Giggles & Gravel

The other day we had gravel delivered ...

It amazes me the fun our sweet boy can having just climbing up on top, declaring he is "King of the Mountain" ... and then sliding down.

Bursting With Berries.

As I was walking around outside yesterday, I realized our yard is bursting with berries!

I love this time of year ... the berries are turning red on various trees, the leaves are changing to vibrant autumn shades, the air is cooler, the pumpkins are ripening ...

(SIGH)

I just *love* it!!


We have over a dozen of these olive trees on our property ... the berries really brighten them up and they are SO pretty!


This is a big thorny bush that is in our backyard. I have no idea what kind of bush it is. In the spring it has really pretty pink flowers on it.


This is one of our two barberry bushes. This is a very thorny bush and the leaves eventually change to a bright orange color.


We have over 20 holly trees on our property ... they are just so pretty to me! Here the berries haven't changed to red yet.


This is a nandina ... this is probably one of my favorite plants that I've discovered since living in Virginia. Once the berries turn bright red, they are just soooo pretty!!


And ... it's been awhile since I shared a "Griffin on the Tractor" picture ... so here you go!

Sunday.

Hey ... did you know that Martha Stewart has a blog? It's been ages since I've watched her show and I happened to tape an episode the other day (it was all about blogging) and I found out she blogs too!!

You can click on her name to visit her blog. You can also find her link under my links area title "Other Blogs I Enjoy".

Blogger has this cool new feature called Follow This Blog ... if you are a frequent visitor ... I would LOVE it if you would CLICK HERE to follow my blog!

We've had a very nice weekend ... tomorrow it's back to life as usual.

I'm getting really excited about a couple of things that I plan to announce here on my blog in the next couple of weeks ... so make sure to visit often for some fun new announcements, freebies and other stuff!

I'm Going For It!

Hey There ... so I've decided to switch to the newer version of Blogger. I've been using the "old" version and I haven't changed because I've been a little scared to.

So today ... I'm doing it!

I have a feeling I will loose all of my links, my pictures, my favorites, etc ... but please just bear with me as I add them back on.

I want to be able to use all of the fancy new gadgets that the new version of blogger allows ...

So with a deep breath .... here goes .......

Updated:
Well, that was MUCH easier than I though it would be. Of course all of my updated links and such are not there ... so I will be updating those as soon a possible. And some of my pictures have disappeared too. But ... hey ... the nifty new things I can do with my blog is totally worth it!! How do you like the background? Isn't it awesome? Click on the link to "The Cutest Blog On The Block" for some fun backgrounds for your blog too!! Woo Hoo ... this is gonna be fun!!!

Fun New Things.

The past few days we've found some fun new things while shopping.

Mike and Griffin have a fun new toy ...


It's a remote controlled helicopter and the boys are havings lots of fun with it!


Here Mike is teaching Griffin how it works ...


He quickly picked up how to manuever and land it ... it's so much fun watching the boys enjoy doing this together.


Our little guy is growing fast and it was time for some new tennis shoes. I prefer a white tennis shoe, it can have Bob, Thomas or Spider Man on them as long as most of the shoe is white. Griffin and Mike saw these bright red firemen tennis shoes ... and well ... I was out voted. Here he is modeling them all dressed up in his PJ's.


They really are very cute ... he's sure to make a fashion statement with these!

Catch Up.

We've had a bit of an unusual schedule the past few days and I've not been online much.

Mike was out of town on Tuesday and he called me about 4:30 to ask if Griffin and I wanted to come have dinner with him and spend the night. It would take us two and and a half hours to get there, and I thought of every excuse in the world not to go. But in the end ... we did ... and I'm glad we did!

After a little more than 2.5 hours in the car and 138 miles, we arrived in Danville. We went to dinner at this really wonderful Mexican restaurant and got back to the hotel and had some fun family time together. It was great being together on a "mini" vacation.


