Christmas Miracle

My sister Amber had her sweet baby boy 4 weeks early on Christmas Day! Bryce Carson Vonbokern came into the world weighing 6lbs 10oz, a pretty big guy for being early. Mom is doing good. They have moved Bryce to big Wake to watch a little longer. He has been having a little difficulty coordinating breathing and eating and we pray that he gets to come home to his family very soon.


On Christmas Eve, My side of the family gets together and It is always a good time to watch the grandkids exchange gifts. Natalie had a long time friend visiting from NY that she met at a Turner's Syndrome Convention and has kept in touch with over the years and it was great to meet her. P.S. Natalie is amazing because her eyes blink faster than the flash travels almost every time. ;) :)






Greg and I took turns putting together Parker's prized Star Wars Lego ATST. It took us hours and I think I might need glasses now from staring so hard at the instructions. lol. He enjoyed it all day and then enjoyed crashing his bat mobile into it and smashing it to smithereens. We knew that would happen so it wasn't too devastating that all of our hard work was in a pile on the floor. Now he enjoys building ships from all of the pieces. We got a used piano from Greg's Aunt who no longer uses it and the kids have had a blast playing with it. We have to remind them to play softly and sometimes by the end of the day I have to imagine what nice songs might fill the house someday. Now that they are a little more used to it, it is not an all day thing. But it is still what Meadow runs for first thing in the morning. :)

Parker's burning Question for Santa. (written with help) Santa wrote a note back saying if he came while Parker was awake then he would want to stay and play with him and if he did that with all of the children, he wouldn't have time to deliver everyone's presents. P.S. You area a good boy and thanks for the cookies!

Doctors and Prayer

I recently had knee surgery at Duke. Dr. Dean Taylor was the doctor (I found out he also does all of the knee surgeries for Carolina Hurricanes Hockey) and he is just the best. I was really impressed when he came back into pre-op before the surgery and asked if he could say a word of prayer with Greg and I. I said we would love it. He said a humble prayer and asked for specific blessings for me and my surgery which made my eyes water. :) He also did this with my brother Shaun two years ago. What a great thing to have a doctor who recognizes the importance of prayer and the Lord's hand in everything!

Fla./Gulf of Mexico Pics

Here are the exciting pictures promised of the white sugar sands of the gulf of Mexico and Greg getting to feed alligators at a alligator reserve (you pop them on the nose and they open their mouths to catch a fish). He said it was a large adrenaline rush as you reached down to touch their noses. Eek! Also, afterwards the lady that worked there said sometimes the alligators snap at people....

Sharing time-out

Today Meadow threw a flashlight at Parker so she went to time-out. She was sad in time-out so Parker decided to go sit with her and put his arm around her.

I thought that was pretty sweet. :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The Nativity Celebration - always a joy to attend. The live nativity in the lobby was especially cool. Parker couldn't get enough of it and kept sneaking out of the gym to see it again. I loved the feeling of peace about it.




Parker and his friend Max dressed up like "spies" after they got tired of being Wise Men. Here they are "blending in with the brown stable." Oh wait, maybe you can't see them, they're invisible. :)

Here are the kids with Brother Pine, the best Santa ever, at the Ward Christmas Party.

funnies and potty talk

Meadow started using the words awesome and terrible interchangeably. It makes for some funny sentences! We bought her some new jammies this week that had Cinderella on them and she said "Oh it's awesome, it's terrible.

Also she is on an antibiotic which makes for some really runny diapers and she told us "I have a volcano." and pointed to her diaper.

I've been tagged

7 random things

1. Really repetitive beats in some songs drive me crazy and also Jazz songs with saxophone solos that last more than 2 or 3 minutes. I have no patience for that business.

2. My favorite snack of all time is doritoes and cottage cheese.

3. I get tired of having to eat and wish our bodies didn't require fuel sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to eat once something is prepared, I think it is the hungry feeling, the inconvenience of it sometimes and having to think of something to make and make it.

4. Hamburgers scare me a little. I have to look before I take a bite and I usually see things that look like they shouldn't be there. hahaha. Turkey Burgers are ok though, much less to see there.

5. I can't stand misunderstandings and it's hard for me to turn down a dare (if the dare doesn't hurt anyone or anything of course).

6. I miss church dances (the fast songs). Sometimes I have dance party USA all by myself when I am cleaning or after the kids have gone to bed.

