a youth lock-in at the church last night meant a night home alone for me. everything is weird when i'm here by myself. the dogs act crazy, i do not bathe b/c i might not hear an intruder with the water running, i stay up uncharacteristically late, and there are waaay too many noises in the dark. i am always glad to see sunlight! but, on the other hand, i'd much rather be here at home by myself than locked in the church with teenagers that do not sleep! now yes...i love teenagers. i love that we have been doing youth ministry at church for 10 years. BUT, i just can not do lock-ins. i am an old fuddy duddy. god bless dustin for having the stamina to lock himself in the church with 25 crazy people for 12 hours! i told him though...there will be no sleeping all day here at the turner house, so hopefully he managed to squeeze in a few hours of rest in the middle of the chaos! we have one week to get all of our work done, and i am accomplishing sooo much more than usual with him here to help me push, lift, carry, throw away, clean, and care for the kids.
i have no new years eve plans. i remember 10 years ago sitting in our apartment in tulsa wondering if the world was going to explode at midnight. i was curious as to which time zone's cross over to the year 2000 would make it happen. i have a video of dustin and i eating steamed spinach in the dark to pretend that the electricity had shut off and all we had to eat was garden food. its hysterical to watch! for six years i struggled living in central time zone especially on new years eve because it was as if the "real" new year had already happened by the time it turned midnight central time. i am an eastern time zoner at heart and always will be. when i moved back i finally felt like i was on time again and not an hour behind.
farewell 2009.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
catch up
holy crap--its been a long time since i've written anything here. sorry doug and virginia. i know without facebook you probably have nothing to read on the computer except this blog, and you've checked with anticipation every day only to find that i've written absolutely NOTHING!! haha!! but, i do have excuses, and they seem like good ones to me!
christmas has come and gone. so has the stomach illness that went along with the holiday. eden got us started with it all and threw up so much that she had to go to the hospital. next was me. thankfully, i am part machine. the machine part of me can stay up all night with a puking kid, spend the day in the hospital, come home to sleep but spend the night vomiting instead, sleep sitting up in a chair for two hours, and then get up and head back to the hospital all bright and shiny like nothing has thoroughly wiped me out! we then had a one-day intermission with no vomit. that brings us to christmas eve.
christmas eve began with ma barbie and scot coming over with bags and bags of gifts! i'm pretty sure the kids were up at 6:30 am, but we didn't open presents until 10ish. i just love watching the kids get so excited about their gifts! simone does this fist clenched shaking laughing thing when she is beyond excited, and its sooo funny!! following gift opening #1, i put all the new clothes in the wash and got everything organized. we spent the afternoon resting, and then dustin got sick. he went to bed moaning and groaning and fevered. in bed he stayed while i got all the kids ready and left for ma and pa's. actually, when i left he was hanging over the toilet, but i later found out that he did NOT vomit.
christmas eve in paden city began with supper of chips and cookies. of course there was healthy food, but whats christmas eve without cookies for dinner?? after we ate, we attended christmas eve service at ma and pa's church as tradition leads us to do every year. we have often talked of staying home and having our own "service", but i don't think any of us could really go through with it! the kids were amazingly well-behaved through the church service. nice, quiet behavior is hard to do when you know you have gift opening round #2 waiting for you at ma and pa's when church is over.
for the first time ever i think the kids really did take turns opening gifts. i know they were excited, but they were somewhat subdued as well. it could've been the 6:30 wake-up time and lack of naps. but it was nice to see them taking things a little slower and enjoying each gift as it was opened. oh...i forgot to mention that before the presents were opened, dustin showed up!! thankfully whatever sickness has fallen upon us was quick moving, and he said he felt 90% better than he did earlier in the day. so thankfully, he did not have to miss opening presents at ma and pa's. it was horribly lonely without him.
just as christmas eve church is a tradition, so is my anal organization of christmas gifts when we get back home on christmas eve night. i have dustin carry everything in, and then i set out all the presents in kid specific locations...cana and eden's on the couch, judah's in the chair, simi's on the loveseat, and nadia's on the coffee table. i throw away all trash, vacuum, and put all of mine and dustin's things away. this way the kids can wake up and see their presents all over again. dustin fought me on this tradition for about three years, saying that it was entirely too late to be doing such a thing. he would've preferred to come home, leave it all sitting in bags, and go through it in the morning. but thankfully in recent years he has relented and come to see the logic beyond the organization.
it makes christmas morning a whole lot more enjoyable! we got up and opened presents from one another. dustin and i get each of the kids three gifts in memory of the gifts jesus received from the three men from the east. after breakfast and gift opening round #3, we got ready and left for maryland.
