Ammely's Birthday - It Was TWO Great

April 3rd came and went yet again - a very special day in this Baysinger home.
But how do you make a little girl feel special on her second birthday? 

Well, you start with waking her up by singing Happy Birthday.
This picture pretty much captures her thoughts on this new experience.
What is going on? My parents are so strange.

You convince her to open presents from Mommy and Daddy.

We tried to get a picture of all of us and all of her gifts - it worked, kind of.

Giant Doodle Pad, Crayons, Coloring Book, Water Colors, Bath Tub Crayons, and Magnet Fishing Game

You hang up some pretty, girly birthday decorations (thank you Grandma Breakall!)
She loved them! Wow, pretty!

You serve up birthday cake pancakes. (And sausage. And bacon. And eggs)

You let her watch "Cow" (Baby Einstein's Old McDonald) while you and Grandma get ready for the day.

You and Grandma take her to a place that is specifically designed for two-year old children.

And you watch as she enters a land full of endless fun and learning for a little girl on her birthday.

You let her play with the GIANT blocks.

You let her take over her very own "choo-choo."

You let her be the star of the show at the Performing Arts Center.
Instruments, costumes and a stage - what else do you need?

You take her into the Art Studio and let her inner artist out.
She LOVED this. She was not ready to be done. And unfortunately, her drying picture got snatched by someone else before we left. It's a good thing we got a few shots of the process.

You stand back in amazement at her ability to build and explore.

You let her do grown up things - like cook, clean and garden.

You let her put on a puppet show with Grandma.

You let her sit and read in a chair just her size.

You let her play the piano and dance.

You help her capture her big ideas on paper.

You let her experiment with and experience different sounds.

You help her with the touch screen puzzle.

You take her home and let her take a nap.

When she wakes up you let her open a present from Grandma. And you let her watch it while you get ready for the evening's activity: cake and ice cream!

Before you know it, fellow cake-eaters arrive.
Thank goodness. Some of those cake-eaters (Grandma and Grandpa Lords) were also the cake makers. Isn't it perfect?

 

Once all of the cake eaters arrive, you sing Happy Birthday to her.

Then you eat cake and enjoy the fact that SO MANY people loved her enough to come out to her house - on a weeknight no less!

You resign yourself to the fact that even though you asked people NOT to bring anything, you are related to too many generous hearts and your little girl has presents to open.

You watch her really enjoy opening presents for maybe the first time in her life.

You also watch her have a few melt downs as others touch and play with her new things...because...well...she is turning TWO after all.

You watch in amazement as thoughtful gift after thoughtful gift is given to your little girl.
Grandma and Grandpa Lords bought this for her MONTHS ago. EVERY time we go to their house Ammely goes straight to their statue of the Lion and the Lamb. She loves it. Adores it. Can't get enough of it. And she is also very fond of lions in general. Grandma and Grandpa know this. And they waited for her birthday like little kids waiting for Christmas. She LOVES this Lamb and Lion as much as theirs. She looks at it every day. She pets it. She kisses it. She says "wow" and "pretty." THANK YOU Grandma and Grandpa Lords!

You sigh a big sigh of relief when the last gift is one that she happily shares with everyone.

You let her open her special balloon from Daddy.
Unfortunately, this backfired a little bit this year. The other balloon that had no prize in it deflated before Ammon even got home with it. So her only balloon  was the one with the prize and it had to be popped - I think it broke all of our hearts a little bit.

Last of all, you tuck her into bed and say prayers of gratitude that this special little person is in your home and family.

Happy Birthday Ammely

Springtime Family Fun

 The weather has been BEAUTIFUL this past month. I fear we did not take advantage of it as much as we should have. Still, we have enjoyed our fleeting Arizona spring and there are a couple of things that shouldn't pass without note.

FIRST -

-we had the most epic family movie night to date!
The wonderful Olmstead's were enthusiastic to share their copy of the newly released Disney spectacular Frozen. So they invited everyone to watch it. Outside. On a giant inflatable screen. With super awesome speakers. With Root Beer Floats. And Rice Krispie treats. And Popcorn.

It was AMAZING. I hope this happens again sometime. A HUGE thank you to everyone who made that night possible.

I did snap just a couple of pictures - they didn't turn out great but they give you an idea of the awesomeness.

Second -

-our HOA spent a few of our dollars and put together a little neighborhood shin-dig. We were quite pleased.

Our large park was transformed into this for a couple of hours:

Ammely actually got into the bounce house! And stayed in their for several consecutive minutes! And didn't cry!

She was much more comfortable with the petting zoo though.

And I think we were all most excited about the free food. We love free. We love food. Put them together and we're just about in heaven.

The best part of the event though? Winning the very last raffle prize - a $25 Visa gift card! Yahoo! Time well spent.

Home Sweet Home

A little at a time we make our home into the place we envision that it could be.

This past weekend, Ammon surprised me with an extra day at home working on making my dreams come true.

Once I realized I didn't have to send him off to work and that I got to keep him for the day, we headed off to Lowes to get some materials.

Then we came home and he worked hard all day long.

And now I have a pathway to my front door!

AND I have daisies in my front yard! Do you know what my very favorite flowers in the whole wide world are? DAISIES!

Playing house is so much more fun when you're a grown up. 

A Local Camping Adventure

Have I ever mentioned that we have the best family in the world?

Well, we do. It doesn't matter which part of the family or which side of the family you refer to, we simply have the best.

Recently, the Metcalfs invited all of us married folks from the Baysinger clan to go camping. Right here in Gilbert! They made the invites. They reserved the camp spot. They brought the food. And the drinks. They cooked the food. They let us all make use of their awesome camping equipment. So amazing.

Am I right or what? The best!

And it was so much fun to have all of the cousins together doing cousin things: relaxing together or running around together.

Relaxing:

 Running Around:

Also, SO grateful for the BRILLIANCE of the glow-in-the-dark necklaces. BEST idea ever. Not sure if they were intended to become tracking devices, but they were. With the flash on, you can see the kiddos pretty well as they explore the far-reaches of the campground. But in real life? It was more like this:

 I spent all night counting necklaces and looking for the short purple one -AKA Ammely.

Plus, the adults got to have as much fun as the kiddos!

Do you SEE all of that good grub? The SIZE of those hot dogs?! The snacks! The root beer! The fabulous company! And you can't even see the marshmallows in this picture!

Yes, it was all fabulous. Exceedingly fabulous.

Eventually it got late and those who dared not brave the impending rain storm went home to their warm, comfy beds. (Or maybe they had newborns. Or maybe they were on call at work. Psh.)

But it was their loss because it didn't even rain that night!

The rain did not come until the sunshine did!

And it was pretty tame.

We got to enjoy a yummy breakfast.

And spend some more time with cousins.

And enjoy the scene.

Of course, we did eventually see the wall of rain approaching from across the lake and we ran full speed to get cover before Mother Nature could soak us.

But it didn't last long and was fun to watch.

More good news?We got to try out our tent for the first time! (You know, outside of our backyard)
Isn't it beautiful?

And Ammely got lots of snuggle time with Aunt Amber.

AND all of the kiddos got to enjoy some Kool-Aid while the men-folk broke down camp.

I'm pretty sure that this is the official color of childhood:

It was a wonderful overnighter! THANK YOU Belle and Kent for hosting ALL of us.Your family sure makes certain we all make precious memories together. We must repay the favor sometime. Soon.