Owen is such a great sport! The game was back and forth the whole way, and I was recording because I thought he was going to win. But Gramma did—and he was just as excited!
Tag Archives: Gramma Jean
Katie and the kazoo
Gramma brought Owen a kazoo but he couldn’t get it to work—in fact, none of us could. Then Katie picked it up, figured out how it worked (we had all been blowing into the wrong end), and WOULD NOT STOP PLAYING. 🙂
We eventually had to hide it from her. 🙂
Our last night at Gramma and Grandpa’s house
After the group photo, he commandeered the tripod to use as a cannon…and then actually as a tripod and was pretending to take pictures.
Sitting by the fire!
Not a bad spur of the moment family picture!
Making s’mores!
Eating s’mores—or in Katie’s case, eating the chocolate bar off the graham cracker.
Fire, Fireworks & Stones
Gramma Jean wanted to try out her new fire pit…so we all headed outside. The kids loved running around and of course Owen had to get out his new water gun. 🙂
Uncle Rob was nice enough to go in and fill up the water gun…but surprised Owen by shooting him! It’s blurry but I love Owen’s body!
She stayed pretty far from the fire once daddy yelled at her for getting too close. 🙂
Watering Gramma’s flowers.
Smoke bombs! They certainly didn’t last as long as I remembered them to…
Katie liked the pooping dog—except for the popping and crackling at the end.
In addition to Katie’s first fireworks (MUCH earlier than Owen’s first fireworks!), she also got her first sparkler. She was okay with it…but not thrilled.
And then we all went out to the front yard looking for Petoskey stones in the landscaping.
Owenisms 49
Owen: Mama, I want to go to the new house.
A minute goes by.
Owen: Mama, I want to play with my toys.
A minute goes by.
Owen: Mama, I really want to go to school.
Owen had plumbers crack while building Legos. Tom went and tickled him. Owen jumped.
Owen: HEY!!! STOOOOP!
Tom: I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it.
Owen: WELL HELP IT!
Me: Owen, what do you want for breakfast? A sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit?
Owen: Yes, and an oval chicken thing.
Me: Huh? Oh, that’s a hash brown. It’s potato, not chicken.
Owen: Yes!
Gramma Jean was putting Owen to bed and they were talking.
Owen: Tomorrow is going to be a big day.
GJ: What’s going on?
Owen: Don’t say the F word…
GJ wonders why he’s talking about the F word.
Owen: FIREWORKS!
Me: Owen, would you like gramma to do your hair?
Owen: No! I’m not a baby girl!
Going with Gramma to a neighbor/friends house.
Owen: I’m going to be bashful here.
And then proceeded to talk the whole time.
There was a beeping noise in the bedroom and Tom turned it off.
Owen: Thank you for solving the problem.
Owen was showing someone his new water gun.
Friend: That can hold a lot of water.
Owen: Yes!
Friend: You could really get your dad wet with that!
Owen: If he has his suit on!
Tom: Owen, do you want to wear your sunglasses?
Owen: Yes, I want to look fancy.
Teaching Katie about mirrors.
Katie had just gotten up from her nap and was cuddling with Grannie Lin while Gramma Jean curled her hair. She was very intrigued by the mirror—especially when she realized she could see Papa and Owen behind her if the mirror was put in a certain place.
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?
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.
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!
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.)
Fun in Gramma’s Back Yard
Potty break when dripping wet = going in the woods!
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!
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.
Fudpucker’s
I stayed home so Katie could take a real nap (i.e. in total piece and quiet) while everyone else went to Fudpucker’s in Destin.
The food was taking longer than expected and the gator show was about to start, so they sent the kids off by themselves to the show.
Then it was back to sign their names—and add some drawings—to the wall…
And then Owen tried—and liked!—alligator!
But got pizza for his lunch!
And then it was time to feed the alligators!
And a few photo ops:
Then it was off to get ice cream!
And a gun that I’m sure he wanted but he did not come home with:
Tom said Owen had a great time! And Katie had her very best nap all week—just over three hours!
Cousins at the beach!
I love this picture—it looks like David is the Godfather sending his minions off…
The wave snuck up on him!
Katie LOVED the sand…and was COVERED in it.
Anna and Owen in their hot tub!
Bubbles!
