Parker's Christmas Party

Parker had his Christmas party at Footprint Preschool today. Parker sure had a lot of fun! All the kids made reindeer food, decorated cookies and had a book gift exchange. It was sure interesting to watch all the boys and girls decorate their cookie. It was a little hard for me to get prepared for all the activities( since I am Parker's room mom) with Nathan there with me, but it worked out. The top picture is in Parker's classroom after all the children opened their gifts and Ms. Tammy opened her gift as well. All the parents chipped in money towards a nice gift set from Bath and Body Works-go figure huh, since I work there!!! I got a great deal on it and she loved it!!!! The classroom was so chaotic, but the kids had a lot of fun!

The second picture is of Parker decorating his Christmas cookie. Man, that boy sure knows how to pile on the frosting, but I guess that is the best part of the cookie right? Then came the sprinkles, and oh boy did he go to town on those.............

The third picture of of Parker sitting in a circle with his class as they were doing their book exchange. Ms. Tammy had them sit in a circle and she would play music and start by giving one kid a book and they had to pass it around until the music stopped. Who ever was holding the book when the music stopped kept the book as their gift. Parker loved opening, or should I say ripping open the gift he got and he got a Curious George book, which he loves!

The next picture is of Parker and his friend Preston. Parker talks about Preston all the time and how good friends they are. I told Parke to smile normal, and that is the pose I got, silly boy!

Last but not least, the last picture is of Parker and his teacher Ms. Tammy. Ms. Tammy is such a great teacher and Parker has had a great year so far with her. She updated me on Parker's progress and is so impressed that Parker can write his first and last name all on his own. She feels that Parker is ready for Kindergarten next year.....................and just the thought of that blows me away!

Random pictures

Wow, its been a little while since I have posted anything to my website here, sorry about that! Things have been really busy lately, between working at Bath and Body Works, being part of MOMS Club, and being Parker's room mom at school, time just gets away from me..............

However, this past weekend my friend Marsha had a Christmas party at her house and Leland and I went, yes we actually got a babysitter this time!!!!!! Leland's brother very graciously offered to watch the boys so we could go out and enjoy ourselves. We had a great time, and Parker had a blast playing Hi Ho Cherry O with his uncle and other games, so it was a win win situation! This party was a dress up party, so it gave me a good excuse to get all decked out in a fancy black dress, put some makeup on and fix my hair. Because being a stay at home mom, that doesn't happen very often, most of the time I'm just in sweat pants and a t-shirt and my hair is pulled back in a ponytail.

The second picture is of Nathan and I at the MOMS Club Christmas party that I hosted at my house today. We had a good turnout, given that the weather was really cold today, (temps didn't get out of the lower 30's) and its so close to Christmas time.

The last picture I took of the boys before I took Parker to school this morning. Parker saw that I had the camera and he wanted his picture taken with his little brother. Aren't they so darn cute!!!! There is no doubt that those 2 silly boys are brothers!

Putting up the Christmas Tree

We carried through with our tradition of putting up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, well actually it was on Saturday, but close enough. I had to work the day after thanksgiving, so I was a little tired to put the tree up, plus the boys didn't have much of naps that day after thanksgiving, so they crashed early, so it was better that we put the tree up on Saturday instead. This is Nathan's 2nd Christmas, so he was all into the tree! Last year he was too small to help put up the tree, and this year was totally different. As you can see he didn't have a problem helping. All I had to say was, "Nathan can you give this piece to daddy to put up?" and he would just grab it and take it to Leland. It was so cute! Nathan also enjoyed handing off the pieces of the tree to his big brother. I think he felt very important, which he should, because he is mommy's BIG helper! I have to admit there are days when Nathan listens more to me and follows directions more than Parker does:)

When it came time to put the final top piece of the tree together Parker wanted daddy to hold him up to place it on top. It was a pretty far reach for Parker, but he did it! Then really came the fun part..........putting on the Christmas decorations! Our tree looks a little of balance per say because we have to place all the fragile ornaments towards the middle to top of the tree so little grabby hands ( yes I mean Nathan's fast hands!) won't take them off the tree.

Well...................that didn't last long. Nathan managed to reach a bulb that I thought was out of his reach, guess not, mommy was wrong. By the time I could see what he was doing it was too late, all of a sudden a heard the bulb shatter all over the floor. Luckily for me it wasn't a special ornament, so it was ok. What I have been telling Nathan is that the tree is hot so he doesn't grab at it. We'll see how good that works..............

Parker's Thanksgiving Feast

At Parker's Preschool the 3 pre-K classrooms have what is called a Thanksgiving Feast. The parents signed up to bring things for the meal, such as a turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, etc. I made 2 sweet potato pies! The feast is for all the kids on the pre-K classes and their families. They had each table designated for each classroom and each child made their own place mat. The picture above is of Parker's place mat with the picture of his hand as the turkey, how cute! Everyone got their share of food, and Parker actually did well and finished his plate. He was all into getting dessert, so once he finished his plate he went straight for the cookies! Can't keep away a kid from cookies! Then after we were done eating we had family pictures taken in front of this wonderful display the Pre-K teachers put together. Leland wasn't able to make it to the dinner, but we captured a good pictures of me and the boys. Nathan was getting a little restless at this point, but he managed to make it through pictures.