While we were at dinner I received a cell phone call from my friend Carol's husband (Allen). He asked me what I was doing on Wednesday. I told him what Griffin and I were up to and asked him what I could do. I was worried because it was unusual to get a phone call from him. I thought they might need help in some way.

He asked me if I wanted to bring Griffin by after Sam got out of school and he would watch the boys so Carol and I could go to lunch together. This was a surprise he had planned for her. Oh my goodness ... what an amazingly thoughtful husband!

Of course my answer was YES!! So, Wednesday we left Danville in time for us to meet up at their house around lunch time.

We had a really nice lunch at TGI~Fridays and then we went to this store called Ollie's Wholesale. It was so, so cool! For those who live in Winter Haven, the store is very much like The Goodie Barn. Does anyone remember that store? Actually the store is more The Goodie Barn meets Big Lots.

I really enjoyed spending time with Carol ... and while we love our boys to pieces, it was nice to have some girl time together.

Friendship.

It's friendship, friendship just a perfect blendship ...
(Anyone remember that song)

We had friends over yesterday for some wonderful Mommy conversation, fun playtime for the boys and cupcakes of course!


This is the best picture I got of the boys together ... Darius, Griffin, Matthew, Sam & Patrick ... they were enjoying the cupcakes too much to stop to smile for the camera.

Last night I enjoyed watching Dancing with the Stars. My two favorite dance teams were Brooke Burke & Derek Hough and Lance Bass & Lacey Schwimmer. Does anyone else remember Lacey from "So You Think You Can Dance"? She did one of my all time favortie dance routines ever ... the one where she sees her father in heaven and they toss the flowers about? Keisha and Heidi may remember it, because I made them watch it over and over with me ... LOL.

Anyway ... back to DWTS ... Lance/Lacey had a very edgy dance ... loved it! Brooke/Derek did great too, she's a mother of 4 and I just think she's great. I actually called to vote last night (I never do) and I gave all 13 of my votes to Brooke/Derek. I tried to go online to ABC.com to vote again this morning to give Lance/Lacey my votes there, but I couldn't get into the website. Oh well.

Did you have a favorite last night?

What did you think of Cloris Leachman's over-the-top antics? Personally, I think it was a bit much. I think she's very funny ... but this is a FAMILY show and I feel she needs to remember that.

What about Susan Lucci? Even before Bruno and Glenn used the word "careful" to describe how she danced, that was the first word I thought of. And what about Cari Anne telling her she needed to put on some weight because she looked frail on the dance floor?

I think this is going to be a very interesting DWTS season!

Fall Equinox.

Oh my goodness ... it's Fall Ya'll!

Today is the fall equinox ... the day when night and day are of equal length, making today the first day of fall.

I *love* fall ... it's my favorite time of the year. All of the senses come alive ... I love the colors, the smells, and the cooler weather.

I'm in heaven when fall comes around ...

This weekend we had a very nice, cooler two days. It was nice to stay home and do some family things around the house. Our neighbor girls came over to play on Saturday. They have such creative imaginations and Griffin always enjoy playing with them when they get a chance to get together.


Together they created a "beach" on the picnic table ...


Cheers ... after all of that fun playtime they were in serious need of some Koolaid water!

Another thing I love about fall is the new television season begins. Guess what that means? Yep ... Dancing with the Stars! It starts tonight and I can hardly wait!

Field Day Of The Past 2008.

Field Day of the Past is an annual event held each year here in our area.

It has the feel of a country county fair with many things for families to enjoy such as carnival rides, arts & crafts, animal exhibits, antiques, good food, tractor pulls, antique cars & tractors, Short Pump Village, music, blacksmith shop, steam operated sawmill, farm tools exhibit, petting zoo, educational displays, homestead exhibit, Field Day of the Past Post Office, 4H Livestock Show and so much more!

If you happen to be in Central Virginia, it's this weekend September 19 - 21. And it is really alot of fun! For more information you can visit their website at Field Day of the Past.

After our fun playdate at Colleen & Eddie's house, we decide to make our annual visit.

This year it was all about the carnival rides for Griffin!


