Akrabbim: 2007

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Scorpions!!!

Have I mentioned that I loathe, hate, can't stand, and get quite freaked out when I find a scorpion in my house! I was just getting Miles undressed and ready to take a bath, when a little ugly scorpion was crawling along the outside of our bathtub. I do like Las Vegas, but why, oh why, do we have to find scorpions in our house? We had been here about a week or so and we found one in our bedroom. Throughout the summer we found one a month; mostly in our garage. I was thinking that scorpion season was over, since I hadn't seen one for a few months, but unfortunately I had my little sighting tonight! We had a pest service come in the summer, but scorpions aren't insects, they are crustaceans, so nothing really works to get rid of them. If anyone knows of anything to help me with this problem, I'd love a little insight.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Special Breakfast

Earlier this month, Finn's school had a breakfast for all of the kids. They each got to bring a special person to breakfast. Finn really wanted to bring Josh that morning, but unfortunately Josh was on call and could not make it. Finn had to settle for his special mom. I did get a babysitter for Atticus and Miles so it could be just the two of us. We had a good morning and it was fun to hang out with just Finn. The menu consisted of muffins, juice, and coffee. Finn made a point to tell his teacher that we do not drink coffee.

Thanksgiving in Vegas

This Thanksgiving we were lucky enough to have all of the Parker Family join us in Las Vegas. Everyone contributed to the cooking, so it really didn't seem too overwhelming for anyone. The food was great and the company was even better. Somehow we made room for 8 adults and 5 children in our 1300 square foot house. It was really fun to have everyone here and the kids really seemed to enjoy spending time with their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and 2 little cousins.

On Friday, we went to Mandalay Bay to visit the Shark Reef. It was a little crowded, but still worth it. Finn loved listening to his own personal phone tour guide, Atticus seemed to enjoy just looking at the fish, and Miles just kept saying Fi-shee the whole time. I think I enjoyed it so much because the kids seemed to have such a great time. Finn was brave and touched a sting ray on the back. He also enjoyed the piranhas and their sharp teeth.

It really was a great weekend. We feel lucky to be part of such a great family!

Friendship Feast

On Wednesday, November 21st, Finn's Kindergarten class had a friendship feast to celebrate Thanksgiving. I was able to go and help out for the special day. All of the kids in Finn's class dressed up as pilgrims.

The class made homemade butter for the feast. They each took turns shaking the glass jar filled with whipping cream. Eventually, after much shaking, they had made their butter.

The class then sat down together in the hall for the feast. Each child had brought a ziplock bag of fruit to contribute to the fruit salad. They also had graham crackers with their homemade butter, pumpkin pie, and capri sun to drink.

It was a fun day, and the kids all really seemed to enjoy the feast!

Dancing With the Stars

I have to start out by saying, I have been totally addicted to this show this season. I also have to add that I am grateful that it has finally ended so I can get something done on Monday and Tuesday nights. I am so glad that Marie Osmond did not win! I know next to nothing about ballroom dancing, but she should have gone home weeks ago. I was a little sad that Mel and Max didn't win. I think Mel was the best dancer, and Max, well he was Fabulous! I told Josh that the only reason I would like to be a celebrity would be so I could go on this show.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Halloween, Halloween

Just a few days late posting our Halloween activities, but better late than never. The kids had a great October and everyday asked, "Is it Halloween yet?"

Finn's elementary school had a "Spook-tacular" fundraising carnival. The kids and I had a great time. They had lots of carnival type games and a haunted house. The haunted house was supposed to be "G-rated" but seemed to be a bit bloody and scary for a 5, 3, and 1 year old. We also went to a party at a friends house, attended a neighboring ward's trunk-or-treat, and went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood.

Needless to say, we have all had too much candy. I keep asking Josh to take the candy to work so I will stop eating it. He reminds me how hard the kids worked for their candy and thinks we don't need to take it away. So, everyday the kids and I seem to eat a few more pieces of candy. It has come in handy, however, as a bribe to get them to clean up the living room, pick up the backyard, etc.

Finn and Atticus had a great time trick-or-treating; Miles just loved walking around looking at all of the pumpkins. As my kids are getting older, I like Halloween more and more. We have a great Halloween CD that Josh's mom sent us last year. I was sad to put it away. We enjoyed listening it all month long.

We were also able to get away earlier this month for a long weekend. Josh had 4 days off so we drove to Utah to see family. It is so great to be able to do that now! My mom had made costumes for the boys teddy bears, so even the bears were able to celebrate Halloween. The teddy bear in this picture is known as Joshua Bear. This was a teddy bear that belonged to Josh as a boy. Finn has taken him over and can't sleep at night without him.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, October 22, 2007

Sunbeam

Yesterday, as I was getting Atticus ready for church, I said, "Atticus, you get to be a sunbeam in 3 months." He then replied, "For him?"

We are still doing well. The kids are excited for Halloween and are loving anything scary, ugly, or spooky. The other day Atticus told me "spooky means Halloween."

This year Finn is going to be a skeleton, Atticus is going to be a blue Power Ranger, and Miles, a chicken. Atticus has informed us that a chicken is not for Halloween, but for a farm.
Atticus is at the cutest age and is constantly saying the greatest things.

Josh is still gone a lot, but the kids and I keep busy by going to the library, riding bikes and scooters, going to the park, reading books, playing outside and with friends.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Fall is Here!

