I think I just did the impossible.

Yup.  I just made homemade hot dog buns.  How hilarious is that?  Of course, I don't really eat hot dogs...ever since I choked on one, I just can't look at them the same.  Anyway, here's how the homemade hot dog bun came about.  Today is my wonderful hubby's birthday.  When asked what sort of treat he wanted for his birthday - meaning cake, brownies, pie, etc...he requested homemade hot dog buns.  I'm not sure if it was a serious request or some kind of cooking challenge, but I ran with it.  And what did we have for dinner?  Yes, hot dogs on homemade buns!  And just to top it off - real hot chocolate.  YUM.  Sounds like a good birthday to me!  And here's Austin - looks like a happy hot dog eatin' kid, huh?!

October, where did you go??

Happy (late) Halloween!! I have had many people questioning me as to why I had not posted any Halloween pics, so here they are! This year we had a clown, Prince Caspian (from Narnia), a genie and Super Girl. Not a bad crew! Unfortunately I missed most of the fun this year as I was really super sick. Shawn was quite a trooper - he took all the kids to Trunk-or-treat up at school (with the help of papa settle) and then took all of them out on Halloween night too. I was pretty much unable to move, but am finally feeling better. The kids had a blast and even Lucas learned real quick how to say "trick or treat"!

Group Hug!!
Here's my little clown! All of my kids have been a clown - mom made this costume many many years ago - my brother, sister and I have all worn it too! It was finally Lucas's turn....so stinkin' cute.
Where exactly did October go?? I feel like I just missed that month. I haven't been feeling so good and I guess that made the month just fly on by. And now we're about half way through November! I was time to slow down!! And Lucas is out of a crib too. We have had a crib (or two) up in our house for over six years - and for the first time we now have no cribs in our house. Kinda sad, kinda cool. I can't believe how quick Lucas is becoming a big kid (some days more than others). He just seems so grown up (except for when Austin jokingly said at breakfast last week, "Lucas, throw your bowl". Lucas did as he was instructed of course and threw his bowl of Kix cereal and milk across the room). He's been our easiest transition to a big kid bed for sure. Once we took the front off of his crib (because he kept crawling out) he wouldn't go near his crib anymore. He jumped right in bed with Austin and they've done great. He's only gotten out a handful of times to roam around the house when he's suppose to be in bed. Although this morning at about 5:45 I heard him downstairs. I went down and he was standing in front of the digital picture frame watching the pics come up and pointing out the people he saw. Pretty cute, but unnecessary at 5:45 in the morning. Anyway, kids are all great and realizing Christmas is coming up soon so they are getting a little giddy. I will leave you with some funny pics my momma took recently....

Some days we just have to wait at the door for dad.....
And there he is!!!!! Yay for Daddy!
We love our daddy!

We have a winner!!

Yes, we have had our first trip to the ER to get stitches. My oldest child is now six, so that means we have gone a solid six years before having to rush to the ER to get stitches for one of our lovely children. And who was the winner you might ask? Austin? Ashlyn? Gabriella? Lucas? If you have spent any amount of time with our family then you know there are two likely suspects. Lucas and Gabriella. Well, the winner was Gabriella. 7 lovely stitches right above her eye. Took it like a champ too! Didn't even cry while they put stitches in - amazing. She is a real trooper for a 3 year old. Had it been any of the other kids we would have had to call in a 10 man team to hold them down in the ER, but Gab was incredible. This all happened last Friday and we got the stitches out today - again, she was awesome. Just laid there like it was no biggie. So, now that we got that out of the way....

