Too much TV!

One day last week I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. The kids had really been acting up all day and were acting extremely spoiled. When Billy got home at the end of the day I was exhausted from breaking up fights, and arguing with the kids. I felt like I needed to make some changes in my parenting. After talking to Billy about it, we decided that part of the problem was that the kids watch too much TV and computer and they don't have enough responsibilities. They come home from school, do homework and then sit in front of the TV. So, we decided they need to start earning their TV time. Billy suggested we make a chart with pockets and when they complete a "job" they get to put a popsicle stick in the pocket. Once they've earned 2 points they get to watch 30 minutes of TV or computer time. Some examples of their "jobs" are: Read a chapter in a book, vacuum, do dishes, help make dinner, read the BOM, do a page in a workbook, paint a picture. The kids were really excited about the charts and since I implemented them my life has been so much easier. Now when they get home from school they color a picture, read a book, or do one of their other jobs so they can earn popsicle sticks to watch TV. By the time they are done, they only have about a half hour before dinner time, bath time and bed time. So far I am liking this new system!!

Disneyland!

We ended our 2 week Christmas vacation with a mini trip to Disneyland. We went with some of our best friends, Kassidi and Nathen and their 2 kids. It was so much fun to be able to take Dawson and Kylie on some of the bigger rides. And Kale was able to go on most of the other rides.

Utah

After a week in Vegas we braced ourselves for the cold, bundled up and headed for Utah to visit my family. It had been 8 months since I had been to Utah. My parents have been to San Diego a couple times to visit me, but I hadn't seen my sister since April, so it was long overdue. Dawson was so excited to play with Donovan (my sister's little boy.) Dawson and Donovan are 2 weeks apart, and the best of friends, except when they are fighting over a toy. Kylie doesn't have any cousins her age, but she was happy to hang out with her best friend from Utah, Jaidyn. And we made an exception to our no sleepover rule because they only get to see each other twice a year. The rest of the week was really relaxed. We went out with a few of our best friends and I went out to lunch with 2 of my best friends from high school, and we hung out a lot with my parents. I really skimped on the picture taking in Utah, but here are a couple of Dawson and Donovan, and Kylie and Jaidyn.

Christmas morning

After Billy finished his finals and Kylie got out of school for winter break we headed to Vegas to spend Christmas with Billy's family. Christmas is always amazing at the Palmers house. The house is decorated to the max with the cutest Christmas decorations. We had a yummy Christmas eve dinner and then read Christmas stories, put on our matching Christmas PJs and sent the kids to bed where they anxiously awaited santa's arrival. In the morning we all opened up our gifts (one by one of coarse), ate Christmas breakfast, and went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was a really great Christmas!

The most wonderful time of the year!

I love Christmas time!!! December has been such a busy and fun month! Billy had finals the first part of the month, so he was busy studying away and missed out on a few of our activities. The kids and I flew to Las Vegas for Billy's little brother, Shane's mission homecoming. While there, we took the kids to the mall to see Santa. I thought that since Dawson is a big 4 year old now that he wouldn't be scared of Santa. It turns out I was wrong. He was just as scared as Kale, as you can tell from the picture above. The rest of the month was filled with baking my traditional christmas sugar cookies, shopping, wrapping, Christmas parties, going to Christmas card lane, and a white elephant gift exchange with friends.

Happy Turkey Day '09

Billy only had two days off school for Thanksgiving, so we didn't have time to travel to Utah where both of our families were for Thanksgiving, but it was still a really great day!!! We invited a bunch of couples from our ward who weren't going home for the holiday. Billy cooked two turkeys and everyone else brought a side or dessert. Everything turned out sooo yummy!!! I was concerned that we wouldn't have enough room for everyone (21 people including kids), but it actually turned out fine. The kids ate first, and then they all played while the adults binged, i mean ate. Afterward, we played games and chit chatted into the evening. We are so lucky to have found such great friends here in San Diego!!

Dawsons 4th birthday/Legoland!!

