Second Round of Family Pictures

So what do you think?

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! We had a wonderful day filled with lots of family. Uncle Mitchell even took Olivia and Cooper for a ride on Poppy's motorcycle down the road. I thought they would both be scared, but leave it to my kids to LOVE it.

Olivia was a little nervous at first, but really got into it once they picked up some speed.

Cooper after his ride with Uncle Mitchell on "Midnight Rider" (that's his and Poppy's name for the Harley). Love the big cheesy grin - he was SSSOOO happy and loved it. I think Poppy and Uncle Mitchell have created little monsters!

Are Pigs Sarcastic?

My sarcasm is not lost on Olivia. Not one bit. Tonight we headed over to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate my favorite nephew's birthday - We love you Louis! - and had a blast. One the way home, the kids were fighting about the verses to a Christmas song. Finally, Olivia turns to Cooper and says "Fine Cooper, you're smart and I'm dumb!" My response? "Olivia, stop saying stuff like that!" - to which she replied, "Oh Mommy, I'm just being sarcastic." (By the way, they were BOTH wrong about the verse.) But how funny is that? I mean, how many six year olds do you know that can use the word sarcastic? And correctly in a sentence at that! Oh yeah, my girl takes after her Mommy. I.LOVE.IT.

Also, Olivia lost another tooth - seriously, how many more can she loose??? At the time, I was sick and well, Al *forgot* to give her a dollar and take the tooth. I guess you can see where this is going right? Olivia was NOT a happy camper when she woke up that morning. She stomped in my room and threw the tooth on my bed.

"Why didn't the tooth fairy leave me money?" she demanded.

Al just STOOD there. Amateur!

"Hmmm.....The Tooth Fairy has the swine flu...leave that tooth for her tonight and she'll probably leave you $2" - says Mommy (to the rescue!)

"Ok, fine...but she better leave me my money" - another reason she's my child folks.

I find it highly amusing that even my 6 year old and 4 year old know what it means when you say "so and so has the swine flu" - crazy huh? And yes, the Tooth Fairy came that night and left Olivia the promised $2. She was very happy............not really concerned about the TF's health though, which I found kind of rude of my girl. :)

Hardest Job

Being a parent is the hardest job EVER hands down. The part I dislike the most is disciplining the kids. I KNOW as parents, that Al and I have to discipline our kids - don't get me wrong - but man, it really breaks my heart sometimes!

For example - Olivia got in trouble at school today. I'm talking BIG trouble. The kind of trouble that calls for Mommy and Daddy to take action. So.....she's on restriction - from the TV, from the computer, from her DS, from any of her activities like Girl Scouts, etc (basically *anything* my girl enjoys) - until her behavior improves in school. She cried. And that that is the part I dislike the most folks. It literally breaks my heart in two when I see one of my kids cry. My head KNOWS that I'm doing the right thing by disciplining my child, but my heart HURTS right along with her.

*sigh*

Day at the Zoo

First off - Go TIGERS!!!!! Woo Hoo!

Yesterday, Al and I decided to take the kids to the zoo in Columbia. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun. We took our time going through the zoo and saw everything but the seals. The kids were screaming for Dippin' Dots by that time and didn't care to see them. I took a TON of pictures - we got pretty close to the elephants at one point. I love the zoo - I can't wait to take the kids back.

Riverbanks is gearing up for their annual "Lights at Christmas" display so they had giant nutcrackers at the gates. The kids thought they were giant toys they were supposed to play with!

My kids obviously have NO FEAR! Cooper wasn't allowed to touch the snake though, which made my little man cry!

My little diva darling.

The flamingos were gorgeous!

Mighty, Mighty Tiger! The kids were yell Go Clemson when they saw them!

Me and the kiddos.

Test Run for Family Pictures

We were supposed to get family pictures made Sunday, but the photographer had to reschedule - SO...since we were already dressed up, we had a trail run. I think the pictures came out pretty well. I am looking forward to getting "real" family pictures made on Sunday. Here's some of my favorite shots.

Cooper was saying "it hurts to smile big" here - too cute! And check out Olivia's expression. Classic.

GREAT family shot - not sure if my film was messed up or if it was the sun that lightened it up. Boo.

My favorite shot of the kids together.

My favorite little man. Cooper Thomas Griggs, age 4.

Olivia Grace Griggs, age 6.

Getting it Together for November

Halloween has came and went - and boy am I glad! The kids had a blast - and still have a TON of candy left to eat. I have secretly (ssshhhh) hid some of their chocolate candy so that it can be put into Christmas stockings. My mom hates that I do this....but honestly, they don't *need* all that candy right now anyways. I have a feeling the rest of the reject candy will be thrown out pretty soon.

Other than that, it's been pretty quite at the Griggs household. Olivia is in full force working on her Christmas list. And Cooper yells "I want that!" for EVERY.SINGLE.THING he sees on tv. I kid you not. It's cute at first, but now it's just down right annoying! :)

Apparently the kids made me cards for my upcoming birthday and wasn't supposed to let the cat out of the bag.....I thought it was kind of funny. Olivia went ahead and gave me the card she made, it was sssoo sweet and cute. I love her! Cooper, on the other hand, seems to have LOST the card he made me. I told him not to worry, he may find it yet before my birthday! LOL How stinking cute is he? My kids are awesome.....hyper, but awesome. :)