The Palmer Family

A Child's Prayer

2010-01-27T21:49:00.004-05:00

I was sitting here at the computer, checking my e-mail, and I looked over and saw the sweetest thing. Arianna was kneeling on the floor, saying a prayer all by herself. I quietly got Jeremy's attention so he could see, too.
When she finished her prayer, we asked her what she was praying about, and she told us she was asking Heavenly Father to help her feel better (she was feeling kind of sensitive and over-emotional). We told her we were happy to see her praying, and that it was a great thing to do when you're not feeling good.
Then she climbed up on Jeremy's lap and asked him if he would say a prayer for her, too. He started folding his arms to say one, and she said, "No, not like that... With your hands on my head.", and she took his hands and put them on her head, "So I will feel better." Jeremy proceeded to give her a Father's Blessing.
What a sweet moment!

Green Bean Telephone

2009-11-25T18:15:00.004-05:00

Tonight during dinner, Arianna's imagination was going full-speed. First there was something about Rainbow Brite being inside of her green bean, and then she started pretending a green bean was a phone. She shoved it right up against her ear, and had some long conversations (mostly with Winnie the Pooh and Rainbow Brite). Messy, yes, but oh so fun! Kids are awesome! Now time to go get her bath started... :)

Meet Ike - May 2009

2009-11-24T23:03:00.003-05:00

In May Joanne adopted this awesome tortoise. She named him Ikaika, or "Ike" for short. He's a really neat little guy. We even had the pleasure of having him stay at our house for a week while Joanne went out of town during the summer. It was cool seeing what a strong personality he has, and watching him change his behavior toward us as he got to be more comfortable with us. The only not fun part was when I was feeding him one time, and he misjudged the distance to the carrot I was holding, and latched on to my finger instead. Ouch! Tortoises don't have teeth, but man that beak of his is really sharp! (I had a nice blood blister to prove it.) Poor Ike was just as startled as I was, since he hung on to my finger as it (of it's own accord, mind you) tried to escape his clutches, and he thus was sent sliding about a foot across the kitchen floor.

That was a while ago, though, and we have since both recovered from the incident (thankfully he wasn't hurt or traumatized by his ride across the kitchen floor). :) And, I still say he's a very cool little dude. (I just don't offer him any SMALL carrot pieces anymore.)

For the longest time after our "tortoise-sitting" week, Arianna would ask Joanne "Where's Ike?" or "Do you have Ike with you?" anytime she came over. We haven't seen him in a while...maybe we'll have to make a visit to him one of these days soon. :)

Arianna Quote

2009-11-24T21:59:00.003-05:00

Tonight we went out shopping as a family, and while we were driving we passed the City of Westland buildings, where they have a big display of Christmas lights and decorations. We pointed them out to Arianna, and she got really excited, and said, "Wow, that's really fun! I want to have a big huge party there someday!" :)

Arianna's Little Friends

2009-11-23T18:02:00.004-05:00

I posted the other day about the awesome friends Arianna has. Well, I thought maybe I should post something now about the friends she plays with EVERY day...

I love watching her and the stories and scenarios she comes up with while playing with her "friends". Her imagination blows me away - I didn't know she would have such complex interactions with her toys at this age!!

(Notice the apple in the picture above? After she had all of the little friends gathered around the table, she went digging around in the box of Christmas decorations we brought upstairs last night, because she apparently remembered having seen this little apple. A perfect little snack for her friends! She informed me that they were having a party, incase you were curious.)

Rainbow Brite

2009-11-23T16:20:00.012-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced Arianna to the magical world of Rainbow Brite. I looked it up on youtube and found "The Beginning of Rainbowland" (divided into like four segments). It was actually really fun watching it with her, and she loved it! I used to LOVE Rainbow Brite when I was a little girl!

Do these images bring back the memories

for you like they do for me?

So, while looking for some images to include here, I discovered that Hallmark has released a NEW Rainbow Brite. Seriously??

I'm not quite sure how to feel about this. I don't know if they're just producing merchandise, or if there's going to be some kind of show, too... (they have a little video clip on the website here.) I guess if the message is still focused around spreading color and happiness, it'll be better than a bunch of other shows that are out there now, right?? Still, some of me feels a little bothered by the modernization and tween-appealing look... Arianna and I will stick with the classic.

Anyway, I intended to write a small post about how it was fun to introduce Arianna to Rainbow Brite. I don't know what this has turned into, but I have the feeling it's kind of lame and at least slightly embarrassing.

Mushu

2009-11-20T20:34:00.010-05:00

Yesterday Joanne came to visit, and brought Mushu along with her! Mushu is the sweet little kitty she found in September. She was out running in her neighborhood and heard a kitten crying, and found a little ball of fluff, all alone. The neighbors said he'd been out there crying all morning. Poor little guy! Being the awesome person she is, Joanne brought him home and became his mama. He had only barely opened his eyes, and couldn't push up onto his legs yet (just creeped along), so we (and the Vet) estimated he was about 3 weeks old. Joanne (and Lesley, her mom) taught him how to drink kitty formula from a bottle, and did all the things for him that a mommy cat would.

Mushu the day after Joanne adopted him:

See how tiny he was?

Now he's about 10 weeks old:

He's a really sweet little kitty. Yesterday was the first time we'd seen him since he was about 5 weeks old. He's grown so much!! Arianna had fun playing with him (even though we had to keep reminding her to be gentle). Maya was very excited to see him again, and wanted ever so much to play with him, but Mushu was a little too scared. By the end of the visit, though, he did warm up to the point that Joanne could sit right next to Maya with Mushu in her arms. Who knows? Maybe they'll be really good friends in the future (I'm sure Maya would love that!).

Thanks, Joanne, for sharing sweet Mushu with us!

Fun with Friends!

2009-11-20T20:02:00.015-05:00

Arianna has a lot of great friends her age in our ward (church). She loves getting together with them!

Corban

Corban and Arianna were able to have two fun playdates last week. On Wednesday we went to Munch Bunch (a monthly potluck the sisters in our ward have) and they played together in the gym, and then the next day Corban came over to our house for a couple of hours. They play really well together. Corban is such a sweet, tender little boy.

At Munch Bunch:

At our house:

Alonzo

Alonzo is another little boy who's a good friend of Arianna's. He had a birthday party playdate on Thursday this week (the 18th) to celebrate his 3rd birthday. Arianna enjoyed playing with all of the kids, but I think she especially enjoyed when almost everyone had left and she had Alonzo mostly to herself. :)

Alonzo and Arianna eating cupcakes.

Mandee (his mom) made pink cupcakes for him, since that's his favorite color and that's what he wanted. That's how cool these people are. :)

Oh yeah, and because Arianna wanted Pringles instead of cupcakes at her birthday party, they got some Pringles so she would once again have that option. Mandee said her boys made sure of it. They are SO sweet!! And yes, Arianna did take two bites of her cupcake, then gave it to me saying she was done, and was very excited to learn that there were Pringles!

I'm very grateful for all of the wonderful children Arianna has as friends.

Catch Up

2009-11-20T20:02:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted - time to play catch up!

Our Family Camping Trip - May 2009

2009-11-12T11:46:00.051-05:00

In May this year, our family went on a little camping trip a few hours north of here (near Gladwin). It was so nice to get out in nature and spend time all together, without any distractions from the everyday hustle and bustle! This was Arianna's first time to go camping (how did that happen??), and she was very excited.

Arianna slept for the first hour or two of the drive, which was very nice (especially since she does get car sick sometimes). I thought she looked so cute the way she rested her head on her hand! (Notice her motion sickness bracelets - they work everytime! She's never gotten car sick when she's wearing them; only when she takes them off.)

