Oh The Joys! Christmas with Two Little Boys!

Merry Christmas! We had a great Christmas (part 2) at our home. My parents came up to have Christmas with us and we had a great time. Landon was very excited that we were celebrating baby Jesus' birthday. The boys both got Nurf guns for Christmas. Logan (my 22 month old) has a small one bullet gun and is really good at it, hanging right in there with big brother. I am no longer surprised when I hear laughing from behind a door and am shot with Landon's semi nurf gun. I also get the luxury of finding nurf bullets in my shoes and in random places all over the house. I am out numbered, three boys (two little, one big) to one! Landon loves to protect me with his nurf gun, especially when it is dark and he is scared. He says "Mom, it's dark, come right behind me and I'll protect you!" Pictures to come!

Sweet Prayers from A Four Year Old

Landon's prayer at dinner last night was so precious, I must share.

"Dear God,
Thank you for our food, please help my brother Logan to feel better because he is sick, please help me to be nicer to him and to protect him, thank you for Mommy and Daddy, You are so Good God!" Amen

Oh The Snow! Our Trip To Connecticut!

Landon and Lori with our new friends Nikki and Toby in the snow!
We had a blast!







Landon gets ready to throw a snowball!
Landon loved the snow. He went sledding about 4 times a day!








Logan and Toby sledding!





The girls- Lori, Sue and Sabrina!
We had Christmas Part 1 Early at Sabrina's house!
She cooked a Lamb with Dave's brother Dan.
It was fantastic!

Blessings Come In All Forms

We got to see snow in Connecticut while visiting Dave's family! Pictures to come!
I have a sweet story that I wanted to share.
Dave and I took Logan (21 months old) to breakfast with us on a date while Landon was playing with his cousins.
A very young man came in to eat while we were there and he smiled a Logan a bunch. When it was time to leave I went to the cashier and she said she was very sorry but they only took cash. I got directions to an ATM to get some cash. The young man came up and said I overheard your situation and I want to pay for your breakfast. He went on to say" You have really blessed me this morning. My wife and I have an 18 month old and are going through a lot right now in our marriage. I saw you pray before you ate and how you were with your son and it blessed me so much that I would love to pay for your meal in return."
I was so thankful for his kind words and giving heart that I was almost in tears. It is such a rare thing that a stranger would be so kind.

Thanksgiving in Houston!

We had a great time in Houston with my parents for Thanksgiving!
Dave and Duke (my dad) took Landon on his first big fishing trip. He came back and said he caught one hundred fish and the biggest was one hundred inches long. (Landon's new concept right now is the number one hundred.) The fish size is already exaggerated at an early age! In reality, Landon caught a trout that was 14 inches!
They fished on a HUGE dock in LA.

Here are the fish they brought home! Dave made homemade fish sticks with the trout and they were AWESOME!

Logan, my mom and I were able to do some serious Christmas shopping while they were away! It was great!
Here is a sneak peak of what is on Landon's wish list this year! I love Christmas shopping!

God is Love

24

Hannah has brought something very important to my attention, if you have not seen the trailer for the show 24, you have to check it out!
There are two shocking twists! Let me know what you think!
This is really the only show I watch faithfully and I can't wait to see it in January!

You have one last chance to sign up for my Bargain Contest to win a Starbucks gift card or some relaxing Bath and Body Works my friends!

It's A Great Day!

