Warning: Sappy Post

Austin has been begging me to take the picture of Will's bare buns off the blog (he claims child abuse for William). Anyway instead of deleting the photo, we compromised on just publishing a new post:

I was reading a blog recently that had posted SIMPLE PLEASURES. I loved it. It made me become aware of those small, little things that make me so happy (even if this happiness is only seconds long). In today's world these "things" are priceless. I hope that all who read this (both of you) are inspired to think of your own SIMPLE PLEASURES and be awed by them as I am by my own:

1. Folded laundry with nothing in the washing machine or dryer or on the laudry room floor.
2. Hearing an old 80's song on the radio -- and noticing that my kids are singing along too--in the same off tune, off rhythm way that I did (do).
3. The phrase "NO homework tonight, I did it all in class".
4. Nap time.
5. Having a day, then being able to meet friend(s) and pound it out on the treadmill.
6. Having an "Indian Summer" Fall. And all the outdoor fun that comes along with it.
7. Ovaltine. Especially with Costco milk.
8. Reading a good book, recommendations from friends to read these good books.
9. William's learning to talk and the crazy, mixed up way he says things. My favorite right now "aunie (regan) my eesster (sister)?!? Bell my eester!! OR the way he reads Mr. Brown can Moo, can you? OR......
10. Holiday decorations. My neighborhood is full of them right now, the houses, the grocery store, the zoo, it is soo fun. (Halloween right now, but will soon change to Christmas)

Best Friend

She is stinky most of the time--I believe from what she eats.
She leaves her hair on everything--just because she needs to comb more often.
She eats anything--this is a good quality as well as a bad one.
She snores, she is overweight--hey, but who isn't.
She leaves her crap (for lack of a better word) anywhere, she does not know how to pick up after herself.
She annoys (for lack of a better word) the neighbors.

BUT....she is a best friend......................

She shares.
She is a comforter, warm and soft.
She listens without interruption.
She is always available--never is too busy for sharing chats, walks, snacks, or snuggles.
She does not judge--bad words/feeling can be shared without consequence.
She is LOYAL, and very, very protective.
She is a blast--in that fun mischievous way.
She will take the fall if things go bad (from the fun mischievous behavior), never pointing a finger away from her.
Although she can run faster, she always keeps her pace just a step ahead so the chase is sooo fun.
She will play games for hours, long after others tire.

Will loves Bella. Always upon arrival back home he calls for her yelling: "Bella I ome"and then gives her a big hug. He rides her as if she was a horse. He wrestles her. He shares his meals with her, including his drinks. He mostly loves to sit next to her and play, insisting that Bella is playing with him: "Bella play cars, Bella build house", ect.

Will and Bella have been in their share of trouble together too, from getting into the cereal cupboard (cereal everywhere, including their mouths), playing chase in the house and knocking over Mom's stuff, soaking the house with bath water (Will's water), and eating a weeks supply of snacks (human and doggie).

Today when Mom insisted that Will stay awake--way too late in the day for a nap. He found his best friend snuggled up and went to sleep. Bella stayed next to him for about 1 1/2 so Will could get a good nap in. (no pics because Ryan has the camera at the office--arghhh!!)

So Bella, where are you going to be at midnight tonight when the house is quiet, and everyone is asleep except for Will (and his Mom)?!?

Here are a few pictures of their friendship over the past 2 years:


Will is upset in this picture, Bella was the only one interested in trying to comfort him.



Sorry about the bare buns--some of their mischief.

YEaH HOO!!

HHS Mens 1st place!
HHS Women 2nd place!
The kids out did themselves, both getting PRs (this means personal record--not what it stands for if you are in the nursing profession!?)
Alec 17:01, Regan 23:23
Both will move on to STATE next Wednesday (so I guess we will be doing it all over again!)
I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

Normal Wednesday?!

(While getting ready for school this morning:) The stereo blasts, the floors jump, the windows beat, and the kids chant:
"This is 10% LUCK,
20% SKILL,
15% concentrated power of WILL,
5% PLEASURE,
50% PAIN,
and 100% reasons to remember MY NAME."
Quickly followed by "We will, we will, ROCK YOU", and "We are the CHAMPIONS my friends and we'll keep on FIGHTIN'(sometimes substituted by RUNNIN') to the end".

