Sparks' Family Tree

Ryan has 10 first cousins on his dad's side of the family,
and they all seemed to decide to have kids
at exactly the same time.

In the past 3 1/2 years, 11 great-grandchildren were born into the Sparks' family, which makes for some very wild and crazy family functions!

Chloe, Luke, and Hillarie, March 2008
Cousins picture, Easter 2009
Hunting Easter Eggs

Cohen & Aubrey checking each other out,
Thanksgiving 2009
Cohen got a little too close for comfort

Luke & Hillarie at Parker's birthday party,
September 2009

The Matriarch & Patriarch of the Sparks Family

During our Memorial Day weekend visit we tried to get a picture of 10 of the great-grandkids
with Granny & Grandad, this is what happened:

The best one, no one was crying or trying to escape

We can't wait for Christmas, when all 12 great-grandkids will be together for the first time!

Wordless Wednesday

A group from our church took a field trip to the Blue Bell ice cream plant in Sylacauga, Alabama this morning.

We went on a short tour of the plant and saw how the ice cream was made, but the best part was the
free scoop of ice cream!

If you're ever in the area, you should stop by the
Blue Bell Creameries, it's a very fun and frugal field trip...
only $3 per adult & child over 6 years old.

Luke enjoying his Chocolate ice cream...
he insisted on licking it

Aubrey was a bit messy with her Homemade Vanilla
The ice cream parlor was a pregnant woman's paradise :)
My Mocha Madness AND Mint Chocolate Chip

My Little Princess

Last weekend while we were at my grandparent's house, we decided to have a little photo shoot
with Aubrey in her tutu outfit.

I still don't know how to properly work all the features on my camera, and the lighting and colors in my grandmother's living room weren't exactly professional, but some of them turned out well.

I had to include this one, because I love
chubby baby legs :)


Aubrey wasn't too sure about the tutu
She didn't like the way it felt and
wouldn't keep it on for very long

Wordless Wednesday

The Krispy Kreme donut addiction has been passed down to Aubrey.

She gets super excited every Sunday morning when she sees the box of hot and now donuts!

Weekend in Indiana

A couple of weekends ago we were headed to a family resort in Missouri for a vacation with Ryan's family.

After a few short hours of traveling
our destination made a detour to Indiana.

Ryan wasn't able to join us until the last day,
and boy was he missed.

My most-of-the-time sweet, kind, obedient toddler
grew horns and turned into an uncontrollable,
"terrible" two year old.

For some reason, Luke took Ryan's absence as a free pass to through multiple tantrums a day, not respond to any sort of discipline, and regress on his potty training.

I was completely frustrated, lost my cool on many occasions, and called Ryan in tears several times
during the weekend.

Anytime that Ryan would talk to Luke on the phone,
the crying and screaming would cease and Luke
would respectfully answer all of Ryan's questions
and promise to be a wise boy and obey Mommy.

But, that didn't last for too long, an hour or so after talking to Daddy something else would set Luke off
and a tantrum was imminent.

Thankfully, Uncle Andy and Bigg were there, and they took Parker and Luke to the pool, zoo, and movies, and each time Luke was with one of them, he was pleasant, well-behaved, and went potty.

I guess during this stage of Luke's life, being away from home without Daddy is a lethal combination, and
we hope to avoid it at all costs in the near future!

Seriously, though, just those few short days without Ryan around made me so grateful that Luke and Aubrey have a Daddy who enjoys spending quality time with them, loves them immensely, and in love corrects them, in hopes that one day they will turn their lives over to Christ and develop character qualities that are Christlike.


Aside from the Luke issue,
we did have a great time with family in Indiana.

Luke, Parker, and Hillarie had fun playing in the pool

Parker hosing Luke off after and incident
that's too uncouth to discuss on this blog

Everyone loved watching Bigg, Uncle Andy, and Derek play softball

Hillarie cheering on her Daddy

Luke shouting, "Go Uncle Andy!".
Parker cheering for her Daddy.

Luke, just moments before being hauled off
the softball fields while screaming and crying
that he didn't want water to drink.

Parker and Luke showing off their new
Toy Story and Cars sunglasses

We attempted to get a good family picture while everyone was in town, this is what happened:

This is as good as it's gonna get until all the kids are at least in middle school

Bean-Free

Monday afternoon Luke was playing with dried beans, which has been a normal activity of his for almost a year now. He loves to scoop, pour, dump, and sort them.

When he finished playing with them, he told me that he stuck a bean up his nose, but I didn't really believe him.
I thought, surely not.

A couple times that night he said his nose hurt,
but I just thought it was a coincidence.

Tuesday morning rolls around, and he is extremely whiney and tells me several times that his nose hurts and that there is something in his nose.

So, we head to the pediatrician and upon a quick examination the doctor reports that there
is indeed a black object in his nose.

He was unable to get it out, so he referred us to an ENT.

Ryan takes Luke to the ENT, while I take Aubrey and Julia, the girl I babysit a few days a week, back to the house for naps.

Ryan calls me about 2 hours later asking for Luke's social security number, because he has to be admitted to the hospital for his bean removal surgery that night.

My uncle and Aunt came to stay with Aubrey,
so I could go be with Luke at the hospital.

Luke was at the hospital from 1:30 until 7:30 AND was not allowed to eat or drink anything AND was confined to his bed...remarkably he did quite well!

I got there around 4:30 and his surgery was at 6:15.

About 30 minutes later, he was bean-free, awake, and extremely angry about the whole ordeal.

He was crying when we got to him, and he pretty much cried for the next hour we were there
while the nurses tried with no avail to get
his blood pressure and heart rate.

Once, we left the hospital he was fine!

All in all, everything went as well as it could go.

Luke in his hospital bed

The bean
Bean-Free

Both doctors told us that this kind of thing happens all the time, which made me feel a little better; but, just to make sure we don't have to go through this again, we have thrown away all dried beans that were in our house, and Luke is not allowed near any kind of small object that can fit in his nose.

Little Boys

This guy stuck a bean up his nose yesterday and
has to have surgery today at 5:00 to have it removed.

Why didn't anyone tell me that little boys
have a tendency to do this kind of thing?!?

Summer Fun

Fun things we've done to keep cool
in this scorching summer heat:

Playing in the sprinkler at Bigg & Mama's House
Luke looked like he was having so much fun,
Ryan had to join him

Aubrey watched from her nice, dry blanket;
she's not a big fan of getting wet

We went to the lake one Sunday after church
with Kathleen and Ty

They had the coolest baby pool, it was perfect for Aubrey
Luke is usually scared of the water, but he loved the lake
After some swimming, Luke and Ryan went tubing