We have got ourselves a T-Baller!

Check out our little t-baller, Alex. Today was opening day for Sabine and boy, was it a full opening day! We had a our first double header as well as our first game. Not the greatest of combinations to be honest with you! The kids did great though. Alex played catcher during the first game and did not enjoy it at all. I wish I had a nickel for each time he said he was bored as the catcher. Drove me crazy!! :)

He shook it off though and ended the first game with a pretty decent attitude. He did AMAZING in the second game! They all did! We are so proud of them because we were expecting complete and total meltdowns for the second game! Alex played second base and loved it! He got right in there, chased the ball, fielded it and seemed to really enjoy himself.

There is still much to learn and plenty of time to do so. For the most part, the kids enjoyed themselves and are eager to play again. That is a definite plus in the parents' book, lol!

I love this picture of my two favorite Rangers. I really appreciate Tripp for coaching. It is hard to try to teach your own child a sport, no less be the coach, but my guys are handling it very well. I love the extra time they get with each other and to see Tripp encourage Alex in something they both really like. This could be the beginning of a family love for all of us so we are excited!

Texas Rangers, Spring 2011, Sabine League

Allergies get TWO THUMBS DOWN!

Ok, so not that anyone out there actually likes allergies or anything, but here at the Griffin house.....we reeeeeaaaaaaallly don't like them! My poor baby is struggling to put it mildly. I feel so bad for him because it is incredibly obvious that he is miserable. Yet he manages to be so sweet in spite of it. Alex has always had allergies but this year is by far the worst. I am attributing it to his trampoline of all things. He just got it for his birthday and loves it. Like every thing else in East Texas, it is covered in pollen just about every day. We usually let him bounce on it later in the evening and I'm guessing it is what has triggered this 'Allergy Attack' if you will.

Here is a pic of him from yesterday about an hour before his eyes were completely swollen shut. You can barely see the rashes starting to appear beside his mouth and nose. I had some eye drops called in yesterday that seem to have helped a bit but this is still the outcome after 3 doses of Benedryl.


And here is a shot from this morning. After what has to have been the WORST night of sleep ever, he still woke up smiling. His lips are starting to crack from being so swollen. Poor thing!

He has a doctor's appointment this afternoon with his pediatrician so hopefully he will be on the mend soon. I am currently listening to him try to breath through his nose. I laid him down for a nap at 1:25 and he still hasn't been able to fall asleep (1.5 hours later). Prayerfully, his appt will go good, he will get some relief, and we will ALL get to sleep good tonight. Though this sounds like a lot of complaining, we are super excited for spring time!

Allergies just get two thumbs down! Actually...that would be 6 thumbs down for the Griffin fam...or 10 if you include Nosmo's...hehe!

Katriana

Amazing..

Because every post needs a pic..here is a random pic of Big Daddy tasting Alex's butternut squash at Christmas. SO sweet!

Amazing that in all of my "free time" I have neglected to blog.

Amazing that my little man is now 5 years old.

Amazing that I am quickly approaching my 10 year anniversary with my awesome hubby.

Amazing that I finally feel like I am getting my focus back.

Amazing that I have never felt more alone & still be ok with it like I feel now.

Amazing that I feel like my relationship with God is getting stronger and stronger.

Amazing that I am allowed breath each day and able to be amazed.

Alex is getting so big and saying the funnies stuff lately.

For example, he was singing this song the other day in the backseat of the car, "For he makes really good jello, for he makes really good jello, for he makes really good jello, which nobody can deny!"

He randomly sang out the following while playing with his daddy tonight: "We are Farmers, dum da dum da dum dum dum!"

For Valentines he got me diamonds from Walmart because they are a girls best friend. They cost him $5 dollars and he quickly told me that he could have gotten a footlong but decided to get me a best friend instead..haha!

He is obsessed with the zoo and all things museum related. The Legend of the Guardians and MegaMind are his two favorite shows right now and he quotes them frequently.

Tripp and I are taking a money class by Dave Ramsey at church. BIGGEST BLESSING EVER! We love it and I have really gotten on board..which makes Tripp one happy man! We are also participating in a bible study with some other young couples at church. AMAZING! We are learning so much and finally realizing why we believe what we believe. It's so awesome to have our ideals and thoughts actually line up with the principles God wants us to follow. Awesome!

