Halloween Party

Thursday was the Halloween party and parade at Griffin's school. I am "room mom" so I did the planning for the party. It was VERY stressful. How can a group of 24 first graders stress me out? I don't know, but they did. Well, that anticipation of it did anyway. I was not sure I had enough planned for the hour OR enough fun things.

Well, it turned out perfectly. The kids had a BLAST, there was plenty to do, and the teacher even said she loved what I planned and how the party went. Whoo hoo. The weather held out so the 600+ kids could go outside for the parade.

I'm sure you are wondering where the the great pictures of the adorable kids are. Well, the camera was with me and I went to take a picture and . . . . nothing. I forgot to put the memory card back in the camera after downloading pictures the other day. With my old camera, you could take about 20 pictures that would be stored directly to the camera even w/o the memory card loaded, but not with my new one. No card equals no pictures. So there are no photographic memories of our 1st grade Halloween party. (Yes, it's killing me but I'm trying not to show it!)

BYOP

Our friends have a BYOP party each fall. This is the first one we were able to attend. BYOP stands for "bring your own pumpkin." They set up at a local park near their house and everyone brings a snack and we just hang out and carve pumpkins. Dallas was not able to go with us because he was in Austin and since he's the official pumpkin carver of our family, we didn't bring one. Griffin was VERY lucky to start hanging out with Nikki who was working on her own pumpkin. They become great friends and had such a fun time working on their pumpkin. Nikki's pregnant with their first child who is a little boy. She got a small taste of what it will be like to have a son! Wonderful!

One of the neatest things was about 10 guys from the party were playing kickball and welcomed Griffin to join them. He had so much fun hanging out with the "dads."

It was VERY cold out and no one was ready for such cold weather yet. There were lots of people wrapped up in blankets that were in the trunks of their cars!

Finished

Here is our kitty cat Shelby checking out our newly finished deck. It is 24x14. Of course it's missing furniture, our grill, a hot tub (don't I wish) and of course some landscaping and potted plants. But we are very happy with it and can't wait to enjoy it next summer. Thanks Dave and Craig for doing such a nice job and being such good entertainment for Griffin when he got home from school everyday.

A night out

We were invited to a charity gala/auction event last night for Lifespring Ministries. It is a charity that our church has been supporting for the past several years. They help women and their children get back on their feet after various unfortunate life events. The women are counseled, loved, taught about Christ, taught life skills, job skills, etc. The charity runs mostly on donations.

The evening consisted of a dinner, a basket raffle, a silent auction and a live auction. We went with 4 other couples. We really had a lot of fun. One of the couples bought a honeymoon vacation trip for their son who is getting married next June. That was exciting. Three of the couples (including us) won a gift basket. Oh, and the best part was a game called Heads or Tails. You had to buy a strand of beads for $20 in order to participate. Everyone stood up and either put their hands on their head or on their bottom (heads or tails). The MC tossed a coin and if it was heads and your hands were on your head, you advanced. Tails, you sat down. It only takes about 3-4 minutes to play the whole game even with a room full of people. Our friend won the entire pot which was over $1,000.00.

Cookies

I went to a baby shower last week and the expectant mom was given a container of 100 cookie cutters. This was such a thoughtful gift because the mom loves to cook. Just think of all the memories she'll make with her baby making cookies. It got me thinking that besides using cookie cutters for play dough, I've not made sugar cut out cookies with Griffin. Bad mommy. So I went to the store and bought Pillsbury sugar cookie dough so we could make some cookies. But then I realized all I had were a few cookie cutters mixed in with the play dough stuff. So I just baked round sugar cookies and let Griffin have at it with regards to decorating. I had orange frosting and some brown sprinkles. Great for halloween, right? Griffin also thought he'd really like to use the Valentine's sprinkles as well. Why not? So we got those out - red hearts, pink sprinkles, pastel jimmies, etc. He had so much fun making his cookies. And you know what? They were beautiful in our eyes and tasted great!

"During"

We are having a new deck put on the back of our house. I don't really have any before pictures but I do have a few during. The weather has been terrible while they've been working on it. It's been, one day on, one day off for the past 2 weeks. This is fine with me since we really won't be able to use it until next May (for you in TX - that's when it will be warm enough up here to enjoy outside again)! The guys have one more day to finish up the steps and lighting. And to clean up the yard!

I am so thankful that there are skilled carpenters that know how to do this stuff. And I can't wait to landscape around the deck and show you those pictures in the summer!

Remembering

Today is a day for remembering babies that have gone on before us. Some went on before their mom and dad even knew if they were a boy or a girl. Some went on before their mom could even feel them moving in their tummy. Some moms knew the sex of their baby, felt their baby kick and even held their baby only to have their time of earth shortened by God's magnificent plan.

God's plans and our plans don't always sync up. Ok, hardly ever sync up. But I know and believe it to be true that GOD is in control. He knew us before He even created us. He knew that our babies would only be with us for a short time. He returned our babies to Him well before we wanted.

But I am a better mom to my son living here on Earth because of my son living in Heaven. Ryan is whole and rejoicing with his maker. And Griffin is here with me and for now, God has entrusted him to me. I'm thankful for that.

So to all you mommies who are remembering your children today, know that I remember and am praying for you today.

My son, Ryan Michael would be 7.5 years old today and in 2nd grade. I miss you baby and please know that YOU make a big difference in my life.