The very top picture is of a drawing that Parker made in school today stating what he was thankful for. It made be a little hard to make out, but it reads, "Parker is thankful for his baby brother." My heart just about sank when I read that, just what a mother wants to hear..........awwwwww:) The other people that he drew on the paper were of mommy, daddy, a tree, and a pumpkin with a smiley face. Parker sure has one great imagination, and loves to draw and tell stories about his drawings!

The last picture is of Parker saying his prayer right before we ate. He looks so cute with his hands folded saying his prayer, "God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food Amen."

Nathan's 1st haircut

Well, we finally decided to get Nathan's haircut for the 1st time today. I was a little hesitant about getting his haircut because I loved his curls in the back, but I, well I should say Leland and I thought it was time to get it cut. His hair was getting long by his ears especially, so this way we thought his hair would be evenly cut all around and it would grow in better. We went into Great Clips and much to our luck they were not busy so we got in within 5 minutes. The hair dresser preferred for Nathan to sit on a booster seat, and I thought to myself, I wonder how long this is going to last..................well about 2.2 seconds later Nathan was reaching out his arms for me saying, "momma", so he ended up sitting on my lap. He didn't have a problem when she put the little cape around him, it was when she began combing his hair is when he began crying. At that point he wanted nothing to do with the lady cutting his hair and just wanted to jump off my lap. Next she sprayed his hair with water and the look on his face was like, "what is this stuff she is putting on my hair?"

Parker, being the nice big brother, tried to distract Nathan by placing a mirror in front of him to make him look at himself. That only helped for a short period of time. So Parker then grabbed a bag of fruit snacks for Nathan to eat. That helped some, but he was so wiggly, it was hard to hold him down. All in all, Nathan did well and now he doesn't look like my baby boy anymore, but a toddler. I was sad to see his curls go, but at least we got his hair clippings to save and Leland captured some pictures.

Our future Hawkeye!

Nathan got this Hawkeye jersey for Christmas last year, and he can now fit into it. Aunt Eileen and Uncle Chris will appreciate this jersey being worn by their newphew! ( since they are Iowa Hawkeye fans and they are the ones who got Nathan the jersey) Nathan was in such a happy mood this morning when I decided to capture some pictures of him. He loves to have his picture taken, however he is really beginning to like the camera a little bit too much and he wants to constantly grab at it and push the buttons. I captured the perfect pose of him putting his hands above his head. We have been saying, "How big is Nathan?" lately and as we say it we put our arms above our heads and he loves to do everything we do. So now all we have to say is, "how big is Nathan?" and he will usually put his hands above his head all on his own.

It's unbelievable to me just how much Nathan has grown! He will be 16 months old on Nov. 21st already! He is definitely developing his own personality. He wants to do what big brother Parker is doing, and follows him around. Lately he has been climbing on top of the train table in Parker's room and thinks it is funny and will jump and hop around. Most of the time I will just ignore him and then he will eventually get down because I'm not showing him the attention that he wants, but I still have to watch him close so he doesn't fall off.

He is speaking more and more syllables each day. The other day we were all outside and Leland and I were working in the garage and all of a sudden Nathan said something and we both looked at each other and said, " did he just say what I thought he said?" It amazes me how parents can understand what their child says and to anyone else it makes no sense. What was really weird is that Leland and I were both thinking the same thing as to what we thought Nathan said. Nathan amazes us each and everyday......

Fun in the leaves!

It was a beautiful fall day on this first day of November in Texas and we were outside doing some yard work. We have many oak trees in our front and back yard and they are piling up everywhere. I decided to get a rake out and begin raking some of the leaved in big piles. Well, you know what kids are going to do when they see a BIG pile of leaves don't ya...............yup you thought right, JUMP right in!!!!! Parker couldn't wait until I had a huge pile of leaves and he took a leaping jump into them! Well, once Nathan saw what Parker was doing it didn't take long for little brother to follow in big brothers footsteps. Nathan has sure become really aware of what Parker does and he wants to do what he does. I guess I have to come to expect that:)

Nathan has this little broom that is just his size and he loves to use it to sweep the leaves in the driveway. It's so cute to watch him sweep, he's my big helper. Every minute that we have to be outside, Nathan wants to be outside playing. He loves to dig in the dirt, play in the sand, and its so cute to watch him draw with sidewalk chalk.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everyone! Even though these pictures are posted the day after Halloween, we still had a blast! Nathan was Tigger which suited him perfectly because he carries around this stuffed Tigger all over the place and sleeps with him every night. Plus he loves to jump and bounce all over the place, so the costume was prefect! Parker chose to be a pirate this year and Grandma and Grandpa Oldham got his the pirate costume to wear this year. He loved wearing his cowboy boots with his costume too. He really didn't care too much to wear the patch over his eye, but was still a handsome pirate.

