The week in pictures

Steaming cookies at that :)

Have you licked your snowman today?



Umm, what did you say the weight limit is on these things?


I'm done with this Dad.

Scurvy Pirate

If you ever plan to motor west, travel my way, take the highway, that's the best.

GQ Fireman

This is the life

Tonight we turned on the gas fireplace after the kids were out of the bath and came downstairs to have a snack before bedtime. Parker requested bread and butter and went and sat with Greg by the fire. Parker then lounged back and said happily "There is nothing better than this (pointing to the buttered bread) and that (pointing to the fireplace.)

Ahhhh...the content life of an almost 5 year old. :)

Zombie Zoo

After the evening bed time story:

Parker: Dad, all of my teachers at school are turning into Zombies

Greg: Parker, there is no such thing as a Zombie. Zombies aren't real.

Parker: What are Zombies? What do they look like?



The other day, catching Meadow in a mood:

Mom: I love you Meadow

Meadow: Don't say that Mom.

Mom: Why Not!? I do love you.

Meadow: Mom! Talk nice!

The Snowy Day

Everyone should try this at least once :)

This is my Dad's favorite thing ever next to Coca Cola Classic. I Love it too. I think you will if you like fruit and cream and tart and sweet all rolled together in one little bowl!

Raspberries
Evaporated Milk
2-3 T sugar or to taste

Mmmmm!

Silly Willies

"Mom, will you take a picture of General Grievous?"

"I'm a monster, raaaaaah!"

Where Parker's underwear landed when he thew them over the upstairs balcony. Thankfully there were not out of reach of the broom from the stairs and they did not catch on fire :)

Nothing like a good cousin!

Clone Troopers

"The planet Naboo."

2 1/2 going on 13

Today I caught a glimpse of the future when Meadow walked past me brushing her pig tails and chewing juicy fruit gum while she practiced saying the phrase "oh my gosh."

Assembling the Jib

The new "toy/filming necessity." The kids had a great time helping Greg assemble the new jib for the camera. They also had fun pretending to film after it was finished (Sans camera of course.) Greg tried to teach Parker to follow him with the jib by moving it side to side while he ran back and forth across the yard. I wonder what the neighbors were thinking :)

Yummy chewy chocolate cookie

1/2 c shortening
1 2/3 c sugar
2 T vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 c cocoa
2 1/4 c flour
2 T baking powder
1/3 c milk
1/2 tsp salt

Roll balls into powdered sugar and bake 10 min. at 350. Usually look not quite done in the center but take them out anyway because they firm up a bit.

New Years Eve/Day Traditions

Here's a poll for everyone: Did you have any fun New Year's Eve/Day traditions in your family growing up or currently and what are they? This is besides of course the traditional goal setting and starting of the new fitness regime :)

I do have one small one that I can share that I started sort of on accident when Parker was 2. We'll call them "Love letters to the Children." They don't have to be only once a year of course but I always do try to write one for each child at the end of each year (and more often during the year whenever the mood strikes) telling them how much we love them and what we are proud of them for. Also their accomplishments, character traits, their likes and dislikes, favorites things, and little quirks and stories. The goal is to have a little binder for each child when they go off to college, mission, married etc. Journal entries also work great for this of course! I remember when I was 16 or 17 my mom read to me from her journal things she had written about us when we were babies and it was so fun to hear and it helped me feel grounded and gave me a peek back into my childhood and helped me learn a bit more about myself. I also remember wanting to hear more, so that is the inspiration behind this little tradition. Thanks Mom! :)

Also If anything were ever to happen to me/us they would have a special record to look back on and remember that their parents were over the moon for them!

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).