Back To School!

It's that time again. The kids are back to school! Matty is a 5th grader this year! Her teacher is Mrs. Ann Hinckley. Anastyn is a 3rd grader in Mrs. Jamie May's class. And Mason is off to preschool at VIP with Mrs. Carol Fink and Mrs. Lori Scheffler. Mason and Gracie are in the same class this year! How fun! ....And believe it or not, I'm going back to school too! I will be working at Lovell High School as a special ed para, which I am really excited about! 

Five Already!

Mason - or as I like to call him, The Best Boy Ever - had a birthday. He is five whole years old! Man, that went fast. What an awesome little guy he is. I remember when I found out I was expecting him. I wasn't ready...and I panicked a little bit. His sisters were such a handful and I wasn't sure I could handle another one at that time. But he has been such a blessing, and our family would not have been complete without him. The moment we saw him, we were all smitten...and have been ever since. Right now, Mason loves all things trucks. Trucks are the BOMB!! He loves to work with Grandpa Tippetts, loves digging holes, and he's really got a talent for building things in Minecraft. Man, he's cute.

Anastyn's Special Birthday

What a beautiful girl. Absolutely beautiful! And so excited to be baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! She was baptized on her birthday by her Daddy at the stake building in Lovell. Many, many loved ones came to support her on this special day.  Uncle Kaleb and our dear friend, Kylee Thormahlen, both spoke to her about baptism, the holy ghost and repentance. Afterward, we enjoyed a yummy chili dinner and, of course, a beautiful and delicious cake made by Aletha Durtsche. I love this girl beyond words and am so grateful that she chose to make covenants with her Heavenly Father on this important day.

My 2nd Birthday!

At 2 years old I:

• am still so sweet and mild mannered
• love to do pretend yardwork with my pretend lawn mower, weed wacker, and shovels
• say I am '2' but my hand says I am '5'
• was so excited to open my presents. I wanted nothing to do with singing, blowing out candles or eating birthday cake!
•  am a man of few words...but I understand everything YOU say!
• love Grandmas and Grandpas 
• like when people read to me
• like to look at 'I Spy' books
• love to go fishing
• like to spot animals along the road
• would rather be outside more than anywhere else
• still take a nap
• like to wear my baseball cap...just like Daddy
• love to play with trucks and trains

As you can see by the pictures, Mason had one of those extended birthdays. That's why he has so many different outfits on! We decided to take Mason fishing for his birthday party. We had a picnic at Beck Lake in Cody. Mason didn't care to eat because he was preoccupied with the pile of presents. He didn't want us to sing to him, and he didn't want to blow out his candles. He didn't even want a piece of his birthday cake!! So, we just did all of that without him while he opened presents and played with his stuff. It got a little stormy on us, but we were able to take his new fishing pole over to the lake and he actually caught a fish all by himself! He did finally eat some birthday cake the next day when he had 'time'. :)

We are so blessed to have Mason in our family! I don't think there has ever been a sweeter little boy! He is so much fun and all BOY (except for when his sisters get a hold of him!) Happy Birthday Buddy!!!!!!!

A Handful!

Yes, Miss Anastyn is officially a handful! She turned FIVE the other day! I just can't believe how quickly time is speeding by. This year she will be off to Kindergarten, and I just don't know what I will do without her. She had one of those extended birthdays this year. She actually missed her first birthday party so-to-speak. :) She has a blonde mother. A really super (blonde) mother that sent out a very mistaken text about the date of her actual birthday party! It was a good practice run for everybody I guess. Anyways, her birthday party was a couple days before her birthday. We ate at Pizza On The Run and she got to play in the bounce house. She wanted a chocolate Barbie cake. I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out half-way easy on the eyes. :) She got many fun gifts including clothes, jewelry, a jewelry box, Leap Frog games, and money. She was given the royal treatment on her birthday. We stayed home and focused on her every whim! We painted her fingernails and toenails, cuddled and watched movies, she got to take a bubble bath (instead of the quick shower her mother prefers) and got to eat spaghetti for dinner! She had a second (very small, very casual) party on her birthday. She got to help decorate the cupcakes and had some of her very favorite friends over to enjoy them with her. And a couple days later, she was delighted to find another package in the mail from Aunt Chels. It came in one of those fancy envelopes you can buy at the Post Office. It had cupcakes on it. She couldn't believe her eyes and wondered how in the world Aunt Chelsea could possibly have known that she had cupcakes on her birthday! he he! 

