Archive for September, 2008

The weather has been so beautiful this past week, I have wanted to do nothing but be outside! So even if I'm not outside, I don't want to do any work. Because I could be outside enjoying the weather. Or something like that. Anyway, we did get to go out and enjoy the beauty of fall Saturday. We went to Petit Jean Mountain, where we met Jon and Adrienne and Gerald and Alayne. After poking around the overlook (and yelling at kids to hold someone's hand on the rocks with steep drop-offs), we went to the Cedar Falls trail. It was a good hike there, although Eliza took many tumbles as she learned how to navigate over rocks and tree roots. Her poor legs look pretty beat up, but she refused our offers of help. She got a lot better, though, and rarely fell on the way back.

The waterfall was beautiful, and there were a lot of people there. Our trip quickly turned sour, though, when the "big kids" walked around the rim of the waterfall pool to go under the waterfall, and we would not let James go. Jay and I decided that it was a little too dangerous for James and Eliza, so we hung around the big rocks. James was devastated. He cried and sulked the entire time they were gone, about 20 minutes, and for about 15 minutes after they got back. We couldn't even get him interested in the baby snapping turtle Alayne found in the water. It was only a little bigger around than a silver dollar, but already it was mean, snapping at a stick the kids held up to its face. James finally got over his upset feelings, just in time for a very tired Eliza to begin her crying episodes. She really wanted to keep up with my brother Gerald, who kept running ahead with James. She cried almost the entire last half of the hike back up the mountain. I carried her up the last big hill and it was rough! My legs wanted to give out, but I made it. We had a good late lunch/early supper at the lodge there. Both of the kids fell asleep on the way home.

Even with the kids' bad moods, it was still good to be out enjoying God's creation (at least for me; Jay may have a different opinion). Unfortunately, we did not have our camera to document our adventures; it was supposed to meet us there but was accidentally left at my parent's house. Oh, well!

Sunday was a good day. I taught the Sunday School lesson to the three-year-olds, and they almost paid attention! We spent the afternoon lounging around my mom's house. My dad is in Texas for a few days, helping to feed the aid workers there. Sunday night there was a prayer meeting at church, and it was a good time of seeking the Lord's will for our church. We are starting a campaign to get rid of the debt that accompanied the building of our children's building, and I am excited to see what God is going to do!

Well, it's Monday morning and I have spent way too much time at the computer (again). I better go do some laundry and housework before I get fired!

I love the fall. I really do…the cool weather, pumpkins, leaves, etc. But the days are getting shorter, which means it's darker outside when I get up, and there's fewer daylight hours after school is over. In a few months, I will be wishing for spring, I'm afraid. But I will enjoy the fall for now!

Friday Jay and I got to have a date night, leaving the kids with my parents to spend the night. It was so nice to be able to sleep in! That's really my favorite part. :) But the date is nice, too. I love my wonderful husband!

My sister Adrienne and her husband Jon both have birthdays this week, so Saturday they invited the family over for a day of fun at their house. We ate fried chicken and brownies, and played flag football, soccer, and practiced our archery. James really enjoyed trying to shoot the arrows with Jon's smallest bow, which he got as a child. James couldn't make it go more than a few feet, but he was very proud. As soon as we get our camera back from Adrienne's house (hint, hint!), we will be posting pictures of our adventures.

This week has been busy so far! Monday night we went out to eat with a friend of Jay's from high school and her family. They live just north of Little Rock, and it was good to visit with them. Tuesday was Family Literacy Night at James' school, and the kids were given a kit to make their own book. We also got to visit the book fair, although we decided not to get anything because we just bought several books through the book order they sent home. We got six books for $10, which I thought was a pretty good deal! Four of them are "I Spy" books, and the kids have been enjoying finding the hidden objects. James is actually reading them! He is getting a lot better at writing, too. I guess all that homework is paying off!

James has adjusted well to school, although he is very sensitive to all the new rules and tries almost too hard not to get in trouble. An example of this: twice in the first few weeks of school James had a bathroom accident because the teacher failed to notice his raised hand in time. But he would not get up to tell her, because you have to raise your hand! I have since tried to explain to him what to do in these "emergency" situations, and so far, he has not had another accident.

James is a very touchy person (as most of you probably know…sorry!). He likes hugs, kisses, and just touching in general. I guess he gets it from his daddy. :) When I picked him up from school the other day and gave him a hug, the first thing he said was, "Finally! I get to touch someone!" I understand the reasoning behind the "keep your hands to yourself" policy, but it was still kind of sad. I'll bet James has to practice a lot of restraint at school!

Today I forgot to pack James an afternoon snack. His teacher told me that when they had discovered there was no snack, James said, "Maybe my mom didn't give me one because I don't eat it all and she doesn't want me to waste food." His teacher reassured him that I had probably forgotten, but I think she was amused at his reasoning. That's just James!

In case you haven't seen them yet, here are the pictures from James' birthday party. Enjoy!

Poor Eliza. Her face looks terrible. Sunday she was at my parents' house while I went to a meeting at church (Jay was home sick), and she fell into the edge of their couch and hurt her face just below her nose. It didn't look too bad, and I don't think it bled at all, just a little scrape. Then last night Eliza and James were playing on the swingset in the backyard, when James came running up to us (we were doing some work in the garage), saying that Eliza was hurt really bad. We heard her crying just as he came up, and ran back there to find her sitting on the ground with blood on her face. Apparently she was standing in front of the 2-person swing (we call it the "Mammaw swing", because Mammaw gave it to James for his second birthday), seeing how high she could push it. James decided he would help, so he got on the other side and gave a big push. Well, it went higher, all right…right into Eliza's face. After cleaning up the blood, I assessed the damage: her nose was bleeding just a tad, but stopped quickly; the scab from where she bumped her face on Sunday had busted open and was bleeding profusely; she had a busted bottom lip and a bruised and swollen upper lip. Ouch. But even though she was upset, she still wanted to get back out there and play, so I put a band-aid below her nose because I couldn't get it to stop bleeding. It looked like a funny mustache, and it provided comic relief from the trauma. I just hope school pictures are not coming up anytime soon!