Ok, let me think of what other randomness I can throw in here since the odds of me posting again soon are rather slim... :)

I'm working less...dislike...painting more.....like, getting to spend a ton of time with Alex....AWESOME...and really getting to focus on my family. I am one blessed lady!

Toodles!

Alex's Prayer

Alex's bedtime prayers tonight:

Dear God & Jesus,

I love you so much. I heard that you guys have power. You guys made the trees and us. That is pretty powerful. I love y'all! I believe that y'all have power and everything else. Jesus & God, I love y'all both. Y'all are so cool. I don't know anything else to say. Good night and Amen.

Love, Alex

~~He melts my heart! Thank you Lord for a child that loves you and loves to learn about you. Please give me the wisdom to guide him to glorify You. Amen~

CopyKat

I'm trying something new tonight and I think I just might like it! I noticed that Tyne posted an entry using her iPhone and figured I'd give it a try.

This should be a quick and easy way to blog without being tied to the computer. Let me see how easy it is to add a pic...

Oh yeppers...I like it a lot!!
(Alex played outside this evening & had to have the proper gear: his goggles, snorkel & his bald head hat...hahahahhaha!)

Okey doke, good evening folks!

Where has the summer gone??

This summer has flown by!! It has also been incredibly hot!!!

Like FOR REALZ hot!! I am so ready for fall to hurry up and get here.

Alex has been a hilarious mess this summer. While he makes our heart explode with joy, he also drives us bonkers! We stayed at the house all day today and he was literally bouncing off of the walls. Tripp asked me at one point if it was normal for a kid not to slow down & relax all day. Yeppers it is, but it can make one go crazy for sure!

We got a new computer this weekend. A Mac to be exact. Guess who has fallen in love?? That would be me! I fought it in the beginning because I thought the transition from a PC at the office to a Mac at home would be too difficult but I think I am going to manage just fine. I like it a lot more than I thought I would!!! So far, we have watched 4 movies on it & logged several hours surfing the web and exploring it. Fun times!

Ok, who knows when we will post again. Hopefully sooner rather than later because this is supposed to be where we store our memories and funny stories...

9 Whole YeArS!

Tripp & I have been married for a whopping 9 years!

Hip Hip Hooray!

While our marriage has not always been the best, I am so blessed to have a husband who continues to be dedicated to our marriage.

I love you Tripp! Even though you overcook my grits sometimes, I am still delighted to have you as my partner in life! Muah!

Words to live by..

Can anyone guess how much I dislike painting words?

Let me tell ya….. a whole lot!

I did however, really enjoy this order once it was done. After several attempts to try to free hand the lettering, I decided to use my noggin. I had a friend who owns a sign company cut vinyl stencils in the exact measurements that I needed to cover the entire canvas. Once that was applied, piece of cake.

My customer loved them as did I. I am even looking forward to making a set of these for myself. :)

Fire truck canvas

Inspired by Pottery Barns fire truck canvas set, I painted this  for  a customer in Dallas. I am thrilled with how it turned out. Each canvas is 20x16 but pieced together it measures 20x48.

For boy stuff, this was fun. *Girl stuff is way more fun though! :)*

Blonde Begone!

Before
After

Yesterday I got my hair done and I feel instantly smarter! Just kidding! I had my blonde highlights covered and went closer to my natural color.

I loooooooooooove it!

I have been trying to grow my hair out for some time now. I was a little sad that we had to cut off almost an inch last night…but it was worth it. My hair feels so incredibly soft now. Yippee!

He loves me....

And I love him too!

Because I am such a slacker…

Alex’s birthday party was originally scheduled for a date almost 2 months ago. We ended up finally having it a little over a month ago. Why then has it taken me so long to update ol’ blog-o with pictures?

Because I am such a slacker! :) I have had plenty of opportunities to do so and just didn’t. There have been weekends lately where I have not done one single productive thing. I guess that is how one truly obtains this awesome slacker status that I have achieved. Awesome!

That said, Alex’s party was super fun! The kids all had a great time and Alex is still talking about it to this day! I count that as a success!

Spring is in the air! Finally!!!

We are beyond ready for spring to be upon us! I am even looking forward to spring cleaning if that tells you anything! {pretty sad if you ask me}

A lovely water puddle has decided to take up residence in our front yard. Come to find out, we don’t mind so much.