So what do I have to say about Anastyn and her five years? A lot, actually:

She's just a great girl. She loves her kittens and her dog. She takes such good care of them! She loves to help with her little brother. She loves him dearly and thinks he is the cutest thing in the whole wide world. She has a beautiful voice. She goes to preschool and loves to learn anything and everything. She is like a sponge. She is hungry for knowledge and asks an almost unbearable amount of questions in a day. She is very fashion conscious and will not wear 'just anything'. She has many friends and loves to be around other people. She is forgiving. She loves her family 'more than birthdays and chocolate, more than anything in the whole world - except for Jesus' (in her own words). She loves Barbie movies, Angelina Ballerina, and the Backyardigans. She enjoys listening to storybooks and playing games. She is very fond of spaghetti and ham sandwiches and candy and not-so-fond of anything else. :) She likes everything to be 'just right' at bed-time and can't go to sleep without several hugs and kisses, a drink of water, and the reassurance that I will wake her up if there is anything that I might need to tell her in the middle of the night! She loves to prance around the house in her ballerina dress. Every once in a while she is allowed to wear it all day long...that's when she's in heaven! She is definitely our favorite 5-year-old and she could definitely never be replaced. She is a blessing to our family. She brings countless smiles to our faces and an endless supply of warm fuzzies to our hearts. We love you Anastyn! Please don't grow up too fast!!!! xoxoxo

Happy Things!

I know. I know. I should be ashamed of myself. It's been, well......a while. I do have excuses. Busy summer. Busy kids. Books to read. House to clean. Places to go. Things to do. You get it. And we are still busy. Even now as I write this, I am also chasing around a turbo charged toddler, trying to explain directions for a packet of worksheets to an information hungry preschooler, and I'm pretty sure I am going to have to stop what I'm doing here for a sec and change a poopy diaper. And the only reason I am making myself do this now is cause of the Aunt. The Aunt that would like to see some pictures of her nieces and nephew. So - this one's for you, Aunt Chels!! ;)

What's new with the little dude? Well, he is a typical toddler. He likes cookies, dancing, balls, being outside, getting dirty, rocks and sticks, climbing, food, sips of pop, kitties and puppies, and his dad.

 On our way to and from the Leithead reunion this summer we got to look around Yellowstone Park! It had been such a long time since we had been there. It was so fun to see all the animals and sights...nature is so awesome!!! 

It has also been a very long time since we have made it to a Leithead Family Reunion. We are glad we were able to see everybody this year! The girls had so much fun camping and playing. Lots of wonderful memories were made!

One of the biggest highlights of our summer was that we broke Anastyn of her thumb-sucking habit! Way to go Anastyn!!! Thank you to the genius who invented the Thumb Guard. Anastyn was such a trooper wearing these little things for five whole weeks. But I think we all agree that it was well worth it. And now we have to start saving for that trip to Disneyland that we promised her!!

 Matty started first grade! She has really taken to being a "Meeteetse Longhorn", and she LOVES her new teacher, Mrs. Horsen. She is a super-fun lady and I think Matty is going to have a fabulous year!! Isn't she a cute little first-grader????

And, thanks to Grandma-Great, we had the pleasure of taking care of seven...uh-huh, I said seven...cats this summer. They provided many, many hours of entertainment for the girls. Thankfully, we found homes for them all and kept our two favorites, Cupcake and Mittens. Anastyn loves to take care of them. She makes sure they have food and water and plenty of attention and love. She likes to carry them around in baskets and is thrilled that they are finally getting playful. She loves to tease them with balls of yarn and crumpled paper. Cute, cute, cute!

And last, but not least, we signed Matty up for soccer. She is so excited to be playing. She loves getting all dressed up in her soccer clothes and heading to Cody for her games. Mainly she chases butterflies and chews on her sleeve. But once in a while she actually kicks the ball!! It is such a hoot to watch these little guys play! Yay Matty! Go Strikers!!! 

The Big {ONE}

HaPpY BiRtHdAy, MaSoN bEaU!!!!!

This little family of ours couldn't have asked for a

sweeter, cuter, funner, or cuddlier little boy!

At One Year Old, Mason:

• Walks like a maniac
• Still does not sleep all thru the night...or in his own bed
• Is getting the hang of a sippy cup
• Seems to always be sporting a bruise (or two) on his forehead
• Loves to push buttons, turn knobs, take things apart and put them back together
• Is so happy when he is outside in the fresh air
• Enjoys teasing his older sisters
• Is happy and easy-going almost always
• Loves taking showers and baths
• Loves his mama, but is also a HUGE fan of daddy
• Is adored by his two big sisters. They both think he is absolutely awesome, and they love to take care of him and play with him.

