Griffin's times 5

So much we've done...so little time to tell about it all

2010-08-24T08:57:00.004-05:00

Welcome myself back to the life of blogging....geez.... it's been since Jan. That's pretty sad. I'm going to try to sum it up a bit. We moved back to our cute little 2 story house in Calhoun County back in March. Oh, the joys of living in the middle of no where. I found out I was pregnant about a month before we moved. The boys were excited to move back because Grandma would live down the road from us. As to where we had to drive 3 hours to see anyone. We enjoyed living down toward Jackson,MS but it just wasn't for us. We are small town people, although I love the life of a big city... well to us Jackson was big. Haha! I was completely sick during the move. No one was available to help. We had to throw things in boxes...well Zeke did. At the same time he had to watch the boys and work night shift. Poor him i know that was hard on him but he survived. After the move back...i continued to be sick until 23 weeks. I found out around 21 weeks that we are having a GIRL! Oh Boy, a girl that was my thought. I was scared to death of hearing the words "It's a girl" What? ME? Having a girl? It has still been such an odd idea to accept. Ethan went back to K4 at Bruce when we moved back. He really needed to be in school and around other children. He did so well for the 2 months that he was there. He is SUPER excited to have a sister. He came home from school and told us "her" name is Katie. We didn't think much of it....we let him call her whatever. So then when it was time to start thinking of names. He insisted that her name is Katie. So....Katie it is! Her middle name will be Ann. After Zeke's Mamaw Ann. We didn't do a whole lot of nothing during the summer. It was a hard summer for us. Zeke lived in Yazoo City with a guy that he worked with. He came home almost every week for only 2 days. I wanted to scream more days than others. Actually I probably did scream. We then decided enough was enough. Everyone was getting sad with the situation so he decided to quit. Yes, i know your probably thinking he quit a federal job to come back to Bruce. Yep he did! He has now been home for 3 weeks and we are loving it. Although it seems as if he interrupted our schedule the 1st week or so but now we are all use to it and all on the same schedule. He is working with his uncle building houses. Not the best thing but it's work for now. We are waiting on a couple of different jobs to open up with the Oxford PD and other PD's around the area. I never wanted to marry a police officer but now look at us. It's crazy the things you say you'll never do and end up doing. He is also trying to decide if he wants to attend law school or go back to get his master's in some sort of education.

Ethan started kindergarten Aug 5th. He hated it the first 3 days and would scream, cry and hold on to the door jam so that he would not have to go in. Now he gets out of the car and walks in by himself. We are so proud of him! He is writing his name much better, he is already learning so much. He is picking up on the other kids words and attitude, yay for me. I know that's a challenge of a child attending public schools while trying to raise them in a good LDS home. Ethan is so big....when i say that he really is. It seems as if he begin to get BIGger after Feb or so. He is in the 95% for his weight and 53% of height. Poor kid....He played T-ball after we moved back but that still didn't help much. He says he wants to play football and everyone is telling us that he is built to play football. Hopefully the next week or so the temps here in MS will cool down. It's been horrible! HOT HOT HOT!!! This Thurs it's suppose to be 89. We are all excited about that. I am so ready for more play time outside. My boys hate the heat and I am miserable pregnant.
Eli is getting much taller for his age. He is so dang cute. He keeps us all entertained. He really enjoys being home with me. Poor him his world is about to change (in 5 weeks). When Ethan gets out of school they both fight with each other. I'm sure they miss each other during the day...maybe. I am going to try and post a few more times before I have baby Katie. I have 5 weeks left but the Dr told me yesterday that he might take me in 2 weeks b/c I am having contractions everyday. Since my body can't actually push a baby out or wont contract then there is no point to keep this up. We'll see what happens Sept 9th. I'm going to post a few pictures from the boys birthday party and whatever else i can find on Kim's computer. Enjoy!

Kim (grandma) made the baseball cupcakes for the T-ball game. It was the day of Ethan's 5th birthday. She also made the tractor cake for their party. The pic of Ethan, Brooklyn(their cousin) and Tatum(a friend)was taken during a T-ball game. The other picture of Ethan is at school during their snack time. We made blue cupcakes for that day.

