Pet Peeves

Recently I was browsing blogs (because I have so much free time...ok actually I was avoiding housework) and I came across one who was sharing her pet peeve of the week. If you know me you'd know that I, too, have certain pet peeves. I think I'm a generally nice person and wouldn't normally speak up on any of these things but it would be fun to share them...:) So here's a few that I've had running around my head since I read that blog. Feel free to add some more if you think of some!

~ Why is it that people will go through the self check out section at Wal-mart or City Market, with a full cart of groceries? I'm standing there with my measly pack of diapers, desperately trying to get done quick and they're having to do a price check on tomatos!

~Along the same Wal-mart lines...why is it that when you're ready to check out with your own full cart of groceries there are only 2 lines open and about 20 people who are done at the same time?

~ I really don't like it when people are texting someone else while having a conversation with me. How can they possibly hear or understand what I'm saying and how can they have 2 totally seperate conversations at the same time?

~ I hate clicky pens! The ones that click in and out. My old youth group kids will tell you that that can drive me buggy! Ever notice how people click them when they're bored and don't really notice they're doing it?

~ People who drag their feet and scuff their shoes on the floor. Are your feet really that heavy? I remember in college during exams in a big quiet lecture hall -- clicky pens and dragging Birkenstocks!

~ When people talk out loud during a sermon. I know it doesn't have to be completely quiet, and there are moments when people are discussing something, but I've seen people chat like they're outside on a park bench during a sermon (I get especially annoyed during my own husband's sermons).

~ Ungrateful people. I feel so sorry for people who are perpetually unhappy. They are no fun to be around. We have so much to be thankful and grateful for - even in hard times.

~ People who talk on their cell phones and don't care at all about the people around them. Like when you're in a grocery store and they are oblivious to the fact that they are totally blocking the aisle because they are talking about the horrible date they had last night. Or something like that :)

~ Loud TV commercials. I hate when you're watching a show and all of a sudden a commercial comes on and it blows you off the couch.

~ Talking or chewing with your mouth open and full of food. It's just gross. Really it is.

~ I like toilet paper rolled over the top. I don't like having to spin it to find the open end.

~ Dry off in the shower. I hate walking on a wet bathroom floor.

~ Texting and driving! That's uber dangerous!

~ When my husband drives 45 in a 60mph zone. I keep expecting to get rear-ended. (he helped remind me of this one-haha)

~ Tattletale-ing - I can't stand it when my kid comes up to tell me what everyone is doing wrong. It makes me cringe!

I know I have more in my brain somewhere. But that's a good start. I'm sure Mark will continue to remind me :)

25 Random Palmer Facts

A few emails/blogs/facebook notes have been floating around about random things people have done. I decided to change it and make it 25 random Palmer facts. Just for fun of course - I'm all about fun.

1) All of our first names have four letters: Mark, Jill, Kale, Kate, Jack
2) We love to snuggle. We have a huge couch but we're always snuggled up on one little end.
3) Mark and I love to make decaf coffee with whipped cream after the kids go to bed - we drink it while watching some show we've tivo'd or while playing a game.
4) We don't really like to watch sports on TV. Prefer to be there in person.
5) Mark and I have been to Thailand and France together.
6) We can polish off a bag of Cheetos in one meal...if we want :)
7) We want to go on a cruise someday. Disney cruises look like so much fun!
8) We call our Toyota Sienna the rocket-ship minivan. 9) We all went to the John McCain rally here in Durango.
10) We call chap-stick lip chap.
11) Some days we like to crank up the iPod, turn on 80's music and have dance parties.
12) We talk on the computer (Skype) during the day while Mark's at work.
13) We all love Christmas decorations and were sad when we finally took them down...last weekend :)
14) The kids and I like to listen to the Lord of the Dance soundtrack in the rocket ship. We each have our own favorite song. Mine is #11. 15) Church is one of our favorite places to be - it's where our friends are!
16) We love to have breakfast for dinner - cereal, pancakes, waffles, eggs - whatever! (The small print says - Pancakes with syrup traps) 17) Kale uses his head/hair to wipe his hands instead of napkins. (we are desperately trying to change that)
18) Kate walks on the top of her toes like a ballerina. We all cringe when we see it. I'd break my toes doing that...
19) Mark and Kale have issues with sticky/dirty hands.
20) Jack is literally a jumping Jack - loves the Johnny Jump up thing.
21) My breath, after drinking coffee, apparently smells like cat throw up - my whole family likes to tell me so.22) We like to play games. Our new favorite is 23) Neither Mark, nor I, like fungus. [aka. mushrooms]
24) The girls have green eyes, the boys have blue.
25) We were all born in even numbered years ('74, '76, '04, '06, '08)

