scary night

last night was the scariest we have had in a while. as most of you know last night we came home from our trip of visiting grad schools. we were all pretty tired and so we went to bed pretty early. around 1:30am our carbon monoxide detector started going off. i woke garran up to check, and i just laid there thinking for sure that it was just a low battery.

I WAS WRONG!

garran said that the CM detector was beeping and that it was the alarm. so we talked for a minute and decided to call the fire department. garran called 911 and i got up and started trying to move our suitcases and things around in the living room to make it look a little better.

the fire department came in and did some readings. we had already turned the furnace off and the levels were already at a level that was right on the border for when you would have to go to the hospital.

they asked us to turn the furnace back on. when we did the levels shot way up. the fire man told me that had we not had that CM detector, within two more hours, the levels in our place would have been FATAL!

garran and i could not believe what we were hearing. you could not smell anything or see anything. thank goodness for that alarm. had we not had it our morning could have been a much much sadder one.

if you do not have one. get one. we bought a pretty basic one and it was about 25.00 dollars. today i am thinking that is the best money we could have ever spent. we just barely missed having to go to the hospital and were grateful that we had that warning to get out.

we had to leave around 2:oo am and head to my in-laws. the fire department said it was not a good idea to sleep there with the levels still at what they were. even though we are sleep deprived this morning we are grateful to all be alive and well.

ps. i also have to say a special thank you to my friendly neighbor who was the big advocate for me getting our carbon monoxide detector.

MARCH 4 2010

well on march 4, 2010 briea was shocked and surprised to find out that even on vacation she still got to have a birthday party!! i just love these pictures of her. she is growing and changing so fast. she is such a girl. she loves babies and to give lots of loves. she sympathy cries when either one of her brothers are upset. she just loves them so much. she loves to dance and even though it is not english, she is really starting to be a little chatter box!
we love you more than words and are so happy to have you as part of our family!
HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY BRIEA-BUG!

another flashback

hmm, do you think they might be related. when I first showed garran this picture, he first thought that it was briea. nope this is kael. ya, i think there is a family resemblance!

old pictures

I have been going through a lot of pictures lately due to transferring them from one computer to another. I keep coming across old pictures. so forgive me if you see this every now and then. I just love seeing pictures of the kids when they were younger. i know they are not that old now.. but still. look at this picture of Cullan. i just love those cheeks and his sweet smile.

opps.

well we got some news from another grad school. Friday, garran and I were out on a date night when I got an email that said that he did not get into Kansas. We thought ok. Neither one of us were super bummed. We were disappointed but not like earth shattering disappointment. Anyways today we got an email from the Director of the Art department. She said that Garran had been sent the rejection email by mistake. That his application was still being considered and that they were terribly sorry for any confusion that this may have caused. BLAH. so now we are just waiting...AGAIN. i just want answers so we can start making plans. is that to much to ask?

sad

I'm sure that the title might be a little confusing. this should just be a sweet picture of my son. however for me it is almost hard to look at. for the last few days Cullan has been wearing this hat around the house and even out sometimes. it did not even dawn on me why he has been doing it. he thinks its cool because his friend Oliver does it. it makes me sad that Oliver has to wear one. it makes me sad that Cullan has no real understanding of what is happening. he just thinks that Oliver is great. I am so happy that they have the chance to be friends and spend time together. I am grateful that we have gotten to be friends with their family for almost 10 years. We will miss seeing them when we move and will cherish all the laughs and memories we have made.

Smart!

This morning Cullan said "Mom, can I have eggs for breakfast!" I replied sure. I was checking my email, so I told him to wait just a minute. He then told me he would get them. I thought ok. He can handle getting them out of the fridge. Ya I turn around and he is eating a bag of those Reese Easter Eggs we had hidden.