Today has been a beautiful day in Granniss Land!
Looking back on this week, My son got the 12 hour bug last weekend and and ear infection at the same time. So a trip to the doctor was necessary and a lot of cuddling was called for. I am at a point in my mommyhood that when one of my babies gets an ear infection, everything stops. There will be no cooking (darn!) anything I can say no to is cancelled, etc. So now after five days of cuddling (and not much sleeping) my baby is feeling better!
We ventured out of the house to find that our local car wash was offering a free car wash today as a promotion. I may have gone a little overboard saying "Bless you" and "Thank you" to the young man who was wiping down my car at the end, but they blessed me with a clean car! Now, when you have two or more children under the age of 5, your car can turn into a toy box at any time, cracker crumbs may find their way on the floor mats and it can get pretty gross. So this car wash lifted a huge burden off my shoulders. Had I know I would have paid the $10.99 much sooner, but since I am cursed as a bargain shopper, free worked just fine!
While we were waiting, my sons had a grand (not to mention educational) field trip watching the equipment clean our car. I also had an Enjoy The City Merchant packet and spoke to the manager who decided to put a coupon in our coupon book.
To sum it up, in 20 minutes, I got a free car wash, my kids were happy, I earned a signing bonus from my company. And best of all, my baby Logan is feeling so much better!

Arnold Terminates the Media!

Please pray for the families who have lost their homes in the California wildfires.
Here is a video of Governor Arnold telling a reporter that the families are doing okay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y838vto6los
It seems like the media won't listen when everyone is working together, they only want to exploit the bad news. This video is a prime example,
Arnold holds her hand and says "You are looking for a mistake and you are not going to find one!"

Famous People Running By!

It's fun when you run into someone famous, but it's rare that someone famous would run into you!
Have you ever seen the show Gilmore Girls? I grew up down the street from the young Gilmore girl Alexis Bledel, known as Rory on the tv show. Her parents still live down the street from my parents in Houston. My mom was working in the front yard a few days ago when a young girl almost ran into her. My mom said, " Sorry I'm in your way!" She said "No don't worry about it!" My mom kind of went "What? I know that voice!"Alexis Bledel ran by and my mom said "Hey, I know you!" Alexis smiled. It's not everyday that someone famous runs into you! God finds creative ways to keep our lives exciting!

I've Been Decluttered!

I've been Decluttered! Go to my bargain blog to find out the details!
www.bargainshopperlady.com .
You can also read about our free meal at Boston Market! God is good!
We have been taking a Crown Financial Class this semester and it is amazing. If you go on their web site, you can find one near you. It will change your life! I have learned so much!

Lights, Camera, Rockets!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Notice that Landon soaks Logan and then Logan gets his brother back! Oh the brotherly love!

A Tribute to Craig Biggio

Craig Biggio at 3000 hits!

Craig Biggio has retired! If you grew up in Houston loving the Stros, this may be an emotional time for you. As a little girl, I basically thought the world of Craig Biggio.

At age 10, I traded a very expensive Ken Griffy Jr. rookie card for a set of Craig Biggio rookies. The result? I now have a great set of Craig Biggio cards to pass down to Landon. It seems weird that Landon will never get to remember Craig Biggio like we did.

I'll never forget the day my friend Summer got great seats to an Astros game right behind home plate. When we found our seats we realized that we were sitting right in front of Craig Biggio's wife! She was so nice and told us many stories about her husband. She told us to go to a special spot after the game where the players drive out of the stadium. She said if we waved at her she would get Craig to stop and autograph our rookie cards. We went there and waved like crazy when he drove out, but his wife did not see us and he looked at us like we were insane. Oh the fun times!
Dave has now turned me into a huge Yankee fan, (why they traded Bubba Crosby, I'll never know) but it has helped ease the pain of the fact that Craig Biggio is retiring from the Astros. Check out Courtney's blog for highlights of Biggio's last game in Houston!
Who are the Killer B's without the lead stinger? They are a great memory!

My Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Sunni got me into The Food Network by making her amazing brisket. It's better than a Texas Bar-B-Q restaurant ya'll (the word ya'll is used from reading Boo Moma and Baby Bang's blog too much)!
You would not believe what a boost of confidence this meal gave me. It was the best meal we have eaten with a family of four! Both my kids scarfed down two servings. This is huge since it was not pizza or spaghetti!
I wanted to make cookies tonight so I thought, I will search my new found recipe love, The Food Network web page (and we don't have cable so I wouldn't know what the real show is like). I found a recipe for My Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies!!! Doesn't that sound divine? Are they called that because you are supposed to make them big (the cookies?) or because they make us big ( our behinds?). I made them and I made them HUGE! Needless to say, they were a big fat hit in our household!
When you make cookies you have to use my secret ingredient for cookies which I am now going to share -Mexican Vanilla, which you can find at Cost Plus World Market. Mexican Vanilla has bourbon in it~ need I say more?
My husband had a Big Fat Shore House Christmas one year while we were at LBI in a beach house with 50 of his relatives. Dave ordered us all matching shirts that said "My Big Fat Shore House Christmas!" His family is big into humor and food so I told him that I just have to make My Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies next Christmas in if we go to LBI!

Here is Logan enjoying his Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookie!

This is the biggest cookie I've ever seen!

Oh yeah!
My Mommy Loves Me!
So good!

More Boy Fun with Our Kayak!

I made my mom's famous lasagna last night! It was so good. I can't wait to have it again tonight mainly because I don't have to cook! I'll post the recipe sometime but I usually just wing it and call my mom about a dozen times for tips! It's so fun to call my mom for help with cooking!

The boys love to go to Cedar Hill State Park. We are so glad to have it 5 minutes away from our house! We usually go as a family but sometimes Dave blesses me with an hour to myself and takes the boys! Here is our most recent family trip.

Dave's big find on Craigslist, a cool kayak!

Does anyone else edit their posts 6 times? I always want to change something.

Landon is FOUR!

Our precious Landon turned four today. He was so excited! This was by far the best day to see him have a birthday. He really knew what this day meant! We had 5 little 3-4 year old boys over to swim and Audrey, his one girl friend that he had to have over for his birthday. I can't believe Landon is 4. He is so smart like his dad. I love how when he plays sometimes he will sing "Oh, how I love Jesus." It is his favorite song. He likes to play his guitar and have me sing and Logan clap. He has the sweetest most sensitive spirit. He gets upset if he hurts someones feelings. My love for him grows more each day and I had no idea it could get bigger than the day we brought him home from the hospital on September 22nd 2003.

Landon's Swim Party

Landon's Birthday cake. I decorated it with frogs and bugs to match the theme.

Singing to Landon at Wycliffe!

Snakes Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

You'll never guess what we saw outside by the street this morning!
A Snake! Thankfully run over by a car and not alive.

Then on our walk around the block Dave yelled "Strawberry! I mean Spider!" I heard the tone in his voice on the word Strawberry and jumped a mile high barely missing the huge black tarantula!

Later in our bathroom we found a gecko. All three bugs thrilled all three boys in our household! I was not so excited!

Happy Birthday Lori!

hey guys, its carleigh here.

just wanted to write a quick blurb about my good friend lori. lori and i met at DBU when she moved onto my hall as a freshman (i was her r.a.). it was one of those instances where i knew immediately that i liked her and that we would be friends. we hung out a lot, and became friends quickly. she is one of the few people that i still keep up with, and still bears the title of best friend. she is very loyal and kind, and has taught me a lot about what it means to be a true friend. even when i moved away to mcallen, she still made it a priority to call and email, and keep our relationship moving. now that i'm back, she offers to take the kids, and helps out in lots of ways. and she is teaching me some of her handy dandy money saving tips. so, in honor of her birthday (i think she is 28, but it may be 27. oops, maybe i'm not as good of a friend back!), please leave a message and let lori know how much you love her, and what a good friend she is!!
i wish that i could put a picture of us together during our college days, but i don't have a scanner- lori, if you have one, you could post one!! thanks!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORI!! I LOVE YOU!!

love, carleigh

Hush Little Baby... or Boy!

I got a great pic of Landon sleeping that I had to share! This was right before he buzzed off his bangs with daddy! Isn't it great to watch your children sleep? You get this sense of accomplishment. I know I was thinking, I put my child to sleep now I can conquer the world or just get a few minutes of peace and quiet!
I have cut out Dr.Pepper in my diet. I have gone four days without one! I have had a little tea but mainly bottled water with Crystal light pouches poured into it. Seriously I think I have had more energy to chase the kids around! It's been great!

