Wyatt's Birthday Party - March 9

Here are some pictures to take you through all of the fun activities on Wyatt's 5th Birthday...

The birthday boy holding up five fingers.

Waiting is so hard!

The kids played in the backyard while we waited for all of the party guests to arrive.

We played a fun game of "pin the wheel on the car",

and "hot car" (think "hot potato" with a car!).

Then everyone colored their own wooden race cars.

Finally it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" and blow out candles.

After that the kids ate cake and ice cream,

and Wyatt opened presents.

Then they raced their wooden race cars down the slide.

After the party Wyatt opened some presents from our family,

and then everyone took some time to play with the new toys.

His day ended with a pizza dinner and then playing in the nursery during church. Happy Birthday, Wyatt!

Dancing with Daddy - March 8

Danny will be the first to tell you that he is not much of a dancer, but when his little girls asked him to dance with them today he couldn't refuse. Afterwards he said that maybe he needed to really learn how to dance so that he could teach them someday. The things a daddy will do for his little girls...

Is it dancing, wrestling or "danciling"? - March 6

I have loved watching the clash of "boy stuff" and "girl stuff" over the last few weeks. I finally got pictures of one of my favorite examples. The girls love to dance to any music that happens to be playing. The boys love dancing, too, but what they really love is wrestling with each other. So they will usually dance and jump around with the girls for a few minutes and then someone tackles someone else and everyone ends up on the floor. Then they stand up and do it all over again!

Building Igloos - March 6

We haven't had enough snow this year to build another igloo outside, but we were able to build some inside today. We used cornstarch packing peanuts, dipped them in water and stuck them together. The kids made some great creations and the clean-up was really easy (the "igloos" just melted when we ran water over them!).

Zane and Monique - March 5

I have been trying for days to capture this picture and finally got it this morning! Zane and Monique have such a special relationship. He gets this huge smile on his face and giggles every time he sees her and they love spending time playing together on the floor in the mornings.

Eating Issues - March 3

After weeks of trying to get Zane to eat food from a spoon I finally decided we were just going to skip ahead to finger food. This afternoon I sat him in his highchair and gave him some diced bananas to see if he would eat them. I'm not sure how many pieces actually made it in his mouth, but it was more nutrition than he was getting from a spoon! He did so well with the bananas that I gave him a few Cheerios and he ate those also. I guess he just wants to be in control of exactly what goes into his mouth!

Snow Day - March 3

The kids were so excited to wake up to about three inches of snow this morning! After things warmed up a little and the wind stopped blowing we got snow boots on and took the kids outside. I love this picture of Colter throwing a snowball at Sabrina. They had lots of fun playing and running around before the snow melted later in the afternoon.

Gummie's Birthday - March 2

My grandmother (named "Gummie" by my oldest cousin) and her husband Robert spend half of the year in Canyon, just 40 miles from Dimmitt (the other half of the year they spend in North Dakota where Robert is from). We were able to host her birthday party this year and she got a chance to meet her newest great-granddaughters. The girls got to meet many other family members at the party as well and they are working hard to get all of the names and faces straight. One of our favorite comments from Sabrina was when she asked if it was time for "Gummie Bear's" birthday party!

Sabrina and Monique's First Camping Trip - February 29

We took Sabrina and Monique on their first camping trip this weekend. They experienced lots of "firsts" (first time to sleep in a tent, first time to go potty by a tree, first time to go on a hike) and did a great job with all of the newness surrounding the experience. After we got home Sabrina asked if she could go camping again. It made her Daddy very proud! You can see more pictures on Danny's blog (www.griffisfamilyoutdoors.blogspot.com).

Back Together Again - February 28

After spending the weekend apart, our kids have been so happy to be back together this week. They have spent lots of time playing together. Usually it involves running around the house and lots of laughing and giggling, but occasionally they will stop long enough to just sit on the floor and play with Zane. He loves all of the attention and can't wait to run around the house with them!

Dress-Up Fun - February 22

I pulled out some new dress-up clothes on Friday afternoon. The girls had so much fun trying everything on and posing for pictures. I can tell that a well-stocked dress-up box is going to very important in our playroom! Wyatt and Colter were a little curious about all of it at first, but they quickly decided that they would rather play with airplanes than watch their sisters try on sparkly clothes!

Pigtails - February 22

Sabrina and Monique loved their pigtails today. I just had to take a picture of their cute smiling faces!

Five Under Five - February 21

Here they are - our five precious blessings!

Seven Months Old - February 20

Sweet Zane is seven months old today! If you look closely at this picture you can probably tell that he is dealing with the joys of teething - runny nose, lots of drool, some tears and making all sorts of funny noises with his mouth. We have discovered over the past couple of weeks that Zane is not a good teether. He has had a much harder time getting these first teeth than either of his big brothers and we are all going to be very happy to see that first bit of white pop through those gums!

