Ahhh, sigh, Thursdays are over!

I've posted in the past about Ethan's sports camp. Every Thursday this summer we went to the park and he attended the camp for an hour. It's been a blast, especially since my good friend Kristi comes with her two little boys as well. We also head to our neighborhood pool afterwards, since the boys are hot (so are we!), and it's nice to cool down and let the kids expend all their energy. Today was the final week, and although I am sad it will be over, I am also breathing a huge sigh of relief. While Ethan had fun hanging with the other boys, let me tell you all the planning it entailed (all you mothers will sympathize with me, and those of you that are childless....this will be a reality check of what it's like with kids!).

1. wake up, do the normal routine of getting the kids fed breakfast, change diapers, get dressed, brush teeth, etc. put a show on the tv so i can jump in the shower quickly
2. as soon as i jump in the shower, sissy decides to wake up and i must cut my shower shorter than it already is. did i even wash my hair? oh well, there's always tomorrow
3. throw my bathing suit on and clothes over that. run upstairs, get sissy and nurse her
4. change her and get her dressed; set her down, hope she will be good while the packing begins
5. gather all the neccesities for the pool....sunscreen, swimmy diapers, suits, pool toys, floaties, towels....ok, think that bag is set
6. gather all the neccesities for the sports camp....drinks, blanket to sit on, umbrella to put sissy under, snacks to keep Drew entertained, diapers for sissy and Drew....i know i'm missing something!!
7. next bag.....ok pack a picnic lunch to eat while at the pool. find the cooler...find the ice packs to put in the cooler. get the lunch ready and packed....all the while the boys are watching me with eager eyes asking for everything i'm making (mommy....i want some sandwich...mommy, grapes please....mommy, fruit snacks!)......you'll get it later! besides, when i put it in front of you to eat for lunch, you never want it:-)
8. time to go....time to go....what else am i forgetting? my mind is going a million miles a minute. have i even brushed my teeth yet today? oh crap, didn't get makeup on yet, at least i have large sunglasses to cover my eyes...ha
9. alrighty kids, get your shoes on! elise, put yourself in your carseat (i wish!) off to the park we go!
10. wait, does elise need to be fed again? get in a quick nursing before heading out
11. all this by 9:30:-)
12. so when you call me at 9am and ask if you are waking me up, oh no my friend, i wish! my day is half over before then:-)

Of course I wouldn't trade any of the craziness for anything. Watching Ethan "exercise" with the other boys and running the bases for the first time was worth every loss of sanity I went through!

Future All-Star Players in 20 years!

Drew cheering on his bro

Ethan running the bases with his best bud, Andrew

ZZZZZZzzzzz

We experienced a miracle today at the Turner household. Yes, a live, in-the-flesh miracle. What, you may ask, was the miracle?

Did Ryan suddenly become good at navigatting directions? No, it was better than that......
Did I become a morning person and wake up completely cheerful? No......
Did Ethan volunteer to clean up without me asking him to? Hmmmm, not that I'm aware of.
Did Drew decide he actually likes green veggies? Ha, yeah right.
Did Elise actually sleep through the night? ........Well? ......No, but that's okay, she'd still my angel:-)

No, my friends it was better than all of the above. For a glorious moment at the Turner household this afternoon, EVERY single member of our family was taking a nap. That's right....one, two, three, four, five of us at the same moment. Sleeping. Hallelujah. I am a new woman, revived and refreshed, more than I have ever been in the past three months. My first nap since I had my gall bladder surgery three months ago! That's right, our first nap as a family ever:-) And boy, did it FEEL GREAT!

**Update: I guess God has a funny sense of humor, because last night I was up all but a few hours (Elise was not feeling well). So while I enjoyed and appreciated the nap yesterday, I am no longer a revived and refreshed mother today:-) Oh well!

Chatter box

Sorry I don't quite know how to edit videos yet...this one is a little long (2 1/2 minutes)......but the last minute of the video is worth watching!

Thursday night at the Turners

I'll think Ryan is the biggest kid in this video:-) Two of the boys good friends (Thomas and Andrew) are on the left, then Ethan, Ryan, and Drew Drew (in case Ryan blended in with the boys). Ha!

Destinations

Andy started a new sermon series at church yesterday titled "Destinations". Very simple concept, but of course he takes scripture and examples and makes it so applicable to life situations. I think that any person that listens to it can benefit somehow....watch it online by clicking below. I'm not going to go into details because I want to you to watch it! If you haven't seen Andy speak before you are missing out....he is one of the most amazing speakers I've heard (if not the best!).
Click here

Sissy's video debut

Thought you all might enjoy some sissy noises...

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Happy Birthday Kerry

Today is my big sis' birthday....Happy Birthday! Wish we were there to help you celebrate.....but sending our wishes your way. Hope your day was marvelous:-)

Love you!

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Independence Day

Had a fun celebration of Independence Day. Went to the fireworks in our town July 3rd with the family. The whole crew was there...Brandon and Stefanie, Grammy and PaPa, and all five of us. I have to admit I was a little worried about how it would go, especially since we went so early (3 hours)to get seats and hang out. The boys ended up having a blast running around and beating each other up (boys will be boys).
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Here is Elise celebrating her first Fourth of July with Stefanie ( Uncle Brandon's girlfriend). Of course she was dressed up for the festivities:-)

Ethan checking out the fireworks with Grammy.


Little Lady watching the fireworks with her daddy. You can see her eyes were HUGE. She didn't quite know what to think of everything. Good thing I took a picture towards the beginning, because she didn't last long. Daddy ended up walking her around the parking lot for the majority of the fireworks:-(


Drew getting a little help from PaPa (covering his ears).


The next morning (July 4th) we went to a steam-engine parade in our town. It's the largest (and probably only one!) in the nation. Needless to say the engines are "too loud" in the words of Drew Drew. We even came prepared with ear plugs! Ethan is showing his off...


Drew didn't take to the steam engines so well. In fact Ryan and I have never seen him more frightened of something:-) We kept telling him they were like Thomas the engine, but he saw no resemblence!


Ryan ended up taking Drew to the car until the engines had all passed by, and the "normal" floats came. Then both boys had a blast as candy was thrown to them! I love this picture of Drew blowing his "twirly flag".


Went to the lake and hung out on the boat all afternoon. The plan was to stay for fireworks on the lake, but by 8:30 we were completely exhausted from staying up late with the kids the night before. So we headed home and everyone showered (the boys new favorite thing to do). As we were getting the boys dressed in their pj's, we heard fireworks outside. Peeked out the windows and saw an amazing fireworks show given courtesy of a house in our neighborhood....lasted 30 minutes! It worked out so perfect to have the kids all ready for bed....laying together in Drew's bed, and watching the fireworks outside the windows.

God bless America!

Our Rising Star

FINALLY downloaded some videos off of our camera...so get ready for a bombardment of videos!

Here's one of Ethan at his "sports camp".....is he a natural? Time will tell...

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