Giveaway!

Hey ya'll! Just wanted to let you know that a friend of mine is having a Build-A-Bear Giveaway on her blog!! Click on this link --->Rachel's Giveaway! <---to go check it out!

Have a fun day ya'll!

:)

Good News

Ok ya'll. I have some good news I want to share!

First of all, those that have read my blog from the beginning know that my dad has been battling cancer for about 8 years now. Every 3 months he has to travel to Houston to M.D. Anderson Hospital to meet with several Dr.'s and have tests run etc. The type of cancer that he has can't be treated with traditional chemo. He basically "lives" with cancer. Since he has started seeing the Dr.'s at M.D.A., they have started him on an experimental chemo. Well, so far it seems to be working. He was just out there a few weeks ago and they told him that his lymph nodes had shrunk down and the spots in/on his lungs had either shrunk or disappeared! Isn't that awesome news!!! Praise the Lord!!!!!

Secondly, some of you may know that our third child, "Boogs", is an extremely picky eater. He didn't use to be that way. But as he got older, he slowly stopped eating the food that he normally did. His diet basically consisted of....and I'm not kidding.....peanut butter sandwiches. That's pretty much it with the exception of a few other things like: eggs, yogurt, cheese, mashed potatoes, McDonald's nuggets (only) and french fries and fruit. Of course anything sweet too. No hot dogs, macaroni & cheese, spaghetti....nothing. If you look at the foods he was eating, they were all smooth textured food. I don't know if that has something to do with the trauma that he had to his front tooth when he was little or if the speech delay has anything to do with it....I don't know. I just know that at every meal I was making a peanut butter sandwich. Now, before you start shaking your head and saying "I wouldn't do that. My kids will eat what we eat or they'll go hungry", know this. We tried that approach on many occasions. He even went for about two days without eating anything and one morning we were on our way to school and he was dry heaving because he was soo hungry. I felt terrible and like a very bad mom, so I swung into Chick-fil-a and got him some hash browns and a fruit cup. I told myself that I would never make him go through that again. We just tried to encourage him to try new things but to no avail.

Well......a few weekends ago we nonchalantly started talking about how baseball season was coming up. We were talking about how his muscles needed to be strong so he could hit the ball hard and that he needed to help his muscles grow in order to be a good baseball player. Well what do you know.....that triggered something in his little mind and he decided that he was going to try what we were having for supper that night! AND he has been "trying" new things ever since!!!! ISN'T THAT AWESOME!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!

I know some people might think that's not a big deal. BUT to a mom who cares about the well being of her child and what he/she is eating it is everything!! I can't tell you how excited I have been that he has been trying new foods. Everything from spaghetti to grits to hot dogs, mac n cheese, cucumbers, green beans, corn, rice, cereal, pizza, homemade chicken noodle soup, turkey, potato salad and the list goes on! And bless his heart! He sure does try it! It may take him an hour or two to eat his food because he is not sure about it and he chews it very slowly but he does eat it!!! And the cutest thing that he does is look at us, hold up his arms to show us how his muscles are growing so big! I'm am so tickled!!!

I would also like to share that I am starting a new blog. It is called "Losin' My Lubs". This new blog will be about my journey to lose some weight. I have said over and over that I need to lose weight but I have been lacking in motivation something serious! I thought that if I journaled what I was feeling and going through that it would make me be accountable to myself and to whoever else wants to read it. If you decide to go on my journey with me then I would ask a few things of you.

First, please pray for me. Pray that I will be strong and not lazy. Pray that I will make healthy decisions and choices in regards to food and exercise. Pray that I will not listen to the lies of the one who wants to destroy me.

Secondly, encourage me. Let me know if you are reading by leaving me a comment.

Thirdly, please don't judge me. This will be new to me and I need encouragement, not someone who will tear me down and discourage me. If you are going to make in fun of me, then I ask that you please not read what I post. Losing weight is a battle, hence the name "Battle of the Bulge". I want to win and be victorious over it. Knowing that I have friends who are praying for and encouraging me will make it a lot easier during those tough times or plateaus.

I haven't worked out all of the details yet.....weight goals and such. For now, I'm just trying to get into the habit of eating healthy and making the right choices at every minute of the day....literally minute by minute for me.

I hope that you are having a blessed day!! :)

What's In A Name?

