{Wrap-up of 2009}

The last day of 2009 has arrived (and is already half over). If I was to compare 2009 to a bottle of wine (and you know I like my wine!), I'd say it was a great year. I'm not sure if it is possible to remember everything we did in 2009, but I'm going to give it a shot. As we were driving home from Target this morning I was explaining to all my kids what it meant to be New Years Eve (as they don't really have any concept of time - which I actually like - except when we are trying to get to school on time). I asked them if they could think of some things we had done in 2009 - and here's the list we came up with...
*We went on a family vacation to St. Louis and stayed with the Husters (so so fun)
*We got to climb to the top of the arch (I don't really care to do that one again anytime soon)
*Gabriella was potty trained (I'm a big fan of this one)
*Lucas said his first words, rolled over, crawled, sprouted 10 teeth, had some french fries,took his first steps, and turned 1
*Austin and Ashlyn took swim lessons and loved it (mostly)
*Gabriella learned to put her head underwater on her own
*Ashlyn got to take gymnastics lessons and is doing awesome at it
*Austin and Ashlyn are both in preschool
*Shawn continued our kitchen renovation (here's to finishing it in 2010!!)
*Stephanie got to go away for a whole weekend and do some scrapbooking (can't wait to do it again!)
*We sold our huge entertainment center and bought a huge tv (this is definitely the highlight of shawn's year)
*Started sitting in the "real" church and not the cry room! (yeah!)
*We went camping 3 times and can't wait to get back out for more
*Went to Target 4, 237 times
*Went to Costco even more
*Spent a weekend in Manhattan with the Hudson's and the Marks and had a blast with NO kids! (turns out we really like each other when we get to hang out without all of our 11 kids - we got to have whole, uninterrupted conversation!)
*The kids spent many weekends out at the Turner farm which is always a big treat for them. (by the way - when is it MY turn to come to the farm on my own??)
*Gabriella had her first haircut a couple weeks ago (yes, she's almost 3)
*Had about a million play dates and outings with all our buddies.
*We all went to a Royals game and even tailgated
*We went to Ohio Days in Waverly for the big parade and carnival
*We made snow ice cream out of the 12 inches of snow we had on Christmas (actually this is Shawn's thing - I refuse to eat snow ice cream...)
*We went bowling on Gabriella's b-day (and she broke a toe which she will still tell you about)
*Had many fun times with all our cousins and family
*Went to the park about 347 times

And that's all we could come up with for now. Not a bad list if I do say so myself. I love my family, I love where we are at, and I love that we are about to start a whole new year. So, now I should think about what I want for 2010 -
*I want and need lots of patience
*I want to spend time with my kids everyday and take time to PLAY with them.
*I want to always put God first
*I want to spend time with my hubs without the kids on occasion
*I hope to go on another family vacation this summer
*I want to be a good friend
*I want to work out at the gym a couple times (don't want to set that bar too high)
*I want to take time for ME every now and then
*I want to enjoy my family and friends and live in the moment. Enjoy the little things - because, really, those are the big things.

* Here's to 2010!!

Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Happy Birthday Lucas!! You had a bunch of friends over for your party last night - so much fun! You were quite pleased with all the presents - but mostly you enjoyed entertaining everyone while you chowed on your chocolate cake that looked like a light saber. Lucas's favorite toy is his light saber so that's what his cake was - pretty grown up for a one year old!Here's the big man having a little taste of cake...
These pics are a bit backwards - here's Lucas reaching out for a cupcake before it was time. And Taylor, Lucas's girlfriend, flashing a smile for the camera.
Lucas and Uncle Nick having a little battle.
All I wanted was a picture of my girls after Christmas Eve Mass - this is what I got. Really girls??
My beautiful Ashlyn...so precious in her fancy dress.
Every Christmas I have high hopes of getting a nice family pic while we are all dressed up. Well, here's what you get when you have 4 kids I guess...
Grandma Peg and a few grandkids. Isn't she a fashionable Grandma?? Must be - funny story - we both bought each other the same purse for Christmas!!
Austin can hardly contain his excitement on Christmas Eve.
Telling Santa all our "wants".
NO ONE IS SCREAMING!!
I love my funny family!
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST
ps - has anyone noticed I have had 3 posts, 3 days in a row?!?!? Award please??

Covered in Snow!

