Everything Grows and Grows

We planted our first family garden this year, and everything is sprouting up like crazy! We have tomatoes, spinach, squash, cucumbers, shallots, marigolds, lettuce, sunflowers, and bell peppers growing in our little 4x4 foot plot.

The kids are definitely sprouting up too. It's amazing to me how much Jack and Elijah have both grown this year. Jack is getting into the agreeable years right when Elijah is getting into those terrible twos - it seems like the frequency of timeouts and spankings has completely inverted between those two overnight. And our sweet Avery is six months old... the time has flown by.

Two Reasons to Love the First Week of March

The Caroline Jasmine on our back porch... it blooms when everything else is still brown. Always our first sign that spring is on it's way!
My little man's birthday is on March 6. He turned two this year. We are having so much fun with him: playing trains, reading books, singing songs. Love this boy.

This video made me laugh.

I found it particularly funny since Josh and I had lots of theological conversations when we first started dating, with me at one point handing him a copy of John Piper's church's article on "What We Believe about the Five Points of Calvinism." I haven't quite made him burn his NIV though... yet.

Little Cowpokes

We got to take our first trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this year. Luckily my mom was in town, so she and I took the kids during the day when the crowds were low and Daddy was at work. They had lots of fun, and I couldn't believe all the stuff that had no extra cost. We went as part of a PeeWee School field trip, so we even had free admission! Jack loved pretending to be a cowboy and a farmer, and Elijah thought the petting zoo was about the most wonderful thing ever. There were goats, sheep, llamas, baby deer, miniature donkeys, and even some tiny kangaroos! The boys loved it.
They also got to ride some rides with Tutu while Mommy fed Avery, then we headed in for our tour. We got to see rabbits, honeybees, cows, pigs, sheep, turkeys, chickens - even some babies that were only a few hours old. There were also some huge tractors on display that the boys could climb into and pretend to drive. I wasn't sure that Jack was ever going to leave! We will definitely be back next year - they had so much fun.

The Best Husband Ever

I seriously have the best husband ever. You may not be aware of this. You might (mistakenly) think that your husband is a contender for this award. You would be wrong. Let me list some of his activities today - please keep in mind that ZERO of these things were done as a result of my nagging or even requesting. It was all motivated by his desire to serve me and our family.

- vacuumed and mopped all the wood floors
- picked up toys
- bathed all three kids
- watched the kids at a birthday party while I talked with other moms
- mopped the kitchen tile
- picked up more toys
- washed all the day's dishes
- ordered pizza (so I didn't have to make dinner)
- made juice for the boys
- scrubbed the grout in the kitchen floor
- picked up some more toys
- ironed a dozen or so shirts

Love him.

The Talkingest Boy

Elijah talks about twelve times as much as Jack did at this age. Actually i just made that number up. But it's definitely a lot more. And I'm still not used to it.

Today I handed him a banana. He said:
"Here go, Lijah. Wow. Dat's cool."

What book do you want to read?:
"Thomas' Christmas Delivery... peep peep"

Every time we turn on the fireplace:
"Look at dat fire."

If I mention the PBS show:
"Conductor? All aboard.. Dinosaur Train - Woo Woo"

Anytime I leave the room:
"Mommy not here... be right back!" (this is accompanied by crying)

Greeting me about 100 times a day:
"Hi sweet haht (heart)" or "Hi sweet boy"

The most frequent refrain:
"Watch Thomas?"

He's definitely entertaining us these days. What a sweetie!

A Storybook Halloween

Avery was born just in time to participate in the Halloween festivities, which were pretty low-key at the Turner house. We just trick-or-treated around the neighborhood, skipping all the fun carnivals, pumpkin patches, and parties to try to avoid picking up all the flu and other crud that is going around. Neither Jack nor Avery really need to get sick right now (not to mention the rest of us). The boys enjoyed getting to put on their costumes, and Avery's outfit got compliments from all the neighbors. I'm just appreciating the fact that I can still decide what they're going to wear without worrying about their opinions... my guess is that the days of themed family costumes are numbered. This year Jack was a knight (complete with sword), Elijah was a snuggly dragon, and Avery was the tiniest princess ever.

Here's our little sleeping beauty... My mom made her costume!