My dad's new toy

My dad has a new toy - a 2009 Harley Davidson Heritage. I hope that's the correct name and order. He's beyond thrilled.

Olivia's Dance Recital

Olivia had her dance recital last night - it was a long, long night! She didn't dance until towards the end of the program, so it was pure torture trying to keep her, Loren, and Cooper all happy and patient while we waited for her turn. She did GREAT though, and Al and I are so proud of her. She was really into folks! I really think she likes the attention because she was supposed to be in line with the girls at a few times in the dance and she *purposedly* stepped to the side so everyone could see her! How funny is my daughter?

Cooper didn't make it to see Sissy dance! Poor thing was ssssso wore out!

Loren

Me, Cooper and Olivia

Me and Livvie

How stinking cute is this girl? I love her!

Mother's Day Program at THA

THA had their annual Mother's Day Program on Friday. I was super excited because this year, and this year ONLY, *both* of my sweet - wild babies would be in it! This year the year was a "jungle" theme - Olivia was a butterfly (I'm assuming even jungles have butterflies right?) and Cooper was a frog. I had hoped to find him a super cute monkey outfit because to me, that just fit him better. No such luck though. So, he was Cooper Frogman. :) Olivia had a few speaking parts and did FANTASTIC. I don't think she forgot her lines at all. I was pretty worried about her at first though because she honestly looked like she was about to throw up at any minute. I was so nervous FOR her. They both did great though and Al and I really enjoyed our time with them. I love these kids so much!

In costume on the big day!

Me w/my babies! Notice I'm the only one smiling - LOL. Olivia will never smile when I ask her too and Cooper thinks his "mean" face is cute. *sigh* I'll look back on this and laugh one day right? :)

Happy Mom's Day!

I never thought I would be a mommy. Honest. You can ask my mom - she'll tell you how I was. All that changed when I met my husband.....I knew pretty soon into meeting Al that I wanted a life with him - including kids. My kids are wonderful, crazy, loving, wild - they are *mine* and I love that. I love looking at their beautiful faces and thanking God for them - for giving them to me. Sometimes I wonder what I did RIGHT to have them. Olivia and Cooper teach me things everyday - it's true that kids can be wise beyond their years. They give my life a purpose, and feel me such joy that I can't remember what my life was like "pre kid" - and I don't mind that all that much. Mother's Day is one of my favorite holidays simply because the kids always make me wonderful homemade presents at school. I LOVE homemade gifts.

And you know what my favorite part of Mother's Day is? Hearing my 6 year old and 3 1/2 say "I love you Mommy!" Makes my heart melt every single time! Happy Mother's Day to all my Mommy friends! Have a great day!

Alligator Adventure

Yesterday Al took me out on a date. It was wonderful. We don't do a lot of things together, just the two of us, anymore. We just don't have the time......we have work, dance, softball, t-ball, daily chores....you name it. It's just so tough to find the time. But we did on Sunday. His parents watched the kids for us and off we went to the beach. We decided to do something we've never done before so we went to Alligator Adventure. I have to say it was pretty fun! Here's some pictures. Thanks for the wonderful time Al. I love you!

Albino alligator...very strange looking up close. Even the eyes are white.

This is "Bob" - he was born at Alligator Adventure with no tail. What a strange looking animal.

I definitely want to go back again and take the kids - but I think I'll wait to they are a few years older. They would probably be scared to death! I know I was pretty scared at times - I mean, it's very imitidating being so close to such huge creatures and the only thing between you two is a chain link fence! Crazy! I got chills at certain points. Al thought I was nuts. We watched them feed the alligators too. It was a great date day!

Ssshhhh

Don't make any loud noises because Olivia is in her room CLEANING out her OWN toy box!

Silence

Sorry for the blog silence - there just hasn't been anything going on right now. Olivia is doing well in softball and has her dance recital next month. She's ready to be done with dance...she's just not into it this year. Cooper is doing ok with t-ball....some days he enjoys it, some days he doesn't. Maybe he's too young for it, I'm not sure. He has a few weeks left and then is done for the year. I hope next year he'll be more into playing.

