Author: Stephen and Jodi

JT (the young scientist)

JT is a very active 18 monther…he really enjoys exploring his surrounding and is becoming opinionated when removed from situations he finds himself him. He is a regular visitor of "Stephen’s side of the garage". When I get him out of his carseat after an errand run he b-lines it to the grease section of our garage. With a smile like his he can finagle himself out of almost any situation – except these two.

experiment no.1 – the pits

Stephen’s Aunt Dot shared some yummy plums with us and I was excited about a healthy snack option for my children on their first day home of Harvest Break. I washed them up and placed them in a large silver bowl. I walked out of the room for a quick second and when I came back I found JT standing on a barstool that was pushed up to the counter. There were pits thrown on the floor – he figured out that they didn’t taste so good. He had a plum in each hand and one in his mouth. In the process of taking these photos he chucked 3 half eaten plums on the floor. Meanwhile Olivia and Lily come in and squash them on the floor – leaving a very sticky mess! 

experiment no. 2 – melding plastic

I still hadn’t forgiven JT for the sticky mess (actually I hadn’t even gotten to mop the floor) before he struck again. He chooses the kitchen to perform his experiments. Saturday morning before the youth triathlon I decided to bake some bran muffins for the family for a nice breakfast. I preheated the oven and started filling the muffin tins when I began to smell a very potent plastic smell. I opened the bottom oven to find two former ice cream cups turned into a liquid.  This was a moment that I had to kick myself. I have seen him throw things in the oven day after day and kept telling myself that I needed to check the oven before baking – duh! Hard lesson learned. Mason thought it was awesome of course and Stephen chipped it all out – lucky for him, the upper oven was available without any waiting plastic to deter my muffin baking.

Comments:

michelle said…

I think you have a smart little guy on your hands. The oven thing reminds me a crayon incident we had at our house. You have got to love it!
Monday, September 28, 2009 8:19:49 AM

Anne said…

Sounds like a healthy happy toddler to me…busy, running around mom too! I am getting nervous for Josie, she really gets busier every minute. Sounds like Owen, Josie, and JT would have a blast…maybe it is good they don’t all live in the same house.
Monday, September 28, 2009 11:13:30 AM

Trevin and Stephanie said…

I’m so sorry that happened Jodi! Kids, ya gotta love em.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 6:34:45 PM

Trevin and Stephanie said…

He is an artist too. I remember when Jana cooked popcorn in a plastic bowl in the oven. Every time you use the oven for the next few months you will smell J.T. Luckily he is cute.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 5:07:31 PM

River Rock Youth Triathlon 2009

  Yesterday we had the oprotunity to participate in a Youth Triatholon at 11:30 in River Rock estates.We started at 11:30 and !0-12 age group went first.We started with the swim next the  bike ride then the run.Then the 8-9 went next then 5-7.We all did a great job!

Alexis and Mason, Tanner and Ashlyn(10-12)-Swam-0.5 miles Biked-3 miles Ran-1.5 miles

Hannah and Harry Galer(8-9)-Swam-75ydsBiked-1.5 miles Ran-1miles

Lily and Carson and Sam and Owen Galer(5-7)-Swam-50 yds Biked-1 miles Ran-0.5miles

Here are the pics!

Comments:

Magan said…

great job guys!
Sunday, September 27, 2009 4:50:15 PM

michelle said…

Good job guys! Pretty impressive kids-keep up the good work.
Sunday, September 27, 2009 6:07:26 PM

Anne said…

How fun!!! Wish I could have been there to cheer you on. Way to go Mason, Alexis, and Lily! Hope to see you soon!
Monday, September 28, 2009 11:18:01 AM

Patricia said…

Hi Parker Family,
You all cease to amaze me. What a great family. I’m so impressed with all of the good things you do. Keep up the fun and happy times together. You are making such happy, memorial memories together. They will last forever.
I love you all,
Grandma Baldwin
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 10:35:11 PM

Music Mistress

Olivia and JT have a new hobby. As you read previously, Olivia was given Alexis’ old CD player for her birthday. She loves it very mucn and feels so important and old. Stephen helped her make some fun CDs of music – her favorite song is "Who let the dog’s out". She is having fun telling JT how to act and play when her music is on.

