Griffin With Santa Through The Years

Seeing Santa over the years ~ our guy has changed! Going through photographs, I realized the last time Griffin sat with Santa was when he was seven. (He chose not to visit when he was 8, 9, 10.) I'm so happy he decided to make his Mom happy when he visited with Santa at Cabela's over the summer. And my other two favorites are when he was one and visited with Santa Hut (my brother) in Florida and 'our' Santa when he was seven at a special event in Goochland.

Past Halloween Costumes

This time of year it's fun to reminisce ~ Griffin's costumes over the past 11 years. 2014 was the year of the 'non-costume', it just never came to be.

2005 - Our little pumpkin
2006 - Bob the Builder (Mike's fave!)
2007 - Captain Jack Sparrow
2008 - Batman
2009 - Buzz Lightyear
2010 - Bumblebee
2011 - Dragon
2012 - Alien
2013 - Uncle Si
2014 - The year of the non-costumer (I felt SO bad!)
2015 - Griffinator - his idea and we made the whole thing

A Boy & His Dogs.

Griffin and his dogs ~ he loves them!

That Bridge ...

Griffin told me about this super cute bridge ~ his 4H group saw it when he was at camp. I never knew it existed! Of course we had to ride by so I could check it out. Next time I'll use my Canon!

Day Out With Griffin & Christian.

Had a great afternoon with these two ~ Ghostbusters 3, a stop by Barnes & Noble and finally ice cream at Gelati Celesti.

Music Composition For The Win.

After reminding him of a chore he needs to do ~ But, Mom I have this song in my head and I have to compose it right now or I will forget it. Music composition wins this one.

The Library.

Thursday is our day to run errands ~ piano lesson, dinner at a favorite restaurant and now we're at the library. We're going to enjoy some time here until we meet up with a sweet couple I will photograph at the river.

The Herb Garden Is Growing!

I think I'm way more excited about the herb garden than Griffin is. We now have a tiny little parsley sprout and two basil.

Photography ~ Griffin Silhouette

He told me I could take a silhouette tonight if we did it his way.

Fruit Hill Orchard - Apple Picking

It was a misty raining, squishy walking, apple picking, everyone found a four leaf clover kinda day! Griffin, and his friends ~ Hailey, Kaitlyn and I had a really wonderful time at the apple orchard, enjoyed lunch at a local diner, and then we stopped by Sweet Frog!!

The BEST Gift ...

Let me set the stage ~ we had just returned home from an event last night, Mike was tired after working until after lunch and driving home 3 hours, we were trying to determine if I needed to wash clothes before he leaves in the morning and we are going to have a short family birthday celebration for him. When we came into the living room, we found this. Our sweet son had set the stage for us while we were upstairs. He gave each of us our favorite blanket, a glass of iced tea, the TV remote, apples and the David Jeremiah Study Bible and devotional we got Mike for his birthday. My heart was full. He did everything he could think of to make the evening comfortable for his Dad and me. Griffin. He's a good kid.

We Have A Sprout!

{Eeekkkkk} ~ we have a basil sprout!

4H Summer Camp.

Photographs captured by the camp counselor when Griffin was attending the 4H "Farm To Table" camp.

Always Learning ~ Shopping.

He's a very helpful shopper ~ he enjoys selecting and gathering things we need by himself and in his own cart. Teaching him the value of choosing certain brands and products is an important life lesson.

Fall Decorations!

It's never too early for fall decorations!

Happy Things Thursday.

Thursday's Happy Things
❤ Dining at Courthouse Market
❤ Butterflies on Market's flowers
❤ Unexpected fall foliage
❤ Square lollipops
❤ Gorgeous sky at sunset

Crump Park.

We stopped by Crump Park for a bit before heading over to the Meadow Farm Museum.

Walking Through The Neighborhood.

We took a walk through the neighborhood this afternoon ~ lots of bugs were in our path. Hands on learning is the BEST!!

Griffin Wants To Be ...

The other day he told me he wants to be a musician, writer, director, animator, cartoonist and video game developer. He's got goals!

Griffin.

I am thankful the Lord blessed us with this sweet child. Griffin is the kindest and most giving person I know. He is thoughtful and loving and smart and creative. He does have his '11-year-old' moments, for sure. ❤ He is growing into an incredible young man and I'm thankful he lives his life for Jesus.