A call for some good recipes!!!

It's that time of year to re-new the resolutions.  I have a few in mind and am excited for the new year.

I, like others probably, am continuing my goal to be healthier.  Last year I lost approx. 25 lbs.  But I still have about 15-20 to go.  I'm hoping it won't take me all year, but as you can see, I'm kind of slow at this.  Also, I need to lower my triglycerides, etc. . . .  SOOO,  this is where you come in.  I'm in a total dinner rut.  I have a handful of healthy quick recipe's, but I'm getting tired of the same thing....  Soo, if you would like to help me with my resolutions, please leave me a yummy, quick, healthy (low cal.) recipe if you have any.  ;)  I really would appreciate it.

Also, one last call for any p90x-ers out there.  Today was day one!!!  :)  I'm going to be sore tomorrow!  :)

Other than that, we had a great Christmas and I will post about that soon!  :)  I will be awaiting some yummy recipes!!!  :)  Thanks in advance!  :)

CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Not much to say.  It was a pretty typical Christmas!!!!  Which means it was totally AWESOME!!  

Here are the Christmas Eve Jammies.  Penguin bottoms with grey/black top.  Each shirt has their first initial on it with a star.  :)

 Head lights and electric toothbrushes were stocking stuffer hits.  Lo thought it was funny he got underwear in his stocking.  :)

 Z loved the toothbrushes.  In fact he loved EVERYONE's toothbrush.  (shh, don't tell the other kids!)

 PRESENTS!!!

 Notice Meg in the back screaming because Z-man is on her horse!!!  LOL

 Cute Meg in her Grandma stocking hat!!!  :)

We hope everyone else had just as great of a Christmas!!! :)  We love our kids.  We love celebrating and enjoying this time.  We love that we get to celebrate Christ's birthday!!!  What a GREAT day!  :)

Rampin' it up!

MORE SNOW!!!!  Only this time we built a RAMP!!!! :)  The kids are enjoying their days off of school, and D is enjoying his 'kind of' days off of work.  :)  I think it's a right of passage to build a sledding ramp as a kid. I remember making one with my brothers once and going off soo hard I think I bruised my tail bone. .  OUCH.  This one wasn't quite as intense, but still, super fun!

check out that massive air!!!

Don't forget to HOLD ON!!!!

 or you just might fall out and roll down the hill!

 Z with his tongue!!  His tongue helps him do a lot of things!!

 Z helped gather snow in the wheel barrel for the ramp!

Oh, and just incase you didn't know:  3 more 'sleeps' until CHRISTMAS!!!!!  :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!! We hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season as much as we are.  Making chocolates, decorating the tree ((well, the top third of the tree)), putting out the stockings, making our yearly tree ornaments, making lists for Santa and most importantly, reading about Christ in the Bible are all favorite traditions!! For your enjoyment, here is a quick update on everyone!! D:  D made a job change mid year.  He is grateful for all his former employer taught him and the opportunities they provided.  He is also excited for his new position and the new opportunities.  D is still the ward mission leader in our church and he loves teaching people about Christ and how following Him can bring joy and happiness.   D successfully finished our basement this year and we’ve been enjoying the extra space.  Between his calling at church, his family, and traveling for his work (commuting an hour each way and also visiting clients, etc.) he doesn’t have much free time, but he sure does work hard to take care of all his responsibilities—especially his family!!!  H:  H is still enjoying staying home with the kids.  She enjoys going to the gym each morning after dropping the older two at school.  H still dabbles in photography and spends her ‘hobby time’ taking pictures or digital scrapbooking.  Heather works with the kids in our church and enjoys watching them learn and grow.  J:  I can’t believe that Jordyn will be EIGHT this summer.  She is such a beautiful girl and growing up so fast.  She loves school and is an excellent student.  She played soccer and baseball this past summer and enjoyed them both.  She prefers soccer since she got stung at most baseball games :O.  She also loves crafts and dancing.  She is interested in everything and wants to try it all.  She’s excited to get a bit older so she can go on some international trips with her dad.  She definitely has an adventurous heart. LO:  Lo started Kindergarten this year and is doing GREAT!!  He loves his teacher and class and enjoys his time at school.  He is doing a great job at reading and writing.  He still LOVES computer time and wii time!!  Lo also did soccer and t-ball this past summer and LOVED them.  He would get so excited for game days.  He is going to start basketball in January and he has the days counted down!  He is very agile and loves doing all sorts of flips and turns on the trampoline.  He is very active and gets SO excited about things.  He makes us all smile! Z-man:  Z-man turned 2 this year and is an awesome 2 year old.  He loves to do everything the older kids do and follows everything.  He LOVES to tease and tackle people.  Meg seems to be his first target and she is a good sport about it.  She laughs most of the time.  J He loves to swim and is a brave little guy.  He can swim with a floaty on and loves to jump in from the side.   He loves to be silly and  makes the greatest faces and voices when imitating things he sees and hears.  MEG:  Meg turned one this last year and is a great baby to the family.  She knows her role well!  J  She has struggled with some milk allergies since she’s been born, but I think we are finally starting to figure things out.  She loves fruit, playing outside, Vicky at the gym, and following around the big kids.  She doesn’t require very much sleep and is ready to rock and roll all day.  Meg is such a loving little girl.  She hass kisses to share with everyone—especially her baby doll.  Meg looks so much like my mom, which is very special to me.  Meg starts nursery (at church) in about 1 month and we are all VERY excited for that.  Whenever we pass the nursery, she cries to go in, and Darin and I have had a baby in the halls of church for about 3 years now (a total of about 6 years if you include the older two kids also).  So we are all ready!!!  Well, that is a quick glance at our family. We know Christ lives.  He loves us and He is the reason for this season.  Merry Christmas all!!!  J Love, The Palmers     -Darin, Heather, Jordyn, Logan, Zander, and Megann!