Touche Cullan...Touche (as garran would say!)

little M.D.

this cutie doctor gives out lots of sugar!
she is so cute walking around the house with her little stethoscope around her neck.

winner!

the other night at Oliver's benefit, kael walked a way a winner!

i had put a few tickets in with each of the kids name on it as well as some my parents had one.
Lucky Kael won this bear!! he was over the moon when I brought it home. I asked him what he the bears name was...he replied with a sigh "mom his name is TEDDY BEAR!"
I just added this picture of the boys because they both have such strange looks on their faces. It is kind of funny.

friends.

The other day we had friends over. I snapped a few pictures of the kids. Jaren with his kool-aid stach..Oliver and Briea-Bug!
I missed the pictures of Garran and Oliver racing on Mario Wii. It was pretty entertaining!

grandparents

I love this picture. These are my paternal grandparents. This is one of my favorite pictures of them. I love her dress. I think they both look so great in this picture. I asked my dad if he could get me a copy of it and it came in the mail not to long ago. I thought I would scan it to the computer just in case something ever happens to it.

Like Father - Like Son

today i found this picture of Garran and his sisters.
he is up in the top left hand corner. here is one of Cullan about the same age.
any question where those beautiful curls came from?

Watercolor!

In an effort to de-clutter, especially before an impending move, I have decided to start scanning the boys work and save some of it on here. of course I will save some special things in a box I have for them, but since I am using our blog as almost a family journal, i thought this would work just fine.

so to start off my efforts, here is some of kael's watercolors from MOM SCHOOL today.
We learned about the letter W. Wiggle Worms get to be painted with Watercolors!
Here is Kael's Worm. 2/2010Here is an extra one that Kael wanted to do.And one more. He really likes to paint.
I think they are wonderful. But I am basis.

more good news!

today we got a personal phone call from Northern Illinois. they called to say that Garran had been accepted to one of four spots. So EXCITED! They continued with the good news. They told garran they would offer him a tuition wave and a possible assitantship. We have to more schools to hear from, but looks like we might have some decisions to make soon. I am so excited for him!!

dreaming

tonight as i was working on transferring pictures, i came across this one from last summer and actually started to feel sad. will it ever be warm enough to do this again? it is starting to feel like only a dream. we are supposed to get six more inches tonight. i am really starting to hate snow.

