The Grant's- Dan, Kim, Kaitlyn & Tanner

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!

2009-01-15T10:32:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year 2009 all my friends and family! I hope the new year is treating you well so far. We have been busy as usual and trying to get back to our routine. We are excited that my mom will be retiring in a few weeks from TI and looking forward to seeing her more often. I am about to go visit Leslie and her new addtion, Alexandra in Arizona. Dan will take the kids to Waxahachie for a grandparent weekend there. Here are a few updates from the holidays:

I love this picture of Tanner. He is posing for me and wearing his Superman pjs.

This is Chance and he is my pretty boy.

This is our Rocco. He is a cutie!

My sweet baby girl in her PJs.

Kaitlyn and Tanner were letting me practice on them with my new camera. I am proud of this pic.

I was practicing my photography.

There's my Dan! I got a new camera for Christmas and I was practicing. So much fun to practice.

My boys sleeping. How sweet is that!!

Dan and I were trying to get a picture together for once. Kaitlyn thought Turtle needed to be in the picture too.

Tanner as usual listened to Kaitlyn and she told him to dress up in her ballet outfit. Of course he said yes as he does whatever she says. Then she proceeded to say "Sister come here and play". At that point I had to draw the line and Kaitlyn says "Mommy it is just pretend that he is my sister!" Our kids and their imaginations. So I then took a picture. The boy doesn't even know how much embarassment this will cause him later in life. Depending on how nice he is to his mama will depend on if I get this one out.

We had Dan's company team Christmas party at our house. Dan got a minute to get a good picture with his brother who is the marketing expert for his firm.

Tanner was helping me cook. He loves cooking in the kitchen and being my little helper. He is a mama's boy and I love it:)

Christmas with Grandma is always fun. They just love it when she plays with them and is goofy! Grandma is so much fun.

Our traditional breakfast with Santa was great as usual. The kids just love having so much time with him it is something we do with our neighbors.

Been a long time...lots of catching up to do

2008-12-01T09:06:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a long time since my last blog and much to update on. As usual, it is in no particular order:)

We've got Halloween, Thanksgiving, Dan's birthday and many more birthday parties ahead to view.

This year Tanner was Handy Manny and Kaitlyn was Tinkerbell. I was just grateful to watch them go trick or treating and have so much fun this year. My how Tanner loves the candy. Every day he still asks for candy. I am so glad that it is over but it is so much fun.

Chad, Michelle, Preston, Parker and Paityn came to trick or treat with us and the guys took the kids while Michelle and I hung out at the neighborhood party. Michelle dressed up like Cleopatra and it was lots of fun!

Kathy, Dan and I took the kids to the neighborhood Halloween festival and the kids had so much fun.

The kids were painting pumpkins. They painted so many this year and had so much fun!

This is my Tinkerbell! I can't tell you how excited I was she wanted to be a princess this year. Last year she wanted to be a football player or Superman. We compromised as Supergirl. This year it was a piece of cake.

Tanner was my little Handy Manny and had so much fun sticking his belly out in this outfit. Rocco chewed up his belt but oh well. Tanner didn't mind. He wore it like a champ.

This is Kaitlyn's boyfriend, Andrew. He lives across the street and is 5 years old. She LOVES him. She looks out her bedroom window and wonders what he is doing. Trouble brewing already. He came over to play and he said Kaitlyn do you want to play in my hula hoop. Hence the cute picture...very cute for now.

This is Owens Farm in Plano. I took the kids to the pumpkin patch here for the first time and it was so much fun. They have lots of land and the kids got to run and play. They had a petting zoo, hay ride, horses, ponies, etc. It was a beautiful day and a nice break in the big city.

This little guy was dying for some attention or some food. Not sure but he was just so cute with the kids and very gentle.

The kids were climing the fence to see the ponies. Kaitlyn met a boy of course she had to run around with. He was wearing an Aggie jersey so I thought he might be alright:)

Going on a hay ride!

This was so cute they were holding hands and waiting for the petting zoo. Their first time to feed animals so they were ready to do it together as brother and sister!

