What a busy few weeks...

The Turner family has been super busy over the last few weeks thus no blog posts for me. My camera finally decided to start working again so I have some new pics for you. First off we had Anthony's 30Th birthday party shortly after he came home from Boston, just family but it was fun. Anthony received some great gifts to add to his kayaking stash (it is almost complete, 4 more things to go).

I have spent a lot of time on the road for work lately, Baltimore, Alexandria and DC. Here are a few pics I took of the George Washington Masonic Memorial last week from the train station in Alexandria:

And on to Father's Day, which we spent in Selma with my dad.

Most of Saturday was spent at a friends house on the river in the pool. Anthony took the kayak out for a test drive in the pool and we went on a fabulous boat ride.

Cutler is ready to start boating! Ha! No way he will be doing that for many more years...

Oh my, he is MY child! (notice the tattoo on his arm!!!!)

Well for this coming weekend, Cutler is going to hang with G and Pampaw, Anthony is going to River Rats with Jason and Megan to run the Hiwassee and I am leaving for Orlando on Sunday not to return until Tuesday. The whole family will then leave on Thursday afternoon heading to Tennessee to spend the Fourth of July with some amazing friends, Megan and Jason, Katie and George, Christa and J! Upon our return, I will be packing once again! heading to Chicago on Tuesday. This should conclude the majority of my travels for the next month. We are planning a beach trip and Anthony and I plan to spend our 10Th wedding anniversary (I know, scary right?) in New York this year...wish us luck!

Later,
L

How can you fall off the wagon when you were not really on it in the first place????

So running, not happening! I am going to try again but my motivation is shot. I am overwhelmed with work, life, family, SBA and others right now and feel like making the time to run is on the bottom of my list. how do I get it back toward the top? I need to do it in the morning, first thing. I need to get out of bed at least 30 minutes earlier than I do now and Just Do It! But that bed is so warm and comfortable in the mornings, I truly dread letting my feet hit the floor. I used to not sleep well and when it was time to get up, I got up. Now I am sleeping better and just don't want to get up. Hopefully the motivation will come back soon, we all know I need it to.
Update on the bully...
Cutler is no longer being bullied, his teacher was wonderful when Anthony asked her about it and they moved Cutler to another table that same day. No longer can the little mean-spirited, red-headed, freckle-faced meanie-pants pick on my precious little boy. Did I mention that he probably out-weighs her by 10 pounds and is a good head taller than her? I think it is time for him to enroll in a street fighting class or something, he needs to get roughed up! (and not by a little girl).


Later,
L

Running update

Well I did it Monday night, I completed two miles in less than 25 minutes so I was happy. Was being the operative word, I am not happy right now. I am procrastinating, the treadmill is calling, slash that! yelling, and I have been yelling four letter word right back at it! I do want to run but I just can't make myself get down there and do it! So who knows if I will or will not tonight, we will just have to see.
Cutler update...
His little bully buddy, Reagan, is still being a bully. She punched him in the tummy today and he told me she did not even get in trouble. If you know me, you know what I am thinking...I am going to be at that school in the morning and have a little talk with the teacher. Well, I thought about it and decided to let it go for one more day. I am going to ask Anthony to ask them about it in the morning and if I am not satisfied with that then I WILL be going to the school on Friday morning to speak with his teacher regarding what will be done about this BULLY! I am not happy, but I am pretty sure you know that by now. So if you were me, what would you do? I don't want my kid to get kicked out of school because of his mommy but I sure as hell do not want him to get bullied everyday and end up not loving Big Boy School...I need some mommy help on this one.

Later,
L

Running...

In more ways than one!
Seems like the last week or so has flown by, we spent most of the weekend at home working in the yard and washing cars but it still flew by.
A friend of mine who used to run like a maniac, like 7 days a week, has taken a running hiatus for the last few years but decided to start back up again. This friend is NOT me.
I took up running a couple of years ago, but not maniac style, and have recently taken a longer hiatus than I wished for. So, she started running again and has asked me to start up again so we can do a few races together...so here goes. Tonight is the night! I will start the treadmill up and again start the cycle! Part of me is very excited and part of me dreads this worse than bathing suit shopping, which by the way is much less devastating with a TAN. Back to the subject, tonight is the night, running, running like the wind. Or in my case running like a turtle. Let's see how it goes, I plan to get two miles in tonight by alternating running and walking. I am pretty sure I will regret that tomorrow but what the hell! I might even do a few crunches and write out a new diet since I am getting my ass back on the band wagon. Breathing seems to be my biggest obstacle, I need to learn to breathe right without focusing on it the entire time. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. So the band wagon starts tonight, listening to some PINK disco- logy and running, maybe this will inspire me to write in this blog a little more but who knows.

Oh I do have a Cutler update. He started "big boy" school last week and so far he seems to love it, even with a mean ass kid named Reagan in his class. This chick pushed him off a tricycle on his second day, seems she is a little of a bully. Believe it or not, my kid is super passive (unlike his mother) and just lets things roll off his back. BUT, he does tend to bring them up again time and time again as if he is holding a slight grudge (now this is just like his mama). One day, just one day, I hope he becomes a very balanced mix of myself and his father. Passive to a point but a little hot under the collar and not afraid to take up for himself. You know as well as I do that if I was being bullied in 3K, that chick would have no teeth! But luckily my son has no chance of getting kicked out of pre-school due to fighting, his only chance of getting kicked out might just be his mother's mouth!

