One more week...

As everyone knows, life in the Palmer house is NEVER boring... and lately it seems like things are a changin' every other week! In March, we learned my company had sold the property management department that I have been working in for the last 4 years. That was a big shock as we were planning for me to continue working there for the remainder of my pregnancy which would give us time to plan for me to be at home after the baby was born.

But now that this is coming to an end in one week and God has opened a door for us by giving me an opportunity to work from home doing transaction coordinating and virtual assisting for the agents in our office at RE/MAX. I am really excited as it's a new opportunity will allow me a full time business at home for the summer (which will alleviate a LOT of daycare expense) and also make a smooth transistion after the baby is born. This coming month will require a lot of work to prepare this business which will start June 1st. PLEASE PRAY FOR US!

I have been feeling pretty prego these last few weeks and Travis is beggin' and a prayin' for a girl. Last night we were watching the boys play in front of us (they were pretending to shoot each other with their guns aka their fingers) and I asked him if he was prepared for ANOTHER boy if God were to bless us with one. Travis promptly called the kid's attention and asked Braden and Rylan "if the baby ends up being a boy, which one of you wants to be a girl?" We all laughed so hard... I don't think my face has hurt like that in a long time. His sense of humor definately keeps me going at times. That and his assistance with driving to the store at a moments notice to get me Reese's cereal which I had a craving for last night... and now sounds really delicious again...

Rylan also announced yesterday (after he decided he didn't want to eat dinner) that he was going to run away from home because he "didn't like it here anymore". Braden was appalled and reassured me that he "loves livng here" and has "no idea where Rylan would get that from". When we (trying to keep a straight face) asked Rylan why he would want to run away, all he could say was "i cuz". That means in Rylan lingo "because"... Grandma Kathy has always said that Rylan is just like his daddy and told me a story a few years ago of when Travis was a little boy and they were living out in Mesa, AZ he decided to run away one day. He left the house and Grandpa Gary followed him the entire way. He walked all the way down to some store and convinced the manager to give him food and a drink. Up until a few years ago, Travis had no idea that his dad followed him and was watching over him the entire time. That was ALWAYS my favorite part of the story... And while Rylan, to my knowledge, doesn't even know what "running away" is, I am sure that if he did it would follow the same course as Travis's "experience" did.

 Braden had his Spring Concert at school this last week and at the silent auction dad won the pink tutu that he bid on for his "baby girl" (he's determined people)...Braden did great as always and when we download it from the camera, I'll post it on here for you all to see. We also went to a few garage sales this weekend and got  Braden a new desk for his room which we repainted to match and a set of real locker's for Rylan's. Their rooms are starting to look super cute! Pics will be on soon as well.

Finally, Braden has a lose tooth! He's wiggling it daily with hopes it will pop out soon for the toothfairy. We shall see...

Palmer Party of Five

So this last week we found out that yes, we are expecting!!! Whoohoo! I am about 7 weeks pregnant and the boys are praying and praying and praying for a girl. We are all thinking "pink" but I must proclaim that if we are blessed with yet another Palmer boy, that we will all be just as happy...

As of this moment, I have not had any morning sickness (yet...) and I am enjoying these moments as Rylan's pregnancy was ugh... nothing but sickness for the first few months. We will be expecting our new bundle of joy around the beginning of November and afterwards we are planning to have me home full time... I am really looking forward to getting the opportunity to be home for our family and spend all the precious moments with our newborn. It was so hard going back to work after Rylan's birth ~ even though he was with my mother, it was so incredibly difficult leaving him all day!

So, if you can pray for a healthy pregnancy and baby we'd be so thankful. Pictures galore will follow and if it's a girl, she will be one spoiled little princess by her daddy and brothers. That's for sure!!! And I certainly will enjoy having a female around the house... I am so out numbered with all these men! I need a girl!!!

