Long week

Well, it has been a very long week! School started so I have been getting up at 6 am or so. It is amazing how much one extra hour of sleep is so different! The day goes by so slow now that we are up super early and Hannah is gone. And Brad being gone only makes it all worse! Ryan had no trouble getting into the new schedule. He was up at 6 this morning too! The only day I can really sleep in and he still gets up like we are going to school! But I guess such is life. I hope that Hannah being gone a lot will make them get along better while they are together! One thing I do remember loving about school is how smooth the grocery shopping trips go without Hannah!! Ryan was a total angel the other day. I let him walk around and he didn't bother anything, he wasn't running around like a crazy kid, not screaming at Hannah. Just very peaceful! That is the only plus I have found so far.

On another note, Brad will be home in a couple hours. I'll probably sleep like a log tonight! I am dreading when he starts a job in Lewisburg and is gone Mon-Thur every week until they get the job done! That starts in Oct. But he will be getting paid prevailing wages (the big bucks) so I hope it takes more than one week! =) Who can blame me?!

Today was a big day in the Palmer house!

My precious daughter started kindergarten today. There is no turning back now! Life is going to be different from here on out! Yes, she was in preschool at the same elementary school she is in now but this is different! She was nervous last night when we went to the open house to meet her teacher and see her room. This morning she was ready to go! It is a lot easier on the mother when the child is ready and willing to go! She is going to have so much fun! Everyone is asking me how I am doing. I am fine this year. Last year was difficult for me and that prepared me for the real thing! Ryan was slightly lost without her today. You could tell he just didn't really know what to do! Poor guy, lost his playmate for the next 9 months! When I went to pick her up from school, the parents who are picking up have to wait outside the door and the kids are not released until the teacher knows the parent is there. Well, all these kids were coming out, going to their parents.....kids from Hannah's class were coming out....finally, I was one of two parents left waiting.....no Hannah and no the other girl, who happened to be in Hannah's class too!! One of the teachers releasing kids went to look for them. Turns out they were together ON THE BUS to go home!!! Both the girls wanted to ride the bus and were disappointed when they had to get off! I had so many questions to ask her and she had a lot to tell! So I'll share what I can remember with you all! The cafeteria is very loud and she likes peace and quiet, some things are "silly and goofy" like going to the gym and walking on the blue lines and not doing anything else, it is not as fun as last year, she likes her teacher, she made one new friend but can't remember his name, she saw Jacob (her favorite boy from church) but he ignored her amd she has to start bringing a pair of tennis shoes so she can put them on when they do certain things. She is really excited to go back tomorrow.

All alone this week

Well, Brad left awhile ago to go work out of town this week. =( He and Chris, a guy he works with and also went to high school with, had to leave this evening because they had to be at one of the other offices, in KY, at 7am tomorrow to pick up parts and then drive somewhere in Indiana, up by the great lakes to actually work. Apparently it is going to be a long week for him. He is under pressure to fix this elevator in a week. And it is normally a 4-6 week job.......I am kinda glad he isn't going to be coming home every night because I imagine he is going to be stressed out! I am upset that he is oging to miss Hannah's first day of school. But I guess you gotta do what you gotta do, right?! I would never be able to handle him being in the services and being gone for months or years at a time. I know several people with spouces in the services and I gotta say, THANK YOU!! I would loose my mind for sure.

Happy Birthday Hannah!!

ok, so I couldn't figure out how to get this up-right but I love this picture. It really shows how he feels about her. Pure love.

already up and getting into trouble by 7 months

cousin Michael and Hannah-alittle over a yr old

Tonight's post is a tribute to my little girl who turned 5 at 12:53pm today. I cannot believe it. I did not realize how fast 5 yrs could go by. Which only means the next 5 yrs are going to go by just as fast. I just pray that the Lord sees fit to let me finish raising her and then send her out into the real world to be what God wants her to be. We don't spend much time thinking about the fact that God could take anyone away from us at any time. Or take me away from them at any time, for that matter. I probably spend too much time thinking about that but I don't want to ever forget how precious my kids are. So here are some pictures of her thru the years. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I have enjoyed looking back.

that's Aunt Jessica. The perfect aunt who acts silly with her and lets her do what mommy wouldn't!

clinging to Teddy

cousin Kara, Ryan and Hannah-not 2 1/2 yet

3rd birthday

4 yrs old (basically)

5th birthday

she is becoming a beautiful girl-inside and out!








I LOVE YOU, HANNAH!!

Today was a good day.

I have been having a hard time getting back into the grove of things this week after being gone all last week. I have had such a hard time doing all the normal things I always do! For example, I just finished unpacking my bag yesterday! We've been back 5 days now! I haven't been able to get the house back in shape either. Or keep up with the dishes. So I knew that today would be a busy day! We are having a small birthday party for Hannah here tomorrow evening so I had (and still have) a lot of work to do around the house! I started cleaning and then got to thinking about Hannah's cake. I already knew I was getting a DQ ice cream cake and I knew I could just stop in and pick one up because they have a bunch premade. What I didn't know was if they could put a character on it and if I had to preorder it. So I decided we needed to go to DQ and find out. And then I decided to take the kids to the park while we were out and come back home in time for lunch and naptime and I could clean while they slept. And I am glad I made that decision. For you WV-ians, we go to the park back by the pool and walked around back by the gun club and fair grounds. We had a lot of fun at the park. They didn't even play on the playground equipment that long. There are paths and trails a little ways past the park that we have never been on so I asked them if they wanted to go for a walk and I was actually surprised when they were so excited to walk over swing or slide! Of course I had my camera and took some pics that I will put on here too. After that we went home, ate lunch and they went down for a nap. I did more cleaning and then started supper. Actually, I started supper after lunch because I made a turkey breast that had to cook for 4 hrs. It was really good! Then we played outside for awhile. I jumped on the trampoline with the kids and gave myself a headache. Then we came in and hung out on the couch for awhile, took baths and they went to bed! I've been putting them in bed earlier and earlier every night so I can wake them up a little earier every morning. So far, I am not liking having to get up early again!! It's hard getting back into the school schedule after not really having a schedule all summer. Speaking of that, it's 10pm so I better get in bed! =)

just here....

Well, I am back from a great week in NC with my parents and sister in law and neice. Mom and dad were having VBS at their church and we missed ours here in WV because we were at the beach that week so I decided it would be nice to go to theirs and Hannah is going back to school the end of the month and we won't be able to make any more long trips for awhile. VBS always makes me think back to the days when I was a kid and going to VBS and church camp. Those memories are among the best I have.

Anyway, when I got home yesterday afternoon I was surprised to see that Brad had ripped out the linolium in the kids' bathroom and replaced it with tile while we were gone. We had talked about it needing done but we never talked about WHEN! That was a pleasant surprise. He said we was nervous about doing it without my input on what color tile to get and all that but he did a good job! Today was supposed to be spent cleaning up and unpacking suitcases and Brad had lots to do outside but it was sooooo hot this afternoon that we decieded to go to the pool after the kids woke up from their nap. And I did some cleaning after church this evening instead. I bribed the kids to help take their stuff to their rooms for some milk! Hey, anything to get the work done, right?! But I still have TONS to do tomorrow! And I better be going to bed now!