Oh help! Oh no! It's a gruffalo!

If you ask pretty much anyone if they know what a Gruffalo is, the answer would be "No".  So, imagine a person's response when Wyatt tells them he is having a Gruffalo birthday party...and starts describing a Gruffalo, with his orange eyes, purple prickles, and poisonous wart on the end of his nose (all this with as much expression as possible!).  Try explaining that one!  And yes, I brought this upon myself...anything for the kids, right?! :-)  Of course!  And so I set out to create a Gruffalo themed birthday party to celebrate Wyatt's 3rd birthday!  THREE?!?!?!  I still can't believe it!

So, without further ado, here is a Gruffalo!

Wyatt fell in love with the book, "The Gruffalo", after we discoverd the short film, which is adorable!  To sum it up, it's a story about a little mouse that goes for a walk in the woods...he meets a fox, an owl, and a snake...tells them he's meeting a Gruffalo, so they won't eat him...only to discover that there really is a Gruffalo!  That wants to eat him of course!

So it was a toss up between this and Curious George.  Of course I picked the one that has zero party supplies, unless you live in the UK, or feel like spending an arm and a leg to purchase these items :-)

So, I improvised...and had a super time with it!  All of the food was themed around the book...

Wyatt was SO excited when he saw his Gruffalo cake with all the characters!

We had "Gruffalo Cake"

"Mouse trails" & "Scrambled Snake"

"Roasted Fox"

"Purple prickles" and dip

Forest finds

"Poisonous warts" & Gruffalo Jello

"Purple Prickle" Punch (which was mighty tasty)

"Owl Ice Cream"

and of course, "Gruffalo Crumble"!

Wyatt had such a fun time with everyone there!  Playing with cousins and friends. 

I know we sure missed having "Grandma Judy" there with us! 

Wish I could have shared all the fun and excitement with her...

And here is Wyatt enjoying his new gator...I think this was right before he dumped his cousin off the back and then ran into the fence! 

Probably not the best idea to practice this with so many people around :-)

Just love the look on his face!

The kiddos that joined us all went home with some "Gruffalo goodies"...i.e. "The Gruffalo" book, or "The Gruffalo's Child" book, or a cute board book for the little ones.

Thanks again to all who helped Wyatt celebrate!

A tribute

It's hard to believe that it's been three weeks since my mom passed away.  Some days it feels like it's been an eternity.  Some days it feels like it just happened.  Even saying these words feels weird to me...this reality certainly has not sunk in yet.
I am so thankful for the peace that comes only from the Lord and that He is a constant presence through this difficult time.  It is only in His strength that we can walk through this.  Even though I don't understand why God chose to take my mom home so soon, I know that He is in control.  I know that His joy comes in the morning.  I know that He is the God of all comfort.  He will sustain us and carry us.  He is my rock and my refuge.  He is my strength and shield.  I will continue to follow Him and trust in Him.

Here is the tribute that I wrote and read at my mom's funeral...

If You Knew My Mom…

by: Kristy Cripe

If you knew my mom, you knew that she was a JEM. Literally, her initials were JEM, and she would often sign emails this way or just remind me. But really, she was a “JEM”…she was one of a kind.

If you knew my mom, you probably knew how gullible she was. I can think of numerous times when mom received calls at work from a certain younger brother, claiming to be someone who had a serious complaint about their insurance. And all the fun times us daughters or son-in-laws or nephews took advantage of this.

I think she really enjoyed all the teasing.

If you knew my mom, you may have heard her say, “I just don’t have anything to wear”…even though she did, I know that she is just loving the way she looks in heaven.

If you knew my mom, then you probably noticed the twinkle in her eye & her mischievous grin. She often looked like she was up to something…

If you knew my mom, you probably knew she was a middle child. I think this was something she would bring up at times to gain sympathy for being the "neglected" middle child, but I think she secretly enjoyed it.

If you knew my mom, you may have known her by a different name, I’ve heard her referred to as “quite the Judy”, “Judge Judy”, “Chutie Mhay”, “mom”, & my favorites, “grandma Juuuudy”, & “Judy grandma”.

If you knew my mom, you probably knew she was the life of the party. Her smile could light up a room and you knew you were in for a fun time when mom was around. There will be a very noticeable void at our family gatherings. I am so thankful that we have the Lord to fill that void.

If you knew my mom, you knew how competitive she could get when playing games. So much so, I believe her and Jeff were forever banned from playing monopoly. And there may have been a coaster thrown around the dinner table during an intense card game. But I think mom won the biggest game of all…she beat us all to heaven & I’m sure we’ll hear about it when we get there.

If you knew my mom, you knew that she loved her family. She loved my dad and I am so thankful for the love they shared. I know she loved us girls and was proud of us. And I know that she was so thrilled to gain 2 amazing son-in-laws. And I can’t imagine seeing more joy, than they joy she took in seeing her grandkids. She would do anything for the chance to babysit. And watching her face light up as the kids ran to her when they saw her at church and seeing her laugh when sometimes they would trick her and run to grandpa instead. She was so good to them and I am sure going to miss watching her be their grandma. We have so many wonderful memories to cherish because of the love mom and dad had for one another and for the Lord. I am so grateful for the time I had with her and even though it was cut way too short, I am thankful to know that I will see her in heaven someday.



