Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful

And here it is so delightful.........we do have someplace to go though. These pictures were taken at about 5 yesterday. I'd say there is about 3 inches on the ground topped by ice this morning. So it should prove to be interesting getting down the driveway on our way to Columbia. Thankfully we live close enough to the interstate that it should not be too much of a problem. We have lived in NC 5 years and this is the first time we have had snow before Christmas. Should be interesting to see what the rest of the winter holds.

Ready, Ready, Ready to Run

1. Okay, not really ready to run........but ready for a break. I am ready for some days off where I can get up in the morning and just stay in my pajamas all day if I want. Or serve grilled cheese and tomato soup if I want. Or scrap book for a couple of hours if I want. And I am really ready for Nor-Nor to get one of her Christmas presents so I can play with it too.
2. We picked our Bible study for our new life group starting in January. It's about wisdom. Can't wait to see what happens in the new year. Please pray that we would be what this new life group needs.
3. Which reminds me that I have a birthday coming up soon.........I think I am going to have more of a crisis about 31 than I did 30. But I do have THE most wonderful husband in the world. In fact his secretary called me a spoiled rotten brat the other day. I'd have to say she is correct. He has booked a night at the *Grandover* in Greensboro and booked a couples massage on my b-day. I am very excited. Thanks to Granny in advance for watching our two little ones.
4. Had something here, erased it and didn't feel like changing the numbers all the way down the post.
5. I think it's incredibly sad that very few people went to pizza night in Troutman to support the school's PTA tonight. If we don't support the local businesses, who will?
6. Love having two kids with fresh haircuts.
7. As T is a member of the rotary.......they raised over $8000 at the Pancake breakfast with Santa. They were able to help so many of T's students. Incredible. And our wonderful church has given even more. It's great.
8. Am really starting to strongly dislike some of the students I have to deal with in yearbook which I know is awful to say. But I CAN'T stand drama and so many of those girls are full of it. I don't have time for all that. Should be interesting to see what develops from this situation. Hopefully we can get some things worked out.
9. Sometimes I wonder what goes through people's minds. Why would I make a huge dish of something semi-perishable to eat for a lunch and it doesn't even get touched? That makes absolutely no sense to me. So instead I am stuck eating a piece of ham, some coleslaw, and a roll. Because nearly everyone we know makes weird stuff to eat. Ugh!!! Not very enjoyable at all.
I guess that's it for now........hate to end on a sour note, but ready for bed already. Wonder what the weather will bring over the next couple of days????

Baby it's Cold Outside

A trip toward Boone........looking for a tree for Nana's house. We had no particular destination in mind......just headed in that general direction. We stopped at the visitor's center in Blowing Rock to check out what information they had. We found there was a tree farm about 15 mins. from there. As it turns out.......easy to get to the farm, not so easy to get to the trees, but much cheaper than last year's farm. So you weigh the good with the bad. Both T and Nor-Nor fell on the side of the mountain but it was all good. We were soooo excited to see snow and had such a great time. And lunch at Chick-il-lay seeing Santa was great too!!!

And really the tree didn't look that big on the side of the mountain. But I swear that thing is at least 9 feet tall. We had to put it in a different spot than Nana intended. I am sure it's still smelling up the house.

T and Tug getting some snow balls together to throw at us. It was actually good packing snow. They are calling for snow again in the mountains this weekend. It was funny too because the further we got up the mountain the colder it got.

A Looooooooong Wait

*Lifetouch* has not been my favorite company this year. I have had to deal with over MANY issues with yearbook this year. And getting Tug's school pictures were no exception. What has happened to customer service? Tug took school pictures on Sept. 1st and here we are Nov. 3oth and finally have his pictures. I kind of feel like I don't have to right to complain, because I did get this for free. I guess there is one perk to being a yearbook adviser. I don't recall asking for a picture cd, but I got one. So.......here I have downloaded the b&w version. Glad he took a good first year school picture.

