Parksway's Blog

The Graduate

parksway — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:46:19 +0000

Tonight was THE night – I graduated from Private Kindergarten. I have the option to go into first grade next year, but my mommy and daddy are putting me into the public school system as a kindergartner since my birthday is so late (Aug 11 – put it on your calendars). They thought it might be beneficial for my development and so does this 60 Minutes segment on “Redshirting Kindergarteners“ (very interesting for other parents of late birthday kids). They wanted me in some formal program for this past year so that is how I ended up in the Private K class.

Anyway, back to the subject of ME…..GRADUATING!! Mommy, daddy, and grannie kept saying they were so proud of me and that made me feel proud of myself. It was like I wasn’t even me. I was totally nervous, but I put on my brave face and took pictures with everyone and smiled and even said our poem – I didn’t scream the words like some of my other friends, but I was saying it loud and proud. I could say a lot, but these pics say so much and the video isn’t too bad either except for the brief period where daddy let the camera focus on the table. BTW I think mommy and daddy are happy/sad about me graduating and growing up.

Oh, before I forget, thank you to Mrs. Dutler – she was so sweet and kind to me and made my parents feel confident she would teach me well and wouldn’t put any unnecessary anxiety on me in school. Thank you Ms. Layla because she was just so sweet to me at all times. She always use to say I was her favorite and that always gets you places with me and my family. And a last shout out to all my hommies in Private K – Greyson (see you this summer at the pool), Brock, Joshua V, Joshua S, and Jaxon. You were my main posse for the past 3 years. Wish there could be more, but time to move on – like a rolling stone, baby.

How time flies…

parksway — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:09:47 +0000

So it has been a month since I last posted – too long – apologies. That being said, I will catch you guys up on what has gone on for the past month as quickly as possible so we can get back on track…..

Hip Hop And I Don’t Stop

Easter was so awesome. Obviously, there is a larger importance than egg hunts and candy, but beyond that, it is pretty cool to get an basket full of goodies from the Easter Bunny. You can see in the pics below that the Easter Bunny wrote me a message on our patio when he left me my basket. That afternoon, we went to my Papa Dupree’s house. I got to egg hunt with a few of my cousins and I really cleaned up. Daddy and mommy were really proud of me for not trying to find all the easy eggs – my cousins are younger than me so I had to give them a chance. Anyway, I found plenty of eggs and they all had plenty of candy to eat.

“Parker – This is for you. You are such a good boy. <3 E.B.”

Ahoy, Matie

Daddy decided to hit the high seas on a cruise without mommy and me. It actually wasn’t all his doing. Papa Kolias actually won a trip through his work and he asked daddy to go with him. Who can blame him for ditching us, right? I would have left mommy and daddy if I was asked. Papa and daddy went to the Bahamas and had a good time. Daddy said he missed me and mommy a lot, but he said he was glad I gave him daddy lion to keep him company. I told him I missed him so bad and I also told him I couldn’t be me without him here. He totally bought it and was like putty in my hand.

Much more happened over the past month, but those were a couple of the highlights. I’ll try to be more current, but I’m almost 6 years old and there is just so much going on for a guy my age.

Happy Birthday Daddy

parksway — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 16:01:38 +0000

I was so excited the other day because it was my daddy’s birthday – can’t believe he’s already 21. Anyway, while I was excited to see him in the morning, he had to go out of town for business so mommy and I didn’t get to spend any real time with him. We were all kind of bummed. To make sure he had a little piece of home with him, I gave him one of my stuffed animals – Daddy Lion. He looks a lot like Mama Lion, but there is a distinct difference between the two. Daddy and mommy thought it was so sweet of me to do that – I should probably ask for something big while their defenses are down.

Daddy made sure he didn’t leave Daddy Lion at the hotel so he took pictures for me so I would know he was taken care of.

When daddy came home, mommy and I made sure we celebrated his birthday. We made him a cake and gave him gifts and cards. I think he was happy to see us and we were happy to see him.

