Simply MUM!

May Flowers

2011-05-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hop into Easter!

2011-05-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

I fill and hide like 100 of those little plastic eggs around the house the night before Easter. Seemed like a good idea at one time:0 but I am starting to think otherwise. My Kids love it! And this year not only did they run around like peeps on steroids (giggles) but they also color coordinated the collection!

What are your Easter Traditions? Love'em or Leave'em

Playground Pics

2011-04-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

Indian Seats

2011-03-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

This is the Park that I have been working at part time. The hike was 3.2 Miles round trip!

Eat your Heart out Ralph Lauren!

2011-03-08T07:50:00.000-08:00

Wish I had made their outfits match better! More photos from our trip up the mountain to come... but I could not resist posting these by themselves!

Here Comes The Sun!

2011-03-01T05:22:00.000-08:00

So finally the sun comes out... This is my favorite time of the year because the kids can finally get out of the house and play and I don't freeze watching them. This Sunday afternoon I took the kids out for a picnic lunch, which they requested adamantly. After a quick lunch on the front porch the kids ran wild in the neighborhood. Bike riding, chalk drawings, superhero fights and well just plain fun was had by all.

Stay tuned... I took the kids hiking at the preserve that I work at and got some great pictures. I will post as soon as I can.

Big Shoes To Fill

2011-02-08T05:41:00.000-08:00

So the other morning in between laundry, cleaning up breakfast, and running around like a bear after a long hibernation, I hear in the background (clop,clop, bang, bang, giggle, giggle) When I stopped what I was doing I was armed with the camera and this is what I captured!

On another note... Jason was just recently interview by Swimming Worlds Morning Show. If you have not seen it here is the link... Check it out:)

Capture the moment....

2011-01-28T05:01:00.000-08:00

Capture the Moment...not as easy as it sounds. Over winter break my brother and SIL stopped by for a quick visit. I love when the SIL visits (hey sparkles!) Normally this time of year we would be getting ready to run our traditional half marathon (it's kind of become our thing, GO TEAM TurLoo!) but this year we are taking the year off because of a special little guy who just joined the family. It was so great to finally meet the little man and my kids were just as cute as could be with him. If only I could get them all to sit still and look at the camera at the same time. Without further ado... I introduce CDL.

Happy Birthday X2

2011-01-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

The Twins turned three this month! Three I am not really sure where the time went but they are THREE! THREE! By the way, the older they get the more difficult it is becoming to tell them apart. They have even started telling people they are the other. ( Boy are we in trouble when they get into high school) Here is a list of questions I asked them and their answers!

Favorite Color
O-Pink K-she can't pick any one

Favorite show-
O-Dora K-Dora

Favorite Food-
O- Nutella Sandwich K-Dinner

Favorite Toy
Hands down for both Princess

Favorite Fruit
Oranges

What do you want to do right now?
O-Princess stuff K- Dance

All Aboard!

2011-01-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

Just a fun photo shoot at the house. This is actually one of those moments were all three are playing nicely with each other!

Operation Lost Camera-Finally Found

2010-12-28T10:36:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts... I have been camera-less... some how one of the kids(wink wink O or K) decided that my camera needed a new home and it wasn't until yesterday that I found it's new home. Here are a few holiday picks I took of the twins with my phone!

Wishing you the very best holiday season!

LooK

2010-11-25T05:07:00.000-08:00

I'm dressed up as a Pilgrim in pajama's....

Now I'm an Indian!

Either way....Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm riding on a horse

2010-11-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

Ok... so its been awhile but I have been busy plotting my next post... so here it goes...pay attention... and try and keep up
But first watch this..Old Spice Commercial I'm riding on a horse!

Stay tuned for where he goes next!

Holy Batman, Batman!

2010-10-31T10:52:00.000-07:00

Last night our neighborhood had a halloween party... all the kids got to dress up and run around the neighborhood and for the second day in a row ( the first day was at school on friday) The boy...or shall we call him Batman got to wear his costume. By the way it is Sunday now and Yes, he has it on again....So here is Batman in action!

Pumpkin, Pumpkin and More Pumpkin

2010-10-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite time of the year. The crisp dark mornings. The leaves changing from blah green to brilliant shades of scarlet, canary and of course pumpkin! This year same as all years before I get a little batty for pumpkin! I crave all things pumpkin and luckily my children feel the same way. So what better way to celebrate the change in the seasons with all things pumpkin! Play along with me, it gets better...

First the staple spices! I put these in everything, I use them so much they never make it back to their specific spots in the pantry. There even great in my morning cup of coffee!

So here are a few of the recipes I made and love... and I will definitely make them again and again. I have included a link to all the recipes or blogs where I found them...

1. Pumpkin Spice Green Monster... ( did you know there is actually a Green Monster Movement) So I happened to stumble upon this web site and then of course I had to check out the "OH SHE GLOS" blog as well ( vicious cycle I am telling you) anyway... this was an amazing pick me up in the morning and gave me tons of energy. As you can see it is green but I just happened to add a little extra spinach that morning. So green it is... but let me tell you, if it were not green you would never know that there was actually spinach in it. I made another version of it for the kids with berries to disguise the green. They Loved It!

Anyway I am totally hooked on this blog... so much that I made my first vegan snack. Pumpkin gingerbread with buttercream spice frosting.

Kids can't get enough of these tasty treats.

Alway a staple at my house the kids favorites with a pumpkin twist.

The biggest pancake pumpkin style and pumpkin egg nog french toast.

We also made Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream and Martha Stewarts Ginger Pumpkin Bread

Too come...picture of my pumpkins on halloween!

Trick-or-Treat

"Old School"

2010-10-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

This week my sister and I are going to break it down old school style. We are NOT going streaking in the quad... "tempting, but NO!" (you know what movie that quote is from?)

Remember when...

Schools actually went on field trips...