Lucky #7!

Matty celebrated birthday #7 a little over a week ago!

In honor of the 7 years our family has been blessed

by this little lady, here are 7 of Matty's current favorite things!

Favorite Song:  "I Am A Child of God"

Favorite Color: Purple

Favorite Person: Mom

Favorite Toy: Tangled Doll

Favorite Movie:  Hannah Montana

Favorite Food: Hamburgers and Popcorn

Favorite Thing to Do: Play with Anastyn

Gradiversary!

Matty is officially a First Grader!! Last Monday we got to attend her Kindergarten graduation at the Meeteetse School. It was a wonderful ceremony complete with red caps and gowns, a sweet slide show that brought tears to our eyes, diplomas, and refreshments!! A big THANK YOU to everyone (in Lovell and Meeteetse) who has been involved in getting Matty this far! She has made progress in leaps and bounds and we are so very, very, very PROUD of her! Yay, Matty!!!!!



Special Ladies: Mrs. Campsey, Matty, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. Hiser

 We also had the pleasure of attending Kaleb's High School Graduation. What a fun day of celebrating everyone's accomplishments!! Kyle and I celebrated an accomplishment of our own that day - 13 whole years of marriage! Whew! Now that's somethin'!!

And just for fun...here are Matty and Anastyn singing "I'm A Little Teapot". They came up with some very entertaining and rather unusual actions to this song! In the second picture it looks as though Anastyn is rapping! You go, girls!

For The Record...

There are things that our kids do and say that we think we will never forget. There are times that I've thought to myself that I should write that down. But, I guess out of laziness, I talk myself out of it thinking that I could never in a million years forget something that crazy, or funny, or whatever the case may be. So I am noting some recent shenanigans. :)

One that has been providing frequent chuckles in our family circle:  The other day Mason got a small cut on his finger. There was a small amount of blood. I was looking at it when Anastyn came strolling by. She saw it and exclaimed, "Bloody Hell!" I was stunned. What???? I gave her that 'what-did-you-just-say' look, to which she explained, "Well, Harry Potter says it!"  We are really working on which words are appropriate to say and which aren't. It's really hard, because even the cartoons take the Lord's name in vain (which is not okay in our book) and include some inappropriate language. It's really confusing for kids...and its so hard to monitor and filter. It's dreadful. So, if you happen to hear one of my children say a 'bad' word...please know that we are trying to teach them. :) And, yes, I do have to confess that my mouth needs a good washing out with soap once in a while. Shameful.

A week or two ago I had to take Matty to the doctor in Cody. We drove thru McDonalds and got her a kids meal to eat while we were running errands around town. I had to run into Walgreens real quick to pick up her prescription and figured she and Mason would be okay in the car for a second. I forgot she still had the little bag of sliced apples from her Happy Meal. I came back to the car and got us out on the road when I heard Mason make a strange noise. So I asked Matty if brother was okay. She said 'no'. All of a sudden I remembered the apples. I asked Matty if she had given anything to her brother. All she said was 'apple'. Holy Crap!  I freaked out thinking Mason was choking on an apple. I swirved through the opposing lane of traffic to pull into the Holiday Inn parking lot - barely missing an oncoming vehicle - threw the car into park, jumped out of the car landing in a huge puddle of water, and prepared to yank my baby out of the car to get an apple out of his throat! I opened the door and found Mason sitting there....just fine. I talked to Matty. She had never given him an apple. I guess she just felt the need to watch her mother have a heart attack. Took me a while to settle myself down and get the heart rate back to normal after that one.

So, what else is going on around here?

Mason is going on 10 months now! He is crawling, pulling himself up to stand, climbing the stairs, occasionally playing in toilet water, and running around (literally running) in his walker! He is so proud of himself, and we are proud of him too! He is such a joy!

Easter came and went. There were fun Easter baskets left by the Easter Bunny (which I have no photographic evidence of). There were spiffy new Easter dresses and clothes. I have no pictures of those either - probably because we were in too much of a hurry to get off to church. We drove to Lovell to have Easter dinner and an Easter egg hunt at Grandpa and Grandma Tippetts - there were Easter baskets at their house as well! We also visited Grandpa Leithead and the cousins! It was a lovely day.

We drove the kids out to the 91 Ranch to see the baby calves, sheep, and to ride horses. They were so excited about this trip...they could not wait to get there! And they weren't disappointed! The Love's showed us a great time and even fed us a delicious dinner! Big thanks to them!