We have SO much snow here. And it is suppose to snow all day tomorrow - and for some reason, I kind of like it! Yes, it's a mess, and you wouldn't believe how much it takes for 3 kids to go play in the snow....but it's still fun. I haven't posted pics for awhile so I thought I would try and catch up before the end of the year. The following are from Austin and Ashlyn's Christmas program. It was SO cute. Even if one of Ashlyn's BFF's stole the show (Lucy) Ashlyn was still super cute. She did such a great job singing her songs - even did the actions! And Austin did awesome. I was so nervous for him - he had the opening lines to the program so it was pretty exciting. He did such a good job. A couple hours before the program his teacher called and asked if he could also learn another line and be one of the 3 wiseman since one of them ended up being sick. I told her we would give it a shot, but had no idea if he could learn the line and do it in a couple hours with no practice. Well, guess what - he did it! I was so proud of him! I knew his amazing memory would come in handy at some point. Most of the time I am cursing the fact that he does NOT forget anything, but this time I was pretty proud. And thanks to my sis for taking the pics!Yes! That's ME in a picture!!

There's my little wiseman...
And here he is as a shepherd. I think he is the youngest kid in a school play to have a "costume change".
My sweet girl, Ashlyn.
Isn't she beautiful in her dress?? I know you are all wondering where it came from since I never put my girls in fancy dresses - thanks to Lucy again!!
Grandma and Grandpa Turner couldn't miss the program - here they are entertaining Gabs.
My big boy in his big boy sweater (thanks to Kim H - seriously, do my kids have any of their own clothes??)

And now it's time to get ready to party for my little ONE year old. Love you Lucas!
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST
up before the end of the year.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas All!! Here's the annual PJ picture you have all been waiting for....Man, we are one good looking bunch, huh?? All the guys got Super Hero shirts this year - very fun. We had a fabulous Christmas - not only did we host the Turner Christmas at our house, we also hosted the Settle Christmas too. And I would say it was a HUGE success! Austin was pumped up for Santa (in fact, he came in our room at 2:15am ready to go see if Santa came - this did NOT go well for him) - and every present he opened was a huge display of "YES! Just what I always wanted!!!" (screamed at the top of his lungs) Santa was very good to us this year - Austin got his Star wars legos, the girls both got their dolls and Lucas got his very own light saber. Shawn and I got a new TV for the living room too - this one was mostly for Shawn - although I sold the huge entertainment center to pay for the TV. Worked out well though because now the TV hangs on the wall and our living room grew quite a bit. We also were blessed with a very white Christmas with around 10-12 inches of snow! I haven't seen snow like this in years and the kids could hardly believe it. Oh - and we got a Wii!! Shawn actually won it at work, but we still wrapped it up and had the kids open it. They were so excited - it is hilarious watching the kids box each other. I haven't really had a chance to dive in and play much yet, but once we get birthday party out of the way I will have some time to relax...right?? Yes, Lucas has his birthday bash tomorrow - my baby is ONE! How did that happen?? I am now off to bed, I am exhausted and am hoping for some sleep. I will post more pics this week - we have some great ones from the past week with all the festivities. Also - keep mom in your prayers - they are going to start monitoring her heart for the next 30 days.
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Christmas Countdown

Having 4 kids, you can imagine how many times I have been asked when it will be Christmas. The kids are SO excited. They are pumped up for Jesus' birthday - and are pretty stoked that Jesus is going to share his presents with them. This is what I try to tell them as often as I can so they don't forget what Christmas really is. Funny story - Last night Shawn was doing the Advent Tree with the kids (this is a tree that we put one ornament on every night and read a bible story with it). Shawn asked the kids what other names we call Jesus. Austin immediately says, "he is the light of the world!". Shawn says, yes and then asks Ashlyn what else she calls Jesus. Ashlyn says, I call him Jesus Eugene. Hilarious. Eugene is Lucas's middle name, and apparently it is also Jesus' middle name according to Ashlyn. SO cute. Lucas is cracking us up - he is trying so hard to walk - I'll be surprised if he doesn't do it before his birthday next week.
We had a great weekend with Shawn's family Christmas which we hosted at our house. We had such a great time - what a great family I married into!! The kids had so much fun with their cousins. I love seeing them play with their cousins too - it reminds me of when I was young and ran around with all my cousins - we always had a blast and I'll never forget those times. Now we are awaiting Christmas this week. My brothers family will be here on Christmas Day assuming they don't get snowed in. Mom is still not feeling too good so we are hoping she gets back on her feet soon. We head back to the cardiologist this week so hopefully we can get some good news and get her feeling like herself again. I miss my shopping buddy! I need to get in the kitchen and do some yummy baking so we have lots to eat this week. I am most excited to make some homemade cinnamon rolls - Yum!! If you see Santa, let him know that Austin would like some star wars legos, Ashlyn and Gabriella want a baby doll, and Lucas wants a light saber. Shawn wants K-state basketball to continue doing well, and I just want my momma to feel good.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas - and maybe even a white one!
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Drama Drama, I love my mamma.

