MAGIC?

Do You Believe in Magic?

What I have here is magic…

you might look and see imperfection

but I see a family picture done and done!

2014, The Griner Family est. 2003

YES.

How many times since August 2009 have I been asked "Where is your family picture?" or "Why aren't you and Andy in your family picture?" It is a a lot of years and a lot of extended family and now I can just check that off my bucket list.  Done and Done.  Why you might ask?, well I have said this and I know because I have seen everyone's beautiful family pictures that life is just easy on picture day for them.  It is just smooth sailing.  The second I whisper, spell out loud, hint towards, or write down that they are having their pictures taken it is like a button goes off in their little heads.  It had to be done though.  My dad's birthday was the perfect opportunity and since I was doing it might as well make it an entire family affair especially since 3 of the siblings had babies this year!  I wanted to surprise my dad with an all 5 kid family picture for his office!  

 I called my friend on favor only to be repaid.  There was no other way.  I warned her.  I told her exactly what I KNEW in my heart would happened but wished wouldn't.  I said really, its no laughing matter and only for the strong.  She showed up with special fancy "bribe" doughnuts for after.  It was there, just like I said and she was ready.  2 total breakdowns,  1 "you promised me something from last year,4 days, and 30 seconds ago", and the other who is Tate.  Add tights (why do I have to wear tights it isn't Sunday),  I hate skirts, these shoes are ugly, and I just need $.50 (randomly during this time period, all of a sudden).

 The Seth Clark Family- Seth, Karalee, Dallen, Dean, Daniel

 The Spencer Clark Family- Spencer, Kristen, Ella, Conner

 The Zohrobyan Family- Zohrob, Steffaney, Isabella

Sydney Clark

Boss

 Editor of the pictures not done professionally!
Letters idea was stollen from Andy's sister Ella, we had done it a couple of years ago for Paul.
I think this idea was pretty genius, considering it was never gonna work together all 5 of us together in one place.  One day maybe we'll all end up in Florida:)

February: A Day In My Life

February: A Day In My Life

Last month, it was so interesting and wonderful to be able to follow all the links to women all over the United States and see how they spent the exact day that I spent.  Granite, I need to start doing something more important with my days.  BUT today was a snow day.  Not just any snow day.  It came down, blew around, and everything I planned to do productive (On my one free day of the week) just didn't happen.  

For those who do not know how this works.  We take 14 pictures on the 4th day of the month and post on the 24th. (I only was able to get 12…bummer)  Then at the bottom I link to another mom.  So click on the link.  You will like it.

 In a normal world when your kids hear snow day you would think they would like to sleep in.  It just doesn't register.  So I thought I would let them pick whatever they wanted for breakfast, knowing that hopefully they would make the right choose.  No no.  They chose these nasty sausage wrapped in blueberry pancakes.  I added strawberries and Caleb had cereal (which was boughten for the first time in probably a year)!  They were pumped.  Until Aubrey's tummy started to hurt.  I popped in Cloudy with a chance of Meat Balls 2 (you really can't beat the first). So I could get some stuff done. 

 My little helper.  Winston always loves to help with loading the dishwasher.  Super gross but since they get extra clean in there it's okay.  It is kind of like the movie Enchanted with the gross little mice helping…I have Winston.

 Making Valentine boxes. Last year I went all out.  This year I have to make 3, maybe 4.  I found this cool tape in the construction isle, let the kids pick out their own and boom!  Now they can add stickers and their name! (I had no idea how  all out mom's got on this…we need to have a mom meeting, the kids should be doing this ya know)

 The mixer/beater, whatever.  There has been some complaining as of lately.  Enough was enough.  Now I can use my 11 year old one and Andy can use this for random things that he should really just use a whisk for.(along with filling his dresser with Valentines candy…a dentists kid sure does inhale a lot of candy at the age of 30ish while watching murder shows at night)  All is good now that we can use our own mixers!!

 Lunch,  again not a healthy food choice but I just want to make it through the day with a good calm day.  Add some strawberries and celery with peanut butter and its halfway healthy but since Aubrey can't have the main thing she AGAIN got a soar tummy.   I should just have the CTR song playing in the kitchen all day so that I don't have to say now Aubrey are you allergic to this, do you think this is a good choice.  But today I just wanted it to be a good, calm day!

 Feeding to dog.  I do that.  He likes me.  

 Ainsleys teacher told her that if she put her clothes on backwards it would show an "extra lot LOT!" Which explains why she hasn't taken them off and why they are on backwards.  What a nut!

Also the 2nd dress from "Mrs. Gretchen" came today words like Mrs. Gretchen is just the best…How did she know I would love love this dress.  Even Caleb said Yah, Mrs. Gretchen is way cool.  (If Ainsley knew that I picked them out she wouldn't like them, she is that child.  So, I have an arrangement with Gretchen)

 My new door decor.  Very excited about this one.  It won't leak all down my door with natural oil and yuck!-moved that one to the wall.  

