Merry Christmas!!

Tonight we started some very special family Christmas Eve traditions. We all three took an afternoon nap (much needed by mommy & greyson), while daddy caught bits of the football game. This evening we went to the Christmas Eve service at church. It was such a peaceful feeling, the warm glow of the candles and signing many beloved carols. After we came home, we baked cookies for Santa. Sugar cookies and chocoalate chip. Greyson helped mommy & daddy with the icing and sprinkles... our little monster loves cookies!! Before bed daddy read us the Christmas Story. There's nothing better than having your loved ones close and making memories during the holidays. I cherish mine.
Greetings! Can you believe Christmas is almost here? We have been so busy around here. Wrapping, baking, sending Christmas cards, decorating.... definitely looking forward to tomorrow. We will be celebrating Greyson's first Christmas, relaxing and just kicking back in our new house. So exciting! We can't wait to watch our baby boy experience Christmas morning. Discovering his stocking, and opening the gifts. If i know Greyson, he will be all about the tissue paper, bows, and boxes!!! Just looking forward to a nice relaxing quiet day. Lighting the fire, eating lots of good food, and watching our little man explore and play with all the new toys. Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy your day with friends, family, and good food!!

first santa visit

our little munchkin, sitting on santa's lap for the first time! -and you know what? he did amazing! we were so proud. no cries, no tears, no faces of horror. he did look up at the jolly dude in red and touch his beard a time or two though. actually, i was glad for more than one reason that greyson didn't cry... it was the end of the night for "santa" and i don't really think he was in the mood for an uncooperative baby. can't you tell by the look on his face? it's saying, come on already, i've got places to go. lol! another thing about our picture, don't you think all that red is a bit of an overkill? thank goodness i didn't dress greyson in a red sweater! all in all, the visit went great. i think our litte g-man told santa that he wanted a rocking horse, and i think that he just might get his wish!!

hey- i'm just thankful that our picture didn't turn out like the one below! isn't that a stitch? :)


have you taken your children to visit santa yet? if so, post a picture on your blog -i'd love to see!!

NYC pictures

I forgot to post a couple ones from our trip to New York City, last weekend. Greyson had a blast and *loved* seeing all the lights, sights, & sounds of the city (quite a change from little old salisbury, md). :) As soon as we arrived we headed for the tree in Rockefeller center! The next day we took g-man to a children's art museum, so cool!! -even for a 10 month old! We can't wait to go back for a visit in the spring!

tis' the season....to make a MESS

our little mess maker in full swing! :)

Happy Friday!

I can't believe the weekend is here once again! where do the days go? Sorry I haven't updated my blog all week. Last weekend was very full for us, and very special. Greyson's grandma & papa came for a visit from chicago, and greyson was dedicated at church. The service was so special, and it was a wonderful way to gather alot of friends and family to join in for the celebration.

This is a picture from the dedication, it is of Greyson, my mom (greyson's nana), and myself. Look at his smile! He was totally faking it! lol!

If you know his smile, it certainly doesn't look like that. a half hearted smile. nope! Our boy does the full body, full face smile. He actually smiles with his eyes. Evidence below. i guess a mama is kind of partial though.

Christmas cards

hello and an early Merry Christmas from the Tripoli's here in Maryland. I'm almost done making our annual christmas card, so i thought i'd post last years card to get myself inspired to finish the ones i'm working on!! making your own card (especially 85) is alot of work. i mean alot of work! but... i wouldn't have it any other way. not a single year. this is our seventh christmas together and this is also our seventh christmas card. i am SOO glad that i started this tradition. i am so glad that jim didn't think i was nuts for wanting to send homemade cards with our picture to over 70 people!( even though we had only dated for eight months) as you can imagine my friends and family knew that year, that jim was the one. so here i am once again carrying on the tradition. only this year we have a little addition. greyson. of course he is the focus of our card. but- he is not the focus of our holiday. we know and truly hope you know the reason for the season too, that Jesus Christ was born to save us and offer us eternal life with him. please take a moment to embrace that. remember that sweet baby in the manger.

enjoy your holiday traditions too with your loved ones. take a minute and share one of your favorites.

in the blink of an eye

One year ago...




and today.... curious, dancing, learning patience, our happy little man. it feels like it was just
yesterday when that picture was taken. my hands "holding" you through my belly. trying to
imagine what your sweet voice would sound like? who that sweet face would look like? all the
while you were safe and protected. i know that someday i will look back on this photo of you at
ten months old, and feel like it was an eternity ago.... or else i will feel like it was just yesterday.
that smile... that personality... that zest for life... for anything that is new. i want to take it all
in... hug you... smile at your silliness... laugh at your antics and ENJOY you as you are right now
-right now in this moment in time. because it really does go by so fast... in the blink of an eye.

three little turkeys

Just a little turkey art this morning. The boys surprising didn't mind their new "hats" :) Parker came over to play with Jordyn and Greyson a few hours this morning and this is what we did!! Jordyn just loves to make any kind of art project. -makes me so happy to see her love of crafts, paper, COLOR!!! hoping little g-man will develop an interest in art too! I can't wait to buy him his first art easel. creativity and imagination is so important in children and what better way to let them express it than with some good old paint or glue!!

