Family Christmas

Though there were several family gatherings over the last several days, my family celebrated Christmas at our house on Friday. Max had become a pro at opening presents by this time, and I enjoyed watching his expressions with each new package. Mason got a Shooting Gallery game from Uncle Johnny that was probably his favorite toy this year. It's like something from a carnival...complete with the noise, thank you John. My niece, Josie, wanted boots with fur and my mother and I spent two entire days combing Wichita looking for a pair in her size...mission accomplished, and she looked so cute in them at church Sunday. Here are a few snapshots of the festivities...

An attempt at a family portrait

Mason handcuffing Aunt Donna

Marcus loves Toby Mac and Dark Chocolate!
Max opening another gift

Ranting

It's only 10 am and I have two things to rant about. First - one of the buttons on my favorite pair of jeans came off. But - since they're button fly jeans, I'm gonna chance it and see just how drafty it is anyway. Trust me...any incidents arising from this test will pale in comparison to other adventures around here. Second -


Funniest thing I've heard yet today (but remember - it's only 10 am)...
Mason: "Mom, feel how cold my butt is."

Christmas Season Observations

Here are a few things I've observed or learned this Christmas season...

1. When you open the gift you win in the preschool Christmas gift exchange and throw it down exclaiming, "I DON'T LIKE THIS", your father will haul your little behind out of the room in a jiffy! (This was NOT Mason - in case you were wondering.)



2. People riding in those Little Rascal scooters may be disabled, but I quit feeling sorry for them after a lady repeatedly bumped my friend Lindsay's ankles as she shopped on Black Friday. She had a $10 toaster oven in her sites, and everyone better get outta the way!



3. According to Mason, baby Jesus received Gold, Frankincense and Murder from the Wise Men.



4. Even kids feel the effects of the holiday season. After being instructed to pick up his toys, Mason informed us that he couldn't because he was feeling sluggish. Sluggish? What 5 year old uses that word?



5. The Christmas season also means final exams for students. Unfortunately, Marcus (Freshman) thought that finals were something like those standardized tests the schools periodically administer. Fortunately - his first day of finals was very light and he quickly figured out that he'd made a bad, bad mistake. There was A LOT of studying on Monday night! And just to clarify - he was at his mom's house. I NEVER would have let something like that happen. Yeah right.



6. Apparently babies enjoy dog chew-bones as much as their canine companions. In fact, Max is so generous that he even lets the dog chew for awhile - and when Rush gets bored or Max runs out of generosity - Max takes it back and chews some more. YUCK!



7. The little girls in Mason's class don't need mistletoe as a prompter to kiss my son. In fact - Mrs. Reimer ended up having a class meeting (yes - a preschool class meeting) to inform the girls that they should stop kissing Mason Baysinger.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Life As A Boy Mom

A few weeks ago I got a t-shirt that says, "Boy Moms Rock". Any mom that has only sons - no daughters - appreciates this t-shirt to the core. Mason is so proud of the shirt and points at my chest to complete strangers saying, "Look...Look". Anyone that gets past the initial shock of a boy pointing at his mother's chest while saying, "Look...Look" appreciates the wording on the shirt all the more.

Today my three sons and I ventured to Target. We went in with the simple plan of buying a few more ornaments for the tree. We ended up with a new toaster, a tube of Spongebob toothpaste, two boxes of Kleenex, four items that Max grabbed from shelves that we apologetically gave back to the check-out lady, and a pack of bubble gum. A ring toss game, sneaked into the cart by Mason, was also given back. I couldn't even remember why we were at Target until I came home and saw the half-dressed tree. These kids wear me out.

We plan to see my dad on Saturday at our big family Christmas party. After Max's bath tonight, I was trying to get him to say "Papa Jim". Guess what? My precious 10 month old said "Papa" plain as day...several times! I sure hope he'll say it on Saturday, because there will be an awfully proud papa ready to hear it.

Catching Up

I have no excuses for not blogging other than those common to every single busy mom in the world. So, without further ado - here are some high points from the last month in the Baysinger house...

1. Max is a goat in a baby's body. Seriously, the child will eat ANYTHING. Most odd, though, is his taste for dog food. If I leave the dog's bowl unattended for a second, Max has at least three pieces in his mouth. YUCK! He seems to love it. Blake's mom said that her son, Larry, used to do the same thing. Finally - something to blame on Blake's genes!
2. Mason has started a harem. He came home from school awhile back announcing that he has 4 wives. He followed that comment with, "But don't tell my church friends". Seriously! Today he told me that one of the wives kissed him while they were riding the bus back to school from gymnastics. This is escalating, as one of the other wives kissed him three times during music last week. My poor little boy - he's such a victim. Yeah right. Again - blaming Blake's genes.
3. Marcus has entered the entitlement zone. He's convinced that his life is horrible, he has no privileges, and his parents don't understand anything he's going through. This mindset has earned him a spot on the youth mission trip to Mexico this summer. Then we'll see if his definition of privilege remains the same. Gotta love the teenagers.
4. Would love to post more, but "Max the goat" is on the prowl and I haven't vacuumed since Friday! Hey - that gives me an idea. Why vacuum at all? I could just turn Max loose and..
   

Family Secrets

A few weeks ago, I picked Mason up from our church's Wednesday night children's program. They had made trees with leaves showing things they were thankful for. One of Mason's leaves had the name of his new Aunt Mindy. He went on to explain that he'd told the class about Aunt Mindy getting pregnant on her honeymoon! Great.

First - Aunt Mindy did NOT get pregnant on her honeymoon. There were at least two weeks between the two events! Second -

Parent Teacher Conferences

We had parent teacher conferences for Mason's preschool class last week. I think I was more nervous for this conference than I was when my parents used to go to mine. This is what we found out:

1. According to his teacher, Mason is the class "stud". When they are placed boy-girl-boy-girl, Mason sits with his arms around the two girls on either side of him.


2. Mason is one of only two boys in the class that can skip. Apparantly being able to skip at this age is huge because it means something about synapses and right brain/left brain . Whatever...he's a genius.


3. His teacher told us that if she's ever sick, Mason could successfully run the class on his own.


4. Mason has the attention span of a flea. This we knew.


5. Mason's left eye sometimes drifts toward his nose when he concentrates. This we didn't know.


6. He's a master rhymer. Unfortunately - if he can't think of a real word, he makes up his own word. For instance, did you know that kouse rhymes with house?


7. He knows his absurdly long home address, but couldn't say his phone number. We asked her which one she asked for because he calls his parents' cell phones SEVERAL times every day! I guess he just never calls himself.


8. He's the cutest kid in the class...oh wait - maybe she didn't say that.