Insane Drama

So tonight I was innocently canning tomatoes when Lily walked into the kitchen and told me about a song she had just written. A song she was quik to add was just a joke. She asked if I wanted to hear it, of course I did. She began singing the following words (which she had written down on a paper) to the tune of "Renegade" by Styxx.

"Oh mamma I’m in sain with you’e drama and I cant keep up with you. Please mama stop the dramaaaaa because I can’t keep up with you. Oh mama Im in sain with your drama and I cant keep up with you".

O.k. first of all it is seriously hilarious! I can’t deny the reality of that song sadly, which makes it all the more funny. She is feeling a little self conscience about it because I laughed so much, although I reassured her it was because it was such a funny joke. It just makes me smile – where did that come from? Who’s hat did she pull that one out of? I don’t even remember listening to that song recently and to add the words she used to that tune was genius! I think she could have a no.1 hit with that one!

Random funnies make being a mom so enjoyable.

Kicking Cousins

Taylor and Lily were on the same soccer team again this year and Stephen was thier coach. The were fun to watch. Most of the time they were little speed demons and ball kickers, but a few times i would catch them chatting or holding hands – so cute! The had a good team and won most of their games. We learned this year that water bottles are very important!

Game On

Mason had a great soccer season! Something clicked and he became a star. He was so excited to tell us when he made a goal. Stephen and to peel back on his ice cream rewards or we would have gained some serious pounds. I am proud of Mason and his determination and stamina. One night both he and Matt had climbed Mt. Borah and they showed up  to play soccer and they played hard! It is nice to have a good friend to encourage and push you. Matt is a great friend to Mason. Even though Matt also deserves a lot of glory to for his mad soccer playing, he was very complimentary toward Mason and happy for him. He helped give Mason the confidence he needed to stay positive and enjoy the season. They definitey became the most improved team over the season! Unfortuantely I wasn’t able to capture any of Mason’s goals on camera over the season, but we caught Matts!

Comments:

michelle said…

Way to go Mason and Matt! Looks like some great times. You guys are quite the tough guys-keep it up.
Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:31:07 AM

Grandma and Grandpa Parker said…

Matt and Mason are grandsons to be proud of. They are strong but real gentlemen.
Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:50:46 PM

Don’t you judge me!

Lex and Riley had a fun soccer season! They were great little players and had tons on fun too. They are so silly together – whenever they communicate with each other they use "Paul Blart" voices (really it is the character Pahoon they mimic). They would walk around saying, "don’t you judge me…." and then add something applicable.

On the last night of soccer games they went out with a bang! I looked behind me and saw a couple of big booties! It made me have a laugh – they were saying "Don’t you judge us!"

FYI – Alexis is almost there on her splits! We are very excited for her because it is one of her goals this year!

Comments:

michelle said…

Nice shots! You guys are pretty fun girls. Good job on the splits-way to work on goals.
Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:33:21 AM

Grandma and Grandpa Parker said…

Sorry, but we are always making judgments, and we think you two are cool.
Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:54:29 PM

Boise Baldwin Style

This past weekend we hit the road and traveled to visit the Baldwin’s in Boise.

I don’t think I’ve seen Mason smile as much as he did Friday night in a long time. Uncle Eric fed us some burgers and then we loaded up the bikes and visited a bike park that is every little and big boy’s dream! Eric had bragged it up to Mason this summer and it did not disappoint!  Mason  was a maniac trying out the jumps and definitely loved the thrill of feeling the wind go fast through his hair. Grandpa Baldwin even hit the trail! We celebrated Grant’s twelfth birthday with some amazing home made cupcakes.

The next day we all went on a wonderful bike ride along the Boise greenbelt. It was so beautiful and not too hot! Magan was awesome and pulled Olivia and JT in the bike trailer. My broken finger held up well on the gentle ride. We had a fun picnic too. Magan has a fun tradition that when you go through the tunnel you have to scream all of the way through. Olivia and JT giggled every time – I loved listening to it!

