Christmas 2013

We had a really fun Christmas this year.  We spent Christmas Eve at the Lund's home eating homemade cheesy potato soup and bread bowls and all kinds of goodies.  Then we opened up pajamas and went home to read a story and get ready for Santa to come.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Baird,  Grandma and Grandpa Robinette, and especially Auntie Linda the kids (and the adults) were very spoiled.  Kyle had the day off and we enjoyed hanging out in our jammies, opening gifts, and just being together.

On the 26th, Logan and I came down with a severe cold - it put me in bed for 2 days! Kyle's mom, dad, and brother came into town on the night of the 27th but we ended up sharing more than just the holiday spirit with them while they were here.  I think everyone but Trevor came down with the cold at some point.  Kyle was on vacation so we just took it really easy - watching movies, sleeping, eating, doing games and puzzles, watching more movies...real exciting stuff.  We were able to make it out of the house to see "the Hobbit" and "Frozen".  Megan and I had the song from Frozen in our heads for days.  

Crafting Up A Storm

My new friend Charidee and I have been getting together for "craft therapy" while our husbands are working long hard hours saving lives and all that.  We've been making all sorts of things together and it's been a ton of fun.  A couple of months ago she met a lady who makes hats and she wanted C to make flowers/bows to put on the hats so she can sell them at craft fairs.  C started making a lot of other things too (baby quilts, headbands, decorative banners, etc.) and then they went in together to rent tables at craft shows in the area.  

C was kind enough to invite me to join them with a few of my things.  I started out with baby diaper clutches and binky clips to go along with the blankets and car-seat covers C makes and then I remembered I could make pretend make-up too and that I still had some headbands and hair bows left over from my days selling them at a salon in Chicago.  So we got a bunch of our things together and made a go of it.

At the first show, after I broke even, I made a profit of a whopping $18...well, I had spent a bit to get started after all but I sold several things and the pretend makeup was a hit!  Today C was signed up for another show; I couldn't go to this one but she generously offered to take some of my things for me to sell for me.  This time I had only spent about $10 or $15 to get myself a few more supplies.  I made more makeup and, in order to use up some of the boy fabric, I made 4 tool belts for little boys which I also filled with some (surprisingly good quality) toy tools I found at our local dollar store.

I got a text from C this morning telling me that all 4 tool belts were sold within the first hour! I was so excited!!  My makeup did well again too, but the diaper clutches and binky clips weren't as popular.  That's ok because I made a profit of $100!!!  I've been on cloud 9 all day.  It just feels so good to know that I tried something and it worked and I discovered I love making all this stuff and that other people like it and are willing to buy it from me...it's pretty cool.  I love that now I have some money in my pocket that I don't feel guilty using to buy myself a little something with and that I can contribute to our family.  I'm so grateful for C and all her hard work and for her being so nice to include me in her adventure of becoming an entrepreneur.

We have one more show in a couple of weeks.  This one I think will be a little different as it will be at M's elementary school and is intended for the school kids to be able to come in and buy gifts for their family members, so I'm not sure what to expect or how much to price things for.  I have made a few bracelets and necklaces, I still have the headbands and hair bows, and I'm going to definitely make more makeup and (if I can find any more of those cute tool sets after I bought all the store had the last time I was there) I'll see if I can make more tool belts too.  Wish me luck!!

Halloween 2013

Happy Halloween!

Time With Logan

Having Meg at school all day has opened up time for Logan and me to spend one-on-one that we've never had before.  It has been so much fun! He is such a little character.  He is adventurous and loves to do puzzles and games.  He is silly and makes up his own jokes and stories.  He loves to sing!  He pulls two small steps together and covers them with a blanket and calls it his "stage".  He loves all kinds of sports and balls and when he puts his toys into the toy box he says, "Yeah! Two Points!" or "Yeah, TouchDown!"  He loves doing anything the big kids do.  He is such a little man now but will always be my baby bear.

Megan's 6th Birthday!

This year Meg informed me she wanted a "rock-star" birthday... I wasn't really sure how to go about it at first but, with some serious research via Pinterest and Google images, I found some really fun ideas and I think she was satisfied with her party.

I found a web-site that allowed me to print invitations which looked just like concert tickets for free.  I also found pictures of backdrops made of cut-up plastic table cloths for curtains and cardboard boxes covered in black paper for speakers.  I pulled out my cricut and my glue gun and got to work!  However, after cutting out two cardboard guitars by hand I decided to pay for them instead so as to not destroy my scissors or the blood vessels in my hand anymore. I ordered 12 cardboard guitars and 12 small plastic microphones from a company here in MI and they arrived the next day!  The rest of the decor and favors I did myself :)  However, my cricut is now toast...the size dial has stopped working! ugh...

