Big News!

For anyone who hasn't already heard...

Yup, that's right. We are expecting baby #4! It was definitely a surprise and not planned, but we are excited for the addition and change in plans. The official due date is July 1, 2012 but knowing my track record of big babies, the doctor will probably want to induce early again. We'll see. I'm just glad I don't have to be nine months pregnant in August (like we originally thought). Yuck. Pregnancy, the dog days of summer, and I do not mix well. We're not sure yet if we want to find out the gender when possible or wait until he or she is born. One more surprise would be fun, don't you think?! What do you think? Boy or a girl?

Summer Fun Day 5

Lego Day
My boys are obsessed with Legos. Seriously. They love building with their Legos, playing Lego games on the computer, watching Lego movies, drawing Lego pictures, coloring Lego printables, and anything else that uses Legos or is related to Legos. No joke. So I only thought it fair that we have a Lego day.
We started out building and playing with Legos all morning. Then, I printed some coloring pages from online. To do this go to Lego.com and then “products”. Each product line has their own website, click here to see an index. Clicking on the picture of one of the product takes you to that product website. Coloring pages are usually under the “Funzone” or “Download” tabs. Then, just download and print.


Some of the websites also had printable stickers. They are basically just pictures that you can print on sticker paper and cut out. We printed them on plain paper and used them to make dioramas. Most of the kids just glued them flat onto a background. I was pretty impressed when I saw Seth’s 3-D version.


I also saw these Lego puzzles on Pinterest…

Source: icanteachmychild.com via Marissa on Pinterest

...and decided to make our own with some clipart cutouts. I just taped over a picture using clear packing tape on two blocks and then used an Exacto knife to cut apart the blocks. The kids had fun putting them all together.



Later, I saw these and wished I had more time to make some like them…

Source: ilovechesterrific.com via Marissa on Pinterest

Then, the boys wanted to make a movie. We took about 70 pictures, each time moving the Legos a slight bit and writing our dialogue on a dry erase frame. The plan was to take a bunch of these pictures and when put together in quick succession it would look like they were moving, playing out the story. However, after all our work ,we realized we didn’t have any video editing software on our computer.  We did have a slideshow DVD maker. So we did that, adding some fun music. Unfortunately, I can’t upload the video here because it’s only on the DVD. So here’s just a few snapshots from the video….



To be continued…
The actually video is pretty cool. So if you’re ever at our house, ask Seth to see his Lego video and he will be more than super excited to show you!

Happy Mothering Day!

Yes, I wrote that right. I hereby change Mother's Day to Mothering Day. (Because we all know that I have the power to do that, right?)

I love Mother's Day and the opportunity it gives us mothers to be appreciated as well as appreciate our own mothers. But over the course of the last couple of years, I've come to know some of my friends, family members, and aquaintances better and I've realized that Mother's Day can also be a source of sadness for some. Some women have lost a child or lost their own mothers. Some women struggle with being single or not being able to have children of their own. So in support of all these wonderful women, I second Ellie G of the blog "Less Cake, More Frosting" in her idea to change Mother's Day to Mothering Day. She says:

"Certainly Mothers Day is a wonderful day, and worthy of a HUGE CELEBRATION. In fact, we should probably celebrate Mothers more that just 24 hours each year. (someone tell that to my kids. I need more than just a 24 hour break. Geez. Who's in charge of benefits at this job? H. R.? Anyone?)

But I want to change it to "Mothering Day". 

Mothering, the act of caring for another.
Now THAT is a universal trait given to women. All women.
A celebration of the things that make women unique. That make them inherently giving, and nurturing, and soft. Those are still the things I love in my mother. But they are also things I adore in my son's school teacher. Or in my Aunts. Or in women that I admire.
And they are traits that I hope to work on in myself. And perfect." (Go read her whole post, awesome).

Amen to that. So from now on, I think I will honor all the women I admire on Mother's Day. Thank you to my mom, my mother-in-law, all of my grandmas, my sisters and sister-in-laws, my aunts, my friends, my children's teachers (both at school and church), all of my former teachers and leaders, and all of the amazing women in my life! Because of you, I am who I am today. You teach me, inspire me and bless my life. Seriously, everyone of you, I can think back and can tell you at least one way in which you have blessed my life. Thank you. Seriously, thank you!