 Vacuuming.  I don't really enjoy vacuuming.  Last Christmas Andy bought me this vacuum and since it's a nice vacuum I actually have to vacuum I can't just blame stuff on the floor from the crappy vacuum.  What a shame, but all the vacuuming is done!  All the laundry is done.  Every room is clean, under beds, and a trash bag had to be taken to the boys room but I don't even think they knew what was in that closet of theirs.

 Since Dad arrived home extremely early due to the storm we all got to eat together as a family.  As a mother of 5 other house member I have decided You Get What You Get And You Don't Throw A Fit or you can go to bed.  How odd it was that since I made homemade spaghetti sauce with meet and noodle and then mix them all together without anyone looking everyone had to eat them the same way.  On the same plate.  With strawberries, bread, and two different kinds of parmesan cheese.  I was really surprise how everyone asked for 2nd's and 3rd's and only one person complained (it wasn't the kids.)

After clean up.  Another load of dishes.  The kids were watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding,  So funny.  Then it was homework time.  I did homework with Ainlsey.  Math and Reading with Aubrey. The coolest of all was that Caleb got a solo lead in his school PLAY!  He had wanted one so bad so I practiced that with him, he already new it and pretty much everyone else's lines, plus his additional lines!

 I bought these 100 year old windows (so cool also sooooo very scary I had to go into KCK to get them who even knew there was a bad part of town in Kansas too, but they were only $5 each and pretty much the cheapest decoration ever) so I did finally finish the rest of Aubrey's poms on her wall.  They look lop sided but it's the angle I took them from.  One of the windows is going to hang in the middle with her name down the center.    

The bed.  They have bunk beds.  They have plenty of pillows, but every night here they are sharing a pillow.  They are best buds deep down. I cover them extra tight I whisper to Tate that I love him more than apple sauce and he mumble that he loved me more that Dad's pizza.  I tell Caleb ,"I love you through and through yesterday, today, and tomorrow too".

I do have a feeling that Caleb tells Tate all of the "funny behavior" things he used to do and now Tate has perfected them x10 and I might not survive or the house, plus Tate is a GIANT! 

I did make the kids clean out the van in between games, hide and seek, and their 10 minutes of contention but I am pretty sure they just played hide and seek in there or tag.  It was a good day.  Please let there be school tomorrow!!

follow the circle…

  http://theseripplesandwaves.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-day-in-my-life-february.html

Like the old days

Like the ol' days

We used to have couple nights.  Pretty much all the time.  It would be like "So next week we'll watch? or I'll bring?"  It wasn't like an inside club where no one else was invited it was just what we did before we moved.  So we got together again, it was when the kids were all awake because they wanted to see The Sanner Clan and because it had to be brief, but it was a little like the ol' days+ our kids awake.

Their kids can always be awake.  They are wonderful! Ours rock at UNO beware!! 

In recent events.  Tate got a haircut like Zane (You know Mom, says Tate, from One Direction).  This too shall pass.  

My mom asked me on the phone who was my "fit" thrower…REALLY?  Cant you see it?   Must I say it?  AISNLEY DAWN "FIT THROWER" GRINER.  Who wants to wear the same I LOVE PEACE shirt every day.  So next week, every night I will wash it and let her.  

Who also gives the most hugs, washes my dishes with peppermint hand soap when I am reading with Ainsley, draws me so many pictures I gave her three of my towel drawers to store them, and will play with the dog until it because a tad bit violent!

Aubrey is my kind one, the one who can't let me joke around about what 9 year old in the school or ward is cute because I know secretly she likes a boy in Grandma's ward.

Caleb who loves to read, loves scouts, and loves his mom but the questions the endless questions.  His soft heart and silly nature can break him and I will stand behind him till the end so watch out little 2nd graders!!

Tate don't mess will my cuddle GIANT tide end.  For some reason he now knows all about One Directions.  His favorite song is Say What You Need To Say and I don't think its even on the radio anymore.  He loves to sing and dance and he loves Winston to no end.  He loves mud and He loves that the neighbor has a top secret hide out full or mud and yuck just for him!  

I took the kids to see the Lego Movie and Aubrey cried, Ainsley laughed so loud you could hear her one theater over, Caleb was a little scared, and Tate just wanted his candy and to hug the entire time.  As long as there is Batman he was sure everything would be fine.  Nut Job was a miss, I must say.  But Tate loved to get up a shake it like no other!!!!!

Parent Teacher Conferences went good.  Good Teachers all around, and I had to meet with a lot.

Something I find extremely funny is how everyone relates where I live with Tornados.   Now almost 11 years I have only had to go into a shelter once and I have never EVER seen one.  I have seen the damage from strong wind.  Our trampoline ending up in the neighbor across the streets yard, large trees every where, and yes I love the 1st Wednesday of the month when we hear the siren but we are used to it.  It's almost like if we don't hear it there is an imbalance in the world.  I have however seen the damage from a hurricane.  The loss in my hometown, the endless blue roofs, the closed memory eat out.  The peir.