Olivia went to the doctor to have a growth on her chest looked at. I wasn't sure what it was and my mom didn't know either but it turned out to be nothing. Yay! Olivia is very aware of it though and hates it - although the doctor said it should go away on it's own. We'll see.

That's all the excitement I have for now....the kids have about 3 weeks of school left and then they are out for the summer. Time is flying!

My New Philosphy

I thought you all would like this little "poem".

Dust if you must .......
but wouldn't it be better to paint a picture or write a letter, bake cookies or a cake and lick the spoon or plant a seed,or wouldn't it be worth while for us to ponder the difference between want and need? Dust if you must,but there's not much time . . . .
with desserts to eat, rivers to swim and mountains to climb, music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to lead.
Dust if you must,
but the world's out there with the sun in your eyes,the wind in your hair, a flutter of snow, a shower of rain. This day will not come around, again.
Dust if you must, but bear in mind,old age will come and it's not kind. .
And when you go - and go you must - you, yourself will make more dust!

I spend too much of my free time worrying about keeping my house clean, my kids clean, my car clean and not enough time enjoying myself! So, I'm going back to my "monthly" resolutions and making this one my April/May resolution - to spend more time enjoying the time with my family and friends and less time worrying about other stuff. ;) Wish me luck!

Sea World

I tried to post these yesterday but Blogger wasn't working! We went to Sea World yesterday - it was a BLAST! It is still, by far, my favorite place in Florida. You just can't beat seeing Shamu and all the other wild life they have there. Animal Kingdom is a close second though! I think the kids enjoyed both parks with the animals and stuff too better than anything - which only strengthens my case to Al that we should invest in a family membership to the zoo. =) We saw so much yesterday - we saw the "Believe" show with Shamu, saw dolphins, alligators, manatees, SHARKS, penguins, otters, seals, sea lions......probably more, I just can't remember. It was FUN. Sea World is expensive to get into to, but trust me, you have to check it out!

Olivia wanted her picture made with the strange, dolphin girl. I think Cooper was actually trying to feel up her leg! LOL

Shamu - we had awesome seats - we were in the soak zone but didn't get splashed thank goodness!

How cool is that?

There were four "killer whales" in the show at one....but they didn't have more than three in the front pool area at a time.

Have I mentioned I LOVE Sea World????

Hollywood Studios

We spent the day at Hollywood Studios today. It was very, very, very FUN! We had plans to go to Epcot too, but never made it. We saw "Voyage of the Little Mermaid, " "Disney on Stage," "Indiana Jones", and the "Muppets 3-D" shows. They are all great and there was still a ton to do that we just didn't have time to do. You almost need two days at each park to do everything you want. They had an awesome playground with "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" theme so it looked like they were in the backyard and had been shrunk down. It was very neat and the kids favorite spot. Here's some pictures. We are hitting Sea World tomorrow.

Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.

Cooper waiting for the Indiana Jones show to start.

Olivia posing in front of the "Snow White".
Kids by the water fountain....not sure how I made it black and white. LOL

Entering Hollywood Studios! Very fun place!

Animal Kingdom

We spent the day at Animal Kingdom today! At first I didn't know if we would really enjoy it, but man, it was a BLAST! Olivia says this is her favorite park so far! We did so much - we went and saw "It's Tough to be a Bug", took the Safari TWICE (which is a MUST do), went and saw Nemo and saw so many animals. We even got to enjoy a parade in the middle of the country we were in. It was a blast! The weather wasn't all the great - it was rainy but that didn't stop us at all. Check out my facebook for pictures. I would post them on here too but the kids and Al are in the pool and I'm going to go out there and soak in the warm water! My whole body aches. If you ever want to know if you're in shape - go to Disney. You'll know soon enough. Trust me!

