Our Little Lion and the Hot Dog

Happy Halloween!

A view of years past....

2005 - Super Parker

2006 - Darth Parker


2007 - Jack Parker (AKA: Jack Sparrow the Pirate)

Everyone always said that we needed to have kids because we even dress our dog up and take him trick or treating (seriously, the neighbors have dog biscuits for him - he loves it)! Stay tuned for tonight's costumes...

Bethabara

Today we went for a visit to Bethabara Park, here in Winston-Salem. We took a picnic after church and spent time walking around the grounds - mostly enjoying the perfect sunny and 60ish weather.

One neat fact that we learned was that the park has a community garden. For a small (like $35 annual) fee, you can rent a small plot of land and grow your own veggies. The park supplies the gardening tools but you can plant whatever you want and take home whatever you grow. We actually got to talk to some people tending their gardens and it was so neat to see the passion with which they grew their food, took care of their little piece of the garden, and befriended one another. They were all just sharing tools, helping others plant and dig up, and having a great time! Here are some pictures of their beautiful gardens.

What's an October Friday...

...without a little late night pumpkin carving?

Disclaimer: No children or animals were harmed during the carving of this pumpkin. They did not ingest any pumpkin "guts" as it may appear in some pictures and were gone to bed long before the carving began. :)

Is only one whisker called a whisk (he, he)?

Weekend in Review

We certainly had a full weekend this weekend but it was so good! It was both productive and fun.

Saturday: Literally two days after moving into our house five years ago the Time Warner Cable people proceeded to dig up our back yard to install cable lines for the neighborhood - not bothering to reseed. There's something to be said about your house being built on the rock (children's Sunday school song playing through my head) but it's quite another to have a back yard of rock. Now, I've already blogged about our lack of Green Thumbs so our backyard has been struggling to grow. We decided this year to give it our best shot to get some grass growing back there this year, consulted our neighbor who is a landscaper, got some dirt to fill in the uneven places, aerated, seeded, limed, fertilized, and spread and staked this straw that is bound so the dog can't dig it up. It took all day - mostly Sean doing the work because Cooper was quite the demanding little fellow.

Before:

During:

Our neighbor and resident handyman, Chuck, letting Cooper take a ride.

After:

Sunday: After church, in the afternoon, those who could of our bible study met at the corn maze then went to dinner. A great time with great friends.

(L to R) Sean with Cooper, Me with Parker, Erin with Melody, Matt with Penny, Phil, Christal with baby due in Dec., Richard with Kerith, Jessica

Monday: Visit to Pumpkin Patch - too many cute pictures to upload individually

Fall Fun

Okay, Cooper is napping so I'm sitting down to finally get caught up on the blogging...

Fall is great for several reasons but to us it is mainly great for that perfect outdoorsy weather. Sean's hospital stint slowed us down so we missed a couple of festivals and such but now we're getting back into the swing of things.

Two weekends ago, Aaron and Rachel came down so that they could go to the Dixie Classic Fair with her best friend, Abby, who lives here as well. They were gracious enough to come down on Friday night and give Sean and I a date night. After putting Cooper to bed and leaving them to hold down the fort, a little dessert at Mid-Town Dessertery and a little Nights in Rodanthe - just the two of us - was superb.

The next morning, we joined Sean's practice in the Alzheimer's walk. His boss's mother passed away literally two weeks before this walk and the practice did it in honor of her. I forgot my camera :( for the actual walk but it was a great stroll in the crisp morning air - not to mention walking for a great cause. Cooper seemed to enjoy it (he slept) all bundled up in his stroller.

We headed straight from the alzheimer's walk to Owen's 1st Birthday party! It had warmed up quite a bit since the walk and made for a beautiful day for a birthday party. Cooper loved swinging for the first time and even liked the party hat! All photos courtesy of Alison since I still didn't have my camera.

The following Monday held the Young Life Banquet. A great time with friends for a Great Ministry. But we did get rained out of our plan to go to the Dixie Classic Fair on that Wednesday. We were hoping to go on the Wednesday as it is sponsored by our local Christian Radio station, WBFJ. You can get in for 5 cans of food and you get to see a Christian concert. This year was Mandisa and Matthew West. Like I said though, it was raining so we just stayed in - maybe next year.

Last but certainly not least from the past two weeks, is Addison's birthday. Our little niece (and Cooper's only first cousin) turned two. The party came to us as we celebrated at the Lazy 5 Ranch and then back here at our house. The ranch was fun for all . We took my dad's truck where Mom and Dad sat up front and held Cooper (and later Addison) and Keisha, Spunky, Sean, Addison, and I sat in the back to feed the animals. This time we actually got to feed the giraffes and had several wrestling matches with the animals for our buckets of feed- lots of laughter and good family time on the trail and the accompaning petting zoo and playground. If you haven't been - it's definitely worth it!

6 month check-up

Cooper had his 6 month check-up today. New stats:

Weight: 17 lbs. 1 oz. - 50th percentile
Head circumference: 16 1/4 inches - between the 3rd and 10th percentile
Length: 26 1/2 in. - 50th percentile

All is well with him.

We had Addison's second birthday party this weekend and I will update later about that with pictures. Also, please keep my brother-in-law, "Spunky" in your prayers tomorrow as he has shoulder surgery.

Look what I can do!

Roll over....

"Talk," sit up, and play with blocks. The blocks are his favorite. When given several toys, he always goes for the blocks. They usually end up dumped out - you can see the lid in the background that he has already taken off.

And say "mama"? He's been doing this since he was about 3 months old - usually when he is upset. Not sure that he knows that it means me, but it gets me running every time.

Still trying to get a good laugh on camera. We tried several times today and he kept getting more and more upset, so I just gave up. I will keep trying because it is absolutely contagious - it will make your whole day. Have a good Wednesday!

88!

Nanny visiting me in the hospital after Cooper was born

I generally don't post about birthdays on here - with fear that I will forget someone. Today's birthday however is beyond special. She is in a league all her own, so that is why I am choosing to put this on the blog.

Happy Birthday Nanny!

Today, my grandmother turns 88 years old. If you met her, you would never imagine that she is 88. She is active, "spry" is a word that I often think of in reference to her. She has a great memory, still gets in the floor regularly to play with the little kids (in fact has sleepovers and other special events for them), and minus her hearing is in awesome health.

She was married to my Papaw for 65 years until his death 3 years ago. I truly saw her strength when she lost Papaw. She has 3 daughters, 5 granddaughters and 1 grandson, 7 great-granddaughters and 2 great-grandsons. We all just adore her. She is one of those people who just dropped everything to play when we were little, who treats every one of us absolutely equally. She makes us all feel loved and a special part of our family.

If you have ever spent any amount of time with our family, you know that we are unbelievably close. I think nothing of getting a phone call or e-mail from my cousins, as it happens regularly. The entire family, spouses, and children (all 30 something of us) get together each and every year for Christmas. The reason we are so close? The love for God and for family that Nanny and Papaw instilled within us.

Happy 88th Birthday, Nanny....and wishes for many, many more!