Since I can't have a Mother's day post without thanking my mom, I want to quickly shout-out to the two mothers in my life.

First, my mom Tina. She's musical, creative, and understanding. She loves to craft, garden, and talk. :) I remember lots of late night talks as a teenager when we would sit and talk about my problems, the gospel, and life in general. When I was a teenager, I never understood how other teenagers could hate their parents, because Mom and I got along so well. A lot of the things I love, she has introduced me to them, like crafts, music, sewing, second-hand shopping, scrapbooking, camping, gardening (though I have yet to perfect my green thumb), hiking, and cooking. Thanks, Mom for teaching me everything I know and helping me to become who I am.

One experience I am especially grateful for, I was a Senior in high school and my mom decided it was time for me to learn the art of a grocery budget and meal planning. She gave me the grocery ads, coupons, cookbooks, and a pad of paper and told me to plan the week's dinners. Then, we went shopping together and I made dinner all week long. Lesson learned. :) Thanks, Mom. I wish we lived closer so that the kids could get to know their Grandma better but we still love you lots!

Second is Aaron's mom, Linda. She is fun, caring, and kind. She has some awesome photography skills, which we totally take advantage of whenever we need an updated family portrait. Thanks Mom! She raised an amazing, hard-working, sensitive son whom I have the privilege of having as my husband. She has always welcomed me into their family. In fact, she actually told Aaron he needed to meet me, before Aaron and I had ever met! I have been so lucky to have a mother-in-law that I get along well with and feel comfortable calling "mom", because she's just like a second mom to me.

Thanks for putting up with us when we were living with you, and always putting Aaron in his place. :) I asked Aaron what he wanted to say about his mom and he said, "She's cool." Thanks, Mom. We love you!

Thank you both for being amazing mothers, grandmothers, and women. We are blessed to have you in our lives. And thank you once more to all the awesome women out there. You are amazing!

Happy Mothering Day!

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."

Bubbles and Colored Milk

Almost 2 years ago, I was complaining to Aaron about how hard my day was at home with the kids. All about how so and so did this and it took me FOREVER to do that because so and so was whining and so on. (In my defense, I was transitioning back from being a working mom to a stay-at-home mom.) Very seriously, he looked at me and said, "All you do is complain. Do you even LIKE being at home with our kids?" My snap reaction was "Of course! I love our kids." But it got me thinking. 

I do love my children and love being at home with them.  I also know that it is best for them that I am at home, but somewhere along the way all thar joy and love was missing and I felt negative by the end of everyday. Among many realizations I had that day, one of them was that I was being negative. All day long, I would say no. "No you can't do that. Stop that right now. Leave him alone. Not right now, maybe later." Plus, I was looking at my day from the view of all the things I wasn't doing or couldn't get done because of caring for my children. So, I first made myself look at all of the positives of my day, including but most especially all of the moments I was spending with my kids. I also promised myself that I would say "yes" at least once a day. "Yes, you can eat that with your fingers. Sure, I'll read you that book right now (instead of wash dishes).  Let's have a picnic in the front yard." Gradually, the days got better, and while we still have tough days and tantrums, everyone seems to be more positive. (Well, minus the brotherly "love" fights. I don't think those will go away anytime soon.) If I feel like I'm having a bad day, I try to think of something the kids might enjoy, like a story and cuddle session, a picnic at the park, or a dance party, and it usually makes our day better. So today's "yes" was colored milk and bubbles...

One day, I thought it would be fun to add food coloring to our plain milk. Now, whenever the neighbor kids come over to play I hear, "Can we have colored milk?" (Yeah, I'm the cool mom.) :) So day it was turquoise colored milk with straws. They started to blow bubbles in their milk and my gut reaction was to stop them But instead, I set the ground rules of "no spilling or overflowing," and then let them have fun. They loved it and I feel so much better...

(Plus, won't this be fun for them to remember when they are older?)