Is this just another "NORMAL" Wednesday in the Turner Family?

No, today is special, today is not only RACE DAY, it is REGIONALS.

Carb loading has been done (we had the team dinner here last night--and can I just marvel again at how much food 22 teenage runners can put away--awe inspiring!), spikes have been cleaned, pep talks have been given, legs have been shaved--girls and BOYS alike, and the PUMP UP music has been made (the team downloaded music onto a CD for each team member--so they would all be listening to the same inspirational tunes--can you image what the bus ride over to the meet must be like?) and listened to (over and over at record breaking noise levels).

The RAMS are ready.... RUN RAMS, RUN! Goodluck!

(I tend to giggle a little at their intensity, but I do remember these days myself, when what I was doing was my LIFE--it is fun to remember.)

BTW, I am nervous, Alec is expected to medal (pressure!) and the coach has Regan (my little girl) running Varsity (she is a freshman).... I guess if you are as FAST as the big girls...you get to RUN with the big girls.

Ruth Lake

This last weekend we took a quick trip to Ruth Lake. I was supposed to be going with the young women from my ward, but as it turned out they all had other things to do. So I made my family go with me instead. We also got the chance to go with the Jackson family. It was BEAUTIFUL.

It is always so amazing that we have places like this to go to that are so close.

The kids were very proud that they got their tent up first--and actually before Ryan got up our tent Alec had to come lend some assistance.

We just had a very relaxing time sitting by a little fire, hearing BEAR stories, reading Thomas Payne (Alec) and Eragon (Regan), going for a hike in the morning, and playing UNO (Austin).

I wish we could spend every weekend this way! That last pic I had to put in because Regan adores this little Jackson boy (she took a ton of pics of him).

And the Mother of the Day Award goes to.....

Are you kidding me? Today has been when of those horrible days when I feel like I should just work 7 days straight so that I have an excuse as to why I am a "slacker mom". Let me just make a list of my award winning day:
1. woke up too late to pack the highschoolers a good lunch (today is race day).
2. did not have gatorade in the house for the highschoolers--they "need" this on race day.
3. promised to leave some gatorade and snacks in kids car (parked at highschool) so they could have it for lunch.
4. pulled into highschool parking lot just as I heard a bell ring, I asked some deliquents (being judgemental here--yet another winning mom trait) what the bell meant--LUNCH OVER! So they missed getting their pre-race snacks.
5. took Will to the park--thought it would be good to take him to Liberty Park (to change things up a bit) NOT a good IDEA. Usually I really like this park but today it was full of smokers and people who were fond of screaming the f-word about.
6.pushed Will in the swing while reading my book. Some dork in the swing next to me said--"that must be some good book for you not to beable to put it down even to push your kid". To which I just ignored him and kept reading.
7. pushed Will right out of his swing. He did a somersault in the air and landed spread eagle on his tummy--some bleeding from his mouth also occurred.
8. now Will is napping, I am not doing laudry, cleaning a toilet, or making a great dinner--I think I might just finish reading my book.
So why make this into a blog--it helps to talk about it?! Try harder tomorrow--oh yeah I go to work tomorrow.

the mundane...or just plain chaos?

6 bipeds live here, thats 12 feet total. Those 12 feet wear a sock a day (some wear more than one a day). Times that by 7ish days and this is what you get on laundry day:

a basket full of socks

When you don't match and fold these socks this is what you get from the Turner Family:

Kids who won't take the time to match up their socks so they just wear the first two socks they can find.

Mom's solution: Sock Sorting

This consists of the family gathering together in the family room. Each sitting in a designated spot--far enough as to not get in each others way. Then one member of the family (usually Dad) will throw each sock from the basket to the corresponding member of the family so that they can then match and fold their own socks. I guess you have to be there but things can get pretty crazy. After a few minutes everyone is just throwing socks. Regan throws a sock at Austin, Austin then returns fire and hits Alec, Alec then feels the need to get Austin back and there are socks all over the family room. Nobody will claim the crazy colored or worn out socks so they are the first to become ammunition.

After many a sock has been thrown and many laughs have been had a truce gets called and the socks do get sorted, matched and put away.

At least for a few more hours.