Teachers actually taught in the same school district for more then 5 years

and

Kids actually rode their bike everywhere they went.

At the boys school he will not be taking any field trips so I made the decision to take him out of school a day early this week and we took a trip up to the lake house. I decided we needed to take a nature field trip. When we were younger my parents took us to this place called Brasstown Bald, Georgias Highest mountain. I vaguely remember it... but the one thing I do remember was it was a long climb and at the top you could look out and see 4 different states.

It is quite a climb but we all made it to the top minus any active bear sightings... and it was a great experience for all. They have completely renovated it and now have a museum at the top with tons of interactive things for the kids and adults.

How To Train YOUR Dragon!

2010-09-30T14:47:00.001-07:00

Keeping with the movie theme of the month... this post is all about training my own little dragon. If you did not have a chance to see this movie when it was out in the cinema's you must rent or buy it immediately. Check out the Preview. (thanks IMDB!)

The boy and I got to go see it in 3D and it was amazing. Totally worth the extra $3. The music, characters and storyline was so creative and entertaining.

I am not sure who the boy reminds me more of Toothless or Hiccup...you be the judge...

Dragon AKA The Boy....recent list of adventures
1. Total of 3 visits from the tooth fairy ( hence the toothless comparison)
2. All "S" on his progress report from school
3. Newest addiction.. Lego Batman on Wii (excellent tool to get him to do his homework!)
4. Attended his first solo birthday party

Take the Picture! Take the Picture!

2010-09-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

I seem to be running with a current movie theme on my blog this month... This movie quote comes from my all time favorite Funny Face!) You know the part when Audrey glides down the stairs in that beautiful red dress! If you have not seen this movie it is a MUST! I was lucky enough to have seen it at the old movie theater in Palo Alto...(boy do I miss that place)

Any way I digress... Here are some of the promised out-takes of the girls...Funny Face style!

Life as we know it!

2010-09-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

So many of you know the girls auditioned about a year and a half ago for a movie. One of our previous neighbors approached me one morning when I was hauling out the two infant car seats taking a moment to prepare myself for the 20 step workout to get to our main living space.

"Oh you have twins?" says the neighbor with cash signs flashing in her eyes.

"Yes! both girls!" I retort, because any mother of multiples gets this question about 500 times per day. (that and " are they both yours" LOL)

"Have you ever thought of getting them in to a modeling agency"

"Not really, don't know a lot about the business nor do I know where I would start." I say with really no desire to be a stage mom.

"Well your in luck, that is kind of what I do!"

And so after many email and photo exchanges the girls were officially attached to an agency. And nothing really happened for forever, so I just moved on. Until one morning I got a call asking if I could bring the girls in for an audition in a Catherine Hiegl movie. Turns out they made the cut and we got a call back... and then made another, this time with the director (who by the way complemented us on how beautiful the girls were, there eyes are stunning). Long story short they chose twins that were younger...and guess what the moving is now coming out check out the preview. ( love when he drops the baby trying to get her in the bjorn... and when he pushes her down because she is starting to walk)

Which bring me to the real reason for todays entry... updating the twin's pictures and photo shoot. This by the way is always quite the production. But here is a slide show just to show case some of the really good ones! Yes there bangs are in their eyes but we are kind of in that awkward phase as we wait for them to grow out... stay tuned for silly outtakes:)

Better late than Never!

2010-09-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

These were taken at the beach well actually it is the lake... They have a great new play/park/picnic area and Auntie Katie and I decided to take the kids over and check it out....A great time was had by all! Here are the pictures to prove it. Stay tuned! I got great footage last weekend as both the girls now have there swimming gills!

Sunset at the Lake

2010-09-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I packed up the kids and headed up to the lake. My dad made the trek up to the house as well to seal the new deck that he put on. ( which by the way is amazing!) We left Friday after school and ended up staying until Monday afternoon, due to weather not being on our side. But after hours of work my dad and I were able to complete the job... There is something calming and comforting about this house or maybe its just being up in the mountains where both noise and light pollution is minimal and cell phone reception is practically nonexistent. We were actually able to take the kids for a few dips in the lake, but I think this is it until next summer as the temperature up there is starting to drop low at night. The kids are actually to the point now where we can let them play in the front yard ( although I should call it the front hill!) But I guess what made the whole trip was that my dad was able to spend some quality time with his grand kids. This picture was taken just as the sun was going down.... no better word but PRICELESS!

Ocean Dreaming

2010-08-23T07:03:00.001-07:00

** Thought this was a profile of all three kids but now that I look at it..... looks like it is two of K. oops!

OMT's Surfing Adventure

2010-08-21T05:22:00.000-07:00

So I am trying to expand my blogging capabilities...This time I have attached a slide show (cross your fingers that it works). This is of O surfing. It was great taking the kids to the beach this year. They loved the waves and the water. Absolutely no fear at all which is kind of scary in the big wide world! (Just like our all time favorite show Peep, my kids are always out for a grand adventure.)

Back from a small blogging break.....

2010-08-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

Hello.... I'm Back... it has been awhile but we are back on-line... and lots in the works...

1. School Starts MONDAY...as only charlie brown could say it better...Ahhhhhggggggg! The boy will board the school bus and say good bye for the day. Such a proud day for his whole family!

2. Girls will start a new routine of attending a drop in day care 1 to 2 days a week while mum is at work. I think this will be a perfect match for them, but only time will tell.

3. Dad is back from a long trip to In and Out Burger... I mean California... where yes his team was the USA Swimming LC Junior Nationals Runners-up 2010. We are all very proud of all his hard work.

4. We spent a week at the beach for the Turcotte Tradition. The kids had a great time playing with all their aunts, uncles, and cousins. I am in the process of compiling all the photos but here is a great one of the boy playing in the waves...

Lions, Tigers and DINOSUARS... oh my!