Daddy's In Charge for the day!

When daddy watches the kids, I have a rule and it is "what happens with daddy stays with daddy." Meaning that I am so thankful that my sweet hubby will watch the kids for me that I don't ask what went on. I figured that if I get onto Dave about something he might not offer to watch the kids again for a long time (or something to that effect). So I just say thanks so much sweetie and I'll take over from here.
Well sometimes the facts of what happens while mommy is gone is revealed. Especially if big brother Landon was left in the back seat of the truck with the hair clippers!
I wish I had taken a pic but I did not.
Here's the story. My dad and husband were taking the kids out to play at Houston's First Baptist in the play area. My dad needed to fix the battery in his hair clippers so he took a detour by his work. My dad makes battery packs, isn't his job cool? He fixed the battery and threw it in the back seat with the boys. On the way to church Landon got a hold of it and thought it would be cool to bug a patch out of his BANGS! Not the back or the side but is beautiful blond bangs! My mom and I went on an early birthday shopping trip and when we returned we saw the missing PATCH!
I had to take Landon in to Cool Cuts to get it "mended" and they ended up having to give him an army buzz to make it look good. So the moral of the story is that sometimes, what happens with daddy is found out and laughed about in good humor!

What's Going On This Week!

My husband has an insane soccer schedule and he leaves the house at 6:30 am and gets home at 7:30 or 8:00pm. It is really hard but God is getting us through it and surprising us with blessings and His super amazing love.

One blessing he has given us is a family down the street with two babysitting age girls! One is 12 and one is 8. The 8 year old has really helped us out this week. She has played with Landon and Logan while I cleaned the kitchen and cooked dinner twice! It's really hard to get motivated to cook when your husband is not home to eat with you! I really just want to go to Chick-Fil-A every night. (Especially because the local Cedar Hill magazine has a coupon for a free Chicken sandwich. Did I mention I picked up three magazines? The sandwiches are so good!)

I am beginning to realize that God has placed us in a wonderful neighborhood. We are less than a mile away from Wycliffe Bible Translators. Recently I have met two different neighbors that work for them. One of the neighbors has chickens and I get to take the boys down for a field trip to pick eggs. The boys are so excited to see the chickens and the eggs are so fresh! Better than organic, in my opinion!

I changed The Bargain Shopper Lady web site into a blog form. I went to this great group this week called The Joy Of Connecting to get some fundraising ideas for Enjoy The City. One of the ladies thought it would be a good idea for sharing bargains. Louise had the coolest product called Barefoot Sandals. You have to check them out, they are featured on The Bargain Shopper Lady!

Tomorrow is the first MOPS meeting for our area and it is going to be too much fun!

We are taking the kids on a trip to Houston this weekend so my mom and I can go to a special baby shower!

Check out Carleigh's blog to see updates on her son who we call Hurricane McClure. (He's going to play football, I am sure of it.) Also her sister is going to be on The Family Feud next week so make sure to watch starting at noon!

What I Got Free at CVS today!

Landon posing with the loot!

Coupons Rock! Check this out~ My total was $90. I spent $15 and got $9 in Extrabucks. The register was also supposed to give me $15 in Extrabucks as well, so the manager just gave me $15 cash. So I got my $15 back! WHO HOO! I have been eyeing this Igloo cooler for a long time! It will be great for cookouts with friends!

Poop! God's Humility for Moms?

If you have a toddler I am sure you are very familiar with this word- POOP!
What is it with poop? Did God design it to humble moms? If so, it's working!
We are keeping the Wycliffe Bible Translators Ginnie pig over the long weekend. They boys are thrilled. I am not so thrilled but I am glad that we get to have him for four days and then take him back to his home.
Logan just came up to me with something in his hand so I reached my hand out to him and guess what he blessed me with? Ginnie Pig Poop! I have no idea how he ended up with it. I am very humbled at this stage in mommy hood. Between this and potty training, I am very thankful for hand sanitizer!

