A Very Happy Halloween

Preston had a big night for his first "real" Trick-or-Treat experience. I was so excited to put his little "cowboy" costume on him...he looked REALLY cute :) He did some "shooting" with his cork gun I got him in Canton while we were at home...but we didn't make it anymore with that accessory. Oh well. We started our night out at K-K and Kevin's house and Preston had the "trick-or-treat" down. What can I say we have been practicing :) It was leaving there that we ran into what would be our problem for the night. Preston wanted to consume EVERYTHING he got RIGHT THEN. So, after eating the candy he got at his first stop while we were en route, we headed to Resa's. Same deal. I did get one gigantic Tootsie pop away...but he ate everything else!
We then headed to Nancy and Trotters for what was their neighborhood block party they were so gracious to invite us to. Preston forgot about sweets for just a minute while he jumped on the trampoline and jumpy. But when he saw another little boy with a cookie the gorging began. We went on a little hayride to do our actual trick-or-treating and it was a battle for me to get anything in Preston's bucket. He pretty much ate it all. I don't know how he did it!!! But he had a great time!
We hung out at the Hunts for a little longer but realized we had a tired little buckaroo and headed home. I have to say a huge thanks to Nancy and Katie for having us and to my super sweet husband who had a birthday cake made for me and snuck it over to the party yesterday afternoon without my knowing. He really is a sweetheart--I hope I'm not embarrasing him but it is true :)
Oh yeah, yesterday was my 32nd birthday and it may have been my most special yet. Having your child tell you Happy Birthday is just the best. Thanks to any of you who sent me a card, text, fb message-anything! You really made my day great!!
Have a great week!

Better Late than Never.....

Jeff and I got Preston this little trampoline for his birthday in AUGUST....and it sat in the box in the garage....and sat....and sat....and sat....

Finally, we realized that pretty afternoons would not be around for long and that we really needed to get it put together. Soooo, since I think we were both a little intimidated to put it together ourselves Mr. Ed came over yesterday and helped us out. Preston noticed it RIGHT AWAY last night when we got home. I told him we could jump today after church and we were out there for almost an hour before he said, "Get Out!" I think he had a lot of fun, don't you?

Have a great week!

Big Weekend for a Little Boy!

Wow! What a busy and fun weekend we have had!! I am sorry that I didn't get better pictures of tailgating at Louisiana Tech's Homecoming game...but I did have my hands full :) We started tailgating at NOON and stayed for the WHOLE GAME! Now, I would not do this every day, but on special occasions it really isn't that bad if you have help. Thanks to all of my family who helped out-especially the Areigdales who came up for the game. Tech got a win and it was a good time for all....
Preston really needed GOOD nap today, and since we usually get off schedule on church days because he naps so late, Jeff and Preston stayed home this morning while I went to church to teach ECA. I've been teaching the same little group and it really is rewarding to see them catch on...I digress.
After Preston's 2 1/2 hour nap (YAY!) we headed to Trinity's Fall Festival. To say it was a good time is an understatement. Preston got his face painted for the first time--had a little breakdown when we had to wash it off he LOVED it!, rode on the hayride, got to eat fresh kettle corn, dug for "treasue" in the deer corn-his loot was a racecar and spider ring. Kids love cheap stuff. I digress again...
He then jumped in the jumpy, petted the donkey and did some playing on the playground before heading inside to see the show..
I got him a hot dog and as you can see all he ate was the cheetos. Go figure. Anyway, he really enjoyed all of the music and even clapped for the men's quartet, but HAD to get on the stage when Resa entered the twist competition. Ally came up to join along and as you can see they are cutting a rug!
We are home now. I guess no supper tonight. At least he drank some V8 fusion juice. I am so ashamed.....but we did have FUN! Have a great week everyone!

Pumpkin Patch!

Don't have a lot of time to write text as I am scrambling to get ready for work but I wanted to post these shots of Preston that Crystal Garcia took in the Townsend House Pumpkin Patch. I am SHOCKED she even got one...that's kind of how the session went :)

A Glimpse......and a WIN!

I could not resist posting these pictures Jeff took on his phone at the Tech game today--I thought they were all pretty funny! About our day: We arrived at the tailgate around noon, and we all enjoyed some great tailgate food courtesy of Jeff's Aunt Patricia. My favorite was the carnitas tacos with fresh homeade salsa but Jeff loved her roasted green chile soup. Delish! Preston was excited to get McDonalds chicken nuggets, but as you can tell he especially enjoys the desserts when he gets to go to TECH games :) After 3 hours of tailgaging we were ready to go to the game. Now, Preston had not had a nap at this point and both Jeff and I were quite concerned about how he would do at the game. Let me tell you he did NOT sit still for a second, BUT he didn't run away and was in a pretty good mood so I can't complain. He was then mesmerized by the band a halftime and was lulled into a pretty good sleep. He woke RIGHT up though when his little friend Ally came over to play. Can you tell that they are both "dancing" in the picture? Sooooooo cute! Anyway, the DAWGS pulled out a win, Preston was good, and tonight was a good night....more later....

