Monday, September 24, 2012

Beach Trip: September 2012

We love taking a family beach trip around September. The weather is perfect and the school crowds are gone! Unfortunately, since we will have two kids in big school next year, this will probably be our last September trip!
 
Here are all of the cousins once we all met up at the condo the first day! They were so excited to be together at the beach!
 


My children usually sleep until at least 7:30 most mornings.Well, at the beach, all of the kids were up and ready to go by 6:30 each morning! We would usually eat breakfast and then head down for a little seashell searching.




Floating in the lazy river is always a favorite for our family!

 
We did spend more time on the actual beach this year than we ever have before. The kids really enjoyed building in the sand.






Here are the big kids getting ready for a swim in the big pool!


The two oldest kids' favorite thing about this trip was that they got to sleep with Gran every night! 

Of course, we always try to get some good pictures while at the beach. The kids actually did really well this year! 



 
 


John Turner is 4 Years Old!!!

John Turner officially became 4 years old on September 13th. We woke up and began the celebration right away. He requested cinnamon rolls with candle for his birthday breakfast.
 


After our birthday breakfast, we loaded up and headed for the beach for our annual September family beach trip. What better way to celebrate your birthday than with a trip to the beach. John Turner has actually been fortunate enough to have celebrated 3 of his 4 birthdays at the beach! We met Gran, Grandpa, HaHa, Uncle Chris, Carly and Brooks at the condo after lunch. That night we had another big celebration for the birthday boy. He requested pizza and cupcakes,
 so that is what we had!



 
 
I honestly can't believe that this baby boy is already 4 years old! It just breaks my heart that he is this big already! I tell him all the time to please stop growing and his response is, "Momma, I have to get bigger!" I am planning on spending this year getting as much love from him as possible. I also plan on spending as much time with him doing stuff he loves to do. Next year, he will begin K-4 and will be in full time school all day every day.
 


Here are some random pics of my big 4 year old.
 
Here he is playing Grandpa's drums. This boy loves some music!

 
This 4 year old boy still enjoys riding his bike almost every day. Santa is going to have to bring an even bigger bike for him at Christmas. He has already outgrown this one almost!
 
John Turner went on his first dove hunt with his daddy this year. He was so excited to be big enough to go.

John Turner is very much into pirates. He got some pirate dress-up stuff at his birthday party and enjoys being a mean pirate! 

My big boy doesn't really like to draw or color much. But he did draw this beautiful picture of his mommy at school! I just love it!

 
Here is our little sports star headed for his first soccer game. Go Longhorns!
 Here is our future quarterback ready for his first Lamar football game of the season!
 
I can not tell you how much we love and adore this big 4 year old boy! He is truly a very smart 4 year old! He has a desire to learn and I love that about him. He asks millions of questions so that he can learn as much as possible about something. He also never forgets a thing. If he has heard a fact about something, he will always remember it. He is able to write many of his letters, knows all of their sounds and is starting to be able to spell some words. He can spell and write his name. He is still not as good with numbers as he is with letters. His vocabulary is amazing! He is quite a funny little thing too! He can make you laugh without even trying to! Enjoys spending his time building with blocks or outside riding his bike or playing ball. He still loves to curl up in my lap and read book after book!  He is quite a challenge sometimes because he can be very stubborn and can also have quite a temper. But, he is also very tender-hearted and will apologize after being ugly or losing his temper. He is finally gaining weight! He is almost up to 35 pounds! He can actually wear a size 4 in pants! That is a big step for us! He is being very independent these days. He is picking out his clothes and completely dressing himself.

I did an interview with John Turner last year when he turned 3. I decided to do it again this year at 4.

Favorite color: purple
Favorite toy: Thomas trains and Thomas tent
Favorite fruit: strawberry
Favorite TV show: Thomas
Favorite movie: Cars
Favorite lunch: Cheese and crackers
Favorite game: hide and seek
Favorite snack: fruit snacks
Favorite animal: giraffe
Favorite book: Thomas books
Favorite friend: Deck, Stone, Harper Anne and Claudia
Favorite cereal: Corn Pops
Favorite thing to do outside: ride bike
Favorite drink: sprite
Favorite holiday: Valentine's Day
Favorite thing to sleep with: Glo Glo
Favorite breakfast: cereal
Favorite dinner: pancakes
What do you want to be when you grow up: teacher

Sunday, September 23, 2012

John Turner's 4th Birthday Party: Pancakes and Pajamas

I asked John Turner a few months ago what he would like to do for his 4th birthday. His response was that he wanted to have pancakes at his party. Pancakes have been his favorite food for a very long time! Well, I went with that idea and decided to do a birthday pajama breakfast. What could be cuter than a bunch of 4 year olds running around in pajamas?
 
We had the party in the gym at our church. We served pancakes and cereal to eat, and milk and orange juice to drink. John Turner insisted that he also have cupcakes at his party. The children made fruit loop necklaces and decorated pillow cases to take home with them. We also had two bouncy houses set up for lots of crazy, jumping fun!
 
It turned out to be such a cute and fun party. John Turner said it was the BEST party he had ever had!His family, friends from school, and friends from church made his day very special!
 
 
Now, I am just posting a bunch of pictures that I want to remember to capture this perfect day!