My sweet Ashley is SEVEN! : ) HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!

My precious little Ashley Noelle turned 7 years old on Sunday, December 28th! I was planning on writing a special post for my little sweetie with pictures on her special day BUT......Mommy has been very sick with strep throat! I spent my Ashley's whole birthday on the couch with a high fever & a near excruciating sore throat! The best I could manage was whisper-singing "Happy Birthday" that morning & whisper-singing her special "Birthday Girl" song that Mommy made up & sings to all of our girls on their birthdays that night. I already had the entire dining room decorated the day before & Daddy came to the rescue by letting Ashley help him make Belgian waffles with whipped cream (one of Ashy's favorites!) for dinner with candles on top & we all sang to her! She was SO amazingly sweet & compassionate to Mommy! I felt SO sad that I couldn't make her birthday more special like I wanted to & I kept apologizing to her all day! She never complained & she just kept saying how sad she was that I was sick. She just wanted to sit with me & love on me ~ so typical of my Ashley's nurturing & compassionate heart! : ) (& my other girlies too : )!) After a visit to the doctor, a positive strep test, lots of sleeping, (thank you Daddy, Amy, Ashley & Abby for taking care of our little Ava for Mommy!) & 4 Amoxicillin's later, I'm feeling a smidge better today. I am going to have a "re-Birthday" for my sweet Ashley later this week as a surprise to her! SHHHH : ) ! I am still going to write Ashley's 7th birthday post with pictures as soon as I can. I just didn't want too much time to pass before I acknowledge what a precious gift my little Ashley is to Mommy, Daddy & her 3 sissies! God was so kind & good to give me my little compassionate, nurturing, servant-hearted, fashion forward, funny baby girl! Happy 7th Birthday my little Ashley Noellie, I love you with ALL my heart! You are so precious to us & we thank Jesus every day for you baby! : )

Christmas letter & picture......LATE!

I had so much fun taking our girls' Christmas picture & they turned out absolutely adorable! I was excited to hand them out at church on the Sunday BEFORE Christmas & to get them in the mail for everyone else to have but......the picture place messed them up, TWICE! The first time I went to pick them up the green background looked black & my girls faces looked stark white in comparison with dark eyes & lips! I knew it wasn't good when the girl at the counter who looked at them with me said, "your girls are beautiful, are they wearing makeup?" MAKEUP!? Oh brother! So, she made a note for them to be reprocessed lighter. Well, I went to pick them up yesterday & now they are WAY too light! The background looks light green & my girls faces are blotchy & shiny! UGH! She said they have been having problems like this when pictures are sent online. I thought I was saving myself time by sending them directly to them online but, obviously not! I got to keep them for free so now I have 60 copies of it......better than seeing them throw pictures of my babies away! : ) Another test of this Mommy's very sinful heart! God has a plan & knows what I need! Soooooo, our Christmas letter & picture will now be a New Year's letter & picture! I am hoping God is giving me grace to grow in areas like this. If you know me, pictures are VERY important to me! Even though I love pictures because they capture my sweet family in that moment for all time, if I'm being honest with myself (& assessing my sinful heart for what it really is......) there is too much selfish ambition & pride involved in how I am perceived! : ( So, I shouldn't be "struggling", I will still have my beautiful picture of my sweet little girls, I just need to humbly realize (once again) that I don't have it all together like I like to think I do sometimes! SO sad that I even ever have thoughts like that, huh? I'm so happy that God is gracious & kind & wonderful, even when I'm not!

Hopefully, you will be receiving our letter & picture soon.

We love all of our family & friends! We pray that you are well & enjoying Christmas as you ponder the great & amazing gift that was given to us that day, Jesus, the Savior of the world & the Savior of my heart!

Love,
Erin

Our sweet little Christmas Girlies!

Here are some pictures of our 4 precious little girls in their adorable Christmas nightgowns (a gift from Uncle Tom & Aunt Missy Chambliss ~ they SO know me : ) ! )! I LOVE MY 4 LITTLE GIRLS SO VERY MUCH! : )

December~ The month our Mom's died...... this is a very long post, but for a very good reason!

December has always been one of my favorite months of the year but it is also very sad for us both. Two of the most precious people in our lives, our Mom's, both died in the month of December. Randal's Mom, Amy Curtis Randal Palmer (My Randal was named after his Mom's maiden name) died on December 22, 1982 & my Mom, Rosemary Faulkner Gober died on December 11, 1993. Randal's Mom died when he was only 8 years old in a horribly tragic car accident after a night of family Christmas caroling & my Mom died when I was 18 years old at home after a very long & painful 5 year struggle with breast cancer. We lost them in very different ways but the sadness & grief were very much the same. Randal's Mom had the amazing honor of being a Mommy for only a very short while & my Mom missed seeing me get married to the love of my life by only 4 months. Our hearts are still very sad for them both. "Grandma Amy" & "Grandma Rose" as we affectionately call them would have adored their 4 little Granddaughters & oh how we wish our Mom's were still in our lives for our girlies to know & love! One of the things that bonded us as a young couple was knowing that we had both gone through the loss of our Mom's. I can remember many nights of sitting on the couch together talking about our Mom's, reminiscing about how special they were to us & crying together. Our Mom's were amazing Mother's, Randal's Mom was a wonderful wife (my Mom was a single Mom from the time I was 9 months old) & they both loved God with all their hearts! Both of them lived to honor & glorify God, to serve & love their families & others & were amazing examples until the end of their lives! I missed having both of them at our wedding & wished they could have been with us at the births of our 4 girls! What a fun thing that would have been & how I longed for that! I especially miss them when my girlies do something sweet or cute that I know their Grandmas would love! Randal & I both feel absolutely honored & privileged to have been given such gifts, our Mom's, even if for only a short time. God has been so good & so kind. Even though it has been hard not having our Mom's, we know they are with Jesus enjoying Him forever! In His kindness, God has given us Randal's (stepMom....although she is VERY much his real Mom in every sense of the word!) Mom, Dee & my Grandma, Polly who have been precious to us both! They have filled every longing for a Mom & Grandma (Great Grandma too!) & we are so incredibly grateful for them! I wish you could have known Amy & Rose (our firstborn baby girl is named in honor of her two Grandma's, she is Amy Rose!), you would have completely loved & adored them as much as we do! We thank God for sweet memories with our amazing Mom's & we treasure them in our hearts every day! I don't know how it works, but I pray that they can see us from heaven & can enjoy their sweet little Granddaughters from there! We are very comforted that the 6 little babies we have lost are in heaven being held & loved by their Grandma's ~ a thought that makes my heart smile! We have 4 baby girls to enjoy here & they have 6 to enjoy there! Even though we don't understand why sad things happen, we know that God's enduring faithfulness & sweet love remains. We love & miss our Mom's & we are grateful to God for them!