So that brings me to my challenge to anyone reading this out there. When is the last time you created something? for yourself. for someone else. for fun. go ahead -make something with your hands today, then update us on your blog! can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. :)
Tara

weekly update

greyson: lookin' sharp, with a little less hair.... YUP! Our little dude got his first haircut today. well that is, after a brief melt down, a few tears, mommy's lap vs. daddy's, and a lollypop.... we continued. oh boy! Can't wait to scrapbook the memory. did we save the locks?...yes! did we take pictures?.... you bet!

jim: very sore after a long day of football at the 3rd annual turkeybowl at church. It was greyson's first football game he had loads of fun and loved watching his daddy play, despite the fact that it was smack dab in the middle of his morning nap. he was a good boy and even managed to catch about an hour nap in the stroller. so precious curled up in his hat,coat,and mittens snuggled under a blanket with of course his doggie.

grover & asher: they're peachy. loving the cooler weather...and anxiously awaiting santa to bring them some new bones in about a month!

house: becoming more and more OURS. our latest project: the mud room bench seat. my wonderful handy husband did an amazing job on it! baby -you know how proud i am of you... and i love it!! woo-hoo!! (i'll post a picture soon)

on my mind: our annual christmas card. making these every year makes me soo happy -gets my creative juices flowing! i'm also thinking of re-organzing stuff. plastic stuff is overflowing in my family room. greyson's toys. jordyn's toys. the toys can be over welming. and since a playroom is not in our near future at the moment... i'm left with ideas whirling in my head about how to get a handle on our toy situation. i want them in greyson's reach -yet in some type of order. with some type of style. with some type of sanity for the mommy here. i'm thinking a big bookshelf. one with big cubes for baskets with sorted toys inside them, and books. lots and lots of books! -i'll keep you posted while the search continues. :)

almost there

from bouncy seats to stair climbing. you are experiencing it all with your buddies.

Today Greyson had Avery and Cameron over for lunch and some playtime (even though he slept through their WHOLE visit)....oh well next time! :) Minutes before Cameron was leaving Greyson decided to wake up, and they had a blast racing each other up the stairs, cam-O clearly won. He was a man on a mission!!

on another note, greyson is eating better and better. He *loves* pork BBQ and whole wheat bread with butter!! Yum!

thursday playmates

Greyson had a *fun* day today, his buddy -parker came for a visit! Happy to report everyone is doing fine despite the minor biting and ear tugging. HA!! -and so it begins!! :) The babies are both growing so quickly and have truly figured out how to play together, even if they both do want the same toy!!

us 

Today

Just came across this pic of jim and i. smile. what a happy time this was in our lives. so many changes were about to take place, so much expectancy. the move into our new home and back to Salisbury, and the birth of greyson in a few months, the change into a new kind of family: daddy,mama,a new baby,two BIG dogs...one crazy family. that is what makes us...US. and so from that thought i've decided to take a moment to ponder on what makes me...ME?

color: Robin's egg blue

style: traditional,cozy,classic

favorite book: I know this much is true by Wally Lamb(which reminds me that i really want to read that one again)

best dish: chicken saute with artichokes and mushrooms

best dessert: butterscotch egg pudding

bedtime: if it's a scrapnight... after midnight

outfit: capris, t-shirt, barefoot(with painted toes)

sound: the soft, sweet noises g makes as he is drifting off to sleep

sight: grover and asher sleeping beside each other on their bed

smell: one word.... GREYSON

word: uper(ie: uper cool)

wish: to watch a sunset on a hawaiian beach with jim (if i can ever bare to leave the little man)

what i crave: time, and chai tea.
and balance...between quiet & loud,old & new,black & white,up & down,hot & cold

surround me with: good friends,good food, and photos of greyson

I challenge you to make this same list of what makes you...YOU. go ahead!