In other news, my "Antser" arrived today. It is a special tray with a hidden moat to keep ants out of pets' food. I have been battling ants for a while now, especially after all the rain we had. My cat, Susannah, knocks on the window in the morning to get us to feed her, but the other day she was knocking in the afternoon, so I went out to see what she wanted. There was her bowl, full of food…and ants. I guess she didn't want the extra protein! Hopefully the "Antser" will be the answer!

This last week, we have almost gotten into a routine of school and church, homework and Bible study, etc. We are still struggling with some aspects, like bedtime! Especially on Wednesday nights, when choir is not over until 8:30, and we will usually be getting home around 9:00. This week, Jay had laryngitis and was not going to choir (he might be catching my cold; I hope it's not something else!), so he took the kids home after AWANA was over at 7:30, but they were still not in the bed until after I got home from choir. I'm not sure if it makes all that much difference; James never wants to get up, no matter what time he went to bed! But I do see it in Eliza's behavior…she is a booger when she's tired! And I can not get her take a nap (unless we go for a ride late in the day, then I can't keep her from falling asleep!) At least James gets a little nap at school, but even that will be taken away from him later in the year. Other things come up during the week that affect our bedtime (like the other night when I had a headache and was hoping my Tylenol would kick in before I had to wrestle with kids in the bathtub), but I am really trying to make it a priority!

James had a lot of homework this week! He gets his assignments on Monday and has until Friday to complete them. This week most of the work was practice writing, which James really doesn't like. It has been difficult making him sit down and work on it, but I have tried to spread it out. He still has 5 sentences to write before tomorrow, but at least I can encourage him by withholding Wii privileges until he's finished. I know he has to practice, and he is getting better, but it's just no fun. School is going well, and James has stayed on the green circle, although he told me he got close to moving his car a few times. He still doesn't want to go, so today I looked at his schedule and told him he had computer lab. "Don't you like computer lab?" I asked. He responded, "No. We are learning how to use the computer, but I already know how to use the computer!" I'm afraid James is not going to be ready when they actually start learning something he doesn't know!

Eliza has been trying my patience recently. My sweet, compliant toddler has turned into a nightmare of a 3-year-old! She has been willfully disobeying me, as well as pitching a fit when she doesn't get her way. She has spent a lot of time in her room, which is where I send her to cry. "I don't mind if you cry," I tell her, "but you have to do it in your room." Sometimes she stays for a long time, other times she's out playing in just a few seconds. I hope she doesn't keep this up for much longer!

Today was the big day! All the kids got "promoted" to their new Sunday School classes. Jay and I got promoted, too! Only, maybe in our case, I should say "demoted"? Anyway, we are now in the "older threes" Sunday School. For the first time, we are teaching our very own preschool Sunday School class. I am so excited! Our first class went pretty well. We had 5 great kids, who really tried to listen to the lesson, although I lost them near the end. All seven days of creation is a lot of information for those little minds to concentrate on! Maybe next week's lesson won't be quite so involved. Eliza is in the class next door, and she was able to tell me all about the things God made. It made me feel a little inadequate…I really doubt any of our kids got so much out of our lesson, and we have the older group! Oh, well, it is our first time teaching, and they have a few seasoned veterans over there.

James is now "upstairs" in our children's building, where the "schoolers" go. He's not a preschooler anymore! I think he enjoyed his Sunday School class, but he already knew his teachers pretty well…they are Mammy and Pappy (my parents)! They have been teaching kindergarten Sunday School for several years now (maybe before James was born), so it was just a matter of time. I'll have to ask them how he behaved (we didn't have much chance to talk after church). It's nice to have an inside scoop! James also went to "Shine", the children's worship service. They buddied all the kindergarteners up with older kids, and James was proudly holding the hand of a 4th or 5th grade boy when we went up to check on him before the service started. I'm so glad that big changes don't affect him as much as they used to!

Wow! James is five as of Wednesday. 'Nuff said. Well, okay, maybe not. He had a great birthday (as far as I know). At school they gave him a "Happy Birthday" crown to wear, and he was really excited about his very large musical card from Mammaw ("It's my first singing card ever!"). That night we went to AWANA at church, and the kids both enjoyed that. After church, we let James open his present from us…Mariokart for the Wii, including two steering wheels for racing fun! He also opened a piano and a loop race track from Mammaw, which he thought was very cool. Eliza was not left out; Mammaw gave her an Elmo video game and she got a princess tiara from us.

Wednesday was crazy, so we had a party for James Thursday night. We invited two boys from James' class (I didn't think I could handle much more, especially at our house on a rainy night), and my family (which is quite a lot of people, anyway!) We ate pizza (as usual for Parker parties) and let the boys play the Wii, which they had a great time doing. James' friend Ethan wanted to come back today! He got some cool presents, including some more Planet Heroes action figures to add to his collection. Then we ate honey-bun cake, which James requested and I made from a simple recipe given to me by a friend a few years ago. Yum! We are all exhausted today, but the kids are both at school and I have some peace and quiet for a few minutes!

Pictures from the party will be coming soon, but in the meantime, you can check out these that I took of the kids in the rain the other day!