Bowling with The Boys!

Landon likes to bowl, which is exciting because I actually LOVE bowling. One thing my dad always taught me growing up was to let the guy win (if on a date.) As hard as that was, I usually let my date win, with two exceptions, arcade basketball and bowling. Dave refuses to play with me anymore because I am such a competitive bowler. Sorry dad! It's so much like softball pitching. I know the minute it leaves my hand if it is a strike or not. It is so much fun teaching Landon how to bowl!

He did really awesome. In his fourth game ever, he scored a 74! I am so proud of him!

Isn't he adorable? Logan sat and watched and clapped for him, which melted me. Moms night out with the Early Childhood PTA is bowling and I can't wait! I can tell you this, I won't be going to chat! :)

What I Got Free At Walgreens Tonight!

It took a little while, but my dh (husband) is proud of me for all the finer free things I get him in life! (He loves ice cream!) Here is what I got tonight at Walgreens. It took a $5 investment for the initial purchase.
4 containers of Dryers Chocolate Ice Cream
A Congratulations Balloon for Dave's 100th win! Go Patriots!
10 Dora and Sponge Bob bubble toys and candy for party favors in the near future.
A few pinwheels and toys to keep Logan happy on the trip.
Diego domino's for Landon. (Honestly I can't wait to play these with him, they look COOL!)
A $10 Walgreen's gift card for the next visit.
And lastly 8 bottles of blond hair coloring which are the items that I had to buy to get all the other items for free.
A huge rule in bargain shopping is that sometimes you have to buy the an item you might not really need to get the items you want for free.
They just fixed this deal (Wednesday so it is no longer working!)

Landon Vacuumed by himself. He is a LITTLE MAN!

My three year old is already showing signs of being mature and I am now okay with the fact that he is turning four next month. Let me tell you what you have to look forward to in the future if you are a mom with a tiny one!

Landon is obsessed with Dave's shop vac. Last week he went into the garage, and without any prompting, got it out, took all the cushions off the couch, vacuumed it out completely, put the cushions back perfectly and put the shop vac back in the garage. He said "Mommy I vacuumed out the couch for you!" It really touched my heart! I praised him all day and told everyone we ran into about the great thing he had done. It was amazing!

So then I realized that he is old enough to help out around the house. WOW!

With Dave's busy schedule, I took advantage of this immediately! I flashed 4 quarters in front of him and asked him if he wanted to earn them. He said "Yes, for my piggy bank please!" So I sat on his bed and told him what he could do to clean his room. He cleaned the whole thing and wanted to vacuum with the shop vac agian, so he vacuumed it out as well!
I am seriously falling so much more in mommy love with him than I realized that I could. He says the cutest things and will randomly say "I love you Mommy!" It melts me to pieces.

I love you Landon David Granniss and I am so blessed that you are growing into a LITTLE MAN!

Pictures from the Splash Factory

Sign My Guestbook!

Amanda had a great idea on her blog so I thought I would try it out too! It is neat to see where everyone lives!

Have you always wanted to meet Barbie?

Does anyone have a little girl I can borrow? :)
You can meet her now- for free! http://barbie.digitaltix.net/
Hurry, Dallas will sell out fast!

Mommy of The Month

My newspaper has come up with this great idea for Cedar Hill and Duncanville area moms. They have created an award for Mommy of the Month! Whoever they pick gets a family picture in the paper and an article about them. And $1000. Okay well maybe not $1000, I was getting carried away.
Well guess what? God continues to bless us. The paper chose me as Mommy of the Month for the first article, which came out today! As I continue the hardest and best season of my life, God continues to give me the encouragement I need. I feel blessed beyond belief for the article!
I hope that He will encourage you this week as well. Whether it is through a sunset, the precious words of a child or a helpful friend, there are so many ways that God encourages us as moms and gives us our own special Mom Hug!