A yummy ice cream cone treat in the car. Arianna was just introduced to ice cream cones this summer, and she loves them! :)

Excited to be on vacation!!

At the campground, having a delicious strawberry snack.

A little messy, but oh so good!

Trail Mix. We made this large bag of trail mix for our trip, and if I remember correctly, we ate almost the entire thing during our 3-day vacation. Wow!

Arianna's clothes and carseat cover, hanging up to dry. Why? Because she did indeed get carsick. We were AT the campground, had already chosen our campsite and were just filling out the form....and that's when she threw up all over. Poor girl.

There were a lot of these webworms around....

My Dear. :) (That's a bug repellant band around his neck.)

These terrible chemicals saved our vacation. Once we got to the campsite and started setting up, Arianna started majorly freaking out whenever any flying bug came near her. We tried working with her and explaining that she was okay, but she seriously was having downright near-panic attacks, screaming and crying with sheer terror. We normally wouldn't want to use any chemicals, or kill anything, but our natural methods weren't working to repel, so we broke down and bought this Raid at the little general store nearby. Arianna was fine once the mosquitoes weren't flying around her head anymore... I felt a little guilty, but mostly just relieved.

Making dinner. Tofu dogs and baked beans. Yum! :)

A Catterpillar Adventure

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arianna loved the tent!

Arianna in her very own chair.

Heating up water for hot chocolate.

A neat tree stump nearby.

Writing in the dirt road.

During a nice walk.

Arianna being a cutie on a stump...

Pondering the intricacies of a Morel mushroom.

Some Daddy-Daughter love.

Dandelions...

Another yummy dinner; cheesy broccoli noodles, and cheeseburgers.

Arianna playing with her toys.

Hot chocolate!

"Bacon" sizzling over the campfire. This was the most delicious "bacon" ever!

Getting ready to go home...

Arianna enjoyed playing in the tent before we took it down.

Ever since she's been able to manipulate objects with her hands, Arianna has lined things up like this.

The water pump.

Enjoying some last moments in the beautiful surroundings before going home...

The lake. We went on some great walks around this lake.

Mommy and Daughter.

Another view of the lake.

On the way home, we stopped so I could take a picture of these lilac bushes. This is probably only about half of them. They were huge and beautiful, and looked so cool growing all by themselves out in the field!

We stopped off at Frankenmuth on our way home to have a little more fun before our vacation ended. To our surprise, they were having some huge dog celebration. It was pretty cool, and we all enjoyed seeing a lot of neat dogs. Arianna saw this inflated climbing/slide thing, and got VERY excited, so we forked out the $2 (or whatever it was) to let her have some fun. I kind of enjoyed it myself... :)

Jeremy and Arianna, enjoying Frankenmuth (Arianna is

probably looking at some dog).

All in all, it was an awesome family vacation, and made us all want to be able to go camping more often. It was so relaxing to be out in nature, away from all of the "noise" (literal and figurative). Whenever we're able to get out to someplace like that, it makes me wish we lived out in the country, away from the busyness of city life. Some day.....

Magic in the Mail

2009-11-12T10:50:00.007-05:00

On Monday there was a box in the mail addressed to Arianna. Upon opening it, we discovered a little fairy, and a "happy birthday" note from Robin and Dennis. What a great birthday surprise! Isn't she pretty?
Arianna has named her Ajua or Azhua...I'm not sure how to spell it... It's pronounced with a soft J sound. I tried looking it up on the internet to see if it's an actual name and did come across the name Ajua, with Ghanaian origin, but we're not sure if the J is soft or hard. We thought it was kinda cool, though, that the meaning of the name Ajua is "born on a Monday", and we received the fairy on Monday. :) Anyway, however you spell her name, she's very sweet and Arianna loves her! Oh, and by the way, in the picture she is "eating breakfast" with us.

Family Fun at Nanny's House

2009-11-10T17:48:00.003-05:00

Every Sunday evening after church, we go visit Nanny (my mom's mom). She always makes a delicious dinner and dessert for us. It's nice to have this family time every week. Joanne joins us every other week, making the night even more enjoyable. :)

This picture and video are from this past Sunday...

Arianna and Joanne, sitting together at Nanny's table after dinner. Joanne brought these Thomas the Tank Engine sunglasses for Arianna (someone had left them at her work).

Here's a video clip of Arianna and Badda making up a story together after (or during, for me) dessert. I love the creativity! :)

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood!

2009-11-10T16:47:00.010-05:00

Saturday was an awesome day! First of all, the weather was gorgeous; a high of 68, and lots of sunshine. And second, we were actually home all day! Usually our Saturdays are filled to the brim with activities, but this time around we actually were all home for the whole day (Mom included). It was wonderful to spend the day together as a family, playing and working outside in the beautiful weather.

The first order of business was cleaning up all of the leaves I'd raked the other day (we hadn't had enough bags before). We had quite a bit of fun with this.

Arianna and Badda enjoying a peaceful moment in the backyard.

Arianna shared with us that she is afraid of this windchime in the backyard. She says it is a robot. I can see it - can you?

After working hard on the leaves, we decided to build a fire and cook some food there for our dinner. Baked beans and Morningstar "bacon". Yum!!

Arianna ate about 8 pieces of "bacon" uncooked, plus another 2 or more cooked (plus some baked beans). She does not normally eat so much in one sitting, so we were all pretty surprised. Apparently she REALLY likes Morningstar "bacon"!

She got a kick out of us getting a kick out of her eating so much.

Silly girl. :)

It was really a fabulous day! It's too bad we can't have more Saturdays like this, but we'll take advantage of them and appreciate them when they come around.

From Arianna's Viewpoint

2009-11-09T18:54:00.002-05:00

The other day, after a bit of instruction from Jeremy, Arianna took her very first pictures with our camera. What a big girl! She focused her eye on her friends (as she refers to them), Maya and Sesame.

This one of Maya is pretty decent, I think.

Leaf Jumping Fun

2009-11-09T18:33:00.005-05:00

Thursday was a fairly nice day outside, so Arianna and I decided to tackle the leaves in our yard.

Arianna "tackling" the leaves for real. hahaha

Our little cutie pie had a lot of fun. It was so nice to be able to get outside and play, after being cooped up inside due to the cold weather!

Trick or Treat!

2009-11-04T15:15:00.008-05:00

Jordan and Arianna, all ready to go Trick or Treating!

Arianna was VERY excited, as you can see.

She'd seriously been looking forward to this for weeks.

Abigail, Kyra and Jordan, ready for Trick or Treating.

Doesn't Abigail make a darling little daffodil?

Arianna checking out her pile of candy after coming in. Notice her pink little nose? She was ready to stop Trick or Treating because she got too cold.

Arianna asks if she can get her Halloween candy out to play with a couple of times a day now. She likes to organize and line them up in different ways. I used to enjoy doing the same thing myself, I remember. I took this picture because she lined up all of her suckers and said it was a piano. Then she put those three circular-shaped chocolates on the end, and said those were drums. I thought that was pretty darn creative, and quite cute. Here in the picture she's "playing the piano". :)

Birthday Presents

2009-11-04T15:00:00.003-05:00

Arianna and I decided to take a picture of her with all of her birthday presents. We did this last year, and it seems like a cool way to remember everything when looking back years later. So, here you have a picture of Arianna with all of her 3rd birthday presents, including labels of who gave her what (which I'm hoping are visible enough for you to see - except you Mom...you may not even be able to see that there are words...):

She got a lot of really great stuff, and has been having lots of fun with it all! Thank you, everyone! :)

Arianna's Birthday Party #2!

