State swimming, a new/old friend, and a lesson learned

The Age Group State swimming meet was held this past weekend at the world renowned IU Natatorium. Caleb was able to go as part of the 200 Medley relay team, he swam the butterfly (the 3rd leg) and did a great job maintaining our first place status. The fourth leg had some difficulties and we finished 7th in the heat. Caleb thoroughly enjoyed being down there and watching his teammates swim as well. Here he is (in the cap) looking at the board to check the results of a race.

Colin went with me to the meet, and it is usually very difficult to keep him entertained for such a long event (for those of you not fortunate enough to experience the swimming world, one session of a meet can take 3-4 hours), but this time he was very well behaved. You see, he made a new friend (kind of, he already knew him) and was on his best behavior. His friend happened to be on vacation, which honestly everyone deserves!

Since we were preoccupied most of the weekend, I was unable to tackle my normal domestic goddess duties (ie., laundry), and it has piled up so high (both clean and dirty piles!) that I woke up this morning very much NOT looking forward to the mountainous task that lay before me:

I proceeded to open my e-mail and received my daily e-mail from Scott Noelle:

":: No Problem! ::

Having a "bad parenting day"? Whatever you're stressing about -- your child won't stop whining... you're way behind on the laundry...the baby nursed "all" night long... you yelled at the kids *again*... etc., etc. -- remember there are two components to every problem:

1. The actual condition

2. Your *belief* that it IS a problem. In other words, you don't *have to* perceive the condition to be wrong or bad.

Would a baby see your mountain of dirty laundry as a problem?

No, because wee ones see the world AS IT IS.They haven't been trained (yet) to pass judgment on Reality, so they don't see the problems we see.

Well, if a baby can do it, you can, too! :-)

Today, try letting go of the idea that conditions"should" be different than they are. Simply accept them..."No problem... It is what it is."But don't confuse acceptance with defeat. You can be accepting and still desire change. And change happens*easily* when you're at peace with What Is."

I chose to just see the laundry as what it is, and tried to not get stressed about it...it's so much more important for me to sit on the floor and play with Play-Doh with my boys than it is to stress about the laundry...

Have a great day, I know I will!

Happy Spring!!

Ahhh...the first day of spring, so very exciting! Leave it to Google to use one of my very favorite children's authors to commemorate this day: Eric Carle

There's something about that little "Hungry Caterpillar" that always makes me think of sunshine, dirt, and growing gardens. If you add that little guy to the seed catalogs

Seeds of Change, Gardner's Supply Company and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

that have been coming, I could daydream for hours about my plans for this year's garden.

My dad and I have already placed our order for tomato and pepper seedlings from The Chile Woman and will be quite busy with canning salsas, pepper jellies, etc. later in the summer. I am hopeful that I will have a large enough crop to keep tomatoes in my pantry throughout next winter and spring...I used my last jar of tomatoes from last year at the end of January, so I am hoping that I am more accurate in my calculations this year.

In preparation for all that I will be harvesting this year (hopefully) I have my eye on this waterbath canner kit on Amazon. I do have a pressure canner already that I love, but to have this canner as well would just make the canning a bit easier and less time consuming.

Enjoy the first day of spring, and I hope that all of you are having a wonderful, sunny day like we are!

It's been too long...

Over the past month we have been busy. Caleb and Logan have hit the tail end of their short-course swimming season. Caleb made the Championship Team and swam 6 events in divisionals and is on the State 200 Medley Relay team. The State competition is this weekend and we are gearing up for that. Colin is swimming like a little fish and I will definitely be less nervous when we are at the pool during the summer.

Our homeschooling is going very well. The boys are plugging along in all of their subjects at a good rate. They really enjoy when we do history because it involves me doing a lot of reading out loud to them and then they get to do activities and map work to help reinforce what they have been learning. Believe it or not, one of Logan's favorite subjects is grammar! Even if I don't assign a lesson that day he wants to do one...crazy kid!

One of the joys of homeschooling is the freedom that we have to go on impromptu trips when Tod has to travel. A few weeks ago we packed up our schoolwork and did it in the van on the way to Chicago. Once we arrived, the boys finished their work in the bar while Tod was working on the lights, and then we headed to the Chicago Legoland Discovery Center. It wasn't quite worth the $$ that we spent on tickets, but the boys did enjoy themselves.

The boys with Hagrid, from Harry Potter. Colin with Darth Vadar, and all 3 with a likeness of President Barack Obama.

Yesterday we had an unusually warm St. Patrick's Day and we took the boys down to the parade. Tod had to be down there to photograph the fire department, their bagpipe players, and the engines that were in the parade. He was also able to get me to actually agree to be in a picture, so here are my little leprechauns and myself at the parade...we were right in front of the grandstand, so it was great for the boys to be able to hear everything.

Parker Family Update

I know that it has been way too long since my last post, and for that I am sorry (good thing I don't have too many followers!). We have been busy with our homeschooling, swimming, and other random activities. Here are a few pictures that we've taken over the past week:

We had a couple of nicer, spring-like days last week and the boys were able to get some much needed outside time. Ever since Colin learned to pump on a swing last fall it has become one of his favorite activities. Caleb was having a rough day and complaining of having nothing to do since the bikes are still in the shed, and a light bulb came on in my head... Caleb's feet are almost as big as mine, and I have a pair of roller blades that fit me before my 3 pregnancies, so I thought "Why not give these a try?"...I think I may have created a new obsession. He LOVES them and the fit perfectly! He spent about an hour and a half each day just going up and down the driveway...he's not steady enough for me to let him out on the street yet. I have a sinking feeling that he will be asking for a trick ramp this summer...there is one at Target that he wanted to get last year.

