The Doodling Pros

The other toy that was a big hit was the Doodle Pro (aka Magna Doodles). The kids love to color but don't do it everyday. Now they can color whenever they want and I don't have to worry about them eating the coloring utensil or the mess. Auntie Jean hit the nail on the head for this one. They love them. They get the idea to clear the board. They carry them around like a prized possession. Don't worry they will still color the "old fashion" way but this is nice for them to have. Tonight they all three sat in the tent with their doodles. Life is great sitting in one of the best toys playing with another best toy...ah to be a kid again.
Thank Auntie Jean.
Love, Jen

The queen and her castle

The other gift that was a huge hit was also from Auntie Jackie. It is a butterfly tent for Liz's room. I put it up today and re-arranged her room a bit to make room for it. Can you tell she loves it!!!

Here she is thinking...mine, all mine....

I put some stuff animals in it before letting the kids see if...obviously they were not welcomed...

Because I had to move around things in her room, Liz was also very excited about her crib being moved, so she asked to be put in it. She grabbed her nuk (since it is always in there cribs) and some of her treasured stuffed animals and then asked to get out.

The boys had to check it out too...

Apparently the animals are ok if SHE puts them in...go figure!

The tent has two large butterflies that can be removed. They have straps on them so they can be worn over the shoulders. One of them is at perfect height for the kids to remove. So you gotta try all this stuff out right...duh mom!

The boys checking out Liz's new toys.
Zach doing what Zach does best...destroy things...he is taking the chainsaw from the tool bench to the tent...

Alex just had to try on the butterfly...here he is asking Zach what he thinks...

Thanks again Auntie Jackie.

Love, Jen

The infamous tent and tunnel...

As a parent you think you give the best gifts....well I was out-gifted by my sisters this year. Yep their gifts are a hit. The trucks that we gave the kids were a hit until yesterday. I don't think they have been touched all day today, but as any of us with kids know...it will change! The tent and tunnel are by far the biggest hit. This morning we came downstairs and it was the first thing attacked...I mean played with. They run into the tent crawl thru the tunnel and do it again and again. Very good exercise for them and it wears them out. Thanks Auntie Jackie!!!
Love, Jen

3 stitches later...

Here is the official first photo of the injured. You would not know that he is even hurt. The kid is just a rough little bugger. We have been calling him bull and he lives up to it everyday. We are glad that he was the first one majorly hurt, just because of his personality. Not that we want any of them hurt but it is bound to happen esp with two boys! I was asking Zach at the ER if we could start to have scar-leaving injuries below the neckline. A few weeks ago he cut his eyelid so there is a scar there too. So enough on the face! I must say that is not something I want to repeat anytime soon as watching them hold your child down absolutely sucks! I am glad that Zach did so well...he was a trooper. We will get the stitches out just in time to go to my work Christmas party (which will be the first time for many of them to meet the kids...great first impression, eh?). As you can tell he feels no pain!
Love, Jen

Headline News: Turner Xmas Ends w/ Visit to ER

Today we celebrated Christmas with the Turners (my family). We normally celebrate on Christmas Eve but due to various different things it was cancelled and scheduled for today. So we dressed the kids in their Christmas outfits, made some cookies and snacks, packed the presents up and headed over to my parents for the day. We got there in time for a little playing and then off to a nap. After waking up after a shirt nap, we ate some lunch. Then it was time to open presents! We did the adults gifts first. The 4 kids were very helpful. They wanted to make sure they helped wherever they could...
Here is Zach helping to show Uncle Momo his new shovel (it is more like he is eyeing it up to take for himself)...
Here is Liz, Alexis and Zach helping Auntie Jackie unwrap her gift...
Here they are again helping daddy open his gas can from Jean...
The other thing that the kids were very concerned about was the wrapping paper. Yes ripping it off but even more concerned about getting it thrown away. Here are a few pictures of them putting it in the proper place.

After the adults were done it was the kids turn. Auntie Jackie gave out her gifts first. She was very excited to watch them and interact with them since she lives further away and does nto see them often. Here is Zach unwrapping a musical saxaphone...it has Elmo on it!

Alex is working on unwrapping their new tent and tunnel. More on this in a moment.

Here is Liz working on unwrapping a tent with butterflies on it for her bedroom.

Now back to the tent and tunnel. The kids went absolutely CRAZY over this! They love it! I knew about it before hand and thought it was a great idea, but I did not know it would be this big of a hit!

As you can see from the picture above they are being rough and tough and having a great time...giggling...it was so fun for all of us adult to hear and watch. Things then calmed a bit and we continued. They got a horse on a stick which is difficult to explain to them at this age.

After a few gift they returned to the tunnel. That is when disaster struck. Zach went to collapse the tunnel and hit his forehead on the hearth of the fireplace. Complete chaos erupted. Grandma ran for ice and rags, daddy pulled the truck up to the door, grandpa helped with keeping the 3 dogs calm, Jean put on my shoes and helped with my jacket, Jack, Momo and Willie supervised the other kids. Within minutes we were in the truck speeding to the ER. I must say that with the adrenaline rushing thru your body you don't have time to get emotional, you just go into "protective mommy mode". The personnel in the ER were great. Zach did a great job with so many strange things happening to him. After about an hour and a half in the ER we left in a MUCH calmer mode. Zach ended up with 3 (yes we do everything in threes) stitches...blue of course! When we got back to grandma & grandpa's all the kids came up to see him. It was so incredibly sweet. All of them pointed and said "ouwa" but things quickly returned "normal". You would have never thought that he had hurt himself. Unfortunately I can see many more trips to the ER with him. While we were gone the kids continued to open gifts. Here is Liz opening a cinderela like toy...

