The Aftermath

Presenting the ONLY picture from our post-Christmas trip to Utah:

There's a very good reason why this is our only picture:

The Stomach Flu

It ravaged our entire family and entire trip to pieces. We didn't get to play in the snow, or play with some of our favorite cousins. It was a bust.

Sorry guys! Maybe this summer we can bring pink-eye or something!

Christmas Fun 2009

This year just might have been my favorite ever, as far as Christmas mornings go. I know that presents aren't what it's all about, but on Christmas morning...well, presents are a REALLY big part. And this year, we were so excited.

Kyle has been begging for a Wii for 2 years now. It definitely topped his Christmas list. Then suddenly, a month before Christmas, he changed his mind. Suddenly, Legos topped the list. Luckily, Santa came through with a set of Legos. He loved them

But do you see that paper Christmas tree at the top of the picture? Well, attached the the tree was a piece of string that wound all over the house and yard. And at the end of the string? A Nintendo Wii! Dad & Mom thought it would be a fun family gift, and Kyle couldn't have been more thrilled.

He got a new Toy Story game to go with it. We love Toy Story in our house.

And some attachments for the controllers. They're a total pain, by the way. Don't bother with those.

Miss Marie was spoiled rotten. I think she got everything a little girl could dream of. This was her reaction to the play kitchen. Love it!

Next came a baby stroller. Oh my, she thought she was in heaven. She grabbed her baby, and stuffed her in, making sure to do up the "buckle."

Then came a dollhouse, which I'm pretty sure she liked. What do you think? With each new present, she jumped up and down and squealed. It was hilarious. By the time she got to the new baby doll from Grandpa & Grandma, I thought she was going to lose it. She screeched at me to get it out of the packaging, gave it a hug, chucked her old doll out of the stroller, and put her new baby in its rightful place.

Kevin and I were spoiled as well, but it was really all about the kids. I always thought my parents got gypped on Christmas, always just watching us open all of our presents. But I get it. Sure, it's fun to open a present or two, but there's something so magical about Christmas through a child's eyes. So fun.

A New Tradition

We also started a new Christmas morning tradition: homemade donuts. However, I use the word "tradition" lightly, because that implies that it happens more than once. And I'm not sure we're going to do this again.

The idea was great, and they were pretty to look at, but they didn't taste that great. We'll either have to do some serious perfecting during the next year, or find a new tradition.

Kyle's all smiles for his tasty donut, but he didn't ask for another one. And that's always the real test.

Anticipation

We spent Christmas Eve with friends, enjoying good (great!) food and a live nativity. Poor Kyle and Zachary were the only two boys among lots of little girls, so our nativity only had 2 Wisemen. They were awesome, complete with "treasures."

But prior to our Christmas Eve festivities, we got to listen to Kyle ask us 5,112,999 times "when do I get to open a present?" You see, in our family we not only get to open a present (new pajamas, of course) from Dad & Mom, but the kids can pick one other gift to open as well. And because we only said "Christmas Eve," Kyle seemed to think that meant first thing in the morning on Christmas Eve day. So for 10 hours, we held him off until we just couldn't take it anymore.

So at promptly 5:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, before we left for our festivities, Kyle tore into a present. And was he ever thrilled with the new Hot Wheels set from Grandpa & Grandma. We left the opening of the new pajamas for just before bed, which is why there are no pictures. Sad.

As a sidenote, Kyle had decided that the present to open would be from Grandpa & Grandma. However, there were a few to choose from, and he was terrified that he would accidentally open clothes (heaven forbid!) rather than a toy. Certain death for a 6-year-old boy. So he called up Grandpa Russell, and asked him which box was definitely not clothes, just to be sure. Hilarious.

Touch...touch!

The tree was not safe from Marie this Christmas. I received many skeptical looks from people when I told them that I was determined to not only leave my tree down within reach, but also decorate it. And I admit that after the first day or two (and 4 or5 broken ornaments), I thought about reconsidering. But, I stuck to my guns, and we worked out a deal.

Brightly colored, cheap, Target ornaments garnished the bottom 3 feet of the tree. Sure, she carried them around in handfuls, and used them for practicing her fast-pitch. But I didn't care. Most people didn't even notice, since the bottom half was kind of hidden behind the couch.

But the best part? It turned out to be an educational experience as well. Because every time I saw Marie during the month of December, she'd get a mischievous grin, hold up an ornament, and proudly say that word, "Touch!"

Thanksgiving Tree 2009

We started a new tradition this year, that I absolute LOVE and totally copied from someone else. This one's totally a keeper.

Introducing the first-ever Turner Thanksgiving Tree. The idea: so simple. Cut up lots of leaves and write everything you're grateful for. We started with a FHE, then added a few more every morning. We totally ran out of leaves - next year I'll have to make more.

I loved this for a few reasons. I loved having a visual reminder of all of our blessings. We walked past it 20+ times a day, and it reminded me every single time. I also loved hearing Kyle call out, "Mom, how do you spell music? Or military?" and then walking into the room to find him adding more leaves to the tree. (Can we say "snaks" or "pils of lefs"??? Love it!)