I think Tornados are related to us because of Dorthy and they belong to Oklahoma.  Yesterday it went from hale, to rain, to snow, to slush, to sunny all in one afternoon.  Our power goes out if it gets too hot, if it feels like it, for goodness sake of corse on the day your kids earn a 30 minute cartoon before bed.  Thank you Kansas, Thank you.

Nope, Just Nope.

Nope, Just Nope.

 So, Tate has started a new exercise in the morning aside from Zumba with me.  It is called "burning" his stomach muscles! 

 Ainlsey is pretty excited she can almost do the splits. 

 Caleb had a play date with Eli from our new ward. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (As a parent I wouldn't bother), major tag, wrestling, gaming, Tate took a tap, we made pizza, and for the most part had a lot of fun!

I made two of these smoked briskets for PTC. Went to 3 parent teacher conferences, after family pictures which after Andy shook it took "Call Me Maybe", a bribe of a quarter, tears, the kid photo friend brought over bribe doughnuts and 45 minutes later we got one "Maybe" usable picture.  Uhhhh I hate family pictures!  But for a good cause, so worth it.  Later Mutral (oh ha, my new calling…laugh or cry for me…it could really go either way) and Aubrey had activity days.  Caleb did have scouts in Gardner but it didn't work out…or so Andy said.  If only their were 2 of me on Thursday nights.

Nope. Just Nope.  I might have been a little over loaded today. With two loads of laundry done. The kids 2nd week out of school and it being only 8am.  I had a list 2 pages long and it felt like noon.  Now I can safely say, I am drastically behind and I am out of my little cups of grapefruit,yum.  I really just might stop everything now and watch You Got Mail, because I have learned I am behind the times.

*a shout out to Clark for helping me fix my shower through his phone magic and words of college wisdom.

At 5:30 in the morning!

At 5:30 in the morning there has to be some joy in your world.  Waking up in Tate's bed with Caleb's feet by your head and Tate snoring super loud (btw I was told that was suppose to stop $2500 later). With a load of laundry already started, clothes laid out (except for Aubrey), showers started, and the realization that Tate had underwear on, two layers of pj's and 3 layers of underwear on top what better way to start the morning then by trying a pair on Winston!

 While everything in the house is lime green, our master bath is blue (for serenity…I suppose, waiting for that to happen).  Winston was confused and not amused by the super hero underwear. 

 Doughnuts with Dad at the school!  I was helping out with the PTO which meant I had to be out of the house at 7:00.  Call the bus at 6:00 so they didn't drive all they way to our house.  It also meant that I had to drive the truck. I couldn't get out of the driveway.  As Aubrey as my witness…I got out TICKED…(but with perfect hair) and shoveled my way out of the driveway.  I was not meant to live in snow, touch snow, be in the cold.  Andy got to drive my sweet mom ride. (all cleaned out) 20 minutes later once the event started.  The turnout was good.  The doughnuts were supper creative and the kids had a blast!  It gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of the dad's of the kids I work with in the mornings and Andy signed up to play the guitar for Ainlsey's class…everyone watch out.  Hannah Horse is no joke!

After serving the juice was done.  The bell had rung and I raced out of there to get Tate to Preschool on the other side of nowhere. I drove back to the school to do math and sight word testing and …wait for it…dye cutting.  I must say I am pretty good with the dye cutting! Picked Tate back up and the battle began on the 2nd load.  Andy picked out this washing machine.  It is the biggest pain of my life.  Will it let me use the setting I want, will it let me use hot water?  It's like a game.  I just pound my head on the top and wait and wait.  What a pain.  It takes 10 minutes to start after it clicks (it takes several tries) and 45-50 minutes per load.  I do laundry all DAY long. Not complaining, just saying.

*Happy Birthday Grandpa Bob!

*Did you know you can talk to an iPAD?  Truly amazing.  Aubrey's alarm kept going off, and I said how do you turn this thing off and is all she said (with an Oh Mom look) was Alarm Off!  Crazy.

*Caleb got a solo in his school play and a speaking park.  Pretty cool.  He is not "Conner Complainer" this year but we do use that term around the house…it has just kind of stuck.  This year I think he is Joey the Brave.  Cool Cool!

*Aubrey finished her art class.

*Tate got an honorable mention for kindness in his preschool news letter and has started a library class on Thursday.

*Ainlsey loves to paint and constantly wants to call her Grandma Nita for ideas.  I told her to write them down and we can mail them to her.

*A giant thank you to the Marinov's for watching Tate and Rachel.  Thank you!  

*Taking Winston on walks is really not going like the book says it should.  It is more like me dragging him and neighbors laughing.  They keep saying he will catch on.  It's been over a month….LETS DO THIS!!  Like normal people!!!