Ants

The kids and I were cleaning up the yard after chicken butchering the other day, picking up feathers and garbage and wandering around the place when I noticed a few of them squatting in a circle looking at the ground. I went over to see what they were looking at, and I'll admit get them focused back on yard clean up. I got closer and I realized that they had found a black ant 'thing.' It wasn't a nest as it was only about 20 ants under a piece of bark but the ants had eggs under the bark and when the kids had lifted the bark the ants had started to 'clean up' and 'hide' the eggs. It was really neat and I joined them in watching the ants as they hurried here and there and slowly disappeared from sight. I looked and looked but it took me several minutes, and over half the eggs, to find out WHERE the ants where taking the ant eggs. It was a hole so tiny the eggs barely fit down it but one by one the ants were methodically finding the hole and taking the egg they carried down the hole to safety. It was really neat to watch. There was no ant overseeing the rest, they just worked together for the good of the hill.

Teamwork is something Papa and I have tried to instill in our children. It's a hard thing to teach. People are by their very nature selfish and it's sometimes hard to catch selfishness if your not looking for it. Selflessness is easier to see I find. I do like to reward my kids for selflessness when I see it just like I do try and show them their selfishness when the need arises. Selfishness can be seen in speech, deed, and attitude. Sometimes all in one horrible swoop. We've found the best way to deal with selfishness in ourselves and our children is to ask 'Is that the way YOU want to be treated??' The answer is almost always no. "Then treat others the way you would like to be treated." A great lesson for us all.

Sleeping Frog~S

Oldest & Youngest: Chore Helper.

J is 9 and Papa has decided that he can stay up later, around until 10:30 and help me with the evening  chores. He fetches this and packs that and makes my job a whole lot easier. 

There are several ways to help Momma with the evening chores.

 Holding and patting a tired baby to sleep is one of them. Bonus: he gets to stay up later, I get to go to bed sooner, he gets to read his book, and I don't have to worry about the baby!!

IHC Fire Truck

Papa got to work on this cool International fire truck. No better place to test drive it then home to see the family!! 

One nice picture.

Tongues! 

Sad faces.

Teeth.

Goofy!

How many kids fit inside??

Well at least 6!!

Though you can only see 5, they are in there.

Momma and Me.

Papa snapped this picture with my ipad a couple of hours after S was born.. 

I love it. 

And I love so very few pictures of me I thought it was worth posting :) 

Family Pictures 2013

The Griggs Kids. 

The Griggs Family! 

S, who screamed almost the whole time.. glad we got at least one good picture of him! :) 

He is 10 days old in these pictures.

Grace at 19 months.

Rose at 5 years old.

Emmaline at 6 years old.

Jesse at 3 years old.

Levi at 8 years old.

Jed at 9 years old.

Josh and Barb. Married 14 years this fall.. loving every minute!! 

Brothers! 

Sisters. 

Thank You SO MUCH Diana at Diana Davis Photography!!

Visitors Part 2! :)

M from our home church family!! I love her smile!! She loves my baby :) 

M is going to be an amazing mom when she grows up!! 

J loves babies too!! 

As does her mom D, a great friend of mine from Oz. 

And little bro N loved to hold him too.. big bro B declined but he did come take a look! 

Neighbor S stopped by for a cuddle.

Grandpa meets S for the first time!! 

Grandma meeting S the night he was born!!

R didn't know about this baby holding idea.. but she soon caught on :) 

J loved to cuddle him too.. Yay for internet friends who become real live friends :) 

C likes holding babies.. honest!! *Husband S tells us 'to take pictures of C holding babies.. '

like it's a rare thing... but I think she likes it!! 

J, B and E came to see him too.. We've really enjoyed getting to know them recently! 

Some friends from down the road.. I love the look on little C's face! 

Mr. M loves little babies and came for a visit! 

A likes holding babies too.. and she's really good at it too!! 

Uncle D and a sleepy S. 

Auntie A enjoying a baby snuggle. 

Uncle K came to take a look see :) 

L cuddled and cuddled him.. he was just the same size as her B and she relived some memories that night! 

R and son W check him out. R was our AMAZING BABY SITTER when S was born.. 

some day I WILL blog about that!! 

R loves babies, birth and all things involving those two things..

hubby K had just one thing to say about that...

:) HEY Put that thing DOWN!! :) 

But K? I saw you last Sunday.. checking out baby S when you thought I wasn't looking.. :) 

Visitors Part 1.

Some of the visitors who came to visit S and I in the hospital.

Thank you all SO MUCH for coming!! 

My niece K. 

Her friend who really loved babies!! 

The only picture I got of my sister M who also loves babies. 

"Imagine that it's a tiny little human!!' 

My sister A and S checking each other out. 

My niece M, proud as punch! 

My cousins son C who totally loved holding him!! 

Oh and B!! C asked if his eyes were opened yet!! :) 

My niece C. 

My good friend R stopped in with her two little people W and R. 

                                       M and S some friends of ours stopped in to say hello too.

And there is more... for another post on another day!! 

Thanks so much for coming to celebrate S's birth with us!!