Helping Grannie make Jello.
Tag Archives: Grannie Lin
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Dressed for the occasion (thanks, Grannie Lin)!
Enjoying her first actual teething biscuit!
Owen + Play-Doh = Art!
I’m still surprised Grannie got him to play with it!
Owen’s first swear word!
We were sitting around this morning before we headed to the airport, and Owen was playing on the iPad. I wasn’t really paying close attention to him but my ears suddenly perked up when I swear I heard him say dammit. I brushed it off as just not hearing him correctly (it was almost a whisper) but a minute or so later he said it again!
“Dammit. I can’t get /whatever/.”
I turned to look at Linda and said “Ah, his first swear word.” And she agreed that’s what she thought he had said before.
I am not 100% sure where he picked it up, though I’m pretty sure it was me—as I’ve been known to let it slip now and again. And at least he used it correctly!
Cute Outfit #23
Thanks, Grannie Lin!
The elusive tooth!
I keep trying to get a picture of Katie’s new tooth, but she always closes her mouth! It’s not fully in yet, either, which makes it a bit more difficult. But she still takes cute pictures!
Cars play-doh with Grannie!
Happy 4th Birthday, Owen!
Fun with leftover Lego parts!
Balloon fight with Grannie Lin!
Posing with his presents—and in his birthday shirt—for another birthday picture!
Katie in her new party dress…with Grannie (and a gift from Grannie):
And trying to peek around me to watch TV like Owen does:
Owen’s finished (lame) Lego cakes:
The appetizer set up:
Attempting to Skype with Gramma Jean/Grandpa David and Grandma Marsha/Uncle Rob (it didn’t work too well—our network couldn’t handle it):
Most of the attendees:
Singing Happy Birthday:
Really excited about his new Xbox Sesame Street game from Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob:
And the guitar I found on clearance for $3 (and took the batteries out ahead of time!):
He did pretty well opening presents…except he really loved the first things he opened (Lego Cars and a Ninja Lego) so he wanted to stop right then and play but we made him keep going. 🙂 We did stop about halfway through, though, because he was losing interest and really wanted to play. Which was just fine.
One last attempt at a good Katie pic:
Our attempted family photo:
And just for comparison…last year’s photo:
What I did all day.
It took me about five hours to bake four double layer cakes for Owen’s birthday cake.
Why so many?
Well, for starters, the theme was Legos, so I wanted to make a bunch of Lego blocks (squares and rectangles) and I knew one cake certainly wouldn’t be enough so planned on two from the start. Then as I was making the second cake, I realized I left out an egg…so called dad and Lin who were at the store and had them pick up two more, just in case the minus-one-egg cake didn’t turn out plus an extra in case I had a kitchen catastrophe. 🙂
I was exhausted by this time (about 5pm) but still had to make the frosting and get the first layer on. What a mess—and I was being careful!
Facebook post, 4:49pm: Someone slap me if I decide to make Owen’s birthday cake next year. I’m 5 hours in and not even close to done. And the *hard* part is next.
Unfortunately, it was a nightmare. I didn’t love the taste of the frosting (made with Crisco and powdered sugar) and it was an absolute mess to work with. And I can’t frost a cake to save my life— which I already kinda knew but thought I could certainly do some square cakes—so that didn’t help. And trying to frost the marshmallows (what was suggested for the Lego pieces) was the absolute worst. THE WORST. Betty Crocker can kiss my ass (though, to be fair, I didn’t use their pre-made frosting). But I still don’t think it would have helped.
Facebook post, 8:55p: WHY DO I EVEN TRY? Ugh. I can NOT frost a cake. These look nothing like Legos. And there’s no red. It’s dark pink. And I don’t think I like the Crisco frosting. Too much work and frustration. /cry
Yeah, I so didn’t get the true, vibrant Lego colors I had wanted—even with my special purchase of gel food dyes. (No, I don’t even have pictures of those monstrosities.) At that point, I was tempted to just toss everything in the trash and go buy a cake. Seriously. But then I was more logical and thought since I already had HOURS and MONEY and TIME invested, we’d eat these cakes.
And the kicker is that I know Owen won’t care at all so I really shouldn’t be putting myself through the stress of it…but I honestly thought making a Lego cake would be, well, a piece of cake.
LESSON LEARNED? From now on…I will never make a birthday cake for Katie or Owen again unless it’s a 9×13 in the pan or possibly a layer cake. Nothing fancy. No designs. No themes. Ever. EVER.
Project Desensitization
So tonight Tom and I went out again, leaving the kids (Owen) behind. He was just getting ready to get in his bath so I went up to tell him.
Me: Owen, daddy and I are going to the store.
Owen: [Looking down.] I’ll be crying.
Poor kid. But so cute because of the way he said it…like he was resigned to the fact he’d be crying but wasn’t actually that upset about it.
But as it turned out, Lin said he did pretty good. Phew.
Four more days to go.
Separation anxiety starts…now.
Tom and I had to run to the store tonight and likely wouldn’t be back by Owen’s bedtime. He has never had any separation anxiety…so we didn’t think anything of leaving and having Grannie and Papa put him to bed.
But apparently tonight was the night.
We got home about 10 minutes past his usual bedtime and he was still up getting a story. And he was crying. Complete with fistfuls of Kleenex. 🙁
Lin said he had been like that on and off all night, saying he missed us and he’d never see us again. 🙁 And then when he saw me he cried harder. Poor kid.
So now we need to try and desensitize him a bit before we leave for four days. 🙁
Build with me, papa!