Happy Thanksgiving

What a wonderful meal we had yesterday!!! It was a joint effort between Mom, Dad, and myself. It was great. Just had a piece of pumpkin pie.........like I need it, but whatever. Hope everyone out there had a fabulous holiday!!!

Got my Christmas cards out this morning......at least most of them. I have a few that still need to go out b/c I am waiting on some pictures but I am sure those folks will understand. :)

Also, got up this morning for a little shopping. Had a friend text me at 3:00 am!!! I think she was crazy being at Wal-mart that early, but I guess I am not much better. I was there at 5:00 and it was CRAZY!! I think worse than last year. I got some great deals and don't mind the crowds except for one thing. I mean, here we all are, trying to get a deal, the place is packed, the least a person can do is say, "excuse me," "please," "I'm sorry,".........you know those polite words we were all taught to use a long, long time ago. That is the frustrating part. And hearing people complain about the lines. I mean, what did they expect???!!!!! It's the busiest shopping day of the year. Speaking of busy........I heard one lady say she traveled from Elkin to shop in M'ville. Elkin is almost the VA state line. Granted we only live about 45 minutes from the line, but still.

The house is decorated and so is outside..........one less thing to do. Excited about Christmas at the Cove. We usually do 2 shoe boxes and 2 tags from the tree. We get to pick those up this weekend. Very exciting. Bring on the festive holiday season!!!

A Great 'Do

I am not really sure how Miss C. had the patience to braid Nor-Nor's air, but she did it. And I loved it!!!! I told her she had to come here every morning and do Nor's air. Isn't it sooooo cute?

Zootastic is Fantastic

Nana and the kiddos.
A good family pic......although Nor isn't looking at the camera.

Not a great picture of what we saw........but take my word........

This was the petting 'zoo' about part way through. We really hope *Zootastic* lasts. They have all sorts of activities planned throughout the year. The kids had a really great picture taken with Santa. And neither one of them cried. I was shocked by that since they have never talked to Santa before. It was a neat place, 5 minutes from home. We enjoyed!!!

Our Weekend with Clifford

Despite the fact that Tug has strep throat he was very excited to have Clifford home with us for the weekend. We dressed him up like a pirate since we aren't going anywhere 'fun' this weekend. Our 'fun' consisted of sitting at urgent care this afternoon for 3 hours. Great way to spend a Saturday. The only good thing about it is that we are being proactive. That means this coming week of vacation will be better than if we had waited to go the dr. Nor was put on an antibiotic too. Strep is super contagious and her throat was beginning to show signs.

Anyway, all Clifford has gotten to do is play pirate and army but we have enjoyed having him.

Turkey Extravaganza

Tug-Tug did such a good job at his play on Friday. We were so proud of him. Much better than his performance at pre-school graduation.
Mrs. T. reading Tug's portion of the story "How to Cook a Turkey." Tug said he would get his from the store, put pizza on it, and cook it for 17 mintues at 45 degrees.

Daddy and Tug doing the "Turkey Trot."

Weekend Recap

~ Had a great time in Columbia today. We went for a family reunion on the Dreher side. Great food and great to catch up with people you don't see very often. Sorry no pictures.

~Ready for Thanksgiving break. 6 and a half days of school. Tug has his little Thanksgiving 'play' at school this Friday. He is one of the Indians. I hate that they are having it during the school day. Thankfully T can go.........we had his conference last week. He is doing a great job. They want the kids to be at level 3 or 4 in reading by the end of the year, he's already there. His writing is pretty good too.
On a different note: Is there anyone else out there who has a 5 year old who won't listen??? I get so sick of repeating myself. I think he's good at school (all green days) and then he gets home and let's it loose. Not sure what is up with that.

~ Not doing such a great job at yearbook this year..........just found a huge error that thankfully can be fixed, but what is up with me?????

