Merry Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas 2009 Family and Friends! Let us begin with the Christmas letter break down of all the good and bad about my lovely kiddos ... ready ... GO!

Brandon . . . He is 17 now! Wow . . . not as WOW as to the fact that January 14th he will turn 18 and on May 22 will graduate from high school! Crazy how time can fly by! He is still an excellent student, and is looking at going to East Tennessee State University in the fall of 2010. The college is located in Johnson City, TN in the eastern part of the state, about 5 hours away from his mama. He is going to be studying Criminal Justice and is looking at becoming a field investigator someday. Too many episodes of CSI in his head, but he knows the reality of it that crimes are not solved that quickly. We are very excited and nervous for all that he will be experiencing in the next year. Please pray for him as he graduates and heads out into the big world!

Dawson . . . our eleven year old ball of all boy mischief. Dawson is in 6th grade and started middle school this year. This means a whole new level of responsibility that we are still adapting to. Dawson gets good grades, but does need the occasional reminder from his mother to bring his homework home, clean up his locker, stay organized . . . you get the idea . . . Mom is kind of crazy. Dawson has focused on soccer as his primary sport. He did try out for the MS team but did not make it. He had a great attitude about it and plans to try out again in Fall2010. He did play rec again this year and his team went undefeated for the season and tourney and were the true champions of their league. Dawson still enjoys building with Legos and Knex as well as wrestling with his sisters and climbing the walls (literally).

Sophia . . . our very smart inquisitive five year old ‘tomboy. Sophia joined the ranks of the big kids this year as she climbs on the school bus each morning to go to Kindergarten at real school. She loves school and is enjoying learning. She loves to read and do math. Sophia played soccer in the spring and fall and had a great time (even though the girls on her team named their team the Princess Ponies – ugh and eye roll from her on that one). She is trying out basketball this year also. So far she hasn’t quite got the hang of it but we are just two games in. Five year old girls are a riot to watch on the basketball court though.

Grace . . . our little mommy and sweet princess is two years old now. Grace is definitely all girl. She loves to play with her babies. You will normally find her with a baby on her hip and a purse on her shoulder talking on a cell phone. She likes to put her babies to bed, and recently she has started potty training her babies (she is still working herself on this skill). She loves to dress up and have bows in her hair; however, with her lack of hair yet this really is just a little ponytail on top of her head. Her latest gained skill is operating Daddy’s I Phone. She has some of her own applications on there that she can find, open, and play without anyones help. She has also accidentally figured out how to delete apps off Daddy’s I Phone – Oops!

Daddy started a new job early this year and is a Program Director for EMids. He gets to travel quite a bit, and even went to India for a few weeks in August. He brought us all back very cool gifts and had a great time seeing the sights of India with his co-workers who live there. Mommy is still working for First Data from home. She is teaching an 8th grade girls Sunday School class, and works with the youth in the church on Wednesday and Sunday nights. We recently figured out we will have at least one child in the youth group for the next 16 years, and once Brandon starts college we will be paying for college for the next 20 years at least. WOW!

We pray that each of you has a very Merry Christmas and a blessed 2010!

Love – Jeff, Terri, Brandon, Dawson, Sophia, and Grace

Pre-Christmas in Photos

So it has been quite a while since I checked in. It is the season of oh-my-am-I-really-that-busy, but I do so enjoy it!

We found out that our house in all of its Griswold glory tied for 1st place as Best Decorated for the Christmas Season in our neighborhood. Scored us a Lowe's card for the prize! Pretty cool!

We attended our Connect Group Christmas party and had a great time with new and old friends. Played a great game of Dirty Santa that included a pair of elf looking boxers. We came home with a new game, Last Word, and a Christmas picture frame.

The shopping is almost done. We are celebrating "Mexican Christmas" with our friends tonight, and celebrating with Jeff's side of the family tomorrow.

Next week will be a LONG week as all the kids will be home WAITING and WAITING for Friday to arrive when the big jolly guy will come (whom Sophia now suddenly believes in!).

Then off to Nebraska we will go to see my side of the family and SNOW!!!

Anywhooo . . . here are some photos of what we have been up to . . .

Making Monkey Bread to take to school for the last day

Sophia's class Christmas party . . .

where the Grinch showed up . . .
Jeff and I attending his Foo-Foo work party . . . the picture really doesn't do us justice on how good we looked! Remember the camera adds like 50 pounds!

See it is just wierd . . .