Kaitlyn got her 1st official haircut at the salon. Her 1st haircut was by me about a year ago. She had fun going in and getting pampered. She has watched Tanner get his hair cut a million times and she finally got to do it. We lost some of those fabulous curls but they are growing back. I hope they stay because they are very pretty on her. I never had them so I am enjoying learning about curly hair.

My picture order is backwards so bear with me:)

She got her toenails painted too.

We visited Greatwolf Lodge in Grapevine right before school started. I will tell you that I did not enjoy it at all. The waterpark was closed due to some kids going poop in all areas so what a waste of money. Not a good place to take toddlers if the waterpark is shut down. They didn't seem to care that we had nothing to do there. Don't think we will go back again. These pics are out of order too. Oh well.

Kaitlyn and Tanner make an attempt to sleep in the same bed at the hotel. Yea right, that didn't work at all.

It was cute, they had story time at 8pm and their mascots came out while the lady read a book. That was cool.

Oh and because we had nothing to do with the kids there, I had to fork over some cold hard cash to entertain the Tanner to get him a stuffed wolf. Dan had taken Kaitlyn on some water slides as Tanner wanted nothing to do with the big kid area.

Kaitlyn and Tanner are really into riding bikes now. They love showing off for the camera and think they are so big. We have a busy street so we let them ride in our garage. It is safe and they like it. It makes for good practice so they will be ready for the big road one day. Kaitlyn's big Santa request this year is a Big Girl Barbie Bicycle with a Barbie helmet. Can't wait to see what shows up:)

We went to Gavin's birthday party. It was a dress up Halloween Birthday party at Dusti's house. It was great because the weather was nice and we actually got to get all the kids in the picture.

It was cute, there was a face painter there but Tanner prefers his arm. He is all into Superman or Batman. He loves dressing up.

Happy Birthday to Dan!! He turned the big 34!!

Another day of dress up for Kaitlyn. She is always wearing our clothes, shoes, hats and anything she can get her hands on. This day she was all Dan.

A Batman Birthday party for Jack Wood. This is her other boyfriend. They have been going to school since they were 1 so they just love hanging out. She had to sit next to him at the party. It was a superhero party so Kaitlyn was Superman of course.

It's a day of shopping at Nordstrom's. My girl doesn't take after her mommy at all:)

This was her other boyfriend, Andrew's old costume he gave to Tanner. Kaitlyn had to wear it. She looked so cute in it with those chaps and her booty.

Kaitlyn was wearing Tanner's backup Halloween costume which was Elmo. He wanted to be Elmo first but it is like 80 degrees outside and there is no way he was going to make it past 2 houses without burning up. I kept it so they could dress up. And what do you know, they like playing in it.

Tanner and I were cooking something up in the kitchen. He loves being my helper and getting all the good stuff before it goes in the oven. Smart boy!

Thanksgiving trip to the farm. We went to visit my grandparents for Thanksgiving and had a great time. They are not in very good order either.

Dan spent the day taking the kids on the 4 wheeler and they just loved it.

When they weren't riding the 4 wheeler they rode bicycles. They really enjoyed all the space to get out and go fast.

Dan has a special moment where both Tanner and Kaitlyn sat still long enough to get some cuddle time.

Happy 91st Birthday Papa!!! We had so much fun celebrating his birthday. It was a surprise that we were going to celebrate it. He enjoyed the attention and celebration of how far he has made it in life. A moment he could enjoy in the spotlight!

Granny and Papa! Don't they look great!

Tanner took this picture of Dan and I and we were excited as to get in a picture together finally.

An update for you....

2008-10-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Here are my kids doing what they do best. DRESS UP!! When Dan gets home from work they have to follow him into the closet and put on his work clothes, stinky socks and shoes and whatever else they can come up with. They are little hams for sure.

A rare occasion that Tanner and Kaitlyn are taking a shower together and without one of us being in there to help. They aren't even fighting. Thought I would share this special moment and that cute little booty:)
Ahhhh the Plano Balloon Festival. One of my favorite events to go to of the year! I love going and this year was especially great because the weather was fabulous! There was no wind and I can't recall being able to take a picture with this many balloons in one picture. It was pretty awesome.
We did an impressions plate at a party with the kids handprints and Kaitlyn took a picture. It was good so I thought I would share. I love looking at handprints of children. It is just so cute.
Tanner is working on his little bench making something and trying to be like Daddy.
I said Tanner can I take a picture of your cute booty in those jeans and he turned around and posed. It was very funny. Funny in the sense it is the only time the boy poses for pictures. I try to get a cute smile, pose etc and nada!!