Jason Aldean

2010-01-16T13:17:00.002-06:00

My boys are obsessed with him, he sings Big Green Tractor
They can sing just about the whole song. When I try to record them they get shy and will not sing. We bought them his CD as a New Year's gift.
http://www.myspace.com/jasonaldean

Playin around in 2010

2010-01-16T13:01:00.003-06:00

These are some goofy boys. They both are so funny more than most of the time. Eli is 2 1/2 and he is really becoming such a character.
He realized yesterday that he had to pee pee so hopefully after the rain today and tomorrow, we might can begin potty training.
Ethan is askin me through out the day no matter what I do good or bad " Mom you didn't make a good choice" you know where he gets that from? ME! I ask him often "Was that a good choice, Ethan?" Esp when he hits or pushes Eli, says a bad word that he gets off of the movies,gets juice w/o asking.
He is becoming more like me these days. So watch out!

Our Christmas

2010-01-03T22:41:00.005-06:00

Not to much to say. We had a lovely warm Christmas. We were busy going to each of our families home which of coarse we had to drive there. Ugh! We love being with them but next yr it will be nice to stay home. Here are a few of the pic.........
This is my brother (the one not married) Eli is try'in to pick Caroline up. Below is Ethan on bottom, Lucas and Eli on top of him. Caroline just wants to open presents. The boys love to wrestle with each other.
The boys also got fuzzy PJ's from Nana and awesome toys from their Uncle Mark and Matt and Aunt Jennifer. Yay for aunt's and uncles!!

Santa brought the boys a batman and joker track.
Eli got this Little people farm which he loves. Thanks to his Grandma.

All Ethan ask for Christmas was a batman car from Santa, well he got one but from Grandma.

He also asked for a Bumblebee transformer. When he saw that Santa brought him that he didnt even move, it's like he was in shock. I am thankful that's all he asked for b/c Santa was broke this year. I sure wished I had a pic of it, I used the video camera to record them that mourning.

christmas pic

2009-12-09T23:45:00.002-06:00

Thanks to Uncle Enoch and Aunt Erica for letting us use thier back drops. CUTENESS as Jordan would say.

Happy FALLing

2009-12-09T23:38:00.002-06:00

This is our trip to Grandma's at Thanksgiving. Zeke raked the leaves so they could jump in them off the picnic table, those crazy kids.

random times with the family

2009-12-09T23:23:00.006-06:00

Eva
Ethan and Brooklyn

The day of the move.

A visit back to Grandma's. We looove Uncle Jared's 4-wheeler

Eva,Jared,Eli,Brooklyn,Ethan and Rivers

Swingin' around with the cousins

2009-11-19T10:36:00.002-06:00

Ethan, Rivers, Eli and Brooklyn they are playin around at Grandma's. They always have so much fun together.

Super Halloween

2009-11-17T21:09:00.003-06:00

Here is Superman and the optimus prime.
We went to the trunk a treat at our new ward, fun fun!!
The night of Halloween we went to 3 different homes and they would not even walk to the door. Silly but shy little boys.

The move and our new life in Canton,Ms/Jackson area

2009-11-17T19:11:00.004-06:00

Where do I begin.......We moved Sept 11th with the help or our wonderful mothers and a few of the brothers. And Tim Crawford! We moved a truck and trailer the 1st night and then that Sat. our families helped us move everything else.
We are still not settled into the apartment. It's small, no storage and i am counting down until we can get a house. We live at the Links which is in b/w Canton and Madison,MS. I enjoy the area down here. there is so much to do. So many parks, stores, different places to dine. It's lots of fun! Although I don't have that wonderful "girlfriend" connection to call someone and go hang out.
There was a lesson in RS a while back about how friends ARE really important and that you need "girlfriends" no matter how strong you think you are or if you think you don't need them. Guess what ladies, we do need friends! On that topic, I would like to thank you all for your friendships. I miss so many of you.

We have done a good bit of things since we have moved here and my camera is horrible. I can charge the batteries and take a few pic and it dies. Zeke KNOWS I want an SLR camera for Christmas. We'll see.....

