Some fall crafting and learning

With the cooler and rainy weather we've been having lately, we've been trying to focus on lots of creative time lately. I expect this trend to continue as the weather is changing and we won't be outside playing quite as often. We've been doing lots of fall and Halloween crafts and learning these last couple of weeks. Carson is loving it - he gets super excited once he knows we're going to make something fun and creative. I haven't taken pictures of everything we've been doing, but here are just a few peeks into what we've been up to...

A foam candy-corn craft... using pre-made kits from Meijer...




Carson is learning his letters with a fall theme right now. I bought foam leaves at Michaels and have put letters on them. We do a new letter every few days. We fill a bag with all things that correspond to that letter. Here he is learning that "A" is for... airplane, acorn, apple, and alligator. He actually does super well with this activity and really remembers the different items with the visual aids.


We made some fall leaf placemats using clear contact paper and some colorful leaves we collected around our yard.



And we made some fun, spider hats. I found this project on the Make and Takes blog and new we had to try it since Carson likes bugs and spiders right now. I didn't know how much Carson would actually be able to do on this one, but he surprised me. He was able to put the pipe cleaners through the holes very easily and even double-backed them through again with no problems. I just evened them out to make sure the legs were all similar lengths. I haven't gotten a good picture of him wearing it yet, but he thinks its so funny when anyone wears this.






We'll be doing some more fun crafts this week... a felt jack-o-lantern, carving our pumpkins, and making colorful leaf crowns!

Crossroads Village

Last Saturday, we made a trip out to Crossroads Village for their annual Halloween shin-dig and trick-or-treating through the village. It was a bit dicey at first, since Carson wasn't too happy about wearing his costume, but he got used to it pretty quickly and ended up having a lot of fun! All three of us did! This was the first time Kevin and I had been out there during the Halloween season - they do a really nice job and provide a fun, safe environment for kids of all ages. Even the parents got candy at the 20 different trick-or-treat stops. We didn't ride the train this time, but maybe we'll go back in December to do that and look at all of the Christmas lights. Here are just a few pictures, the rest are in the Shutterfly albums.

Partners in crime...

Carson and Jet are still best buddies. They both just adore one another. They love to snuggle together, play together, and get into mischief together. They weren't really being mischievous here, but right after this picture was taken of them as they're contemplating what they're going to do (and right after I had just put the camera away), they both jumped down simultaneously and started spinning in circles... Jet after his tail and Carson just spinning around. They do this quite often and its quite funny to watch. Then they both end up collapsing onto the ground, Carson laying on top of Jet, usually. Its super cute, but I've not been able to get a picture of that part yet.

Our little musician

Carson picked out a couple fun, new toys last week on a trip to Target - a microphone and a recorder! He LOVES them. The microphone is seldom out of his sight at home. He's always running around singing and talking into it. Its one of those microphones that make your voice sound kind of echo-ey. I didn't really think he'd be able to play the recorder, but he actually figured it out on his first try and has been playing it quite often every day now. Now we're even more excited to give him the set of instruments we have hidden away for him for Christmas!

I'm a LION, hear me ROAR!!

Or maybe I'll just poke you with this stick... :)

Megan's Baby Shower

Last Saturday, we had a baby shower for my cousin, Megan. She and her husband, Marty, are pregnant with their first child, due January 20, 2010 - a baby girl they've named Haleigh Madison R. As I mentioned in a previous post, Marty recently took a new job down in Williamsburg, Virginia. Megan is still working up here, but she's almost done and will be joining Marty in Virginia at the end of the month! So this was perfect timing for their baby shower! The party turned out great - awesome food, fun times, and lots of wonderful gifts! Haleigh will have an amazing wardrobe to pick from every day!! :)

My pictures are already posted in the Shutterfly albums, but here are just a few of the mom-to-be with the grandmothers, great-grandmothers, aunts, and cousins.

Filling Daddy's Shoes

Not only does Jet (the dog) feel like he must fill Kevin's shoes while he's gone (by being extra protective and on extra high alert), but Carson has also been feeling the need to fill Daddy's shoes while he's gone. :)

20 months!!