Runaway Parents

Yes, we were runaway parents this past weekend and boy was it nice! Travis and I haven't had an "alone" trip in nearly 2 years so it was extremely needed to have a few minutes of "mommy & daddy time" this weekend! The trip started in Laughlin, NV which I quickly learned is only full of gambling older folks. Not that there is anything wrong with an older community of gamblers, but we hoped (or shall I say, I hoped) for a little more "to do"... This was my first trip to Laughlin and quite possibly my last... I hear that Vegas is much better.

Travis and I both agreed that the best part of Laughlin was the enormous amount of food available at the buffet. Saturday night was all about seeing how much Prime Rib and King Crab Travis could stuff into that pretty lil' face of his and he did pretty well if I do say so myself :)

Sunday on our way home and decided to browse Old Route 66 as Travis enlightened me on a little deserted town called Oatman. Oatman is a unique town... Travis had a hard time describing it to me on our way there. I tried to help by giving some descriptive thoughts that come to mind when you hear the name "Oatman, AZ".

Words like: Redneck, Hickish, Old, Run Down, Weird, Dirty, Full of Crazies, Quaint?!

Not so...

After visting Oatman I would describe it as an authentic Old Western Town with a little touch of wild burro. Yes, I did say wild burro. It is a fact that I am definately a "city girl" as finding any type of wild animal that runs the streets loose and with the approval of common folk is completely foreign to me. Seriously, where I come from if a dog is loose in the neighborhood, you find the owner or call the animal control. Imagine living in a town with signs like this!!!!

They even sell carrots for you to feed the burros with! The baby burros were adorable... even if I didn't get to pet one...

Travis and I stopped in the general store for a Rootbeer Float... and some entertainment from some of the locals.

The views were gorgeous and it kind of reminded of the days when I worked at Rawhide... Yeehaw!

Don't mind my stupid face... the random stranger we picked to take our picture has never used a camera before... good lord!

On our way home we played photographer of the scenery and took some shots of scenes from Cars for the kids. They thought it was super cool :)

We agreed the US Postal Service probably hates these people...

Mater's brother

This is why we live in AZ. It's the middle of winter and we have days like this...

Mom's Dinner Menu - Week 2

I have found that being a busy mother and wife who during the week is out of the home until usually 6:30 pm - 7 pm at night because of my work schedule, requires that I come up with another strategy for dinner planning. Anyone that knows Travis and I would be able to attest that we are incredibly busy and that dinner making can be a bit of a challenge. At first Travis offered to handle all the dinners... Obviously due to my new plan, the original didn't turn out so well. Love you babe, I know that the kids can be more demanding...

So I have turned to weekly menus and am now using my crockpot and my #1 love to help me with this weekly "project". Hello Ree Drummond. You are my new best friend.

If anyone is not aware of The Pioneer Woman, then let me introduce you. Ree Drummond is one of the most multi-talented women I have seen in quite awhile. Her website and books offer WONDERFUL cooking tips and receipes and she is a talented photographer and homeschooling mom. ILUVHER!http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/

We even share an affinity for my favorite dog... the basset hound. Watch out Charlie, you're on the verge of being replaced in the Palmer home if you jump/dig one more time!!!

This weeks menu consists of the following:

Monday: Coq Au Vin and Buttery Noodles - PW

Tuesday: Country Beans and Corn Bread - PW

Wednesday: Chicken Enchiladas - My receipe

Thursday: Cajun Meatloaf - PW

Friday: T-bone Steak and Asparagus - Travis specialty

Saturday: Lazy Chiles Rellenos and Corn Tortillas - PW

Sunday: Turkey Dinner - MINE MINE MINE

The thing that I am absolutely LOVING about this new schedule is that most of the meals I can either do in the morning in the crockpot (country beans) or prep ahead of time and leave cooking instructions for Travis. Like the enchiladas, meatloaf and chiles rellenos.

