Journey...with the Gribbles

Ty's first day of Kindergarten

2009-08-24T17:27:00.005-05:00

To summarize, his teacher's name is Mrs. Kopycinski (Ms. K), they have less than 20 kids in the class and the school is fantastic. Ty's description of his day:

"It was OK, I mean, GREAT!"
"We practiced a lot off stuff today." (They learned how to buy food at the cafeteria with their "number".) "We learned how to go home from the gym."
"We ate lunch in the cafeteria!"
"All the teachers are really nice!"
"We didn't get to go on the playground." :(
"Tomorrow is science day!"
"We only had one kid who cried."
"Why do you want to keep talking about my day?"

And that was the end of our conversation about the day at school!

See this link to Jennifer's personal blog perspective:
http://jenngribble.wordpress.com

All is back to normal here...Ty's watching animal shows, wearing his Star Wars shirt and playing with Lincoln Logs and Star Wars figurines. Life goes on...

Pomp and Circumstance

2009-06-12T13:25:00.007-05:00

Congratulations to Jennifer's baby sister, Lee Blackmon, for graduating from high school last month! We are so proud of her and wish her well in all her future endeavors. Next stop for her is at the University of North Texas! Love you, Aunt Lee!

Best story from the weekend was Jennifer flying home standby with the kiddos...we were running a little late to the airport (well, VERY late, actually) and we were going through security. They were bored, evidently, and decided to get cute and tell us that they needed to re-scan the kids loveys (stuffed animals). Jennifer looked at them and quickly snapped "No time for that, we have a flight that leaves in 12 minutes!" She threw Lily in the stroller, told Ty there was no time for him to put on his shoes and raced to the gate. We made it, just in time! It was like the Amazing Race, family edition.

We heart California

2009-05-18T12:11:00.007-05:00

Ok, so our posts are generally about the kids but this time, we'll be a little selfish and talk about our recent vacation to Northern California to Wine Country and San Francisco. This is our 2nd trip there...our first was for our 10 year anniversary 1 1/2 years ago. We were lucky to travel with friends Catrice and Nathan this time (SO much more fun with others to share it with!) and to celebrate Jennifer's 36th birthday while there. Woo-hoo!

Yes, we like to taste wine, that is one of the reasons we go, but much more interesting than the wine is the STORY behind the wine. Talking to the winemakers, asking what makes them special, different, etc. We love discovering new (to us) wineries and have enjoyed every time we have been there. Here's some of our favorites from this trip:
Benziger, Buehler, Hanna, Merry Edwards, Hartford, Sebastiani

Then it was off to San Francisco for two nights and we fell in LOVE with that town! It reminds us of New York but more "manageable". :) We did Chinatown, biked across the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, Ghiradelli Square, Lombard Street and rode the Cable Car a few times. From the public transportation, to restaurants, to the shops we really liked the people...very friendly and helpful everywhere we went. You know you had a good time when you are sad to leave.

Thanks for listening...enjoy the photos. More vacation shots will be posted on the photo site soon. Stay tuned!

Sink or swim

2009-02-16T17:30:00.007-06:00

Lily turned 2 1/2 years in February which means that she can officially start swim lessons on her own at Houston Swim Club. For us, it's not about creating another activity for the children to do. They are so young and busy enough with church and school that we don't add to our schedule unless it's important. Since we have a pool, it's not really a choice whether our kids learn to swim. It's just a matter of safety!

Lily and mama took "Mommy and Me" swim classes last year when Ty was in school and she had the day off. We learned that she was SO different than Ty (not that big of a surprise, I guess). She was eager to do anything, so brave but also had no skill in swimming or floating...dangerous combination!!

So, Lily started swim lessons last month. The first two weeks are daily lessons so they can really teach them the basics in a short time period. She is modeling her new swimsuit in the photo before her first lesson.

Ty had his lesson at the same time. We included a photo of both of them in the pool at the same time. That is Lily floating and Ty splashing in the pool from the slide. How fun to watch them both at the same time.

2009-02-13T12:26:00.007-06:00

This is embarassingly late to be posted...oh well. January flew by. I guess when you total your car, have to buy a new one in a week, get a new job, and all that jazz it gets busy.

Attached are a few of our favorite wedding photos of the kids. They were so ADORABLE and aren't Jacque and David just beaming? We were honored to be a part of their special day and were especially proud of how well behaved Ty and Lily were.

Favorite memories from the wedding, in no particular order...