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Tis the Season. . . .

. . . .  to make chocolates!  My sister flew in from the west and my sister just a bit north of us came to make chocolates and I'm so sad I didn't get any pictures at all.  I was having so much fun and FORGOT!!  bummer.  I had J and Lo help me with some more Christmas treats tonight, so I at least took a picture of them!  YUMMY Christmas treat!!!

ALSO. . . tis the season to work off all those holiday chocolates!!  LOL.  one of my New Years resolutions is to complete all 90 days of P90x.  ZOIKS!!  Hoping I can make it and become healthier!  :)  I'm calling all people wanting to do this with me.  I started a blog, but I'm keeping it private except people that want to go on an exercise/weight loss, whatever, journey with me.  Let me know if you are interested and I'll add you as an author so we can post progress, frustrations, etc.  :)

Tis the season. . . to be jolly!!!!!  :)

Snow babies!

Everyone had SOOO much fun in the snow today. Even Meg LOVED it!! She did NOT want to give up the sled. She kept wanting to go down every time. It was fun to all play together. I love mornings like this when we forget about the mess in the house, forget about all the things that 'should' get done, and go play!!! :) Super fun!

Family Fun in the snow!

One of the MANY re-gloving times for Z-man!

cute bundled up Meg!!!

oh blessed date night!!!!!!

D and I have been trying to have more dates lately. We tried to get a babysitter, but everyone was busy, so we decided to have a 'stay-in' date. We made Cordon Bleu, mashed potatoes, salad, with a strawberry chocolate pudding for dessert. It was fun to cook together and set things special. It doesn't happen often, but it was really fun to do. :) I absolutely LOVE D!!! I have to admit life is really hard when he travels or is gone a lot. I love being with him, laughing with him, and chatting about life. It was a fun date with my favorite person!!!.

rub-a-dub-dub. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . 3 kids in a tub!! :)

o.k., so the boys were a bit appalled that Meg was getting in the tub with them, but . . . how could I resist a perfect picture opportunity. :) :)

I LOVE putting my little ones to bed after they are all clean and smelling like shampoo!! Is that weird or what? LOL It just feels good to tuck in a nice, clean little bundle! :)

We love BATH TIME!! :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!!

The first snow of the year in KY ALWAYS makes me laugh. First of all, there is usually about umm, a skiff of snow--whatever a skiff is! :) But my kids GO CRAZY!!! They have to get out all the snow gear (boots and all) to go 'play' in the snow!!! This year wasn't any different. Except Z-man actually wanted to join in the fun this year instead of crying it's cold! :) They had lots of fun!!!!

Today is BLACK Friday! I did do some shopping today, but not the 4 a.m. type shopping. It was still busy, but manageable. We put the Christmas tree up, the decorations are out, the house lights will hopefully soon follow, but the greatest thing about Christmas this year???? I'm excited to do all these things. I know it may sound like a very simple thing, but I'm VERY excited to be excited. When I'm pregnant life is hard emotionally (to say it nicely and without much detail), This is the first Christmas that I've had in a LONG time not being pregnant (or with crazy BC that makes me feel pregnant) and it feels soooo good to be excited about Christmas and all the festivities. It really is one of my favorite times of the year. :) I know that this may not make a whole lot of sense, but to me.... it's HUGE!!! :) :)

I have LOVED putting up all the Christmas stuff with my kids today!! Super excited to make gingerbread men tomorrow!!!! :) Bring out the Holly!!!! :)

My hat goes off. . . .

to these AWESOME two. . . . .

