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.

For fun

Thanks Rachel, this was fun! Ok, I am going to try not to blog anything for the rest of the week just to see if I can do it. I have been a blogging fool. Greg thinks something is wrong with me. hahahahaha :) On your mark, get set, go.

You Are a Blue Crayon

Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors. You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find. On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody. However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front. Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they're saying.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Something to do with all of this candy

For family night tonight we talked about being thankful and made a candy mosaic turkey. It was fun and the kids enjoyed painting the glue on with q-tips and putting candy in the glue and of course eating some of the candy too. :) Gobble, gobble!

Halloween Fun

Big thanks to everyone who helped with the video, to Jeremy Mills for being in character through much of the evening, that really made it extra fun for the kiddos, and to my brother Chance who played "the beast" in the box for an hour and a half after some technical difficulties. :) Love you Chance! Here are a few link to past years for anyone interested. :) 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

Getting Ready



Neighborhood parade and magic show

Wonder Brenna!!

Our Neighbor indulging Parker with a duel and a victory!

The Sea Dragon

I thought I would share the $29 Aquarium Sea Dragon we had the opportunity to purchase from PetSmart when a certain 4 year old in his excitement ran with it to show me and tripped. Isn't it beautiful? In my mind it kind of happened in slow motion because when I saw him start to run with it I knew this was going to happen. I only had time to get out a "WALK!" before it happened. Aggh....So If any one has an aquarium (We were just there to look at the animals) and would like the broken sea dragon for free just let me know. We have the pieces also. :) We will be reminding him of the no touching rules more frequently in the future.