2010-07-07T06:03:00.000-07:00

This summer we planned a trip home to Cleveland, and one of the main reasons was to take "the boy" to see the dinosaurs at the zoo. If you ask "the boy" what he wants to be when he grows up he will always proudly state, "A Paleontologist!" (which given my love for all things science makes his mummy proud and very happy!) So the zoo has a separate area that is full of animatronic dinosaurs, including Brachiosaurus, triceratops, and water spitting Dilophosaurus and our all time favorite the T-Rex. At first the larger then life size model scared the kids with their random outburst of noise and movement, but as we explored they became more comfortable with their presence. Although it was steamy, and stifling hot here it was a great day of enrichment for the kids.

More to come just didn't want you to think I was slacking on the blogging.

Snicker Doodles Anyone!

2010-06-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

Living in California definitely had it's benefits, one of those was Jimmy V's ( the sports cafe' on campus). Their menu was fabulous...smoothies, burgers(mr. pig), the fresh fruit, and of course you cannot forget the yummy snicker doodles made daily. These cookies were a favorite amongst the camp councilor's and were a daily purchase, along with a cup of coffee bigger than one of the counselors head. Since then I have forever been trying to find a recipe that will match those delectable, warm buttery, cinnamon discs. Although I have not found the perfect recipe I have found others that are close. My most recent discovery comes from a Foodie Blog called The Noble Pig ( which I peruse daily). This particular recipe interestingly enough calls for Cheerios and at first I debated making these because this particular cookie is supposed to be chewy and soft...not crisp and crunchy. With the weather outside reaching as high as 100 degrees, I decided to give it a try with help from the kids. They were not as interested in the finished product as much as they were in the pre-baked cookie dough. HMMM! So of course I ended up eating most of them.

Belated: Happy Father's Day

2010-06-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

So I know that Father's day has come and gone... but I wanted to blog about this special day and since my world for the last two weeks has been caught in the eye of the storm.. I am late( which is not so shocking anymore) Sorry about that! I am actually nearing the end of my swim league job. Woot! If you have been around during the week before the BIG (1400 participant) Championship meet you know, I am running around like a mad women trying to get everything organized, laminated, printed and ordered. So this next week is complete chaos as the meet inches closer. But back to the big picture... Father's Day.

We had a great day together as a family, running errands, swimming, and then a fabulous steak dinner. Although I did not have a chance to print, frame and hang... here is J's fathers day present...

Happy Father's Day to all those dad's who have left an imprint on the children they love and adore! ( I know my dad has.. and for that I thank him!)

The Lake House

2010-06-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

It may not be the same Lake House that Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves stared in but we were able to create our own comical magic!

We took the kids up to the lake this weekend... and at first I was to say the least alittle nervous as this was not a pool with a visable ground (and if you know me... you know that I hate the unknown!) Funny story to go along with that... I must have been in 5th grade, I guess that makes me about 12. My dad (who is quite the fisherman) decided to get us up early one morning while at the lake house and take my brother and I fishing. We did a lot of trolling for fish(probably my dad's plan for keeping us from getting board)... which if I remember correctly is casting your lines out the back of the boat and then slowly driving the boat in a forward motion. This morning we we trolling and something bit at my line, and then again, this time practically wrenching the pole right out of my hands. I believe we lost the the hook, line and pole that morning. Turns out after talking to some of the locals... it could have been a large cat-fish. (which makes me think of Grumpy Old Men!) Anyway, I digress.
We had a great weekend, the kids had a blast in the lake and I am not so nervous after this trip and plan on returning very soon!

Strawberries

2010-06-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well this week has been a busy one...like there are any that are not now days!
I started my new job this week. So now I have swim league duties, mum duties, and a new job, so the days are sure to just get longer. I managed to get in a trip to the strawberry farm this week, which for the kids was fun for about 5 minutes. O ate more then the bucket held, The Boy, well he helped wrangle the girls down the isles as they attempted to run off, and K as helpful as she sometimes is... Is the total DIVA and thinks she is a princess, so when she is ready to do something there is nothing that is going to stop her. I was however able to fill our bucket and make some yummy Jam, and some mousse.

It's a Wonderful World....Full of Germs

2010-06-04T04:27:00.000-07:00

Oh where do I begin....

The Good...This weekend My Sister and her family were in town ( Hello Baby Sally, who by the way shares a very special day with me "Our Birthday") And my kids absolutely adore her... The boy is so proud to be her cousin although I think he knows he is the biggest on my side of the family where as on Jason side he is the youngest... you know it makes him feel like the big kid on the block! Anyway.. I convinced my sisters a couple of months ago to sign up for a race. They decided to run/walk the 5k, while I wanted to get a time in the 10k. The weather had predicted that there was a chance of thundershowers but on the way to the race it looked like we might just beat the weather. Aah Not a chance, I wouldn't be so lucky. The race had just started, the sounds of pounding feet were beating around me. "Move to the right," the race Marshall screamed into the bullhorn, while runners tried to get into there groove weaving past others that might be to slow or just in the way. (by the way this is the part of the race I hate the most, too many people in a small space all trying to one up the other.) Then less then a mile in, the crowds have thinned slightly and I personally have gotten into my groove and than the clouds much like a saturated sponge finally lost the battle and breathed a sigh of release as they dumped all their moisture on the the earth. The only thoughts consuming my head were " I really hope this slows down" and "Oh God, My sisters are going to kill me". The course now full of water, and I don't mean puddles it was full on " The River Runs Through It!" Not even two miles in my clothes were soaked through, my shoes and socks well let just say it would have been more appropriate to be in flippers and a swim suit. Never good when the water from inside your shoes is actually splashing up your ankles with every step you take. It did eventually slow but continued to rain the entire race. I thought I would be lucky to swim, I mean run it in under an hour, but as I turned to corner I saw the big 50 on the timer and I bolted for the finish line. So with all the hurdles the world threw at me I was able to complete my 10k in 51 mins (Race Results) Emily and Katie finished their 5k in 45 mins.