Halloween and Thanksgiving (a.k.a. catching up on the blog)

Okay, Okay,...I know. I'm way behind on the blog. So here is a brief catch up before I blog about Christmas.

We were all skeletons for Halloween this year, well...except for Aaron, who decided he would rather be a pirate. So when anyone asked us, Aaron said that we were (get this) Captain Jack and his "skeleton crew." (Actually, my idea...)

I made most of our costumes. Using some old and new pieces of black clothing, I painted the bones with white acrylic paint on the clothes, (fairly easy--just time consuming). I actually found Aubrey's outfit (our inspiration) at Wal-mart for a few dollars. I made the bow and headband and added some black tights.  We bought Aaron's pirate gear at the Dollar Tree.  I was able to deck out the entire family for less than $20!

Thanksgiving was an interesting time for us this year.  On Thanksgiving Day, we went to Victoria for a "family reunion" with some of Aaron's cousins. If I understand correctly, they are his mom's cousins. I think. Anyway, it was fun to get to meet them and visit.

Joshua enjoyed himself when he was offered a WHOLE turkey leg.

He dug right in and ate at least half of it. Everyone was laughing, taking picture of him, and cheering him on. We all thought it was hilarious that this little 3 year-old was devouring a turkey leg (although I wasn't too surprised that he could do it--he's always been an eater).

The next day, we went to see my sister in East Texas. I woke up that morning not feeling well and half-way through our 4 hour drive, I realized I had food poisioning or some sort of stomach virus. Let's just say it was not a pleasant drive, nor a pleasant day. Aaron went hunting with his Uncle Len, while poor Rachelle was doing her best to take care of me. Saturday, I felt much better and was able to spend some time with Rachelle and Carlos before we had to leave.  We ended our trip with a game of Putt-Putt golf. Like I said, it was an interesting time...  :)

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?

Dennis the Menace

We never know what is going on in Joshua's little brain. For example, I sent him to his room to take a nap one afternoon. After a period of silence (which could be good, but usually it's bad), I went in his room to find him like this... He had taken off his underwear and put it on his head, put both legs into one leg of his shorts, and had his arm around a random diaper (I have no idea where he got it). And that is how he fell asleep!

When Seth was little and into everything, we joked that he was a little Dennis the Menace. Boy, were we clueless as to true mischief! We have decided that Joshua is truly our "Dennis the Menace." "Dennis the Menace" is even one of his favorite movies (probably a bad idea to show him that one), he loves to say "Hey, Mr. Wilson!", and he even looks a little like Dennis. He's always into something or doing something crazy. He can open nearly any child-proof lock, including medicine. He is just a boy through and through. I always have my hands full with him. My favorite picture of Josh is when he was two, we found him under the kitchen table (still his favorite hiding spot) with his hand in a jar of peanut butter, PB all over his face and this devilish grin. Little did I know it was a foreshadow of many incidences to come. Heavenly Father definitely blessed me with Joshua to keep me active and to enjoy the fun and curiosity of childhood. I'm sure it was also to teach me true patience. At least that's what I keep telling myself...

Vacation Rerouted

The extended Palmer family had been planning all year to go to Galveston Island for our summer vacation/family reunion, a tradition started about 3 or 4 years ago. Everyone was excited and so ready to relax at the beach. Then, Hurricane Ike hit the Galveston/Houston area. Galveston Island was basically shut-down and locked up. Linda still wanted to get the family together since everyone was going different ways during the holidays and it would be the last chance for everyone to get together. So vacation was rerouted to Frisco, home of the grandparents. It was a little crazy with the shift in plans but it was a lot of fun. Aaron ended up having the whole week off due to power loss and such at work and with employees. So we left Wednesday for the 4 hour drive to Dallas (instead of the planned 1 hr trip to Galveston). We put together a scavenger hunt for the kids and other fun stuff. Friday, we went to the Texas Rangers baseball game in Arlington. Saturday, Aaron went to Six Flags with his sisters and brother-in-laws. I (the motion sick one of the family) took the kids to the Dallas World Aquarium with Grandma. I loved it and I think the boys did too. We also took our yearly family pictures. Check out the vacation photo album to see some of our pictures. It was nice to spend time with family, especially since the Youngs and the newest addition, Xylee, were moving to Utah for a few months.