Is he really 20 months old already? Hitting the 20-month mark feels like more of a milestone than the 18-month mark did. Only 4 more months and he'll be 2 years old! Time really does fly... and yes, I realize I say that almost every month, but it's just how it feels. :)

Carson is looking and acting more and more like a big boy every day. Since Kevin has been traveling so much for work lately, he is really noticing some big changes every week. While Kevin was in Germany a couple of weeks ago, Carson became a pro at stabbing his food with a fork and eating it. He had been doing pretty well with it before that, but still needed some help. Now, if the food is stab-able (I made that word up... for lack of better words), he gets it on the fork in just one try most times. Last week, when Kevin was in Virginia, Carson developed his eating-with-a-spoon skills... he's finally figuring out that he can't expect things to stay on the spoon when he flips it upside down into his mouth. :) He can actually get a good amount of food into his mouth on a spoon now!

It was evident that Carson is growing up when he got his flu shot a few weeks ago. This was his first shot in his upper arm (all his other shots have been given in his thighs) and he was such a champ! He watched everything (and yes, even at this age, his eyes got big when he saw the needle!) and didn't shed a single tear, or even let out the tiniest whimper! All he did was give the nurse a very dirty look. He was such a big boy - his Mama was so proud of him!

It looks like we have a sleep-walker on our hands. For the last few weeks, Carson will get up in the night - sometimes he'll open and close his bedroom door, other times I just hear him walking around his room. I've gone in there a couple of times and he is totally still sleeping while he's roaming. So now, I just listen until he settles down again (usually less than 3 minutes) and go back to sleep. In the mornings, we find him sleeping in random places around his room - curled up on the floor some place.

Carson is talking so much. It is so fun to actually have mini conversations with him. He continues to repeat everything you say. And picks out the most random words while you are talking. He's been walking around saying "ex-ce-unt" (excellent) lately... and he actually knows when to use it, too.

He has a fantastic memory. Carson remembers things that the rest of us haven't mentioned in a while. He still talks about Shelbi at least a couple of times a week. And when he's at Nana's and Papa's, he is always looking for her and going to the door calling her to come in. He just doesn't understand that she is gone and isn't coming back. Last week, Kevin was getting ready to leave for Virginia on Tuesday night (he left early Wednesday morning). When it was time for bed, we told Carson that Daddy would be gone to work for awhile again and that he'd be gone by the time we got up in the morning, so Carson had to say bye-bye to Daddy before going to bed. That next morning, when I went in to wake him up to leave, after saying "mo-nin un-shine" (good morning sunshine), the first words out of his mouth were "Daddy gone. Daddy home. Daddy gone." He really does get it.

We've been trying to do something creative several times a week in the evenings after dinner and before Carson takes his bath and we start our bedtime routine. Carson likes to "rough-house" play in the evenings when Kevin is home... wrestling on the floor, climbing, jumping, etc. Well, when its just me home on my own during the week, I can only do so much of that. So I've been trying to focus his energy into creative things. Whether we just do some coloring, play with the Play-Doh, or do a fun, special project - Carson is loving it! We went on a nature hike around our property one night last week and picked up lots of pretty colored leaves. Carson and I pressed them in wax paper in the phone book for use with some projects this week (hopefully tonight!). I'm sure you'll be seeing some posts featuring some of our fun projects we have planned!

We've also been trying to see some friends more often lately. Since Carson isn't in daycare, he doesn't get a lot of interaction with kids his own age. Sara has a friend at work, Lina, who has a daughter, Vayla, that is a month older than Carson. Lina, her husband, Sean, and Vayla came over a couple Saturdays ago to hang out. Kevin taught Sean how to change the brakes and rotors on their G6, while Lina and I had fun playing with the kiddos. Carson and Vayla play very well together and had so much fun! We played inside; took a walk around the property; played in the playhouse and on the slide and climber; and played in the driveway on the ride-on toys. At the end of the day, both kiddos were exhausted and crashed immediately after Lina, Sean, and Vayla left. We look forward to hanging out more often in the months to come!

