The Tick That Wasn't There...

Okay, I thought I would share this with all of you...I know you can picture it...

So, Saturday I felt something on the back of my head. It was a bump and I instantly thought it was a tick. Why? Well, Cailean got a deer last weekend and he said it had deer ticks on it, so I thought the ticks got a ride on Cody and came into the house and found me. I tried to get Ian to look at it, but he refused. I forgot about it when we were at mom's, so Saturday night I was trying to find the bump with a mirror, but I have sooo much hair and my mirror wasn't all that great. It was rather difficult. I didn't get much sleep because I was soooooo paranoid. Sunday morning I call mom's cell phone at 7:30am. It's off. I called about 10 times in the next 30 minutes and still off. ARGH. I call the house phone (hoping I wouldn't wake up my grandparents) and let it ring twice. Mom noticed caller ID and called me back. Cha-ching! I tell her about the bump and how I thought it was a tick. I had Ian look at it and he described it to me. Oh and I emailed Aunt Sandi and she couldn't focus at work and agreed to go see mom and I even told her what Ian said. hahaha So, I get the kids in the car (after Gavin threw a 30 minute fit because he wanted chocolate pudding for breakfast - yea, right!) and off to mom's we go. This is about 8:15am now and it's raining. We go in and she and Mimi are at the dining room table. I sit down and I point to the bump (mind you my mom was already on the web looking up ticks just in case). Basically, I didn't need to go over there. It wasn't a tick! LOL LOL LOL So, back in the car we go and head to the Kirk (called Aunt Sandi on the way to tell her all was good!). We were 15 minutes late for church and we sit in the back pew next to Cathy, the Associate Pastor. She looks at me, shows a big sigh like, "good...you're here...now relax!" I write her a note about the tick and she started laughing!!!!!!

That's my story...

We had a great vacation!

We had such a great week! We spoiled ourselves. We spent time with mom and my grandparents. We spent time with friends. We spent time lounging around at home. I spent time refereeing over Ian and Gavin. I scrapbooked. I started Christmas shopping. We started to hang up Christmas decorations. We went swimming. But now it's back to our routine starting tomorrow. Cailean flies home tomorrow night. Tuesday late afternoon my Aunt Cindy arrives from California for a week and then at night Ian and I have a basketball clinic. Next weekend we have another birthday party at a park! I hope it's decent weather!!!

Energizer Bunnies

Yea...that's Ian and Gavin! They keep going and going and going. We went to Walmart early this morning to continue some Christmas shopping and then we went swimming at the Y. Ian was playing basketball in the deep end of the pool. I was laughing so hard (good thing he didn't see me) because he had to go under water to push the ball up into the air to try and get a basket! A few times it hit the rim and knocked him right on the forehead. He didn't care! He was having a ball. I was holding Gavin who didn't stop laughing at being in the water. He is a fish! He thought it was so neat that he could see his feet in the water. He said, "Mommy, look down and you can see my feet." Well, he did and didn't realize he put his face in the water! He didn't expect that!!! hahaha Between his hiccups from laughing, his gagging of water because he took too much water in and his sneezes from too much water in his nose...we had a fun one hour of pool time!

We watched the NC State game this afternoon. It was a great game and it was pretty neat to watch the seniors play. NC State is the first school I've worked at longer than 4 years, so it's neat to watch them as freshmen and then play as seniors and watch them graduate.

After the game we headed over to mom's and took care of some stuff in the garage and hung up some Christmas lights outside, then stayed for dinner.

Cailean is still enjoying Vermont I think. It seems like he has been gone a month. Usually he is gone 5 days when he goes away, but this trip is a lot longer.

Another Fun Day

This morning we met the Nelsons at the IMAX theatre and watched Polar Express in 3D. It was amazing!!! The boys thought it was a little too loud in the beginning, so Gavin chose to sit on my lap for the movie. After the introductions and the movie started, Gavin says, "We have this at home." Then, twenty minutes into it he tells everyone that he wanted to go home. Once Jessica mentioned that he should wait until he sees Santa at the end, he laid back and watched the movie! Ian was really into it. During the hot chocolate part, I thought I was going to get burned because it looked like the waiters were going to pour the drink on me! Then, it was like we were on the train and going down a roller coaster. Anyway, it was great!!