Bathroom Complete....well, sort of

First of all can I just say that if you had seen the Master Bathroom in this house before we moved in, you would NOT recognize it now. We have pretty much redone everything, with the exception of the floors, which I have scrubbed on my hands and knees with white vinegar and bleach more than I care to remember.....but it was WORTH it!

You spend a lot of time in your Master Bath, and Jeff and I both decided that if we were to stay in this house a little facelift was definitely in order. The biggest change is the countertops--gray formica to this beautiful slab of black granite. HUGE improvement. The walls and cabinets got a new paint job, we installed new sinks, faucets, etc. and my FAVORITE is the wallpaper in the potty room. The curtains took a while to get done...and they came this week...and I was so excited until I realized that--

THE CURTAINS WERE MADE WITH THE WRONG SIDE OF THE FABRIC :( When Jodi and the installer walked in with them I thought to myself, "that's not the fabric I picked out!" But because my mommy brain is in full effect and I really thought I was losing my mind I didn't really say anything. UNTIL that night while I was showering it HIT me. Luckily, I had snapped a pic of the chocolate brown side on my phone so I could confirm these curtains are BACKWARDS! Which leads me to the reason for my post...

Although I have been assured that ripping these curtains apart at the seams and remaking them will turn out just fine, it scares me a little bit. There isn't any more fabric in Monroe or Shreveport sooooooo should I just leave them or roll the dice and have them redone. The other side of the fabric is chocolate brown with robins egg blue flowers...much more of a contrast. This almost is too matchy for me....but it is kind of growing on me. Opinions are welcomed :)

Have a great weekend!

Mr. Fix It

Just wanted to take a minute to post all about Preston today! Now, it goes without saying that he is a typical two-year old, and we do have our struggles but for the most part he is just a little angel and such a blessing in our lives. He is picutred here with this "tools" that he got for his birthday, and he LOVES to play with them. He has even figured out the drill and even knows how to reverse the "screws" out of the holes. Amazing how little boys just figure these things out :) On this particular evening, he insisted on wearing his cammo hat--and it HAS to be put on backwards! We have also had a little change at the Parker household in that we are now attempting to insitute "you eat what we eat" at our house. Last night's Taco Soup did not go so well, but I was strong and did not fix anything else so hopefully we will get through this little picky eating phase! Any tips from you other moms out there are appreciated. Anyway, that's all for now. Hope you are having a great week!

Weekend Away

I am so grateful that Jeff and my everyday life is pretty great, and we certainly have much to be thankful for! It is so nice , however, to have some time away for just the two of us to reconnect, talk, plan and share when there is absolutely nothing else either one of us HAS to do....

Jeff and I left around noon Friday for a weekend trip to Dallas. Why Dallas? Why this weekend? Well, since Tech was playing at Hawaii and Grandfather and Gran-Gran so graciously offered to keep Preston Luke, we decided on last weekend. We should have known when we were looking for a hotel and the Ritz was $600 that something was going on....yes, it was OU vs Texas. Although it was no fun to pay what we felt was much more than normal, we were happy that we stayed at the beautiful Le Meridien North Dallas. (Did I mention it is across the street from the Galleria entrance...more on that later...)

Anyway, arrived at the hotel around 4:30 and immediately cleaned up for dinner because we were starving. We had dinner at Nick and Sam's and I don't know that I have ever had a better meal. Terriaki lamb ribs, caviar served on grilled toast with egg yolk, red onion, chives and mozzerella cheese, tuna tartare tower with avocado, peanut ponzu sauce and cotton candy, filet with grilled asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes.....and let me not forget the SPLURGE we made on a BV Tapestry wine....2007...cab franc/merlot/cab sauv blend.....delicious!!!! I might have gained a pound...

If it were not for all of the SHOPPING we did Saturday. Let me tell you NOTHING was on sale but Jeff and I both had a blast just shopping at the Galleria. My fave purchases: Michael Kors watch and JCrew short pink courduroy skirt....our lunch at MiCocina was fab and we were ready to call it quits around 3:00....

We cleaned up yet again Saturday evening and headed to the Rangers stadium to meet our friends from college Brent and April Gregory. Jeff has been doing some banking for the Rangers, so we were treated to the Lexus club level complete with waitress service. Although that was a real treat, we much enjoyed visiting with our friends on such a PERFECT evening!

Sunday was pretty uneventful. A morning trip to the gym--I AM SO SORE I NEVER LIFT WEIGHT!-decadent hotel breakfast, trip to IKEA for playroom organizational furniture for Preston, MORE Mexican food then a pleasant ride home.

On a side note, please say a prayer for my parents along with a group travelling in Europe as we speak. As you probably know, the terror threat level is heightened because of info a Pakistanii terrorist gave about a possible threat on TOURISTS in FRANCE and Germany. (Ther are not going to Germany......) THANKS!

love to all,
shel