Chicken Little

You know how sometimes you think you know everything? And if not everything, then you at least feel like you know a lot, like you're in control?  You experience momentary homeostasis and it feels wonderful.  And then something happens and you realize (once again) you really are not the one in control of everything; Regardless of how much you like your plan and your ideas, they're just not happening.  Yeah, that's about where I'm at right now.

Ben just read Chicken Little to Logan last night and it felt a little familiar. You know the story... where one day an acorn fell on Chicken Little and she thought the sky was falling. So she ran to tell the king and convinced everyone along the way that the sky was falling, when really, obviously, it was not.  Familiar indeed, except in my case about 8 acorns have dropped and I think it all feels a lot heavier than it actually is.

I was at this point in my life about 6 years ago and it was a bitter point in my life. I remember wanting to send out Christmas cards and then realized I had nothing good to say about the year 2005. Obviously I'm sure good things happened in 2005 for us, but the cynical Kristi that was driving my brain at the time didn't think so.

So fast forward 6 years and here I am again, trying to figure out what I need to learn this time around. Because surely I didn't learn it the first time. I'm remembering much quicker this time around that what I think is best for me and my family  isn't always compatible with the plan of a perfect and perfectly loving Heavenly Father who sees and knows all.

This time around I am trying to have a lot more patience with each acorn that falls (even if they're all falling at once) and a lot more faith that while I might feel out of control, my life really is not.  Heavenly Father is navigating through a plan for Kristi Parker that I will learn to accept and embrace.

I read this quote from President Uchtdorf in the March Visiting Teaching message and it fit just about right:

"By patiently walking in the path of discipleship, we demonstrate to ourselves the measure of our faith and our willingness to accept God's will rather than ours."

"Patiently" being the key word there...

Yes, I know my life is not awful. I really actually have an amazingly blessed life right now.  It's just that my car has turned right and left, when I thought it should have turn left and right instead. That's all.

No, my intent for this post wasn't to complain or whine. I've opted for my blog to not be the place for that. I don't really know what my intent was.

And now this has turned into one of those posts where I don't really know what to say at the end. Like perhaps some crickets are chirping right now?

Perhaps the closer here is that I'm not a chicken. I have a lot more higher intelligence than a chicken and I know good and well that the sky really isn't falling. :)

And what's a post without a picture? Cookies and milk make everything better.

Snow Fun - Finally

Ben had Friday off work as a comp day and since today was President's Day, we had a nice long weekend with Ben. And it was wonderfully low-key!

We don't have any snow hanging around this winter at our house so the boys haven't been able to play in the snow at all this season.  But we got invited to the Nelson's cabin in Spanish Fork (where there IS snow) to go snowmobiling on their property today. It's always so fun at the cabin, and especially cozy in the winter time. 

It was so fun to give the boys some good snow time. And they LOVED the snowmobiles... especially Lincoln.  Plus we got to hang out Nelson and company, always an adventure. It was the perfect day off for Ben and a nice half-day getaway for our fam. 

family pic before heading out on the snowmobiles

 Ben and Lincoln down on the flat. Linc-o LOVED snowmobiling. He kept asking for "more rides" ALL. DAY. LONG. Not kidding. It was really cute, though, considering those were probably the only two words he spoke/signed all day.

Dedicated to Maegan and Abby. With all the love a dead elk can offer. 

We were constantly either riding, playing int he snow, sledding, stuffing our faces or talking. 

Here's Lo taking a break to warm his toes by the fire.

Meat on a stick.

 

This was the brilliant lunch provided by Kaye and Riley. It was delicious and easy. Ok it was easy for me because Ben made ours. :)

If you're curious, it's just ground beef slabbed onto a stick, wrapped with bacon and pinned into place by twigs. Then it was roasted over a fire outside. 

Amy and her meat

Part of the time we spent towing the boys on a sled behind a snowmobile.  It started out just as the two boys with Logan doing a fabulous job hanging on to brother and the rope.

Then Ben joined them

 Ben taping the boys just cruising along.

 

Grandma Kaye and Lo (I think that's his clamp "gun" he's holding... everything is a gun these days)

I'm pretty sure Lincoln won the "snow suit of the day" award.

It was so cute to see him in the snow today. He played dint he snow last year but didn't really know what was going on. He got it this year and had a blast, with exception of getting his hands in the snow... he hated that part. If he fell down he refused to help himself stand up again and would just wait for us to pick him up.  

This is right at about 4 pm... he was totally glazed over at this point. We went up to the cabin at noon and left at 5... the boys played their hearts out right through nap time. 

Completely Amy's idea. 

She told Logan that if he would put these on his ears and leave them for a picture, then he could play "fruit ball" (foosball). The bribe worked. 

Here's video of Lincoln saying/signing "more rides".  Please ignore my annoyance with Logan. :) It was funny hearing him say, "Those are the littlest hands I've ever seen!" (where does he get this?)

Ben hiked up this hill a few times to ride down with the boys. Good dad.

Happy Valentime's Day!