~ I am tired of hearing all the people out there complain about hearing Christmas music. I personally like Christmas music and it doesn't take anything away from my appreciation for or celebration of Thanksgiving. And if you don't like it, pop in a CD of your choice or turn the station.

~ We are excited about starting our own life group in January. This is something we have been contemplating for over a year. The trainings will be in December so we are looking forward to that.
I guess that's it for now..........

Fall T-Ball

Aiden is Tug's closest friend. Please pray for his family, as his father just had surgery to remove a brain tumor. They don't find out until later this week if it's cancer. They were so proud of their trophies. I wasn't sure how Aiden spending the night on a school night was going to go, but they were so good.

The Team Picture!!! T forgot his jersey......bummer. But what cute boys.
Tug got to sign a t-ball for all the coaches. Now I wonder what he will decide he wants to do in the spring. Stick with t-ball or try out soccer??? We shall see.

~My new washer is on it's way.....and thank goodness for that. I think the dark clothes are as tall as me. When you go nearly a week around here without doing laundry it gets pretty ugly. I didn't go with the new front-load model for two reasons. First: I just couldn't swallow the price (nearly a thousand dollars for a washer!!) and with a top load you have the soak feature. Yes there is a soak button on the front-loads, but still.........don't trust it. I'll let you know how I like this one.

~Tug and Nor have dentist appointments today. I can only hope it goes as smoothly as the first time.

Costumes 2009

Nor-nor as Tinkerbell. She really wanted to be Snow White.......but was easily talked into this.
Tug was the 'bad' Spiderman. I got this costume at Party City for $5 back in September. I guess they brought out what didn't sell last year. AEKS knows I cannot resist a good deal. I saw this exact same costume in the Halloween store for $35. Love it!!!

Punkin Carvin'

Notice the tiny pumpkin to Nor's left. She had to 'carve' that one too!!!!

The finished product. So glad I waited until the day before Halloween to do pumpkin carving. The pumpkins were nice and fresh for Halloween.

Gone But Not Forgotten

I still can't quite wrap my brain around the fact that Grandma Corah (aka Gram) is gone. I am sure it will hit me like a ton of bricks come Monday. I am so incredibly glad that my children got to meet her and spend some time with her. I don't know if they will remember any of it, but I will. What treasured and priceless memories. I have the one item I cherish the most from my grandmother, her piano and a watch which was her first gift from my grandfather. I don't want to lead anyone to believe that it's about the 'stuff.' It's the time........those summer days spent at "Corah City."
There were the treks to the pool, us kids fighting over who could back the car out of the garage, the excursions to the creek behind the house, begging to sleep outside on the porch, the constant baggering on Gram's part to "get the hair out of your eyes. Let me go get a bobby pin.", realizing I had never met someone so frugal. Who saves perm papers or reuses teabags? Those are the things I will remember and treasure. I even saw her once cut open a toothpaste container.

The rule that you must always go to the bathroom before you go anywhere. I remember going for Saturday visits with her to visit her mom. Gram wasn't the best driver and I always got a slight case of car sickness. Thank goodness Grandma Kio didn't live too far away. This is the woman who taught me how to make biscuits from scratch. We used to shape them with a glass.

The the saddest part about death, the change........the fact that nothing will ever be the same. Nothing will be the same at that house or on that porch. I can't imagine how Gramp is holding up. Afterall, when you are married to someone for 61 years........ Well, sis and I are headed to PA in the morning, to say good bye not only to our grandmother, but to an era gone by.

Braggin'

I meant to do this on my previous post, but I got a little side-tracked. We have now made it through nine weeks of school and I am totally and completely amazed at the things Tug is learning in kindergarten. He is learning way more than I ever did at that age I know. He is READING for crying out loud. He brings a reading folder home once every 7 to 10 days. It's amazing. He is writing sentences, doing math. They really keep these kids hopping. I mean, I know I work in education, but I really don't know what goes on in the elementary realm. It's like a different world. It's kind of sad, T and I thought we had a least one more year of the "spelling game." Not so much.
I'll say, "T, I am going to take a b-a-t-h." (Every mommy wants to get 30 minutes of uninterrupted time every once in awhile.) Well
Tug says, "That spells bath." What in the world???? And I could go on from here, but you get the point.

