I *heart* Noggin!

I am so glad that Noggin is now a part of basic cable! This channel has been an absolute God-send for our household! The kids love the shows that come on - Cooper's favorite is "Wow, Wow, Wubbzy" and Olivia loves "Max and Ruby". I can honestly say that if you were to break into my house and cut on (ok, "cut on" is very Southern, you can also "turn on") one of the two TVs we own, you would find them both on Noggin! I love the fact that the shows are educational and fun for my kids to watch - plus the fact that there is no violence in them makes me even happier.

As much as I love Noggin, I *despise* Cartoon Network. Have you seen the cartoons on this channel lately? They are so graphic and violent, it's not even funny. Who are the geniuses that think kids these days need to MORE cartoons like that? Granted, they aren't all bad, but watch that channel for awhile and see how crazy those cartoons are. I have seriously considered blocking that channel from my TVs. I'm no saint here folks - Cooper adores Spongebob and yeah, I know there's violence on there, but some of those cartoons on CN show characters getting STABBED and blood spurting out their bodies. That to me, is not appropriate for my 3 year and 5 year to watch. Honestly, I don't care how old your kid(s) is/are - that's not appropriate period.

Am I the only one that dislikes this channel? Is there any cartoon out there you don't like your kids to watch? Ok, daily rant over.....I'm stepping down off my soap box. =)

Babysitting Louis

Al and I had the wonderful treat of babysitting our nephew Louis for Amy and Jay for a few hours last night. The kids were sssooo excited that Louis was coming over - Cooper especially! I think he really enjoys having another boy around.....and the fact that he's older makes him feel large and in charge! We really need to do this more often Amy - although I'm 110% sure that I DO NOT want three kids. =)

Louis Bryson Griggs - age 2 (almost) and Cooper Thomas Griggs - age 3. It's hard to believe there is only a year between these two. They really loved playing together.

What a sweet boy!

How sweet is this picture! It's almost as if he posed and everything.

Olivia with one of her many, many, many dolls. This girls LOVES doll babies. She was my "Little Mama" all night helping me keep an eye on the boys.

We had so much fun Louis - please stay with us again soon!

There is one thing....

The one thing I *don't* like about fall is the SNAKES!!! I know that they won't be an issue much longer, but still. We live in front of a heavily wooded area so we constantly have snakes in the back yard, etc. Up until a few days ago, it's been harmless snakes - until Al found a RATTLESNAKE in our barn in the back yard. I could have died!!!! Al killed it thankfully and said that it wasn't but about 2 feet long.....but from what I saw, it might as well have been 100 feet long with huge fangs. You know, kind of like that giant Anaconda in the movie? That's what I saw.....

I hate snakes....I really, really do.

First Day of Fall - Yippee!

Today is the first day of fall - woo hoo! I love fall! It's probably my favorite time of the year....I love how the trees and leaves change color, I love the cooler weather, and I love all the festivities that come along with fall - football, Halloween, carnivals, festivals, etc. I'm so excited!!!

My two wild ones! Thanks for the picture Michele!

Our Date at the Clemson Game

Yesterday Al and I had a date *DAY* and it was fabulous! It was so nice to be able to spend the whole day with my hubby and do things with him that he really enjoys. That means - Clemson football baby! My dad has season tickets to the games but couldn't go to the CU/SC State game so Al and I went. We had a blast. My dad has awesome seats so watching the game was really, really fun. Of course, we won 54-0!!!!!

The only thing I don't like about the games is the fact that we have to park SSSSOOO far away, take a bus to the stadium, and then walk straight up some hills to get to the gate. And not to mention the crowds....I hate crowds. But, Al had a blast and we're supposed to go back on Saturday for the Maryland game.

The Tigers wore purple on Saturday.....

I took this picture for the kids!

See how close we were? These seats are amazing.

The Clemson Band....

#10 is Cullen Harper - Clemson's quarterback and #80 is Aron Kelly - one of our best receivers so far this season!

Flash Back Friday

I'm stealing an idea (Flash Back Friday) from another blog I was lurking on. So, here we go!

Olivia - this was in 2004. Underneath that hat was NO hair whatsoever!!! I didn't think my daughter was *ever* going to sprout hair!