Carson is still loving his swim classes on Wednesday nights. He gets so excited when he knows he's on his way to go swimming. The class is 40 minutes long and he's never ready to get out when it's time to go get dried off and change. He'd stay in the pool all night, if we let him. His skills are developing - he's reaching and pulling with his arms much better now and his kicks continually strengthen. He's floating on his back a little longer each time and he is learning to blow out of his nose when he jumps in off the side of the pool and goes under a little (holding on to my hands). We've definitely got a fish on our hands!! :)

A New Cousin!

Meet Jonah Daniel! Born to Aunt Julie and Uncle Jason on Tuesday, October 6th.


We made a quick trip up to the hospital on Tuesday evening to meet him. He's such a cutie pie! Carson didn't show a lot of interest in him - he was more interested in checking out the doors, light switches, and climbing in and out of the chairs. But he did get to "hold" baby Jonah for just a bit and was quite excited about getting to "hold" him. :)

Swim Class!

We signed Carson up for another round of swim classes up at the Swartz Creek Middle School pool this fall. We've heard from way too many parents that had kids that loved the water the summer they were 1 and were terrified of it the summer they were 2, so we figured if we do swim classes all fall/winter/spring, we'll keep Carson loving the water.

That is our hope at least. So far it is working. Carson had so much fun at his first class last night! He definitely has the kicking down pat - he kicks so strongly and really does propel himself through the water. We'll have to keep working on the reaching and pulling with the arms... right now he has more of a doggie paddle/splash. We tried floating for the first time and he actually did very well! He was a little unsure, but he trusted his Mama to keep him safe and listened and put his legs out straight and his head in the water on his back. The instructor thought it was great for a first try and his age! His favorite part was playing Humpty Dumpty and jumping into the water from the side of the pool. He doesn't mind going under a little with that, either.

There are about 9 kids in the class, I think. Ranging from 8 months to 2 1/2 years in age. We were excited to see that our neighbors are also in the class! So hopefully Kevin and I will get to know Eric and Kari a little better and Carson and Jace will have lots of fun playing together. They're 9 months apart (Jace is older), so it is great to have a friend so close in age right next door!

Kevin comes home tonight! We're all excited to see him. Carson has been looking for him down our laundry shoot all week. :) It will be fun to see how Carson reacts to his return this time... he seems to react differently every time. Hopefully he doesn't decide to hold a grudge like he did when Kevin went to Lafayette last... Carson was visibly ignoring and upset with Kevin for a good three or four days after his return!

Weekend Recap

This past weekend was a busy, family-oriented, fun-filled one! We started out the weekend by going to the Grand Blanc Homecoming parade. We met up with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jason, Aunt Julie, Anna, Joel, Heather, Stephen, Matthew, and Emily at Uncle Jason's and Aunt Julie's house. We all walked up to the parade together. The parade was super long, but it was nice. It was strange that they had no class floats, the Varsity football team was absent, and they didn't throw any candy. But the kids all still seemed to have fun anyway. After the parade, we all headed back to Uncle Jason's and Aunt Julie's for dinner and playtime. Then Carson and I headed home to bed while Daddy went to the movies with Uncle Jason and Uncle Danny.

On Saturday morning, we got up and headed to Holly to watch Joel play football. He is participating in a flag football program through some local churches. It was a fun game to watch. You can tell they really promote good sportsmanship in the program and all the kids seem to love it! They don't keep score... which is probably a good thing since oftentimes the kids were running towards the wrong goal. :) But its definitely teaching them some great things. After the game, we headed home to spend some time together just hanging out and getting some things ready for Kevin's work trip to Germany.

We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's in the late afternoon on Saturday for a pizza dinner. Aunt Mary, Uncle Justin, and Rebecca were supposed to join us, too, but they came down with some bad colds and canceled their trip. Hopefully we'll be able to see them in the coming weeks when they come to visit Baby Poirier. The kids had so much fun playing together. Carson is learning so much from Anna and Joel and he just loves them so much. He always has a blast playing with them.