The Ugly... So I told you a couple weeks ago that we were the sick house well seems that we are still the sick house. Although my children seem to be unfazed by this. Playing, jumping, singing, dancing, throwing, biting... yep nothing different here. Which is why I did not think we were sick. But after weeks of battling K's cough, and a fever here and there, I took her to the doctor. Sure enough she has an ear infection. Just to play it safe I asked the doctor if he would check O's ears, because I am quickly learning that what one has the other will share (weird twin thing) and yes I left the office with two perscriptions in hand. This whole ear infection thing is all very new to me as the boy never once had one. The girls however have had multiple and I still have no way to read the signs as some mothers say you can.

More ramblings to come... thanks for listening

The "T" timeline

2010-05-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

So this week already has been really busy...
We (well JT) finally purchased a membership for us to the local club. And we took full advantage of the pool this weekend as the temperatures soared. The pool is great... it has zero entry and a play mushroom for the girls and two big slides for the boy. At first we were fearful that he would not go down the slides by himself... but he totally surprised us when he went down all by himself and then again, and again, and well again. We took this as a great opportunity to give him a long leash of independence. ( So proud of My Boy). And the girls, well swimming is just second nature ( much like Jack) they immediately got down on their bellies and started copying others. Submerging, blowing bubbles and Kicking... even got a few arm movements. (which reminds me I must sign them up for lessons this summer!)

This week is officially The Boys last week of school... Very sad but a lot of the neighborhood kids will be around this summer and that should ( key word should) keep him busy. I took him this week for his Kindergarten screening ( at Auntie Katie's school) and he is very excited about the new school.

I have also been really busy with the swim league I run in the summer. Including scheduling meets, sorting thousands ribbons and organizing in general. On top of that while I was perusing the Internet (an environmental education site I have bookmarked) I found a job posting that seemed really interesting to me... kind of my life long dream (thanks to Mrs. Hogg) The job is working for the Swanee Mountain Preserve as the Watershed Project Manager. My job is basically creating a watershed curriculum, teaching the instructors/naturalists, and presenting the program to the local schools. Science Rules! It is a great opportunity one that allows me to also work from home and will look good on my resume. I have already interviewed for the position and got a call back on Monday to go in for a review of my application and be drug tested... (still not sure if I got the job as they can not tell me until the results from the drug test come back.) So for all my teacher friends if you have any cool watershed lessons send them my way....

Have a great week!

The Kids spring photo opp..

2010-05-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

Whenever I take the kids in to get their photos taken there is always one that will not cooperate... Last time it was O and this time K... hence the red puffy eyes. They are all getting so big so fast...But so gosh darn cute!

The Sick House!

2010-05-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

As promised here is the second post of the week. We have been busy feeding colds... everybody in the house has the common cold. My bed has been inhabited by two feral species (OK). And the boys room has been turned into the jungle and he has taken to the floor in a homemade tent. Although we have not been feeling well and the telly is on a lot... (by the way here is the clip of Ode to the Commode, from a earlier post.) Any who... what is great when their eyes are not glued to the telly the boy comes up with the most outrageous ways to entertain... Yesterday the girls were dubbed cat and dog... and the boy proceeded to wrap them in blankets and make them sleep, woke them up for a game of fetch (hysterical) and then he gave them each an imaginary bowl of water and jammed their faces into the ground and told them to drink...all of which the girls did without complaint.

Pre-K Graduation and more to come

2010-05-17T12:28:00.001-07:00

So here is a picture from the pre-k graduation... which was so cute... and I will elaborate soon but here is a little glimpse into the day.

Running... Reading... Rearing Re-visited

2010-05-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

So most of the time this blog is about the kids lives... but this one solely revolves around the ranting of a mother ( that's me!)

Running... I am a running fool lately. Cant get enough of it, I LOVE IT! There is nothing better then the sound of running shoes hitting the pavement, well that and not having someone yell MUM! 20 times with in a minute:)
My craziness all started because my S-I-L conned me into running the Atlanta half marathon 2 years ago and we have kind of made it a tradition. When I ran it in 2009... it was my worst race ever... did not think I was going to make it through the 13.1 miles...S-I-L practically had to drag me up the hills (yes Atlanta is hilly!) Did not help that the twins were just over a year old and well I could barely fit in the time for a 3 mile run. I think my longest run before the race was 8 miles (MAYBE! turns out I was living in a little bit of a fog... raising twins) But this year I redeemed myself! I found a training schedule and stuck to it! And ran a lot! Put 300+ miles on my shoes... And had a great run finishing in just over 2 hours! So happy with my new legs, (AKA Wonky) I decided to keep it going... found another race (only a 10k this time) and convinced my sisters to run as well... So May 31st ( Happy Birthday Aunt Emily!) I am running again this time for speed! Yea!

Reading... Yet another addiction as of recently... I joined a neighborhood book club and have really enjoyed it. I stay up entirely to late reading but it is the only time the house is quiet and I can just sit and enjoy... I found a new author that I really like... Jill Mansell (Brit,chick lit) easy, funny, just enjoyable reading... I also just finished "Water for Elephants" ( if you have not read this I would definitely recommend it) "The Art of Racing in the Rain" which I never in a million years would have picked up on my own, but I absolutely LOVED this book... can't wait to read another one of his. And finally "Sunflower and the Secret Fan" such a wonderful book about 19th century china. Check out my Shelfari for other I have just read!

