The Jungle Life of the Palmers

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Mason on an appetite "increasant"

Mason on appetite "increasant"
9:40 pm.
In a "benedryl, type stupor"

In reference to a "go to bed" (again) request countered with an "I'm hungry" whine.

M: " but daaaadddd, I NEEEEEEED to eat something. I need a popcicle-> it has TONS of protein and I need protein."
Dad: "No Mason it does not have tons of protein---it has tons of sugar"
M: "No Dad, I NEED PROTEIN! What else can I eat? "
Dad: "a cow. THAT has protein."
M: "do we have any cow?"
Dad: "no but we have milk and milk comes from cows!"
M: "Chocolate milk???? does it have tons of protein? Cuz I neeeeeed protein"
Dad: "Do you know what protein does? "
M: "yes, it makes your brain grow, mommy said"

Mason 4 years and 2 weeks. He is my smartest baby ever.

Monday, July 02, 2012

Shingles at 35

I have been ill. I have shingles.

As I am in pain, struggling through my day, I have had lots of time to think. I have been thinking of all the people I know with "invisible chronic diseases". I have been thinking of those with chronic pain. I have been thinking of people with no health care (no political statements here). I have been thinking of all the days of countless blessings God has given me. I have been thinking of the great year of pretty good health my family has had this past year. I have been thinking of the family friends we know with children with cancer! Oh, Lord, Bless them.

I sat down to my computer in my lazy, I don't want to do anything, read FB moments, and I opened a friend's blog. It was titled "Just me". She states she is lots of things to lots of people but here in this blog she is "just her". I began to think, "who am I?" I don't know who I am. Just me. Who am I? I don't know what I do in my spare time. I don't know what my hobbies are. I don't know what my favorite movie is. I don't know what my favorite book is. I feel a little lost.

I know, I know, I know, I know, I have a husband (who has pneumonia right now, by the way. Dude! I have shingles, could you have waited until I was done being sick before you started getting pneumonia, please!) I have a 10 yo (next week), I have a 7 yo, I have a 3 yo, I have a 1 yo, I have chores, I have responsibilities, I have people who count on me. I have plenty to DO. I am always busy. But I wonder, is there more to ME?

I sound so selfish. I am me. I am all those things. But I can't answer the basic questions. I don't read--so what books do I like? --well, I have no idea. I don't go to the movies--so how do I know what is on these days? I don't Pinterest. I don't do art. I don't do crafts. I don't cook/bake (when not required to do so). I don't go shopping. I don't go on "girl time" dates. My room is a mess and it bothers me. I clean the entire house but not my room.

So, here I go.... I embark on a mission..... I shall find myself. Please pray I find myself close by. I don't want to get lost out there in the scary world. Please post on here or FB any good SMALL project to try or books to read, (make the books fun and SHORT, library or borrowed). Ask me any questions that I might need to answer in order to find myself. I will try. I will.

I do like to write. But I don't ever do that either. I like to speak on Missions. I like to speak about parenting. I like to encourage. Hum, we might be on to something............................

July 2, 2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Confirmation/Affirmation

If we follow the Leader, He will confirm/affirm us.

As I search for my place, my position, my soil to bloom in,

I ask questions, I pursue, I dig.

Some days it seems useless,

Some days it seems like time is not on my side.

And as a faithful servant,

The affirmation comes by way of the most unexpected source,

YOU! My peers.

Thank you dear friends for following God's lead and the prompting of the Holy Spirit,

In your affirmation.

You will never truly know the impact you have had on my life,

In just those few spoken words of encouragement, discernment, prophecy and love.

Not answers, not expicit direction, not details,

but just the words I was supposed to hear,

at the time I was supposed to hear them.

YOU are a blessing to me.

Thank you for doing YOUR part in my life.

April 2012

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Levi James Palmer March 30th, 2011

Look how tiny my feet are!

The Monster and the Frog

April 2011, Waco, TX

Friday, April 20, 2012

Haughton LA

We now call Haughton Louisiana home. Haughton is a lovely place just outside of Shreveport/Bossier City Louisiana. I have no idea how big or small it is; I only know how blessed we have been all the way from beginning interview til even last weekend at Jeremy's ordination service. The service was fantastic! We are so blessed!

