5 for Friday!

So glad that Chris cancelled the trip to the river this weekend, so instead we are staying home, entertaining friends, and getting some work done around the homestead! Yippee...this is rare for us!

1. Watch out for the full moon...I love it, I love the way it controls my mood...makes me feel so giddy and WILD...Thank goodness children will be around tonight...Mama might get buck wild! Nah...but when the moon starts low and orange and then slowly rises and lightens it just makes me feel so natural/romantic/happy...I remember being like 8 and riding my four-wheeler on Fall nights and seeing that same moon and it gave me that same feeling back then! I think that Fall is my most favorite season!


2. Thank the Lord that we are able to be excited about simple things like upcoming trips, moons, friends, weekends...I think about those who are sick or have sick children and how they can't go outside, or don't have the energy or the strength to enjoy things that they once had. It reminds me of the last six months of my Mamascoot's life (my grandmother) and how she layed in her bed day and night and didn't know one day from the next, she didn't realize it was her birthday anymore or Christmas. Or a child who I am praying for that is fighting a losing battle with cancer and how every single moment of everyday single day must be so hard for him and his parents/family. TEARS!!! OH it hurts so bad!!! Thank you Lord that I don't have this in my life at this time!


3. Money isn't all it is cracked up to be. Yeah we need it, yeah I love to shop (not for clothes but stuff), yeah you have to pay bills but in the grand scheme of things when you are dead and gone the things that you do and say are what defines you! That is what people will miss, that is what your family will yearn for...so try to work a little less and don't let your job kill you! When you are dead and gone they will surely find someone to replace you and they will move on. Yuck! I am so thankful for the money and the job that provides for my family but I don't regret one second staying home with Parker and doing with a little less!

4. Remember when you encounter people that everyone has something that they are dealing with or going through that you know nothing about. We are so quick to judge, lash out at, and ignore people without really knowing the whole story. A waitress who might have made you wait too long to take your order, the person walking down the street cussing aloud while you walk within listening distance with your child, the worker in the pharmacy that gets yelled at b/c some one's prescription wasn't ready when they said it would be, and the lady yelling at the pharmacy worker. IT IS SO HARD NOT TO BE GUILTY OF THIS!!! I am so guilty! But I try to remember that the waitress could be on the phone in the kitchen with her babysitter because her child is sick and running a fever. The cussing walker could have just been layed off and doesn't know why! The lady yelling at the pharmacy worker could have a sick child at home who kept her up all night and desperately need the medicine right NOW! The pharmacy worker could have just gotten there after getting off from their first shift job and knows nothing of the situation and is doing her job to the best of her ability! We need to have compassion and understanding because we all are going through something!

5. Enjoy your weekend!

The pics above are all pics of Parker taken at home! For some reason lately I can't seem to quit thinking about all of the great memories that we have together and how lucky I have been to be able to be home daily to enjoy the simple things. We constantly come up with things to do: playing in mud puddles, cooking together, taking endless stroller rides, flying kites, swinging, looking for pecans, playing in the woods...this list is endless as is Parker's imagination at this point! Play has def. evolved from stroller rides and just crawling in the grass to magic tree house adventures and endless other things that we seem to find ourselves getting into. I wish that this time would never end, that Parker would never have to grow up and that we could stay in our magic tree house forever! Parker will sometimes tell me that he doesn't want to get big because then he won't fit in my lap or that he wants to be my baby forever...I always tell him that he has to get big and it will be fun getting big too not forgetting to throw in that he will always be my baby no matter how big/old he gets! I feel like we only have until he begins school (unless I choose to home school: and even if I choose that avenue, Parker is still going to grow up and things won't be the same.) I know that at each stage in a child's life their are wonderful memories made and experiences to try together but none as simple or as precious as what we have now. Sleeping in until Parker decides to wake up which is usually 7:15. Cartoons in mommy's bed. Breakfast together with conversation about our plans for the day. Clean up time, then learning and craft time...This is followed by outside fun until lunch, again making lunch together and then sitting down to enjoy our creation. Playing again until rest time which is always followed by a "mommy movie" (1 episode of Little House on the Prairie). Playtime again until it is time to come in for supper preparation. Parker usually helps with that as well or colors at his little table in the kitchen. Then Daddy gets home! When Parker was a newborn that time couldn't get here fast enough because those days were much harder and longer with a "refluxy, non sleeper" but now (on most days) Daddy is pulling up in the drive before we know it! I love my family and our precious time together, I love being a mom, and I love the Lord the most for giving me all of these wonderful gifts and people in my life! (I know that I need to be better about my walk with Christ as well so I am not proclaiming to be some great soul!) Our time here is short, our memories will fade or be erased by time or age but all I can do is live in the moment and have faith that one day on the new Earth which God promises those who make it to Heaven I can bask in wonderful memories and simpler times again!

7 Things that make me smile...All about Parker!

1. Even though it is not appropriate, I can't help but smile when Parker says, "I tooted...just like my dad" after passing gas! Anyone who knows Chris would say he deserves this one!

2. Hearing Parker talk about "mommy movies" like they are real places and people. "Mommy movies" are episodes of Little House on the Prairie which we watch one of everyday right after rest time. Parker talks about Ma, Pa, and Nellie Olsen like they live right down the street...he always says that Nellie is a mean girl!

3. Picking up Parker from preschool and hearing the first thing out of his mouth EVERY time be, "Did you bring me something sweet and sugary?" He thinks just being away from me even if he cried at drop off warrants something special...I must admit I usually do give him a little something...the boy loves sweets...like his Dad again!

4. Even though it is tough to handle at times, Parker's little temper makes me smile...(on the inside only of course) because again this is something he gets from his Dad and I love his Dad so much and seeing the good/bad/or ugly that Parker displays naturally because of the fact that he is "a little Chris G." or a "little me" reminds me how wonderful it is to have been able to have a baby!

5. Seeing kids in general experiencing new things, getting excited, and the funny things that they think to say!

6. Hearing Parker say his prayers at the table which are..."Dear God thank you for my Father...Amen" Not sure how he got that from our normal suppertime prayer but it is so cute!

7. Parker directs me to tell him his "Rocky Story" after our prayers at night when we are together in the rocking chair. Amazingly he and Rocky never do anything wrong but Anna (who is our cute little neighbor at the lake) always gets into something and Rocky and Parker come to her rescue!

I love being a mom and of course other things in life make me smile too, but not as often as my little Park Bean! Thanks to God for my little man!