Parker's pool party

We had a pool/4th birthday party for Parker on Sept. 6th. It was a perfect Texas day for a pool party. We have a pool as part of our HOA in our subdivision, so it worked out perfect. Parker wanted a Lightning McQueen theme, so we had a little bit of both. The party started at 11am and we had pizza at noon and who can forget the best part...........cake!!!!! I had a lightning McQueen cupcake cake made for Parker from Walmart. We also had a slip and slide up for the kids to go on as well. Needless to say the party was awesome! Parker had a blast and his friends (all 12 of them) enjoyed themselves. Our pool even has a slide and the kids enjoyed that too. Parker loves going down on the slide on his belly, which is funny to watch, he has no fear.

Parker got some great presents! In one of the pictures it shows him getting this gigantic bubble maker thing that makes HUGE bubbles! And of course it wouldn't be a boys birthday without getting some type of car or race car, and he got a few of those too!

I like the picture of Leland and Parker together eating a cupcake. All in all it was a fun but exhausting day....................

Parker's 1st day of Pre-K

Parker started pre-K today at Footprints preschool. This is Parker's 2nd year at this school. Parker was extremely excited to start school today, and I have to admit that I was ready for him too! We will see how this year goes and if he will be ready to go to Kindergarten next year. It's hard to even think of my baby boy going to Kindergarten! Time has gone by WAY TO FAST!!!!
Parker immediately found his name at the table in the classroom and started coloring the sheet in front of him. I told him to write his name for Ms. Tammy ( his new teacher) and she was really impressed that he could write his name all on his own. He gave me a kiss and hug and said, " Goodbye mom"

When I picked him up at 2pm he so excited to tell me about his day. When I asked him certain questions about his day he could tell me everything. What was nice and comforting to hear was that his director of the preschool told me that Parker is a smart boy. She witnessed him writing his own name and recognizing his name in the classroom. I hope that Parker has a great school year!!!! I'm such a proud mommy that I have a smart little boy!

Parker's 4 year check up

Well, my little boy is not such a little boy anymore..................Parker turned 4 on August 27th. I just happened to schedule his 4 year check up right on his birthday ( I know what a bad mommy). He was all excited about getting weighed and stood very still on the scale while the nurse took his weight. He weighed in at 39 lb. 3 oz. and he is 40 in. tall!!!!!! WOW!!!!! I couldn't believe it! Leland and I made a bet to see how much Parker weighed and Leland won. I was a little off, I actually thought Parker weighed close to 45 pounds, boy was I off! After that was done he got a gown on and his blood pressure was taken. Then he got his finger pricked to test the iron in his blood. That did not go over so well.................but nothing could have prepared me for what was about to happen next................4 shots! He had to sit on my lap and I had to give him a bear hug plus hold down his legs with mine. That boy had every ounce of adrenaline pumping through him! The first shot went in his arm, then the second, and there was no way to stop the crying. His face immediately got red and the crying and screaming began. There was no way to calm him down at this point and then the other 2 shots went in his other arm. After a few minutes of trying to get him to take a few breathes and count to 10 he managed to calm for a little bit. But that didn't last long. The doctor came in and was ready to examine him. Parker wanted nothing to do with her at this point, he didn't even want her looking in his ears which is painless. He didn't even want to lay flat on the examining table for her to check out his belly or anything. He was happy when she was finally done and he had a surprise waiting for him at the end. He got a few little toys since it was his birthday and that made his happy.

Nathan's 1st airplane ride

I have to admit that I was extremely nervous about flying with both of the boys from Minneapolis to Dallas. I just had this picture in my mind that Nathan was not going to want to sit still and Parker was going to be all over too.........................well, much to my surprise the flight went well. Thank goodness for snacks and activities, that is what saved me I think. About half way through the flight Nathan fell asleep on my lap. Parker kept busy coloring in his activity book and chewing on some fruit snacks and drinking apple juice. Towards the end of the flight Parker kept asking me, "mom are we landing yet, are we there yet?" I told him yes Parker we are going to land soon. He kept a close look out the window. We actually landed about 20 minutes early than expected so that was good, however there was a plane at the gate we were supposed to go in, so we had to wait a little. At this point Nathan was still sleeping. Sweet little boy slept through the landing and everything! You are probably wondering who took this picture of Nathan since he was sleeping on my lap, well, you are looking at your next photographer, Parker!!!!!! He loves to take pictures and has taken some good ones too!!!!

more pics in Protivin

................here are some more pictures from our visit at grandma and grandpa Lentz' house in Protivin. The top picture is of my grandmother (Parker and Nathan's great-grandma) and Parker. My grandmother is such an amazing woman! She is in her later 80's and still lives on her own on the farm. She enjoys being outside and growing strawberries in her garden. Her face just lit up when we came out to visit her. This was the first time that she saw Nathan, which was very special. She enjoyed watching them run all over the place outside and couldn't believe how much Parker had grown. She said that Nathan looks like me and that Parker looks like Leland. I told her, yup, Nathan is my mini me and Parker looks just like Leland.

