Durango Palmers: February 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010

Have you ever...

...had a conversation like this one with one of your children?

I took Kate to her allergy doctor appointment {and boy was she a stinker but that's another have you ever post!} the other day so it was just her and I in the car on the way home. We were in our Honda Civic which is a rather small car and the speakers are only in the front. The music is on quietly and we were discussing her behavior at the Drs office.

Kate: Mom, can I have a treat.

Me: No honey. I am not ok with how you behaved. Maybe next time we can do better.

Kate: Ok. Can you turn the music up?

I turn up the music. Then 30 seconds later...

Kate: MOM! MOM!

Me: [turning down the music] Yes Kate.

Kate: How do they make castles?

Me: I don't know. Probably out of stones...

Kate: And paint!

Me: Probably.

Kate: Can you turn up the music?

I turn up the music. Then 15 seconds later...

Kate: MOM! MOM!

Me: [turning down the music...again] What?

Kate: Why do you say what?

Me: Because you're talking to me.

Kate: OK. Can you turn up the music?

Me: Kate I'm not going to keep turning up and down the radio. If you want to talk we need it low so I can hear you. If you want to listen to music you have to stop talking {!}.

Kate: OK. I want to listen to music.

I turn up the radio. Then 3 minutes later....

Kate: MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM!

Me: [turn down the music and am clearly frustrated!} What!

Kate: I'm going to hold onto my seat belt the rest of the way home.

Me: {picture me safely banging my head on the steering wheel.....}

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Thankful Thursday

This week I wanted to share some more thoughts about thankfulness. As I was processing all that I had heard from God (see previous post) I began to question, not only my own attitude of gratitude, but what I was teaching my children about being thankful.

This past year I have tried to be very intentional about changing my own attitude. To look at things with a thankful heart. To be positive. To understand that I have a lot to be thankful for. And I have tried to teach that to my children. I say, out-loud, how thankful I am for things, people, situations etc...so my kids can see that I am thankful. And I also understand that I want to be, and teach my children to be, thankful in all circumstances. Not just the good ones. I want to be thankful when things aren't going peachy because God is still the same good God yesterday, today and tomorrow. Just because my circumstances may change doesn't mean that He does. He still loves me. He's still on the throne. He is still in control. Even during the not-so-fun times. I want to model that for my kids.

Then I started thinking about how God has taught, and continues to teach, me about thankfulness and contentment. Truthfully I don't think we understand how wonderful something or someone is until it's/they are gone. That has come to my mind a lot in the past year. Situations where something or someone was taken from me or from someone I know and it reminded me to be thankful for what is right now.

For example. Haiti. Devastating earthquake. I cannot even begin to imagine what those precious people are going through and experiencing. No house. No clean water. No food. No family. No real end in sight. I have never known that level of devastation. So why am I complaining that something isn't quite right in my house or my life?! I have a roof over my head, food in my kitchen, water in my pipes, toilets in my bathrooms, 3 happy, healthy children in their bedrooms, a wonderful, loving husband, a job that puts money in our bank account, friends and family who surround us with love and encouragement. Sometimes it takes going through something like that, or seeing something like that, to realize what you have and to not take it for granted.

When our pastor's lost their house to the fire it made me rethink how I view my own house. When friends have lost their jobs it makes me rethink how I view our job and even our finances. When people have lost loved ones it makes me rethink my relationships with family and friends.

Can I please be thankful for the here and now? I desire and strive to be thankful for the here and now and I'd like to teach that to my children. I do not want to take away every single toy they have in order to make them appreciate what they have.

I know that much of what they learn is from example. And I realize that I need to provide more opportunities for them to give instead of receive. Right now I'm pretty sure they receive more than they give. I want them to go on mission trips and learn compassion. I want them to be able to see outside themselves and our house and see how they can be a part of God's great big plan for them in this world. We will play the thankful game as a reminder of all that we have to be thankful for. We will continue to be a part of fundraisers and clothing and food drives and give out of our abundance. We will write thank you notes. We will continue to give thanks everyday for what we do have and try to minimize (I'd like to say eliminate but I'm pretty sure that's a pipe dream) complaining about what we don't.