Rearing...
OK... so the girls are no longer contained in their cribs... they have figured out how easy it is to climb in and out of them. But I am just not ready to put them in big girl beds yet.. so every night I assume the position of DOOR GUARD! And sit for about an hour while they hoot and holler, sing, dance, jump, throw things at each other and at me, and basically horse around until one or both finally fall asleep. Side note: they have also given up all daytime naps... which makes for an even longer day, so you would think by 7 they would be ready to pass out. But no! They seem to get more energy the second I put them in bed. People keep telling me it will get easier as they get older. I have yet to have that experience, I actually think it is getting more difficult with the older they get. However, I do find myself laughing throughout the day by my children's stand up comedy acts...

Our new favorite is the WV Commercial... and yes we punch each other and come up with crazy color combinations...IE pink flamingo one (punch), hippo grey one (punch), JTT's personal favorite red seahorse one (punch)... could be worse right?

One last side bar... The boy graduates from Pre-K on Friday...I will have some clips from it posted so make sure to check back. Have a great week!

The Chronicles of OMT!

2010-05-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

So this is FUNNY! Some people say OMG we hear at the Turk house say OMT! I said this before and I will say it again...O is crazy! It's funny because while I was pregnant she was the silent one... Not much movement.. always turned away from the ultrasound and well just quiet... that is definitely not the case any more. You want trouble she will find it... we joke that when she is older she will be the one tasting the concoctions made at the lunchroom table... the one who has the construction beer hat on, drinking out of both the straws...Boys will think she is awesome... girls will think "what in the world?" And I will be a proud MUM no matter what, because she is what she is... and she makes the world a little more exciting... challenging at times but exciting.

Clip of the week! Edition 1

2010-05-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

K is going to be my dancer...Just one note brings out her inner Lady Ga Ga. Here she is dancing while outside playing...take note of O in the background:)

O may actually be more of the gymnast ( she like to jump, roll, tumble, fling herself off of everything!)

Second half of the clip is J in a tree...
It is our best impression of Jimmy Fallon up in a tree talking about shark week on discovery channel.

Turning The Corner

2010-04-29T07:14:00.000-07:00

Ok... so I have been a horrible blogger... but I am making the turn on the corner. If not for all the fans, for my kids to look back at and say... wow mum! Nice job keeping a running memory of us!

So that being said, my goal is to have at least 2 new entries a week... I feel it is a goal I can definitely keep, and all the more bonus if there is more for your viewing pleasure.

So today's entry is actually a funniest home video. Brought to you by our own Olive! Look out world here she comes!

P.S. She actually ran right into me!

The boy all grown up!

2010-04-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

This month marks some big milestones for the boy. He will at the end of the month officially be a preschool graduate. We have nothing but good things to say about his preschool and are sad that the girls will not have a chance to share the same experiences as their brother because they will be closing their doors at the end of the month. The boy has made a number of great friends that we are hoping will keep in touch even though all the boys will be in different schools...hala ( Jackson and Seth). The Boy even has a love interest although we think he is completely oblivious to her advances considering he keeps telling me he is going to marry Aunt Jenn!

We also attended Kindergarten round up this week... which was very exciting. We got a tour of the classrooms and the buildings many multipurpose rooms including the music room, media center ( oh mom look at all the computers there are thousands of them! )and they even put us on a bus minus the seat lickers:)
Defiition of Seat Licker- One who sits on the school bus and proceeds to lick the leather back of the seat. ( yes we have all seen them before!)
If you didn't already know, he will be at the same school as his Auntie Katie (or as the girls say Auntie D D) and all of his new "outside friends" who every night now come to the door and ask if Jack can come outside and play.

As for the summer... I have his signed up for a week of playball and well lots of time at the pool.

A Walk To Remember!

2010-04-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

I took my kids on a hike last week. There is this great trail close by the house, and I needed something to help burn off some energy that consumes my kids. The trail is a mile round. And yes I made them walk the whole thing! Only took us 45 minutes to complete the loop. But after many rock investigations and a few dinosaur digs we made it. Yea Team!
Here is a collage of the walk!

Ello! Fancy meeting you air...

2010-04-26T10:38:00.000-07:00

We here at the T house are evolving. My children have now dubbed me MUM! So I found it all to fitting to re-name the blog. Very creative on my children's part and personally I like it! For some reason my kids have decided that they like the British speak... can I call it that:)
Here are just a few for you:

Mum, I am very cross with you!
"Eye" want...
My favorite: GO MUM!
The "Loo" ( thank you sprout for your wonderful "All things Potty" commercial)
and of course the word " UNDER-Pantz"

More to come... off to watch some Telly and have a few HOb NOb's (yummie)
"Look kids big ben!"

Our National TV Debut :)

2010-04-17T06:32:00.000-07:00

The other night as I was finishing cleaning up from our extremely early dinner and my phone rings. In hysterics my sister screams on the other line (OK maybe I am exaggerating just a wee bit...) "I just saw us walking through the airport on the national news!" I laughed aloud because the last time we were all in the airport was last Thanksgiving 2008. Why in the world would they use tape that is over a year old. Yes, we were actually interview by NBC news way back when. She told me she would TIVO it and bring it over later but my curiosity got the best of me and I Googled it. (Wow if only I got paid for promoting certain companies) And there it was... my brood and I walking through the airport ( right after they make the comment what about families traveling with small children) Zoom to Twins!

So here it is... Thank you Brian Williams and the Nightly News!

We are at 1:38 if you want to skip ahead!

Running...Reading...Rearing...

2010-03-11T07:18:00.000-08:00

OK... so I have been really busy with the following three but I wanted to try and get you more updates.

Running... In exactly 10 days my SIL(sister in law) will be here for our now annual ING Atlanta 1/2 Marathon. This year I have done a much better job with training for it... Have logged in over 150 miles (compared to last years maybe 60 miles thank you twins:) on my shoes and feel that I am ready for this race. We are hoping to finish in under 2 hours no pressure though. But either way we are planning on having a great girls weekend. By the way I am shipping all the kids off to their aunts house the night before the race so I can be well rested for the race in the early AM Sunday morning. GO TEAM TULOO!

