The Obsession Continues...and an update.

Well, I am now on book #3 of the Twilight series. The first two books I finished in one day each. This time I am taking my time. Book #4 isn't out until sometime in August so I have nothing to rush into. It is so exciting when I find something I enjoy reading so much! It's also been nice to have something to distract me from the ground hog days of summer.

Connor has been at Scout Camp the last 2 days (no over nights just yet). Apparently it hasn't bothered him that the thermometer has held steady in the 90's. I can only imagine the relief he has felt spending 2 days without his sisters. Just up in the woods with a bunch of boys doing boy things. Last night he told of his adventures learning to shoot a b.b. gun (honestly I don't know how to spell it) and getting a compass. When I arrived to pick him up he asked if his leader could just take him home...I think he has been craving this time for 6.5 years! As soon as he got home he started asking for a pocket knife. In true parental fashion Sean and I made him wait for the answer, "Let me talk to Dad about it", "Mom and I need to talk about it", "I don't know that's a lot of responsibility for an 8 year old boy...", "well....". We must be crazy because we ended up saying yes. He proudly made his purchase with some of his birthday money along with a whip...yes a WHIP. Not exactly what I was expecting him to come home with today but he said that he decided to buy a whip instead of a treat for himself. As long as he's not using it on his sisters I can't exactly argue with that. He is growing up so fast.

Olivia has started crawling!! Well sort of. She does 2 real crawling steps and then goes straight to her stomach to her own version of the army crawl. She is definately getting where she wants to go. Her new favorite toy is the door stop, I can count on a good 5 minute stretch to get something done if I set her in the right spot..."booiiinnngggg...booiiinnngggg...". I'll have to put up more pictures of everyone! Check back soon!

Parenting

We were at the church for interviews on Wednesday. Aubrey and Connor rode their bikes and were already on the way home. I told Alli she could ride her scooter home while Sean walked. I had the van so I had to drive home. Sean didn't realize that I told Alli she could ride her scooter and simply told her to get in the van. She came STOMPING out to the van and this is how the conversation went...

Me: Alli, what's wrong?

Alli: I'M SO MAD

Me: What happened?

Alli: I'M NOT TALKING (as she stomped around to her side of the van)

All I could do was laugh as Sean walked out. I told him what I just saw and asked what happened. He said "I just asked her to get in the van". At this point Alli had begrudgingly got in her seat and buckled her seat belt and jammed her thumb in her mouth. So we opened the door and explained that it was just a mix up. That did the trick and she was magically happy. She popped out of her seat said "Mom, I'm going with Dad, it will be ok, you drive with Olivia and I will see you at home, ok?". As if I didn't know what the plan was. Silly Alli.

I have a funnier story that isn't appropriate for public display feel free to ask me in person. Alli is a very clever girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNOR!

Connor 1 week

Connor is 8! I can't believe it!!! I have been a mommy for 8 years now, it just sounds crazy to me. He invited a bunch of friends over and had a blast. I promised water games but it was only 70 degrees out so I let them do water balloons which was enough fun. The rest of the time they ran around like crazy kids, had cake and ice cream, opened presents and sent them on there way. We had a rodeo to go to.
Notice how he hammed it up for the camera. I usually try and get him to act normal. These are funny, I might just let him do it.

Connor 8 years old!

Yee-Haw! The Parkers Visit the Rodeo

Last Friday the girls performed at the rodeo. We weren't there for very long about 1/2 an hour just to watch them dance. I have to say that I thought that Aubrey would have remembered her dance steps as she is an old pro at this point and I expected Alli to not really enjoy it too much but do her best. I was surprised that it was exactly the opposite. I was even sitting there thinking to myself "This is really Aubrey's thing maybe we'll get Alli into sports next year". For those of you who don't know Aubrey inherited her (ahem!) coordination from the Parker side of the family (which means there's a lacking in that department). Alli takes after me in so many ways, she's a bit of a tom-boy, but still very girly. So back to the story...Aubrey went on first and she did ok but she forgot a lot of the steps which surprised me. (I've seen her in class and she knew the steps). She said she had fun so that was all that really mattered. Then it was Alli's turn. She got on staged and HAMMED it up. She started by looking for me and once she found me she waved really fast and yelled "Hi, Mom!" then blew a few kisses and started her dance. For a 4 year old she did really well. At the end all of the dancers got on the stage and did a big group dance "The Cha Cha Slide" This is when I could see they were both having a blast. They have one more real recital next Saturday so we'll see if anything changes. Either way they have both really loved going to dance class and they like getting all dressed up in their costumes and putting makeup on and getting their hair done.

When we were at the rodeo for the girls dance I started thinking it would be fun to take the whole family Saturday night. I talked to Sean about it and we agreed the kids might enjoy it. Saturday afternoon we had Connor's birthday party. After that we got the kids ready and went to the Rodeo. I wasn't really sure what to expect since the last rodeo I went to was years and years ago in Spokane. I was pleasantly surprised! It was very family friendly, they had all sorts of games and fun things for the kids to do. Plus they had all of the yummy food...funnel cakes, kettle corn all sorts of fried stuff. Right as we were getting ready to buy our tickets some lady handed Sean 2 adult tickets and said "do you want these some guy just handed them to me". So Sean yelled up to me (already at the ticket counter) just get the kids tickets. Then the same lady turned around and said "oh here, I have 2 coupons for the kids" free entry. Sean who was right behind me at that point "never mind, just 1 kid ticket". Thank you to whoever that was b/c our whole family got in for $5! This turned out to be a better idea than I thought! (saved us $30!). On top of that the rodeo proved to be entertaining for everyone. Although it was FREEZING cold and windy with a few short rain showers to top it off. At one point a fireman handed a blanket up to Sean who was huddled w/Aubrey and Alli trying to keep them warm and said "Here, they look cold". Towards the end Aubrey was dying to get warm Olivia was bundled up in a sweater and blankets and Sean (big tough guy) was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Connor and Alli wanted to stay and watch the bull riding so Sean took Aubrey and Olivia back to the van until the very end of the bulls. I stayed and watched several more events until finally the much anticipated bull riding. Connor was enthralled with these men riding the bulls. Awww, he's a little cowboy at heart. We all survived and came back together to watch the fireworks. By the time we got home the kids were all passed out. It really turned out better than I had expected. We plan on going back next year.

