wednesday

so, today has been bittersweet. we had Bible study, or small group or whatever you want to call it here at the house like every wednesday, but today was my friend alisha's last time to come for a while. she is moving to the mountains next week and i am sad. it's not too far away and i know that i will talk to her and i will even see her sometimes, but after she left today it hit me. i am bummed. i don't like it when the Lord's plan for my friends is for them to move away, but it is the second time in less than a year, and i trust that His plan is much perfecter than mine. so, okay, Lord. i am trying to understand. sigh.


here is a picture of ellen watching her brothers play outside.

kids and snow and a resolution update.

so, we are doing pretty well. i have been a little on the lazy side this week, honestly. just as predicted, exercising and keeping my mouth shut have been the most difficult resolutions to keep. i haven't exercised one time, and although i have made efforts to listen more, talk less- i haven't completely been successful. :) i have been able to read my Bible everyday, well, the Bible on my ipod anyway. even if i have to do it while i am nursing ellen, i have so enjoyed it! i have lost a few lbs. and have done pretty well in the spending category. i have cooked a lot more, and have tried to keep it healthful, so yay! the direct tv being off has gone well, too- we (well, i) have scrambled a couple of times to get kids in bed in order to watch a show. tivo, i was your biggest fan. (not to be confused with tim teebo- stacey and other sporty friends, that is for you. even though i highly tout teebo and his Jesus-loving-football-playing self) where was i- oh- i am going to be watching lost on the computer, because i couldn't watch from start to finish and i don't want to be interrupted during lost. i do believe that is the most random and wacky paragraph that i have ever written.

we had snow! it wasn't a lot, but it was nice. joel had to go to work, and i found it a little difficult to keep up with all three kiddos by myself. we bundled up and headed out anyway. ellen seemed oblivious- she just crawled around a little, but i brought her in after a few minutes.

lane and davis started to play in it right away. then lane realized that the snow made his hands wet and that it was cold and snow got on his golf club and wouldn't come off and he didn't want gloves on and the world was coming to an end. he came inside after about 5 minutes.

davis loved being out in it. i wish that i could've played with him more, he was all bundled up with boots and a snow bib, gloves and hat. he was loving it. until he peed his pants. poor thing. it has only happened a couple of times ever, and he was so bummed. he wanted to keep playing in the snow, but i made him come in. (davis if you are ever old enough to read this- i just want you to know it is my job as a parent to remember stories like these and tell everyone we know.) that was the end of our snow day. and this is the end of today's blog. :)

my nine new years resolutions

or- if you totally have a handle on your money and weight, make the best use of your time and have perfect children, please read the following with grace, because i don't.

so, a while back i started to feel like my life was out of control. (now as a quick aside, please know that i believe with all of my being that God is sovereign, and in complete control.) i have been excited about making a change, even though i usually do not like change. i had decided that once 2009 came around, things were going to look a lot different around the parker house, and in my life in particular. i can't remember really making any new years resolutions in the past, but i had to change some things. while i was talking to joel about some of my frustrations, he said it really sounds like some stuff really has control over us (or you, meaning me, angie, the blog writer, not you, the blog reader) i never had thought of it that way, but he was so right. there are a few things that i have allowed much too important a place in my life and in the life of my family. a lot of my 'resolutions' have come out of some things that the Lord has shown me. a lot of things about me are undesirable, yet He chooses me and lifts me up so that i can be productive and bear fruit in order that i might glorify Him.

so, here go your changes:

LESS TV

2008- (and many years prior) i am a tv junkie! this is how i veg. i have turned my children into tv junkies. the tv is on almost all day until joel gets home. after the kids go to bed, i turn the tv back on and watch until i go to bed, which is late here in the eastern time zone. we have a tivo and i inadvertently try to rewind the radio and hotel tv's, etc. love my tivo! love my tv shows!

2009- joel unhooked the tivo and the direct tv last night and hooked up our cute little digital converter box. i have to be honest, my chest tightened a bit and i had to take deep breaths. this is big, peeps! i don't know how many channels we get now, or the quality of said channels we might get, but i look forward to sweet times like this:

SPEND LESS

2008 (and many years prior) hey, we don't spend money left and right, but i do spend on needless things for me and the kids.

2009- magazine subscriptions cancelled, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for sunday lunch (which just goes against all rational thought- i mean my body needs salsaritas for lunch every sunday we can swing it), little changes that will help us be better stewards. the no direct tv bill will be nice, too.

EXERCISE MORE

um, i am waiting for my workout videos to come any day now, seriously. and i used christmas money to purchase them, so there. i will say that this will be my most difficult one to follow through on. let it be known that i am going on a sa-weet vacation with my husband this summer for our 10 year anniversary. i will be in better shape by then. amen and amen.

