Family Picture

Today we ventured out to take a family picture.  Joe scouted a place, and I brought the camera!  Getting a picture of Griffin smiling was no easy task.  He wanted to play with the ducks in the river, or run around through all the beautiful autumn leaves.

This is one picture we all agreed was a favorite. I am still working on editing some of the others but am anxious to get this printed and framed. I've had a bad habit of finding cute frames and then not putting any pictures in them!

I've still got a lot to learn about editing in photoshop and I am sad to say I ordered some of my prints before I was happy with my final edit...oh well...lesson learned.

Love these boys!

"Heaven may be hidden in the clouds, but I see it every day, just by being with you."

Joe's Marathon

Joe ran his first marathon this past week.  He has been training for a long time and was quite nervous for the big day, but he of course did great!

His stats:
finish time: 2:51:24
pace: 6:33
He finished fourth overall for the marathon runners, and second in his age group for marathon runners.

Griffin and I are very proud of him and were more than happy to go and cheer him on. We left the house at 5:25 am to drive him to the starting line, and then stopped at a couple places along the way to take pictures and give him some encouragement!

Griffin was so pleased every time he spotted his daddy.  He was even cheering some of the other runners. My favorite was when a couple of ladies were walking by and he screamed out "Come on ladies don't you know you are supposed to be running? "  So funny everyone around us just started cracking up!

Beat twice in a row...darn it!

Joe and I went to the store and picked up a few games we could play with Griffin.  One game was the beloved and ever so memorable Candy Land.  I must say as I whipped out the board it brought back memories of childhood!

I am sad to report that Griffin beat me two times in a row! He didn't just beat me he skunked me.  I don't know why but he got all the good cards and I kept getting the ones that send you back down the path...the only time I was ahead was when on the first turn!!!

The proud winner!

Dad Life

This really cracked me up so I thought I would share!

Are you really mine?

Lately, I have been trying to pay attention more, love more, and appreciate more.  Mostly, I have been focusing on my family, because they deserve to have my full attention, my full appreciation, and all my love!

Today I asked Griffin if he would come out and help me water the flowers.  He was elated to be able to help out.  He also will never miss out on an opportunity to play with the hose!  So while we were out working he found his squirt gun but it was late and cold so I told him we wouldn't be filling it up tonight.

I walked over to water my daisies, had my back turned only for a few seconds and turned around to see this...

I just had to smile and realize, for the umpteenth time, this little boy is smart!

This little piggy...

Griffin had a really fun time in his sunbeam class.  They learned about food and made this cute little apple pig.  Griffin was so excited to show it to everyone!

Really I thought Griffin was going to want to keep it somewhere special but he had something else in mind.  I made him pose with it before he ate it.

Oh and in case you are wondering he ate the whole thing, apple and all!

I love his "smile for the camera" face!

Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

I found this to be very touching.  I think, sometimes, I am guilty of "not being in there"...  I am pledging to be better and to enjoy the moments I find myself in.

2010 Summer Fun

We were so lucky to be able to spend two full weeks together this summer. We spent one week at Heather's house and then the next at mine.  We did all kinds of fun stuff together!

1. Watched How to Train your Dragon (super cute, I might add)
2. Went to two different water attractions
3. Watched movies
4. Took pictures but not as many as my mom would have liked
5. Celebrated Mom and Joe's birthday with a festive "rainbow" theme
6. Sat on the porch and talked and watched the kids play
7. Played at the castle park
8. Midnight Taco Bell jaunt
9. Just plain ole' had fun hanging out together
10. I won an ipad (will do a separate post about it)

It was hard to have everyone leave my house.  It was so quiet and lonely.  I just ended up sulking around for the weekend wishing everyone would come back.  I am happy to report that we are back to our normal routine, except now LJ moved away, so I am still feeling lonely.

Super Hero's

Griffin and LJ were super hero's last night.  They fought all the bad guys in the front yard and then came in to duke it out with one another.

It was very entertaining to watch these two jump around and fight each other.  Griffin is going to be so lonely when LJ leaves.  LJ is so good to wrestle with him and teach him how to play Nintendo.