Losing Grandma Mollie

A few days before Christmas, my grandmother Mollie Smith Grady, passed away.  In the weeks since Thanksgiving, she had begun to decline and was put under hospice care for the final week or so of her life.  She was able to pass away peacefully in the care facility where she had been living the past few years.

Her passing, especially during the holidays, was hard.  However, we knew she was no longer suffering and was with her Savior.  It was fitting that we all gathered together as a large family to celebrate grandma at Christmas.  It was special for us to spend that time with each other like we had done for decades before.

I was able to give one of the eulogies at her funeral along with my cousin Russ.  It was hard to put into words what she meant to all of us but we did our best.  We hope that we were able to give great honor to a woman whose years of service to her God and her family were so great!

Early Christmas Fun

 Last year, Brett and I were out of town for a week during December so we missed out on a lot of Christmas fun with the boys.  We needed that trip, but boy I'm never leaving during the holidays again!  This year I was able to do a lot more decorating and get my shopping done in plenty of time.

 Moses sang at the Hanging of the Greens at our church.  Sutton was a little under the weather so I took him and he did such a great job!  He's becoming an old pro at performing for a crowd.

 The next week, both boys were in their preschool Christmas program.  Moses was a donkey and Sutton was a sheep.  I had the cutest farm animals in the manger.

 Moses and his friend Sophia who played Mary.

 After the program, each class had a little party with cookies.  Lucky for us, the boys' classes are right next to each other so we were able to switch/visit both.  They were so excited to have us there.  Afterwards, we took them to eat at Chic-fil-a.  It was a fun day!

 Last year, the Barker/Barnes family Christmas was cancelled due to all sorts of illnesses.  This year I think we more than made up for it.  It is so special spending time with our cousins.  I feel very blessed to be so close to Barkers, especially Emily and Amy.  I hope Sutton and Moses can grow up close to Barnes and Gus too!

 We ate and opened presents and spent a lot of time playing and chatting.

 This year, Aunt Mo and Amy found some of Brett's grandparents' Christmas ornaments that were made by Sue, Brett's grandmother. They gave them to Brett as a surprise gift.  It was wonderful to add those ornaments to our tree!

Can I just tell you how WILD these four boys are!  They played hard and so well together.  When Sutton turns three in a few months these boys will be perfect stair steps:  Moses 5, Barnes 4, Sutton 3, and Gus 2!  I love it!

Turkey Time!

 I love Thanksgiving!!!  Nothing brings me more joy to cook and spend time with my family with no other agenda than to be Thankful.  Both boys had great Thanksgiving celebrations in their classes.  I helped in Moses' class and snapped the photo of his friends before their "feast."

 Thanksgiving day was awesome.  I made the best turkey to date.  I now know you should always brine!  That's the only thing I changed up and it worked!  I started that morning off with a special bootcamp and then came home to start the rest of the lunch.

All Sutton wanted was a cupcake.  I caved.  You should have what you really want to eat right?  I give up!  After we ate, mom and I started planning our shopping route.  I managed to do most all of my shopping early this year.  Such a relief.  We got some great deals and laughed so much that night. It's truly my favorite Thanksgiving pastime.

Here is a picture of Moses and his Sunday School friends singing in church the week before Thanksgiving.  SUCH a proud moment.  Want to know how to get a bunch of back row Baptist to sit in the very front?  Put their kids up front to sing!

Fall Fun

 Looking back on all the things we did this Fall makes my head spin a little!  One commitment Brett and I made was to attend Wednesday night services at our church.  I mainly wanted to do this for the boys.  We eat dinner together with other families at church in the Fellowship Hall.  Both attend "Mission Friends" where they learn about serving God by serving others.  Moses is also involved in choir which he has really loved.  The funny thing is Brett and I have some how become really involved too.  Brett is helping to teach the 9 year old boys and I am doing a parenting class with our associate pastor.

 The week of Halloween, our church has a Fall Festival.  They had BBQ, blowups, games, ponies and a million other fun things.  Our two boys took turns on this slide for close to an HOUR.  Happy boys as you can see!

 Of course they boys had great fun trick or treating.  Halloween is just not my favorite.  I do my best for the boys to make sure they enjoy it, but the costume thing is always store bought.  That's a best a girl who spent all her Halloweens at church can do!  Buzz and our ninja turtle seem very happy.  FYI those costumes are still getting wear.

 We picked up some pumpkins and visited Porter farms for some ice cream as well.  And of course some of their famous lemonade for me!

 We did carve one pumpkin, but got small ones for the boys to paint.  Just like their Gaga, they enjoy some artistic time!