7. I think vanilla tootsie rolls are better than chocolate ones

Tag you're it: Mom, Heather C., Eva, Laura C., Mim, Erika H, Erika K, Jaclyn, Robin, Alyssa, Karissa. Do it, I dare you.

Sweet deal on jeans

Hey Girls, NY and Company in Cary Town Center has two displays of $15 jeans. They still had quite a few different sizes and a couple different styles yesterday too (not just the leftover size 2 pairs that no one can wear).

Also, this Saturday only jeans are $12 at Old Navy.

Putting my foot down

The Dishwasher. I won't bore you with the details. I will just say we got a new one almost a month ago (after our old one broke) and it is sitting in my kitchen still not working, re-checks of installation, repair men, ordering parts, Thanksgiving, blah blah blah. Well today I reached my limit. I called the manager at Lowes where we bought it from and said "I think we have been more than patient, I would like for someone to come get the piece of crap that is sitting in my kitchen and bring me a new one." (He started laughing when I said the piece of crap which made me laugh also). The good news is he said that I was right, it was unacceptable and that they had 2 of them in the store and they would come switch it out. Sigh. That felt good.

Photo Magic

Here is a priceless picture from last year's visit to Santa Claus. The only thing that could have made this better is if the screaming Meadow was also in the picture (She wasn't going anywhere near Santa).

Chicken Nugget update

Since Asheville is only an hour away from Greg's Parents house we took a drive to Earthfare Grocery Store just to see if they per chance carried the chicken nuggets (We also needed some other things) and they did!! They are in the exact same bag and everything just have a different distributer (Brand Name). I never imagined I could get so excited over chicken nuggets but there I was dancing a jig in the store. Life is good. :)

Scary bees, veggie turkeys, hurting knees and evenings free. Oh, and first haircuts.

That is the news. We'll start with scary bee (according to Meadow) :) Greg was out of town recently for 11 days so when he got back he took the kids on a field trip to give me a little break. :) They went to the Native American Festival at the Museum of History downtown. The kids had a great time watching Native American Dances and watching how they made canoes by burning and hollowing out trees.


Afterwards they walked over to The Natural Science Museum to eat lunch in the cafeteria. That is where they met the scary bee hanging from the ceiling.

Meadow told her Dad she was scared of that bee and despite his best explanations that the bee was not real, it's just a toy, it wont hurt you etc. She refused to open her eyes during lunch...


or getting into the stroller after lunch and traveling to the next exhibit. Greg would ask her occasionally while pushing the stroller if she was ok to which she would reply "I'm ok Dad" from behind her hands.

Still covering the eyes while getting out of the stroller at the dinosaur exhibit even though Greg told her the bee was gone.

At the dinosaur exhibit, Greg pried her hands off of her face and said "See Meadow." She looked at the dinosaurs and said "Yeay! Dinosaurs! Rarrrrr!" lol.

Parker had his Thanksgiving Feast at Preschool and it was cute watching him sings songs about turkeys and do the turkey pokey (like hokey pokey) He kept he turkey hat on for about 2 minutes. I thought he looked like a teenager standing there with his hands in his pockets.

Thought I'd include a picture of the fun veggie tray one of the mom's brought:


I re-injured my knee the other week and it swelled up and hasn't been quite the same since so I got it checked and have to have arthroscopic surgery to remove a cartilage tear which won't be that big of a deal hopefully. That, getting wacked in the eye, a newer church calling that takes me out of the house on one evening as well, and just this busy stage of life have all pointed towards giving up coaching for now. It was a little sad but the right decision and I will be able to focus on what is most important and have more free evenings to spend with my family. I'll will find another less demanding creative outlet.

Meadow got her first haircut last week. She watched Parker get his hair cut first and she told him he was gorgeous. hehehe :) She was excited for her turn and did really well holding still.



Getting a haircut, doesn't it make you want to go outside and run too!?!

Poll: What was your favorite scene in Twilight the movie?

The baseball scene was pretty cool but I think my favorite would still be the dancing in Edward's room followed by the playing in the tree tops - what a view!! I wish I could go play in the tree tops don't you? Also I thought the scene where she walked into science class for the first time was pretty awesome and hilarious. Oh and when she went to meet the family, that was really funny too and it was lovely when he played the piano for her. Also I liked Edward's teeth. LOL. Ok the movie was just good.