On Sunday morning Sara got her hair done and then we just spent time together as a family and helped Kevin pack for his work trip. He headed down to the Detroit airport at 2:30 to make his 6:00 flight to Germany. He'll be spending the next few days in Gelsenkirchen, Germany doing some packaging and logistics workshops for some of the European TRW facilities. He flies into Detroit on Thursday around 4:00pm, so hopefully he'll be home in time for dinner. We're all missing him. Carson keeps saying "Daddy in mim-many" (Daddy in Germany), Jet has made himself sick with the stress of having to be the "man" of the house yet again (at least I hope that's all it is... and that I'm not having to clean up after him all week... and he really does change when Kevin's gone... he's on extra high alert and keeps an extra close eye on things), and Denver is extra cuddly for some reason. I'm just trying to get things done that need to be taken care of and look forward to Kevin's return... being a single working mama is not my favorite thing, that's for sure! :)

Baby Shower, Vow Renewal, Wedding

I'm playing catch-up. I've been slacking on the blogging front and haven't posted about some fun things from earlier this month that I really want to post about. First up, my cousin Kristin's baby shower. For those of you that don't know Kristin, she's my cousin on my dad's side of the family - our grandmas are sisters, so we're like second cousins or something. We grew up living 8 houses down the road from one another and have been close all our lives. Kristin and her husband, Joe, moved to Ocala, Florida a couple of years ago and are expecting their first baby in January - its a boy and his name is Brody Matthew Katich!

Kristin and Joe came home for a quick visit over Labor Day weekend and the week following. We had a huge shower for them while they were here since they won't be home again before Brody joins their lives. It was held at Kristin's dad's church, Swartz Creek First Baptist, and was very well-attended by family, friends, and members of the church. Kristin and Joe were so blessed to receive a HUGE amount of gifts and it was so fun to see everyone. Kristin's sister-in-law (my cousin Brad's wife), Trisha, is also pregnant and expecting their second child in early December. We're very excited to meet both of their new babies! I've posted all the pics in the photo albums, but here are just a few of my favorites of my family.

The Odykirk Sisters... my grandma (Jackie), Kristin's grandma (my Aunt Sandy), Aunt Beth, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Roberta, and Aunt Jackie

Trisha, Kristin, me, Destiny

Trisha and Kristin - the beautiful pregnant SILs!

Joe, Kristin, Trisha, and Brad

On September 12th, my cousins Josh and Mandy celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary by renewing their wedding vows and having a reception for close friends and family. Again, for those that don't know, Josh's and my dads are brothers, so we're first cousins. We don't see each other nearly enough, even though we live less than 10 minutes apart. But we always have a great time when we are together. Josh and Mandy had a short, but very sweet ceremony and a super fun reception with awesome BBQed food. Their neighbor is a DJ, so we had great music to dance to all night. Carson had a lot of fun playing with some of the other kids and just running around. We went over to Josh's barn later on in the night to check out his motorcycles and Carson loved them. He got to sit on a 250 dirt bike and was totally loving it. Then he got to see me take off with Josh for a ride on his crotchrocket bike. Kevin, Josh, and Michelle (my other cousin and Josh's sister) were trying to convince me that we all need to get crotchrockets and ride together... too bad it didn't work. :) I will say, it was fun and thrill to go 100 mph and not even feel like it... but that last bit there is why I'm still not on board... and probably never will be... now dirt bikes and quads are another story, though... :) Anyway, I'll work on getting the pics from this day uploaded into the albums soon, so check back later.

Just a couple pictures of Carson loving the cake...

And finally, on September 19th, Kevin and I went to Lansing to attend a wedding for some friends of ours, Dustin and Thyra. Kevin used to work with Dustin at Faurecia. It was a beautiful wedding and reception. We hung out with another of Kevin's old Faurecia buddies, Larry, and his girlfriend, Erica, for most of the night. They're a lot of fun and we look forward to hanging out with them again sometime. I'll work on getting the pics uploaded soon.

How Carson likes to spend his spare time...

eating an apple and checking his blackberry for emails already!! (the blackberry is really Sara's, don't worry) ;-P


or working on his car bed with Daddy's wrench... he's been watching Daddy and Papa too much! :)


or sitting on the pot... practicing...


and getting embarrassed because Mama took his picture on the potty...