For as long as David and I have been together, we've always had little nicknames for each other. Before we ever started dating, my sister, friends and I called David, Big Dave. Then after we got married David and I just started making up our own names. Besides the usual names like baby, honey, sweetie....we've come up with some fun names. For years we have called each other Lover Lips or Lover Lover and have been made in fun of (in a good way) plenty of times because of it. We have some pretty funny friends.....HAHA Facebookers! But that's just what we've always done. Well, since we've started having kids and especially within the last year, we have started calling each other "Ma" & "Pa".

We've also had nicknames for the kids. Mimi's name came about after our 3rd was born because he couldn't pronounce her real name so he transformed it into Mimi. Bud's name started out as Little Man but as he's grown up, it has morphed into Bud. Now, Boogs' name started out when he was a baby. For some reason, David started calling him Boogie Bears. I have no idea why but we all loved it! It has moved into Boogs as he's gotten older but occasionally you'll hear one of us call for our Boogie Bears. And then we have Pudgie. He wasn't really a pudge as a baby but for some reason it just fit with him. He is also so stinkin' darn cute!!!

All of our nicknames mean something special to our little family. We don't expect others to understand and there are those that think we are silly but we don't care. It makes us who we are as a family!

Well, this year for Christmas, I didn't really have a wish list or anything. I felt blessed and content so I didn't really need or want anything in particular for Christmas. This made it hard for David when it came time to shop for me. He was at a loss.

The first gift was a Personalized Baby's First Steps Baby Shoe Sculpture by Lenox. We have one for each of the other three but we hadn't yet gotten one for Pudgie, so he had my sister order it so that I wouldn't see it and she was going to wrap it and then he would surprise me with it for Christmas. All with BLUE accents and Pudgie's stats on it!!



Unfortunately, I saw the shoe way before Christmas. We had gone over to Allison's to help her out one day and she (not thinking about it) had left it sitting on her kitchen table in the box and I saw it. I was soo excited, but I didn't say anything because I knew it would crush David. See, he tries so hard to surprise me with things and somehow I always find out what he's trying to surprise me with. Anyway, I kept my mouth shut but Allison noticed that the box was out, gasped.....which made me look at her because I thought something was wrong and she asked me if I had seen the box. I couldn't lie. I had to confess that I had seen it and of course, David was disappointed. I felt so bad for him! But that didn't stop his wheels from turning!

He got me this time!!!

He surprised me with this on Christmas morning and I cried!! I would have NEVER thought of doing this! Isn't he the sweetest!!!!!!!



This was my most favorite Christmas present this year!!!! Thank you "Pa" and I love you so much!!!

Happy New Year

Just thought I'd share some pictures from our 2010 year. It was filled with fun and blessings! We can't wait to see what God has in store for us in 2011! I hope each of you feel as blessed as we do!! Such special times!:)

Merry Christmas!!

To you, and you, and you and you and whoever else, MERRY CHRISTMAS from our clan to yours!!

We had a wonderful day celebrating the greatest gift ever given, Jesus Christ!!

We enjoyed being together as a family and watching the snow fall! Yes, it snowed on Christmas Day here in the South! Not enough to stick in our neck of the woods but other parts of the state saw several inches. This was the first time I have ever seen snow on Christmas day! Truly awesome!

I haven't gotten much sleep the last few nights so I'm going to bed now so......

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, and to all a good night!

:)

Hanging In There

It's been a little hectic around our house for the last few days! I've had three of our four being sick with either an ear infection, fever, throwing up, the poops and the fourth with general nausea. They have carried their "bowls" around with them since Friday. NOT fun times people! Oh and did I mention that David had to work Saturday which means I was ganged up on by my four sickly ones? I have used more Lysol and Clorox wipes than I care too. And it seems as though I have washed all of the skin completely off my hands to keep from getting this mess! Wait what? Seriously y'all? C'mon, you think I have no skin left? Geesh. ;)

Last night, my sister came and picked me up so that I could get out of the house for a few hours and get some last minute Christmas shopping done and low and behold, we get a call from David that two of the four have "relapsed". Thank you sweet little ones. It's like they were just waiting for me to leave! At least I was able to scarf down a Peppermint Mocha before I got back home. MMMMM, yummy goodness! :)

All *seem* to be doing better today (crossing fingers here). See, I said that yesterday and as soon as I left, the puking and poo's started again. All is quiet right now because I made them all lay down and rest and if they want to fall asleep, then that's quite alright with me! It wears you out! GREAT way to start Christmas break huh? Let's just hope that it goes away quickly and that David and I don't get it! Please say a prayer for us! It would be greatly appreciated! :)

It got so bad around here that even Barney, our ELF, got the tummy bug. Ewwww!



