The Jordan Family

Big John

2009-01-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

john flew into get blaise and stayed with us. we were so excited! the kids were ecstatic. i think i heard "hey big john" 50 times. this picture was taken at like 6:15 a.m. before we left to take him back to the airport. it was a short visit, but it was great.

New Years

2009-01-02T06:40:00.000-08:00

we went out new years for the first time in five years! it was great!! we had a wonderful time!! we had some friends come to town and go out with us (jake and desi). we went to eat at stellas, went to a party at the peabody and ended the night at bb kings. it was hard to get a picture with andy without him, well being himself.

christmas 2008

2009-01-02T06:33:00.000-08:00

i don't have many pictures from christmas morning. i started taking them with one camera and then realized my cf card wasn't in it. so i basically missed the best pictures. the kids had a wonderful christmas. jules told everyone that is was Jesus' birthday. griff, i think, knows what it means, but is still all about his own presents. glad it's over!!!

Hot Mess & Santa

2008-12-24T22:37:00.000-08:00

Jeez, where do i begin. well, i'm a bit ocd. my neighbor who's about 80 + asked if we were going to be home tonight yesterday and i said yes and he asked if he could dress as santa. of course i said yes. my kids haven't shut up about how much they just love santa. so, back to me being ocd; i give my kids a bath, while they're playing, i'm cleaning up the house for the 12th time today because the neighbor is coming. i finally finish giving them a bath and jules is screaming because goodness for bid someone touch her hair which hasn't been brushed in 2 days because i can't stand her screaming mommy is mean. i used real condition because let's face it, the no more tangles is for kids with hair to the their shoulders and my child's is way past that. so, we're all clean and the house is half clean. we sit around waiting for 1 1/2 hours on santa. it was hard, but we somehow managed. about two hours after i was expecting him to be here we heard bells jingling. griff went beserk and jules was still talking to andy about how mean i was because i spanked her when she threw white chocolate chips at me. anywho, santa came and brought gifts and griff was actually amazed even though mr. krogh told him he was santa's helper. it was great. here are few of the pictures. jules is really into shoes; she picks them out herself, along with her clothes. we went to look at christmas lights and this what she wore.

2008-12-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

i haven't downloaded pictures from my camera in a while. griff was hunting on our front walk one afternoon; obviously not recently. we tried taking pictures tonight for our christmas cards. it went a lot better than last year. griff loves the camera, jules still isn't that fond of it. she got her first haircut last weekend. it grew in a V, so the girl cut it straight across. it's no longer to the top of her bottom, it's to the middle of her back. it's amazing how much difference it made in her hair. it definitely looks better on the ends and it looks thicker in the back. hopefully i'll be able to get our cards out this week.

Griff and the Game Ball

2008-11-23T06:34:00.000-08:00

we went to the game yesterday in starkville and it was a great end to the season. during the fourth quarter, leslie and i took griff down next to field. jamayel smith threw griff a gameball from the sideline. they came to the tailgate after the game and he gave griff his gloves which he has yet to take off. he was so excited! jamayel threw the football with him and i think it had to be the highlight of life. the other players are brandon mcrae and aubrey bell. for some reason, they love andy.

Sharon

2008-11-19T17:02:00.000-08:00

this is sharon and i at her son's wedding last year. i know it's a year old, but i think it's the only half decent picture i have of myself taken anywhere close to recently. anyway, this is our sharon. she's our second mother and grandmommy. without family anywhere close, she's the next best thing!! i wouldn't trade her for the world!!!

it's been a while

2008-11-16T18:40:00.000-08:00

it seems like forever since i've posted anything. so much has been going on these last few weeks. two weeks ago, griff got a buckle fracture on the top of his foot playing football after the game in starkville at the tailgate. he's been a boot since then and has to continue to wear it for a couple of more weeks. after that, the election. what a nightmare. i'm a minority where i teach, so you can only imagine what that's been like. oh yeah, did i say nightmare?? after that, we all got a stomach virus, except for andy. griff was out of school monday and tuesday so my mom came up and kept the kids. she got the virus. griff had it sunday and monday, jules got it wednesday and i got it friday. YUCK!! there have been years where i can't wait for may, this year has all the other ones beat!!! sorry to be so negative, but it has a rough month so far. i forgot, we also found a baby snake in our house, and yes, it was alive.