He still loves riding his quad... while standing up and doing tricks...


and he's getting crazier on his bouncy horse, too...

19 months old!

Carson is now 19 months old. He continues to learn so many new things each and every day. His speech is getting better... more precise... and he is putting more and more words together. He's using prepositions and adjectives with his nouns quite often. We're having fewer and fewer tantrums due to communication frustrations/barriers these days, which is nice! :)

The little man is becoming more and more strong-willed every week. He is constantly testing his limits to see what and how much he can get away with. Some days it is an almost constant struggle of the wills. Thankfully, he's also a super sweet little boy and the sweetness definitely far outweighs the strong-willed part of him. But, from what I've heard, every toddler goes through these phases at some point or another. Right now, we're up against biting and hitting. I've definitely seen way worse in children, so I'm not concerned about it, but it does get old... and fast. :) We just do our best to hold our ground and teach him that biting and hitting are not nice things to do. He understands this, but he still pushes his limits. Right before he'll slap my leg or something, he'll say "no, no hit - no nice." But he'll slap anyway and then look right at you to see what you're going to do about it. And he is very good at giving us the puppy dog eyes and making his little lip quiver when he doesn't get his way, too. Its hard not to laugh sometimes. :) I do hope we're through the worst of it at least, because it does seem to be becoming a lesser thing the last few days... let's keep our fingers crossed!

Carson has been making lots of progress this last month with his shapes and colors. His favorite colors seem to be red, yellow, and green - in that order. He is growing more and more independent about things, too. He likes to pick out his clothes, PJs, and socks almost everyday now. And if he can pick out something that is red, his day/night is made. Especially if his red socks are clean and in his drawer. :) Carson does not want to wear his red socks rolled over or under his clothes... he likes them pulled straight up and over top of his pants. He likes all of his socks pulled straight up, but only his red socks have to be on the outside of his pants. He's a quirky little one, already. :)

Carson is such a great helper around the house. He loves to do his "chores" and takes great pride in helping out. He helps pick up his toys and blocks, he puts his books back on the bookshelf, he helps empty the dishwasher (he will pull out a clean dish one at a time and will hand it to Kevin or me to put away and he helps sort the clean silverware in to the drawer), he helps wipe the counters (he gets a rag and I get a rag, he sits on the counter or table and helps me wipe up messes), he helps switch the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer (I hand him the wet clothes and he puts them in the dryer), he puts his laundry away (he knows where all of his stuff goes and can put everything away on his own, with the exception of the hanging stuff in his closet), and he makes sure all the doors are closed and locked if they're supposed to be (he has some obsessions with locks, doors, and lights still). Carson even helped me clean out the refrigerator this past weekend - I would give him the stuff to throw away in the trash or put in the compost bucket and he helped me wipe down the shelves.

Carson is doing great with his personal hygiene these days. He absolutely loves to brush his teeth in the morning and at night before bed. We're very thankful its not a daily fight to get this done! He asks to get up on his stool and brush his teeth many times a day, instead. He is very good at washing his hands and also asks to do this quite often in the day. Hopefully this habit will help fend off some germs and sickness this winter!

We have been thoroughly enjoying this summer and are looking forward to the fall. Although, we've been making the most of the warmer weather this week and have been heading to the park almost every evening after dinner. We've all loved it! We are continuing to just have as much fun as possible and enjoy every minute we have with our little man!

R.I.P. Shelbi (March 25, 1995 - August 27, 2009)

On August 27th, Sara's family lost their beloved Shelbi. Carson and Sara were headed over there around 6am that morning so that Carson could stay with Nana for the day. Carson, being the animal-lover that he is, always looks so forward to seeing Shelbi and getting "heh-bee keesses" (Shelbi kisses). Shelbi has always loved seeing Carson, too... probably partially due to knowing she'd get lots of treats while he was there since he likes to have a bite of snack for himself and then one for the dog. :)

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get that last greeting from Shelbi that morning. She wandered into the road for some reason and was hit by an oncoming car just seconds before Sara and Carson arrived. We just hope she did not suffer and that she went instantly.

