While I was gone...

Can you guess what Jeff bought me while I was gone?

Yup, that's what I will be driving now. I'm OK with it, really, I am. Plus... who doesn't LOVE those Peyton Manning commercials?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Turner's!!! We hope you had a blessed day.

Update...

1. We made it to Colorado. The snow is amazing... it is snowing as I type! Claire is SO antsy to go build a snowman!

2. We haven't gotten her results back yet. But when we do I will let you all know.

3. I have decided to open an Etsy store. When it is up and running, believe me, you will all know! It will have some of the fore mentioned Granny clutches on it, as well as some new creations!


Here are some pictures from my parents backyard...

Granny Clutch

This is my newest creation. I am titling it "Granny" because it is hand crocheted with quilted yo-yo's for decoration (you know, all those things that "Granny" did in her spare time). It's almost vintage chic, but a little kitchy too! It's probably not a design that everyone will like... who knows. Just thought I would throw it out there for you to see.

Happy Birthday Claire!

Hi! Luke here...Guess what? Today is my sissy's Birthday! I love her SOO much! She helps me learn new words, and she even let's me play with her big kid toys! She shows me how to make funny faces, and she plays with me all day long! My favorite thing to do with my sissy is to chase her around the house while we take turns seeing who can yell the loudest! Sometimes, when I eat all of my snack before sissy finishes hers, she lets me share with her! Happy Birthday Sissy!

Happy Birthday Claire... we love you so much! You are such a blessing. We could not have asked for a sweeter, more caring daughter...

My picks...

Do you LOVE, love, love, Project Runway as much as I do?!!! I wish I could be on it...maybe some day. I think my "cool" factor would have to increase by many points before they would let me on! My favorites so far are Jack, Christian and Chris. I'm not that impressed with any of the girls yet. Anyway... in the spirit of fashion, and Christmas (the gift side of it), this is what I want for Christmas:

bobbi blu flats Isn't this Coach pretty?

I have always wanted a dress form!


What do you want for Christmas, and who are you picking to win Project Runway?

Thanksgiving fun...

We went to Indiana for Thanksgiving and spent a week with Jeff's parents. Fun was had by all! I have a ton of great pictures, so instead of writing about it I will let the pictures do the talking. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We got to celebrate Papa Dale's 60th Birthday!

We spent time with our good friends Frank and Andrea and there three sweet boys... This is a picture of Claire and Josiah looking at there horses.

We were able to go to the Indianapolis Children's Museum! It is SO fun, even for Mom and Dad!

Claire learning about T-Rex.

Luke and Claire digging for dinosaur bones!

Dressing up like a real dinosaur!
and driving a race car...

We also got to enjoy the really cool weather and the beautiful trees changing colors! Wow, I forget how ugly Texas can be in the fall... being in Indy was a huge reminder.


Luke and Rumpus (Uncle Micheal's dog).


Nana Janis and Papa Dale also had a small Birthday party for Claire before we left. She had so much fun opening presents and eating cup cakes!

I could probably add more, but I will save some for later. I am so Thankful for all of our family and friends. God has truly blessed us with lots of people that care for us.

No words to describe this one...

This morning I took Claire to school, just like every Thursday morning. The only difference today was that I was driving Jeff's car... mine was in the shop. So, we are driving down the highway and Claire opens her door! I almost had a heart attack. There was no where to pull over so I had to drive very carefully, as to not make the door swing all the way open. Claire was very shocked that pulling such a tiny lever could cause Mommy to react so dramatically!!! After I yelled for a while (yes, I yelled! You would have too!) she said "Mommy, it wasn't me, it was Charlie!" Charlie is Claire's imaginary friend (it's a girl!). Well, don't you worry... Charlie and Claire will never open a car door ever again!

Here are some cute pictures of Claire and her buddies. I seem to take a lot of pictures when they are all together... mostly because they are down right fun to watch and I want to catch it all on film!

Who knew candy sticks and rocking chairs could be SO much fun?

Claire and "Benjum"

losing my mind...

