Trip to the Past

I am, admittedly, a bad alum. Since I graduated from college (gasp could it really be?) 15 years ago, I think I have set foot back on campus one time. It is just that Winston-Salem isn't the most convenient destination, especially given the various cities I have lived in since graduation.

So when we were driving back home from Chapel Hill, where Wake was only 10 minutes off the highway, I couldn't very well pass up the opportunity to relive my youth. My family was very patient with me as I walked the quad, told lots of stories that were probably only interesting to me, and forced them to take pictures at various spots throughout campus.


I, at the very least, had a great afternoon and hopefully I didn't bore my family too much. I also hope that it isn't another 15 years before I go back - which should be right about the time I drop Greyson off for his freshman year there!

(Editors note: On a completely random side note. Since leaving Wake, they have installed a Subway restaurant, which we stopped at for a bite before hitting the road. What actually shocked me about it was the fact that they had kid's meals available on the campus. Wake is a VERY small college. There is no married student housing and the big graduate program, the medical school, is located off campus in downtown Winston. I can't fathom why they would actually have kid's meals on campus. Go figure.)

Fall's Rite of Passage

Greyson's scary pumpkin. (FYI that is not a unibrow but the brim of a hat, per Greyson)


Quinn's happy pumpkin.

With the exception of a little of the knife work (all fingers are still attached, Grandma and Nini), all the design and carving was done by our little monsters. Not bad, eh??

Weekend Away

We recently took a road trip to Chapel Hill to see Raif's sister's brood and some of his extended family.

We took it pretty easy, letting the kids run around together instead of doing a lot of activities.

We took a walk in the woods....


My children made everyone in the family read to them...



Greyson spent the majority of the weekend following Uncle Kris around like a lost puppy begging to play hockey.


Quinn and Suna were inseparable, playing dress-up and generally making mischief wherever they went.


All and all a wonderful weekend, that we are able to do far too infrequently.

Projects - Big and Small

These past few weeks my little goblin helpers and I have been busy getting the house ready for Halloween. We have been filling it with tons of decorations.


Some store bought.


Some homemade.


And sometimes on a weekend we have an extra troll to help us make bats and pumpkins.

The bats and pumpkins had been sitting on the kitchen counter for awhile because frankly, I didn't know where to put them. Raif had been muttering under his breath about making a mobile with them for the last week but I really didn't think anything of it, even when he took Greyson to Home Depot Saturday morning. And I really didn't even get it when the men started putting it together (though I will say I was less than enthusiastic about the power drill being used on my kitchen table) while I was making dinner.


But slowly the scope of my husbands 'project' dawned on me, especially when he began the momentous task of actually putting it up.


The pictures really don't do this thing justice - it is enormous. It is massive. It is a quintessential Raif project.


Now of course I am at my husband's mercy in getting this thing down. Will we have bats and pumpkins up for Christmas...stay tuned.

'Making' New Friends

It wouldn't be fall around the Erim house without the traditional scarecrow making party and this year Daddy was here to help!!

Scenes from a 4th Birthday

Happy Birthday to My Quinncess

It doesn't seem that 4 years has already passed since you arrived quite uneventfully (thank God) into this world. But from that uneventful birth came a quite a fiery, eventful girl!! You are turning into a beautiful (both inside and out) little girl right before my eyes, though I wish you weren't doing it quite this quickly!! I love you so much. Happy Birthday, my little angel!

What We Already Knew.....

When Greyson was in the hospital, one of the only things that kept us sane was our weekly support meeting at Parents Partnered for Preemies (PPP). The food was downright inedible, I mean they served hospital food for crying out loud, but the company was well worth it. Spending an hour with people who 'got it' and let us feel that we weren't alone was invaluable. We made friends in that group that we still have and keep in touch with the volunteer head of the group.

As part of the support process, Anne (the organizer), likes to connect families like ours (with older preemie kids) with families currently in the hospital to let them know that preemies will actually leave the hospital and, in most cases, go on to lead healthy normal lives. To that end, they have asked Greyson to be November's VIP (Very Important Preemie). Greyson's story and some pictures will be featured in their monthly newsletter and on their Facebook page. We are honored to give back to this wonderful group and hopefully our story will give hope to some families who are in the same position we were.

So come November Greyson will be a VIP....we will try to accommodate all autograph requests!!

Dancing Fairy

I learned an interesting fact this week about my daughter that I never knew. She sleepwalks.

Earlier this week, during nap time at school, Quinn got up off her cot. Quinn NEVER gets off her cot or out of a chair without permission so Ms. Tina (her teacher) knew something was up immediately. She watched for a second and saw Quinn flip her blanket over her back and then watched my daughter sort of skip, sort of prance across the room. Very gently Ms. Tina got up walked over and asked her why she was up. She didn't really respond and so Ms. Tina asked her if she wanted to go back to her cot. With a slight nod from Quinn, Ms. Tina gently guided her back down and told me her eyes were closed and fingers in her mouth before he head hit the pillow.

After nap time was over, Ms. Tina asked Quinn if she remembered getting up. Quinn said No. Then Ms. Tina asked her if she had any dreams. Why yes, Quinn giggled. She said that she had dreamed that she was a fairy prancing through a field of flowers.

I wish I had seen this sight but it made me wonder. Does she do this at home when we are asleep and we have just never known about it? Is she dancing through fields in the wee hours of the morning while the rest of us are sound asleep? I think we may be keeping the gate on the top of the stairs up a little while longer than we initially thought!!

The Toy

I know that this may come as a bit of a surprise to some....but Greyson really isn't into toys. Now mind you he does have some and he does play with them. But most days he would prefer to while away the hours playing sports outside or be inside having grand Jack and Annie (from the Magic Treehouse series) adventures with Quinn. Toys really don't hold his attention for that long. This makes it easy on me in keeping our toy closet under control but always presents a problem at gift giving time when the inevitable "What does Greyson want for his birthday?" comes out of my mother's mouth.

So this past July, as I usually do, I struggled with getting together a list for family and friends to pick and choose from. One of the last items I added, an afterthought really, was LEGOS. If he does anything with toys it is usually build something so I figured he might like them. Was I wrong, he LOVES them.

While every other toy from his birthday (including the ones that Raif and I gave him) had their moment in the sun and have since been put in baskets to be played with only on occasion the LEGOS have stood the test of time. He plays with them almost every day. In the wee hours of the weekend mornings, I can hear the pitter patter of his feet running to his LEGO box and he quietly works until the rest of the house wakes up. When we asked him what he wanted as his reward for doing well at school (we get a color coded report every day) I would have bet a million dollars it would have been an extra bedtime story but no it was extra LEGO time with Daddy. So every couple of days, he sits with his father and makes fantastic space ships and boat-cars and boat-planes and every other conceivable machine that can go on land, by water or in the air or in some cases in all 3. Most weekend mornings we are greeted by a knock at the door and a presentation of the latest work of art. I am so glad we have found something he enjoys to do so much, and quietly to boot. LEGOS, I love you.

Center Ice

As part of their opening celebrations, the Nashville Predators had a free skate at the Predator's arena. Needless to say, my children (and my husband) were in heaven. Admittedly, it was pretty cool to be out on center ice and to look up in the seats as we skated over the predator.....


(Greyson smashing into the boards like the real hockey players do.)

(My two very fierce goalies in the crease.)