The "Finnster, et al."

On Friday Grandad picked Finn up from JT's house and took him to Tullahoma to spend the night.  I had a couple of super contentious trial this week and spent much of the week preparing.  I was in court most of the day on Friday and was so happy when it was finally over and done.  I went home, curled up on the couch and caught up on "Project Runway."  After we picked up Sam, Michael and I used our Groupon at Fulins.  Sam came with us.  He sat in his high chair and ate fruit loops and rice the entire time.  Sam is so easy to take to town.  Just give him some food and he will be happy.  I gave him a little bit of the cabbage from my egg role.  He put it in his mouth and looked over at me with the most hurt look on his face (add cabbage to the short list of foods that Sam doesn't eat).  I then made the mistake of giving him a bit of my beef and broccoli.  After putting Sam to bed, Michael and I cleaned the downstairs and then wat...

This week I introduced Finn to the Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Rings.  When I first turned it on Finn asked me if we were watching Harry Potter.  I explained to him that it was Lord of the Rings.  When the mines of Moria scene came Finn was in rare form.  Every time some got hit by a bow or a sword or a staff or an axe (which in the Lord of the Rings is constant) Finn squealed and yelled - "Beasted!"  At one point he was watching and this is literally all I heard - "beast, beast, beast, beast, beast, beast, beast."  He was so into it.  Gandolf was his favorite.  He turned to me and said, "Gandold can beast everybody."  A few seconds later Gandolf died.  When Finn saw it he turned to me with the most confused look on his face - it was so funny. 

Sam's rash was visibly worse Sunday when he woke up.  I knew they wouldn't let him go to the nursery so we kept him home with Grandad and Gigi while Michael, Finn and I went to church.  When we picked Finn up from his class we noticed that he was playing cars with another boy.  We never see Finn play with other children so we were really excited.  We noticed that Finn had lined his cars up in the floor just like he does at home.  The little boy that he was playing with is also named Griffin.  Finn didn't seem to think that was as neat as we did. After church we all met Lauren for lunch at Brixx pizza.  On the way home Finn got to talking about how boys do not wear jewelry.  I mentioned that while boys normally don't wear bracelets and big necklaces, boys do wear wedding rings.  We explained to him that when you get married you wear wedding rings.  Finn said that when he gets married he is going to marry Ella; or Ella as in Addison's sis...

Saturday after everyone was up and dressed we decided to go Christmas shopping for the one of the little boys that our Sunday School class sponsored.  The child our family was buying for was a little boy just over a year old.  We decided to go to Kohl's since they have both clothes and toys.  I was worried that picking out toys for another child would really put Finn in a foul mood.  In an attempt to ward off any fits I sat Finn down and explained to him that we were buying a little boy that needs our help (crude summation).  I truly expected it to go in one ear and out the other.  However, Finn was the picture of giving.  I picked out the clothes and then we all went shopping for the toys.  Finn found a few things that he added to his Christmas list, but mostly helped us pick out toys for the "little boy" (as Finn called him). When we got home Sam took a nap and Finn sat with me in the kitchen floor and helped me wrap the presents.  At fir...

I have had a very difficult time deciding what to get Sam for Christmas.  He doesn't really like to play with his own toys - he would much rather play with whatever Finn is playing with.  Since is just a wee little thing I decided that I would get him mostly things that he needs; i.e. a car seat.  Since Michael and I both drive the boys in our own cars we have to get two car seats.  I bought the first one this past.  For the time being it will be my car.  The minute Finn saw the "new" seat he told me that he wanted it.  I explained to him that it was Sam's seat and that he has a nice seat of his own.  I put Sam in the seat for the first time on Thursday.  He didn't care for it too much.  I think it may still be a bit big for him. When I went to pick them up fro m JT's that same day Finn ran to Sam's car seat and hopped in.  I just decided to put Sam in Finn's seat.  It actually fit him much better and he was pretty ...

Michael and I got back from our little getaway around noon on Tuesday.  When we walked in the door I saw Aunt Chelsea holding swinging Sam around.  I braced myself for his reaction to seeing me for the first time in five days.  He looked happy, but not overly excited. I was a bit disappointed.  A few minutes later Finn came running into the kitchen and jumped into Michael's arms.  (Finn was napping when we got home).  We spend the rest of the day unpacking and playing with the boys.  Finn showed us all the things he had done with Gran. Later that evening Gran came over to pack her things and give me the pictures she had taken during the week.  While she was there we gave her the fudge that we brought back for her from "Aunt Mahalia's."  We gave Finn his candy too - be brought him some "rock candy" (a Gatlinburg favorite) and a chocolate covered marshmallow. As the night went on he got to noticing that Sam was acting uncharacteristic...

Last Tuesday the Begley family washing machine kicked the bucket.  We can't complain; a good friend of our's parents gave it to us six years ago and it worked perfectly up until it didn't.  I was a little stressed out about getting a new one, when Gran and Pa stepped in and saved the day.  Merry Christmas to US!  Thank you Gran and Pa.