Magic Book

The tiny, very small, Mickey book....

The book said "Go look under your pillow for a surprise!"

"On the first day it will be a tiny book. When I pull it out it will turn into a big book about Disney."

Day Free (Three)!

Just a short update on our Disney countdown craft. Mason has been sooo excited for day three. We're not sure what significance the number three serves, and he's not giving up any information that would help us figure out the mystery. Originally, I placed a nickle in the three spot. After several days of him building up day three, I realized that a nickle just wouldn't cut it. Not only did he direct what should happen for day three, he had dreamed up his own plan for day one too.  "On the first day it will be a tiny book. When I pull it out it will turn into a big book about Disney."

Yikes, where does a mom find a magic book about Disney? Luckily, our resident crafter (Crafty Grammie) came up with a fantastic idea. She made a tiny little book with a Mickey head on the front. Inside the book I wrote "Look under your pillow." I bought a fun Disney book filled with lots of stories. I'll hide it under his pillow that morning and he'll be so excited!!! The book is filled with short stories that will be perfect reading before bedtime every night in Orlando.

Here is Mason's Mickey rock named "Rockland".


















He promptly hid it in his new safari hat.

















Again, my apologies for the crappy iPhone pics. Yes, we do have gobs of photography equipment somewhere in this house. And yes we are too lazy to get it out and take a photo. I promise at least a few decent pics from the Land of Magic.

- S

Boots and a Medal

The title of this blog post is terrible. Where did my creative juices go? I blame it on being tired, it's been a long week.

Nick and I attended a Diamonds and Denim ball last night, check out our cowboy gear. I haven't worn boots since seventh grade. What's that you say? You're surprised I owned legit cowboy boots? We all have our closet of secrets...

Here we are in all of our cowboy glory. :)






















Nick was feeling really weird about pairing his suit jacket with his jeans. He didn't have to wait too long before he had company.

 

Now to the medal part....

Nick ran the half marathon today in the 10th Annual Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. He did a fantastic job coming in at 2:02:25!!! I'm so proud of him. I wish I could show you a photo of him crossing the finish line...or one of him right after he finished...or one of him wearing his medal. But I can't, somehow I missed this monumentous occasion. I got to the finish line at 8:00AM. I waited, people watched, checked out the latest running gear, waited, smiled at a family, waited. I got a text at 9:10 from Nick letting me know he was at the hotel. He was at the hotel and I was at the finish line waiting to see him cross. Epic fail. Apparently, he crossed around 8:45 and I missed it. There were a ton of people there, he doesn't exactly dress in bright showy colors, and (as mentioned above) I'm tired from my week. Yes, I realize those are terrible excuses.

I was a good wife and snapped one of him in the hotel room before he left for the race. Enjoy...


















Good job, Nick!!! I'm SO PROUD of you!

- S

Going Green

In an effort to be sneaky I went green with dinner tonight. MUUAAAHHHAAAAHHHAAAA dinner power is mine!

Who knew a  "grasshopper dinner" could be so healthy?

Mason's green plate was loaded down with broccoli, cucumbers, lettuce, and a helping of spinach/broccoli pesto pasta, topped with a twig of green parsley, all of which he ate with a green fork.

Green mats, green cloth napkins (green in more than one way, eh?), green cups (made out of recycled material - two thumbs up), Mase had green milk (it wasn't rancid, just had a bit of magic), are you green with envy? No? Hmph...

Tonight's Score:
Mom - 1, Mason - 0

But, the week is still young...

-S

Enter Stage Right

CONGRATS MASON!!!

The final cast list arrived today and Mason has been cast as Berlioz, one of the little kittens, in Disney's Aristocats!! We are over-the-top excited for him. :)

He's very excited to play a kitten and is having Nick read him the story as I type this blog post. So fun!

Keep your calendars open for June 17, 18, 19, and 20th! He's gonna be a busy boy. 

Mason, we are SO VERY PROUD of you!!

- S

You're Invited!

A Few of His Favorite Things

He's four...you would expect his favorite TV shows to consist of fuzzy animals, animated characters, or even action figures. But today Mason informed me of his "top free (three) shows",  none of the above made the cut.

He's gone through phases of TV addiction. First it was movies, and then Playhouse Disney. More recently he's been into Nick Jr. (what Nick and I call Crack Jr.), and so help me if I have to hear the Wonder Pets theme song one more time. And don't even get me started on that monkey from Ni Hao Ki-Lan.

He has decided to refine his taste a bit and gone a more adult-friendly route. Are you ready for the list? *drumroll*

1. Biggest Loser

2. Dancing With The Stars

3. Iron Chef America

Last night Mason accused Nick of making him play outside when all he really wanted to do was "come inside to watch Biggest Loser." He loves the competitions and is concerned when the contestants cry. He's been talking about different exercises he's done at school. He "runded (ran) all over the playground." Good job, Buddy.

Oh this is one fun night at our house. I've mentioned before how Mason loves to dance and twirl during the show. He asks a lot of questions when contestants get low scores and is worried when they seem nervous. I think he's drawn to the lights and music, can't say I blame him.

This might be the funniest show in the top three. He really LOVES to watch Iron Chef. We've actually DVRd a couple episodes for him so he can watch them on a whim. Last night my mom made homemade apple pancakes and he said, "Grammie, I'm not getting the apple in this pancake." BWWAAAHHHAAA He also frequently talks about what his 'secret ingredient' will be. He comes up with good recipes like cucumber salad and fruit tacos.

