Merry Christmas

We had fun visiting Greg's sister (Koni, in Galax, VA) on Christmas Eve. Clara would have had fun playing with her cousins if she weren't so miserable with a stuffy nose, cough, sore throat, diaper rash, etc. Here she is on Christmas morning, still not feeling good...

I guess she did not like any of her presents. I think she was dreaming of getting a Red Ryder BB Gun.

She did manage to have fun with some of her new toys, though.

We had a really fun time with just our small family together on Christmas. We opened stockings and presents in the morning, then had 6 friends + their kids over for brunch. (I forgot to take pictures). We just relaxed in the evening... something the 3 of us don't get to do together very often, so it was a really nice day.

Christmastime in Sweet North Caroline

Nicolle found really cute outfits for Clara and her cousin, Colton. They make a great Mr. & Mrs. Claus.

Here are Clara and Colton fighting over who gets to open a present.

We have tried to decorate our house on a budget, and we have found we can buy three times as many things if we just wait until after Christmas and buy all the lights, wreaths, floodlights etc ...

Next year we hope to have our house looking like the Griswold's house and win the Clark Griswold Award
While we did get a few fearfull looks from the neighbors while Greg was up on the ladder, it was a fairly uneventfull house decorating year.

P.S. And speaking of Christmas, haven't you found it strange that Niel Diamond(who is Jewish) sings Christmas Carols? (That's for you, Jefe)

Our Funny Girl

Family Photos

Our friend, Jackie, took these great photos. She is opening a photography business this summer, so if any of you need portraits, weddings, scenic photos, or anything else I'll put you in contact with her. Thanks, Jackie!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. We hosted it at our home and were joined by some of Nicolle's family.

The turkey turned out great, thanks to watching the food network for a week straight.
Here we are enjoying the food.

Starting on the left...Brother-in-law Chris, nehews Rex and Evan, Dad & Mom, Clara, Nicolle & Greg (with a nice mouthful of turkey!), niece Anna, brother Sean. (My sister, Nathalie, is taking the photo with the help of baby Colton).
Evan won the family ping pong tournament. Clara was the most enthusiastic spectator.

Happy Rocky IV Day

Happy Rocky IV day.

Every day before thanksgiving a few people pause and reflect on one of the most beloved holiday's of the year. That is Rocky IV day.

First let me give you a little history.

20 years ago, before Indie films were the "Thing" to do, a small group of actors gathered themselves together in the basement of the Sherwood home. It was a day off of school for them and they decided that an original film needed to be made, although it might slightly resemble a similar storyline of a movie with the exact same name. We just had a lower budget.

The cast included:

Jeff Sherwood as Ivan Drago (He was 4 years older than the rest of us so he was the biggest)

Ryan McHugh as Rocky Balboa (Why we casted an Irish guy as "The Italian Stallone" I have no idea, especially since we had ...)

Brian Aparo as Apollo Creed, Ivan's trainer and the sound guy (Why didn't we cast the Italian as Rocky)

Greg Sherwood as Rocky's trainer, Boxing Ref and Cameraman (I will let you guess who the youngest one there was)

Somehow, we came up with a script on less than a day’s notice. Jeff was able to build a boxing ring in the rec. room with wooden railings and extension cords. Brian had the soundtrack to Rocky III so we just used that. (Besides, which song is more Rocky, Eye of the Tiger or Burning Heart)

Anyway, during filming we ran into so problems like accidently erasing the first part of the movie, and Jeff wanted to go to the library instead of finishing the movie. We were able to push through and complete a movie of legendary proportions.

The movie spawned a large number of other projects to be made in the Sherwood Studios. Movies such:
Goonies
Ramnurse 1 – 5
The Karate Kid
A bunch of music videos
Red Storm Rising (I got an A in a class for that one)
And many other ones that I have been able to forget …

Unfortunately my younger sister taped over all the films and they have been lost forever.

That is why we must honor this historic achievement by always remembering that the day before Thanksgiving is “Rocky IV Day”

Clara is walking!

Clara suprised us last week and started walking! She took her first steps on October 30th... at only 9 1/2 months she is quite the daredevil.

Here is how she feels about us bragging about her...

Happy Fall! We went for a hike around the lake this weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather and changing leaves. Eat your heart out, AZ folks. I hear it is still in the 90's, there. :)

Halloween Photos

This is a photo of Greg and I in our Halloween costumes...can you guess who we are? Here's a hint... "Dunder Mifflin, how may I direct your call?"

Jim and Pam from "The Office."