When I first heard this song, "It Is Not Death To Die" from the Sovereign Grace "Come Weary Saints" CD I did NOT like it! I would skip it immediately & I didn't even want to hear the words. One day I couldn't get to the CD player to skip so I heard the entire thing. I was in tears by the end of the first verse. I thought hearing or singing the song would bring back sad memories of our Mom's deaths & I didn't want to go there. Instead, it was sweet & comforting & made me cry happy tears to realize that when our Mom's died, they went on to be with Jesus where they no longer suffered or ever felt sadness of any kind! When they closed their eyes, they weren't sad, they found amazing happiness & comfort with God....they GET to enjoy God/Jesus FOREVER! They get to dwell with our kind, good, amazing, gracious God who loves & cares for them more than we ever could! Two of my most favorite lines from the song are, "It is not death to close the eyes long dimmed by tears...." and "It is not death to hear the key unlock the door....". I love the first line because my Mom suffered a very painful five years with cancer that went from breast cancer to lung, bone & brain cancer. My Mom DID have eyes dimmed by tears. She had the most beautiful blue eyes & it broke my heart looking into her eyes as she cried in pain as a young teenager trying to make everything better for my sweet mom, my best friend! How sad those days were.... Randal's Mom also suffered greatly in her last few hours of life. She was crushed in a car accident. Everything from the front end of the car ended up against her, pinning her & breaking her body. She was bleeding & broken but her only concern was for her boys. Randal was 8 & Ryan was 5 & although she was in severe pain, she kept asking about her little boys ~ so precious! Randal was sitting in the back across from his Mom so he could see her sweet face covered with blood, the pain & sadness in her soft brown eyes but couldn't get to her! Both of our Mom's came to Jesus having suffered & were made new, never to know suffering or pain again! Such a happy thought! The other line makes me cry because I can imagine Jesus standing on the other side of the "door" unlocking it. I can imagine our Mom's waiting in anticipation, hearing the key, seeing the door open & running into the arms of Jesus......amazing!

If you want to hear this song, click on my Play List to the right of this post.

It is not death to die
To leave this weary world
And join the saints who dwell on high
Who've found their home with God
It is not death to close
The eyes long dimmed by tears
And wake in joy before your throne
Delivered from our fears

O Jesus, conquering the grave
Your precious blood has power to save
Those who trust in You
Will in Your mercy find
That it is not death to die

It is not death to fling
Aside this earthly dust
And rise with strong and noble wing
To live among the just
It is not death to hear
The key unlock the door
That sets us free from from mortal years
To praise You evermore

O Jesus, conquering to grave
Your precious blood has power to save
Those who trust in You
Will in Your mercy find
That it is not death to die


We love & miss you with all our hearts Mom's & Grandma's, Amy & Rose! We thank God for every moment we had with you! You are precious to us!

Happy 9th Birthday my sweet little Amy Rose!

Today is my sweet little Amy Rose's 9th Birthday! Nine years ago today, on December 6th, 1999, my life changed forever & (besides marrying the love of my life!) my sweetest dream came true when I became a MOMMY! Our precious little firstborn baby girl, Amy Rose Palmer, was born nine years ago today at 1:06 in the afternoon, she was a tiny little bundle weighing only 6 pounds even! She had beautiful blue eyes from the moment she opened them, soft light brown hair which soon after turned blond, the most adorable little button nose (a Palmer trait she got from her Daddy & a cute one, I might add!), little dimples when she yawned, smiled or laughed, a perfect tiny little baby body & a sweet, happy & content personality! I was absolutely overwhelmed with love & affection for my baby girl from the first moment I saw her......I was instantly in love! My new Mommy-heart was flooded with love for Amy & gratitude to God! I couldn't take my eyes off of my precious little Amy & I couldn't stop thanking God for His precious gift to us! We became a "family" that day, not just a "couple", something we had desired for so long! I just couldn't believe that God would bless me so richly with my new baby girl! I cried for joy for the little baby I had hoped & prayed for so long to have......& here she was, in her new Mommy's arms! Daddy cried too as he held his tiny little peanut in his big strong arms, which made me cry even more! As a new Daddy he felt an instant desire to protect his little girl which is now x 4 ! Amy is my sweet big girl, my big 9 year old! It is hard to believe how quickly she is growing & becoming a little lady right before my eyes! I am grateful to God for my sweet Amy & the joy that she brings to my heart & our family! Amy is very responsible, very tender to God & to the needs of others. She is sensitive, compassionate, caring, gentle & the most wonderful biggest big sissy to her 3 little sissies! Amy is very artistic, creative & imaginative. She can entertain herself AND her sisters for hours (an amazing blessing to Mommy!). Amy loves animals, all sports, climbing trees, art of any kind, games, imaginative play, being with her 3 little sissies & dates with Daddy & Mommy. She is very girly but also loves to run & play. I had a wonderful day blessing my Amy with all kinds of birthday treats & traditions! We had a chocolate chip pancake breakfast with candles & "Happy Birthday". She also got the rare treat of having some of Mommy's morning coffee, a peppermint mocha ~ YUM! She felt like such a BIG girl! : ) We had her favorite lunch of creamy mac & cheese, green apples & a cupcake, then we sang to her again! Amy got to play on the laptop at the Build-A-Bear website & watch a special movie this afternoon. For dinner Daddy & Mommy made Amy's favorite dinner of steak, noodles with butter & parmesan cheese, steamed broccoli, steamed corn, cream mac & cheese, rolls & again, a rare treat of Dr. Pepper to drink! Then we ate Daddy's famous peppermint mocha cupcakes and....sang to her again! (We make birthdays last in our home!) Mommy decorated in turqouise & lime green at Amy's request. She didn't want any pink this year & Mommy was actually okay with that! (I can hear your gasp of surprise : ) !) She is always so grateful & genuinely happy for anything we do for her, she is a precious little girl! We are grateful to God for our sweet 9 year old Birthday Girl! Thank you for being such a treasure to Daddy, Mommy & your 3 baby sissies! I am unendingly & forever grateful to God for that wonderful day in December nine years ago when I had my sweet little Amy Rose & my life changed forever!