Our TN Griswold house . . .

A friend of mines house in NE . . .

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

We have lived in TN since Oct 2001. That makes this my ninth Christmas season in the south. Now I feel I have adapted quite well to the south. I know how to use y'all correctly. I know how long fixin' to really is. Half of my children speak with a strong southern accent. My cooking style has changed and I LOVE cooking with real butter. My mama (southern for my mom) even says that when I am around my TN friends I have an accent. So all in all I think I have adapted well to being in the south. However, I still have a small issue . . . Christmas time!

Growing up with white Decembers, that is what I associate with Christmas time. Seeing the lights of the houses glisten off the fresh snow. Gloves, hats, and winter jackets zipped up tight to keep you warm. The crunch of the snow under your big fuzzy warm boots as you shop from store to store. Sledding down the big hills for days without the snow melting. Being able to see your breath each time you are outside. A reason for hot chocolate and a roaring fire. These are just a few of the things that put me right into the Christmas spirit. I find it hard for me to think about Christmas when it is 45-50 degrees out and either sunny or raining. When my kids can be outside without jackets on, it is wierd to be decorating for Jesus' birthday inside. It is strange to me to see Christmas lights in front of houses along with green grass and flowers blooming.

Now don't get me wrong, I love me some TN. I just miss my white Christmas! So let us all join together and pray for some pretty white stuff to fall on Christmas Day . . . just enough . . . with temps just in the low 30's to make it stay for the day . . . will you folks from the south agree with me for just that day??? Thanks, appreciate it!

(PS Not so sure I would be excited about white Christmas if I was living in NE tomorrow - 30 degree winds with 8-12 inches of snow . . . that is some snot-freezing, face-hurting kind of weather! That I don't miss. But be safe my NE family and friends!)

Tis The Season

Ah traditions . . . a Thanksgiving/Christmas tradition that my mom has established is gifting us a new ornament each year. Each of the kids has a set of ornaments from their first five Christmas' and them some other sets or special ornaments that tell who they are that year. Our ornaments came by mail the other day. Brandon got him a very nice silver Corvette. Dawson received two bears fishing - as that is what him and Grandpa did while he was home this summer. Sophia's is a school bus as this is her first year in school and riding the bus. Gracie received the '3' in her series of bears and cookies for her first five. Jeff got a cup of coffee to go, and I have an adorable teddy bear family. I love traditions! Here are the kiddos hanging their ornaments on our tree . . . and Brandon and Grace at the end because 'someone' refused to have his picture taken putting an ornament on the tree.

Thanksgiving Past and Present

As I cooked my turkey last week and the smell filled my house, I was reminded of past Thanksgivings. The first memory the smell of cooking turkey brought back was that of my Aunt Joyce's house. When I was younger we would go to her and Uncle Ken's house for Thanksgiving each year. I could close my eyes and picture their house that sat on the highway. I could see the playroom that my cousins and I would spend hours playing in. I remembered all the great food we ate and the love our family shared in that house.
Our Thanksgiving this year was somewhat smaller than it had been in the past. Usually my parents are able to make it to TN, but my mom had to work so they stayed home. Most of our TN friends were out of town or having family at their house. We had a nice cozy Thanksgiving dinner with our six, and Jeff's mom and dad, and sister and daughter. We had TONS of food and enjoyed a day of eating, playing cards, and napping.
And what would Thanksgiving weekend be without a little Friday shopping? As I started planning my post- Thanksgiving shopping, I was once again taken back to my childhood. I remember going shopping with my parents and my aunts and uncles during Thanksgiving weekend. I don't think they called it Black Friday back then. Stores might have opened early but back then early was 8am because we didn't have stores with such long hours or 24 hour stores. We used to spend all day going from store to store. My favorite spot was the Richman Gordman. They had this really cool play place in the back. It was made out of huge animals that you could play on and in. There was this elephant that you slid down its trunk. And as I think about it, I think you climbed stairs up his backside. That makes me giggle now, but back then I probably didn't even notice. My cousins and brother and I would play back there for hours while our dads "watched" us and our mothers shopped their hearts out. If we were good, we would get slushies from KMart later in the day. Those were great weekends spent with family. I am so glad to have those happy memories.
This years Friday shopping started when I decided to be insane and go to Toys R Us for their midnight sale. I asked Brandon to go with me for support and company and he agreed. We arrived at the store at 11:10 and got in line . . . outside . . . about four store fronts down from the Toys R Us entrance. Crazy! By midnight, the line had wrapped around the strip mall, it was proabably about 2 city blocks long. Brandon and I though were able to sweep in, get out goods, and get out within about 30 minutes saving me about $200 on some big Christmas items. We stopped at Walmart then to go to the bathroom and roamed around for a bit. There were already folks in line at 1am for sales that did not start until 5am. That is some dedication. We decided we were more in love with sleeping and we went home. I did hit the local Target and Kohls on Friday before the door busters ended but the crowds were thinned by then so all was good.
Our Thanksgiving weekend was completed with a day of bowling on Saturday, and some Christmas decorating on Sunday. It was a great time and I hope that my children are able to remember their Thanksgiving past with a smile as I do.

