Summer Fun Day 3

A Backyard Party
Aaron’s parents were in town to bring Joshua home. Since, they weren’t going to be around the following week for Aubrey’s birthday we had a fun little party in the backyard.

The weather was perfect right around dusk, so (sorry) some of the pictures are blurry. We hung some lanterns, cooked hot dogs on the grill, and then had cupcakes and ice cream out on the deck. It was really nice once the sun set.

Here’s a cute little video of Aubrey cheering when she hears Minnie Mouse cheering for her in her birthday card.

Aubrey was excited to see her present from Grandma and Grandpa Palmer…a yorkshire stuffed dog in a purse, complete with leash, doggie bone, and comb.

She loves the puppy. She’ll put it in the carrier, say “Night, night puppy,” and carry the purse in the crook of her elbow. Think Paris Hilton. When Aubrey does it, it’s both adorable and hilarious. I couldn’t ever get a video of that, but when Grandma was pretending the puppy was licking Aubrey, Aubrey decided to lick back!

Aubrey's birthday

This weekend we celebrated Aubrey's 2nd birthday. I can't believe she's 2 already! Between Aaron going to school, job loss, new jobs, and me babysitting for income it seems like the last two years have just flown by. Wow...

Happy Birthday little girl. Hopefully the years to come will be even more fun. Just please don't grow up too fast. :)

Fun Tidbits about Aubrey:
-She can use sign language to sign 20+ words: please, thank you, sorry, milk, juice, drink, cheese, cereal, dog, cat, bird, fish, bear, blanket, done, more, eat, sleep/tired, swing, car, ball, and shoes. This is especially helpful when I'm trying to decipher between bear and blankie, which come out "bah."
-She calls monkeys (especially Curious George) "ooh, ooh, hah, hah," which makes me think of Finding Nemo, "Shark bait, ooh, hah, hah!"
-She LOVES shoes and tries to wear everyone else's shoes all the time, but she is very picky about which of her own shoes she'll wear, more specifically only her boots.

(so sad, she doesn't fit these anymore.)

-She is the only female toddler I know of that can recognize, name, AND requests Ironman, Spiderman, Super Mario, and Beyblade. (I blame that on her brothers.)
-She LOVES toothpaste. I'm talking about the addicted eats-it-from-the-tube-have-to-keep-it-hidden kind of love. Oh, and it doesn't matter whose toothbrush it is she will use it and leave it somewhere in the house. It makes for "great" bedtime treasure hunts every night.

(yes, that's toothpaste on her face.)

-Whenever she asks for more chips, she says, "Chip me!"

-Every time she puts on sunglasses, she has to point her fingers and say, "Hey Baby!"  (Yeah, I taught her that one.)

-She LOVES tomatoes. See this post...
-She is a scratcher and a screamer, which has resulted in an informal suspension from the Kid's Club at the gym. See this post...
-She is a definite Daddy's Girl. She screams "Daddy!" and goes running to the door when she hears him come home at the end of the day. I know Aaron, of course, LOVES this. :)

-Her favorite movies are Curious George, Ponyo, and any of the Baby Signing Time videos.
-The first thing she asks for when she wakes up in the morning is to watch Curious George. In fact, she gets upset if someone else is watching TV when she wakes up in the morning because it means she has to wait for her turn.
-She is NOT a morning person. This is probably why see wants to watch Curious George every morning. She needs a good half hour to get in a good mood and be ready to eat breakfast, a definite opposite of her oldest brother who wakes up at 5:30am nearly every day.

-She LOVES green smoothies and frozen Go-gurts. I have a hard time keeping our freezer stocked solely because of this girl.

-Whenever, I put her down for a nap the following conversation occurs...

Me: Night, night Aubrey.

Her: Mom!

Me: What?

Her: I love you.

Me: I love you too.

Her: Mom!

Me: What?

Her: I love you.

Me: I love you too.

Her: Mom!

Me: What?
Her: I love you.
Me: I love you too.
(and this goes on at least 5 times. I love it!)

-Although I initially tried to avoid it, Aubrey is inherently girly. She just naturally loves shoes, necklaces, purses, the color purple, fairies, dolls, and all stuffed animals. I often catch her trying to put on my make-up.

-She is such a goofball. She is always doing silly things to make us laugh. When that girl is old enough to tell a joke or drop a punchline, she will be HILARIOUS!

Happy Birthday, Bee!

-

Ha! Take that birds!

Finally! I beat them. I got to one of my tomatoes before they did. Ha! Ha! Ha! (Insert wicked cackle here).  It’s only about the size of a quarter, but I got it and they didn’t. Ha!
My one and only tomato plant has tons of green tomatoes on it. I have faithful watered and checked for ripe tomatoes every single day.

