quotes

and now, for the "scrapbook" portion of my blog, a few quotes from my ever observant 4 year old and 2 year old:

One day when we were riding in the car, I guess Sumner was thinking about the song, "He's got the whole world in His hands" or maybe just pondering theology...who knows?!, anyway all of a sudden he muses, "Tiny hands. Big world. Not compared to God! Big hands. Tiny world!"


And today, he gave us this one...
S: "I studied Abraham Lincoln in school."
J: "He was a very great man."
S: "I would say he's a better man than George Bush!"
we are a little concerned about how this will affect his standing in the young young republicans club at mother's day out...

an exchange with Grayson...
me: "Your piggies are cold!"
G: "It is. It truly is!"

Grayson has also recently added the word "may" to many of his responses to questions such as:

me: "Do you want Mommy to read you a book?"
G: "Yes, you may."
me: "Would you like to play with the Play Doh?"
G: "Yes, I may!"
The other night, he was on the phone with Papa and had been for quite some time. Finally, Papa asked, "May I speak to your Dad?"
Grayson replied, "No, you may not."

riding in the van with the sun shining brightly on his side of the car, this exchange occurred between grayson and sumner~

g: "excuse me, mr. sun? would you please quit shining on me?
pause...excuse me, mr. sun? would you please stop shining on me?
then adamantly, "mr. sun, mr. sun, dagnabit!"
(the use of "dagnabit" derived from our viewing of the disney movie, the fox and the hound! thank you, amos! )
s: "grayson, the sun doesn't have ears!"

and a few translations of other grayson-isms:
cope=coat
barm=barn
Why McQueen=Lightning McQueen (from the CARS movie)
Cats Beat=Nana and Papa's cat, which is named Catsby
frinkles=freckles

i.love.these.guys.

broiled fish with parmesan butter

one of my favorite cookbooks is food for thought which was published by the junior league of birmingham. it is full of yummy dishes, but i still haven't made my way through the entire book. my friend jill from sunday school told me about this fish recipe that she and her husband love. we made it last night and it will definitely be added to our repertoire!
(forgot to take a picture, though...sorry!)
we served it with roasted rosemary potatoes and sweet peas.
enjoy!

Broiled Fish With Parmesan Butter

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 T. chopped green onions
3 T. mayonnaise
2 T. lemon juice
1/4 t. salt
Dash of Tabasco Sauce
Fish for 6 people (grouper, dolphin, snapper, tilapia)
**we used tilapia-it is a mild fish

Combine first 7 ingredients. Spoon mixture evenly over fish and broil fish until golden brown and flakes easily when tested with a fork.

countdown to WFM!

i'm counting down the days until the grand opening of birmingham's first Whole Foods Market!
it's been a long time in the making and we are now just 27 days away! yippee! being a foodie, i could spend hours just browsing the aisles. but mainly, i'm just excited about having healthier options for my family! anyone who knows the parris boys, knows that they are bottomless pits! so, i try to fill them up w/ the healthiest things i can.
if you are like me, it's easy to get in a rut when trying to plan menus for the kids and keep things interesting...their website is a great resource for kid recipes.
go here to jump start your menu with yummy dishes and snacks like Bugs on a Log and Macaroni and Trees!

Friends of God?

this evening, jamie and i watched the HBO documentary, Friends of God, by speaker of the house nancy pelosi's daughter, alexandra.

pelosi traveled across the country filming evangelicals in a variety of venues and settings...a drive-through church, a christian wrestling federation match, a rural family with 10 children, christian theme parks, and a host of congregations. the synopsis of the documentary on tivo describes it this way: "evangelical christians become a formidable force in culture and democracy." i am already somewhat in a state of disillusionment with the whole political scene and how christians, especially, behave themselves in this "war" to which people so often refer. this documentary only added to my quandry and left me sad and irritated.

i commend pelosi for not ridiculing evangelicals or lampooning them in any way. she was inquisitive and dispassionate, posing non-judgmental questions.

we were shocked by the number of times the war metaphor was used. it was absolutely pervasive. this warfare is portrayed differently than the one presented in the bible. if i were a nonbeliever watching this documentary, i would assume that the war that christians talk about is against me. we are communicating hatred to those we are commanded to love. maybe some would say alexandra pelosi edited her documentary in order to bring these specifics out, but sadly her portrayal is pretty consistent with my experience in the evangelical church.

the most striking comparison in the documentary was the between the former ghost writer for jerry falwell (who is gay christian activist) and the old man who drives his scripture plastered truck around town. the gay man is shown weeping in church while the truck evangelist stated that Christians are winners, and all non-believers are losers!

this really should be required viewing for every christian in the united states so that they can better understand how we are perceived. each christian could then decide for themselves whether this is the message we want put forth. our primary concern as christians shouldn't be how the world views us, but that is not the compelling thing about this documentary. "Friends of God" holds a mirror up to the church and we should think about whether we are accurately representing Christ to the lost world.

cute t for mommies to be

i was browsing here for a baby gift and came across this adorable T in the "just for mamas" link. it caught my eye because out of my 11 bridesmaids, 6 of them are either expecting or just had a boy!! it's definitely in the water again...these little guys always come in groups :)
so, i dedicate this post to all my sweet friends who have princes in progress on board!

scrapbooking. what?