Lily dancing, dancing, dancing
Ninja Turtle Grooms Cakes!
"All the Single Ladies" by Beyonce (or Sasha Fierce?)
Jennifer eating reception leftovers at 2:30 a.m. at home
Ty in his Batman costume at the reception
"Low" by Flo Rida
The Anniversary Dance with all the married couples
Sparklers!!
"I am one classy lady!"
Jacque's big sob right before she walked down the aisle
True love...

:)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

2008-12-16T16:11:00.007-06:00

It SNOWED here last week!!!! Woo-hoo! I love snow and it was so fun to play in it with the kids. They were not as excited as I was because it was so COLD but we had a good time. No big accumulation and it did all melt by morning in our neck of the woods, but there were places in Houston that got 4 inches!

I have included photos...don't make fun of my definition of snow. It has been 4 years since we have seen snow here!

Humpty Dumpty

2008-11-25T16:54:00.004-06:00

We had our first "emergency" with Ty the other day. He was running around the house to the front door to ring the door bell while I went through the house to answer the door. When I opened the door, Ty was crying with blood dripping down his forehead. Yikes!

Evidently he tripped on the front doorstep and land head-first on our "exposed aggregate" (engineer speak for pebble-y and rough) front porch. Poor little guy. I laid him down and applied pressure to try to stop the bleeding. Lily was crying because Ty was crying so I decided someone had to be calm and in control (even if I had to fake it!). I sent Mark a picture with my phone so he could "see" it from his office. It was small but deep and as head wounds are known to do, it was bleeding a lot. Mark and his engineering buddies decided it would be best if a doctor looked at it, although one of them thought it would be cool for Ty to go to Kindergarten with a scar next year!

I continued to apply pressure to his wound and after 90 minutes I had to agree that we need a professional to help. We sent Lily to stay with our amazing friends, the Kutz family, and headed to St. Michael's Emergency Clinic. We had a great experience there...Ty got a popsicle and lots of TLC. The doctor used Dermabond to glue it together (it's just like super glue, really!) instead of stitches, thank goodnees. We've included some pics from his little adventure.

I did want to share a few comments on my Facebook posting of the picture of Ty's wound from some very funny friends and family:

From Holly Moore: "Awww, man! Falling -- not fun. But gluing your head back together? AWESOME!"

From Ty's Uncle Chris: "Chicks dig scars. When he's older he can make up some story about rock climbing. "

P.S. The doctor confirmed he is healing well. It's just going to take a little time for a gash like that to really go away. Hopefully he'll be looking good in time for his Aunt Jacque's wedding photos in 5 weeks!

Halloween Pictures 2008

2008-11-07T13:22:00.005-06:00

Enjoy the Halloween Pumpkin and Trick or Treating Pics!

Moms do a lot of folding

2008-11-03T00:54:00.004-06:00

Ty was listening while I talked on the phone today to a friend who was missing her mom who had passed away. When I hung up the phone, Ty asked why she was sad. I talked a little bit about death and how it makes people sad and then I asked him if he would be sad if I died. He thought for a second and said, "No."

Stunned, I asked him why he would not. He answered, "Because I would still have Daddy."

Well, of course, that makes perfect sense. I then asked him if he thought Daddy would be sad without me. He responded, "Well, Daddy would be sad because he wouldn't have a wife anymore, but Daddy would have me. I can help him with all the things that you do."

Mama: "Well, what would you help Daddy with?"

Ty: "I could help with the folding. You fold a lot of things."

I will sleep better tonight knowing that if something happened to me, Mark would be OK since Ty would handle the folding. Ahh...the innocence. :)

Out of the mouths of babes!

2008-11-03T00:37:00.004-06:00

Ty and Lily woke up super early this morning due to Daylight Savings so we flipped on the TV in our room to whatever was playing on CBS that seemed appropriate for kids. We usually watch Noggin or PBS which don't have commercials. Ty was fascinated with the kid oriented TV commercials since he doesn't seem them very much. One of the things they were trying to sell was a Mommy and Me DVD that can be used in playgroups...it has music, games, activities, etc. So Ty turns to me and says, "Mommy you can stay home with me and we can have the 'Mommy and Me Experience' all day long!" I quickly reminded him that would mean that he would have to stay home from school and we all agreed that we had plenty of the "Mommy and Me Experience" everyday after school!

Seriously, word for word, the "Mommy and Me Experience"? Kids are total sponges...