I sure didn't mean to not post in so long, but we've had a bit of drama here. As many of you probably know, mom was in the hospital over the weekend until Tuesday. Very scary, but all turned out well. I'm sure mom would not appreciate me telling the whole story, but after an ambulance ride and a million tests run, she's gonna be just fine. As long as she follows some basic rules. Eat more salt - yes, they actually told her she does not have enough salt - huh - could have sworn salt was the enemy! Well, Bring on the french fries baby!! Gatorade is also going to assist her. And most of all we are going to find some new blood pressure meds so this doesn't happen again. As much as we enjoyed the good looking firemen, and Ambulance guys, we would prefer to see them in passing, not assisting us to the hospital. Mom - we are so thankful you are ok and love love love you!!!!

On to some more happy news - we have officially had our first snow -kids were pumped up too. Unfortunately it's not a real good snow - can't make a fort, or a snowball, or a snowman, so the kids weren't as excited as they thought. Not to mention it's like 10 degrees out - way too cold for them to play more than about 10 minutes. It took me 30 minutes to get them into their snow gear yesterday and they were back inside in 8 minutes ready for hot cocoa.

Lucas is almost taking some steps! He can stand on his own, and is starting to put that foot forward, so shouldn't be long now! He is so ornery and so stinkin' cute. Love this age. And I can't believe he is almost 1!! Wow, how a year flies by when you have a baby. GOODBYE formula!! Next stop...diapers!! Can't wait to stop buying those things.

Now, please let us have an uneventful weekend....
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST
ps - I LOVE YOU MOM!

Lovin' the Bird.

I love Thanksgiving. I mean, really, how can you not? Food? Yes, please. We had such a great break this last week. It was nice to have the kids off school and stay in our pj's all day - and yes, we did that - never got out of our pjs at all. Loved it. We got to spend time at the farm with Shawn's family which was perfect. This kids had a blast as always and had so much fun playing with their cousins. Shawn's parents and his sisters family offered to watch all 4 kids while shawn and I conquered Black Friday. We left the farm Thursday night with no kiddos and got to spend the day together on Friday doing some Christmas shopping. It was awesome - I love shopping on Black Friday! There weren't really any deals that were all that great this year, but it was still fun to go out in the madness. Then Friday night my brothers family came in town and we spent the weekend hanging out with them. The kids had fun playing with their cousins - there's 8 little guys running around now! My 4 and Craig's 4 - crazy - can't wait til they are big enough to play some basketball and flag football. We have enough to have subs!! Shawn got to go to the KSU basketball game on Saturday for his b-day which he was ecstatic about and I think they guys had a great time. As much fun as we had all week, I think I was still looking forward to getting back to some normalcy. The kids are exhausted from staying up late every night and playing non-stop. What a fun holiday! Now it's about time I get some Christmas decs out - haven't even hardly thought about it yet. I prefer to get Thanksgiving done first - crazy people getting their trees out a month ago?!?!? no way man - not me! But now - I'm ready.
I must go do a head count now....
Hope you are havin' the time of your life!
ST

Manhattan Bound!!

Yes - we are off to Manhappenin' at 6:30am tomorrow. CAN NOT WAIT! Shawn's b-day is coming up and I surprised him (well, kind of - he found out early, but oh well) by getting us some KSU football tickets (thanks to David - you rock!!). The Hudson's will be joining us since Lee's b-day was this week too. We are heading out of town in the morn with NO kids - yipee!! The best part - besides getting to spend some time with the hubs and no kids, is that we get to stay with Callie while we are there. All the boys are going to go to the game while us gals have some girl time. Some time away is MUCH needed. Austin and Ashlyn got to go to the farm for the weekend and Lucas and Gabriella are at my mom and dads. So, the kids will get plenty spoiled and have a blast with the grandmas and grandpas. I love when they get to spend time with them. And now we are off to bed since we are going to be up early to go cheer on the Cats!!
Hope you are havin' the time of your life!
ST
ps - I am SOOO havin' the time of my life this weekend!

