making movies

a long time friend of mine just had a baby (congrats JACK!). i was over visiting and he had made a slideshow movie of her first 2 weeks. as he was proudly showing this to me, i thought, why have i never done this! i have probably hundreds of pictures of my family and kids that i am always wanting to do something with. i never really investigated what all was on my computer, so i was pleasantly surprised to discover that i had movie maker on my computer. so i sat down to make my first movie, just to see how easy or hard it was. it was actually super easy. so my first production is about to debut...it is relatively simple...just the movie of aidan's life so far. my next production will be bigger and better, but you have to start somewhere. so enjoy! until next time...

names

i've always felt that names were hugely important for every person. a name can define you and how other people view you. people also can make preconceived notions about another person, before meeting them, based on a name. so i feel it is very important that parents choose a name wisely when they are naming their children. i have always had people say to me about my children's names, "oh that's a great name!" or "that's so pretty!" or "i love that name!" so i thought i would give a little history about each of my kid's names and if they live up to their names. another thing to know about me: with my kids a middle name is very important! most people will rarely use their middle names or they may only hear it when they are in trouble. but in the holt house, they hear their middle names about as frequently as they hear their first names. so a middle name is just as important as a first name here!

NOAH GRANT

growing up, i was your typical girl and picked out my kids names when i was probably 12. i always knew that i my first son was going to be named noah. of course i knew the story of noah, but i didn't know any noah's in my life. i just knew though that my first son would be noah isaiah, end of story. fast forward 10 years later, and i find myself pregnant. travis and i had not talked about names (because i had the first boy and girl already named in my mind whether he liked it or not) and then we find out we are having a boy!! we were super excited, but that started the big question of what do we call him? i, of course, say, noah. travis hated the name noah! he listed everyway kids could make fun of him. some of them, i thought, were very far fetched. but noah was definitely not his first choice. we each made a list and tabled the discussion for the time being. we decided to focus then on the middle name. i had always thought isaiah would be his middle name, but at that time in my life i really became focused on family and tradition. i realized that my dad did not have any sons and he was the last male in our family and so our family name would die, essentially, with him. that was very sad to me. also, i realized, as he had no sons, he did not have a male to pass on the tradition that had started with giving the males the middle name of grant. i thought about this and thought, i could continue that traditon and give my son that middle name. grant was actually a name travis had listed for a first name, so it was easy to persuade him to give our baby grant as a middle name. so that was decided, time to decide on a first name. we talked about our possiblities with our families and travis mom says, i would love for you to name him noah because that was my grandfather's name and i loved my grandfather. travis had never realized that that was his great-grandfather's name. once he realized that then he said, maybe noah's not so bad. so here we are with noah grant. named for his great-great grandfather and his grandfather. the meaning of his names: noah means "rest, comfort" and grant means "great, large." i don't know. for those that know noah, you decide if it fits him. hmmm.....

AMELIA GRACE

again, i had a name picked out from age 12, zoey elizabeth. i just knew zoey was going to be my daughter's name. as i grew up and after having noah and just becoming an adult, i decided zoey is just not my favorite name. travis had no ideas for a girl name and was not attached to anything, so amelia's name just came from scratch. i knew i wanted something girly and feminine. we had just seen the princess diaries and it was a favorite movie for our family. the main character was princess amelia. she was not your typical princess though. she was your average girl, thrown into the life of a princess. i really related to her and her awkwardness as i was definitely an awkward teenager who definitely wanted to be a princess. amelia just seemed to be the perfect name. the middle name was just a matter of, again, making lists of our favorite names and then just picking what seemed to fit. so no family names, just what sounded good. name meaning: amelia means "industrious, admiring" and grace means "grace of god." i definitely think this fits her!!

