Garrett's first birthday!

Our sweet birthday boy!

 On October 2nd, my little man turned one! Hard to believe how fast time goes by. 

We had his party the following Saturday, the 4th. It was a small gathering, with some of our closest friends. As he is my "Gar-bear" he had a teddy bear party theme. 

Fun teddy bear cupcakes

And Garrett's cake.

I really enjoy getting to decorate and create. And he really enjoyed destroying and devouring. :)

Party prep included blowing up balloons, which he was happy to try to help with.

And the whole family enjoyed testing out their bouncing, flying, and static clinging abilities.

I did not take as many pictures overall as I had planned. Its so easy to forget when you are having fun. :)

Proud daddy with the birthday boy.

Lots of playtime!

The cake destroyer! He had so much fun with his cake!

Showing off his cake arms

"Mmmm, and it tastes good too!"

Everyone was happy to help him break in his presents

Which was fine with him, because he was having so much fun with the tissue paper.

Happy Birthday Garrett!

Seafood and Flytraps: just your average evening out.

       Date nights, in general, are great. But when its been a bit since you've had one, they tend to be really great. On Friday we had a really great one! We had a fantastic dinner, seated in a nearly empty section of the restaurant, where we could talk and joke freely. And without kids to watch us, we even got to horse around at the table! If you have much experience with crab legs, you'll know that empty pincers make great dueling weapons, and less-than-great chop sticks. ;)
      We meant to get a picture of the two of us, because we never remember to get pictures of just the two of us. But in our normal style, we forgot!
      After dinner we took a walk together. Stopped in a little shop and got something for each of the kids. And then stopped at the grocery store on the way home. And yes, that still counts as part of a date! Just him and me, able to hold hands and stroll together. It most definitely counts!
      At the store, I found a new little addition to add to our busy home. And my loving husband indulged me; he's pretty sweet that way.

Our new venus flytrap. Still working on a name for him.

      I had never seen one in person before. And now he sits in my kitchen window, poised to defend our home from flying pests... or something like that. Some girls want flowers on a date, some want a carnivorous plant. And hey, flowers don't eat flies. :)

Rainbow Citrus Cake- Allergen Free Makeover

      This past Easter I made a cake for a get together with friends. We sadly never made it to said get together due to our kiddos being sick. But the cake made it there, and it was a big hit. Which is saying something, given that it wasn't your typical cake. I have since been asked to make this cake as a birthday cake for a precious girl at our church who, due to allergies, had never had a "bakery style" birthday cake before. I was honored by the request, and excited that I could help make her day extra special. 

      I have been meaning to post the recipe alterations here for months now. But time often gets away from us in our loud, busy, adventure filled life with little ones. :) So here it is now.

The original recipe came from Allrecipes.com. I frequent their site for fun stuff. The link to the original is here.

The cake that I made, however, needed to be allergy free. And when I say allergy free, I mean it. I altered this recipe to make it gluten, dairy, egg, corn, nut, and coconut free. 

*I am including the brand names of the replacement items I used, but that's just as an aid. If you have a preferred flour blend or different egg replacement etc, go with what you know and prefer. I purchased most of my replacement products at Whole Foods. Though our local Kroger carries some options as well. The Namaste Foods flour blend is certified nut free and also has a good texture and taste, so it is our preferred for this cake.

Allergen-free Rainbow Citrus Layer Cake

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups Namaste Foods gluten free "Perfect flour blend"

5 tsp corn starch free baking powder

1 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening
2 1/4 cups white sugar
The equivelent of 4 eggs of Ener G Egg replacer
1 1/2 cups Rice Dream classic rice milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tsp grated orange zest
2 tsp grated lime zest
2 drops (or more if using natural food based food coloring) yellow, orange, and green food coloring
A squeeze of juice into each layer

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9-inch round pans. 

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream together shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg replacer a "splash" at a time, until incorporated. (Side note, get that egg replacer good and whipped up; nice and frothy before adding.) Stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Divide batter into three bowls.

4. In the first bowl, stir in the lemon zest, yellow food coloring, and squeeze of lemon juice; pour into prepared pan. In the second bowl, stir in the orange zest, orange food coloring, and squeeze of orange juice; pour into second prepared pan. In the last bol, stir in the lime zest, green food coloring, and squeeze of lime juice; pour into third prepared pan.  

5. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake layer comes out clean. about 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out (gently!) onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

6. Assemble the cake: stack the layers together with the Lemon Frosting (recipe to follow) in between the layers. Frost sides and top with Orange Frosting (recipe to follow). Enjoy!

Lemon Frosting

(This recipe will leave you with a bit of extra frosting... do with it as you choose :)

1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks (can substitute shortening)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbs lemon juice

3 cups corn starch free powdered sugar

1-2 Tbs rice milk to desired consistency

Whip butter until fluffy, add next three ingredients. (Tip-I often add the juice and vanilla to the powdered sugar before adding it to the mixer, simply because it dampens the powdered sugar and keeps it from flying everywhere when I turn on the mixer.) Add milk as needed.

Orange Frosting

1 1/2 Tbs orange zest

1 tsp lemon zest

1 Tbs orange juice

1 tsp lemon juice

1/3 cup + 2 Tbs vegan buttery sticks (can substitute shortening or other dairy free butter replacement)

1/4 tsp salt

4 cups corn starch free powdered sugar

2-3 Tbs milk to desired consistency 

Whip up butter. Add zest and salt, mix. Add juice and powdered sugar (see tip in lemon frosting). Add milk as needed. 

Side notes: I have been known to be heavy handed with my zest and juice. 

The frosting can be colored for decorating if desired.

Also, food coloring of any kind is completely optional.

I do not recommend using "butter flavored" crisco in any part of this recipe. The flavoring is too overpowering. 

*When making something allergen free, in a home that isn't, always be sure to properly, thoroughly, clean all work spaces, tools, aprons, etc that will be in any way possible to contact the food.*

In my experience, gf cakes often are just a bit odd. My family does not eat gf, and even we truly enjoyed this one. And I have received many great reviews on it. If you are looking for allergen-free AND tasty, give this one a try!

First time I made it. I used regular food coloring this time

Not exactly designer, lol, but it was delicious.

And this was the second time, natural food coloring used, and decorated for a birthday girl.

Fun side note: it was my first ever layer cake. :) It was a lot of fun to make both times. And I look forward to making it again in the future.              

Additional side note: I'm not exactly sure why some of my text seems to be highlighted. Odd...       

The new man in our lives

We had our 20 week ultrasound on Friday. 

(Almost a week ago! I need to get better at this blogging thing! So many things I want to post about, but so much going on I can hardly find the time.)

Our sweet little baby is healthy, happy, busy, and most definitely all boy. :)

             Some sweet shots of our new little man:

Hand on the side of his face, only a partial face image.

Little foot

Our sweet little guy.

And, to break with our previous tradition of not announcing name until birth, we decided to share our new addition's name this time. Sweet little baby Samson!

He is still measuring 5 days ahead of his due date, and has been all along. So, do hop down this bunny trail with me: His due date is December 18th. However measuring 5 days ahead would put a more accurate due date at December 13th. And both our other boys came: Blake- 1 day shy of 39 weeks, Garrett- 39 weeks on the day. So we can reasonably expect to meet sweet little Samson somewhere between the 5th or 6th of December. But owning to the fact that all my babies compete to outlast the previous one, we're widening expectation to the 5th-13th of December. This makes it a high probability for his birthday to be a sweet addition to another family "holiday" of some kind. Jim's and my 5th anniversary is the 5th, Daelynn's 4th birthday is the 8th, and our niece Lizzy's 6th birthday is the 12th! Busy, busy times in the Palmer family. :) Whenever he comes, it will be a day of blessings and celebration! 

Sweet side note: Big sister Daelynn, who was chased out of bed by thunder, keeps looking over my shoulder and seeing the ultrasound pictures and responding with phrases such as "Oh! That's my baby Samson!", "That's my baby boy Samson right there.", "We saw my baby on the screen. That's baby Samson.","Aww, is that his little foot?" She is melting my heart and making me smile. Sweet little girl. She's so excited about her third baby brother! I really don't know how I'd wrangle all these boys without her!

Crazy Close!

       I know there are a lot of people in the world today who would call us crazy for having our children so close. Our newest edition, baby number four, is due the same month our oldest turns four. It is true that our home often runs a bit on the side of chaos and noise. But its a joyful kind of chaos. And though the noises aren't always joyful, they are always a reminder of our reasons for being so.