One year later

To say it has been a while is an understatement! I am not sure how time got away from me like this. Then again so many things have happened...how shall i even catch up? For now I will blame facebook. Lets start with pictures of Levi James Palmer. Born March 30th 2011. 2:55 am. 6 lbs. 4 oz. 19 3/4 inches.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Dissatisfaction:

Is your dissatisfaction a jumping point for sin or for success?

Joshua 7, Achin

(Kyle Cox, 3.20.11, Highland BC)

Achin's sin started with his "dissatisfaction with the manner in which God had ordered the affairs of his life".

Achin's sin was:

Demonstrated in his covetousness and his disobedience.

Resulting in his deciet in stealing objects and hiding them (guilt),

Consequences his whole family dies, and

the entire tribe of Israel loses the battle of AI.

Are we more capable or satisfied with our own ability to set order to our lives than the God who set the boundaries of the oceans and the land and the heavens and the earth?

Give me my own inheritance and let me go my own way.

Pagans run after the newest and best of everything,

they worry about what they will eat or drink tomorrow,

a worthless result.

What part of God's will do you push back against?

God orders our lives just as He sees fit,

with our best interest in mind and the big picture.

When we live outside of that plan,

the grass is always greener elsewhere.

Dissatisfaction in and of its self is not sin.

Is your dissatisfaction a jumping point for sin?

Is your dissatisfaction a reminder to refocus on HIM and reach for Christ?

Achin was dissatisfied with is life.

40 years in the desert will do that to a person!

He justified his actions against God's commands,

The consequences were dire.

Are you so dissatisfied with your life that you take matters into your own hands?

Are your hands better equipped to satisfy you?

Really?

God feeds the birds and the flowers,

He set the oceans and the land apart,

He made the heavens and the earth,

His plan is way better than anything YOU can come up with on your own.

Do you trust him?

Are you dissatisfied with where HE has PUT you?

Wake up people!!

If you are IN HIS will,

There is NO WHERE else that is GREENER.

Stop dreaming.

Live in the present.

NOW.

God really does have your best interest in mind,

Trust HIM.

March 2011

(great lesson in SS today, just had to share)

Thursday, March 03, 2011

ETA: 20 days

ETA:

20 days.

Ha ha ha

Like they even know when babies arrive.

March 2011

9 months pregnant---Forced to Slow Down in a Fast Paced World.

How slow can you go?

Life is a bunch of fast pace races, separated by a minimal night's sleep, only to begin again the next day.

I was driving my car-- Slowly. Life racing by me. I take my time to get everywhere. I waddle in and out of stores and doctor's offices. I PLAN ahead and give myself several extra minutes,--even to stand up and "re-align" my hips before I dash off to get the kids from their classrooms at church.

During the precious time of gestation, God provides a drastic reduction in function.

Strange, we say. Should we not function at our best during this time?

No, the answer is No.

To function at our best, we actually must function at our worst.

What? That is crazy!

This re-aligns our priorities. What are your priorities?

In this case, our own personal health and the life we are responsible for.

When we simply have to slow down, we learn to appreciate each and every task and the energy required to do each task.

Taking the time to wake up, go to the bathroom every hour, and then get up and function the next day is God's way of preparing us to focus.

What are we focusing on?

We are to focus on what is really important. Really. Important.

Our next task will be the sole feeder of a tiny defenseless infant.

If we can't get up and pee every hour without getting angry and bitter......How, then, shall we get up every 2 hours and sit for 40 minutes of the next hour to Calmly feed our helpless babe? Only to repeat this every 2 hours, day and night for several weeks/months and get up and function the next day?

Nope, not exaggerating.

I will be asking God about this when I get there. It is not nice. God's purpose is supreme.

Thank you for preparing us......(even though I don't agree with you).

March 2011 (baby due in approx. 20 days). ha ha ha.....

Friday, February 18, 2011

Our Focus

Each day we wake up.

Each day we are given a choice.

Is today going to be a good day or a bad day?

The question is not:

"are my life circumstances better or worse

than someone else's?"