The boys are well. Eli is not having the spells with his brain as often, maybe every few months. Although i stay on my toes if we are at the park or outside of the house
He is doing the typical 2 year old things. We potty trained for five and a half days and no luck so I am going to wait until he is 3. He still takes great long naps and he loves to be babied which he is. I know..... we have got to stop doing that esp before we have another baby. He loves following his brother. He doesn't play with "little boy toys" anymore. :( He wants to play with whatever Ethan has. They both want every boy toy that comes on TV and Ethan has taught Eli to say" I want that for Christmas" Ethan says that during each commercial and so does Eli.
Ethan is doing well. He needs to be in preschool. He did so well in Bruce K4. Now that he is home everyday. We have a battle everyday. He loves to be challenged and If and when I lose focus on him all heck breaks loose. He wants "boy-friends" down here so bad and poor Ethan all there is at play group is GIRLS! He's the only boy in his sunbeam class. His little Rosy red cheeks beam when he is around all those girls. It's so cute! I can't wait until we can get him in preschool or K5! Here's pic from the past 2 months which are the Science Museum, painting pumpkins, pizza party at the new place,Eli's long but wild hair, and Ethan can write his name. He loves to get carried away with the E. It's like one long E or 10 lines replace the 3 lines that an E is suppose to have, Yay!!

The move

2009-10-12T16:15:00.003-05:00

We are now in the Madison/Jackson area. The move was fine and we made it here great! The boys and I enjoy the new area. All the things we love to do are so close to us. As to where we use to drive 30 min to an hour just to do anything fun. Even walmart but now Walmart, Target etc is 10 min away. The boys have adjusted well. We are in an apartment right now and that is different but its big enough for now. I am counting down my days to buy a house.
Zeke loves his job! He seems more happy and I'm sure that one of the many reasons is that he is out of school. We have been very blessed with the job and the area that we live in. The ward is going ok. We have been a few times and I'm sure we will grow to love lots of the ppl here. Maybe in 2 weeks I can post pictures for now I am having to use a business computer.

Independence Day

2009-07-14T14:41:00.004-05:00

Zeke left for WA June 25. I went nut's around June 30. We went to my moms that weekend. We decided to stay there for a few days and hang out with Matt,Jennifer, Caroline and Lucas. We grilled out, played outside in 97 degree temp. UGH it was HOT! We also went to sleep early so we didn't watch the fireworks in Tupelo. Being overwhelmed makes me tired. That same night I found out about Zeke. It's hard being away from your spouse for a month but I knew we could do it or at least try. He was sent home 12 days early because once again he had health problems out in WA and could not finish his training. He is now home and doing well (returned home July 11th). He will be discharged from the Army National Guard. His health is to big of a risk. At least he finished school. We are now trying to decide what he should do. We are blessed to have a couple of choices.
It was so hot, just look at Ethan's face.

Westcott kiddos and the Griffin kiddos

Sweet Caroline!

Ethan turned 4!!

2009-06-13T00:51:00.004-05:00

Ethan turned 4 May 18th. Aw, just 4 years ago I was in labor for 18 hours. Holding him with so much love. He was gorgous, soft and so pretty not cute but pretty. Now I hold him and think "man, i need a break from this kid. ;) Not all the time but most of it. He is me made over. At first i would not brag about it but now I know the truth. Zeke calls him Jennifer JR all the time. He say's "No, I'm not. I'm Ethan. We went to Chuckie E Cheese for his b-day. He loves that place! He loves pizza and he loves Chuckie!!!! That boy has a whole lot of love in that big heart of his.

Mrs. Kim made the cake. It was awesome! Very moist and yummy!

Full of good times

2009-06-13T00:16:00.004-05:00

I have missed many weeks without my computer, ugh! There is so much to update but i dont have the time to tell you everything like i would love to do. So here is the 2 main and super fun things we have done since the 1st of May.
We went to the beach last week. IT was Eli's first time to go and he did very well. He is a go with the flow kind of kid. He wants to get into all kinds of adventures. Ethan was beyond excited! 2 weeks b/4 the trip he got into trouble everyday all b/c he would not stop asking "is today the day?", "Can we go tomorrow?" or this is even better, every time we got into the car even to go to church he would ask "Are we going to the beach NOW?" When we got 20 mins outside (2am)of Gulf Shores he was wide awake talking and talking did I say talking even more filled with excitement. He is definitely his grandma and daddy's child. Them two love the beach as well. I used the video camera mostly but i did get some good pic.

Eli and Emma

Happy 2nd Birthday Eli!!!

