The Week in Pictures

This week was one that I was really looking forward to - we had absolutely NOTHING on our calendar! Turner and I spent time at the pool and she started going to our church preschool three days a week, but we pretty much had a low key week. Here are some of the highlights in pictures!

This what happens when you let Turner eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ("be-ba butter" to her, and one of her FAVORITES!), then follow that with a nice helping of fresh blueberries! And yes, she has on mardi gras beads!

Turner likes to sit with me while I put on my make-up in the mornings (which doesn't happen too often in the summer). I let her dig around in the drawer and she has gotten pretty skilled at twisting the caps on things...I was impressed with her efforts with this eye shadow! (Over her right eye.)

Turner has an enormous interest in cleaning - specifically sweeping. She wants to use her "plate" (dustpan) and attempt to sweep anytime she sees the broom.

Turner has become very interested in the playback function on the camera - always wanting to see the result of her pictures. We've been asking her to "show us her teeth" when we take her picture....this is the result!

This weekend my parents came to Auburn, with one major purpose of the trip being to deliver some new cast iron plants and caladiums for my yard. Mark came home early and while Dad planted, Mark and I cut the grass and edged the yard and flower beds.

Here is Pop taking a break with Turner, blowing a few bubbles!

Here is a shot of my new front entrance - Dad and Mark potted the ferns into my urns and planted the caladiums that sit on the columns.

Pop doing what Pop loves to do best - digging in the dirt! Aren't my cast iron plants beautiful?

Pop taking another break with Turner...

Turner decided to cool off a little with the water hose.

We knew turner loved corn, but we thought it would be too difficult for her to bite it directly off the cobb....boy were we wrong!

Today, Pop, Tootsie, and I took Turner swimming after church. This girl LOVES the pool!

And finally, a "shred" update! Mark and I have completed 6 days of the 30 Day Shred and we are both feeling stronger and firmer. We still have a long way to go, but are committed to this! Turner decided to join in the shredding fun tonight as well...here she is doing ab work lifting her legs up and down.

And here she is trying to do a few jumping jacks!

Finally, my favorite picture taken today after church. We obviously asked Turner to show us her teeth again! :)

Happy Father's Day

Here's a message from Turner, just for her sweet Daddy. It is one of my greatest joys watching Mark be a father - he loves our little girl so very much. And you can rest assured, he is her hero. Happy Father's Day Mark! (If you need translation, she's saying "Happy Father's Day Daddy!", not just "Happy Father's Day!")



And another video for her grandfathers - "Paw Paw" and "Pop". Fortunately, Mark and I are both blessed with wonderful fathers and fathers-in-law! We hope you both had a wonderful day!




(*Forgive the overkill, but I am including all three "takes" on here because Mark asked me to. I am guessing he'd like to be able to watch them all anytime he wishes! And today is all about him, right?? You need to know, Turner is loving being photographed and videoed these days, as long as she gets to immediately come around and see the result. That's what is happening in one of these...she can hardly wait to see the finished video replayed!)

The Shred

So I purchased the workout DVD Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred about a month ago. It was a crazy time for us with school ending, CWE starting, and wouldn't you know our DVD player started acting up...thus creating the perfect excuse for me to not even tear open the cover of this DVD. However, in the past few weeks I have come to the realization (not new territory for me) that something had to give - I was lethargic and horribly out of shape, and I finally am just plain tired of it. So, yesterday afternoon I tore off the clear wrap on this DVD and actually set my mind to work my way through it watching on my computer screen. It boasts a short 20-minute workout that produces results in 30 days...now I know why. OH. MY. WORD. IT. WAS. AWFUL.

It was refreshingly "old school" in it's approach, but I am embarrassed at how few push-ups and jumping jacks I could actually do without getting winded. It's important to know that there are NO REST PERIODS in this 20 min cycle between intense cardio, weight lifting, and ab work - NONE. She allows you to catch your breath for 5 seconds only if you must...gee, thanks Jillian.