pumpkin patch farm

2008-10-18T18:08:00.001-07:00

so, andy's out of town and i've been wanting to take the kids to a pumpkin patch. my friend wendy and i have been planning this all week. we went today and the kids had a good time. i was expecting it to be a little more than it was. they fed the animals, played on the playground, rode a train and picked up pumpkins from the field we parked in. we were trying to do the hayride to the corn maze and pumpkin patch, but it was getting late and cool and we were having to wait; so, the field we parked in had a pumpkin patch close to our vehicles so we just let the kids get a couple of pumpkins from it. we ended up with 7, wendy and parker ended up with 3. i think the limit was 1. oh well!! after the pumpkin patch, the kids and i went to cracker barrell. i thought i was glutten for punishment, but the kids were great other than jules screaming for gum she tried to walk out with that we didn't pay for. yes, we put it back and she did calm down once we got in the truck and she got the other candy we did pay for. all in all , it was a great day!

jules 1st game this season

2008-10-12T11:18:00.001-07:00

she actually did really well. she didn't have any meltdowns and she played in her seat during the game. i was nervous about the whole wearing big girl panties, but she did just fine. we tailgate right by the restrooms, so it's works out perfect. she had a blast! griff said she was the prettiest cheerleader there.

2008-10-05T16:50:00.000-07:00

bugs

2008-10-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

Griff's Cake

2008-10-01T17:53:00.001-07:00

griff's cake has pretty much become a tradition. he's had the same cake every year except for his first birthday. andy's mom get's a lady to make it and she brings it every year. it is fabulous. i don't think i've ever tasted a cake soooo good.

Zoo & Birthday Party

2008-10-01T17:44:00.001-07:00

we went to the zoo this past saturday and then had griff's party on sunday. it was a busy weekend to say the least. the kids had a great time and it was nice to get out of the house. griff loved the farm and so did jules. all the kids seemed to have a great time at the farm.

i have a 5 year old!!

2008-09-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

it's hard to believe i have a five year old. his birthday was yesterday and he was sooooo excited. andy said when they walked into school he was telling everyone he passed. he got a new bike and was so grateful. he told us thank you over and over again and even thanked jules. he walked over to his old bike and said dad, you can just take this one down the street for the garbage men. it's fun when they really start getting excited about celebrations. jules was even excited. all she kept talking about was griff's birthday and griff's presents. it was a fun day. we're going to a farm in collierville for his party this weekend so i'll be posting more pictures then.

jules

2008-09-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

catching up

2008-09-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

ok. here's a quick update. we started the school year off with stomach viruses that did not seem to want to go anywhere. the first three weeks of school we battled that, then topped it off with sever sinus infections. we usually wait until october or november to start getting sick; however, we got off to an early start this year. last weekend we cooked out and had friends over for the state game on tv (first picture). this weekend we went to starkville to the game. griff absolutely loves it. last season we started a routine of getting off work on friday and heading to greenwood, getting up saturday morning and heading to starkville and then heading back to greenwood and home on sunday. vadie keeps jules while we go to the game, which is wonderful for us and helps out so much. she and jules get to spend quality time together and i'm sure she probably wears vadie out, but she would never tell us. thanks vadie!!

Question for Mothers with Girls

2008-08-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

ok, i feel like this is something i should know. jules no longer wears diapers, however, half her dresses have diaper covers and then for the ones that do not, she has the monogrammed diaper covers. the question is; do you put a diaper cover over the panties or not?? i'm confused...i seem to stay that way these days. she hasn't worn a diaper during the day for several weeks and hasn't worn a diaper cover. today i realized that everyone keeps seeing dora and barbie on her behind. so, if you know or have a suggestion, i would greatly appreciate your input and knowledge.

Griffin's First Day of Kindergarten

2008-08-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

today was griff's first day of kindergarten. he said he had a great time! when andy dropped him of f this morning he gave him a high-five and said bye dad! i took this picture this afternoon. the downfall with teaching is you miss a lot of first like this. my kindergartners started today too, so i couldn't be late. when i left this morning, he was taking a shower so i missed the before school picture. when i picked him up from the daycare he had a band aid on each knee. he fell at recess. anyway, i did get to take him for his testing last week. jules wanted her picture taken too; which is a first. she usually hates the camera. when i asked her her name last night, the first time she said juleses jordan. when andy asked her, she said princess. she's a mess!!