Mandy Bradley-college roomate came to visit us when she was in town evacuating from Hurricane Ike. We had connected on Facebook a week prior. How cool is that. We hadn't seen each other in gosh like 10 years or something like that. Crazy. She has a beautiful daughter and son that are almost the same age as Tanner and Kaitlyn. Poor Mandy's little girl had to have hip surgery the next day in Dallas as she had an infection. She is doing much better. Poor baby girl.

I loved the visit and wow how time flies when you are getting older.

Ok so I still suck at posting these dang pictures in the right order. Long story short, we had a great time at Balloon festival. Kids just LOVED all the balloons, junk food, sno cones etc. Tanner actually liked the sno cone so much he dumped it all over his clothes. We had to strip him down to his underwear and then Kaitlyn wanted to take her clothes off. Now you can imagine in Plano, TX at a public place walking with kids with only their underwear on. Well I got more than plenty looks indicating that we might be white trash. One old man even said something. Embarrassing to say the least. Kind of funny though to see people's faces.
Tanner pre sno cone crash. Random girl he was sitting next to but I thought it was cute.
Check out all those cool balloons. A must do event if you are in town for this.
The Grant girls trying to be cool with our shades.

That's it for now, signing off for a few weeks at least. Catch up again soon:)

The Big 33 Celebration

2008-09-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, where do the years go. I have definitely noticed them flying by much faster now that I have children. I have noticed the years taking its toll on my body too. Carrying kids, having kids, working out is getting harder, not so easy to drop pounds like it use to be, back, hip you name it getting older is no fun. So I have my great days but I have to admit how surprised I am that at my youthful age I sometimes feel so old:) Another year older and I am okay with it. I am thinking it will be like fine wine, as I age, it will only get better. Okay enough of all that, let's just pretend for this weekend.

It was fun just celebrating my birthday with my family and I LOVE letting my kids blow out my candles. I have to say that is my favorite thing about it. Not sure how that affects getting my wish but who cares!! It was a great weekend! Dan and I went to Abacus for dinner Friday night and it was soooooo goooooood. I think it is my new favorite restaurant. I loved everything about it and enjoyed spending time with Dan just by ourselves. It was all in all the perfect birthday weekend!!

A visit from Dusti and the family

2008-09-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

We had a great dinner at our house this weekend with Dusti, Mike and the kids. I think we were all worn out at the end of the evening with 5 crazy kids running around and many boo boos later. The kids had lots of fun playing and the weather was finally cool enough for the kids to play outside. I have to brag that I actually made a homeade dinner for my friends from a cookbook and everything. It turned out good and I can see how it can become addictive to cook for people if you have some success. I will have to try it out on some more guinea pigs again. Here are Tanner, Kaitlyn and Reese taking a little break outside. Kaitlyn of course was supporting the Ags and thank goodness they pulled off a win yesterday. GO AGGIES!!! Get your butts in gear!!!!

Lot's of blog updates

2008-09-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

Oh let's start here shall we:

Here is the Tanner Nanner riding a cow at the Dallas Children's Museum. It was so fun and more pics are below.
We had a nice visit from Pops and Grandma and they brought a very special Home Depot project for the kids to work on from Aunt Rae Ann. They loved it.
This was Kaitlyn and Tanner's first day back to school. They had such a great first day. They were so excited and I was so excited that day was all smiles. Last year Tanner cried all day everyday so we pulled him out. This year is off to a great start and I am so proud of them both for being so big.
This is a play date with our friends Macy and Camden. Kaitlyn met Macy in ballet and they all have so much fun playing together.
Kaitlyn got a hold of my camera and started taking pictures of Keira and I. She is Macy's mom. As you can see she did get our faces in the picture but she was pretty good at taking pictures of our feet and legs too. Not bad for her first big try.

