Some Pwards...

First off I know that I really left ya'll in a lurch last week wondering why in the world Jack made a trip to the ER. I apologize. I had really hoped to have a couple minutes to update that but it never happened. Please forgive me!

Last Sunday after church I noticed that Jack had a rash all over. Not sure what it was about. He was slightly itchy but otherwise fine. No big deal to me. That night after we put him to bed he slept for about an hour then woke up screaming. We snuggled him on the couch for another hour then went to put him to bed. I decided, finally (not sure why it took me so long to do this...), to give him Benedryl. I discovered that I didn't have any infant Benedryl so I called the triage nurses at our pediatrician's office to ask how much to give him.

As the nurse was calculating the dose she was asking me questions about Jack. Then she asked if he was coughing. I said yes and that it had started that night. Then she was quite for a moment. She asked how far away I was from the hospital. I told her 10 minutes and then she said for me to give him the Benedryl and then get in the car and go to the ER. I asked why. She said that he could possibly be experiencing anaphylactic shock. Allergic reaction combined with coughing is serious! She said if I waited and then he stopped breathing I'd have to call the ambulance. I decided that even though I hadn't been concerned up to this point about how he was doing it would be good to obey her. So I did.

Basically we were at the ER for an hour and a half. They saw him, weren't too terribly concerned that he was in shock although they did check him out. He was obviously having a reaction so they gave him a steroid to make sure that his lungs stayed clear. That was it. It was overall OK. Scary for a moment but in the end he was just fine. Just itchy. Very itchy.

So he gets the Pward for most drama on an otherwise peaceful Sunday night!

As for other awards - hopefully I can catch you up on some of our other adventures at the same time.

This Pward goes to the ladies of the house with the most beautiful matching toes....

Of course! Kate and I! Like the sparkly pink polish? I love it!
(how's that for random and somehow squeezing this cute picture of our little piggys into a very random blog?)

This award goes to the person, or persons, who jumped the most on a hot day inside a bouncy house.

The Pward goes to.....

the Palmer children! These kids jumped and jumped and jumped and jumped and jumped during the River Run for Orphans. They adore the bouncy house and I'm sure I'd be the greatest mom in the whole world if I bought them one. Yeah so not gonna happen.

This award goes to the cheesiest, goofiest, fakest stretchers....

And the Pward goes to....

Mark and his friend Mark (yes I'm serious. They're both named Mark.) Here they are "stretching" for the race.

This award belongs to the person with the most fake tattoos applied in one short hour.

And the Pward goes to....

Kale! He has 5 total on his arms. I hear they're addicting. You get one and keep going.Runners up are Kate

and Jack with his first ever tattoo (OK so they didn't have very many but they're stinkin' cute)

The next Pward goes to the one Palmer who ran without being chased (and you can bet it was not me!). And ran for a good cause. And it goes to.....

Mark! Notice the happy smile and the wave. Yeah it was the beginning of the race :)

And here's his time...definitely not bad for a first timer. He was awesome. Tired but awesome.

This Pward goes to the sweaty, stinky men who finished the race.

You guessed it!

Mark and Mark. OK they really weren't all that bad. I just had to harass them.

And my final award of the day goes to the child with the craziest little mind and goofiest sense of humor - at least for this day.

And the Pward goes to....

Jack. Notice the bucket on his head.

That's all for today. So much more to update you on but only a few moments at a time to blog it!

The Palmer Awards ~ Pwards

I decided to blog this one a bit differently only because I think that what we crazy Palmers decided to do on Saturday deserves a whole bunch of Palmer Awards - aka - Pwards. Seriously. It does. And maybe sometime in the future I'll come up with a better name than Pwards....Anyway...

The first award is for outstanding idea for a fun family time. And the Pward goes to.....Mark! We haven't been on a real hike...ever...with our kids. We've done some walks and stuff but no actual trail hiking. Mark loves the outdoors - as do I - but my logical side couldn't get past the logistics and issues that come with taking 3 littles hiking. So I deferred to Mark on this decision and I'm glad I did. While it was one of the hardest things we've done with our kids it was also the most memorable and makes a great blog story.This award goes to to the person, or persons, who have the most courage, the most determination, and the most patience (you may think I'm bragging - I am - this has nothing to do with humility people - we were humbled enough on this trip so bare with me!). And the Pward goes to.....us! Mark and Jill! The craziest parents ever! Ok maybe not ever but definitely in our little world on this day. We battled hunger, heat, exhaustion, cranky whiny children, and a mountain (ok the trail is only one mile each direction but still....with 3 littles it could've been a hundred miles...)

The next award is for the most dramatic experience of the day. And the Pward goes to....Kate! Oh man does she ever win this prize. Before we even left our house she had a melt down about shoes. She does NOT like tennis shoes and socks. We had major issues with that. Hiking and flip flops do not a fun experience make. Well, neither, apparently do tennis shoes and socks....We were able to get them on her but about 10 feet into our hike she screamed again. We kept making her press on but eventually - another 10 feet - she sat down. We let her take off her shoes and walk barefoot. She was not going to ruin our hike (although the girl did certainly try). She hiked for about 10 minutes with no shoes or socks on and then realized that that wasn't so fun. So she put her shoes on and carried her socks. She looks happy in the above picture but that was after lunch at the lake. Notice the dirt and the lack of glasses (she took those off and carried them).Ok so the next award is for the Trooper of the Day. And the Pward goes to.....Kale! This kid, while not completely excited about hiking, pressed on towards the lake. He wanted to stop about every 20 feet for a rest and a drink of water, and he did share his feelings about the hike with me, but he was a trooper. He kept going. Didn't whine. Didn't cry. And generally stuck it out. He was to be commended. And sadly we had no clear picture taken of him. He was on the move so most pics were blurry.

The next award is presented to the person with the silliest response to the hike. The Pward goes to....Jack! This kid was not thrilled with being stuck in a backpack for the trip and shared that with us at the top of his lungs for a good ten minutes. But then he got used to it - sort of - and just started using Mark's back for a climbing wall, a kick-board, and used Mark's head for a play toy. He smothered him with kisses on the back of his head on the hike back down. He also made faces and bonked Mark's head several times in an effort to get a reaction out of Mark. The kid is seriously a goof ball. He waded in the water and got his pants soaked so he finished the hike with no pants or shoes. I think he was much more comfortable that way.

The next award goes to the person with the most talent for picture taking. And if you've read my blog before you will know that this Pward of course goes to...

Mark! He was busy snapping pictures while I was busy keeping our children from falling in the lake. He got some beautiful shots.This award is presented to the person who lost the most clothes during the hike. And the Pward goes to....Kate! This girl not only took off her shoes and socks, but she also removed her shirt on the way back down. Plus we found the socks that she had dropped sometime during the hike on a tree stump just next to the trail. Apparently some kind soul found the socks and placed them in a place where they would be found.And the final award is presented for Outstanding Achievement in a hiking experience. And the Pward goes to....Kale, Kate and Jack! These three persevered through the entire hike and were rewarded with a Sonic slushy. No it wasn't pretty but they did it. The whole thing. We were very proud of them for the accomplishment. Can you tell they're a little wiped out?