AIDAN MICHAEL

so here we are with little aidan. again, i already had a name for him before he was even thought of. after noah was born i said, my next boy i want to be named jackson william. so i just knew that if this baby was a boy, that was going to be his name. one small problem with that, travis hates the name jackson! i pulled many people over to my side, including his mom and sister, but he was not to be persuaded this time. so again we were starting over from scratch. for his first name we got the ole baby book out again and went through the names. i wanted something different that you don't hear too often. i didn't know any aidan's so it seemed pretty safe. we narrowed it down to aidan and samuel, but in the end aidan won out. next came the middle name. i decided to go back to a family name. mainly because my grandfather had died in 2006 and i was feeling like i needed to honor if not him, then my family. john became a strong contender, after my grandfather. then travis said, well i think i want to name the baby after me. so james was then thrown into contention. finally, i began thinking about men in my family that i look up to and that i would want to name my child after. now this person does not know this, but my uncle lowery is someone i consider a role model! i began to think about his name and did i want to use either his first or middle name? then one day my sister says, i think jokingly, you should name the baby after mychal (my uncle's son). at first i said, "yeah sure," jokingly. but then i thought about it....i really like the name michael. and if michael is a good enough name for my uncle to name his child, then i could name my child michael to. so we chose the traditional spelling and added it to the short list. so here we are with 3 names, all pretty equal in terms of choosing a name. so what better way to choose then to vote on it? so at my baby shower, we passed out ballots and michael won. travis was still campaigning for james and he did not know the outcome of the vote until he saw the completed birth certificate application. i almost changed it to james to make him happy, but michael just really fits! name meaning: aidan means "fiery" and michael means "who is like god?" another one right on! this is definitely my baby!

summer fun

summer is here. the pool is out. the kids are playing.
on this particular saturday, we had 5 kids in the pool and hershey kisses to eat. what more could you want? mia (my hair helmut) outgrew her (aidan's) float ring about 3 years ago, but she figured she would squeeze in anyway. dj wasn't going to swim at first, then decided he was going to sit on the ladder with his clothes on (i did offer him swim trunks), then before you know it, he's in the pool fully clothed! kids! but what a fun day and a great way to kick off the summer! until next time.......

parks family dinner

so the 1st annual parks family dinner was held recently at the pasta house in st. louis. by far it was a great event. we were able to get together with family that we hardly ever get to see (which is really sad because jc and stl are not far apart). the matriarchs of the family were in attendance (as you can see below). i am so glad that i have these two beautiful women in my life! good company, laughs, food and wine were enjoyed by all! i hope this can become a tradition. family is so important and vital. now on to the bogee family reunion in july......

until next time.......

inspired

i was sitting in church yesterday and inspiration struck! we had a special guest, the director of creative ministries for the united methodist church. i'm not sure if "inspiration struck" is the exact phrasing i want to use, but i definitely felt.......called upon, pulled to, "lightbulb came on".......

he talked about ministries that can be done locally, nationally, and globally. i felt like i need to do something, i want to do something, i have to do something. i was literally inspired by the different things that the umc does and thought, even small things, i can do and be apart of and make a difference. locally, there is the festival of sharing. a phenomonal event that i am definitely going to check out this year! the name says it all: sharing! only good can come from that. on a national level, the umc has been doing a lot with rebuilding in areas affected by the many hurricanes and other natural disasters. i remember about 2 years ago, the wesley foundation on campus was going on a trip to the gulf for spring break to do just that. i really wanted to go and for my husband to go with me. i couldn't get him to go and i let myself get talked out of it by not only him but the rest of my family. not again! next time i get the opportunity, i am there! globally, we learned about the program to provide mosiquito netting to families in countries affected by malaria and other diseases. such a small contribution can provide a net, and essentially save a life. i would love to get my church involved in that, but we are such a small church, we will have to see how that goes.

i feel like there is so much to do. do i really have the time to do it all? probably not, but i want to do something. i think about what the world would be if no one did anything. it would be an awful place! i think about the future and what i teach my kids. teach them about what is right and wrong, what is good and bad, responsibility, compassion, empathy.........

now here i am 1 month later, completing this entry and reflecting on that experience and my life since that time. since then, i have made steps to volunteer with the rape and abuse crisis center. i want to give back.......i also want my children to begin to see volunteering as something that you should just do as a good, christian person. i realize that i need to be that example for them.

we already do things with them, like giving toys away that we don't use, helping people when they need it. noah (i must brag here) has been my leader! he first, received the "caring candle award" at school because he stayed with a hurt child while someone else went to get help. he is so caring! it seemed he was always doing something for his classmates, that he even received a good character award at the end of the year. he next gave away his prized scooter to a child who does not have hardly anything because she had such a good time riding it at our house. then he went to vbs and they raised money for the summer lunch program for kids in our town. noah asked me if he could then help pass out those lunches. unfortunately he didn't get to because they have to be in middle school and high school to take part in that ministry, but it was just the fact that he wanted to do it. god is good and he is everywhere!

