on the other side praising God. I used to be proud that my dad was Bobby Graves because of the crazy things that he did. Now I am proud of my dad for the man that he has become. Isn't God good? He can take a broken man and make him a warrior for Christ.... Or in my daddy 's case, a Fisherman For Christ! I love you so much daddy! I am so thankful that God chose to give me to you.

My Proper Son

Brett and I have always, with the help of Aunt Angie, tried to teach Mason to say yes ma'am and no ma'am, please and thank you. Lately we have been trying to change, "I need to go pee!" to "I need to use the restroom." It's actually going really well. Mason thinks that stupid and beer are bad words. He'll be in his room playing, come out with his head hanging, and say, "I said a bad word in my room." He tells on himself, even if the word is something like dumb or retarded. It's not easy trying to raise a proper little boy but I think that we are doing rather well...... at least I thought so.....

Yesterday Mason says, "Mommy, I need to use the restroom." I told him to go ahead. He went into the bathroom and was in there for awhile. I asked him if he was done. He screamed, "DON'T COME IN HERE!" Of course, my mommy alarm went off and I opened the door. There stood my "proper" little boy with his head in the toilet, actually touching the water. He raised his head really quick. Water is running down his face.... not just any water.... TOILET WATER! I asked him what in the world he was doing. He responded by saying, "I really thought that I needed to wash my face." He could tell that I wasn't happy that he had done this. He grabbed a hand full of toilet paper and started to try to dry his face off. Now he has toilet water and pieces of toilet paper all over his face. At that point I started giggling and, of course, running for my camera. He was so embarrassed that he would not let me take a picture. Bummer, huh?

The moral of this story? No matter how proper and well mannered you try to raise your boys, they will still find the nearest toilet to stick their heads in!

By the way, yes, he had already flushed the toilet before he stuck his head in it!

Thursday Thirteen #5

Thanks to Mandy for the Banner
If you are anything like me, I can't stand to stop for gas. It's not so much the actual pumping of gas but it's the bill that has to paid when I'm done. Hopefully these tips will help us all save a little! Every little bit counts!!

Thirteen Ways to Save Money at the Gas Pump

1... Check your tire pressure. Under-inflated tires require more energy to roll.

2... Fill up on the weekdays. Prices usually rise on the weekend. The cheapest times to buy gas are typically Tuesday midday or Wednesday morning.

3... Fill up at night because pumps deliver more gas when temperatures are lower.

4... Don't overbuy. Unless your owner's manual says you must use a higher grade, buy regular gasoline.

5... Avoid running on empty. You may think you're using very little gas when your car is on empty, but you're actually using more gas because your vehicle is running less efficiently as it tries to accelerate and decelerate in a normal fashion. The best time to get gas is when you have half a tank or less.

6... Slow down. Driving at posted speed limits saves fuel and lives. Each 5 mph over 60 mph is like paying an additional 10 cents per gallon. Use cruise control to maintain your speed.

7... Avoid sudden stops or starts. Erratic acceleration and braking can waste up to 50 cents per gallon.

8... Avoid idling. If you have to sit in your car for more than one minute, shut off the engine.

9... Park in the shade. This minimizes fuel evaporation and helps keep your car cool in the summer.

10... Lighten your load. Don't carry around items you don't need.

11... Keep your gas cap on tight. Tightening the gas cap on your car will prevent gas from evaporating and escaping into the air.

12... Get a tune-up. A simple tune-up on your car can improve your gas mileage by an average of 4.1 percent.

13... Look into discount gas card offers. Some gas stations offer as much as 5-10 percent off the gas you buy if your join their rebate program.

Thanks to Pumpraider.com for these tips.

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

I have had an afternoon full of trials. Ever have those? Everyone does and today was definitely mine!

I came home this afternoon with a terrible headache. When I got here, I crawled in the bed and fell asleep. Brett and Mason got home and crawled in the bed with me at about 5pm. I woke up at 7:00 and went to my mother in laws house to water her plants.... She is out of town. I decided to take Ripley, my dog, with me. While I was watering Gil's plants, I left Ripley in the car with the a/c on. Little did I know that he was throwing up all over the inside of my car. Yuck!!! When I got home, I had to clean all the yuckiness out of the car.