The kids had so much fun at the Dallas Children's Museum. It is such a great place for the kids to learn and they have so many fun hands on activities for them to explore.

Kaitlyn and Tanner are having fun making music.
They really enjoyed being firefighters and driving pretend the fire truck.
I have to say this was the classic pic of the day. Here is Tanner learning how to milk a cow and it really does pour out water when you squeeze it. I thought that was very interesting. Earlier in the pictures you saw he much preferred to ride the cow rather than milk it:)

We finally took Tanner into get his big 2 year old pictures taken. We decided why not get a family picture while we are at it. Not a pleasant experience getting our pictures taken but we made it through with a sigh of relief.
Oh how I look at Tanner and wonder where my baby went. He has changed so much over the summer and has grown like a weed. He has also just grown up so much emotionally. He is so much more independent, confident, social. He is really starting to talk more now and saying half of his words in Spanish and half in English. Throws me for a loop but I am really excited that he has picked it up. A few more months and he will be chatting so much. He is officially potty trained now which was perfect timing for school. I just am so proud of him as he was the one who always wanted to do it and worked so hard to learn how and be like his daddy and big sister. So I look at him and think wow what a difference a year makes and how sad and happy I am that my baby has grown into such a sweet, fun, loving a boy.
Kaitlyn just has grown like a weed this summer too. It is amazing how much she has grown up this summer on the outside and in. She is so much better and sharing and has become so sweet with everyone and thoughtful. She really is so much fun to hang out with and my little sidekick.
A girls trip to Chicago....I went to visit Pam in Chicago and Dusti and Leslie went as well so we could have our first girls weekend without kids I think ever. It was so much fun and we had such a great time. My what we can get caught up on with a few days hanging out with no children or distractions. It was so nice to have that special time with them and it felt like just yesterday we were all playing in college. Leslie is expecting a girl in January and she was a trooper with all of our walking in the city and very late nights up talking and goofing off. I love Chicago and I loved my girls trip. Definitely need to do that again hopefully soon:)
This is my out of order picture with Tanner and I at the dinasour exhibit where he and Kaitlyn could find bones in the sand and they had this huge dinasour that was very scary looking. Very cool though. I think I had just as much fun as they did. It sure would be fun to be a kid again.

A Day with Superman...

2008-09-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

Kaitlyn as you can see and have seen for sometime has a slight obsession with Superman. No I can't call her Supergirl, it is full fledged Superman. So whatever, maybe she will outgrow it one day. It has been almost a year but hope is in sight as she has requested Tinkerbell for Halloween. This pic is funny because Kaitlyn is all posing like Superman and Tanner is like whatever Batman.
This would be Tanner and Kaitlyn playing dress up and again Kaitlyn is wearing Tanner's size 2T Superman pajamas. They are her favorite.

Okay i will blog again later. Mama is tired and it is late!! This is for you Les and Pam. A sign of life from my blog. More to come later....

A trip to the Hill Country

2008-07-10T08:26:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the 4th of July going on our first official family vacation to the Hyatt Hill Country in San Antonio. We had a blast and the kids just loved staying in a hotel and having our undivided attention!!!

We met up with some friends of ours- The Parkers. Brian works at the same company as Dan and Grayce and I met at Shareholder retreat in Scottsdale this year. They are super fun and oh did I mention they have 4 kids 4 years old and under. They have Bryce-4, Blake-2, Ellie and Brooks(twins- 10 mos. old). Our kids just had so much fun all week playing with their kids and we had a blast hanging out with them! We went to dinner most nights and boy was it a scene with all of our kids together. Super fun and quite entertaining.

They were so cute. I took the 4 of them walking and told them to hold hands and for the rest of the trip they all wanted to hold each other's hand anywhere we went. So adorable.

This is the Parker Fam. I have to say the twins were the best babies ever. I was in amazement how good they were the whole trip. Always happy and always just chillin.

We went on a sunset horse drawn wagon ride on the golf course. It was beautiful and a great experience for the kids.
Me and my sidekick posing for a little girlie pic.

Here are my boys! Hanging by the pool taking a little break from the sun.