Landon just said something to me that will keep me laughing all day. He grunted and said "mom the toilet is out of power." Holding up a plunger "I think I'll need to use this!" He saw Dave use one a few weeks ago and has been planning how he was going to try it out.

If there are any words of wisdom I could share with moms right now it would be this, if anyone ever offers to come over and clean your kitchen, push aside your pride an let them do it. Meaning say "Okay" immediately! I say this because in the past I have repeatedly turned down this act of kindness when a friend has offered. This time I didn't say no. God sent two of my servant friends with hearts of gold Tracy and Karri to clean my kitchen twice in the past month. With Dave's new schedule God new my breaking point and sent in the reinforcements. Thank you Lord for providing for my needs.

Logan is One and a Half today!

My baby is one and a half today, and it is pretty emotional for me since this is most likely our last child. I have to say I have tried my best to keep Logan my baby and not let him grow up. Logan waited a long time to walk and I am so thankful that I got to hold on for a few extra months. Now that he is up and running, he has a path of his own!
Here is a list of things I love about our baby Logan.

1. He is an excellent communicator. He tells me when he wants me to sing to him by humming. He tells me that he is hungry through sign language. He tells me when he want something by signing please. He goes and crawls into the guest bed when he is tired, to tell me that he is sleepy. He also brings us the remote when he wants to watch TV. (Man trait!)

2. He loves his family. He doesn't like to be left alone without me or Dave at first. He loves to cuddle with me in the guest bed and wrestle with Dave on our bed.

3. He loves to do anything his big brother does. He now loves to go swimming with us and just learned how to blow bubbles in the pool.

4. He loves learning. He knows where his nose is and giggles when we work on other facial parts but everything is a "nose" to him so far. He also loves his belly button.

5. He loves being outdoors. He has to be out doors right away after he eats breakfast in the morning. He could play outside all day, nap and then head back out again. He loves laying on our labs and cuddling with them outside.

6. He is so silly, funny and smiles a lot. Here is a pic of his cute silly smile pose!

Landon's First Lunch Box!

Watch out ladies!

We LOVE Bargains!

My Newest Bargains for the Boys!

Landon's new Nurf "Rocket Gun" $2.98 with a coupon. (Did I mention that he sleeps with it?)

I found matching outfits for the boys at Target for 74 cents a piece.
We went to Angela Sacco's wedding reception at DBU while daddy had a soccer game. I had a sitter for the boys upstairs in the game room but I had to bring them down when I saw that there was a chocolate fountain! Landon loved it and they both had chocolate on their shirts. Here is a pic in front of the DBU fountains.

Would you Bento?

Did you know that making Bento lunches is the newest craze with Dallas moms and their kids? It originates from the Japanese Bento box.
Moms make Bento lunches so that their kids will eat a healthier array of foods like fruits and vegetables. They make them so fun that kids can not resist and therefore might eat something healthy since it looks so cool.
Here is the article that my friend Shannon is the star of, it was in the Headlines of Wednesday's Dallas Morning News:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/taste/shopping/stories/DN-nf_bento_0815liv.State.Edition1.b1d12c.html

She even has her own bento blog. http://www.bentolunch.blogspot.com/ .
If you can't tell she really likes to Bento- hello Rachael Ray, this would make a great show!
I can actually see myself getting into this some day when the boys go to school, except they won't be getting cute flowers and butterflies. They will get the coolest pirate and bug themes I can think of. I can already envision what I would do with gummy worms as the dessert. Yummy!

Boy Adventures

Landon went to see my mom for a few days while Dave was out of town with the soccer team. He had a great time at Camp Grandma!

He was exhausted when he returned! :)
Here are a few pics of him playing baseball in our backyard.



HOMERUN!


Go Landon Go on the Diego Zip Line!
Our backyard continues to serve it's purpose as a haven for boys!
I can't believe Landon will turn four in September! He dressed himself in this picture. Can you tell? I was so proud of him that I couldn't make him change his long sleeves and camo shorts!