Part of my purpose in this blog is to archive memories in an easy and accessible manner. It's just so much easier than breaking out all the paper, stickers, glue and endless supplies that go along w/ scrapbooking. I used to be pretty good at it...and hope to one day be good at it again. But, this is just not the season for it. So, maybe this will suit for my online scrapbook and I'll have these cute little snipets of life to show my children when they are older.

So, then...a couple of quotes:

Sumner- "Mom, did you know that God knows our thinks?"
(so precious and really difficult to keep a straight face through this one.)

Sumner asked Jamie what he was about to do when Jamie tucked him in tonight. Jamie replied that he might watch a show (tonight is OFFICE night!) and Sumner replied, "Are you the wizard of 'I can watch TV whenever I want, but I only let my son watch it sometimes?' "

Sumner's friend Carson was over today for a playdate. They were talking about State Troopers b/c one had visited their class today as part of their lesson. So, this brought up occupations. Carson told Sumner that his daddy was a police officer, to which Sumner replied, "My dad is a phone collector for people who don't have cell phones."
(I wonder if Jamie knew his job was charity work? :)

the birmingham wedding planner

i'm so excited for my friend cheryl walker! she has been written up in this month's weddings issue of portico magazine. you can find the article about her on p.p. 21-23! she is a "work at home" mom like myself and has spent 6 years creating a very unique resource for brides-to-be. it is called the birmingham wedding planner. i so wish i had access to something like this when planning my own wedding over 7 years ago. we recently did a holiday show together and i got a chance to look through this fabulous planner. i must say, she has thought of everything! you would be hard pressed to find anything else quite like it. it absolutely full of helpful tips, recommendations and guiding principles. cheryl's gift for event planning and organization, as well as her love for people, really shines through in her consulting. so, if you or anyone you know is headed to the altar soon, tell them to contact cheryl at riggswalker@juno.com!

baby's got blue eyes

one of the many the fun blessings of having a new niece in the family is that i have a whole new precious bundle on whom to practice! i'm still trying to get the hang of my new lens...focus is an elusive and ever daunting challenge with such large apertures (and i still have so, so much to learn), but the result was so precious, i couldn't resist posting these baby blues. so, here's one of my favorites from k's 4 month session.

health(ier) after school snack

i'm always looking for ways to lighten recipes or use healthier ingredients. mainly due to my battle to keep this post 2 kiddos, five foot three, thirty year old, metabolism plummeting frame under control... and goodness knows if the boys and i bake something, i'm going to indulge, too :)
so, i was pleased to find this recipe that in it's original form was already pretty good for you!
it's got a whopper of a name...they may as well have listed the entire ingredients list...
oatmeal cranberry white chocolate chunk cookies.
kind of like what some of my friends like to call an old recipe entitled chicken broccoli crescent roll surprise. but, that's another recipe for another time.

so, here is that yummy cookie recipe for you to try:

2/3 c. softened butter
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 large eggs
1.5 c. old fashioned oats (not the quick cooking variety)
1.5 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 (6 oz.) pkg. dried cranberries
2/3 c. white chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat the butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time. Mix all dry ingreds. together and then add to wet mixture. Stir in chips and cranberries. Bake for 10 mins.

I dropped these with a small melon baller scoop and it made enough to take to a friend and have plenty left over for this week's snacks.

favorite pix of '06

well, some of them anyway...not enough room on this blog for all! a few other faves can be found on previous posts.

a weekend away

historic rucker place
didn't have my camera, so this is one of the few pix i have from the night. love this one of the 3 of us.

kailyn hope

south carolina

beautiful

what a happy day!

sweetness

i can almost see grayson as a man in this one

angel

buddies

too much princess?

first born

a new son

wonder

thanksgiving

mary beth's gorgeous blue eyes

"look at me, mom!"

a quiet moment

at southwood's lodge in huntsville

my happy place :)

the view from blue ridge pkwy

beautiful, golden fall in north carolina

the colors of asheville

brown eyes

seagrove

discovery

old friends. new babies!

how sweet it is to gather with your oldest friends! the glencoe girls recently got together for our annual christmas reunion...and we all got introduced to precious jackson, the little boy our friend amy just adopted...whom many of you prayed for! ginny has started her first teaching job and is really enjoying it, holly was back for her first visit from germany and got to meet anna caroline and see amanda as a mommy for the first time... and update us on life overseas. it was a fun night! God has been so faithful to all of us this year through granting us health, the provision of new jobs, safe travel and new babies!

a home for gingerbread men

last night, we in the parris household made our first gingerbread house.
the boys LOVED it! sumner said it was more fun than Zoolight Safari :)
they did all the decorating, except for the "snow....i found this craft very addicting and had to die to any perfectionism that i might would have exercised during this family activity!
i could totally go buy more of these sets and spend hours making these little houses. but, alas, there is no time for that!
amazingly, we had enough candy to decorate the house with....grayson would eat one gumdrop for every one he placed on the house ;)

kids say the darndest things....

a few recent quotes from the boys....

