Welcome Home Grayson!

Logan is 4!!!

This year Logan decided he wanted a TMNT birthday.  He had a blast with all his best buddies and we had a blast watching him have so much fun.  I can't believe my baby bear is growing up so fast.

Faith, Trust, and...a pixie cut!

Meg couldn't stand her long hair and I couldn't stand how she's let it hang in her face and wouldn't keep it tied back, so when Kyle got home from Iowa we took her to SHAG for a pixie cut.  I was really nervous about how short that would be, but as the locks came off the smile got bigger.  When we got home afterward I put a pretty headband on her head and she got her first really good look at herself in the mirror.  Do you think she liked it?

Family Visit 2014

Grandma and Grandpa Baird and Aunt Irene came to visit us over the 4th of July weekend!  We had so much fun taking them around our fun little city, going to StonyCreek and playing at the lake, and just hanging out and having fun together playing dominoes and making doll furniture.  We had our own little bbq and fireworks show for the 4th of July and just enjoyed being together.

Jumping into Summer with a SPLASH!

We put the kids in swim lessons at the YMCA this summer and they LOVE it.  I have so much fun watching them learn and splash and have a great time with the other kids.

Last Day of Kindergarten!

Megan graduated from Kindergarten today.  Her teacher put the paper "cap" on her head and a mom of one of her classmates gave each of the kids a small bouquet of flowers!  It was such a surreal feeling to think we've been here in Michigan a little over a year now and to think of all she's learned and accomplished and that now it is over and she'll be in 1st grade this Fall!  So proud of my little girl who made so many great friends and developed a passion for learning and reading.  

 Meg had a wonderful teacher, Ms. Leestma, and I made her this cute utility apron as an appreciation gift that she can wear in the classroom or in the garden or whatever.  We filled the pockets with all kinds of goodies and supplies for her for next year. We hope she likes it!

Memorial Day Weekend 2014

Playing 'Possum

We had a very unwelcome little visitor in our trashcan over Memorial Day weekend...an opposum!  I called the city to see if they would come and take it away but they said to just tip the garbage can over and let it out.  Kyle wasn't very thrilled about that idea because he doesn't want it to come back.  He was debating whether or not to try killing it with a shovel inside the can but the kids were right there and I just couldn't let him do it.  He really didn't appreciate it when Meg and I started to sing, "Let it GOOOO, Let it GOOOOO!"  ha ha ha...

So we left the critter in the can for another day and the next day when Logan and I went to peek at it I noticed something very tiny and pink moving next to it...the 'possum had at least 1 baby in there!  Ugh...now what?  Well, we couldn't very well kill it or its babies now so we very gently tipped the can over and that night it disappeared...probably to return again...oh, well.  We have now learned to keep the lids locked on our trashcans.

Working With Dad

My little cuties went to work on the leopard-print monstrosity of a window seat that has been in our bedroom since we moved into our house last year.  While I was away getting a much needed haircut they had fun helping Daddy pull out staples and rip off the nasty fabric. 

 

Keller Elementary Sweetheart Daddy-Daughter Dance 2014

Easter Surprises from the Robinette Grandparents

Spring Break in Chicago

He's A Big Boy Now!

Ok, so it took me a long long LONG time to be ready to potty train Logan.  It's one of my absolute least favorite things to do - I'd honestly rather change a diaper than scrape poop out of underpants and off the floor...but I guess the boy has to grow up sometime...

Kyle had a week off, so we started together and Logan had a pretty good week with very few accidents.  Then Kyle went back to work and Logan and I had a couple of very rough weeks where I'm pretty sure a lot of his "accidents" were not so accidental.  

However, for the past 3 days now he has gone without a mess the whole day and last night even asked if he could wear underpants to bed instead of a pull-ups.  I told him he had to stop wetting at night and go first thing in the morning, so this morning he got up at 7 a.m. and hollered, "I need to go potty!!" and he made it!  

I am so proud of my little man.  He has the biggest imagination and the silliest sense of humor.  He is extremely stubborn... but he loves to play and dance and eat and run and sing and shoot his toy guns and make all kinds of noises all the time!  It's hard to believe how fast he is growing up. 

Meggers has been thriving at school...she loves learning to read and has made so many good friends.  This month her class had all sorts of fun reading and having activities every week.  She really liked dressing up with her friends.



P.S. - just after I posted this entry I walked into the living room to find Logan soaking wet with poop in his pants...sigh...well, we're getting there...

Happy Birthday Grandpa Baird!

Keeping Busy...

So February was cold...still...but busy.  Megan and her Daddy made use of all this snow we've had and built a snowman and a little igloo.  They had a lot of fun together.  

Logan had his first dentist visit this month and he did great! He was so excited to get a Transformers toothbrush.  