It's snack time! I think my kids swam more in day than they normally swim in a few weeks. It was great for them to be able to be outside all day and the weather was just perfect and not too hot.
A little family pic as we went out to dinner at the restaurant. Not so much a common thing for us as our kids don't get the sitting at the table thing for very long. They had a little kid buffet and Kaitlyn and Tanner went to it about 100 times as Kaitlyn wanted to use the tongs to put stuff on her plate. Poor restaurant oh and they had a plate full of cookies out too. What were they thinking. I think our kids thought that was a highlight of the trip. The mini kid buffet that started with a plate of cookies.

Tanner, he is just getting so big so fast. How does that keep happening:)

They had movies on the lawn and the kids thought that was so cool. I am not sure they watched the movie but they sure watched all the people watching the movie. All in all it was the perfect family vacation and our kids were rockstars. They were so good and I have to say I can't wait to do it again. That's a wrap!!!

A visit from Piedad's parents

2008-07-10T08:22:00.000-07:00

Our nanny Piedad's parents came to stay with us for 2 weeks to visit her. They were wonderful to have an so great with the kids. Her mom is an amazing cook and it is clear why Piedad is just so great! Tanner learned more fist pump hand moves from her dad. Tanner thinks he hung the moon.

What do you get.....

2008-07-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

when Kaitlyn plays dress up princesses??

you get bipity bopity boo Tanner learning how to do it. The boy just loves playing in dress up clothes and sure doesn't mind the color or style.

Silly Daddy and Kaitlyn

2008-06-27T08:11:00.001-07:00

I had to post this one because it was just too funny. Dan's mom bought a bunch of toys for the kids to play with and these were definitely a hit. Kaitlyn loves being silly with her daddy!

Tanner turns 2!

2008-06-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

Where did my baby boy go??

My little Tanner Nanner turned the big 2 in June! Gosh how time flies by when you have kids. It just feels like yesterday when he was born and today he is just so big. He acts like a big boy and we are looking for his big boy bed as he is making that transition. It is sad in some ways as he isn't a baby anymore but he is just so much fun and always so happy. I love watching him grow and he is doing that fast.

He is going to be my little athlete I can tell already. He loves being outside as you can tell by his red face. He can't play enough with the soccer ball, basketball, football, baseball etc. I will say though that he will be well rounded as he looks up to his little sister so much and wants to do everything she does including dress up in girl clothes. It makes me laugh and him too!

More pics...

2008-06-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

So here are a plethera of random pics over the last several months of this year. I was just looking through and found some that I didn't have time to put on. Better late than never!

We visited my aunt Susan before she had the baby and Kaitlyn and Tanner got to spend some fun time with Jacquelyn. We had an afternoon at the mall and the kids love riding the carousel.
Here are a few pictures of the storm and damage that it did to our house for those that didn't see it. Fun stuff. Hopefully that season has passed us now as it is cranking up to a 100 degrees lately here.

Part of our fence flew through our window in the study and oh the mess it created.
Here are our other 2 baby boys. Chance and little guy Rocco. Rocco is a big 7 months old now and pure puppy. He loves eating the kids toys, chewing the hands and feet off of Kaitlyn's barbies, eating my carpet-2 times now, eating my plants outside, chewing on Chances ears all the time and whatever else he can get in his mouth. Other than that, he is just the sweetest thing and so much fun to have. Chance loves him but probably wishes he had a place to escape every once in a while.

Thought I would post this one since Kaitlyn looks like she is posing for the camera. What a rarity it is as she normal makes a funny face and runs when I get the camera out. Love that phase!

Oops he did it again. Tanner tries so hard to get his outfits all put together but something always seems just a little out of place. That's my boy.....

We went to the Dallas Zoo for the first time and had so much fun. It was a beautiful day but wow there were 5 million kids there. Tanner just looked in amazement as I don't think he has ever seen that many kids in one place especially in a single file line. They were admiring the goldfish tank.

That's it for now! Hopefully it won't take me 3 more months to post again. I do love it, it is just that time factor. Tanner did turn the BIG 2 years old this month so I will post pics from that soon. They are on my mom's camera. Ciao for now.

Where does the time go...