The perfect storm

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster. Obviously with our friends, the Saunders (the button on the left will take you to a website set up for them) but also with our little man Jack.

I've had trouble nursing for the last three weeks. Lots of pain and not sure what was happening. Jack didn't/doesn't have Thrush or anything else. We were stumped. When I took him into the pediatrician she put me on a Rx in case I had an infection. It worked a bit but never really went away. Sunday was the final painful straw so Monday I saw my Dr and they gave me more medicine for an infection. They wanted Jack on meds to so we don't keep infecting each other.

After a long day of Drs we both went home with our own medicine hoping things would change. So my little man is on this medicine and Zantac. When he screams we're not sure if it's reflux, hunger (issues with nursing), cold (runny nose - yuck) or teething (very young to teethe but shows many signs so we're not sure). It's a guessing game really. Hence the perfect storm. A combination of all the possibilites. I don't want to just give him medicine everytime he cries but I hate to see him in pain too.

I finally gave in and started him on cereal which he seems to like as long as he's not starving. I'm hoping he'll catch on quick to the eating thing and it will help with the reflux. We're able to nurse again, thanks to the medicine although we still have a ways to go. He's on that medication for a week.

Thankfully, this little guy can smile and laugh just as big as he can scream. A pleasent change and reminder when it's tough.

Thankful Thursday - Me!

I realized in thanking God for my family, I skipped myself. It may seem prideful but believe me, I am humbled to be thanking him everyday for the breaths that I breathe. He is my Creator and I am thankful that He created me.

I'm thankful...

...for my life. It's a precious gift.

...for my hair. It keeps my head warm in winter and cool in summer!

...for my eyes. I love to be able to see God's beauty all around me.

...for my nose. So many smells I love to smell (others not so much) but I'm thankful just the same

...for my mouth. I can sing, laugh, and speak! Some people may not be so thankful for that gift but I sure am! :)

...for my ears. I love to listen to music, laughter, my husband's voice...

...for my arms/hands. Wow! I can not even imagine how much more difficult my life would be without them. Besides all the things I do everyday (including typing on my computer), I hug with them. And I love hugs.

...for my heart. Pumping blood without me even thinking about it. God takes care of me 24/7. Even when I don't have a clue!

...for my legs/feet. Again, can not imagine being without them. I can run, walk, sit and stand. Thank you Lord.

...for my brain. What an incredible, complex thing. Only created by God. Man can't even come close to figuring it out. What a gift! {ok that can be taken two ways - I meant man in general figuring out brains in general, not Mark, even though he can't come close to figuring out my brain either...}

...for all the tiny things in between! I am so thankful for all the complex parts of my body that work perfectly together to give me life. Pieces so small and so complicated. No way this was random.

...that I am fearfully and wonderfully made!

Opposites attract

Our marriage is awesome and we have a lot of fun together. Sometimes I'm just amazed at how we work things out. We are sooooo different. I thought I'd make a list and show you that opposites do attract!

Mark is spontaneous.
Jill is a schedule keeper.

Mark loves to do fun things with money.
Jill is a tightwad.

Jill has lists for everything.
Mark...does not.

Jill is addicted to blogging and has blogs running around in her head while she's cleaning.
Mark has blogged 3 times.

Mark enjoys cartoons, movies and Star Trek.
Jill likes to watch crime dramas.

Mark gags when he sees poop.
Jill cleans it up.

Jill loves her minivan.
Mark wants a mini-Cooper.

Mark is a preacher.
Jill is a teacher.

Mark gets Serious Texas for lunch.
Jill gets peanut butter and jelly.

Jill likes to read.
Mark does not.

Mark enjoys camping by himself.
Jill does not!

Mark can do goofy things with his face.
Jill can not.

