Thankful

Things I'm thankful for, in no particular order:

~ My momma, she never ceases to amaze me with her generosity, patience and love

~ Eva's health and happiness

~ Jason's laughter

~ Extended families that love us so much and spoil Eva rotten

~ A safe car that gets awesome gas mileage

~ Multiple jobs, all of which I enjoy

~ My budding photography business that brings me joy and allows me to be creative and give families a lasting memory

~ Free birthday dinners that I get every year from my two favorite restaurants- Benihana and the 5-8 Grill

~ Still being in my 20s!

~ My baby brother who is so grown up I almost can't believe it

~ The Minnesota theatre scene which lets me expose Eva to awesome plays and musicals

~ Wuollet's double chocolate torte

~ Old Navy and their too cute yet reasonably priced clothes for the whole family

~ My relationship with God that fills me with hope in my darkest times and helps me greet each day knowing I am blessed beyond measure

~ My iPhone that helps me manage my crazy schedule

~ That I'll never have to say "President Romney" :o)

15,000 Views

I can't believe I missed it but we hit 15,000 views! I have been so bad about blogging lately that I'm sure you're all annoyed with me but I promise to be better in December. 

Thanksgiving photos coming soon- love you all!

Kindergarten Screening

Eva had her screening for kindergarten last Tuesday and I was a nervous wreck.  I am so A-type that it's hard not to push my perfectionist standards onto her.  It probably didn't help that in the car ride over I asked her some very basic questions (that I know she knows) and she refused to answer them or said she had no idea.

At any rate, the screening was wonderful.  She was able to answer all of the questions and do the different tests they wanted. About the only thing wrong was her sass. I think she thought the teacher was messing with her when she asked certain questions.
Example:
"Eva, can you count these blocks for me?"
Eva counts them and says there are 10.
Then the teacher asks, "How many blocks are there?"
Eva looked at her as if to say, "Lady, I just told you there are 10, were you not listening?" but thankfully she just said, "Tennnn" is a dramatic voice.

Turns outs "hanging on" to a number like that is very good for a kid Eva's age- so I'm happy- it was just so funny to watch the whole interaction and see my 34lb child talking to a grown woman as if she was the child.

We're still exploring our options for kindergarten next year- open enrolling her in a public school versus staying in Montessori- but it's nice to know that she's on par to succeed in either setting we choose.

She had so much fun talking about big girl kindergarten that she wanted to wear her backpack with chapter books around the house for 2 days. Diva!

Eva's Book Review- Bonus

Eva's BFF Sadie turned us onto this series.  And by Sadie I mean her mom :-)

Ladybug girl is a young girl named Lulu who becomes the brave and fearless Ladybug Girl when she goes on adventures to the park, camping, beach and other everyday places.  I won't go into reviews of all of these books (partly because I'm lazy and partly because this is just a bonus post, so take what you can get- ha!) but I highly recommend these books for any little girls out there. Here's looking at you Rya :)

Or little boys too, I shouldn't say only girls should read books about girls. Damn me and my gender stereotypes! 

Family

We spent this past Sunday at my grandparent's celebrating my dad's 62nd birthday, my grandpa's 86th birthday and Veterans Day.  I love that even though most of our family is out of state, Eva sees her extended family quite often and she loves them and talks about them all the time. Grandma Peggy this and Auntie Nancy that... she is totally in love with being with and talking about family. Who can blame her?  I hate to brag but Jason and I combined have probably the most loving, generous, thoughtful and fun family any 4 year old could ever ask for.

This Thanksgiving month, I am thankful for family. For old memories, for time together, for all that lies ahead for all of us.

“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”

~Mother Teresa

Swimming in the same pool I swam at more times than I can count when I was little

Listening to the book that Great Auntie Marion wrote. Pretty cool, huh?

Cat in the Hat

Eva + Mommy + Baba + lunch + Wuollet's + Cat in the Hat = perfect Saturday!

I'm taking a break from working weekends at the restaurant.  I just needed some time to spend at home and be with Eva more. She's turning into such a kid- not a baby or a toddler anym0re- and I don't want to miss this time of her life. 

So, to kick of my new free time with a bang, we spent Saturday with Baba having lunch, playing girly girl, getting cake from Wuollet's bakery and topping it all off with seeing Cat in the Hat at the Children's Theatre.  It was a lovely day.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, lunch was only $3 thanks to a gift card I won from a contest at work and the play was laugh out loud funny.

I'm so amazingly blessed to have my life filled with the most wonderful mother and daughter I could ever ask for.  It just doesn't get any better than this.

hot pink pants, glitter skull necklace and front braid... Eva has officially passed me in the coolness department!

Getting fancy with Baba

XOXO

mmmm cake

Thing 1 and Thing 2!

Eva's Book Review- November

Another month where we get to focus on a single, awesome author = fabulous!

There has never been an author quite like Dr. Seuss.  His oddly rhyming juxtaposition of words is so unique that you almost have to pre-read a book before presenting it to a child or you'll sound like a bumbling goon every third page.  Eva is at the age now where she actually enjoys hearing an entire Dr. Seuss book start to finish, which wasn't always the case.  Getting to the:

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!

in Oh the Places You'll Go wasn't an always easy feat with 2 year old Eva.  Now that she's older she's adores Cat in the Hat and we're actually going to see the musical at the Children's Theatre tomorrow with Baba. Yay for girls day!

I won't bore you all with descriptions of these books, since we all know what they are about.  Instead, I'll put them in order of Eva's top picks and let you decide from there which one to run out and pick up from the library :-)

1. The Cat in the Hat (side note: Jason loves to be creepy and quote the "Your mother will not mind if you do" line- ha)

2. One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

3. The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

4. Oh, the Places You'll Go!

5. Horton Hears a Who!

6. The Lorax

7. Green Eggs and Ham



4 More Years!

Some of you are probably wondering about my days of silence on the election.  Well, to say that I am happy with the outcome is an understatement.  My heart swells with pride to know that the US voted for the man I believe is best suited to (continue to) lead us out of the slump left by the last administration (yes, the recession began in 2007) but also I am so incredibly proud of Minnesotans for defeating the amendment that would have constitutionally defined marriage as only between one man and one woman and the amendment that would have added restrictions to in person voting.

In my heart I wanted to post only this photo and leave it at that.

But I don't want to be an ungracious winner. Instead, I'll leave you with a photo that speaks volumes.  Education is the key to moving forward. Moving forward as a person and as a nation. Good things come from knowledge and I believe the more educated a person is, the more they are able to think critically and empathize with others, and in turn vote for the good of all, not just the good of themselves.

And We're Off!

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile- I've been busy plugging away at photography stuff.  I am happy to report that my first step in my big girl photography biz has taken off.  I now have a Facebook page, completed with a custom logo and some branding items and I've begun shooting mini photography sessions!

Feel free to take a look at my page and hit "like"- I will be transitioning this blog back to just personal stuff and putting my photography endeavours on Facebook (and my full website once it's up and running).

Thanks much!

https://www.facebook.com/RebeccahParksPhotography