2008-06-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

Ok so I admit I am not the best blogger but hey I am making an attempt. Life seems to finally be settling down from the aftermath of the tornado that hit our house. I have been a busy bee with all the vendors trying to get things back to normal. Dan and I went on vacation a few weeks ago, the kids are out of school, life has just gotten a whole lot busier in the kid department. What fun we will have in the sun this summer with lots of things planned. Here are a few pictures of the kiddos and how they just keep getting bigger and bigger everyday...

Dan and I went on a vacation to Playa del Carmen and stayed at Secrets. What a great place. We did manage to make it there just in time for the first tropical storm of the season but we managed with the unlimited cocktails and free time to ourselves.
This is Dan and I at dinner one night. We couldn't find our camera before we left so this is from my iphone.

Here is my Tanner Nanner. He is just so big now. What a joy he is and such a happy boy! He's always making me smile.
Here is Kaitlyn and Dan. She is keeping me on my toes. Always doing the unexpected and changing everyday. We went from a craze of Cinderella to being crazy about Superman all in the span of a few months. Here is her phase of thinking she is Superman and a boy too. She cracks me up. She is a girlie girl but definitely random sometimes. These will be great pics for her to look back on one day:)

Here is Kaitlyn with the infamous Turtle. I got Turtle in Mexico when I was pregnant and before I knew it was a girl. So maybe somehow Kaitlyn helped me pick this Turtle out when I was pregnant. Turtle has been on many and all journeys with Kaitlyn. That is her baby and prized possession since birth (or even possibly before that).

Kaitlyn is in ballet class. She loves it and I love watching her. She has always walked on her tiptoes so it is only natural for her to be in ballet. She is very good at it and it has been really fun doing the mommy and me class with her. This summer she will be doing it all by herself as I watch from outside:(
Well what can I say. Tanner is going to be a well rounded kid. He LOVES sports- any and all of them. He loves guy stuff and he LOVES wearing Kaitlyn's shoes and mine too. I have no doubts about his masculinity that will continue to develop as he gets older however I do have to remind him that sparkly bows and shoes are just not for boys. Matching clothing items will come later:)

This is me and my baby boy. He just got a haircut and it was spikey on top. Super cute and gosh he is just looking so much older now. He's not a baby anymore.

Tanner was at gym class and looking a little tired from all that playing. He loves hanging on everything like a monkey and jumping on everything too.

I'M BACK!!!!

2008-05-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

I am finally back into blogging action after a little break. Life has been busy as usual and we seem to always be on the run doing something. Here a few highlights of the last few months that I missed.

Kaitlyn's 2nd Birthday! It was a Cinderella and Prince Charming theme as you can see by my own here:)

We went to go visit my Aunt Susan as she was pregnant with her little boy. We did a road trip and had so much fun around Easter time. She had her baby little William who is just adorable.

I had a great visit from Pamela and her family. We had a blast the short time we got to see her. I don't have pics though:(

Then Dan and I were off to Scottsdale to go visit Leslie and go to his shareholder's retreat. It was so nice to go out there and the weather was perfect. It was awesome as Les found out she was pregnant too when we were staying at her house. What perfect timing is that. Maybe I brought some magic fairy dust to her house. What great news this was for all of us to hear!

We had fun going to dinner with Court and Les. Just like old times in college when we were all in the dorm. Gosh 15 years later and thankfully we don't look too terribly different and it seemed like it was just yesterday when we all got to talking. It was great.

Chop, Chop, Chop

2008-01-15T11:59:00.001-08:00

Oh, did I mention....chop chop chop goes the hair. I told you it was the year of change and change it is. After my whole life of not ever having short hair, off it comes. I happened to have a hair appointment the same day my dog died so probably not a great combination of events. I decided that now is the time as my day couldn't get any worse. So off it came and suprisingly I was okay with it and felt somewhat rejuvenated. I am still getting used to it but it is a nice change. Overall, I am glad I did it and feel like it was one of the first steps into a great new 2008.