Only to go out the very next morning, and find that the birds (which we have like an entire flock living in our yard) have done this…

I’ve heard that they peck tomatoes to get the water. So, I set up a makeshift birdbath nearby. Yup, didn’t help. So, after diligent watch I finally harvested my first tomato. I might let it sit in the windowsill to finish ripening. If, I can keep one step ahead of the birds, we might even have enough tomatoes to make a salad!
Speaking of tomatoes, I came in the kitchen to find Aubrey stand at the fridge with the door open. (Please disregard my full 30 yr. old fridge.)

At first I thought she was just standing there, trying to decide what she was going to grab like she sometimes does. Then, I called her name.

Turns out, she was stuffing her face full of grape tomatoes. (See the juicy red chin!) She had eaten nearly the entire container of them.  Maybe Aubrey is pecking at my tomato plant.  :)

Puppies in the Living Room

So, I think our kids miss having a dog (FYI: Cocoa ran away about 2 months ago)…

Aubrey started it all. She was hiding under the coffee table this morning. She crawled out and said, “I dog!”  Then, she started panting and crawling around.
I played along saying, “come here puppy,” and “good girl,” when she came to me. She even let me pat and scratch her head.
The boys were getting a kick out of watching her and Josh suggested that I record it. She stopped when I pulled out the camera, so Seth got down and joined in to coax her. Hence, the video…

Aubrey Dog

When she was all done, she stood up and said, “I me!” I guess she was telling me that she was herself again. Pretty cute and funny for a 19-month old. We can already tell she is going to be a hoot when she gets older.  :P
P.S. This is the first time I’ve uploaded video. Did it work?

I love to see the temple

"I love to see the temple I'm going there someday.

To feel the Holy Spirit, to listen and to pray.

For the temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty.

I'll prepare myself while I am young; This is my sacred duty."

The words of this children's song put in simplest words how special temples are to the LDS faith.  (If you would like to know more about what temples are and why they are special to Mormons, follow this link to a wonderful article all about LDS temples.)

Today, I wanted to remind our kids of that specialness and help them feel the spirit. So, we took an impromptu trip to the temple. We are lucky that the Houston temple is within a half-hour drive of our home. So after church this morning, we grabbed a quick picnic lunch and the camera and headed to the temple. The temple itself is closed on Sundays and Mondays, but the temple grounds are open to visitors to visit and walk around. So we sat down by one of the fountains and enjoyed the beautiful day and the peace we felt. I remembered hearing somewhere the idea that if we want our children to grow up and live worthy of entering the temple we need to have it as a daily reminder and goal. What better than a personal picture of the temple to see on a daily basis and be reminded of that goal. So, I took a picture of each of us with the temple. I edited them online with Picnik (which I love), and I want to hang them in our bedrooms.

Later for Family Home Evening, (which we do on Sunday because Aaron has a late night class on Monday) we talked some more about temples and why they are special. I used this lesson for FHE and bore my testimony about temples. Seth told me that he loved being at the temple this afternoon and wanted to go back. That is so great that even at a young age, he can feel the spirit there and wants to return often. We just might have to make this a more frequent family tradition.

It was really neat that Saturday night's session of  Stake Conference was all about temples and temple service. It is probably what sparked the desire to take my family to the temple today. For anyone who wasn't there Saturday, this article sums up what was shared at the adult session at Stake Conference.

Let me finish with a quote by President Howard W. Hunter (from the article). “Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship....If we can pattern our life after the Master, and take His teaching and example as the supreme pattern for our own, we will not find it difficult to be temple worthy."

Happy Father's Day

So, since it's Father's Day, I thought you might like to hear from my other half, Aaron. His contributions to the blog are usually, "Marissa, you should put that on the blog." So in an effort to elicit more from him, and feeling inspired by Simple Modern Mom's week of dad blog interviews, I borrowed these questions from her (and added a few of my own) in an effort to dig into his dad psyche.

What do you now do that is something you would never thought you would do but have done since becoming a dad?
Touch poop...cleaning up a child who is being potty-trained is horrible

What is your favorite thing to do with your children?
Camping is my favorite way to spend time with my children because we are separated from all distractions. I can concentrate on developing my relationship with each of them.

In your family, what roles or tasks do you have as a father? What are your daddy duties?
work, finances, yard work, and disciplinarian

When it comes to parenting, what are your strengths and weaknesses? What about your wife’s?
 My strengths are providing my children with security, structure, rules, and discipline. Marissa's strengths are providing our children with knowledge, love, kindness, service, sacrifice, and creativity.

What is the best parenting advice you have received?
The best parenting advice I have received came from President Monson, "Don't let the problem to be solved become more important than the people to be loved."

What are your hopes and dreams for your children?
My ultimate hope for my children is that they are strong, righteous, and temple worthy, with a love of God and life.

What do you love most about each of your children?
 I love Seth's creativity, imagination, desire for learning, and sensitivity to the spirit. I love Josh's wit, sense of humor, strength, and the way he challenges the reason for things. I love Aubrey's smile, laughter, and the way she looks at me when I dance with her.