i'll skip the gory details of the long drive in the ice storm. uffda.
we arrived at meme's in time for dinner. it had been a year since we had seen dylan, selena, and selena's kids, so it was a long overdue reunion. the kids really missed seeing their cousins when we were over in the summer, and they all had a lot of catching up to do! after dinner, we had gift opening #4, and then the kids were ready for BED! the next day we spent laying around and playing with Christmas gifts. that is, until Judah got sick. he came upstairs to tell me that he *thought* he might throw up, but it was too late. just as i was instructing him to go to the toilet, he turned around and vomited all down meme's steps. he was trying to get to the bathroom while puking the entire way there! that meant a LOT of cleanup. poor judah. he just cried and cried to come home, but there was nothing i could do but make him comfortable on meme's couch and hold the trashcan for him. the redeeming event of the evening was ordering papa johns pizza. yum yum.
sunday morning we came home. i've never been so ready to get home and back to our routine! i was just tired of being sick and the kids being sick and tired of being tired. while christmas with all of our family was absolutely wonderful, i knew that we all needed some much needed rest in our own beds with no anticipation of gift opening to keep us awake!
as it stands no one else in our house has been sick. we are rested and healthy and enjoying our week with dustin off of school. i did some christmas returning yesterday and then went to a doctor to see about my pelvis problems. he seems to think it will heal just fine and will not cause me any problems with labor and birth. i have a list a page long of projects for this week, and today i organized the laundry room. that was probably the biggest item on the list. next will be to clean out and organize the office. i had to do the laundry room first so that homeschool stuff from the office closet can be stored down there. the rest of the list includes small things that are just annoying and time consuming. but i want to get them done this week while dustin is home. i can imagine that completing this to-do list will help me get a great start to the new year! there's nothing like starting out the year with a clean house and organized life!
come january i will get back into my usual routine and hopefully will not be so neglectful of this blog.
christmas has come and gone. so has the stomach illness that went along with the holiday. eden got us started with it all and threw up so much that she had to go to the hospital. next was me. thankfully, i am part machine. the machine part of me can stay up all night with a puking kid, spend the day in the hospital, come home to sleep but spend the night vomiting instead, sleep sitting up in a chair for two hours, and then get up and head back to the hospital all bright and shiny like nothing has thoroughly wiped me out! we then had a one-day intermission with no vomit. that brings us to christmas eve.
christmas eve began with ma barbie and scot coming over with bags and bags of gifts! i'm pretty sure the kids were up at 6:30 am, but we didn't open presents until 10ish. i just love watching the kids get so excited about their gifts! simone does this fist clenched shaking laughing thing when she is beyond excited, and its sooo funny!! following gift opening #1, i put all the new clothes in the wash and got everything organized. we spent the afternoon resting, and then dustin got sick. he went to bed moaning and groaning and fevered. in bed he stayed while i got all the kids ready and left for ma and pa's. actually, when i left he was hanging over the toilet, but i later found out that he did NOT vomit.
christmas eve in paden city began with supper of chips and cookies. of course there was healthy food, but whats christmas eve without cookies for dinner?? after we ate, we attended christmas eve service at ma and pa's church as tradition leads us to do every year. we have often talked of staying home and having our own "service", but i don't think any of us could really go through with it! the kids were amazingly well-behaved through the church service. nice, quiet behavior is hard to do when you know you have gift opening round #2 waiting for you at ma and pa's when church is over.
for the first time ever i think the kids really did take turns opening gifts. i know they were excited, but they were somewhat subdued as well. it could've been the 6:30 wake-up time and lack of naps. but it was nice to see them taking things a little slower and enjoying each gift as it was opened. oh...i forgot to mention that before the presents were opened, dustin showed up!! thankfully whatever sickness has fallen upon us was quick moving, and he said he felt 90% better than he did earlier in the day. so thankfully, he did not have to miss opening presents at ma and pa's. it was horribly lonely without him.
just as christmas eve church is a tradition, so is my anal organization of christmas gifts when we get back home on christmas eve night. i have dustin carry everything in, and then i set out all the presents in kid specific locations...cana and eden's on the couch, judah's in the chair, simi's on the loveseat, and nadia's on the coffee table. i throw away all trash, vacuum, and put all of mine and dustin's things away. this way the kids can wake up and see their presents all over again. dustin fought me on this tradition for about three years, saying that it was entirely too late to be doing such a thing. he would've preferred to come home, leave it all sitting in bags, and go through it in the morning. but thankfully in recent years he has relented and come to see the logic beyond the organization.