Mark likes pets (dogs mostly).
Jill does not (dogs mostly).

Mark likes Chinese food.
Jill prefers Mexican.

Jill cooks and bakes.
Mark grills.

Mark is very social.
Jill is a homebody - most of the time.

Jill likes it cold when she sleeps.
Mark likes it hot.

Jill's ok with thrift store shopping for her wardrobe.
Mark prefers Old Navy or Gap.

Mark is a computer genius.
Jill knows how to turn it on.

Jill has her ears and nose pierced.
Mark does not.

Thankfully we'll both get a kick out of reading about our differences!

Thanks Mark...

Last night was bath night {or shower night}. Giving baths is a major chore - at least in my world. It's very hands-on-time-consuming-wet-exhausting. I love being with my kids, smelling them after it's over, snuggling later on the couch reading stories...I just dislike the bathing part. Anyway, Mark and I decided last night to do an assembly line with the kids. One of us {me} get them ready to go in the shower, Mark scrubs them up, then I put them back together when they get out. Easy enough? Of course not!

I am in the boy's room changing Jack. I didn't want to put a new diaper on him for a few minutes since he was going to shower in just a minute. So I took a burp cloth (basically a cloth diaper) and covered him up while we waited for the shower. Just in case he had a little accident.

So we're standing in the bathroom waiting our turn. Jack was supposed to be first but Kale jumped in. I knew we were testing the limits with a naked baby...Then it happened. Green, gooey poop started oozing/squirting out the sides of the burp cloth. It dripped on my shirt, my pants, my shoes and on the floor. Gross but not the end of the world. I have a washing machine! Still, the issue of cleaning it up. I'm standing there with poop dripping and Mark is half gagging, half laughing at me saying ' I don't know what to do! I don't know what to do!' Still laughing.I finally said to him 'Anything, other then what you're currently doing, would be helpful.' More laughter but honestly he looked like he was moving in slow motion. He didn't want to touch me or Jack. I told him that poop won't kill him. It will wash off! He finally took Jack from me and attempted to get him in the shower while I was wiping up the floor. I look up and Mark had brushed Jack's chubbies against the shower curtain and there was a nice green smear. I had to wait on changing my clothes so I could help with the toxic waste apparently....

We finally got Jack rinsed off, my clothes changed, and Mark done gagging/laughing. It's the Palmer show!

Our sleeping princess

We get a kick out of how Kate sleeps. Each nap is like a new adventure. We never know what we're gonna find when we go in to wake her up. We, of course, had to document a few adventures from two different times.

Is this really comfortable?
Must have been a good book...

Jack and Kale

I pulled out the 3-6 month boy clothes and had a great time (again) remembering some outfits that Kale wore - excited to be able to see Jack in them. This outfit in particular was one of my favorites. It's a simple little sweatsuit but the hood has bear ears. Adorable! Mark's brother and his wife framed a cute picture of Kale wearing this outfit and we have it sitting out. We put Jack in the same outfit and tried to snap a picture of him doing pretty much the same thing. It was fun to see the similarities and the differences at roughly the same age. I sandwiched Kale in the middle of Jack. More pics of the Palmer boys...

Blowing off the stink

My friend Jen blogged recently about blowing off the stink (basically just getting the heck out of the house and doing something fun). They went ice skating. Looked like fun but I knew that wasn't a reality in our world just yet. So we decided to take the day and go to the library and then Burger King {God answered Kale's prayer through us - ha ha}. The library has a really cool puppet theater with tons of puppets. The kids had a blast and their personalities really came out in their puppet shows.

Kate's on the left and Kale's on the right.The nice little shark and dolphin playing together....(Kale's show - beware)
You didn't think they were actually playing did you? Come on. The shark eats everything!
The girl on the right goes to our church and wanted to join in the fun. She was a little weirded out when the crow was eating the hummingbird. (Kale again) Kate has two girl dollies playing nicely together. Told you their personalities came out...The library is a dangerous place.
One more thing. This sign says Fuel Efficient Vehicle Parking Only. Seriously? I gotta drive a Prius in order to park right in the front? It was actually closer than the handicap spots. Only in Durango. Well maybe not only...probably in Boulder to.

