Fun, fun, and more fun!!!

Today was my first day back at Women's Bible study. I signed up to do a study on prayer... should be interesting. Both of the munchkins had a great time in there classes. Claire was SO excited about seeing Luke during the praise portion of there classes. As far as I can decipher all of the classes converge to sing fun songs. Claire was beside herself because of the fact that Luke got to be there too. TOO CUTE!

After class we met KJL and his Mommy at Chick- fil- a, and then we loaded all of the car seats in Allison's car. Let me just tell you what an amazing friend Allison is... She took both kids for the whole rest of the day, just so that I could have a little down time for myself. Not only did I have a great time, but I think the kids had even more fun! They went to the park, and even got to go swimming! Here are some sweet pictures of the kiddos having a blast.

Thanks for such an amazing day Allison!

Playing in the water
Riding to the park!

Isn't this a fun picture? I love it!
These guys will grow up being best buds! (they were born only 3 days apart!)
Trying to sneak in a quick nap...

Wiggley Party!!!

We (Claire, Jeff and myself) went to see the Wiggles on Saturday. It was the BEST!!! We all had sooo much fun. Claire's facial expressions were priceless. She was amazed that the Wiggles were right in front of her. Murray and Captain Feather Sword came and stood right next to us... I could have reached out and touched them!!! I can't wait to go back next year! :) Here are a few pictures and a video of Claire dancing in the isle.


Claire and Daddy

Claire and Mommy
Wake up Jeff!!!!
Fruit salad, yummy yummy!!!
Teddy bears day out.

Pay it forward...

I was just reading my blogs for the day, and I came across a blog (Leah's) with the pay it forward game. I had never heard of it, but it sounds pretty fun!

"Here's how it works! I'll send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange! I don't know what that gift will be yet, and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week...but you will receive it within 30 days, that's a promise! The only thing you have to do in return is "pay it forward" by making the same promise on your blog"

Play along if you like! Just remember, Pay It Forward!

OK ladies (or guys if your into this sort of thing) you know how much I LOVE to make things for people... this will be fun! At first it sounded like one of those hokey chain letters you got in the 80's, but this is much better. Not really a chain letter at all! Just doing something nice for someone else.

So, who's in??? :)

Milk and Corn

I am mostly writing today to vent. Last week we found out that Claire is allergic to milk, and Luke is allergic to corn. Milk I can deal with... it's the corn that is getting to me. Corn is in EVERYTHING. If you ate something today, it most likely had some derivative of corn in it. I am trying to keep Luke from eating anything with corn in it. For example: no corn starch, no corn syrup, etc. It is actually really helping all of his horrible symptoms, so that makes it a little better. Snack time is the hardest. He can't have goldfish or animal crackers, so I have to be prepared with cut up fruit and veggies. He can't even have regular bread. So, I am having to make my own. So far the bread making business is not going to well. The two loaves that I have made were like whole wheat bricks! We haven't eaten much of those. If you have a good bread recipe let me know. I have even learned how to tweak recipes to make them corn-free!
Anyway... I guess it could be worse. I am thankful that we know what was making him so miserable.
I promise not to vent on my next post. :)

Where to begin?

These last few weeks have been jam packed with fun. Jeff has been able to be at home a lot, and the kids and I always love that. We were able to take the kids to a Rangers game. They had a blast! Jeff and I got to go on a REAL date, during the week... can you believe it?!! Shout out to Kelsey and Lisa for watching the kiddos. You have no idea what that meant to us!

Claire has had a very transitional weekend. On Friday night the "Passy Fairy" came and took her passy. Claire decided that she wanted the "passy fairy" to give one of her passies to Baby Kamryn, and one to Baby Harper. So cute. When Claire woke up the next morning the "passy fairy" had left he a Dora bike (more like a big wheel). She is still not convinced that she made the right decision! :) Also, Claire is now sleeping in her big girl bed. I finally finished it... I will post pictures soon.

Jeff and the kids before the game.

Luke was amazed!!
Time out to check Daddy's email.
Wow Dad! Look at that!
Claire holding Baby Harper.

Claire and the Cowboys

Today right before lunch Jeff called. He wanted me to bring him some casual clothes because he had just been invited to attend the Cowboys vs. Colts pre-season game tonight. Being that it is 100 degrees here, I thought I would be a good wife and take him some shorts to wear tonight. Once we got to downtown "Cow town" we walked a few blocks and had lunch. It was very enjoyable. Because we live in Cow Town, it is not uncommon to see an authentic cowboy. Oh, you know the type... starched wranglers, starched poplin shirt, and a HUGE white Stetson hat... don't forget the Justin boots!
So, as we are walking back to Jeff's building we walked right by two cowboys, dressed exactly as described above. Claire yells out "Mom, A COWBOY!!!", " MOM, I'M NOT A COWBOY!!!" and then continues to repeat it until Jeff and I both acknowledged her statement. I'm not sure if the cowboys heard her, but if they did I am sure they were smiling! I think we have entered the "embarrass Mom phase"!