Grannie Lin and Papa arrived around 4, and Owen quickly got Papa building with him! And Charlie jumped in the box as soon as it was empty!
And Katie checking out Papa’s face!
Another cute 6m outfit!
I think this one was from Grannie Lin…capris, that I think are supposed to be pants. 🙂
First and last day.
Today is both the first and last day for this new 6-9m onesie. FYI: Babies ‘R Us onesies tend to be on the small end.
Okay, it’s time.
So, Owen loved opening presents, but usually didn’t seem too thrilled with the actual item. But I knew he’d get to them eventually…so it’s fun to see what he’ll bring out of the toy room next.
Just now, he came out with three new packages of Cars cars that he opened from papa and Grannie Lin last night. 🙂
Bedtime light
Thanks papa and grannie!
He wasn’t terribly interested in it when he opened it…got a little interested when he saw it in action…carried it around but refused to put it on…until bedtime when he HAD to have it! Fast forward 15 minutes and he was out of bed so I went in there and he didn’t want it on anymore and HAD to give it to me (versus just putting it on his dresser).
I’m sure it will get lots of use in the future.
Happy (belated) birthday, Grannie Lin!
Oops! We were a day late…and we felt bad because we had actually been with Grannie on her birthday…but it was a busy morning as that’s when we were packing up to head back to Grayling.
Beginning and end of day.
Getting ready to leave Papa and Grannie’s house, squatting by papa’s hand print and Owen’s name. (Be sure to ask them the story if you ever see them!)
Cuddling with daddy after the long drive back to Gramma Jean’s house…
Lots of family photos!
Grannie Lin with the kids
Papa with the kids
I wanted to get all our blue eyes in a photo, but I settled for three of them. 🙂 I’m really happy we all have my dad’s eyes. ♥
Linda’s mom and dad, aunt and uncle, and a family friend all came over for dinner tonight. They all LOVED holding Katie and all threatened to steal her. 🙂
Katie’s Box
We didn’t want to haul a pack-and-play with us, and since Katie isn’t mobile while sleeping yet (other than maybe scooting a few inches one way or another) we weren’t too worried about just putting her wherever. The first night at the hotel she got put on a blanket on the floor. At Papa and Grannie Lin’s, she got a Rubbermaid box. 🙂
I have two Rod Torques!
Katie had given Owen a Rod Torque (“damaged” version) so when we gave him the one from Grannie Lin and Papa (the “undamaged” version), he ran around saying “I have two Rod Torques!”
Owen’s 3rd Birthday Party!
Owen’s birthday cake—he was so excited he wouldn’t stop jumping for me to get a good picture! (It was made by an acquaintance of ours. I decided to splurge this year and have someone else make it so it was his first REAL birthday cake!)
This is what it looked like after I decorated it with his own Cars cars (while he napped):
Family photo!
Since he had so many presents, we started opening them before the party. He loved the bowling pins from Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob! (After we played with them as actual bowling items, they turned into soldiers!)
I have no idea why he plugs his ears, but it happens often:
Drinking out of his new big boy Cars cup!
“Happy birthday to you…”
Trying to blow out his candles…
We didn’t get a group picture, but we celebrated with Papa, Grannie, Dad, Mom—and our good friends Roger and Ursula and their kids Virginia and Caroline!
Golfing!
Grannie and Grandpa took Owen on a walk and they came back with golf clubs!! Which meant, of course, they had to have some instruction…
Cuddling with Grannie!
On mark! Get set! Go!
Splashing in the water table with papa. Grannie Lin taught him “On your mark!” which comes out “Onma! Onma!” 🙂
First bowl of ice cream
Owen has certainly had ice cream before, but today we went to Oberweis Dairy with Papa and Grannie Smith and ordered him his very own bowl (instead of just feeding him bites of ours or letting him lick our cones).
When he got down to the bottom of the cup he was having a hard time, so Tom took over feeding him.
Then the manager came over to check on us, and gave Owen a balloon and some stickers!
Great Wolf Lodge
Grannie Lin had two free day passes so we bought two extra tickets and we all spent a few hours at the park watching Owen have a complete blast! We didn’t take too many pictures (we didn’t want to carry any cameras around) but we did take a handful right before we left.
Owen’s new (old) friend!
Grandpa Mike and Grannie Lin bought Owen this stuffed bear for his first birthday. He didn’t really think much of it at the time, so we just set it on the fireplace ledge next to another bear of his. And it just sat there. Until last night, when he went and sat on it, then dragged it out and set it on the couch where he kept laying on it and playing with it.
This is why I keep the camera close at hand. 🙂
Road trip!
We took a road trip to Frankenmuth to meet up with Grandpa Mike and Grannie Lin—and Great Grandma Pat and Mary Kay (who were down to Traverse City from the U.P.)! Unfortunately, Owen only got about a 40 minute nap on the way there, so we knew the afternoon might get a little sketchy… But he did pretty well at the park with us before lunch and I even got a few great pictures!
I caught him jumping! Look how high he is! I never even realized he was jumping when I was taking the picture!
Lunch at the Bavarian Inn didn’t go quite as smoothly as we had hoped, because Owen just got really tired of sitting in the high chair and HATED the accordion player who stopped in our room—but had plenty of fun walking around and hanging out with grandpa while we ate. Then it was back to the park for some playing, where Owen lasted about an hour until he needed to nap.
Owen’s First Swing & Slide
Grandpa Mike and Grandma Linda love taking the boy to the park…
