Looking SPECTACULAR!

The other day Stella, Ava and I were upstairs hanging out, when Stella says "mom, wait right there I want to show you something perstacular!" I was thinking - perstacular??? hmmm.... Then it came to me, ohhhh... spectacular, cute. So after a few minutes she comes back out of her room and does a little twirl. She then says "see mom, I'm all decorated, I put on all my decorations." I told her that she did indeed look spectacular with all her decorations. I noticed though that she was staring at me with a troubled look on her face, when finally she says "mom you're not really decorated." I had to laugh because oh how true that was. Here I am in my typical weekday attire - workout clothes, ponytail and no makeup :) - definitely not decorated. I'm telling you guys, I really do need to go on TLC's What Not to Wear. If any of you feel inclined to nominate me, I'll have Sean do the secret footage - seriously! Anyway... Stella worked on getting me somewhat decorated and then she decorated Ava too, much to her chagrin. Here's a few pictures showing how perstacular they looked!

And the award goes to....

JONAH GLENN PARSONS

The award for cuteness goes to Jonah this week. There are many reasons why he was chosen to get this award, but I narrowed it down to 10 reasons:

1. Whenever he's outside and an airplane flies over the house he'll say "look Stell, it's Andrew!"

2. When he gives you a hug he squeezes you nice and tight and says "I love you SO much!"

3. He shows concern about others well-being. His grandpa hurt his leg a few weeks ago and Jonah will still ask him "how's your leg feelin' grandpa?" or he'll ask "how's your back feelin' mom?" or "how's Andrew's shoulder feelin'?"...

4. When Sean comes home from work Jonah gives him a big hug and tells him "I love you dad, you're my worker."

5. Apparently his Nike running shoes are the only shoes in the house that he can "run fast" in.

6. He has a "friend" named Treaty who lives in California??

7. He still has big dreams of getting a race car. Today he whispered in my ear ..."mom I want a race car, what do you want?"

8. He's been working on his 'follow through' for basketball.

9. He tells great stories. Last nights story had something to do with Bob the Beel-der (Builder) and falling off the roof and I'm pretty sure there was a tractor mentioned somewhere in there.

10. Lastly, he's just plain cute, see for yourself...

CUTE!

This little piggy went to the market, this little piggy stayed home...

30 of the cutest little piggies I have ever seen!

A Memory on a Monday

I remember my husband acting a little bit crazy after I had Jonah...


So this memory isn't Sean's favorite... but like I told him, I'm having a memory and it just happens to be Monday :). I love you Sean!

I had just given birth to Jonah and having had a c-section you are pretty much stuck to the bed the first day/night in the hospital. The hospital graciously gave Sean a nice cot to sleep on and Sean thoughtfully put it nice and close to me in case I needed help. Hmmm... this sounds familiar, if you remember back to previous Monday memories there was a little precursor I talked about. Anyway, it was sometime in the middle of the night and Jonah was crying. The little cradle he was in was just out of my reach and, as said earlier, I couldn't get out of bed so I called on Sean. After many attempts at calling his name, I finally used my pillow and gave him a gentle wop on the head. He finally awoke (or so I thought) with the look of "what do you want??" I then asked him if he could please get Jonah because he was crying. So he gets up and proceeds to "get the baby" but he actually picks up his pillow and starts to hold it like it was the baby. Subconsciously he must have heard Jonah still crying because he then continues to hold the pillow and start to pat the pillow on the "back" and do a little rock/bounce to get the baby to quiet down. Still no luck, the baby is still crying... wonder why??! So here I am in my bed not sure whether to laugh or cry, laughing really hurt my stomach so I was probably doing a little of both. I then say to Sean, "put the pillow down and get the baby!!" but all the while I'm thinking, do I really want him to get the baby?? So Sean, ever so carefully, puts the pillow back down on the cot. Seriously you guys, it was like he was actually laying a baby on the bed, he had the hand behind the "head" and everything. At this point I may have been getting a little inpatient and really wanting Sean to snap out of it. So I was like, "OK Sean enough with the pillow, get the baby!" He then looks at me and says, which I think is the real clincher of the story, "it's not my fault, I didn't know we had two babies!"

Thank you Sean for that memorable day!!

Oh how I LOVE the weekends!

Here are a few reasons why...

1. Weekends equal two days of glorious breakfast (waffles aren't on the weekday diet).

2. Sean's home and that means Dad and the kids make breakfast!


3. The beloved waffle iron is hauled out of the cupboard.


4. We get to enjoy this beautiful creation!

and to top it all off, my most favorite reason of all...

5. Indulging in syrup!

Quote from the movie Elf :

Buddy: "Can you pass the maple syrup please?"

"Uuuhhh, It's spaghetti."

Buddy: "Oh wait, I think I have some."

"You like sugar huh?"

Buddy: "Is there sugar in syrup?"

"Yes."

Buddy: "Then YES!"

Me and Buddy would get along really well! When I was pregnant with Ava, syrup was my one craving that lasted the whole 9 months. Maybe that is why she turned out so sweet ;). Unfortunately I haven't lost the craving. Although, since I've limited the indulgence to just two days, it makes me look forward to the weekends all the more. It also makes exercising during the week much easier because I know the weekend is coming and with that comes a yummy reward!

