Target Has EVERYTHING

Here's a recent conversation between Shawn and Austin...
Austin is singing one of his original songs (made up words to his very own tune)
"What song are you singing, Austin?" Says Shawn
"I'm singing a new one dad. I picked it up at Target. It was on sale." replies Austin

Love it.

Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

throwing up of the mind

I really don't know what this post will be about or when I will have to cut myself off because of a crying child - I just felt like blogging - so just hold your breath and we'll see what my mind comes up with.
Gabriella has sprouted TWO teeth recently. I felt like a horrible mother of three - I wasn't even the one that noticed that she had teeth - my friend Callie did. After she said it, I about fell over and couldn't believe I hadn't noticed her teething. After thinking about it, it started to make sense that she was drooling like crazy, and loved biting on the frozen toys - yes, I know, obvious clues...that's just what it is like to have three. I am pretty sure that I have it written down when Austin's gums maybe started to turn pink in hopes that he would get his first tooth in a few months...ha! Gabriella is amazing! She is such a great baby - and she's even better now that she is loving playing with toys (eating toys is more like it) and she is rolling all over the place. She growing up right before my eyes and it makes me a little sad. I don't know what is in store for us in the baby department, but if this happens to be the last baby, I don't know - that makes me sad! And a little glad...maybe...baby life is rough - I look forward to no diapers and no bottles, but they're really not so bad - won't last forever, right?
Austin has finally been sleeping good again - thank goodness! How is it that my 5 month old sleeps for 13 hours straight every night, but my 2 year old can't??? Hmmmmm could it be the third child again?
I must give another shout out to my parents - shawn had to work late (I mean golf late) last night so of course they came over to help with the kiddos until they were all in bed. And not only that, after I got the last kid asleep in his bed, I came downstairs to a totally clean house - thanks to my mother. How in the world people survive having kids without family around is beyond me. Yes, I am totally and completely spoiled and not ashamed to admit it. Shawn and I got to go out on yet another date last weekend. We went to see my friend, Courtney, who just had her first baby - congrats Court and Erik!! And what a cutie pie he is - absolutely adorable - and BIG!! Ron Prince will probably be getting him into the off-season work out soon. And then Shawn and I went to dinner - it's always fun to go to dinner together with no kids, we actually get to talk without interruption or spilled milk, half the time we forget to eat!
I get to start kick-boxing again!! I can finally get back to Bally's and work out since Gabriella is old enough for the day care. VERY excited about that. Getting three years worth of baby fat gone could take awhile, but hopefully I can stick with it.
I guess that's it for today - oh yeah - check out the side bar - I finally played around and added some new stuff! Enjoy!!
Hope you are having the time of your life!!
ST

Lots of Big News!!

NO - we are not prego...

However, Gabriella is rolling over! She's also dived into the world of yummy rice cereal! I have to say, out of all three kids, she has done the best so far with eating for the first time. She seems to think it's quite funny. She's already five months old this week - I'm definitely looking forward to her starting to move around - mostly so she can defend herself from her siblings!

Last night I went upstairs to tell the kids good night and peeked in Austin's door to find this:

Shawn often falls asleep while trying to read stories to the kids - aren't they cute??

And here's Austin with "almost" uncle nick (my sisters fiance). They sure do look guilty for some reason...

Somehow, I finally found some time to scrapbook - A friend of mine wanted me to scrap a page of her parents wedding for their 50th and frame it. Here's what I came up with - I thought it turned out pretty good. Has the original wedding pics and original wedding invite on it. This pic doesn't really do it justice, but I wanted to have a shot of it. I hope they like it!! Maybe this could be a new job for me - anyone else want one??

And other big news - Austin is going to Bible School all week from 9-11:45 each morning. He LOVES it!! Most of you won't believe this, but when I peeked in the window yesterday (and today) he was sitting in the front pew, quietly listening to the people that were doing a skit. Amazing...I didn't think it was possible for him to sit still in any kind of "church" sitting. Each day he has asked to go back the next day so I think he likes it! Of course, when I ask him what he did he responds with, "nothin". I thought he wouldn't say that until about 13 - oh well...that's why I'm going to get a job at the school he goes to someday! Ha! Jokes on him!!

And the last piece of big news I have - Shawn cleaned out the garage and we are ready to start staining!! Our new table and chairs will soon be done - I give it about 6 months. I don't care though - just the thought that it might actually happen is exciting enough for me!

