Parker Pre-school -Mom's Nightmare

From the day Parker was born, mom has been dreading this day.  The day that mom releases her loving arms of exclusive adoration and tutoring and allows her oldest son to venture to the pre-school world.  Of course a mom's love is never outdone or teaching ever replaced, but for Parker, at the age of 4, he will be leaving home base and walking for 3 days a week to Ms Amanda's for pre-school.

Parker's first day was exciting.  Parker was so excited and anxious to get going (not realizing that he was breaking his mother's heart).  With his new school clothes on and his batman backpack and of course having mom do what every school kid dreads, that of making sure Parker was "presentable", he basically ran and jumped and flew his way to the pre-school.  Of course he was the first one there (trying to impress the teacher of course).  Parker had arrived and his days of schooling had officially begun.

As for mom, she had her pre-school moments but now her nightmare of homework, friends, etc., have now just begun.

Pageant Pearls - Castle Valley Pageant 2012

Going to the pageant with kids is inviting moments that will last a lifetime.  I like to refer to them as pearls as they are precious and moments you want to cherish.  With live animals and cool lighting the stage was set for some pearls:

Brock

This was Brock's first pageant and he loved every minute of it.  In moments of silence he was jabbering and pointing at animals.  When the music came on he was dancing and enjoying the moment.  He would go back and forth between grandma and mom - always with his trusty "doggy" in hand.  The greatest pearl came as I watched him being held in moms precious arms as they together enjoyed the pageant.

Parker

Parker for the first time really started to grasp the pageant.  Though at 4 he still had difficulty seeing all of the scenes and so used standing on the chair to assist in this challenge.  The pearl came for Parker while sitting by his cousin Carter during the scene where the Savior dies and is resurrected.  As I sat by him the conversation I had went something like this:

Parker:  I want to see it again (referring to the resurrection scene)

Dad:  Why?

Parker:  It was cool

Dad:  What was so cool?

Parker:  The resurrection

So there you have it, the resurrection is cool.  He also kept asking for the Savior to come back again by repeating, "I want to see Jesus again"

Prior to the beginning of the pageant he also sang with his primary the songs, "I Am a Child of God" "When He Comes Again" and "Pioneer Children".

Mom and Dad

Of course the pearls for us are the moments to watch and cherish our boys enjoy time with family and learning about the gospel as taught through this wonderful pageant.  We love seeing the Savior become real to them and to witness their innocence and excitement to believe in Him.  This perhaps is the most precious of all the pearls!

Here are some pictures of the nights events

It's In the Blood - Bocce Ball

Parker is not Itallian, but his grandpa is!

When Parker was paired up with Grandpa Carl for the first ever Pollastro Bocce Ball championship I knew that Parker had a chance because Grandpa Carl has some Italian blood running through his veins.

And once again the Italian and his grandson became the first champions of Bocce Ball!  Maybe he can get some of that Italian blood for winning!

Homemade Hero

Are heroes born or are heroes made?  Of late Parker's love for superheroes has transformed him into many heroes.  With the blockbuster Avengers coming out, Parker has turned his hero fix from Buzz and Spider Man to Captain America and Iron Man.  He watches Avengers cartoons on marvelkids.com and checks out the latest hero attire on amazon.com.  Not only does he get his fair share of cartoons but he has become the embodiment of Avengers.  Frisbees have become shields (Captain America), ice cream buckets helmets (Iron Man), and rubber-bands made into bow and arrows (Hawkeye).  Often he can be found talking to himself as if he were conversing with Iron Man himself.  Just last week we scoured the house pretending like we were Captain America with our shields that shot the bad guys.  

Captain America - with homemade shield (massage thing and duct tape)

Iron Man or "Machine Man" (Ice Cream bucket and toy rocket strapped to arm)

Captain America Shield (Frisbee attached to back)

Hawkeye (Homemade arrow holder - cup)

I think you can make a case that Parker was born to be a hero, that is with some homemade help!

Rodeo Champ

We have a rodeo champ in the family!

I can probably count the times on one hand that I have been on a horse.  I do enjoy a good rodeo.  And yes I also can stomach a good country concert.  But with this kind of resume it is hard to believe that anybody in the Esplin family can become a rodeo champ!

Unless you move to Castle Dale!