My parents decided to have a birthday party for both Parker and Nathan when we were home since their birthdays are pretty close together. My mom got these individual letter candles that spelled out Happy Birthday and we lit each letter. After we sang Happy Birthday to Parker he tried blowing out all the candles. He got some help from grandma who was sitting behind him. Grandma made Parker special cupcakes with Lightning McQueen and Mater pieces on top of the cupcakes ( as if Parker didn't need any more sugar!) and boy did Parker love those!

The next picture is of Parker being my big helper by placing the clothes pins on the clothes while I was hanging them up to dry. You don't see much of this happening down here in TX, so it was nice to have the fresh air dry our clothes. I didn't think that Parker would want to help me put the clothes up, but he thought it was the neatest thing. Needless to say it took my longer to put the clothes up, but if Parker had fun with it, it was all worth it to me.

My dad works on farm machinery on the side and when we were home he was working on this combine. He told Parker one morning that when he finished working on it that he would give him a ride in it to return it to the owner. He was so excited to ride with grandpa. It was so cute to see Parker climb up the ladder on the side to get into the combine. He had the biggest smile on his face when my dad started up the combine and they were on their way on the road. Parker wouldn't stop talking about his experience in the combine:)

I finally figured out how to use the timer on my digital camera and I captured everyone. Lucky for me we were all looking at the same time! The boys had such a great time in IA, it was hard to pack our suitcase and head back to TX.........................

grandma and grandpa Lentz's

................the next stop on our vacation was to grandma and grandpa Lentz's in Protivin IA. We stayed there from Aug. 12-24. Again the weather continued to cooperate with temps in the 70's and 80's, so the thought of staying indoors was silly. There wasn't a day when the boys were not outside playing. My parents have a HUGE yard, so the boys had more than enough space to run freely. The top picture is of the boys with Grandpa on a toy tractor. Parker loved pedaling this tractor around on the driveway and Nate wished that he would pedal too, but his legs were too short:)


The second picture is of Nate trying to pull grandma's cat Molly's tail. Molly wasn't too sure of the boys when we arrived, but with each day that passed she got used to the boys and loved to be petted so she didn's mind so much when Nate pulled her tail. Nate also said a new word at this time of "kitty". At times it sounded like he was trying to say Molly too. Both of the boys' eyes lit up when they saw Molly and they looked forward each morning when they woke up to see if she was waiting by the back door to be fed. It was so cute to watch...............

The next picture is of Nate trying play with a hula hoop. I used to have this hula hoop when I was a little girl and my mom kep it around and the boys had a blast trying to use it. What was funny to see was Parker trying to make it go around his waist. He would move those little hips around and around to make it work.............

Grandpa took Parker out to great grandma's farm where they picked some more sweet corn. Parker is beginning to become a pro at picking corn now..............grandpa also took us on a ride on a 4 wheeler and Parker loved this and kept telling grandpa to go faster and faster.


The Friday before we left for TX my dad took a day off of work and we went to a park that had a baseball field. I had bought a t-ball set for Parker while we were home and he put his skills to test. As you can see grandpa pitched the ball just right and Parker hit it well. This is the first time that Parker has really gotten down the hand eye coordination to hit the ball. He was so proud of himself when he hit the ball and especially liked running around the bases! This was good for me, because he got worn out and he slept good that night, yippie!!! There was so much that we did when we were at my parents that I will include more pictures in my next blog..............

The Grotto

When we were visiting at grandma and grandpa Oldham's we made a trip to see the Grotto in West Bend IA. There are no words that can describe this wonderful creation of rocks/stones/gems. The Grotto was developed by a single man creating various wonders like the stations of the cross, the dedication to Mary, and the Nativity scene. It is the most beautiful place to see and enjoy. As you can see in the background of many of the pictures I took you can see the different types of rocks and all the colors in them. It was kind of warm the day we went, but the boys did well and grandma treated us all to ice cream after the tour. Both of the boys fell asleep in the car on the way back to grandma's house................