Friday, April 24, 2009

The newest member of our family



It all started when we baby sat our neighbor's fish "Chrissy" for a week. The kids loved feeding the fish and Meadow would bring her toys to show to Chrissy. Parker has wanted a pet for a while now and a beta fish seemed to be the perfect, easy pet that he wouldn't be allergic to ;) So we headed to the pet store and they picked out this little fella. What did they want to name him? Chrissy of course. Later in the day Parker changed it to Sherlin (like Merlin), then Sanyu, then Sandler. Finally Sherlin stuck. Welcome to the family Sherlin!

P.S. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Winters

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Earth Day Celebrations

The Museum of Art had an Earth Day festible as Meadow calls it. It was a pretty Saturday and Grandma and Grandpa Winters were in town visiting as an extra bonus :)


We enjoyed all of the live bands. Well, except for one troupe that got up there and made frog noises that sure didn't sound like any frogs I've ever heard. I am not doing this any justice with my description. That song was terrible! But we'll give them points for bravery. hahaha. We also enjoyed making some music of our own, clay modeling, leaf printing and checking out some animals that call NC home.



Meadow's duck

and Darth Vader of course :)

Pretty cool energy and water efficient hand washing station


Fun Earth Day Craft - Leaf printing

1 flat Piece of wood or hard surface covered in wax paper
Lay 1 piece of cloth over that
Choose some green leaves and lay them on the cloth dark green side down (veined side up)
Cover with another sheet of Wax paper taped down so that it won't move
Pound leaves with rubber mallet to get the juice from the leaves to leave a print on the cloth
and Voila! The kids loved this one of course!



Watching the bees make honey. The bee keepers said that eating a tsp of local honey a day would help boost immunity to the different regional pollens. Definitely worth a try since it couldn't really hurt anything!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter


Following the jelly bean trail






We didn't tell them to look at each other, they just did. This was my Easter present :)

We were finally able to get Parker into a pair of pants that didn't have an elastic waist. He has quite an aversion to zippers and buttons. This morning, he didn't even argue. I only had to reassure him that they were not jeans. This was my other Easter present!


Our friends and neighbors driving by and offering to take a picture of the entire family, my third Easter present. :) Thank you Packhams!

Sacrament at Church today was pretty much a disaster with little miss Meadow. She usually does well but today was pretty awful, the worst she's had so far I'd wager. We spent most of the time in the lobby, but hey, a girl can only ask for so many Easter presents. ;) We sat back in the overflow today and someone from the choir after sacrament joked "What was up with your child today?" Yes my girl does have some pipes. On another humorous note...We bring our own bread for the sacrament because of the kids' wheat and egg allergies. We wrap it and take it up front and they put it on a special tray with special bread from 3 or 4 other families and it is blessed with the other bread. When our bread comes, we unwrap it and everyone takes a piece. Greg is usually the last one to get a piece and for the 4th week running, one of the kids...or I...have accidently knocked his piece of bread onto the floor. I think Greg is beginning to expect to have to eat his bread from the floor.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Carolina Madness

Greg and Robbie met up with some old friends who were in town visiting from Arkansas for dinner last night and then they and my brother Shaun went to the Carolina Game and then to Franklin street to watch the celebrations. They stayed out until 2 and had a great time watching a couch fire (the fire department came and put it out), pole climbers and other sundry celebrations. Thanks for posting pictures Robbie. :)





Monday, April 6, 2009

Movie preview to check out

We think this looks pretty awesome. It took too long to load so here is the link. "Where the wild things are"

Friday, April 3, 2009

For the Grandparents







Bass Lake, Holly Springs
Trish Miller performs free every first Friday of the month at 7pm through October



One way to decorate Easter eggs when your kids are allergic :) Thanks to Catie Stubben for the inspiration!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

The art of looking like yourself

Ok, I think this is the last one because no one likes these but me...and maybe Robin :D hhahaha

"The best beauty product is to have a life. A real life. With challenges, disappointments, stress, and laughter. The much touted inner beauty is a natural radiance that comes as a result of mental and emotional involvement."

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Part 2 - The art of being shy

"It's a good thing we don't know how attractive we are. We would run the risk of becoming arrogant and losing the most endearing of all qualities - lack of self-importance.

When pressed, we will confess to having a few agreeable anatomical features, such as nice shoulders, strong legs, or slender ankles, but most of us grossly underestimate our physical appeal. We are never fully aware of our real charms - the way we sip our tea, the way we sing off-key, the way we dance till three.

Let's be frank: We are all shy. In private most of us have unflattering opinions of our physiques. With reason. We are constantly reminded that our bodies don't measure up to stringent contemporary standards of perfection. So much so that on bad days our inner mirrors would have us believe that we are hunchbacked - like the gargoyles of Notre Dame..........

.....Let's ignore the latest theories on self-acceptance and self esteem that want us to celebrate the way we look. None of us really knows what we look like, so why get all worked up about it....

"It is as hard to see one's self as to look backward without turning around." ~ Henry David Thoreau



Whether you think that you are too thin or too fat, don't bother going on a diet. Counting calories doesn't work. Instead, come down from your mental perch and get reacquainted with your physical self. Exercise helps - and so does visualizing the Oneness of It All (mind and body working together)."

It's you and me body. We're in this together. Thanks for carrying me through life, for the things we have accomplished together. I will try to take care of you.