Showin' Some Love to the Man who Brings home the Bacon

On Fathers' Day, we tried to make breakfast in bed for Chris, but lately he never stays in bed long enough to enjoy there 'cuz he's so accustomed to long hours @ work that he can't sleep in that late anymore. This year Dane said it was actually "'tuz syrup was too titty (sticky)":) Notice side dish of Dr. Pepper soda poppers...Both of the older boys had created special homemade gifts in their respective classes before school was out for summer-Chris is appreciating Cole's cool foam frame (despite his brother's mixed reviews in the background=new fav sign?) & reviewing Dane's fun coupons!












Meanwhile Huey & I remembered late Sat. night that Chris wanted smoker box, so we went back out to store for accessories instead of separate contraption. Figured to first see how much we'd use cheaper version considering never touched the rotisserie that goes with grill:) Here's the man of the day the very next week in action!Prob already memorized most o' these stats, but joked that now he can learn to read with Cole since rest of his gifts were from Borders...
















Come to find out later, he bought himself a pair of shoes earlier in the month?! Well, guess he has that prerogative since he's the one who brings home the bacon & usually cooks it too:) Just hope he knows how much he is loved by three men and a lady for his hard work, humor and dedication on this day & always!

Evidence o' Boys

T'is summer & @ the Parker house...
No worries about missing bus anymore & am hours are nice & leisurely (fwiw, only missed a few times in whole yr and that was bus driver's fault for coming/leaving so early contrary to popular belief; however, we cut it close on several occas)No furniture is sacred or mess too big to complain about cleaning while having no troubles making on their own-Frogs/bugs/lizards abound-Super heroes are commonplace-Dirt is always welcome...Yes, that is a moat on the side of our house now much to Chris' chagrin, but amazing to see its magnetic pull on Dane even if we're about to get in car for church-

Multiple water guns must be fully loaded @ all times-Movie premieres are a must even if verging on couch potato tendencies between that & x-box-ugh!
Even for this little boy @ heart; pic taken @ midnight & even shirt was his idea, but sidekick was to humor his sons' request prior to their own appearance @ theater-Ya gotta love 'em!:) Just read a book called "Boys Should Be Boys" that I highly recomm to fellow mothers out there who are outnumbered in their places of residence as well:)

Which Season is it?

With all boys @ our house, it's easy to go from this...


















to this in course of a spring week?!













T'is obvious that this family would root for football year-round...Just got #s on jerseys from Christmas & the pads went back on even if we're still a few months away from having it count:)

June B-day Boys & Girl

To the man who has everything (except the feeling back in his hand from pinched nerve in his neck/back:( & who gives everything to his family whom we're fortunate enough to call Daddy...Happy Birthday #55!! Hope you like "Last Lecture" & don't give yours for many years to come:)To the mighty Nebraska-bound baller whom we're proud to call our niece, may all your wishes come true with such a bright future ahead of you!! Enjoy Sonic on us... To the up & coming nephew whom we don't get to see often enough, but couple times is sufficient to make him a fast fav of our boys, hope "you can do whatevah you like" on 6/24!! Try not to spend your b-day cash all in one place but we did send a great card that Cole & Dane are still quoting 'cuz they're all about the ones with sound...

Happy Grad Cait & Linds!

My sister Caitlin graduated on 6/5 from her Community Transition Program... We bought her some cute shoes to wear with her cap & gown-We also got to enjoy a nice program, slide show & Italian buffet @ Joeseppi's!My niece Lindsey graduated on 6/13 from Kentwood High School @ new ShoWare Center in Kent. We bought her those fun cupcakes in school colors & grad mad libs:)-We also had fun BBQ @ her house the following weekend!

