Palmer's Army Party

Palmer thought a party that was all things camo might be fun for this year's celebration.  We had the zip line going in the backyard, children exploring the woods and creek, and a rowdy game of laser tag in the front yard.

Between many scrapes, bandaids, and tears about laser tag, I still think the kids had a lot of fun and parents appreciated the great amount of energy that was exerted.

-Bethany

Seven Years With Palmer

Palmer is seven.  Seven is old.  Missing teeth, after school activities, solo flying to meet Rick in Denver...seven is old.

Palmer continues to make us proud.  Since birth, he has been a determined kid with a heart of gold.  He's fearless, independent, curious, vibrant, happy, funny, easy-going, sensitive to others, and kind.  Palmer loves life every single day.  He's up for anything and everything.

Palmer is comfortable with a small group or up in front of a crowd.  After his interest in the theater stage with the Nutcracker performances, we enrolled him in an after school class called "musical theater".  Based on this first grade PTA performance, I think he learned how to project his voice.

Palmer is always fiercely loyal and sweet to his sister.  Yes, they fight as siblings do, but he's always the caretaker and attentive to Grace.  She is very lucky to have such a loving brother.

Palmer is helpful and motivated.  He's always willing to lend a hand and motivated to make an extra buck however he can, when given the opportunity.

Annual birthday photo with Mr. Elephant:

(Last year's photo for comparison:)

Dr. Stats:

Height: 48.25 inches, 54th percentile

Weight: 60 lb, 84th percentile

Likes:

READING! Chapter books are now beloved and Palmer is often found reading in the car or in bed.  "Just one more page, Mom!"

GEORGE: Curious George is a forever friend.  Here's George celebrating "his birthday" on February 1 with some chocolate chip pancakes.

EXPLORING OUTSIDE:  Palmer is most happy tromping in the woods, riding his bike, or making creative inventions for something he is organizing outside.  I loved it recently when Palmer invited all of the neighbor kids for a bike race.  He created homemade starter flags and invitations.  Palmer's creativity and zest for new ideas is fun to watch.

CHESS:  Palmer joined a local chess club a few months ago and has enjoyed learning the game and is newly competing on his elementary team.  We both need more time to tackle the strategy, but he's enjoying the concept and meeting new friends.

GOLF: Palmer continues to name golf as his favorite sport and adores going out to the golf course with Rick.  The two guys enjoyed playing at Torrey Pines in San Diego a few weeks ago.  In addition, Palmer likes to play tennis and baseball.  He also likes riding his bike and skiing.

SPACE, SCIENCE, and ROCKETS:  Palmer loves to read and learn about anything related to space and also gets excited about science.  

 Happy birthday, Palmer.  You make us proud and motivated to be better people every single day.

 -Bethany

Wordless Wednesday (photo bombing edition)

Wordless Wednesday

-Bethany

Raising a Strong Girl

Grace is strong and Grace is mighty.  Few wonder what Grace is thinking because she dares to voice any and all opinions as boldly as she can.  

She regularly tells all people (strangers and friends), "You know I'm almost four, right?"  Well, this almost-four year old is putting together a busy spring filled with soccer and ballet.

When Grace was asked to be on a soccer team, I inquired about her interest.  She said, "Yes, I would like to be on the soccer team and football and basketball."

Apparently, she wasn't kidding...

First day of practice.  She did a lot of running around and was VERY excited.

Unfortunately, Grace's first game fell smack in the middle of nap-time.  She spent the hour crying and wanting to be held on the sideline.  The jury is out on if that will be a normal game performance or a nap performance.

 

Grace recently memorized the book of Madeline.  After "reading" to her preschool class for show and tell, Palmer bragged to his teacher that his three year old sister could read a book.  Grace was invited to "read" to the first grade class.  She was so proud of herself and the other kids couldn't believe that "a three year old could read".  Ms. Cortes and I chuckled.

Palmer is always such a loyal brother.  Grace is bossy and has opinions and Palmer mostly puts up with her outlandish requests.  He's proud of his sister and always quick to show her off.

Grace keeps up with quite a posse.  She loves her friends fiercely and is always happy to engage in a round of dress-up, baby dolls, or good ole ballet parties.

Grace, I hope you never lose your confidence or independence.  Your silly laugh makes us giggle and your ideas make us proud.

-Bethany

Working Hard for the (Book) Money

Palmer is one ambitious entrepreneur.  From the time he was a preschooler, he's been asking neighbors and friends for any jobs he can do to earn money.  His first big purchase was Spencer, a Thomas the train engine.

Last week was book fair week at Palmer's school and in his own words, he "just kinda freaked out!"  What do I mean by that?  Well, I gave him $20 to spend on Monday at the fair.  He visited during the day while I was doing a volunteer shift and I watched him pick two books from his wishlist and spend the remaining change on a few erasers and trinkets.

Insert Tuesday and I noticed Palmer was taking his wallet.  The $21 in the wallet was Palmer's to spend as he wished- it's a combination of tooth fairy money, Christmas money, and money earned by odd jobs.  Palmer told me, "I will not spend all this money and I especially won't spend this very special $2 bill that I've had for three years.  I will never spend that!"

You can guess what happened next... Palmer's wallet came home empty.  "Mom, when the book fair gets here, I just kinda freaked out!"  We had a good conversation that night about what's more important- buying the erasers and items for sale or saving some of the money and the special $2 bill.  We discussed the idea of sleeping on an item and waking up to decide if you still want it and we also talked about not spending money just because you have it to spend.

What happened the next day?  Palmer's entrepreneur spirit kicked in.  I'm not sure if he was hoping to replenish his wallet or get more dollars for the book fair, but Palmer starts knocking on neighbor doors.  His first idea was to sell an "invisible tattoo" created from a pen that can only be seen under a UV light.  When that idea wasn't a huge success, he started asking neighbors (and me!) for odd jobs.

Organizing Rick's shoes for $1:

I told Palmer he could only visit the neighbors who didn't have kids currently living at the house!  This yard job took two days to complete...

Five dollars later, he took the money back to school... and bought more items from the book fair.  He also had a conversation with the cashiers about trying to trade out 2 $1 bills for his $2 bill, but alas that bill was long gone.  (The librarian told me that she sees tons of $2 bills every year- the kids empty everything they have including tooth fairy money and grandparent money.)

Sadly, the book fair is over.  But, Palmer is already scheming up ways to raise money so he can shop at the summer camp store in June.

I like his hard work attitude and am now focusing on teaching him that jobs are not always available, so he needs to be gracious for the work opportunities and mindful of how the money is spent.  Rick and I are also brainstorming how we might want to deal with an allowance soon.

-Bethany