It was also nice to get away for awhile from the craziness that is Houston post-hurricane. At that point, it was still difficult to get gasoline, many people were without power, and there were lines outside of grocery stores just to get in. We were afraid we might not be able to get home because while in Dallas there were freeway signs saying things like "Do not go to Houston," "Limited fuel between here and Houston," and stuff like that. Luckily, things had calmed down by the time we returned and we even managed to visit Aunt Sandy and her boys in Conroe on our way home. They had their power returned just a couple of days prior to us coming back. After almost a month of postponed and rerouted activities and unplanned "vacations," we are finding "relaxation" in the return of normalcy to our lives.

Romeo and Juliet

New neighbors moved in next door just a couple of weeks ago. They have kids Seth's age and 8 yrs-old. We made a point to introduce ourselves since, the kids had already met and were exchanging toys and cards through a hole in the fence. The neighbors soon learned that they could climb up their tree and rest on the fence. Our boys figured out that they could climb the fencing left out from Cocoa's kennel, to reach the top.

Amazingly Seth really hit it off with 8 yr-old Alyssa, who also loves Transformers and Pokemon. Seth moves faster than I've ever seen when he hears Alyssa outside calling for him. He'll also play outside for hours when she's outside as well. I looked out the window one day to see this scene. In the back of my mind I heard "Romeo, O Romeo, wherefore art thou O Romeo." :)

Hurricane Y"Ike"s

Many people have called to check up on us here in Houston after we received a direct hit from Category 2 Hurricane Ike. So, I thought I'd blog to let everyone know how we were as well as to document our experience.

We found out about the Hurricane evacuations Thursday morning. The Houston area is divided into evacuation zones, from coastal to A through the alphabet. We're in Zone X. Zones Coastal, A, B, and C were under mandatory evacuation. The rest of Houston area was being advised to stay and shelter in place. So, being unprepared, I ran to the store to stock up on essentials as well as getting some much needed groceries. At just 9am the stores were already packed and sold out of water and other essentials. We did the best we could to get the things we needed and get prepared. Since we are on the northwestern side of Houston, we prepared ourselves to weather the storm. Friday, we cleaned up debris outdoors, washed all our laundry and dishes, and set up the boys twin beds in the hallway of the house (the most central place without windows).
The boys loved it. We explained to them the hurricane and how we needed to be safe. They thought it was like a pajama party with flashlights. Luckily this kept them from being scared.We put Cocoa in a makeshift kennel in the garage. We tried bringing him inside at one point but he was so anxious we couldn't keep him under control. Our power went out about 4 am Saturday morning. Then, the storm hit us about 7 or 8am. It was scary. You could hear the winds howling and the rain pelting the house. It continued for about an hour or so. Amazingly the boys slept through most of the hurricane. When they woke up, we stayed in the hallway until we felt safe. The boys loved reading books with flashlights.

By about 10 am the hurricane had pretty much passed completely. We even opened some of the windows to let in some wind to cool off. The power came back on around 4pm and luckily, I cranked the A/C because the power went out again around 11pm. Poor Joshua, got sick and started throwing up around 4am. As soon as we got him back to bed, he'd throw up again. He was so tired Aaron set him up with a pillow and blanket in the bathroom. By 8am the power was back on and has mostly been on since. We have running water but are being urged to boil it or drink bottled water for now.

It has been quite an experience. As far as we can tell no damage has been done to our home or most of the homes in the neighborhood. However, the empty retention pond behind our house is now about half full. Now, the plan is to help others and wait until things return to normal. We didn't have church Sunday and Aaron won't go back to work until Wednesday. We were fortunate but we have heard that others, even in our area of Houston, weren't as fortunate. Two days later, Aaron's Uncle Paul and Aunt Meg are still without power, and she's on critical lifecare machines. Luckily they have a generator to keep everything running. We know that we have been truly blessed and thank our Heavenly Father repeatedly. Thank you to all those who checked on us, helped us, and kept us informed.