T1 Happenings

1. Have I mentioned T1 has a girlfriend? I think I have...  Well, they're still going strong. That is, if you call strong never hanging out, talking on the phone, texting, etc... I think they're basically good friends in cross country. I'll take it.
2. T1 got all A's the first six weeks, but he got a low test grade in one of his classes that almost tripped him up. Glad he pulled through!
3. He wants to run a half marathon so we've been training together. We're up to 6.25 miles and are hoping to run 7 miles this weekend. Hopefully, the weather will be on our side.
4. Bye bye 5-finger vibrams -- T1 has a new favorite shoe. Sanuks. He's been obsessing over them, so we took him shopping this weekend and he bought a pair using his birthday money. Turns out they are so comfortable that even I gave in and bought a pair. 
5. Attitude. While not a major problem, he has exhibited quite an attitude at times lately. Payback for how we treated our parents when we were that age, I'm sure...

T2 Happenings

We had our first conference with T2's kindergarten teacher last week and were pleased to have her share that he is smart and well-behaved. He's learning how to read, spell, count (he made the "100 club"!), and add. Somehow he's also learning sign language, although his teacher didn't mention this so I'm not sure if that's a school thing or an after-school thing. He appears to be thriving, so we're happy. 

One of his favorite things to do lately is color and make paper Yoda's. He wakes up thinking about and asking for paper so he can make them (can you say obsessive? sounds like T1...). He makes big ones and small ones. Check them out below. He's playing with paper, colors, and scissors so much that we moved our old kitchen table (the one that was on our deck) to the boys' bedroom so we could keep all the art supplies in that area of the house and not spread out every where else. He loves it!

T1 turned 13!

Can you believe it? Matt and I are parents of a teenager! Wowzers! When did we get old enough for that? We celebrated by going to T1's favorite restaurant, McAdoo's, with local family peeps (and missed those who weren't with us).  For gifts, he received money from family members and soccer gear from Matt and I. He sure was a happy camper! Here's a couple of pictures from the evening:

T1 decided to start his 14th year of life by getting a girlfriend! He's had a crush on Hannah, a girl on his cross country team, for a few weeks now and he finally got the courage to ask her to "go out". Too bad he did it the way fifth graders do, by writing her a note and asking a friend to pass it to her. Silly boy! Matt said that was weak, but I'm sort of glad he's not comfortable getting closer than that. Hannah seems to truly be a good girl, someone we'd be happy for T1 to "date", so I hope it's a good experience for him. We're three days in and so far, so good. We'll keep you posted!

School Clothes, cont.

I almost forgot something funny and something awkward about our outing day.

Something funny? Several times today T3 walked up to male mannequins and announced to those around him that the mannequin was his daddy. He held one of his mannequin dad's hands and stood there looking up at it admiringly with a big smile on his face. This mannequin was at the Nike store, was very muscular, and dressed athletically, but he had no head. At a different store, the mannequin dad was hanging at the end of an aisle to display sports underwear or something and T3 was talking to this one saying "I see your butt" as he pulled his underwear down and then said "...and I see your penis" before I could jump in, re-clothe the mannequin dad and tell T3 to stop. He cracks me up!

Something awkward? This wasn't the first time this has happened lately, but T1 openly checks out girls and comments to me about them. It's so weird -- that's something he should reserve for dad time (and not a mannequin dad). I think the girl-crazy chip has definitely been activated. He had no girlfriends last year, so it will be interesting to see what eighth grade brings.

School Clothes? Check.

T1, T3, and I spent the entire day shopping. We got all of the boys' school clothes and their school supplies. (By the way, we spent over $100 on school supplies for T1 and T2. I was totally surprised! Did you know kindergartners are required to have earbuds and plastic folders in addition to the list of 20 other standard things on their supply list? Sheesh!) It was quite an exhausting marathon in brutal 100+ degrees heat, but I'm thrilled because we got GREAT deals and avoided the crowds by going on a Monday.

T1 is really excited about his new clothes. I remember those days...rushing home to re-try everything that you already tried on in the dressing rooms at the store, begging mom to wash everything so they can hang in a prominent spot in the closet, selecting the outfit for the first day of school, etc...