Reading... I have been on a recent reading frenzy...and have read some fabulous books. Including: The truth about love ( fabulous historical fiction taking place during the Irish and German war) Bel Ami; an old classic. My sister gave me the Meg Cabot books Queen of Babble ( three in the series, easy reads not sure I will read any more of hers) Sitting on my bedside table waiting for me to break the binding I have: A room with a view, The Noticer (can't wait to read this), The reliable wife, Beat the Reaper.

Rearing...My kids are crazy... yes you heard me right crazy. The twins have some how figured out how to climb out of their cribs I think Jack helped show them how to do it.. thank you very much!

We have had some nice weather although it has been raining for the last 48 hours... but I have been trying to spend as much time as possible outside with the kids and let me tell you MY LITTLE OLIVE is wild... she is so agile it is freaky. She jumped off ( yes jumped!) from the top of some bricks, 5 high and landed on both feet, smiled and went about her business.

Here is some video from the week...

Long Time...

2010-03-04T09:45:00.000-08:00

3:00 pm I know, I know it has been a really long time... Mommy life seems to be taking total control... that and training for a half marathon ( 22 miles run already this week) and swim league season is also starting so I have been really busy.
3:05 O runs into an open door.. mommy to the rescue..A big hug, a few kisses and an icepack and I send her on her way.
3:10 I'm back.. I have done a terrible job staying in touch.. will try to post more pictures of the kids because they are growing up so fast...
3:12 Screaming kids... K has stolen a book from J and O is just screaming at the excitement of the chase between the other two as they run wildly around the house.
3:20 Back again.. and this is why I never have a chance to actually sit down a update this page...

JT got me the greatest Christmas gift this year.. Well besides the coffee maker because I drink enough coffee to kill a rhino...speaking of coffee.. be back...

3:23 So where was I... oh yes JT got me this Flip camera.. It is small enough to fit in one of my million pockets... because as you all know I hate purses. The camera can film up to 2 hours and then I literally flip a button and there is a usb plug that I just insert into my computer and zip bam boo... I have video... So here for your enjoyment is the twins dancing in the kitchen. Hope you like and I will try and post some more :)

November Madness!

2009-11-09T11:57:00.000-08:00

When I am not potty training or trying to get the girls to keep their clothes on I try to spend as much quality time with the boy considering next year it is off to Kindergarten..I can not believe how fast my little guy is growing up. Recently he has really been interested in playing board games and of course his first love puzzles. But today when he came home from school we made Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies... Ran out of eggs so we have to postpone the frosting for them but we will frost tomorrow ( just call this one a two part lesson).

Also this past weekend we went up to my parents lake house. Just for the night poor planning on my part... should have just stayed the weekend. Next time right:) I was absolutely beautiful up their with all the leaves changing. Can't wait for it to get a little colder and possibly snow up there so I can take the kids and they can play in the snow. My dad just finished the new deck and wow it adds so much character to the house.

It has been a wild ride here the past couple of weeks. The girls are 22 weeks this month and as I have said before are having a hard time keeping their clothes on. The potty training is going ok.. we have good days and then their are more challenging days. For the most part the girls are with out diapers during the day... and are only wearing diapers at nap time and to go to sleep at night. ( that is if they fall asleep before they strip..arghhh) I am not sure if I should just bite the bullet and put them in big girl beds... so that when they have to go..they go.. Any suggestions out there?

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-03T09:25:00.000-08:00

Lots been going on in the T house... or should I say off... the twins have hit the I hate clothes and diapers phase! Funny, but not so much when you are constantly running around trying to get them to keep their clothes on. They are refusing to wear their diapers so I bit the bullet and became the potty training Nazi. Things are going remarkably well at 22 months this week. Hoping that by the holidays we will be fully trained. Yea no more diapers!

The boy is great. He talks a mile a minute just about every second of the day. We have yet to find the off button! He was very excited for Halloween this year. He decided that he wanted to be an astronaut, and that his girls would be princesses:) Too Cute!

Here are some pictures... can you guess what we had for dinner?

School Pictures...

2009-10-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I took the kids to get their picture taken. Which is alot of work let me tell you. First you have to get them all dress, make sure the bed head has been tamed and finally you have to make sure that no one gets anything on each other. So here is the final result...Then when you get their you have to assure them that it is ok for a stranger to take your photo... hence K's puffy red eyes... The boy by the way had no problem hamming it up for the lady. So here is the final result...my how big they are all getting:)

A quick update

2009-09-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

Hello sorry for the infrequent posts. The family has been really busy. The BOY just turned 5 and is already talking about how he is going to be 6 next year. This weekend he is having 2 of his best friends over for Dinner and a Movie. We are going with the space theme. I will take lots of pictures.
The girls are doing great, they have actually been going to The Boy's school a couple days a week while I work in the office. It is so cute to see them walking the halls with their class. I have also been busy creating scrapbooks for DTorres. Which is taking up lots of time. I will have another post shortly, just wanted to let you know that all is great.

Summer Lovin'