Pop, Greyson, and Mom-Mom 

Christmas 1996 

Prayers needed

prayers for my Pop. for an old farmer that was too stubborn to quit smoking, but wise enough to know that he should have. for a very sick, yet very strong man that lies in ICU trying to fight for strength from bypass surgery today. prayers will be needed for the soon coming urge to smoke, an urge that has lasted nearly 60 years. 60 years of harm to the lungs, skin, and heart. a heart that is big enough for one wife, five children, eight grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. Please take a moment today to say a prayer for my Pop.

the bunny was here 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! we have started our day with giggles and smiles. greyson woke-up happy as always. we think he really liked his basket! the bunny left him lots of goodies: a grover kite,a new outfit, a truck, a ball and mitt, a puzzle, a chick stuffed animal, and a caramel chocolate bunny(i think that's for us). lots of stuff. stuff IS good, but today we know the real reason for the celebration.... our Lord is risen. Thank-you Jesus for dying for our sins, and for rising three days later! nothing that we will ever teach Greyson will be as important as that. Only a strong faith can give him a foundation to survive and go forth in this world. It is our strongest desire that he will grow to know the Lord, and that you, our friends and family do too. Happy Easter! go eat some chocolate!

tiny 

behind

ha! seems like i am always running a day behind... so i can't let my readers down! yesterdays' photo challenge was tiny. (check out that site- very cool) so this is my entry, greysons' "pigs". that is what jim calls his toes, silly i know... but greyson likes 'em called that. so does mama.

we also went to our very first Easter egg hunt, will post some pics later.

flying 

happy 

flying

Yesterday Greyson had his two month photo shoot/easter picture taken. we got some really cute ones of him smiling.
i am becoming obsessed with quotes. just yesterday i called jim at work excited beyond measure. i found this.
wow!

i am dying.

die-ING over this website of wordy goodness. my mind is swirling. what to do? what quote where??? i immediately began walking around the house deciding where i needed such coolness. i already placed an order. awesome.

So with a quote in mind for this magical picture i want to scrapbook a page for greyson:

It's hard to keep your feet on the ground when you know you were born to fly. (like father, like son)

hands 

Tuesday: To Do

*Edited* i composed this yesterday and never got around to posting it, thought i'd share a day late


In scrapbooking, one of my favorite page themes is showing a photo of hands and then journaling the story of all the things these hands do in a day or have done over a lifetime. The Daily Word prayer for today celebrates the blessings that come to us through our hands (and our hearts). This morning I used my hands to comfort Greyson after he received five shots during his two month well check, to wipe his tears, to pour Jordyns' juice, to type this blog, to let Grover and Asher outside, to tickle Parkers' chin, to plug in the camera to the computer to upload this photo, to open the pantry to see that i am out of chai tea (yikes).

To Do:

* clean house for party tonight
*grocery shopping (especially for the chai tea that i am out of)
* get caught up on greysons' scrapbook
* laundry.... it is neverending even for just three people
* Post office
* answer emails

Happy Tuesday-whatever is on your list!

mondays

i like mondays. a fresh start. a new begining. coffee. a candle burning in my kitchen. getting the WHOLE upstairs vaccumed. cleaning off the desk. leftovers. hope your monday has been productive.

i promise another post and picture tomorrow.

night!-tara

score!!! 

score!!!

yardsales. one mommys' trash is another mommys' fab toy find!! up at 5:44 am. why? a yardsale of course. aka- toy hunt. toys for greyson, toys for Jordyn. pictured above is my pile-o-happy for the tots! i can't wait to see Jordyns' face Monday morning. not bad for only $14, huh? gotta love the yardsales!

night!-tara

Sunshine found 

Sunshine found

from upstairs, i hear Asher pacing back and forth, back and forth..... this goes on for nearly twenty minutes. if i wasn't in the middle of nursing greyson and otherwise an all around crazy day(just ask Kelly) i would have let Asher out right away. certain that was what he wanted. when i finally made it downstairs, all he did was stare into the family room at a pile of toys that Jordyn had grown bored with hours earlier. Standing over the toys looking down, it dawned on me.... the sun from the foyer window was casting a warmth exactly where most of the toys lay scattered. i quickly moved them and Asher immediately flopped to the floor, he had found his sunshine!

night!-tara

the secret is out.

tonight was our secret pal revealing at church. what a fun night. Greyson tagged along, while Jim and Roger grabbed a cup of java and some dessert. this was the night to finally find out who has left kind words and kind gifts all year long. what a remarkable concept secret pals are. giving gifts in secret, for the sole benifit of making someone else feel special. Cathy Case certainly did that for me this year. She was my secret angel. now the secret is out.

night!
and happy st. pattys day!

my son,my life 

blessed 

blessed

is exactly how i feel right now in my life. like the commitments that i made before have now become trivial and selfish in comparison. there is excitement through both joy and fear, and for brief moments there has been a silent mourning in the transition to three. sadness in the birth that has stolen my heart and is still demanding more. what has happened when my life stops dead in its tracks for 6lbs. 10.5 oz.? LOVE has happened. and so what do i say to someone i know with my heart but have just met? what do i say to someone who rocks the boat before ever stepping in? i say: THANK-YOU. indeed i am BLESSED.

night.

my little man 

Jim 

Grover