A Day with Little Man

Evan and I had the wonderful opportunity of hanging out together, just the two of us.  I really enjoy the one on one with my boys!  He helped me with some shopping at Costco just to get a few things...yea right! Who goes into Costco with just a few things!

I don't think it's humanly possible to buy just a thing or two there.  For us, a family of four we can't and do not use half of what these guys have to offer.

We did check out their book selection and their prices were very reasonable as always but it's always going to have to be the non perishable items we go for.

Then there's the occasional don't really need but want item that tempts you into coming out of there $300 poorer.  We went in for two or three things and ended up with at least 15-20 I think...oops!!

Evan wanted to go to Arby's for lunch; ahhh, the memories of my first job!  This is one of the crappiest looking Arby's and it would be the only one we have in our town.  It must be nice to have a monopoly on the roast beef franchise in one city.  I still love the taste of that roast beef though...! 

Didn't matter though we had a great time and he ate all his lunch!  It was still fun just to be with him. 

My Karate Kid! ♥

One Down, One to Go!

Hard to believe but another school year has come and gone! Evan graduated Wednesday from Kindergarten...yes, just kindergarten. It's like starting all over again cause...we are! It's been a really great year for him and myself cause I had the chance to work in his classroom quite a bit this year and he had an awesome teacher!  It was such a cute program  she put together, I know the kids enjoyed it.  On top of that, she burned discs for all the parents with a slide show to music and pictures of all the kids throughout the school year.  It took a lot to not cry but luckily there were a lot of funny pictures to keep us laughing more than anything!

A few of the moms put together refreshments and eats for the graduation.  It was very well done.  The group of moms we've had were fantastic, everyone was just so nice and friendly...unlike the typical "Parker" ladies.  Just down to earth and fun to work with!

Evan made a lot of friends in his class and all the kids were so sweet and a joy to work with.  Yes, even the girls were tolerable.  It's a long road for these little ones but as long as they have a lot fun along the way then it'll be OK!

It's 2010...Can you believe it?

As we approach the middle of January it is still hard to believe that it's the year 2010 and I've made it another year! The kids are getting older and we're definitely getting older that's a given. 2009 has been filled with many wonderful times and events that we're so grateful for and not soon forget.

I can't help but realize that we are also here for such a short time; really just a glimpse. I love my family and still can't believe how blessed I have been. What are your resolutions as we approach a new decade? It is still in question how we would address this decade...strange, never thought we'd get here!

In a couple of months we will join Steve and Kristal in Puerto Vallarta for a few days in the sun. Kurt and Steve will actually be there a week before Kristal and I for the boys portion of the trip. The Bays own a timeshare and traded them for two units in PV and decided it would be fun if the girls joined them for the last portion of it. It was a great surprise and I'm excited to go.

Steve's mom Judy has offered to watch our boys while we're away - couldn't ask for more generosity than that! She is such a sweet lady and the boys will be in good hands I know!

Jared is getting ready to turn 12 next month! I still can't believe it. He's made a good friend this year in his class. His name is Colton with a little brother Garrett who is 9. Colton and Jared have a shared interest in airsoft guns and his family also enjoys camping and hunting. They seem like a really nice couple. It's hard enough finding kids that comes from a good family with manners and are courteous let alone a family of boys! So it's been a win and win situation.

Jared is still active in his school band program playing the trumpet and looks forward to practice every Tuesday and Friday. Starting next Wednesday he will be taking a Jazz appreciation class; which will be exciting to introduce him to the world of jazz through instruments.

Mrs. O'Connor, his band teacher has been very motivational for him and seem to appreciate his presence in class; which is more than I can say for his room teacher. I think certain people just shouldn't teach if you like playing favorites...

Evan has enjoyed being in Mrs. Pierces kindergarten class even though we worried he would be bored academically. However he has really embraced being around his friends in class and out of class and the activities given. We invited a few of his friends to his birthday party back in October and really enjoyed having them there. We found he could also use a little brushing up on some handwriting, math skills and reading comprehension; so kindergarten is not a total waste of
time as I thought it might have been.

We will however be taking a welcome break from Northeast for a while and hope by the time Evan goes there it will be better and we'll have a new outlook on it.

As I close this entry I ask what will you do differently this year? There are the obvious personal physical and health goals but as a person of humanity I will be a more pleasant person, not talk about people so much especially in mixed company and try harder to go with the flow...!


Lastly, my main goal is to talk to and find people that are REAL. No hidden agendas, no lying but to speak with tact, how one really sees things and/or feels. I'm at a point right now where it somehow seems important to live this way.

Happy New Year !

Lost tooth, New tooth

Evan finally lost his first tooth! It hung in there for quite some time but it eventually came out as he was brushing his teeth.