Magic Kingdom

My whole body hurts. Hurts bad. I can't feel my legs and feet went numb about 4 hours ago. LOL We got to the Magic Kingdom around 10 am and didn't leave until almost 8pm! Wow!!!! We've had a jam filled day! We started out in Frontier Land and did the Barrell Bridge and Tom Sawyer's Island. It was ok - not really my cup of tea but I think Cooper liked it. Then we went over to Mickey's ToonTown Fair and met Mickey and Minnie and all some of the Disney Princesses. Olivia and I had lunch with Cinderella and all the other Princesses and that was a TON of fun. Just me and my baby girl. She LOVED it. She and I met Ariel (which was ssssooo funny because she got so shy!) and her and Cooper rode a bunch of rides. I can't remember what all we did because we did SO MUCH. I mean, we didn't slow down any. It was crazy. Exhausting. Hot. Whinny. Fun. Crazy. Nuts. My kids loved it - they thrive on that. We'll probably go back to the Magic Kingdom another day.....there's still a ton of stuff we want to do. Here's some of the cuter pictures I took.

Cooper with his new "ears."

Olivia with her face painted. Cooper was too scared to do this.


The Castle. Olivia and I had lunch here!

Olivia with Sleeping Beauty.

Cooper at Mickey's house.

Check back tomorrow for more pictures! I think we are hitting Animal Kingdom and Universal tomorrow. I have tons more pictures posted on Facebook.

Easter in Disney

Happy Easter Everyone! It feels so strange to be away from all of our friends and family this year, but we're having a blast. We haven't done an egg hunt YET, but we may get around to it some time today. The houses in the subdivison are right on top of each other so there really isn't room to hide eggs. And the little bit of grass we do have, seems to be a breeding ground for lizards. Ewwww. We're just relaxing today since the ride down yesterday was ssssssooo long. The kids didn't nap AT ALL so it was a tough ride. I almost lost it with Olivia asking me every 2 seconds "how much longer to Florida?" - UGH!!!! After breakfast we got up and played in the pool - for at least 4 hours! My kids love the water! Cooper looked at me and said "I want to live here forever!" - not me Coopey! I've also thrown some pictures of the house we're renting in too.

Olivia playing in the pool.

I love her snaggley smile! =)

Cooper in the pool - he stayed on the steps for about 2 hours before he got the nerve up to put a float around his waist and start swimming. Then I couldn't keep him OUT the pool!

I've always been a sucker for a blue eyed boy - girls watch out! He knows how to woo with those things!

There is an orange grove (is that what you call it?) right behind the house. We can literally walk to the trees and pick oranges if we want too. Of course, we HAVEN'T because we're scared someone will jump out and yell "HEY! Put down my oranges!" But how cool is that?

The Pool area of the house.

The upstairs bathroom. Of course, you've probably guessed that this is Olivia's FAVORITE room in the house!

The Peter Pan and Wendy mural on the wall in the living room. Very cool.

The house is really nice - it's 5 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bath. I think it's about 2300 square feet or something like that. So far we're really enjoying it. We start our Disney adventure tomorrow at the Magic Kingdom. We're doing three days at the parks and then Thursday at Sea World. I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm already tired just thinking about all the walking and stuff we'll be doing! LOL At least the kids should sleep well this week! I'll post more pictures tomorrow.

Leaving tomorrow!

We are heading out for Disney tomorrow morning. I'm not sure who is more excited - me or the kids! =) They were literally bouncing off the walls last night and were screaming "We're so excited about Disney World!" It should be a totally fun, exciting, exhausting trip. I will have Internet access at the house we're renting so I plan on posting pictures as much as I can. Olivia and I will be having lunch with Cinderella on Monday afternoon. She's so ready for it - we bought her a very cute Cinderella gown to wear to meet her. She also asked for an autograph book so she can get everyone's autographs. She is beyond nervous about possibly meeting Ariel and Prince Eric. They are her favorites. Cooper wants to meet Mickey and Donald Duck and is upset that HE can't have lunch with Prince Eric. They really should do stuff like that for the boys. Anyways, check back in a day or two to see pictures!

Yay for my dad

My dad hasn't smoked in over 2 weeks.....maybe longer. I am so proud of him - I hope he keeps it up! He says that if he completely quits - he's buying a Harley. What motivation! So, I hope he keeps it up. You can do Dad! =)

Happy 6th Birthday!

