Baird Family Fun: August 2010

Monday, August 30, 2010

1st Day of School

Well it has finally come! The first day of school for Collin & Jordon. Collin is in 5th grade this year and Jordon is in Kindergarten. They get to walk to school together and Jordon gets bused home. I went with them this morning to see how long it'll take them to get to school. Roughly 10-15 minutes depending on how fast or slow they walk. Jordon did great! She was super excited and didn't miss a beat.

Jordon all ready for school

Collin ready for 5th grade

Jordon & Collin

Jordon right before the bell rang

Sienna with her looking glasses waiting for Jordon's bus

When is the bus gonna get here Mom??

Jordon coming off the bus

She made it through her first day of school

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Baby Hungry

So all the girls talk about now is baby Alexa. When they play with their toys they always have a 'baby in my tummy'. Sienna thinks my belly button is the baby and always asks to see the 'baby'. I have a feeling poor Alexa is going to be mauled by her sisters. Thankfully Jordon will be in Kindergarten each morning and Sienna has Preschool 2 days a week.
Anyway, Bruce's cousins came to visit us and they have a baby girl named Chloe. Both Jordon and Sienna had to hold baby Chloe.

It's hard to believe at times all I have left is September and October. I'm beginning to 'nest' quite a bit these days. We got our carpets cleaned thankfully. Last night we purchased the car seat, stroller and swing. Now I just get to shop these last couple of months for clothes. Yippee! My favorite part. Speaking of .... this year we pretty much spoiled the girls with school clothes shopping. They loved every minute of it as I did. Girls are SO fun to shop for. Here are some pics of the damage.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Ode to Kenny

I first met Kenny in the summer of 2000 working the graveyard shift at HP. Kenny has such a great personality and sense of humor everyone is drawn to him. Kenny, Bruce, Jeremiah and I would go to movies and golfing together. Kenny soon got married and started his family. When everyone found out their jobs with HP were moving down to Houston, TX they all transferred. After 7 months we all know that Bruce moved back but Kenny and Jeremiah stayed there. Kenny eventually divorced his wife and moved back here with his girls. We were able to rekindle the friendship as Kenny spent more time over at our place letting the kids play. I've watched Kenny go through some really hard times in being a single Dad raising his beautiful girls. Kenny has always been such a great friend to Bruce & I. In the summer of 2008 Kenny added a boy to his family. On Bruce's birthday the summer of 2009 we found out that Kenny had stage 4 colon cancer. After a massive surgery we watched Kenny try to regain his health and fight for his life. I'm so amazed at what Kenny has been through and with such a positive attitude. I can only imagine the turmoil inside that he has been hiding.
I think back at all the memories I've made with Kenny and what a great person he is. It kills me inside that he has to go through this painful road and knowing that these might be the last days with his family and friends. The memories he is making with his kids are everlasting. Kenny I'm so SO sorry this is happening to you. You must be so special that there are bigger things for you to do in the life after. I am so thankful to have had the privilege to be your friend in this life. You are one of a kind!

Jeremiah, Kenny & Bruce

Birthday Boy

On August 16th Bruce turned 31 yrs old. We invited Coltrin's to go to dinner and a movie with us the Saturday before. We had delicious Texas Roadhouse and then went to see the Expendables. I wasn't anticipating much from the movie but came out pleasantly surprised. It was actually pretty good. On Sunday we invited family over for cake and ice cream. According to CJ it was the best birthday party ever with the best birthday cake.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband! I love you more than words can express. You are my best friend and I can turn to you for anything. You are such a wonderful father to our kids. Thank you for being you. I love you!

Splash Park Fun

So I'm a little behind on my posts. Earlier this month we took the girls to the splash park in Copper Basin to get them out of the house after dinner. Jordon had a great time until she slipped and skinned her knee. It took a little bit for Sienna to warm up. Once she did she was all over the place.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Kynaston Family Reunion 2010

Warning picture overload!

