Dinner Party

Two weeks ago I was able to host a dinner party for the women at my church. We meet once a month to study a lesson, pray, eat, and socialize. For the month of December, we decided to explore a new path - we had a "Progressive" Party. This is where the meal is planned out so that the appetizer is at one house, the soup/salad at another, the main dish at one, and the coffee and dessert at another.

I volunteered my house for the main dish and I wanted to impress! I got busy cleaning and Nathan helped out a lot. Also, I knew the best cook around and I knew that she would help me cook that day. Nathan's mom helped prepare a meal of homemade bread with cheese spread, slow roasted pork loin with gravy, twice baked potatoes with everything in them, and sauteed broccoli with cheese sauce. Let me say that the meal was so delicious!

I had the entire house decorated with Christmas everywhere. Wreaths on all of the windows outside, Santas inside, snowmen, a beautiful tree, you name it. We pushed back all of our living room furniture to make room for two round tables. All the tables, including the dining and breakfast tables, were dressed with gold, green, and red fabric table linens. The silverware was tied with cloth napkins, a ribbon and decorated with a candy cane.

The women had a fabulous time. The meal - delicious..... the house - festive....... and the company of a few godly women - a Christmas memory that I will cherish for a lifetime.

Birthday Girl

I wanted to share some pictures from Natalee's birthday party. Her day began around 10 when she finally got out of bed. Her birthday was the day before Thanksgiving and I just let her sleep as late as she wanted. This is her spot at the breakfast table and I fixed her favorite - syrup with waffles! : )

Later that day, we had a family party. My mama made the cake - it was a "lighthouse" cake by special request from Natalee. She also wanted a lighthouse helium balloon. I have no idea why she chose these things, but we delivered because she wanted it!

She had a great party here at the house with her family. Two days after her birthday, she was able to invite two friends over for a spend-the-night party. I promised them a movie and popcorn and guess who had to be right in the middle??? Little brother! The girls didn't mind though - they thought he was cute!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday to NATALEE!!!
My sweet little girl turns 6 today!!

Jacob's Here

We picked Jacob up at the airport last Friday and he has been staying with us for the past week. He will be here for another week as well. It is always a treat when he visits because he is such a crazy guy - the same old Jacob from 1994. It's hard to believe that we've known him that long. In case you don't know the story, I met Nathan through Jacob. So, I blame Jacob for all of this!!

Jacob has enjoyed playing with Natalee and Trent. He knew that Natalee would love to draw, so he brought her a gift of coloring pens from Russia.

As I cooked supper one night, I overheard Natalee and Jacob at the breakfast table. He was teaching her Russian......not sure how well that went, but he tried!

Jacob's plans for his vacation here in Patterson included eating some southern cooking, playing horseshoes, doing nothing, and going to Walmart for absolutely no reason at all!! We've made sure he has accomplished everything on his list. He is a southerner at heart....maybe even a redneck!

Dressing Up - Trent

Trent dressed up as a baseball player for Halloween. He has a complete outfit including baseball pants, jersey with his name on the back, batting gloves, and cleats that are two sizes too big. Boy is he cute in it all!!

This picture below was taken at the Fall Festival at our church.

Dressing Up - Natalee

Natalee dressed up as her favorite singer Taylor Swift. She was very beautiful. As soon as she was finished getting dressed, she wanted to hold her guitar so she could pose for pictures. Aunt Bridgett did her hair and make-up. She even put jewels around Natalee's eyes and on her hand. Grammy made the dress. It was very beautiful, long, and it fit perfectly. It is supposed to be similar to the dress in the video "Teardrops on my Guitar."

Getting ready....



Notice the computer in the background....it has Taylor Swift on it.....everything had to be perfect.

Natalee was so excited to be dressed up like Taylor Swift. She sings her songs all of the time.

My Birthday

I am so loved. My husband planned a birthday party for me and invited all of my family including in-laws and out-laws. It was a special evening and I enjoyed being with Nathan, Natalee and Trent, my parents Danny and Judy, brother Brad, Granny Crawford, in-laws Dorothy and Dwayne, Granny Griffin, Bridgett and Rick, neighbor Kathy, and neighbors Batch and Jodi. My older brother James send me a text and I got a phone call from niece Kelsey and nephew Carter.

My mama has made me a cake for every one of my birthdays for the past 32 years. This year, she got a little creative. She added up 19+13=32. I was 19 when I got married, and I've been married for 13 years. How clever.

Bridgett loves me too. She knows I love chocolate cake and this is what she made for me.

Me with my one and only.........

