A special message for my friend Kristine made at the CWP Tech Conference.

kdbd.mp3

These pics are from January (I’m a little behind in my posting.) Grandma and Grandpa Baker rode all the way down from HC on their snowmobile. Adam went for a little ride around the yard. He didn’t even seem to mind that they were messing up his perfect snow!

 Adam got this shirt from Uncle Ryan and Aunt Devon for Christmas. I’ll let you figure out the significance. Devon said I could post it after my birthday (I know that you’re all amazed I could keep a secret this long. It was really, really hard.)  

 Due to the snow storms, we couldn’t travel across state for Christmas Eve like planned. But Plan B (driving to the Arnholt’s house on Christmas Day, then spending time with the Gleesons, Corsis and Murphys for the rest of the weekend) turned out to be even better than the original plan. We had lots of fun, ate lots (and lots and lots) of great food and spent time with our wonderful family and friends. Thank you all for the great gifts and the great hospitality. We are very lucky to have you in our lives!

I must have been particularly naughty in 08, because Santa, once again, didn’t get me a digital camera. And we forgot to pack the big one for our trip to the East Side (known as Flatland to my West Side friends). No pictures from those Christmas celebrations, but here’s a few pics from Christmas Day at our house.

 Ally’s new doll   Adam’s action figure

Flood Warning
My dad (Papa Dan) was pretty concerned that the warm weather and rain would lead to our house being flooded by the Little Cedar Creek. We laughed at the idea. By Monday, I wasn’t laughing so hard. Although there’s no way we’ll get flooded, the creek isn’t so little any more.
 Our path is flooded all the way up to our bench.
 The view from our deck.

Can we build it?
For my Christmas gift this year, my FIL Ron offered to help me build a set of “lockers” for the kids. It took over six hours (not counting our time dinking around at Menards), and it is awesome! We built it from scratch, but it looks like something you’d buy at Pottery Barn. Don’t worry, he didn’t let me use the saw!
 Empty.  Full (not as full as they will be!)

Ever wonder what it’s like at the Baker household on a snow day? Well, wonder no more.

 We sing!                We pose!

 We dance! (Like the scarves? I made them myself.)

  We read!    We check our email.

We’ve had a lot of practice, since today is our FIFTH snow day this year. It’s fun now, but it won’t be so much fun in the middle of July when we’re still at school (although I’ll probably still get out before Shonda

We stopped by Santa’s house last week. Adam asked for toys that are no longer sold (I know, I know. Santa has his own workshop. Still . . .) and Ally peed on Santa’s lap. Fun!

 I’m not sure how we’ll ever be able to top the robot costume Brian made for Adam this year. One daycare dad looked at it and said, “Game on!”
The lights actually blinked and made cool designs!  

Adam enjoyed tucking his head in, like Wall-E.

Ally liked her kitty costume. (She was sick last week. Poor baby.)    
     (It’s hard to take pics of them together!)

On the advice of one of my car pool buddies (thanks, Jeff), we headed over to Fruit Ridge Hayrides for some fall family fun.

 This pony thought my fingers were food! 

 The kids loved the pig train!

 Ally waves.         Adam grins.

 Are we scary?  Ally Kat meows.

We picked pumpkins, ate hot doughnuts and drank wonderful cider. We love fall in West Michigan!

  Adam took part in the Priority Health Kids bike race in GR again this year. He was in the four and under heat, but he was much speedier than last year thanks to his little two-wheeler with training wheels (thanks, Corsi cousins). In fact, he was so speedy that Brian could hardly get any pictures of him. 

  Brian had to run to get this shot.

 Adam’s sad because there’s no ribbons this year.

 Ally cheers in her own special way.

 Adam took a rock climbing class at the YMCA this summer. He liked the class, but wasn’t keen on climbing too high on the wall. Luckily, Len, his instructor, is a very, very patient man. At the last class, Adam made it halfway up the wall. He’s very proud of his certificate and t-shirt.
                        

One day, I finally convinced Adam to let me “spike his hair like Daddy’s.”

I also do Ally’s hair, in cute bows and headbands. They don’t last long.
 (she’s super speedy!)
We managed to shove a lot of mini-vacations into the last few weeks of summer. We went to Traverse City one weekend. The beach was cold and windy and Adam threw up ice cream on the way home. Still, we had a great time! We discovered that Ally loves to play with tea sets.

We also visited Shonda and Maelin, but forgot the camera.
And that’s the end of our summer. Sigh.

We’ve got a house full of toys, a garage full of toys, and a yard full of toys. Here’s what the kids like to play with:

I’ll be having a garage sale soon if you’re looking for toys : )