okay, now that i have rambled and scattered myself everywhere, let me bring it back home and summarize. get involved. do something to help others. be inspired.

haircut

well it is done. aidan has had his first haircut. not that it probably wasn't needed, but i am still sad to see it happen. i was fully ready to let it continue to grow and grow and just see what happens, but alas i was outvoted and bullied and here we are! so for your pictorial pleasure.....

the before

and the after


completely different boy! but could also have something to do with the fact that he is now 366 days old! yes that's right he is 1! where did the year go? i have no idea, but they just seem to be going much faster now. i must (we all must) remember to enjoy these moments now because we can never get them back.

until next time........

my favorite things

so i stole this idea from another blog i read. i was really drawn to the idea and decided to make my own list. i'm posting my favorite things now and will post things i dislike later. things i hate aren't nearly as much fun to think about. so here goes:


50 Things I Love (in no particular order)
1. Snuggling with my kids on a lazy Saturday morning
2. A glass of wine with a girlfriend
3. Sex with my husband
4. Christmas!! All parts of the holiday…….decorations, food, cookies…..
5. Mahjong
6. Anything by Rachel Gibson
7. Pictures of my family
8. Sitting outside on a dewy morning
9. My iPod…..one of the greatest inventions of all time!!
10. Aidan’s giggle
11. Mia’s pronunciations
12. The smell of Pine Sol
13. Feeling of peace when everything is done
14. Sunday afternoons in the summer, sitting on my in-laws back porch
15. Looking at my daughter and seeing my past
16. Finding the perfect thing to wear when I’m running late for work
17. Brownie mix when I’m sad
18. Necco Candy Hearts
19. Games, Games, Games, Games, Games! (My new, but old favorite, is Outburst)
20. Driving down the highway on a sunny afternoon, kids sleeping in the backseat, headed for a family vacation
21. Family vacations!!!!
22. Getting a letter or phone call from someone I haven’t talked to in a while
23. The fact that Noah always has to give me a kiss and hug before bed
24. Snow days
25. Ten Bean Soup with Cornbread muffins
26. Bubble bath with a good book
27. The Discovery Health Channel
28. Learning something new
29. Nostalgia from my childhood (Sweet Valley High, Nancy Drew, Saturday Morning Cartoons……….)
30. discovering a new book/author
31. the home shopping channels (even though i never buy anything, it is addicting just to watch)
32. food, pastas, rich desserts, seafood, just any food
33. breakfast at iHop with the family
34. Reality TV!!! crazy to me to see so many people ready to make fools of themselves
35. The Amazing Race.....would love to be on that show one day....just need a partner
36. you tube....I could watch different channels all day...bon qui qui, can i get ur number.....lmao
37. Travis in a silly mood. My husband is actually a really funny guy when he's in the right mood.
38. The endless chatter of my kids....life would be really dull without it, even though it could drive you crazy. I think Mia actually CAN talk water up a hill.
39. Mia's super girly-ness
40. open houses
41. warm milk
42. aimlessly walking around target on a sunday afternoon with my best friend
43. my job. not all parts of it, but actually getting to help kids and teaching and mentoring, love that part.
44. my parents. i have really grown to appreciate them as i have gotten older.
45. my sisters. even though i don't talk with them everyday, i still appreciate them for who they are. i am really proud to have both of them as my sisters. i know we will always have a bond because of the fact we are sisters.
46. sleeping during a thunderstorm
47. "Love Song" by The Cure. One of my favorite songs of all time!
48. myself! i know that sounds really narsicistic (?sp) but i think it's important for everyone to love themselves. it has taken me a long time to love myself and be comfortable with me, and now that i do, i am proud of that.
49. purses, lately the bigger the better
50. flip-flops! i need to live somewhere where i can wear them all year round!


that is the end of my list. i really could list soooo many more things. i will post later, the 50 things i hate. that one may be a bit more difficult. i don't "hate" too many things. until next time......
peace out!