This afternoon we went over to mom's and helped her start to decorate her home with Christmas stuff. That probably took care of 1/2 the boxes in their garage!!!! We had leftovers and then came home.

I told the kids we would head to the Y in the morning to swim and get boxes down from the attic to start decorating our own house. We shall see what we get accomplished!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

The boys and I had a GREAT day! We woke up and they were hungry! So, they ate some cereal and drank some milk. The kids stayed in their pajamas for most of the morning and we watched the beginning of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This was the first time they had the attention span for about 30 minutes to watch it!!! We made some calls to the grandparents and then I felt the need to clean. LOL So, the boys helped me clean their rooms, change the sheets, dusted and picked up the downstairs. I was able to vacuum upstairs and downstairs. When I finished I knew I was already behind schedule. We got ourselves ready and then headed out the door to Walgreens. Last night I uploaded pictures since September and picked them up today, so I can add them to scrapbooks. Then, we headed over to mom's to visit, set the table, etc. POP-POP WAS THERE!!!! He his home for good!!!! He was scheduled to get discharged this morning. I had this vision that he would be waiting in the lobby of the rehab facility at 7am waiting and waiting for mom to go get him! Mom told me she would be getting him by 10am. I guess at 9:20am he called mom asking where she was!!!! hahahahahahahahaha Too funny! He's getting around just great. He has lost some weight, but probably gained some back after tonight's dinner!!!! Maybe I should enter a rehab facility? LOL ;)

We came home for a few hours to get Gavin down for a nap and to make sweet potato casserole (with the marshmallows on the top!!). We headed back to mom's and took a walk before getting ready for a nice meal! The boys enjoyed leftover pizza from last night's dinner. Ya know...whatever, right?! I am not a big fan for Thanksgiving food and it has taken 32 years for me to actually eat some of it. It was a battle I didn't want to have with them!!! So, pizza it was for them and they LOVED it! It was the boys, my mom, my grandparents and our friend Pam. Mom made a great meal (of course), but the best was dessert. She made pumpkin pie, cherry pie (I was trying to tell the others it wasn't all that great...hehehehehehe) and an apple crumb pie. Pam brought a pumpkin roll cake. Wow. We were all enjoying it! Even the kids ate pie!

This holiday brings back lots and lots of memories. We spent many Thanksgivings with my relatives in New York and going into NYC for the Macy's Parade. They spent the holiday sometimes with us growing up in Vermont. It is tradition that we watch "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"...but it's just not the same sometimes. I miss my cousins!!! Oh and when Jay would bring a big bag of chicken fingers from Friendly's the night before Thanksgiving! That's what Ashley and I would eat on Turkey Day!!! YUM!!! When I lived in California, I went with a few coworkers and some student athletes from SFSU to deliver Thanksgiving meals to the elderly before meeting up with my relatives/family with their friends for a nice meal. Then spending Thanksgivings with Cailean in Vermont, but then it seemed fitting that he would tend to get a deer on Thanksgiving night. Yup, good ole Neal would get called to duty to help his brother track the deer and okay...going into some detail!

Anyway...we had a very nice day today and looking forward to another fun-filled day tomorrow. We're headed to see Polar Express at the IMAX theatre with some friends! Yup, we splurged and treated ourselves!!!!

A Kindergarten Recipe: How to Cook a Turkey...by Ian Turner

The following questions were asked by Ms. Braun and Ian gave her the answers. :)

1. Where do you get a turkey from? The farm

2. What do you do before you cook the turkey? cut it up

3. Where do you cook the turkey? on the stove

4. How long do you cook the turkey? 40 seconds

5. What temperature do you cook the turkey in? really hot

6. what do you do when the turkey is done? You eat it!