Soccer Champ

If you have been around me for some time, you have discovered that I am somewhat anti-participation-championship trophy. However, when your 11 year old sons team has an undefeated season and wins the tournament undefeated . . . by golly, they sure are Champions and deserve to get a trophy that tells them so. This was Dawson's first season on Coach Bill's team and he loved it and learned so much. He has really grown as a strong defensive back and had a great season. He did miss the last two games due to his knee injury. He really wanted to play last night during the championship game, but couldn't quite finish the warm up lap so knew it was best he sit it out. Here he is with his trophy, and the other pics are of the last game he played where he showed his great defensive skills! We are so proud of him and his team!

Faith Like Sophia

Dawson took a fall Wednesday night and boogered up his knee. Luckily, nothing is broken or dislocated. It just looks like someone shoved a grapefruit under his skin. He is hobbling around here as the doctor said he thought Dawson might do more damage with crutches so just have him stay off of it until Monday. He has a bit of pain and quite a bit of discomfort.
Last night as we were getting ready say our bedtime prayers, we discussed all the regulars - thankful for the good day together, pray for no bad dreams, etc. Then Sophia said we need to pray that God heals Dawson's knee. I said that is right we do. She said because you know it only takes a small touch from God to heal you. I asked her what she meant. She said well you know that one lady only had to touch his robe to be healed and that other guy didn't even touch Jesus he was just told to get up and go. You are right sister, God can heal like that.
Sometimes it takes our children to remind us to have that faith and that the amazing power of God is available to each of us every day. I am blessed to have children that have that faith. I am blessed to have a church with volunteers that teach the truth of the Bible to my children. I am blessed to have family and friends that demonstrate Christ's love to my children that they know without a doubt He is real in their lives!

Another vote lost . . .

Well I just lost another vote in my bid for Mother of the Year. Gracie is home sick today. She has been running a bit of a high fever, but as long as she is Motrin'd up, she is her normal fun crazy 2 year old self. I was trying to work while she was watching a movie in the office. She said she wanted to go potty. So she proceeded to strip down and go into the bathroom to sit on the training potty. I thought, "cool, maybe we are getting closer to knocking this out!". She said she wanted me to leave her alone so I went back to the office. In just a few minutes she came out and told me "I take bath now!". I told her just a second and I would put her in. And she kept persisting "Bath now mama!". She finally got so upset with me she came over to my desk, and said "Bath now mama I poopy!". AHHHHH . . . yes, she had gotten off the training potty at some point and crawled into the empty bathtub and went poopy. She then crawled out with said substance on her legs and hands. Nice new look for the bathroom I suppose! After some clean ups and "I sorry", "I didn't mean to" conversation, Gracie is now swimming in the CLEAN bathtub and singing away! Good times . . .but no Mom of the Year award here!

Happy 14th Anniversary!

Today Jeff and I celebrate 14 years of marraige! Woo hoo! I have heard he is a saint and will have many jewels in his crown for putting up with me and all my quirks this long! Probably true! Here we are on our honeymoon many moons ago . . .

Tink's Adventure

Hi! I am Tink! I'd like to tell you the story that unfolded at my house this last Saturday. By the way aren't I just adorable peeking around the corner at you??? The tale begins early in the day as I was taking care of my younger fairies. The young babies had to be put down for the night before I could put on my proper costume and take to the skies.

There was much sugar that had to be consumed before my sweet police officer sister would be ready to protect me as we went about our business of collecting the delectable goods from house to house.

Once I adorned myself in my Tink costume I was ready to take flight to capture all the sugary goodness that I could.

The police officer was by my side ready to protect me from any craziness that might occur while we were out and about for the evening.