Singing

Claire LOVES to sing. This is one of her new songs...
For those of you that wondered... the quote from a few posts back was from 'Anchor Man'!

pictures that Papa took...

Catch up.

I haven't blogged in a while. It seems like the longer you wait to blog, the harder it is. So, here we go... this will be a catch up session.

Luke- Can you believe that he is already 14 months old? I can't. He is walking/ running everywhere. He is saying a few words (ball, fish, kitty...). He has learned how to sign "more" and "please". I am so proud of him. On Tuesday he fell and hit his forehead really hard. He has a giant goose egg that is a very pretty shade of green!

Claire- How long are the terrible twos supposed to last? When Claire is having a good day, we are potty training. She is on a "star" system. Every time she goes she gets 1 star or 2 stars (i will let you figure that one out! :) ) She earned 20 stickers a few days ago and we celebrated with an "ice cream party"! What a big girl!

Me- I have been busy making dresses and bags. I LOVE, LOVE to sew in my free time (which is only when the kids are asleep and my chores are done!) I have also been reading the new Harry Potter... Yeah, Yeah I know... all of you have already finished reading it! Well, I only get to read right before bed. That means I usually fall asleep half way through a page. Maybe someday I will finish it!

Jeff- He is still busy at work... It's really nice that he gets to come home earlier these days. Along with the above, his company also caters lunch everyday for all of there employees. It is a daily habit for me to ask him "what did you eat for lunch today?" (Here comes a random story!) Well, today when I asked him, he said "Blue Mesa". Wow, for lunch?!! So I said, "well, aren't you special!" Without even a pause he said "yeah, I'm kind of a big deal!"

So, does anyone know what movie that is from? Not only is Jeff great at movie quotes, but he can also ALWAYS make me laugh! I love you Jeff!

Well, I guess that gets you caught up on the Turner clan... I guess you really where not missing much! :)

Dancing

Tonight Claire wanted to have a dance party. I turned on the kids Sirius music channel, and she danced for almost an hour! Claire and her Nana Sara love Dan Zanes, so whenever any of his songs come on Claire makes comments about it being Nana's favorite! Very funny! This dance is for you Nana!

oh so funny...

If you would have been a fly on our wall last night at dinner, this is the conversation you would have heard...

Claire: "Dat (Dad) when I drink all my juice I can have Cote (Coke)!"
Jeff: "No, I don't think so Claire!"
Claire: "Ok. I have diet Cote."

What can you do but laugh when they say things like that?!

Pictures

While we were in Colorado my Dad took some really great pictures of the kids. He got a fancy new camera for fathers day! I wanted to share them on my blog because... well because I think my kids are cute! I'm there Mom, so I have that right, right?
Also, I am a dreamer. Not like a "day dreamer"... a night dreamer. I am always able to remember my dreams too. Well, last night I had a funny one. I dreamt that I received a comment on my blog from someone I didn't know. The part that was weird was that they wrote in a different language. I had it translated, and the whole comment was about how bad I was at writing, and how horrible my grammar is. So, I know I am not a great writer, and I know my grammar isn't perfect, but I just thought that was a very weird dream to have. If you don't know me, and you speak another language... please don't write me a comment. That would just freak me right out!!!

Home

We are home again. We all had a great time. The kids did pretty well considering the inconsistent schedule. Here are some pictures from the trip. Also, my Mom has joined the blogging world... here is her link.

Claire and Bo at the Caster family reunion
Great Uncle John with Claire and Luke
Great Uncle Jim with Luke
Luke can't go with out his nap!
Claire and Luke with Opa
Opa and Luke feeding the birds

Claire helping Nana in the garden

videos

Today, the kids and I are headed off to Missouri for a family reunion...should be fun! Actually, it will be lots of fun once we are off the plane. I am taking both of them by myself, so just pray that my flight is full of nice people. After the family reunion is over, we are driving to Colorado with my parents. That's a long car ride folks... but at least it is with family. So, because of our little trip I don't know if I will have the opportunity to blog much. Here are two videos for your viewing pleasure. The first one is of Luke making his first animal noise. It's a little obscure... he learned how to make a puma sound! The second video is of Claire. When Nana Janis came to visit last week she taught Claire to recite were she lives. They also practiced telling time. Keep in mind that I filmed this video in the morning around 10:00am!