2009-11-02T17:29:00.019-05:00

Two birthday parties in one day? Sounds kinda crazy, I know. But that's what we did, and it actually worked out great. It wasn't our first plan to do it this way, but with Arianna being sick last week, and us already having planned the family party for this week, that's just how it worked out. I was afraid Arianna would get overwhelmed, but she didn't thankfully.

For this family party, there was us, Badda (my mom), Grandma and Grandpa Palmer, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Richy and Aunt Kyra, Jordan, Abigail, Nanny (my grandma), Joanne and Lesley (Joanne's mom). It wasn't a big production, especially after already having partied earlier in the day, but it was nice to all be together to celebrate Arianna's birthday.

As her gift, Joanne made a SUPER cute, delicious Cold Stone cake (she works at Cold Stone) with a Winnie the Pooh theme. She even let Arianna add the Winnie the Pooh characters wherever she wanted. :)

Arianna isn't crazy about sweets (as I mentioned in my earlier post), but she LOVES ice cream, so this was the ideal cake for her. She also LOVED the icing, we discovered; she wouldn't take her fingers off of it!

Isn't it cute? It was unbelievably yummy, too!

Arianna once again was very cute as we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Look at that look on her face. :)

A short clip of Arianna blowing out the candles,

and everyone at the party.

Arianna eating her piece of cake, with her new little friends by her side.

Jordan enjoying his piece.

Arianna playing with the toy guitar from Grandma and Grandpa. She loves this thing, and plays with it all the time. Did I mention it plays music? Rather loudly? Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa.

Abigail, chewing on one of Arianna's bead necklaces. It was probably her favorite part of visiting us.

Arianna wearing the cat mask from Lesley. When you press the nose, it meows. Very cute! Maybe this will be part of her Halloween costume next year...

Before our visitors had left, Arianna actually came up to me and told me she wanted to take a nap. The party was cut a little short as a result, but I was very happy that instead of having a meltdown of exhaustion, she actually asked for a nap. Especially since we would be going Trick or Treating in just a couple of hours!

Arianna's Birthday Party!

2009-11-02T14:56:00.028-05:00

This Halloween was a very busy and fun day for our family. The first excitement began the day before when Grandma and Grandpa Palmer (Jeremy's parents), Aunt Jenny (Jeremy's sister), Uncle Richy and Aunt Kyra (Jeremy's brother and his wife), Jordan and Abigail (Richy and Kyra's kids) arrived from Indiana for a weekend visit. It is always great to get together with family! This meant they were able to be here for all of our Halloween festivities, which of course added to the fun and excitement. :)

Our first adventure this Halloween was Arianna's little friend birthday party! Our original plan was to have her friend party last week, but she ended up having the flu, so we had to postpone it. This made for a very exciting, jam-packed Halloween, which ended up going beautifully smoothly overall. Five of Arianna's favorite friends (Batman a.k.a. Alonzo, Cat a.k.a. Emma, Tinkerbell a.k.a. Kaylin, Tiger a.k.a. Tayson and Pirate Pumpkin a.k.a. Jordan) came all dressed up in their Halloween costumes for the party. Arianna was excited to dress up in her butterfly costume for everyone to see. :)

The kids went on a pumpkin hunt in our backyard. Everyone found their own small pumpkin to bring inside and decorate.

Arianna and Kaylin searching.

Ready to go inside! It was a little chilly and windy out there.

Decorating pumpkins with stickers.

Tayson.

Emma and Alonzo.

Jordan.

Kaylin.

Arianna showing her finished pumpkin.

Singing "Happy Birthday". Arianna got so excited Jeremy said he thought she might start crying from joy! :)

Blowing out the candles. (All by herself this year - she's getting to be such a big girl!)

Yummy cupcakes!

Jordan devoured 2 cupcakes

while everyone else worked on their one.

Arianna ate one bite of her cupcake, then told me she didn't like it. She's never really been into sweets, so we weren't surprised. We got out some Pringles for her (one of her favorite treats), and she ate those while everyone else ate their cupcakes.

Opening presents! All of her friends were very generous, and Arianna got a lot of great gifts.

Alonzo was very cute and helpful while she opened her gifts. :)

I love her expression in this picture.

Cute little friends.

The whole gang. Aren't they a cute bunch?

At the very end of the party, after some of the kids had already left, Jeremy got out his big djembe drum, and the remaining kids had fun making some music.

Jordan, Arianna and Abigail creating some unique beats.

Jordan and Arianna drumming.

Birthday Dinner

2009-10-30T21:50:00.003-04:00

At the end of the day, when asked what her favorite part about her birthday was, Arianna said, "Eating!". I thought she might have mentioned the piles of presents she opened, but apparently her special meal shone out even above that. After Kickboxing and Tai Chi that night, we (Jeremy, me, Arianna and Joanne) enjoyed some baked macaroni and cheese, tofu (raw for Arianna, fried for us) and steamed broccoli, some of Arianna's very favorite foods. Arianna ate a LOT; so much, in fact, that when she said her stomach was full at the end of the meal, it was SO full that she didn't even want a Pringle! That's FULL, believe me - usually her stomach still has room for Pringles. Obviously she really enjoyed her birthday dinner.

Some Halloween Celebrations

2009-10-30T21:36:00.003-04:00

This past Tuesday was a special Halloween storytime at the library. Arianna was very excited to get dressed up in her butterfly costume! After storytime, we went around "trick-or-treating" throughout the library. Arianna really enjoyed the storytime (she always does), but didn't enjoy the trick-or-treating as much as I thought she would. I think the problem was that in the very beginning we had to walk right past the computer stations in the children's area, and she got it in her head that she wanted to play a game... Oh well. She still enjoyed herself, I think - but she was also pretty happy when we were done so she could finally go play a game!

This isn't the most flattering picture of her in her costume, but it's the only one I got... Don't you love how she's smacking her gum? She was chewing it quite obnoxiously during the whole storytime. Hopefully she'll get that under control sometime soon... She apparently takes after Grandpa Tim in her gum chewing habit. She is always asking if she can have a piece to chew, and then she chews it SO obnoxiously. I just smile because it reminds me of Dad. :)

She got this Halloween card in the mail from "Grandma" Lesley and "Grandpa" Jerry (Joanne's parents, who do special things like this for her all the time). It plays a song sung by Tigger, and she loves it! She's been proudly showing it to everyone who comes to visit. :)

Fun with hair clips

2009-10-30T21:29:00.006-04:00

The other day Arianna came up to me and actually asked me to put some hair clips in her hair. Generally she does NOT like me doing anything to her hair, so this was very unusual. She continued asking me to put more in until there were 8 in her hair altogether. It actually looked kinda cute, I thought, and she was in a cute mood to boot, so I took some pictures... :)

Family Photo Shoot - May '09

2009-10-26T19:14:00.011-04:00

We decided it was time to try our hand at using the timer on my camera to get a family picture. Other people do this all the time, right?? Well, let me just say, it wasn't near as easy as they make it look in the movies! The whole affair lasted like 2 hours, and I had a pounding headache by the time we were done. This picture, our final product after those 2 hours, was the first picture we got where Arianna was smiling and not in the process of throwing herself off our laps. When we looked at it and saw she was smiling, we were like, "Okay, that's it, we're done!", because there was no way we were going to spend any longer in our attempts. I think it's a pretty good picture myself...

After finally succeeding in getting a frameable, semi-traditional type family portrait, we decided we could have a little fun...