Thank you for all of the encouraging comments about my lack of sleep. For some odd reason I actually slept last night... maybe God knew that Claire and Luke would drive me over the edge today if I didn't get just a little bit more sleep than usual!

We had a fun weekend. We had planned a short trip to see Jeff's Uncle and Aunt, but we had to cancel at the last minute. Claire cannot shake this recent asthma flare up... it made me nervous to travel with her like that. So instead we stayed here and went to the park. This particular park is right next to the lake. Claire loved just looking out into the water... she was looking for alligators. Funny right? When we pulled up to the park there was a warning sign stating that alligators had been spotted around the area! WHAT! We played cautiously.

One of the many faces of Claire...

Well, I guess I should elaborate on the title I chose today... I feel like I am losing my mind because I cannot get ANYTHING accomplished (any "Amen's" from my Mommy friends???).

Things I need to get done:

1. Laundry- we are leaving Friday for our Thanksgiving trip.

2. Decorations- I am decorating a table at our Women's Renewal at church tomorrow night.

3. Bathe- Please tell me that there are other Mom's out there that don't get to shower until nap time?!!

I won't go on, because I'm sure you don't really care...

This is a video of Luke singing. I ask him to sing this song at least 10 times a day because I think it is just down right CUTE. He LOVES Elmo. So, here is Luke's big singing debut! (La, la,la,la, Elmo's World...)

Sleep, who needs it?

I do. I don't sleep well...ever. Here is my nightly routine: wash my face, brush my teeth, pop a couple benedryl, get in bed, read, put my ultra deluxe memory foam sleep mask on, plug my ipod into the mask... pray that I can fall asleep before Jeff starts snoring. I do this EVERY night. Most nights it takes me a good hour and a half to two hours to fall asleep. Needless to say, I get very bitter if someone wakes me up in the middle of the night. Lately I have been blaming EVERYTHING on my lack of sleep. I want to work out, but I am SO tired. I want to get more done around the house, I want to take the kids on walks... blah blah blah. So, "My question is" (that's Claire's favorite thing to say right now!) how do you fall asleep quickly? If you are an expert sleeper, clue me in, because I feel like I am going to pass out as I type!


Not much is going on at our house at the moment. Claire and Luke are really starting to enjoy playing together. Most of the time it is pleasant, but there are occasional arguments. Last weekend our small group came over for dinner... we had a great time. I glanced out the window and saw all of the kids lined up on the playhouse porch eating there dessert. It was priceless. They are all such sweet kids. Claire gets very excited when her friends come over, this made it very hard to get her to look at me in the picture. She is mesmerized by "big" kids.

Kaylen, Payton, Ezra, Claire, Allen, and Benjamin (Luke and Anastasia were inside).

One more Luke story before I go... Today Luke was literally begging for a "nack" (snack). He seemed really hungry, so I gave in. Before I would give it to him I told him that he had to give me a hug and a kiss. He kept telling me no, but finally gave in. After he put two and two together he kept giving me hugs and kisses all morning! What a little stinker... he sure is smart!

Claire, Luke and Daddy watching football and having a "nack".

Fall Festival

Last night we all went to the fall festival at our church. The kids had a great time! Claire and Luke especially liked the petting zoo. As you can see from this picture, Luke was not thrilled about his costume. Maybe it was the fact that he went as a bumble bee. Or, maybe it was because his Mommy made him wear his sisters leggings? At least he lasted long enough to take a few pictures with his "sis" and his best buddy KJL.
The story behind the bumble bee is this: It was supposed to be Claire's costume, but after she threw a huge fit it became Luke's costume. Next year he will be bigger than her and I don't think there will be any swapping costumes! :)
Just for fun, here are some old pictures...
This is a picture from Halloween 2005... Indian princess Claire

This is Halloween 2006... Luke as Peyton Manning
Claire as a Colts cheerleader

Quote of the day...

Claire: Who's coming over to our house?
Mommy: No one, why?
Claire: Because you are cleaning the kitchen!
Mommy: Oh.

