Lunch Box Day

Friday is lunch box day and for some reason, Parker just loves it. We had to take our lunch everyday when I was growing up b/c we didn't have a lunch program at school. Occasionally a Junior or Senior class would sell baked potatoes or spaghetti or something like that, but for the most part, I was brown-bagging it. I really liked that ham with the cheese chunks in it-- isn't that the grossest thing ever. Ick- makes me want to hurl thinking about it now. Now, on lunch box day, Parker will bolt out of bed and be so excited about lunch. Maybe that's b/c her lunch box is Disney Princess. And you know how into anything Princess she is. Today she took a turkey and cheese on whole wheat tortilla, baby carrots, red seedless grapes, wheat thins, and I threw in a monkey fruit snack b/c I felt guilty. She wanted monkey fruit snacks last night but she had already brushed her teeth and it was too close to bedtime. Doesn't she look so grown up, like such a big kid?

Clearly Hair- esay

After I picked up Parker from school, my mom called and she was telling me about telling a friend about Parker's crazy hair days. We think that her hair is pretty straight but then somedays, after nap or in the mornings, you have got to wonder what she does to wallop her hair like she does. Well- it just so happens that I picked her up from school and her hair was a mess. Her hair bow was lost-- as it is about 3 days as week, and her hair was just wild. And duuuuuusty, too! It was 76 here yesterday and so they played outside alot. She appeared to have just rolled around on her head. So, anyway, my mom and I were talking about this hair situation and laughing about it. Parker apparently knew that her CeCe was talking about her. We went to her room to get ready for bath and she started combing her hair. I tried to get a pic before she coiffed her 'do but this is the best that I could do. Her crazy hair is one thing that I have vowed not to worry about. I mean, she is at daycare with 10 other kids that have the same look. I remember having to sleep in those stinkin' pink hair rollers when I was growing up. I WILL NOT make poor Parker P do that. I specifically remember having to sleep in them on Saturday nights before church and the night before school picture day. I probably had dark circles under my eyes from tossing and turning with those things attached to my head, but by golly, my hair was curly and presentable!!

Boxes, Boxes Everywhere

This morning we told Parker that her new princess bed was delivered last night. She followed with "oh mommy, now am I a REAL princess?" Um, well- yes! of course you are. Her princess bed is really just a daybed that we have been selling to her as a "princess" bed so that she'll be super excited about moving into a new room and giving New Baby her old one. So Far, So Good. As soon as the room is put together, I'll post a pic. The walls are pink- Very Princess! The furniture boxes are huge and heavy and I don't see how Matt is going to get these moved around. Or how in the world that we are going to get these things assembled. I will definitely try to help but I have a sneaking feeling that Matt will chase me out of the room to work alone. hehe. Tonight I made Jambalaya in my CrockPot. I put it on at lunch today and then just added the shrimp and rice when I got home. It was a hit! Matt said that he really liked it and now we still have enough to have some for leftovers and add some to the freezer for a quick and easy meal another day. This is my second slow cooker meal that I have made in the past couple of weeks. I'm trying to do at least one CrockPot meal during the week b/c it feeds us forever and makes for a great meal for another night down the road. Last time, I made Chicken and Dumplings and they were great too! I'm sure with my capability of burning cookies and who knows what else that I will have a disaster before long, but keep your fingers crossed. :) Parker loves putting together puzzles and tonight was no different. At night,we usually end up reading books, playing the Memory game, or putting together puzzles. Let me tell you-- she is only two-- well almost three-- but she can play a mean game of Memory. She is good!! Although sometimes we have to remind her not to cheat, which she calls "cheek." When she wins, which is often, she'll say "and I not even cheek!!" obviously beaming with pride as she stacks up "her pile." Tonight was a puzzle night and she put together a 25 piece Winnie the Pooh puzzle. A genius in the making!! :)

The Day I Felt Really Old

On Sundays, we generally clean the house and I make a trip to the grocery store to get whatever we need for the week. So I'm in the middle of Kroger doing all of my shopping and I don't even remember what sort of elevator music they were playing, but I caught myself thinking... "Man, they are playing some pretty decent music at Kroger today"... And then I almost laughed out loud at myself. By the way- I saved $67 using my Kroger card and coupons, I was so excited about this b/c I've been really working hard to pay attention to what's on sale and really make an effort to pair up with coupons. Then I get home and Matt and I are putting up the groceries. We don't have enough room in the freezer with all of the stockpiling that I'm trying to do with my frozen sale items. We resign ourselves to the fact that we are going to have to remove the frozen beer mugs from the freezer. It was a sad day in our household. Granted, it has been months and months and maybe longer for me, with being pregs and all, since those mugs have been used, but it was like the passing of an era. Then I remembered my music situation at Kroger and figured out that I am officially somewhat old. And then I giggled again. Well Parker P is super into cleaning the house. She really loves being the helper and throwing stuff away and getting her cleaning rag and "using spray." She answers every request with "of course" and always does her best. I hope she is this helpful when New Baby arrives. This is a cute pic of her cleaning the kitchen floor with Matt. Somehow I think he talked her into getting into all of the little nooks and crannies which are the perfect size for a 2 year old. She loves it. OK- I know that she looks like little Orphan Annie or Cinderella but she really does like it. :) Really she does... A huge thanks to Sherry Lux for clueing me in on how to do the pics. She has such a cute blog and family so I am constantly stalking her blog for updates. I am going to add her as a clickable Blog I Love as soon as I figure out how. One step at a time...

The Nature Center

On Saturday, we met Matt down at the River Market for breakfast. He had just finished running 12 miles-- Go Matt!!-- and it was very exciting for Parker to have breakfast out. She was quite entertaining sitting like such a big girl having her blueberry muffin, sipping orange juice, and reading the Arkansas Times to us. She will sometimes point to the articles and ask us what it says, but her favorite thing is to read to us. She will look at a picture and tell us what the article or comic strip is about. Her interpretations are hilarious. Next we headed over to the Library to check out a few books for the week and listen to a children's music program that the Kinders were putting on. Parker was overwhelmed by the voluminous variety of books and had trouble picking out just a few. We ended up with a Dinosaur book, a Piggy Wiggy book about shapes, and a song book about Snuggle Puppy. The Kinders were lots of fun and Parker met a new friend, Lydia, whose mom works with Matt. She was a little shy around all of the other kids but continues to talk about the day. Then we headed down to the Stephens Nature Center to see what was inside. They had a lot of things about hunting and fishing and wildlife in general. Parker was most impressed with the huge fish swimming in the tanks. We watched and watched them and she wanted to take lots of pictures of them. They are sooooo much bigger than our Cheeto and Dorito at home... but not nearly as colorful!! All in all, a great Saturday.