Oh yeah, and during our "traditional" shots, we did get a couple of other decent ones that weren't of the whole family...

Then it was Maya's turn! She did really well, though I discovered first-hand how difficult it can be to take pictures of a deaf dog.

Isn't she a sweetie, though? :)

Arianna's Photo Shoot - April '09

2009-10-26T16:22:00.008-04:00

In April we decided it was about time to take some good pictures of Arianna that we would be able to frame (and give to grandparents to frame). So, we got out my backdrops and set them up in Arianna's room. It was crowded, but we managed. We propped Arianna up on her little table, so she wouldn't just run all over the room during the shoot.

While I took the pictures, Jeremy played with Arianna, interacting with her with a bunch of her toys. She loved it, and it worked beautifully for some natural, real happy faces. :) None of the shots are "posed" in any way. Here are some of my favorite shots we got:

She looks a LOT like me when I was her age in this picture. I love her shy little smile and the twinkle in her eyes.

I love the dynamics with her fingers and toes in this one. :)

She looks so old in this outfit to me, with that cute little headband.

This one is Jeremy's favorite. :)

All in all, I think we got some really good shots. And I really like the fact that none of them were posed. I suppose it'll be time for another of these photo shoots pretty soon...

(P.S. The dresses were a gift from Mom (Badda), and the pink outfit was a gift from Nanny. Aren't they cute?)

Easter Celebrations '09

2009-10-25T21:56:00.007-04:00

Jeremy's parents, and youngest brother and sister (Robert and Jenny) were able to visit for Easter. We had lots of fun coloring eggs together! :)

Arianna really enjoyed the process this year.
Our little egg artist!

Ready for the big egg hunt! There were 30+ eggs hidden all throughout the house, ALL for Arianna to find!

Here's a little clip of Arianna on her egg hunt. I think it's funny how there are like 7 adults following her around and cheering her on. She loved it! :)

More March Pictures

2009-10-24T16:17:00.014-04:00

While Richy, Kyra, Jordan and Abigail were visiting, I took some family pictures for them. Here are a few of them:

To see more, go to our Flickr account.

March Picture Highlights

2009-10-24T15:45:00.016-04:00

Adventures with Dental Floss...

So, if you open the drawers in our bathroom, you can't open the bathroom door. One day Arianna went in, closed the door, and opened one of the drawers. None of my promptings would get her to close the drawer, and all I could do was stand there and listen to her... as she took the dental floss and pulled it out...more...and more...and more... And once she finally closed that drawer and I opened the door, this is was I found. That dental floss covering her is only maybe about half of what she unraveled.....
Mealtime Faces

Bathtime Giggles

Four Generations

The new park!

Weee!

Uncle Richy, Aunt Kyra, and cousins Jordan and Abigail visited!

To the park again!

Arianna and Jordan going down the slide together. How cute!

February Picture Highlights

2009-10-24T15:14:00.005-04:00

Taking advantage of a semi-warm February day. Arianna is taking her doll for a walk in the backyard...

The watering pail in our backyard. I thought it looked cool.

All-Star Karate

Sickness

2009-10-24T14:35:00.002-04:00

Our house has been full of sickness this week. Mom and I got sick last weekend, and have been dealing with it all week. Cough, sore throat, bronchial irritation (which is always worse for Mom, with her asthma and respiratory problems), headaches and fever. Somehow I've been spared the headaches and fever, and I am most grateful for this, because I don't know how I would have managed otherwise. Of all weeks to be sick, this is one of Jeremy's busiest weeks of the semester, and he has barely been home at all. His earliest nights to come home this week were Monday and Wednesday, when he got home at 8:30. Last night he didn't even come home; he stayed over to help supervise at the "Ninja Night" Halloween sleepover at All-Star Karate (the martial arts school we are partial owners of). So, I really am grateful I have been spared the headaches and fever that Mom has had with this flu-thing.

Thursday night Arianna started coughing, and then had a fever. I hate seeing my little sweetie sick; it really is a difficult thing to deal with as a mother. There were times through the night where she was tossing and turning and wimpering in her sleep, and her poor little body felt so hot. It is at those times that I feel like I would much rather be sick 2x as badly as I have been just to spare her!

Of all weeks to be sick, today was to be Arianna's birthday party. We've been planning it for weeks, and she's been SO excited about it. Thankfully all of the children will be able to make it next Saturday, so we're just postponing it, not cancelling it altogether.

And, Arianna already seems to be improving! In fact, today upon waking up, she claims she is "all better", despite the fact that she is still coughing a little and still had a fever during the night. I'm glad to see her on the mend so soon! Mom and I are just now starting to feel better ourselves, so this really is passing quickly for Arianna. I think it's helped that as soon as she started showing any signs, I started loading her up with Hyland's Complete Flu Care 4 Kids (homeopathic remedy). Mom and I felt a noticeable difference as soon as we started taking it, and I think because Arianna started on it right away that made a big difference for her. She was pretty cute with it, too; any time she would cough, she would come to me and say, "Mommy, I just coughed. I need more medicine." The fact that she still nurses some helps a lot, too, I know. She has nursed a lot more than normal since she started feeling sick Thursday night, and I am happy to know that I am in this way providing better nourishment for her than I could with anything else.

All in all, even though we've hit a little rough patch this week, we are doing well. Once Jeremy is done helping with the children's play tonight, we'll actually have a WHOLE day together tomorrow, and that will be very nice indeed! :) Here's to hoping he manages to stay healthy...

January Picture Highlights

2009-10-21T17:41:00.006-04:00

Arianna and her first "big girl bed". She has since upgraded to an actual toddler bed, but you'll have to wait for those pictures... :)

A look of mischief. Somehow this look reminds me of my dad. Anyone else?

Playing with Sesame...Arianna style. Basically, this meant piling toys up on top of Sesame. And look how patient Sesame was with the game! These are the kind of things that make us think Arianna really needs a sibling...and soon... :) (Though I do hope she wouldn't take to piling items up on top of her little sibling...)

Being silly! Arianna can definitely get into some very silly moods. This particular day she put her winter hood on backwards, and began running around the table (probably singing, too - I don't remember for sure, but there generally is a song involved with her) like a crazy girl, laughing hysterically at herself. She cracks me up! :)

For more pictures from January, don't forget to check out our Flickr account.

December Picture Highlights

2009-10-21T16:08:00.019-04:00

Arianna & Zoe

Arianna always loved getting together with her friend Zoe. We were very sad when they moved to Utah. :( In fact, looking at these pictures again the other day, Arianna told me she wanted to visit Zoe, and that she misses her. Now she wants to go to Utah to visit her. :)

Arianna has always been a little obsessed with inspecting between her toes. When it first began (a few months before this picture was taken), she seriously was constantly taking her socks and shoes off so she could inspect again. It was a very serious thing for her. Now she still does it, but is thankfully not quite so obsessed with the whole thing. I love in this picture how Zoe is so interested, too. :) Aren't kids awesome?

Joanne's Christmas Box

Here's the special box Andreas sent Joanne for Christmas. It was full of a bunch of thoughtful gifts, along with comments about them. He had us give it to her with specific instructions that we build a fire on the back porch and make some hot cocoa for her. I must say, he's a pretty sweet guy. Who would've known? :) Seriously, though, I've learned a lot about him since he fell in love with Joanne...

Christmas in Indiana

We were able to visit Jeremy's family in Indiana to celebrate Christmas. Ken and Kendra and Richy and Kyra (and their respective children) were there, too, so we had some great times together!