Ever since we watched the "Jon & Kate Plus 8" episode where they visit Sesame Place Griffin has wanted to ride a roller coaster. I'm pretty sure he rode this same one last year, but he just doesn't remember.


He had so much fun riding the roller coaster, he chose to ride it three different times!


He loves riding the carousel ... riding it twice.


He truly enjoyed riding this ... though there is no smile on his face in this picture.


We rode the ferris wheel twice ... this is a picture I took from the top.


He loved this game ... he's "fishing" for a prize ... he won a cute little turtle.


And here he's riding in the helicopter ride ... he chose to ride in the pink Barbie one ... and he loved that it had TWO steering wheels!


This is my favorite picture of the day ... doesn't he look cute on the motorcycle?

He is growing up sooooo fast ... and I'm enjoying watching him grow & learn every minute of every day.

Playdate!

Friday was a fun filled day ...

We were invited over to Colleen & Eddie's house for a playdate.

Eddie and Griffin are both 3 and get along very well ...


Eddie playing the harmonica ... Griffin enjoying the blue-sy vibe ...


Griffin and Eddie playing DJ together ... this is the COOLEST toy ... I will have to ask Colleen the name of it.


Griffin playing with sidewalk chalk ... he LOVED doing this. We do not have sidewalks or a paved parking area, so it's not something he's ever done before.


The boys being creative with the chalk ...


They definately had alot of fun with the little pick up ...


Swinging together ... I remember having a similar swingset when I was a kid and I loved this double swing. It was my favorite part of the swingset.


Swinging side-by-side ... doesn't Griffin look big in this picture?


And teeter tottering ... another first for our "G"!


If you visit Colleen's Blog you will see what an amazing gardener she is! She was so sweet to cut some of her amazing flowers and send me home with a little bouquet.

Thanks for a great day you guys ... remember ... next Friday, it's at our house!

Happy Birthday Daddy.

Today is Daddy's Birthday ...

It's so hard to believe he's been gone from our lives for almost 10 years.


One of my biggest wishes is for my Daddy to have gotten to know Griffin. Daddy would have loved all of his mischievious boyish ways ... and boy Griffin would have LOVED his PaPa.

I remember when Griffin was a little guy, under a year old ... every once in awhile he would look up to something and stare at it with this sweet smile on his face and just laugh. I know some people may find it strange, but every time he did that I felt my Dad was visiting and only Griffin could truly tell he was here. I really believe that.

Happy Birthday Daddy ...

We LOVE you and MISS you every single day of our lives.

There's A Reason ...

Seriously ... how does a boy get a burn on the under side of his chin?

Well ... at Kangaroo Jac's there is a reason they have the children come down the slides on their bottoms and not on their tummies.

This would be the reason ...


When they come down on their tummies they can burn themselves (is that a word?) on the rubber. That's exactly what Griffin did. And it hurt.

He's learned a valuable lesson ... slide down on your bottom, not on your tummy.

I've not been blogging very much for the past few days. Actually I haven't even been on the computer very much either. Sometimes I think a break is important. But, today I'm back ... feeling better ... PMS is almost over (LOL!). The chocolate ice cream must have helped.

Happy Weekend!!

Breakfast With Melinda.

Melinda invited me to get together for my birthday ... so yesterday morning we went to Java Jodi's for brunch. I had some awesome corn chowder and a wonderful frozen vanilla coffee. Yum!!!


Melinda is the one of the very first people I met when I moved here to Virginia. For the past five years we've gotten together each year to celebrate our birthdays. Melinda is one of THE most amazing, warm, and loving friends in the world. She's the kind of person that you know you can call if you ever need her. She is the "real deal" ... what you see is what you get ... she's always herself. I'm very lucky to be able to call her my friend.


She surprised me with an incredible birthday gift. It's a family bible ... and it's engraved with our last name on it. She is a wonderful gift giver ... I wish I had her knack for finding just the right thing for just the right person. I absolutely LOVE this family bible.

It was truly a wonderful celebration, with a wonderful friend.