I'm up for any other ideas of how to teach thankfulness to kids. I know this will be a lifelong process as it is for me. I'm so THANKFUL for God's continued leading and patience as this little family learns more and more about being THANKFUL.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Proof

Proof that Jack is really fast. I literally went into the laundry room to start one load of laundry. Maybe gone a minute?

I came back into the living room and there's Jack...in the middle of the movies...that he'd pulled out of the cabinet....by himself...in a minute.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Fire station field trip

I was in charge of the month of February's field trip so last Thursday we went to the Durango Fire Station. And it was really cool.

I called my favorite fire fighter, Mike Krupa, who does a lot of the education in schools and stuff, and set up a time. And he was wonderful! So good at sharing information with all ages. We had kids from 1 thru 17ish and adults and I think we all enjoyed it.

Here's Mike talking about the ambulance. We got to climb up in it and walk through it.

Kale after his tour of the ambulance.

They were fascinated with how big the tires were. Bigger than them!

Jack wasn't quite as thrilled as the rest of us. Mark and I traded off corralling him and taking pictures. We couldn't put him down or he'd run under and around the trucks. Not safe :) Here he is trying to wriggle out of Mark's arms.

A fun picture through one of the engines.

After Kate's tour of the fire engine

Kale and his buddy Isaiah Saunders

I think they like driving the trucks best.

Tired out after the tour

My favorite part was seeing where the fire fighters live while they're on their shift. Just like a cozy family they are. It really was a fun thing. Thank you Mike!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

10 years baby!

Yesterday was our 10th anniversary. So crazy to me to think that 10 years ago we officially started this wonderful journey together. And I have to laugh at some of the lessons learned and figured out. I also have to laugh at how many hundreds - possibly thousands - more we have yet to learn.

Last night, after the daddy daughter dance, we were getting ready for bed - exhausted. We normally go to bed at the same time so we get ready for bed at the same time. We have a ritual. A routine. It's weird when it gets messed up. We have a Sonicare toothbrush so we have to take turns brushing our teeth. I usually brush mine first so that he can brush his teeth while I'm washing my face. {I'm sure you're wondering why in the world am I sharing this information but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with my story...we'll see}.

As I was getting ready to brush my teeth I grab the toothpaste. And I can't get the lid off...again! Ok a little back story is necessary. Ya see, we've figured out some of the normal arguments. We both squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom up. We've figured out the toilet seat thing (we always leave it completely down). And we know that the toilet paper gets rolled over the top (of course it does!). So we don't have many little issues....except for the lid to the toothpaste.

Mark puts it on so stinkin' tight I can't get it off. He swears he doesn't do it on purpose but I'm not so sure he doesn't do it just to see me sweat :) We have the toothpaste where the lid twists off. And it has all those little grooves on it. And it hurts to struggle to open it! I know I sound like a wienie but I'm serious here people. I have to grab a towel to get a good, safe, comfortable grip and twist off the top. Or I have to get Mark to do it (and he just laughs at me).

Last night I tried unscrewing the cap and I twisted the whole tube of toothpaste! Seriously isn't that a bit too tight?!

We've tried the flip tops but they're annoying too. They always tend to break not long after you start using them and then you have to finish off the tube (like another 3 months) with the top dangling off or, worse yet, poking you everytime you try to remove it. *sigh*

So last night, as we're laughing at how hard the top was screwed on, I gave Mark a lesson on putting the lid on so his wife wouldn't loose her mind everytime she tried to brush her teeth. I showed him that as he's twisting, as soon as he feels resistance -- STOP TWISTING! Don't crank it down another half turn for good measure!