Later,
L

T-Ball

Cutler started T-ball the week after his daddy left for Boston and we just had our final game this past Tuesday. It went so well! Cutler is very good and loves playing! Here are a few pics from the game:Enjoy!

Later,
L

A hell of a storm and bowling

Well today we had plans to spend the afternoon at my friend Meredith's house letting the kiddos run around outside for a while. We started off by meeting at TGIFriday's for lunch and it just went downhill from there. Lunch was fine and the kids acted so well we decided to splurge for icecream. Meredith and I made a deal with each other that if we both ordered the brownie a la mode that we would start phase 1 of the South Beach Diet together tomorrow. So here we go. South Beach Diet here we come! Have you ever read what you have to eat on that damn thing for two weeks? Eggs for breakfast everyday it seems, and I am not a huge fan of eggs. but I thought two weeks, who can't do this for two weeks so yep, you guessed it, I got the brownie and man it was good. So we were finishing up the dessert when the manager started herding everyone into the kitchen as he was told a tornado was coming our way. So Meredith and I rushed all 4 kids, who were covered in sticky ice cream, into the TGIFriday's kitchen. Now I thought, oh this can't take long and it won't be so bad. WRONG...there were about 200 people in that damn kitchen for an hour!

We finally made it out of there (two hours after we arrived) and were headed to Meredith's house when she called her hubby. He said, NO GO on going home, there were tornado's all around the house. So we decided to head up to Vestavia to the bowling alley. Ever took four kids bowling who are covered in ice cream and have had no nap???? Wouldn't suggest it! They did great for a little while but soon grew bored, tired, and irritable. but we did score a few good pics along the way.

Oh almost forgot, we had to stop by the grocery store so Meredith could pick up some diapers (Annelise had shit running up her back by this point) and she picked up a couple of Monster Energy drinks for her and I as well. Enjoy the pics from today:

Cutler just bowled a STRIKE Annelise hitting the MONSTER

Leighton, can you see the ice cream on his shirt?
McKenna and Annelise waiting...
Meredith and I with a pissed off Annelise!

Later,
L

Wow, what a week!

I know I have not posted in sometime but swear I have a very good reason! It is called being a single mom and everything that could go wrong HAS!

I came home last Thursday evening from work to find Boss with a swollen, bloody foot! It freaked me out but he let me look at it and it looked like he cut it really bad and split his toenail. So I called the vet Friday morning who said they could work me in Friday afternoon. I rushed home from work, had to call Mattea to pick Cutler up from school, wrestled Boss in the front of my truck and listened Cowboy cry in the backyard! We get to the vet and Boss is a little nervous, there are no other big dogs in the waiting room but he is not "fixed" and there were some other non-"fixed" males in there as well. So Boss proceded to spray both of my feet as if he were marking his territory! Now let me remind you that there are no other large dogs in the waiting room, he is the largest by at least 80 pounds but still sees the need to mark me! WTF???

Anyway,

We see the vet who is able to look at his foot a little closer and finds that he has a tumor in his foot that he has irritated. So surgery it is. now I talked the vet into letting me take him back home with me Friday night and bringing him back at 6:30 Saturday morning so I would not have to deal with a crying Cowboy all night. Boss did great, I picked him up around lunch time Saturday and was told to change his bandages everyday for at least a week to allow time for healing.

I guess now that this wound is healing, Boss feels the need to lick it and well...he can't because it is wrapped up. So everyday when I get home, the bandage is in 100 pieces on the porch and Boss is a happy as a lark. But not today, nope that will not happen today (at least it better not). Check out the pic:

That's right DUCKTAPE!

I put medicine on it, packed it with gauze, wrapped it with athletic tape, put one of Cutler's socks on it, then wrapped it with Duck Tape! I will let you know what it looks like when I get home today!

Oh, and since Boss was wearing one of Cutler's socks, he decided to wear the other one and one that he thought matched! Check this out, Cutler with mis-matched socks, 2 sizes too small pj's, wet hair from the shower, and a dog with duck tape on his foot!

Later,
L

Cutler had a date...and a possible broken finger

Since Anthony has been gone we decided to meet Nora (the 3 year old girlfriend) at the park on Wednesdays. Here is a pic from yesterday.

When I arrived at school I was informed that Cutler hit his finger on the wall and it was swelling a little. By the time we went to bed last night it was horrible and looked like this:

I think it is just jammed really bad, he is not complaining about it but we will be keeping an eye on it for a few more days!

Anthony is doing well but studying for a tremendous amount of hours daily, he has a fairly important test in a few weeks but I have no doubt he will pass with flying colors!

Later,
L

The things we do...