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY AMY! WE LOVE YOU BABY GIRL! : )

New Laptop : ) Yippee!

My awesomely sweet Hubby waited outside of BestBuy for Black Friday ON Thanksgiving Day, IN the COLD, ALL NIGHT LONG so that we could get a new family laptop. If you have read our blog in the past you might remember that I dropped my laptop & cracked the entire screen a few months ago! OOOOPS, very sad day! Our new laptop was such a great deal & there is no way we could have gotten a new one otherwise! So, while our 4 little sweeties, my sister, our neice & I were having a wonderful Thanksgiving Day (although we were sad without our Daddy!) in NC with my Grandparents, my man was hanging out at BestBuy for us! Just another way he gives of himself to bless, serve & provide for our family! On top of that, as soon as he got home on Friday morning after staying up all night, he had to get right on his school work! Wow, he's my hero! So, I am HAPPY to say that I now have a laptop that works & I can get back to faithfully blogging! Our new laptop has a really cool feature, I can just put my digital picture card right into the side of the laptop instead of the little picture downloader thingy I used to have to fiddle with! Maybe that's not new but it's really cool to me & as we all know, I'm NOT very technicologically (is that a word ~ I never know!) savvy! So, get ready for LOTS of pictures & blogging to come! I've missed blogging about my favorite things ~ God, my Hubby & my 4 little girlies! I can't wait to share all the great pictures we've taken over the past few weeks & when my sister was here. I gotta run make lunch for my babes but I'll be back later to work on my pictures......SMILE! : )

My Big Sister & my little Niecie : )

My sister, Emily & my sweet little niecie Maya are here visiting us from Germany for two weeks. We are having SO much fun together! Our girls are loving it too ~ I think they anticipated Auntie & Maya coming as much as I did! : ) We have had lots of time just to hang out, play & shop. We have a double stroller so we have been using it for Ava & Maya & they look like little twins! They are only 7 weeks apart, ~ Maya is 17 months & Ava is 15 months. They are both petitie & they look very much alike with blue eyes & blond hair. They are both doing & saying the same things so it's really fun to watch them together. They play very well together aside from the occasional & very to-be-expected moments of grabbing toys from each other & then squealing back at each other! Even though we know it is sinful (& of course we are helping them), it's really cute watching them interact & "work through" their little baby issues ~ so sweet! I love to see them hug & love on each other! Since our big girls love their little Ava & are so good at taking care of her, they have done great with loving Maya too & have brought her right into their little girl club! I tell you, there are a buncha little girlies over here ~ I LOVE IT! I just really love having my sister around! So fun to sit & talk while drinking our morning coffee & watching our little ones play, walking (even aimlessly) around Target or Walmart & just BEING together! We are going tomorrow to have a pedicure together for my birthday & then on Sunday we are going to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra Christmas concert together then Randal & our girls will meet us for dinner. My kind & very awesome Hubby is going to watch all 5 of our precious little girlies for our pedicure & the orchestra ~ what an awesome man I have! : ) Emily is my only sister & we are very close. I am already fighting back tears as I think of her leaving for Germany for another 3 years next week! Hopefully God will allow us to be together again before too long! We still have plans for lots more shopping this weekend & next week. Since Emily & her family have been in Germany for a year, she hasn't been able to go to Target, Walmart, Old Navy & the Mall in what seems like forever to her! : ) She is very happy about being able to do all of her Christmas shopping while in the States! My little girls are AWESOME shoppers & they love being Mommy's & Auntie's little helpers so they are having so much fun too! They help us shop but they spend most of their time playing with, entertaining & "taking care of" the babies ~ which, of course, they absolutely LOVE! My Hubby has the next few days off so we can all do some fun things together, we are all very excited about Daddy being around with us too! My sister is a wonderful wife & mommy ~ it has been fun watching her "mommy" her little girl up close since we've been apart for the past 15 years! She is the kind of person you just want to be with, I look up to, love & respect my big sister! We have already taken LOTS of pictures so I will be posting some very soon ~ hopefully tomorrow! I just can't keep my camera off of my little cutie pies + 1 !

Abby's Big Girl Date with Daddy!

Daddy & Abby went on a special "big girl" date on Saturday! They both wanted to wear light blue & denim to match ~ so cute! She was so happy & felt so special going on a date with Daddy all by herself! Abby got to ride in Daddy's car (which is a very special treat!), get a snack while they were out, go look at toys at Target & go pick out a movie to rent! Very exciting to a precious little 4 year old! Abby was also very excited that "Mommy let me NOT wear bows in my hair!" : ) (also, VERY exciting!) She loved holding hands with Daddy as they walked through Target. : ) (How sweet is that!) Abby's little face was just glowing & she had a sweet sparkle in her eyes when they got home! What is cuter than a Daddy out with his little girlie ~ so precious! We love our sweet little Abby Kate! : )

Our Girlies at the Pumpkin Patch!

Our girls had so much fun at the pumpkin patch & Mommy loved watching them! They were so cute & worked really hard to find our "family" pumpkins! God has been so good to us ~ we love our 4 little pumpkins so much! : )

Our little dancing Ava!