What??? Who would this be? But the evil scary Pumpkin Head brother who refuses to look at all normal or cute on these holiday adventures. He frightens me.Oh help us . . .he is attacking the police officer. Whatever will we do? HA HA . . . scary brother it appears that in the end crime surely does not pay and the police will take you away!After wisking the evil pumpkin head brother off to his quarters, sister and I were able to gather more amazing delicious treats to share with my young fairy babies. I do love me some babies. Like this young pirate lad, he is MY baby. I have claimed him. I am hoping to reform him with my gentle kiss.I must fly away now off to other adventures. Up, up, and away . . . oh hold on that is Superman , . . with just a little bit of pixie dust . . .

And where might you ask was Super Pizza Boy?!?!?! He had been drugged by the not-so-evil-actually-very-nice Dr Oral Surgeon during the removal of his super wisdom teeth and the amazing jaw bone growing plate. The drugs had left young Super Pizza Boy unable to participate in anything more than laying on the couch and watching old episodes of CSI while his dear Tink had to fight for herself. Since then, the drugs have worn off and SPB is on his way to a full recovery.

Oops . . . I need to get you caught up

Aw poo . . . I did it again! I feel behind in my blogging activities . . . I haven't even stalked in sometime. Between work, home, family, and church, I think I might have passed myself leaving as I was coming home on certain occasions. It has been INSANE! Somehow I did manage to capture some photos, so today will be a photo recap of sorts.

Here are the sisters in their Big Sister/Little Sister shirts showing each other the love:The kids were on Fall Break Oct 19/20 - I took them to Chattanooga on Tuesday to the aquarium and the discovery museum. Even big boy Brandon went with us and I think he had a good time. Here is Gracie checking out the stingray petting tank. Oh yes, I still want me a stingray. They are so cool!

Sophia and Dawson and some big turtle shell. Gracie liked seeing the animals - did not like the dark halls we had to walk through.

This is Brandon giving me the Loser L from a distance as I sneak a picture of him "playing" with his brother. Like I said I think he had a good time.

Reptile Ruckus is the school wide fall festival event at Sophia's school. Grace met the firedog there. He was operated by a guy sitting off a ways that could hear what the kids were saying and see them. The "dog" kept talking to Grace and Sophia and they loved it!

I finally remembered to take the camera to a soccer game. Of course with the wet fall we have been having here Dawson's field was unplayable so I just captured Sophia this day. Sophia's team calls themselves the PrincessPony Hot Shots. As we know, Sophia is not about to be a princess of any sort. And she has a 'sister' in her tomboy battle, Ms Jenna. These two were cut from the same mold and are a hoot to watch and listen to. They are going to play basketball together now this winter too.

This is the princess basking in the sun at Sophia's soccer game. Even with a dirty face isn't she adorable?

Jeff's birthday was last Thursday, Oct 22. We took him to Red Lobster and he got himself a fancy schmany watch that should be able to talk to him and tie his shoes. :-) We also celebrated on Saturday with his family and his mom got him the cake. Wasn't he a cutie when he was younger?

We have our Halloween costumes ready to strike this weekend. We will be going out as Tinkerbell, a Policeman, and some random pumpkin head guy with a cape. I am sure you can figure out who will be who. Brandon will be going as a teenager recovering from oral surgery as he will have the plate removed from his jaw on Friday and his wisdom teeth removed. Woohoo fun! I think I will go as the mom of four this year. :-)

C - U - T - I - E

While she might not like the word . . . and prefer to be cool . . . or handsome . . . here she is just nothing but C U T E as a scarecrow for school!

Fresh paint reward

The reward to our house for Sophia entering Kindergarten in August and us not having to pay that amount to day care each month was that the house got some fresh bright fun paint. There is just something about new paint and the smell of it that I love! My problem is that once I have the painting bug I can't seem to kick it and want to paint everything in sight. My office, bedroom, and bathrooms are on the list of places that I still want to paint. Although my front porch really NEEDS it. But how boring is that?!?!? Anyway enjoy some shots of our new look.

Where oh where has my baby gone?