2009-07-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

Wow! Here is the list!
1. New mini-van, 3 kids, and a 12 hour drive Priceless!
2. Drove 6 hours to my sisters house in Virginia, spent the night and then off to Pennsiltucky to visit my best friend JoJo, and the love of the boy's Life- GEM. Yes all of her guns were locked up and yes there are two dead deer heads on he wall in her dinning room but we had a great time. In 5 days we took the kids to the zoo, the Children's museum, and the natural history museum ( or as the boy calls it the bone museum).
3. Drove 2 1/2 more hours to Cleveland. J and J got married, it was lovely. The Boy wore his tux and did an excellent job holding the pillow and walking down the isle.
4. Got up early the next morning and Drove 12 hours with all three kids back home. Not as bad as I thought it would be. Had some more family visitors ( JT and SQIDNEY) that I barely saw because of my summer job. Which by the way seems to be dragging on this year!
5. And then it hit "The Great Sickness" K got it first.. after 3 nights of 103-105 fever I took her to the pediatrician only to find out it was a virus and we would have to wait it out. (this was after the torture of taking blood, a catheter to check for UTI, Strep test and looking in her ears. About 5 days in "The boy" got it along with PINK EYE. K picked up the pink eye as well. And then MOM went down. In total it took about 12 days for the entire virus to leave the house. But not before I got pink eye as well. Boy did it wipe us out.
6. GOOD NEWS- JOJO and GEM hopped on a plane to come visit for 5 sleepovers. And again the kids had a great time. But the drama continues... we took the kids to the park and K split her chin open on a brick bench. Called the Dr. told me to bring her in only to wait an hour to be seen and then have them send me down to the children's hospital. 3 stitches later and lots of Steri-strips we headed home. Do you know how hard it is to keep a one year old from climbing with her chin and pulling the tape off? I gave up about 12 hours in!
7. Jojo and GEM left yesterday and the boy was so sad. He told me that we could not go home because there were no friends at his house and that I need to go get some.
0. by the way I almost forgot to tell you.... I need to go back to the beginning of the summer to tell you that we moved. Only a mile down the road... but in a great big house with a yard for the kids. And a man cave!
At that in a nut shell is our summer so far. Enjoy the pictures!

The Boy in his TUX! He did such a great job. The best was when he leaned over to me at asked, Mom is this the Wedding? Too Cute!

Before the Wedding!

The Kids at JOJO's house

Natural History Museum

OK at the children's Museum! They love Water!

Reading Books in the new house!

OK in a cabinet!

Yum Watermelon! They ate a whole watermelon!

"MY GIRLS"

2009-06-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

I took the girls for their 15 month check-up last week. Although I think the two weeks before we visited the doctor 3 or 4 times. O and K both had double ear infections started a round of amoxicillan and about 5 days in K broke out in hives. I freaked out because so much had just changed...Started the move into the new house, switched laundry soap because I was trying to make less to move to the new house, added some new food to their diet and well the list could go on and on. But the doctor calmed me down by saying he felt it was the amoxicillan and that she should not take it any more. After some research on drug allergies I found that they usually show up after having taken it already ( this was her second ear infection). The doctor told me it would get worse before it gets better... and YES IT DID, but after about 7 days the hives and swelling finally cleared. Between that and the move and my part time job... I felt like I was underwater for about 3 weeks. But I am back up and running.

Girls check up went great. Ears are back to normal, and the doctor said we are doing a great job with them. Here is their stats.
O- weight 24.6 lbs( 75%), Length 32 1/8 inches ( 90%), Head 18 1/8cm (50%)
K- weight 24.2 lbs (75%), Length 32 1/2 inches (95%), Head 18 cm (50%)

So I guess they have caught up!

A story by JTT

2009-05-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

The boys teacher asked him to bring in a picture of his family. When I went to pick him up last week the teacher told me that the kids glued the photo on some construction paper and then were asked to tell a story about the picture. In is own words this is what he told the teacher
" These are my girls,dad and mommy. And Jack. Auntie Katie and Grandma are taking the picture. Then mommy turned on the fire place." Enough said!

Three Amigo's

2009-05-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

We have been very blessed to have three beautiful children who love to play with each other. It is so great to just sit back and watch them interact with each other and see what new game they can come up with. This is the most recent game... ( Frogs on a Log) all three kids get on the roller and well bounce up and down. They laugh and laugh until some one falls of or gets bored with it.
Ribbit!

Picture Day!

2009-04-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hello All,
It has been a while since my last post. Busy, Busy at the home. Last week was picture day at the boy's school. So I got up early, got all the kids dressed up and with the help of my mother in law loaded all the kids in the car... and off we went. Jack went first by himself. I must say he is such a handsome boy, that is growing like a weed. Can't wait to see those pictures. Then the fun began. They call me the kid wrangler. My oh my what a mess trying to get all three of them to sit for the picture. Once we got one seated the other either ran away or started crying. After a few tries and no luck... I gave up. Loaded the girls in the car and came home. Still in their beautiful dresses these are the pictures I took at home.

It's Official

2009-03-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

I am now officially a "SOCCER MOM"... Ahhhh!
Took the boy to his first practice this week. We had a rough start but as soon as he understood what he was there for and who was in charge he did a great job. He's team name is Little Dragons.. and he has his first game this coming sat. He is actually a really fast runner and does a pretty good job keeping the ball in front of him.. however if he does get off course he picks the ball up, centers himself, and then continues on his way to the goal. Here are some pictures from practice. And yes he is about a foot taller then the other kids.

Family Update

2009-03-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been awhile... we have been very busy! So here is a short update...

Mommy: Well I am officially signed up for the ING 1/2 marathon... taking place a week from Sunday. Am I ready? that is to be determined! But hey it will be fun. right? and it's daddy day care in the morning:)

The Boy: It is official... we have signed him up for soccer this spring. His first practice is this Thursday which will be a hoot. But he is going to be playing with some friends from school and he is very excited. We actually had to take out a calendar so that he could count down the days till practice. I think he is just excited to wear the shoes and take the new soccer ball. Oh yea and I can't forget his friends Jackson and Elise who are also on the team. " Little Dragons"
I took the kids to the library last week and normally I go to the picture book section and pick but this week I checked out the early reader books. I let him pick out the books he wanted and we have been reading them all week... and he is starting to recognize some of the words... I also got a chapter book this week that my mom sent...The Mercy Watson series ( so cute) ( thanks Becky for the idea!) He loved it and at first I thought he was just interested in the pictures but after some questioning he was actually comprehending what I was reading to him. So we are going to check out some other series at the library this week... Magic Tree house, Geronimo Stilton.
As you can see we have been busy!

