Hope yours was merry too!

Aspirations

Greg took Meadow on a daddy daughter outing to the life science museum this morning because she has been asking to go back and see the dinosaurs on the dinosaur trail for the last 2 weeks.

Meadow: "Daddy, let's go see what species that dinosaur is!"

Greg: "Meadow, do you want to be a paleontologist when you grow up?"

Meadow: "No, just a T-Rex."

Christmas Pictures...

Meadow fell asleep watching a Christmas special and was so sweet that I made Greg take pictures. Excuse my hair. Parker got a little jealous so we pretended he was asleep and staged a photo for him as well. I can't believe his feet go to my knees now.



















What big sweet kids.










































Our Stake put on a Creche that was open to the public with hundreds of nativity sets from around the world as well as beautiful musical performances and a room where kids can go to dress up and play with touchable nativity sets. It is always a wonderful time and is always filled with a special feeling of peace. We walked into the gym and Meadow said "Oh, this is a beautiful room." I know she could feel the special peace that was there too.

The peace was there that is until it was time to leave the children's room. We took off the Mary costume and she was fine with that until another little girl began to put it on and then it was the opposite of peaceful for a couple of minutes. "I want to be Mary!" echoed through the halls as we made our way to the car with one tired little girl.

























It is always an adventure trying to get pictures for the Christmas card but we had fun trying and a large case of the sillies. Here are a few of our attempts before Church this week.

The Man of the House

Parker: "Mom, someday will you leave me at home alone so I can be the man of the house?"

I am pretty sure that question came from watching "Home Alone" as a family the other night. Parker thought it was pretty funny and during one scene where Macaulay Culkin was living it up he said with a touch of awe in his voice "He gets to do whatever he wants!"

Festivities!

We had a spur of the moment first annual Charlie Brown Thanksgiving party and invited the neighbor children. If you have seen "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," you know that you must have mismatched chairs, one of them being a rocking chair, a sheet for a table cloth tied into knots on the corners and you must eat toast, popcorn, jelly beans, pretzels and ice cream with whip cream and a cherry on top.



The kids had great fun watching the show projected onto a sheet. They thought it was hilarious and some of them even dressed up. Here are Linus and Lucy getting into character:























Meadow had her first little preschool party. Out of 10 children only 3 were there. It was pretty quaint. We ate chicken nuggets and some other treats, colored turkeys and her Dad made her some sweet pretzel earrings.












































The fam came to our house for Thanksgiving this year. It was fun to have all of the siblings and their families there (except for one) and to have Greg's parents with us. Meadow and Parker sure do love their cousins :)





The day after, we broke out the christmas decorations. We had the most fun decorating this year. The kids were so excited about everything and Meadow (3) kept proclaiming "Mom, you're the best Mom ever!" "Dad, your the best Dad ever!" And then she would hug the tree for long periods of time. It was awesome. The next morning, the first thing she said was "Is our tree still here?"

The verdict is...

I loved it. It took a couple of days for me to decide what I really thought about the movie New Moon (especially since I re-read most of the book before the movie came out). But I saw it for the second time this morning (Thanks Amber!!) and I really really enjoyed it! It definitely caught all of the emotions of the book and told the story very well. It is beautiful to watch (the cinematography, not just the shirtless Jacob or the sullen Edward) and masterfully done. Masterfully done! :)

Can't wait until June '10. Are we so excited we don't have to wait until November for the next one?

I am going to the midnight show

(Now sing it in an opera voice). Very excited to see New Moon tonight :)

The gratitude game

Have enjoyed going through some of President Hinckley's "Standing for Something" lessons that have been adapted to FHE lessons that Greg's Aunt Linda sent to us. (Thanks Aunt Linda!!) There have been a lot of things that our kids have really enjoyed. Thought y'all might be interested in taking a peek. This week we did the gratitude lesson in time for Thanksgiving. The kids enjoyed the "Gratitude Game" and we had fun picking the following questions out of a bowl and taking turns answering them. The kids gave some sweet and funny answers and I thought everyone might enjoying playing too.

1. Why are you thankful for your testimony of Heavenly Father
and Jesus Christ?
2. Why are you thankful for living in America?
3. Why are you thankful for the earth?
4. Why are you thankful for your home?
5. Why are you thankful for the scriptures?
6. Why are you thankful for prayer?
7. Why are you thankful for opportunities to serve?
8. Why are you thankful for your body?
9. Why are you thankful for your eyes?
10. Why are you thankful for your fingers?
11. Why are you thankful for taste?
12. Why are you thankful for the pioneers?
13. Why are you thankful for your family?
14. Why are you thankful for school?
15. Why are you thankful for music?

Anonymous card in the mail

Today our family got the best anonymous card in the mail. I have my suspicions about a couple of different ladies/families that it could have come from. But we will never know for sure. There was no handwriting on the card but the message on the card is exactly what I needed to hear and it meant more to me than anyone will ever know and that I can adequately express. I read it with tears streaming down my face because there could not have existed a more perfect card.