EAT LESS

2008 (and many years prior) i have been pregnant or nursing for the last 5 ish years of my life. i eat whatever i want when i am pregnant or nursing. this is not the best idea. this is truly an area that i have lost control. i eat especially when i am depressed or frustrated or when i am happy and want to celebrate. uh oh, i just realized that that is almost all of the time. yikes. (you get the picture)

2009- i am currently very hungry. would someone please bring by some raisinettes? or mail them, because chances are, i will be hungry when the package arrives.

READ THE BIBLE

2008 (and many years prior) i have not had a consistent personal time in the Word since i was pregnant with davis. peeps, he is 4 1/2. i am just being gut level here. i have done Bible study homework, and or prepared for times that i have taught, but quiet times and Bible reading have been sporadic at best. this has caused my heart much grief and there has been much guilt. but that was angie version 2008.

2009- i must report that i have done better with this and enjoyed every moment. my wunnerful husband bought me a ipod touch for christmas. i click the screen three times and my daily Bible reading is right there on the screen. i have so enjoyed this time. i have also been able to listen to cool sermons on my ipod. i am excited about knowing my God more and giving him control on a daily basis. joel suggested that getting an ipod doesn't guarantee a spiritual boost, so fair warning, i guess.

ENGAGE MORE AS A PARENT

2008 (and many years prior) a friend told me that she learned along the way that screaming at your kids means you have lost control. oops! i am very good at parenting from the couch. and i tend to check out and need 'me' time when i am frustrated. our chore chart/responsibility chart is so lame and i have slacked in my homeschooling davis.

2009- i am so enjoying homeschooling! the kids are, too. we are rethinking how we do things with the kids, really seeking the Lord on how to best parent them as individuals (you know, that ellen is a real discipline problem) too much to type here. look out parker kids.

READ MORE
2008 (and many years prior) i can't remember the last time i started and finished a book. i am a book collector. i buy them, put them on the nightstand with every intention of reading, then move them to the bookshelf.

2009 i have read 10 books already. just kidding- is anyone still reading this? i am reading don't waste your life with my friend alisha. this will be the first book of many that i will complete this year. goodness knows i won't be watching top chef, so this should help with the reading.

DECLUTTER OUR HOUSE

2008 (and many years prior) we were on the verge of our stuff overtaking us and our house. i really don't do well with clutter, but over the years, i haven't taken the time to really get rid of the stuff we don't use.

2009 joel took a truck load of stuff to the goodwill on saturday. this process will take longer than i would like, but we are on the right track.

SHUT UP MORE, LISTEN MORE
if you are around me at all this needs no explanation. i am a verbal processor and i tend to dominate conversations. this will be the second hardest one to follow through on.

now there is a church sign here in town that says something like this...

"Goals for 2008: Save money, lose weight. How's that working for you?" it made me chuckle. it made me think this time next year (because we can guess that they will put the same thing on there) i will be able to say in your face, tacky lighted church sign. in. your. face.

so there you have it. i have had a great 2009 so far and i am hopeful about what is to come.

our sweetie girl

our sweet ellen is getting to be such a big girl! (lane does not agree- he argued with me the other day and said that she is a "little baby one") she is crawling everywhere and now starting to pull up on things. did i mention that i am not quite ready for the pulling up stage? she puts everything in her mouth and i can't take my eyes off of her lest she ingest an army man or a string or a fuzz or a tiny christmas tree pine needle. how did i forget this stage? it has kind of taken me by surprise. she cut her first tooth this week and got her learner's permit. it is really going too fast. don't worry, she got some mary janes for christmas from our friend vicki. they are super CUTE! maybe a bitty baby for her birthday?

we had fun at aunt's house playing with some hats. i thought i'd share some of the pics:

our christmas (part three, with angie's fam)

the third christmas celebration we had was in calcasieu with my parents. chet and ashley, stone and stahley were able to be there, too. it had been two years since we had seen them, so a visit was long overdue! with six adults and five kids (and one on the way :) ) we knew it would be crowded- mom and dad had a friend offer for us to use his families' camper. it really worked out great. joel and the boys and chet and his kiddos all slept in the 'man cave' (poor stahley with all of those guys :) ) and the rest of us stayed in the house. the kids really loved the trailer! honestly, it was nice to not have to deal with putting them to bed or get up with them during the night. joel was a trooper to have to do that most nights. i really enjoyed getting to visit with mom and ashley in the evenings after everyone went to bed.

for those of you who don't know, i grew up in the country, and when we visit, i really look forward to just hanging out and not being so busy. i am glad that we didn't have a lot going on and we able to just spend time together. we had our 'christmas morning' on the 26th. the kids had a ball and enjoyed playing with their toys and stone's toys, too. :) lane and ellen were really sick by that time. lots of coughing and fevers that wouldn't go away. it made me sad that lane really wasn't himself for most of the visit, just because he was so sick.

some of us (ash was sweet to stay home with sick kids) went to church with my parents on sunday. we all met up for lunch afterward and it was pretty crazy as you can imagine with all the kids. we went for a quick visit at my parent's friends' connie and gene's. this is where we took pictures of the family and i forgot my camera. you will just have to take my word for it that we were all together and in church clothes. :)

joel and chet got to go see louisiana tech in the independence bowl. they won! it was fun to watch some of the game on tv. the kids were really cheering and that was fun. that night we let them have a slumber party on the living room floor and eat popcorn and watch a movie. they really did have such a fun time with their cousins.