Cooper - this was taken 8/31/05...the day after he was born. It's amazing how much my two babies have changed!!!! They are growing like weeds!!

Fine...Be That Way....

Cooper is picking up a little of his Sissy's attitude I think! These days, if Al or I make Cooper mad, he'll say "I'm not your fwiend" - how funny is that! Actually, the first couple of times he said it, it kind of hurt my feelings because Cooper and I just have this bond - but now when he throws it out there I just say "Fine...Be that way." Very grown up of me isn't it? =) (Can't you just picture me sticking my tongue out and going nanana na na?)

Anyways, I can totally tell that Cooper is learning so much in school. He's talking a TON more than he did before and last night while we were laying in bed, he started singing the alphabet song. It was so stinking cute and I hate that Al missed it. I'm going to see if I can get him to do it for Daddy tonight. I'm starting to feel better about our decision to put him in a 3k program every day. At first, it was iffy, but now that he's been in that structured environment for awhile now, he's really starting to bloom. I'm very excited.

Olivia is doing really well in 5k too - she's learning more and more words every week and can read simple, short stories. She does a Taylor Swift impression that is out of this world that I really need to get on video and post on here. She is the funniest kid EVER.

Personal Time with Family and Friends

I was able to meet up with my brother Martin and my friend Jz while I was in Atlanta. It was so much fun and it was so good to see them! I miss them already! I haven't seen Jz in about 11 years but we picked right up from when we last saw each other. She's a married mom of two so next time I'm down, I've promised that I will bring my rugrats to meet up with hers. It was good to see my brother and Randy too - we had dinner and then checked out their new house. I can't wait to bring the kids so they can visit with their Uncle Marty. Martin and Randy took us to this really cool restaurant - Joe's on Juniper - and we had a blast. They had trivia going on and the weather was so nice that we were able to eat outside and have a good time. Anyways, here's the last of the pictures....

Martin and I......

Randy, Martin and Mandy =)

Me and Pam - we had a ball exploring Atlanta (well, what was within walking distance to us anyways!). I think she's ready to go back for a visit already too!

Me and Jz! It was so good to see her and honestly one of the things I HAD to do while I was down there. We've kept in touch for the last few years by text, phone and mostly email so it was so nice to sit and talk to her face to face for once. I can't wait to see you again Jz!!!

To save myself from having to do one more post today - Happy Anniversary Al! We have been married SIX wonderful years now. I love you tons and hope that we have many, many, many more anniversaries together. I love you! =)

The World of Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola museum and tour are a MUST if you go to Atlanta. It was ssooo much fun and Pam was in hog heaven! I think we spent a good 2 hours in the place before I finally was able to drag her out of there. Here's some pictures.....

You can't go to the World of Coke without seeing the Polar Bear!

And Pam and I got our picture made with him! =)

When you first walk in, you go into the "Loft Area" where there are TONS of Coke memorabilia. There are some really cool stuff in there.

The statue of the founder of Coke.....don't ask me his name....I'm drawing a blank. I think it was James Pierson or something like that!

Atlanta Trip for Work

I'm back from my work trip to Atlanta. I have to admit, I had a GREAT time while I was there even though I missed my two little monsters and Al! We stayed in the Omni Hotel at the CNN Center in downtown Atlanta. This was the nicest, fanciest hotel I have EVER stayed in! I felt so out of place when we first walked in, but I have to say, every single person that worked there was super nice and always helped me out. After work on Thursday, Pam and I met up with my brother and Randy and went out to dinner with them - I will post pics of that on my next post. Then on Friday, we pretty much worked an eight hour day so we opted to meet up with my friend Jz at the hotel bar - I'll post those pics in another post too. But on Saturday morning, our boss let us off right after breakfast so we headed over to Centennial Park and walked around and then went to the World of Coca-Cola and took the tour. OMG, it was ssssoo much fun! We watched a really cool 4-D show and then went to the tasting room and tried out all the different flavored drinks from around the world. I definitely want to take the kids back there! They would have a ball and it was very inexpensive.....we were literally across the street from the Coke building, the aquarium, the kids museum, and a bunch of other stuff. So, we did a lot of walking on Saturday! After the Coke tour, we went and had lunch at the food court of the CNN center and decided to take the tour of the CNN center. It was ok.....not boring, but not really what I had expected either. But, for $12, I learned a lot about how the news works! LOL Anyways, here's some pictures......

