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.......

The Circle of Life!

Recently, I've been amazed at the circle of life. Yes, I know this should have struck me after my first child. . maybe second, but it really is just now hitting me. As I see friends I went to HS or College and their growing families, it hits me that my parents were once in my same situation, my grandparents were once in my same situation . . and that we (myself and generation) have now taken over that 'position' in the world. We are the 'rearing' generation now. It won't be long (even though there are days it seems like it will be a long time), before I slip into the next stage of generations and my children will take over the role of parenting in the world.

Well, it was 30 years ago today I was placed into my parent's loving arms and the process began (at least for me! I was number 9). I LOVE my parents. I LOVE my family. I LOVE 'D' and my kids. I wouldn't choose another group of people to go through this circle of life with.

(me and my daddy!)

J LO!!!

D and I figured out a while ago that while talking about J and Lo, if we put their names together, they are J-LO. o.k. just kidding they are nothing like Jennifer Lopez, but we got a kick out of it one day. :)

Here are some pics of J and Lo. I can't believe how much they are growing up. They are REALLY my big helpers. They entertain Meg LOTS when I need help. They each have their morning and evening responsibilities that they are WONDERFUL at. They are both amazing students and love to learn.

J loves to analyze and think everything out 12 different ways before doing it. She loves to be with friends and be involved in EVERYTHING. She wants to go everywhere and see everything and do everything else. She loves seeing and learning new things and is such a wonderful person. She loves math and reading.

Lo is growing up soo fast. He is getting to be such a big boy. He is super excited for basketball to start and loved his last seasons of soccer and t-ball. He still loves computer and video games also. He is doing GREAT at school. He can read a lot of words and is eager to learn at school. He loves to explore along paths in the woods and really loves watching the Frisbee golfers at our nearby course. He talks to everyone and tells them exactly what he is thinking! He is AWESOME! :)

Meg is finally getting on the wall!

I usually take the kids pictures in the fall and in the spring. Since having Meg, I've been pretty lazy about that. But hopefully now that things are 'kind of' calming down, I'm hoping to get back to doing that! We had a great time today. After we picked Lo up from the bus stop, we headed out to a near by wooded area. This is the area that the kids LOVE going to because it has LOTS of bridges to cross. Luckily for me it also has a football blocking practice thing (anyone know the real name for those, please pipe in!) Sooo, Lo and Z-man practiced their football skills while I took Meg's pics. It worked out quite nicely. :) sooooo, without further ado (or is it adieu?). . . . Here is my little luv bug!

I take one child's pictures at a time, otherwise it is pure chaos!!!!! Sooo, other children's pictures soon to come!

Halloween 2010

We had a GREAT Halloween this year. :) Although the kids decided not to trick or treat since it was on Sunday, we trunk or treated at the church on Fri. and had a great family halloween party on Sunday. We made a family treat, played 'find the pumpkin', watched a new church movie, twirled glow sticks in the dark (and fell asleep with them). And enjoyed celebrating together. :)

I didn't get pictures at the trunk or treat (I never can get pictures at the trunk or treat for some reason). so I took some today. . YES, I made my kids dress back up for the purpose of a picture and documenting the err. . .. late moment! :)

J was a mermaid-- her aunt made an AWESOME mermaid costume for her daughter and passed it on to us. Thanks Aunt J.

Lo was a ninja turtle and well, all I can say is he played the part well!!!!

Z was a ninja monkey. . . . he copied all the great ninja moves that Lo would do. :)

Meg was the cutest little mouse you've ever seen! :)

Horrah for dressing up. :)