On the same day as the stitches happened, Shawn and I went to Costco for dinner with the kids that night. As we were sitting there eating pizza this lady came over and says, "I have been watching you guys and just want to let you know how beautiful your family is." Of course, I graciously thank her as Shawn and I give each other a "mental" high-five. But then she continues on, "I mean it, you have such a beautiful family I want to buy you all ice cream." She insisted so we took the money she left on the table. Now, if any of you have ever been to costco for ice cream you know that it costs $1.50 - for a huge cup. Normally, we get one cup and split it 6 ways (I know, cheap-o). As we look at what she gave us, she gave us a 20 dollar bill! So, we splurged and got TWO ice creams and split it 6 ways. It always nice to hear a compliment about your family, but for her to take the time to come talk to us and leave us money was pretty amazing. It's nice to know that there are good, genuine people out there. Totally made our day.
One random act of kindness can go a long way. I guess it's our turn to pay it forward!
And now onto what the kids believe is the most important time of the year - Halloween. We have costumes finished and ready to go. The kids all had their parties at school today - Gabriella was Super Girl, Austin is Prince Caspian (from Narnia), and Ashlyn is a genie. Lucas will be a clown. Halloween is definitely not my favorite holiday, but the kids sure do love it! And so does Shawn. This past weekend we went to a Halloween party and we won funniest costume! What were we? Well, anyone that knows Shawn very well knows that he owns a baby blue 70s jogging suit and LOVES any chance to wear it. He wore that, and I wore a jogging suit and was his jogging coach. Turned out pretty good. I suppose Halloween isn't so bad if you win a prize!
Here's a pic from the pumpkin patch (sorry no pumpkin pics). Lucas loved riding the fancy tricycles.

And I just love seeing my kids walking together - aren't they just awesome??
Here's my fancy genie and Super Girl!!
And this is what I saw when Lucas came downstairs this afternoon. I don't see him getting a job at Home Depot any time soon! And I almost peed my pants laughing when I saw him.
We are headed to Manhappenin' this weekend. Shawn and Austin are going to the K-State game on Saturday with my brother and his son while I hang out with my bud, Callie and all the kids. Can't wait for Austin to get to go to the game, they will have so much fun. And Callie and I can just kick back with 7 kids and a couple beers - ha!

Happy Halloween!!!

The past month in pictures...

Here's a little update in pictures...
Almost every week, my friend Kim and I trade kids in the evening so that we can go on a date with our hubbies. One family feeds all the kids and the other couple gets to go out - it is awesome. And the kids think it is so much fun to have "dinner parties." It's a win-win!!
Here we are having a little dessert after dinner. Lucas needs to work on his manners I think...
Here's Coach Turner in action!! Austin is on the far right.

Shawn recently smoked a whole turkey. Austin thought it was awesome to eat a whole turkey leg!!
Here I am at Ashlyn's b-day party - she wanted to go to Monkey Business. I was pretty impressed with myself - I let her invite 6 friends, I had 10 coupons so the rest of my kids got to get in on the fun too, plus Austin got to bring a friend. I put the party on super cheap and the kids had a blast - yay!
Gabs and her daddy.
Ashlyn didn't want b-day cake at her party - she requested graham crackers and frosting which was SUPER. I even tried to make it fancy....not bad, huh?
And the next day we were off to Austin's b-day party! Lazer tag anyone??
The boys LOVED this. I have heard that all of them want to do it for their b-days too - they had so much fun playing. Very cool.
Of course, we had to try out the new legos.
I absolutely love this pic of Lucas and grandpa Turner.
I snapped this during "quiet time" one day recently. My babies love their blankies.
Hey cowgirls!! It was cowgirl day at preschool - the girls are loving school - aren't they cute!?
I just think Lucas is about the cutest thing ever. Here he was sitting on the floor flipping through song books and singing to himself - it was hilarious. So cute I had to snap a photo.
Gabriella was all smiles here! Having fun with play-do.

And there you have it - I promised you some photos and actually followed through!! Next I am going to try and update my digital picture frame in the living room...we'll see if it happens this weekend. We have an early soccer game tomorrow, can't wait!
Have a great weekend - I plan to!

{Just feel like talkin'}

I don't really have anything specific to report, just feel like typing tonight. GO CATS! We are killing KU right now and it feels SO good. We had a great night watching the game with friends tonight although I am exhausted. The tiredness may be because I finally got to start working out again this week - yay! I am finally feeling back to my old self - I can breathe!! My asthma is now under control and I am not getting up in the middle of the night to do breathing treatments - thank goodness. That was no fun. My friend, Kim, and I have started doing Jillian's workouts this week. (that really mean girl on "The Biggest Loser") Holy moly, I had to take Alieve the last 2 days I am so stinkin' sore!! I guess that means it's working, but seriously, my legs give out every time I walk down the stairs!
Lucas and Austin got to spend a few days at the farm recently since Austin didn't have school on Monday. It was so funny when they got in Grandpa's car to head to the farm - Lucas was smiling from ear to ear. He was soooo pumped up to be the one who got to go! He loves it out there and I love that they get to go. Such a special time for my kids to get to spend that one-on-one time with their grandparents - we are so blessed.
Austin has 2 more soccer games left - it's been so fun seeing him start playing sports. Shawn is a great coach and is enjoying it also (minus the frustration of trying to teach a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds!). Their team has definitely showed improvement over the season and Austin even scored 2 goals last week - yay!! I have to admit I am much more excited for baseball season this summer than I am for soccer, but I can live with soccer at least for now. I asked Ashlyn if she is going to play soccer next year when she is in kindergarten. She said no. "No, mom. I'm going to be a cheer leader.". Oh man, oh man.....who would have thought I would have a daughter who wants to be a cheer leader? yikes.
I must head off to bed now - I am exhausted and have a busy day tomorrow. My plan is to get some pics posted tomorrow so check back soon!!
Have a great Friday - yay for the weekend!!
GO CATS!!