I am going to admit now that a lot of my making it through the workout was sheer stubborn pride. I used to train with a personal trainer. I used to compete in beauty pageants for crying out loud! What in the world happened?? So I was determined not to quit, and to be able to keep up. Therefore, after it was over I literally laid in the floor of my den and thought to myself, "Sweet Jesus, please don't let me throw up on the white carpet." I laid there for quite a while actually, wondering if I could even get up off the floor, listening to the DVD menu screen music repeat uncontrollably. Then I had a brilliant thought, "If level 1 is this hard, what in the world is level 3 like? Hmmmm... If I could only move my arm upward to the couch to push that button on the computer..." About this time, Turner woke up and I seriously wondered if I could pick her up out of the crib. I managed to get her up and "we" decided to lay down on my bed for a few minutes. After about 5 minutes of me trying to convince her to hide in the covers, read a book, (read: anything that didn't require me to move) she started saying, "Mommy, get up." over and over again...nothing like a little motivation from a 19 month old.

Needless to say, I was pretty sore today. BUT...I stayed on track and even convinced Mark to join me for day 2 tonight after dinner. Honestly, I saw improvement in my endurance in just one day - which reminds me there is NO excuse for how out of shape I have allowed myself to become. Mark had a similar experience to my Day 1 (and he's in much better shape than me). I just hope that he can comfortably handle luggage duty tomorrow in the hot parking lot at CWE!

So, 2 days down, 28 more to go! I hear Mark in the bathroom rattling the ibuprofen bottle now...as he exited the bathroom his only comment for me, "I hate you. Let me rephrase, I am going to hate you." :)

Tagged

I've been tagged to do this little challenge...

8 Things I am looking forward to:
1. Having NOTHING to do this week
2. Going to the beach at the end of June with my family
3. Going to New York with Mark in July for my birthday
4. Spending some time at our neighborhood pool with Turner this summer
5. Camp War Eagle ending for the summer (It will all be over mid-July!)
6. Taking a hair-bow construction class next week
7. Redesigning my guest bedroom
8. Sewing more for Turner this summer

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Played the piano for all church services
2. Attended a new Family Bible Study Class at church on how to have family devotions
3. Stamp painted some shirts for Turner
4. Got so excited cheering for the Cubs I dropped a wet paintbrush on my newly finished octopus shirt....now I get to do that one again!!
5. Sewed some pants for Turner (too small again - having to re-draw the pattern to fit her!)
6. Put up laundry and hung up clothes
7. Made some yummy vegetable dip
8. Hugged my husband and my child lots - sometimes at the same time! :)

8 Things I wish I could do:
1. Get motivated to exercise more
2. Grow plants and have a lavishly landscaped yard
3. Have my own monogramming machine so I could monogram my own items
4. Practice my piano more
5. Travel the world with Mark
6. Know how to change the backdrop design of my blog (without Holly's help...)
7. Have more of a "natural knack" for sewing - it's a challenge for me!
8. Work 4 days a week and have permanent 3 day weekends!

8 Shows I watch:
1. Rules of Engagement
2. CSI: Miami
3. ESPN Sportcenter
4. anything Paula Deen (pretty much the Food Network in general)
5. HGTV (love the new $250,000 challenge and Property Virgins)
6. American Idol
7. The Today Show (in the summers)
8. WGN - Chicago Cubs baseball

8 of my Favorite Foods:
1. tomatoes
2. ice cream
3. smarties
4. sweet potatoes
5. pasta
6. most any red meat
7. strawberries
8. cinnamon toast crunch cereal

8 Places I have traveled: (*I am a little embarrassed at my answers here...I have only been out of the country twice - both times on a mission trip to Honduras. Seeing all of you other bloggers that have been to 8 different locations outside the USA makes me feel a little sheltered...oh well. I am going to amend #2-8 on my list to some of my favorite cities to which I have traveled in the USA.)
1. San Pedro Sula, Honduras
2. Chicago, IL
3. New York City, NY
4. Grayton Beach, FL
5. Gatlinburg, TN
6. Washington, DC
7. Harrisburg, PA (Pocono Mountains)
8. Las Vegas, NV

8 Places I would like to travel:
1. Hawaii
2. Australia
3. California
4. Italy
5. (back to) Honduras with Mark
6. Mexico
7. The Bahamas
8. Sanibel Island

People I tag: (trying to pick people who I don't think have been "tagged" on other blogs yet...)
1. Kelly H.
2. Jamesha P.
3. Star L.
4. Samantha R.
5. Kristy C.
6. Dan C.
7. Amy S.
8. Carol S.

