Grannie Lin showed up in the same basic outfit as Katie—so of course we had to get a picture!
Category Archives: Friends & Family
Trying to get her cute new outfit
It took awhile to get her to sit pretty so I could get a picture of her cute new bumblebee outfit from Gramma Jean.
Hair, Story, Pouting, and Sewing
Gramma was reading a Finding Nemo book and Katie kept saying “Nemo!” and “Just keep swimming!” You think we’ve watched that movie a few times?
Katie’s pool and pizza birthday party.
Unfortunately, Gramma Jean was sick so she didn’t make it to the party—and we didn’t get a group picture—but Grandpa David, Grauntie Marge, Grandma Marsha, Uncle Rob, Grannie Lin, and Papa were all there! Even our dear friend Paul stopped by!
He bonked his nose diving in the shallow water.
Katie was having a blast splashing EVERYONE. We kept trying to redirect her to splash Owen but she kept coming back to us.
Tom turned the water on and she stuck her foot right in!
She has no fear—she jumped right into Tom’s arms!
She loved daddy pushing her around the pool!
Owen was not comfortable in the big pool and stuck to the steps and the side of the pool. He would NOT go out any farther, even though we showed him it wasn’t any deeper AND Grannie promised to hold him tight. Eventually, after maybe 30 minutes, he FINALLY let go…and of course had fun racing with daddy and Katie!
And then it was time for the party! Grannie Lin and Papa bought all the plates/decorations, the cake and cupcakes, and the pizza—and brought Burger King crowns for both kids!
Grandpa David would put a cheeze ball on Tom’s beer and Katie would eat it off. We did this a handful of times.
Papa and Grannie had bought this scooter for Owen for his birthday but then they weren’t able to come visit…so they brought it now, but he’s just a bit over the recommended weight limit so it went to Katie instead. You can see she liked being pushed on it. 🙂
But then we let Owen try it, just to see if he’d like it and would maybe want a bigger scooter for himself. He did like it, and Katie took to running in front of him saying “WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT!” to clear his path. 🙂
Then it was back to the house where it wasn’t long before the kids were ready to crash. A good day!
Superhero Owen
Grauntie Marge got Owen a superhero cape and mask (that also come with a book) for our belated Len Christmas and he wanted to wear it this morning!
A Wet Day in Kalkaska
We took the kids to the Kalkaska Kaliseum for open swim. Owen was there last year (and I wasn’t) so this year we ALL went. 🙂 Grandma Marsha came to watch and Uncle Rob came with us in the afternoon (as did Papa and Grannie, who happened to be in Kalkaska meeting people for dinner).
Katie had no fear of the water and kept wanting to go into the 3′ deep section (which is, of course, over her head). She’d hang on to the edge or bounce up and down to keep her head above water. Or Tom would hold her and she’d do this. 🙂
Owen likes to float (he’s about two inches above the bottom here).
Back to Grandma Marsha’s for lunch…and a nap before the next open swim time.
Grannie and Papa were arriving and the kids were excited to see them!
Len Christmas in July
The family decided to have Christmas in July this year and the Besons hosted. It was a GORGEOUS Michigan summer day on the river spent with our AMAZING family! Timmy supplied about 32 different types of brats (okay, maybe only about 12) and we stuffed ourselves silly on them plus all the other good food everyone brought. A good time was had by all and I think we may officially be moving our holiday celebration to the summer from now on!
Owen was a bit shy at first, so he and Katie were both in Nick’s room playing by themselves.
Katie loved the boat. LOVED. LOVED!! She would have sat out there all day if we let her and kept wanting to go back.
Finally Owen wanted to play!
Owen is six months younger than Aubrey. I know, right?
Cousins Katie 2, Owen 5, Aubrey 6, Gracie 8, Nick 10, Alex 12, and Jess 15. We never actually got Owen back-to-back with Nick, but I think they were within a fraction of an inch of each other (with a five-year age difference). And Katie seems to be pretty close to Aubrey, who is four years older. I guess we really DO grow them big. 🙂
Last year:
Lisa B. made these AWESOME ladybug cupcakes for Katie’s birthday.