Thankful Thursday - Life

Today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. So today I will thank God for my life!

I'm thankful...

...that I'm alive and that my parents chose to give me life. (Anyone born after '73 had a chance of being legally aborted)

...that the babies who have been aborted are absolutely loved by God and are in heaven with Him right now.

...that no matter what happens in our future, and who's president, God is in control and He is the giver of life.

...for the lives of my friends, family, husband and children. Life is a precious gift.

And how about Jack?

Jack just had his 4 month check up last week. I thought I'd share a little about this sweet baby. He is so smiley! You just look at him and he grins from ear to ear. He loves looking at people and interacting with them. I swear I'll do pretty much anything to see him smile. He's trying desperately to roll from back to front. He's so close. He's pretty good from front to back. In fact he's like a turtle in that respect. He sleeps on his tummy and if he rolls over he's not sure what to do. This morning I woke up to him screaming. I went in to check on him and he was fine except he was on his back and hated it! It made me think of a turtle stuck on his shell. Poor guy. He's still workin'. He talks all the time now. Found his sweet cooing voice and loves to use it. Conversations are so great.

He also has the loudest, maddest, saddest scream I think I've ever heard. He really can go from one extreme to the other. We have not been able to figure out just why he screams like that but we're working on it. When I took him to the pediatrician last week she suspected he may have infant reflux (which seems to be quite common). She thinks he may be screaming because the acid is going back up his throat and burning - poor guy. This explains why he doesn't like to be put down a lot. Because he can't sit up yet we have to lay him down. That hurts I guess. So he's on baby Zantac {doesn't like it much} and we're gonna see if it helps. So far I haven't noticed much of a difference. We'll see.

He's growing but slowing down. He's only about 13 1/2 lbs. He hasn't doubled his weight yet. The Dr thinks the reflux may have something to do with that. Same with his height. Slowed down. He eats a lot and seems satisfied although she said if we want to start him on food we can. So don't want to. That's my least favorite stage of baby. But if the medicine doesn't help then we might try.

Anyway, not that the whole world wanted to know this about my son, but he doesn't get a lot of blog time yet so I'm working him in ;) We do think he's the cutest hat baby we've had!

Distracted for 1 minute...

...Or maybe more I suppose. So I'm sitting at my computer a little bit ago, catching up on emails. I didn't think I was distracted very long until I turned around to see what my kids were up to. This is what I saw.
Kale had used the box (that contained our new ottoman that they've been playing in for a while now...) to make a room for his princess sister. He had brought out blankets {some of his favorite toys}, pillows, her dress up wardrobe - trunk and dress up rack, and all her princess books. Honestly, I heard them making noise but I wasn't paying attention to what was really going on behind me. I had to take pictures and laugh. I had just spent the morning picking up and vacuuming (we have a couple coming over for dinner tonight and of course I have to make it look like my house is clean all the time) so he got all this out in seriously a matter of minutes! I had to document it. Maybe Guinness Book of World Records will call soon.
Anyway, when I finally realized what was going on, Kale was in the little rocking chair "reading" Sleeping Beauty to Kate who was all decked out in princess stuff (tiara, dress and shoes) and listening intently to the fascinating story she's heard a dozen or more times. It was pretty cute. Hard to be mad.

Update on the Saunders

The past week has been a roller coaster of emotion. I've experienced - through my good friends - just how painful a fire can be. I can not begin to imagine what they are having to deal with on an day to day, hour by hour, moment by moment basis. I know that it will get better as time goes on and more and more gets accomplished. It's hard to see the forest through the trees right now. Need to back up, get in a helicopter I suppose, and see all that surrounds us. Hard to do sometimes for sure. I've also gotten a good lesson on the scripture passage on the body of Christ. When one part of the body hurts, all the body hurts. Definitely not the same way but in their own way. I thought about when I tore my ACL 2 1/2 years ago. I will most likely never repair it because of circumstances. I thought about the pain that my right knee experiences. Terrible pain that comes and goes with weather, with how much stress I put on it etc... Then I thought about how the rest of my body adjusts to help my right knee. I can have back pain, headaches, my left leg compensates to handle additional stress, hips ache etc... The rest of my body is doing everything it can to not let my right leg feel more pain and allow it to heal. It's taking on other roles, other jobs, adjusting. This past week I've seen that happen in life. Other parts of the body are taking on additional roles to help the Saunders feel no additional pain and allowing them to heal. It causes a different kind of stress on the other parts but it's worth it. We want the Saunders to heal completely and wholly. We want them to come back even stronger. As a result, the other parts of the body will be stronger themselves. Exercising parts we didn't even know we had! :) God will use this for His glory.