update

2008-08-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

this is probably the fourth time i've started to write a post and stopped in the middle. i don't have any pictures to post. we've been busy the past few weeks getting ready for the school year. i started back the first week this month, yuck! griff started a "real" daycare for one week before he starts kindergarten. how crazy?? i can't believe he's starting kindergarten. pre-school was big, but kindergarten is like the start of REAL school. since i teach kindergarten, i'm constantly drilling him on everything i think he should know to start. i mean, i don't want to have the kid who starts school and knows nothing and the teachers are like, isn't his mom a teacher?? i think my biggest fear is that he won't like school and it will be a struggle throughout his education. i see it every day. granted, he is raised in a totally completely different environment than the kids i teach, but the fear is still there. anyway, back to the daycare. he loves it. he went last week so he could get used to it and get to know the teachers. i didn't want a daycare picking him up the first day of school and he not know anyone. he had his kindergarten testing last tuesday and when i picked him up from the daycare and asked him about his day, all he said was, mom, i rode the bus and it was awesome. i tried asking him about the testing and he said he just played all day. he's going to be one of those; what did you do today, what did you learn? and the response is going to be, nothing. in his packet they had done an activity and it said to ask your child about the raccoon; when i did, he said i don't know, ask my teacher she does. his teacher called me that night and was talking about how funny and sweet he was, i'm thinking, my child?, and about all the stories he told her about hunting and snake skins. she was like, i don't know how much of it was true, but it was cute. for the record, he did corner a snake in the back yard this spring. he has no fears! anyway, she's in for a year! as for jules, we're working hard on the potty training. she doesn't want to wear diapers to nap or bed, so for the last 4 nights she's worn big girl panties; the last two she's wet the bed. what to do??what to do?? she'll be 2 1/2 next month. griff had been completely potty trained for at least 2 months at her age. like i said before, girls are not always easier.

Griff

2008-08-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

2008-08-09T18:31:00.000-07:00

more oldies

2008-08-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

both of my kids came out with a head full of dark hair and grew straight up. everywhere i went people thought i fixed their hair that way. thank goodness it finally started to lay down when they turned 8 months.

Oldies

2008-08-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

i am so excited. we're at my mom's this weekend and she has some pictures of the kids when they were younger saved on her computer. she has more of jules than griff, seeing how we all need to update our technology every few years; that's why i don't have pictures posted of them when they were babies. anyway, i'm going to post the ones she has!

Jules's "Toot"

2008-07-31T17:32:00.000-07:00

we went swimming yesterday and out of the blue, jules decided she wanted to swim to me. so she jumped off the steps and swam underwater to me. i was shocked. she ended up swimming half the length of the pool to me. i kept backing up and she kept swimming. anyway, when we got home the kids were exhausted and napped so i went through some clothes sharon had given me and found this ballerina outfit. when jules got up she kept calling it her "toot" instead of tutu. she loves it. anything pink and girly!

Kiddos

2008-07-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

Bugsy

2008-07-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

i LOVE black and white pictures, but i also like the color pictures too, so i just posted both. andy calls jules bugsy

Princess

2008-07-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

The Egg

2008-07-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

jules got up from her nap and said she wanted an egg. so, i get her an egg and she won't give it back so i can cook it. she's walking around talking to it and telling me there's a baby bird in it. she still won't give it back. she shrieks every time griff tries to take it. i'm in the process of boiling one for her. hopefully i can switch them without her knowing.

2008-07-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

Fishing Excursion

2008-07-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

Griff's Hair

2008-07-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

yes, i did the hack job on his hair. it was in his eyes and he's in desperate need of a trim. of course every pair of scissors i own are dull, so i just kept "hacking" until it was somewhat better or he could see at least out of one eye. andy hates when i do that, but i've been slacking on scheduling a cut. i'm picky when it comes to his hair. i like the long shaggy look rather than the clean cut. his hair is so thick, that when it's cut short, it's looks crazy growing out.

2008-07-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

ok. i talk to my sister probably no less than 5 times a day. she's really excited about the photography thing. we've always loved to take pictures. she's giving me the photo bug, however, i am not going to be reading books. don't get wrong, i am a very avid reader, just not that kind of reading. i'm proud of her; she's very determined to master this art and she's gotten off to a great start.

The Kids

2008-07-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

here are few recent pictures of the kids. i try to take pictures each day, however, they don't seem to turn out that great. when griff was little i would just put him in the yard and take tons of pictures. i try to do that now, but it's a little more difficult. jules does not like her picture taken and griff wants to "pose". i would love to take them to get their pictures taken by a professional, but i'm scared i would just be wasting time and money. griff would be fine, jules is a different story. she hates to have her hair combed, so there's no telling what it would look like.

4th of July

2008-07-06T11:05:00.001-07:00

2008-07-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

andy's birthday is wednesday and i wanted to try and surprise him with something, so i called his mom and asked if she would keep our kids if we came to greenwood. of course she said yes, so we went to greenwood and andy thought we were just going for the 4th. we went to the alluvian for drinks and dinner and i surprised him by getting a room for us. it was nice and he was surprised. he couldn't figure out why we just had to go the alluvian. it was a nice night out for us. jules knew we were leaving and she was throwing a fit.