Kyle was working a pediatrics rotation and loved working with the kids.  

I did our taxes and we got an awesome return, which meant we could make a "grown-up" purchase - at least, it's the first major purchase we've ever made because we had the money and wanted to and not because something broke or we had to pay for it with a credit card.  

It all arrived TODAY!  We're so excited to finally have a comfy sectional with an ottoman and a nice rug on the cold hard wood to tie it all together.  We've still got a few things to arrange in the living room but I'm so excited to have company over and have everyone be able to have a comfortable seat.

I'm Going to Kill That Groundhog!!

I've had a hard enough time with this Michigan winter and all the snow and now that dumb groundhog is saying six more weeks??  Ugh!  The weeks of -20 degree temps and wind chills have left us feeling like we're having a heat wave when it is 33 degrees.  

I love our new house...but...we have an extremely long driveway which doubles in width at our 2-car garage.  I LOVE having a 2-car garage... I HATE the long driveway that we've had to dig ourselves out of lately.  I'm ordering a snowblower online because every store in MI is sold out.  Yesterday it took me about 6 hours to clear the driveway - take a look at my handiwork...

"I'm So Crafty I Sweat Glitter..."

A few months ago I was asked to clean up and fix the bulletin board in the hallway for the Primary.

I did a lot of looking on-line to see if I could find ideas about what to put on it because I'd never done this exact sort of thing before, but I didn't have a whole lot of luck finding what I was looking for.  I pulled something together though and was proud of it.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it.

That led to fixing up the other Primary bulletin board in the other hallway.  All that really took was taping the tattered old world map back together, putting a paper border around it, and putting the missionaries' pictures back on.  It's amazing what a little yellow border can do...honestly, it looked a million times better and I really didn't do anything fancy or special to it.

Then the new year began and we have a new theme, so I was asked to re-do not only the first hallway bulletin board but also the two large bulletin boards in the Primary room.  Ok.  Our Primary President found some fun border paper with the theme on it and I bought a TON of bulletin board cover paper at Joann's (with coupons, of course!).  So far, because she is going to add some things too, all they have is a black background and the border around them...but they look nice and clean that way for now.

  

In December the Relief Society President came up to me and asked if I would be willing to re-do the 2 RS room bulletin boards and the large RS board in the hall.  One was supposed to be dedicated to Joseph Fielding Smith, since he is who they are studying this year (I really wouldn't know much about it because I've been in Primary for years now).  The other two boards she said were up to me and I could pretty much come up with whatever I wanted, which had it's ups and downs.  

I asked if they had a theme or goal or something for the year and she said the goal/theme for our ward RS this year is "Just Do It...NOW!"  Meaning if you have a prompting or if you're supposed to be doing something good, don't hesitate.  That was more helpful...so, this is what I came up with - enjoy, and please feel free to "pin it" so other people who are in my boat can find and have ideas too! :)

Because the RS General Presidency has recently been changed, I decided to include a picture and quotes from them with their names so we can get to know them and remember them better.  I figured that was fitting for the RS room.  I did the above and below boards using bulletin board paper from Joann's and a paper stack I got there too called "the Blue Citrus stack".  I sliced up a couple of sheets from the stack for the borders so they'd match.

I found the chevron "quote" from President Monson online...it's not exactly a quote as it turns out but it was the point he was making in a talk he gave a few years ago.  I included at the bottom a part of a talk by Dallin H. Oaks about the "Purposes of Revelation" as sort of a "why we're given promptings in the first place" sort of thing.  Then the picture and scripture in the corner about the disciples who "straightway left their nets and followed him".  I hope our RS President likes it...guess I'll find out on Sunday.

This was my JFS board.  It was a very small board and I didn't know if I had a budget or anything yet, so all I used was some paper I had at home and some of the background paper I'd bought for the Primary.  I found the pictures and quotes from the JFS manual, the Ensign, and the Friend.  I thought the quote from him from the JFS manual was very appropriate for the RS room - " I say there is no limit to the good that our sisters can do". 

Here is my hallway board for the primary...I'm quite proud of my little pennant banner with matching border.  I got the idea from someone else who had "pinned" a picture of the bulletin board they made - THANK YOU, whoever you are!!  In the bottom left corner we have a place where we are going to "spotlight" a family in our primary each month.  In the top corners are pictures someone else created online that I very happily copied and pasted and printed (THANK YOU to you wonderful talented strangers who are so willing to share your creations with copiers like me).  The picture on the bottom right corner is from lds.org from the Friend magazine.  The picture in the middle is of the Detroit Temple, which I happened to find in our ward library.

So, this is it for now.  I'll post pictures of the unfinished Primary boards when they are finished and I'll "pin" them too so that other people can get ideas from what I've done and hopefully they'll post pictures of what they do and I can copy them later :) ha ha ha...