What would your ideal Father's Day be like?
 Yummy breakfast, clean house, and a whole day to spend with my family.

What is something you learned from your father that has helped you as a father?
 My dad was always there for me when I needed him and I will do the same for my children.

What is some fatherly advice that you hope to impart to your children?
Take pleasure in the small things

Thanks Aaron! We love you and we know that you love us. I am so thankful to be married to such an amazing man. You are a wonderful husband and father. We are also thankful for all of the other great fathers out there, especially our fathers (a.k.a. Grandpa P. and Grandpa C.). Thank you for all you do for all of your children and grandchildren. Happy Father's Day!

Bows and Bums

Some of the women in our ward at church meet together for a creativity group. We get to make things and learn new skills. Last time I went I learned woodburning, which I enjoyed and did pretty well.  This week Lisa taught us how to make boutique hair bows.  I was so excited because I now have a daughter that I can make girly things for! Lisa, if you read this let me just say "You rock!" I am so glad I learned how to do it but it is hard work. It will definitely take practice and time before my bows are "boutique-worthy." So here is my first attempt. Drum roll please...

Ta-Da! I'm proud of it.  Although, looking at it now in some of the pictures it seems to be a little bit sad.  As I was wrapping the bow, the top loops fell a little flat, so it kind of looks like a butterfly. But, it's not too bad for my first bow.  It is a dark purple ribbon (even though it looks blue in the pics) and I just clipped it onto a stretchy headband so Aubrey could wear it. (My poor baby has nothing but fuzz.) Maybe if I make a bunch of these she'll look more like a girl. When, I put the bow on her, she just started grinning. Then when, I pulled out the camera to start taking photos, it was almost like she was posing for me.  It was so cute! I think she likes it!

Meanwhile...Joshua is using the bathroom while I'm taking pictures of Aubrey. He finishes and comes out into the living room. He gets this puzzled look on his face and says "What?! My pants are wet?!" We confirmed that it wasn't an accident and that he must have set his shorts down in a puddle from the bathtub. So, he grabs a stool from the kitchen and turns on the living room fan. Then, he positions himself underneath the light/fan like this...

"What in the world are you doing?" I asked.  "I'm drying my butt," he replied matter-of-factly.  Oh, I love my children.  The funny thing is that after about 5 minutes of holding this pose, he butt was indeed dry!

Nurture the Rising Generation

Three of my blessings

I was reading the Visiting Teaching message for October, this morning. It was about teaching and caring for the rising generation. Two quotes stood out to me and inspired me this morning.

The first is from President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008):“Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughters of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that He was a parent before you were parents and that He has not relinquished His parental rights or interest in these His little ones. … Rear your children in love, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Take care of your little ones. Welcome them into your homes, and nurture and love them with all of your hearts. They may do, in the years that come, some things you would not want them to do, but be patient, be patient. You have not failed as long as you have tried” (“Words of the Living Prophet,” Liahona, May 1998, 26–27; “Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, July 1997, 73).

I know that I'm not a perfect mom and that I have weaknesses (like my temper). I sometimes need to be reminded that my children are also children of our Heavenly Father. He loves them just like I do. I love the last part of this quote, "you have not failed as long as you have tried." As long as I'm trying to be better, I haven't failed as a parent. So then, how can I better nurture my children and guide them in righteous ways?

Hence, the second quote by Julie B. Beck, Relief Society general president:“To nurture means to cultivate, care for, and make grow. … Nurturing requires organization, patience, love, and work. Helping growth occur through nurturing is truly a powerful and influential role bestowed on women” (“Mothers Who Know,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2007, 76, 77).

The part that stood out to me was "nurturing requires organization, patience, love, and work." These are all things I need to improve on, especially organization. This is a lesson I'm slowly starting to learn (as my husband can testify). I think I'm okay on the "love" part of nurturing. I love my children more than life itself. They are my life. I just need to learn to express my love a little more frequently, like in how I discipline. Of course, how could you not love a face like this?

Welcome Aubrey!

Okay, okay I know I'm about 3 months behind schedule announcing this...The Palmer family is proud to announce the arrival of Aubrey Elisabeth! She was 7 lbs. and 15 oz. (small for our family) and was about 20 inches long. She seems to be a mellow, and happy baby and we are so glad to add her to our family. These pictures are of her on her blessing day, just before church. She was so peaceful and content watching me as I took her picture. She was so beautiful in her pretty blessing gown. I made the bracelet on her wrist. I saw the idea online for this "blessing bracelet." (I still need to get the poem that goes with it.) Basically, you save the bracelet and then when she gets married, she can use the bracelet as her "something old." You know from the saying "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." Plus it's something she can use for her own daughter's blessing. And who can resist a tiny little bracelet next to cute tiny little hands...simply irresistable!