The past few mornings we have awoken to quite chilly weather. It has been such a surprise and such a great break from the heat. A week or so I thought about putting up Halloween decorations, but I couldn't bring myself to do it in 90 degree heat. It just didn't feel like fall to me. Today I dragged out both the fleece coats and Halloween decor to welcome in fall. I honestly didn't know if it would ever get cold enough to wear our fleece coats again, but now I know different. I have to say, I have already become a wimp where the weather is concerned. In Vermont 60 degrees was a dream, in Vegas I am saying it is chilly. I remember my good friend telling me that your blood thickens or thins depending on where you are. I guess my blood has already thinned. But for now I am loving the cool, crisp, fall weather. (Josh wanted me to mention that the cool, crisp air is actually 73 degrees!)

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Old Mama!

For whatever reason, in the last month or so, Finn has decided that it is pretty great to call people "Old Mama". This is usually a time when it would be appropriate to say "Hot Mama!", or "Ohh Mama!", but instead Finn says "Old Mama!". Today we bought the card game Old Maid. I am glad to say that Old Maid has also become "Old Mama!". So tonight before we put the kids to bed we had to play one game of Old Mama!. Finn said it was great; he totally loved it. Atticus had a great time just making matches and saying, "Look they're the same."

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Summer 2007

I am finally feeling like fall is here, or is mostly here, so I decided to catch up on our summer.
Josh graduated from the University of Vermont on May 20, 2007. We are all so proud of Josh for working so hard.

We packed up our stuff and moved from our home in Essex Junction, Vermont and set out for Las Vegas on May 22, 2002. It was a bitter/sweet move. Vermont had really started to feel like home and we loved living at the "Fort" with so many great friends and neighbors.

Josh's Mom, Colleen, and the kids and I flew to Salt Lake while Josh and his dad drove the Landcruiser across the country. We prayed that the Landcruiser would make it, and somehow it did.

On May 27th Finn turned 5 years old and really wanted to have a Birthday party with his cousins. Miles turned 1 on the 31st, so we had a joint birthday party this year with all of our family.

We all drove from Salt Lake to Las Vegas on May 31st. Happy Birthday Miles! Poor Miles spent his first birthday in the car. We were all so glad to finally arrive at our new home. We were so lucky to have help from our new ward members, Paul and Colleen, and my parents and my sister Tami. With all of the help the move was not too bad.

We spent most of June adjusting to Las Vegas. We went on walks, bike rides, swam a lot, and made a few new friends. I also turned 31 this year. Josh stared orientation at the hospital and we got to meet the other residents and some of the other doctors who work in the Emergency Department. There is only one other resident who is married, he has 1 child. We are kind of the odd balls.

On the 4th of July, Josh ran the Summerlin 5k. Finn and I ran the 1 mile fun run. Atticus and Miles rode along in the stroller. After the race we found a seat in the shade for the Summerlin 4th of July parade. It was pretty hot, but the kids had fun and got candy from every float that passed. Later that day, on the way to the store, our Landcruiser died on the freeway, to make a long story short, the Landcruiser gave all it had to get us across the country, and we could not afford to have it give any more. We ended up selling our car a few weeks later. It was kind of a bummer, I wanted to drive that car forever. We were able to buy a Toyota Sequoia. Ihave to say though, it is nice to finally have a reliable car.

On July 21, 2007 Josh's younger sister, Leslie, unexpectedly passed away. This was and still is an extremely hard thing for all of the Parker family. We all have learned and have grown closer because of this experience. We will always miss Leslie and the role that she played in the Parker family. We love you Les.

In August, Josh started his first official month as an M.D. He spent last month in the OB/GYN department. After his first day Josh commented that he knew there was a reason he didn't go into OB/GYN. He did deliver a few babies and hopefully picked up a little spanish.

August 27, 2007-Finn started Kindergarten! Finn was so excited to start school. When I picked him up I asked him how his first day was he said, "It is kind of boring, we sit there all day, we don't go outside, and we don't get a snack." Fortunately, he is liking kindergarten more and more and he seems to be learning quite a bit.

September 10, 2007-Atticus started preschool. Atticus is going to a little school with 4 of his friends from Nursery. The 4 other moms and myself each take turns having the preschool at our home. So far this has been a great experience and Atticus really seems to enjoy going.

Finn also started Soccer this month. He is a pretty good little player. His second game he scored 2 goals, but is hoping to do a hat trick (Josh must have told him that means 3 goals).His coach is this nice little german guy named Henrich. It is really fun to watch these 5-year-olds play.

Miles is a good little guy. He gets roughed up quite a bit from his 2 older brothers, but seems to take it in stride. He loves to be outside and all 3 of the boys love swimming and going to the

park to play. Miles loves to bring us books to read and is such a climber. He seems pretty content just trying to keep up with his brothers.

As for myself, I am pretty busy just taking care of these 3 little boys. They are so great and seem to always make me smile. Between them, making dinner, doing laundry, cleaning the house, I don't do much else. By the time they are all tucked in for the night, I mostly just want to sit and watch something on tv or curl up with a good book. I am not giving up on Grey's just yet, I am hoping this will be a good season. I do miss my Vermont Book club/ Grey's anatomy club!

As I turned my calendar to October this morning, the picture was of cute fall leaves and it said something to the effect that "Fall is the season of Gathering and Gratitiude". I was reminded that I too have so much to be grateful for.