An update on our friends: They are in temporary housing and continue to look for a place to rent till they rebuild. Linn just blogged that the contents of the house are a total loss. They will try to save a couple very precious things but there is little hope of them losing the fire smell, ever. They are being nominated for an Extreme Home Makeover. It would be a crazy circus, of this there is no doubt, but it could be a huge blessing to have a new home - in a week! Pray that God uses all of these things so that people may know Him. I know that's the Saunders heart. They are all in different stages of grief and I am sure it will be that way for awhile as it continues to settle in. I can not imagine the heartache. But I know they are optimistic and have hope. They have Jesus and that is their ultimate hope.

Please keep praying for them. This is not a sprint but a marathon.

Aaaahhh Kids...

Last night as we're getting the kids ready for bed we prayed. We usually pray for lots of things and random things. We tell the kids that we're just talking to God/Jesus and it's okay to talk to him like your best friend. For a long time Kale refused to pray. He didn't want to. Mark tried to encourage him to but it wasn't going to happen. Then Kale started critiquing our praying - it's too long, too short, you didn't pray for....etc. So we tried again to encourage him to pray. A couple weeks ago he started to pray, as long as Mark prayed after him. Well Kale sounds just like Mark when he prays. He says all the "filler" words that Mark uses. I will have to record a prayer session with the two of them just to remember.

Anyway, last night Kale prays and this is what we heard:
"Jesus, thank you for today. Thank you for your blessings. We just, God we just thank you that I was good today, that I didn't whine and I obeyed {which, according to the wonderful Sunday school teacher wasn't quite accurate - hence the praying I'm sure}. God, protect Kate and me and Jack. And I pray that we can go to Burger King and get a monster truck and that they'll still have them. {Who says advertising doesn't work?} Um. Amen. Dad's it's your turn. {As Mark and I have smirks on our faces. He had begged us to go to BK after church today and it didn't happen.}

Then of course Kate has to have her shot:
"Jesus, bank you for my moommmy....and my dad...and my bruder (spelling the way she talks)...and my Jaaaaack {sing-song voice}.....for my dad big guy....and my bruder little guy...and my moooooom big gewl (girl)...aaaannnnnndddd {amen Kate, say amen} aaaannnnndddd... Amen.

I love hearing them pray. No matter what they say {most of the time} it blesses my heart.

Another Kale moment

Yesterday Mark was leaving for work and making his rounds kissing his family goodbye and telling the little ones to be good for mom. It's very sweet and I'm glad Mark is reminding them to be good - shows that he backs me up even when he's gone at work. So yesterday as he was kissing Kale goodbye Kale says to him

"Bye Dad, love you. Be good for your pastor!"

Thankful Thursday - The Saunders

My friends had a terrible house fire yesterday. Today I want to share why I am so thankful for them.

I'm thankful...

...that everyone is safe!

...that they fixed the one fire alarm that worked!

...for each child they love so dearly.

...for their amazing ministry at the River Church.

...for their love for me and my family.

...that they're in the process of bringing one more home!

...for their love for Jesus. Their real love, lived out in everyday life.

...for their example of family, friendship and church.

...for a wonderful and loving 30 year marriage - what a gift to all of us!

...for a new day. I pray for peace and wisdom and endurance through this next season of their lives. What a difficult road to walk. But we will walk with you! Love you guys.

How facebook has changed my life...

How facebook has changed Jill Cooper Palmer's life:

1) Jill Cooper Palmer now talks about herself and her feelings in third person.

2) Jill Cooper Palmer now knows what's going on in everyone else's lives.

3) Jill Cooper Palmer is in a relationship with Mark Palmer.

4) Mark Palmer is excited about being in a relationship with Jill Cooper Palmer.

5) Jill Cooper Palmer had no idea she had so many "friends"!