Hope you are having the time of your life!

ST

just plain crazy

I have no fun pics for you today...but at least I'm making a new post!! I can't post any pics because Gabriella is sleeping in the room with the computer I need to pics on - and as you know, NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY. For those of you new moms (there are several of you out there as of late!) there are lots of good things doctors will tell you about newborns, but no matter what - NEVER EVER wake a sleeping baby!! Speaking of new babes - I have gotten to see little Peyton (jaylene and heath's) a few times and what a cutie! Great head of hair on that boy! I even got to babysit him once - I called Shawn and told him I think we can handle four - of course Peyton, Ashlyn and Gabriella all slept the whole time I watched him. So, I don't know that having four would be quite as easy as it was that afternoon. I think I'll stick with three for now. And Courtney is about to bring a new baby home soon too! She's going to be new mom in less than a week!! I am so excited for them. Good times!! Although, I definitely don't envy being a first time mom. Those of you that have had more than one know what I mean. We are all crazy with our first children and it is a time that I don't think any of us want to return to. I will say that just in the last three years the baby stuff has gotten way cooler!! I have been to a lot of baby showers lately and WOW things have changed!! All our baby stuff would be the same as having a computer that is 2 years old - already outdated!!
Well, our canoe trip was last weekend with Shawn's work people - had a blast. The weather could not have been more perfect. And it is official - Shawn and I have been canoeing ever summer the last 5 summers and we have still never flipped our canoe - I can't think of stronger evidence that we are a perfect match. My parents kept Gabriella for the weekend, which they must have had quite an easy time - our lawn was mowed when we got back, house was clean, our curtains had all been hemmed, Gabriella had the cutest new outfit on with new toys to match....hmmmm think they had a good time? And for some reason, every time I open the freezer she reaches for the ice cream - know anything about that, dad???
Austin and Ashlyn spent the weekend out on the farm with Shawn's parents. As always, they came home exhausted. They got to sleep in the pop up trailer outside (like they were camping) and they thought they were pretty cool!! Ed and Norma are 2 for 2 on breaking our kids of the binky! Ashlyn never asked for it while she was there, so they never gave her one....so far so good! They also did that with Austin - worked like a charm. My kids are only aloud to have them in their beds so it wasn't a huge deal - but one less thing to worry about forgetting when we go somewhere over night. Uh - oh - I hear one of my three kids waking up - gotta go - more later!
Hope you are all having the time of your life!
ST

55 more to go...

Friday was a big day...special day...fun day...it was Shawn and I's 5 year wedding anniversary. What an amazing 5 years it has been! If you would have asked me the day we got married what we would be doing on our 5 year anniversary, I NEVER would have gotten it right! What did we do? Well, Shawn took the day off which was a big surprise to me and we spent the day together with the kids and had a blast. We took the kids down to Union Station and went to Science city. It was really cool and the kids had so much fun. Then my parents watched the kids that night while shawn and I went to dinner which was wonderful. After dinner we had a romantic trip to Home Depot and then, yes, Walmart. Now, those of you without kids are probably wrinkling your forehead right now and have a look of confusion on your face. But, those of you WITH kids know how enjoyable going to ANY store with only your spouse is. So, as far as we are concerned we had the best day ever!! I never would have thought that within 5 years of marriage we would have three kids (under the age of three), moved to two different cities and lived in 3 different states, lived with my parents for 6 months, bought a house on the street I grew up on, shawn got a new job, gave our dog away and of course fallen even more in love. My dad's parents have been married for 60 years this year - unbelievable, - that is true love!! It is hard for me to imagine being married for 60 years and to think of everything they have been through - so cool. Well, Shawn, we have 5 down and 55 to go!! I can't wait to see where we'll be in 5 more years!! We both predicted we would be at some sort of sporting event for one of our kids - any other guesses??? And congrats to grandma and grandad on their 60 years - what a role model!!
Hope you are havin' the time of your life!
ST

UGH.....LY

For all of you "croc lovers" out there, please don't be offended by the following post. I have always thought the crocs were some of the most "fashion challenged" (ugly) shoes out there. Not to mention they are $25 for a pair of plastic. But, as you can see, two out of three of my children now own a pair. Ashlyn got a hand me down pair which made Austin very jealous, so we had to go get him a pair too. I had to talk him out of the pink ones, but he eventually agreed to the bright blue. I am sad to admit, the kids love them. And in some ways, I love them too! They are easy to clean, quick to dry and best of all they can get them on all by themselves with about 85% accuracy on getting them on the right feet. So, yes, it is true - there are real live crocs at the Turner house. But don't get too excited - I am still trying to be strong and not buy them for myself...we'll see how that goes - the older I get, the less comfortable the $2.50 flip flops from Old Navy are.