One day my girls & I were watching a little show & Ava LOVED the song they were singing about dancing! She was getting all excited, dancing & stomping her little feet ~ it was so stinkin cute! Ava had just turned 1 year old in this video. You go Girl! : ) (Notice that Ava is still in her cute little jammies ~ it was kinda early in the morning! Also notice all the Cheerios on the floor?!)

Abby & Mommy's MIDNIGHT, candlelight, coloring & ice cream sundae party!

I thought it would be sweet & a lot of fun for just Abby & Mommy to spend some special time together. With Daddy's busy work & school schedule it is nearly impossible to have individual "dates" with my girlies during the week. So, one night last week I got the ice cream sundae stuff & the coloring books & crayons out & lit some candles. I woke up my little sleepy head & carried Abby down the stairs into the kitchen. (My girls have a fascination with midnight! They "know" that only BIG girls stay up til midnight!) So, I told Abby we were having a special time for just us & that it was MIDNIGHT! She was so cute & super happy! We made our yummy ice cream sundaes (Abby made Mommy's too!) & then we colored together. (I LOVE coloring (so do my girls!)! There is something "therapeutic" about sitting down with a box of sharp crayons & a coloring book ~ so relaxing! ) It was absolutely precious to talk to Abby, hear what's going on in her sweet little heart, tell her how much I love her, giggle together & just hear her talk in all her 4 year old CUTENESS! : ) When I saw how happy Abby was it made me realize how special it is to our girls when they are able to spend a little special individual time with us. They LOVE their sissies & they are all best little girlfriends, but they do love being with just Daddy & Mommy too! I can't believe my Abby Kate "Cakes" will be 5 in January ~ she is becoming such a big girl! I thank God for my sweet little Abby! : )

My Sister ~ My Emily !

Hi, Emily Shannon Commerce! : ) Guten Tag Shweister!

My big sister, Emily is the most wonderful sister you could ever hope for! She is only 17 months older than me, we were only one grade apart in school & we shared everything. We grew up sharing clothes, driving to school together in her "banana boat", a yellow Datsun station wagon and we even had the same best friend through all of high school. She is THE original "granola girl" surfer chick who will always (at least in heart) wear long flowy skirts, her Birks & go au natural! She started taking her own bags to the grocery store over a decade ago ~ before it was "cool" because that's just who she is. She is lovable, loyal, fun, sweet & my ONE & ONLY big sister. If she wasn't such a wonderful wife to her Hubby Rob & her 3 adorable children, Mason, Malia & Maya, she would probably be off on a Green Peace tour doing the greater good for someone. (Actually, she does the greatest good anyone could ever do by being a wonderful wife & mommy to her family!) Practically, she serves everyday by supporting her Hubby who serves our country in the Air Force in Jettenbach, Germany! She is very patriotic & has eagerly & faithfully accepted her role as a military wife. Emily is soft spoken, never draws attention to herself & is amazingly humble! I absolutely adore my big sister! I am grateful to God for my sister, my very best friend in all the world besides my Hubby & my 4 little girls! The bond sisters share is an amazing gift that our kind God gives. When I see my little girls together, I think of the bond my Emily & I share, the bond my sweet little girls share & it makes me cry happy tears! : )

My sister lives in Germany because her Hubby, Rob, is in the Air Force. They have been serving there for 1 year and they have 3 years to go. Emily & their youngest, Maya (who is only 7 weeks older than our Ava : ) ! Yay for cousins! ) are coming to visit us at the end of November for 2 weeks! I will get to spend my birthday & Thanksgiving with my sissy for the first time in over 14 years & I am SO EXCITED!

Sissy, if you are reading this......I love you Emily Shannon Commerce! I am so grateful to God for you, you are my heart, my sister!

Love,

Erin : )

Missy's Birthday

My girlies & I gave a surprise tea party for Missy today & it was so much fun! Missy was really surprised, Amy, Ashley, Abby & Ava & I had fun & they were super helpful to Mommy! Ava, our amazing little napper took an awesome 2 hour nap & woke up just in time to have some yummy snacks! We had been planning the party for weeks & it was cute to see how excited our girls were about it. They really love Missy so they were so happy to be with her today. They got to drink yummy tea out of real "big girl" (very fancy & very breakable!) tea cups. Mommy got a little nervous a couple of times but nothing was dropped or broken! We also had great food like scones, mini cupcakes, banana bread, muffins & other goodies. (Thank you Vivian, Judie & Marjorie for all your help : ) !)

I'll try to post some pictures soon but our picture downloader thingy isn't working right & I'm not sure why! I really love putting pictures on our blog so I'm trying to be patient & trust God while we get it figured out!

Missy, we love you & we hope you were blessed today! Happy Birthday!

Fall is here!

I love Fall & so does my family! This afternoon our girlies & I worked on changing our blog background & all the other fun stuff. My sweet Hubby was watching football on the couch beside us & he kindly helped me with all the technical stuff I couldn't figure out. It was a lot of fun & it was so cute to see how excited our girls got about it!

There is just something special about Fall......the smell of goodies baking (like pumpkin muffins ~ yum!), football on TV (I absolutely love to hear the NFL theme song come on because it means my sweet & very hard-working Hubby is relaxing & watching his favorite thing ever to watch on TV ~ even our girls get all excited when they hear it!), fall decorations, beautiful colors (South Carolina is an amazing place to live, especially in the Fall! We actually have all 4 seasons here! Growing up in Florida & living in Arizona for a decade make me especially grateful to be here this time of year!), leaves falling, crisp, cool air, Thanksgiving, knowing that Christmas is right around the corner & a tangible reminder to be grateful for all of the amazing blessings our kind Father has given us!

We thank God for you ~ our family & friends! Have a happy Fall, y'all! : )

Lots going on at the Palmer's! : )

Warning ~ this is an extremely long post! I guess this is what happens when I don't blog for a while ~ sorry ~ life is full & I want to share what's going on with the Palmer's! : )

We have had a great & full couple of weeks since I last blogged. Besides our normal routine of home school, cleaning for Missy on Tuesday, lots of girly dress-up, very imaginative pretending, reading/story time, art, jumping on our trampoline, lots of cuddling and lovin', playing with our dog, Auggie and excitedly waiting for our Daddy to come home every night, we've done a few other things too.