Grayson to Mommy-"Did you get married?"
Me-"Yes, I married Daddy"
"Who are you going to marry?"
Grayson-"Suhner!"
Me-"You can't marry Sumner, silly! You are a boy and need to marry a girl."
After some thought, Grayson said, " I'm gonna marry Mommy!"

*exactly what a mommy wants to hear :)


Upon coming downstairs from room-time, Sumner, dressed in Jamie's work gloves, a cowboy hat, and carrying his K'nex container, he looks at me through squinted eyes (his mean face) and says, "I'm going to take all your nickels and dimes!"
(pretending to be a bank robber....a great aspiration :)


Studying his drawing of Mary and Joseph from school, Sumner said, "Mom, What if it happened this way? What if Jesus was in the trough and got eaten by the animals?"



Also, we've been trying to explain smoking to Sumner and why it's bad for you. From time to time we'll see someone out in public who is smoking and this sparks conversation. After explaining that smoking hurts our bodies and can make you sick and die, Sumner pointed out a man smoking and said, "You reckon he'll die?"
Yes, my child used the word "reckon."
I told him that he might if he continued to smoke and Sumner said "I reckon He wants to die."


After I closed the door to Grayson's room for naptime, he starts yelling, "HEY! HEY! Come back Jessi-ka!!!"


And one more....
When putting Grayson down the other night, I told him, "I love you sooooo much, Grayson Ford." He replied, "I love you, Mommy Ford."

the practice of thankfulness

as i sit here in my warm home after thanksgiving, i thought i would make a list of some of the things for which i am thankful. mainly for myself, but also for those of you who read my blog from time to time ;)
it's so easy to lose sight of what's important and instead concern myself with how my house looks during the holidays, with buying just the right present for each family and friend, the non-stop schedule that sometimes i forget to be thankful that i have a home! a recent trip to huntville to serve the poor living there was certainly an adequate reminder of how luxurious my day to day life is compared to the majority of the world.

so i will start with that....i'm thankful for my home! instead of complaining about how far I am from everything, i will focus on things that I often overlook....like a home with heat that works, running water, a bed for each family member...pest control!
i'm thankful that the laundy is never done because my family is blessed with plenty of clothing to wear.
i'm thankful that there are dirty dishes in my sink because my family had food to eat for dinner .
i'm thankful for friends who pray for the "details of life" and for me and my family, for the good health of my husband and children, for 7 years of marriage to a husband who loves me unconditionally, for two new "nieces" to love on, for the scent of a cut Christmas tree in my living room, for the excitement of getting the mail each day in the coming weeks as I open cards from friends and family across the country,
for the twinkle in the eyes of my two boys as they take in the lights on the tree, for the sheer joy that my four year old finds in decorating sugar cookies, for the answered prayer of a dear friend and the joy of a new son, for the body of Christ and the joy that comes with serving with friends, and mainly, for the grace that God daily gives me regardless of whether i am faithful. where would I be without that? His character and love never change whereas mine seem to change daily! He is always faithful to me, even when i go through an entire day without acknowledging him.
my list could go on and on...i just wanted to make a conscious effort to list some of the things that i often overlook.

"how great the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure. that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure. "
~Stuart Townend

i not a piwgwam!

found these adorable hats at the dollar store and couldn't resist sharing a photo with you.

grayson likes to joke around whenever we call him pet names with "i not sweet pea!" or "i not beanie, i grayson"
so these hats were met with "i not a piwgwam!"

sumner on the other hand was happy to have more "dress up" gear!

Holiday Cards & Announcements

I N T R O D U C I N G
Holiday Cards & Announcements from Jessica Parris Photography!

See more designs by clicking here: http://www.jessicaparrisphotography.com/Holiday%20Cards%20%26%20Announcements.html


editable text on this card reads "away in a manger, no crib for a bed"

Vacation Photos

Thought I'd make a quick post with a couple of favorite shots from our beach trip back in August.
Usually, my boys have the typical expressions of the child of a photographer....the glazed-over eyes, the look of complete boredom, but the beach is so great...there's a whole new territory to explore and I can shoot away! In a new environment, sometimes they forget I'm there! While getting the biz started, they've been models for more sessions than they or I can count...each time I learned a new technique or got a new piece of equipment, out we would go to the backyard to practice!
So, this post is for my two little troopers. What a joy they are!

recent sessions

Lately, I've been privileged to be able to photograph the precious children of several of our friends. Below are some of my favorites from their sessions.
This little guy is the son of one of my husband's friends from high school. What a cutie! I love this expression!













This year, our beach vacation lined up with the vacation of some dear friends of ours. What a treat to get to photograph their family while in Seagrove! This is one of my favorites of beautiful Olivia...



















My friend Lauren met me at the botanical gardens one day and I got some sweet photos of her two children. Ellie is just 4 days older than Sumner and it has been such fun watching them grow up. They are so silly when they get together! Below are a couple of my favorites of Miss Priss and her little brother.