       Having children close is harder for Mom and Dad, that's true. Little ones do take a lot of time and energy. But it so much fun for the little people involved! The closeness I mentioned above was not in reference to their ages, but to their emotional relationships. There is something so precious in the bonds between siblings. The love and care that I witness in them every day often leaves me in awe. (And often a little choked up, though that may be in part due to these pregnancy hormones ;)

It started right from the beginning. 

(Daelynn will never remember a time without siblings.)

                      

   And its grown and grown, just as they have. 

Every day is a "play date". Every game has play mate. They always have a buddy. 

Buddies make chores even more fun! (If you have toddlers, you know they love this!)

Need help getting the lint out of your toes, look no further.

Need a buddy to cuddle up with to watch a good movie, we've got that!

Looking for someone to give you a "haircut" with a Nintendo controller, we've got that too!

Peas in a pod. Buddies for life.

And to their great delight, we keep adding buddies!

She's a little excited, in case you couldn't tell. 

Buddies means helping hands

and lots and lots of smiles. 

Hugs

and cuddles

and love.

Fun games

and great stories!

And so much sweetness!

   So yes, our kids are "crazy close" in the best possible meaning. They are the closest of friends. We have to remind Blake on occasion not to intentionally wake Daelynn up to play if he gets up from nap first. Daelynn always makes sure Blake is getting a treat too, before she will even take a bite of hers. He will rarely get his sippy cup, without getting hers as well, and hand delivering it. They genuinely miss each other when they are apart, and they literally jump with joy when they get reunited again. :) Daelynn had to work for weeks to get Garrett to smile at her when he was younger, but she never gave up. Now he always has a smile for her. Blake is rarely ever still, but he will lay still and hold Garrett's hand, and just hang out with him. And my sweet girl refers to the baby I'm carrying as "my baby in mommy's tummy". (She has decided there is only one in there and not two. But she is holding fast that this baby is a girl!) She already talks excitedly about helping to feed the baby, sing to 'her', and she can't wait until they get to share a room! It is pretty precious to hear. 

My children are siblings. Do they disagree sometimes? Of course. They are young and still in the beginnings of a lifetime of learning self control. But their love for one another is very evident, every single day. 

Is our home busy? Yes. Is there constant noise and movement? Pretty much. But I've never seen more love and beauty than when I watch those precious little people together. 

Pink lines and Finish lines

Big exciting news here in the Palmer House:

WooHoo!

We had a pretty good idea already, but we got our proof on Friday morning. The big kids are super excited too! Blake goes back and forth between wanting a sister or a brother, though lately its been brother. Daelynn has a whole other plan however, she wants a sister AND a brother! :) And she is determined that there is indeed a boy and a girl in there. If I talk about the baby in mommy's tummy, she corrects me by reminding me there are two, a boy and a girl. Sweet little girl. Guess we'll see if we are doubling up on this pregnancy in another month or two. That sure would be a wonderful surprise!

On a side note, that shirt was my very first screen printing project. :) What a fun one to start off with!

Saturday was the WillPower 5K I had signed up for a little over a month ago. I was very pumped to run in my first 5K! My friends Sarah, Deborah, Deborah's son Teeper, and Nicole also signed up to run. It was a pretty chilly morning, but that's good for running. Sarah, Deborah, and Teeper were kind enough to stay back with this slow lady. It meant so much to me to have friends cheering me on, motivating me, and making the race so much fun!

Deborah, Teeper, Me, and Sarah before the race. 

My wonderful husband came to cheer me on, with all three of the kids. It felt great to have them there cheering mommy on for her first 5K! 

 They were right there watching and cheering when I crossed the finish line! 

About to cross the finish line.

 It was a lot of fun and I am so glad I did it. I am also very thankful for my amazing friends who came out in the early, chilly, morning to run. You guys are awesome!

And a big kudos to Nicole who got a fantastic time while running four months pregnant! Yeah! She is great motivation for being a fit mommy, and she is always very encouraging to me. 

It was a great race, and hopefully the first of many! I also hope to do this race again next year, and beat my time by 7-10 minutes. Its a big goal considering I should have a 3 and a half month old by then. But I think I can do it!