On a sadder note for Tug.....as we all know...Halloween is only hours away. Nor-nor has a "party" at daycare whereas Tug didn't really have a 'party.' A little disappointing for him the poor guy. This goes back to his first few days of kindergarten when he said, "There aren't that many toys to play with." Oh the angst of childhood.

Let's Go Buff-a-lo

T and Tug went to the Carolina Panthers game this past Sunday. T is convinced three quarters of the fans were Buffalo fans. I used to be a huge Buffalo fan so I have to say I am kind of glad they won. They had a really great time. Got out there early and did some extreme tailgaiting. It was quite the experience......the first NFL game for both.

On a side note......I cannot believe that it's almost November. Halloween on Saturday. Yeah!!! Pictures soon to follow of Tinkerbell and Spiderman. Then into the holiday season............

SC State Fair

We headed to Columbia on Saturday for the state fair. We spent some time with Great Granny and Pawpaw went to the fair with us. We rode a few rides, had lunch (which we had to take out a small loan for), saw all sorts of animals and watched a portion of a puppet show. We had a good time. I jest about taking out a loan, but seriously, why does everything have to be so stinkin' expensive. I mean, really, a bag of cotton candy is 5 DOLLARS. I just can't seem to get over it. We are ready for Halloween around here!!!

Happy Birthday to the Bestest Nana Ever

Nana is always up for a project with the kiddos. They were painting 'baby' punkins here. Happy Birthday Nana!! Enjoy your weekend in Gatlinburg!!!

Huntin' for Punkins

I love it when I can finally get good pictures of these two together.

We picked three pumpkins and then 2 littler ones. The little ones will be colored with marker. I promise this year not to be too hasty and carve our pumpkins too early. I always get too excited about doing it and then they are never around for Halloween.

So, what a crazy week this last week was. How can we possibly be almost to the middle of October? It doesn't seem possible. I was very glad when we got to Saturday morning and Tug's t-ball game was cancelled. But don't tell him that. I ashamed to admit that if all the laundry were put together in one pile it probably would have been taller than me. I lost count, but I think I did 7 loads yesterday. Never has it gotten that bad around here. But, yeah you do what you have to do. Fall festival at Tug's school was a great success. Mom and I had a great system worked out for the bracelet/ticket table. Sorry no pictures. But speaking of which, Tug took great school pictures. I can't wait to get them back. I get Nor's proofs this Friday. Can't wait to see how they turned out. Despite the busyness, I do love this time of year.

An October Post

Wow, I can't believe that it is already October. Of course I love the fall. But thus begins the really busy time of year. Here is some random news.
~Tug got his jersey and hat today. He is #4 for the Cubs. So cute. His first official game is this Thursday. Which by the way this coming week is going to be CRAZY.
~The fall festival for Tug's school is this coming Friday. Should be fun.
~We are about to go to an awesome dinner at *Mickey and Mooch.* Then probably to do a little Christmas shopping. I like to do a little bit at a time, then it's not so overwhelming. Besides, who can afford to do it all at once??
~Tug got his first kindergarten progress report this week. He's right and track and loves school. In fact, he and Nor-nor play school. It's so cute to listen to them. He'll tell her not to use 20 squirts of soap to wash her hands. No doubt an instruction he gets.
~Nor-Nor is loving dance. I stayed last week instead of going next door to *Hardees* and the sound of those tap shoes from the other side of the door was hilarious.
~Love the fact that the air conditioner is not running. This is an electric bill I can look forward to.
~We'll be going to the Columbia state fair in a couple of weeks. We are excited about that especially since we didn't luck out with the Iredell Co. Fair.
~Went this morning for my monthly trip to Walley-World. They were having AWESOME sales on clothes for next summer. Everything I got was either 1 or 2 dollars. I got Tug 5 shirts, Nor 2 short sets (1 with a pair of flip-flops), a couple of shirts and 2 summer dresses. I felt like I hit the jack pot. But I don't think there is anyone else on earth other than Amanda who understands my love of a sale. :)
That's it for now. Enjoy the weekend.