On the way home from soccer practice tonight T1 asked if he could shower, do his hair, and then wear his new clothes to the grocery store with me. Matt and I were chuckling, and Matt seized the opportunity to seize his inner-Sara and reply "You can't wear your new clothes yet! You have to wait until school starts! What if you mess them up? Are you crazy?" Matt and I thought it was hilarious, but T1 wasn't feeling the humor. (Hope you see the humor, Sara!)

Parker Pictures

I'm too tired this evening to blog in words, but Marie gave me the idea to blog in pictures. Here are a few snapshots of recent Parker happenings. Summer has been tons of fun!

We've gone swimming at the YMCA lately. The boys love it!

T1's soccer team had a party and here's what they did for the team photo. Silly boys!

T1 is at his 6th year of summer camp. He's had a blast every year, so I'm happy for him even though I miss him terribly.We recently celebrated Matt's birthday. Check out the handsome man in the middle of those cute boys!

Here's the bed I'm headed to tonight. Where am I gonna fit?

Lovin' My Boys

Although the boys have sufficiently exhausted Matt and I lately, they have also thrilled us. Unfortunately, because I haven't taken the time to blog, I've missed capturing so many of their precious moments. T3, for example, blazed past Matt this morning and crawled into my bed to snuggle with me. He brought his favorite blue "horsey blankie" (which he thinks is my favorite as well and brings it to me every single morning), crawled under the covers, hugged me and fell back asleep. He can be such a sweet little love! Yesterday T2 asked me why I put on makeup, I said because it makes me pretty (sort of, maybe), and he replied that I was already pretty. Awww... T1 is always a big fan, seizing every opportunity to say something sweet to me. I dropped him off at camp today and despite how anxious he was to see and hang out with his friends (he could hardly contain his excitement this morning!), he stayed by my side, offered to let me take pictures of him, walked me to my car, told me he loved me and would miss me, and watched as I drove away. He was so sincere and sweet! I need to remember these sweet moments next time I feel like pulling my hair out because they're boisterous, mischievous, and full of endless energy. My guys are the best!

I'm such a proud mama!

Just on the heels of me bragging about T1's self-motivation with school (unbeknownst to him), he gave me a perfect example of why he makes me so proud. He missed school on Friday and was worried last night that he wouldn't get to turn in his missed work before grades were due. He asked if he could send his math teacher an email, so I said yes and the exchange below is the result. God, I love this kid!

Email from T1 to his teacher:
Dear Mrs. Garcia, It's from 6th period and I was checking gradespeed tonight to see if I had everything in before tommorow morning. (I was told that grades were due tommorow morning by several teachers.) Well I have one grade missing and it dropped my grade from a 100 to a 98. I know that it's not really a big deal but I would like to see if you might be able to change it. I wouldn't usually be asking you this at 7:30 at night but this morning they did not have tutorials and I assumed that it was because of the feild trip. Well I have a feild trip tommorow and figured that they might not have tutorials again. I have the paper here in my hand right now and it is completely finished. I did not get to turn it in because I was not here last Friday. So just incase I can't turn it in tommorow morning I was wondering if you could put it in and I would give it to you. Just in case you were grading this here is my answers-
1.-17
2.-10.8
3.-12.2
4.-12.8
5.-15
6.-41
7.-13
8.-10
9.-14.1
10.-no
11.-yes
12.-no
13.-13
14.-48

Thanks for looking at this email!

The response from his teacher:
Hello , Thank you so much for letting me know! I will definitely put it in thegrade book. Do not worry about it. You have worked hard for me all year long and for that, I have no problem doing this for you. Thank you for submitting your answers. I have to say, in the five years I have been teaching, I have never had a student email me with such concern about their grade. I admire that about you. I know you will do great as an 8th grader! You have a great future ahead of you. Keep working hard and you can achieve anything! It has been a pleasure teaching you this year! Mrs. Garcia

A Glimpse Into Parker Happenings

It’s been over a month since my last blog and I know I have missed the opportunity to capture many fun, freaky, and frustrating happenings in our kiddos lives. Why haven’t I blogged? I think the last month has been one of the busiest in our lives. Seriously. It’s been exhausting and I’ve been quite grumpy about it. Go, go, go, go, go… That’s the story of our lives. Oh yeah, that and the fact that our computer is about to die. It majorly sucks to work on these days so if it doesn’t die then I’ll kill it and make a Mac appear Mac-gically. Can’t wait.

