Growth Group

This is a picture of an amazing group of people. It was the first time that ALL of the members of our small group were able to be together AT THE SAME time. I am honored to call each of these people my friend and I am so glad God put us together in this small group. We are having more fun getting to know each other and walking this journey we call life, together.

Birthday Party

The party was a complete success. There were 12 little guys here for a little fun. We had pizza, played with lots of Griffin's toys and got in some party games. We played spoon/egg relay race, balloon relay race, hot potato and "pin the electrodes on Darth Vader." Then it was time for cake and opening presents. I think everyone had a good time and Griffin was very appreciative of all his friends who came to celebrate with him.

The birthday continues

This was Griffin last night when I went to tuck him in. I think it was the first time that Molly, our kitty cat, had ever slept with him. I can't believe how cute they looked!
This was Griffin working on the Lego Racers kit from the Strongs. It was funny. Griffin was adamant that he could NOT do the Legos by himself. So Dallas and I started egging him on that we didn't think he could do it either. There was no way a 6 year old could make that car. No sir, no way at all. This kid LOVES a challenge so of course, he went to it; following the directions to a T. In about 10 minutes he had his very cute racer made. He liked it so much it had to come to dinner with us!

This was Griffin right after he opened the awesome package he got in the mail from The Strong Family in North Carolina. He was looking at his Star Wars book and determining if he could read it or not. He decided he could, with a little help.

Tomorrow is his birthday party. God give me strength. I've got 14 5 and 6 year-olds coming over for 2 hours!

Cathi

Happy Birthday Griffin

Today is Griffin's 6th birthday. It's hard to believe he was born 6 years ago in a freak Dallas, TX ice storm. It was so icy out we didn't think we were going to make it to the hospital. We did and just after Noon, this cute little baby boy was born into this world.

Today is a rainy, relatively warm day and we are celebrating as a family. He had a great day at school and as soon as he got home, he tore into the present his Aunt Barbara sent which was a StarWars Legos Wii game. He was lost in that game until his Daddy surprised us by calling at 4:30pm to say he was on his way home! What a great birthday present! Griffin opened the presents from us and his BG/Grampie then we headed to his favorite place for dinner - Chili's. He is now sitting in the family room playing Bolt for the Wii (a gift from us) with his dad.

It's hard to put into words how much I love this kid. I thank God for him everyday. He is so caring, smart and fun. I can't imagine my life without him.

I can't wait to see what his 6th year brings.

Chicago

One of my best friends, Stephanie came to visit me for the weekend from Minneapolis. She flew in for my 40th birthday celebration. Another friend of mine, Katie, went with us to downtown Chicago for a fun girls weekend. We woke up on Saturday morning to 6 inches of fresh snow but that didn't deter us. We took the train into the city and cabbed it over to our hotel. We were able to check right in and spent some time in our room relaxing, visiting and having a toast!

We went to Elephant and Castle Pub for lunch. We spent all afternoon there - eating, drinking, visiting with some people from the city and just having a great time. After strolling down Michigan Ave to do some window shopping (and even try on some fur coats), we got back to the hotel room. Thanks to Dallas' status at the Wyndham, we had cheese, crackers and a bottle of wine waiting for us.

We relaxed, went in the hottub and got ready to go out for dinner. We went to Bandera which was excellent. It was after midnight before we even made it back to the hotel.

Thank you so much to Stephanie for traveling so far and to Katie who left her duties as a mom to make my birthday so special! Love you both!

Cathi

Baseball

It's hard to think about baseball when it's 30 degrees out but Spring training is just around the corner. Not really but it sounded good. Today Griffin and his two buddies, Tyler and Dakota, went to a neat little baseball clinic indoors. They got to field, bat, throw and catch pop flies. It was fun to watch Griffin enjoy a sport he hasn't gotten to play in months. My friend had her camera and she got some great shots . . . . . . of the netting protecting us from flying baseballs. Her camera would only focus on that darn net so needless to say, I don't have anything to show you.

Now if I had my D-60, it would have been a "whole nuther" story.

Cathi

OUTSIDE!!

There is life after a winter inside, in Chicago!! God blessed us with a SIXTY degree day today. The ugly grey snow is GONE and there is GREEN grass everywhere. I had my sunroof open today while driving. I took an hour long walk around my neighborhood to just enjoy being outside in the sunshine. When Griffin got home from school, we ran to the library (had this planned) then came right home to be outside as long as possible. He rode his bike and scooter and we took a walk. He then played with the neighbors while I shop vacc'ed the garage. It was full of salt and sand and pebbles. I even washed my car. I had to drag out the hose from the garage but it was well worth it! I can now see the color of my car.

It's suppose to rain all day tomorrow then go back to the mid 30's. That's ok. This day of warmth and sunshine was well worth the wait.

Cathi

Weekend plans

What an uneventful week. I think that is a good thing. Dallas was in Brazil for the week so it was just Griffin and I. We had a nice week together. On Wednesday night we went out to Pizza Hut to use Griffin's certificate he got at school for reading a certain number of books. The pizza was bad, the service was terrible but G and I had a fun "date night" together. We also spent some time playing Raving Rabbids on the Wii. What a funny game. You "shoot" your opponents with toilet plungers! Love it!!

We are both very excited for the weekend. I am going scrapbooking with some friends locally for the entire weekend. Bags are almost all packed and I hope to get a LOT of pages done. Griffin is excited because he gets his Daddy all to himself. They are just the best of friends and G really missed Dallas while he was gone. There is a trip to Chuck E. Cheese in their plans for tomorrow. Dallas is already trying to figure out a way to go there without having to eat the horrible pizza!

I'll miss you boys. Have fun together! Love you!