More Babies on the Ranch

We added two donkeys to our menagerie of animals on the ranch a short while back.  One of which was pregnant when she came to us.   Her name was Luna.  We had no idea when Luna's baby would arrive, but we knew it would be soon as she was looking really large.  Unbeknownst to us, she had the little one Saturday afternoon.  All of a sudden, there it was.  Scrawny little thing....And very much the softest nose/fur I've ever felt.  Momma came to the fence to smell my hand so the little one followed and I was able to have a quick touch.  We haven't had a clear view of whether or not this little one is a boy or girl, but from the quick peeks we've managed to grab as she whips her tail around we're guessing girl for now.  I'll update once we have a confirmation.  :)

Blessings,

Momma/Pam

2012 Soccer Season is Underway

I can't believe this years' soccer season is underway already.  The team, otherwise known as the Rattlers, had their first practice on a Thursday with a scrimmage game the very next Saturday.   Not a lot of notice, but they held themselves really well and closed out their first game with a tie of 3-3, or maybe it was 4-4.  Either way, they tied and were very excited about that.  No high-shooting scores like last year.

These photos are from their first game.  I had to use my cell phone as my camera wouldn't charge up properly.  Caleb is the one in the black shorts and the blue shirt, and I believe he is wearing the white socks.  His team wore blue shirts and the opposing team wore lime green.

Caleb was a bit disappointed to learn that daddy would not be coach this year.  Apparently, the league only had enough kids signed up for 4 teams and they had enough volunteers for coaches.   So, daddy gets to be a spectator this year.  We have two coaches, Mr. Terhune (CC's local weatherman) and his assistant, who I have not yet learned the name.  All the kids seem to be enjoying the season so far.  As in previous years' tradition, his best friend Ella is on his team as well.

Ohio Company

A sweet friend of mine, Sonya from Ohio, came to visit for a few days.  I met her via an on-line community for ladies/mommas.   I've known Sonya for over eight years now.  After Johnny and I had Caleb, Sonya was one of the first people I called from the hospital to share the news.  We've become close friends and talk frequently via email.  I flew to visit her last March, two months after she lost her husband in a tragic car accident.  I felt compelled to check on my dear friend.  After meeting her, she wanted to come to Texas.  It was a dream of her husband's, to visit Texas some day.  She full-filled his dream by coming to meet my family.

Johnny was off of work on the Monday she was here and we asked him to drive us around for the typical touristy type stuff.

We rode the ferry in Port Aransas, but unfortunately did not see any dolphins that day.

Stood in the big shark's mouth.  Haha!

Walked along the beach, sticking our toes in the water.

Caleb was near the end of his 2nd bout of strep throat.  He wasn't excited to get in dad's truck and drive around for a day, but he did his best to have fun.

Sonya wrote this in the sand.  I had a picture of her writing it, but well, it sorta had a side view of her back-side and I wasn't sure she'd appreciate me plastering that on my blog.

This is what I believe to be Caleb's first time to stand in a sand dune.  He was a bit excited and tolerated the heat on his feet quite well.

A few of these pictures are shots I took for Sonya since she accidentally left her SD card out of her camera and couldn't take pictures of her trip.

We fit in a few rounds of Bananagrams and had a great time!

This was already the day to go home.  Caleb and I drove her to San Antonio so she could catch her flight at the airport.  But, we spent a little bit of time on the River Walk first.

We had lunch at an Italian restaurant and Caleb was finally his old self.  He was so polite to the waiter and even ate all his food USING his fork instead of his fingers.  Sonya saw a bit of the cute personality he has instead of the sick little boy he was for the first 3 days she was here.

Our time went by fast and we can't wait until another chance to spend some time together.  Until then, please be in prayer for my dear friend.  Each day is a new day and facing the challenges that present themselves from losing a spouse are a bit much some days.  She is a Christian and I know personally she would covet any prayers said on her behalf.

God bless,

Momma/Pam

Addition to the Family

August 13, 2012 marks a very special day in the Parker house.  Grandson Chevy John-Thomas Lemos arrived into the family.  Some babies arrive quite normally without a hitch, while others just want to give everyone a bit of a scare as they make their way into the world.  Chevy came 4 weeks early and weighed in at 4 lbs 7 oz and 17.75" long.  He spent his first 17 hours in the NICU at the hospital before they decided he was perfectly fine and brought him to room-in with mommy and daddy.