Mexico

We got home from Mexico on Friday. We had a great time! The resort we stayed at was nice, and the beach was beautiful. We spent the majority of our time in the sun. I have a tan for the first time ever! Jeff and Brandon went on an Adventure Tour. They got to ride donkeys up a mountain, zip line through the rain forest and then repel down a waterfall! While they did that Jennie and I spent the morning at the spa... what a sacrifice! To say the least, it was all very relaxing... and much needed.

A view of the beach and mountains... Brandon and Jennie in the Market...
Jeff and I on the beach. (These two pictures are almost identical, but as we were standing there the sunset got even better...)

God

I feel so moved to post all of the amazing things that God has done in the last few days. I am SO thankful to have witnessed them (mostly though the Internet). I am confident that God moves in peoples lives... we just have to make sure our eyes are opened enough to see it happen. Here is a list of the amazing things that I have witnessed this week...

• Luke's blood work came back normal.
• My friend Becky's sister and brother in law will get to return to the US after being in Benin Africa. They have adopted a little girl from Benin, and are waiting for her visa to be completed click here to read about how God has worked in there lives.
• I mentioned a little baby a while ago named Ethan Powell. I know most of you read his blog and are aware of his situation. Yesterday he had a clean spinal tap, free of cancer cells. The doctors made it clear to his parents that they would more than likely have to take there son home to die... but they are faithful, and Ethan will get to have a bone marrow transplant now. Click here to read about Ethan.
• Two more miracle babies that I have seen God work through: here and here.

I hope that these people and there stories will encourage you like they have encouraged me.

So do not fear, for a I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Praise... and updates.

Luke's blood work came back normal!!! The nurse and pediatrician are confused by this, but I am confidant that God heard our prayers!

• In other news: Our air conditioner got fixed!


• I had SO much fun on my birthday (Saturday). We had dinner with friends at the Rain Forest cafe on Friday night, a fun dinner at home with friends on Saturday night, and a great cookout with our small group on Sunday night! A very great weekend!


• Jeff got a new driver (golf) for Fathers day... he loves it. (He should though, he picked it out!)


• I haven't seen the spider since our photo shoot.


• Jeff and I leave for Puerto Vallarta a week from today!!!!!

Here are a few pictures from last night of Claire having a BLAST with her bff "Benjum" (Benjamin).

How sweet is this?

The next two pictures give you a hint that Claire thinks it's normal to ride in the car and talk on the phone... I wonder how she learned that? :)

Are you kidding?

So, the last few days have been very eventful. I will tell you about them in a list, because otherwise I could go on and on.

• Our air conditioner went out on Wednesday night. Not acceptable in Texas... but it is fixed now.


• Jeff discovered a HUGE tarantula outside of our upstairs guest bedroom window. Every thing is bigger in Texas right? Claire was fascinated, I was horrified.


• On Monday I took Luke in for his 12 month check up... usually those are no big deal. The MD found funny spots on his tummy, she called the petechael hemorrhaging (broken blood vessels). She sent us for blood work on Tuesday. Wednesday we found out that his kidney functions are not good. She is sending us back for more blood work in the morning to find out if it was a false test. Anyway... Jeff and I are both concerned, and we would love it if you would join us in praying for Luke. I believe that God is the ultimate healer. If there is something wrong with Luke's kidneys, I believe that God can heal them. I will post when I know more. Until then enjoy these frightening pictures.

Farmer Claire

This spring Claire and I planted a tomato, lettuce and flowers. Today when we went out to play Claire got to pick her first tomato... she was very proud!

Say what?

Today at lunch Claire and I had an all out battle over eating. She refused. She used to be such a great eater, wait... she IS a good eater if Jeff is around. Anyway... I was trying very hard not to get upset with her. I said something like"Claire put the food in your mouth and chew it!". She responded with "Mom, if my mouth is closed I CANNOT eat my lunch!!!" Then she clamped her teeth together and smiled really big! AGGHH- so frustrating, yet SOO funny. When she says things like that I cannot help but laugh. A few more Claire quotes for you...

• "Mom, I wuv Jesus and Winney the Pooh."


• "Mom, take wuke (Luke) over there. I don't want him here."

Since Luke can't talk yet I will just post a few pictures of him!

Mr. Personality getting a haircut!


Luke loves to swim!!!

Hey Mom! This is a boat right?