History lesson here folks - this is the world's tallest escalator.....I can't remember how tall it is, but trust me, you don't want to look down! This is where you started the CNN Center tour.

There were CNN flags and huge billboards all over the place and the hotel. I was really hoping I would get a glimpse of Anderson Cooper. I did see Fredrika though!

The Olympic Rings at Centennial Park. They shoot up water and have some really cool water shows.

This is an over-view shot of the Park. The round hotel in the background is the Weston....you can see all the damage from the tornado that hit downtown. A lot of the windows were blown out! Even our hotel had a ton of broken windows in it. The Weston's windows are curved and the company that originally made them are out of business now so they are in quite a pickle! I've stayed at the Weston before too for NAFED, and on the tip top is a revolving restaurant.....very cool!

This was my room. I was the ONLY person that got double beds.....every one else got nice big King size beds.....not that I'm jealous or anything....I'm just saying....

More pictures to come!

Anxiety!!!

I leave for my work trip tomorrow and let me tell you, I am having major anxiety issues already! I miss my family ALREADY (crazy I know) but I'm also nervous about going to Atlanta on the anniversary of 9/11. Not that I think anything will happen, because I know (and pray) that nothing will but that is in the the back of my head. I mean, Atlanta is one of the major cities in the US! So anyways, I'm a worrier - I just need to chill. I know this, you don't have to tell me!

Did I mention that it should be a super fun trip though?

Mixed feelings....

I'm leaving for a work trip on Thursday and won't be home until late Saturday. Am I being silly that I have such mixed feelings about leaving my kids? A part of me *can't wait* but then the other part of me already misses them! I'm crazy, I know. I know it's nice to get away every now and then, but honestly, I love being around my kids - even when they are driving me absolutely nuts. They are my two most favorite people in the world. And I know Al is fully capable of taking wonderful care of them, so I have no worries there - it's just that I haven't been away from either one of them for this long of a period. Well, unless you count the week that Cooper and I were in the hospital and Olivia stayed with my parents and in laws, but that doesn't really count! Ha ha! So, I have no idea how I will handle leaving Thursday morning - Olivia keeps telling me "I'm going to miss you ssssooo much Mommy" and I seriously tear up every time. *sigh* On the plus side, I will get to visit with my brother and my friend Jz while I am down there so I am really looking forward to that! I miss seeing my brother and I haven't seen Jz since high school. It should be a really fun trip.

Who wouldn't miss these little angels??

Hints

Does anyone have any suggestions for helping Olivia recognize her "popcorn" words every week? She's having a heck of time with the words "here" and "and." Each week, she has a list of words they are supposed to learn (to read I'm assume) and we've been going over her list this week. But each time we get to the word "here", she gets hung up. I made flash cards last night and we did those in the car before school started today. I'm hoping the flash cards will help. I feel like Olivia is just memorizing the words during class, but not really learning how to read them, you know what I mean?

And Cooper actually had a good day at school today! Yippie! There might be hope for him yet. =)

Is it September already?

I can't believe it's already September! Where is this year going? I swear August flew by so fast! So, Olivia started dance last night - she's only taking tap this year because we found out last year that Olivia Grace DOES NOT enjoy ballet. I really hate it too because I thought she was super cute in her little tutu. Oh well.....at least she's really happy in tap. She was a little nervous because she's in a totally new class this year but one of her friends from school is in the class with her so she fell right in it.

Cooper had his 3 year check up today. He's in the 30% in height and weight - he's still a runt! But Dr. T doesn't seem to be worried considering that Cooper was early and steady growing. He does have to go see an eye doctor because his left eye is turning inward. It's nothing serious *now* which is why we need to get it looked at and all at this point. I'm sure it'll be nothing more than a patch over his right eye for awhile to strengthen the left. We'll see though....I'm not worrying about it until given a reason. Other than that, he had a great check up and is a very healthy and wild little boy!

So, that's the Griggs family update for now! I hope to post a few more pictures from Coop's party tonight or tomorrow. Check back later! =)