J on our 'big trip'. He'll be 5 in January.

L with his mischievous smile. He is 3 years old and loves trucks and all things with wheels or moving parts. He is the closest thing we have to a 'family clown'.

The little Griggers sitting on our new (to us) 1970 International ambulance.

E, J and L having a tea party with E's new tea set. They had hot chocolate, crackers and chocolate chips. Lots of fun!!

Update!!

Well Papa loves his new job and we are all loving the family time it gives us. We have always tried to do family devotions after supper but it was hard to keep up with Papa gone so much. But now that he is home every night we have finally been able to make it a nightly event. Papa is also getting a lot more sleep which is good as neither of us realized how sleep depraved he really was. Now that we are almost a week in to the new job he is finally starting to feel rested up. Amazingly enough he has only had to do one thing, so far, that he has not done before working on our own rigs or his last bosses trucks. Papa has also been trying to read the 'little house' books to the kids and I before bed and with his new job that has again become a nightly occurrence.

Baby R has found her moving motivation. LOL. She learned to roll back to front a while ago but now she's rolling here and there and scooting backwards and forwards. She gets stuck under the couch, chair or table regularly. This morning she was stuck beside the couch but managed to roll out of it!!! Good Girl Baby R. She has started 'talking' too and loves to 'talk' (little noises that sound like a foreign language) to people, toys or whatever. She started saying "Da Da" a while ago and now will sometimes say it to you if you ask her too. She has also learned how to spit. She is still toothless but is working on her 1st tooth. It is almost through but it doesn't slow down her eating at all. Yesterday I gave her the heel of bread (whole) and she ate almost the entire thing with out help. All that was left was two pieces the size of a quarter. This picture was taken at E's Birthday Party. Baby R is almost 8 months old.

This morning while I was milking the cow one of the kittens, the orange one, drank out of a bucket I was holding. (I almost always milk right into the pig bucket, for those of you who were worrying:). Later on I moved the cat's milk dish closer to me, about 1.5 feet away and both of the kittens still came to drink. Whenever I moved they would either look at me and then run or just run. But they are getting tamer little by little. Soon I hope to pet one.

"The City and Timbits of Other News"

Yesterday we headed out to the nearest big city for our oldest son J's eye specialist appointment. Our appointment was a 10:45 and we got there at 10:35 (early for once). We sat in the waiting room until 12:30 when we got to see his doctor. His doctor is a wonderful person and we like her very much. We only wish they could get it together a bit better:) This not being our 1st time we knew that we'd have to wait. So we come prepared with a novel for me and a bunch of "Graze" mags for Papa. They have toys and books and chairs for the kids so they are entertained. When we finally got in the room Dr. V greeted J and then turned to Papa and I, I was nursing Baby R and Papa held both E and L on his lap, with a stream of praise for the behavior of our children in the waiting room. She told us that every one of her patients that had come in (there was at least 6) while we were there had very good things to say about our kids. Some of them even told her that they wished their children/grandchildren were as well behaved as our 4. I think she realized that she was embarrassing us when neither of us said anything and Papa's face got all red. I'm sure mine did as well. I did manage to smile and say thank you before she thought us daft. J did really well with the eye testing and we learned some great news. His eyes are, with his glasses, now 20/20 vision. His lazy eye is responding very well to the glasses and she said she could get it to turn out but it took a bit of confusing it. With his vision she said that there is a very good chance, now that we've found the right prescription, of him not having to wear glasses once his eyes mature. Usually just before teenagedom. We like our eye doctor as she always checks all the kids while we are there. So while her nurse was checking L and E's eyes with this neat little card with some kind of pic on it (neither Papa or I could see the pic but both L and E could), Dr. V was busy talking to J. I overheard some of it but not all of it. I told Papa about it later and we both smiled about it. Dr.V always asks J what he wants to be when he grows up. J never really has an answer (sometimes he'll say he wants to be a Papa) and this time he must not have either. So Dr. V was putting the idea in his head to become a eye doctor. Tricky lady!! :) :) I know they are few and far between here and I know that people who grow up in the area are more likely to stay in the area and if they will get a needed profession all the better.


We always take the kids out for a special meal after J's appointments. To thank them for being good and because we are all hungry and thirsty after waiting so long. So we go to our favorite "swordfish" place. And we always make the appointments for Tuesday because it's all you can eat fish and chips on Tuesday. So Papa and I have fish and chips and the kids get to pick from the really cool kids menu. Their kids menu is pictures on a place mat in rows of main dishes, sides, drinks and dessert. They boys always get 'worms and dirt' for dessert which sounds nasty but really is great. It's chocolate pudding with Oreo crumbs and whipped cream on top, but the best part is the candy worms that stick out here and there. The 1st time we got it L refused to eat it. YUCK. Was all he'd say. Papa had to convince him that it was good and take the worms out so he could see that they were candy. Now he inhales it like a beast. The best thing about the 'swordfish place' as the kids call it, is that we only go a few times a year which keeps it special and a huge treat.

