Sara Grizwald

So yesterday, I decided to put up our Christmas lights outside. Perfect weather, couldn't chance another day.
I knew, marrying Adam a mere 9 years ago, Christmas lights on the house was a no-go. (you can back that story up with ferris wheel story back in September).
I'm good with that. I'm not afraid of a few strands of lights and a plug.
Well...
This year, I decided our puny bushes were big enough for lights. So I decked them out. It is kind of like drugs, those Christmas lights, you just can't hang enough.
After a few run ins with 'male and female parts' of the electrical genre', I figured it out.
While it is no match for Chevy Chase...I did channel him, just a little!

Deck the halls!
~chat soon!

laaaaaazy!

wow. it's been a lazy day.
after an action packed several days, we declared it a LAZY DAY!
thanksgiving was wonderful, even got to see snow.
no black friday shopping-just not my thing.
i always want to try it, and then realize i am good at nothing at 4am.
not even shopping!
i have minimal pictures from thanksgiving. i'll post the few i have soon.
kate woke up not as early as usual which i was thankful for, but i could tell something was a miss. she blessed us by hurling in the toilet this morning.
so yeah.
like i said.
lazy! :)
~chat soon!

Thursday

Norman Rockwell

Hoping your Thanksgiving is picture perfect!

~chat soon!

Gratitude

NOTE , ABOVE, WHAT I AM THANKFUL FOR...

I found this awesome project on JOYS HOPE which then lead me to Miss Jessica. (it was $1.00ish the day I got it-SCORE!) I was a few days late getting it all set up, but it has turned out to be so much fun. We have to sit and ask ourselves each night/morning what we are grateful for. It's been a process teaching the girls what we are truly grateful for, and not what they *think* we should be giving thanks for. A process well learned and hopefully remembered for years to come.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

~Chat soon!

p.s. happy birthday to sweet aunt linda and baptismal birthday to kate! :)

turkey for me, turkey for you

it's not Thanksgiving without a quirky craft that includes little girls hands, feet, and googly eyes!

lovin' the leaves...

to-do.

What I hope to do today...
leaf jumping
paper turkey making
laundry
cleaning closets
laughing
cooking a yummy dinner
enjoying my family
reading to the girls


hope your to do list makes you smile too!
~Chat soon

Boxes

We filled our Operation Christmas Child boxes over the weekend. It is such an awesome thing to do. CCLS did it as their December service project. Our family did is last year just as our 'service project'. The girls really enjoyed picking out the stuff for the boxes and packing it up. Kate was very active in the process as well, but she was 3/4 naked through the project so I refrained from putting those pictures on here. ;)

~chat soon!

mom's birthday.

my momma actually celebrated her birthday september, 20.
adam, the girls, and i gave her tickets to see South Pacific at the Fox Theater!
i was so looking forward to it. i love theater, i love The Fox, i love my mom, what more could a gal ask for?

we had GREAT seats, and saw an AMAZING show.
something about sitting for almost 3 hours in a fantasy world of the show and a beautiful theater that just rejuvenates a person!

~chat soon!

Good morning!

i am hearing less crickets today. ;)
isn't the picture above darling? i can say that, i didn't take it.
sweet michelle did.
she took LOTS, they are ALL my favorite, but today, this one is the BEST.
i think i'm going to have it blown up BIG.
it's a type of picture that i LOVE.
*wow, lots of rambling there...*

it's cold today. i'm getting ready to make homemade chicken noodle soup and head to my dear friend Julie's house today. adam is hunting, julie's, jeremy is working, our kids miss each other. it's perfect! we are planning on eating soup, drinking diet coke and talking...all.day.long. WOO HOO!

happy saturday. i think it will be a good one! :)

hearing crickets...

this week i have had NOTHING to blog about.
everytime i thought of something, i would hear crickets chirping.
NOTHING.
it was a calm week, comparably speaking.
i'm getting VERY excited about the holidays.
some shopping accomplished, cards being signed, projects being started...
i could just SQUEAL.
but other then that,
i hear crickets!

~chat soon.

Uganda

Our church, and Anne's school has been working hard to build a school in Uganda. It started out as a 'dream' last year and through the children at CCLS, offerings, service projects, the school in Uganda has been built.

For the past week a group of people from church, and the other churches associated with CCLS have gone to check out the new school and watch its dedication.
Weeks prior, the students here collected things to be sent to Uganda. (silly bands, finger nail polish, hygiene supplies, Bibles, money for vaccines etc.) Each week we walked in with our bag full of things to donate. It was amazing the amount that the children collected to be sent to the school.