Enlightening Ocean Retreat

Silly us...we thought instead of traditional camping, we'd take 25 incl ldrs & pthd chaperones to Long Beach 'cuz it was 90 degrees in Puyallup-sounds like a great idea eh? Too bad the temp cooled a mere 40 degrees en route & I was one of the least prepared ones:( I got to bring the baby who thankfully was entertained by my carful o' girls, but then had a blowout right when we pulled up to hotel-Our valiant YW Pres was kind enough to donate accom. from her timeshare credits:), pictured here on left of Beehive who had never been to the beach before & got wet & then was cold & then was stubborn & didn't change her clothes rest of day? Hmmm...
Luke redeemed himself by falling asleep in Baby Bjorn during our fireside on beach & somehow sleeping rest o' night!! I lucked out again with master suite while all girls were troopers in sleeping bags on floor...Long Live Gary Howard for starting a fire for us although barely warm enough to do s'mores & usually nothing will stop me from consuming several of those tasty morsels?! They're the saving grace of campfires besides good company 'cuz I can't stand the smell permeating everything afterward (Chris' lab instructor had a candle in that scent?! no thanks!) Anyway for my fireside, we followed up on Virtue Apprentice activity from previous month, where groups were assigned to make a commercial re: value (advertised Virtue Vitamins complete with testimonials, side effects & dosage req:)), create a game (opted for Capture Flag, which was postponed until Sat. in hopes the sun would come out tomorrow, but we lost our bottom dollar & played anyway) & design t-shirt (created like VISA featuring list of jewels that had price, but VIRTUE=PRICELESS based on scrip re: virtuous woman far above rubies, complete with credit card on back:). I was proud of 'em, but not so proud o' me for somehow missing iron-on dir so design didn't go right on t-shirts as I'd hoped:( Concluded back in hotel with Alma 5...
Next day we rose above complainers & made best o' wind & fog for more beach time & great meals! To give ya an idea of the weather, this pillow was held against this MiAMaid's face completely by wind & she walked all the way to the water like that:)
This is much appreciated look @ 2 Laurels who finally grinned & bore it:) Then we had the blanket dwellers as well to deal with or just ignore & we chose latter-Also visited 2 lighthouses to further emph symbolism of lightkeepers for annual YW theme of being example o' believers-



















Cruised home & left all boys with babysitter...Thanks to this thoughtful Laurel who became a new favorite when she declared that though Huey cried for a bit before sleeping, she doesn't "like to bother couples who are out?!"
So I also got to enjoy husband's co & new restaurant in Puyallup (@ least to us)=Powerhouse!
I would definitely like to go back for more of all the above contained in my weekend!!

p.s. Long Beach features a sand building contest in July & kite festival in Aug that would be fun to check out if you're looking for summer plans:)

Dzien Dzieci

Well guess we didn't take enough pics to merit blog post, but hey!
T'is not enough in our household to honor your mother & father; we observe Polish holiday aka Kids' Day:) Same deal but recognizing our handsome & mostly good:) boys...as if we don't celebrate them & spoil 'em rest o' year?! Of course they love it but commemoration is growing out of control! First of all, they decided two months ago that they wanted Lego sets from Borders of all places (they have whole section of toys that my boys discovered & that was literally all she wrote, but cheaper now for mom to have a library card:)) Anyway, we hud (Cole's past-tense of hide:)) them right away & have visited 'em monthly until day when finally with mom's donation & their accumulated pennies for good behavior would combine to purchase! Dad somehow didn't get that memo, so he just bought 'em new Transformers this past weekend & I guess the Legos will have to wait after all that:) Cole's solution was to just receive both?! Go Figure! This isn't Christmas dude & you still have couple months until your birthday buddy--Of course, the legos stayed @ the store much to their dismay, but didn't diminish desire to open new Transformers @ crack of dawn (hence comp to Christmas) & were bummed that had school as normal afterward...
Dinner @ Pizza Hut, which is free for kids on Mon. night anyway, but don't tell them-->we can get outta there for $5 including a salad bar for me & the baby plus a tip:)
Hooked up with Chris in time for M's game with Shaws to end our exciting day dedicated to show our love to our favorite little men! Cole is happy anywhere when Dad is beside him-Dane was a bit grumpy from his early am-Prob not amused by our crazy request @ a ballpark of all places to just watch the game instead of demanding concessions every inning or another trip to playground-ugh!
These Parker boys will be sports fans if it's the last thing we do:) Weird for us to leave early due to school night though but you can clearly see why this time around...@ least Luke was pleasant to be around during the game?!We also enjoyed spending time there with Great Grandpa Dick & Great Grandma (GG) Lou who were visiting from UT-