And these for Greg’s birthday. (I missed a pic of the ones for Aubrey’s birthday, but they were Frozen-themed.)
We did pretty good keeping track of Katie all day (when there’s so many people around, there’s always someone half watching) and then we failed right at the end. People were running around cleaning up and putting things away…and before I know it, Tom is carrying Katie back from the front yard. Apparently Katie was wandering down the driveway and Greg caught her and brought her back. Phew.
And before we knew it, it was time to head out. Katie didn’t make it to the end of the road before she fell asleep, and Owen lasted about 15 minutes.
Games with Papa
Pool and playset time at the hotel!l!
Papa and Grannie are staying at the Ramada so we took the kids over to play today!
And then it was time for the playset! She has NO fear—she climbed right up! She was a little wobbly and didn’t make it all the way to the top before daddy rushed in. 🙂
And someone was NOT tired and did NOT want to take a rest. We MADE him lay down…and this happened.
Fish hatchery and fishing!
We wanted to introduce Katie to the fish hatchery—and I wanted to see Owen enjoy it (since I didn’t go last year when Tom and Marsha took him)…so our big group came in and asked if we could all get in on the free family admission coupon my mom had…and the guy joked that we were a circus and I said YOU HAVE NO IDEA. 🙂 He let us all in for free, so we bought five bags of food and planned to take Owen fishing…
Katie was fascinated and REALLY wanted to go in the water—so someone had to keep a hand on her most of the time. Owen had fun, too, but couldn’t wait to go fishing!
Owen loved fishing—but who wouldn’t, when it only takes a matter of seconds to catch one! We let him catch five (you pay by the inch) and he had fun with each one!
Katie thought she wanted to see the fish…until she saw them and then that was it.
Owen thought he wanted to hold one…until Tom held one out. 🙂
The family—and Owen with his catch!
Katie’s first painted toes!
I was painting my toenails so decided to do Katie’s, too, while she was sitting with Gramma getting her hair in pig tails. She sat fairly still (except the very first toe I did, where she jerked as soon as I touched her). Afterwards, she was VERY enthralled with it. 🙂
Owen’s first fireworks!
We have been wanting to try some low-key fireworks with Owen for awhile now and just haven’t gotten around to it. I’ve had sparklers for a year now—planning on using them on July 4th or after a party or something—but again, we just never got around to it. Until now.
We went to the local fireworks outlet and asked for the kiddie section and they were having a B1G1 free sale so we ended up with a bunch of little stuff.
And Owen LOVED it. LOVED IT. And everyone loved watching him! We only used half of the stuff tonight so we have one more night’s worth coming up. (And when I say a night’s worth, I mean about 10-15 minutes max, which includes sparkler time.) We made sure Katie was in bed so we could concentrate fully on Owen and not have to worry about Katie… She’ll be out for the second night.
The lady said the ones we got would go “telephone pole height” at most. She was right. 🙂
And I found my pooping dog! I had seen it on Facebook and loved it—and thought the kids would, too. I was thrilled they had it at the store! (And yes, Owen LOVED it.)
Happy 2nd Birthday, Katie—Part 2
We had planned to have Katie’s birthday party at the hotel like we did last year, but as it turned out, we could have had the party today since everyone was at the house! We will still have the pizza/pool party, but Gramma Jean still made a cake to celebrate her actual birthday!
This is the look we got after I stopped her from picking a chocolate chip off the cake before we all sat down.
Stripped down because she was covered in chocolate!
Fun in Gramma’s Back Yard
Potty break when dripping wet = going in the woods!
Excited to see Papa!
When we hit home from the movie, Papa and Grannie were waiting. Papa met us outside and Owen was super excited!
Happy 2nd Birthday, Katie!
And a TBT birthday along with today’s version, both taken in Gramma Jean’s back yard!
An awesome Lego case!
Gramma Jean found this for Owen when they were in Florida earlier this year… HE LOVES IT! He filled it immediately with the few Legos that he brought.
Sitting with Gramma!
I ♥ MI cookies
A good friend of my mom’s brought over treats for the kids. Cookies are always a big hit. 🙂
Burning off some energy
We let the kids run wild after being cooped up all day…and gramma gave the kids their own bats and balls.