As I’ve done in the past when I’ve fallen behind in my blog, I’m going to make a random list of some of the most memorable happenings of late…

1. T1’s school is out this Friday and I’m pretty sure we’ll have another year of straight A’s. Not only am I proud of his grades, but I’m proud that he pushes himself to get good grades. He’s responsible enough to complete his homework, study for tests, complete projects early, etc. without our constance prompting. He is doing AWESOME in that regard, BUT….

2. ....his attitude has been stinkin’ it up! He talks back to Matt and me a lot, so we’re getting extremely stern in our effort to curtail this before it gets out of hand. He tries so hard at school and sports and we’re so proud, but I told him those successes wouldn’t overshadow disappointment created by a poor attitude.

3. T1’s soccer team placed 2nd in a soccer tournament this weekend. They played 5 games and T1 did great. He might be a guest player for another team in a tournament next weekend, but we’ll see. We’re all so exhausted right now that participating in another tournament is the last thing we want to do, but I foresee that changing in a couple of days.

4. I got to give a shout out to Grandma Sara and Grandpa Marcus. Matt and I went out of town Friday night, so Grandma and Grandpa kept the kids for us. Marcus got to experience their restless leg syndrome (MC, next time we’ll furnish protective gear!) and Sara laid down the law for T1 and her expectations for keeping his room clean (love it!). They also got to hang out at an expo of many local life-saving teams including EMS, air life, and the fire department. That, followed by Batman toys at McD’s, made for a great time!

5. T2 turned five; can you believe it? Five! I was sick on his birthday so his celebration was super low key. Matt and I took T2 and T3 to Chuck E. Cheese’s one night and then had family over for cake, ice cream, and presents another night. I felt the whole thing was much under-done, so expect a much bigger celebration next year.

6. T2 graduated from pre-K this week and his school put on a great graduation ceremony. They counted to 10 in French, German, Spanish, English, Chinese, and I believe Japanese. They answered several questions about the seasons and current political figures, recited the alphabet in Spanish, and sang several songs including one in which T2 was on the microphone to sing about the original 13 colonies and all of the present states. It was pretty impressive! I was super proud because T2 wasn’t shy at all despite “performing” in front of so many people. In the past he has been super shy when expected to do something in front of a group of people, so this was a nice change and we loved it!

7. T3 cut his own hair the other day and it looked awful! Matt took him to the barber shop for a haircut and as soon as I got home I noticed and was appalled by a gaping hole right in the front middle of his head. Matt said it looked fine and tried to convince me that his hair was only messed up because he had been playing with the water hose out back. I begged to differ and was proven right when I found that scissors and tuft of hair. He’s gone for the scissors a few times since then, so they are now safe and secure out of his reach.

Well, it’s getting late and I’m losing my train of thought while fighting to keep my eyes open. I’ll write more and post some new pictures soon. Take care!

Birthday

We recently celebrated one of my niece's first birthday at MamMa's house. She's such an enjoyable baby! We had a great time -- here are a few pictures:

Aptitude

My kiddos have often been subjected to the tunes of Wicked, the best musical ever! I don't know if they'd admit it or not, but they love it. T1 and T3's favorite song is a song called Popular and T2 loves Defying Gravity (or, as he says it, Flying Gravity). Popular has a line it that says "It's not about aptitude, it's the way your viewed..." and every time T3 hears that he says "aptituuuuuuuude..." and cracks up. He sounds like Sloth from the Goonies as he says "aptituuuuuuude". It's hilarious! He then always asks "What's aptitude?", and I explain that it's how smart you could be (over-simplified for my 3-year old). Today he was silent for a few moments after I gave that answer, like he was thinking about it, and than asked "Am I aptituuuuuude?". Rather than explain the improper use of the word, I simply say "Yes, you are aptitude." He smiles, says "Oh" and starts singing again. Man, do I wonder what goes on inside that child's head!