it makes christmas morning a whole lot more enjoyable! we got up and opened presents from one another. dustin and i get each of the kids three gifts in memory of the gifts jesus received from the three men from the east. after breakfast and gift opening round #3, we got ready and left for maryland.
i'll skip the gory details of the long drive in the ice storm. uffda.
we arrived at meme's in time for dinner. it had been a year since we had seen dylan, selena, and selena's kids, so it was a long overdue reunion. the kids really missed seeing their cousins when we were over in the summer, and they all had a lot of catching up to do! after dinner, we had gift opening #4, and then the kids were ready for BED! the next day we spent laying around and playing with Christmas gifts. that is, until Judah got sick. he came upstairs to tell me that he *thought* he might throw up, but it was too late. just as i was instructing him to go to the toilet, he turned around and vomited all down meme's steps. he was trying to get to the bathroom while puking the entire way there! that meant a LOT of cleanup. poor judah. he just cried and cried to come home, but there was nothing i could do but make him comfortable on meme's couch and hold the trashcan for him. the redeeming event of the evening was ordering papa johns pizza. yum yum.
sunday morning we came home. i've never been so ready to get home and back to our routine! i was just tired of being sick and the kids being sick and tired of being tired. while christmas with all of our family was absolutely wonderful, i knew that we all needed some much needed rest in our own beds with no anticipation of gift opening to keep us awake!
as it stands no one else in our house has been sick. we are rested and healthy and enjoying our week with dustin off of school. i did some christmas returning yesterday and then went to a doctor to see about my pelvis problems. he seems to think it will heal just fine and will not cause me any problems with labor and birth. i have a list a page long of projects for this week, and today i organized the laundry room. that was probably the biggest item on the list. next will be to clean out and organize the office. i had to do the laundry room first so that homeschool stuff from the office closet can be stored down there. the rest of the list includes small things that are just annoying and time consuming. but i want to get them done this week while dustin is home. i can imagine that completing this to-do list will help me get a great start to the new year! there's nothing like starting out the year with a clean house and organized life!
come january i will get back into my usual routine and hopefully will not be so neglectful of this blog.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
no crafts please
if i could hire someone to teach or if i could co-op one area of homeschooling, it would be CRAFTS. i guess the technical term would be "art", but at the age my kids are, they pretty much just want to make crafts. and i dislike every aspect of it--from finding an idea to storing the items when finished. uffda uffda uffda. one good reason to send simone to preschool within the school system would be so that she can learn how to use scissors and glue! i am not creative, artistic, or "crafty". i'm glad for miss barb and chris who had the kids come and bake and paint christmas tree ornaments, and i'm thankful for jill who is teaching candle making this saturday. i am thrilled that my kids get excited over a pack of new markers or colored pencils and drawing paper. and i've come to be ok with my anti-craftiness.
Monday, December 14, 2009
praise
we are officially "decorated". for us that means the christmas tree is up. its a full-time job keeping toddlers and preschoolers out of it, and i can't imagine adding any other decorations to the mix. i did attempt to put a candle snowman out on the table this year, but nadia has already pulled his arms off. we have ma barbie to thank for our tree this year. our old one finally bit the dust. after christmas i might look for a small one that could be set on a table. that would eliminate the kids pulling ornaments off the lower branches problem.
on a different note...as many of you know, i have been sick at my stomach regularly since august. when i say "sick", i mean everyday type of sick...not just an occasional pain here and there. no matter what i ate, i was getting sick with pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. its amazing that i've continued to grow so "plump" this pregnancy because at times i felt I was wasting away to nothing. the sickness caused me to not want to leave the house. i cancelled plans with friends on numerous occasions, had to leave places, and even sold tickets to the wvu pitt game that i had looked forward to going to on my birthday. i just was so weary of being sick that at that point, i could not imagine driving all the way to morgantown and being sick at the game or in the car. whatever the problem was had become a hinderance to everyday life. and then two weeks ago someone told me that God wanted to heal stomachs and that they would pray for me. bear in mind, i had prayed and prayed and prayed. i basically had just decided that for whatever reason this sickness was going to stick around and had made the choice that in sickness or in health i would glorify god in my body. but, by the grace of God, his plan for me was different. i was prayed for, and my stomach was healed. i do not know what the problem was that plagued me for weeks, but it has been gone completely for two weeks now. there is no explanation except that by God's power it was healed. i have tried everything to make myself sick again--eating ice cream, overeating, eating junk, eating quickly, not eating, etc, etc, etc, and NOTHING makes me sick. now, maybe its insane to put God to the test like that, but its something i had to do for myself. so this morning i give praise to God. by his power and his mercy, my stomach is healed and functioning as it should. i am able to enjoy my days without fear of being sick, and i can make it through nadia's breakfast and homeschooling without having to run to the bathroom 20 times. and i can spend my afternoon rest time reading or knitting rather than having to sleep from the sheer exhaustion of being sick. hallelujah!!
i am reminded of hezekiah's poem in isaiah 38:
Lord, your discipline is good,
for it leads to life and health.
