Two Shirts...Seriously???

This is what happens when you let a strong-willed child make the rules. Sophie wanted to wear her Pooh shirt, but hated all the pants in her drawer. So, naturally she gets to wear her two self-selected shirts. It was kind of fun to watch her run with her two tails trailing behind her. Ah, well...

Sharing

This time lapse communicates a huge moment in our house - the kids WILLINGLY sharing a toy! Caleb was the one who initiated the sharing, and Sophia was happy to play along...what great kids!

 

Okay...this may look like a fairly under-control moment.  But what you don't know is that there was an uncomfortable amount of water in the kayak from a wave that doused us just as we took off.  Then, for some reason I was unable to really get down - maybe it was the life jacket? - so we were fairly tippy and the water wasn't all that smooth.  And lastly, why on earth does Caleb have a rock with him???  

 

I marvel at the women in my life - Kim, Sophia, Mom and Carrie.  And then on Kim's side: Kathy, Robyn, Margie, Amy...What incredible women for Sophia to grow up with and what a legacy!

 

Caleb got a ton of time with his Papa and Nana - and they are moving soon to the neighborhood.  I'm so excited at how well my kids will know their grandparents!!!

Ready for a Fun Slide-Ride

 

Every once in a while, that ol' Kodak takes a cool picture.

Rough Slide

Our 4h of July - the Park

For the 4th of July we visited with Chris' parents. The weather for Friday and Saturday weren't the best, but not terrible either. What we did get to enjoy is a park that was just a few minutes drive away. Sophia and Caleb loved the slides, and we really had a great time.

Cute Girl Waving

Sophia just loves an excuse to wave.

Bedtime Stories

Caleb loves books and he always has a snack and two books (of a few chapters) before bed. Sophia's love for reading is beginning to develop as well. She has started to join in book time at bedtime with Caleb. Chris got out the camera and immediately I heard "cheese" from my left. Soph is also becoming a ham. I love these kids and I love our fun, family routines. I know it's important to cherish these simple times while I can. So from board books to chapter books, we enjoy reading at our house!

Father's Day

I am so blessed have a husband who loves the Lord and his children. It's awesome to see how Chris has grown as a father and husband. Here's some pics of the kids and Chris on Father's Day.



Here's Chris with the kids before bed one night. We decided to have a dress-up/pj time. Silly kids!

Snack Time and Dress Up

Good Friends

We recently said goodbye to some really, really good friends. The Cheng family moved away from us, and they will be sorely missed. It's a mixed bag, though, since although we will miss them (and already do) we do have assurance that our friendship will continue to deepen. Here's a video of their send-off.

It's been a while!

Things have been very busy for us this year and particularly this spring. With work and work on the house, we've been running around a lot. Chris' parents just bought a house in Rochester and plan to relocate this summer. This definitely is a blessing for us. Also, some great friends of ours are moving. This saddens us, but we know we have dear friends whom we will see again because they have a piece of our hearts and are family to us. We had a blast having a farewell BBQ last week. We'll post a video slide show of pics from that later... For now, here are a few pics of our funny children. What a joy they are!



Caleb has enjoyed playing doctor with this new doctor's kit. In this picture I guess he must have had a pretty tough boo-boo. Thankfully he survived!


My independent Sophia. She loves to feed herself. This is in fact yogurt, though it does look like paint!

Kim's 10K Challenge

Easter

Easter weekend was filled with fun and remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus. We enjoyed dying Easter eggs with friends on Friday morning and then later in the evening Caleb went to a special Good Friday for Kids service at Papa and Grandma's church. Sunday we enjoyed celebrating at our church and then having dinner at Grandma and Papa's house. We had some friends join us, which was nice.

My beautiful baby girl. Sophia loved her new shoes and dress, though it did make climbing difficult.
Caleb with his Lightning McQueen basket. He was into the egg hunt. One egg and Sophia was done.

Tea anyone?

Dying Easter eggs with Kate and Kristin. I think Kristin had the most fun!

What amazing kids! I wouldn't trade them for the world and thank God for them daily!

Wedding!!!

My brother, Brandon, married Sarai this past week. The ceremony was in Annapolis, Maryland, and thankfully we all were able to be there. It was such a powerful moment, and we are so pleased that Sarai has joined our family!


Wedding from christopher mason on Vimeo.

Footage from Sophia's Party

She's such a beautiful kid!

The Kids Playing Together!

Or at least near each other...with some of the same toys.

A Bland Video of Sophia in her Highchair

Hmmm...not too much happening in this video!

A Living Bag?

Caleb found a huge gift bag, and had a ton of fun with it!

Almost 1!!!

Getting Ready to Party!

Sophia and Caleb (who banged his thumb just as filming began) are having fun with the props for Sophia's 1st birthday party - mucho gracias, Cheng family!!!

A Few Words

Sophia has a couple of words to say to you...

Snow Day Fun

Well, it has been a very snowy day in Rochester. I (Kim) had the day off, so we ventured out into the snow to go to the museum. I love the new Potato Head exhibit. The kids had a good time and Sophia is beginning to explore things there as well. Caleb and Sophie also enjoyed building at home. One of Caleb's favorite things in the world is to wear PJs, so today was a PJ-day for him.

More Video

Sophia - Playing and Trying to Walk from christopher mason on Vimeo.

Caleb is 4!!!

Caleb is 4!!! We celebrated his birthday with his family, with Nana and Papa Steve coming from Watertown and his Aunt Ro, Papa Bob, Grandma Kathy and Great Grandma swinging over for pizza (his favorite) and some fun. Below you can see Caleb's birthday present from us - a big boy bed!!! He loves it and has not found his way out of it in the middle of the night at all! It's been nearly two weeks and we've not heard a peep from him whatsoever. With Sophia still stirring once to three times a night, it's so cool to have this guy sleeping like a champ!

Sophia with her pal Amelia, who is a stunner at 9 months old. These two were funny together. Sophia has her "funny face" and Amelia does one awesome "fish face". It was so fun to have them together.

Cowboy and Cowgirl

Sophia and Caleb are sharing a rocking horse. While this is cute on Sophia, with Caleb it's just plain funny! He is using a plastic firefighter's helmet (from Halloween) and yelling things like "Yippee-Kai-yai-yay!" and "ride like the wind!". He's such a goofball!

More Fun at Strong...

Caleb and Sophia had a great time at the Strong Museum of Play! The Curious George exhibit was leaving town, so we were glad that we made it! Here you can see our effort to make Sophia more easily identifiable as a girl. You'd be surprised how many people (usually men) still ask "Is it a boy or a girl?" Yikes!!!