Louisiana - Day 3 &4

On Saturday we did a lot of fishing, swimming, and eating - which, if you know any of us you know that was about as close to perfect as any day can be! We did take a late afternoon trip over to see the mighty Mississippi river, which Turner loved! On Sunday we attended Mark's home church and came home to take some beautiful family pictures. Which I have just discovered (as I am writing this post at 11pm) somehow didn't upload to the computer. And I cleaned my camera memory earlier today...so they are gone. I think I might be sick... Oh well, guess that means we'll have to all go back to Louisiana again soon!

Pop is a crazy man when it comes to Turner. He had foot surgery about two weeks ago, but here is a picture of him running to show Turner the fish he caught.

Which she just wanted to touch!

Pop is always so photo ready when he's got Turner!

Turner showing off her new hairstyle for the day! It has gotten SO long!

Playing peek-a-boo with Granny.

Turner would get "behind" the stool and "hide"...

...then she'd pop up and "surprise" Granny!

Playing in the overflow of the Mississippi River.
(Obviously the river is high and overflowing up onto a street...thus the yellow lines!)

Couldn't help but take a sip....YUCK!

Two sweet horses were nearby and came to the gate to say hello!

After the visit to the river, we came back home for more swimming!

Swimming made Tootsie and Turner tired - they are snoring!

Tootsie is the coolest!!

Mommy and Pop tried to get Turner comfortable away from the steps out in the water....she was still a little skittish about that!

This is what I do when I am not taking pictures...

Turner did get a ride on the John Deere lawnmower - something that Daddy, Pop, and Grandpa have all wanted her to do for quite a while now!

Discussing the do's and dont's of proper gardening.

Digging more potatoes with Pop.

As you can probably see, we all had a wonderful trip to Louisiana! Turner was fabulous in the car for 8 hours each way - we are so blessed by her easy going personality! Thanks again Granny and Grandpa for a wonderful few days away from the hustle and bustle of home!

Louisiana - Day 2

On Friday, we drove over to Natchez, Mississippi to the Kelly's Kids outlet store. We shop Kelly's Kids for Turner a good bit, and it's worth the drive to get BIG discounts on these quality clothes. It's always a highlight to our trip! Another special treat on Friday was the fact that my parents met us in Natchez and came to Louisiana with us for the remainder of the weekend. Let me take a chance to acknowledge again how blessed we are to have parents that get along so well. I was a little sad at all the crazy looks and comments I received when I told people my parents were coming to join us at Mark's parents house. I realize all families don't operate like this - but I certainly wish that more of them did. It's a real treat for us, not to mention how incredible it is for my sweet daughter to have all four grandparents around at one time. Thank you Armstrongs for welcoming my family! I couldn't help but laugh when we couldn't find Pop and Grandpa - we found them sitting outside discussing the ins and outs of growing the perfect tomato. Priceless. More pictures to explain the day...

Turner LOVES ranch dip. I already knew this. However, I didn't realize she would actually pick up the cup and lick it. In public.

Checking out the boats with Pop.

Looking cute, yet a little like a gangster with one leg up and one leg down on her bloomers. :)

Showing Pop the garden.

Picking tomatoes with Daddy.

Showing Tootsie the water.
(She's a lot like Turner's mommy - much prefers the sun and water to the dirt and garden!)

This is my favorite picture I took this weekend.

Turner getting in a late afternoon swim in her pool.

This girl loves to be outdoors - especially in the water.

"I frow it!" ("I throw it.") Turner really enjoyed shouting this as she dropped the dog food in the lake to feed the catfish.

Another late evening walk on the pier, just with another "main man".