My Hubby got a promotion! Congratulations Babe ~ you are the most wonderful Hubby & Daddy ever ~ thanks for working so hard for your girls! Randal will start his new position as Assistant Branch Manager for SunTrust Bank on the 16th! His boss & manager at his branch took him out to dinner tonight to thank him for his hard work and to show how much he will be missed there ~ so sweet! We are grateful to God for this promotion, especially with the state of our economy right now! Also, we found out some awesome news about his school! Randal talked to his counselor at Liberty University Online this week and found out that if he slightly changes the type of degree he gets, he can graduate a little sooner! If he changes his degree from a "Bachelors of Science" with a major in Business Management and a minor in Religious Studies to a "Multiple Disciplines" degree with his major and minor staying the same, he can graduate in May of 2009 instead of August or December of 2009. YIPPEE! We are SO excited! He has been working very hard and pretty much doing nothing but school and work (and the occasional cuddle with his little girls!) for the last 7 months! God is so good and kind, we are so grateful!

This morning our sweet little Ava FINALLY got her 2nd tooth! It had been trying to come in for weeks and finally it popped through today! Our big girls cheered & congratulated Ava and she looked so happy with herself! It was too cute! Even with such little tooth-age, Ava eats any and everything we do, when there's a will, there's a way! Ava will be 14 months old on the 10th so it's about time that lonely little toothie had a friend! : )

Last Friday our girlies & I spent a day at the Lowrimore's farm (some of our good friends). All of our big girls got to ride their beautiful, blonde horse, "Sunshine" and then lead her around their pasture for a while ~ Amy absolutely loves horses so she was so excited! They held baby chicks, played with their dogs, "Cody 1" and "Cody 2", and they got to play with, chase and be chased by their many goats of all ages. We got to see their adorable baby cow, who is a month old and has the sweetest little "moo"! One of my favorites was their sweet, gentle, old 22-year-old horse named "Treasure" who kept sneaking up behind me and nudging me with his cute, old, wrinkly nose while I was watching our girls run out in the pasture with the goats and other horses! Our little Ashley's dream came true when she got to hold and cuddle with their orange striped kitty! She desperately wants a kitty but our Daddy is even more desperately allergic to cats! Amy's favorite thing was riding Sunshine, Ashley's favorite thing was holding their kitty, Abby's favorite thing was holding the baby chicks (their little girl Chloe, who is 5, told Abby she could name one so Abby named it "black chickie" ~ so cute!) and Ava's favorite part was walking all around their yard with their little guy, Levi, who is 2, and playing with all their toys! Kristin and I enjoyed being together and watching all our little ones have fun! Our girls seemed right at home on the farm in their little denim overalls & piggy tail braids ~ so cute! Thanks Lowrimore's for a great day, we love you!

This past Sunday, our family went apple picking at "Sky Top" orchard with our caregroup. We had so much fun! Our girls loved climbing the trees to reach the apples at the tippy top (with Daddy standing right below, of course) and they loved carrying the cute little basket to put them in! Our girls had a little system going, Amy & Ashley would climb the tree, Abby would stand below and put the apples in the basket (that basket was almost bigger & probably weighed more than her!) & then Ava would nibble on as many apples as she could get her little hands on. Is there anything more precious than seeing a bunch of apples with one little tooth mark in them?! So sweet! It was cute to watch our girls eat fresh apples right out of the orchard that they hand picked themselves with the juice tribbling down their little chins! One of the most special things that day was that Daddy took all of our girls deep into the orchard for a little special "Daddy time" to go find their favorites, Granny Smiths! They were all tuckered out and fell asleep in the Burb on the way home ~ fun day!

Last Sunday, we had our sweet friends, the Kryger's over for the afternoon. The Kryger's have 1 little boy & 3 little girls almost exactly our girls' ages. Our littlest ones, Ava & Sarah are only 2 days apart! Amy & I watched all our little ones play while our Hubby's watched and talked football and fantasy football. I'm so happy that my sweet Hubby has someone here who loves football to talk to about it. I try, but it's just not the same! : ) We had so much fun just relaxing and hanging out together! It's a huge blessing that our children all love each other and play so well together! We love you Kryger's! : )

Yesterday, Missy taught our girls to sew! She gave them each some scrap material, a huge upholstery needle and ribbon to learn on since is easy to see instead of thread ~ so smart! Amy, Ashley & Abby did awesome! The girls listened and watched intently as Missy showed them what to do and they tried so hard to do it just like her! They each made a little change purse and they really turned out cute! They are so excited about their sewing "lesson" next week with Missy! Ava wanted to be a part of what her big girls were doing but she was content to watch them & feed their Bischon, Chloe (who she calls "Co Co") all of her goldfish right out of her snack trap! Mommy is trying to learn to chill about things like that......if you know me you can imagine that I was making the "ick" face on the inside while trying to remain un-grossed out on the outside! After I encouraged Ava for her generous heart and desire to share and gently telling her in a 1 year-old way that doggies eating out of our snack trap isn't included in the sharing code of ethics, I washed it post haste : ) ! It was a fun day as always with our precious friend Missy! We love you Tom & Missy! : )

This post seems bare without any pictures! We loaned our camera to some very special friends to take on their family vacation but I'll be back to picture taking this week! : )

My sweet friend, Julie Rawlings, has loaned me her laptop "until further notice" since I dropped and broke mine two weeks ago! : ( Thanks Jules, I am so very grateful : ) !)

Have I ever mentioned that I love my Hubby & 4 little girls very much? I am so grateful to my wonderful God & Savior Jesus that I get to live everyday life with my sweet family! He has been so good to me, beyond measure. My heart is bursting with love for and gratitude to God!