Ty even used the word FEIGN today. He told us that Lily was feigning something. I thought he said FAINT so I asked him what it meant...impressed that he knew what fainting was. He said "No, FEIGN, like pretending to be something that you're not". Really, feign? I don't use that word on a regular (or even infrequent) basis. Wow.

He continues to amaze me on a daily basis. This parenting thing is pretty awesome some days. Watching them grow and learn and absorb it all...it's fascinating and oh so rewarding! I am going to put on my "I love parenting" shirt now...

Halloween Costume Pics 2008

2008-10-24T13:14:00.015-05:00

So, the kids had Halloween Costume pictures taken this week. It was SO much fun to do. Here's a few of the shots that we got at the studio. Ty was really disappointed that I did not buy the shot of him kissing Lily. He looked at me and said "But that was my FAVORITE one!!!" So I wanted to make sure everyone got to see it.

Lily could not be more excited to be "Lily Cinderella". She's been practicing since she got the costume for her birthday in August. She is SUCH a princess!!! She keeps asking where her crown is. The search for glass slippers that she can actually walk in has proven to be a challenge. But, we have one more week so something could surface!

Ty was geeked to get his Buzz Lightyear costume in the mail last week. He immediately had to put it on (of course!) and within minutes he was sweating like crazy. There is NO ventilation in the plastic material...poor guy. It reminds us of the fleece cow costume we put him in two years ago! We think he's going to sweat off 5 pounds that evening. Let's hope it's cool outside for trick or treating (yeah, right...we do live in Houston!). Ty's favorite part is using the "buttons" on the costume to zap us.

More pics to follow after Halloween night. Love to all! :)

Some days, I love the age of 4!

2008-10-14T17:12:00.002-05:00

So, I had to share this short little story...

Mark is out of town for a business trip for a few days. On Sunday night, he was giving the kids extra hugs, love and attention before bed so he could "stock up". Mark told Ty that he was the man of the house and that he had to take care of Mama. Ty asked "What do I need to do?" and I responded "I am going to need lots of Daddy hugs." Ty asked Mark to give him all the hugs so he could keep them for me...and that's when the hug-fest started. :)

Ty then looked up and said "Where am I going to keep all the hugs???" and I suggested "Why don't you keep them in your heart?" To which Ty responded, "That's great, it's right next to my imagination and I ALWAYS have that with me!!"

Adorable. Freakin' adorable. Yeah, I know, I am biased. Sue me. :)

Ty's first soccer team, the Knights!

2008-10-13T16:57:00.011-05:00

[Sorry, I set this up months ago and haven't even told anyone to look at it. Sorry...clearly I am not keeping up with posts so I promise to do better! Hurricane Ike got in the way of a lot of things in our life...]

So, Ty has started with his first sports team this fall. We are playing soccer at the local YMCA. I am attaching a few pictures for you to enjoy. Ty is probably the youngest kid on his team and is playing with some much bigger and more athletic 5 year olds. This has been frustrating for him and many tears have been shed on the soccer field. Ty enjoys practice much more than games...especially when he has to play goalie! But, we know this is a learning experience for him and we are encouraging him to keep a smile on his face and keep trying.

Since Mark and I don't have an athletic bone in our bodies, it is hard because we know he's not naturally an athlete. But, Ty REALLY wanted to play soccer and be a part of a team so we are giving him that experience with all the good and bad that comes with it. (Yes, that is a picture of him scratching his rear end DURING a game...)

We'll keep you posted...3 games down and 5 to go! Go Knights! FYI, Lily is going to dress up as their mascot for the last game, if it ever cools down enough. :)

Pictures at Blue Bell - Gig 'em Ags!

2008-08-27T16:21:00.010-05:00

Here are a few recent pictures we thought you would enjoy. We went to Blue Bell Creamery with the Kutz family up in Brenham during our "Hurri-cation" (that's what you call the week off of school after Hurricane Ike). Also included is a picture of our typical Saturday gameday attire. Gig 'em Aggies!

This is a test, this is only a test...

2008-08-27T16:13:00.004-05:00

So, I have decided to get with it and finally create our family blog. I read only a few blogs so I really haven't a clue of what I am doing, but I know that people want to see pictures of the kids more often (grandparents, this is for you!) and we want to have some record of our kids' adventures growing up since we are not journal keepers. So, read, enjoy, laugh and join us in our life journey.

FYI, we will still keep pictures posted on our other sites. They are:

http://gallery.mac.com/gribbles
http://web.mac.com/gribbles