Alex has just opened a robot...

Liz sitting quietly checking out a new toy of Alexis'...

Here are the girls hugging...

My parents said it was pretty quiet while Zach was gone. No fear thing got crazy once he was back. We were all on edge watching all the kids. The hearth had been blocked off. A few gifts were left for Zach to open. Here they are all helping open a new workbench with lots of tools including a drill and chainsaw nd even some protective goggles.

Alex trying out the goggles...

Liz checking out the hand tools...

and of course, Zach and the chainsaw, which he was using like a dustbuster...too funny...

So it was another exciting Turner Christmas...last year Alex slept thru most of it...this year Zach was the highlight...who will it be next year...Liz or Alexis??? Fun was had by all!

Love, Jen

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! Can't wait to see what 2009 will bring us. Our New Years Eve was very exciting...we barely made it to midnight. These social butterflies (not really) stayed home. It was actually just like any other night around here except we bought champagne and tried to stay up late. We watched a Marilyn Monroe movie and each had a glass of champagne and we in bed by 20 after 12. Real exciting, heh? That's ok...I rather be home than dealing with a bunch of drunk people...and well getting drunk is really not a good option when you have 3 toddlers to take care of the next day. So we keep it low key and do just fine.
We put out a bunch of munchies today and Jean and Alexis came to spend the day. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the new year.
Before Jean and Alexis got here Jeremy caught this moment...I could not be any happier...the loves of my life (including Jeremy...someone had to take the picture...lol).
Hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years Eve.
Love, Jen

#150...a reflection...

What better way to end the year than with my 150th post. I was asked if I was going to do something special for the 150th since I made such a deal about it. I was asked that prior to the hectic week we had last week. I had thought about doing something fun like the top 150 reason I love being a mom or a top 150 list of some sort. Late last week I was worried I would not make it to 150. So this post is no different than any of the others...it comes from the heart. A reflection or more like the year in review.
Let me start out by saying this year has been AMAZING! Thanks to having the blog I can look back at where we started, what we have gone thru and where we ended up. Thank goodness for technology (for MANY reasons!).
January was the slowest month for posts, only 4...I cannot believe it! But it was still a big month for the kids as they lost their gummy smiles and traded them in for toothy grins. A small milestone, but a milestone none the less. They continued to work on crawling and pulling up in hopes to walk some day.
Then February came. We started it out with, at that time a huge milestone, turning one year old. Oh the fun I had with planning and making that day special for the kids. Although it was fun it still pulled at my heart. This month was also big for them getting off of formula (yippy) and feeding themselves. We also gained a walker this month. Getting more independant every day.
March was a quiet month. We gain yet another walker. More steps to not needing mommy's help as much.
April marked the first getaway for us. It also marked the end of an era...the crawling era as we now had all three walking. It was also our first rummage sale for kids stuff, which was very successful.
May had many things...first actual walk, first coloring, an addition to the family, my 2nd Mother's Day and civilized eating. More and more step to becoming full blown toddlers.
June was filled with fun but tears too. We saw our first parade and went on our first family vacation. Our hearts were torn in half when we had to put our beloved dog Baylee down.
July is when summer is in full swing...we swam, went to the beach, had a wonderful playyard built, went to our first county fair and they got their very own brooms.
August was spent mostly enjoying the playyard and swimming. We did venture out in public with the triplet stroller for the farmer's market. August also marks the splitting of the kids into separate rooms. A lot of work but I accomplished a dream room for our little girl.
September was filled with time with family...Nana, Papa, Great Grandpa Pluemer, Great Grandma Lenzendorf and cousin Alexis. We also accomplished our first fingerpainting as well as a second rummage sale. We also took another step towards growing up...we went to one nap a day. Mommy and Daddy did get some free time to celebrate the 105th birthday for Harley Davidson with a beautiful day ride.
October marked the introduction of potty chairs as well as their first outdoor pet...black and brown catapillars. October was huge for the boys as they had finally enough hair to get their first haircuts. We also played in the fallen leaves a lot. We also participated in our first trick or treat.
November we took a trip back to the NICU and impressed our nurses and doctors. We also moved on to eating cereal and soup with a spoon. We witnessed a first snow fall and got to go outside in it to play. We also got a great playhouse that is loved very much.
December was a month that seemed to fly by. We met Santa for the first time. We took our first bubble bath. We dealt with the flu and a death. We tried hard to behave with the Christmas tree. And we celebrated our 2nd Christmas as a family.
So it was a great year and we look forward to see what 2009 brings us. Happy New Years to everyone! Thanks for reading and keeping up with us.
Love, Jen
This picture was taken last night right before bedtime...can you tell the kids are tired, not to mention mommy too!
This picture was taken this morning. The kids have loved having Jeremy home and you can tell, can't ya?