This and That...

There are so many things I want to blog about. Just not enough time in the day. Lots of things going on around here. My baby boy is growing up. He is sitting up, on the verge of crawling, has been issued two brand new teeth, and is a pure joy. He is so fun. One of his newest mannerisms is sticking his tongue out. When he is smiling he likes to stick it out the side of his mouth and curl it up. It is adorable! Everybody loves Mason – and he is getting so big. He is starting to look more like a little boy than a baby….

Matty is doing GREAT in school. I was so worried to leave Lovell Schools and wondered if Meeteetse would be a good place for her. But I haven’t been able to complain one little bit. The teachers are AWESOME!!! The school has made sure that she has everything she needs. They communicate with me. And most importantly, Matty is happy. She loves it there! We couldn’t be more pleased. Recently the Longhorns celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Matty is a huge fan of Cindy Lou Who, so naturally we had to fix her hair accordingly. She was the Cat in the Hat’s meow at school!!!

And then poor Anastyn nearly got her eyes scratched out. We won’t mention who did it. Because even though there was some shrieking and a lot of tears involved, Anastyn was very quick to forgive. She has a big heart and is such a good sister….I mean person. And "She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" was really, truly sorry. She even said so.  :)

Here, Anastyn is cheering on her sister - who made a CIRCLE out of her play-doh! An amazing feat, I know. But apparantly they thought it was a really big deal! Yay Matty!!!! :)

6m

My baby boy is 6 months old already! It hardly seems possible, but when I count the months on my fingers, yup-I get six. He is the coolest baby ever. As you can see, his favorite band is ACDC. :)

At six months, Mason is very chill, almost always happy, trying out rice cereal and green beans, and rolling over and over and over.  He loves the johnny jumper, enjoys having his diaper changed, has the softest head ever, and likes to fall asleep watching movies in daddy's lap.  He is bashful, weighs in at 17 pounds, is tall and has big hands (grandpa leithead calls them mitts), and has the most beautiful blue eyes.  He wants to chew on everything, laughs when he pulls Mommy's or his sisters' hair, and wants to be carried around as much as possible. He doesn't like being left alone, has almost out-grown his swing, and has graduated from the bassinet to his crib. He very much wants to be up and running with his sisters, which I am sure will happen soon enough. His dad is his best bud and he looks at him with such adoration! He is loved by his sisters and it seems he actually has three mommy's at our house!

It is an absolute pleasure having Mason in our family! We all love him so much! Rock on, baby Mason!

Fore!

Look out world! Anastyn is now FOUR years old!!! I told her I didn't want her to turn 4. I wanted her to stay 3. She smiled at me sweetly and told me she just had to turn 4 because it was her birthday. But I think she understood where I was coming from. Anastyn's birthday is today, but we did all the celebrating yesterday. She had quite the day. It all started with an early morning appointment at Aunt Kacee's salon where she was pampered from head to toe. She felt so special and beautiful by the time Kacee was finished. She worried about her hair going flat all day! Then we drove to Lovell to get everything ready for her "Tangled" birthday party. When we got to Lovell, Daddy took her and Matty to go iceskating with BrookLynn, Elle, and Ava out at the Moncur skate pond. Oh boy was she excited about that! She loved it and I think we will have to do it again before winter is over. Unfortunately, I was at my mom's getting food and cake ready...so I missed out on all the fun! Anastyn enjoyed her party.  My children have not been introduced to the "friend party" yet - so Anastyn was perfectly happy just having her family over for a BBQ. She was excited about her "Tangled" cake and of course, all her presents!!

Today there is nothing but leftovers and the occasional "Happy Birthday Anastyn"!! We are all celebrated out!!

Anastyn Belle....you add so much sparkle to our lives.....we love you oh-so-much!! xoxoxoxoxoxo

Anastyn's day from start to finish:

Mani/Pedi - which colors????

she wanted RED - we talked her into a pinkish-red. :) And purple sparklies on her toes.

Meanwhile, Mason enjoyed a scalp massage from Grandma!

Had to re-do fingers after we did toes. Somebody had the wiggles!!!

Matty tried to entertain Mason - he loves her so much!

Anastyn also got a cut and style - she loved her princess curlies!

Matty kept insisting that Anastyn needed a crown. :)

I was told that Kyle took a spill on the ice - with a little help from Matty. Wish I could've seen that!!!

It wouldn't be a party without presents!!

No close-ups of the cake. I have neither the patience or the talent for making cakes. It has Rapunzel on it. And a tower. It was purple. That's all you need to know. ;)