2009-04-30T18:04:00.004-05:00

We had a small family party Tues. night with Lucas and Nana. Eli loves his toy drum and his Elmo books. He then woke up to a Fun and exciting Wed. He got a battery powered 4 wheeler and he LOVES that. We then had some huge but very yummy cupcakes at Sherry's for playdate. Boy did they ever muddy. He is into Mickey mouse toys and Elmo so of coarse he got those. He had fun! I made some yummy but ugly Mickey Mouse cupcakes. Oh well I never said that I had a skill in that area. At least the little kids liked the cupcakes. Grandma also made Choc. and Biscuits (it's a southern thing) with eggs and sausage. This pic is of Eli on the slip n slide for the first time.

Throwback Thursday

2009-04-30T17:59:00.002-05:00

Eli turned 2 yesterday so lets throwback to when he was 1 and a little less mischievous.

Everything happens for a reason, right?

2009-04-27T16:40:00.004-05:00

Well, I will tell you now that its all over with and done. I was pregnant and knew that I was but was not for sure because i had not been to the doc. So last Sat. I had a lot of problems and was hurting so I was having a miscarriage but I had no clue that's what it was. The following Monday it was proven that's what it was. I had to go to the doc and have several blood test done and most things came out normal. She told me it would be a month or so before i would feel "normal". I was thinking "not Jennifer, I will be just fine" and I was until a day later. I then begin to have panic attacks and was awake for 24 hrs with no sleep, all crying. It was not NORMAL! I was mad b/c it wasn't me. I am not suppose to do that. I am a strong woman. But ya know the Lord had other plans. I am still to this day recovering from last week and I now understand what anxiety and panic attacks are. If you've ever experienced that i understand and support you. It's hard but I WILL be just fine. So thanks to all of you that has helped me. Love ya!

P.S. If you want two little wild boys just call me hehe!

Here's a happy note! Look at my cute, cute, and I mean cute boys! Zeke was away for training. So I had to hold Eli so he would be in the picture.

Army ROTC dining out

2009-04-27T16:11:00.006-05:00

As you many know Zeke is in the Army ROTC. He will be graduting this semester so this year's dining out was special to him and the other MS 4's aka Seniors. The food was so good thanks to Leanna's hubby and his staff. We had fun and dancing but we did make it home by 12am. Kim and I did my hair and i ordered my dress for dirt cheap so it all came out well. Zeke's uniform had more pins and awards on it which is cool. They receive more each semester and when he commissions the end of July he will recieve his 2 gold bars as a 2nd LT. in the US Army. Yeah for him!

The first picture is Brother Wells and Zeke. Bro. Wells it a retired LT from the Army.

This is at Mrs. Kim's house as we were getting ready to head out for the evening.

(above)This is Cadet Tisdale,myself and Zeke.

(below) "hello men.....sorry I'm married."

Cadet Doyle and Cadet Bryan they are so funny!

Easter was Happy and EGGventful!

2009-04-15T11:36:00.004-05:00

Eli loved riding the cow train but only if I was riding it with him. It was so fun and went fast. It even had seat belts. These are the pipes that Doug Webb is using to build slides and tunnels. That's Ethan climbing on them.

Ethan loved this riding cow train. The Webbs had this made and its tons and fun and way cute.

Later on that day we had a talk about Jesus and how he died for us. Well, Ethan is confused but it's cute. He said" Did I die for Jesus and you,daddy?" We just had to die laughing. Poor thing.

T Ball Time!

2009-04-11T02:30:00.005-05:00

I'm not a very good blogger......i always think of the funniest things to write about the boys and the things they say or do. When it comes time to write them i cant remember.
Eli is beginning TERRIBLE 2's. He's hitting now and when we correct him he tells us "no no". He is getting into things ALL the TIME more than Ethan ever did. It's always an interesting day with him. He is also enjoying Ethan's T- ball practice times. He likes it more than Ethan does. Ethan is the youngest on the team but he can hit the ball better than the others. We practice on Mon. and Fri nights. He is usually shy or ill when it comes to going out there and playing with the team. He did not get that from me. Jake is his new friend so the 2 of them just play in the dirt and talk about little boys things.
I have gotten into landscaping these days. Which is weird for me. I've never really cared about it until a few weeks ago. I will take pics of what all I've done. On Thurs. we went to my moms and really made over her yard. I love to help her knowing that she cant do it herself. It took me from 2 pm to 8 50 pm and that is with a 20 min break but i enjoyed it and i know she will when she goes to rest on the swing and see the green plants and flowers. There for a second i thought "hum, i should get into the business." It can be back breaking at times. The boys are in love with their Nana and papa James. Nana is my mom and James is my step dad. We met them at Lowe's and they were so excited to get out of the car and go see their Nana and papa. Not to leave Grandma (Kim) out. She is their best friend to besides Jacob D. Ethan wants to spend the night with them all. It's so sad how he cries to stay with them. Usually he wins because they have him so spoiled and he has them wrapped around his finger. They are our favorite people for now or as Ethan would say" she my bestest friend". You know how little boys could change their minds. Family is such fun!

