Life got crazy and I forgot to blog.  It's been almost two years and I realize how much our family has changed.  Here's what we look like now.

What do Rhett and Michael Jordan have in common?

Nothing really. But I thought it was cute during his baseball game last week, he was so excited he hit the ball without using the tee that he ran like I've never seen him run before. For a brief moment he had the thrill of feeling athletic and powerful. So as you can see in the picture below where he's running to first base, he has his tongue hanging far out of his mouth. So for a brief moment, Rhett was able to feel that same thrill that must have caused Jordon to hang his tongue out of his mouth daily.

You know you live in Florida when...

We've been doing yard work this week and had to do something we've never done before in all our years of yard work. We had to prune a type of palm tree. This is what it looked like before. It had horrible prickly spikes on it that if you barely touched would slide into your skin like butter then break off deep inside you like the worst splinter you've ever had. It is right by the front door and was starting to creep into the walkway. It was a hazard!
A little sweat and a lot of splinters later, we transformed the tree into what you see below. Now we officially feel like Floridians!

Easter and Spring Break

The kids had a wonderful (and long: 10 days!) Spring Break. Here's some photos of what we did.




We had an Easter egg hunt in our great backyard and invited some friends and our cousins to come join us. We also had a yummy Easter Brunch. Later in the week we went strawberry picking.





London never fills up her bucket. She puts a couple in then eats them and then repeats the process.
"I can't believe I ate the whole bucket!"

When we got home we tried to think of everything we could make with strawberries.


We made Strawberry Spinach salad, strawberry jam, strawberry shakes, strawberry shortcake, chocolate covered strawberries, strawberries in sour cream and brown sugar, Strawberry Julius, Strawberry crepes and bowls and bowls of fresh cut strawberries. I think we picked over 45 lbs between our family and Adam's family. We thought for sure the kids would never be able to eat strawberries again, but we went again later in the week, and they were all gone in 2 days.

We also took the kids to see the 3D version of How to Train a Dragon. It was the most still our kids have ever been in a movie theater. Even London was compelled for well over an hour! Because it was 3D the kids all had to wear 3D glasses. Before the movie started Rhett and Drake were complaining how blurry all the trailers were. Rock was trying to explain to them that's why we wear the glasses so it won't be blurry. The continued to complain when the movie started and even Rock started saying his glasses weren't working. Mine were working just fine. I finally grabbed the glasses off Drake's face and put them on. And sure enough, he was right! You couldn't see a thing through them. They were so blurry from all the popcorn butter coating the lenses, you couldn't even see you were in a movie theater! We grabbed all the boys glasses and attempted to clean the butter off as best we could. So heads up if you take your kids, either don't give them popcorn, or just make sure to check their glasses before the movie starts. How horrible would it have been if we never checked their glasses!


We also did lots of swimming, Rockwell read the entire 4th book of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, (and bought 2 more of the series which Rhett also started to read,) rode bikes, played basketball, hung out with cousins, went to 2 baptisms, watched Conference, and went to the beach with friends. It was a great Spring Break, and an even greater re-start to school on Tuesday.

Rock and Rhett Ride

It is well known in several small circles that we are loser parents who have not taught our children how to ride bikes. This became extremely obvious this last week when Rockwell turned 7, and had no idea how to ride a bike. So we got Rockwell a bicycle for his birthday and the belated lessons to go along with it. He wasn't sure he wanted to learn how to ride at first. "I'll just ride the scooter. I don't need to ride a bike." Fortunately that mentality went right out the window the first time he got on the bike and I was able to let go. He was hooked. Now we just have to work on focus...



All Rockwell wanted for his birthday was to play basketball with all the kids from the neighborhood and have pizza and cake. The sparkler candle was a huge success. (Yes we had his birthday in the garage.) We are really going to miss this little cul de sac. It has been perfect for us and the kids. It's exactly where you want to raise your children. Lots of good kids, similar ages to yours all tucked away in the worlds longest cul de sac. I love watching the front of our house fill with all the neighborhood kids, and then my boys put down my least favorite thing in our house, the Wii, and go outside. It's a boys paradise. We also have a huge yard and cute screened swimming pool. I would be willing to sacrifice the size and space I originally thought was so important to be able to stay in this home. Oh, well, we'll have to find paradise somewhere else!

Rhett learned how to ride a bike on his second day. But he couldn't start or stop on his own. The only way he could stop would be to throw one of his legs over the bike to the other side and bail as fast as he could. It was funny and dangerous all at the same time. I took a video of him riding in pride, but refusing to stop:



The only way he could get himself to stop was by "natural" means:


Finally, a good stop.



We also tried to teach Drake at his constant pleading, but he just can't focus. He's so excited to see his feet turning the pedals and the wheels rotating he can't watch where he's going. We'll stick to training wheels for awhile.