Happenings here

Here is a recap of the last few months!

I'm pretty sure we had the cutest little cowboy and bunny on Halloween!

Wyatt had a fun time on his first trick or treating adventure!

We made stops to see some great-aunts/uncles and grandparents.

Just love these two!  They're so sweet to each other!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving in Indy with Crystal and Philip and their boys. 

Crystal made lots of yummy food and the kids had lots of fun playing together!

Wyatt really enjoys being a big brother and "helping" his sister! :)

 Christmas was quite fun this year...a little crazy with two!  We started the "elf on a shelf" tradition...I forgot to add a picture of our elf "Patience"...Wyatt named her...haha.  He had fun finding her each morning...here is a picture of what he left for Santa and Patience (elf donuts) & yes, mommy walked away for a moment and Wyatt got a hold of the green sprinkles ;)   (and woops, I forgot to take a picture before mommy...er....Santa, had eaten one cookie and drank one of the cups of milk!)

Christmas morning...

 All Wyatt asked Santa for was a cupcake!  Really?!  A cupcake?!  But Santa brought him one :)

Clint and Wyatt both caught the stomach flu right before Christmas.  Fortunately Wyatt woke up Christmas morning acting back to normal!  Although in this picture you can really tell he lost some weight from the puking and not eating normal!  Ella and mommy didn't catch the flu, yay!  Ella seemed to enjoy herself!

 And a few more shots from Christmas!

Happy girl

Ella is getting close to 5 months now and I haven't posted much about her!  So here is an update...

She is such a happy baby!  She smiles ALL the time!  It's really quite sweet :-)  We all just love her so much!  Wyatt is super sweet with her.  She's really content, much like her brother was.  At her 4 month appt, she was 14 lbs, which is just above average and she's in the 95th percentile for height...also like her brother.  I hope they enjoy it now, because if you look at their parents, they don't have much hope for height ;-)  She's really strong and loves checking everything out.  Especially her big brother!  It will certainly add to the fun and craziness once they can play together! 



She seems pretty proud that she got her arm through there!





She just melts our hearts! 

Words

Every day, I am amazed at how much Wyatt talks and the new words he is using.  He is constantly surprising us with new phrases and the kid cracks us up!  And he usually has some cute facial expression to go along with it too :-)

Thought I would share a few of his new ones...

"I'm thinking....."  (which is usually followed by..."about a bear", "crocodile", etc.)

"I hear sumping" or "I hear a boice" (something or a voice)

"I'm gonna throw you in the pond" (yes, I hear this quite often!)

"I'm a cowboy"

"That's different"

"Get gun, shoot crocodile"

"How 'bout....." (this is how he "bargains" for things!)
"Mommy stop that, I'm a boy!"

 

This is Wyatt being a cowboy...apparently he can put anything on his head and then he's a cowboy :-)



And again, he is a cowboy :-)

Love him!

Camping...take 2

These pictures are of Wyatt & Ella's first camping trips...

Wyatt, on the left, was 2 months old when we camped for July 4th, 2010.

Ella, in the bow :-), was 1 1/2 months old when we camped for Labor Day, 2012.

I knew I had to get the same pic of Ella, since I can't believe how similar they look!

And how fortunate that she had a green bow to match! :-)

Camping this year was a bit crazier than ever before, but I am so thankful that we can begin to create some fun memories as a family!

And here is a pic I snapped of Wyatt while camping when he was supposed to be taking a nap!
He was just too cute I couldn't resist...

Some favorites...

I decided to ask Wyatt about some of his favorite things...here is exactly how he responded :-)

Favorite toy:  "Spencer"  (One of the Thomas trains)

Favorite thing to watch:  "Veggie Tales"

Favorite book:  "Train"

Favorite food:  "Eggs"

Favorite color:  "my crayons"

Favorite sister:  "Ella"

Favorite song:  "baby sister don't cry"

Favorite snack:  "crackers"

Favorite animal:  "penguin, otter, doggy, duck"

Favorite outside activity:  "watering can"

Favorite thing about Ella:  "kiss her"

This kid cracks me up...watering can?  haha  He does do other things than play with watering cans...like riding his big wheel...swimming...etc...

Here are some common phrases that Wyatt says....

"Mmmm, dat yummy"
"Oh no, big crocodile coming"

"Watch train?"

Recently my sister Kathy had dropped off some dinner for us (oriental lettuce cup thingys).  I gave Wyatt the noodles and chicken, knowing he wouldn't eat the lettuce.  Well, he said he wanted the lettuce, so I gave it to him & he took a huge bite and said, "mmm, dat yummy", then immediately scrunched up his face, spit out the lettuce and said, "mmm, dat yucky."  :-)

And here is miss Ella, looking as cute as ever...sadly this is an "old" pic...like from a couple weeks ago...she has really filled out since then & doesn't even fit in this outfit anymore! :-(

But I just love this pic with her bright eyes!

Ella's current favorites...

Eating

Pooping

Sleeping

And she has really started "talking" to us...so cute!

And here is a picture of MY favorite things :-)

LOVE them!