Happy 2010

The week of the New Year has been a busy "eye opening" week!
On Monday I dropped Aubrey off in Pittsville to spend the night with "Grandpa and Grandma" Griner. With the other 3 kids excited in the back of the van we picked up Andy and headed to Chuck-e-Cheese to meet up with Caleb's little friend Alec and his parents Constantine and Elena! How fun is Chuck-e-Cheese!!! It was crowded and so fun!!!!!
On Tuesday we had a play group!! The kids enjoyed playing from 10-2 (cookies and chicken nuggets included) and I made the mom's Salmon while we ate really good tangerines, pumpkin cheesecake bread, and mounds! Late LATE Tuesday night I hid the last 5 tangerines for myself. The kids ate ate and ate them all day and I really wanted some for Wednesday. Well, Wednesday morning during Elmo's World I started folding laundry. The kids weren't singing or laughing...I thought that was strange so I went into the room. MY TANGERINES!!! Ainsley found them and wanted them so bad that she peeled them herself!!!!
Ainsley never does anything alone...Caleb is always close by.

Early Wednesday when all the tangerines were gone it was Aubreys turn to have a play group! They loved having the Hubble girls over but Caleb felt a little left out. 10am-2pm all things girls.....and Caleb!

Tate will do WHATEVER it takes for food. So, I said "What are you doing?"

"Gotchya!"
We rung in the New Year with style. At 6:30pm we put Ainsley to bed and started our little party! Chips n' dip in the basement, while watching Sid the Science Kid, and playing 5 rounds of Candy Land. At 8:30pm we counted down...10..9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1..HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! The kids ran around and acted crazy for 60 seconds and then bed time!!!! They couldn't believe they stayed up until "midnight" and that is was finally 2010!!

January 1st we decided to start the year off with a blast! Andy shoveled part of the deck, heated up the grill, and started on the ribs!!! After they were warmed on both side I sliced them up into servings!

Please let me have some?!!!

Yum...only 3 more hours until they will be done!!!

With the house clean, the kids dressed, and dinner almost done we awaited our guests!!

Elena brought a yummy Russian desert, Constantine helped Andy grill the chicken, and Alec ran around with Caleb until the Adkin family arrived. Then the food disappeared, house filled with laughter, and with 8 kids there was definitely never a dull moment!

Saturday morning we joined our friends at Home Depot for Calender building! Aubrey loved it! She was very careful to follow instructions and make her calender look perfect!

Alec did a great job!

Caleb...oh Caleb. He liked the nails and hammer....but mostly just laughing and running around with Alec!

Sometime during the party on New Years day Caleb acquired a bruised eye.

It was lots of fun! Very organized, free, and the kids loved the aprons!Tate grabs and rolls to grab everything and anything! He is constantly chewing on his hand and is still a very content, always happy little TateR!Ainsley has started to love Lego's. She ended 2009 by saying her name for the very first time! Not meme, but actually, Ainsley!!!! This past week she has been eating like crazy so we are hoping she has gained a little bit of weight!!!!
We are so excited for all the changes 2010 will bring. New Years resolutions and the melting of snow are fresh on our minds. I am going to try to do the 365 days of pictures. It will be neat to see how quickly the kids change....andrewandsarajean365.blogspot.com/
HAPPY NEW YEARS!

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
The start of the week of Christmas .....Andy had to work on Sunday so I ventured to church with the kids by myself. Not before a major disaster. A white kitchen. Caleb was REALLY REALLY hungry!! I hoped that this wasn't a sign telling me how crazy the upcoming week was going to be.
The kids had class parties on Monday the 21st. I took Ainsley and Tate with me to Caleb's and Andy headed to Aubrey's. Lots of fun! We spent the night cleaning, playing, and we finally hung the Christmas stockings!!
Tuesday the 22nd was a day to remember!!! At 10 o'clock 4 moms and 8 little friends from Caleb's school arrived with their siblings! 12 kids, 21 cupcakes, and 3 hours of total fun! The weather was nice so the kids ran from swing set to air hockey table and back again! 12 kids all under the age of 6 getting along, laughing, and acting crazy! It was nice to get to spend time with other moms talking and laughing too!! I didn't even burn the cup cakes!
*Caleb stated "Mom. (long pause) Alec and You are my very best friends.After everyone left the kids laid down for an hour of "quiet time!" I put a pillow over my head and woke up just in time to bundle up the kids and walk 2 houses down to the Rudd Families for the neighborhood gingerbread party! 25 kids, lots of candy, and a trampoline....what could be better!

Ainsley had a lot of fun (as long as I stayed in sight).

The kids had a blast eating, jumping, and playing with all of the neighborhood kids!

Ainsley ate her gingerbread house all the way home!

TATE!!! During the gingerbread party Andy picked up Tate and took him to the doctor for his 4 month check up. It was the first doctors appointment Tate has had since his Pneumonia and we were curious to see how much weight he lost. Well...none! Not an ounce....none! He weighs in at 18 pounds 10 ounces, in the 95%!!! He is in the 60% in height!!! Very very exciting! He is so big, cute, and perfect. The doctor suggest we start him on cereal. He loves it!!!! He wants more and more and more! Now if we could get Ainsley to gain weight?! At 20 pounds Tate is catching up. The doctor suggested a lot of Mac n' Cheese, high in fat! She loves it! Also Tuesday night the snow started. It snowed and snowed and snowed. By Wednesday night it was still snowing and we were worried that our traditional yearly trip to Windsor for Christmas Eve dinner was going to be cut short.....
Nope...but we had to move it to an earlier time. Instead of 5pm dinner was at 2pm. That left little time to dress the kids up fancy, let alone do my own hair. This is a scary picture not to mention I have my first and the worst ear infection of all time!
On an awesome note...we won 4 Bernstein Bear Stuffed Animals (Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Brother Bear, and Sister Bear) and a nice book from a drawing we entered the previous week at Chick-fil-a! Yahoo!! After a yummy dinner it was time for the main event!! While Grandpa Griner read the story of the Nativity from the Bible the kids acted it out! Aubrey was Mary, Caleb was Joseph, Ainsley was a sheep (she wanted so badly to be a pig), and Tate was a sheep.