There are SO many people out there,

and even SO many people so close to us,

who's life circumstances are worse than ours.

What is our focus?

Does our day suck more than your day?

Does our day suck more than yesterday?

Are we going to let our day suck at all?

Permission:

We do have permission to have a bad day.

We do not have permission to be ugly about it.

We have permission to "be in the dumps" for a moment.

We do not have permission to "stew" on the moment.

God calls us to rejoice, have faith, and trust in HIM for the future.

No matter what the "level" of our "bad circumstances".

In all reality, there is always SOMEONE,

who "has it much worse".

Where is YOUR focus?

February 2011

Saturday, January 15, 2011

In Faith....

In Faith,

I am packing my whole house.

In faith,

I am telling my children that we will move in June after school is out.

In faith,

I am accumulating baby things,

with the assumption that all will be well and baby will be born healthy and on time.

In faith,

I am giving my daughter "scary" medicines in hopes that they will improve her quality of life.

In faith,

I move about my day intentionally.

I am moving towards a goal that is unknown and uncertain.

It is ridiculous to Assume we will get a great job straight out of seminary.

In this economy, who are we kidding?

(God specializes in the ridiculous.)

In faith, I stand, the plan is God's.

the chore to follow through is mine.

LET'S GO GET 'UM!!

(can you tell they are still asleep as I write?)

January 2011

The Power of Relationship

The power of relationship is the dividing line.

Do you think you have the "right" to say certain things to certain people,

Just because, you have a certain kind of relationship with them?

I can say "you stink, you need a shower" to certain people.

But if I said that to others, they would be offended.

Relationship matters.

Can we trust God?

YES.

Is it easy to trust God?

NO.

What is the role of relationship in this trust/ease factor?

If we have a consistent relationship with God,

Then it is easier to say "I don't trust that this will be OK".

And, guess what?

God understands that.

He does not condemn us for "oh, ye of little faith" moments.

However, if we do not have a consistent relationship with HIM,

It is much easier for us to fall into the category of:

"I don't trust"
and mean it.

Thus spiraling into the depths of despair.

The only thing that keeps us afloat is THAT relationship.

How is my relationship with God right now?

Do I trust HIM enough to say "I am having trouble trusting you?"

and KNOW firmly that HIS plan is big enough?

January 2011

Pain?

What is Pain?

What is painful to me vs, what is painful for you?

How much pain is good to share?

vs. How much pain shall we "endure" alone?

My heart is breaking for some friends.

Is their pain worse or more important than my pain?

Do I "dwell" in their pain to escape the pain in my own world?

The comment:

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. Give it to God"

Does that just cover it and now it is over?

If we pretend like it does not exist,

Then, is it still happening, is it still real?

If we become overtaken by fear,

are we less of a Christian?

Do we have less faith?

In the quiet moments in the middle of the night,

who reigns?

Shall we let our minds wander to the point of exhaustion?

Or do we go straight to the source of all comfort?

IMMEDIATELY.

January 2011

Sunday, January 09, 2011

30 weeks and counting

When can you start counting down, instead of UP?
Our prayer is to make it to 37 without any baby growth problems.
We wish for baby's umbilical cord to grow adequately to sustain the needs of baby until 40 weeks.

Anti-Equality

I have always been "anti-equality."

What does that mean to me?

Well, I am not sure when it started really. It may be as far back as childhood to some degree. It may be a more recent, college, newly married, experienced thought. I am just not sure.

I do know that our experience as houseparents of "under achieving, high potential" (read: troubled) teenagers in the Dominican Republic has changed, reformed or solidified my belief systems.

We had SO MANY parents say things like: "I don't know what happened. We treated all our kids the same and his/her siblings are not on this path to destruction"!!

The program in the DR was centered around a new approach: INDIVIDUALIZED "treatment/care". Go figure, they are individual teens with individual personalities and problems that come from individual backgrounds and have individual paths in life.

In general, America is a very Individualistic country.

We tend to think as one person, separate from everyone else. This is why I think equality is so strange in America.

Most countries are more "community", communal. Villages are held together by the bond they share as a family or group of families. Villages are held together by the common good and the common crops and the common beliefs and the common "religion".