Conversations from the backseat...again.

I love the in-depth conversations Austin and I have (actually, any of my children for the matter). Yesterday while driving to the park here's what we chatted about...

Austin: "Mom, when I grow up I want to be the guy that sews up your belly after you have a baby".
Mom: "That would be a fun job"
Austin: "I think I'm gonna be the guy that gets it out too."
Mom: "So you want to be a doctor? that's great! Takes a lot of school to be a doctor - gotta work hard."
Austin: "What takes longer, going to school to be a football player or be a doctor?"
Mom: "To be a doctor."
Austin: "Huh."

I thought it was better to not tell Austin that if he's really good at football his schooling could be even shorter...

For those of you that don't know Shawn very well let me tell you a few things. He loves to quiz you. For example, in the car he is constantly quizzing me on who sings what song. Loves to play name the capitols of states, etc. He loves playing these little games with the kids too. His best games usually occur during dinner or at bath time. Bath time is where all three kids have learned their letters and numbers and is probably the reason Gabriella can say the whole alphabet at the age of two and even write some of those letters and identify many of them. Here's the latest game Shawn invented especially for Austin. They played "Fruit or Mammal". Which is exactly how it sounds - Shawn says the name of something and Austin says if it is a fruit or a mammal. Well, Shawn said whale. Austin says, "fish". (which was not one of the choices) Shawn says, no it's a mammal because it has live babies, and fish lay eggs. Austin sits...thinks...and then says, "well, if it has babies, where is the whale doctor that sews her back up after she has a baby?" So, apparently Austin is of the belief that since I, his mom, have had 4 c-sections, that every mom has c-sections in which the baby gets cut out and the mommy gets sewed back up (this totally seemed like a good and easy explanation at the time). So, Shawn says, "the baby doesn't get cut out, it comes out on it's own." Austin replies, "how does it come out on it's own?" Shawn says, "It comes out the "baby hole"." At that, there was silence and Shawn decided to play a new game called, "Vegetable or reptile."
I suppose we are going to have a LOT of explaining to do someday in the future when puberty hits. How do people do this????
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

October in Review

So I have totally neglected blogging during the month of October. Where did the month go?? I can tell you we haven't just been sitting around watching tv (although we did get cable back for basketball season...or as Gabriella put it, "that lady gave us Dora back!) Let's see if I can recap October happenings for you. We all got to go to the pumpkin patch - both kids went on the same day with their preschool classes so that was fun. Lucas and Gabriella both got to have the swine flu (oh sorry, H1N1.) As soon as Gabriella started showing symptoms they put the whole fam on tamiflu ($$ x 6). Although, Lucas was too young for tamiflu so he got to take some steroids that make him a JOY to be around. He also got the flu, but never did have a fever. His asthma just got horrible. We were back and forth every hour on whether we needed to get to the emergency room, but luckily stayed out of the hospital this time. He had tons of breathing treatments and with the steroids he seemed to battle it ok. His sleeping was horrible since he couldn't breathe (I suppose that's a good excuse). So we spent a few nights in a row with a lot of rocking and extra bottles to try and get him to sleep. He seems to be back on track now (we had to wean him off the rocking) and we are all good now. Could be a long winter though with this asthma junk, but as long as we are good about staying on the breathing treatments we seem to do ok. The tamiflu did wonders, although Shawn had a light case, Austin, Ashlyn and I stayed in the clear. This whole swine saga lasted about a week. Gabriella was over it in a day and a half, and it took Lucas about a week to get his breathing back on track. Shawn was down for a day or so, but not bad - I think because of the tamiflu. Just about everyone I know has had it now, so I think we should be in good shape and I am not planning on getting the vaccine (after much debate). So here's some pics instead of my rambling...
Lucas LOVES to be standing at all times...isn't he cute??

Here's daddy and Ashlyn just hangin' out.