Thank you Lord for saving Andrew!

Yesterday I was reminded of how precious life is. Each day truly is a precious gift from God.

My nephew Andrew, the first born to my brother, the first grand child to my parents, was in a plane crash Tuesday night. He's currently attending flight school and was scheduled for a routine, cross country training flight. The destination for his flight was about an hour and a half away from his school. He left around 9pm Tuesday night and the plane went down sometime around 10pm. When he didn't reach his destination search planes went out looking for him. The plane crashed in a remote mountainous area where temperatures dropped to near zero with 3 ft of snow all around him, and Andrew of course in just shorts and a shirt. When we got the call Wednesday morning that Andrew was missing my mind instantly imagined the worst. I can't help but cry just thinking about all that he went through, how he was able to survive the crash and then be able to survive the 12 + hours, of waiting/hiking/climbing, to be rescued. Rescuers were finally able to reach him around 11:30am on Wednesday where he was then brought to a hospital and was able to recover from his injuries. It is truly a MIRACLE from our great God that Andrew was able to walk away from that crash alive. I am so thankful to the Lord for His protection over him.

We are so proud of you Andrew!It seems like yesterday when this picture was taken of you, me and Austin out fishing in Grandma and Grandpa's pond. I can't help but think of you like this - little - and remember back when you used to call me Ara, and if I remember right that might have been one of your first words ;).

We are so proud of the godly man you have grown to be and the awesome pilot you are becoming! We have full confidence in you Andrew, that you are going to make a great pilot one day. We are praying for you, both for physical healing and emotional.

We love you so much and we praise our Heavenly Father that He is not through with you yet!

After going through all of this I know I am going to squeeze my kids a little tighter each day, and make sure I tell my family and friends that I love them because we don't know what tomorrow holds. But praise the Lord we can trust in Him and know that He has a plan for each and every one of us.

The following is a link to a few news clips about the accident.
http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=8071777&nav=menu227_4

A Monday Memory

I remember when Stella first started to love her monkey and how she used to call him "Ha Ha"...

We had a trip planned to CA shortly after Stella turned one. We were flying down and my thought was - Stella needs to have something to comfort her for the big trip...so I chose monkey. He was chosen from the many other animal friends she had because it was quiet, (it didn't have the unseen rattle or squeak inside) and it was super soft. So a few weeks before the big trip I started to push monkey on her. I laugh at that now because on the airplane she slept the whole time and didn't need any comforting. She took to monkey right away, and it was one of the first animal sounds she learned to make. Although instead of saying the "who who" part it was always just the "ha ha" and that ended up being what she called him for the first couple years. Looking back at old pictures it's funny because monkey is kind of like the "Where's Waldo," if you look close enough in each picture you might see him, he's always around.

The other day she said to me "mom when I get older I probably won't sleep with monkey anymore and Ava will probably want him." I told her "Stella, you can sleep with your monkey for as long as you want." She smiled and said "that's good... because you know mom, he really is my most favorite monkey."

Even though monkey has lost some of his luster, he still is her best monkey friend.

Happy Easter

Matthew 28:5-7
"The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead..."

We had a great Easter. Our church puts on a huge easter egg hunt for the kids after the service. This year due to the rainy weather they had the hunt set up for inside. So with over 1000 eggs filled with yummy candy, the downstairs of the church looked like an explosion had gone off. There were eggs everywhere! The kids had a blast! I wasn't able to get any pictures of the actual hunt due to the mayhem that was going on down there, but let's just say we got our fair share of eggs. There was definitely no children who went home empty handed.

Looking cute for church

Curly hair and a dress that twirls...
who could ask for more?!

Ava all tuckered out and dad
looking a little tuckered out too



I'll take the big egg that hatched
it looks the sweetest



Jonah and Stella with their loot!

My Sweet Stella

I love my tenderhearted Stella for many reasons, but here are a few of the reasons why...

She loves playing with her brother

She is a big helper when it comes to her baby sister

She says cute things

The other day I was changing Ava's diaper and Stella was there keeping us company...

Stella: "Mom, Ava has a red spot right here" (pointing to her forehead)
Mom: "Yep, that's her birth mark, or actually that's where she was kissed by an angel"
Stella: "Really?" "Why did the angel kiss her?"
Mom: "To make her special, and so we'll always know which baby is Ava"

I could tell Stella was thinking about something...

Stella: "Well I think I know what happened mom"
Mom: "What's that Stell"
Stella: "The angel was wearing lipstick"

And my most favorite reason of all - the way she talks to Ava

I'm not sure there is a more sweeter sound then when a baby first starts to "talk". I think I could listen to it all day long. Stella has taken 1st place in getting Ava to jabber. The minute Ava sees her sister it's an instant smile and then the cooing begins. Stella loves it. She does it so much that the other day she told me she needed to take a break because her cheeks hurt from all that smiling :) What a great big sister Stella is!

Have a listen and enjoy!