Introducing Rocco Grant- 6 weeks old

2008-01-15T11:44:00.001-08:00

His name is ROCCO. He is a fun little guy that has lots of personality. He is quick like lightning, kisses so gentle and chews, chews and more chewing. Mostly my hand and fingers of course. He is smart dog and knows for the most part that pottying is done outside. So far so good. The getting no sleep thing is not so bad so far since I am not working this time. I think after having kids this might be easier than I thought once before:) Rocco is definitely fitting into the family well as the kids just adore him and want to play with him ALL day. Poor guy never gets any sleep.

The lonely Chancer

2008-01-15T11:40:00.001-08:00

After a few days of no signs of Chase coming home, poor Chance was feeling a little lost and confused. He is such a great and sweet dog. He is the gentle dog that is so great with the kids. I think it is time for us to get him another playmate and a strong dominant protector of the house. The search begins for the next Grant puppy....

Kaitlyn starts ballet

2008-01-15T11:33:00.000-08:00

Kaitlyn was so excited to start ballet class. She already has walked and run on those tiptoes for almost 3 years now so it was only fitting to see how she would do. She loved it and begged me to please take her again when it was finished. I am not sure I have ever seen her so happy. Very cute and fun for me too.

Our beloved Chase passes away

2008-01-11T07:17:00.000-08:00

After 12 1/2 years of lots of playing and lots of change through the years, our Chasers passed away. He was a trooper through the years of crazy college days, living with my parents, then living with Dan and I after we got married, getting another dog and adding two children to the family. He unfortunately got mouth cancer and it was too agressive to overcome. He was a huge part of our family and we will miss him very much.

Bringing in the New Year Mer Mer style

2008-01-10T21:32:00.000-08:00

We celebrated the New Year at Meredith's wedding. It was a great time and we had a lot of fun dancing the night away.

Dan, the man, the dancing machine...

A date with my hubby

2008-01-10T21:29:00.001-08:00

Dan and I went out for a date night over the holidays which was nice and relaxing. We went to the best new restaurant in Dallas called Central 214 at Hotel Palomar. I love that place.

A horsin around kind of Christmas

2008-01-10T21:06:00.000-08:00

It was a Merry Christmas for us and the kids as the theme turned out to be horses. They enjoyed running into the living room to see them waiting for them on Christmas morning. Kaitlyn of course got her requested item from Santa...another baby swing so she doesn't have to share with Tanner outside on the swingset. She thinks it is safer, our little super careful girl:)

We then headed down to the farm to celebrate the day with my grandparents and the kids had so much fun dressing up in all the different play clothes that Tanner got for Christmas. It was a great Christmas and so much fun that the whole family could get together down there.

Breakfast with Santa

2008-01-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

The kids went to visit Santa and had breakfast on Christmas Eve. It was special and the Santa sure was believable. It's something we have been doing the last few years and just might become tradition as the kids get to spend a little more time with them than usual. I have to say though this year since I am staying at home, there were a million opportunities to see Santa everywhere we went and I was thinking, better be careful as the explanation on that one could get tricky. Oh and they all look different too.

A new idea

2007-12-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

Piedad's father makes these beautiful wraps in Mexico for fun and gave one to Kaitlyn as a gift. It is very pretty and I think he should try to sell them on ebay. He makes them for children and adults and we will see if he can make some money by selling them on the internet. Piedad is our nanny for those who don't know. She lives with us and is part of the family. Kaitlyn and I are modeling them to put on ebay. Well the best we can anyways:) Oh and I had hand surgery for a cyst on my wrist for those wondering what that is in the picture. It is doing great and healing better everyday.

BIG BOYS play with TONKA TRUCKS!!!

A day in the life of Tanner Grant!

2007-12-05T08:38:00.001-08:00

I want to roar like a dinasour! Am I scary mommy?? Oh I think I want to be Chase and Chance now, do I look like a dog, will they let me sleep in their bed you think??
Okay time to go play dress up in the closet with all the clothes and the hats. Gosh I am such a big boy now and what fun he is!!

Dan's Family Visit for Thanksgiving

2007-12-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

Kathy is teaching Kaitlyn how to cook. What a great teacher and Kaitlyn loves getting all messy and for sure the helping part. Kathy is making her yummy rolls.
Kaitly has put on the onion goggles and is ready to help mommy cut up some onions.
Wow my Kaitlyn sure grew up tall fast.