Lucas standing of course, starting to learn to move those feet and cruise around.
Surprise! I'm standing again!
And here's Lucas with his future bride, Taylor...Cal came in town and we had to have some playtime - she's soooo cute!! Love ya Cal!!
Austin lost his first tooth!! Little early if you ask me. He didn't even lose it here, he was playing at Joey's. Sounded like a typical Austin moment..."Ms Jennie - my tooth fell out." At this point I can here Jennie do a little high pitched scream of excitement as Austin just went on about his business as though it was no big deal. Hilarious. I will say he was quite proud when the Tooth Fairy dropped him 5 bucks!
And of course...Halloween. Not may personal fave as far as holidays go, but the kids sure love it. Hmmmm wonder why? I have horrible pics from it, but Austin was Darth Vader as seen above, and if you look below there is a much better pic of the girls.
Here's grandma settle posing with Ashlyn, the K-State Cheerleader, and Gabriella - our own little Dora! How cute is that wig! The kids had a great time at the Trunk-or-Treat up at church Friday night, and then we had a party with some friends on Halloween night and did the "real" trick-or-treating house to house. The kids had a blast, stayed up WAY too late, and ate WAY too much candy. And to top it off, they totally did not understand the concept of Day Light Savings. Let's just say they were not too keen on "getting an extra hour of sleep".

I think that pretty much sums up our month of October. Oh, I just thought of something else - the kids had their parent-teacher conferences and both did fabulous. Ashlyn is doing great and not "shy" in class anymore. And Austin's teacher said more good things about him than I could ever count. The first thing she said to us was, "So, Austin is ready for 1st grade!". I'd say that means he is doing well. But, the thing she said that really stuck was that Austin was the kind of big brother anyone would want to have. He's very protective. I'd say if Shawn and I can teach our kids anything, it's to take care of your family. So, for his teacher to say that, I'd say Shawn and I would get an A+ so far, huh? Or at least an A-....Now, do you think all our conferences will go that well in the next 20 years??? I'll keep you posted.
And now, it's time to snuggle with the hubs. He has worked on the yard and cleaned out the garage this weekend - he deserves a little rest with his lovely bride don't you think?
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST
ps - and I promise not to go a whole month without writing again!

Proud Parent

I know there are a million things going on in the world right now...but to me (and Shawn) today was one of the best days ever. Austin read a whole book!! 2, actually. I can't believe it! Well, that's not totally true - his personality sort of fits the fact that reading just makes sense to him. He is our little learner and very very focused on whatever task he is doing. He hears nothing else around him when he is concentrating on something. It would be a miracle if he could ever be a multi-tasker like me. Anyway, I told his teacher from last year that he had started wanting to read words - she was so excited. I told her that I was a math major and had no clue as to how to teach him to read, so she gave me these Bob books that are good to start with. He can already read the first two all by himself. So cool. I would say this could be the proudest moment in my short years as a parent. I was pretty stoked when he peed in the toilet (or at least in a 10 inch radius of the toilet), and I was pretty pumped up when I saw him learn how to throw a spiral with the football, but it is amazing to watch him read. Unless you have kiddos of your own, I'm not sure I can describe it. I am sure it will not compare to how proud I will be when he does long division for the first time, or realizes "pi" is a never ending number...but it's still pretty dang cool. Here he is - doesn't daddy look proud too!?!?

Now, bring on the weekend.

Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Birthdays...and...Reading??

Birthday week is finally over. Exciting as it is, it is quite tiring to have 2 birthdays within 3 days of each other! Austin turned 5 and Ashlyn turned 4. I try really hard to make each day special for them. We had a really fun week even though all 6 of us had colds and weren't really feeling all that great. Luckily, we all had new toys to play with! We had a big party for the kids on Sunday last week which I will post some pics of when I get the computer running upstairs (as usual). We went out to lunch with a bunch of friends on Monday for Austin's "real" b-day and Ashlyn had a couple girlfriends over on Thursday on her "real" b-day. Such a fun week. Austin refused to have a b-day cake, all he wanted was root beer floats - so that's what we did!! We even stuck the candles in the ice cream. Ashlyn insisted on a Barbie cake - and thanks to my cake-baking sister, she got one! And it was amazing. After b-day craziness came to an end, I headed out for the weekend to do some scrapbooking. Shawn went to the farm with all the kids and I went with a couple friends to do some scrappin'. I have not scrapped in SO long so it was a real treat. I didn't accomplish much, but I did get a whole weekend with no kids (which was much needed after a week of colds and asthma issues), and I got to relax with my girlfriends. I got 7 pages done and also started a photo album for the kids - for some reason they love to look at pics of themselves...wonder if they will ever outgrow that. Anyway, it was a great weekend and I have a great husband to give me a whole weekend off and great in-laws to let him hang at the farm for a few days!
Now, onto the reading....Austin has started to read words! How cool is that??? It's definitely one of the "proud parent" moments. Shawn was showing him how to sound out words and he was totally getting it! Then today after we got home from school he wanted to practice words again - so fun!! I guess Shawn and I will have to find a new "code talk" since we won't be able to spell things like we used to.
That's all I got for now -
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

I know what the problem is...

