{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!