Look at this cheese ball!! We have entered the age of the really bad smile...gotta love it!!
Gabriella is loving having siblings to play with - she thinks Austin and Ashlyn are hilarious - it's so cool to see Austin and Ashlyn finally noticing they have another sister.
And here is the newest gift from grandma and papa settle - a new bench!! The kids love this new bench. The like to sit and watch their morning cartoons on it - and yesterday when Austin got in trouble he told me, and I quote, "well, mom, I am just going to go sit on my bench and cry." Hard to stay mad at a kid with a comeback like that! And even harder to keep a straight face!

Hope you are havin' the time of your life!

ST

Where do I start??

Happy Birthday to Grandma!! Is this a happy bunch of people here isn't it?!?!? Could it possibly be the cake?? Yes, there is a "2" on the cake - it's really just another candle to blow out - That's a Young Grandma right there!! You would never know she was the grandma of 5 grandkids!!

My goodness!! I have not blogged in forever - so for that, I apologize! I don't even know where to begin as to what we have been up to. Well, I first must say thanks to my parents for watching our crazy kids so much lately!! Shawn and I went on THREE dates last week!! We went on a "date night" on Monday night - we actually went to dinner and a movie - it was awesome!! It was so nice to sit and eat together and have a real UNITERRUPTED conversaition. Shawn had his company end of year party at Dave and Busters - which was a blast!!! and then Saturday night we went to a huge party with lots of friends - it was through our church and it was a game night - we reenacted all the old game shows - hilarious!! We did the price is right, family feud, newlywed game, 10000 pyramid - so fun!! Shawn and I didn't get picked to actually get to play, although we did get to play plinko. There were over 100 people there and it may be one of the funnest parties I have been to. Anyway, my parents watched the kids all three times - are they saints or what?!?!?

We also went to a wedding on Saturday - the kids were cuter than ever on the dance floor. Gabriella is doing great - slept from 7pm til 7:45am this morning - love it!!

Shawn took a few days off last week and we had some fun family time - we went to the zoo all day on Tuesday - the kids were all fast asleep by the time we left. It was so nice for shawn to be home a couple days. I bought a small swimming pool for the kids to play with in the backyard - they LOVE it!! I have been to three baby showers the last three weeks so that has been fun - I sure hope the pregnancies didn't rub off on me though - three is quite enough to keep me busy for now! I guess that's about it for the craziness here - oh yeah - austin gave up the napping - he claims he's "too old for naps"....hmmmmm oh well. It was nice while it lasted!! We had playgroup this morning - I think there was a million of us there - we had a blast - thanks to Dana!! We seem to have several new people joining SGC (the moms group) lately - makes me smile every time we get a new mom involved. And I had some HUGE news from a close friend - you know who you are - and I love you to death and I am SOOOO happy for you!!!!

Here is a photo of something soo special to me that it is hard to put words to it. For each of my children my dad has built a wooden dresser/bookshelf piece of furniture. It is something that the kids will have with them forever and will pass on to generations to come. It means more to me than he'll ever know. He just finished Gabriella's piece and it is a toy box with a bookshelf above it - I love it!! Isn't it beautiful!! And on the toy box you will notice something else that is extremely special to me - it is the quilt that my mom made for Gabriella. This is another thing that all my kids own - a quilt from Grandma. These are things that are irreplaceable, will be around forever, and we will cherish them always. Thanks grandma and grandpa!! We love you!!

Here's the kids in a cave at the zoo - aren't they cute?? Ashlyn has turned into quite a little girl as of late. It seems as though the last 2 months she has changed a ton. Lost a lot of the baby stuff and is turning into a

And this is the aftermath of the zoo outing...the kids were exhausted!! We tried to wake them up to see the elephants, but they didn't seem to care at this point - what a fun day!!

Well, that's all I can think of for now - I must enjoy the silence of my home at the moment. Austin is haveing "quiet time" in his room and Ashlyn and Gariella are napping...ahhh...it's like finishing your last college final!

Until next time...

Hope you are having the time of your life!

ST