Life

Well, it's been a LONG time since I've blogged. I don't have much excuse except not much has been happening around here. Griffin has been fully immersed in Cub Scouts and Awana.

Cub Scouts are every other Monday evening and one Thursday a month. Then there is also a Den monthly outing and a Pack monthly outing. And of course, opportunities to sell popcorn. You would think it would just be, "ask your family and neighbors to buy some popcorn" but it's oh, so much more than that. First of all, did you know you could buy a TIN of popcorn for 50 (FIFTY) dollars? Isn't that the most ridiculous thing you have ever heard? And the cheapest option is $10 for a tub of unpopped kernels. Fortunately, Dallas took Griffin to a "sit and sell" - that's not what it's called but I forget the name. It's where they go stake out unsuspecting shoppers at a retail establishment and coax them into buying said overpriced popcorn. They went to a Lowe's in town and along with one other boy and dad, sold about $325 worth of popcorn AND got over $100 in donations. Now that's what I call a productive 3 hours. Griffin's goal is $500 worth of popcorn sales to earn $150 towards his dues or some combo w/ the donations. So he splits the sales w/ the other kid as well as the donation. With the few other sales he made to a couple of neighbors, his aunt and Grandma, I think he'll meet his goal. In the mean time, I've got $18 tins on my dining room table if anyone wants some GREAT Boy Scout popcorn!

And Awana is a weekly gathering of children who learn to know, love and serve Christ. It is held on Sunday evenings at a local church. Griffin is learning to memorize scripture and well as learning bible stories and having a ton of fun with a great group of kids and adults. The best part for me is the car ride. We are carpooling with 2 families who each have 2 girls going to Awana. So I've got 5 little kids hanging out in the back of the Suburban talking about life together. And since I am a mom to a little boy, it's been fun to hang out with these girls and see that side of things. Wow is all I'm going to say about that.

Friends

I was looking over my pictures this afternoon and realized I didn't blog about our two trips to Kentucky. I'll have to do that later but first I want to tell you about these people. This is actually three generations of a family. First is the momma/grandma - Ellen. Next to her are her two daughters Beth and Andrea and last is grandaughter/daugher/niece Caia Jewel. This is a picture of a family who loves each other with their whole heart and also loves the Lord.

Lake Michigan

Last summer we visited St. Joe Michigan. I would rank this as one of my most favorite places. It is a small town with a nice square, nice restaurants and an awesome beach. So for an "end of summer" fling, we decided to go there over Labor Day weekend. It's only a 2.5 hour drive for us. We packed up on Saturday morning and headed out. There is a large area between the square and the beach. In the middle of the last century, there was an amusement park there. It's been gone for a long time however, the town is revitalizing the area and built a gorgeous fountain area for children to play in. It opened the day we arrived. This is going to be a huge hit with tourists.

We played in the sand, swam in the surf, took beach walks and relaxed. It was perfect.

Sunday morning must have been a sailing regatta or something because hundreds of people went out to the pier to visit and watch the boats go out. We got there on the tail end of things but it was neat to see ALL the sailboats out in the water. I would say there were over 200. We watched them as they got further and further away.

One neat thing about the weekend was that Dallas and I decided that whenever and if-ever we retire, it will most definitely be around water. We both love it. Now to start saving for a boat!

Cathi

Friends

Summertime

Zachary. I think he enjoyed his hotdog. And it was his first try at light sabers. He was a natural!Dallas and Griffin enjoying a game of bags.
Our friend Bill having fun with Griffin.
Amy, Stacey and Dane.
Ben, Caleb and Christian enjoying their hotdogs, chips and grapes.
Roar!!

This summer has been very bazaar weather wise. We had one hot week in June and that was about it. Most of the summer reminded me of Fall in Texas. And today was no different. The skies were filled with big puffy clouds and it was so blue. The sun was warm but in the shade it was cool. We had 3 straight days of rain so we did not know what to expect when we got up this morning. I was so happy to wake up to blue skies especially since we were having some friends over for a cookout. We spent the whole afternoon in the backyard. It was wonderful. Hopefully, we'll have a few more weekends to spend outside before Fall in Illinois hits.

First day of school

Today was the first day of first grade. It was drizzling when we headed off to school which made it fun because we dodged puddles and used our umbrellas. Griffin was not nervous at all and marched right in that school like he'd be going there for years. I was able to walk him to his classroom door but after today, that is not allowed.

It continued to rain most of the day so they had indoor recess. And it was POURING when I went to pick him up. Oh well, it's only 8 houses and a field away so it wasn't that bad.




Our next door neighbors - Sydney, 4th grade and Kennedy, 2nd grade
Griffin and his teacher, Mrs. Ward

We are looking forward to a fabulous year!!

Flowers

Here are a few pictures of flowers found in my backyard.

Tooth

Griffin has had this snaggletooth for the past couple of weeks. It was so loose, it was crooked and looked very funny in his mouth. I was anxious for it to fall out before he started school. So tonight at 7:30pm Dallas got out the handy-dandy needle-nosed pliers and pulled it out! It took just two pulls and not a tear was shed. I was so happy it was out AND so was Griffin. He's got his tooth in a little box right next to his bed just waiting for the tooth fairy. If you remember from an older post, he likes to keep his teeth so he leaves a note for her to please leave the tooth!

Bye bye Bluie

The other day Griffin's beloved fish, Bluie passed from this life to the next. I was surprised to see that Griffin cried over the fish. We buried Bluie under our Ryan tree in the backyard.

RIP Bluie.