Birthday Week? Check!!

We made it through another year of birthdays for Ashlyn and Austin. Austin turned 6 this year and Ashlyn turned 5. All within 3 days! We had a really fun week with the kids with all kinds of celebrating. Both the kids chose to have small parties and only invited a few friends which meant they got to go do something extra fun. Austin chose lazer tag and bowling and had an absolute blast! Shawn and Uncle Nick took the boys for their afternoon fun and I didn't have to do a thing which worked out great - that's the way to throw a party. Ashlyn had fun with her girlfriends at Monkey Buziness - an indoor play area - soo fun. My sister made both kids some really cool cakes - Austin's looked like a Wii since that's his favorite past time at the moment and Ashlyn wanted a mermaid cake. They looked awesome and the kids were so excited! All in all it was a very busy week - oh I also got to go eat lunch with Austin at school on his birthday which was very special - someday he'll think I'm a big dork and wouldn't dream of eating lunch with me in public, but last week he thought it was the coolest thing ever. Then I went to his classroom and read his class a book - very special day for me (and him).
Of course, with all this excitement I landed myself in the ER over the weekend -turns out I have pneumonia - lovely. I feel ok, my asthma is just out of control. I thought all the drugs were working, but last night I had another episode so I am on the way back to the doc to see what's up. Hopefully I will be breathing better soon, can't seem to get very far very fast without breathing like I just ran a marathon (why would anyone want to run a marathon?). Minus the hospital trip it was a great week and we even did some furniture moving in the house which I have been wanting to do for months! We moved the playroom upstairs which I am very excited about - it no longer looks like a daycare when you walk into the house (ok, it still looks a bit like a daycare, but a more sophisticated one). We could sure use some nicer, matching furniture, but it's a start. Everything around here is a work in progress! Shawn only has one more coat of varnish to do on the doors for the kitchen cabinets and then they can go up - can't WAIT!!!! Hopefully we can fit that in this weekend. Mom and dad are on their annual trip to who-knows-where. I love their yearly, get-in-the-truck-and-drive-towards-some-mountains-somewhere trip. No planning, just some clothes, some food, some beer and some tennis shoes for hiking. Love it. That's all I know for now - gotta head to the doc for some more drugs - ugh.
Stay well and enjoy this awesome fall weather!

Preschool Bound!!

Time for Preschool!! My girls headed off to school last week - yay!! It was a long wait as Austin started a few weeks ago. Finally, it was their turn to head out for school. As Gabriella said, "I went to school today. For real. For real, I went to school." It's like she didn't think anyone would believe her that she went to school. She was so excited to be one of the big kids. And I was so so proud of her.

First things first, we must start every day off with a strong, healthy breakfast! Here's the clan chowing down. Aren't they cute?!?
And now these pics are totally out of order, but oh well. Here's Gabriella in her classroom ready to start the day!

Ummmm...what can I say? That's my Gab.
Dropping my Gabriella off at school!! Love you, girl!!
And here's my big girl, Ashlyn off to her first day too!

These crazies had a hard time sitting still for an early morning picture (this is at seven in the morning, you know)

The girls are getting ready to head in with their buddy, Lucy.
And of course, Grandma had to stop by and see the girls before they took off. She was as teary as I was!!
The girls had a great day. We are still getting use to being back on schedule, but things are going great. We are super duper busy these days, but still find time to snuggle up here and there. Lucas and I are adjusting to having 3 mornings a week with just us - he would prefer to have some playmates I think....maybe a puppy? hahahahaha - no way. I think it's going to be a great school year!!