Broken Laptop : (

Last Saturday night I dropped my laptop & broke it! I was walking to my printer to print out some coupons and it slipped out of my hands. It landed opened up, flat on the ground. When I picked it up I saw that the whole screen was shattered & I burst into tears! I was angry at myself for dropping it and afraid that I had lost all of our family pictures & everything else! Randal ran in to see what happened & asked why I was crying. He was so sweet & I could tell he was having immense self-control & patience with me even though I had just destroyed my laptop! He encouraged me that the hard drive was fine & that it was just the screen that had broken. Of course, even if it could turn on, we wouldn't be able to tell because of the shattered screen. I am on Randal's laptop right now. He is taking college classes online at nights so he takes his laptop to work everyday and is on it for school every night. I try to squeeze in a little time in between but school definitely comes before my blogging & couponing! He is sweet and tries to give me a little time everyday.

What is God teaching me through this? That is the very question I have asked myself over the last week. He is teaching me to trust Him, even when I don't understand. He is teaching me to depend on Him, even when I want to do things my way. He is teaching me that sometimes it is better to be undistracted by "good things" for a time! I think I have talked to and thought about God more this week than usual. I have looked into my sweet little girls' eyes while they talk & snuggled with them on my lap more this week than usual. I have cuddled on the couch with my Hubs & felt completely "released" from the "urge" to coupon and find deals online more than usual! So, yes, I miss my little laptop, but......God is good & He has a plan!

Sweet singin' Girls!

I was in my bathroom getting ready to run errands with my girls this morning listening to the "Valley of Vision" CD playing in my room. All of a sudden I heard my girls singing ~ loudly ~ so I came out into my room to see what they were doing. It was a very sweet & happy Mommy-moment when I saw all of my girls sitting on the edge of my bed facing the CD player singing their little hearts out to "Heavenly Father, Beautiful Son"! I had to get my camera out & take pictures of that sweet memory! Abby was rocking back & forth as she was singing, Ashley was holding Ava as she was singing & as Ava was playing with the plastic CD cover & Amy was reading along with the words as she was singing! So precious! I was actually surprised that they knew the words and could sing along so well. I'm always amazed at how much children retain & what seeps into their eager little hearts! I'm grateful that what came out today was about God! Here is what my sweeties were singing......

"Heavenly Father, Beautiful Son"

Father, You loved me
Sent Your Son to redeem
Jesus, You washed me
By Your blood I am clean
Spirit, You've opened these blinded eyes
And brought me to Christ

Heavenly Father, beautiful Son
Spirit of light and truth
Thank You for bringing sinners to come to You

Father, You gave me
To Jesus to keep
And Jesus, You love me
As a shepherd, his sheep
Spirit, You've given me faith in the Son
And made our hearts one

Father, You're waiting
To hear my requests
Jesus, Your loving
Open hand is outstretched
Spirit, You're in me, You intercede
And help in my need


Mark Altrogge
Sovereign Grace Praise


God has been so good to give us His Son, Jesus! God has also been so good to give my Hubby & I our 4 precious little girlies! : )

(By the way, notice that our girls are all dressed in fall colors. It's been a smidge chilly here in the mornings so it's starting to feel like fall! Our girls picked out their clothes together & even Ava's cute little fall dress & they came out dressed in their coordinating fall colors! So cute! These are definitely girlies after their Mama's own heart!)

Beauty is in the (little blue) eye(s) of the Beholder(s)......: )

This afternoon we were playing outside & my girls gathered this "beautiful bouquet of flowers for you Mommy ~ because we love you so much!" To the untrained eye they are just a bunch of weeds. To the eyes & imaginations of 4 little girls (& to the heart of a Mommy who loves to see the world through their eyes!) they are a gift picked with lots of love for a very BLESSED Mommy! I sure love my 4 precious little girls ~ God is so good!

Ashley ~ our little nurturer!

On Saturday morning Ashley woke up early & heard Ava playing quietly in her crib. They were both awake earlier than normal & the rest of us were still asleep. Ashley quietly got Ava up, brought her down stairs, put her in her booster seat & fed her yogurt& Cheerios. She cleaned Ava up with one of her baby wash cloths, put the rest of the yogurt in the fridge & played with her for a few minutes in her "baby safe" area of our living room. Ashley thought Ava still seemed hungry & a little sleepy so she made her a bottle, warmed it up & took her back upstairs to her nursery. When I woke up & came into Ava's room, I saw Ashley softly singing to her, rocking her in her glider & feeding Ava her bottle! It was just so precious to me that I had to take pictures of them together! Our little Ashley is only 6 & God has given her a sweet nurturing heart & the gift of mothering already (especially toward her sissies!). We are so grateful to God for our 4 little girls!

Co-op!

We are doing a co-op with some of our friends who home school also. We are meeting every other Friday for Art, Science & PE. Friday the 12th was our 1st co-op & our girlies had so much fun! They got to see Mrs. Julie Rawlings & Mrs. Julie Cook doing fun and exciting science experiments! (Who knew seeing a can of soda explode was so exciting : ) & we are still talking about the egg/fire/bottle thing!) They got to learn about Art from Mrs. Nikki Roberts & they drew mutli-colored & monochromatic pictures of their favorite summer memory! The funniest part of art class was when all of the little 4-5 year old girls drew the typical girly picture......you know, flowers, butterflies, rainbows......& sweet little Adam Moseley (the only boy ~ bless his little heart!) drew a very manly looking roman soldier holding a sword! The little girls didn't know what to make of that ~ so typical boy and so typical girl response : ) ! (Robin you can be proud that your little guy is representing true biblical masculinity already!) Each co-op the Mom's will take turns teaching, helping or watching the littlest ones.

Julie Rawlings ~ thank you for your love for us Mommies & our precious little ones! Thank you for your hard work & sacrifice to put it all together for us! God sees what you do in secret & we are grateful for what you do in secret 'cause it's always a blessing to us! We love you! Julie Cook ~ thank you for opening your home to ALL of us (which ends up being about 40 Moms & kids) every other Friday! You always serve & offer warm hospitality with love & joy! We love you!

My sweet little girls love being with their little friends & we are so happy to have this co-op to grow & learn together!

Web Cam!