Every year Castle Dale City sponsors a kid rodeo for the community.  There are stick horse races, chicken chases, and some good muttin' bustin' competitions.  Up until this point we really hadn't been to one seeing as how rodeo isn't really in our genes or in our jeans.  But this year we decided to give it a go.

So Parker gets his trusty stick horse that he purchased from a rodeo he went to when he was 2.  Keep in mind that this horse has never lost but that of course is because it has never competed.  They called out all of those in the age category of 2-4 to bring their stick horses and come to the middle of the rodeo arena.  We ran down to the starting line where Parker and his baseball cap was going against real cowboys and cowgirls of Castle Dale.  Being the Pro Rodeo champ that I am I gave him some pointers to "stay on the horse (meaning keep the horse between your legs) and run fast".  With his addidas sneakers he ran off into the sunset as the gun went off (or somebody saying go, I was too caught up in the moment to notice).

Mom was in the grandstands videoing this historic moment.  Parker got a good start and a kid sprinted out ahead of him (no worries, he didn't have a stick horse so he was just a rabbit in the race).  Kids started falling into the dust a little bit but Parker kept moving forward.  Nearing the finish line he was neck and neck with another girl his age when right right before the finish she falls and Parker crosses the finish line in first place thus claiming our very first Rodeo title in the Esplin family!

Having dusted his trusty stick horse off he went to the booth to claim his prize.  It was $25 bucks for this buckaroo.  When Jeremy Jewkes asked him what he was going to spend it on he said, "some horseshoes".

Parker was won proud baseball cap wearing, addidas shoe sporting, cowboy when he went and got congratulations from his mom and brother who were enjoying the show and later some good sno cones!

The only problem, nobody in the Esplin family knows really what horseshoes are.  But maybe our Rodeo Champ will have to teach us someday!

*****After reviewing the video (and it is a classic) it appears that Parker might have tripped this girl towards the finish line but after close inspection it is clear that Parker is not in the mix.  It is obvious that Parker does look back when he sees her fall to which I asked him, "Why didn't you help her up?"  To which came this great response from a rodeo champ "Then I wouldn't have won!"

Graduate from Primary?

Parker did it!  After about 10 months of a daily dose of articles of faith, he has now officially memorized all 13 articles of faith.  The 13th took some time but he was able to do it.  We are impressed at his ability to memorize and are now petitioning the primary presidency for early graduation from primary!

August 2011 - Just beginning to memorize Articles of Faith

June 2012 - Completed all 13 Articles of Faith

Of course as good as Parker is, mom's steadiness and commitment to teaching him also must be recognized.    Perhaps this will also allow her to graduate from primary?!

Brock 'a rock

Brock loves his Zebra.  As of late he has been doing tricks on it.  Just the night he put on quite the show.  He would climb up on the zebra and rock while standing on it.  At times he was brave enough to go with no hands.  He would fall and get right back up.  It became a game and falling was almost as fun as standing on the zebra.  Perhaps Brock was introducing us to a future in the circus someday!

The nice and easy ride

Check this balance out

My personal favorite - with the tongue sticking out!

I want to play too!

If Brock could speak (and he's getting closer) surely he would cry out, "Put me in coach!"  Based on him putting on hats and going after bats at T-Ball games, Brock is showing signs of being the next slugger in the family!

Everybody's Favorite Song

Everybody has a favorite song.  What happens when everybody's favorite song is the same song?  Well, it happened just the other day.

Parker loves singing songs and is pretty good at memorizing them.  Of late we have been listening to baseball/sports songs.  Of course one of the songs on the CD was "Eye of the Tiger".  It didn't take long for Parker to memorize a good portion of this song (boxing actions and all).

One day mom was talking with Parker and she mentioned how this song was her favorite song.  After all it was the song that she would listen to prior to games and track races.  When Parker heard this he said, "No it's not.  It's dad's favorite song."  Mom, in her defense and knowing her husband, wanted to clarify the issue so she she asked him, "Dad, is this your favorite song?"  After weighing his options carefully he responded, "Yes it is!"

Since then Parker will take every opportunity to sing somebody "The Eye of the Tiger".  When Melissa went visiting teaching he sang it in the car for her visiting teaching companion.  Upon hearing it she said, "That is one of my favorite songs."

Maybe it really is everybody's favorite song.  Just ask Parker (or better yet, have him sing it to you!)

"Tiger Claws" courtesy of Aunt Brittany