Ollie's All Star Bash

February 20th 2009

Well we did it. We pulled it off. Last night was Oliver's All Star Bash! It was AMAZING!! Everything went pretty much according to plan. There are always hiccups here and there but for the most part the night went very smoothly. I got there around four so that we could finish up some last minute details. We had over a hundred volunteers that needed to be organized and told what needed to be done. We had the most amazing volunteers. They were all UNI students and had been coordinated through a lady named Jen Beck. I will forever be grateful to them. Without them the night would not have been such a great success. They were super helpful and great with the kids! So here are pictures of the night!Oliver and his family were picked up in a limo and brought to the location.Here they are pulling up.Oliver being greeted by the limo driver as he exited the limo.The Palmer Family.
Oliver, Stacy, Jaren, Eden, Ed (minus their two month old, who was to sick to attend)
As they entered the building their were Camp Adventure (UNI students) lining the stair way waiting and cheering with confetti.Here they are getting ready....Here is his big entrance. I think he was a little shocked. A lot of people were cheering. I think he got a little nervous. ;0)Here he is. The big man of the night! He looks so sweet and handsome in his tux.
Once the Palmer's arrived, it was time for the party to begin.
Downstairs we had food and games for the kids.There were so many fun tables and activities set up. Camp adventure kids had tables set up to make fun hats and other crafts, Jiva a local salon set up a table and were giving all the little girls manicures. There was a balloon guy who was making just about anything you could think of out of balloons for the kids. There was a flat screen set up with a wii in the corner for kids to play different wii games. It was really amazing and I think all of the kids had such a good time.
While everyone was eating we had some guests arrive. The local fire department decided to drop in. They asked Oliver if he would come outside for a minute. Then they surprised us all and scooped him up, set him in the truck and starting fastening him in.After they got him all buckled in, they put a head set on him so that he could hear the other guys in the truck. Then....they let him pull the horn! How fun. Stacy, Amy and I were joking about how most grown men we know would probably like to do the same thing!The surprises just kept coming. After checking with Ed and Stacy, they turned on the sirens and took Oliver for a ride around downtown. We were all standing outside and could hear the siren as the toured the downtown area. I know Oliver thought this was pretty cool!
After they got back, there was one more surprise.The Fire Marshall made Oliver an honorary Fire Fighter. It was very sweet. I believe he got a badge and a tee-shirt that said fire fighter.
The night did not end there.We had another special guest. The Bucks, a local baseball team's mascot came to enjoy the evening and greet people that were there.
Once dinner was over, people started moving upstairs to the dance floor. We had a DJ set up as well as a silent auction and raffle. Here is Uncle Bryan, Grandma Young, and Oliver!Cullan rocking his balloon gear. The balloon guy was amazing! He was so great with the kids. People were waiting almost thirty minutes in line at some points just so their kids could chat with him and get a balloon.Here is Jaren, Oliver's younger brother playing with his balloon sword.The dance was great. The DJ played fun music and everyone had a great time. These are some friends of ours from church that I snapped a quick picture of dancing. Eric and his daughter Addy.One last special guest for the night. TC the Panther mascot from UNI came to dance the night away. Oliver was so funny. When he got to meet TC he put his hand up on his head to cover up his Hawkeye logo. He said he did not want TC to be upset with him. What a sweet kid.The party was AMAZING. People were so generous and I think that everyone had a fun time. I think that the dancing started to tapper of around 10:00 or 10:30. Again the UNI and Camp Adventure kids were great. They helped clean up and tear everything down. All the work was done in no time at all. So after everyone had left and everything was said and done, we decided to get one more picture.So here we are. The Committee Gals!
Starting on the left side, bottom.
Bridget B, Andrea G, Stacy P
Right side back to front
Jen B, Myself, Amy B, Meghan H.

I can not say enough good things about Jen B. and her volunteers from UNI and Camp Adventure. I am also so grateful for everyone who came out to support our event and to enjoy the evening. My heart has been filled to the brim with love for complete strangers. Multiple people who stopped me that night and told me stories about how they knew the Palmer Family or how they did not and just came. I have been humbled by the kindness of others and hope that I do not soon forget the feelings I have had through the experience of these last two fundraisers.

If you would like to know more about Oliver and his condition you can go to his website below.
Oliver Palmer

friends.

I just love this picture.
We got to have a Valentine's Play Date with some old friends that we do not get to see very often.
The little girl in the picture and Cullan were born with in two months of each other. It was so much fun to go and play! Thanks friendly neighbors for having us over!!

tomorrow!

tomorrow is the day. Oliver's big benefit dinner is tomorrow! i have been stressing about this. worrying about how it will go over and tonight after seeing it all set up and ready to go...i feel great!! I think it looks amazing. I think everyone will have a blast. I think this is something that will be super fun for Oliver and his family and that will make great memories. I can not wait!! Pictures will come...of course!
Just in case you did not know...
Ollie's All-Star Bash
Saturday Feb 20th
5-11 @ The Masonic Center
Super family friendly and super fun time!!

Cullan

just some funny things so I won't forget down the road.

Today Garran dropped Cullan off at preschool. Garran said that when they got into the classroom, Cullan said, "Ok Dad, go back to the Plane!".

Yesterday when I picked him up, in front of his teacher he said, "Thanks for coming to rescue me MOM!" Ya. that was nice, right in front of his teacher!

waiting..ya not so fun

what is wrong with me? I am really struggling. I hate waiting to hear from the other schools. even though Tennessee was one of Garrans top picks, now that we know from one, i just want to know from all of them. Like I said, I like to plan. So having to wait to know where we are going to live and how to plan is HORRIBLE!! I need to work on the virtue of patience!!