My Three Year Old is Reading!

For some time now I've noticed Parker reading, but I had a suspicion that he was just memorizing words and not actually able to sound them out if he didn't recognize them.  Lately he has been reading words to me in different stores that I know aren't terribly familiar to him.  Then last week he was on Starfall.com and started reading the stories on there aloud to his Grandma and Grandpa.  I think I was more impressed than they were because I knew that I had never read those stories to him before!  Usually I let him go on the computer to play and he just goes for it while I clean or do something else.  I've touted that website before, but had to mention it again. 

Today I asked Parker to read on video so I could show Grandma and Grandpa.  First he read from a book that my friend Sara gave to him recently that I suspect he's mostly memorized because there aren't many words.  Then I pulled out the big guns.  He has a big reader that my dad sent him awhile back that we rarely ever pull out because Jake and I think it's extremely boring, and it's looong.  Not good for bedtime.  I was so impressed that he did as well as he did!  I couldn't put everything on here because it would be too big of a file, so I took a few clips that really showed how he was trying to sound out unfamiliar words and strung the clips together for your viewing pleasure.

I'm also going to post the full video of Parker reading "That's Not My Dinosaur," just because I think Sara would enjoy seeing how much Parker loves the book she gave him. 

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"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."  Galatians 6:14

Lessons From Parker

Everybody Dance Now

We have a lot of dance sessions in our house. I had so many clips piled up of Parker dancing/running/jamming that I decided to make a music video to his current favorite dance song by C + C Music Factory "Gonna Make You Sweat."

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Perfect End to our Nice Summer Day!

P's first ice cream cone!

100 Push Up Challenge

Mommy-Momo turned me on to this 100 Push Ups in 6 weeks Challenge going around the blogging world.

At first I thought, "yeah, right." But then I was curious to see how many I could do. I was able to complete 15 regular style. I was bummed. 15? How would I ever be able to do 100? When I read the challenge from onehundredpushups.com more completely, I discovered that using a variety of push-up methods still counted. I found that if I did them with the knees down and using fists instead of palms (I have a wrist injury from awhile back), I could do 30! That's twice as many as the regular style. From that point on, I was hooked. I can do this! I think.

I've noticed that quite a few people have been videotaping their push-ups, so I thought it'd be fun to do the same...



(OK, not really. This is Parker, of course, aiming for 100 push-ups as well). ;)

Doing more reading on the website, I discovered there were also programs for two-hundred sit-ups and two-hundred squats. Whoa boy, you'd better believe I'm trying those as well!

My initial squat testing surprised me. I did 70 and only stopped because my knees hurt a little. I suspected I might be doing them incorrectly, but I double-checked my form and I'm pretty sure I was doing them right? Not too shabby, I think (for me anyway).

My initial sit-up testing also surprised me, but in the respect that I could only do 25 in a row! Yikes! I thought with all my pilates work that my stomach muscles would be pretty strong. Looks like I have some more work to do!

This work out program couldn't have come around at a better time. It's much easier to do than work out videos when Parker's awake (although I'm still trying to do those as well). Parker's sleep schedule has changed and he's been going to bed later so it hasn't been feasible for me to do my night walk/runs. I don't have a jogging stroller so I can't run with Parker during the day, and really, it's usually been way too hot to even just walk during the day. So I've mostly been doing videos in the morning before the true heat hits, but even that's difficult with Parker around. He usually wants to do them too, which would be fine if he weren't always right where I needed to be. If I'm doing any type of cardio requiring me to move around, he's always right there. If I take out a mat to do pilates floor work/yoga, forget it! He wants to be on it, too. He's so cute though; how could I be upset? Watch him do his own work-out below!



But after yesterday and realizing that exercising first thing in the morning messes up my day, I'm going to have to try moving my exercise to a different time of day again. Too bad I'm usually pooped and just want to veg out by the time P's nap comes around. Oh well, if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't - well it's better to be happy and a little out of shape than thin and cranky!

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"Be happy and shout to God who makes us strong!" - Psalm 81:1

Thankful Thursday: I Love My Hubby

I know I've been neglecting my Thankful Thursday blogs! But today is a very special edition of Thankful Thursday, dedicated to my husband:

I'm thankful my hubby ate my meatloaf on Monday.

I'm thankful my hubby has been coming home happier this week, despite the meatloaf.

I'm thankful my hubby appreciated Tuesday's meal with Wednesday leftovers even more after Monday's meatloaf.

I'm thankful my hubby loves us so much!

I'm thankful that my hubby can still be silly with me.

I'm thankful for our date nights each week. Yes, we generally say no TV or computers on date night, but we made an exception last night because we had to use YouTube in order to learn the Three Amigos "My Little Buttercup" dance. Yes folks, you read that right, we spent the evening trying to learn a silly dance. And here's the evidence (that is, evidence that we may need to spend a few more date nights working on it to get it down):

And I'm really thankful that he will eventually forgive me for posting this on the internet.
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"Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them" - Colossians 3:19

Fun Video Friday: Playing With The Camera

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"The poor have a hard life, but being content is as good as an endless feast." Proverbs 15:15

Fun Video Friday: Playing Dada's Bass Guitar

Watch Parker sing a made-up song while playing bass, and then call himself, "silly Parker." As if he really had to clarify that...




