Buzz Buzz....we've been as busy as those bees outside.....

March ended with some excitement.....Mason raced in his second pinewood derby race....did much better the second year....aerodynamics aren't as important as proper weighting! Mason won his first heat and ended up racing in the finals! His fastest time was 181.8 mph!

The Easter bunny stopped by....

We got new glasses (its amazing how the chance of getting 2 kids smiling nicely and both looking at the camera increases exponentially with just the addition of one more kid!)

April was super as well busy....Clarissa's 3rd birthday Royal Bar-b-que fun

Along with celebrating on our actually birthday...

Making the biggest leaf pile ever (and jumping into with our cousins)....joy of live oaks being green all winter....they drop leaves in the spring!

Field Trips galore.....Bull Island with Marine Biology and Environmental Science

Charleston Tea Plantation with 2nd grade class. I didn't realize that it was the ONLY tea plantation in North America!! (And the tea used in Firefly Vodka Sweet Tea....grown right there too!)

Kayaking with Marine Biology and Environmental Science

I co-hosted a Bridal Shower and partook in the Bachelorette weekend fun for my grad school friend Colleen....

Mason's had his dance recital....yes, yes, Elvis left the building that afternoon!

 In addition to the usual school, work, homework, scouts, play dates, daily bubble blowing

Trips to the aquarium (with friends...so it might fall under the play date category), tea parties with all types of princesses

Throwing in some exam writing, spring cleaning purging, doing whatever it is little fairies do

So some how on this mother's day...I needed a nap after going out for breakfast and walking down to pineapple fountain park (it probably has an official name....but anyone local knows where I'm talking about....so it works)

Tomorrow night, Mason will graduated to a Bear Cub in scouts....so the busy continues!

We have some exciting plans coming up that are going to keep us even busier.....can't wait to tell everyone, but hopefully these pictures updated you on what is some of the craziness at the Middleton Household lately....

Angels and what not....

So it appears Clarissa has a skewed view as to what an angel looks like. In the bath, she will take her Ariel mermaid, open her arms and dip her in bubbles and then say 'look mommy an angel'. A little off, but not too bad......

Then she decided to dress up like an angel.....she put the kiddie toilet seat insert around her waist, put a minnie mouse ball cap on, grabbed a light saber and asked where some flappers were (aka wings)....then announced she was an angel.....not quite what my Catholic school upbringing taught me angels were....I can only imagine Mary's surprise if this was the angel that appeared to her.....

My 'Angel'

In a related matter, last weekend we had to bury Yukon.....I adopted him from the shelter in San Diego around February 1998.....he was 4 months old then. He was a master hunter.....over the years he had caught a hummingbird, blue bird, mice, frogs, bugs, lizards, and a bat! (to name a few). (The hummingbird, bat and 1 of the lizard gifts were released alive....).

In addition to being a master hunter, Yukon was a great protector.....in my younger years in California he was quick to inform if a potential suitor was unsuitable.....but he had a weak spot for bacon and could be bribed into acceptance.....Yukon was also great around both kids.....always rushing in if something was wrong, letting them pet him (and let Clarissa attempt to carry him).

When we moved into our current house, he was a tad festively plump (17 lbs). My old house was close to a busy road so I didn't let him out and Mason dropped him lots of scraps. He thoroughly enjoyed being able to go back outside since moving here and all the napping in the sun helped him drop about 7-8 lbs back to a normal weight. Since the holiday season though, he really began to drop the weight, slow down and just wasn't quite himself. A vet friend observed and evaluated him and without doing blood work, we thought he was in kidney failure. At the time, he didn't seem to be in any discomforted. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the month he stopped eating....I even put out the soft good stuff and he only took a couple bits (as oppose to inhaling it in minutes as normal). I weighed him that week....he was about 6.5 lbs.....pretty much bones with skin on top.....the only place comfortable to pet him was his head. So last Friday after school/work we offered our final act of kindness and took away his pain and discomfort. When we were driving to the vet, I didn't even bother with the carrier. I just wrapped him up in a towel and carry/cuddled with him. Normal Yukon would of lasted all about 20 seconds.....sick Yukon stayed all wrapped the whole way there and even up until the vet came in.

He is missed greatly.....after about a week, Clarissa even noticed she hadn't seen him and has been asking about him.....we just tell her he is heaven with Doodah.....