On Thursday morning we all met over at Clark's house for directions and family prayer. The caravan took off shortly after 10am to head up to McCall for our family reunion. Some stopped in Cascade for lunch while others went on up to McCall and stopped there for lunch. We arrived at our campground around 1pm. We got checked in and headed to our campsite. Everyone began setting up their tents and unloading the cars. Once we got settled in people began scouting the area going on little mini hikes. Clark's made a delicious taco salad dinner. We sat around and visited. Bruce brought up my monitor and hooked up the media center and speakers to it so that the kids could watch movies. Ang had a devotional, thanks Ang! Then we sat around eating smores and watched Toy Story. Bedtime was attempted between 8:30 & 9pm. Sienna refused to go to sleep. After crying for an hour and a half Bruce and I were at our wits end. We drove her around for 20 minutes in hopes of her falling asleep. No such luck. I finally decided I would just go to bed and maybe with me being in there she'd give in and fall asleep. It worked. I think it may have only taken 10 minutes and she was out. I on the other hand could not fall asleep. After laying there for a couple of hours I finally drifted asleep only to be awaken by Jordon having to go pee. So we both exited the tent and did our business outside the tent. Got her back in bed and layed there once again for a hour or so. By now my brand new airbed was deflating and my hips were burning. I turned to Bruce and asked him if he'd be willing to trade airbeds. Being the sweet husband that he is he agreed. After an hour or so I was able to fall back to sleep only to be awaken by loud chipmunks and birds early in the morning. ARG!!!
Sienna was up by 7am that morning of course. I got dressed and then proceeded to dress her. We walked to the bathrooms and came back to camp. Everyone was still sleeping. I couldn't find the lighter so I was unable to start a fire. We decided to sit in the car and watch a movie. By 7:30am Cade was up with CJ. He was able to start the fire so Sienna and I got out of the car. He and Tasha had made a wonderful breakfast. We had homemade cinnamon rolls, eggs, pancakes and juice. After everyone was ready for the day we attempted our scavenger hunt. I thankfully had applied mosquito repellent on myself and the girls. Once we entered the hiking trail in the forest the mosquitos quickly began to swarm us. The damn things bit me through my shirt on my tummy. Not good! The kids were getting eaten alive so we quickly exited the forest and decided to finish the hunt along the road. Once we got back to camp we figured out who won the hunt and Alia was the winner. We had lunch and then changed into our swimming suits and headed to the beach. The kids had a blast building sand castles. Rod had fun tormenting his sisters and at the request of Ellie drenched my Dad. We left the beach around 4pm and everyone came back to camp and showered. I heated up the pulled pork I had made for dinner along with coleslaw and some watermelon. It was divine! The adults played Minute to Win It. Cala had 5 different obstacle courses made up from the game. The M&M game, the balloon and plastic cup game, the pantyhose game, the cookies down the face game and the candy sucked up by the straw game. It was hilarious to watch everyone. I believe Cade may have been the winner for the night, but I'm not 100% sure. Then we made smores then put the kids to bed. I was super anxious about bedtime after last night. This time we waited till closer to 9:30pm so it was a little darker outside. All 3 kids went down without a sound .... or so I thought. The adults put on Date Night to watch. Me being pregnant and having not slept much the night before went to bed at 10:30pm only to find Sienna still awake playing in the tent. Hey, at least she wasn't crying. I put her back in her sleeping bed and she was out right away and so was I. I had a great night sleep and didn't even wake up to pee. First time in months!!!
Saturday morning the kids woke up shortly after 7:30am. Kim had made a buffet of yumminess. Eggs, little smokies, cereal, bagels, fruit and juice. After breakfast we dressed the kids and had game time. They played duck duck squirt (with water bottle), they had to be blindfolded and find safety pins in a bowl of rice, and jump rope with a cup full of water trying not to spill. After that we had lunch and headed to the beach again. Didn't last as long at the beach this time. Everyone was beginning to get tired. Headed back to camp around 3:30pm and got showered and cleaned up. Everyone kind of lounged around. Rod & Ang fired up some burgers & hot dogs along with delicious potato salad and baked beans. Dad had a devotional and we discussed our next reunion in 2 years that Tasha is in charge of. Lake Shasta here we come!! Woot woot! We watched movies and hung out for our last night. Come bedtime Bruce sat in the tent with the girls to make sure they went to sleep. After 10 minutes he as back out and the girls were fast asleep.

On Sunday morning Dad made the best french toast ever! Along with eggs and lil smokies. After breakfast we took down camp and packed everything up. Had family prayer and headed home around 10:30am. We all made it home safe and sound and was sure happy to get a REAL shower and sleep in my wonderful bed. Thank you Clark's for planning a wonderful family reunion. Great job!!