2008-07-02T12:56:00.000-07:00

sharon and jules. sharon is our "other" mother. we love her to death!

2008-07-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

2008-07-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

she's not afraid of the water

2008-07-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

2008-06-30T11:02:00.000-07:00

i went to nashville last week for a kindergarten conference so i haven't updated lately. it was my first time there and it was great. it's funny, when you have kids, you stop shopping for yourself and when you do shop for yourself, if they're not giving it away, you're not getting it. maybe that's just me. they had a great outlet mall, where i of course shopped for my kids. i take pictures of my kids almost daily, but since we haven't really left our house much, they're all naked pictures. i can't seem to get my kids to keep their clothes on. ever since i potty trained griff, he's basically been naked since then. jules is getting to be the same way. whoever said potty training girls is easier, didn't have a child like mine. griff was easy. jules is fine as long as she doesn't have a diaper on. anyway, she'll get there when she's ready.

Our Day at the Pool

2008-06-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

Griff

2008-06-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

Swimmy Pool!

2008-06-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

we went to a friends house to swim this morning. the kids had a blast. griff took two weeks of swimming lessons last summer. i couldn't tell this morning. of course, jules was non-stop. she loves the water. she's going in with or without you.

The Zoo

2008-06-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

we went to the zoo yesterday and the kids had a great time. a friend that i teach with and i started last summer trying to get our kids together at least once a week to get the kids and ourselves out of the house. during the summer i need a little motivation to get going. this helps!

2008-06-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

i decided to make one slide show for each of my kids. i have tons of pictures and i hate trying to decide which ones to post. jules loves 'you are my sunshine', she calls it sunshine, so that's why i chose that song. i also like ray charles, so it worked out perfect.

Jules

2008-06-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

2008-06-16T04:39:00.000-07:00

griff and his pre-k teacher at his end of the year celebration

Griff the Goalie

2008-06-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

this is griff's second year to play soccer. last year, i don't know if i would call it playing, but more like watching...anyway, this year he decided he wanted to play goalie and that's where he stayed. he actually did really well.

Southaven Springfest...Euporkia

2008-06-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

andy and his friends decided to enter the southaven springfest's barbecue contest. they placed 3rd in the shoulder part. their team was called euporkia.
griff called it the cooking test

2008-06-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

griff before his first soccer game this season

2008-06-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

easter 2008. poor duck!

2008-06-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

st. patricks day 2008

2008-06-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

griff and uncle ike

2008-06-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

jules and uncle ike. yes, that's a big ol' knot and bruise on her forehead. she's probably had 10 more since this picture which was taken in august 2007

2008-06-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

i somehow missed griff's first day of school. he attended macon road baptist school's four year old kindergarten.

2008-06-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

the girl loves her some sunglasses! half the time they're upside down and she refuses to fix them!

2008-06-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

cheesing!!

2008-06-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

griff's "girlfriend" amelia. they've grown up together

Birthday Girl

2008-06-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

jules 2nd birthday. we had it at the kiddy casino, chuck-e-cheese

the newest addition

2008-06-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

andy has wanted to get griff a lab for the past two years, i've been adamant, NO dogs. i lost that battle in february. this is sam. griff wanted to name him mudbug.

2008-06-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

she likes riding in griff's dump trucks

2008-06-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

griff and andy

2008-06-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

rare moment!

2008-06-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

Christmas 2007

2008-06-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

jeez. what a nightmare. i really wanted a picture in front of the tree for our christmas card; it wasn't happening!

2008-06-12T19:05:00.002-07:00

after 20 something pictures, a decent one, with an awful background.

Halloween 2007

2008-06-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

our friends come over every year and all the kids go trick or treating. (jules, griff, lily & tanner)

2008-06-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

she was a duck for halloween; she just wouldn't keep the head on. i don't blame her!

2008-06-12T13:02:00.000-07:00

jules (1 1/2 yrs old)

2008-06-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

griff's 4th birthday. we had it at the memphis fire museum, then took all the kids on the river loop trolley ride downtown. they loved it!!

2008-06-12T12:17:00.000-07:00

griff's a die hard state fan already. he's been going to the games with his dad and granddaddy since he was two. he's had his own season tickets for two years. during football season, we can't get the jersey off him.

2008-06-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

griff and his buddy harry tailgaiting.

2008-06-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

first game of the season last year; also her first and last game of the year. she didn't stop the entire game. we're going to try it again this year.

2008-06-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

griff last summer

2008-06-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

jules last july