I think this means he'll be a chef who cooks healthy food and dances in the kitchen for exercise.

-S

2010 RedBUD Race

We just finished our first race as a family! Nick and I took on the 10k race, and Mason and Grammie went with the two-miler. Everyone finished, no one passed out from heat, and everyone feels very accomplished!



Mason has been looking forward to the RedBUD race for awhile now, we're excited to see him geared up and ready to run. He walked some, ran some, danced some, and found a little nature along the way. I'm so proud of him!! (We say RedBUD because Mason puts the emphasis on the BUD part of the name.) He's super excited to have received a medal at the end too!!!



Grammie did a fantastic job too! This was her first race and she seemed to shine brightly after it was done. She was a trooper and we appreciate her walking with Mason.



I've had a goal of completing a 10k for awhile now. Finally I did it! I attempted a 10k race last December, but a knee injury kept me from completing the entire thing. I haven't done much training, so race day seemed a bit daunting to me, but thankfully I have a fabulous coach! Nick raced beside me (even though I race more like the tortise, and he's more like the hare) and encouraged me through the whole time. I whined, complained, felt like fainting, walked up hills, complained some more, but finished by running across the finish line. It's not about how you get there as long as you get there, right? That's what I'm telling myself tonight. :)

After the race, Mom and I treated ourselves to pedicures. Her toes are now a lovely shade of Elephantastic Pink, I opted for a RedBUD purple.

You can check out more photos from our big day by clicking here.

So a big THANK YOU to Grammie for walking with Mase, we are proud of both of you!

And a giant THANK YOU to Nick for believing in me, coaching me, having patience when I start getting dramatic, and most of all for loving me so much.

I have a super duper family. I love them dearly.

- S

Disney Countdown Fun!

It's almost time for our yearly Trougakos family trip to Disney! To bump up the level of excitement (is that even possible?) we made a little countdown game for Mason. Under each number is a special treat. :)




Is he confused here? Or can he not see? I'm not sure, but in person he seems very excited.



I do apologize for the yucky pictures my phone takes. :)

- S

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Mason's first musical audition was today, he sang for a part in Disney's Aristocats. He's very excited!

The parents weren't able to go to the audtion so we don't know first-hand how he did, but he assures us that he sang very well. He and one of his to-be wives, Brenna, walked hand-in-hand down to the audition room. SO CUTE!

We should get a call in the next few days to see if he made it or not, cross your fingers! Below are a few photos to commemorate the day.


Steph filling out the paperwork. See his official headshot on the counter? :)
 

Waiting for his name to be called...


Mase reads a hymnal while he waits.


Mason talks Brenna through a little iPhone fun before they get called back.


This is a terrible photo but it's the best I could get of them heading downstairs to audition.

Good luck, Mason! We're so proud of you!!

- S

V.I. to the P.

Tonight should be fun, we're going to an OKC Thunder game VIP style, baby! My friend Nicole (she's a cute little thing, in fact, that's her thumb in the lower left of the photo) was able to snag suite tickets for our two families. Well, truth be told it was T (her hubby) who got the tickets...but that doesn't make for a good story because his thumb isn't shown in the photo. See?

Anyway, the night will consist of a sitter for our kiddos (thanks, Mom!), a parking pass, laminated tickets that we will wear around our necks (because we're nerdy like that), free food, and apparently several hoppy beverages. Good times.

Nicole and I also plan to hold hands and skip because we just realized we're best friends. (more on that later)

- S

On the day before Easter, we did the robot.

Yes we did do the robot. And yes, it was the day before Easter. Nick has a wicked robot dance that he's taught Mason. Mason loves watching Dancing with the Stars. He dances during the show. And after about two twirls and a whirl, he breaks out into the robot dance...makes his father so proud.

Sam, Mason's BFFAAE (best friend forever and all eternity), celebrated his birthday and threw a fantastic robot party!!! It was tons of fun. It's hard to believe that the boys have been friends for so long and are celebrating being five years old. How does that happen!?

For photos of the Easter school celebration and the robot party click here.

Another big accomplishment for April was signing Mason up for Kindergarten yesterday. I was a mess, and I mean a complete mess. Mason was a bit nervous, but did really well. Nick was seeing dollar signs all day because we won't be paying for daycare anymore. :) We loved the school and are looking forward (well I'm not) to his next step in life.

This Saturday he auditions for his first musical, the Aristocats. Send him break-a-leg vibes. He's going to be singing an enchanting rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

My blog is on fire now, two posts, one day. *blows fire off of fingertips*

Until next time,
Steph

Who's Runnin' This Blog Anyway?

It appears the help I hired to run my blog is useless. So, I fired them and now you'll have new blog posts regularly. Hopefully. I'll try my best.

What's new since...ummm October? A lot!

October: Mason was a penguin (again) for Halloween. He was super cute. I don't have any photos to prove it though.

November: My mom moved in with us and we all celebrated Thanksgiving together. It was yummy!

December: Christmas! WOOT! Santa brought Mason a bicycle that he doesn't enjoy. Luckily, Santa also packed some sidewalk chalk in the old stocking...good thinking, Santa.

January: Hmm...snow storm? (Or was that December? or both?)


February: Nothing to report.

March: You can see some fun photos of Mason here.

That should bring me up to speed now. :)

Until next time...
Steph