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!