7. What is your favorite part of the turkey? The inside of it.

8. What do you eat with your turkey? tomatoes and potatoes

So, that's the secret to a delicious turkey!!!!!!!! hahahahahahaha

Pilgrims, Indians and Singing at Kingswood

Gavin, Luke and Ian

This morning both kids went to school, I did a mad run through the grocery store before volunteering in Ian's class. I was there helping during their Literacy Centers, then raced over to Gavin's school to pick him up early in order to get back to Kingswood to see the kids during lunch and listen to the three kindergarten classes sing Thanksgiving songs since it was an open invitation. They did such a great job!!!!!!!!!!!! Kudos to the teachers who helped them learn the songs!!! I love how teachers at Kingswood are active with the kids. They are up there leading the songs and doing the same things they expect the kids to do! Gavin made an Indian head thing, so he wore that today!!!! I'm working on uploading videos and a slideshow of pictures I took!!! In the second video, you can tell it was a bit windy! The kids thought it was funny that the words to the song flipped over! Here's the link to a slideshow of pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/turnbull1220/KingswoodThanksgivingSongs?authkey=IfymxZAE9VM#

Where are my priorities??

Okay, so I made a list of some stuff I want to accomplish this week. I've already been able to cross off a few things. One of the items listed is to start Christmas shopping. Another item is to complete Gavin's birthday card invitation (of course I'm stamping them!!). So, what did I do tonight? You got it...I completed 9 invitations for Gavin's birthday. Yup, it's not until the end of January! But...it's done! :) I'm pretty impressed with my creativity...Polar Express theme! Since we were able to secure the Legion for the location this week...why not get them taken care of, so I don't need to worry about them?!

Let's see...what did we do today...Ian went to school. Cailean flew to Vermont. Gavin and I ran some errands this morning and then went to see Pop-pop for a short visit because he was in the middle of physical therapy. He didn't see us walk in. But, as he was walking, he was informing the physical therapist that he is a twin! That's Pop-pop! Then, we came home and finished making a sweet potato casserole to take to ASPSA's annual Thanksgiving luncheon at work! ASPSA stands for Academic Support Program for Student Athletes. Gavin could care less about any of the food on the table EXCEPT for the cookies and pumpkin bread. He was able to see some student athletes and my coworkers before heading back home just in time for a nap. We picked up Ian at 3:45pm and got organized at home before heading to mom's. I had to watch a video and take a test to be a basketball coach, so Mom and Mimi took the boys to see Pop-pop and have dinner at the rehab facility. Yup, a certification to add to my resume! Picked up the boys, then headed home for showers, books and bed!

Friday/Saturday

Gavin driving a school bus
Luke driving the boat while Ian and Ben are fishing

Ian, Gavin, Ben and Luke

How nice were they to include Gavin??!!!

Friday after school we went to mom's because she had just picked up Uncle Mickey. Then, we went down to see Pop-pop at the rehab facility and then out to the Longhorn for a yummy dinner! Came home and the kids were wiped out. This morning we did some cleaning up, the laundry and all that fun stuff. Went over to see Mimi and then switched vehicles with mom. Came home to put Gavin down for a nap and watched the NCSU/UNC football game. Gavin woke up and then off to pick up Luke and then to downtown Raleigh to go to Ben's birthday party at Marbles Museum. We were there for awhile and then hopped into our cars and headed to a local McD's for some chocolate chip cookie cake. We all decided not to stay for dinner because we didn't know the area real well! We had a fun trip back to Cary because we were a little lost! We dropped off Luke at his house, got some dinner and swapped cars with mom again. Bathroom time for the boys, books and out like lights!

Cailean went hunting this afternoon and got a 5-pointer. He works tomorrow and off to Vermont Monday.

Thursday, Thursday

My day started at 4:30am because I took Aunt Sandi to the airport. Get this...I actually drove towards the airport and then finally realized I had to go pick her up! Ugh. Then, was at Harris Teeter at 5am to get Cailean some soup and medicine. He was up coughing and blowing his nose most of the night. Got home just in time to take a shower and get ready for work. My meetings started at 7:15am and ended at 4:15pm. It was an interesting day! The boys both had school and of course had a blast! Cailean didn't get to volunteer today because he didn't want to get the kids sick.