In America, we all want to be Different and at the same time we all want to be "just like our group of friends". Yet our parents and extended families "treat us the same" as the other sibling/cousins, and expect our lives to turn out "the same".

My goal is not to "fuss". But to figure out how to be a "better parent" to each of my INDIVIDUAL children.

My equality issues have been on my mind during this holiday break as I have interacted with my children in different settings. Mackenzie (MJ) is in 2nd grade, learning to read and to be independent, 8 1/2 years old and a FEMALE. Luke is in Kinder and learning to argue the finer points of details and pretends he can read. He is almost 6 (aaaahhhh!) and all BOY. Mason (MW) is all of barely 2 and speaks very clearly what he does and does not want, in complete sentences and mostly complete thoughts. And all BOY.

Now, I know the two older ones are "different gender" so that makes things different for me. But, *"?does an 8 yo girl and a 5 yo boy need to eat the same quantity of the same foods?"

*"Is it possible for one to need a snack to simply 'survive' the day? and a snack would 'ruin' dinner for the other one?"

*"Is it not obvious that the little guy needs different 'amounts' of Christmas candy than the other older two?" *"does one need a nap? the other a 'rest'? and the other 'alone-time'?"

*"does one need allergy medicine or glasses or antibiotics or more rest or less quiet time...?"

How can we treat our children "the same"? and get different outcomes.

Now, men and women.

Did God make men and women equal? and by "equal" what does that really mean?

Should women get paid the same as men for doing the same work?

Is it possible for women to sustain the same level of Physical labor as a man?

What was God's plan when he made us Man and Woman? If we were the same, then why would we need each other?

It is our responsibility as parents to learn what EACH child needs and then apply it to the relationship. MJ NEEDS quiet time (alone time). She gets overwhelmed and begins to "crisis". Alone-time is the "medicine" for this. Luke is always ready to play with someone, however, if he does not get a few (15) minutes of "downtime" in the day, by evening he is "crabby". We are still working on figuring out Mason but he does have a very good "nap" or "crib time, lights out" during the middle of the day. Too much TV makes them all "lethargic". And a firm "go play" (as in leave me out of it), is very easy for MJ and very difficult for L.

(he is learning.)

I need my alone time. (Like alone, w/o kids too. This does not happen often). My hubby needs to "talk it out". (about everything...drives me nuts).

I don't mind stepping over the toys in the hallway. Jeremy steps ON them. I Require many hours of consecutive sleep. Hubby can 'run' on just a few.

Just like we MUST learn what we, as parents/people, NEED to function, so too we must learn what our children need for them to grow up to be the persons God intended them to be.

What makes you "tick"? What do you need to survive the stresses of daily life?

What is your "hobby", your "get away"?

Now, what makes each one of your special children "tick"? What do they need to survive the stresses of family/school/siblings life? What is it that they need from you as a parent? and more than just that, what does each one need from EACH parent? (cuz they don't need the same things from both of ya!)

Wow, did I go on and on? Don't answer that!

January 2011

Latest Sonogram

I assume that since my January 4th sonogram,

I have not heard anything from the doctor office:

*everything is fine

*doc it too busy

*or out of the office

*everything is fine.

So, I will go with the best possible outcome,

Everything must be fine.

My powers of deduction and experience with

sonogram technology leads me to believe:

The "report" page on the cd-r says,

Baby is measuring one week smaller than "date".

This is consistent with the previous sono,

at that time, baby measured one week smaller than "date".

So, baby is growing consistently,

and just "IS" one week smaller than the calendar

says "average" should be.

I do make smaller babies.

NOW<

my prayer is:

*continued consistent growth

*that we "make it" to full term

*that he position himself correctly soon

*that my knee stop getting swollen

(we will worry about genes and genetics later)

God has blessed us.

Thank you Lord for getting us this far.