3.1

    For years I have wanted to start running. A busy life and little ones, not to mention the fact that its really only fun to run once you're in shape, have made it easy for me to delay this goal. Well, I've finally gotten my motivation! And, to help me stay on track, I have signed up to run a 5K! I am very excited! As of today I have gotten four friends to join also! That helps my motivation greatly.

   I have one month to get in good enough condition to run the 3.1 miles. I can walk forever, but running is a different story. At the beginning of last week I couldn't quite run a mile. By Saturday I made it a mile and a half; so that's promising! Half way there! It feels great to be accomplishing small goals on the way to the bigger ones.

   One of the added benefits to getting in better shape is that the more I exercise, the healthier I eat. They're connected for me. My motivation to eat really healthy is directly related to whether or not I exercise. Suffice it to say, I've been eating much better this past week. (Healthy for me doesn't mean no sugar, no bread, etc. It means moderation of those things. In my opinion, a life without baked goods is no life at all.) I have found that I love spinach in my scrambled eggs and omelets. Who knew?! Its really good! And green beans (not canned) cooked with garlic, mmmmmmm. Leafy greens, produce, and protein are my staples... and coffee of course.

   I am very happy to be running, even though I'm sore a lot lately. Its the kind of soreness that reassures you that progress is being made. I'm ready to be a healthier mommy, even when it hurts.

Here is the website for the race information:
 http://www.willpower5k.com/

Choo Choo, Blake is turning two!!

My big little man is turning two! Hard to believe our sweet Bubba boy is getting so big!

Here he is at just 6 days old.

For his party we picked a train theme. Most little boys around his age love trains, and he is no exception. I got to get creative for his party (thank you pintrest). I decided to make a big box train, which was a lot of fun.

Stage one: boxes, packing tape, and an oatmeal can.

Stage two: Some easel paper, tissue paper, and a little construction paper and its an engine! Yay!

The finished product, filled with balloons for extra fun!

They loved it!

So worth the effort!

Amazingly enough, the train survived the party! We still have it to play with!

Next came the decorations. Lots of bright colors!            

We decorated the birthday boy's chair with balloons. 

I made him a happy birthday banner.

The kitchen and living room all done up, complete with streamers on the fan.

Even the front door got in on the decorating fun.

Then the cakes! I made two cakes and a batch of cupcakes, including frosting, from scratch. 

The main cake was dairy free because Bubba has a dairy allergy. 

I also made some dairy free strawberry ice cream which turned out really good. It only had four ingredients: water, rice milk, sugar, and strawberries.

I made the cake marbled chocolate and vanilla, and had so much fun decorating it!

 And because multiple families we invited had food allergies, and I love a good baking challenge, I made the second cake (marble cake) and the (lemon) cupcakes dairy, gluten, corn, egg, nut, and coconut free. (I will share the recipes I used in a separate post.)

Allergy free lemon cupcakes.

The kids were happy to be my taste testers, and they devoured the cupcakes. Kid approval means they're good!

 Here are all three together.

They were a hit! 

The day of the party started out with snow! So exciting for the kids. 

Blake had fun trying on his engineer hat and bandana.

Here he is mid-party having a blast!

Teeper in his engineer duds. 

 The Thacker boys showing off some basketball moves while sporting their party wear.

Cake Time!

Candles... shiny 

He blew out both his candles by himself.

Playing with part of his train candle holder while waiting for a piece of cake. (Daelynn took this picture.)

Cake!

Daelynn got to play photographer for a bit. :)

Concentrating...

Presents! He was very spoiled.

Remote controlled truck pulling a trailer. Sweet!

Wooden train set from mommy and daddy.

Oh no! The train derailed! His new set of construction equipment is on the job!

He's just a little happy with his party and gifts... just a little. :)

He also got two awesome books that he can't get enough of, and neither can his sister. Two great coloring books, which she has helped him break in as well. And a cool John Deer tractor.

It was a very fun train party. We all enjoyed the company and fun! And the birthday boy had a blast! Thank you to all who helped make it so fun! I do wish I had gotten more pictures of all the kids playing together. But, we had so much fun spending time with our guests that the camera was often forgotten. 

I wish to say a special thank you to my amazing Husband, without his help I never could have pulled this off! He went above and beyond to help me in any way I needed. He really was:

:) Love you hun!