Almost Halloween

We had a fun and busy weekend. On Friday night we carved pumpkins with Steve and Trinity. Trinity gets credit for the expert carving on the white "pumpkin." The rest of us are amateurs.

We went the the REI "garage sale" (they sell overstocked or returned items) on Saturday morning and got this great backpack for when Clara grows out of her Baby Bjorn. It is a bit too big for her now, but will be great in a few short months.
Here is a sneak preview of Clara's Halloween costume... she makes a pretty cute bunny, if I do say so myself. This is a quick photo taken at our church Fall Festival, which I was in charge of and which was CRAZY (does anyone know how to get chili stains out of cream-colored tablecloths???), so there was no time for careful photo shoots. We'll do some better photos later on this week.
Candy companies sure know how to market to children. Clara has never had candy and doesn't even know what it is, but she wants it because it has bright, pretty packaging. Here she is reaching with all her might.
Does she look guilty, or what?
Hope you all have a fun Halloween!

6 Years

Saturday was our 6th wedding anniversary. 6 years already??? Time flies when you are having a good time.

We try to go to the temple on our around this date each year... it is fun to see the other wedding couples and reminisce.

On Saturday evening, Greg planned our celebratory date. Our friends, the Horrances (Natalie Dorrance and David Harris) babysat Clara (THANK YOU). We went to dinner at Ganache. I had shrimp and grits (am I a true Southerner or what?) and Greg ordered the same thing he does every time we go to a fancy restaurant... a hamburger.
Afterwards we went contra dancing. Sorry, no photos. We had never been before, but it was tons of fun. We're willing to try it, again, if anyone wants to join us.

Bobcats vs Heat

This last Saturday night our friends invited us to join them and go to a NBA game. Greg really loves basketball and Nicolle was excite to see Shaq. When we got to the game, Nicolle's first words were, where is Shaq. All she had to do was look for the biggest body out on the court. Clara was not quite sure about the loud noise and the scoreboard. In fact, she was terrified of the scoreboard. She saw the different advertisements on it and broke into tears. She did settle down and got so used to the noise and activities she fell asleep. It was a fun night and enjoyed watching the basketball game.

Nashville Nights (and Days)

Last weekend, we all went to Nashville to visit Nicolle's family and attend Nicolle's 10th High School Reunion. It was a weekend that we were looking forward to for a number of months now.

One thing that Clara has started to really enjoy is going to the park and riding the swings. We took her to one in Nashville and as you can see, she really enjoyed herself.

Greg's old roommate, Greg Dibb, lives in Nashville as well. Greg was able to go on a plant tour of the Nissan plant thanks to GDibb and they played soccer together as well. While GDibb showed that he was still better that Greg, Greg claims he only let Greg shine because it was his birthday.

It is kind of funny if you compare some of the similarities between these two guys

Category / Greg Sherwood / Greg Dibb
Favorite Sport / All / All
Last Birthday Party / Played Basketball w/Friends / Played soccer w/Friends
Name / Greg / Greg
College Degree / Supply Chain Management / Engineering
College Degree Translated / Nerd / Nerd
MBA School Attended / UNCG / MIT
Industries worked in / Semiconductor, Automotive / Semiconductor, Automotive

We also got to go to Nicolle's college, Belmont University. Nicolle was able to attend a choir rehearsal of a group that she belonged to. While singing with the choir, Clara and Greg wondered the Belmont campus.

The reunion was fun and Nicolle was able to see some old friends. Luckily for Greg, one of Nicolle's classmates married a guy from AZ who Greg played soccer with. So while the Girls (Nicolle and Marcee) were catching up on old times with their friends, the boys (Greg and Lance) were helping themselves to the "Heavy Appetizers." Nicolle was so excited to see all of her friends she was only able to get one photo of them.

Greg was shocked to learn that someone in TN read our blog, so the whole funny job this was exposed. On a side note, when people asked and I told them that I was a Rubber Buyer, they thought that I was joking anyway.

Identity Crisis

This weekend is Nicolles 10th high school reunion. I am looking for the funniest profession I could claim that I was involved in. Be original, so no sanitation engineers.

Triathlon

On August 25th, Nicolle decided that she wanted to add another title to her ever growing resume. After adding Opera Singer, Mother, Wife, Executive Director, gourmet chef, she felt she needed to add two time triathlete. Nicolle had done a triathlon in AZ with Greg, but she wanted to do one on her own, without drafting off of Greg.

She did something that Greg had never done, and that was before the race even started. No I am not talking about training (although that too would be true), She was a true mother and fed Clara before her swim started.