OK- They are busy trying to do all the things their brother does... including some of those things I don't want any of them doing. Last week I stepped out of the dinning room to empty the dishwasher, which I can not do while they are roaming around because they climb in. When I returned to the dinning room O was standing on the table swinging the chandelier. Can't wait to see what she is like in her college years!
K although we think she is the calm one... she seems to come out of her shell when O is not around...This week K has been getting up after O is sound asleep and it is her time to shine and get as much attention as she wants... bad habit for us but it is nice to be able to spend some special time with just her.

Well that is what is going on more later in the week.

What's in your closet?

2009-03-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

The boy is such a great big brother to his sisters( he calls them MY GIRLS) whether it be comforting them when they fall down or teaching them how to color or play with his toys. He is simply amazing...however when he is not around to play with they must find ways to entertain themselves. Their new entertainment is closing each other in the kitchen pantry... the best is when they actually close the door and stand in front of it as if nothing is going on.

Southern Bells

2009-03-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Auntie K.. stopped by with gifts for the kids...They just happened to be from the dollar bin at Target...Auntie K said " I saw these and thought DRESS UP" that and "O loves to put every thing on her head!" So here are a few great pictures of my southern bells. Enjoy!!

The next BIG project!

2009-02-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

A couple years ago I created a quilt for one of my good friends...( jody if you are reading this please send me a picture of the quilt!) I liked it so much that I doubled the fabric I bought so that I could make one for myself. It has been two years since I made that quilt.. so I decided to pull it out and start the quilt for practice. Why this madness, well my plan is to create 2 ( yes 2) twin size quilts. One for each of my daughters when they move into their big girl beds. I wanted to give them something from me that they could keep and pass on to their own daughters. SO... I need to start somewhere and I already had the supplies. Here is a picture of what I have done so far..by the way I do not have a pattern and I am not quite sure how I did the blue with white stars....so it is off to the drawing board. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Lincoln Logs

2009-02-28T07:11:00.001-08:00

The boy has a new favorite activity- Lincoln Logs. Yesterday he decided to build some houses which can be challenging considering there are 4 little hands just looking for the perfect thing to knock down. I asked him to build me a pool in my house he said... "no mommy you can't build pools out of logs" ...I guess he makes a good point.

From The Red Carpet!

2009-02-25T15:54:00.000-08:00

So tonight after dinner while I was in the kitchen cleaning up, The Boy pulled the blanket from the couch and spread it out on the floor. He proceeded to get a toy each for OK and Himself. You will notice the Dora bus, fire engine, and toy giraffe that was swapped out for a bag of pretzels. When I came out to see what was going on.... this is what I found. One word...PRICELESS.

By the way this picture was taken close to bed time hence the lay down play!

Homemade Goodness!

2009-02-24T11:02:00.000-08:00

So this week I came across a recipe for homemade bagels.. thank you Sisters' Cafe. They were amazing and so easy. Most of the time spent is waiting for the dough to rise. I chose to put Asiago cheese on top.. and the whole family loved them. Actually my husband said " this may be the best thing you have ever made" The recipe makes twelve bagels and not even 24 hours later we are down to the last two. I think I will be making these again.

This next recipe is a keeper for the kids breakfast or snack... Pumpkin Ginger pancakes from myrecipe.com... I found this one while looking for a new pumpkin bread recipe and just happened to see this.. I decided to give it a try... the kids devoured the entire batch in one sitting. Since then I have made them a couple times and prepped all the dry ingrediants so that I can just add the wet ingrediants when we need some more. ( I have also started to make them with 1/2c. white and 1/2 c. wheat flour. Nobody can tell the difference.)

Run Mommy Run!

2009-02-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

So about 6 months ago my lovely sister-in-law came to me and asked me to run a marathon with her. Mind you that at this time the twins were only 7 months old. Me thinking I have time to do it said ok lets do it... seeing that I had not exercised since I found out I was pregnant with twins. Which was odd because I ran up til about 6 months pregnant with the boy.. and then trained for my second marathon in San Diego marathon with my BFF ..(KMM) and the boy loved the jogging stroller... So months went by and I kept saying I will start tomorrow and of course I did not. So I reapproached my SIL and said I just can not find the time to get out there and run so let just do 1/2 marathon. Couple more months went by and I was able to get some runs in here and there but nothing consistant... and If you are a mom you know "stuff happens"... So we are now 5 weeks away from the race and I am actually really proud of myself for buckling down and doing the work... Last week I ran about 8 miles total... this week 14 miles... so I am well on my way...

Goggles and Kate Spade

2009-02-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

So if you have had the pleasure of meeting the twins OK... you will know that O is the wild and crazy one.. and K just is along for the ride. O has come to enjoy putting anything and everything on her head...I caught her in the corner yesterday with the swimming goggles around her neck along with my kate spade purse ( which has been collecting dust since the arrival of the twins)... all while K took it upon herself to climb in the tupperware cabinet ( not the NO NO Drawer as we call the others) and empty it. This allowed her space to sit and see the floor from a different view. Got to love it. Luckily " the boy" was feeling better and was able to go back to school so that I was able to photograph all the happenings here.

The COmmon COld! I think NOT!

2009-02-18T12:45:00.000-08:00

So after spending 8 days 2 weeks ago waiting for this virus to pass with all three kids and the husband, IT HAS RETURNED! The poor boy just wants to go to school! And now one of the twins was also blessed with its presence. I am crossing my fingers that number two.. (AKA: baby A, the wild crazy one!) does not get it as well. So tonight for dinner... hmmm! we stick with the BRAT diet!

A Simple way to communicate!

2009-02-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

So after many weeks of spending so many hours looking at other blogs I have decided to create my own. Hopefully it will be a great way to both document and share the happenings in the Turcotte household. Because I am so far behind on all the kids scrapbooks...Next big step.. check into the digital scrapbook software. I hope you all enjoy!