All Gigi's Babies

This was the first time Gigi had all of her great grandbabies together. We tried to get as many pictures as we could...somewhat of a challenge since they all won't be still for more than a second.

Merry Christmas

Having kids makes Christmas so much more memorable! We had so much fun watching Mason's reaction when he opened his presents...he was so excited.

Christmas Fried Chicken

It wouldn't be Christmas with the Rein/Hughes Family without the yummiest fried chicken for breakfast. I love the tradition not only for the fried chicken but how excited everybody gets about eating great food!!!!

Hanging with my Cousin

We left for Tampa the weekend before Christmas and we're able to spend some quality time with Eric. He has such a sweet spirit and Mason really enjoyed showing him the ropes!!!

Visiting the Hughes

We went to Atlanta over the weekend to visit Clay's cousin and his family. Lauren turned 1 in November so it was fun to watch her play with Lyla Grace. "Uncle Chris" entertained Mason most of the time...they played nonstop. It was great spending time with their sweet family.

I'm a Big Kid Now...

Granddaddy and Grandmama gave Mason a bike for his 3rd birthday. Not just any bike but an Auburn Tiger bike. Granddaddy showed him how to ride it and he was doing really well. They took him to the bike shop down the street from our house and bought him a helmet...it took us (4 adults) a while to figure it out (that is why it is on backwards in the picture).

Mason's 3rd Birthday

We all went to the park by our house for Mason's Dinosaur birthday party. We played pin the tail on the T-Rex and dinosaur bowling. Mason loved his T-Rex cake. It was such a special day for Mason.

Are you ready for Christmas...we are!!

We had so much fun decorating the house for Christmas. Mason is really into it this year and so excited about Santa. After I put the lights on the tree he said, "Thank you Mommy, thank you for the lights". We started a few traditions this year. I gave each of the kids an ornament to unwrap and hang on the tree. We ordered pizza for dinner and made Christmas cookies. It is so much more fun to celebrate the holidays with children...especially my little cuties!!!

Thanksgiving Feast

The James family stayed with us over Thanksgiving weekend. It was the first Thanksgiving dinner Clay and I hosted and we did a pretty good job. Stephen cooked the Turkey and Heather and I made all of the other goodies. It was great to have all of us together.

Disney with The James Family

We met my brother's family (and the Gobble clan) at MGM today. The first hour or so Mason had a hard time...I think all of the people might have been a little overwhelming. He started enjoying himself when we saw the Indiana Jones show and he loved the car stunt show even more. It was so much fun watching him play with his cousins. Emma Claire really took him under her wing and helped him all day...she is such a sweet child. I think the highlight of the day for him was when I let him pick out a toy (he would throw a tantrum everytime we would pass a gift shop). We bought Buzz Lightyear. He tried to sleep with it when he went to bed but I had to take it away because he was pushing the buttons and keeping Emma Claire and Elijah awake. It was the first thing he asked for when he woke up at 5:30 am the next morning.

Touch-a-Truck

We took Mason to Touch-a-Truck again this year. It is a charity event to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House. They park a bunch of trucks in an open field and let the children climb all over and pretend to drive them. Mason had a hard time with the standing in line concept. The picture of him running was the way he spent the majority of his time. He would run from one truck to another and once he saw children waiting in line to drive it he would run to another truck. It was very frustrating but he seemed to enjoy himself. I finally convinced him to stand in line to drive the fire truck...it was a few minutes of torture. Clay hung out with Lyla Grace and they listened to loud horns blowing as each child climbed into the driver's seat...I thought Clay was going to lose it.

Thanksgiving Feast

Clay and I went to Mason's Thanksgiving Feast at his school today. They served Turkey and veggies (he didn't eat a bite). Clay helped him make his placemat for Thanksgiving dinner. He really seems to enjoy his school and his new friends.

Mason's Thanksgiving Performance

Today was Mason's Thanksgiving church program at his preschool. They sang "123 Turkey's" and "God Our Father". He was so cute up there singing with his class. The first few minutes he was searching for Clay and I but once he saw us he really hammed it up. He even clapped and cheered for himself after his was finished.

Mason's 1st trip tp Sea World

We met the Hage family at Sea World today. Mason was so adventuresome...he actually rode a roller coaster. Ashton and Mason really enjoyed being together. Clay helped them pet the stingrays. While we were driving home we asked Mason what he liked the best and without hesitation he yelled "The Sharks!!!" We watched several shows (Shamu, Dolphins and Sea Lions) and Mason thought they were all pretty cool. Lyla Grace was a trooper (as always)!!! She never really cried the entire time and took 2 pretty decent naps. The weather was beautiful. I couldn't have asked for a better day!!

Thomas the Train comes to town

Twice a year Thomas the Train comes to Mt. Dora. As an early birthday present we decided to take Mason to see what all the hype was about. The train ride is about 30 minutes. We almost missed the 10 am train and as we were running through the parking lot Mason sees a forklift. We were climbing up the stairs of a really cool train and Mason is crying because he wants to drive the forklift. As we were trying to find a seat I remembered that as we were driving to Mt. Dora Mason had mentioned he had to go potty. Well in all of the chaos I forgot to take him to the bathroom. I suddenly started to panic because the train was about to leave and I have a 2 year old that needs to pee. Luckily there was a bathroom on the train and Mason thought it was really cool.

The weather was beautiful and all of the windows were open and Mason was able to hang his head out of the window as the train was going down the tracks (don't worry...it was going very slow). After we rode on the train we walked around the gift shop and bought Mason one of the Thomas track sets. Needless to say he has slept with Thomas the past 2 nights. It was a great day!!!

Rubber Ducky You're the One

Mason and Lyla Grace took their first bath together tonight. Mason was so sweet...he kept trying to give her a toy to play with. She would take the toy and smile at him. It was really fun to watch them interact with eachother...what a blessing!!

We love our D-A-D-D-Y!!!

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful daddy. He comes home for lunch everyday to spend time with us. Mason talks about his daddy coming home for lunch as soon as Clay leaves each morning. We LOVE you daddy!!!!

The Happy Painter

Mason loves to paint. We have been enjoying our morning time together while Lyla Grace is napping.

Jazz Fest

We ventured out to the College Park Jazz Fest with The Armstrong's. It was so fun to see Mason interact with the twins. It was also a great time to hang out with Heidi and Scott and listen to music.

After Party

After all of the eventful festivities we spent some time enjoying Mason's candy!! Mason finally tried M&M's and he was still talking about them right before he went to sleep. I am going to have to be the M&M monitor for a couple days. At dinner tonight Clay reminded me of how happy we are when it is just the 4 of us. We don't have to have a big production to enjoy life. It is such a blessing to be a part of such a wonderful family!!!!