Kings Island 2011

Parker is so blessed to have a younger brother who is only two years younger than him. He doesn't realize it always now, but I know he will when he is older. Though I am the younger of two siblings, I am still aware of the difficulties Parker faces due to his birth order. Sorry, bud. That's life. He does get in trouble more often and, already at 4, he has some older sibling responsibilities. Ever so often, though, I try to make him feel special and give him some advantages for being the big boy in the family. Getting to go to King's Island with just Mommy and Daddy was one of those special privileges. I felt a little guilty for not bringing Graham in on the fun, but once there, I was thankful we kept the day 23-month-old-free :) It really worked out because our friends, the Hargraves, came with us and left their littlest behind with a grandparent as well. Parker and Dylan had so much fun roaming around without being slowed down by a younger sibling. 

*I hear all of you laughing at my tacky flip flops...stop it. It's not nice. My feet were thankful I didn't go with the cute option.

Waiting not-so patiently to get in.

 He was so concerned that we were going to wait all day.

 Cutest little pilots ever.

 He's a little young to be taking a woman out for a drive. If only I could give him a 1/10 mile track to stay on when he is 16. Lord help me.

 I got Mr. Camera Shy to look at me a few times.

 Buddies.

 We weren't sure how Parker would do with the thrill factor of rides. Much to my pleasure, he loves it! He was obviously limited on what he could ride due to his height, but he loved pretty much everything. I can't say how he was able to ride a few of the bigger kid roller-coasters, but I'll simply disclose that napkins are a short boy's best friend :)

 Parker was a little unsure of being up front in this ride as you can tell in the close up of this picture. Dylan was behind David, so we have no idea how he felt. David, dramatic much?

 

Lynsey and I have the funniest beginning to our friendship. Maybe someday I'll share it on this blog. It would be sure to entertain you. Isn't she so pretty?

 

Can't you see how much Dylan is enjoying the affection from my uber touchy son? His mommy cringes when I do this to her too. It doesn't stop me.

 

I came home wishing I had a bumper car rink in my back yard. Parker could permissibly get his aggression out. He loved the experience of ramming people without Mommy correcting him and Dylan was equally as fond of running into people.

 

I'm not much into repetitive swirly rides. Neither is Lynsey, so we let all the boys go without our participation on the spider-looking ride. Joey and Dylan are quite the duo. If Dylan gets half of his father's athleticism, I'm pretty sure he'll win the Olympics in every sport.

 

Joey was demonstrating the harmlessness of the real-life looking beasts. Thanks Joey for your bravery.

 

Parker felt reassured, so from that point on, he was on cloud nine going through the dinosaur exhibit. What 27 year old girl would want to walk her way though woods creeping with ginormous fake reptiles? This girl. I have a dinosaur-obsessed little man so this place was the jack-pot.

 

I just love this little grin!

 

The pinnacle of the exhibit was T-Rex, of course.

 

 

Parker is so much like his Dad...and that is a good thing.

 

We almost lost Joey to Triceratops. 

 

What a great day we had. I can't believe how fun it is to have a 4 year old little boy. I am blessed and so thankful to be able to make such fond memories with him and our friends.

Lil' P's Day

Sweet Parker,

A few weeks ago, you turned four years old. Mommy is in shock. I can't believe my little 6 pound 9 ounce baby is now waist height and way too heavy for me to carry. You are so much fun. Seriously. I cherish the times when I get to  hang out with just you. Not that Daddy and Graham aren't way cool too, but you and I have something special.

You never lack any personality. While thinking of words to describe you, too many come to mind. I'll never be able to paint the perfect little picture of who you are because you are so many things. So many opposite things. Let me explain. You are one of the sweetest, most touchy lovey little boys on earth. However, you have a bit of aggression as well. Daddy and I are doing out best to shape that part of you into something that drives you instead of something that controls you.

You are so smart. It sometimes gets you into trouble. You love to learn and read which makes me really happy. You take after mommy and daddy and have some control issues. We are working on that as a family. I hope to help turn your bossiness into leadership and I know you'll get to use your negotiating/manipulation skills for something good some day.

Despite some of your impulsive actions, you really care about others and have a sweet disposition. You are always trying to make sure everyone is okay and you don't like when others get made fun of. I like that about you. I would love to see you turn into a confident kid who stands up for others.

You are a little on the loud side. I don't mind it outside sometimes, but we are working on not annoying others with out of control volume levels. You don't really have a timid bone in your body. You like to talk. A lot. In fact, I don't think you stop talking from sun up to sun down...unless you're watching a show. You love shows. I have to limit you.

You love to play with cars, trains, and dinosaurs. You always have one of them in your hands at all times. You are such a good little eater and have an insatiable sweet tooth like me. You would eat any amount of vegetables I require to get a piece of chocolate.

You love the outdoors and everything in it. I hope to teach you to appreciate and enjoy God's beautiful world. We spend hours each day outside. I like it that way. I hope to go South some day so that we aren't cooped up indoors for so many cold winter months.

I love you so much Parker. You have stretched me and challenged me more than I would have ever wanted, but I am so thankful that because of you, I am a better person. Let's keep growing together. I'm am beyond excited to experience your fourth year of life with our family and watch you keep developing into such a neat little man.

-Mommy

We did a lot of celebrating for Parker's big day. Not only did we spend July 17th doing whatever he wanted, we took him to King's Island with a friend and had a combined birthday party with his brother. (I'll be doing separate posts for both of those special days!)

A Few Little Projects

There are two little projects I finished a few weeks ago that I thought I'd share. We've been so busy (I love it!) so I'm a little behind on posting my blog-worthy projects. Who am I kidding? I blog about my kids' every milestone so I guess there is no set criteria for blog-worthiness. Anyway, I wanted a new cheap light for my eat in kitchen area. I really had a desire for a natural material like using a basket, rope or anything with a raw earthy feel. Right after I started looking, Ashley Ann from Under the Sycamore posted a pendant light project she had just completed. Using her tutorial and another that I had found, I put together a nice little light for my kitchen. I like it. I kind of wish it was a hair bigger, but for $31 dollars, I'm not going to complain. I bought a hanging flower basket, rope, and pendant kit and after lots of weaving in and out, she was ready to go.

I really like how it looks is in there, but now I am so itching to find a small round pedestal table. I've been looking for one all summer, but can't fins exactly what I want. The search continues.

Next, do you remember when I did the blog post about the old crate I wanted to use for a spice rack? 

Well, after two months of trying to figure out how I wanted to get the labels on the container lids, I finally completed the annoying little project. I really had the idea of little rounds of cute material covering the lids but I couldn't figure out an easy way of getting the spice names on the material in a way that I'd like. I found something on Pinterest that looked like a good alternative to my first plan, so I went out and got chalk board paint. I covered the lids with two coats and then using a bottle of window chalk paint and a paint brush, wrote the spice names on top. I don't have good handwriting, but I like them anyway. Yay! We hung the rack and it's finished. Glad to get that thing off my counter.