This Triathlon consisted of a 500 Meter Swim, a 16 mile bike (which somehow was uphill the whole way), and a 5K run. Here is how Nicolle did on each section of the race:

Swim:

Nicolle made the mistake of telling the race officials that she was not a good swimmer. They then put Nicolle at the last starter. This became a problem when Nicolle realized that she was a better swimmer that she had stated. She struggled to pass the really bad swimmers who were doing the survival stroke (Kick, Glide, Pull, Glide, Survival Float and Breathe). However she relied on her trusty flip turn to pass some utah drivers.

Bike:

Another Disadvantage of starting as the last one is Nicolle did not start at a cool 8:30am, but at an increasingly hot 10:30 am. By the time Nicolle started the Bike, it was an almost unbearable 95 degrees, and that was in the shade. The crowd cheered as Nicolle started the 16 miles of uphill riding. Nicolle also was using a Mountain Bike instead of a road bike. For those of you who don’t know the difference, using a Mountain bike on a road race is like running with flip flops in a marathon. Despite these setbacks Nicolle was able to complete this leg of the race looking great.

Run:

This was a piece of cake for Nicolle, she did not even experience the dreaded jello legs that most people get after riding for 16 miles. In a time that most would struggle to get when just doing a 5K, Nicolle ran to the finishing line with a cheering crowd raising pandemonium.

Nicolle did a great job in training and during the race. She was such a trooper that she ran inside, and got ready for a choir rehearsal.

Congratulations Nicolle, Way to Go.

Clara

This weekend we went to the PGA golf tournament that is held in Greensboro every year. Here we are getting ready to walk through the course. Clara's first teeth (in the middle on the bottom) have started to come through. She is always doing funny stuff with her tongue and lips, getting used to the new feeling. Her two methods of transportation these days are the army crawl and the lunge. You'd be suprised at how fast she can move with these skills. This morning she got into a freshly washed and folded basket of laundry. She was quite proud of herself.
She loves playing with her rubber ducky in the bath. It works out well for us, because she is so fixated on the duck that she doesn't mind getting scrubbed.
Clara turned seven months old last week. We can't believe how fast the time is going. We want to record some of our favorite things about her at this age, so we won't forget.

• she gives great kisses and hugs (she plays a really cute game with Nicolle, where she gives her a big kiss on the cheek while singing, then laughs)
• she takes naps on the couch nestled in her Dad's arms
• her first syllables are a-ba, mma-mma, a-da, dai, n-ga...it is funny when she tries to talk and chew on her pacifier at the same time
• she loves to sing...while having music time with mom or at choir or during hymns at church. She tries to outsing the whole group.
• her favorite place to play is on our big bed... she squeals and crawls away from us when we chase her or she buries her head in the mattress
• she loves to jump... especially in her toy jumperoo
• her smile and laugh are contagious
• she loves to give head butts... sometimes they hurt
• she is a fiesty girl- she fights going to sleep even when it is OBVIOUS that she is beyond tired
• the best is when she is asleep and you move her... she just melts into you
• she isn't afraid of strangers, yet, and gives big smiles to anyone who talks to her
• when she sits up by herself, sometimes she holds her arms straight out or straight up to help keep her balance- it looks like she is waiting for a big hug

Best Fall Festival Ever

I have a new responsibility at church... to plan the activities. We will be having a "Fall Festival." I need your help... what was the best fall festival you've attended, and why? You can also share fall party duds, so I know what activities to avoid.
Thanks!
-Nicolle

Eating some cereal

Clara is starting to learn to eat solid foods. Here are some photos from one of her first attempts.

First, she played with the farm animal toys on her high chair.

Before:

During:

After... what a messy girl!

Better Opera Photos

I just got ahold of some better opera production photos.

The Britts and the Beach

A couple of weeks ago (yes, we are behind on blogging) our good friends, Mike and Leah Britt, came to visit from AZ. We met them after we were first married...they lived in the same condo complex as us. While they were here we tried to show them some of our favorite things about NC. Mike and Leah (with their cute boy, Hendrix) are pictured below at Carter Brother's Barbeque. YUM! I told them about how we came here at least once a week during the last month of my pregnancy.

Then we went to Carolina Beach... we love that it is only a 3 1/2 hour drive from our house. It was Clara's first trip to the beach. We put up an umbrella for shade and set up her favorite chair.

Here is our little beach bum.

She loved digging her feat in the sand and watching the water.
We hope to go back to the beach, soon!

Thanks for traveling all the way across the country to see us, Britts!