Inaugural Balls

***Warning mother this might not be suitable for you........but it sure is funny. ********



So all day Monday and Tuesday the news kept talking about the President's Inaugural Balls. Alex, my sweet husband, could not control his laughter. It was like he was in sixth grade again......"haha, the teacher said balls." At one point Monday, in a very serious tone he asked if he should email the news station and ask them to reword their speech. So last night when he arrived home, he brought in a package. I was expecting a gold nepalese focal bead. Well when I opened the box........we found as Alex said an inaugural ball. And a big ball it is. The description said 20mm.........ummmmm....no. They might want to take Handy Manny's advice.......measure twice. So here it is, the only inaugural ball we saw last night. I mean after hearing Aretha Franklin at the inauguration..........I did not think I could take any more.




Oh, isn't this the cutest pic. As I was uploading the bead pictures, I noticed this in the opened folder. I could not help it. This was taken in Jan. 2007. Wow, he has changed. Aren't those the cutest lips you have ever seen??????????

Tag you're it!

Parker had been riding his tractor. Crazy hair..."Nan, I need a hair cut."

I'm really not sure what mode I had my camera in.

"Don't worry mom, I'll figure your new camera out in no time!"

So I was tagged by my friend Rebeka to go to the sixth folder and the sixth picture. This was Parker at about six months. A former student made the outfit and used her mom's machine to put Parker's initials.........It was one of my favorite outfits. He has changed so much and it makes me a little sad that my baby is growing so fast. (Oh mom, one thing has not changed, his eyes are still blue...even at two.) However, everyday is so precious and special.......and I love my baby's hair! I love watching Parker grow, learn and love. He is truly a gift from God!

Alex the Builder

For Christmas, Alex built me this beautiful jewelry box. He did such a good job. It is the first thing he has ever built and was very worried at times. I was totally surprised. I knew he was building something for me, but I had no idea what it was. Since it was so beautiful, I have put in several other requests. He has completed one other. A trunk that fits nicely under my bench. It holds my blankets and pillows so Alex can sit on the bench. He did an excellent job on it also.

So we are having the Green Eggs and Ham of potty training. I will not go here or there....I will not go anywhere. For a little one that was doing sooooo well last week, I don't know what happened. He would not always ask to potty, but everytime I took him he went. This weekend, he had no interest. Monday morning he woke and asked to go potty. So we went. Then we went through 3 pull-ups before noon. Discouraged ******************************

A January Snake

Sunday as Alex was opening the back door to his shop, a snake fell from the ledge above his head. It is the second copperhead that he has killed in the same place since we have lived in this house. Thankfully this one did not land on him, as the other did. He decided that maybe he owed Al Gore an apology for his thoughts on global warming. Alex cleaned the yard for fear of more snakes hiding where Parker would be riding his tractor. This snake is missing its head.

christmas 2008

Christmas 2008

For Parker and me, Christmas was wonderful. Alex had a stomach virus the entire week we were at mom's so I cannot say he was having a great time. This year was even more fun to watch Parker learn about Christmas. As usual, my family went to the silent service at church on Christmas Eve. You would think taking a two-year old in a silent sanctuary would be a very bad idea, but you would be wrong. Parker was perfect. He only whispered twice I think. When it was time to kneel and pray, he knelt right along with Alex and me. He put his little hands together and prayed. It was a very neat experience and I'm so glad Parker was part of it. On Christmas Eve, we had dinner at Alex's mom's home. All of her kids were together and most of the grandkids. Parker had an exceptional time trying to lure Matthew's girlfriend away. She is absolutely beautiful, and Parker wanted her all to his self. Wow they start young. Christmas morning we looked at all the Santa toys and played..........after having our usual cup of milk and some time to wake. Then we headed off to Aunt Jen's house for lunch. Everyone was there and the food was fab. Alex's dad made the best potato salad ever. I know that is a strange food to rave about, but I'll have to share his little secret later....and in person. WoW!!! Finally we had Christmas with my family at mom's. We had a special gift for my sister.....see she emailed me sometime shortly after Thanksgiving a wonderful homemade idea. Maxi-pad slippers. Well since I conveniently had some of those super after the birth of your child pads left, I decided to put them to use. It was awesome. What a Merry Christmas

2 ALREADY????

I know I really should update my blog better. Anyway, Parker turned two on Dec. 22nd. We had a small party at my mom's for family. This year Parker was much more interested in eating the cake than last year. It is so fun to watch him grow and learn. He is talking so much more and says the craziest things when you are totally not expecting it. Tonight as we lay in bed, he began singing "Parker, tractor, dark, raining, shhh, night-night, lawnmower, raining," and so on. I had to try really hard not to laugh. His sweet little voice sounded like a 13 year old's as it begins to change. Today he woke me with "TEE-TEE"! I was totally not ready to get out of bed, but I thought oh great he has wet the bed. I rolled over and he put his cute little nose to my face and said "potty". Oh, wait......when did this happen? We lept from the bed, I carried him all the way down the hall to his bathroom. All the way I was telling him to hold it. He did. My little man used the potty like a champ. He continued all day! We only had one wet pull-up, otherwise known as "big boy pants". I am so very proud of him. Now I do realize that was just one day, and tomorrow he may act like he has never seen a potty, but that is okay. We will get potty trained....one day. Oh the best part about my little man's rush to the potty this morning. As soon as he was done, he climbed down and said "Night-night". Now that is my boy! Letting me sleep till 9am, do I have the life or what!

As I put Parker's new fave pj's on.........polar bear fleece from his Aunt Nic............Parker gave me a battle. He was having so much fun with his daddy playing that he did not want to get ready for bed. Alex asked if dealing with the monster was better than teaching, yes ! I confessed that sometimes when I get frustrated, it is not a good day for me. I hate getting aggrivated at my little boy. He is afterall only two........still my baby. I try to keep that in mind when I want to scream. Parker and I have our little habits of getting each other's serious attention. I tell him look at mommy nose to nose. He puts his little nose to mine and listens. He knows that I'm serious. He also will tell me "time" when he wants to have more time to do something. So as a compromise, I set the timer on the microwave and give him a little extra time to do what he wants to do. Like tonight when he yelled time at me as I put two legs in one side of his pj pants, I told him that if he let me finish dressing him that I would set the microwave timer. I asked him what it meant when the timer went "beep", and my sweet monster boy said "night-night". Wow! he does understand.

I am truly blessed to be his mom!