The Parker Family

Friday, April 12, 2013

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

A Topper (Almost) Birthday-

Ty turns 3 on Friday, and he wanted to invite "Shane, Jarvis and Corbin" to his party. Instead, I baked him a quick cake today and the team sang to him when they came over for pizza. :)

Yes. That is a very messy cake. I rarely do anything that isn't last-minute. Ha! (This method of cake decorating works well- probably even better if you give it the proper time and attention!)

I am no expert phone-videographer (obviously)- so pardon the unfocused-ness of this video. I just love how much he loved the big guys singing to him. His face is pretty unreadable, but believe me, it made. his. night! :)

PS- Say a prayer for him if you think about it. Both Halle and Cate were in the hospital the week before they turned 3. I keep thinking about it, and shuddering. Maybe you should pray for me....

Sunday, April 7, 2013

And... she lost it.

And then I lost it.

True story:

Halle: "I need to go put this tooth on my shelf!"

Me: "No, I'll just set it on this paper towel and you can take it after supper."

Halle: (uncertain) "Okay..."

30 minutes later, the kitchen is cleaned up, Halle is ready to leave for church-

Halle: "WHERE IS THE PAPER TOWEL WITH MY TOOTH?!"

Me: (frozen) "Uh... oh no. Oh, nonono."

Halle: (sniffling, small, pitiful voice) "Did you throw it away??"

Me: (cringing, feeling like a terrible person) "Yeeees. I'm really sorry. You can write the tooth fairy an interesting note, right??"

Halle: (trying not to cry) "I really wanted to keep it."

Me: "I promise I'll look later, but I doubt I'll find it in the trash. It's pretty full..."

I looked, I promise. I took everything out of the trash. The problem was. the kids ate cottage cheese for lunch and Ty didn't eat much of his. Have you ever noticed that baby teeth and small curd cottage cheese look amazingly similar? It. Was. Disgusting.

*Sigh.*

JD thinks I'm crazy. I think I should leave her more than a dollar.

Weekend Randoms-

We are finally having a sunny and springlike weekend here! It is wonderful, and we haven't spent much time inside- even skipped naps yesterday to keep playing. (Not a very smart idea, but we worked through it.)

So, last week we had some stuck-inside-rainy-dreary-icky days, and I found the quilt I started for Isaac a year ago. Oops- poor guy.

(Isaac's is on the left, Ty's is the right:)

I didn't get it finished, but it is pieced, basted and half-quilted. Unfortunately it got abandoned in my sewing machine as soon as the mud dried enough to escape outside...

Yesterday was my favorite kind. Well, okay- I like it better when the work is already done- but it was beyond nice to be at home with no where to be and the sun shining. We cleaned up the yard, put together our new(!) grill, and broke out my Christmas present from JD's parents- the fire pit!

The hot dogs were just so-so (DG didn't have good ones), but the s'mores hit the spot!

This is our favorite way to make them- fudge stripe cookies and marshmallows. YUM.

Today is a lot of the same- sunny, low 70's...

Halle is about to lose another tooth (#3)- her top left. Can you tell?

I like this cat. She kills mice. She isn't clingy or rub-y or any of those annoying cat things. But she is friendly if you talk to her. And she still lets the kids maul her around. Today I watched her chase down the little lizard that has been taunting the kids in their fort. :)

We finally got some chairs for our patio:

They're cheap-o, but they look pretty good, and they're comfortable. Win-win-win, I say.

(See my little basil pots sitting on the hose thingy? Yay, summer!!)

This sand table has been worth every penny. We love it. (And I never find sand in anyone's undies.)

Ty's shorts used to be Halle's pants: I de-girlified them. (They had flower ties and an alligator on the behind.)

His shoes used to be Cate's: They were never very girly.

Upgraded grill:

(We've already used it 3 times. It's SO much better than our old nasty, 1-burner.)

Thank you, Lord, for Springtime!!

Friday, April 5, 2013

7 months

Already.

Isaac is getting opinionated.

Tonight he decided (halfway through) that he no longer likes peas. So he threw a fit- the real kind with crying and kicking and arm waving. Yikes. He stopped as soon as the peas were exchanged for pears. Double yikes.

But he's mostly still our easy-going, happy-to-be-here-guy.

He doesn't crawl on his knees or sit himself up. He still has two teeth. He does say Mama- especially when he's mad or he's ready to get out of bed.

He loves watching his sisters and brother around him, and they love him too. Sometimes a little too enthusiastically. :)

He is so sweet and squeezy- I am so thankful that he is a part of this crazy family!

Monday, April 1, 2013

One thing remains-

Higher than the mountains that I face

Stronger than the power of the grave

Constant in the trial and the change

One thing remains-

Your love never fails

Never gives up

Never runs out on me

On and on and on and on it goes

And it overwhelms and satisfies my soul

And I never ever have to be afraid

One thing remains-

Your love never fails

Never gives up

Never runs out on me

In death, in life I'm confident and covered by

The power of Your great love

My debt is paid there's nothing that can separate

My heart from Your great love

Your love never fails

Never gives up

Never runs out on me...

(song by Jesus Culture, Come Away album)

Happy Easter!

He is RISEN!

Click to see:
Easter 2012
Easter 2011
Easter 2010
Easter 2009

Easter in Arkansas

Sorting the loot from the family egg hunt:

Opening eggs at Mema's:

The beautiful chaos:

With Mema:

Egg hunt in the park:

I had to work to sneak this picture. I stared at those guys with my mouth open the entire time. They were grabbing eggs and stuffing bags with no kid in sight. In the ZERO-TWO egg hunt. I mean, Really??! I guess that Lightning McQueen first prize was worth it?? So weird.