It has been said many times that our babies grow up way too fast. And as I watch my sweet two year old little Gracie transform before my eyes I can't agree more. She has the typical "I do it" that comes with a growing baby. But she has now changed from "I'm the baby." to "I'm a big girl.". She can count to 8 already, and loves to tell people that she is two. She loves to pick out her own clothes, and usually does really well at matching (this is a skill her older brothers are still working on). Gracie knows her schedule, and will tell you when things are not quite right. She knows that when she goes to church, she goes to class to play and eat snack - Cherios and Goldfish. Tonight though, she has managed to show me twice that she really is growing up.
I hosted the girls tonight for our monthly Bunco. Gracie hung out with Daddy at his friends. Daddy found some toddler apps for his IPhone for her. She came home to show me how she can find the apps on Daddy's phone and then do games where she identifies shapes, spells words, and make animal sounds. All the while she is operating the IPhone completly alone. She knows how to touch it, she knows how to slide the screens . . . it was downright scary to sit there and watch as my sweet baby had the IPhone mastered.
And then . . . you all might recall that her nightly routine consists of cuddling up with momma after everyone else is in bed. She falls asleep in my arms . . . has for over 2 years now. Tonight, she made a bed for her and her baby and said she needed to sleep with her baby and proceeded to crawl up on the couch and fall asleep without her momma. And Momma sat across the room and cried a little as her baby grew up a little more today.
Hug your babies tight tonight and treasure each moment you have with them. My biggest baby just came home and I remember how I only have a little while with him before he goes off to college. He also was a baby that loved to be rocked and held to go to sleep. And I don't recall appreciating that time together with him as much as I should have. I probably found it to be bothersome to have to sit and rock him every night. And now . . .well, now I wish I could pick him up and hold him tight. Cherish your babies!

Meet Owen

Last week I was led to Operation Giggle's website during my daily blog stalking. Our Sophia is from China and this blog is about sending Christmas gifts to children in a foster home in China. I felt called to respond and 'adopt' another child for Christmas this year. I sent an e:mail asking the organizer to select a child for us as I had looked at photos of many of the kids and just didn't know which one to choose. Today, Sherri sent me info that we would be buying presents for little Owen. Little Owen is a fighter who has literally come back from the dead. And our connection to Owen . . . he is exactly 10 years younger than Dawson. We will be working as a family to make little Owen's Christmas just a little brighter with our love and the love of Jesus Christ!

sometimes we lose, but its all good here

My sweet eleven year old son, Dawson, tried out for the middle school soccer team yesterday. And he didn't make it. But you know what, he took it amazing. He accepted that he didn't make the cut this year, that he could try next year, and that he was still a great child with many skills. Not to toot my own horn as his mom, but I think this great attitude comes from a few things that we do here in our home.
One is we have never gone along with the whole 'no loser' in any sort of game. There are winners and losers in every game that we play. I don't know why or when we decided to start hiding that fact from our children. I grew up in a win/lose environment as a child. We kept score, the folks that had Champion on their trophies were the true champs. I want my child to know who he/she is without having to 'win' at everything. We can lift our children up by simply pointing out the great things they did during the game. There can be victory in losing if you did better than you did last time or if you displayed a trait that is admirable.
Another word we use in our house is No. Just because someone else has something or does something doesn't mean we do it. It isn't always money based either. There are things that I could afford to give my children when they ask, but there are times when they just don't need what they are asking for . . . or gasp . . . they just don't deserve to have it at the time.
Now before you go and tell me what a bad parent I am for telling my kids they lose and they can't have things . . . let me tell you where they do know that they are always a winner and they can have everything . . . they have that confidence of being a winner because they know who they are in Jesus. They know their parents love them unconditionally and want what is best for them. And they know their ultimate prize is heaven.
So when I get up on the proverbial soapbox about losing a game or telling my kids no . . . know that at the same time I am reinforcing in them that God loves them and they are winners in his book.
As I looked at Dawson last night as he dealt with being sad about not making the cut, I was heartbroken for him. Then he warmed my heart with his positive attitude about it all. I am a blessed mom of four amazing kids.

Ring Farm Family Fun

This weekend we visited a local farm that does it up for Fall. Back in Nebraska, we had this mega pumpkin patch that went all out and did it up huge for fall. We haven't found anything like that here, but there are a couple farms that do some fun stuff for the kids. This place had a corn and cotton maze, a hayride, a play area, and a forty foot tube slide that was the highlight of the day where we spent an hour watching the kids go again and again and again . . .

It must be a requirement to have one of these measuring things at the farm . . . Gracie is telling us that No she is not three (feet tall) but two (years old).We did the corn maze and cotton maze . . . and got a handsome photo of Dawson . . . And caught Gracie doing what she does most . . . thumb sucking and hair twirling.And then the slide . . . It was a fun filled fall day with family!