Chef Turk

Hannah loves to cook!! We really need to buy her a children's kitchen so I don't have to worry the entire time she is cooking!!

Fun with the Turks

Sorry I haven't written in a few days. We had a very LONG weekend!! Brian was out of town Saturday and on his trip home he made a wrong turn and found himself driving around Maryland?! Needless to say it was a late night. Sunday, we had a snow/ice storm and just tried to get ready for the week ahead. This morning Brian left for work at 6:30am. YIKES!!!
I had a tough day at home when my wonderful kidos woke up at 6:45am! Then, my darling son climbed into the toy basket and I realized life is good!! OH! We also caught a horse today, a miniature horse, Hannah and I found a horse running around our yard. So we caught him, called the police and gave the pony an apple. We found out that he lives across the street. When the weather gets better we will have to go visit him again.

The Cat and the Hat

Happy 50th Birthday to the Cat and the Hat!

This morning we went to our local library to celebrate the Cat and the Hat's birthday with about 75 other kids. First, we made name tags and then sat on the carpet squares to learn more about Dr. Seuss. We learned lots of fun facts!!

Did you know that The Cat in the Hat only uses 50 words??

Next, the Cat and the Hat himself came out to read us, Oh! The Places You Will Go. The kids did a great job listening and Hannah was a really good big sister. Carter got a little scared when the Cat used a funny voice, but Hannah was able to comfort him. Carter was a really good listener/watcher. He sat on the carpet square the entire time and really watched and listened to everything that was going on. I thought that he would be crawling all over the place, but he did great. I think maybe it was because Hannah sets such a great example.

When the story was over there were dozens of learning/craft centers. Hannah made a hat and a magic wand. She DID NOT want to get her face painted!! We enjoyed birthday cake and then went home for the day.

Date Night

Tonight Brian and I are going to an opening night showing of "Amazing Grace."

Snow Tubing

We had a GREAT day!! After naps this afternoon we decided to take a trip out to a local ski/tubing resort. It was so much fun to play outside and get some fresh air. It was also really nice to warm up by the fire in the lodge. Hannah and Carter loved riding in the tubes!!

The Coleman family met us out there to play in the snow. Anna looks like a little doll baby in her snowsuit!! At one point Anna just lay down on the table because she couldn't fight the suit anymore. The things we do to keep our kids warm.

Carter Talks

Today Hannah and Brian ran out to the store to grab some garlic bread to go with our dinner. When they arrived home Carter was in the window seat at the front of the house and as soon as Brian got out of the car Carter started to knock on the window and say " Da Da Da Da." Carter has said Da Da for a while but it was so cute that he recognized Brian and was so excited. I just love watching them grow and learn everyday!

Happy Valentine's Day

We woke up this morning to LOTS of snow and ice!! So it sounds like a good Valentine's Day to cuddle and drink hot cocoa!!

1st Snow Day

We had a very fun day!! This morning the snow started and NEVER stopped!! Hannah sat in the window seat most of the morning telling us that it was still 'nowing. Brian called from work to let us know he wanted to play in the snow when he got home. So the kids and I went out looking for snow pants and boots. I found snow suits/pants for $3 and I found a great pair of snow boots for $1. I love deals!! Not to mention our sled was also half off. I guess that is the bonus for the snow coming so late in the year.
Daddy arrived home about 5pm. Hannah explained, "I go outside with 'no pants on" those were her words. Of course we knew she was telling us she wanted her snow pants on. Daddy and Hannah went outside as soon as everyone was dressed warm. They had a Great time!! Mommy and Carter joined in a little later. Everyone had TONS of fun.

Turk Trio

God has blessed us with two amazing kidos. Everyday Brian and I look around and realize how richly God has blessed our family!! Now he is blessing us with Baby #3 and we can't wait!! Actually, we are HAPPY to wait until October for our new baby to arrive. I am working on elimination communication with Hannah and Carter, which is potty learning if you are unfamiliar with my word choice. Brian and I sat up the other night discussing what we were going to call a bowel movement. It caused many laughs. I imagine our parents went through the same ordeal. Moreover, Hannah will start school in the fall and Carter is getting more and more stable on his feet everyday.