I came in the house to find that Mason was still sleeping. I got him up at about 8pm hoping that he would at least stay up for awhile so that he would sleep tonight. He woke up with pink eye in both eyes!! My poor little fella! His eyes look terrible. He wouldn't let me touch his face at all. He fell back to sleep about 30 minutes later and is still sleeping now. I am praying that he sleeps ALL night long.

So, that is what my afternoon was like today. It could be worse, right? Please say a little prayer for Mason. I can only imagine how hard it will be to put eye drops in his eyes. I'll probably have to sit on him to do it.

Did I mention that we had a dead squirrel in our pool, too? I don't remember inviting him to take a dip!

What we thought was going to be Mason's first day in his new class turned out to be a pitiful day. When we got to school, we were told that Mason wouldn't move up until July because the 4 year old class was full. Mason instantly started to cry. I had been building him up for this transition for a week. He had worked himself into extreme excitement. He was ready to be an even bigger boy in his new class. Needless to say, I was not happy. But, as a mommy, I had to put on my smiley face and explain to Mason that he would go to his new class in a few weeks. His teacher told him that she loved him and that she would miss him too much if he moved right now. She told him that she needed him to stay with her for a little longer.

So, the morning turned out to be harder for Mason and for me. I had to leave him while he was screaming and crying. He had big fat tears rolling down his face. Of course, he survived the morning but I couldn't wait to pick him up at 11:30. I'm pretty sure that I broke the speed limit all the way there!

Training Wheels

Mason starts his new four year old class tomorrow at preschool. He is really nervous about it even though a few of his classmates will be moving up with him. He has asked me many questions today about it. "Will the teacher put me in timeout?" "Will we still say the same prayer before we eat?" "Do they even eat there?" He is really worried about it even though he is only moving to the room next door.

I am realizing, as Mason gets older, that it is really hard to let go of him. I want to go into his new class and sit beside him all day to make sure that he is okay. I don't want him to cry and be scared. But I know that he has to be brave and go alone into that big new room with new kids and a new teacher. He has to learn to adapt and he has to learn how to be an even bigger boy.

No matter how old Mason ever is, I will never want to let him go out into the big bad world on his own. No, I'm not going to be a stalking mother who is on Dr. Phil in 20 years but I know that as he gets older that letting him go will get harder and harder.

I have been sitting here praying for my mom tonight because I know that she still struggles every day with the trials of being a mother. I can look at her and see it all over her face. She is struggling with the decision to take off the training wheels or to leave them on, in a matter of speaking. If she takes off the training wheels, there will be skinned knees and he will fall off the bicycle over and over again. But if she leaves them on, won't he fall anyway? I think that he is riding around with one wheel off. He is waiting around until she loosens the other one. She has been running behind that bike for a long time, holding him up but one day she has to let him go on his own and he has to learn to ride. Will he fall? Probably. But I know in my heart that he will have the hands of God to fall into and I also know in the deepest part of my soul that God will heal his scraped knees..... In a matter of speaking.

Yes, I am still a blogger! This weekend was very busy. Brett was playing softball so Mason and I found a lot to do together. We went to a t-ball game, swam in the pool with Amy and her kids, we went to church, bowling, bike riding and we ate dinner at mom's house. Busy! Busy! Busy! During all that, I still managed to get my house clean and the laundry done. That has to be close to a miracle!

Mason got his first filling today at the dentist. Angie had to take her four kids for a cleaning so Mason went along. He had an appointment for later this week to get his cavity filled and man, was I dreading that! Anyway, the dentist decided to go ahead and fill Mason's tooth while he was there. That truly was a blessing in disguise! Mason did great and he told me that he was the biggest boy ever! Thanks Aunt Angie!!

Welcome Home Little One! I am so glad that you are feeling better! You are in my thoughts and prayers!

If you are reading this and have no idea what it is all about, you can go to momrn2 and read her story. You will surely be amazed at the awesome power of pray. If you would like to join the "Welcome Home Party" for Momrn2's daughter, go visit Carol at She Lives and join in the celebration!