Eli is ready to play.

He was thinking...."I'm waiting, my glove is on the ground just like you told me to hold it. Now, where is the ball?"

muddin' around

2009-03-24T23:15:00.000-05:00

Beware! The next 3 pics are the boys and MUD! We were doing tons of yard work this weekend so we let the boys do as they please. And they did.....

Notice Ethan in the background, He took each piece of clothing off one at a time but i did not think he would go naked. So Kristin now you see why I was crazy the other day.

Eli's hair is so long i put a rubberband in it and two clips on the side. He looks like a girl wearing a blue PJ top. Zeke tells him often "aw,look at our cute little girl."

Spring break fun for us all.

2009-03-24T22:21:00.000-05:00

We started the week off a bit boring and cleaned house. We then went to the zoo on Wednesday. It was WAY FUN as always! I love seeing the boys eyes light up. They also think they can make the same noises as the animals or at least they try. Boys are LOUD! Ordyna fam went with us. The Ordyna's are tons of fun! I love taking pictures but there is no way i could post them all. We then went to Southaven after the zoo. We were all so tired. It was 77 degrees and to me that's hot when you have to chase kids. Our Southaven adventure was fun, We looked at houses, we went shopping, and we played around with Liz baby, Reina. The boys loved her and still talk about her. Eli will ask "Where the baby"?
One reason i want to live there is b/c 4 airplanes went by within a 2 min time frame. The boys were in heaven. That's all they wanted to do was go out and watch planes. So a big fenced in yard, a trampoline and bunch of airplanes sounds like heaven to me.

I hope they do good when i have the 3rd child. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
We have now had a full weekend. For those of you may remember we had the post up last fall for the fence and we have NOW finally finished the fence. Well we have to put up the gate so i can drive my car onto the patio during the rainy days. I am so excited! It's lovely when you dont have to see your neighbors. I bought the boys a tent just for them so we are going to have a family camp out in our yard. Oh the joys of having boys. Here are some pics from the zoo.

Paul, Zeke, Eli, Eden, Ethan, Cydni. David must be walking behind his mommy.

Ethan and Eden were watching the sea lions. Until i ask them to take a picture.

Eli is walking on a log as daddy helps just a bit. Dont you know almost 2 years old can do this by themselves.

These two pic are my fav. You just had to be there to hear Ethan say "Look mom, I'm a monkey" Then he precedes to eat "his monkey lunch"

2009-03-11T22:02:00.000-05:00

I finally got the pics on here. YEAH for me!

2009-03-03T09:35:00.000-06:00

Me and Zeke in 6 inches of snow in Des moines, Iowa Feb. 13, 2009

2009-03-02T10:49:00.000-06:00

Ok I think i can do this now. I deleted the old post by accident so here ya go.........It's a sunny Monday mourning and It's to cold to go outside. Oh no that means another day stuck inside together. We may have to go to the library. O, boy they love the library! It's not a place to read books or be quite as least to Ethan he thinks its good to run around and be loud that is why we stay 10 mins and im done! Yeah tomorrow will be 60 degrees. We can go outside! Woo Hoo!
So let me tell you we have a huge spider man fan in our home and that would be Zeke haha ok JK no it's really Ethan. He acts like spiderman tries to throw webs out from his hand and wants everything that has anything to do with spiderman. We went to Family dollar store yesterday, which is a cool place. They had tons of spiderman items for cheap. So of coarse to shut my kid up I bought as much as we could.
He also got a new gun yesterday. So Ethan and Jacob are going to play guns on Thursday. I'll send pics later. We also got a new net for our trampoline. We got it on sale o, the joys of getting something you really want or need for CHEAP! The kids are in heaven with that because i can put them on it and leave them out there. Some of you may not know but the strong storms aka Tornado winds picked up our trampoline and threw it into the neighbors yard. So the trampoline was fixed and is now grounded.