More on the Move

We found out a couple days ago that the house we are in really sold and we have to be out next week. Why did we unpack again? That was a little stressful and we couldn't find anywhere to move in such a short time. Then yesterday we got an email from the real estate agent saying the family who bought the house will let us rent it for April so we have more time to find something. That was especially gracious of them since the father is already living here in an apartment and could technically move in next week. So that was a huge blessing and stress relief and hopefully the extra time will help us have more choices when it comes to figuring out where to go next.

A Cougar in Gator Country

Well it happened. BYU and the University of Florida got to play against each other in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament. A group of our friends from church, half Cougars and half Gators, all got together in a Bowling Alley Bar to watch the game over lunch. Fortunately we were the only people who had such a brilliant idea so we got the place to ourselves. (Or maybe since it was the middle of the day everyone else went to work.) We had a lot of fun, especially since BYU won. Sorry Gators! The funny thing was, as I looked around the room, I thought only a group of BYU fans and Mormon Gators could go to a bar with all their kids, to watch a game, not have a lick of alcohol anywhere, and have the Bishop, Relief Society President and a member of the Quorum of the Seventy present and have it be a dang good time! Afterwords, the owners of the bar approached Brad and asked him questions about the church and talked about their drive through Salt Lake when they went through the tabernacle and visitor's center. They said they like a lot of things they have heard about the chruch. Lesson learned? You can have a missionary experience anywhere! Even in a bowling alley bar!

Even though it could have been dangerous to do so in this environment, we all dressed in our BYU gear and braved Gatorland to watch the game in style.

Rockwell Finally Lost It!

He's been waiting and waiting and the week of his 7th Birthday it finally happened... Rockwell lost his first tooth. He was so proud and excited. The toothfairy made her first appearance at the Palmer household and I'm sure we'll continue to received her visits a lot over the next handful of years.

Bye-Bye Binky

Well I've been reminded again how the binky isn't so much a crutch for the child as it is for the parent. I knew I was going to take London's binky away at 18 months but then events just kept happening that I didn't want to have to deal with the repercussions of her being binkyless. First we were packing, then we were moving, then someone was going to babysit her the following week, then we were going to Orlando, and on and on. I just kept putting it off. Then I was about to put it off again when I realized there is never a convenient time to have a psychotic and er rational child. So I just decided to do it despite the fact I was going out of town that weekend and leaving her with Brad. So when she woke up on Monday and I took her out of bed I removed the binky and said, "All gone." She was a little disturbed but I put her down and went into the kitchen, and without her seeing I cut the binky off. She came and asked me for it and I handed her the cut binky and said again, "All gone." She asked, "All gone? Where is?" I stuck with my story, "All gone." She said, "NO!" and threw the binky across the room which she immediately regreted and ran and got it again. She tried to put it in her mouth which was impossible. So she did something next I never expected. She handed me the binky and said, "All gone." and never asked for it again. That was it. The binky was all gone. No other confrontation or conversation. Wow, maybe I should have a little more faith in my kids and stop using their age as an excuse for doing or not doing things. It's so nice to now see pictures of her without that silly binky in her mouth! It makes it so you can see how chubby she is!


When I was looking at this picture I thought, "Who does she look like?" Anyone have an answer for me?

Moving Again!

This is such a long story, I'm going to copy and paste an email I sent out so I don't have to retype the whole drama:

We got a call from our landlord the second week of January who informed us he was hired back as a UF football coach (after 3 years of being away due to a fallout with head coach Urban Meyer) so we needed to get out ASAP because he and his family were coming back. The end of January is no time to find a rental home in Gainesville. It's like Provo in the sense that all rentals revolve around the semester schedule since UF is the center of this Universe. We wanted to try and stay in the same ward and miraculously the same school but we weren't finding it. So then we got creative. We tried to find homes that were for sale and empty and contacted the real estate agents to see if the owner would want to rent the home while they were trying to sell it. After about 5 no's we finally had a bite. So 3 weeks later we moved. Can I mention that moving is the worst thing in the world??!! I don't know how we acquire so much stuff! We were also moving into a house that was over 600 square feet smaller than what we were living in so we really had to downsize and get rid of a lot of stuff. So, we finally got moved in. In the first week we had four people come by and show interest in the house, one family came twice. Then the email came from the owners. One of those families put in an offer that he was going to accept! We'd only lived in the house a week, and finally had everything unpacked, when we had to start thinking about moving again. The real estate agent called us and apologized. She said she hadn't shown the house in months and that we must bring good luck because they can't believe all this happened in our first week. I'm glad we can be good luck for someone else, but how about lucky for ourselves! Now, it's not certain yet. It's still on paper and there's a lot more that has to happen before it's a done deal, but the prospect of having to move again in a month gives me the willies. And the frustrating part of all this is that we are waiting for the rental unit we own in Utah to sell so that we can buy a house here. We were really hoping that we could sit in this house until that one sold, buy a home here and move for the last time. But now, we'll have to move, and then move again when our little rental sells. That means at least 2 more times moving this year, if not more. Are you annoyed for me yet? The one good thing that comes out of all this is that it helps me realize how much I like Gainesville, and how much Brad and I really feel that Florida is where we are supposed to be. Because if that weren't the case, I would take this opportunity to move right back home, and that isn't even an option. So it's an unsettling yet settling experience. Ask me again after 5 more moves and I'll tell you if I've changed my mind...

