Mason has no clue what he's done! He's just happily soaking in his egg whites. He wasn't happy for long...
It's a good thing we weren't having eggs for dinner. 
Madeline was dancing blissfully among the yolks and shells. With her pants held up she reminded me of the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy does the grape crushing with her feet. I wish I could say I was laughing at this home episode. Where's my clean-up crew? Oh, yes..."Mrs. Fickett!" I'm having a nervous breakdown.
Mason calls his specs "sunglasses", which is accurate because, when he goes outside, the lenses transition into sunglasses. 
Madeline thinks her brother looks handsome in his new glasses.
Well, the boy is growing up. Mason turned 2 on January 11th, and he hasn't stopped running. He's such a happy, affectionate boy, and every day he learns a new word or skill. Madeline teaches him so many things and is so encouraging ("Good job, Buddy Boy!"). We're so blessed.
As is our tradition, we woke Mason up singing "Happy Birthday" and then brought him downstairs to see his table of gifts. This year, his birthday landed on Sunday, which made it an early (and dark) morning, so he didn't open any gifts until after his nap that afternoon.
Our friends, the Ficketts, brought birthday treats and gifts. Mason would have gladly eaten every lollipop if I hadn't put them up. He calls them "Lolliops". Anyway, we've limited him to one per day.
Every year, UB (Uncle Bob) and Aunt Ava (Grandpa's sister and brother-in-law) send a card to Madeline and Mason on their birthday. They are so wonderful. We wish we lived closer to them and could spend time together. We love you! 
Daddy helped Mason open his box from Grandpa and Gramma. I think Mason was hoping the knife was part of the gift! (He doesn't remember, but Daddy got him his first Buck knife last year.) He loved all the Hot Wheels and accessories.
One of my favorite people in the world is my sister-in-law, Vicki. She's a breath of fresh air for me. And we just laughed and shopped and hung out the whole time. The more time I spend with her the more time I want to spend with her! Hey, Vic, when are you guys moving to California? 
On the day of the reunion, everyone sat under the car port and jammed. There were guitars, ukuleles, egg shakers, and more. Of course, there had to be a conductor. Madeline debuted. It was a fabulous afternoon of singing old favorites, country tunes and gospel hymns. 
Gramma was busy the whole visit. From cooking to cleaning, changing diapers to Mason's first pee-pee on the potty, rocking babies to teaching Mason how to ride his tricycle, cooking to cooking, to cooking, to cooking. Whew! I'm exhausted just remembering all the work she did! Way to go, Gramma! We'll be back down when Madeline has to pull her first tooth. 
There's only one place we all crave for authentic Mexican food in El Centro: Celia's. There's nothing like a special quesadilla, fresh guacamole, and hand-rolled tacos. YUM!
Not all of the Flowers family is pictured here, but this is a great number of them. We're all kind of mixed up, not standing with our spouses or kids. But we know who belongs to whom. At least, most of the time, anyway. Great reunion and Christmas celebration, Grandpa and Gramma!
Christmas morning was a wonderful blend of gifts and food, hugs and pictures. Poppy got a new cashmere sweater to match his eyes; if he treats it well, he can pass it down to Mason, whose eyes also match the sweater. 
One of Madeline's projects this year was to save the money she earned from making her bed and helping around the house in order to buy a present for each person in the family. She took her jar of coins to the store and went down each aisle, looking for and selecting the perfect gift to be wrapped up and given out. For Mimi, she chose a Snapple candle with a lemonade scent. 
Before all the gifts were opened, Madeline and Mason snuggled in front of the tree. 
Dad's big project this Christmas was to trim some trees and clear some of the undergrowth behind his house. He got a new chainsaw from Mimi for his last birthday and he was eager for Jay to use it. So, the guys spent hours outside doing manly work...which actually was quite rewarding. Jay hasn't asked me for a chainsaw yet, but it may not be too far down his list.
I didn't ask who took this picture. But it's an interesting view!
GrandBud, Madeline, Grammie and Mason all snuggly on the front porch.
One of Mason's gifts was a wooden car that zoomed on the smooth wooden floors at Grammie's. I'm glad it was too small to carry him or he would have torn the place down, ripping around the corners!
It has been our family tradition (like many families) to make and decorate gingerbread boys during the holidays. I remember doing it with all my cousins around Thanksgiving. And Grammie wanted to carry on that tradition by having the gingerbread boys available for Madeline to decorate. So, if you strain your eyes to see what's under all the frosting and sprinkles, you'll know what Madeline's eating. Mason did enjoy a few bites, too, but the real fun is in the decorating. Next year. 
Madeline and Mason were very content to open each of their gifts slowly and play with each toy for a while before they opened another one. However, when it was time for the adults to open their gifts, the kids were hard to hold back; they were too excited to see what we were getting. I think that will probably change in the next couple of years, so we enjoyed their passivity this year. 
I love this picture of the two kids. They were just content. Content to be at Grammie's. Content to be on the porch. Content to have only each other to play with. I'm glad I was able to capture that one second in time!
Mason has caught the airplane "fever". He knows that most of the planes that we see over our house are either flying into Van Nuys or Burbank. Smart boy!
Grammie and GrandBud gave them the train set, which has afforded hours of playtime for us all.
The Lord has given us two precious gifts and each day seems to afford new surprises with them. So, it's Christmas every day at our house!