Life on the road isn't so bad

Wonder how this looked at the x-ray at security

Chef Boy-R-P

Pump up the Jam!

parksway — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 20:50:28 +0000

The other day we went to the MONSTER JAM (said in my best over-the-top announcer voice) and it was UN….wait for it….BELIEVABLE!! Thundering engines and destruction – just good ‘ol fun. The cool part was that we got there early enough (perhaps way too early – bygones) to go down on the track before the races and see all of the trucks. All of our favorites were there – Grave Digger (my fav), Son-Uva Digger, Monster Mutt Dalmation (mommy’s fav because it looks like a puppy), El Toro Loco (daddy’s fav), Superman, Iron Man, Mohawk Warrior (a lot of kids had their hair in mohawks because of this one), etc.

Now there is more to a Monster Jam than just big trucks rolling over a bunch of cars and doing crazy looking stuff – they actually race. No each of us had our favorite car for the races. Mommy’s Monster Mutt was out of the competition pretty quickly while daddy’s truck and my truck kept advancing. Before we knew it, both of our trucks were in the finals racing against each other. After some smack talk between me and my dad – you’re going down clown….you’re truck is so slow it takes 2 hours to watch 60 Minutes (this one is kind of funny to me since I’m learning how to tell time now) - it was time for our trucks to race. The race was literally a photo finish and the winner was…..GRAVE DIGGER!!!! It couldn’t have been more perfect.

After the races, all the trucks did tricks and jumps and all that cool stuff. Daddy’s truck actually lost a wheel and kept going on 3 wheels – too cool. You can see on the video below. We also saw several of the trucks catch fire which was pretty exciting – being in the stands and not the truck that is.

One of the other cool things about the day was that we got to sign our names to one of the old cars that race between truck rounds. Our car didn’t make it once around the track, but it was cool to write on it at least. Overall, it was great day – kinda loud so you want to bring some ear plugs, but awesome!

Grave Digger vs. El Toro Loco

El Toro Loco on 3 wheels

“I Wish Heaven Had a Telephone”

parksway — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:57:45 +0000

I’ve been fortunate to have not lost anyone yet, but some of my friends have. One little boy in my class says his daddy is in Heaven. While I know Heaven is suppose to be a good place, I sure am glad mommy and daddy are still here, not to mention my grannie, nanny, papa(s), and the rest of my family – sure am a lucky kid. Anyway, one of my daddy’s friends wrote and performed this song. The back story is from a post he say on Facebook from one of his friends. You can read his own words.

A friend of mine that I had not spoken to in years posted this one day and it stuck with me. I had no idea how or when her dad passed away, I just knew the wish was something that many of us experience - a wish for one more conversation with someone we love who is no longer here.

The death of a loved one is probably a time that makes us most willing and open to reach out to God. For some people, this is one of the few times they will “give God a chance.”

The concept of this song is that we will never understand why some things happen on Earth – children dying, loved ones taken way too soon, cancer claiming a young mother or father, leaving behind young children. In those moments, we reach out to God. We want to know why, we want some answer to appear to us because if we can make sense of a tragedy, it might be easier to accept.

This song takes you through a few conversations between those here on Earth and those in Heaven. The first two verses are true stories of actual events. The bridge represents the question you ask yourself when you look into the sky, see the stars and wonder if they can hear you or if they know how much you miss them. The last verse is the response. From Heaven, they too wish Heaven had a telephone. They would talk to us and tell us how it turns out.…. “I was there when Valley was born, we all were, and we were cheering along with you” or “Yes, I did die in the car wreck, but 11 people who were far from God prayed for the very first time. Trust me, it was worth it.”

When you hear this song, and you think of that someone, remember, God is good, always.

Like I said, I sure am a luck kid to not know this reality yet, but I can sure empathize with the emotion. Give the song a chance and download it on iTunes or the group’s site Jeremy Powers & The Empty Chairs.