Maybe that should be a HUGE hint to me.
Today has been a VERY long day... maybe tomorrow I will have the patience left in my being to post pictures. Until then, have a good night.
E

Hey, over here!!!

So, Sunday night was the annual Hot Dog Banquet at church. One word: precious. The evening is used as a tool to teach all of the children about missions and missionaries. The evening began with a feast of hot dogs. Next, we split into groups and went from station to station learning all about each country and there specific needs. Claire was FABULOUS! She sat and listened the whole time. I was impressed... I think there were six or seven stations! After that event was over we headed back to our table to hear some Q and A from the missionaries and some really cute kiddos. After each missionary was interviewed the child would pray over him or her. My favorite prayer: "Dear Lord, please help ___ to not get poisoned". It was hysterical, yet SO sweet. Then came the best part... the song. Claire wanted to be in the "Hot Dog Choir" and I really thought it was something she could handle. When the music started Claire started turning around to see what all of the kids were doing behind her. I kept whispering "Hey, Claire, turn around... sing, hey over here... Claire!!!" To no avail, she had her back to the audience most of the time. Oh, well... I guess I could have dressed her up in a pretty dress. She might have stood there with her skirt over her head instead! In case you think I am exaggerating (which, if you know me... then it is entirely possible!) here is the video.

Her little friend Benjamin is the cutie in the striped shirt that comes in and out of the picture on the video. If you listen carefully you will hear him say "I've got something for ya!" He then jumps off the stage and brings his Mom a booger! (We had a great laugh over that one!) Basically, the whole thing was hysterical! I just love these kids. Here is a picture of Benjamin, Claire and Payton at the end of the evening.

Wow.

In our small group at church we are talking about how we can show Christ to the people around us. Sometimes this means using words, and sometimes words are not necessary. I have been thinking a lot about this topic, and I randomly ran across this short video online. I have not seen it any where else, and it is worth your time. I hope it inspires you to think about how you wear Christ for all the world to see...
The Simple Truths of Service inspired by Johnny the bagger.

Creativity

I had a very long conversation with one of my old roommates about creativity yesterday. Creativity can be discouraging. I love, love, love to make things... but if it doesn't turn out exactly the way it looked in my head, then I get discouraged. Anyway, I have been feeling this a lot lately about my projects. So, in light of others feeling the same way I am, I want to give some "shout outs" to my very creative friends... here it goes! (click on there names and check out there talent!)

Sarah Maxwell English- This girl is on her way to being a famous artist. No joke people. Right now she is designing children's clothing for JC Penny. Check out her work- amazing. I am very proud to call her my friend!
Sarah Carpenter- A very sweet friend, and a fellow stay at home Mom. Sarah and I share sewing and crafting as our hobbies. She is starting a new business selling Burpies and cute wall letters!
Sara Harrow (my Mom!)- Well, you might have already noticed the embroidery on the dresses that I make... My Mom has a great business in Colorado called By Faith Alone. She does custom embroidery and also has an etiquette column in Northern Colorado Women's magazine.
Andrea Spiceland- I met Andrea when I married Jeff. She and her husband are Jeff's long time friends! Andrea is creative in a different kind of way. She is very wise... right now on her blog she is teaching others how to save money. She does a better job than I could do talking about it, so go over and check it out! (this is one area of creativity that I am seriously lacking! :) )
Kelly- We have never met, but I know for sure that she is a great girl! Kelly is starting a new business designing blogs. I have mentioned her before in a previous post... but now she has an official site that you can go visit! She is also giving away a free header, so hurry up and leave her a comment so she will choose you... that's how I go this cute page! :)