By the way, he does this with Nalgene bottles too. He screws the lid down so hard I have to have special tools to open it to get a drink. I'm pretty sure that's why I feel like I have arthritis...

So while we've learned many things in 10 years ... we have a long way to go :) And I couldn't be more thrilled with who I get to go on this journey with. Love you Mark!

Cinderella's ball

So much has been going on over the past two days! I've got to start filling you all in.

Thursday was our homeschool group's trip to the fire station (the one I was in charge of). It was such a great time. I have pictures to come a little later. Yesterday was also our 10th anniversary and I have a funny story about that but I had to do this post about our little princess going to the ball.

Over the last several weeks our church has been preparing and advertising for the 1st Annual Daddy Daughter Dance. It took a lot of people working together to put this awesome event on. They were nervous about enough people showing up but in the end about 170 people came!

Our local Christian radio station out of Farmington was there broadcasting live for the first hour. It really was a special thing.

Kate, although she didn't totally understand what was going on, was super excited to go out with her daddy all by herself. And honestly, Mark was pretty pumped too. What a wonderful way to bring daddies and their daughters together for a fun night of dancing and making memories.

Kate doesn't own a really fancy dress but she does have a bunch of princess dresses and since the theme of the dance was princesses and pirate ships it was perfect. She picked out the one she wanted to wear and after naptime we started the process of getting ready.

I wish I had better quality pictures of the hair-doing process but you get the idea. At first she wasn't going to let me even brush her hair! But eventually I convinced her to let me brush and curl it. Thank goodness! I could not convince her to let me do an up-do so we just left it with the sparkly headband in and curly in the back. Still pretty cute.

After we finished her hair we painted her nails, put on some earing stickers and I put on a little pink shimmery eye shadow. She thought that was so cool.

Then we took pictures. It was like prom!

Then Kate's prince swept her off her feet (he had to - it was snowy and all she had to go with her dress were sandals) and took her to her fancy meal....McDonald's! He said he scored big points for that one :) And can I just say that I'm so proud of my husband for taking so many pictures for the blog?! He's a keeper for sure.

After their dinner they headed to the dance. Here they stopped to pose at the entrance.

The sanctuary was amazingly decorated. The foyer was decked out with fabric. Inside those sparkly purple ribbons was the moat and the drawbridge you crossed to get over it into the "ballroom". The stage was set up with a huge pink castle. They had tables decorated with mini-castles and treasure chests. A pirate ship's mast was built into the balcony. They had a professional photographer take pictures in front of Cinderella's pumpkin carriage (think pink and sparkly). Balloons were hung from the ceiling to look like clouds! And they had a little skit that the highschoolers put on where prince charming came and saved the day. Complete with a little cannon going off and shooting out pink and white confetti! Seriously awesome! A night those little girls will never forget. And neither will their daddies :)

Mark said that Kate was a bit overwhelmed. The dance was for girls between the ages of 5 and 12 so she was definitely on the young side. He said that it was loud and there were lots of people. Both tend to overwhelm her. But, he said, they did dance and have a good time. He thinks that next year will be even better. Especially since she knows what to expect.

At the end of the night she yawned and told Mark that was her tired yawn -- she was ready to head home. The boys and I went to our small group and hung out with the other moms and boys and young girls. When we got back to the house, Kate was still awake and really seemed like she was on cloud 9. What a fun treat!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Thankful Thursday

This week I have some thoughts on thankfulness....

As you know, Kale's birthday was yesterday. From his birthday I have learned some spiritual lessons about thankfulness and an attitude of gratitude. This may be a 2 part post. Don't want to make it too long so bear with me if you can.

My sweet, loving son, although thankful for what he got for his birthday, was at the same time disappointed in what he didn't get. Honestly it irked me. I'm not writing this to talk about what a stinker he was but to show you what God showed me through this.

He got the majority of his presents before his birthday. He got some awesome gifts from friends, grandparents and aunts and uncles. Believe me he was taken care of. Mark and I decided to wait to give him our gift until his actual birthday so he'd have something to open that day.