Pumpkin Patch

We visited the Pumpkin Patch the week before Halloween and these are what we found........





Grammy and Grumpy (and Granny Griffin) rode with us to the Patch. This is a picture of them on the hay ride.


Me and Natalee and Trent had to ride the "cow" train. Natalee is riding in a cow named "Jasmine". In case you didn't know, that is her middle name. Me and Trent are riding in "Bessie". It was a grand ole ride, I'll say!

Ga. National Fair

We went to the Georgia National Fair in Perry on Saturday. Let me tell you one thing, it was COLD!! We definitely did not have enough layers and we were cold the whole day. But one good thing, Nathan got to eat his caramel apple, Natalee got her cotton candy, I got my funnel cake, and Trent rode some rides. We had a great time! Here are some pics.

The first thing we saw once we walked in the gate was the tractors. If you know Trent, then you know he loves a tractor!

I talked Natalee into riding in the chairlift with me and Nathan. I guess I love heights, remember the hot air balloon ride? But to be honest, I don't like going over bridges...

Trent loved this fishing game. He played it about 4 times. After the second time, we asked the lady if he could just fish for fun and pretend that he was winng a prize!!

Here is Trent's favorite ride, the motorcycles. I guess he takes after his daddy on this one. Hog Wild!Natalee and Trent both liked the car ride. It would swing them around VERY fast on the corners. It was priceless to me to hear them giggle and have fun on this ride. Trent is in the green car and I just realized that it is Natalee in the background in the pink car. I need an award for capturing this shot!
Me and Trent on Dumbo.

Trent wasn't too sure about the chicks, but Natalee loved to hold her chick and talk sweet to it.

Natalee's favorite ride, the swing. I was actually surprised that she enjoyed this one. She even rode it twice.

Me and the kids.

INTRODUCING...............

Introducing Natalee Griffin singing the number "Should've Said NO" by Taylor Swift

Just so you know, Natalee is responsible for her own wardrobe during these performances - I had nothing to do with this outfit or the socks.

All I can say is........this girl loves to PERFORM!

How to Play Baseball

How to Play Baseball by Trent Griffin aka "T Griff"


Below, you will find Trent's explanation to me on how to play baseball. I love #4!


1) "First, you blow that whistle"

2) "Then, you catch that ball"

3) "Then, I have to run, Mama."





4) "Then, I WRECK!"

"And that's how you play baseball, Mama. Want to play with me?"

New Bookbag

Every day that I take Natalee to school, Trent wants to go too. I must explain to him that he has to be 4 years old to go to school with Sissy. He is already looking forward to it. To prepare, his Grammy bought him his very own backpack. It is brown and orange and it has a motorcycle on the back of it. Now, if April 6, 2011 would get here sooner so he could go to "big" school with his sister.

The Squirrel

My Aunt Marie found a baby squirrel in her yard that was about to be eaten by her dog. Luckily, she rescued the baby squirrel in time, but now she must care for it until it gets old enough to go out on its own.

She brought the squirrel to Nana's house on Labor Day so that Natalee and Trent could play with it.

Natalee loved it right off the bat. When the squirrel was in her hand, she giggled and laughed and then giggled some more. She said it was "ticklish" to her. She even had a chance to feed the baby squirrel its bottle.

Trent, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. He didn't want to hold the squirrel at first. He was just fine with watching it at a safe distance while someone else was holding him. But then Nathan came along and put the squirrel on Trent's neck.

Trent finally got brave enough to feed the baby squirrel while Aunt Marie held it for him.

You gotta love that expression! : )

How Cute is He

No, I'm not posting a picture of my husband although he wanted me to. I'm posting pictures of my little boy, Trent. These were taken at Sears.

This is my absolute favorite picture that was taken this day. I love how cute and innocent his face looks and I also like the fact that he looks like a big boy in those jeans.


Trent fell in love with this motorcycle at Sears. The photographer actually has pictures of Trent posted throughout the mall so she could advertise "sessions" with this same motorcycle.

I picked out this Pajama outfit for the pictures. They were a gift to Trent from Grammy. I have always loved to see my kids in their pjs. And those little bare feet are too cute!

This is Trent's big boy outfit. He was posing perfectly for this shot. He loves to wear those little shoes. He turned two in April, but we had these pictures made in July.

This is one of my favorite poses because it captures his big, beautiful blue eyes.

This is Nathan's favorite because of what it appears he is doing to this motorcycle. Should I mention, this little red motorcycle is not a Harley........

I like this picture because Trent has always loved to "work" on things at the house. You may recall a previous post about his airplane that always needs "workin on."

Need I say more about this one??