He couldn't wait to tell everyone at school the next day and by george that's exactly what he did when he stepped out of the car and into the hands of the ladies that receive the kids in the drop off at school!

Another milestone and many more to come as we re-ride this roller coaster again but this time with Evan!

First Day of Kindergarten

Our second one officially started Kindergarten! It seem so crazy considering that most of our friends kids are deciding on college or just graduated high school and we have very small children still...but sometimes you can't control when these kiddies will come along in your lives; you're just glad that they are here!

I think I was more nervous about him going to school and riding the bus at the end of the day. I asked Evan if he was scared and his cute response is always, "Mom, I'm not afraid of anything!" I hope that stays with him forever! I had Jared ride the bus with him for these first couple of weeks just so he knows what it feels like and gets off at the right stop. Even though Jared is only within 5 minutes from home he readily volunteers to ride with Evan for as long as he wants him to. There are moments of sibling kindness...though rare at times...they exist!

After much anticipation, his new teacher is Mrs. Holly Pierce. She seems like a very sweet and nice teacher. I helped out a lot during the first week and the kids all seem to like her very much. Our track was teacher-less forever, probably because it was a position that only required an afternoon for a few hours.

This is now his second week and I just pull up to the school and drop him off to line up in front of the school. He's such a big boy (in his mind) conquering all the little milestones that we hold dear to our hearts.

Life is strange and I can't seem to remember what life was like before the boys...!

Round and round we go

Another year has gone by since Evan graduated from his preschool class affectionately call Corduroy Court at Imagination Plus (I.P.). He now has graduated from their private kindergarten program and will start public school kindergarten at Mtn. View.

We have mixed feelings but will refrain from any changes until we see how he does when he starts in July. Douglas County requires that all eligible school aged children must attend their kindergarten program regardless of whether they have had previous schooling or not. So hopefully he won't too bored. To date, we don't even have a teacher hired for his track!! Oy Vay!!

Evan has learned so much at I.P. and reads to us now and has been since last year. It's amazing what a school full of dedicated teachers and limited number of students can do for a single child. However, he will now enter into a system so bankrupt that we're lucky they even have kindergarten!

As we move to another chapter of little Evan's life - we will fondly remember all the wonderful and sweet people at I.P. and thank them for all that they've done for Evan.

Let's Check Out the Latest

The Denver Auto Show was in town again and surprisingly a lot of people were there despite the economy. We had been talking about getting a new car since my Sienna is all paid off and I'm so over a minivan!! As you all recall, I purchased the van mainly for Chewy because it was the only vehicle with a backseat window that actually goes down and I wanted a walkway from back to front so Chewy can get to me. Unfortunately he died shortly after that purchase and here I am with a minivan to transport what? the kids! Just kidding!!

Kurt had secretly checked out a new four door sedan VW came out with called the "CC" - it was a more luxurious version of a Passat. However, the body was sleeker and more like a coupe, he drove it and really liked it. The price was hard to beat too - fully loaded at around $42,000.00. Then he thought he would check out the new Audi Q5, a smaller version of the Q7 which was my initial choice a couple of years ago. Like the VW, Audi has all the bells, whistles and gadgets that has become their trademarks and also competitively priced. As I found out later, he almost came home with one of these but wasn't sure which color or if I would even like it without ever driving it. Which I'm glad he didn't...!!!

So we checked them all out at the auto show and in addition, looked into the BMWs, Infinitis and revisted the VW Touareg. It was great to be able to see all the cars in one place. This is the best time to be buying a car because of the dealers willingness to "deal" but it's also the worst time because of the unstable economy!! It's a no win situation. Well, I suppose I could just rack up all my credit cards, overbuy a home that I couldn't afford and then use Obama's plan and have everyone else bail me out! There's a solid plan to save the economy and our country!

We saw a lot of concept cars and of course the "dream cars" - like Lambourghini's, Astin Martins. Jared loved them and Evan loved the Monster Trucks!

It was a matter of time...

Well, it took almost 3 weeks for them to be made but we finally got them. Evan is officially one of us - visually challenged! His teacher Ms. Donna noticed he was squinting and rubbing his eyes a lot and more obvious - holding his books too close to his eyes.

We took him to an Opthamologist and after two hours and several tests he was diagnosed with a Amblyopia - a form of "lazy eye" in his right eye.

Kurt wanted to take him to an eye surgeon instead of just an optician because he knew more likely than not, Evan had inherited his own vision issues.

We will be returning at the end of next month for a follow up to see whether or not they need to do some other form of therapy or make any corrections to the glasses. For now, he is very excited to have his new "attachment" to his face and trying to remember to use both hands to take the glasses off and to not touch the lenses with his fingers. The latter being harder to remember being five years old and all!!