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Fun Video Friday: Playing

Some of you have asked me where I've been... Mommy-Momo even asked if I was OK... *laugh* Don't worry, I've just been trying to spend less time on the computer and change my priorities around a bit. God first, then family, and THEN self indulgence. ;)

Here are a couple of videos to satiate you for a little longer. This first one is Parker playing with some coffee cups he collected with Grandma and Grandpa.



I was in the kitchen making dinner one night while Parker was playing and I kept hearing him repeat something over and over. Watch what he was saying in the next video. Too funny! Oh, and sorry about the naked bum. Unavoidable potty learning side-effect.



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I love this biblical example of forgiveness. Even after everything he went through because of what his step-brothers did, Joseph was able to forgive and found the good in the bad.

"Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. Don't worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives." Genesis 45:4-5

Fun Video Friday: Counting Piano Keys

Parker makes us laugh every time he counts. He's starting to count into the twenties now, but he skips numbers and then goes back to them. He regularly skips 13-15 and 20-21 for some reason. So it usually goes something like this:

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Message From Dada

It's been a rough Saturday. P woke up early soaked from head to toe in pee. I cleaned him and his bed up and tried to get him to go back to sleep, but my poor sick boy's cough was keeping him awake. Then, while eating breakfast, P had a huge coughing fit that caused him to throw up. My poor boy. :(

Dada not only had to go in to work today, but he had to go in early. Parker was delighted to find that Dada had left him a special note. Here's a video of Parker reading it:

Thank you, Dada! You helped brighten our day. We love you. :O*

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"Jesus said to his disciples: I tell you not to worry about your life! Don't worry about having something to eat or wear. Life is more than food or clothing. Look at the crows! They don't plant or harvest, and they don't have storehouses or barns. But God takes care of them. You are much more important than any birds." Luke 12:22-24

Grandpa, Grandpa, He's Our Man!

Fun Video Friday

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"At that same time, Jesus felt the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, and he said: 'My Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I am grateful that you hid all this from wise and educated people and showed it to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that is what pleased you. My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who really knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to tell others about the Father, so that they can know him too.'" Luke 10:21-22

Parker's First Quilt

There's something very special about a first blanket, especially one made by your grandma. I still have my first blankie that my grandma knitted for me when I was a baby. So when Jake's Grandma Betty asked if she could make a quilt for Parker before he was even born, we were honored and thrilled. Here we are unwrapping it at the baby shower. We loved the music theme!


Two years later, Parker is in love with it just as we were when we first saw it. He pretends to play all the instruments. Below is a video of him playing with it one day.

Recognizing More Words

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Mama Smells Like Monkey Balls

One day I was trying to get P-man to rest but he was too antsy so I thought I'd try a game my sisters and I used to play many moons ago when we were trying to fall asleep. It was called "Whoever Talks First." One of us would proclaim, "whoever talks first smells like_________!" or "whoever talks first is ____________!" and then we'd count down. So I tried to explain the game to P (knowing full well he wouldn't get it) and then I said, "Whoever talks first smells like monkey balls! OK, when I count to three, no talking or you'll smell like monkey balls! 1...2...3..." And of course, not too long afterward, P-man exclaimed, "Mama smells like monkey balls!" I cracked up so he repeated it over and over and now it's a running joke.

Later on, I told my sister Sarah about it, who told my mom about it, who asked that I try to get it on video for her to see. Well, it's hard to get a toddler to fully cooperate with the camera, so I had a long boring video with a few good parts. Fortunately, my hubby showed me how to use Windows Movie Maker (which I forgot I even had on the computer) and I learned how to edit my videos! Cool. So now I was able to put together the best parts I could get on video. Here ya go, mom!

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Magna Doodle Fun

P-man is learning to recognize some words now. We were playing with his Magna Doodle recently and before I took this video he was impressing me by saying the names I was writing without hesitation. I grabbed the camera and tried to catch it on video for family's sake. Like usual, as soon as the camera came out, P decided not to cooperate. At least, not at first...



The next video is just P-man doodling and a fun conversation we had about his picture.

Mama's New Blankie and P's Cool Orange Car

In the beginning of March, P-man and I took a trip to San Bernardino to visit Christine and her family for her birthday, but we were the ones who walked away with gifts! Christine's mom, Daphne, knitted me a new blanket. It is my new favorite nighttime couch blankie. P-man and Dada fight with me over it, too.


Christine's husband, Mo, also let P take home one of his son's collectible cars. P-man calls it his cool orange car.

See the monkey driving it? Elmo's in the passenger seat.

When he first got the car, he incessantly asked me "what's this, mama?" pointing to all the different parts of the car. I tried to answer as best as I could, having a limited knowledge of cars. ;)

Here's a video of us going over the different parts of the car:

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Vitamins

We decided to introduce P-man to Flintstones multi-vitamins and at first he wasn't too keen on them, but now he asks for them. These pics and video are from his first time trying one.

Spectrum Day

Recently we met up with Jake's folks at the Spectrum. Grandma Connie took Parker on the cool "train." He loved it.


He always wants to "turn turn" Grandpa's "truck" so before we parted, he got a chance to "drive" us around. Watch the video below to see Grandpa Dan racing beside us and the awful crash he experienced!

Everyone tells me this is the fun age...

Just another day in our household.