Bieber Fever

I thought having boys meant that the whole Bieber Fever craze would pass without any impact on our house. Strangely enough, though, I received the following text message from Matt last night:

"T2 was just combing his hair and asked if he looked handsome. Then he asked if his hair looked like Justin Bieber because girls like Justin Bieber."

Keep in mind that T2 is only four years old! Where in the heck did he hear about Justin Bieber? I can assure you his music is never played and he is never discussed in our household. On the way home this afternoon he asked if he could comb his hair when we got home. As soon as he walked in the house, he asked where the good black brush was and started combing his hair. He then asked for gel! I didn't let him put gel in his hair then, but when he asked again after nap I let him. He was so happy!

Busy, busy, busy!

I didn't know it was possible, but it seems we are more busy than normal these days. Here are some highlights from recent weeks, much of which is centered around T1:

• T1, Matt, and I went to see Wicked with Grandma Sara, Grandpa Marcus, and Nana. Wicked is awesome!
• T1's soccer games have started again and they've won the first two.
• T1 had track tryouts last week and the first track meet is this week. It's a loosely structured program, so we have no idea what to expect.
• T1 was selected to represent his school in a "Math Bee" (yes, like the spelling bee). He has lots of studying to do!
• T1 got straight A's again and was inducted into National Junior Honor Society. Cool!
• T1 and I made a quick trip to hang out with Rene and Troy. We ate at a Japanese Steakhouse, had desert at the Treanors, ran a festive St. Patrick's Day 5k (and got stuck in the ensuing crazy parade -- not good), and went to the movies. We squeezed a lot in, but it was well worth it!
• T1 has been riding his bike along me as I run. We're usually out there for about an hour and he reveals so much when we talk. I love that time together.
• T1 has really wanted to read his Bible more often, so tonight we read John chapter 1 and 2. I'm humbled that my 12-year old is desirous of learning more about Jesus. Sweet soul!
• Matt and T1 went on a canoe trip this week and had tons of fun!
• Matt took T1, T2, and T3 crawfish hunting at the park the other day. They were there for hours and had a blast. T3 somehow ended up naked -- no surprise there. That boy cannot keep his clothes on!
• Cousin Bailey was baptized this weekend, so all the family peeps were in town. The kids played so well together. Precious times!
• T2 and T3 have umption in their gumption and want to put gas in their Ford for the Lord. What am I talking about? Veggie Tales, of course! They have discovered Veggie Tales and are loving them. Really cute!

Good news! I got a new camera this week. Yay! I have so much to learn, but I've pasted a few of my favorite pictures from the last few days. My editing skill stink, but I'll get better with time.

Does he ever stop talking?

T3 never seems to stop talking! My goodness! Here's a glimpse into my two mile drive home from tonight from Community Group:
T3: Mom, I see a star.
T3: Mom, it's a shooting star.
T3: Mom, wook (look), it's a pretty shooting star.
T3: Mom, go fast.
T3: Mom, beat that car.
T3: Mom, you're winning.
T3: Mom, T1's my brother.
T3: Mom, where's T2?
T3: Mom, I wuv you.
T3: Mom, where's dad?
T3: Mom, I'm hungry.
T3: Mom, that's Mitchell's house.
T3: Mom, are we in our neighborhood?
T3: Mom, where's my Wobin (Robin)?
T3: Mom, can you woll (roll) down my window?
T3: Mom, can you woll it down further?
T3: Mom, did you see that deer?
T3: Mom, did you see that boy and girl by the deer?

You get the point - mom, mom, mom! He just keeps going and going and going... It's actually pretty cute. Some times.

MIA

We've been incredibly busy lately and I'm sad to say I haven't been able to remember all of the fun and crazy happenings of late. We've been through a couple rounds of strep throat recently, but when we've been healthy we've spent a lot of time outside working in the backyard. We're bringing in mulch, replacing railroad ties, pulling weeds, preparing for a garden, etc. The little ones help somewhat, but T1 has been very helpful at times. Although we still have a ton left to do, I know that we'll all be very proud of the work when it's all done. I love this time of year -- it's the perfect weather for yard work!