     

Spring, we miss you & love you more than you know! Hurry on up!!

‘Totally surprising’ outcome…

What happens when you mix an adorable newly turned four year old little boy and a b-b gun?

Give up?

Here is what you get:

A lovely shattered window. Awesome.

Bet you didn’t see that coming right? Guess who for sure didn’t see it coming: Tripp!!! He let Alex go outside with the bbgun from his childhood. What he neglected to do was instruct Alex not to point the gun towards the house. He passed out all of the other much needed instructions in regards to not pointing it at people, Nosmo, etc. but just left the house out.

The best part of it all: that’s a brand new window. It has maybe been installed right at a month. Yeah…nice

Needless to say, Alex didn’t get into near as much trouble as Tripp did! Lol!

Alex’s 4th Birthday Cake

I totally LOVE how Alex’s cake turned out this year! It was soo much fun to make. Best part: Alex’s face! He is beyond ready to eat it and chomp down on his ‘scrumptous cake’…his words not mine!!

****Thank you Aunt Brenda for baking the cakes and making the icing for me!!! YOU are a life saver & very much appreciated!!!!!****

Talking to Jesus with Chickens

Scene: Tripp, Alex & I all piled up in Alex’s bed wrapping up a bedtime story. The book of choice for the night was ‘Big Chickens’, a book about a group of chickens who were afraid of everything until they decide to be brave.

Me: Ok, babe. Let’s say our prayers & talk to Jesus.

Alex: Can I talk to Jesus with my chickens? (He was holding his book at this time)

Me: Sure you can. Come on, let’s talk to Jesus.

Alex (bows his head & closes his eyes): Dear Jesus, bock, bock, bock bock bock bock. Bock bock bock. Bock Bock. Amen!

Me & Tripp: LAUGH HYSTERICALLY!!!!

The ways that Alex melts my heart cannot be measured!! I *had* to document this story so that I could treasure it for all of time.  Love my boy!!!

Windows Live Writer is AWESOME!

Tyne over at The White House recommended Windows Live Writer a few days ago & I just HAD to try it. Basically, if Tyne says it is awesome you can just go ahead and hang your hat on the fact that it is as she says!

Tyne is a precious mother of 4 and does a remarkable job at mothering her gifts from above. She is such an encourager and motivator for me. I am very grateful that she and her amazing family have settled in our part of the woods! Feel free to jump over to Tyne’s blog for some sweet pics, good recipes & insightful wisdom and direction for following the Lord.

Check  out Live Writer when you can! It is free and ridiculously easy to use. Trust me, I am using it with no problems & that says a lot! Lol! You can go here to download it for free.

Happy weekend to all!

Well Checks & Growth Curves

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Alex had his 4 year well check yesterday with Dr. Hudson. He had to get 3 different shots, poor baby, but  did really well despite the owies.

Our boy weighs in at a whopping 33.4 lbs which puts him in the 20% for his weight. He is 34” tall and falls in the 45% for height. Skinny! He totally gets that from his daddy! Lol!

Alex also had to have his hearing & vision tested. He passed with flying colors!

Alex said that his favorite part of the doctors visit was when Dr. Hudson found tatertots in his ears and when he beat on him with a hammer. (checking reflexes…he wasn’t literally hammering him!)

Dr. Hudson said that everything looks good with Alex and that he is growing as he should be. He is still within normal for his personal growth curve so

WHOOOOO HOOO! Like we didn’t already know he was perfect! Ha!

Happy 4th Birthday Alex!

Oh my goodness! My baby is four! 4! For some reason, I am really having a hard time with this birthday. He is no longer a toddler but now a preschooler. Seriously, where did the time go? I still remember our first Easter together and the outfit he wore with the sweet bear face on the hiney. I still remember the teradactial noises he used to make and I will never forget how precious our time was together at 2 in the morning.

Alex made me a Mommy and for that I am forever grateful.

I am amazed as to how much my life has changed these last four years. Things seem to be far more beautiful to me. For example, never before would I have thought that Tripp's old work boots were amazingly gorgeous. I do now!

I have never been a fan of sports....but I am now! Well...to the extent that I enjoy watching Tripp and Alex play sports together. Honestly, that is about as far as it goes! Lol!

Even mud is more appealing to me than ever before!