So, if you know someone that you want to add to my list, leave a comment so that we can all enjoy there work! Don't be modest... add yourself! :)

play time

On Sunday night the kids and I went to church for small group (Jeff was at the Cowboys game). All of the women in our group met and had dinner while the kids played in there classes. I am very blessed to have such wonderful friends... we had a great time talking! After we picked the kids up we let them play in our churches new play area. It is HUGE. The play "area" is a two story jungle gym structure with a giant twirly slide attached. It has been finished for a few weeks now but Claire has been ultra cautious of it. She has not been able to go above the first level, but on Sunday night her sweet friend Payton helped her go all the way to the top and slide down the slide. He was so encouraging... he kept saying "your really doing a good job Claire, you can do it!" She was very excited about her accomplishment! She couldn't wait to tell her Daddy what she had done! Luke was feeling a little left out, so I decided to take him all the way to the top and slide down with him! Wow, what a work out that was!!! He loved every second of it! All of the other girls in my group did the slide too... I've got some pretty funny pictures girls! :)
Here are a few pictures... the last one is random. Claire likes to pretend that Luke is her baby. He plays along. I wonder how long that will last? :)

Mommy and Luke coming down the slide

Claire and Payton Claire pushing her "baby" around the house.

Luke

Luke's surgery went well! Thank you for all of your prayers. More later...

calm (part 2)

Calm yet... NO. Luke and I had our normal Thursday morning while Claire was at school. He took a short nap, we played, and then we ate lunch. After lunch we played some more, but he was acting funny. He kept licking me, licking his arm, licking the couch. At times Claire likes to pretend she is a cat, this includes pretending to give herself a bath, cat style. Luke loves to imitate his big sister, so I just assumed he was licking everything because he was also pretending to be a cat. I was wrong. This went on for an hour. Finally, we got in the car to go pick up Claire . I was putting Luke in his car seat and I saw a flash of something on his tongue. It was a FIRE ANT!!! It was latched on to the tip of his tongue, and it was thrashing around. I tried to pull it off, but it wouldn't let go. Finally, after many attempts I succeeded. Poor Luke, his tongue is swollen, and so is his cheek. He is even drooling! The weird thing is, that he never cried! I think I would have been screaming if that had happened to me... Anyway, he is fine... but I am still not calm.
Some thoughts that are going through my head: How did he get a fire ant in his mouth? Where did this fire ant come from... we never went outside! There are lots more thoughts, but I won't bore you.

On to Claire... Every time she comes home from school, she complains about a certain girl. It's always the same girl, let's call her "E". "E pushed me." "E hit me." "E threw a rock at me." Today's complaint was "E hurt my lip." Normally I just listen and then discuss with her what we do when others are not nice to us, but today she really did have a mark on her lip. Here is the funny thing: There is no child by the name of "E" in her class. Does the so called child exist, or has Claire made up an imaginary bully? So, all you Moms out there... What would you do? Would you ignore it? Would you say something? I am apprehensive to say anything because I don't want to be one of "those" moms that will tell anyone that her child is perfect. Believe me, Claire has her moments! :) So, speak up Mom's I really do want to know what you would do.

calm

This piece is by Alyson Fox... I found it on my friend Sarah's blog.
I'm not calm. So, this is a great reminder for me today.

My blog...

Do you LOVE it? I do! Kelly made me a new header! She is a friend of a friend of a friend... we have never met, and she made me a header that really fits me! You should go check her blog out! She also did Allison M.'s new blog look! THANKS Kelly!!!

In other news... Luke is having surgery on Friday. He will be having his sinus passages cleaned out and also having tubes put in. The poor little guy just can't get over those ear infections. Hopefully this surgery will help!

Tonight Jeff and I are going to dinner with some of our awesome friends... just adults, NO kids. Can you believe it? I am SOO excited I can hardly contain myself! Claire and Luke are SO excited too, because they get to play with KJL! It's a win- win situation! :)

Also, thank you so much for all of your sweet comments about my cake! You really made my day! :)

I will leave you with a picture of Luke wearing Claire's sunglasses... he thought he was pretty funny!

Eat your cake.

I think I have a new hobby (like I needed another one)! I made this cake for a friends baby shower. It came out way better than I expected... I can't wait to make another one!

Silly girl...

