WOOOMFFAA!!!

I heard the above noise this afternoon, coming from our bedroom. The kids were all suppose to be asleep so it took me a minute to give it a name. Baby R sleeps in a playpen in our room. We have a neat playpen that has a bassinet on the top. She has been pulling up on stuff lately but not enough that I was worried that she'd try and stand up in her bassinet. Well. She did stand up holding on to the edge of the playpen. The WOOOOMFFAAA was her hitting the floor. She didn't even cry. When I ran in and looked her over before picking her up she just gave me a little "ha ha" giggle and smiled at me. She was fine. Needless to say Momma spent a bit of the afternoon taking the bassinet out of the playpen and cleaning out the bottom so she could be in the whole playpen instead of just the top. Crazy kid. Believe it or not she is my 1st child to get out of a playpen. LOL. Ever. And she's only almost 9 months. My heart wonders what else this 4th child will teach me. I find it amazing that each child is so different and each one comes with their own personality, troubles, and strange habits. E for example is a daredevil. This sweet, 20 lb, 2 year old who looks like she should be dainty and feminine totally enjoys climbing way above her head, getting thrown into water and couches, getting swung around hanging upside down, and a number of other bizarre things the boys never did like. She LOVES it. I wonder what Baby R will do next. Kids are so much fun... they sure keep you wondering and praying.

Day out; Christmas Shopping and Date.

Papa and I fled the nest the other day. We try and do this atleast 2 times a year. We left the 3 oldest children with a friend, her husband came after work to milk the cow and tell the kids hunting stories, who babysat them in our home and took off to the city for the day. 12 hours later we returned triumphant. All the Christmas shopping is done for the children except the stockings which I will probably do later by myself. Papa got new boot liners, that nasty rat ate his other ones and we both got new gloves, we picked up 5 new movies; The Borne Trilogy, X-men and something called Get Smart Again?? (which Papa picked out and will not tell me about.) Papa got a headlamp for work, he needs hands off light for working under trucks. This light has come in very handy at home as well as it enables him to work outside after dark, about 5pm.

We started a new Griggs Tradition last year, making a Gingerbread house with the children, so we picked up a massive Gingerbread house kit. With 5 pairs of hands it tends to go quickly and we thought the more square inches the better. I put the box where the kids could see it and then sat back and watched their reactions. They were in awe!! LOL. All 3 of them on the floor staring at it. So I grabbed my camera. One year in the future, when the kids are old enough to really build, we plan on forgoing the kit and using graham crackers and making a village.

Papa and I took Baby R with us and she was wonderful all day. We went out to eat at our 'once a year' spot and she sat happily in her car seat and ate bread and crackers while we feasted on Seafood. Scallops and Bacon (Papa's), Crab and shrimp stuffed mushrooms (mine), Seafood linguine(Papa's), and my Seafood mixed grill!!! YUM!!! We almost never order something we can make better at home. So we almost always go for seafood. We can make seafood at home but we do it very rarely as it is pricey. But, for instants, we have only ordered steak 2 times in our marriage that I can think of. And both times it was me and both times was for a Christmas Party where the boss pays the bill and it came with a TON of seafood:):) It was a wonderful meal and a wonderful day. We arrived home late, tired and just about DONE our Christmas to buy list.

The kids had a great time with B&B and talked about it and made momma and Papa moose calls for days afterward. We have been offered a babysitter for the day again and I'm hoping we will go again later in the year and have another day out on the town.