Addie and the Ballet

Addie and I attended the Russian Ballet Co. version of the Nutcracker last weekend. It was fun to get all dressed up and to see the new renovation of the Tennessee Theatre! It is so sad that it took this long for me to see it.....hasn't it been done for awhile? Addie's best friend Rees and her mom Angela were so sweet to invite us to tag along. Addie had the best time and it was so cute to see her sitting in that theatre seat. She sat right on the edge, her dress all pretty, and clapped her hands as if on cue. It reminded me that I should do things like this more often...... Here's a pic of Addie and Rees!
Rees with her mom Angela!
Addie and Mommy......
Another pic of the girls......this is all I have. The theatre nazi was quick to remind me that there is no flash photography or video inside the theatre! Whatever. Why spend all that money renovating and then not let people take pictures??? Doesn't matter anyway....I didn't want pictures of the building, but of our beautiful girls!!!!!

Grandparents Day at CAK

CAK recently celebrated Grandparent's Day. It was a HUGE success with more than 800 grandparents in attendance for the program! Before the program in the gym, the classes host the grandparents for treats. In Bay's class, the kids did a "Reader's Cafe" and the kids read to their grandparents and then moved around the room reading to all of the other grandparents too. It was such a great idea and really gave the kids a chance to showcase their reading skills!!!!! Papaw and Grammie were both able to attend and here are a few pics of them with the kids!!!

Amusing Goat & Admiring Goose

EEK!! I almost forgot to post pics of the twins Thanksgiving Feast and Grandparents Day. Addie and Asher's class celebrated Thanksgiving with a Feast (turkey, mac n cheese, green beans, etc., etc). They had so much fun dressing up like indians and such. Their teacher (Mrs. Hicks) had the kids make up their own indian names out of their initials. So, I present to you............Amusing Goat and Admiring Goose...........and the rest of the tribe in the bottom pic!

Turkey Take Two

Dad and Channa. Dad, you crack me up....as usual! Love the pose with the hand on the belly!
Aunt Cha Cha and Addie discussing Cha Cha's belly.....
Me and dad......
Too much fun.......this is how we all felt after Thanksgiving lunch. I hope you enjoyed yours too!!!!

Thanksgiving

Apparently I only have time to post about once a month, so scroll around on the blog to make sure you get everything......I'm doing several at one time! Of course everyone knows that Christmas is right around the corner, but did you remember to take time to Thank HIM for all that you have? We are so blessed. Rotten blessed. And this is more apparent when you take the time to look around, look out and really see the people around you. This Thanksgiving we were able to spend a little time with the kids, Papaw and Trish, Cha Cha and Justin, and Grammie. It's a small group, but a Thankful group, and we enjoyed good food, lots of pics, and, of course, good ol' family talk! Cha Cha and I decided to take the opportunity to take pics for Christmas cards and, well, that just seemed to get things going. Here's the result of our little picture time. Sharon, what happened to you?????? We never got your pics with the kids?!?! Oh, and one last little thing..........if you're reading this blog, you should know that I am thankful for you. For You. You have blessed my life in so many ways..............

Me and Jody. Posing. Kind-of funny, but kind-of a good pic. Except..........we ain't 20 anymore. Do you see it? 3 kids and 10 years later. Ya'll, my butt looks BIG. Sigh. Back to the gym. Or, does plaid make you look fat? Maybe that's it :).
Aunt Cha Cha and Uncle Justin........and Tyler James Brillante (Ty). He's in the belly and due to make his debut in February. The excited, and currently well-rested parents.
A good pic of me and my sis (from the waist up, minus baby and big butt). You're welcome Cha Cha, I know you appreciate this too!
The kids with Papaw and Trish. You two really should send this out as a Christmas Card. It is that good.....

See What I Mean.......

OK. So on my last post I was talking about how BIG Bay is getting and how hard it is to get him to smile. That got me thinking that I should post a pic from his 1st Christmas so that you could see what I'm sayin. 30 minutes later.......here ya go. Take a look and see what you think. Wasn't he just the cutest little thing? Just like a jolly little old man with those cheeks and that same sweet hair line. Oh, and don't forget to tell me that I haven't changed a bit.......eek. This pic is when I was still in my 20's. Enjoy!

More Fantasy

Quick pic with Meme.....
Getting ready to ride the teacups!
Mandy and Mahala......
Me with my BIG guy. You can tell he hates getting his picture made now. Like, he doesn't even really know how to smile anymore. Is it not cool to smile? Do football players not smile? What about baseball? Sigh (again)............7 years old! Where has the time gone?

Fantasy of Trees

Unless you've been living in a hole, I'm sure you know that the annual Fantasy of Trees was just held here in K-Town. We Griffin's have made it a tradition to attend with our friends Mandy and Phillip and their 4 kids. Actually, I laugh when I think about this....why in the world do we think it's fun to take 7 kids to Fantasy of Trees? Gah! We are some crazy people, but the kids love it, and so it has become a tradition to go together. Now you know how impossible it is to get good pictures of kids, so cut me some slack on this and just be happy with this little picture (6 out of 7 isn't bad)!!! Bay, Addie, and Asher with Mason, Maverick, and Malachi.....
7 kids do not make for much looking at the decorated trees, but while we were waiting in line for Santa (almost an hour) we wandered a bit and Asher found this tree that he loved. Can you see all of the Hot Wheels???? Here he is showing Mason some of the cool stuff on the tree....
A really sweet moment (really a split second) in time.....Malachi, Asher, and Maverick!
Finally seeing Santa!! Of course you don't get much time with the Big Guy because he has so many people to see, but Bay, Addie, and Asher each took a turn asking for their christmas present and posed for a pic. Sigh. Don't they look so big here?!?! Time is literally passing so quickly that I can't keep up. Why can't we just freeze them? Keep them little and sweet and loving, and even as I am typing this, Addie and Asher are fighting during their dinner and Bay is sliding across the kitchen floor like a baseball player while Addie is doing a handstand. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!