First stop: indoor swimming pool! Arianna had a great time swimming with her cousins!

Arianna and Amelie (Ken & Kendra's daughter) were very cute together. I wish they could get together ALL the time - I think they would be awesome friends. Hopefully we will at least be able to manage getting together every year somehow...

A big highlight of our visit for Arianna were these two large bowls full of peanuts. They were constantly stocked, and she just thought they were the coolest! She LOVES peanuts, and could often be found munching on them while we were there.

Christmas Eve, all dressed up in new pj's. :)

Christmas morning!

Arianna's stocking, overflowing with goodies from Santa. :)

Arianna and Amelie (and all of the kids) had an awesome time playing in the ball pit Santa brought for Kaylee!

Cutie

Cousins!

<----Kaylee

Jordan--->

Christmas at Home
After having a wonderful time celebrating in Indiana with Jeremy's side of the family, we came home and celebrated with my side. Santa was kind enough to visit both locations. :)

Christmas morning #2! What Santa brought. :)

Can you tell she was having fun?

<---Our Little Photographer

All Dressed Up!!--->

(One of my favorite gifts we gave her; a set of Sarah's Silks. So cute!)

So, these are just some of the pictures from our December adventures. To see more, check out our Flickr account. I'll be adding highlights from each month as I continue adding to Flickr (finally)... Enjoy! :)

Updating Flickr

2009-10-19T16:42:00.005-04:00

I knew it had been a while since I'd added any photos to our Flickr account, but was genuinely surprised when I got on yesterday and realized the last pictures I'd added were from Arianna's 2nd birthday party!! Whoa! Here we are only a week away from her 3rd birthday party!! So, I've been busy trying to get caught up. I could've just skipped to now, but I don't want to miss some of the great times we've had over the past year, and so I began with last November. It's been fun going through all the pictures and remembering the adventures we've had. :)

If you're interested in seeing what I've added so far, go check out our Flickr account (the link is at the bottom of our blog). Here are just two pictures from November... I'll add a few highlights of each month to our blog, but there are LOTS more on Flickr!

Thanksgiving '08 - Visiting with Jeremy's sister, Danielle,

and her hubby (J.D.) and boys (Caleb & Logan).

Arianna looking out at the ocean at Virginia Beach.

Arianna and her imagination...

2009-10-17T22:32:00.006-04:00

Just thought I'd share this little clip of Arianna. We thought it was cute how much fun she was having playing with all of the various items I had lined up on the couch for pictures. She thought they were just the greatest! I guess you just never know what kids will go for, do you? After this video she took everything to the kitchen table and created "a train". Seriously, these random items occupied her for about 30-45 minutes! I LOVE her imagination! :)

In the realm of couponing

2009-10-17T21:37:00.012-04:00

A few months ago we had a Stake Preparedness Fair at our church, and one of the booths was about learning to use coupons. I was amazed at some of the deals these women were displaying -- I never knew couponing could be SO incredible! They impressed me so much that I actually looked at the blogs they recommended when I got home, and have been trying to learn the ropes. Over the past couple of weeks, I finally feel like I'm starting to understand some of it, and our basement shelves are quickly filling with things I've gotten for free or REALLY cheap. It's quite exciting!

I thought I'd share with you some pictures of my free "purchases" over the past few weeks:

Week 1:

Week 2:

This week:

- 1 Simply Saline Cold Formula nasal spray
- 2 Simply Saline Cold Formula for Children
- 2 Sinus Buster nasal sprays
- 2 Breathe Again nasal sprays
- 2 bags Bee M.D. organic honey throat drops
- 2 boxes Children's Throat Cooler
- 2 packs Beyond BodiHeat disposable heat pads
- 2 boxes Sucrets sore throat lozenges
- 2 boxes Comtrex max. strength Cold & Sinus
- 1 Aussie Hair Insurance leave-in conditioner
- 1 Vaseline Sheer Infusion lotion
- 1 Emergen-C Immune-Booster 2 pk.
- 2 Allergen Blocks
- Victoria's Secret panties

- Bath & Body Works travel size aromatherapy sleep lotion
- 3 Loreal nail polishes
- 1 Skittles chapstick
- 2 Neosporin Lip Health
- 2 Carmex Moisture Plus lip balm
- 1 3-pk. Carmex lip balm
- 1 ChapStick Fresh Effects
- 4 ChapStick 100% Naturals

If you're like I used to be, you're probably thinking, "Wait a minute, how did you get all of that for free???" Pretty cool, huh? It really is excited learning all of this! And, just so you know, all of those free things were from Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens...now my favorite stores! If you want to learn about this kind of stuff, there are tons of blogs out there about it. Two of my favorites are: http://www.dealseekingmom.com/ and http://thekrazycouponlady.com/. They'll teach you everything you need to know. Sometimes it can take some time printing off all the coupons and planning out your shopping trips, then actually going to the stores every week... But I figure it's worth it when I've literally gotten a few hundred dollars worth of products for FREE over just a few weeks!!

Entering the World of Blogging Again... Hopefully for good this time!!

2009-10-16T18:41:00.002-04:00

After months of absence from the blogging scene, here we are again! I need to make this a regular habit of mine, because I am missing out on recording some really great memories. So, this is going to be my journal now... and for those of you who haven't already entered into the world of blogging who live far away and I really want to stay in touch with (ahem, Springer and Kendra...and so on...), now's your chance to join me!! Seriously, it would be really cool if we all just did even one entry a week, and knew a little more about what was going on in each others lives, don't you think?

AND, I just figured out how to use Feedburner to put that little widget in the upper righthand corner, where you can just enter your e-mail addresses in and voila, you get an e-mail of my newest posts when they're posted! I think this is really cool, because I like keeping up-to-date on friends blogs, but it takes forever going through them to see who's posted anything new... So, if you haven't done this yet for your blog and you're reading this right now, you should definitely do it! :)

Anyway, those of you who I'm trying to convince to start your own blog... Your posts don't have to be anything time-consuming or fancy; just a little thought, or moment from your day that you'd like to share. And suddenly we'll feel like we're actually a part of each others lives again, even though we're so far apart!

Have I convinced you? Well, if not, then maybe once you subscribe to my blog and see how nice it is getting little updates from me in your inbox all the time, you'll decide you're interested afterall... :)

The Adventure Begins

2009-08-10T08:05:00.005-04:00

Naomi and I decided to take on an important project for the benefit of posterity. I have borrowed the old family videos from my parent's house and am now beginning to convert them to a digital format. This is just one of those priceless clips that makes all of the work involved worth it! WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.