Fall Getaway

Throwing this picture in.....the B&B had such beautiful hydrangea bushes.
Look at the size of this apple Nor-nor has. It's the size of a softball. We picked these up at an awesome roadside stand that we went to twice.

*The Inn at Orchard Gap* Highly recommended for anyone who wants to get away from the hustle and bustle. As a matter of fact, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, in 2010 the innkeepers are offering the B&B at $75 a night if you stay two or more nights. Can't beat that deal. And the breakfast was pretty good too!!!

The Pumpkin Patch right next door to the B&B.

The view from our front porch. The Blue Ridge Parkway is the second rode over. Love it!!!

I'm Cured

Last night we watched a friend's 5 week old baby boy.........so precious. But if you know me, you know that in the past 6 or 8 months, I have been having baby twinges. Thinking that maybe we could add number 3 to the Griffin clan. Let me assure you that I am cured. Now don't get me wrong, he is very sweet and precious. However, I am not all about the long nights, wondering why is the baby crying, etc, etc. We have our hands full enough with the two we've got. Afterall, we did play musical beds last night. How fun is that???? Tug is off to t-ball practice this morning. Then they are coming back, going to Chicky and then *Monkey Joes.* I am going to do some much needed scrapbooking. I am quite behind.

Exhaling.... so now you get pictures

Dance pictures a little late. Isn't she cute?? I wish the shoes shots could be closer. Ballet shoes and tap shoes in little girl sizes. Love it. Now I can't wait until Christmas to see what they have learned so far. There is no place to peek in. They don't let parents sit in the room b/c of course they would never get anything done. Is anyone surprised by the purple leotard??? T is mowing the grass and I am making my way through laundry. About to start the 4th load. Haven't done any this week. Oh well.

Triple Threat

Okay........I am way too tired to get the dance pictures out and downloaded so hopefully later this week.........and there aren't any action ones anyway, but suffice it to say that we have a triple threat on our hands. You might be wondering what I mean. Gene Kelly, that most famous actor from the 40's and 50's and probably beyond, was a triple threat. He could sing, dance and act. Nor-Nor is it!!! She is the next Gene Kelly. She has it all. She can sing, shake that bootay, and you would only have to be around here for a couple of hours to discover that our little Nor-nor can act. This was our conversation when she came out of dance class this evening.
Nor-nor: Mommy, I got a sucker and already ate it.
Me: You did?
Nor-nor: We didn't get trophies mommy.
Me: You'll have to take classes a little longer. What did you learn tonight?
Nor-nor: How to sing.
My thought (not said aloud of course): I thought we were paying for dance lessons????

She was very excited to have her tap shoes. She said it was just like Annie. In case you didn't know, Annie is our favorite movie around here. I think she is going to love it.

The Weekend goes too Fast

Tug-Tug has a fascination with taking pictures. I don't have a picture of what was behind us.....a bright yellow convertible Corvette. He was loving that.
Nor-Nor is jamming out to *Decemberadio.* The Cove had the End of Summer Bash today. Free food, ice cream, drinks, jump houses......very fun!!! And we finally got to see the finished product of the new building in M'ville. Wow!!! It's incredible.
A Maize Maze....last minute decision to go try out a corn maze. They had bounce houses there too!!! Why is everything so expensive??? It was still interesting walking through corn that was 8 feet tall.

Tug-Tug led us most of the way. We never did find the questions or the mailboxes. The kids weren't really into it so we only spent about 30 mins. in. Most people took at least 2 hours to get the clues and find their way back out.