Mommy Likes

It is official. I have the coolest phone on the planet! On our Spring Break trip I used it so much more than I really ever thought I would. I love my DSLR. I love beautiful pictures. I love to push myself with composition, but not all the time. I have never had a digital point and shoot. Now I do! I downloaded this crazy cool photography app (Instagram) and it has some pretty cool options. I did the editing of all the photos below on my phone.  Who would have ever thought you would have so much available in the palm of your hand.

Oh the serenity. 

Driving from my mother-in-law's to Gatlinburg. This is somewhere in between. 

Ainzli had an assignment this week that required her to measure parts of her body. Nose, ears, arm, legs, etc. Her foot is 8.25 inches and mine is 9.5. Oh how time is flying. 

Sisters. I think so! 

Physically they are similar. Personality they could not be more different. 

Fun, Fun, Fun!

We here at the Grismore abode love us some Birkenstocks. Got these at the Birkenstock store on sale. Last years models. Score!

Thank you for the awesome time we always have with you Grammy and D :)

Oh my goodness. Ainzli loves her iPod. The day we went to Rock City she snapped 400 pictures. 

Mommy's sunglasses and a berry smoothie. 

The Boo really enjoys ice cream. It makes me laugh, but she may just be a connoisseur! 

She is letting her bangs grow out. It can be a very hard thing to do, she does not always want me to pull them back. We are working on it. Wish me luck! 

Hope you enjoy your first day of April :)

Autumn

Crazy Cousins

Above is my first (posted) iPhone Photo. :)

I have officially been an iPhone owner for a week now, and I love it. I had a "smartphone" a few years ago and let me tell you that thing was not all that smart (there is just no way possible it was the user :).
Honestly, I cannot believe it is mine. It is amazingly user friendly and I was able to sync everything I need all by myself. I am not a techie, so that is a large feat for me.  I have been able to do so many things that just were not possible before.  Being able to answer my emails is worth it's weight in gold! Freedom with the iPhone. Thank you Apple for another amazing product!

Got to spend the weekend with the nephew and niece. All I can say it that you never know what will happen or what will be said. The kids played, danced, colored and bickered; you know all the things cousins do. They all have rain boots now, I love them! Avelyn didn't wear hers, she loves her sparkly Chucks. Those were a gift from Uncle Shannon. He always has known how to buy a pair of shoes for a girl.

This is Avelyn. Otherwise known as "Baby Girl". She is so lovable when she is tired and I forgot how much I have missed a little one holding their arms up to me too be held.

She is working on potty training. She just turned 2 in December, so no big rush. She was having lunch at the bar in the kitchen. She wanted to just wear panties, so I thought "why not". She announces during the meal "I'm peeing" with a big smile on her face. Well ok, no more panties, how about a pull-up? "Ok" she says. She is a matter-of-fact kid, no punches pulled with this little lady.

This is the last of our babies. I think of it and I feel a little sad. Who would have thought that the next babies in the family would be OUR grandkids! Oh my gosh, I think I just might have thrown up in my mouth a little!

Had an absolutely wonderful weekend and am now looking forward to the next big thing: Spring Break!
Woohoo, it is only a week and a half away.

Autumn :)

Full Of............F

February was full of many things for me. In the short amount of days that it provides, the vast range of activities were so enjoyable.

I relish time with Friends. I so enjoy adult conversation. When you spend an evening with a girlfriend that you lose track of time with, that is truly poetic.

I just plain had Fun this month. A snow fort. The frozen landscape. Hooping it up with my daughter. Cruising a new car showroom. Pondering a new dog. Country cruising. Painting way too much!

Trying new Food. We broadened the palettes of the Grismore's this month. Somethings were a hit, the guacamole and gnocchi. Somethings were a bust; steel ground oatmeal.

The new iPhone Four. All I can say is holy Sugar Honey Iced Tea! Never thought in a million years I would have one of these things, but wow is it a-we-some.

What more can I say, Family. We pretty much have this category wrapped up! We do all that we can together, and are full of love. I am more blessed than what I should be and am so thankful.

Autumn :)

The Long Way Home

Yesterday, when the girls and I left the office, I decided we would take the long way home. On a regular day, taking the highway, it is a 10 minute drive. Ours was 45 minutes. What a country cruise (and not the kind of country cruising from high school)!