To a complete Angel, who ever you may be, thank you from the bottom of my heart. May blessings be returned to you a hundred-fold!

Most sincerely and gratefully,
Heather and Family

Holiday Bingo

We have been having some fun with Bingo lately. Here is a fun website that lets you print out free, custom bingo cards and call sheets. We made some for Halloween and played with m&m's and smarties for markers. The kids thought it was pretty fun. Thinking about printing some Thanksgiving ones to play tomorrow night after the lesson.

Enjoy!

Funnies this week

Parker: "Mom, thank you for the delicious dinner."

Me (a little shocked): "Wow, Thanks buddy. That was very nice of you!"

Parker: "Why didn't you fall in the mashed potatoes?"

Me: "Um...why do you ask?"

Parker: "My teacher said that if we said that to our Moms, they'd probably fall in the mashed potatoes."

Me: "We'll if we'd had mashed potatoes, I just might have from the surprise of it."

Parker: "I wish I could see that."

Me: "I can pretend...."

Parker: "Ok!"

.............................................................

Meadow: "Happy Halloversary Mom!"

Ten Years!

Remember when it was just you and me... just starting out on an exciting journey?


Over the years we've seen so many things. We've been to a castle (close enough!)



and danced for The King.



So many things that made our hearts leap



But nothing as grand as watching Angels sleep.












































And though many times our lives have seemed spastic...






The sum of it all is something fantastic!






One day at a time from the beginning and then...























You're still my best friend and I'd do it again! :)

Update

Hey everybody, hope life is treating everyone well. Thought I'd give a little update.

Asthma has re-emerged in our house on the coat tails of Fall and illness. Parker made it through soccer season without a hitch thankfully, but he had quite an attack early this week. We have up'd his preventative inhaler to twice a day and changed his rescue inhaler from Albuterol to Xopenex, which seems to work better for him. A 7 day steroid to help his lungs recover and we are all breathing much easier. Both of our kids have asthma that is triggered by illness and allergies that flare in the spring and the fall. Meadow is also on a preventative medicine that we do morning and night through the nebulizer starting right before spring, and in the fall. As I sat in the lobby of the Asthma/Allergy office waiting to be seen on Monday and feeling a little anxious because Parker's breathing was a little labored and he sounded like an accordion, a mother of a severely handicapped little boy (about 8?) came in to be seen. As they sat down, she wrestled with the child who was obviously distressed about being there and was shouting repeatedly E and M, and a E and a M and a E and a M!! Parker watched the scene and then looked up at me.

Me: "That must be a very difficult thing, huh."
Parker: "Yes, that must be very hard. Hard for him. It would be hard not to be able to talk."
Me: "Yes, it would be."

As I considered all of the different things that people are called to endure and are currently enduring, I know that we are blessed despite the challenges life brings us. And that in fact, life isn't supposed to be easy. There was an excellent testimony given last Sunday with the same message and it has been running through my head all week.

Adversity by Henry B. Eyring, May 2009 Ensign

"I bear you my testimony that God the Father lives. He set a course for each of us that can polish and perfect us to be with Him. I testify that the Savior lives. His Atonement makes possible our being purified as we keep His commandments and our sacred covenants. And I know from my own experience that He can and will give us strength to rise through every trial. President Monson is the Lord’s prophet. He holds all the keys of the priesthood. This is the Lord’s true Church in which we are, with Him, lifting each other and being blessed to succor the fellow sufferers He places in our way. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

**************************

Totally unrelated and heathen in comparison: The new CD by the Avett Brothers "I and love and you" is phenomenal!! We seriously listened to it three times in a row and highly recommend it. We are going to see them in concert on New Years in Asheville. Squeal!! I am so excited!! Their concert sold out in 15 minutes. We actually didn't get tickets but we know a couple that did and now they are not able to go so we bought theirs. Side note: On ebay, the tickets are going for $200+ each. Listen to the songs here.

***************************

At the drive through window the other day:

Older lady working in the window: "Here you are young lady."

Me: "Thank you."

Parker: "Mom, why did that lady call you a YOUNG lady?"

Me: "To her, I am young lady, because she is a Grandma."

Parker: "Well, to me, you are old."

hehehehe

Free Holiday Digital Scrapbook Class

From the amazing Jessica Sprague of course. Register here or check it out for more info.

Adventures in Halloween II

Here is the video of what Greg created and set up at neighbors' house this year.

Thank you to Jeremy Mills for the fine acting :)

Whitehall Manor Halloween 2009 from Gregory Winters on Vimeo.

Adventures in Halloween

Meadow was sick this Halloween, but she is feeling much better now. She was about 8 hours without a fever when it was time to trick or treat. We decided to take her out with Parker up and down two streets before most of the other kids came out. She was content to stay in her stroller a little way away from the doors so I got candy for her and brought it to her. The pink princess costume was very fitting. Here is your candy your highness. :)

She actually had a hard time picking whether she wanted to be a T-Rex or a pink princess this year. She truly has been enamored with dinosaurs since she was 2 and still is a year later. At night she has to have her purple blanket and her dinosaur flash cards from the dollar section of Target. Here is a video that Greg shot today:

Meadow the Dinosaur Fanatic from Gregory Winters on Vimeo.