Somehow, above all odds, Tod and I actually had a decent picture of us taken. We were at a friends wedding shower and she grabbed the camera and took this...not the best picture of me, but I am happy that we are both smiling!

The birthday boy: Colin turned 4 last Friday! It is so hard for me to wrap my head around that. He requested a chocolate cake, and as you can see from the finger in his mouth, he approved of the icing!

My parents have continued a tradition (with a twist) that my grandfather had with us when we were growing up. He would come pick us up on our birthdays, take us to lunch, and then let us walk around the mall and purchase our birthday gift with the birthday money that he had given us. We all enjoyed being able to spend that time with him, and we all looked forward to being able to do so. My parents will come over and pick the birthday boy up, let them choose where they would like to go for lunch, and then walk around Toys 'r Us looking for that perfect gift (it has taken longer than expected on occasion!). Colin was given the rule this year that as long as he could carry it he could get it...well, there was a Fisher Price Geo-Trax set on display that he thought was very cool, and the box was almost as big as him! Somehow, the birthday boy was able to carry it up to the checkout counter...talk about the power of want!

Where has the time gone?

Well, 10 days ago my first born turned 9 years old. It really made Tod and I stop and wonder where all of the time had gone... Don't get me wrong, we are thrilled that he is growing up, just a little bit sad that he's not our cute, chubby, no back talking, little boy anymore. He is growing up very nicely. We did have a rough year or two that I never thought we would make it trough, but we did and we have come out even stronger on the other side. Caleb really has become a delight and it is so wonderful to see him stretching his wings, learning new things, yet still looking back to take our hand when he needs it. Here are some pictures from 01/11/09:

The Birthday Boy and my mom (who shares her birthday with him), Caleb was making his wish in the first picture., enjoying his yummy Cold Stone Creamery ice cream cake in the 2nd, and hanging out with Grandma in the third.

Finally, a picture of Colin who was doing his best to wait patiently for his cake.

Quick update

I know tha tI have been lax in my updates over the past few weeks, but I have been taking the time to play and read with my boys and doing my best to take less time on the computer. I will need to save my pic uploading and journaling for after they are in bed so that I don't miss out on anything.

My sister was home for the holidays and it was a GREAT 5 days to have her home! The boys couldn't get enough of Aunt Cate and I believe that we spent some time at my mom &
dad's every day that she was here!

Christmas Eve was a blessing. The big boys sang in the Children's Choir at the 4pm Mass and then we headed to my parent's house for our traditional buffett style dinner, crazy gift exchange, and general merriment. The best part of the evening is that my Grandfather's health was ok enough for he and my Grandmother to join us for the evening. That was not the case last year, and their presence was sorely missed at that time. Family has always been a very important part of the holiday season for us and we treasure every minute that we get to spend with them.

Christmas Day was wonderful, overwhelming, and a good day for all. After the boys woke us up. we opened gifts, had our cheesy scrambled egg breakfast, and hung out in our pajamas for a few hours before getting dressed and heading to Pendleton to see Tod's family. The boys couldn't have been happier since they were able to spend all day playing with their cousins that they don't see that often...as parents, Tod's brother and his wife, and Tod & I all received plenty of nagging from our own kids about why they never get to see their cousins. Aimee and I decided that we would do our very best to try to get the families together at least once a month for some downtime...we'll see how that goes.

New Year's Eve was pretty quite. We spent a few hours at our dear friends house playing games and then came home around 11pm (I did not want to be on the roads with my precious cargo and all of the rookie party-goers). I was exhausted when we got home and dozed on the couch while the boys played games right next to me on the floor and repeatedly updated me with the countdown..."you only have 156 more minutes to rest mom!", "Mom, it's only 5 minutes away!", "Mom, the ball is starting to drop!", "Happy New Year, Mom! Can we go out and bang pots & Pans?"...and they did.

We are now looking forward to this Sunday, it will be Caleb and my mom's birthday. Caleb will be 9, and I'm not so sure my mom wants me to let you know how old she will be!

I will post pics from the past few weeks later.

Baby,it's cold outside...

It has officially become frigid in Indy. Last Friday our roads were solid ice...seriously, you could've donned a pair of ice skates and skated on down the street. Well, noticing how icy it was, Tod decided to get out our sled and take the boys for a ride down the street. While he was getting it down the boys discovered how icy it was and were running and flopping on their bellies in the middle of the driveway so that they could slide down the driveway...silly boys!



Once Tod had the sled hooked to the rope the boys climbed aboard and off they went. I don't remember the last that I heard so much laughter and giggling...from ALL of them.

Later that night, Colin came upstairs while the big boys were

playing in the base

ment and asked if he could run the Christmas Train. Once he knew that proper technique (you

aren't allowed to make it go faster than 2 MPH in either direction unless Daddy is with you), he laid himself down on the floor and became one with the train. Out of all 3 of our boys, Colin has always seemed to show more interest in vehicles and the Christmas Train was no exception. He was on the floor for almost and hour and even went down to get some Lego Minifigures to act as passengers. I hope he doesn't outgrow this anytime soon. Time goes by too quickly and I want him to enjoy this stage for as long as he can...or maybe I want to be the one enjoying this stage..