I’m going to miss these ladies.
Tonight was a Pampered Chef birthday party for Jacqueline…and the last time I’d see her or Katherine (until they hopefully come visit this fall for a girls weekend). They were part of the mommy group I got involved with here and they grew to be great friends. I’m REALLY going to miss them.
Waterslide Playdate
We had invited everyone back over today but no one could make it…so I was glad that I had talked to another pre-k mom at the end-of-year party and had invited her and her kids over. Owen loves the slide, but enjoys it SO MUCH MORE when there are other kids to play with. 🙂
Izzy (Owen’s classmate) and her sister, Cory:
After awhile I convinced Vicky to go down the slide as well. She agreed it was a blast!
Until We Meet Again Party
We decided to have a going away party before we left—but I called it an “Until We Meet Again” party because I HATE goodbyes. It was also a perfect excuse to rent a huge waterslide for Owen because he loves them and our new house has zero place for one.
As it was being set up, the kids were VERY excited watching out the window. Katie was saying “Slide! Katie slide! Katie slide please!” 🙂 I was busy getting the last few things ready for the party and Tom was running our last errands so I made the kids wait until he got home…but then it was game on! Owen had no issues with it, of course, but Katie was a poop. She loves climbing on things but put her on the slide where she HAS to climb (and can pretty much climb without much caution) and she wanted NONE of it. This is where she’d stop:
Even after Owen went down a few times, this is the farthest she’d go:
Finally I had enough of trying to verbally coerce her into climbing up, so I got on the slide with her and basically pushed her up each rung of the ladder. Once we got to the top, she didn’t want to go down…so I put my arm around her and we went down together—AND SHE LOVED IT! And immediately went to the ladder…and climbed up all on her own (the little shit!)! I did go up again behind her to make sure she didn’t slip backwards, but she did it just fine!
And then at the top of the slide…I realized my phone was still in my pocket!!! @$&#%! I obviously hadn’t planned on going on the slide (I was still wearing clothes, too) but got caught up in the moment of being frustrated with Katie. 🙁 I yelled at Tom to come get it and instead of coming up the ladder calmly, he was a bit upset and wasn’t being careful…and instead tried to come up over the side of the slide and pulled a leg muscle while getting back off. Like pulled it badly enough that he was limping. 🙁 But the slide was a blast and I knew I’d be on it more throughout the day…so I just gave in and put my suit on right then. And since Katie was still going up and down, I put her in her suit, too.
This is where she liked playing the most. And she was pretty good about moving out of the way when you said “Katie, watch out!” She’d go wait on the side until Owen came down, then she’d go back in the water. 🙂
Even though the slide was fun, I thought it might be out to kill me. After the kids had been playing for a bit (while I was working on party prep), Katie refused to come down (it was her naptime but she didn’t know that—she was just being stubborn). I told Owen this was his one chance to push his sister down the slide—and he tried but he said she was too strong and he couldn’t do it…so I had to go up the slide again to get her down. So I climbed up and we came down together—and I smashed right through the end buffer and landed on the ground with Katie on top of me! HOLY CRAP. I knew it was possible (other adults have done it before) but I had already gone down “successfully” a handful of times so definitely wasn’t expecting it. Katie wasn’t hurt (or crying) so that was good, and for the most part I was okay, but I had actually smacked my head on the ground. Ugh—instant headache. Then Katie was trying to get back onto the slide so I had to grab her…and I slipped on the wet tarp while carrying her! Thankfully she wasn’t hurt and I wasn’t really, either, though my butt and back hurt. Good times, right? I handed her off to Tom and took some pain pills. AND THEN…I was going down the slide with Owen and we were having a blast…and he was excited and wasn’t following the rules (waiting for the area to be clear before sliding down) and just rammed his feet straight into my side. Needless to say it was time for me to take a break.
Once the other kids arrived, things got a little more hectic. Pool toys came out and were part of the slide and kids were going down together (as you can see here)…and the “rules” kind of went out the window. 🙂
The girls loved Katie and basically thought she was their own little doll. 🙂
Ursula was the first adult to go down and she went tandem with Virginia! She agreed it was a blast!