These two little buddies made Fall tons of fun.  They get very excited about everything these days and when they are together the fun just multiplies!

A Sutton Scare

 Just a few weeks before we left for Disney, we had a little scare with Sutton.  One night he had the sniffles.  By early the next morning he was coughing so hard and wheezing he was throwing up.  We had done several nebulizer treatments but they would only work for 20 minutes or so.  I didn't wait for the doctor's office to open.  I put him in the car and drove directly there and walked in without an appointment.  They took me straight back.  While Sutton was being weighed, Dr. Mann turned around and said call 911 and get him to Wake Med Children's.

While we waited, Sutton gotten another treatment and I (oddly very calm) made phone calls to Brett and my mom.  Sutton and I both had our first ambulance ride together.  We were both strapped to the gurney and watched I440 fly by out the back window.

 When we got to the hospital, we went straight back to the ER.  Everyone there was nothing short of fabulous.  Sutton continued to get treatments and had a chest X-ray to rule out other complications.  Eventually, they told us they were going to admit us for the evening.  By this time he was doing SO much better.  They child life specialists, nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, and EMTs had made him feel calm and at ease where he was.

We slept ok that night, but were really glad to be headed home that morning.  Moses was especially glad to have his brother home again!  As of now, we have a daily asthma regiment that we follow to keep him from getting into the kind of shape he was in that day.  So far so good.  We also had him allergy tested.  Everything came back negative.  No allergies whatsoever.  The good news is that they fully expect him to grow out of this.  Here's hoping!

Day Six: Magic Kingdom and HOME!

Do you know how tired I was on our last day at Disney and for our ride home? I didn't take a single photo on my "real" camera.  We hustled through a quick Magic Kingdom morning trying to ride our favorites just one more time.  We ate a quick lunch and then went to see how many snack credits we had left.  Six a family.  We headed straight to the confectionary and bought ourselves some sweets to go!

We went back to the resort and grabbed our car and headed back to North Carolina.  Again it was an easy painless ride.  A stop at Cracker Barrel for some pancakes was one of our only breaks.  After eating lunch in Orlando we were home in our own beds by midnight.  Crazy!  Oh, and one little boy has decided that our vacation sleeping arrangements should be permanent!  

Day Five: Hollywood Studios

 Ok, if this post could have theme music playing in the background it would be Star Wars all the way.  One of the super not so secret things to do FREE at Disney is the Jedi Academy at Hollywood studios.  Here's the deal.  You have to sign up, first come first serve, in person with your child the day you want to go.  Oh and they only take a certain number of kids.  What does that mean?  I was staining in line with Moses 30 minutes before rope drop with a bunch of dads and sons.

 The day before, I had asked a cast member where to go to sign up.  The nice guy walked me over and went over all the rules with me.  So when they opened the park, I knew exactly where to run.  Yes I said run.  It was like Black Friday times ten.  And you know who got into the first class of the day.  You betcha.  Our Mo-man!

 He loooooooved it.  He did not know until we were waiting in line that he was going to go.  Like his mama, he was super quiet and did not say much and tried to play it cool.  But in the three months since we've been home it's all he's talked about.  He tells all new people he meets that he fought Darth Vader.  A day does not go by where he does not mention it.

 After the academy, Moses rode the Star Wars ride and designed his own light saber.  Joy.  Then we headed to Hollywood and Vine for the Disney Junior Character meal.  This was the one the boys were most excited about when it started.  I think the cast members at this one were the best too.  They encouraged the boys to get up and dance and play!

 Seriously, very nearly our Christmas Card pic if not for all the food all over the table.  These boys have both loved Oso.

 The most popular ride in all of Disney World is Toy Story Mania.  We were prepared to wait in line and deal with it.  We waited for a little bit and then the ride broke.  Of course!  So we went across the street to meet Buzz and Woody.

 For this happiness it was worth the wait in line all over again.  They were so good all week about waiting in line.  I was one proud mama.

 The adults also took a turn riding the Rock 'n Rollercoaster.  WHOA.  It's like an updated Space Mountain.  I opted out of second go around and sat with the boys.  I was ready for a nap.

 We had one sit down dinner left that week that I had been playing with all week.  There are some reservations that are super hard to get but open up occasionally during the week.  We got really lucky and snagged a spot at Chef Mickey at the last minute.  Great times!!!  PS can you see Moses copping a feel on Minnie Mouse?  I was SO embarrassed.

 Since the restaurant is in walking distance or one monorail stop away from the Magic Kingdom, we swung in to ride a few rides before park closing.

Oh, and we also picked up Zurg.  We had one super jazzed toddler.