May Birthday Celebration

Today we celebrated the May birhtdays of Kay and Annica.  Chervenka's were home to celebrate so we all went to Incredible Pizza in Davenport.  This is a relatively new pizza place that reminded me a lot of Chuckie Cheese, however, there were a lot more games for all ages and it was run more like a casino than I remember Chuckie Cheese being run....

http://www.incrediblepizza.com/davenport

You put money on  "card" and then swipe the card at each game.  Instead of winning actual tickets, Incredible Pizza has "gone green" and keeps track of your winnings on your swipe card.  We had so much fun, Travis and I can't wait to go back for a date night without Parker!....AND we still have 100 points to spend! :)

Parker's first ride on a mechanical duck!

"Tastes like chicken"

For 100 points we "purchased" this great foam hat....and approximently 1 minute 20 seconds after purchasing it, Parker riped it in half.  Great usage of points! :)

Heather made this fairy cake for Annica and Kay.  Isn't it cool??? That is a real "barbie like" toy INSIDE the cake.  Neat idea and yummy too!

Uncle Kirk exposed Parker to Mt. Dew....

hmmm...what is this?  Let me try...oooohhh it feels good on my throbbing gums!

Spring Swing

We have a swing like this that we received from Travis' sister's family.  However, we have no tree that has a big enough/strong enough branch to hold it.  So before I really began to ask for Travis to build a "swing-set" of sorts that would hold this one swing, we thought we'd try it out at Grandma/pa Stecher's house. 
Hmmm.  What does this do?

I'm not sure....do I like this?

I do like this!

no, no, no

I LOVE THIS!

Dad?  Can I have one?  Please?

Mother's Day

What a Mother's Day weekend!

One mom, two grandma's, two days! Phew!  We're pooped! 

We had a great weekend celebrating all of our mom's!  I wouldn't have wanted my first mother's day any other way!

On Saturday my mom, Lynn, and I were supposed to go flower shopping...however the artic tempretures and howling wind prevented that, so we had a girls day.  We went to the Longaberger Festival in Moline, browsed through Isabell Bloom and had lunch at Granite City!

Later that evening the whole family met up for a chilly cookout where we all stayed inside ;)

This picture cracks me up!  Who's looking at who?

Sebastian (the dog) is looking at Parker, Parker is looking at Mommy, and Grandma and Mommy are looking at the dog...and NO ONE is looking at the camera!

Sunday we went to church just the 3 of us and then headed to the QC to spend the day with Grandma Stecher. We had brunch at Johnny's Italian Steak House and then went to the Beaux Arts Fair in Davenport.  The day was MUCH more condusive to outdoor activity!

It was such a nice day...and it WAS Mother's day so a return trip to the Longaberger Festival was granted ;)

Parker Loves Longaberger!

I had a great 1st Mother's Day! 

Carnival

We have been "carnival ing" it up lately.  Is that even a word carnivaling?  Anyway, both King School and Nielson School have had their spring PTO carnivals in the past two weeks.  I was so bummed when King had to have their carnival inside because that meant no duck pond...that would be the one game Parker would be really good at right now. 

However, I had hope because, tonight, a week later was Nielson's Carnival...

However, it is cold and blustery so they too, had to have their carnival inside :(

But, Fear NOT...beause, Nielson PTO allowed their duck pond to still take place!

Parker and Dad paying their 1 ticket to play.

hmmm...Which one do I want....here ducky ducky...

Gotcha! (with no help from dad, honest!)

"Hey, you look just like my bathtub friend."  "Now what?"

Parker won his very first carnival prize a small plastic ruler with stencil cut outs!  Oooh la la!

We look forward to many more years of cheap, plastic, Oriental Trading toys during carnival season! :)

Bob The Builder...or...Handy Manny?

20 days and counting.....

20 Days until my mom and dad are home for the summer!

Let's party Mon!!

Tag you're it!

I have been tagged by a close friend to tell 10 things about myself on the blog...sorry no Parker pictuers today.  Feel free to pass on this entry as I'm really not all that exciting!

1.) I've always said I need at least 8 hours of sleep...until Parker, now I can function on much less

2.) I'm terrible with names for instance I've had over 120 children in my classroom over the last 6 years and I could probably only name 50

3.) I love to plan trips...even if I can't go on them...my current "trip" is a winter vacation with Travis and Parker to Mexico. :)

4.) I love TV series that were set in "the old days"  for example, LOVE Dr. Quinn Medicine woman and Christy staring Kelly Martin

5.) Orange Soda or a cooler cold Pepsi is my favorite pop

6.)  I call carbinated beverages soda which makes Travis SOOOO mad...he thinks it should be called pop

7.)  I make life WAY too hard but I value the simple things...smell of rain, sleeping baby, quiet snowfall, smell of trees budding and fresh cut grass

8.) Karen Kingsbury, Nicholas Sparks, and Beverly Lewis are my favorite authors...back when I had time to read...pre-Parker :)

9.)  I think it would be AWESOME to live on an Amish Farm for a summer

10.)  I am addicted to Crystal Light Energy water packets...they have 120mg of caffinne in each packet!  Wild Strawberry! YUM (Avaliable at Wal-Mart, Hy-Vee and occasionally Wal-Greens)


TAG...You're IT!

Morning update from Grandma Stecher

"No morning nap for me", said Parker!

It's like Chuckie Cheese...only without the germs!

Who needs a formula bottle when you have an orange crib ball?

7 Months Old

Today Parker is 7 months old!  WOW! Where did the time go? 

At 7 months Parker:

Has an appreciation for PEZ...like Father like Son.

Hmmm...I think I want....That One!

At 7 months Parker can:

Hang out with his Buddy during a play date.

This is Carter and Parker "hugging".  Travis and I decided it was more like a manly chest bump!

Parker can do many other things at 7 months!  We are so lucky to have such a happy guy, we thank God for him daily!  We look forward to the next 7 months!

Parker's Help

I'll help you get caught up on the laundry mom and dad!