I wasn't sure how to go about inviting her new friends from school - I didn't know them or their parents or how to contact any of them any other way than chasing them down the sidewalk after school half-yelling, "Hey! Are you so-and-so's mom? This is for you."  Yeah...just a little awkward, but oh well.

One of my biggest challenges this year was figuring out the amount of guests.  A friend told me to invite about twice as many people as I actually wanted to show up because Saturdays in R.O. are really busy with soccer games and other things going on.  She was right, so I did...but then it rained all Friday night and all Saturday morning, so I got a bunch of mom's texting me a couple of hours before the party asking if it was still ok that their daughter come because their plans were cancelled due to all the rain.  Hence we ended up with 10 little girls at the party.  Luckily a couple of the moms wanted to stay and they were a major help when the craziness ensued.  Kyle was amazing, as usual, with his willingness to help and ability to calm me down when things were getting nuts.

The music for the party was another hurtle for me.  The whole theme was a little tricky because I didn't want any parents concerned about what would be going on.  However, thanks to our local library, I was able to find a bunch of Radio Disney cd's which had "rock-n-roll" versions of songs from Disney movies - PERFECT!! I wanted to have the girls "dress up" like rock stars too but shied away from tattoos.  I was going to do colored spray paint in their hair but it's sort of expensive and, again, I didn't want any parents calling me later complaining.  I went to Party America and found two packages of bobby pins with strands of different neon colored hair on them - again PERFECT!

Each girl picked a color and had some rock-star hair for the party.  They colored their guitars and jammed out to Disney songs.  They ate cake and ice cream and ran around beating each other with pink and purple balloons - it was crazy...but it was so much fun.  We had a dance-off and ended the party with all the girls singing "Roar" by Katy Perry (Meg's new favorite song).  All in all, I think it was a success.  Meg spent the rest of the afternoon thanking me REPEATEDLY for "the fun party and birthday".

I love my "baby" girl so much and I can't believe how fast she is growing up (I mean, Rock Star party, really??)  She is so smart and sweet and girly but always thinks of others before herself.  She has a wild side too, but it's fun and funny and I can't wait to see what this next year will bring.  LOVE YOU MEGGERS!!

The Clothing Distribution Project

When I was called to be the 2nd counselor in our ward Primary I found out we were in charge of a very large project - to distribute 13,000 lbs. of clothing to local families in need.  A semi-truck came from Salt Lake City filled with bales of clothing and winter coats and boots.  It was an enormous undertaking and involved so many wonderful volunteers over a period of about 4 days, but it all went off without a hitch.  Here are a couple pictures, but they do not do the entire thing justice at all.

This was just the room for boots and shoes...the gym was filled many times over with clothing and winter coats for men, women, and children of all sizes.

This is me in my lovely yellow "helping hands" volunteer vest from LDS Welfare Services.

Logan was my little helper while I was there to volunteer.  He LOVED helping to "sort" the clothing with the adults and when it was time for us to go home he didn't want to leave.  It was such a humbling and eye-opening experience to see the people who came for clothing - some who obviously were in great need and were very appreciative - and several times it was hard to hold back tears.

There were others though who were dressed in brand new brand name clothes from head to toe with a blue tooth in their ear and manicured nails...but who am I to judge another?  We were blessed with food and extra help we needed for four years while Kyle was in medical school and I'm sure there were times we didn't look like the "type" that needed help either.

My heart was touched as we sorted out brand new clothes with tags still on them but then broken again as we pulled out dirty/stained/torn rags of clothing which were "donated" for others to use.  It has made me think so much about what true charity means and about putting myself in another's shoes.  It was an experience I won't soon forget.

Sweet is the Word

I'm so proud tonight of my (nearly) 6-year-old who sat and actually listened through 4 hours of conference today.  Our tradition is for her to put a bean in a jar for every time she hears a specific word or phrase during conference; she is allowed to decide before each session which words she wants to listen for - like "Jesus" or "gospel" or "service".

Today she caught on that if she chose more words to listen for she would get more beans in her jar.  At the end of the first session she had 96 beans, which she was then allowed to turn in for the same amount of M&M's.  She earned 62 for the second session.

I was amazed and humbled at her excitement each time she heard a key word and at her focus on listening to the words of our wonderful church leaders, even when I thought she wasn't really paying attention.  I'm pretty sure she got more out of conference today than I did as I was wrestling with Logan and dealing with his tantrums.  

Luckily I bought a BIG bag of M&M's and luckily she really can't eat that much chocolate and says, "um, I'm done, can we save the rest for tomorrow?" ha ha ha!