Adam provided 'uniform' shirts for the students and staff in Uganda and sent other apparel items that weren't needed here. He has been faithfully following the mission team blogs during their journey and has been visibly touched by their work. We have mentioned we wish we were braver/in a different time in our life, to be able to do work like that.

Here are some of the links to the blogs and pictures of the mission team. Feel free to peruse them. It is quite inspirational.
Pictures of the trip.Jonathan's blog (the middle school principal)
Dr. Killians blog (one of our fellow church members who is a pediatrician)
All the info and link about the trip...

snappin' away.

I had the opportunity to take pictures of two wonderful families the last few weeks.
As most of you know, I LOVE MY CAMERA, I LOVE TAKING PICTURES, I would LOVE to do it for real someday...but for now, I'll just play. :)
Julie & Barb thanks for being patient with me and letting me pursue my hobby on your children! :)
~chat soon

wow.

So the previous post was written on Tuesday.

I was so happy to see Wednesday coming.

We all went back to our normal routine.

School, work, meetings. Normal.

Wednesday evening descends.

I got home later then usual due to a meeting.

Anne is curled up on the couch, glassy eyed and red cheeked.
Adam mentions, 'I don't think she is feeling real great.'

Temperature check-101.3

NICE!

Temperature rises to 103 before night ends.

Doctor Thursday.

Anne has Bronchitus.

Hello Friday, I'm glad you're here.

Hoping for a weekend filled of nothing but movies and laundry! :)

Hello, Wednesday!

Monday evening...

Tuesday early morning...


Tuesday, mid morning...
Tuesday evening....

So, Monday & Tuesday were not so hot in our house...
Monday was tough at work. Lots of kids not wanting to be awake after their candy stoup-er....my own kids had attitudes, just too much going on over the weekend. YUCK.
We all made it through the day.
I left work.
Headed to CCLS to pick up Anne from after school care.
Excited to hear about Anne's day.
Greeted by a very anxious Miss Mary who told me 'Anne hurt her arm'.
I waltzed into the room to see Anne burst into tears upon my arrival.
She was holding the underside of her arm in the tell-all way that it was h.u.r.t.
I assured her she would be okay, sluffed off the teachers worry, and left.
I called Adam to give him a heads up. I was beginning to wonder what the outcome would be, she was crying at every bump in the road, wouldn't come into Debbie's house to pick up Kate, and eventually fell asleep.
We got home. Adam took one look at her wrist and said, 'welp, you taking her or am I?'
I was confused, room got fuzzy, I came back to reality, tightened my belt and we left for Urgent Care.
About 1.5 hours later, we arrived back home with a daughter who had a forearm fracture.
She was suited up in a splint thing, and told to keep her comfy until the ortho appointment could be set for the next day. Tuesday arrived, got a 3pm appointment, Anne picked out a beautiful HOT PINK cast and we are on the road to healing!
We have survived yet another first. Anne is the toughest 5 year old I know. She only cried real tears when the radiologist turned her arm the wrong way, (he almost cried when I grabbed his arm and said HER ARM IS BROKE, SHE CAN'T MOVE IT!)
A side note, she was so brave I told her we would swing through McDonald's drive thru to grab an ice cream.
We pull into McDonald's the drive through is under construction=closed. The ice cream machine is broken! I asked if the Happy Meal I was now ordering could come in one of those Halloween buckets they were handing out the weeks before, oops! nope, sent them all away in the morning. This chick almost cried in the Ronald McDonald collection container! :( What a mess!
So, as the title states. HELLO WEDNESDAY! Good to see YOU! :)

Thanks to everyone that called, brought something by, or laughed at the stories. We appreciate you all! :)
~chat soon!

It's Tuesday...

Have you VOTED?
Don't forget!
~chat soon

she turned 3.

could very well be my favorite picture of all time...


the proof that the girls had been to the cake prior to the cake cutting! ;)


katherine concentrating so hard on the perfect THREE!



right before our very eyes, she did it.
she turned 3.
i have never seen a prouder three year old.
we had a very small, grandparent and parent only party this weekend.
i felt bad, suddenly i remembered, i didn't even get her balloons.
kate is so laid back, she could have cared less.
here are a few of my favorite photos from the evening.
~chat soon!