When in Rome, do as the Romans. When in Tooele, go to the Rodeo!

Seattle...Is that you?

It's raining so hard outside that I forgot we moved back to Utah. I'm not complaining.

So Much!

There has been a lot going on at the Parker home since I last blogged.

School is out! I have very mixed emotions about this yearly event. I would be lying if I said "I love it when school gets out!" because my kids are home all the time I find myself entertaining kids for an extra 6 hours a day. This is tricky for me because away from the structure of school they long for the freedom that comes with long summer days. As well they should, they're kids, it's their right. However, as a mom I have learned that all kids need structure, everyday. Without it they become wild, like feral cats. Then when it is time to return home for the night it's like corralling unbroken horses- nearly impossible- at least not without a fight. It's this balance that I find challenging. I love that I become their teacher, to show them the world around them, to broaden their horizons. I love teaching them and watching them learn. It's both exhausting and exhilarating. I also love not having to arrange our schedule around school. This is especially annoying when you have a little one in Kindergarten. It seems like they are in school just in long enough for all of us to get settled into doing something (a project, grocery shopping, playing a game) but never long enough to finish before it's time to pick them up. This summer we celebrate 2 out of Kindergarten!

We've already had a visitor! Not the kind you want anyway...

If you have lived in new construction in Tooele (or most places for that matter) you know where your house was built. I happen to know that our house was built right on top of a field. A large field that was home to many animals. Some of these animals are not always willing to give up their homes so easily. The farmer moved the cows and horses and put up new fences to make sure that they were out of the way. We did not have a cow or a horse visit. More unwelcome...we had a MOUSE! What I believe was a very fat pregnant mouse. We knew from our previous experience that mice are everywhere around here and we have been checking the garage weekly for evidence of the critters and up until this point hadn't found any. That was until Friday. The kids were all out playing with the neighbors when there was a sudden noticeable drop in noise. As I was going out to check on that (as any mom knows you don't worry unless it's too quiet) Connor came running in..."Mom, Mom, Mom we found a mole!!!". Huh?! So I went out to see this "mole" they were talking about. Sure enough there was a pile of dirt along side a golf ball sized hole in our side yard. So I watched and waited along with 6 kids for this "mole" to appear. It was quite entertaining. Dirt would fly out of the hole, you could catch a glimpse of feet and then a nose. When I finally went in, bored of the event, I heard yelling. "Mom, we got it out!". Oh no...I ran back out and they were trying to catch it. This was the slowest, fattest mouse I have ever seen. I allowed them to catch it, once to put it back in the hole it came from. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a mouse at my house at all, but I felt that the job of ridding of the pest would be best left up to Sean. Plus, it was a pregnant mouse, I have a soft spot for pregnant creatures. For the rest of the day I found myself as part time neighborhood mouse hole referee. I opened the window right above the hole and began "nobody touch it!"..."no digging!"...keep your fingers out of the hole!!"After the word spread we had visitors from far and wide (kids from the neighborhood) all speculating the nature of this animal and how best to deal with it. One kid wanted to keep it as a pet, one kid wanted to "kill it", I wanted all of them to leave it alone. After 6 hours I thought I should put up a little mouse fence and start charging admission. I don't think I did my job very well because eventually at some point in the day someone (a male child) decided the best way to get the mouse out so everyone could have a good look again was to put water down the hole. I do believe that Mickey is no longer with us. That put an end to that.



Saturday while at our trip to Costco I came across a new book series that I LOVE! Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I have heard word of these books but I try to steer clear of super popular books. I don't like reading something because it's popular I have my own unique taste when it comes to reading. I also don't like to waste time on something that isn't worth it. Another negative as far as I was concerned, vampires are included in the story line. I like reading books that even if they are fictional they are believable, plausible if you will. Vampires don't fit into that catagory. So I just cancelled these books out all together. But we were at Costco and the book was $6. It's a hefty one at 500 pages and I figured that it would be a good one to take along to the park and other places moms go that are more entertaining for kids. Little did I know what I was getting into. I'm not sure what it was that first drew me in. Stephanie Meyer is a brilliant author. She is amazing at drawing the picture for the reader. I was also captivated by the relationship that Bella (the main character) has with her Mother and Father. It mirrored mine with my own parents as though she knew me personally. Then Bella's relationship with Edward (the love interest) was so intense and written so well, describing almost unbelievable passion so that it takes you in, without being vulgar or graphic, there is no sex and no nudity. It's great. So I finished the book on Monday. Even I was surprised at this, I did feed the kids and make sure everyone was well taken care of. I just spent every spare second I could reading this book. I will be getting the next one on Thursday. I spent some time with Sean explaining the book and I said 3 different times "It really needs to be made into a movie". Guess what? I was doing a google search and found out...it is! And it will be released in December. I will SO be there!