You have restored my health
and allowed me to live!
Yes, it was good for me to suffer this anguish,
for you have rescued me from death
and forgiven all my sins.
For the dead can not praise you;
they cannot raise their voices in praise.
Those who go down to destruction
can no longer hope in your faithfulness.
Only the living can praise you as I do today.
Each generation can make known your
faithfulness to the next.
Think of it--the Lord has healed me!
I will sing his praises with instruments
every day of my life..."
on a different note...as many of you know, i have been sick at my stomach regularly since august. when i say "sick", i mean everyday type of sick...not just an occasional pain here and there. no matter what i ate, i was getting sick with pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. its amazing that i've continued to grow so "plump" this pregnancy because at times i felt I was wasting away to nothing. the sickness caused me to not want to leave the house. i cancelled plans with friends on numerous occasions, had to leave places, and even sold tickets to the wvu pitt game that i had looked forward to going to on my birthday. i just was so weary of being sick that at that point, i could not imagine driving all the way to morgantown and being sick at the game or in the car. whatever the problem was had become a hinderance to everyday life. and then two weeks ago someone told me that God wanted to heal stomachs and that they would pray for me. bear in mind, i had prayed and prayed and prayed. i basically had just decided that for whatever reason this sickness was going to stick around and had made the choice that in sickness or in health i would glorify god in my body. but, by the grace of God, his plan for me was different. i was prayed for, and my stomach was healed. i do not know what the problem was that plagued me for weeks, but it has been gone completely for two weeks now. there is no explanation except that by God's power it was healed. i have tried everything to make myself sick again--eating ice cream, overeating, eating junk, eating quickly, not eating, etc, etc, etc, and NOTHING makes me sick. now, maybe its insane to put God to the test like that, but its something i had to do for myself. so this morning i give praise to God. by his power and his mercy, my stomach is healed and functioning as it should. i am able to enjoy my days without fear of being sick, and i can make it through nadia's breakfast and homeschooling without having to run to the bathroom 20 times. and i can spend my afternoon rest time reading or knitting rather than having to sleep from the sheer exhaustion of being sick. hallelujah!!
i am reminded of hezekiah's poem in isaiah 38:
Lord, your discipline is good,
for it leads to life and health.
You have restored my health
and allowed me to live!
Yes, it was good for me to suffer this anguish,
for you have rescued me from death
and forgiven all my sins.
For the dead can not praise you;
they cannot raise their voices in praise.
Those who go down to destruction
can no longer hope in your faithfulness.
Only the living can praise you as I do today.
Each generation can make known your
faithfulness to the next.
Think of it--the Lord has healed me!
I will sing his praises with instruments
every day of my life..."
Thursday, December 10, 2009
thurs afternoon
a phone call from doug reminded me what a blogging slacker i have become. but, seriously...there is just nothing going on. we're all in a dark days of fall/winter funk i guess. i am being militant about our homeschool schedule because it is a wish of mine that we be in position to take off two, three, or maybe four weeks in march. we are on target to do so, but i can't afford to slack. so, we do school, eat lunch, nap, eat supper, pick up the house, go to bed, and repeat the same the next day.
i am thinking about really going out on a limb here today and going CHRISTMAS SHOPPING! i figure with as slow-moving as i am, i'd better plan on at least two trips out, and i'd prefer to avoid saturday shopping. so i am planning on going tonight, monday night, and maybe next thursday night with kaycee. i have made my list and checked it twice and then again a third and fourth time just to make sure i have all my ducks in a row. i hate traveling an hour to shop and then finding out that i forgot something!
i am thinking about really going out on a limb here today and going CHRISTMAS SHOPPING! i figure with as slow-moving as i am, i'd better plan on at least two trips out, and i'd prefer to avoid saturday shopping. so i am planning on going tonight, monday night, and maybe next thursday night with kaycee. i have made my list and checked it twice and then again a third and fourth time just to make sure i have all my ducks in a row. i hate traveling an hour to shop and then finding out that i forgot something!
