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! : )