Surviving through Friday....check.

Last week was one of those that baffles my mind as to how we made it all happen.  The mantra was "just get through Friday, just get through Friday". I had created a daily to-do list well in advance and each day's tasks kept growing and growing....thankfully by the end of the week my list looked like this....

Let me recap the highlights for you.  First, I worked the full week in preparation for a three day full-staff workshop at my school Wednesday-Friday.  Every night of the week was filled to the brim with Turner's dance class, meetings at church, Junior Miss board activities (another story for another post), regular church duties, Mark's CWE responsibilities (every day last week), the last CWE pep rally, swimming party with school buddies, and oh by the way....I turned another year older mid-week as well. :)

We knew this week was going to be especially crazy, because in the midst of all the above we were coordinating and preparing for our annual end of CWE party at our house on Friday night for Mark's staff.  It was especially challenging since I am not home all day to prepare like I have been in the past, and this year we deviated from the normal Mexican fiesta and took on a pasta bar Italian party for 17!  Wow...it was yummy and awesome, but at 6:35 (party set to start at 6:30 Friday night) I still wasn't sure we were going to pull it off!!

Let me share a few pictures with you from the week that may help tell the story.

One of Mark's head camp counselors contacted me a few weeks ago regarding a surprise gift they wanted to create for Mark, one that required my assistance.  They desired to give him a picture of the 6 of the HCC's, but with a special twist from the normal HCC picture. They wanted to includeTurner in the picture as well, and they wanted the setting to be an iconic Auburn location.  After much scheduling (trying to get me and Turner in the same place as 6 CWE staff people while CWE was going on - all without Mark knowing - was tough) we met at the stadium last Wednesday for a photo shoot.  I was the photographer and thankfully with the help of Smarties, Turner was quite obliged to pose for several shots!

In the locker room. (The picture we used.)

And one of the sweet HCC's asked me if I'd like a picture with her as well in the locker room.

After a busy day, it was a special treat to go to Provino's with Mark and Turner to celebrate my 32nd birthday.  I didn't expect gifts since my haircut/color with my favorite Eva Scrivo in New York last Christmas was my birthday present from Mark.  But he insisted that this awesome gift was from Turner.  Daddy definitely knows what Mommy likes.  :)


On Thursday we went to the last CWE pep rally of the year.  Thankfully the rain held off because I think my little girl might have just sat down and cried if they had to cancel another pep rally.  She enjoyed hearing "and they stay there" (All We Do Is Win) and showing off her moves...if you scroll fast through the next four pics I think you'll get the picture.

"And every time we step up in the building everybody hands go up....and they stay there, and they stay there"

"UP...

DOWN...

UP...

DOWN!"

I think this was shortly after she had informed Mark, "My Auburn cheerleader uniform is too small, they can see my belly!"

And in typical fashion, someone remembered to bring her beloved chocolate pie...she was definitely cheering with the fork in her hand.

A fun picture with Emilee Williams, Miss Auburn University 2011.  Turner didn't seem to enthused at first, then I leaned down and said, "Turner, she's like a beauty queen with a crown like Mommy has."  She hopped right up and turned on that smile.  :)

And then Friday arrived...Mark and I had prepared a traditional red sauce on Tuesday night.  On Thursday evening I made the basil pesto sauce, sundried tomato alfredo sauce, cooked the chocolate sheet cake, and cooked and peeled about 8lbs of shrimp.  I started peeling shrimp at midnight, and when Mark got home at 12:40 he helped...we stopped shortly after 1:00am and still weren't done. 

Friday afternoon after work I made the blueberry cobbler, we cooked sausage and chicken add ins, made salads, bread, and some sausage pepper poppers.  Thankfully we had someone else bringing the noodles or we wouldn't have pulled it off.  Basically it was a build your own pasta bowl buffet....that looked like this!

And at 1:46am (after dinner, post dinner, two pots of coffee, and a long CWE dinner for them and a nap for me) I tweeted this picture of my sweet hubby washing the last of the dishes. 

Saturday and Sunday brought some recuperation for me, and banquets and late nights for Mark. Check out this handsome Daddy in his seersucker!

Thankfully, I had yesterday and today off from work so we've spent some time resting, finishing up some craft projects around the house, reclaiming an empty ironing board, etc.  And today as my "last day of summer vacation" activity with Turner we went to our local water park for a morning of fun.  We hadn't been before and Turner absolutely had a ball!  She loved the lazy river, and the pools, but once she got brave enough to go down the kiddie slide I thought we were never going to leave!  She must have walked up those stairs 35 times to slide down...and she laughed and squealed like every time was the first time she had gone down!  It was the perfect way to spend my last day home with my sweet girl!

Mrs. Norma's beach "hotel"

A couple of days after the 4th of July (when Mark went back to work for his last busy stretch of the CWE year), Turner and I headed to Gulf Shores to spend a few days at the beach.  I have a very special friend, Mrs. Norma, who has invited us to accompany her to her beach condo (which Turner said she thought was a hotel) before but we had never been able to work out the logistics prior to this summer.  We are so grateful that she afforded us this opportunity as it was my first beach trip this summer and a much needed break from the busy life here at home.