Monday, December 7, 2009
third trimester
its hard to believe that i only have three months of pregnancy left! this past week i set up a guessing game at expectnet.com where people can guess the sex, birthdate, height, and weight of the baby. its fun to read everyone's guesses, and i am surprised that only three people have guessed the sex of the baby to be a "girl". could already having four girls have something to do with that? remember, i did get a boy dog recently to keep judah and dustin company!
i did the same sort of guessing game when i was pregnant with nadia, and my sister-in-law, rachel won the game. i told her if she wins this time, she should charge money for people to hear her predictions! i am pretty sure she's right on the date. she guessed march 1. my due date is february 28th and is a full moon. i am counting on the moon to pull me into labor during the day and for the baby to be born in the middle of the night on march 1. although i would LIKE to have a february baby, i'm not known to birth before my due date. however, dustin insists that this baby will be born early. the baby is big, my belly is big, and i feel more like 36 weeks pregnant than 28 weeks, so that is what is forming his guess.
either way, i'm just really really really excited. i want to start planning for what i need/want and organizing things for the baby, but its way too soon. after christmas, baby preparations will move to the top of my priority list. i love getting the carseat, bassinet, blankets, clothes, bottles, diapers, etc, etc, all washed up and ready to go! i love going shopping for the few new things i buy with each baby such as a special blanket, a new outfit, or some new tiny diapers. i love the anticipation of the final weeks of pregnancy, so here we go...two trimesters down and one to go!
Friday, December 4, 2009
sweet pea...jr.(?)
about a week after sweet pea died, dustin came home from school with a kitten. a kitten that looks exactly like our sweet pea!! sadly, as soon as eden reached out to hold it, it jumped down and ran away into the woods. so much for the promised "tame" kitten!! during that week, my cousin's dog went missing. the kids prayed fervently for paisley's return, and at one point eden added the kitten into the prayer. thankfully, paisley did return home, and then poor eden couldn't figure out why God didn't answer her prayer about HER little animal. fast forward another couple of days. the kids heard meowing at the neighbors, and lo and behold, eden's new kitty had returned after over a week in the woods! it was still wild, so it took some maneuvering on the kids part to catch him/her, but finally they had the kitty in their arms. we had to let it stay in the basement for a few days to get acclimated to life with small children, but i am happy to report that "sweet pea" has adjusted wonderfully, and eden is thrilled to have a baby kitty once again. i really did try to get them to name the kitten something else, but they insist that his/her name is sweet pea. Wednesday, December 2, 2009
judah nate is eight!
eight years ago today, judah was already six hours old. he was born just after midnight, missing pop-pop's birthday by 32 minutes. its cool for judah though because since he could vocalize his thoughts he's been enthralled with "the midnight"...meaning anything that goes on after dark. so, at some point "in the midnight" my boy turned eight. for months he has been planning his birthday party, which at this point, involves allie (his BFFFFFFF) coming over for a french toast supper and then going to church with us tonight and then his male friends coming for a sleepover friday evening. last year he had allie come WITH his other friends, but he said that this year he wants to have her come separately because the boys have gotten stronger in a year's time and might hurt her this year. earlier this week he said, "i'm supposed to keep her safe.". for now we have two parties planned, and we may add a third before its all said and done.
so today we celebrate JUDAH NATHANEL. my lone boy in a household of girls. when judah was eight days old we had a guest speaker at church who looked at him in my arms and began to pray over him. i got the tape and wrote down the prayer, and it is uncanny how the prayer has come to pass in his life. it was said that he would have dustin's mannerisms, which he definitely does. it was said that he would be such a combo of his mother and father, which is IS--frightenly so at times! and it was prayed that he would be a comfort to his mother, which he has been. judah has prayed almost nightly for me, for my health, for my babies to be strong and healthy, and for our family to be safe. he has a great, childlike faith that makes me smile and puts my heart at ease. his attention to detail, sharp mind, and logical thinking have caused me chuckle many times. judah is everything his name means...a "praised gift of jehovah"...god's gift to me.
Happy Birthday Judah Nate!!
so today we celebrate JUDAH NATHANEL. my lone boy in a household of girls. when judah was eight days old we had a guest speaker at church who looked at him in my arms and began to pray over him. i got the tape and wrote down the prayer, and it is uncanny how the prayer has come to pass in his life. it was said that he would have dustin's mannerisms, which he definitely does. it was said that he would be such a combo of his mother and father, which is IS--frightenly so at times! and it was prayed that he would be a comfort to his mother, which he has been. judah has prayed almost nightly for me, for my health, for my babies to be strong and healthy, and for our family to be safe. he has a great, childlike faith that makes me smile and puts my heart at ease. his attention to detail, sharp mind, and logical thinking have caused me chuckle many times. judah is everything his name means...a "praised gift of jehovah"...god's gift to me.
Happy Birthday Judah Nate!!
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