Auntie Raigan bought our family a web cam so that we can see & talk to each other! Yippee! We have missed our Grandpa, Grandma, Auntie Raigan and Uncles Reed, Ross, Ryan & cousin Koby in Arizona! Tonight was our 1st night seeing Grandma & Auntie with the web cam. It was sweet & so much fun! Our whole family was gathered around the laptop looking at & talking to them. Our girls each took turns talking & showing special things to Grandma & Auntie! It was a sweet & special little thing for us! Thank you Auntie ~ we love & miss you all so much! : )

Gardening Girls!

We planted a little garden this week! My little girlies, our sweet friend, Gwen & I spent 5 hours planting our winter garden on Thursday morning. Gwen has been gardening her whole life so she came over to help us get started. (Thank you Gwen, for sharing all of your wisdom & knowledge about gardening, mommy-hood & everything else! I had so much fun with you!) Her teenage daughter, Sheree, came over to play with our 4 girlies while Gwen & I worked. (Thank you Sheree, our girls love you & you were such a great help to me!) Our sweet little Ava took an awesome nap while our big girls came outside to help. Amy, Ashley & Abby were my sweet little helpers and had so much fun playing, digging, planting and watering! We planted broccoli, onions, kale, rosemary, thyme, sweet basil, oregano, mint, cilantro and curled parsley. We are excited about our little garden and we can't wait to eat our veggies and cook with our fresh herbs! We are planning on planting a summer garden in the spring with all the salad veggies and anything else we can grow! Gardening reminds me of how amazing God is! He creates life and allows it to grow. I"m so grateful that He shows His love for us by providing practically & even delights in allowing us to enjoy fun things like veggies from our own garden! We planted on Thursday & by Sunday we already had kale and onions coming up that we had planted from scratch ~ amazing! I must say, Daddy was pretty impressed by how much his "outdoor gardening girls" got done & he is very proud of us! If you don't know me well, I'm not exactly the most outdoorsy girl you'll ever meet. I try, but sometimes my love of all things neat & tidy comes shining through even when I try to "suppress" it : )! I'm about as opposite as can be of my sweet sister, Emily. She's my beachy, all natural, "granola-girl"! I love her with all my heart & there are so many things about her I wish I was! My friends who know me well were surprised (dare I say, shocked : ) !, but very happy to hear about my gardening adventure! I had so much fun gardening with our little sweetie girls ( & Gwen too!)! Our garden will be a fun part of home school this year for our girls and I! It was HARD WORK (I was super sore the next day from all the ground breaking!) but SO MUCH FUN! : )

Ava's is 13 months old!

Ava turned 13 months old today! Our little baby is officially a "toddler"! It has been so much fun watching her learn & grow every day and oh how we love this precious little girl! She is walking really well and she likes to play "Ring around the rosies" with her sissies. She goes around and around in her own little circles and sings "Ozie Ozie" and "Ash Ash" along with her big girls! Her new walking tricks are changing direction mid-stride, walking backwards and stair climbing with no hands. (Mommy's nervous about the last one and we won't be encouraging that skill for a while! : ) !) It's really cute and makes her seem like such a big girl! Ava's personality can best be described as happy (always smiley and giggly~ well, not always, but close!), content (unless Daddy comes into the room and doesn't come to love on her right away, then she tells us about it : ) !), curious (she's very intrigued by her world around her and what her big girls are doing!), caring (loves to share her food and always "gives" a bite before she takes one!), affectionate (she loves to give big wet kisses, huggies and pat pats to us & any friend who will allow it : ) ! Her favorite little friend to love on is sweet little Sarah Kryger! ) and she is just very sweet!

Here are Ava's 13 month stats:

20 pounds 4 ounces
29 1/2 inches tall

Happy 13 Month Birthday & welcome to "Toddler-Hood" our precious little Ava Gracie Goo! : )

Miniature Apple Pies ~ Yum!

My Girlies & I just made the most yummy snack ~ homemade miniature apple pies!

I found this recipe today and thought we'd try it as an afternoon/after nap snack. All my girls, even my little 4-year-old Abby, made their own with Mommy watching so it's easy enough for little ones to do. I love being in the kitchen with my girls and it was a lot of fun! Okay, here's the recipe and how you make them.

Slices of bread
Apple
Sugar
Cinnamon
Vanilla Extract
Butter

The original instructions said to "roll" the piece of bread out flat but since we don't have 5 rolling pins, we just "smushed" the bread with our hands. For obvious reasons, my girls enjoyed this part! "You mean we get to smush and play with our food?"! So cute! Set the bread aside. Combine sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract in a small bowl. I let my girls pour, shake and "measure" while I watched closely. The recipe didn't come with amounts, so just kinda guess how much to make a dry, crumbly mixture. Use a cheese grater to grate 1/4 of an apple into each child's bowl and then let them mix it all together. (You may have to add more of something until it looks like a semi-wet apple pie-ish filling? I don't know......just do your best! : ) !) We used Granny Smith apples (my girls' favorite kind) and it turned out great but you can use whatever kind you want. Each of our mixtures was enough to make 3 little pies each. Put 1/3 of the mixture onto the smushed bread, roll up and secure with a toothpick. Butter the outside and place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. While the little pies were baking, the whole house smelled like warm apple crisp ~ YUM! When they came out of the oven they were crispy on the outside, warm & bubbly on the inside & caramelized on the ends ~ YUM again! : ) Hope you enjoy them as much as my happy little bakers & I did!