Yesterday was supposed to be a school holiday, but the school district decided to have class to make up for the day classes were cancelled because of our itty bitty snowfall (see pictures below of T3 playing with his train in the snow and another with T2 making a snow angel). While T1 was at school, Matt and T2 hung out all day and I grabbed T3 and headed to Austin. T3 and I had a delicious lunch with good company and then headed over to Zilker Park where we had fun on the playground, ate snowcones, rode the train, and had a clown make swords out of balloons for us. We had such a good time!

It takes almost an hour to get to Zilker Park so I was trying to listen to the Wicked soundtrack while driving, but my little chatterbox wasn't having any of it. He just talked and talked and talked and talked... Not only does he talk non-stop, but he'll also disagree for the sake of disagreeing. When he senses you've had enough, he'll then sweetly tell you "I wuv you." When you say you love him too, he says "But I wuv you so much, so super much." My irritation then fades away, but his talking never stops. In that regard, he reminds me a lot of T1 when he was a little guy. He's very different from T2, though. T2 has grown more shy and quiet in recent months. He colors a lot (very detailed and intricately), puts together puzzles, and enjoys video games. He's definitely not a chatty Cathy. I think it will be very interesting to see how they evolve over time. Will T3 be a mini-T1? Will T2 be a introverted brainiac?

Matt and I had the opportunity to spend the weekend in New Orleans recently. We had a blast, but it wouldn't have been possible without the help of Grandma Sara, Pops (a.k.a. Marcus), and Nana. They did such a great job caring for and loving on the boys while we were gone. We are so thankful!

Is this how it's going to be?

Just on the heels of the whole "boobie" incident, my boys have given additional insight into their "manly" mindset. It started with a simple balloon T3 was given at church. Not long after we got home, I walked into the little guys' room to find T1 and T3 arguing. T1 turns around proudly displaying the balloon he's shoved in his pants and says "Mom, I think I've finally hit puberty." As I was shaking my head unbelievably, T3 starts crying and screaming "Give me my penis back!" What is going on?????

Fascination with the Female Anatomy

I am so embarrassed. I was at a church function yesterday when one of the sweetest ladies in our congregation approached me to share that T2 and T3 have been calling her super sweet, super shy Chinese exchange student "big boobs". The girl's name is Min-Joo, so I thought surely she was misunderstanding what they were saying. After all they are fairly young and T3 still doesn't enunciate clearly. Min-Joo does sort of sound like "big boobs", right? Wrong. On our way home, I said "Boys, I have to ask you a serious question." I was having a hard time stifling a chuckle, so Matt jumped in and asked "You know Min-Joo...what do you call her?" A huge grin immediately spread from ear to ear on T2's face and he buried his head into the side of his carseat. Silence. Matt asks again, and T3 yells "BOOBIES!" The whole car erupted in laughter, but I'm left wondering how and when did they become boob-boys? I think Matt has some explaining to do.

Life is a Blur

I think I need to change the name of my blog from "The Parker Family Blog" to "Life is a Blur". I swear, it seems so much is always going on and I'm either too tired or too forgetful to blog about it. Is it always going to be this crazy?

Anyways, as I type this latest blog, I'm looking at my sweet little T3...he had a low-grade fever this weekend and I thought it was allergies, but it turned out to be strep. Yuk. T3 and I enjoyed a relaxing sick day together at home on Monday, and we added T2 to the mix on Tuesday. After many restful hours of watching movies and sleeping, I decided the boys needed fresh air so I took them to the park to ride bikes Tuesday afternoon. The park is basically a grove of huge trees in which a circular path has been paved for people who want to walk, ride bikes, etc. T2 had his big boy bike (training wheels intact) and T3 had a Spider Man scooter. There was one other person at the park, a gentleman who looked a little scary but turned out to be friendly. Every time T2 saw the man coming his way, he would jump off his bike and run to hide behind the closest tree. He wasn't joking either -- he was scared. I tried to explain that the man was nice, but T2 wasn't listening so I ended up apologizing to the man for my son's hyperactive stranger danger radar. T3, on the other hand, could care less. He was more focused on pushing his scooter along. You know how you ride a scooter by pushing with one leg and then lifting that leg and gliding? Well, T3 hasn't figured out the gliding part, so he just pushed constantly with his right leg. I tried to teach him to glide, as did T2, but T3 wasn't listening. Stubborn Parker boy.