Shelbi was 14 years old, so she did live a good, long life, but its always hard to lose our pets. They are truly an integral part of our families. We have many, many wonderful memories of Shelbi that will always be cherished in our hearts. Even Carson, as young as he is, will remember her, I think. He still asks about her at least once a day, or will tell us that "heh-bees gone" (Shelbi's gone).

Shelbi had a huge personality for a little dog, as is typical of dachsunds. She had feelings that were easily hurt and she sure could hold a grudge! There were a couple of years that Sara's mom had forgotten to get Shelbi an Easter basket. When Shelbi realized she didn't get one as Sara and her sister, Lindsay, were digging in to theirs, she gave everyone some dirty looks and went to the corner of the room and pouted for a good while. She wouldn't look at us, or respond to us for at least an hour, she was so upset with us all. :)

Shelbi LOVED opening presents, she would tear in to them, whether they were for her or not. We could never leave wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree with Shelbi around... we'd come home and they would all be unwrapped! Christmas mornings were always fun as Shelbi helped open every single gift with us. It will be a strange Christmas this year without her.

I could go on and on with more great memories of Shelbi, but I think that's enough for now. We are all missing her terribly and hope that she is resting comfortably in the backyard with our other family pets, Torri and Missy.

RIP Miss Shelbi, Shelbi-shoo, Shelbers... We love you!
(March 25, 1995 - August 27, 2009)

Labor Day Weekend

We have had a very busy holiday weekend. Friday was Sara's last Friday off of the summer (at least she'll be off every other Friday, though). The cabbage from the garden has been coming in, so Sara and Carson invited Apple and Poppy (what Carson has decided to call Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Burge), Reno, and Becky over to make some favorite family recipes using cabbage - golabki (polish pigs in a blanket/cabbage rolls) and kraut bierock (german meat pockets). Apple ended up not feeling well on Friday, but the rest of us had fun and made some great tasting food!

On Saturday, we headed west to Greenville for a wedding reception. Aunt Julie's childhood friend, Pennie, got married and invited us all to the reception. Carson wasn't quite as rambunctious as he normally is, but he still had a lot of fun playing with his cousins. We tried to take an updated picture of the 4 cousins, but it didn't work out too well... mostly due to the fact that Carson just cannot sit still. :) We all had a lot of fun at the reception and it was great to see the family and to see Pennie and share in her wonderful day!


On Sunday, we headed to Fenton to Sara's Aunt Jeri's house for a family party. Kevin got to slalom and waterski, so he was very happy. He's having a hard time dealing with the fact that he only got to ski twice this summer.... we'll have to see how things go, but maybe we'll be seeing a new boat in our future (next spring). No guarantees, though! :)

Then on Monday, we headed to Cheddars in Lansing for lunch to celebrate Great Grandpa Van's and Aunt Julie's birthdays. We had a great meal and enjoyed seeing everyone and catching up. Before we left for Lansing, Carson took a bad tumble in the living room. He was running as fast as he could and tripped... and fell straight on his face. He put his top teeth through his lip again and smashed his nose good... we're just hoping its not broken or anything. It bled some, got super swollen, and is bruised. The swelling has gone down, but the bruising seems to be spreading. At least his nose is straight, he can breathe ok, and it doesn't seem to be too sensitive. We'll keep an eye on it for a day or two before deciding whether to take him to an ENT or not. Let's hope not. :)

On our way back from Lansing, we stopped in to Sara's cousins' house to see Kristin and Joe (they're visiting from Florida). We got to visit with lots of family - Becky, Jim, Kristin, Joe, Brad, Trisha, Braylen, Deanna, and Destiny. Carson got a little play time in with Braylen in her play kitchen, too. He had a lot of fun with her. Its so fun to have other little ones in the family! And there are more on the way in just this small part of Sara's family... We're very excited for Brad and Trisha have their baby in early December. And we can't wait to meet Kristin's and Joe's son, Brody, in January!!