I just wasn't specific enough.
Here is what I said...."Gabriella, go wash your hands, please."

And this is what I saw....Next time I ask her to wash her hands I will simply say -
"Gabriella , go wash your hands, please. And don't stop up the water, and don't use half a container of soap, and don't let water run over the side, and don't let bubbles fall all over the counter and floor, and don't soak your shirt and pants, and don't waste so much water, and don't think that one towel will clean it all up." Yes, my problem was that I just didn't clarify what I meant by "wash your hands". I can totally see how she got confused. Totally.

Hope you are having the time of your life! (Gab is)
ST

Patience is gone.

Oh my goodness. I have no patience left. What was in the air today? Seriously?? I think what put me over the edge was that when i had told Austin to put his pj's on about 5 times, I went to check on him and he had 2 of everything on. Confused? let me explain. He had two socks on each foot, two pairs of underwear on, 2 shirts, 2 pants....you get the idea. He claims he was "cold". Huh. Lovely. Gabriella "forgot" to pull up her pants after going potty as I found her trying to get up the stairs with her pants around her ankles. I said, "Gab, pull your pants up". And she looks down, dumbfounded, and says, "oh". Yeah, I can totally understand walking out of the bathroom and just plain forgetting to pull my pants up - uh huh - makes perfect sense. Lucas is getting around all over the living room - oh my...I can't believe I'm back in that phase of having a little one that has to be chased 24/7. I think I am going to start drinking coffee - maybe that will get me through it. I've started making it to Ballys more often to work out which feels good - and sore. Shawn has started playing basketball on Wednesday nights which I think he is really enjoying (minus the shock his body went into when he hit the courts again!). Ashlyn and Austin are loving school - having a blast. Austin's teacher even said what a great listener he was!! HA! What??? Ashlyn is also loving her gymnastics lessons. She is doing awesome - a true little monkey. Absolutely loves doing flips - anywhere, anytime, off of any type of furniture (no matter how many times you tell her no). Gabriella got to go out to the Turner Farm for a few days - she thought she was the coolest grandkid ever, since she got to go all by herself. That girl LOVES being on her own and getting all the attention - it's so cute. She actually loves when we drop off the other kids at school and it's just me, her and Lucas. Of course when we go pick the kids up it's like they haven't seen each other in 10 years - pretty cute.
Labor Day weekend was superfun. We all went out to my aunt and uncle's farm in Cunningham with all my cousins and family. The kids loved every second of it. I don't think we saw them in two days - they just wandered around the farm - I think Austin spent most of his time building a "dinosaur trap". There's just something about hanging out on the farm - nothing better. I hope we can retire on a farm someday. Big thanks to Rich, RoseMary, Rhonda and Marvin for hosting us all - we are already trying to figure out when we can come back! (and we'll bring lots more beer this time).
Now it's time to focus on my two little ones who are about to be another year older! Austin will be 5 and Ashlyn will be 4 in a few weeks. We are in the process of party planning and can't wait for the big day. Hard to believe.
Now I'm off to bed with a good book, while Shawn is over at a friends house who has cable so he can watch football. Thanks to all of you for taking my husband in during football season while we try to survive without cable.
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

1st Day of School!!!

Finally! Austin and Ashlyn both started preschool today - hip hop hooray!!! And I mean that in the saddest - I-am-going-to-miss-you-every-second-you-are-gone voice. HA! They both had a fantastic day, loved it all and can't wait to go back. So cute. Time just flies by - I can't believe my babies are growing up! Austin even has to have his OWN gel for his hair so he can be "handsome" for school (or so he tells me). First day of school is so much fun. I always loved the start of school - both when I was in school and when I taught school. Something about new beginnings and new office supplies - ahhhh...
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

All the Grandkids!