Karate Kids

Rock and Rhett started taking Karate. When I first suggested it, Rockwell looked a little nervous and said, "I don't want to do that mom." I was surprised that he was against the idea. So I pressed him a little. Then it came to me he thought people were going to hit and kick him in the class. So I told him no one was going to touch him, everyone would just do Karate to the air. He perked up and said, "OK!" They have both ended up really loving it and have advanced several levels already within their white belt. Drake is too young and it's killing him he can't be part of the class. When he's four, he'll be ready to go.

Christmas 2009... Finally

Well it's about time! It's only been just over a month since Christmas and I'm going to share a little bit about our Holiday in Utah. When I say share, I mean with pictures more than words. You all probably don't read the words anyhow, so the less words I use, the more likely you are to read the few I do write. I'll only describe something if its needed. Also don't be afraid of the two videos, they're only 7 seconds long. I will say, we had a wonderful Christmas and it was a lot of fun to see our friends and family.

Rhett decided to cuddle up by the fireplace one morning with his blanket wrapped snuggly around him. Suddenly his back got too hot so he pulled away only to find that his blanket had been melted right on to the fireplace glass! He was so sad his blanket was destroyed but we were all glad that his back didn't look like the blanket!

Three "Wise Guys" came to share a story and play with the kids and they all got warm sheep hats to remember this fun day.

No showboating here...



Rhett wasn't too sure about going down this steep hill. But peer pressure kicked in and he gave it a try. His reaction at the end of this little clip is frozen terror combined with sheer relief . It reminds me of the little brother on "A Christmas Story" who laid still like a slug on the snowy ground as his only defense...

Pediatri-shunned

So I've taken a month off of blogging only to return on an ornery note. I feel bad if my blogs are negative, I don't want them to be. I actually quite enjoy being a positive person, but every once in awhile something happens that you want to share with other people for the validation that the frustration you felt was legit. So here's what happened to me this week.

We've lived here almost a year now and have been very fortunate to have healthy children. London got sick in early February where we had a horrible experience at one of those walk in clinics, that led us to a Pediatrician I liked and was comfortable with. Over the last year London has gone in once due to sickness and twice for immunizations and wellness visits. The boys had all their medical files transferred to her office as well but haven't had to go in. Then, over 4 weeks ago I realized the trip to Utah was coming up and I didn't want a Holiday with sick children so I called to schedule a flu shot for them all. The office told me they were waiting for the shots to come in and we were on a waiting list and would be contacted. On Monday I decided too much time had passed and our trip was getting closer so I called them. It didn't sound like my name was on any list when they told me the shots came in a week ago and I just needed to give them my kids names. I did so and the receptionist told me they only did flu shots on Saturday mornings. I told her we were out of town this Saturday and then left on our trip next week. She said they had special Tuesday evening visits for just such schedules. She told me she would call me back with the Doctor's schedule. A couple hours later she called me and asked if the boys had the same last name as London. I said yes. She said they weren't in the computer and I told her it was because they haven't had to come in this year, thank heaven, but their medical records were there in the office. She said great, and that she still hadn't had time to talk to the Dr. and would call me back. A couple of hours after that I got the following call from my pediatrician's office:
"Hello, Ms. Palmer?"
"Yes."
"I'm calling to let you know the Dr. said you weren't established-enough patients to make an appointment to give the flu shots to your kids."
What? Did she just say what I thought she said? "What do you mean we're not established enough?"
"Your children are not established patients with us."
"Are you telling me because my boys haven't been sick this year and have had no reason to see the Dr., that now that they need to make a visit you won't make one?"
"Well, I guess so. It's nice to have such healthy kids."
"But I've brought London in for sickness and wellness, is she not "established enough" for you?"
"Well, I guess so. So I guess you could bring her in tomorrow for a shot."
"So you'll give London a flu shot but not the boys."
"No mam, they're just not established enough patients for an appointment."