Yes, that says Valentime's day. That's what Logan says and it's one of those words that I think is too cute to correct just yet.

We're full of love here at the Parker Place today. We are holiday kind of people around here (ok, well I am a holiday lover and I drag my family through it too) and Valentime's Day ranks right up there close to the top of my "favorite holidays list."

Here's some bits and pieces of our holiday this year:

Last year we found these little white mail boxes at Target in the dollar bins (anyone else have a hard time walking away from Target without visiting the dollar section?).  Anyway, starting from February 1st, we left treats in the boxes every night for the boys to discover the next morning. They LOVED it last year so we continued the trend this year and decided to make it tradition. They loved waking up to see that their mailbox flag was up and waiting for them.

This year I left a little note for them each time too, telling them something I love about them.  Lincoln usually looked right past the note and went straight for the chocolate every time, but Logan loved hearing the little words of praise. 

Most days we just put in one simple little chocolate, but there were a couple nights they got a gift, like socks, or a notebook, etc. Today on the big V Day Logan got a small Star Wars Lego set (yes from Target) and Linc-o got new bubbles.  The only thing missing is a cute picture with both of them and their mailboxes. Maybe I'll get that after nap time.

This was Lo's first year to be in school and to get to make Valentines for all his classmates. He was brimming with anticipation to get home and scour all his Valentines he got from his friends. This was always my favorite part of Valentines Day growing up - seeing all the notes that my friends had left in my little decorated shoe box.

Remember that big project that I made reference to here? Well I was hard at work making Ben's early Valentine's Day present...

Ben was gone from Sunday through Saturday last week, so I thought it would give me a good chance to completely clear out our bedroom and finish decorating it and putting it together.  He loves reading and relaxing in the bedroom at night, and our bedroom hasn't exactly been a relaxation station or anything. In fact it's mostly been a toy room, a storage room, a craft room, a fly-tying room, etc. Pretty much a catch-all kind of a space.

It was a project and a half and I got it all done with exception of our new duvet cover. Woohoo!  I'll post a before and after of the bedroom once the duvet is complete - I'm a tiny bit of fabric short (don't you hate that?) so as soon as I can get to the fabric store and finish in a sewing frenzie it will be completely done.  I can't wait!

Logan loves being sneaky so he decided to decorate a cookie for Ben and leave it with a Valentine on his pillow for Ben to find when he gets home from work today.

And what would Valentine's be with out a little bit of mush?

I was watching this video today that my mom sent me and I couldn't help being overcome with emotion and deep appreciation for all that is right in front of me everyday; all that often gets overlooked. I guess it's easy to get overlooked sometimes if you're only knee-high. 

I love my boys so much and I love that I have such a great husband to share them with. I am so, so , so grateful for families. In my opinion, the family unit is pure evidence right there that Heavenly Father loves us. My family keeps me grounded. Ben is definitely my better half that keeps me sane and my boys remind me constantly of how forgiving, happy, selfless and loving I should be. 

I decided to edit the second verse of the song (My Heavenly Father Loves Me) and write my own little version:

He gave me my eyes, that I might see my sweet little beautiful boys,

He gave me my ears that I might hear their calm and their busy noise,

He gave me my life, my mind, my heart, I thank Him reverently, 

For my little family of which I'm a part, yes I know Heavenly Father loves me.

I love that we have a Heavenly Father who freely loves us everyday - there's evidence of His love all around us if we just open our eyes to recognize it. I wish so much that I could love my little family as perfectly as He does.

Happy Valentines Day and I hope you feel a little bit more loved today. 

Now it's time to get ready for my hot dinner date at Carrabbas- Woo!  
Mimi's Cafe has been our Valentine's Day tradition for the past 7 or 8 years, but in order to stay within budget this week, we're breaking tradition to use a gift card. Oh well!

CTR

Ahem... So it turns out that I'm falling behind on blogging all the posts that I was behind on in the first place. Vicious cycle!  BUT.. I am determined to finish my "Best of the Unmentioned" series, even if it is quite untimely. 

And there is a good explanation for my falling behind... but I can't really talk about that just yet because it is a surprise for a certain someone who frequents this untimely blog of mine. 

(No, we're not expecting, if that's what you were thinking when you read that last sentence. That's a story for another day.)

I just couldn't let this week pass me by without posting this...

On Sunday Logan  got his first ever CTR ring (since he's a CTR 4 now in Primary), and WOW has it changed our lives around here these past 5 days.  I swear this little CTR ring has super powers! Why didn't I know about this until now? I think I've been reminded by Mr. CTR, at least 12 times each day to choose the right. 

The kid wears it proud and is constantly doing little helpful things here and there because he wants to "choose the right." He has become an extreme helper around the house. It is quite nice. 

And not only that, but my ability to get him to make good choices has increased exponentially. Amazing! If he doesn't listen the first time I ask him to do something, all I have to say is, "Logan - remember? Choose the right..." and he obeys! Just like that!

Too bad it's already turning his finger green... good thing they're so cheap.  
I think I'll keep a secret stash of these on hand - I love his eager little attitude right now.  It's too sweet.