I really enjoyed it, I think my problem must be that I wanted to see more. Gimme more. lol. And like Heather C., I missed some of the tension building moments from the book like when Bella had to try hard to sneak away from Jasper and Alice in the airport. (I remembered Erika!!) and the relationship needed a bit more time to build. But the movie didn't have time and a movie cannot be the entire book can it? So I think the movie did a great job portraying the book. It was a lovely movie and time, thanks all!

Gulf of Mexico

Well I just got to listen to the Gulf of Mexico on the phone. It sounded amazing. lol. Greg is working there today and he called to let me listen. He prefaced his description of the place with "I am sorry to rub this in but....The sand here is white like sugar and there are no large waves, the water just kind of laps onto the shore (It's true I could hear it) and it is kind of a greenish color and clear so you can see the bottom and oh man I just saw the hugest fish!"

Are we keeping track? This is place 4 this year that he has to take me back to ;) Here are some pictures I found online.

Don't put your coat in the beans

A sentence I got to say at lunch today. I love the sentences that you get to say as a parent that would never happen otherwise. :)

I want my chicken nuggets back

It's a sad day y'all. lol. Whole Foods stopped carrying one of our favorite indulgent convenience Items, Gluten Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free Chicken Nuggets by Wellshire Kids in the shape of dinosaurs that my kids love and are delicious. Sigh. I'll try to get them back. They said several other Moms have asked about them and made requests so...maybe!! You can buy a 10 oz bag online and have it shipped to you for ONLY $36.50 though (as compared to $5-6 in the store) so that's not comforting - cough, cough, wheeze. We've tried Ian's Brand and they taste like sawdust. I guess we'll be making our own.

In other news, some of you may be interested to know that the bells in the tall bell towers at LaQuinta Hotels are not real but fiberglass. Greg and a couple of guys on the film crew he is working on found the answer to this burning question by forming look out teams and taking turns throwing pebbles up at the bell. Greg was proud to report that he was the first one to hit the bell and that it didn't ring but made a dull thud. lol.

Hannah Montana

Tonight I tucked Parker into bed and he smiled a silly smile and said "Have a Merry Christmas Mom."
Me laughing, "Thanks Buddy."
Parker: "When is your birthday Mom?"
Me: "It's in March."
Parker: (Wheels turning) "What kind of Birthday cake would you like? A Hannah Montana one? (excitement in his voice building) I'll get Dad to help me with it and we can put pink frosting on it." (now smiling a very pleased smile.)
Me: "Wow buddy, that was really nice and thoughtful of you. I'd love it if you and Dad made me a cake."
Parker: (still smiling a very pleased smile) "Yeah, that's what we'll do."

LOL!! I love my sweet boy and that he tried to think of what I might like the best and that he thinks I'm a teenager - hahaha. It's also funny because Parker has only seen her on TV commercials on the Disney Channel and because we never listen to her because we don't own any of her music. It was purely him imagining what might be cool to make for Mom. :)

Mamma Hesser

Meadow had started calling me by my first name sometimes the last couple of weeks. It is pretty funny and cute. "Hesser! I'm hungry too, want a snack." "Hesser, It's over." (When Cinderella ended)

Asheville Film Festival

We had a great time at the festival. Greg's film didn't win but we had a great time watching it with an audience and seeing some of the reactions (three ladies were wiping tears away) and The Independent newspaper wants to do a write-up on the film. So that was cool!

Greg Winters, Writer/Director, Anthony Short, Compser, Greg Easterbrook, Director of Photography


It was neat to get to watch some of the other films too and fun to hang out in Asheville for the day. We ate at this REALLY yummy restaurant called Salsa that was so packed they put us outside in the alley which was extra exciting! :) :) They said if the Fire Marshal came then we would have to move. The food was excellent!



Fried plantains with avocado garlic sauce on top. These were divine. Although the picture doesn't quite do it justice.

We also enjoyed the muffins and local cider at Sisters McMullin Cupcake Shop. :)

I think I will have to try one of these next time.




A little Asheville flavor.




The highlight of the evening for Greg was getting to meet Frank Pierson, writer of "Cool Hand Luke." Mr. Pierson gave a really inspiring speech for aspiring writers and film makers.