6) Jill Cooper Palmer had no idea Mark Palmer had so many "friends"!

7) Jill Cooper Palmer is sad that Mark Palmer is twice as popular as she is in half the time.

8) Jill Cooper Palmer has great self esteem because cool people want to be her friend.

9) Jill Cooper Palmer now speaks in "flair" {I didn't slap your face, I just high fived it really hard}

10) Jill Cooper Palmer now has short and sometimes meaningless conversations.

11) Jill Cooper Palmer has imaginary snowball fights.

12) Jill Cooper Palmer gets poked a lot.

13) Mark Palmer is lol.

How sad is Jill Cooper Palmer's life...

Not everyone who reads my blog also follows my good friend Linn's blog so I'm gonna fill people in and ask for prayer.

This morning around 7:15 I got a phone call from my friend Jo. I was confused as to why she was calling me so early but I figured there must be a good reason. She asked me if Dwight (our pastor) was back from his pastor's retreat in Pagosa Springs. I said no (again wondering why she was calling and asking me this so early). Then she told me that their house was on fire. Apparently her dad had heard it on the police scanner.

So I jumped up and woke Mark up and told him to get over to the Saunders and help however he could. He woke up quickly {which is miraculous in itself} and went to help.

The story is that their boiler, in the laundry room, caught on fire. Or actually caught the floor on fire. It had been smoldering for a while but wasn't making enough smoke or anything to warn anyone. It went from smoke to flames very quickly. Linn was up and was able to call 911 and get all 6 kids out of the house. The fire quickly spread under the house in the crawl space and completely destroyed the kids' bedroom and the hallway. No one was hurt - thank you Jesus - but it's not likely that much of their stuff can be saved. There is heavy, heavy smoke and water damage in the house. I took a quick tour of it and I was in shock. Everything is black, stuff was melted, floors were trashed and ripped out, windows broken and there's a pile of insulation and furniture in their front yard. It's devastating and overwhelming.

Our sweet friends are in shock. They will have to rent somewhere until things can be fixed. Right now they are staying at some friends' house who are out of town. So grateful for a place for them to rest. They have nothing - no clothes, no furniture - not sure about pictures and things like that. Not sure what can be restored. We are praying that many memories can be saved. They are in the process of adopting their 10th child and her adoption paperwork is in their house somewhere. They are praying that it wasn't destroyed.

I can't imagine the heartache. I'm so thankful for all the people being safe absolutely, but it's still difficult to see all the things you've been collecting for 30 years gone in an instant. Yes people are so much more important - the Saunders know this - but it's still hard to understand having to completely start over. You love your things that help make your house your home.

Please pray for them during this difficult time. They've had a day unlike anything I've ever experienced before. They will most likely have updates on their blog - A Place Called Simplicity - I have a link on the side of my blog, if you would like more info as it becomes available. I've been amazed at the outpouring of love and compassion from our church, our community and her blog community. God will absolutely take care of the Saunders through all of His people doing their part. It's been amazing to see and be a part of.

Mark will be preaching this Sunday and God has already given him a Word to share. In the midst of this, God is at work. Never ceasing. What a comfort.

Goals for 2009

I am not one to make New Year's resolutions. I don't think I've ever actually done it in my life. But I have thought about making goals for this year. Much better sounding then resolutions don't you think? :) I hate the pressure of not failing! But I would like to be able to measure my progress. So I'm gonna write them down for the first time ever and look back in a year and see how I did. Believe me - this is a first!

1- Wanna stay out of credit card debt! Mark and I tried this last year and we did really well until our fridge broke and we had to replace it (not so sad about getting a new fridge but sad we couldn't pay out of our account for it). We started off the year with no C.C. debt and resolved not to use them at all unless it was an emergency (medical bill, car repair that couldn't wait etc...). Like I said, we did great! Then the fridge and then the roof and then Christmas...So we'll use a portion of our tax return again this year to pay off last year and start over. Maybe next year at this time we'll be able to use our tax return for a fabulous trip or something! It's definitely progress though.

