JINXED

For Christmas we bought a Wii. If you have never played one- you better! It is so much fun.
On Christmas day, during quiet time, Hotstuff and I are playing Wii bowling and I am totally kicking his trash. Miss May was having a hard time staying in quiet time and in my mom voice, I tell her to go back to quiet time.
"You'll never win, Mommy!" she screams from her bedroom door. She then proceeds to slam her door behind her. After that, I totally sucked at EVERYTHING!! That will teach me to be the parent.

Christmas Cards

My deepest apologies to each and everyone of you who did not get a Christmas card from us this year. Which means all of you! Every year I send out close to 75 cards- Hotstuff had no idea that I sent out that many and almost plotzed when I told him that I sent out that many every year.
So from our family to yours- we hope that you have a wonderful Christmas season and my the new year bring you great happiness.
Love, Honey, Hotstuff, Miss May and Bubba Jones

So.... what's new with you??

Giving Thanks

Life is really scary right now! My grandmother is a child of the Great Depression and I have always been grateful that I have lived in a somewhat economically stable time. Now I wonder what the economy like will be for my children. Will they be children of a great depression?
Everything has become about money and the bottom line. Even my favorite radio DJ lost his job because of the economy! Those usual worries in life have grown tenfold. Our ways of thinking have changed. We now face challenges that we once thought to be the worst case scenerio; they now become have reality.
I will admit that for about two days last week, my prayers to God were angry ones. Then a good friend of ours reminded me to remember to be grateful. I then remembered a talk given in church one day about gratitude. I was given the challenge to give a prayer in which I did nothing but give thanks to God about anything and everything. I was also challenged to give more thanks in my daily prayers. I found that my prayers changed drastically! and so did my relationship with God, my family and friends.
After my angry prayers, I apologized to God for taking it out everything on him and began to give thanks. I started listing off things that I was grateful for. I did this while I was driving to work, while I was working out, while I was eating my lunch and anytime that I had a spare moment to list off things that I am grateful for.
Though I am still facing reality, my needs have become smaller because I already have so much. I still worry about our needs but I know I am not without. The atmosphere of my day changed. My attitude changed and I could tell a difference in my interaction with others was kinder.
So this Thanksgiving, try listing off the things that you are grateful for and don't just do it today! Do it everyday! The hardships will be there but they will become lighter when you remember to give thanks.
I am thankful for you.... my friends and my family; old and new. For all that you are and all that you do, I thank you.
I am thankful for Hotstuff! for his laughter, his love and his patience with me.
I am thankful for Miss May.... thank you for rescuing me from my grief.
I am thankful for Bubba Jones... thank you for rescuing me from myself.
I am thankful for my parents... for the lessons they taught me.
I am thankful for Granny Chamberlain, Papa and Grandma Palmer... thanks for your love, support and patience.
I am thankful for all of my siblings; Hotstuff's siblings and step-siblings are included in that.
I am thankful for a home, a car that works, a good job, health insurance, the change in my pocket, the money in the bank [when we have money =) ], the food I have in my kitchen, heat and a/c, running water that is hot and cold, indoor plumbing! and though our carpet is over 30 years old atleast it is not a dirt floor!
I am thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
I am thankful for the life I have and the country that I live in. For the freedoms given to me by those who have fought and still fight to insure that I have those rights.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
~Honey

Pneumonia and the new car

It snowed last wednesday and I couldn't get to work. So I called in and told them I couldn't make it in. Besides that I was having the most incredible chest pains. I was not feeling 100% and thought that I just had a chest cold but then something felt off. So I skipped work and call my doctors office. I go in and talk with the doctor for a few minutes and he suggest getting a chest x-ray. Sure!! No problem! It's only the second time this year I have had a chest x-ray! (the first time it showed that I had pluerasy- an infection in my lungs). I get the chest x-ray done and when the films are ready the doctor goes over them with me.
"You see this side of you lung? you see how clear the lines are? and you see the other side of your lungs and how they are all fuzzy?" he says to me.
"Well, you've got pneumonia!"
PNUEMONIA!!!! I am flabbergasted! and yes that is a real word. Thank goodness for PTO. I took the rest of the week off and stayed home. I felt well enough to work but I decided to take it easy and not aggravate my lungs. Hotstuff hates when his lungs get aggravated! It's just so aggravating he says.
So while I am home with pneumonia.... our wonderful car that Hotstuff and I have had since we
were first married had hit old age. It was 9 years old with 147k miles on it. It got to the point where we were starting to put more money into it than what it was worth. Solution: new car. We went in to just check out our options and ended up driving home a silver 2008 Pontiac G6 with only 21650 miles on it. It's like riding in a space ship that get's 30 miles per gallon. We got the best deal on it!! Many dealerships are trying to stay in business that they are almost giving away their cars. They gave us for a trade-in $2,000 more than what our car was worth and knocked $7000 off the asking price. It is a buyers market!
That was my week.... how was yours?
~honey

