baby G number 3 :)

           wow! it's been awhile since i have wrote..for those of you who dont already know we are having baby G number 3 in may..we find out if we are having a boy or a girl on friday :) we are so excited..and no we arent telling till christmas day..so you'll have to wait ;) we are keeping our fingers crossed for a "blue christmas" but we shall see! bethany loves the whole situation..she tells everyone she sees that i am "pragrant"..not sure what that means, but from what i can gather it is a mix between fragrant and pregnant lol..lets hope the fragrance is a good one eh? looking forward to going up home to coudy for christmas for 2 days..it's always wonderful to see family..looking forward to seeing my sister in law deb (who is also pragrant and having my little nephew ethan in january) the kids cant wait to see their cousins john and audrey and of course bethany cant wait to see my mom's dog madeline (aka the fat stooge)..yea dont ask. chip is finally on christmas break from school at elim..i am so proud of him..he had all a's i believe..possibly a b..not sure..but either way he did freakin great! we are settling into our new church and town..we love our church family here at EGC but we do miss and think of our blue ridge church family often! chip is on the worship team here at EGC and i am on the prophetic ministry team..we love it and enjoying serving with the beautiful peeps here! let's see..oh adia is doing GREAT in school..she has all a's and loves her new teacher..it truly is such a blessing cuz she was getting a little behind on her reading and having some trouble with math when she started..she is all caught up and doing wonderful now..we are truly blessed to have her in such a wonderful school at honeoye falls/lima manor school! bethy boo is still home with mommy until she turns 4 in march and then she will be attending preschool for 3 half mornings a week..i am 18 weeks pragrant..almost half way through wooohoooooo..and just trying to keep up with the lil munchkins and be the best momma i can be and best wife i can to chip through this difficult season for him..it is no easy task going to school full time and working full time and trying to be a family man and father of soon to be 3. please continue to pray for the grinnell family and we will continue to pray for all of you..<3
~L

an honest confession

so when i went in to wake up adia for school this morning..she started to cry. we are talking real tears people. and said she felt sick. so. i let her stay home from school. obviously. well she slept in..and around 9:30 she finally comes out to the living room to grace us with her presence. it's super quiet for about 6 point 3 minutes. annnnddddd she says to me "mom i have a confession to make..i am not really sick..i just needed one more day off before i went back to the stresses of school work..i just couldnt handle it today." seriously. in those exact words. ummmm so the first thought in my head was to punish her for lying and make her go to school. but then..a sudden burst of niceness came over me and i decided that i totally understood how she felt and wouldnt want to go to school on a monday morning either. so there we have it. she did pinki promise me she would go to school tomorow "without attitude mom".
ohhhhhhh my.
on a seperate note. bethany went poop in the potty and while pooping..looks down into the toilet. screams. and says "a snake!!!!!!!!!!!" um yea. it was hysterical.
those were the highlights of my day..other than that i made some kick hini zuppa toscana soup for dinner for the first time and it turned out exceptionally well.
till tomorrow then.
~L

so i just stepped on a thumb tack and some potato chips. bethy has changed her clothes ONLY 3 times so far this morning. in the distance adia yells to me "mooooommmmm how do you spell joseph?" j-o-s-e-p-h. again "moooommmmm how do you spell newton?" n-e-w-t-o-n. so when she was making him a christmas card with a beat red face i gathered ummm yep well my 6 year old has a crush. i have known this for quite some time now. but this is the first i ever witnessed her making him a card. ohhhh man. i did 6 loads of laundry yesterday. but didnt fold them yet. that is suppose to happen today. yeah. ummm yea. so we had a competitive game of jenga this morning. me and A grace. that is till bethy decided she wanted to play. and. well. that was the end of that tower. i remembered to feed both girls breakfast. i had coffee. no food though. cuz i couldnt find anything i want to eat. i havent showered yet. but hey. it's only 10. if i get a shower before lunch time i will be thrilled. oh. so charles should be home around 3 today and we are going to make nana and papa J's christmas presents together as a fam. it is going to be super cool. but no. i cant tell you what is will be cuz shhhhhh. it is a surprise. ground beef is currently defrosting. because we will be having burgers and homemade fries for dinner. yes it's not the healthiest dinner. but at least i am making it and not buying it from mac and dons steak/kangaroo house. i will probably throw in a salad just to make myself feel like a better mom. ok. so i know this is unorganized. and probably hard to follow. but i am feeling that way today. so that is how i am writing. and hey. it's MY blog. ok. bye.

"help" is a prayer that is always answered...

“Help" is a prayer that is always answered. It doesn't matter how you pray--with your head bowed in silence, or crying out in grief, or dancing. Churches are good for prayer, but so are garages and cars and mountains and showers and dance floors. Years ago I wrote an essay that began, "Some people think that God is in the details, but I have come to believe that God is in the bathroom.” ~anne lamott




i came across this quote this morning by one of my favorite authors anne lamott. one of the reasons i love her is her raw honesty. she is a tad bit crass at times. and i may not agree with her politically all the time. but i can relate to her. and her style of writing brings a smile to my face. make that a grin. a grin is way better. it implies a "knowing" in your soul.

anyway. as i was drinking my cup o' joe this morning (in my fabulous mug my mother in law made me)..i realized the chaos going on around me. adia frantically putting on her shoes and brushing her teeth. rushing not to miss the bus. bethany getting into the turkey sandwhich meat in the fridge and stuffing her face with a large fist full of it. bethy yanking on my shirt saying "juicy mommy. i want my juicy mommy. juicy mommy. i neeeeddddddd my juicy NOW mommy". i realized. this is my life. i had a moment. you know what i am talking about. one of THOSE moments. haha.

ok ok. so i said all that to say this. as i was talking to the Lord and asking him to give me the strength and energy to get through this day. i looked over at bethany and she had a tissue in her hands. she layed the tissue over the top of her sippy cup and said "nigh-night sippy. i see you in da mornin." then she prayed with her sippy and said "dear Jesus. bwess my baby and let her sleep all night long and know she is wuved(loved)." this made my morning. it just plain made it. i'm not quite sure why. but it did. and as i finished up talking to the Lord. i simply said "HELP. help me today to be the best mommy i can. and to relay your love to my children." and as bethy currently lays her sippy cup down for a nap with its "blanky"(tissue) as we speak. i think he is answering my prayer already.

~L

bethy's brand spankin new need for 46 outfit changes per day...

ok..so bethy has this brand new need to change her clothes 6 times a day. it is hilarious. she comes out of her room with shorts on. sweaters. wedding dresses. pajamas. my underwear. you name it. and the combinations are pretty hysterical too. this mernin was my fave. she came out with a blue cinderella dress. hot pink leggings. her purple ugg boots..oh yes and MY underwear on her head. i love that child.