I left it out as long as possible, and then decided to take it down. I'm sort of wishing I'd kept it to frame or something, because I kind of miss it. But there's always next year, I suppose.

Sunday Attire

This quite possibly might be my favorite outfit of Kyle's.

Two years ago, I wouldn't have made that claim. Instead, it might have been my least favorite. White basketball shorts (that were mighty large at the time) and a white Ninja Turtles shirt. It didn't do much for me in the style department. Much to my dismay, he tried to wear it every single day. Not wanting to argue over clothes, I resorted to many methods, including hiding the clothes. It didn't work.

Finally, we worked out a deal. He could wear that outfit every Sunday. Not to church, of course, but afterwards. If you ask me, I think I got off pretty lucky.

And since that day, he's worn his beloved outfit every single Sunday afternoon. That's at least 104 Sundays, people! It doesn't matter if it's rain or shine, the minute we step through the door after church, the dress clothes are discarded and the Ninja Turtles come on. If there were an award for the fastest dresser after church, my money would be on Kyle.

But I'm seeing the end of an era. And it makes me kind of sad. The shirt is faded and sprouts a new hole every week. And my boy's enthusiasm for it is fading. I think the beloved outfit will soon be gone. But when it goes, it won't be in the trash can or donations pile. This one's going in the keeper's bin. Because I'm just that sentimental.

Theme-parked out

Apparently, two days of amusement parks aren't enough for us. Because we're crazy, we decided to head down to L.A. to Knottsberry Farm the next week. We were already kind of pooped, but we couldn't pass up $13 for the entire family.

It was a blast, though. We didn't feel like we had to stay all day, so we didn't. And Kyle passed a very important milestone: he was not only TALL enough (48") to ride the adult rides, but he was actually brave enough to ride a few. It was so nice for Kevin and I to have a buddy to ride with while the other watched Marie. And it's only going to get better from here!

Living it up in LEGOLAND

This is the third year in a row that we've ventured down to San Diego for a little weekend vacation, and this year we decided to do LEGOLAND! We've been looking forward to this for awhile, and it didn't disappoint.

This was at the END of our long day of fun, but it also happens to be our only family picture. Go figure.

Half of the fun of Legoland is all of the amazing Lego sculptures. Seriously, I cannot even believe the things they've built. Here's New York City (with a dash of Marie's hair!). They also had San Francisco, Washington D.C., the entire Las Vegas strip, the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, Mount Rushmore, and much, MUCH more. It was amazing.

Kyle got his first real taste of driving while cruising through Lego City. Seriously, driving a car that's not on tracks? It doesn't get any better than that for a 6-year-old. Or a 15-year-old. :)

They had lots of good, ole' rides, except they looked like they were made out of Legos. So fun.

And Kyle and Kevin got to create Lego racecars and race them down the track.

I cozied up to a friendly Italian chef (check out Kyle - he's plugging his nose. Hilarious.)...

While Kevin preferred Albert Einstein.

Even Marie had the time of her life in miniature little Duplo Town. I think she spent about 3 hours in this ambulance. Or at least it felt like it...

I would recommend it to anyone. It's definitely geared for the younger crowd, but parents will not be disappointed. If you've got kids under 10 (or if you're my 24-year-old brother...) you will LOVE this place.

Go Scorpions!

Today was our last soccer game of the season. I had mixed feelings about it - the season started months ago, so I was more than ready for it to be over. However, we had a really great team with so many fun kids, so I was a little sad to see it end.

Kevin coached again this year, and Kyle loved it. We didn't have any naughty kids this season (you wouldn't believe some of the kids from last year...) so Kevin had a great time, too. Kyle was very serious this season, and intent on playing positions, practicing footwork, etc. He discovered his love for scoring, and scored at least once every game, usually several times.

He also got to have his buddy, Eric, on his team. These two found plenty of time for wrestling and goofing off, but also took it seriously. They usually talked Kevin into staying longer at practice to work with them one-on-one.

The entire season was great, but I had two favorite moments:

1) At one point, about halfway through the season, Kyle came home in a mood. He marched into the bathroom to take a bath, and after a few minutes, he called me in.

Kyle: "Mom, you know what? Today I quit soccer."
Me: "You did? Why did you do that?"
Kyle: "Because I'm tired of my team not showing their talent and not paying attention,
so I quit."

Holy cow, I almost died laughing! Not showing their talent? Yes, there were times that his seriousness made him a little less tolerant.

2) Because today was the last game of the season, Kevin wanted to make sure that every kid had a chance to score. So during the last quarter, he put in two little girls who hadn't scored, and put Kyle and Eric at the back with strict instructions to "get the ball to Allie and Natalie."

I loved watching Kyle pass the ball to those girls each and every time, despite his desire to score. He was so protective of them, and even blocked the other team from getting close to them. He ran down the field with them, passing them the ball over and over again, until they finally scored. And the smiles and cheers when they finally did - I was almost as proud as their parents! It was a great moment, and I was very proud of Kyle.

I can't wait until next season!