"Carve-nival"

As a family tradition, every year we hold the Palmer Family "Carve-nival". We hold it the saturday before Halloween. We generally just have family but this year we extended it to some friends. We get together, carve pumpkins and enjoy dinner. This year I served white chilli. YUMMMMM! This is a family tradition that was started on Miss May's first halloween.

For halloween, Miss May dressed up a tinkerbell and Bubba Jones went as a dog. We hope that all of you had a very Happy Halloween!

~honey

True Crime!

So yesterday I was getting ready for work when Miss May decided to explore the fridge. She was in rummaging around when I asked her what she was doing. She quickly (and with great guilt) slammed the fridge door and said "Nothing!"
"It's okay, you can tell me what you were doing in there. I won't be mad," I told her.
So lets back up a moment... the night before Hotstuff called me to tell me that Miss May had gotten into my candy stash. She had only opened the candy but did not eat. (Sort of like Clinton... I never inhaled!) So Hotstuff moved my stash to a secret location... now back to the story...
"Um, mom, you and dad ate your candy last night. AND YOU DID NOT CHECK ON ME IN BED LAST NIGHT!" she said very disgusted with me.
So if you ever return to the scene of the crime be prepared with a rousing change of subject.
~Honey

The Miracle of Ants Marching

... As mentioned many times, I have set up this blog spot to help myself, family and friends keep intouch with us better. So I have made two post in the last almost three weeks! Sorry. Right now there is really not much new to report to the world. Out lives are much the same: we get up, go our many ways, Miss May has preschool three times a week, we come home, spend a couple hours together go to bed and get up the next morning to start all over again. It reminds me of the song by the Dave Matthews Band "Ants Marching".

He wakes up in the morning

Does his teeth, bite to eat and he's rolling

Never changes a thing.

The week ends the week begins,

...Take these chances,

Place them in a box until a Quieter time,

Lights down you up and die

...No words exchange no time to exchange and

All the little ants are marching

Red and black antennae waving

They all do it the same

They all do it the same way

Yeah, it is alot like ants marching. Same routine and it has become very very easy to fall into that routine. I have been waiting for some incredible to tell all of you to show how wonderful and exciting our lives our. But in truth, there is not a whole lot exciting going on but our lives! Our lives, no matter how routine they are; are a wonderful miracle. Which brings me to my next song!

Days of Miracles and Wonders by Paul Simon (who might I add is a very small man!)

These are the days of miracle and wonder

This is the long distance call

The way the camera follows us in slo-mo

The way we look to us all

The way we look to a distant constellation

Thats dying in a corner of the sky

These are the days of miracle and wonder

And dont cry baby, dont cry

Dont cry

So I hope I have not dissapointed or bored anyone with my crazy lyrics or lack of excitement and funny stories. But in the words of Miss May: "And that's just how it's done!"

~Honey

Pumpkin Patch

Miss May had her very first field trip today. She and her preschool class went to a local nursery to visit the pumpkin patch. She and her class had a blast.... I was worn out from just watching them run in circles. The local nursery every fall has fall activities, a pumkin patch and a corn maze. The nursery also has a playground and animals: bunnies, birds of various natures and goats. With the rain storm that passed through this weekend it was a little muddy but the kids still had a fun. I also discovered that Miss May is the tallest in her class! As a special treat her teacher got each of the kids a pumpkin to take home.

I really enjoyed President Thomas S. Monson's address in conference on Sunday morning. He spoke about enjoying the precious time that we have with our children. Time does go way to fast.

~Honey

Brand new blogger

I am not a blogger! but with so many friends and families out there it is too hard to keep in touch! So this is the way to go for us! Enjoy!