Testing out the non-heated pool. It was COLD but Owen stayed in for probably 15 minutes!
And one year ago…the same cousins on another beach.
Gramma Jean’s Hair Salon
Gramma Jean has taken over Katie’s hair duties…and she just sits there patiently.
Afternoon at the Zoo
Today we all went to the Gulf Breeze Zoo — it was Katie’s first zoo experience!
Stole the cup right out of his hand!
Owen can jump as far as a tree frog!
Who can jump farther?
Train ride!
Hugging the stuffed animals!
Owen picked a bat mask at the gift shop!
Katie’s turn at the beach!
Owen was out with daddy and grandpa, so we took Katie to the beach!
This is her saying “SNOW!” She kept saying snow snow snow—and we had to keep telling her it was sand. 🙂
Waving goodbye to the birds as they flew away!
Splashing in a little pool!
Chasing the birds!
Bedtime at the condo
Both kids got to bed late tonight due to the long day of travel plus a time zone change…
Previous Throwback Thursdays
Getting ready for s’mores at our house on Valley Ridge Lane (during Tom’s first deployment in 2005) with Ursula Mitchell.
One of my favorite pictures from our wedding day—Jessica was our flower girl and she DID NOT want to take a picture with me no matter what.
In Traverse City at my apartment before heading out camping and to Mackinac Island in September 1997.
Circa 1991 at Tim Hough (now Nolan)’s graduation party. Who would have guessed we’d someday become cousins?
Trip to Baltimore in 2005 with our good friends Tom and Karen Trimble.
A somewhat recent Throwback Thursday (11/25/10)—with Kelly King.
Just a few years ago (2007—seems like yesterday)…one of my all-time favorite pictures with good friends Nancy and Kelly.
Camping with cousins Lisa and Lori in high school—I’m guessing ’89 or ’90?
I had completely forgotten about the trip to Toronto we took with Sue McLaughlin and Pam Williams—maybe 1988? 89?
An 8 B night
Of course since I had Gramma Jean sew a bunch of Baby Bs into blankets for Katie, now she likes the singles. She asks for one at naptime and bedtime—but tonight she wanted the 4B blanket PLUS the other single Bs that were floating around. You can’t clearly see them all, but she’s laying on them all and loving it!
Skyping with some cousins
Doug and Marie and the kids are at Gramma Jean’s house so we all Skyped. Owen had to show them lots of his Christmas presents and Katie was a bit of a whiny mess…though Robert got her laughing with a few rounds of peek-a-boo!
Look what Santa brought Gramma Jean!
Santa does know all! He knew Gramma Jean was staying with Owen, so he brought her a Lego car to assemble! So the three of us put it together!
Triple Tails
Gramma gave Katie triple pig tails today!
And still more gifts…
There was such an over abundance of gifts this year that we opened some on four separate days…and today we finished them.
Owen got Tinkertoys from Grauntie Rose and Uncle Jim. (I miss the wooden toys of yesteryear, but these are cool, too.)
>>> Tinkertoy Transit Building Set
He had to open them right away!
Charlie liked the box!
First we built a windmill (one of the patterns given—I’m not that smart):
Then we tore apart the windmill to build the train. Gramma was impressed with how quickly I put it together…but I’ve had practice with Legos and this was far fewer pieces! Then I left Owen to his own imagination and he built this spachship:
Then he opened his Lego book from Doug and Marie: “OH. MY. HEAVENS.” 🙂
>>> LEGO Minifigure Year by Year: A Visual History
Ninja Turtle Trouble
Or, technically, Ninja Turtle “pop up” game. The game went on a little longer than his attention span…but he won so it was all good!
Post-party pictures with Gramma
One of my mommy group friends invited a bunch of people over for Christmas dinner, so we all went! I made mashed potatoes and peas and peanuts. I forgot my phone (EEK!) so didn’t get to snap any pictures. I grabbed my friend’s phone to take a cute picture of Katie eating a candy cane, but long story short I didn’t end up with it. The kids had a blast running around playing with other kids—and Katie tested my nerves by wanting to go up and down the slippery wood stairs by herself! The dinner was delicious and there was about as much dessert as dinner!
When we got home, I managed to snap a few pics of the kids with Gramma—but we didn’t get any with me and the kids. (We had planned to before the party, but it was chaos trying to get out of the house on time.)