at some point, the guys all went to my dad's hunting lease to shoot guns and do boy stuff. :) they also got to shoot off the rockets that our boys got for christmas. that was really fun.

ashley and i decided to paint the back room at my parents house for them. i think it turned out really nice, but it was kind of crazy juggling the sick kids and the like.

i got to spend some time with my best friends from high school, christy and bridgett. i always enjoy time with them. we always laugh a lot. lifelong friends are the best!

by wednesday morning, lane was not feeling well at all and ellen and davis were sick, too. we didn't want to leave for a two day car ride with three very sick kids, so we took them to the doctor. we waited forever, but once they saw lane he had over a 104 fever. the nurses were pretty freaked out and it was so sad to have him so lathargic and sick. it is the most nervous i think i have been about a sick kiddo, for sure. turns out, he had a double ear infection and ellen had one ear infection. we got loaded up with drugs (literally) and within the next day or so, they were starting to feel better. what a yucky thing to deal with on vacation. i am thankful that it was nothing worse.

(stone taught davis to say "do you have your tickets?" "tickets to the gun show!":

we left on new years eve, it was sad to leave my family. thanks, mom and dad for all you do for us. we had a great time. and chet and ash, let's not go two more years. :)

we headed home- but we had to stop early in order to watch the lsu game. :) it was a really enjoyable evening, ordering room service (fayncee) watching lsu dominate and going to sleep early. it is so good to be home. the house is completely trashed beyond recognition, but i don't even care yet. it will get clean eventually, i hope so anyway... new years resolution #1- unpack and clean.

our christmas (part two, with joel's fam)

so, around 2:00 on the friday before christmas, we packed up a very full van and headed for louisiana. we had to stop for the night in who knows where, georgia and then start our second day of driving. we finally arrived in st. francisville on saturday around dinner time. the kids traveled really well, but it was good to be there! we stayed in a house that one of aunt dianne's friends graciously let us use. it was beautiful and relaxing and was in a spot on the lake that was just perfect for the boys to play in. we really enjoyed waking up and being able to look out over the lake from the room we were staying in. just beautiful!!

it was so much fun to spend time with joel's mom and joy! check out her cool new purple hair. :) (not joel's mom, but joy's- ha) we were also glad to get to spend christmas with joel's aunt dianne (the aunt that my kids just call AUNT) and her husband lemmie. i am thankful that they were willing to put up with my kids so much of the time!! here are some of the highlights:

*lots of fun times with dee dee and aunt joy!

* we discovered that lane doesn't like AUNT's dog t-blue

* more christmas dreams came true in the form of lightsabers (they quickly became "outside toys")

*lemmie is a great cook. davis stated an already known fact. we had lots of yummy meals!

*we spent some time in st. francisville. we went to visit this beautiful old church. davis walked in and said: 'this church is old and beat down. it even has cracks in the ceiling.' oh, my word.

*aunt gave ellen such a sweet gift. it is a silver tea set that joel's meme bought years ago and saved it away. what a precious gift to remember meme by! the tea set is one of the few things unpacked (no comment on the unpacking) and displayed on ellen's dresser. we love it!

*it warmed up enough for the boys to go on a boat ride! what fun!

*fun with AUNT and cracking up at lemmie. aunt dianne (who is a wonderful seamstress) spent some time with me teaching me the ins and outs of using a pattern. no promises, but i am going to give it a go... maybe ellen will have a sundress this summer.

debbie, thanks so much for being so good to us and our kiddos! we had a great time. :)

our christmas (part one)

i feel like we have celebrated christmas until my celebrator (celebrater?) is broken. i absolutely love this time of year, but i am ready for the new year and all my fifteen resolutions to begin. (just so you will know, i am officially starting my resolutions on monday, more coming on that another day...)

before i move on to new year stuff, i want to chronicle our three christmases. first, our christmas here in north carolina. we celebrated on december 13th. yep, the 13th. we wanted to have our kids open presents here and have a lazy, pajama wearing, hang out and play with toys kind of day with our immediate family, so our last possible day to do it was the 13th. the kids don't know any different, so we went with it. it was a really fun time, and i think all of their christmas dreams came true (see following picture):

ellen officially started crawling before we left for louisiana. look out now. :) she is such a cutie.

i made lots of candies for friends at bible study, etc. and that was fun. i decided that i could make candies for a living. besides the mess, i find it very relaxing. and yummy.

i got a fun new toy from joel, i have really enjoyed my ipod and getting it set up and stuff. any advice on great new songs that i need to upload? i have a real sweetie for a husband. thanks, joel for the great christmas gift.

everything in my life points back to God's faithfulness to me and His goodness. christmas is another time that His love for us is so evident, and for that i am grateful.