Shooting at HFCC - my perspective

2009-04-13T15:03:00.002-04:00

I think it will be therapeutic for me to write about my experience as well as informative to those who want to know the events as they really took place.
On Good Friday, April 10, 2009 around 12:30pm I was sitting in the Music Technology Lab at Henry Ford Community College (HFCC). I was thinking how nice it would be to leave at 1pm and get back home to where my family was visiting from Indiana. I had just printed off some sheet music of a piano solo from Final Fantasy VIII when I became aware of some noise and commotion outside of my door. There are often annoyances from immature students in the room next door so I paid it no mind. Then, I heard what sounded like a door being slammed (open or shut), and I stood up to walk over and tell these "punks" to stop messing around. Then I heard a sound that would freak anybody out - it was a girl frantically calling for help. "Help, please help me!" I raised my voice and said with as much authority as I could, "Hey, what's going on here?" as I rounded the corner from the lab door to the doorway of the classroom next door. This next part is a little blurry...
I saw a large black man straddling a petite black woman who was lying on her back on the floor. I don't know what I did exactly but I approached close enough to touch the man before I felt a strong prompting to leave the room quickly. I rushed out and around the corner of the hallway yelling for someone to "Call 911! Call security! A girl is getting raped!" I met another employee of the college and we went over to the Fine Arts building secretary because she was already on the phone to 911. This fellow employee and I then went back to the room where the assault/rape was taking place. He got a little bit closer to the room this time and clearly saw the man loading a full length shot gut, which then got fired into the floor. We ran back down the hallway and made more phone calls to both 911 and campus safety letting them know the guy had a gun and had fired it. Sometime during this there were at least two more shots fired that I can remember. I then went around to a different doorway to try and watch from a distance what was taking place, but by this time the door to the room where the assault and shots were happening was shut. While watching, an Arab couple with there young child (5 - 7 years old I think) came out of the hallway leading to the band room oblivious to what was happening. I yanked open the doors from where I was watching the scene and yelled to them to come to me now! Had they gone the other way they would have been walking toward the room. As it was they were only about 8 feet away from it. Meanwhile, the other college employee as well as two of his friends were going around the building, keeping people away from this dangerous area, and one of them even ran over to talk to campus safety directly who still had not showed up on the scene. At about 12:45 (or 15 minutes after everything started) an entire S.W.A.T. team showed up in the building and began barking orders at us. I showed them exactly which room/door to go to and tried to tell them that there was a class taking place in the choir room (but they didn't really listen to me). I later found out that the choir room class had already exited out one of the back doors because their teacher knew what was going on. One more shot was fired before we were evacuated from the building and sent over to a classroom in the Liberal Arts building. All of us who were witnesses in anyway had to write our personal accounts of what took place. There were only three of us who had seen anything at all; myself, the other employee, and one student. The rest of the people only heard the shots, or were in the building somewhere at the time of the occurence. I already talked about what I and the other employee had seen, but the student had actually seen the guy carrying the girl (who was passed out at the time) into the classroom. She was in the class that was being held in the choir room and told her teacher what she saw. From what I understand the teacher went over and talked to the guy who told him to "go get help." I know this teacher called 911 or security but other than that I don't know what happened or what this teacher actually saw. Obviously he did NOT notice a full length shot gun in the room or think anything like a murder was about to take place.
I was interviewed in detail by a police officer who had me draw a map of the crime scene, and walk him through everything I could remember. I don't know how long everything went on but I didn't get home until 4:30pm or so that afternoon.
I later learned that the girl who was killed was a theatre student named Asia and that the guy was a classmate of hers. Earlier that day I was writing a song while working in the lab and it had a simple yet beautiful melody to it. There was also a part of the song where the volume swells, and the melody turns a little tragic sounding. I cannot associate this song with anything but the events of that day and so I have decided to dedicate it to Asia, even though I did not know her. I am calling the song Asia in memory of her, and in honor of life and how precious it is.
Some would say it is ironic that she was killed on Good Friday, part of the Easter holiday which for Christians is all about victory over death. Did death win this time? Is life really so fragile that nothing can restore it again? I believe otherwise. I believe Asia was taken home to that God who gave her life, and that one day her loved ones that are still living will be able to see her again. I have encountered death in many different ways; the loss of my father-in-law to Lou Gehrig's Disease, the loss of my grandmother to old age, the loss of new life when my sister's baby was stillborn, the loss of what might have been when my own wife had multiple miscarriages before we were blessed with Arianna, but never has death been so unexpected, so riveting, so insane, so brutal as at this time. People tell me I did the right thing, that I most definitely should have followed that prompting to leave the room as quickly as I did. That doesn't stop me from thinking about the "what if's" and the "what else's". What if I had used my martial arts training and kneed the guy in the head? Would Asia still be alive? What else could I have done to prevent this from happening? I now realize that I and the other college employee were the last two people to see them both alive...

Asia, I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything to save your life. I'm sorry for your family and friends that this happened.

I have made a recording of the song I wrote and dedicated to Asia. It can be found on this blog under my music. Please share it and this post with anyone who you think may benefit from this more detailed account of what went on this day.

Tales from the Son-in-law

2009-03-15T23:34:00.005-04:00

So I was just sitting there minding my own business when Connie asked me what I thought was a fairly harmless request: "Do you think you could help me pick out some new speakers for my computer?" Well, who doesn't like to feel needed, right? Sure, I'd find some good speakers for her, and I did. Only now I fear they might be just a little too good...

Feast your eyes on these "bad boys", or as they are officially called, the Logitech Z-2300 THX certified 2.1 speaker system with 200 watts of power. Connie said she wanted good sound quality, but also something she could crank up. Little did I know how much cranking up she was planning on doing.

Yesterday, the speakers arrived, I set them up, and had to leave for work without really hearing what they could do. When I got home from work Connie didn't even hear me coming into the house. How could she? She was blasting her youtube music videos so loud it didn't matter whether I was upstairs or downstairs - I could hear it just as well no matter what part of the house I was in. All I could think of - think of and chuckle - was how ironic the whole situation was. I mean she's the parental figure, and yet we're the ones having to tell her to turn down her music. This isn't one of the normal mother-in-law complaints most people vent about... I mean can I really, REALLY complain about this? Can I actually say, "too loud" to my daughter's grandma? That would just be so lame.

Next time, I'm going to find her some really nice headphones...

"I Got Cookies!"

2009-03-08T19:41:00.004-04:00

In order to understand this, you have to know that Arianna has been sick the last couple of days. Poor thing had a fever Thursday night and Friday, then started with vomiting and diarrhea Saturday morning. She has kept an awesome attitude throughout it all. Most of the time you wouldn't even know she's not feeling well, because she's such a cheerful, happy little thing.

Okay, so a few minutes ago we were all upstairs, including Mom, and Arianna decided to go on one of her usual little escapades down into Mom's area of the house. She's generally pretty good about these little adventures on her own; she mostly just likes to go say hi to the cats down there. After a minute or two of her being down there, we heard our door open, and her cheerful little voice shout up the stairs, "I got cookies!!" The cutest part was the way she said it; it was in the same tone that you would say "I've got pizza!" when entering a house full of hungry people. Sure enough, she had a little package of Oreos in hand, and was already munching away on one. Of course this isn't the snack of our choice while her tummy is so sensitive, but I couldn't find the heart to take it away from her when she found something to be SO happy about.

I think it's awesome how children at this age find such joy in the little things in life. They have so much to teach us, you know?

Blessed

2009-03-04T17:37:00.004-05:00

I want to say thank you to everyone who took the time after my last post to share kind words and thoughts with me. Each of your sentiments meant a lot to me, and brought warmth to my heart. Thank you so much.

I hope I didn't sound like I was complaining in my last post. That wasn't my intention at all. I just have moments like those, where I miss Dad a lot, and I generally don't share them with anyone, but think it would be healthier for me to do so. The thing is, I think I've been trying to push my sadness of missing him away, and because of that I tend to just not talk about him at all, because when I talk about him those feelings of sadness generally become involved in some way and I don't want other people to think I'm wanting them to feel sorry for me. But that's NOT what I want to happen - I don't want to stop talking about him just because sometimes it hurts, and I'm afraid of what others will think. I want to remember him! And if that means I have to embrace those not-so-pleasant feelings of missing him as well, and people will have to see that, then so be it. So please know, if I do write or talk about missing him ever, I'm not trying to complain...I just don't want to forget...