I really need to express my appreciation to J and Lo. They really have been such a HUGE help lately. J gets Meg out of her bed in the mornings and sets her up with some cereal in her chair until I can get down to help. Lo almost ALWAYS gets Z-man's bowl of cereal in the morning. Things are still so crazy busy trying to take care of everyone, and I suspect the business won't change through the years, only the type of busy. But really, these two have been such amazing helps to me lately. They both have morning and night time things they are responsible for doing (teeth, potty, jammies, clean their assigned room, etc.) They are very responsible in their respective areas and very quite independent. I love talking with them. They make me laugh and it's nice to carry on a conversation with them.

Mostly, I just wanted to remember in years down the road and for them to remember years down the road how much I really appreciate their help during this busy time of life!!! I feel so blessed to be their mom. They amaze me and I love each of my children. :)

My retirement(s) at their best!

That's right! The talent in this house is 'money making' talent!!!!!! :) Basket ball, baseball, and bike racing will someday bring home the money!!! LOL. . . Until then, we will enjoy the nice days to play! I love that everyone is finally getting a bit older so everyone is able to play!!! It's a nice feeling! I love doing fun things with my kids and I love when everyone can be involved! :)

Here's the shoot!!!!

AND..... the SCORE!

Vroom, Vroom, baby!

We even sing while riding!!!

The Set up!

The Swing!!!! HOME RUN!!

Batter up!

SWING!!

Watch out world. . . here come the Palmers!

BE the ANIMAL!!!!

We had a great time last weekend visiting the zoo. The weather was BEAUTIFUL!!! and apparently everyone else had the same idea we had. . . :) Oh well. It was still very fun. J and Lo loved it and knew what to expect. J LOVES figuring out where we are and where we are going with the aid of the map. That is fine by me. I've never been a map lover. :) Lo likes to climb and jump off everything in sight. . always. :) And Z-man had so much fun!!! I think this is the first time we've gone and he's actually figured out that there are animals to be seen. He kept saying 'more monkey, more monkey." (or whatever animal we last saw!). Meg, however, cried most of the time. Normally she LOVES being outside and we weren't sure what was going on. Once she was in the car, she started pulling at her shoes. I took them off and she was quite a bit happier, so I think her shoes were bothering her somehow! Too bad I didn't figure that out sooner! ! ! ! !

Here is our official tour guide!

Checkin' out the big guy!

Everyone's favorite part this day was the apes!!! Not minutes before this picture was taken, ALL apes were going crazy!! Literally. One ape likes to pick on another ape. Well, then big daddy has to come step in and save the day. . . THEN ALL the apes start attacking the big daddy ape and they all go mad fighting, screaching, biting, and wrestling. I was in full mama mode ready to grab my kids away from the area if needed, but later the zoo keeper told us it happens several times a day. And to think it all starts from one punk teenage ape teasing another. :)

I love this picture!!! BE THE ANIMAL!!!

AND.......

the Z-MAN!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, my 2 year old z-man!!! What to say! He's two!!! :) He LOVES milk and will replace any meal with milk if allowed. He is a sneaky quiet guy when he WANTS to be (when he's getting into something!) and very loud and festive (for a lack of better word) the rest of the time. He loves to imitate EVERYTHING and has funny little faces he makes as he pretends to talk like something/someone else. Z LOVES to be a big kid and play with J and Lo! He loves treats and being outside. He has 4 huggies that he sleeps with and has them all lined up in the crack by the wall in a choo choo train. Z can do lots of things on his own now (which is nice). He's potty trained and we LOVE that! Z makes me laugh all the time. I'm not sure where he comes up with some of the things, but he is a funny little guy. He loves to help with anything that involves tools.------The other day I caught him trying to take the light switch cover off with a screw driver because he had seen his grandpa Palmer do it a few days earlier. :)

We love you Z-man!!!!

The Big '0' birthday!!

Happy Birthday to me. Happy birthday to me! I've reached the 30's! I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about my 30's. I think it will be a great time to be with my little family, and to grow. I feel I'm on a path moving forward and although i'm not where I want to be yet in many areas of my life, I feel I'm moving in the right direction to be there.

I'm so very grateful to have a husband that loves me for me. I'm grateful I have 4 beautiful children that make things exciting. I'm grateful for my knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ--that I have a foundation to base my life upon that will lead me in the right direction. I'm grateful I blew out all my candles (my dad turned 70 yrs old this year and he blew out ALL his candles. . it's his trademark!!) I love that my kids get so excited and sing to me every 2 minutes. I'm grateful for the good things that have happened in my life that I've been blessed with.

Sooo, Here we go. . . into the 30's!!!

teaching Meg the art of licking the cake/frosting off the blown out candles!!!

heavy, heavy, hang over they poor head.......