Dusting off the cobwebs…Holy Moly, we posted!!!

Ok.  It’s been a long while since we’ve posted and I apologize.  A lot has happened since September 10th of 2010.  The kids have turned 3, Moni has settled into her new job at Via Christi-St. Teresa and I have written a book.  I hope that gives me a little leeway and hopefully friends and family have been able to keep up with us through my Facebook updates, word of mouth or we’ve been lucky enough to run into some of you.

As for the subject of our blog (the kids) they have continued to grow and amaze us with the things they have learned…

Group shot of the “5” Graf kids.

Pius has been growing so big and I think he tries to be the happiest toddler in the world.  He is the quickest to get over being pissed off or sad about something.  All of us Graf men are currently getting over a bout with the flu, but one thing I noticed about Pius when he was sick was he still always looked for a reason to smile.  He loved all of the attention he got while he was sick and still did his best to make his parents, visitors, or siblings smile…even while lying on the couch.

Pi-Pi hamming it up.

Forrest is still the biggest of our brood.  He also has an incredible memory.  He holds onto everything that comes out of peoples’ mouths.  Forrest was sick the longest and I took him to the doctor yesterday.  Doc told us we would just have to keep drinking liquids and tough it out.  Forrest said, “I’ll be a tough nugget, Doc.”  What was so funny about that was that I’ve told all of the kids to be tough nuggets….like twice ever.  He held onto that saying, and used it in perfect context.  The doctor and I got a pretty good laugh out of that.

Check me out…Fo-Fo be smokin!

Danna has taken the princess title to an entirely new level.  She has started to come out of her shell socially and I see improvements with her cognitive skills everyday.  She reminds me a little of Forrest in that she will hang onto everything we say.  She says phrases out of nowhere that we may have used once ever.  Danna is also really starting to get a kick out of her brothers.  She loves to play “running” with them and tag.  Danna has some major issues with sharing however.  It is Danna’s thought process that every book, toy and other thing in the house is hers if she wants it.  I know it gets frustrating for the boys that she is so selfish with things but they do a great job with her.

The little girl’s fascination with balloons is frightening.

Laine is quite the Laine.  It is hilarious to me how he can be so night and day.  Laine can be the sweetest boy of all time and then turn on a dime and be a COMPLETE jerk.  Laine’s newest thing is looking at me, pointing and yelling at me.  The Tabasco put an end to that pretty quickly, but sometimes he still falls into a rage with anyone when he doesn’t get what he wants.  His overall attitude is getting better though, and I hope this means he is starting to grow up.

Laine and Champ are as thick as thieves.

Monica recently turned the big 30.  I surprised her by getting most of her quad-mama buddies and their husbands here to celebrate.  It was one of the best weekends we’ve had in forever.  The girls, of course, all knew each other and were ready to have fun.  The incredible thing was us dudes hit it off as well as the girls did a couple of years ago.  We were instantly great friends.  It was great for Moni to see her ladies again and for me, it was a lot of fun to put faces to names and meet most of them for the first time.  Monica continues to work her butt off at Via and she is really enjoying her new workplace.

Before Moni and I got to Nick and Paula’s barn.  The whole group ready to surprise.

The lovely ladies.

Back (L-R):  Jenn, Sandra, Jaclyn, Moni, Gen, Kami, Mari

Front (L-R):  Heather, Beth, Casey, Amy-Jo, Suz, Charity

As for me, I’m getting over being sick for the first time in as long as I can remember.  I honestly have been pretty lucky with my health, but this last weekend SUCKED royally.  Fever, cough and achiness knocked me on my butt.  I recently finished a book about the first three years of the kids and our lives together.  There is a publisher who might be publishing after I beef up media contacts, book signing/seminar locales and submit a final copy.  I’ve been extremely happy with how well it has gone up to this point.  Hopefully I will have a book I will be pushing for you all to buy sometime soon.

Anyways, that is just a small sample of what’s been going on in our world.  I’m going to try to turn this back into a weekly chore.

With love,

Billy, Moni, Pius, Forrest, Danna, and Laine