Mommy had very high blood pressure and had to be put on medication that wasn't very nice to her.  She was quite loopy for a while and for her I know that was not fun as she couldn't tend to her little man as she would have liked.  But, the doctors finally took her off that medication and she became more like herself with each passing hour.

Meme' looks a wreck.  At the taking of this picture, I'd already been at the hospital for 17 hours with Allie and Aaron.  No hair brush in sight.  Over look that and just take in how small this little bundle really was.  

 

Uncle Randy was quite excited to hold Chevy for the first time. 

Pawpaw came to see Chevy at the hospital during his lunch hour one day.  He'd spent the first night at the hospital with Allie, but had to get himself back to work before long.  So, sneaking in a visit was what he had to do.

So precious......

These photo's started Chevy's journey at "home," which for the first two weeks was at Meme's house while daddy and friends did their best to get the rest of mommy and daddy's stuff moved to their new house.

Can I say Uncle Caleb is a very proud Uncle?  He is.  He loves when he "makes Chevy smile."

More of proud Uncle Caleb and look how much Chevy has grown!!  His little face is SO much more full!

There will be more to come of this handsome little man.....Meme' won't be able to help herself from keep everyone updated!

Love and blessings,

Momma/Pam

More Than A Backpack

This is my first year to coordinate the More Than A Backpack Ministry along with my dear friend and adopted daughter, Lucy.  When I heard about this ministry I immediately felt God pecking on my heart.   Back in the day when I had four kids in school and school supply time came around it was such a heavy burden trying to get everything everyone needed in order to comply with the requests from the school.  This ministry touched me in a very special way.  I knew I wanted to do what I could to impact our community as much as possible.

I went straight to Lucy, my daughter's best friend and a member of our church.  This young lady's heart is on fire for the Lord and recently became a stay-at-home-mom like myself.  I knew she would be willing to co-lead this ministry with me.   She said yes and off we went.

What's involved in this ministry?

1) Displaying flyers all over the community announcing the ministry and it's intent.
2) Taking calls for several hours a day over the course of three or four days in order to schedule a time for registrants to come by and fill out a registration form.
3) Being available over a scheduled period of time for families to stop by the church and register their children.
4) Logging all registrants onto the Google Docs program so that Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, the main church coordinating this ministry, could keep track of all registrants from all the participating churches.
5) Going to Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi to stuff backpacks.

The entire procedure has definitely been well thought out.  When our church members arrived to stuff backpacks last night, the 50+ backpacks we were to take back with us were already done and ready for us to load.   The pay-it-forward method was firmly in place for we then filled 150 5th grade backpacks.  So cool.  We stayed in one room.  Didn't have to think about different materials for different age groups. We just sorted and filled 150 of the same backpacks.  The only difference was color - dark colors for boys and bright colors for girls!!

Here are two of my biggest helpers.  Caleb and Meghan.   It was a little hard for Caleb to sort and stuff the backpacks but he discovered he WAS able to carry them to this room after the rest of us stuffed them.  He hauled and stacked over 100 backpacks by himself.  Somewhere over the 100 backpack mark, Meghan switched tasks and helped Caleb carry backpacks.  She also helped count them out and keep track of our finish line.  Who knows how many she stuffed on her own but I'm sure it was a huge number.

These two also sorted and stacked the empty boxes as we depleted the school supplies out of them.  Never a lazy moment.  We were there for over 3 hours and busy the entire time.

A special thank you to Lucy Blasingame for all the time she spent helping me pass out flyers, answering calls, and helping registrants with their forms.  Additionally, Lucy entered all the registrants on the Google Docs program on-line.  She was sad to miss the filling of backpacks, but her little man had surgery and her priority was taking care of him.  Next year Lucy!  Next year!

More thank you's to my sweet husband who after working a full day at work came and filled backpacks until every last one was done.  Thank you to Bro. Rick and Sheila Vire as we would not have been able to complete 150 backpacks in 3 hours without their help!

This whole ministry has been such a blessing to my soul.  Meeting new people, reaching out into the community and filling a need, and as a result being a servant to my Lord.  We're giving out a total of 53 backpacks this year and I'm convinced that next year we will totally TOP that number.

Walking with the King,

Pam