Curious George

We rented the Curious George movie this week.  Joshua loves George.  He could watch George all day long, over and over if I let him. 

 I have to admit, that monkey is really cute.  Especially since George reminds me of:

Joshua

Yes, I can definitely see a resemblance!

Same big brown eyes, tiny nose, adorable dimple grin, but most especially the curiosity and knack of getting into trouble!

When I was pregnant with Joshua I used to tease my older kids that we were going to name their baby brother George.  Of course we didn't, but little did I know that the creators of Curious George (way back in 1941) modeled that little monkey after my own 3-year old!  

Visiting Dad

I took my kids to visit my Dad last week.  All my sisters were there too.
Here are some of the pictures my sister, Lori, took of us.

Dad with my sweet boys. (my boys desperately needed a haircut)

Dad with my silly girls. (or should I say my silly Dad with my girls?)

Great picture of Dad and Miss Olivia.

Me, Dad, and my sister Michele and all my kids!

Miriam had her picture taken with everyone with her like this:  

mouth open, tongue out, and arms flying.

Me and my Dad.  

This last photo was taken the day of Mom's funeral.  It is My dad with his five daughters.

ABC Macaroni Boogers

Joshua is learning his ABC's. He usually gets A,B,C,D,E,F,G correct, and then it is all over the place after that. Sometimes I think the ABC's will never end as he repeats H, I, J about a hundred times and adds in the rest of the letters randomly.

For some reason, he started adding the phrase, "macaroni boogers" in the middle of it all. I don't know where he even heard it. Of course the laughter and attention he gets when he says it only encourages him to say "macaroni boogers" more often.

Mom

I have put off making this entry because I don't quite know what to write.

My mother passed away on January 22nd.  

I miss you, Mom.  We will see each other again some day.

The following is a slideshow my uncle put together about my Mom:

or watch it on youtube here.

Finally! Updates!

Yes, I finally updated my blog after a long break since Halloween.

Busy doesn't begin to describe what the last two months have felt like.

So, have fun looking through the pictures...
...there are a lot of them!

New Years Eve Fun

On New Years Eve we have a tradition of taking the kids somewhere we would normally not get to go.  Grandma and Grandpa Griffith send us money to use on the kids and so we give them an experience as a family.  This year we went to a place called Hollywood connection.  They had rides, roller skating, arcade games, and food.  They have a movie theater too, but we didn't see a movie.

This is Joshua on his favorite carousel "horse."  He could ride the carousel all day long if we let him.

Adam loved riding too.  In this picture, Joshua is telling me, "Mom, I'm holding on, I won't fall off!"

The girls even enjoyed it, but just couldn't ride as long as the boys. The ran back and forth between the dragon roller coaster and the carousel.

I took Olivia for one ride on the bench seat on the carousel.  She loved sitting there - until it started moving around and around.  Then she climbed into my lap and buried her head into my neck until it stopped.  She didn't scream, but she didn't like it either.  She much preferred watching and waving at her siblings riding the rides.

Here we are eating lunch in the small restaurant.  The kids all had nuggets and french fries.  Olivia thought we were having fruit punch for lunch, because she figured out how to suck through a straw.  (Miriam took the picture.)

After lunch, we tried roller skating.  Miriam was terrified at first and hung onto the wall and her mother - tightly.  But after a few laps around the rink, she relaxed and did much better.

Emily was proud to skate without holding on to anything.  It's a picture though, so she held on to hold still.

In the game area, Joshua loved this game of stomping on the lights.  He wanted to play it over and over.  He is really good at it too, if he isn't distracted by brothers and sisters who stomp the light before he gets to it.  Watch out for your fingers, Olivia!

And now... Adam's favorite ride of all time!

The Dragon Roller coaster.

Adam rode as often as he could get someone to go with him.  That meant once with Mom, and about 6 times with Dad, and countless times with his sisters.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Griffith!