Macarena

Battlefield

In honor of Amy and
dances that (don't qualify for the Flamingo and) are completely unplanned . . .

A Bright Spot

Once again, I am left this Wednesday with a deep appreciation for my five friends who come over weekly to talk about things that matter.   And though our journeys are all unique, our discussions leave me feeling more inspired and more known.  Today we were discussing some of the stories Jesus told and were asking ourselves what he meant when he used the term "kingdom of heaven" or "kingdom of God."  Was he talking about a physical place in the afterlife or was he speaking of a condition of our hearts and the choices of our will here on the earth?  Is the 'kingdom of heaven' God's utopian ideal or is it attainable reality?  Excellent food for thought for this small brain.  Regardless, here's a little video I found on the topic.  Enjoy.

And Wednesday-ladies, thanks for being such a bright spot in my week.

"Dodd is WUV"

Check out this short clip of Ava's first Bible Verse:
"God is Love." (from the book of 1 John)

What's Kept Me Busy This Weekend

At naptimes, in spare minutes while the kids are playing pet shopt, in the evenings when the house is quiet, I've been busy putting together this little promo video for Thailand.  And even though the fonts don't all match and some of the transitions are not my favorite, I am learning that sometimes "good enough" just has to be enough.  And, so, in an effort to put this project down and stamp "finished" on it, I published it and am posting it anyways.  It's about 5 minutes long and has lots of pictures and information about what we'll be doing at Breanna's House of Joy Orphanage.  Enjoy, friends.

  

Thailand Promo 2009 from laura parker on Vimeo.

Wedding Dance

Man, if the wedding itself started like this, imagine how much fun the reception would have been . . .

Videos Only the Family Will Sit Through . . .

The above is "Punch Dancing" almost as good as . . .


(Still my all-time favorite . . . )



And then here's
Spanish-speaking-broken-wing-boy meets
Julie-Andrews-Wanna-Be:

Plastic Jesus

This video causes me personally to say, "ouch." How about you?

The Price of Beauty

We've told her that beauty has a price.
We've informed her that hair care by means of basic brushing is important.
We've told her that unless she wants knots in those fine locks of hers, she's gonna have to sit still.

But she just won't listen.

Cade Rocks the Recorder

We have been working hard the last several weeks on a musical emphasis.  Cade has picked up an interest in the recorder, a manageable instrument for a little person.   We have gotten him lessons, and he has put in a quite a bit of time to master most of the notes.  Watch his finger work as you check out this latest piece he's been working on:



. . . Just kidding about the lessons. The recorder was about the only thing his allowance (one whole dollar)  could afford to buy at Walmart.

Ken Lee

Since I am a bit slow in catching up with modern pop-culture, I just discovered a new wave sweeping the Youtube and blog world called FailBlog.  It's a collection of glorified America's Funniest Home Video-ish moments.   The following are my two favorite "fails" I've seen thus far . . . Enjoy.  And Laugh.  Please. 

Number One:  Ken Lee (only a little over a minute--stick with it and you'll get it towards the end):





And Second Place Goes To:  Parking Fail (I admit, I identify. I would rather walk from Level 11 in the parking deck than have to fit my car into one of those tiny spaces between another car and a concrete pole . . . I guess this lady would, too. Check out the time counter in the bottom corner of the video.):

Trip of Terror

My sister Amy and her husband Will (above with Kelty) have been visiting for the last several days. We have had an amazing time so far--fly fishing, shopping, dinners out, lots of laughing, sightseeing, and games on the trampoline. We decided to further enhance our Colorado experience by driving to the top of Pikes Peak yesterday. Both Matt and Cassie were occupied for most of Saturday, so Amy, Will, and I thought it would be an easy, fun outing to drive the kids to the summit of this mountain which casts its shadow over our mountain town.

It wasn't. Easy or fun.

Instead, it was one of the most terrifying drives up the side of a mountain I have ever endured. Amy, Will and I nearly hyperventilated, threw-up, and had anxiety attacks at the lack of guard rails on dirt roads that had crazy upslopes beside sheer rock faces. We talked of turning around. We tried not to peer over the edge. We blocked images of our car plummeting down 14,000 feet out of our minds. We held our breaths as the ol' minivan took 90 degree switchback after switchback. Check out a clip of the drive:

And it only got worse at the summit. When we finally arrived, we bolted out of the car--right into a huge mud puddle. Not being bright enough to realize that the top of a 14, 000 foot mountain is technically an ALPIINE WEATHER ZONE, I had neglected to bring coats for my three children (They weren't even wearing long pants.). So we literally ran, dragging whining children in summer attire into the gift shop--a haven from the weather . . . but not from the masses of tourists. We battled the chaos inside, only to nearly run around the top of the summit, quickly snapping pictures, regardless of if the children were even looking at the camera or not. The kids fought over the one long-sleeve sweater we did have in our possession, we didn't stop to read the plaque at the top, and our hearts experienced palpitations because of the height and --again--the lack of guard rails (I mean, is it really impractical to have a giant fence around the entire top of the mountain?). We then drug everyone back to the van--now in full-scale tears-- only to have Cade have a melt-down when I accidentally took his muddy shoes off then set him barefoot back down into a mud puddle. Smart Move, Mom. The whole summit ordeal (and I use that word appropriately) lasted about 8 1/2 minutes.

And the ironic thing is that we paid 35 bucks to endure this torture. And maybe my terror and nausea came from being a North Carolina flatlander, but have not doubt about it, the experience was not anything I will ever repeat. In fact, the kids were whining on the trip back down saying, "We hate this mountain," and in that moment the three adults were able to agree wholeheartedly.

But now that the feelings of terror have subsided, now that my heart rate has returned to its normal resting state, now that I have enjoyed laughing over the story a few times, I can honestly say that I am glad we made it to the summit. Once. And I never have to do it again.

I'll post more of Amy and Will's trip later . . .

Baseball

I realize that videos of this nature are generally only watched in their entirety by my family whom we don't get to see too often, but I wanted to post these clips of the kids playing baseball this week anyway. I love capturing these moments of my children just playing like kids are supposed to do.

Check out the slide-that-turned-painful at the end of this one . . .


And check out the sibling fight at the end of this one . . .


Good times in the front yard.

RICH

If you are feeling frustrated by your children's complaints for more toys, by your own lack of finances, by a desire to have a better pair of jeans or a bigger house--take a minute and a half to watch this video on the wealth we enjoy--without realizing it--in this country. It puts things into perspective.



by Rob Bell

Thanks, Uncle Wilbur

We took the kids this Saturday to Uncle Wilbur's Fountain in Co. Springs. It is in the heart of downtown next to a big park and is totally free. Every half hour, the fountain does a music and water show which is quite entertaining. Ava loved it when the water squirted up in her face--but only when Matt was holding her. You can click on the collage to see the pictures better. :)

Tea Party!

To celebrate Kelty's Sixth Birthday, we hosted a dress-up tea party this morning from 10-12 at our house. We had six little girls come, complete in fancy garb and a plethora of jewelry. Amid giggles and crafts, we had a blast celebrating Kelty in total girly fashion.

The tea party set-up on the back porch. I broke out all of my "real" teacups which I have collected over the years (per inspiration from my own mom).

We did a fruit-flower-kabob centerpiece. I roughly copied the idea from a magazine I saw recently. Kelty had a fun time this morning stringing the fruit on the kabob skewers.

The Crafts: I bought some flip-flops and some metal hair clasps from Hobby Lobby, along with lots of fake flowers, buttons, and two boas (that we cut up for the material). Each girl decorated a pair of flip-flops and two fancy hair pins, while the adults hot-glued like crazy.

Matt was a real trooper in the midst of all this girliness. He took care of Ava, cleaned the dishes, and hot-glued pink feathered flip-flops like a true crafty-man.

Matt made this charming hair pin for little Ava. He didn't want her to feel left out. Thankfully, my precious friend Paige took Cade to play with her son Josh during the party. I don't think he would've been into the sparkly hairbows, anyway. :)

The girls.

I have fabulous friends! This is Heather helping Kelty with her flip-flops, and I also had another mom-friend, Pippi, who made three gorgeously decorated cakes (vegan, too!). Heather and Pippi both stayed and helped during the party, while Paige helped with Cade. (I am so fortunate to have these women in my life.)


Flip-flops--the final product. Plenty of Bling.

The Tea Party. (Isn't that cake precious?!)

The presents . . . lots of generous gifts.


This is a purse that Heather and her daughter Gracie sewed together for Kelty. They even sewed a horse on the back! It's made from a pair of jeans. So Cute!

All the girls.

We played a game of Pictionary after the presents, which seemed to be a hit. (And check out all the new bows . . .)

We also went out on the trampoline and played a few games of the standard "Popcorn," along with a game of "Copycat" where the girls got to show off their moves. It was so fun to watch everyone bouncing in their fancy outfits.

Kelty's turn in Copycat.

What a memory! These are those events that are precious to look back on and remember. I love having a little girl like Kelty to celebrate, and I loved watching her get to share this tea party with her sweet little friends. Oh, man, I'm gonna miss these days!

Here is the short video of the Happy Birthday Song . . .

Beach Videos

Here are a few short clips from our recent vacation to the Carolinas with our families to the beach.

The Upside

So as I was unloading clothes the other day I noticed something cute and pink at the bottom of the washer underneath the wet clothes. Unfortunately little hands had somehow thought my fully-loaded-with-great-songs Ipod needed to experience the wash-and-spin cycle. The upside of ruining your cute pink Ipod with water and Tide is that I have discovered that the upper channels on cable play some pretty good radio mixes--with some pretty good dance music on occasion--even better than many of the songs I had loaded on the ol' Ipod, anyway. Here's a clip of this past Sunday night, rockin' it to Taylor Swift.

Irish Dancin'

Check out Kelty's current talent of Irish Dancing. :)

Happy Birthday, Uncle Will

My brother-in-law (my sister's husband) Will Stewart turned the big 3-0 this weekend. We missed his surprise party in Raleigh, NC. And though it's a little late, we wanted to send him a bday song for his big day. Will is an amazing husband to my sister Amy. He is a kind, honest, intelligent, funny guy (who always kicks our tail at any form of game where knowledge is involved), and we are so lucky to have Uncle Will in our family!