2-Wanna be a better hostess. This does not come naturally to me at all. I love hanging out with friends. Love it love it. But I get nervous having people over. Nervous about making enough food, hoping it tastes good and not like cardboard, hoping my kids will share their toys, catching up on cleaning so I can pretend my house looks good all the time... It's stressful! But I also realize I'm missing out on great friend time because of my own issues. So I want to make it a goal to have people over at least twice a month. I'd love to say every week but I need to be realistic here. Some weeks just work better than others.

3-Wanna do a little each day. I discovered Flylady several years ago and have made numerous attempts to live with those principles. I am so the lady she talks about. Lives in CHAOS, gets behind, is a perfectionist etc... So my goal this year is to just do a little each day and see where I go. Not beat myself up and quit when I fail but just keep going.

4-Wanna read more. I love reading but I fill my time up with so many other things. Some good and some wasteful. I want to stop and read and enjoy learning.

5-Wanna give myself a break. I have a lot of things on my plate and I can easily get overwhelmed. I need to step back, organize the things on my plate, and do them. Relax if it doesn't happen exactly how I had planned. I'm not perfect - why do I expect to be? Give me a break! Exactly!

Thanks for reading my goals. I now have at least 13 accountability partners :) We'll have to check back and see how I did.

Hope you smile :)

So the kids and I played on our computer this morning and this is what we came up with. We have a photo booth application with a bunch of different effects and laughed and laughed as we saw our faces twisted, pulled, smushed, stretched and put into various backgrounds. Hope you can smile to!

Here we are in front of the Eiffel Tower. Just a quick day trip to Paris!
Round and round we go -- all twisted up!
Jack's head is hilarious in this one. Ever see Beetlejuice at the end when the witch doctor shrinks Michael Keaton's head? Totally Jack!
Ahhhh, the mirror effect. Twice as much fun!
The light tunnel. Makes our tongues longer!
The Siamese twins. Joined at the head. Wouldn't that be crazy?!
Ginormous foreheads! Or six heads I guess...

Ok, this one's a little freaky and scary. Be careful.
Kate looks like Jay Leno!
Floating in the clouds.
Swimming with the fish underwater.
Two more cute, fun, random ones.

When texting takes over your life!

I had to post this story because I though it was really insane. I know people who are crazy texters but seriously, this girl is nuts!

Greg Hardesty didn't LOL when he got his teen daughter's cellphone statement.

All he could think was "OMG!"

The California man's 13-year-old daughter, Reina, racked up an astonishing 14,528 text messages in one month. The online AT&T statement ran 440 pages. Her fingers must be bleeding!

"First, I laughed. I thought, 'That's insane, that's impossible,' " the 45-year-old dad said. "And I immediately whipped out the calculator to see if it was humanly possible."I wondered the same thing...

He found it was - barely.

It works out to 484 text messages a day, or one every two minutes of every waking hour. Are you kidding me? In the shower even?

Luckily, Hardesty has a phone plan that allows unlimited texting for $30 a month. Otherwise, he estimates, he would have owed AT&T $2,905.60 at a rate of 20 cents per message. Okay way more then my mortgage payment!

The average number of monthly texts for a 13- to 17-year-old teen is 1,742, according to a Nielsen study of cellphone usage. I stressed when I went over 300! Teens do at least 5 times that!

Fun with Play-Doh

We finally had enough guts to break out the Play-Doh set that Kate got for Christmas from Uncle Chad and Aunt Alisha. They loved it! It's a fun little kitchen set and they had a blast making pizza, crescent rolls and steaks.

Here's the princess herself with her creation. {we helped....a lot :)}
Kale's steak, potatoes and gravy and green beans.
Kale did the pizza all by himself. He was very proud of himself.
The "kitchen"
Serious concentration.

Pizza cookin'. Kale kept warning us to be careful because the oven was hot and we could burn our hands. He was so proud of his creations.

If you are caught...

...acting like a weeping willow tree and singing a sad song...

...wearing a cup tied to a necktie, a dollar, and a whipped cream cap...
...wearing a random necktie and swinging a boot over your head...
...drinking from a cup without your hands...
...picking your nose...
...wearing a made up mask with a princess crown...
...you must be playing Quelf and having a blast!

We had a Christmas Party with our Riverguides last night (post-Christmas obviously) and introduced them to our new game, Quelf. It's the most random and crazy game and we had a blast. Here's the pictures to prove it!