Friday night, David's dad came over to give the kids their Christmas presents and he brought their cousins along. We haven't seen them in such a long time so it was good for us to be able to spend time with them. Sadly, mine didn't feel all that well so they didn't feel like playing that much but it was still good to visit with them.



Hope you are having a blessed day! :)

Griswald Family Christmas-The End

I hope ya'll have had a good chuckle at our expense. No hard feelings at all! We have laughed so much this month and it has just made our Christmas memories for this year so much more awesome!

David has been off for the last 5 days so I took a break from the computer and enjoyed my time with him and the kids. I just love my family!

I guess I'll finish up our tree story now. :)

This is where the disappointment comes into play.

After we got the tree tied up and totally decorated it stayed that way for about a week. David and I both noticed that the tree kinda looked puny. I had been adding water to it regularly but had noticed that she didn't seem to be drinking in as much water as before and her bristles, thistles or whatever you call them were starting to point down. They kinda looked like the Grinch's fingers. You know.....long, green and curling downward. When I went to feel the tree, she was sooo dry even though she had water in her bucket. When I say dry, I mean drrrrrryyyyyyyyy. I couldn't believe it! This tree felt like what a tree feels like when you've had it for a month and AFTER Christmas and we had only had it for about a week and a half. She was still green though! Does that count?

I was so sad. Every day it seemed to get worse. It got to the point where I was afraid to leave the Christmas lights on. Seriously. I was afraid she would go up in flames. OH and you could forget about using the fireplace! She would for sure turn into a fiery inferno! I told David that there was no way I could have a completely dead tree for Christmas. No way could the kids be stabbed to death pricked getting their presents under the tree on Christmas morning. Instead of hearing squeals of joy, we would be hearing "Ooow, I'm bleeding" or "There's a green thing stuck in my arm. I need tweezers" or "I need a band aid" OR (insert incredible loud and dramatic crying)"The tree poked my eye out!". Can't you just imagine! It really was that bad!

She just wasn't holding up her end of the bargain.

First, all of her branches were pointing down. Second, the tree looks pregnant. Third, the ribbon did NOT look like it was supposed to because as Allison put it "your tree is just too dang big (LOL)" and there was an unmentioned 18 month old that kept messing with it. Fourth, the bow had been thrown up on the top because I couldn't reach the top and the ribbon around the top had been strategically placed there with BBQ grill tongs. Fifth, she had "droppings" all over the floor. Yes, I could go on.



So, it was decided that she had to come down. We were sad and once again, Allison came over and helped us unload the tree. I have THE BESTEST SISTER!!! The tree was a lot lighter this time around. HA!
We took the tree down and out the front door of the house and it made a mega massive mess! I should have listened to David and taken it out the back door but I was afraid it wouldn't fit. The mess would have been A LOT less! I guess we are even now on the not listening aspect of our drama! LOL!









There was an inch thick of dead tree carnage in this picture. Oh and by the way, if you have frieza carpet...you'll be forever vacuuming up Leland Cypress needles. Those things are stuck in the fibers of the carpet.



R.I.P Beautiful Gigantor! She has now been dumped in an undisclosed location.



The next morning, we got the fake tree up and she looks beautiful! Not as grand as Gigantor but still beautiful and she looks just like the picture I had envisioned in my head! When the kids came home from school they asked me if our fake tree had shrunk since last year! HAHAHAAAA!



That's it...the end! I have been advised that we will NEVER EVER EVER do that again! We will get a real tree again, but maybe next time we won't cut it down ourselves and we'll just stick with the pre-cut Frasier firs. We've had many laughs this month and have loved the whole experience but the mess she made getting her out of the house did it for me! Can you imagine if we had waited until after Christmas to take her out? What kind of mess would we have had then? WOW! We have definitely learned some lessons this year but honestly, I wouldn't have traded ANY of this whole experience for the world!!

The kids have half a day of school tomorrow and I'm so excited! I can't wait for them to have two whole weeks off and us just do nothing but have fun, bake goodies and go look at Christmas lights! I love this time of the year and with the weather being as cold as it has been here, which is NOT normal, it has made it feel way more Christmasy!

Blessings to each of you!! :)