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!!"