Let me tell you about Mrs. Norma.  In 2004 I went on a mission trip to Honduras and Mrs. Norma was my roommate - I was 25 and she was 71.  I learned quickly that she had more energy and spunk than I did and she could outwork almost anyone on our construction team.  We maintained our friendship through the years, but she really became a part of my family shortly after her daughter (and my good friend) died after a 2 month battle with cancer.  I introduced my blog readers to Norma in this post, but I had no idea that in the next couple of years Norma would become a third grandmother to Turner and a good friend to me.  Norma is now 78 years old, and she can still run circles around me at times with her energy and zeal for living life to it's fullest.  She put on her bathing suit (not some old lady skirted one either) and stayed on the beach with us as long as we wanted to stay.  She swam in the ocean with us, walked a mile down the beach for exercise, and one evening it was me and Turner who were too tired to stay out at The Hangout.  I asked her how she maintains her energy and her spunk and her answer was, "Attitude.  It's all in your attitude about living life."  This is a lady who in the last 10 years has buried her husband and daughter...and she's telling me about having a positive attitude?  Wow.

It was my first trip to the beach as the only/primary caretaker and "playmate" for Turner, so that was different for sure!  I love the beach because the beach = sun.  I am aware that some people actually enjoy getting sandy, playing games, flying kites, etc. while they are at the beach.  I am not one of those people!  It amazed me that Turner didn't seem to comprehend why I didn't want her to touch me with sandy hands, or walk across my towel. :)  The people sitting nearby got quite a laugh when we would go wash off the sand in the water in preparation of heading home for the day, and immediately when we got back up to our towel Turner would drop to her hands and knees and wiggle around in the sand.   I talked to my Mom (who shares my feeling about all things sandy) while we were there and informed her that though I would enjoy her company, I NEEDED my Dad there to entertain Turner.

Nevertheless, this trip wasn't just about me (after you have a child most things in life aren't...) and I was able to get some sun while I built sandcastles with my girl.  (My main job was making multiple trips to refull the water bucket.)  And once Turner got accustomed to the sounds and movements of the surf again she wanted to spend almost all of her time in the ocean.  Thankfully, my Dad taught me the joy of "jumping the waves" many years ago so Turner and I really enjoyed ourselves in the rather wavy surf.  I am grateful because my girl is just like her Mommy -- she LOVES the beach!  I couldn't help but think of summers to come (after she starts to love the sun more than sand) when we can steal away during long CWE stretches for some beach time together.

I did take a few pictures, though none of them bear reference that I was actually present at the beach.  I snapped what I could on the dry land, but there are none of Turner in the water since I accompanied her while she swam.

Only my daughter would want to "bedazzle" her sandcastle.  At one point I suggested it was time to head home and she told me emphatically that she couldn't leave yet because the shells didn't go all the way around like she wanted them to.  (And no, I didn't suggest that she decorate it...)  She made this one on our last late evening visit to the beach and as we walked away she turned to tell the sandcastle, "Bye sandcastle.  See you next time we come to the beach!" 

Norma took us to a long pier down the street to watch the sunset one evening, and Turner is still talking about this experience.  Actually watching the sun disappear behind the horizon still amazes me.

Can you tell Turner had grown weary of my picture taking?  I am pretty certain she was telling me to put down my camera...

I asked Turner to stand still, and I think Norma used the term "pose" and "stand as still as a statue".  Apparently the only statue Turner is familiar with would be the Statue of Liberty....so of course this provided her with a theatrical opportunity to imitate her favorite NYC landmark.

This one is my favorite picture...

We had an absolute BALL at the beach!  Both of us are looking forward to another visit in the hopefully not too distant future!!

4th of July 2011

We didn't have big plans for the 4th of July, but we did have a relaxing weekend and fun visit with Tootsie and Pop!  Bless her heart, Tootsie is still restricted from putting weight on her broken ankle so her mobility is slow and exhausting!  But she was a trooper and even braved the swimming pool with us on Saturday!

Saturday morning, Turner could hardly wait to crack open this 51 pound watermelon that Pop brought!

I am not sure if Turner was more excited to eat the watermelon, or to shoot the seeds at Pop!!

She spent most of her time curled up trying to stay out of the line of fire!

We did make a trip to the pool and I was able to sneak a few shots of Turner swimming (or at least working toward swimming)!  I haven't gotten pictures earlier this year because we are "floatie free" by my choosing, therefore pool visits require my constant supervision and proximity to the water = no camera!  She is SO close to swimming on her own and I am so proud of her progress in about a month of regularly going to the pool.  She can hold her breath forever to pick up diving rings, and if she'd ever hold it that long when she swims she'd be swimming all over the pool!

We dined on some delicious shrimp that my parents brought from the Gulf...

...and because I'm still a Daddy's girl, I made this yummy blueberry cobbler for dessert.  Mark likes it a lot too, but I think my Dad literally ate 3/4 of the entire pan in less than 14 hours.  :) 

Tootsie and Pop headed home Sunday and we spent the evening and all day Independence Day just being lazy and enjoying some family time at home.  Turner's fingernails needed painting, so she chose a lovely red with some blue and silver sparkles on top (she really chose this not knowing the connection to the holiday) but they were perfectly festive! 

We did catch the fireworks display last night and enjoyed our pre-fireworks ice cream stop.  I had no camera with me at the fireworks and it was unfortunate since our location this year had an awesome view....oh well...there's always next year!

We are off to the beach for a few days with a dear family friend - more to come on that when we return!