The truth is, I feel incredibly blessed in my life. I love my family so much! I cannot imagine having better parents, or a closer connection as a family unit. Having Dad as my father and friend for the 24 years that I had him was worth it, even if it meant I had to lose him after that. During the last year of his life, Dad became almost angelic (and I'm not just saying that - there was honestly something very special that happened to him as he neared death). He demonstrated such amazing examples of unconditional love, faith, dedication, patience, strength, endurance, perseverence, humility and compassion. I am so grateful I was able to experience his presence in my life.

Here's the coolest blessing of all: We will all be together again! Just because I miss him now doesn't mean I will be missing him forever. We have been sealed together in the Holy Temple of God, and can be together for eternity. This time apart is just a short time... How incredible is that? I cannot imagine the JOY that will fill my whole being when we are all able to be together again! What a blessing it is to know that this is not the end of our family...

The Detroit Temple, where our family was sealed in March 2000

Our family the day we were sealed

Grandpa Tim

2009-02-28T22:43:00.007-05:00

The other day Arianna and I met up with some friends at the play area at the mall, and had fun playing. There were like a billion other kids there - it was pretty crazy. Of course I found myself watching everyone, as I am prone to doing (I noticed Arianna doing the same thing - she totally takes after me in this regard). The majority of the people there were mothers with their children, but there were also quite a few grandparents obviously enjoying a special day with their grandchildren.
I began to think, as I often do, of Dad, and what an awesome grandpa he would be to Arianna. There I was standing in the middle of all of that chaos, cherishing moments I was seeing between some random grandpa's and their lucky grandkids...noticing how one grandpa tenderly removed his grandson's jacket, and brought him into the play area, and how he watched him closely from a few feet away, ready to swoop in to help if help was needed. Complete strangers, yet I felt like walking up to that grandpa and giving him a hug, and thanking him for the love and care he was sharing with his little grandson...and telling him to treasure this time they have together.
It's not just missing Dad, I guess -- it's also missing my grandpa's. Dad's dad died when I was only 2, and Mom's dad died when I was 10, and I've really missed that special grandpa influence in my life. (I've honestly contemplated asking some certain awesome elderly grandpa-type men I know if maybe they would be willing to be my surrogate grandpa's. Pretty pathetic, I know...) It saddens me to know that Arianna has to miss that grandpa-ness in her life, too (though she does still have her awesome Grandpa Palmer).
I can remember many, many times when Dad would reminisce about his dad, getting all emotional and telling me how much he wished I could have known him, and how much he would have loved me. Now I totally know what he was feeling at those times. I wish so much that Arianna could know Dad, and have his amazing influence in her life, and feel his love for her. Seriously, he would be the most amazing grandpa ever (right along with Jeremy's dad, of course)!
Anyway, sorry for rambling so much... Those were just some of the thoughts and feelings that were going through me during those brief moments in the chaotic play area at the mall, while watching complete strangers...

We don't have a lot pictures of Dad scanned into the computer yet, but here are a couple...

I always get choked up when I look at this picture.

It so clearly brings back the feeling of that moment, and

how much fun Dad and I always had together.

Arianna and Dad would have such fun being silly together!

This is the closest their earthly existences came to crossing.

And now that I've got myself all emotional, I suppose this is enough for one entry.

Luke Skywalker

2009-02-23T13:34:00.005-05:00

So, yesterday before church, I was in the choir nursery with Arianna, and she was playing with the toys in the toy box. Well, she brought over a little figure of Luke Skywalker, and I said, "That's Luke Skywalker". And she said to me, "No, that's Uncle Andreas!" Pretty classic moment, I thought. She wasn't that far off, really...

Can you see the resemblance?

Starting Today

2009-02-20T14:20:00.006-05:00

Okay, so it's been a while. I have had every intention of getting on and posting every week for a few months now... Well, the procrastination stops now. Starting today, I'm going to be an awesome blogger! Let me clarify: I'm going to do awesome at posting frequently. This may not necessarily mean the posts themselves will be awesome, but just the fact that I'm posting at all qualifies as awesomeness. (There's my little disclaimer.)

And there you have my new pledge to do better. It's different this time than the last time, though. Honest... :)

Enough mumble-jumble. Let me tell you about these pictures I took the other night (Wednesday, to be exact). They're not the greatest quality, but I wanted to just snap a shot of Arianna doing what she does every night at bedtime. She LOVES books. She loves for us to read them with her, she loves to "read" them to us, she loves to "read" them to her little friends (toys, stuffed animals, etc.), and she loves to look at them all by herself. She will sit there for the longest time before bed each night, looking at her nightly selection of books. That in and of itself is pretty cute, I think, but lately she's latched on to a particular book that makes it even more cute. This particular book is Black & Decker's "The Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair". It's been a couple of weeks now since she discovered it, and it still holds it's fascination, apparently.

If we are there when she's looking through it, she'll point to pictures and ask us what they are... If we're not around, she will just sit there and study them. I think it's pretty cool myself! Maybe after some more studying, she'll be able to show us a thing or two. We can certainly use a handyperson around here, since Dad's gone. :)

Arianna Singing

2009-01-08T23:49:00.002-05:00

We thought it was so cute that we had to record it! So here is Arianna doing her version of the Winnie the Pooh theme song, with Daddy helping her out. The funny thing is, she's never even seen the movie this song comes from, and yet she loves to sing it over and over. In this video she is 26 months old. Enjoy!

Still Here

2008-09-27T22:02:00.002-04:00

For those of you who may have been wondering, yes, we still exist. :) It's been forever since we've done anything on here, I know. Of course life has been happening during our lack of writing, and we are all happy and well here.
Jeremy has a crazy schedule this fall semester, and is barely home at all. He is gone from morning until 9:00-12:00 most nights. Fridays are our date nights (family date nights), because he gets home at 5:30 -- woohoo!!! :) Sundays he is home, too, so we are all able to go to church together and then to Nanny's house for family time and dinner. It's been rough for all of us getting adjusted to him being gone so long, but we are settling into a routine now. And we certainly treasure the moments we are able to share! Arianna has taken to waking up every morning, and immediately saying, "Daddy working". I think it's been especially hard on her getting used to him not being around as much.
Arianna is amazing! I love this little girl so much. You know, Dad used to always say how his love for us (me and Andreas) just grew and grew with every passing day, and each new stage of parenthood brought even greater joys. Now I am understanding this, I think. Every new experience we have together, every new discovery and accomplishment that Arianna makes, just brings greater joy to my heart. I LOVE being with her! She is like a little embodiment of everything that is good. Having her around always reminds me of what is important. She helps me remember to really appreciate the MOMENT we are in, to experience everything fully and then leave it behind and move on to the new moment and experience at hand. And I love her eagerness to learn every possible chance she gets! Wouldn't we all be so much better if we kept this desire to learn and grow throughout our lives? I am seriously just amazed by her all the time, and am so incredibly grateful to be her mother. What a beautiful blessing she is!!
When I last posted on here, I had just begun my new photography adventures. Since then I have had some sweet moments with my faithful camera companion, and have begun to more fully explore this art I love. It all seems to be happening so quickly, but I'm riding along to see where we go here. I have learned a LOT in the last couple of months, and am having fun! I have been able to photograph at the Earl and Palmer reunions, do sessions with Mindy and Craig's beautiful little family and Caleb and Logan, capture some special moments at Lea and Daryll's wedding, and all the while continue working with my favorite little subject, Arianna. :) I have purchased an editing program (Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 -- maybe someday I'll be able to invest in the all-powerful Adobe Photoshop, but for now I at least have something to work with that's decent), and have learned a lot about editing (though I still have a LOT to learn, I know). We've decided it will be worth it for me to purchase a backdrop stand, a backdrop and some lighting, as I will be offering portraits for the students at All-Star Karate. And I've decided it's time to finally make up some business cards and start offering my photography services. I'll be starting out offering a great deal compared to all the other photographers I've been able to find around here, just because I'd love to have the experience, and I feel weird charging as much as they do when I'm just getting started. I'm pretty excited about it all! If you live nearby, you'll probably be getting an e-mail about this soon, because I'm obviously going to need some people to take pictures of. :)
Okay, it's late and tomorrow is an early morning. Maybe I'll be able to get on tomorrow to post some of the pictures I've taken over the last couple of months...