Tonight I went out to dinner with my friend, Lori. There was supposed to be four of us, but it ended up being Lori and me. It was a lot of fun and nice to catch up. After dinner we went to mom's, so Lori could get some stuff back from her (she made dinner for my family one night last week!). We ended up staying there a bit and then we realized we were really tired and went home. Nope...didn't hit the bars or the clubs! LOL We sooooo need to go out with friends once a month!!!!

We've got an eventful weekend. Uncle Mickey flies in Friday afternoon. We'll see Pop-pop on Friday late afternoon and Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon the boys and I are picking up Luke and heading to Marbles Museum to meet the birthday boy, Ben and his mom. We're going to be with them for the afternoon, so that will be fun!

Is it Wednesday already???

Wow! I haven't blogged since Sunday. Sorry about that! Never a dull moment around here. Let's see...spent time with Pop-pop Monday morning along with Aunt Sandi and Gavin. Monday night I had my basketball draft (team name: Armadillos!!!) for Ian's league. Can you believe there are 20 coaches...200 kids...just for the 5/6 year old group??!! The boys had dinner at mom's house and Cailean picked them out when he got out of the woods. Both kids had school on Tuesday and I was able to volunteer in Ian's classroom. After Gavin and I picked up Ian from school, we went to the Allens. The boys played while Kim was helping me figure out my cards and supplies for my stamp-a-stack this Sunday afternoon. Left there and went to visit Pop-pop and then headed home. After school today, we went to the American Legion to book the facility for Gavin's birthday party. Then, met Cailean at the house (yup...he didn't hunt tonight...wow!) and took care of the leaves. For the last two or three days it has bothered Ian that are yard didn't look clean. I guess Ian hasn't figured out the importance of this time of year for Cailean and I certainly had my own stuff to take care of. But, the lawn was taken care of tonight. Phew. Ian can sleep tonight! hahaha Tonight Cailean had a dinner meeting and I took the boys to see Pop-pop. We met mom, Aunt Sandi and Mimi there and we all ate dinner in the family room area.

I will be taking Aunt Sandi to the airport before the crack of dawn, come home to get ready for work and then off to NCSU. Long day there, come home to do yardwork and then out with some friends. Yup...Girls Night!

Ian absolutely LOVES going to school! It's not a challenge anymore to get him ready in the morning. I actually noticed him in his class on Tuesday that he was getting rather loud during Centers! Wow! He is into reading and likes to write in notebooks.

Gavin prefers to be near Ian at all times. Recently he started to scream on Wednesday mornings when Karen gets here. He has soooo much fun with her, but he sees me leaving with Ian and it's either jealousy and/or wants to be with his big brother.

The Weekend

Gavin at the top of a slide

What's up with the redeye reduction???

waiting patiently for cake...oh yes...the Turner boys were the first to sit at the table when the cake was placed on the table...

We had friends over for dinner Friday night. It was so nice to catch up with Mel and Denise...we miss them!!! Cailean spent morning, noon and night in the woods on Saturday hunting. He didn't get anything. Mom picked us up and we went to visit Pop-pop. Came home for lunch and nap and I can't remember what we did after that. That's pathetic! This morning we went to church and Sunday School, then we met my mom and grandmother at Bob Evans for brunch. The manager was there and she knows my grandparents and mom. She could not believe what happened to "Mr. Dawson." She asked for the address of the rehab facility because Bob Evans plans on sending flowers!!!! That is how regular they are going there every Sunday after church!!!! During church service, when announcing prayers, the pastor told the congregation that Andy Dawson is at Apex Rehab. Ian put his head right up and said to me, "That's Pop-pop's name!" He claims that Pop-pop is going to get better quicker because the entire congregation at the Kirk is praying for him. Ahhhh... We came home for a nap and I actually had to wake Gavin up, so we could make it to Omaid's birthday party at 3:30pm! Cailean met us there when he got out of work. It was at TKs Jungle...had a lot of bouncy slides and houses as well as some token games. We had pizza and cake to help celebrate the birthday! There were some American Eagle families there, so we were able to see Steven and Cara! Two cuties!!! Aunt Sandi is in town this week to keep Pop-pop company and help out my mom. I have my basketball draft tomorrow night. Oh boy. What did I get myself into?????