I was thinking about what to get him a few weeks ago and I finally decided on a couple Adventure in Odyssey series {awesome radio dramas - much like books on tape - Kale listens to them during his quiet times and loves them}. I thought for sure he'd love them. I figured he'd be hooked up in the way of toys and if we had gotten him another toy it would just have gotten lost in the mix. So that's what he got...A in O.

He was less than thrilled. :(

He said thanks but then said that he was hoping for something else. A toy he really wanted. He never said the name of the toy he really wanted just that we didn't get it for him. My heart sank. I had just wanted to get him something I thought he'd really like and actually use. In fact I know he'll love it and actually use it. But it wasn't a toy. *sigh*

There wasn't much I could do at this point. It was what it was. I was sorry he was so disappointed but I wasn't going to run to Walmart and get him something else.

I kinda stewed about it for a while yesterday. Going back and forth between annoyed that he'd been ungrateful and sad that he was so disappointed. And then God spoke to me.

How many times in my life have I done the exact same thing to God? How many times have I said to Him "Thanks for __________ but couldn't you have done __________?"

Thanks for the house but couldn't it be nicer?

Thanks for the husband but couldn't he be more perfect?

Thanks for the job but can't we make more so we don't struggle with money?

And the list goes on and on. I was reminded of things I've said I was thankful for only to also be reminded that I had said it wasn't enough. Oh my. Heart break.

I repented. And repented. And repented. How it broke my heart to know that I had done to my Savior - the One Who knows me intimately, Who knows my every need, Who takes care of me, Who loves me, Who wants the best for me - what my son had done to me. How it must have broken His heart. I had been ungrateful. Not thankful for what He has done, how He has taken care of me.

Wow. Paradigm shift.

I'm not saying I won't do it again, although I pray that I will think twice or three or four times before I say thanks for _________ but could you _________.... It was a wake up to my own selfishness. My own dis-contentedness. Here I thought I was doing an ok job. Thank you pride...

There were some more things revealed to me about thankfulness but I think I shall save them for next Thursday's post.

Today I am THANKFUL for God's gentle reminders.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The birthday pictures I promised

Be warned! There are a plethora {a lot} of pictures!

First I'll start with pictures from Saturday -- his knight party.

We had it at the church {there are advantages to working there...}
Here's the big birthday sign Mark put up using the video projector.
Along with his "knight's table".

The castle cake I made. It looked way better in the cake book pictures but then again doesn't everything look better air brushed?

The knight stuff. Plates, cups, napkins, decorations...

I have to throw in a few adorable pictures of Jack. Aunt Kelly spiked up his hair for a faux hawk. ADORABLE!

Here are some of the party guests decorating their shields.
Grace, Anna, Toby and Kale and Kate

Playing red knight, green knight.

Again with the cute hair...

And here's our game of knight, knight, dragon.
{aren't we so creative? ha!}

Good buds. Toby and Kale. Also the only other boy at the party. Thank goodness for Toby!

Opening his presents. Art supplies! Whoohoo!

Sir Kale's shield
Notice the dragon and the knight and the blood....
All the girls painted hearts, rainbows and people hugging.
The boys painted blood and knights and battles.
So funny.

Putting out the fire on his castle.

Katrina, Kate, Kale, Grace, Toby, and Anna {hiding behind her shield}
This was right before the epic battle began.

Yes we really did let them battle it out in a battle of epic proportions.
Mark even turned on the battle music.

Victory!

I think he had a good time at the party. Today we decorated the dining room with more streamers. I wanted today to be special for him too. He hasn't been feeling good - coughing a lot - so he's been a bit on the slow side today. At one time he told me it was the worst birthday ever {not long after I gave him his present - apparently not what he was anticipating...}. But he had a special birthday dinner - his choice. Cheddar brats and Doritos.