A good visit with Santa

Parker had a good visit with Santa this past weekend.  He climb up in the sleigh all by himself and he sat nicely by Santa and smiled really big.  Then Santa asked Parker what he wanted for Christmas.  The only thing Parker managed to tell him is that he wanted "a swirly lollipop".  Santa was quite surprised that was all he wanted.  After hearing from hundreds of kids earlier in the day who probably wanted all kinds of expensive toys, Parker just wanted a lollipop.  Don't get me wrong, Parker wants a bunch of toys too.  It is just funny that his one chance to tell Santa what he wanted and he choose the lollipop. :)

If you want to order any of the pictures that were taken, go to this http://ashleynostalgia.findyourpictures.com/ and select User ID SLC.  Then type the password 09000405.  Happy holidays!!!

Craft fun!

Parker and I worked on crafts for a good portion of the day today. We built some Legos and three vehicles: a bus, an ice cream truck, and a race car. We had a lot of fun!

Spooky ghost

We'll, here is the result of our efforts. Not too bad, huh?

Carving a jack-o-lantern

This afternoon, Parker and dada carved their first jack-o-lantern together. Check out the before and after. Parker was a big help with the stencil. 

Pictures from another $5 camera

Well, yesterday's experiment went so well, I decided to try it again with another $5 camera I bought off of eBay during our trip to the zoo this morning.  This time it was a Kodak Pony 135 Model B.  It was more crude than the Yashika for sure, but it took nice pictures just the same.  Again, I had about 4 or 5 blurry images, but most were passable and these were pretty darn good. 

This is how parker enjoys his snacks at the zoo

'nuff said.

Pictures from a $5 camera

I finally got around to testing the camera a bought on eBay a few years ago for $5.  It is an old Yashica Lynx 14.  It is a rangefinder type camera and has very limited features.  You have to guess at your distance to the subject to set the focal length because the viewfinder is offset and doesn't go through the lens.  Needless to say, there were several blurry images, but I thought these three turned out really well. Actually, I only scrapped four images from the 20 or so that I took.  I like the bokeh this camera has and I think the vibrant color gamut in most of the images is appealing.  Not bad for a vintage camera.

Angry at the fireworks

This is probably my favorite picture that I took in the last several months of Parker.  I mean, I have taken a lot of cute ones, but this one shows his true personality.  He is a little character.  In this picture, Parker is getting mad at the sparkler because he doesn't want it to burn him and some of the little sparks would pop off and hit his arm.  He was letting the sparkler know that he didn't like that one bit.

4th of July parade at school

Parkers school had a 4th of July parade today and I went to see what it was all about. They made decorations and walked around the school grounds. The. They were treated to snow cones. Parker got a cherry one. He had a lot of fun!

Parker loves fireworks!

I have to constantly remind him that fireworks are dangerous and that they can burn little boys, but he really loves them and he mostly listens to me. We have had a good time lighting sparklers and smoke bombs in the backyard this week. Tomorrow should be fun!

Parker nearly pukes

Parker was insistent on riding the teacup today at the mall. I suggested the zebra or tiger, but he knew what he wanted. Afterwards, I think he knew he made a mistake.

Parker's party

Parker isn't quite 4 years old yet, but he had his party yesterday. Many of his friends showed up to celebrate. Then we went back to the house and built Legos that received as gifts.

30 white horses on a red hill...

First they champ, then they stamp, then they stand still!

That's the way the riddle goes in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit".  But this weekend it was more like, first they champ, then they stamp, then two of the top ones come out! :)

That's right.  Parker had is top two front teeth removed because they were abscessed and could have ended up causing more problems in the future.  He may get some false teeth in the interim, but the dentist said he can't even sit for his impression for at least three months.  So he will be toothless for the summer.

I have to say, my big boy did such a good job this weekend. He wasn't fussy or difficult except for the 30 minutes right after the procedure.  I gave him some Tylenol and he finally fell asleep on my chest on the couch on Friday afternoon.  Other than that little episode of drama, he has been a total champ.

I want him to know how proud I am of him.  The tooth fairy came to visit this weekend and left him two $2 bills (one for each tooth).  I think we are going to go to the toy store today on the way home from school and buy something with the money.

Below you can see the before and after pictures.  I love my big boy so much!  

BEFORE

Friday, May 31, 2013 approximately 11:00 a.m.

AFTER

Saturday, June 1, 2013 approximately 10:00 a.m.

Parker and the lady bug

Parker found a lady bug at Discovery Green in Houston this past weekend. This is one insect he doesn't mind having crawl on him. Any other bug or fly and he freaks out. :)

School Pics

Check out Parker's cute school pictures.  Although his hair and smile aren't the greatest in the middle picture, I do like his smile in the one on the left and I love how he looks so GQ in the image on the right.  I have tried to pose Parker before and I know how hard it must have been to get him to cross his legs and put his hand in his pocket like that. :)

1st teeth cleaning

Here are some shots of Parker at the dentist this morning. It was his 3rd trip to the dentist but his first cleaning and x-rays. He did very well, but we found out he is going to have to have one of his front teeth pulled because it is abscessed. :(

3rd time is a charm

The first year Parker was alive, we visited the Easter Bunny at the Memorial City mall.  He did pretty well for being 9 months old.  Below is the result of standing in line for over an hour. 

The next two years weren't as fruitful.  Parker threw a fit right as we walked up to sit in the Easter Bunny's lap in both 2011 and 2012.  Needless to say, we didn't get any pictures from either of those years.  But this year Parker did cooperate and the result is this great picture of him smiling despite the Spiderman bandaid on his forehead from falling the week prior.  I guess the 3rd time is a charm! 

Bubbles

Parker got some bubbles for early Easter. That same day (last Sunday) it was really windy. So I showed him how to hold the bubbles up in the wind so that he didn't have to blow. After he let about 100 bubbles pour out of the wand, he took off to pop them.

Everything P!

When I picked up Parker from school yesterday, we wanted to make sure to show me the P that was painted on the courtyard window. He's cute because when he sees a P, he usually says "Parker". He knows his name starts with a P and wants to point out every P he sees.

Parker's early Easter gift

Because dada will be in Seattle next weekend on the real Easter Sunday, we celebrated Easter a week early. This is one of the gifts Parker got in his basket. We built it this morning. It's a helicopter like his dada is learning to fly.

When I get older...

I'd like one of these!

Shopping spree

Parker helped daddy do some shopping this weekend. We need ingredients for chocolate chip pancakes. So we took a trip to Kroger where Parker pushed the cart, scanned the items, and loaded the groceries in the truck. He is such a big helper.

Cowboy Parker

This is what Parker wore to school today. The kids were encouraged to dress like cowboys and girls. :)

Parker at the train show

Here are some photos of Parker enjoying the train show yesterday in Houston.

Parker and the iPad before bed

A quick pic of parker in bed ready to go to sleep this past weekend, but not before he watches a quick episode of Octonauts.