Ian is actually excited FOR THE FIRST TIME that he has school tomorrow!!!!!!!

Thursday

Last night Ian read two books! They were level 1 books and he couldn't believe he kept seeing his sight words from school! Tonight he read Go, Dog, Do (well, 1/2 of it)!!! Go Ian! He was sounding out the words and everything! We've been talking about how to describe length and width and a few other terms...he is getting it! Cailean spent close to 2 hours with his class today. I'm jealous because I volunteer on Tuesdays, but due to teacher workday and Veteran's Day...I haven't been there in weeks!!!!

Gavin is so funny about school. He just blurts out random things at any given time about what he does at school. I'll start singing a song and then he tells me he sings that song only at school. He is probably telling me nicely to BE QUIET...I HAVE A TERRIBLE SINGING VOICE!!!

Tonight the four of us took a trip down to see Pop-pop at the rehab place. He was looking good, but was getting a bit tired. He did some therapy today (was evaluated) and told us a little about that. I'm sure tomorrow will be a lot better with therapy and starting him on a routine. He has had a crazy week going between 3 hospitals and a rehab facility. He is now just trying to figure it all out. Mom, Mimi and a couple from Williamsburg arrived at around 7:15pm. I can't remember their names, but they are on their way to Atlanta and dropped off more boxes for my grandparents (ugh) and to visit. So, Pop-pop was very surprised!!!! Lots of laughs in the room, which was nice!

Updates, Updates and More Updates

Ian is really getting into writing. He is constantly writing now. He is doing letters, sounding out words, writing on the board, he copies from things, etc. We've been working on length, width, etc. He gets great reviews from his teacher on his homework and class assignments!

Gavin will start singing a song and we wonder where he learned that. "Cool," he says. Meaning SCHOOL. He loves to sing Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Move It, Move It (that Ian brought home from school).

With the leaves falling, we've been outside taking care of them. There is Ian raking away and then jumping in them. Then, we have Gavin using his leaf blower starting it up (what a great imagination). He was next to me as I was using the blower and I think he thought his really did push the leaves!!!!

My grandfather is about to get discharged from the hospital today and then being transported to Apex to a rehab facility. I know he is very excited to leave the hospital. They were great to him, but we're moving in the right direction...another step forward to getting him home.

We've got another birthday party this weekend...lots coming up!

Sunday

Where did the weekend go??? I spent the morning with Pop-pop at the hospital on Saturday while Cailean took the boys to celebrate Justin's 6th birthday. Then Cailean went there Saturday night to check on him. The hospital is a good 30 minutes from our house. Sunday Cailean was at work and we were with Mimi at church. Ian's class sang the Anthem in the 11am service. He and his friends did a great job!!! Cailean, my grandmother, the boys and I headed to the hospital when Cailean got out of work. We had dinner there, spent some time with him and then came back home. The boys were pretty occupied in his room because it looks out onto the helicopter pad. The helicopter actually took off once, so that was entertaining. Pop-pop has a decent view of the trees and the fall colors on the leaves.

We've got an early morning...need to be at Panera Bread at 7:30am to pick up A LOT of bagels and cream cheese for the Kingswood Elementary teachers for teacher appreciation and take them to the school when the teachers arrive! Just the principal knows...it'll be a surprise (unless Ms. Braun is reading this blog tonight!!!).

Update...