Yesterday was Dawsons birthday! I cannot believe he's 4 years old!! Kids grow up too fast. I decided to take the kids to Legoland for his birthday because we had free passes from the radio station and a friend of mine was already taking her kids, so we met up with them and they had such a great time. Legoland is the perfect amusement park for Dawson's age. There are so many cute rides for younger kids. After Legoland we went home and had a few friends over for batman cake and icecream. Dawson had a really great day!

New Moon night 2

Normally I would never go see a movie in the theater twice, especially since we are struggling law students, but I had already purchased my tickets for New Moon on Saturday before Billy took me to the Thursday showing. And I really didn't mind seeing it a second time, especially since it was a girls night with some of my best girl friends from my ward! We had a great time in spite of all the screaming teenagers.

New Moon night 1

I have the best husband in the world! On Thursday night we got a babysitter because Billy had told me he had an awards program at his school that night. On our way there, he asked me to get something out of the glove box. When I opened it there were tickets to a special early showing of New Moon for that night! There was never any awards program. He was just being super romantic and surprising me with tickets to the movie. And even better, when we got there, some of our best friends were there to see the movie with us! It was such a fun night, and the movie was much better than the first. I loved it!!!

Halloween '09

Here are a few pics of the kids in their costumes. Kylie was a zombie bride. Dawson was the bad Spiderman. (Last year he was the good spiderman. Will the spiderman phase ever end?) And Kale was an elephant. We had 2 trunk or treats this weekend. One was at Kylie's school and one was at the church. Needless to say, the kids got way too much candy! I am taking inventory and only allowing 1 piece of candy per day. We'll see how that goes.

Pumpkin Patch

Today my friend, Kassidi and I took our kids to a cute pumpkin patch on a farm. It was hard to believe we were so close to the beach. It felt like a farm in Utah. Kylie went out to dinner with a friend, so she didn't go, but the boys had so much fun! They got to pick out a pumpkin, we went on a hayride, saw farm animals, played games, and went sledding down hay hills. It was a fun fall activity!

Halloween pajamas

Billy's mom sent the kids these adorable Halloween P.J.'s with their names embroidered on them. I just had to post a few pics of them. She also sent Kale this darling elephant costume. It looks hilarious on him because he looks twice as chubby as he already is.

Spooktacular Sea World

On Saturday we decided to take the kids to Sea World because they have trick or treating on the weekends in October. This was the first and last time we will ever go to Sea World on a Saturday. It was sooo busy! We had to park way far away and the lines for trick or treating were so long. We only had time to stand in a couple lines, and when Dawson got up to the front of the line and saw that they were giving away bananas, he gave his back and said, "No thanks". He was expecting something with a little more sugar. They did have a cute halloween show with sea lions that the kids really liked, and Dawson was happy to dress up in his costume. We went with my friend Kassidi and her two cute kids, Julia and Mason.

Dawson starts preschool!

I know... I'm way behind on blogging. What's new? I'm just now getting around to posting pictures of Dawson's first day of preschool. Better late than never, right? Dawson started preschool right after labor day and can I just tell you, it has been heavenly! I don't think either of us realized how much we needed a break from each other. Don't get me wrong. I love him very much and I wouldn't trade him for the world, but sometimes it's nice to have a break for a couple hours and have some down time. He goes to preschool twice a week from 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. He is doing so well and loves every minute of it! It has also been nice to have some time to spend one on one with Kale. It feels like I'm just a mother of one for a few hours. And when Kale goes down for a nap I have a couple hours to myself. Like I said... It's heavenly!

Kale Walks

Hawaii 09

I am finally getting around to posting some pictures of our trip to Hawaii. It was soooo relaxing. My parents came to San Diego to stay with the kids (bless their hearts. They are still recuperating.)So that we could have one last relaxing vacation before law school started. We went with Billy's whole family and stayed in Ko Olina which is on Oahu. Right before we left for Hawaii Dawson decided to jump off the couch and split his chin open, which required a visit to the urgent care and a few stitches. Luckily my dad was able to take the stitches out for him while we were gone. We got to do most of what Oahu has to offer: We saw Dog the Bounty Hunter, went snorkeling, saw dolphins, got shaved ice from Motsumotos, went to Waikiki, went to North Shore, went to a luau, and best of all I got to lay on the beach for hours on end with a good book and no kids. Here are a few pictures!!!