Happy 6th Birthday Olivia Grace Griggs!!!! We love you!

Today is Olivia's 6th birthday - I can't believe how fast these years are flying by. It seems like yesterday that I was having her and was a new mommy. Al and I were TERRIFIED, THRILLED, and just so in LOVE with our new baby girl. Those feelings haven't changed much! I used to be terrified that I wouldn't know how to take care of a newborn, now I'm terrified that she's going to be going to college and leaving me before I know it! We had her party at Skateland in Florence and it was chaotic, fun, hot - we had a ball. Olivia doesn't skate well but tries so hard. We are all exhausted. Totally exhausted.

Not so sure about the skates! =)

Loren =)

Love the smile Louis!

Olivia and Logan - Logan is her boy toy. They are going to grow up, move to the beach and be police officers. They have it all mapped out at 6!

Olivia and her BFF Ravea.

Her personal Barbie cake we got her this morning. It was a hit! She's been begging for one of these for months!

Daddy and Olivia

Mommy and Olivia


I can't tell you enough Olivia how much your Daddy and I love you! I hope I celebrate 99 more birthdays with you.

Cooper's First T-Ball game

Al and I signed Cooper up for t-ball through Mt. Elon. It's basically just a bunch of little kids running after the ball and having a good time. No score is kept. I love that - I've found that I'm one of those crazy parents on the sidelines that scream "Run, run, run!" and jump up and down. I hope I'm not the only one. If I am, I don't care. Cooper was looking forward to it all week, but got really nervous and scared when it started. Al stood out on the field with him (as lots of other parents had too -LOL) and he got into it. We're looking forward to his next game.

#10 just like Daddy

He's my favorite guy in the whole wide world.

He hit the ball!

Cooper and Chandler

My sweet, sweet, wild, all boy little man! I find it a little ironic that he's on the purple team and so is Olivia with softball! He wasn't thrilled about that.

Last day of being five

Today is Olivia's last day as a FIVE year old! Tomorrow, we add another candle to the birthday cake. =)

Almost six

When you ask Olivia how old she is she'll say "I'm five, almost six! My birthday is April 4th, 2003." Well, the countdown is on baby! My first born, my baby girl, my child that is more like me than I can believe will be SIX on Saturday! I can't believe it. Seriously, can I put a rock on her head and make her stop growing? She is so independent, so free willed, so out spoken, and has such a strong personality. She is such a daddy's girl but loves to tell me secrets. She is overly protective of her baby brother but refers to him as her "Little BOTHER." She has lost 4 teeth in the last few months and has *another* loose tooth. She loves school, loves to read, and can remember details that even I'd forgotten about. She absorbs EVERYTHING. She's my little sponge, my mini-me as my Mom says, and the reason my life has a purpose. I can remember how nervous Al was about having a daughter - being worried that he wouldn't know what to do with her - now he's wrapped. She gets away with murder.

I love her. We love her. Everyone who meets her loves her. I can't wait for Saturday. Can't wait to wake my baby girl up singing Happy Birthday and kissing her sweet, round face over and over again until she's laughing.

Near term babies

My mom told me about an article in the newspaper about "near term" babies - she said I should google it and read it up on it. For those of you who don't know - Cooper was born a month early due to my blood pressure being so high. That was the easy part....the hard part was the fact he had problems feeding and turned as yellow as a crayon. It's the worst feeling in the world to be sent home from the hospital WITHOUT your baby. Al and I had to do that for several days. It almost killed us. Now Cooper is a happy, healthy almost 4 year old. But man is he B-A-D!!! I thought it was just him being a boy - and maybe some of it is, but I think some of it has to do with this too. At least, I can tell myself that right? Cooper has had a time adjusting to school and for the longest time I thought it was because he was spoiled so much at daycare. After reading this article and a few others, I think it has to do a lot with the fact that he's developing at a different pace than his peers. I thought this article and a few others were very interesting - I recommend anyone who has a child born 4 weeks or more early to read up on this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/health/30child.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

I love my little man - no matter how wild he is.