Updated Pictures

Strawberry Picking

Busy Bee's

We have been very busy lately. Rob has been working long hours and even weekends. Even though that is hard on the whole family, we are thankful since many people are without jobs.

Mason has started soccer. He is playing in the Parent and Me division and he is doing great! He loves to “score” goals and can even dribble the ball. Today they played red light, green light during practice and he was the first one down the field both times!

Brennan is 11 months old. He has many firsts going on. He has taken a few steps not holding on. Brennan has been walking holding onto objects for some time now. But, he has become braver in the last few days! Brennan also started calling out Mama! I am thrilled with that! He loves to watch Mason and try to copy him. Brennan loves outdoors, just like Mason. I have a feeling we will be outdoors from now until next fall!

As if I wasn’t busy enough, I have started a business with my friend Amee. Madame Deals will bring you up to date on the many ways to save money on groceries and fashion. We are also developing a hands on workshop for new coupon users and a coupon organizing system. So stay tuned and check our site out!

We are working on our vegetable garden. We are excited to have even a bigger garden this year!

Hopefully by the end of this year we will have a new garage which will allow us to have an extra freezer so we can preserve our harvest for the winter.

Shenandoah Crossings

We had a fun get away this weekend. We stayed in a cabin at Shenandoah Crossings. We had fun in the indoor pool. Brennan had his first swimming experience and he loved it! Mason was a bit shy of the water at first, but ended up having a good time.

Ben and Rob playing tether ball. Notice the puddles; the rain kept us from doing some activities such as horseback riding. However, we still managed to get in some outdoor time. We played miniature golf even though some of the holes became "water" holes!

Rick and Blake at the playground. Mason loved the many slides!

Our first night there I looked out the cabin window and saw this pure white deer! I thought it was a goat at first! There were other deer around but they blended right into the trees.

Fun in the Snow!

We received about a foot of snow yesterday and this morning. Rob and I both got the day off as we were pretty much snowed in! We live on a back road which is pretty much last priority for plowing. It was fun to spend some time in the snow as this much snow is a rare occurrence around here.
We took Mason out to play in the snow while Brennan slept this morning. Mason thought it was hilarious to see me making snow angels and throwing snow balls. We had fun until Mason’s gloves got wet and his little hands were frozen.
Late in the afternoon we drove to a park and met the Capozella’s and some of the other Chiovaro’s. Mason had his first experience sledding down a hill. He had a great time! Brennan was a great observer, he never made a peep. Mason let us know when it was time to go. He marched over to Rob and said “I am getting too cold” and then turned around and headed to the car! It was a fun day!

Happy Valentines Day!

Brennan clapping.

We have had a pretty rough three weeks. It started with Mason getting sick. He had a very bad cold which resulted in ear infections that were resistant to antibiotics. Mason ended up having ear surgery to clear the infection. Then Brennan came down with it. Luckily after two different antibiotics, Brennan's infection cleared. Next our dog Clemens decided to eat non-food items. Unfortunately the items did not pass through his system. He ended up having major surgery to remove a baby toy, a sock and clay. Clemens is doing much better but he will require two weeks of constant care. Needless to say, we are really tired of visiting the Doctors, the ER, the hospital and the vet!

The boys are feeling really good today and we were able to log some outdoor time in. Brennan has become quite a climber. He can climb the stairs and has no problem "cruising" around holding onto objects. He has taken a couple of steps not holding on...uh, oh! Brennan has learned to clap, which he tends to do all of the time. He loves food! In fact Brennan prefers to feed himself and loves "real food".

Mason continues to show us how smart he is. He has started to identify letters, he can count objects up to 5, he can count to 20, he is learning the days of the week, he knows his colors and he can tell you what different trucks and tractors functions are! Mason likes to play with Brennan although he still tends to say "mine" quite often.

California Dreaming

California Cousins

Charli, Brennan, Mariah, Rilyn, Makayla, Aiden & Mason

Oooh, that water is cold!

How Brennan spent his time at the beach!

Mason, Brennan and I had a great trip to California. We timed it just right as California had beautiful sunny weather as Virginia had freezing cold temperatures. Mason and Brennan did wonderful on the plane rides. We even had a detour and the boys had their first visit to Phoenix, Arizona! In California Mason and Brennan enjoyed playing with their cousins, going to the beach, hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma and jumping on a trampoline. I got the pleasure of having a night out with friends as Grandma babysat! It was wonderful to be home and the visit was definitely too short! Sorry that we didn't meet up with all of you!

Picture Preview

We had a photographer come to the house today to take pictures of Mason and Brennan. From what I have seen so far, they came out wonderful! I can't wait to see the rest of them!