Pop-pop had a succesful surgery today! He should be up and moving around shortly with the physical therapist. The Kirk has been just great with us...meals covered for mom and Mimi, visits to the hospital by pastoral staff, etc. Pop-pop has been in 3 hospitals in 3 days...I'm sure you are asking, "Why?" Well...Apex WakeMed is the closest to their house, so the ambulance went there. Had the x-ray and realized SURGERY. They don't do that there, so transported him to Cary WakeMed. The surgeon prefers doing it in the Raleigh WakeMed, so off he went last night to that one.

The boys are doing great! They made a card for him yesterday and they got to visit Pop-pop last night with Mimi. Mom still is at home trying to recover.

I'll have to post some more of their schoolwork on the blog this weekend. They are both loving it!

Justin's 6th birthday party is tomorrow morning!

Birthday Wishes...

HAPPY 34TH BIRTHDAY NEAL!!!!!!!!

What a week so far...

Mom has pneumonia!!!!! Soooo not good! The boys and I were able to take Mimi to her PT appointment this afternoon and we can take her on Friday. Mom has to stay upstairs at the townhome and not be near my grandparents. UGH. Mom got some strong meds, so hopefully she'll feel MUCH better in the next day or two. Cailean has been busy fixing planes at the airport and I'm trying to keep up with the boys and staying on top of my work at NCSU. I received an email about coaching Ian's basketball team tonight that included my team name and I have some mandatory meetings/clinics I'll need to attend in the upcoming weeks. Oh boy! LOL There are TWENTY teams in the 5/6 year old group! Wow!

I went to vote this afternoon with the boys. Kids could vote, but Ian told me he already voted at school. I didn't know that! I asked him who was running for President of the United States. Are you ready for this???? He replies, "Barack Obama and John McCain." Our 5 year old son knew that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I won't tell you who he voted for! hee hee

The boys didn't have school on Mon or Tues this week, so we just hung out. It was fun to watch them play nicely together. This morning they had their backpacks on...then Ian told Gavin it was time to put the backpacks in their cubbies, etc. They pretended they were in line to go to carpool. Way too cute!

Recovering from Halloween Night

Gavin, Ben, Luke and Ian

Gavin, Cailean and Ian

Vinnie, Gavin and Ian


We all had a great time Friday night! We started off at mom's and it obviously wasn't your typical trick-or-treat situation. They didn't get "one" candy...they got Halloween bowls, plates, pencils, stickers, some candy and I forgot what else! Then, we headed across the way to Vinnie's house and went around with him and Pam. This has been tradition for about 3 years now! We left there after a bit and went to see some of my co-workers, some of Cailean's co-workers and the Bunings. At these homes, again...not a traditional "one candy a piece." It's more like, "this special bag is for Gavin and this special bag is for Ian." Then, we met up with the Nelsons (Luke and Ian are in the same class and Ben and Gavin are the same age) and went around their neigbhorhood. At one point, Ian said, "We have some trick-or-treating business to do!" After going around with them in their neighborhood, we stayed at their house for a bit before heading to our neighbor's house for a visit. They dumped their candy on the floor in Melvin's and Norma's house and then Ian said he wanted to go to sleep!!!!! Wow! We couldn't believe our ears.

Saturday morning we went and picked up my grandparents (mom stayed back because she is sick) and headed to downtown Cary for the Cary Band Day Parade. There were over 16 bands and a few floats, so that was fun. We ran into our friends, so got to watch the parade together! In the afternoon, Ian and I headed to the Y to watch a 5-6 year old basketball practice/game. Oh yes I took notes! I'm now ready and not as worried when I am coaching Ian's team! We'll see though...right?!

Sunday we took my grandparents to church and then they treated us to brunch at Bob Evans after! Of course Gavin kept looking around asking where Bob Evans was...LOL! Both boys did very well there eating all their pancakes.

We had some friends over this afternoon...Lori brought over Ella and Sophia. We all played outside (soccer, basketball, baseball, etc) for awhile...it was great to see them!

Ian doesn't have school Monday or Tuesday and Gavin doesn't have school on Tuesday. We've got some playdates scheduled, so that will be fun!