Everyone had fun and the slide was (of course) a hit. There were a few minor bumps and bruises once all eight kids were on the slide at the same time and Owen ended up with a sure-to-be bruised eye. But it was super fun and it all went really well. The only minor bummer was the weather—in the middle of the party we had a downpour just long enough and with just enough thunder and lightning to send everyone inside…for 15 minutes! So then it was back outside! It started to threaten a storm again about 7:00 which sucked because all the adults were going to get on the slide (and I had planned on being able to use the slide most of the evening)…so we just sent the kids inside and a few of us went down a few times in the rain. There’s even video of me catapulting over the end (which may get posted privately) but I’ll gladly post the one of Tom! 🙂
Once it started storming and we were all inside, the kids were watching a movie and the adults were visiting and snacking…and Jacqueline was doing my dishes. There was plenty of room in the dishwasher but she actually LIKES doing dishes so who am I to stop her? 🙂
It was a really great time and I am so glad we did it…and it wasn’t until everyone was gone that I got really sad thinking about how much we’re going to miss everyone. (It’s always sad leaving, but the last time we left, we were just going to be missing two families…this time, we have more friends that we’ll be missing so it will be even harder.) But at least we have some great memories!
Braxton’s Birthday
Owen wrote everything. I’m not sure why he did both Rs lowercase. 🙂
He had a blast at the party. They’re waiting for cake:
S’mores!
Messy with mama!
Owen’s friend Jocelyn:
Braxton’s mom, Alea, after a marshmallow attack! (She was in our mommy group. You can also see why Braxton is so petite.)
Their final hug:
TiVo friend visit
A TiVo friend was in the area so he came over for a visit with his wife and two of his kids. Tom and I had met him before in 2008 at a big TiVo meet but we wanted the boys to meet. 🙂
The kids all had fun in the police car, except it was a little crowded so the threesome didn’t last too long. 🙂
His son, Josh, is one month younger than Owen. By now you shouldn’t be surprised at size differences. 🙂
40 Bags in 40 Days—Day 25
A friend came to help me get jumpstarted on the garage sale prep and she picked out a bunch of stuff and took a bunch of other stuff I was getting rid of…so I’m counting it as bags for the challenge! It probably equated to two days worth, but I’m only using one. 🙂
Best Buddies
No shyness today so he easily posed with Braxton! Just before I snapped this, Braxton ran over to Owen saying “Wait! I haven’t given him his hug yet!” 🙂
Yes, they’re about the same age—Owen is about four months older.
Almost four hours on a waterslide.
Friends of ours are moving (one of my mommy group friends; her husband retired from the USMC) and had a retirement/going away party…with a waterslide for the kids! Owen started sliding shortly after we got there at 4 and only stopped for about 10 minutes total to eat a granola bar and a few bites for dinner before we left at 7:45. This kid loves waterslides. 🙂
Click for a bigger version.
The peeing details.
So, it turns out it was his friend, Braxton, that peed on him. (I actually got the scoop from the classroom assistant.) She told me it hadn’t really been that big of a deal—that the girl who called made it seem like an INCIDENT. She thinks it was more on purpose but apparently Braxton said they were peeing in the same toilet (which, she wasn’t watching, but had walked by and they were at separate toilets).
His mom actually showed up at the same time I was there and we had a laugh. She said she was hoping it was Owen because she knows me and knew I wouldn’t care. 🙂
Owen didn’t seem to be phased by it at all and didn’t even talk about it until I asked. And he said Braxton just wasn’t paying attention. He didn’t seem to think it was any big deal.
So, no one can tell what REALLY happened, though Owen is a pretty honest kid (and does like to tattle) so if Braxton did it on purpose I’m sure we would have heard it.
Katie has two daddys.
So while I was at my friend’s house today, her husband happened to have the day off. She heard their daughter call him daddy, so she started calling him daddy, too. It was SO cute. For awhile we thought maybe she really thought he was her daddy—tall, dark hair, short hair—but no, she told him her daddy was at work. But she knew enough to call him daddy to get his attention!
And being cute in a hat while picking up toys:
