Journaling (Volume 5)

This is Grace's (2nd Grade) Bible Test. The last question is hilarious.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are enjoying our Thanksgiving break from work and school. We aren't having relatives coming and we aren't going anywhere. It is a nice relaxing break for us. Last night, we ran a few errands and had dessert and coffee at Nordstroms.
We went to the zoo on Tuesday in the drizzling rain. It was being set up for Zoolights and there was NO ONE there. We saw two school groups and a few other people. It was wonderful to get a great parking spot, get into all the exhibits, and enjoy being together. Usually I am so scared that the kids will get lost in the crowds. Not on Tuesday! Unfortunately (my brothers will be sad about this), they shut down "The Cereal Bowl." It was a fun breakfast place by the zoo where you could order... you guessed it... cereal. Any type of hot or cold cereal that your heart could imagine. It was perfect but I guess the concept wasn't very popular with anyone other than my kids.

We saw the elephants. This really got Ellen excited! She loves elephants and didn't want to leave this little area.

We got close to the Red Pandas. You can see the video camera in the background. They were doing some footage for the FONZ (Friends of the National Zoo) website and the pandas were being so cute!

We spent a lot of time with the Panda Bears. They were doing what they do best... eating bamboo. We could not believe we were so close with NO ONE around! What a blessing.

Funny Things They Say (Volume 9)

"Dora and her family have big mouths" -Sam.

"Rita how old are you?" -Neighbor "I am plain 6." -Rita

Kris and Mikey

This is a special post for my cousins. Kris and Mikey are my cousins. They are siblings. Mikey (and Bethany) had their first baby about a year ago and the one baby was actually TWIN boys! No fertility drugs or anything!

Kris has a sweet little spunky girl named Sterling. After having Sterling, Kris found out that she is pregnant. You guessed it. With TWINS! What is so fun about it all is that 1. She looks great. 2. She is not overwhelmed (or acting like it). 3. She is not finding out genders!! So they have this system worked out with the names based on what baby comes out first and whether it is a girl and boy. I think it is so fun to hear all this.

My Uncle Mike (my dad's brother) and Aunt Arden will have 5 grandchildren under the age of 2 from 2 children! I think I got that right! What a crazy blessing!!!

That is one thin mom of 30 week old twins!!!

Don't be late... for an important date!

Let the party begin! The kids arrived and we partied in that Rabbit Hole until the box was broken... Then the surprise came... we couldn't believe our eyes when Alice stepped into our home! She was the real deal with a real rabbit with a watch on the rabbit's neck! Unbelievable!

Isn't she the best Alice in Wonderland you've ever seen?

We took photos with all the kids individually with Alice and Rita and the white hare. And you will not believe that Alice got them all to quiet down so she could read the Alice in Wonderland book to them. They listened so well... even Ellen!

We took a family photo with Alice and the rabbit...


Alice and her mother are faithful blog followers of ours and we love them so much! Isn't this just precious?!?!
After lunch we colored Alice coloring sheets, those were a big hit with the kids!

Cake time!

Rita was so excited about her gifts. I honestly attribute it to the fact that I never buy them gifts so to be spoiled for a day like this was unreal to her. These facial expressions are hilarious.

Who knew a kid could be so excited about gum!?!?!
We aren't too excited about the American Girl Doll brush from Great Grandma and Grandpa Palmer... I am sorry Rita, it was all we could afford this year at the Amercian Doll store....
Just KIDDING!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Aftermath.

Alice in Wonderland Party Prep!

A few weeks ago, we were at dinner as a family talking about Rita's upcoming birthday. We were trying to decide a theme and Nate suggested Alice in Wonderland. Rita loved it and we ran with it! We sent out Mad Hatter "unbirthday" invites to 5 children (5 + 4 of my own = 9! AH!) They all RSVPed yes to the Queen of Hearts and so the day came! Nate and I literally began to decorate for the party the night before since I had been gone for the two weekends prior. But, it ended up being perfect - simple and fun. We had one surprise that I will post soon ... I will give you a preview below.

Nate created a "rabbit hole." We didn't want to go too crazy with the theme since most of the Alice books are above a 6 year old's thinking (not to mention she seems like she is on drugs) so we kept it simple. We just replaced a toliet, kept the box, and BRAVO! A rabbit hole. This provided more entertainment the morning of the party than any balloon, cake, or clown could ever provide! And that is the $15 yard sale horse that has also given us more fun than any toy we have EVER OWNED.

Cake... Yes that is Belle on the cake but again, a 6 year old doesn't know the difference between Belle or Alice or a gourmet cake or a box mix.

This is my dad, he stopped by briefly to say Happy Birthday and to help hold a basket with something that had a watch on it... hint hint. The kids had no idea... can you see something?

My mom and Ellen decorated the cake - pretty much the only "job" that Ellen could do the whole morning.

You can see "pin the bow" on Rita in the background. We used a family canvas print for that. The tea party table is set for lunch.

Rita's chair is also set at the head of the table... we are ready for our guests to arrive!

Favors are all in place... nothing like a used book on Amazon for a party favor. That is another crazy story. I ordered all of these book used on Amazon a few weeks in advance. They were all listed as in Excellent condition. Many of them came and had writing inside them that read things like, "Happy Easter Emily, Love, Grandma 2009". I always contacted the company if that was the case and they refunded me each time! Amazing!

Playing cards (i.e. Queen of Hearts) hanging from the door frame. The kids didn't even notice these so I would skip this next time. We also chalked the front sidewalk "Follow the White Rabbit"... that wasn't noticed either. So many details for parties are honestly for the parents than the kids.

Arizona Girls Weekend

Spent a few days with some of my best friends from college in Arizona. It was a precious time. This is breakfast at Kelly's house, isn't her house just great? Very modern and clean!

This is Kelly and I. We woke up very early and stayed up late each night. She made wonderful food, it was so nice to be treated like a queen! She even rented a huge Cadillac SUV for the weekend so we all could fit together.

This is Allison. She is living in LA right now and a wonderful photographer. This is Pam's baby that made an appearance at girl's weekend - which we didn't mind at all! Her smiles were just precious all weekend. A sweet little girl with a full head of hair.

Kelly's decor is really cool as you can see. Her dad is a vet and mailed these nests to her in Phoenix. You can also see she spray painted her pumpkins. It is odd to see orange pumpkins in Phoenix I must say!

This is a typical Arizona home. I love the turquoise door! We went on a hike through the terrain and saw many awesome things but my photos got deleted.
This is Erin and Pam talking... we talk the entire weekend.

This is Allison with Baby Sarah in front of Kelly's backyard and her citrus trees.

Full fridge...

This is Pam and I. Pam is the mom of the baby. I missed my flight on the way out and Pam missed it on the way back. It all worked out. Allison and Kelly made 16 trips to the airport!

I don't have photos of the annual clothing swap and book swap. We always end up bringing tons of suitcases and trading clothes. It is really fun and funny. It is a great way to refresh our wardrobes - it truly works out. Everyone is different sizes and styles but we always end up with TONS of things. The book swap is also very meaningful as we share books we have read, recommend and trade one actual book. The last thing we do is that one of the girls makes up a list of 15 thoughtful questions that we go around and answer throughout the weekend. It keeps our time together quality and we can reflect on purposeful things that have happened throughout the year. Keeps our conversations meaningful. We spent time in prayer together also. I am sad the weekend is over but look forward to next October!

Thanksgiving Feast

My camera is being fixed by my brother right now so I am missing some photos. But these two photos are from Grace's Thanksgiving feast at school. The first one is of our good family friend Ryan. Him and Grace have been in the same class at school for three years and have been in Sunday School together since birth. Ryan is one of Grace's best buddies. His mom is on a missions trip in Turkey right now - really neat family.

The second photo is just precious to me. If you notice, the kids are praying before their thanksgiving feast. Their prayer is a song so that is probably why many of them are looking up. But it is precious. Enough said.

USA women's water POLO #1 fan!!!

This past weekend I flew to Arizona to visit 6 of my best friends from college. Kelly lives in Phoenix so we had planned last year to make this trip. It was a wonderful trip in so many ways but I need to write about the first few hours of the trip before I begin.

My non stop flight was scheduled to leave at 4:55 pm on Thursday and I left the house at 3:15. I planned to park, check luggage and checked in online. LESSON LEARNED: I cut it way too close - my fault completely - and missed my flight. Thankfully, I was rerouted to LA on standby and then on another standby flight to Phoenix. It was a much longer flight than my original nonstop but I was sure that God had a reason for all this nonsense!

On my flight to LA, I was so surprised to see it is one of those flights that have 9 seats across. I got the window. I sat next to a lady from Santa Barbara, she was 71, and flying home from Paris. She struck up a conversation with the blonde next to her across the aisle because they were both from Santa Barbara. I heard bits and pieces and just began to get situated when she tapped on my shoulder and said, "She was in the Olympics!"

So I met superfun Kami Craig (Hi Kami!) nubmer 12 on the women's USA water polo team - she was so fun. We were laughing, she let me wear the gold medal, we took a bunch of photos, I tried to get people to notice her and of course some free food from the flight attendant (he wouldn't take the bait but he did try on the medal!) I told Kami I was now her number one fan and would watch her team faithfully with my kids. She was so fun, open, likeable, interesting, good at answering my questions about her diet, her family, Indonesia, her boyfriend, long term relationships, the sport, Olympics, you name it. What a treat - four hours (or so) of FUN!

Meanwhile the sweet 71 year old lady became my BFF too but she got nervous at me when we landed because I turned on my cell phone too soon and I didn't get her name and number when we got off the plane. She was reading a Francis Chan book so we had a fascinating conversation about God, my faith, my awesome Bible Study, her dental hygenist, and her "journey to find purpose".