2 yr old Mason building with Yukon

1 yr old Clarissa finding eggs with Yukon

Yukon cuddling with me

Too cute to not share.....

This was brought home from school the other day.....

So precious......had to share!

Lost in Translation.....now a series!!!

Deb: why are there dirty socks all over the playroom?
Mason: I don't know (translate how you please)
Deb: go put them in your hamper
Mason: okay
(translated: shove in dresser with all the clean socks)

Windy, I can fly

So while up in DC last weekend, I attempted to get a little self portrait on the National Mall. It was a tad breezy......

Aaahhhh crazy patch of hair pointing left!

Camouflage? Failed attempt.....

Better, but still can't see the Washington Monument in the background (kind of defeats a 'here I am in DC' pic without a landmark....)

Finally.....that will do....
Also being a dork.....totally checked out the Gem and Rock exhibit.....who doesn't love some glow in the dark rocks?!

Giddy Up!

So Mason is currently a wolf in cub scouts. He is working on getting some belt loop bling. I have a co-worker who has some horses who was kind enough to let Mason learn about horses and go on a ride.

He wanted to bring the horse some apples and carrots.....amazing how a horse can eat an entire apple in two bites!

Cleaning dirt, rocks (oh and poo) out of the horses hooves before riding her.

Brushing to make sure there are not any sticks or burrs before putting on the saddle.

After their walk in the Francis Marion Forest.....

Crazy December

So we were a tad busy this December. We started out having Breakfast with Santa....awesome program put on by the City of North Charleston....Santa actually walks around to the tables and will sit down and chat with the kiddos. Clarissa was still unsure of the man in red so we got a snapshot while he was wandering around as oppose to waiting in line a little later....

Next up on our busy weekend, Mason and his Scout Pack were in the City of Charleston Christmas Parade....

A little holiday shopping practice by the little lady....

A little holiday decorating (plus a shameless plug for Brandy's handiwork....this girl is seriously creative check her out at www.facebook.com/TooCutePalmCoast )

We made our first ever gingerbread house (super easy kit....I'll admit I cheated)

For Lessons and Carol's the 2nd grade class recited Luke 2:1-20 from memory...it was quite impressive; it is a long passage to know by memory! Mason is in the back row of 2nd graders with a green shirt and white bow tie.

Since Thanksgiving, crazy Elfie has been up to his usual shenanigans....at least apples are healthy for him to be snacking on....

While Daddy was out of town on a business trip, I streamlined the bedtime routine....appears fun was had by all....

Since this is the first year there was a K2 program, they had the 2 year olds show up as 'shining stars' in the Kindergarten Christmas Story Play....while Clarissa didn't freak out or scream she did appear to look like a deer in head lights, she also didn't sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star' but turned around to watch the older kindergarteners sing it....but she was an adorable star!

Enjoying some Chex Snack Mix with Daddy.....

Taking possession of a really cool 'Thirty-one' bag a student gave me for Christmas.....

When opening gifts that came from Virginia (thanks Uncle James, Aunt Alisa, Caleb, Grandma and Grandpa) before the big day (helped with some of pre-Christmas boredom) we have mastered our happy surprise faces....

We thanked Grandpa (aka PaPa to Clarissa) for bringing down these toys of joy

We made and decorated some Christmas cookies! Yum!

 Christmas Morning....Santa came, they must have been good all year!

Lego Legos everywhere......come join the fun

Clarissa is embracing all things dress up and girly....

Snow White is still our favorite princess. We were watching the movie (I'll admit I wasn't into Disney Princess when I was little....so this might have been my 2nd time watching it) and Snow White is singing 'Someday my Prince will come'.....which 4.5 years ago before Clarissa was a sparkle in our eyes, that was the song of our first dance (Disney Cruise....seemed appropriate).....how ironic is that!

We played some table tennis with the set Santa got us....

The Queen and her Princess

We celebrated PaPa's birthday with him.....'more presents!'

and of course......Happy Birthday Cake.....we opted for re-igniting candles as oppose to 70 candles! Yeah PaPa!

Somebody really enjoys the Minnie chapstick...must put all 3 on every time we apply it.....

And of course.....more and more lego building!

On New Year's Eve, we played with sparklers and snap & pops....but dark and jumpy kids don't make for nice and focused pictures.....So December was fun and busy. 2013 has arrived and has a lot to live up to.....but I bet there will plenty of fun all year long (and if this post is any indication I might actually become timely with updates! Woo Hoo)!!!