Speaking about T3, I think his hair is turning red. Yes, red! Matt acknowledges the red patches I'm seeing, but he thinks T3 got into something that permanently stained his hair. Doubt it.

T1 is doing great for the most part. We got his report card last week and he got all As again. Woo hoo! I guess the only concern I have is the group of friends he has. They seem normal, I guess...they're polite to Matt and I, fun, friendly, athletic, smart, outgoing, etc. You know, your all-American kind of boys. Unfortunately, they like to go ding dong-ditching and sneak out of the house at night to toilet paper friends' houses. I was talking to a friend from church who said those behaviors are a rite of passage for boys, but I'm not sure. On one hand, I'm scared those behaviors will escalate into something more egregious (like things Matt and I used to do!), but on the other hand I'm wondering if these kids fall in the middle of the spectrum of good and bad. You see T1 has friends who are so well behaved that they've never chewed gum in school, and then he also knows other kids in class (not friends) who are having parties with trash can punch and jello shots. Crazy, huh? Given that, maybe the crew he's hanging out with now are the best fit for him. I just hate the thought of him ding dong-ditching and sneaking out. I guess if I had my way he'd be a likable dork, the kind that everyone likes and respects but wold never attempt to influence negatively. Unfortunately, I think T1 has different plans. He definitely seems eager to live it up with his friends. Heavy sigh...Fortunately, T1 remains close to Matt and I and he is growing increasingly close to God and our church. Maybe those influences will help him consider the consequences of silly seventh grade antics and keep him balanced. Time will tell.

Good Times With the West Texas Parker Peeps

Last weekend we loaded up the car and headed to San Angelo to visit Adam, Marie, Tanner, Matthew, and Morgan. They took excellent care of us the entire time! What did we do? Let's see... The first night we played Just Dance with the Wii. T1 is really good at it and is pretty competitive. I think T1 could play that game all day everyday if we let him. The best part of that game was watching Adam and Matt shake what their momma gave them! They really gave it their all -- it was pretty funny! We also played several hours of Uno Attack while we were there. Have you played? If not, you should -- it's fun! We stayed up extremely late, but we got to sleep in the next morning. That's rare for us, and it was awesome! That day we took the kids to play at the best park/playground we've ever been to, and then ran around town a little bit. When we got back to the house, Matt prompted the little ones to dig a hole to China, and while they didn't make it to China, they ended up digging a hole about 3 feet deep and 6 feet wide. It was huge! It kept the boys busy while the men cooked a delicious dinner and Marie and I rested and watched New Moon. We played the Wii and Uno Attack again after dinner and then crashed just a wee bit earlier than the night before. It seems we went pretty much full speed the entire time we were there and the kids got along the entire time. One thing is for sure -- my three boys love, love, love their cousins. That makes me so happy! Of course, Matt and I think they're pretty special too!

I want to give a special shout out to Matthew who was so sweet to let Matt and I sleep in his bed and for also sharing his toys and football gear with the kids. He's such a sweet and generous boy!

Shhh....don't tell!

Matt was on call tonight and just happened to get called out right around bedtime. He would not be happy to know this, but when he left I let T1 stay up with me to drink hot chocolate and watch The Bachelor. T1 fancied the appropriate girls (no fake psychos for him!), but he ended up feeling sorry for one of the girls because she was crying and saying love wasn't in the cards for her. He supposedly felt so bad for her that he wants to date her just to prove that love is in her future. Of course, I'm sure her big boobs didn't sway him at all, although they didn't help with The Bachelor (no rose for her!). That aside, we had fun! Hopefully, we can sneak in another episode next week.

Finally!

After several unsuccessful attempts trying to find and shoot a deer roaming in the wilderness, Matt and T1 conceded and headed to a friend's ranch with Uncle Adam and Matthew to find some home-grown game. Matt and T1 spent the morning in the blind and grew anxious as time passed, but there was finally a clean shot and T1 took it and it was good. Finally, he shot his first deer! Yay! We're having the tenderloins tonight. Thank you T1!