Surprise, Aunt Kristin is in there too!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

2007-12-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving down at the farm with my grandparents. All the family came in and we cooked and had so much fun. The kids just love going on the golf cart and four wheeler. You can see Dan sure has his hands full with all these kiddos. What a trooper he is. Don't know how to rotate the pictures. Will work on that:)
My litttle bundle of joy. He loves running and playing down on the farm at my grandparents.
Our first Thanksgiving family picture I think.

Unfortunately things ended on a bad note down there. My grandmother fell on a toy and broke her ankle badly and tore all ligaments. She just had surgery and is at home now. She has someone taking care of her as well as my mom and aunt. Hopefully she will have a quick recovery and can walk fine again in the next 3-6 months.

A Grandparents celebration!

2007-12-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

Parker riding the horse as the girls are having fun on the back.

Kaitlyn, Parker, Jacqueline and Paityn watching a movie in my room. How cute is that!!!

We are at the dinner celebration for my grandparents! What a fun time we all had going to the restaurant. Not a frequent occasion for us at this point but the kids did great!

My aunt Susan, Dave and Jacqueline all came into town to visit for the weekend. They are expecting a baby boy next year and we are so excited for them.

What a great weekend!! My grandparents visit to Dallas was to celebrate a few big occasions. We all celebrated my grandfather's BIG 90th birthday and also their 65th wedding anniversary. Both are occasions that few are lucky enough to celebrate in their lifetime. We had so much fun with the family all getting together.

Happy Halloween!!

2007-11-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from our little Supergirl and Superman! They are in action here!

It was a Happy Halloween for us last night! We had so much fun taking the kiddos around the neighborhood! My brother and his family joined us for the evening. The girls were getting the royal treatment riding in the wagon and my brother pulled. Tanner ran about a mile I think. Those little legs were so cute waddling with his cape flying around.

Kaitlyn, Tanner and I visited Daddy at the office today. It was Tanner's first big trip to see where Dan works and it was great fun to meet all the new people on his team. Kaitlyn was especially impressed with how tall the building was:)

First Blog ever!!!

2007-10-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Well thanks to my friend Pam, I have decided to enter the world of blogging to let my friends and family in on our life and what keeps us so busy when time passes without talking.

Life is great these days for us. We just got back from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We left the kiddos at home since they are at school and probably still a little young for traveling, for us anyways. We had a great time and highly recommend going there. The kids are growing so fast and are truly just a blast. The crack me up everyday with their laughs, dancing and Kaitlyn's sayings. Tanner is trying to talk so bad but he can't yet. He is good at screaming though. He is pure boy, with I can't even count how many bruises the boy has had already at 16 months. He chipped his tooth over the summer trying to bite the side of the pool. He has already had his first black eye and runs head down and head first. It is pretty funny except he makes me nervous he will fall. Who knows maybe he will make a great football player one day. Kaitlyn is 2 1/2 now and just so grown up. She LOVES playing dress up in all of our clothes. I don't think a day goes by that she isn't putting something random on but oh how fun it is. She is all girl and still walks and runs on her tip toes. I need to get her in ballet and she will already be ahead of the class. Her favorite word right now is "Sure". I say do you want to go to time out and she says Sure! Not what I had in mind. It does make me laugh though!

Dan is staying busy at work with his big project he has been working on in Wilmer Hutchins. He took a backpacking trip for 5 days to Jacksonhole, Wyoming in September. He had a great time and was able to soak up some nature time.

I quit my job end of June to take a break from the rat race. It has been a great change of pace though it took some getting used to. I am really enjoying all the quality time with the kids and love having some time for me as well. It is definitely the best decision I have made in a long time.

We are coasting into Halloween soon and the kids are going to be superman and supergirl. We are excited to have little Tanner out this year trick or treating for the first time.

We just did the race for the cure this weekend to celebrate Dan's mom being cancer-free for 7 years now. We are so proud of her for her courage! My parents just headed to Canada and Vermont with the Kanens to see the fall colors. What fun!

That's all for now. Not bad for a first blog, eh:) Take care and hope to see you soon.

Love, The Grant's