Now, for a little more background on my emotions at this time. I am at a place in my life where home seems half way between Utah and Florida, my lease on the home I'm living in is about to expire, we can't find a house we really want to buy, which is fine because we can't sell our rental unit in Utah to pay for it. I guess you could say I'm feeling a little under-established. So when this PR nightmare of a receptionist tells me we're not established enough it really hit a nerve. Let's just say I had a little break down that was probably a long time coming. I can hold it in pretty well for any issues or stresses in my life, but when it affects my kids, I get a little upset. So now I look back on some of my blog rants and realize that I have been let down by the people I entrust my children to. Maybe my expectations are too high. Maybe it's overly naive of me to think that the school and pediatrician also have my kids best interests at heart. Is that really too much to ask? My own pediatrician won't help my kids when they need her. I'm all cried out over this one and innocence was definitely lost here.

On a more positive note. I am blessed with great friends here. The night after my little tear-fest, my dearest friend brought my family hot chocolate and good cheer to end the day. It's amazing what a little "hot-chocolating" can do in life. Everyone needs to have good friends like these, and be that kind of good friend in return.

London-osaur

Yes I'm a pathetic mom to my little girl. She has two dolls and a toy purple mini van to play with. Other than that its trains, cars, plastic cockroaches and ants, and the ever popular dinosaur toys. I keep saying I'm going to get her girl stuff, but its just not happening. Then the other day I realized how bad it's getting because instead of being able to put on a princess dress and dance down the hallway like little girls do, my sweet little girl turns the corner and growls at me wearing a dinosaur hat. This is her idea of "dress up".


I finally convinced her to take it off for a picture, but not for long. She was enjoying being a dinosaur. At least she has a love of shoes... and has recently decided she also wants to pick out her clothes to go with her shoes and socks. So I guess that's a good girlie thing to do, it just that now she looks homeless all the time.

S.O.C.K.S

My high school Spanish teacher taught us one day that if you would just spell out the word "socks" in English, you would be saying, "that's exactly it!" in Spanish. Although I've never really heard it used by a native, it does make grammatical sense. I'm sharing this with you because we've had a minor problem we've been trying to solve and you could say the solution is "socks" because literally the socks are "exactly it!"


After trying bad tasting nail polish, cayenne pepper, Tabasco sauce and anything you could put on a thumb to stop a child from putting it in his mouth, we finally went to the expensive semi-medical device. The Thum-Guard was our last hope and we have tried it 3 times unsuccesfully because this unremovable device was removed by our two-year-old every time we put it on him. Well, Monday morning he came to me and the poor thumb looked like it was about to fall off. He had sucked the finger nail almost right off. He asked me for a bandaid and my mind went straight to the Guard. I told him it was a bandaid and he wore it succesfully for two days since I medical-taped it to his hand. It was not coming off. But after two days his whole thumb looked like it was going to fall of from being in this humity and in a plastic prison for 2 days. So last night I taped a sock to his hand and he acted like it was totally normal. He slept just fine not having his thumb in his mouth and hasn't tried to take the sock off. He has told me his finger feels better and he doesn't need the bandaid anymore, but I just tell him its not better yet and he says okay, and keeps it on. The answer was in my drawer all along-- socks! I will continue to employ the Thum-Guard when he goes to school, church or out in public because it is much less noticeable than a giant sock taped to his wrist with green dinosaur tape. Now I just need to do my part and keep it up and maybe the habit will disappear and his poor teeth will start to have a fighting chance!

Despite the fact that Brad was out of town this year, we had a wonderful Halloween! It started with the traditional Jack-O-Lantern pancake breakfast:



We went to the Ward Halloween party where London's friend just happen to be dressed as a bee just like her! These two sweet little girls followed each other around all night so we called them "the swarm". (This little girl's name is Scarlet, so her mom and I have decided that it would be perfect if someday she and Rhett got married... think about it, Rhett and Scarlet!)


I got lucky this year. The boys all asked to be something I already had a costume to. I didn't even have to coax them. It was their choice! If it could only be this easy every year! I did learn that our Utah winter costumes aren't going to work here. It was almost 90 degrees and most of the other kids costumes were more appropriate for the heat. (Earlier I had black tights on London and had to remove them due to the heat. The other boys just had to deal with it.)
We were invited over to our friends house to watch the Florida football game, eat dinner, swim, go on a hay ride and trick-or-treat. In this picture Rock's hair is wet because we just went swimming on Halloween! Usually we're battling the snow and chill! The hay ride took the kids around the neighborhood to trick or treat. They had a great time!


If you're wondering just how crazy these gators are about their football, here's a pumpkin of Florida's Heisman winning QB, Tim Tebow:

I thought this one was cool too!
For all you Twilight fans (and Cat in the Hat fans :)
In the car on the way home the boys were chanting, "This was the best Halloween ever!" It made me smile. The only thing that would have made it better was to have their dad here. But they have each saved him his favorite candy so when he gets home he'll have plenty to snack on. And by the way, it was a perfect night to set the clocks back, the kids were so exhausted from all these activities that they definitely needed that extra hour. And what luck for me, they used it!