That Time of the Year

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We did at the Turner house. We decided to keep it just us this year - our first time ever in six years of marriage! Zac and I slaved all day over the hot stove only to discover that it only took Anne and Andrew 15 minutes to eat all they wanted. I have to say it was so nice having Zac home the entire day. This was the first time in three years that we had him all to ourselves for the entire day. I couldn't have cooked all that food without his help in the kitchen.
Now Zac and I have a tradition, or maybe I should call it a deal. He knows I love Christmas music. He found this out the first year we were married when I started to listen to it way back in September - thus a deal was struck. I promised not to start listening to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving and then I could listen to as much as I want, whenever I want. (I did start a bit sooner this year...Josh Groban finally came out with a Christmas CD and I couldn't wait. Each year I try to add to my collection. This year so far I have the new Josh Groban "Noel" and Sarah McLachlan's "Wintersong" and I have on my list to buy Michael Buble's "Let is Snow".
So the day after Thanksgiving I filled our CD player with Christmas music and we started on our second after Thanksgiving tradition. The setting up of the Christmas Tree. This I love...the music, the cinnamon apple candles burning, the lights twinkling. Next to Christmas day this is my favorite.

1 Little Indian

Well we had our Pilgrims last night and today we have our Indian - or as Anne corrected me - we have our Native American. Today was Andrew's Thanksgiving Feast for his preschool. Needless to say Andrew didn't want to be an Indian he wanted to be Peter Pan. I let him wear the Peter Pan belt and dagger under the Indian outfit and he was a bit happier.

Pilgrims in Hawaii

We had a fun FHE tonight. We talked about the Thanksgiving story then we all took turns saying what we are grateful for. I get this idea from you Dad. Let see...some of the things the Turner family is thankful for this year: Family.Our Home.The Church.Wonderful Children.Knees.Shoulders.Star Wars.The Book of Mormon.School.Clothes.Grass.Trees.Flowers.Smiles.Yummy Food.Air Planes.Jets.Trains.Railroad Tracks.Music.Our Bodies.

We all know the list could go on and on but there are a few off our thankful list.

I usually don't save all the school work that comes home with Anne, but this one is a keeper.

Happy Birthday Grandma Sweetheart!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Night at the Park

For all of you who know my Andrew you know he doesn't hold still for long...so lets just say getting this picture is somewhat of a miracle.

We have a very small yard. So small that when my kids hit from this tee-ball stand the balls usually go over the fence then into the neighbor's yard. We found this awesome park the other day and went the other night for FHE. The park is amazing. Swings, two different playgrounds and my favorite part - tons and tons of grass to roll and play on.

One of my fondest wishes is to someday have a camera that can capture all the many movements of my kids...

Primary Program

There are days when being in the primary is tiring, stressful, worrying, and frustrating. Today was not one of those days. We had our Primary Program today and I couldn't be more proud of all the kids in "my" primary. They all said their parts so well - many of them memorized - and sang so beautifully. Thank you Ewa Beach 1st Ward Primary for making this a sunday to remember.

Andrew Off To School

Today Andrew started preschool. I was worried about him. I was worried about myself. Would he play well with the other kids? What would I do with myself for three hours? All turned out well. Andrew painted a paper bag pumpkin, made bread, and learned a Thanksgiving song for the upcoming Thanksgiving Feast. I discovered just how many errands one mom can get done without the whole getting in and out of the car routine. I do have to admit...I listened to half of "The Lion King" cd before I realized that I could listen to anything I wanted. I missed my little Buddy.

We Can Fly! Almost...

Here is my little Tinkerbell and Peter Pan. They both were so excited to get into their costumes. Andrew has actually been watching the movie "Peter Pan" and carrying that dagger around for days in preparation for the part. The only sad part about the whole day was when Andrew put the whole outfit on then said, "How come I still can't fly?" It just about broke my heart.

Yes, Anne is wearing make-up and we both had fun putting it on her and she on me...

The whole crew. Zac is the evil Captain Hook and I a lowly pirate...my favorite part about the whole night was when one of the little sunbeams from our primary came up to me and just looked at me for a while then said, "I know who you are!" Right then I thought she was going to say I was a pirate...but instead she said, "You're Sister Turner!" Yes my costume was so good that not even the kids in my primary knew me...at least this is what I keep telling myself. All in all a really fun Halloween. Until next year...

Halloween Mask Parade

Instead of dressing up in costumes at school they had a mask parade. The masks HAD to be homemade. It really turned out to be fun. It was interesting to see all the creativity flowing around. In case you all are wondering, Anne designed her mask and I constructed the mask. Hot glue is hard enough for me to handle!

Anne's class won the door decorating contest so they got to lead the mask parade. It was so cute, Anne walked through the school halls saying, "Happy Halloween" to everyone all the while waving.

Anne also got her first "Glow" Award today. This is an award system they do here to help the children strive to be their best selves. It really does work!