The third seat was down, so I let the girls just play and ride in the back, we drove slow, and I told them to be on the look out for cool things to take pictures of.

We were coming up on the end of our country tour, just passing Garfield's house, cresting this small hill, and low and behold hanging out on the road was this little guy. I love the look of a bassett hound. They look so dopey and lovable. We stopped and he walked right up to the Loser Cruiser. I was talking to him in my "animal" voice. I would have heisted him into Ollie Odyssey if he would not have been in front of his house. No joke, ask my husband how many random animals I have brought home.

We were not in front of their house for long. Long enough to snap 2 pictures and have "animal" voice conversation. Apparently he did not want us to leave. He followed us over the hill, just as far as his short little legs would take him. Ainzli was a little worried he might get hit or lost. I told her not to worry, he wouldn't go too far. He did eventually give up and turn around.

Here's to man's best friend and his relentless pursuit of us.

Autumn

-1 + 65

64 degrees, the high for yesterday. Today, not quite as high, but still awesome. I know this sounds really sad, but I slotted out 25 minutes to play basketball with Ainzli yesterday. Things have been a little crazy lately, just to say the least. So the fact that I even have to mention penciling my child in makes my head hurt. But we enjoyed it immensely, got our heart rates up, and I totally smashed her on the court. (That was supposed to be funny, hope your laughing now!).

Shannon is in the process of painting and doing a little updating to the "boys" bathroom. Yeah!!!!! We only have one boy (man, love you Shannon) in the house, but we have a boys bathroom (hum?).

This bathroom is just off the laundry/home office/mudroom, so things are a disaster around the Grismore abode. There is so much dirty laundry you could seriously misplace a small child. Where, where do all these dirty clothes come from? I know I don't wear them all, but those girls! I am pretty sure they pull something out of the drawer, look at it, decide no, then it lands on the floor. We have been working on this little "bad" habit, and they are doing better thank goodness. Sorry for the laundry tangent, but our housekeeper is fired!

Open Window View
The rose is from a co-worker. The bud vase is an old McCormicks grinder jar. The Dixie cup has Viola starts in it. The index card has an untried new recipe on it.
The beauty of it all: the Open Window 

So in all of the chaos that insumes my life regularly, the weather yesterday was a blessed gift. I was standing at the sink (not doing dishes, by the way, literally just standing there thinking off into space). I opened the window, a flock of honking geese went cruising by, the air was crisp and wonderful to just drink in.

2 minutes of peace.

Autumn:)

O

Oh my goodness, I just smile whenever I see this little man. Meet Oliver.............. he is my sister's son and has too much Acton in him. I have been talking about him a lot lately, and I needed a picture of him here.

I don't know how often you look back through older pictures, but I do not do it very often. So I was browsing and ran across this one, and I smiled so much that I just wanted to be able to squeeze him! He lives too far away to do that, so this little post will have to do. This picture is at least a year old and I have better ones of him (not that this one isn't good. Probably not the one my sister would like for me to put up, but I LOVE it.). He is funny, he goes a hundred miles an hour (he will tell you "I go hu-nerd miles an hour"), and he uses the word "hers" all the time (whoever is the one to correct this small grammatical error will have to deal with me in a royal way).

Above he is pictured playing at our house with too many girl things and loving it. This is his tribute to another male beauty, Lenny Kravitz!

Have an absolutely wonderful weekend!

Autumn:)

If For Just An Hour

Above is a photo by Ms. Blue. Today was one of the days, that although very filled with running around and in and out of the Loser Cruiser numerous times, I am going to miss so very, very, very (yes I could keep going), much. For about an hour this afternoon she and I enjoyed our one on one. Minus any interruptions. (Is the camera an interruption? ha!)
We were chatting, playing little games, watching cars go by, and enjoying the camera. She was really interested in the camera. Normally she could care less, but today she wanted to take a couple. I will take a couple, normally she doesn't want to do any of it.

I am excited, I think I finally found another pair of aviators that might replace these! We'll see, I have had these for 2 years, and the tortoise shell coating is peeled off half way up the ear arm (the part that goes over your ear, I'm not real sure what the official name is).................. Shannon just looked it up for me, the "temple arm". Just a bit of useless knowledge, at least for me!

If you want to have a very good lunch in the downtown area, you have got to try Two Johnny's. Yummy!

Bring on Friday..........

Autumn :)