This is all my parents grandkids! Well, Baby Kinsley didnt' want to participate, but she's only a week old so we let her sit on the side. From top to bottom and youngest to oldest - Lucas, Camden, Gabriella, Ashlyn, Austin, Cayley, Colin. How cute is that?!? Minus the part where Lucas is pulling Camden's eyeball out (sorry about that!). Love that pic -
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST
ps - can you believe my parents actually agreed to have all the grandkids come spend a week at their house together next summer?! HA! Just kidding - they would totally lose some of them...and they would have to build a bigger house.

conversations from the backseat

A little background info:
We were heading out to my brothers for the weekend to see their new baby Kinsley a few weeks ago. Austin and Ashlyn sit in the back of the van and Lucas and Gabriella sit in the middle row. Lucas still faces backwards in his carseat so he faces both Ashlyn and Austin. We left super early in the morning and I just packed some cereal in a bag for the kids to munch on until we stopped for breakfast (cheerios and kix). Everyone seemed pretty quiet although there were some giggles from the kids here and there so I turned around to check on everyone. (shawn is driving at this point)

Me: What are you guys doing?
Austin: Lucas is hungry so we are sharing our cheerios with him.
Me: How are you sharing with him?
Austin: We just throw them at him.
Me: You are just throwing cheerios at his head??
Austin: He's hungry, mom
At this point I look at shawn dumbfounded at the fact that we have no idea how long poor little Lucas had cheerios chucked at his head. Then I turn around again and notice something else.
Me: Why is there cereal all over the floor???
Austin: Sometimes we miss, mom.

Nice. I love my kids.
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

A Chimp?!

Look at me!! I held a real baby chimp this morning!! How often can your husband come home from work and say, "So, honey, what did you and the kids do today?" And you respond with, "Oh, you know, we held a baby chimp and a baby kangaroo. Got to feed some deer. Nothin' much." It was so cool. We went to this exotic animal zoo thing about 30 minutes from here and it was so fun! Got to see really cool animals up close and personal (obviously). Loved every second of it - even though it was a bit toasty out there.
Austin and Gab having some quality time.
Here's my BFF, Kim - she's the one who takes amazing shots of my kids. LOVE her (and so does that chimp! ha!).
Austin holding the baby chimp. He's wearing a diaper! (not Austin, the chimp)
And here's Austin holding the baby kangaroo - wow!!
Over the last 2 and a half months I have learned that I LOVE summer. I suppose I have always known this fact, but we have just had so much fun this year. Maybe because it was a "real summer" this year since Austin started school last year. Before that, summer was just another day...no different than winter, fall, spring...but now it's an actual break from routine where we just see what the day brings. I love it. I love my kids. I love taking care of them every single day. I love listening to their conversations as we eat breakfast in the morning (and let me tell you - there are some interesting ones!). I love having all their little friends (and moms) over to play in the backyard. And, of course, I also love when I get to go shopping all day by myself on a Saturday - ha! So, here is more of a peek at what we have been up to this summer. Enjoy!
On to some other summer fun...Lucas LOVES crackers. Not much gets in his mouth though.
Here's lunch time at the Turner backyard - The Marks came in town so we had to throw a bash.
And here's Baby Taylor - born two weeks after Lucas. Aren't they adorable?! They are totally getting married someday. I just hope the rule "the bride pays for the wedding" still applies.
My baby Lucas - So happy. And LOVES his daddy.
Austin's garden has gone crazy in our backyard. Here he is eating a potato straight from the garden!! He was so proud!
Lucas also LOVES his Papa. I don't know what Papa Settle does, but Lucas just gets giddy when he sees him.
Hmmmm....don't have anything to say about this one...
All the kids LOVE the tire swing Shawn put up!
Here's all the boys going for a ride. About 10 minutes after this, Austin puked. Neat. Little too much spinning I guess.
How in the world do those two girls fit in there???
Here's Austin with a bunch of his buddies - they are playing Bakugan...hadn't seen it before but he loved it (birthday present idea!!)
Shawn received some free tickets to a Royals game so we took all the kids. Even Lucas! We had such a great time. Weather was perfect - we had awesome seats and the kids had a blast.

We even tailgated! The kids were really concerned about eating in the "street". They were afraid they would get hit by a car...I guess that's good, but it was really funny too.

One of our favorite summer time traditions now is to go to Ohio Days in Waverly, KS (where Shawn is from) which is the big fair/carnival/parade. The kids ask about it all year long and absolutely love it. Mostly for the candy, I think...Here's the fam sittin' on the side waiting for the parade to start - quite a clan!!Ahhhh, summer time! Gotta love it!!
Now, enough with summer. Let's get that countdown to school going. 20 more days til first day of school. Not that I'm counting...
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST