Conversations

Callie: Mom, I need a place to hang up my necklace.
Me: Why don't you put it in your jewelry box?
Callie. No, I want to hang it up. Maybe Daddy will put a hooker in my room.


The following conversation is heresay. I didn't actually hear it myself. The doctor did tell me about it firsthand. I'm pretty sure she's a reliable source. Chandler is underweight and the doctor has been after him about his eating.

Dr.: Chandler, how have you been doing with your eating?
Chandler: Mostly, I like to fast.
Dr.: Fast?
Chandler: Yes, Jesus, fasted for forty days and forty nights and I'm willing to do it.

The doctor was a little confused until I explained what fasting was and the we were NOT requiring our underweight six year old to do it. (For those of you who aren't members of our church, on the first Sunday of the month, the ADULTS skip two meals and donate the money they would have spent on the meals to the hungry.) Anyway, I honestly don't know where he got that. On the way home Chandler and I had the following conversation:

Me: Chandler! Why did you tell the doctor you wanted to fast? She thought Mommy was making you go without food!
Chandler: Well, I do want to fast.
Me: You have your whole life to be grown up and fast. Right now you need go concentrate on eating right and growing big and strong.
Chandler: I just want to feel closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus.

What the heck am I supposed to say to that??

(On a side note, Chandler is doing better with his eating. He gained another pound last month.)

Back to School

Back to School!

Back to School!

To prove to Dad that I'm not a fool!

I got my lunch packed up,

My boots tied tight!

I hope I don't get in a fight!

Ohhhh, back to school, back to school!

Here goes nothing!

I know you're all closet Billy Madison fans. I haven't seen it in like ten years, but the night before school started, I couldn't get this song out of my head.

August was back to school for three out of four Sparkmans. David started his student teaching in Tipton County. He spends about an hour in the car each way, 8 hours at school, 5 hours each night at Fed Ex, and very few hours sleeping. He is working very hard and we are so proud of him. I'm glad I have the below photo to remind me what he looks like.

I made him take a posed back to school picture, like the kids. He loved it. (maybe not)

Chandler is a big 1st grader this year. He was not excited to leave kindergarten behind. (Hey, who wants to give up snack time and naps?) He loves science and math and tolerates reading and writing. He recently has decided he wants to be a marine biologist. If you want to hear a mouthful, ask him about dolphins and echolocation.

Callie Grace started her last year of preschool. I can't believe my baby is four. She is already asking when she gets to ride the bus to the big school with her brother. She just started gymnastics and loves it, unlike last year when she screamed until they took her out.

One day it will be Mommy's turn to go back to school. I will make sure Dave takes a picture of me with my backpack. Until then, I will make sure the lunches are packed and the boots tied tight.

Wicked was Wicked Awesome

For about a year my friend Joleen has been talking about going to see Wicked. She arranged for group tickets, for about half off the regular price. My Mom took Christine and I. It was amazing!!

Seriously, once it started, I was all, "What is this Feeling?" No wonder this play is so "Popular"!

It totally "Defy's Gravity". No mourning for this Wicked! And I'm done with the puns.

Our Mother/Daughter Date. This was taken at the Orpheum, even though you can't tell. I wanted a picture out front with the marquee, but everyone was in too big a hurry to get inside.

Of course, the BFF's came too, aka the Sisterhood

There were about 30 of us from the ward. It was wonderful to be together and enjoy this amazing experience. I have been listening the the soundtrack nonstop. At least until a few days ago , when Callie jammed her Hannah Montana CD in my CD player and now it says "NO CD", even though I know Wicked is still in there. Sigh. Dave will fix it soon and then "The Wizard and I" will be together again....

BEST DAD, HANDS DOWN!!

The Saturday before Father's Day, I went to Schnucks to pick up a few things. They were advertising an opportunity for kids to paint Father's Day shirts. There would be face painting and even Chester Cheetah was making an appearance. Sounded like fun to me. We grabbed the Georges and headed over.

Callie got a flower on her face. Chandler got a shark. They each stamped their hands on their Daddy's shirt.

Of course, Ethan was the only one brave enough to get his picture with Chester Cheetah. Can I admit I'm kinda scared of him too?

On Sunday morning, I realized I didn't have a gift bag. No problem. Dave came down the stairs to this:

Hope all the Dads had a great day!

Hotlanta

Does anybody know why people call Atlanta that? Anyway, back in June, Dave and I escaped for an "alone" weekend. The kids went to stay with Dave's family. It was a heavenly trip with dinner at Ruth Chris, shopping, Six Flags, and a session at the Atlanta temple. It's nice to miss your kids every once and a while, right?

I don't think I've been to a Six Flags in 10 years. They had something like 12 roller coasters. It was awesome. Here's our favorite, Goliath.



Remember the Sky Ride at Disneyland? They had one like it at Six Flags, except these were called the "Sky Bucket." So of course, I made the universal sign for bucket.




We might be a little hot and sweaty.



Ruth Chris. It was soooo good. Dave was all about the steak. I was all about the creme brule.



I think we may have to make this an annual trip. Or monthly. Maybe this weekend....

Summer Days

Summer sure is flying by. We've been keeping busy, mostly in the water. We kicked off summer with a trip to Mud Island.

Wait, are anybody's eyes open?

Bathing Beauties

Chan is very excited to be at Mud Island

Summer also brings swimming lessons with Grandma. This year Grandma decided that Callie and Morgan would take lessons in both sessions. The first session was repeat of last year, mainly a whole lot of screaming, crying, and shaking on the steps. But somewhere towards the end, Callie decided she could do it. She now LOVES to swim. We can't get her out of the pool. She can jump off the diving board and swim to the side. (which she does about 50 times every time we take her swimming.) She can swim the length of the pool. She even likes to float.

It's truly miraculous. My Mom and I just keep looking at each other and asking, "Who is this child?"

Callie and her class

Chandler didn't quite understand why he needed swimming lessons, since he's already a good swimmer. He did learn some new strokes, including the butterfly. And, no, he's not skinny.

Some of the dads were so excited about swimming lesson graduation that they came in matching outfits. Aren't they supportive?

Last weekend found us back at Mud Island. We better enjoy it why we can. School starts in 3 weeks!

The Graduate

If any of you were hoping this post referred to David, Sorry. No such luck. That would be next May. I'm sure it will be here before we know it, as this year has flown by. Chandler is a kindergarten graduate. It seems like just yesterday I was blubbering over my "Night Before Kindergarten" post and here he is, already done. It was a year of learning, for both Chandler and his parents.




The graduation itself was quite the event. Unfortunately, it was held in the un-airconditioned gym. Boy, was it hot! The kids were really cute and sang lots of fun songs they have been learning all year. Chan will still occasionally bust out in "There's a Little Wheel Turning in My Heart." My favorite was the song "First Grade, First Grade", set to the tune of "New York, New York." (Start spreading the news, we're leaving today. We want to be a part of it, First Grade, First Grade!)

We've been spotted! His hat might be a little big...

Receiving his dipolma from Principal Carilse. How about Dr. Carilse has been the principal at Riverdale for 26 years? Chandler's teacher actually went to Riverdale and he was HER principal!

Chandler and his teacher, Mrs. Moske. He loved her!! She knew all about Star Wars, Transformers, and Inspector Gadget. (Along with, of course, reading, writing, and arithmetic.)

"So now we've made it there,

We'll make it anywhere!

We're on our way,

FIRST GRADE, FIRST GRADE!!"

The Messiest Child Ever??

Does anybody want to be in our contest for the messiest child ever? I didn't think so. There's no beating Callie Grace. Her Dad has been calling her this since she first started eating solid food. Her messiness does only relate to food. She doesn't destory with toys and such the way she can with a good meal. I like to tease her that it will be very embarrassing for her to have to take a sippy cup on her first date. In the past few weeks, she has been healing from her tonsil surgery. This involved halfway eaten melting popcicles all over the house- including her bed, the bathroom, and the living room. Also she has spilled yogurt and hidden dried out jello on the carpet. Is she allowed to eat out of the kitchen? No. Does this stop her? No again. She is feeling better, so this week, she squeezed out an entire caprisun in my car, dumped a family size bag of Cheetos out on the living room rug, and decided to fill her spaghettio bowl up with water from the fridge door. Water downed tomato sauce everywhere!! This morning I gave her breakfast and went upstairs. I came back down to find this.

She had pulled a little chair over to the counter and gotten down the powdered sugar canister. Then proceeded to dump it out and eat it with a spoon. I was flabbergasted. The entire kitchen is covered in a thin glaze.

Good thing she cleans up so nice. We love our messiest child ever. She'll eventually grow out of this, right??

A Finger, A Foot, and some Tonsils

The past few weeks has our family thankful for the miracles of modern medicine. And health insurance. And priesthood blessings. And good friends and family who watch kids, cook meals, and call just to see if we need anything. We love you all.


David started it all. He was sitting on a tug at FedEx. Another weary employee ran his tug into David's. It hit the front wheel and spun Dave's steering wheel. Dave tried to get his hand out of the way, but was not quick enough to avoid the impact on his pinky. It almost took it clean off. His bone was severed. After some workers compenstation red tape, he got to see an orthopedic doctor after 5 days. I was not happy. Anyway, turns out there isn't much you can do for a broken finger. Just wear this awesome splint. He was just recently taken off "light duty" at work.




A few weeks later I had surgery on my foot. Dave informs me that I am worse than average at the crutches. I was glad to send them packing. My arms were hurting worse than my foot. I am now getting around pretty good. It still hurts, but I anticipate that it will for a while. I also get to wear this sweet shoe for 4 weeks. It goes with everything. Wish I had two. (not)





Good thing I am walking again, since Callie had surgery herself this morning. For some reason her tonsils decided to grow as big as golf balls. She was having trouble sleeping and swallowing, so they had to come out asap. We went in to see the doctor again Tuesday and he scheduled the surgery for Thursday. Callie was such a trooper. It turns out Daisy needed surgery too. Her tonsils were even bigger than Callie's. Daisy and Callie got matching surgical gowns and slippers. I hope I get to see this happy smile again sometime soon.




The surgery was really quick. Callie was NOT a happy girl in the recovery room. I could hear her sobbing, "I want my mommy!" as I walked down the hall. Once she was in my lap, she went right to sleep. It's hard to take a picture of someone in your lap, in case you were wondering.




The children's hospital here has a special toy room called the "bunny room", where the kids pick out a toy on the way to surgery. Callie picked out a baby doll. I don't know how well you can see, but Callie had a purple bandage on her arm where her IV was. When she came back from surgery, both Daisy and her new baby doll had a purple bandage on their arms too. It almost made me laugh out loud as I rocked my sad, sick little girl.




We're home now and Callie is sleeping. She wanted to stop at Chick-fil-a on the way home and get chicken and fries. I told her she would have to make do with a popcicle. She ate a whole one and then went to sleep on the couch. Hopefully her recovery will be speedy. And I pronounce our family done with doctors, hospitals, and anesthesia for a while. We can hope.

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter. even though I am sad to say I am without a picture of my kids in their Easter clothes. We will have to reinact it in a few Sundays.

We spent Good Friday with Dave's parents and sister. It was originally just supposed to be me and the kids, but Dave broke his finger at FedEx and was given some time off to come with us. I had the bright idea that everyone should meet up in Murfreesboro for lunch. I had no idea a tornado was planning on joining us. We had lunch at Mellow Mushroom Pizza. It was a really neat place, we were actually seated in a bus. Anyway, there are no pictures, as it began hailing as soon as Dave went to to car to get the camera. The skies turned black and it was scary for a while. I was hoping to power lasted long enough to cook our pizza! Anyway, it eventually blew over and we headed to McMinnville. I don't think we knew how bad it was at the time. The tornadoes made national news and had two fatalities. Very sad.

The day turned nice enought to spend some time in Ma and Pa's backyard. Callie loves the horses!

Chandler on the swing set.

The kids opening their Easter Baskets.

If you have spoken with Callie in the past month since we have been back from our Disney Cruise, you know all about her obessison with Daisy Duck. It's all she can talk about. Vernoica ordered her a stuffed Daisy and she is rarely without it. I'll have to hold Daisy when Callie is getting dressed, eating, etc. and she will remind me not to keep her.

Chandler got some Bendaroos, a really net building set.

On Saturday, we went back to Murfreesboro to a really neat Children's Museum. The kids had a great time.

Callie found some wings and flitted all over the place. I may have joined her, but I'm not posting the picture. Or video.

Chandler building a car.

Callie even got a story in Pa's lap.

On the long drive back, away from distractions of every day life, we were able to pull out the scriptures and have a meaningful discussion on the last week of the Savior's mortal life and the true meaning of Easter. Chandler was almost tearful as we discussed what Jesus went through for each of us. He then asked what in the world the Easter Bunny and eggs and candy had to do with Jesus dying for us and then being resurrected on the third day. I really didn't have an answer for him. I tried to explain that the egg hunts and toys and candy were fun, but not the real meaning of easter. Just like getting presents and Santa Claus is not the real meaning of Christmas. We discussed how we needed to remember the Savior and his sacrifice every day, not just on Easter. I saw the light in their eyes as they talked about Jesus and his love for them. It was choice experience, one I will not be forgetting soon.

Hope you all had a Happy Easter!

Disney Cruise

We got a great deal on a 3 night Disney Cruise! The kids were even free. It was a blast! Callie is still talking about it. It did involve a 13 hour car ride to Port Canaveral Florida. But if you give them enough junk food, they'll eventually go to sleep.

We ran into Minnie in the terminal, waiting to get on the boat. Callie tried to run straight for her and skip the line.

Shortly after we got on the boat, we had the mandatory boat drill. Glad we didn't have to use these!

The kids loved the Mickey Pool! Chandler was all about the water slide. Callie was relieved you had to be 4 to go on it.

Chandler has a little waterproof camera. The resolution isn't great, but it takes some fun pictures.

Proof that Callie can put her face in

We went to Atlantis Aquarium in Nassua. Chandler loved it and couldn't stop asking our tour guide questions about the marine life.

Ask me if this was my favorite part. Especially since we were going to the beach the next day.

Castaway Cay- Disney's private island

It turned rainy and cold after this! So sad!




They did have a cool store there though. Chandler especially liked the name, "The Chandlery".

On the last night of the cruise, the kids' club had a pajama party.

Callie got to meet Snow White.

Chandler got to meet Stitch.

Breakfast, right before we got off the boat.

Disney was advertising the 7 day cruise onboard. Both kids asked when we were going. Maybe when Chandler is a famous marine biologist he can take us.