We had a few hours to spare so we went shopping. Mostly looking for Christmas gifts and seeing what caught the kids eyes. We've done a bit of Christmas shopping but we are not nearly done. Yesterday I did find Christmas shirts for the boys, on sale 30% off, and a CARS ornament for L for his stocking. Papa and I have decided that we are going to get a babysitter in a week or 2 and leave J, L, and E at home while we go Christmas shopping. Baby R is still nursing so we will take her with us. We want to go all day and hopefully get done!! We are also going to go out to our favorite fancy place to eat. Yum. We normally go for our anniversary dinner but we were out of town this year so we missed it.

Our surprise kittens are getting tamer everyday. They moved from the shop to the chicken barn to the milking area/trailer area where they seem to be staying. They come out every morning and evening for the 1st squirts of milk and are getting a bit rolly. The other day one came and sat right behind Bindy's front feet as I was milking. It sat there and stared at me. We've decided to let them make the 1st move, so I just kept on milking. They are really cute and we often see them playing on the porch or in the milking area. I've tried taking pic's but they move so fast that they are all blurry.


E is now two years old and the day after her birthday I told her no more diapers. So far she is doing very well. I did this same thing with J and L and they both did very well. That is not their 1st learning experience with the toilet. In fact they all start sitting when they are about a year old or whenever I can start to catch them going regularly. We also do "dry training" which is simply teaching them that dry is good... wet is not. I put underwear on them and then praise them and give them a chocolate chip or treat if I find them dry. It takes no time at all and I have a small child running up to me yelling "DRY DRY" while checking their bums for dampness. I always recheck as they are still learning and then they get their treat. This took E all of 2 days about a month ago, as the boys learned really fast that they will get a treat if they are dry as well. In those two days I heard "E are you dry??" Then "SHE'S DRY MOMMA" about 200 times a day. LOL. Then everyone gets a treat. Even momma 'cause I'm dry too don't you know!! LOL. She's on day 6 and the last two days she's only gone thru 2 pairs of underwear. (she wears one pair most of the day then the other pair the rest of the day.) Yesterday in the city she wore pull ups or 'travel underwear' as we call them and she stayed dry until after their nap on the way home. If you ask her if she has to go she will tell you 'yeahas' or 'no tanks' in her little girly girl voice.

Commercial transport Mechanics apprenticeship!!

WAHOOO. Papa started his apprenticeship today!! Commercial transport Mechanics apprenticeship!! And it's just 10 minutes from our house. I'm still in shock. A good shock, but still shocked. He's been looking into in for quite some time and his old boss knew about it and they had planed for him to leave when the fall work with the cat was done. Well last week they were still working and there were not sure for how long. Friday night Papa came home and said 'that's it'. Saturday we went and told the new guys he could start Monday. Then we had to run to 'the city' to get him a few tools he needed and a cart to put them on. Got the cart loaded up and ready to go Sunday and this morning he went to work. For something we've been looking forward to for months it all happened rather FAST!! He'll be working from 8am to 6pm. Which will be new for us as we've only had regular hours once before in the 9 years we've been married and never while we've had kids. We'll also have evenings. With his other job he'd go to bed at 8 to get up at 3:30, or 4am and only get home about 6, or 7pm. It sounds like there will be some Saturdays but only 5 days a week. So if he works Saturday then he'll have another day off mid week. He also has a tool allowance which I'm sure will come in handy.

Birthday Girl

E on her 2nd Birthday. She loved the hat and wore it most of the evening.

Tea Party and Kid Stuff.

E got a tea set for her birthday from Grandma F. It's a hit!! Today we pulled out the little table and J washed it off. Then L got the dishes and set it. I got them some crackers and some chocolate chips, made a small pot of hot chocolate and filled the 'creamer' with milk and they had 'tea'. We practiced our manners some but mostly they just had fun. J poured and L passed out crackers. They all love it. When they were finished. E cleaned up the napkins, L put the dishes in the sink and J washed them. J made the comment at the sink that he felt 30 years old.(He actually said 30 years old. He knows Papa is 31) " This must be what its like to be a Papa." Then he went on and on about what he's going to do with his kids when he's a Papa.
Today while washing up after a meal L commented that God didn't want him to play at the table. I had to chuckle at that one. It's not so much that God doesn't want him to play at the table but that God wants him to obey his parents. And his parents don't want him playing at the table. He understands that because later he told me that God didn't want him throwing fits either. From the mouths of babes. It's amazing how they pick up stuff that it takes adults years to figure out.

Birthday Party.

E's birthday party was a hit for all involved. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the cake and homemade ice cream. The kids favorite food was the juice. Which was a cranberry/grape mix with 7up added. Though J did have 3 cupcakes and a piece of cake. I'll try and post some pic's soon. E loved all her gifts but the one that is so far most loved is her stroller for her baby. She runs around pushing her baby holding on the the string with her balloon. A close second is the little people house (which makes all kinds of noise) and the dishes and food set. The boys really like the dishes and food. Baby R really liked the wrapping paper which she tried to eat and the ice cream. Which she'd never had before except a tiny finger full. We had a small group, and our kids had great fun with Cousin M. M is 9 months older then E and 9 months younger then L. So she fits in perfectly. :) J and L are already planning for their birthday parties.