Alex's sense of humor has been hilarious from the beginning it seems. I used to say that he must have enjoyed how it felt to him when I laughed while he was still in my belly because it seemed like he was always doing something to encourage it. It literally felt like he was tickling the inside of my belly at times! His mean face can always draw out the laughter...
You know what they say, a family that practices their mean face together stays together! Ok..."they" don't really say that but it is funny none the less!

Happy birthday Alex! Thank you for making these last 4 years beyond wonderful!!!

We love you Squirtamas Pertimas Apple Pie! Your so cute, we'll kiss your eye!!

Birthday prep has officially begun!

Party planning is officially underway!

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This year, Alex has requested a carnival party. It has been sooo fun to put together. My days of big party planning for Alex are almost to an end so I am trying to make the most of it. Alex gets to have large themed parties up until his 5th year. After that, it is his choice until his double digit. By his choice I mean that he can choose to go to Six Flags for the day or go to Fire Mountain...and invite a friend or two. That is the plan anyway, we will see if it actually goes down like that!

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I just love to plan his parties! I usually start in October with the ordering of goodies and the sketching of cakes and games. This year, I made a birthday notebook. I put clippings and printouts of things that looked like they would be super fun. Now I am in the process of narrowing the ideas down and pulling everything together.

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Fun Fun!!

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It's a Carnival Galore, Alex is Four!

Overcooking my grits

I guess you could say that at this point in time, my grits are getting overcooked! We are knee deep in a bathroom remodel that is oh-so-lovely! Though I know we will be overjoyed with the outcome of this remodel, I am so ready for it to be over!
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I am ready for the days of stepping on mortar bits that are hidden in my carpet to come to an end.
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I am ready for the gurgling sound that is coming from the open hole in the bathroom floor to cease...it sounds like something is going to gobble us up!
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I am ready to use a real mirror to fix my hair in the morning as opposed to the bitty tiny one in my living room.
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I am ready to have actual counter & storage space for all of my hair junk. Those that have seen my hair know that I require alot of product to control this fro...
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I am ready to have full access to my lovely restored bathtub back. The crazy-small shower in the master is loosing it's charm quickly...
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I am ready for the ridiculous expense of this all to be behind us!!!!
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Most importantly, I am ready to have my super hard working hubby back! That poor man has been busting his hiney in that bathroom for what seems like countless hours! I am ready to have him back in the land of the living with Alex and I.
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Because I realize how selfish and whiney I sound, please know that I am super appreciative of this remodel & know that in the end, it will be sooo worth it.

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But just in case anyone was wondering, stepping on mortar bits that your sweet hubby has accidently tracked clear across the entire house is not pleasant. At all. Not one bit.

New Bloglook..NEW OUTLOOK

Greetings to all in this new year!

It is that time of year. The dreaded time when I have to repeat the dreaded words that completely make me dread getting up in the morning. (Notice the trend!) "This will be the year that I get a grip on my weight."
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EEEERRRRRRKKKKK!
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Change of plans! Not this year! I am DONE obsessing with what is truely just not that important! Though I would love to revert back to the old days when I was slim, trim and hullahooped in a cheerio, I am just DONE! Done with stressing myself out, done with slipping into a depression filled funk, done with not being happy with myself.
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Instead, I am resoluting to what is important in my life.
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Strengthening the following: my walk with Jesus, my marriage to Tripp, my mothering to Alex and my friendships with my true friends. If I happen to drop a lb or two in the process of this, AWESOME!!!
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I feel better all ready. Though I started the year off *very* sick, I plan on staying true to my mission!
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Blessings to all in 2010!!

Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus!

So I am a little late in saying this, but Merry Christmas to all!

Thanksgiving Blessings

I am thankful for many things this year. I am thankful for God's grace, love & mercy. I am thankful for my husband and son. I am thankful for my family and friends. There truely are so many things to be thankful for.

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I am thankful for this guy right here. Bingo is a new addition to our family and we all just love him. He has a slight problem with jumping up but it is because he is just so in love with us as well. He gets incredibily excited when he sees Alex. They are amazing together!

Love this picture! Yes....that tongue landed...right in Alex's mouth! He loved it though. Ewww..
I love my little tree climbing man! Alex was playing in the front yard with Bingo. We looked out to check on him and found him like this.


Super funny boy!
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Our prayer is that all of our loved ones and friends have a Thanksgiving that is blessed beyond belief! Happy Turkey Day!