After a couple of Christmas songs it was time to open presents! Ainsley loved her Elmo toy from Grandma and Grandpa!! She also got a little cheerleader from Aunt Judy!

Aubrey got the loudest disc man ever from Aunt Judy!!! So loud but she loved it! She also got the much desired play-doh hamburger maker from Grandma and Grandpa Griner! Caleb got a Robot that walks, turns, and talks from Aunt Judy, and a Nerf Dart Gun from Grandpa and Grandpa Griner!

Tate was pretty wiped out!

Christmas Eve night we made it home during the terrible snow fall just in time for Santa to clean up and get things ready! Finishing Ainsley Elmo blanket was tough but successful! We were in bed by midnight and I got my Christmas Present....a "SILENT NIGHT." It was magical, glorious, and wonderful! Thanks to Andy I slept uninterrupted from 12am to 5am. I woke up to terrible snow fall but I was so excited for the kids to wake up!!! We laid there just waiting for over an hour. Laughing and Talking.....

Christmas morning!!! Ainsley had a rough night (waking up crying 2 times) but by 6:30am all smiles!! Caleb was the first one awake and then he ran in and woke up Aubrey and Ainsley!!!

A vanity! It barely made it here in time for Christmas!

Caleb loved his magnetic letter and wanted to spell things right away!!

Tate did not appreciate me waking him up! Since we have added Rice Cereal to his bottles he sleeps contently and soundly...he loves to sleep.

Even seeing the other kids excited didn't change his mind. He didn't cry or wine though.....he just endured!

Caleb loved his "remote control that controls everything he needs it to control." The train goes backward and forward! The track is great also because you can step right on the track and it doesn't unsnap. SWEET!

After the kids played with their "Santa" gifts we headed into the front room to open presents!

Presents from Great Grandpa and Grandma Ras and Great Grandpa and Grandma Grayson! Also presents from Grandma and Grandpa Clark. It was so fun to see their faces, excitement, and happiness!

We got Aubrey a "dora" house. Actually, I couldn't find the one she wanted so we got her a precious princess one. A house is a house...she was so excited!!

Andy was pretty proud of this one! It took him at least 30 minutes of searching, comparing, and examining to pick out the perfect clear nerf gun for Caleb. The darts don't stick like the other nerf gun...this one hits and destroys! Aubrey and Caleb have had fun shooting his robot, train, and the windows. I have even had fun shooting the plastic darts too!! I really like that in order for them to shoot the gun they need Andy or me to cock the gun for them (always requiring adult supervision)!!!

Ainsley...Elmo! Books! Elmo!

Christmas night. All cleaned up and loving his train!

The snow continued Christmas day and all day on the 26th. I haven't seen this much snow during this time of year in the 6 years we have lived here. Crazy!!
Caleb. Half smile. Half cry. He desperately wanted to go outside but ABSOLUTELY didn't want to get cold.

Aubrey was the most excited to go out in the snow! She ended up staying outside the longest (25minutes).

Ainsley went outside at 3:44pm and at 3:44 and a half she was crying to come back in!

Aubrey and Caleb were excited to make their way to the fence to talk to the Rudd kids! The snow was deep and it kept coming! Burrr!!

Making a snow angle is much more fun to do in the white sand at the warm beach!

Tate is trying to crawl! He tries and tries but cant get his tummy off the ground. He ends up scooting backwards! No matter what...he never misses out on the Griner Action!!!

Finally. 3 days later. The track is completed correctly!! I think I spent at least 12 full hours (spread out into 3 days) trying to figure out that track with the additional parts. So worth it...the kids love it! I think the kids will always remember this Christmas...because of the snow, the excitment, and the love.
Now onto New Years....with no school I wonder if I will survive. The tree is down, Christmas put aways, and the house is almost back to normal. The snow is still high, the air is still crispy cold, and I have plenty of back up bateries.
This Christmas I learned that sleep is magical, snow is beautiful as long as I am looking through the window, and the kids are really growing up fast. I learned that to be a mom requires mulitple skills...for example...
beautition
baker, detective
singer, arcitect
cleaner, inventor
manicurist, chauffeur
nurse, teacher
explorer, pretender
decorator, stylist
inventor, carpenter
plummer, electrician
mathematition
This past year I have learned to do all of these things, not successfully but enough to get by (slide by). Next year I do not know what I will do, how I will survivor, or what new things I will have to learn to do. I am so thankful for these many challenges. Through all the craziness, crying, and insanity I love my little Griner family. I love being a mom and I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to be Aubrey, Caleb, Ainsley, and Tate's mom!

Congrats to Steffaney who is officially in Belgium!!
Happy 24th Birthday to my brothers Seth/Spencer....we are the same age for the next month!
Congrats to Spencer and Kristen!!!

Also, Dear little sister of mine-
You may have noticed that I am wearing your sweats in the youtube videos Andy posted of the kids. I admit it with honesty. I have every intention of mailing them back to you but for now I am holding them hostage until you mail me MY COAT!!!!!!

'TILL WE MEET AGAIN!