January 2011

(wow! that was fun date to write)

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Year in Summary

February 2010: I was diagnosed with 83% hearing loss in my left ear. This came as a total shock to me and I was alone at the specialist office. (result of an ear infection in May of 09, with eardrum rupture, ringing, and extreme exhaustion). I had been frustrated with my then 4 year old---"speak CLEARLY, say EACH WORD separately". I should have known something was "amiss".
March 2010: The search for a hearing aid begins. Wow! Hearing aids are complicated and EXPENSIVE.
March 2010: Information that our eldest daughter MJ might be dyslexic. Testing begins.
                      More emotional drain: wow, my hubby REALLY is more dyslexic than we thought.
April 2010:    Still no hearing aid, however, I have had a borrowed aid everyday since the "diagnosis". PTL.
                     Luke turns 5 and is SO SO SO ready for "all day, every day school". He is only in MDO two days a week.
                     More testing for MJ. Some "accommodations" for MJ at school help her at least "pass" her second time in FIRST GRADE. The school and the teachers have been VERY good to us. Thank you Woodway Elementary Staff.
May 2010:     MY MONTH: Mother's Day, My birthday, Our anniversary! I love May!!
                     Parents watch ALL THREE kids for THREE DAYS so Jeremy can take me "out" for our anniversary. It has been 11 years. WOW, 11. We have not "gotten away" for our anniversary since our fifth year. At that point we only had ONE kid.
May 2010:    Jeremy starts his "internship" for the summer. Sunday am he leaves, returning Wednesday midday or later. EVERY week for 12 weeks. How did we even survive the summer? The rest of the week he had to go to "regular work" so really all we got was Saturday, of course, he was so exhausted by then.....
June 2010: kids finish school. Now the fun can begin......It was a great summer, non the less. Three kids, lots of adventures, lots of outside, lots of kiddie pool in the back yard, lots of "not so healthy" dinners. Lots of friends over to play.
July 2010: MJ turns 8, wow, I am getting old. More of the same, we miss daddy when he is gone and we play HARD when he is here. We never missed a Sunday. (Man, I needed that break) Yep. I took them all with me to Sunday School and Service every week. They needed it as much as I did!
August 2010: Is is possible 12 weeks is almost over? The highlight of my summer was my very own trip to SOUTH AFRICA. Yes, you heard it right, just me 10 days. Jeremy had to figure out internship, work and three kids, ha ha, I got the best guy out there, he is mine!!!!!   He elicited help and it was freely given, thank you all of you who helped make this happen. (I will blog about the trip separately).
August 2010:    Jeremy had less than two weeks between internship and beginning a new semester. That was rough. Kids start school. Luke!! It is FINALLY time to go to "all day, every day" school. Wow, it is hard to get up in the morning. What a champion. He LOVES school. (I just hope he is actually learning something).
MJ will have quite the adjustment. After having the same teacher in the same room for both of her first grade years..... second grade will be a bit of a different story.....
September 2010: Oh, yeah, didn't we tell you...... we are pregnant.......we found out RIGHT before I left for Africa so we did not tell and now after seeing a real heartbeat, we are finally ready to tell the family. Yes, I can keep a secret without lying.
October 2010: Jeremy's birthday. He is 34 despite what he tells you. Mason had a birthday, he is 2 (he consistently responds 3, who knows!)
We dressed up for "fall festivals" on friday night, saturday morning and on sunday night. Yup, we like to party. Don't worry, we did not buy our costumes. The kids all have dress up in their toy boxes and I told them, if they could not find it in their box----they could not be that. We did make MJ's tail out of cardboard and duct tape for her cat costume.
November 2010: The first day of this month brings us a SONOGRAM..... MJ went with us. We got to see Baby Palmer #4 in action. Yes, another boy. Jeremy and MJ are both a bit sad but they will live.
A few days later in this very same week----we are burdened with the news of another uncertainty...... Baby Boy Palmer has SUA, Single Umbilical Artery. What that means WE HAVE NO IDEA.
SO for the next few days we will live in a state of uncertainty trusting in our GOD Almighty that HE IS BIGGER than ALL OF EVERYTHING.
November 2010:   More excitement to come.... Thanksgiving with family..... another sono picture of our baby.... maybe some Christmas decorating.... and most certainly more packing..... (I am living under the assumption that after May Graduation...... we will be getting a job and moving....I don't want to have to pack Everything with a newborn in the house)
To be continued..... everyday has is prize. ..... focus on your prize today......