As a side note, since I am still not a fan of waking up at 4 am in the morning to make Travis his breakfast, I have made this morning a weeks worth breakfast burritos that he can warm up during the mornings. They are frozen in foil packages and were super simple and quick to make. Very easy, healthy and a little "i love you" from me to him and I still get some shut eye :)

Ingredients:

5 eggs

1/2 a package of pork sausage - hot

5-6 whole wheat wraps
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste

** if they were mine, I would have added sharp cheese to this mix and green onions, but I cook per request of the hubs

Here's photos from this morning :)

End result are happy boys!

Valentines Day

What a sweet day for our family... it started with Travis planning a surprise picnic for me and the boys at the park. He packed a lunch of fried chicken, pasta salad, grapes & cheese, rolls and chocolate covered strawberries! YUM! It was delish!!!

We played frisbee with the kids and it was super cute to see Rylan trying to throw the frisbee to Braden. It was a beautiful day here. It was sunny with a blue sky. The grass was green and the park was empty except for our family and a couple others. No pics - sorry! Since it was a surprise lunch, Mommy didn't know to bring the camera. But, all in all I must take a minute to brag on my hubs - he's pretty romantic and thoughtful with the things he plans for me and the kids. Valentines Day always marks when we first started "seeing each other". This year was our "fifth anniversary". Love him!

That evening was time for our family tradition of Valentines Day Dinner. This Valentines Day Dinner Menu consisted of Stuffed Steak with Asparagus, Creamy Mashed Potatoes and Steamed Carrots. It was Mommy's turn to cook this year... It was YUMMO!

Mom & Dad had time to polish off a bottle of wine after kids were in bed... Sweet times!

Mommy didn't get a lot of time to put together the table this year, but everyone still got a special treat...

I found these cute marshmellow treats for $1.00 at Walmart!

The frogs were my favorite :)

Brudders

The meal... it even tasted better than it looked. Not bad, right?

Love it!

The crazy husband...

Cry baby Rylan... what's new!?

Daddy thought it would be funny to make faces...

Which of course leads to everyone making funny faces...

Love my boys :)

Mama loves the grape!

Arizona Rain

Today is BEAUTIFUL here in Surprise, Arizona. The weather is cool, the air is damp and there are enough clouds/sprinkles to warrant potato soup for lunch and snuggling on the couch while reading books and watching movies.

I am thankful for this little time that we get to stay home as a family and enjoy the beautiful weather God's blessed us with today! It's so rare that us Arizonians have learned to cherish any rainy weather.

The weekend was busy with birthday parties and football. Last night was our traditional family "Movie Night" which consists of desserts and soda and movies (one for the kids and one for Mom & Dad of course). This weekend's debute for the kids was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - very cute. Mom & Dad saw Paranormal Activity - Mommy was NOT A FAN OF THIS MOVIE! And to be honest, Mom had her nose buried in a book for the majority of the movie...

Life is good. Boys are great. Back to normal life tomorrow...

Happy New Year!

We started off New Year's Eve just hanging out as a family. Mommy and Daddy watched a few of their favorite movies up stairs and the kids got to watch 102 Dalmatians down stairs. Braden was determined to stay up this year so he could bang pots and pans at midnight. He was also curious about why we watch a "ball fall". He thought we were going to play baseball in the middle of the night - really funny...

We ended up all falling asleep and woke up at 12:15am - just missed it by a hair. Next year we'll try again.

As we wrapped up 2009, it's been a blessing to see how God has worked all things together for good. There have been so many tiny blessings for us as a family and we are entering 2010 with grateful hearts. Back one year ago, we started our hunt for a new home. It was so frustrating as every time we'd find a house that we thought was perfect for us, God would shut that door immediately (we got beat out of 8 houses!!!). Finally we found a home on Yucatan. We prayed and prayed and prayed and took a step in faith that if this was our home, that God would make it happen. Our offer got accepted and 6 months later, it was this house and elementary school that had a major effect on Braden getting to attend school in our home. Had we "gotten" any of the other houses that opportunity for Braden may not have been possible. We also were blessed with neighbors that have been absolutely wonderful friends to us and the kids.

And while no one can say for sure what will happen in this coming year, who knows... maybe a new addition to the family is in store...