The Palmer Girls x 5 : )

Happy Grandparent's Day to some of the most precious people in our lives! : )

Happy Grandparent's Day Grandpa & Grandma Palmer and Great Grandpa & Great Grandma Faulkner! This is Amy, Ashley, Abby & Ava, your 4 little Grand & Great Grand Girlies! We love you so much and we thank Jesus every day for you! God has given us a very special love in our hearts for you and we want to be sure you know how much we love you, especially on a very special day like Grandparents Day! Thank you for all the ways you make us feel special and loved and for all the things you do for us! When we come to visit we are always so happy to be with you. When we are far away, we miss you and wish we could be together ~ like today! We want to tell you some of our favorite things to do with you. Grandpa Palmer, we love to sit around the fire and makes s'mores with you, cuddle on the couch and watch a movie with you or eat a special breakfast together! Grandma Palmer, we love to bake goodies in the kitchen with you, snuggle with you and play games together! Grandpa Faulkner, we love to walk down to check the mail with you, play Hide & Seek around the house and cuddle in your recliner with you! Grandma Faulkner, we love to eat popcorn & have story time with you, play dollies with you and snuggle on your bed together! We are 4 very blessed little girls and we are so grateful to God for you all! We love you ~ HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY! : )

Dad & Mom and Grandpa & Grandma ~ thank you for giving the best of your lives to make ours better, for showing us how to love God and live everyday life for Him and for loving us unconditionally! Thank you for your love, care, kindness, gentleness, selfless hearts, and for the great legacy you will leave behind one day. You love our Lord with all your hearts, glorify God with your marriages, parenting, grandparenting and great grandparenting! You have lived godly lives and you have imparted much wisdom and grace to us, your family! In His amazing kindness, God gave you to us ~ we are so amazingly blessed! Besides all of the sweet, godly stuff, you are just so much FUN and we love being with you! We love you and we hope you know how precious you are to us!

Grandma Rose & Grandma Amy are in heaven with Jesus but they are in our hearts every day! We love and miss you and we will see you some day. I don't know how heaven works but we pray that you are together enjoying watching your sweet little Granddaughters. God was so kind and good to give you to us for 18 and 8 amazing years ~ we love you more than you will ever know!

With All our Love,
Randal, Erin, Amy, Ashley, Abby & Ava : )

Fun at "Palmer Prepatory" : )

We had fun in school today! We are studying the "Pledge of Allegiance" and the American Flag. We were supposed to make a red, white and blue snack for this week so I was happy when I found the "liberty" Goldfish. I gave each of my big girls a little pile of the Goldfish, a piece of paper and a bottle of glue then I pulled up a big picture of the Flag on my laptop for them to look at. I didn't tell them how to do it I just let them be creative. I absolutely LOVE that each of them have their own little perspective on how the Flag looks ~ too cute! They are memorizing the pledge and Abby (who is 4) got most of it but at the very end said, "with LITTLE~bee and JUM~stice for all" as proud of herself as could be! : ) We did a fun science experiment to see if an egg would float or sink in salt water (it floats in case you're wondering) and my girls enjoyed being little scientists! In Bible we are learning about our names, what they mean and how they are special. We made cookies and wrote each of our names on one with frosting as a project ~ fun and yummy! My awesome little napper baby slept for 3 hours this morning while we did school then she woke up happy and ready to eat lunch! (I guess there is a little bonus to being up WAY too late at Caregroup on Wednesday nights : ) !) I'm so grateful to God that Ava is such a happy & content baby! So far Amy, Ashley & Abby are loving school. They are sweet little students and so easy to teach! I'm hoping this "everything is fun" momentum carries through the rest of the year. We'll see around about March how we're doin'...... : )

"Miss Missy"

Here are some pictures of a special part of our lives that has become very sweet to us. Our girlies & I have been working one day a week for our precious friends Tom & Missy Chambliss for 2 1/2 years because of some health challenges that Missy has. We took a year off when our little Ava was born and now we're back to our regular Tuesday's at Missy's. We have grown to absolutely adore them and our girls affectionately call them "Uncle Tom & Auntie Missy" or "Miss Missy"! We grocery shop, clean, do laundry, cook meals and do whatever they need us to do. It is my way of helping my Hubby with grocery money and more importantly, our time to serve Missy & spend time with her! Missy has a preciously sweet heart, she loves the Lord, her Hubby (& her cute little Bischon Chloe : ) !), she loves our little girls and she is SO MUCH FUN! Our girls have had countless days of "girl talk", (I love it too!) cuddling, story time & fun with Missy as Mommy works. Our girls have become quite the little helpers too ~ they love to work with Mommy & do special things for Missy. God has used our time at Missy's to create compassionate, gentle & caring hearts in our little girls ~ we are so grateful to see the godly character He is developing in our little sweeties! We are grateful to God for the extra that it provides and we are grateful that we can serve Tom & Missy in some small way. The truth is, we have so much fun and we laugh SO hard together! Missy has become one of my very closest friends and our girls love her so very much! We love you Tom & Missy......99.9, NO, 100% of the time! : ) (Hee Hee! Missy loves to speak in terms of percentages ~ so funny, kinda quirky & really cute!)

First Day of School!

Today was our 1st day of school : ) I'm still amazed that we have a 4th grader, a 2nd grader, a Kindergartener and a little toddler baby walking around! I'm grateful that we get to teach our girls at home ~ how amazing that we get to watch them learn and grow every day! I really love to see the sparkle in their little eyes when they learn something new. What a gift to be able to be with my best little girlfriends all day! (God is so good!) Of course we have our moments of chaos like everyone else but I want to be right in the middle of it all! We had a great first day and our girlies were very happy and eager to learn. Our little Ava took a great 2-hour nap this morning so Mommy was able to teach Amy, Ashley & Abby each one-on-one. When Ava woke up, each of our big girls had "Ava time" where they played with her and "took care of" her! (They have created what they call the "baby-safe" area in the corner of our living room to keep Ava safe!) They're so sweet and such great helpers and Ava is such a sweet and happy baby! We're looking forward to a great school year. Hopefully our little girlies will learn as much as Mommy does! : )

School Books & Supplies

We are starting school on Monday, September 1st & our girlies are so excited! I think Mommy might love new school supplies just as much as our little sweeties do!

"What does a fishy do?"

This week Ava started making this adorable little face when we ask, "Ava, what does a fishy do?"
So precious! : )

"Donuts & Devotions Friday"

A few weeks ago we started doing what we call "Donuts & Devotions Friday". On Friday morning Daddy leads us in family devotions while we eat our yummy breakfast. Our girls love it and really look forward to it! Today Daddy taught about the Gospel. It was sweet to listen to the questions & thoughts that come out of our little girls' hearts about God! How precious the faith of a child! It is also fun because donuts are a special treat that we only have every once in a while ~ now every Friday morning! : ) Here are some pictures of us this morning!