By the time we got back from our bike ride we were hot and ready for a swim. It is a rare moment, but even I got wet because I was that hot. Stephen was so in his element eating pulled pork tacos and enjoying a delicious fiesta later that night! Ashley and her friend McKay came for a visit and watched Magan finish up her apron we were working on.

Sunday we got attend church and witness Grant receive the aaronic priesthood. He is really a top notch kid. He is very intelligent & respectful. Olivia and Lily had great fun playing with miss Grace. After church Stephen announced our travel plans for coming home. (check out his blog for his details) I’ll just say that it was quite long (9 hours), windy roads (yuck), lost his wallet (we think at Red Fish Lake), beautiful (sawtooth mts), peaceful (sleeping children), scary & sad (we saw a motorcycle fatality), puky (Alexis vomited from being car sick), productive (Alexis finished her stitcheries), and fun (we played name that tune and had a quick picnic). When we finally got home we went straight to bed!

Comments:

michelle said…

Looks like a fun trip. The bike park looks pretty fun too. Way to make some fun memories. I’m not so sure about the 9 hour drive-that might have done my family in.
Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:37:30 AM

Riley said..
.

Looks Like a lot of fun!!!
Saturday, September 12, 2009 1:53:04 PM

Megan said…

That sagebrush reminds me of my years in Boise growing up. I haven’t visited there for a long time!
Friday, September 25, 2009 11:35:07 PM

It stinks


The missing diaper caper

It stinks – literally… Today we had a funny thing happen. I picked up JT because I smelled something unpleasing after breakfast. I picked him up in his blanket sleeper and he felt skinner around the bum area. I was puzzled and unzipped to investigate. The picture below is what I found! I really made me giggle, which really made Olivia giggle, which also made JT start to laugh. It was great – guess his overnight urine supply was weighing him down.

It stinks that on Monday JT took a good shiner to the head. We were at the optometrist finalizing Alexis’ new glass frames when he ran up to us, tripped and head butted the desk with much force! It blew up instantly and troubled him, me, Alexis, and all of Dr. Hatch’s staff. He was crying really hard as you can imagine when he was brought a glass of water and a sucker – he quieted as quickly as he had started and was good to go. He did touch it a couple of times on the way home and said,"Owee".

It stinks that on …. Sunday night we had another crazy caper concerning this fella. All of our company had departed after Olivia’s B-Day party and the older kids were preparing for bed. I wondered where JT had traveled off to and ended up finding him in the mud room bathroom. As I assessed the situation I began to scream at the top of my lungs. I saw an opened toilet with #1 and #2 duties in it (another tidbit, there was no trace of toilet paper), a cup on the floor – no doubt retrieved from the tub, a skiff of fecal matter on my green shag rug, and moisture coming down JT’s chin! This is one of those moments when I am grateful for my husband! He rolled his sleeves up and took care of every last thing. I was in a paranoid fit, worried that JT was going to get EColi. Rest assured he has been just fine the past few days in that department.

It stinks that JT isn’t an infant anymore.  JT has hit another milestone and right of passage: Nursery! He has been going the last couple of weeks because he is now 18 months old. He has done very well with the transition, only fussy for the first few moments and then is easily distracted. WHEW – that is a relief. As much as I am sad that he is growing so quickly it is fun to watch him discover the world and the things in it. He just has one of the cutest smiles that I have ever seen, you need to see it for yourself in person. He is also really great at understanding and following directions. His family are his favorite friends still – especially Dad and Lexi. He is very independent and will find a way to tangibly acquire anything he desires – doesn’t matter how hard or high. Yes is has monkey genes inherited from his father most likely. Still loves tractors and helping me mow the lawn. All in all he is a very easy going little dude and we just love him like crazy.


No, that isn’t a moon boot under JT’s right leg – it’s his night time diaper.
Makes me sad to just look at it again.
Man that’s big!