I have noticed that Claire is beginning to learn tricks from other kids. She most recently has learned how to make silly faces. While Dale and Janis were here visiting Claire, Daddy and Papa Dale had a silly face contest. It was beyond funny... I laughed so hard. Unfortunately I didn't catch any of Papa's funny faces on camera, but we did catch Daddy and Claire. So who do you think is funnier? (Isn't Jeff a good sport?!)

To much to write about...

Well, when you wait to long to blog, it seems like there is to much to write down. I will try my best to condense it all.

Claire- Last week at school, Claire got the "star of the week" award for "praising God" in chapel! I am SOO proud of her. Next week Luke and I get to go to chapel with her and see her in action... can't wait!

Luke- The little guy is STILL having ear problems. We are taking him to the ENT tomorrow. Luke is also saying a ton of new words... Diego, bubbles, balloon, nana, papa, touch down, football. And just yesterday he learned how to sign "more"!



Besides all of the fun kid stuff, we have been really busy. Our air conditioner got replaced on Wednesday. On Saturday we all went down the the Stock Yards to see the daily cattle drive. Claire and Luke loved seeing all of the steers, cowboys and even an Indian!


Nana, Papa, Claire, Luke and Jeff with the Indian.
Mommy, Daddy, Claire and Luke (the steers name was Pecos Bill) :)
Claire wants to go to Billy Bobs!
Luke just wants to see the horses!

That's hot!

Not much to post about... just a few quick things.

1. Our air conditioner died (again, but this time it could not be resuscitated). It's hot. It has been hot for 5 days now. We are getting a new one tomorrow.
2. Claire and Luke LOVE having Nana and Papa here.
3. Luke can say "touch down" while throwing his hands in the air. SO cute!

...more later.

Luke

I am having a lot of fun with little Luke on Thursdays. Today we went to Target, played, he took a nap, and then we ate lunch. At lunch we made faces back and forth until he was laughing so hard that he was having trouble eating! He is the sweetest...

This and that...

I'll warn you, there are no pictures at the end of this post. The kids are non stop, so it makes it hard for a photo- op! Here is what we have been up to lately:

1. Yesterday I excepted the fact that I needed labeled tabs for my Bible. Confession: I can NEVER find the book I need to look up. Most of you have heard this confession from me before, so you may find it shocking that I am just now accepting it. I went and bought those cute little tabs yesterday. While I installed them into my Bible I watched "The Hills". Is that OK? Probably not! :)

2. Luke STILL has an ear infection. After 10 days on antibiotics you would think it is gone. We went to the pediatrician today and she said that it was worse. Now we have a very strong antibiotic, a referral to the ENT and a promise that he will probably be getting tubes in the next month. Poor little guy!

3. While at the pediatrician I voiced my concern to her that it seems like my kids are sick more than the average kid... she responded with "Yes, it seems that way!" She explained that they were prone to get sicker because of the allergies and asthma... then she said "Your kids are just high maintenance!" Well, at least someone else recognizes it too.

4. Jeff's parents are coming in to town this weekend. Should be a fun time!

5. My 10 year high school reunion is this weekend... I won't be attending due to the above event. For those of you that were just dying to see me (sarcasm) I'm so sorry to disappoint!

Well, I'm sure I left a lot of riveting information out, but I hope that will do until I can get some pictures taken.

School

Claire had SO much fun at school. Literally, we walked up to her classroom, she walked/ ran in and never flinched when we said goodbye to her. Actually, I'm not even sure she was listening when I said bye to her. When we were pulling into the church parking lot she said "Um, Mom, THIS is church. NOT school!" (Try to imagine her saying it with a very sassy voice, you know the one, the one you use when you are 16.) I guess I failed to mention to her that "school" would take place at "church".

Claire and her cool lunch box

Luke and I had a fun morning. We played, and he took a nap. I was able to get a lot done around the house. Amazing. The only thing that made me sad was Luke trying to find Claire. When we got in the car after dropping her off he kept saying "uh oh! Sissy go?" He was VERY concerned that she was not in the car with us. SO cute! So, I guess you were all right. The first drop off is hard, but guess what folks... I can't wait for next Thursday!