Messy Man

Carter eats spaghetti Os for lunch.

Under the Weather

Hannah is feeling a little under the weather today. It is so sad when they don't feel well, but it is so great that all they want to do is cuddle. I miss the cuddle days when they fall asleep in your arms. Now all they seem to do is RUN, JUMP, and PLAY!

This morning Daddy enjoyed getting some work done at home before going into the office in the late morning.

Carter's Garage

While Carter was taking a nap. Hannah and I took this big box, my new pots and pans came in (Thanks Dad!) and turned it into this great garage for all Carter's trucks. Carter can also fit inside the garage. I needed to take a before photo, but the box had tons of pictures of my pans on it. So Hannah and I covered it in brown paper and made the Carter's Garage sign. We wanted to put some stickers on but we didn't have any. Bummer!

Home Sweet Home

Hello Everyone!

Carter and I wanted to type a quick note to let everyone know that we made it home safely. Mama was very proud of us because we NEVER cried the entire 4 hours we were in the car. I tried to take a nap, but Carter wanted me to watch some movie with him. We had so much fun visiting with our friends and family!! We hope all of you will come visit us soon.

Love,

Hannah (me) & Carter (my little brother)

Fun Times

We started our day at Christ Church at Grove Farm. It was so wonderful to hear John Guest preach!! Carter got the boot in the childcare for crying, but he did a great job sitting in church with Brian and me.

Of course we had to stop at the Burrell Inn while we were in town and who better to go with us then Jillian and Micheal. We had a really fun time hanging out with them and really wished they lived a little closer. We did talk about meeting at a couple of different resorts and just hanging out. So we will see. Christopher is as smart as ever and so handsome. Little baby Audrey is getting to be so big. She just looks like a baby doll.

The next destination was to visit with Poppo. Since they didn't get to see the kids for either Christmas or Carter's birthday so we had a little celebration and opened some GREAT presents. Bacchus was also there and looking very fit and happy. He goes out running every morning and tags along where ever the people go.

Our final destination for the day was David and soon to be Autumn's home. Autumn made some kickin' food. I felt like all I wanted to do was eat because it was so yummy. Some of Brian's friends were able to stop by, Bill Nuttall and the Salem family. It was really fun to see all the 'old gang'. It was a nice and relaxing evening. The kids got special Valentine's bags from Grandma, which kept them busy most of the night. We left around half time because Brian needs to be into work very early tomorrow!!

Friends

We had a GREAT night hanging out at the Waller's house. Rach made a yummy dinner!! The kids had a blast playing together!! The Colletti family and Alex Falder also came to hang out. It is so wonderful to hang out with our friends. We have missed them so much!!

Craig & Brian

Traveling to Pittsburgh

Tap and I left with the kids on Thursday morning at about 9:30am to drive to Pittsburgh, PA. It was a very LONG trip!! Hannah screamed for the first 3 hours of the trip.

Quote of the Day:

I asked TAP if he could choose between being in the car with us or being back in Iraq, which would he choose? TAP replied, "If I could choose I would pick Iraq because death is an option there."


Upon our arrival we surprised my Mother-in-law at work and took her to lunch at Pizza Hut.It was great fun!!

Friday morning we went to to visit the Colletti Boys. Jen and I got to talk a little, but we spent most of the time running after and picking up after the kids. As you can see from the photo above Hannah and Hudson were so happy to be together. They talk on the phone quite a bit, but playing in person was a blast!! Carter and Andrew seemed to spark a friendship also.


After naps, Daddy arrived in Pittsburgh and we went out for a fun dinner with Dad and TAP. It was really fun to have the family together before TAP starts his new life in Boston.

I am so sorry that TAP is sorta cropped out of the photo... Hannah took this photo.