The boys definitely got to wear their costumes many times this year. The MOMS Club that I belong to had a costume party and then I took Parker to a Creepy Carnival that the city of Corinth had, Parker had a party at school(which he didn't wear his costume, but a very cute shirt he made instead) and then trick or treating on Halloween. It was the perfect night for trick or treating, temps were in the 70's and the moon was in the shape of a crescent and all the stars were shining brightly. Needless to say the boys got TONS of candy. And much to my surprise they got more chocolate this year than compared to past years.

Before we went trick or treating we went to a friend of mine, Robin's Halloween party at her house. The picture of me and the boys was taken at her house before the trick or treating. The boys each had their own flashlight to hold while trick or treating which helped with walking on the sidewalks. I had Nathan in the stroller and Parker was walking next to me. Nathan loved holding the flashlight and shining it all over. By the end of the night when we came home it was 8:40pm we had 2 baskets full of candy and 2 tired out boys:)

Dallas Arboretum

Yesterday we made a visit to the Dallas Arboretum. It was the perfect day...........the temp was in the 70's, the leaves were changing colors, and there were pumpkins EVERYWHERE! The Arboretum was having a Hallow Fest going on from noon to 4pm that included trick or treating, face painting, and games. We packed a sack lunch and had a picnic when we first got there. We also dressed Parker and Nathan in their costumes; Parker was a pirate and Nathan is Tigger. The top picture is of Leland and I in front of a waterfall. We don't take very many pictures of just us together and since we were there with some friends we took advantage of having someone take our picture. The second picture is Parker sitting on some hay bales in his costume. He liked saying "rrrrrrr" like a pirate does, so cute!

I like this picture of Leland and the boys. After all the walking around we were doing it was time for a much needed rest, so I thought I would take advantage of capturing a picture of Leland and his boys. Parker was all about having his picture taken with daddy; however Nathan was not as cooperative. All he wanted to do was get down and run around........hence why he is so much like Tigger, always bouncing!!

The last picture is of all of us in front of the pumpkin house. All in all it was a great day! The boys' enjoyed themselves and it was great seeing all the fall colors, and the beautiful mums.

Pumpkin Patch

The MOMS Club of Corinth that I belong to had a trip to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch today. It was the most perfect day, a little windy, but very nice. I only took Nathan with me because Parker was in school that day. The pumpkin patch has tons of pumpkins to purchase, big and small. I love the top picture of Nathan trying to sit on the big pumpkin. He is in the stage of climbing on EVERYTHING! The second picture he was trying to pat the pumpkin like a drum. I would say, "pat-pat" and he would start patting the pumpkin. It was so cute!
Then next our group had a reservation to get a hayride. Nathan sat so still while we were moving, he was so fascinated by the tractor that was pulling us. We then came to this area where the children could pick out a pumpkin and take it with them. The last picture is of Nathan trying to pick up this pumpkin that was torn in half and there were seeds coming out, and I was telling him not to pick up this pumpkin and for some reason he kept going back to that specific one. All in all it was a great trip to the pumpkin patch and Nathan was one tired boy after that and took a great nap!

Having fun!

I was playing with the boys in their room and having fun! Parker decided that he wanted to take a picture of Nate and I, so I let him. Much to my surprise it actually turned out well:)

Nathan has been big on finding his belly button lately. He also likes to look for Parker, mommy and daddy's belly button too! Nathan and Parker will be playing together when all of a sudden Nathan will just walk over to Parker and lift up his shirt and poke at his belly button. The picture above Parker decided to lay down on the floor and see what Nathan did. Well, he came right over and lifted up his shirt and proceeded to poke his belly button with a toy car.
The last picture is Parker at one of the local parks in Lake Dallas. This park is actually about a mile from Parker's school. The playground is in the shape of a boat and the boys enjoy playing there.

Plano Balloon Festival

We went to the Plano Balloon Festival when Leland's parents were here visiting. We went on the Saturday night when they had the lighting of all the hot air balloons. It was quite a unique show. This was Parker's 2nd time going to this and Nathan's 1st time. Nathan was sure fascinated with the balloons lighting up and watching all the people around him. It was so packed with families that it was hard to move around let alone finding a good place to see the balloons all lit up. At the end of the lighting show they had fireworks, which I was worried how the boys were going to react. In the past few years around 4th of July Parker got scared at fireworks, but this time he loved them! I thought Nathan was going to be scared too, but he amazed me! He was so into everything happening around him that he just sat next to us on the ground with his mouth open taking it all in!

We had a great time and the boys were up late, until almost 10:30pm, which is the first, and they slept in the next morning which mom and dad greatly appreciated too!!

My funny boys!

Here are a few random pictures I have taken of the boys. The top picture of Parker is something he likes to do, pose for the camera. He is very photogenic....takes every chance he can get to have his picture taken. As long as after his picture is taken he can take some pictures of his own. When Leland's parents were here visiting Leland's mom brought some pj's she made for the boys. Since Parker is into Cars and loves Lightning McQueen she made matching pj's for Parker and Nathan. Nathan has certainly been doing some new and sometimes odd things lately. We have these tubs that store various toys and Nathan decided to dump out all the toys and climb into the tub. Silly boy!!!! And of course we don't go very far without Tigger, or as he calls him "tig-tig".