A Beautiful Piece of Equipment

2008-07-17T22:44:00.013-04:00

We finally decided to take the plunge and invest in my new camera! Why, you ask? Well, my cousin Lea is getting married in a month, and has asked me to photograph the special occasion for her. With this in mind, we decided it was time for an equipment upgrade. So on Wednesday, July 16th, we went to Circuit City and bought a Canon EOS D40.

It was quite an investment, and while it is incredibly exciting, it is also a little scary. It's a whole new ball game now. Do I really have what it takes? We'll find out... I have a LOT to learn, but am eager to begin! :)

Pretty nifty, eh?

The whole package: The camera, lens, carrying case (our old one was too small), plus an Epson Stylus Photo printer (not seen here - it came for free with the purchase). So exciting!!! :D

And now I embark on this new journey of photography...

Music Man - Zelda vs. Mario

2008-07-08T15:23:00.009-04:00

Hello Everyone!

As you may or may not know, last semester I did a jazz band arrangement entitled Zelda Vs. Mario. It includes four main themes from the original nintendo games The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. Today, I finally got a live recording of the jazz concert in which Studio 11o of Henry Ford Community College performed my piece for the first time. It was a really neat experience (it's a rush!) to have everyone playing music that I arranged.
So, here it is, for your listening pleasure...dedicated to old school gamers everywhere:

Zelda Vs. Mario http://www.box.net/shared/0kcfli2w40
Big Band style!

Sincerely,

Music Man

P.S. Comments are welcome...like if you think I should try and get this arrangement published.

Upcoming Gigs

2008-07-06T13:16:00.002-04:00

I am a little scared but mostly excited about the next two Fridays coming up. I am going to be the live music during the Dearborn Farmers Market and Artisan Fair. Basically, the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce got my name from someone for who I played a college related gig for earlier this year. I'm nervous because that gig was only background music, and I was playing in a group. This time it'll just be me and my instruments, and I'll be singing. One cool thing about it is that they said I could play whatever I wanted...So, I'm going to play a mix of covers (oldies and new stuff) and originals. The down side to all of this is that they can't afford to pay me directly, but I am allowed to put out a tip jar.

This is going to be the first time for me to ever do a solo act like this...so, like I said I'm both excited and nervous.

If anyone wants to come and hear me play (it's free!) here's the info:

When: July 11th and 18th from 11:30am - 1:30pm
Where: West Dearborn, Between Monroe and Military just south of Michigan Ave.
Why: You like my music? Emotional support? So you can say you knew me before I got famous? Why not?

A Visit

2008-07-01T17:58:00.015-04:00

Last week we were blessed with a
spur-of-the-moment visit by some family! Danielle (Jeremy's sister) came with her two boys, Caleb (3) and Logan (1), and Jeremy's mom, Barb. They stayed for four days, and we had a great time.

Arianna loved seeing Grandma, but was not always sure that she enjoyed having the boys here; she is not accustomed to sharing all of her toys, and is rather used to being the center of attention. But she and Logan had some good playing moments together, and we're sure that in the future we'll all look back at this visit and laugh about how by the end of the visit she would scream whenever he came near her. :)
It was really good to visit with everyone. It's crazy how much the boys have grown since we last saw them! Aren't they adorable? I'm glad we had this time together before the family reunion (which is just a few weeks away now!).

If you want to see more pictures, check our flickr account (the link is at the bottom of this page) - I just added a whole bunch.

My Awesome Photographer Wife

2008-06-14T22:24:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to say how awesome she is at taking pictures and capturing some truly sweet shots. Just check out our flickr (there's a link at the bottom of our page) account to see more of how good she is. Of course, some of the pictures might have been snapped by me (I've been known to get lucky now and again) but for the most part, she's the wiz behind the lens.

Music Man - Beyond the Storm

2008-06-14T21:48:00.004-04:00

Hello reader,

I wanted to introduce myself to you all. I am Jeremy's alter-ego the Music Man. From now on, whenever you see a post with "Music Man" as the title you will know it is a special e-mail from me, with a special purpose as well. As you may or may not know I do some songwriting in whatever spare time I have and I try to record some of my better songs. Well, I am asking for all of your help. Whenever I, the Music Man leave a post I will leave you a link to be able to listen to my latest recording. I would like honest and helpful critiques from as many of you as can help me out. Now remember, these are home recordings with crappy equipment, so I don't really want to hear a lot about the quality of the recording. What would be MOST helpful is to hear people's honest opinions about the song itself. The music, the lyrics, etc. So, onto the first song...

It's called "Beyond the Storm" and it's basically about two people having to say goodbye for a long time, but knowing they will one day be together again.

PLEASE SHARE YOUR CRITIQUES (via an anonymous comment if you prefer)!

Here's the link:

http://www.box.net/shared/1lkq00xusc

Thanks,

Music Man

Photographs & Memories

2008-06-14T19:54:00.008-04:00

Last Saturday, June 7th, was quite a special day for us here. First off, it was the day Remick Underwood (some of you know him - he's a very dear friend of our family) and Amelia Yates (another good, though newer, friend of our family) were married! Yay for them! They were sealed together for time and all eternity in the Detroit Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

And second, it was the day of my first ever paid photography job. Yes folks, I was the official photographer at their wedding. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it immensely.

This has actually got me thinking about the possibility of pursuing photography more. I have always loved taking pictures (Springer can attest to that)...but what if other people actually enjoy me doing this, too? I mean, maybe I could actually pursue this, have a blast, and make a little extra income for our family at the same time...

So, I've decided to become more educated on the whole subject. I'm going to be getting some books from the library, and doing whatever I can to gain as much knowledge as possible about photography and digital editing and all that great stuff. AND, I've started looking into some new camera options. So far we're looking at the Canon EOS D40 or D400 or Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi. They're pretty expensive, but if I actually find more people who want to pay me to take pictures... :)

Anyway, it's all very exciting!!

And, after getting sidetracked with the photography thing for a bit there, let me just reiterate that Remick and Amelia are married! Whoa! It's pretty crazy to think that Remick is all grown up now... He's like my little brother, only not so "little" anymore, I guess. I'm so proud of him and the choices he's made in his life lately. It was awesome to sit in the sealing room and watch as he and Amelia knelt across the altar from one another. Congratulations you two, and may your life together be filled with joy and love and laughter! We love you both so much!

Rejoice, oh blogging community -- we are here!!

2008-06-07T00:38:00.002-04:00

Well, we've done it! We have a blog! We are quite proud of ourselves, figuring out how to link up our flickr and goodreads accounts, and even creating an awesome project playlist account to provide you with some of our favorite music for your listening enjoyment. Pretty snazzy, eh?
Due to our differing styles in writing, from now on you will most likely not be seeing any "we" posts. The plan is that we will instead post separately, and hopefully both do so fairly regularly. So, welcome to our blog, and get ready for some exciting adventures!! And now you will all discover just how strange we are...