Parker had a hard time picking which Star Wars guy (is there any other option?) he wanted to be but ended up being Commander Fox, a clone trooper. Trick or Treating was a little tricky at the very beginning this year because he is is familiar with the candy he can have and sometimes a house will have no candy that he can have and he looked at me as if to say "what do I do now? " I told him if there was none that he could have to be gracious and take one anyway and say thank you and then I would trade him later for something he could have. A tootsie roll or hershey's for his reeses that I will go eat in the garage later. ;) He was tuckered out after half a block so I put him in the stroller and carried Meadow home in my really hot because of the unseasonably warm weather Christmas tree costume.




Greg ended up putting on his show at the neighbors' house this year because Meadow was still a bit sick. The set up would have required everyone to come in the front door and out the back door of the house and we didn't think people would appreciate it if we gave their children a nasty virus with their candy. We weren't going to do it at all, but when our neighbors heard, they insisted on Saturday Morning that he do it at their house. A video will be coming soon showing what he created for the kiddos this year. But here is a little preview...





























Parker also had his last soccer game of the season on Halloween morning so Greg took him to that too. Parker was very excited about his gold medal! :)


Hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween!!

Halloween fun for the kiddos

Pumpkin Carving link Enjoy!

Mike's Farm, Beulaville, NC

We had the best time visiting a wonderful farm in a quaint little farming town this Friday. It was a 2 hour drive but well worth it for a fun filled day. We heard about the farm because Greg recently worked on an agro-tourism shoot and filmed there.



For $7 the kids got to go on a halloween hay ride and pick out a pumpkin, learn how an apple cider press works and sample some fresh, learn how they used to do things on a farm in the olden days (like cooking in a kettle hanging over the fire, washing clothes, making their own soap etc.) check out all of the animals, jam to some live country music with Cowboy Earl, and visit the country store. (There were several school groups there, but after we bought our ticket they just tell you where to go first and work you into a group that rotates to the different areas. Not sure if they have the same activities on Saturday, so if you go, you may want to call and check into that)

We hung out and took our time, had a picnic lunch and drank old fashioned soda from glass bottles. Then, at 4:30 we went to the family owned and operated, family style restaurant (also on the farm) and had the best macaroni and cheese I have ever had in my life! I think I tasted a little sour cream in it along with the cheese and it had this really fine bread crumb layer sprinkled over the top. I am already craving some! According to Greg the pecan pie made him want to punch someone, it was so good. I tried it and it was delicious and I don't usually go for pecan pie. They also served fried chicken, corn, pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, and buttermilk biscuits with apple butter and molasses.

Well worth the trip everyone! If you decide to go, make sure you go to the restaurant by 4:30 when it opens and you will get right in. Restaurant is only open Thurs, Fri, Sat. I think.

They also do a 30 minute Christmas hay ride in the evenings starting December 1st with Christmas lights and a live nativity. We may just have to go back and get some more Macaroni and Cheese :)

Best Buds

Parker and Meadow are turning into such great friends!! They have always loved eachother but maybe they appreciate eachother a little more now that Parker is in School. Meadow misses him a little bit sometimes.

It tickles me to pieces when they tell eachother they love eachother for no apparent reason which happened twice this week out of the blue. Both times I overheard it from the next room.

They are also partners in mischief and fun. As you can see from the pictures below it didn't take long for this photo shoot to deteriorate, but they did have a great time being goof balls. :) Well, what can we expect after 3 hours of trying to be reverent at church?

Just for fun

Pig Personality profile test:

On a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, take about 3 minutes or less to draw a pig.

That is all of the instructions you get.

When you are finished (no peeking!) find out what your piggie means here.

Hike Video thanks to Robert Caldwell

Pictures are wonderful, but nothing captures quite like video.

Thanks Robbie!

P.S. Musicians are The Avett Brothers - incredible band.

Panthertown Valley Hike from Robert Caldwell on Vimeo.

What I learned at the Farmer's Market

Parker's Kindergarten had a field trip to the Farmer's Market on Friday and I got to help out but forgot to bring my camera. The class split into groups and did an A-Z scavenger hunt and we actually sort of found something for every letter. Quality produce was a stretch for Q as was eXcited children for X but hey...we only had 40 minutes. lol

I talked to a man who was selling big nice pumpkins and he said that he usually starts them from seed indoors in early July and lets them get a good start and then plants them outside.

Harvest is 90-120 days depending on the variety. Pretty easy to grow. Will grow anywhere on earth except for Antartica. :)

Punkin' Heads go to Tweetsie

The kids had the best time at Tweetsie with Grandma and Grandpa Winters this weekend while we were hiking. We love that they took pictures!!













Thanks again for taking such great care of the kids!! :)