I was so sick yesterday that I actually did not go to work and stayed in bed until almost noon. When I finally arose, I decided to go to the doc and turns out I am suffering from severe allergies. So I got a few shoe which included a steroid. Now when I get a steroid shot I tend to think I am SUPERWOMAN! So I picked Cutler up early from school and thought what a great afternoon to fly a kite... and in Cutler's words, "that kite was SUPER AWESOME!"

We did a few things around the house and then Cutler read his daddy a bedtime story over the web cam, it was so CUTE.

This morning I remembered C had a carpet burn on the top pf his foot from falling at school yesterday so I asked him if we could put medicine on it and a band aid. Let's just say that did NOT go over well and he told me only babies need band aids. So to prove him wrong I told him I needed a band aid (I had no boo-boo on my foot but swiped some lipstick on it to make it look like one) and he needed to put it on my foot. So enjoy the pic...

Later,
L

Daddy and Cutler Day

Today Anthony let Cutler skip school and they spent the day together at Oak Mtn State Park.

They hiked up to Peavine Falls, played on the playground, had a picnic lunch, went to the wildlife rescue center, and hiked the Treetop trail. Cutler told me he had a great time and here are their pics...

Oh and here is a pic of our new condo tent. Looks like we will be using it next weekend at River Rats and I can not wait!

Later,

L

Kids...

Cutler has this pair of jeans that are supposed to be "cool" and have a little worn place in the knee. Well over the last few months the worn place turned into a small hole but he still loves these jeans. So today I noticed the hole was a little bigger so we had "the talk" about leaving it alone. Well what do you know, the talk did not work and this is what it looks like tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and in case you did not know, Batman is the coolest thing ever!!! (right now anyway)

Later,

L

Three posts in one day, can you tell I am trying to redeem myself?????

The past couple of weeks have been busy but nice around the Turner house. Cutler's soccer practice is down to the last two weeks but we are still playing in the yard as a family. I think we are going to skip the next session of soccer as I just found out Cutler is old enough to play T-Ball through the YMCA this summer and that made me all giddy! The Spina Bifida Association has finally hired a new Executive Director and are making great progress, our first board meeting of 2009 is this week and I can't wait to see all the progress made thus far. Anthony is still waiting to hear from EMC with a final offer but he has been in contact with them and should be receiving that offer this week. Worst case scenario he starts the last week of March and heads out to Boston the first week of April for 9 weeks of training. Cutler and I plan to fly up a couple of times during that time and I am sure those 9 weeks will fly by! Some of our great friends have asked us to vacation with them this fall in Maine and I have become a addict to checking out some places we may get to visit. Check it out for yourself:
I really can't imagine anything more beautiful that this!

Later,
L

I told you I was going to get better about posting!

I only have one thing to show you

More to come after I decide on my Christmas cards...and a big THANK YOU to one of my dearest friends, Crystal Champion Daniels for taking this.

Later,

Lori

A boy after my own heart...and Kid's Market

This week has been by far one of the most hectic weeks ever. Tuesday night Anthony, Cutler and I went to the Masonic Lodge in Alabaster for family night and dinner. We all met some of the people Anthony hangs with every week and had a good time. All week long we have been preparing for Cutler's 3rd birthday party which is tomorrow, OH MY GOSH! HE IS TURNING 3! OK I am better now. Last night Anthony took Cutler to his very first soccer fundamentals class ever and from the pictures and Cutler talking 100 miles per hour about it this morning, I take it he had the time of his life. See for yourself, and by the way, I think he is a natural athlete already. I couldn't be prouder.



And while Anthony and Cutler were playing soccer, I was...


With my buddy K!



Yep, you guessed it, I missed my sons very first soccer class to go to KIDS MARKET.
I told you guys it was a cult and there is no way I was losing a limb over soccer:)

Wish us luck tomorrow at the soccer birthday party.

L

Shoes and Teeth!

Cutler is officially signed up for soccer and he starts next Thursday. I realized yesterday that my child has NO tennis shoes and they need those to play indoor soccer. Now most of you know that my son LOVES shoes with all his heart. he is the only 2 year old boy I know that has at least 5 pair of shoes in his closet at all times. He not only loves shoes but he is very particular about them and has to pick them out himself. Now when I take him shoe shopping it usually takes at least 30 45 minuts for him to pick out a pair of shoes and last night was no exception. he started out with 14 pair of shoes lined up on the floor, I told him some of them were not soccer shoes so he put those back. We finally narrowed it down to three pair, he tried those same three pair on THREE different times. I swear, it has to be like having a girl! Here is the result of our shopping trip:

For the record, these shoes are actually blue and orange, not pink and black...sorry that is what you get with a crackberry camera.

Nice kicks huh???

Now for the teeth part. Cutler had his first dentist appointment this morning and it went wonderful. Now last night during our hour long shoe shopping trip we discussed what was going to happen at the dentist in great detail and by the time he went to bed last night he was excited about going. He woke up this morning ready to go.

That's it for today!

The Playground

So yesterday I had to bribe Cutler to get out of bed and go to school, the bribe was that I would take him to the playground after dinner while Daddy goes to his meeting. We ate dinner and then left for the park and here is what happened:

Peace Out!

L