Zane also surprised me yesterday by starting to scoot on the floor to get one of his toys. I have seen him roll back and forth to move forward, but this was faster and more controlled. At one point he even tried to get up on his knees to help him scoot forward! I'm beginning to think that it's not going to be long before he is really crawling (although I don't know that I'm ready for him to be that mobile yet!). He really wants to be able to follow his brothers and sisters around the house. There were a couple of times today when everyone was playing in the playroom and he was just sitting there enjoying the action and chewing on a toy. All of a sudden they would all leave to go to another room, Zane would look around and start screaming for them to come back. He loves his brothers and sisters!

Backyard Fun - February 19

Danny spent some time working in the backyard on his afternoon off yesterday. It was a pretty day, so all the older kids joined him outside and helped him start digging a spot for our garden. They took a break from the hard work to play on the swingset and even posed for a picture with Zane.

Sabrina's First Day of School - February 18

Sabrina's first day of preschool was today, so I took a picture of all three kids before they headed out the door. It was a good first day and the boys were very excited to show off their new sister!

How Many Kids Can Fit in Daddy's Lap? - February 17

Well, according to this picture all five kids can fit in Daddy's lap! : )

Ladybug Cookies - February 17

We made ladybug cookies on Sunday afternoon using sugar cookie dough and some valentine candy. The kids had fun rolling the dough and decorating their cookies, but what they really enjoyed was eating them. I discovered that my girls love chocolate as much as I do!

Meeting Noni, Papa and Aunt Megan - February 17

Noni, Papa and Aunt Megan stopped by our house on their way back from Ruidoso to meet Sabrina and Monique.

Aunt Megan, Sabrina and Monique

Monique and Papa

Sabrina and Noni

A Day with our Family of Seven - February 16

Here are just a few highlights from our first day as a family of seven...

The kids all woke up about 7:00 and quickly found their way to the playroom where they played most of the morning.

The took a break from playing to eat pancakes and get dressed,

but then it was right back to the playroom!


Danny took some time to show Sabrina and Monique some of our outdoor trips on the computer. We're planning our first camping trip with them in a couple of weeks.

The clash of "boy toys" and "girl toys" has been really funny to watch. At one point Colter was carrying his airplanes around in one of Sabrina's purses!

Our morning ended with lunch, stories with Daddy on the couch and then naptime.

The older three spent part of the afternoon playing outside. We were supposed to get snow, but all we got was freezing rain, so the kids enjoyed eating the icicles!

Monique and Zane decided it was too cold to play outside, so they enjoyed some quiet time together on the floor.


Our day ended with an indoor cookout and movie. We roasted hot dogs in the fireplace and then toasted marshmallows for smores. It was a fun-filled day!

Meeting Our Sisters - February 14

I really don't have any words to describe my feelings about this sweet scene. My five kids, who only met an hour before, posing (or not posing, in this case!) for their first picture together. It doesn't get much better than this. Our visit with them and their foster parents could not have gone better. They have been blessed with wonderful Christian foster parents, which is an answer to prayer.

Sabrina and Wyatt

Zane and Monique

Sitting Pretty - February 13

Zane and Abi had lots of fun playing together at Noni's house this afternoon. Zane kept taking the toys that were sitting beside Abi and she finally decided to try and get one of them back!

Valentine's Party - February 13

Wyatt and Colter enjoyed comparing treats after their class Valentine's parties. The candy hearts and heart-shaped suckers were a big hit!

First Swing - February 11

Today was a beautiful day outside! Lately the weather has either been too cold or too windy (or both!) for Zane to spend much time outside, but today was perfect. So I took down the boys' trapeze and put Zane's swing up on the swingset. At first Wyatt wasn't very happy about losing his trapeze to a baby swing, but then he realized he could push Zane. Wyatt quickly decided having the baby swing up wasn't such a bad idea and Zane couldn't have agreed more!

Playdate with Sean - February 11

Today was Wyatt's turn for a playdate. His friend Sean came over after school to play and eat lunch. It was a beautiful day (not typical February weather for us, although we may get a little snow later this week) so they spent lots of time playing outside in the dirt. They had fun and even let Colter play with them!

No Training Wheels Required! - February 10

Danny took Wyatt's training wheels off his bike Saturday night (without telling Wyatt) and today he took him outside to practice riding. At first Wyatt was a little concerned, but after riding around a couple of times with Danny holding onto the bike he was really excited. He realized he could ride much faster without training wheels and faster is always better in his book! It also helped that Danny kept telling him that as soon as he can ride without training wheels he will get a new bike and be able to ride on the bike trails at Palo Duro. Danny just knows he needs to get at least one kid out of the bike trailer so that he can still take most of the kids on his biking adventures! : )

Wyatt still needs a little help getting started, but once he gets going he is balancing really well and remembering to pedal fast.