Generations

I took this photo so I'm not in it, but here are my parents with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren from my side. They had a great time together.

I am Thankful for...

I am thankful for my daughter, Lydia, my daughter-in-law, Karen, and my "adopted" daughter, Wanda, who are marvelous, incredible moms. They each have strengths they bring to motherhood, gifts given by God, just for the nurturing of the young lives in their care. I am so proud of the women they have become!

This song expresses the truth of their weary days and the reward to follow.

National Adoption Day

National Adoption Day

Click the photo for more photos of this special ceremony which was held Nov. 10, 2009. I was proud to attend on behalf of the Turmes family.

Vegas!

Vegas

Click on the photo above to go to my Picasa album.

A Summer's Change

Look at these two photos of Ian to see how much he's changed in 4 months! He's growing so fast!

Trapped!

Caleb crawled into the stool and couldn't figure out how to get out. He was gripping the rungs with his little hands so tightly so he could stand up that he couldn't let go to crawl out! Mama to the rescue!!

Labor Day trip to San Antonio

click the conversation symbol in the left corner to get the captions too.

Another picture

Here'a shot of Lydia enjoying the COOL weather with Grandma and Grandpa on their back porch.

Missouri Trip August 2009

Alan, Lydia, Caleb, and I went to Missouri this weekend to visit my parents and brother and sister-in-law. My dad's 83rd birthday, my parents' 62nd wedding anniversary, and my birthday were all celebrated together.


Caleb figured out how to "climb the mountain" that was Great Uncle George!


He loved seeing Molly although she wasn't as happy to see him! Great Aunt Mary read to Caleb and helped him play with Molly.


He shared a laugh with Great Grandpa.


He explored the dishwasher while Great Grandma cleaned up the kitchen.


He sat at the big table with us to eat meals. He ate everything in sight!

Caleb was a charmer and made a big hit with everyone this weekend.

When I Said I Do

I don't listen to country music so I wasn't familiar with this love song from Clint Black. Diana and Kim sang this duet at their wedding last Saturday, and I was hooked on this song. Enjoy!

Caleb

Here are some recent pictures of Caleb. He's just learning to vocalize. This kid loves to shriek!! Yep, that sweet face will turn red, the lower lip quivers, then a high-pitched shriek erupts. However, there are also shrieks of joy. In that case, he grins so big, opens his mouth and wiggles all over as the shriek erupts. Ear-splitting volume. High pitch. Energy.
Mostly, though, the trick is figuring out which is the happy shriek and which is the angry shriek because they can change immediately. Both ways. Back and forth.
Gotta love this face. I'm glad he's found his voice. I can't wait till he can say "Grandma."

Ian's visit to our House

Ian had fun at our house. He used the electric broom on the rugs,
worked so much he slept well,
ate LOTS of applesauce,
played with the cat,
and explored the outdoors with Grandpa. He especially loved the wind chimes, the mantel clock chimes, and the piano. I think he loves music!! We had such a good time with him. I can't wait until Caleb is old enough to spend the weekend at our house, too!

We're home!

Wow, vacation at the beach was great! I don't have photos ready yet, but here's one to show we had a good time!

Kitty update

Gunny's wound has completely healed although the fur hasn't grown back yet. I'd post the photo I took, but it's too blurry! :(

I got to see BOTH boys this week...what a treat!!

Visit with Caleb this week

visit with Caleb 0709

click on this photo to link to this album

Ian's visit this week

IAN'S visit 0709

Click the photo to link to the album...

4th of July visit with Caleb

We had such a good time with Caleb this weekend! Of course, we enjoyed his parents, too! :) We just rested, ate, read, watched fireworks on TV, went to church, ate some more, etc.

Caleb enjoyed pool time, but Mommy got stung 3 times by a red wasp. OUCH! Thankfully, no huge reaction to the stings.

Update on the Cat's Wound

Well, he's doing better. I took this shot a week after the vet visit. It's healing, he's feeling better, and in fact, has discovered and jumps into the seat for Caleb at the dining room table!

Come on, Caleb, chase that cat away!

water fun 2

Here are some stills of our fun time!

Water Fun with Ian

I visited Ian this week and we had a few minutes to play in the water in the backyard at his house. He was pretty busy making patterns with the water, tasting it, watering the concrete and the pool, etc. What I didn't catch on the video I will post with still photos.

Do Not Read if you have a weak stomach!!

Our cat is sick again. The fight he had several weeks ago apparently left a deep wound in his back haunch that has festered. I can't believe we didn't see it under his fur. This week he slowed down, growled when touched, and hid a lot. So Alan took him to the vet yesterday. She put him to sleep, shaved the area, and .... horror...there was a huge abcess! She cleaned it up, gave him pain killers, gave him another injection to wake him up and sent him home with two meds for 10 days. It is so gross! AND HE LICKS IT! OUCH!

Scrapbooking with CTMH

CTMH is Close to My Heart, a company specializing in matched sets of scrapbook papers, stamp pads, inks, and markers. They sell wonderful acrylic stamps and publish books with blueprints for many different kinds of pages and cards. I found a rep here in Palestine, and Friday night I attended my second meeting with her. We did three double page spreads (photo ready). I had enough materials left to do several cards which I made today. It was so fun! The process is measure and cut your papers, stamp your images, assemble the pages, then add embellishments. I think the pages turned out well, and of course, I used them for special pictures of Caleb's six month photo shoot.

Caleb with Mawmaw

We met for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Caleb was perfectly behaved. I think Mawmaw and Ken enjoyed seeing how big he's gotten! We all had a good time together!

Stylin'

Caleb and Mom donned sunglasses on Thursday to go have dinner with Mawmaw and Ken. Caleb never protested or tried to take them off. When I took them off after we got out of the sun, he had red marks on his face because they were so tight! Sorry, Caleb, you sure looked cute in them!

Ta-Da!!

Caleb sat alone for several moments for the first time on Wednesday. He's getting better and better at it!

Cousin Love

Ian gives Caleb a gentle pat when Mom reminds him to "be gentle". Caleb enjoys the attention.

Pool Time 2

Both boys enjoyed playing outside. They love sunshine, I think! Ian discovered he could cool off his hot plastic slide with a cool stream of water from the hose. He also learned to stomp and splash in water puddles. He made sure Caleb had toys to play with in the pool, too. We all had a good time in the backyard!

Pool Time for Caleb

Caleb's mom reported a not-so-fun pool experience earlier this week. However, with Aunt Karen's gentle coaxing, Caleb found out that sitting in the pool was as much fun as his bathtub at home!

The Hill Country is still Paradise

Our trip this weekend was great. We enjoyed the smooth ride and great gas mileage of Alan's new Fusion, the scenery was so peaceful, the food delicious (try the Tin Roof Steakhouse in Boerne), and the history was plentiful. The Germans and Alsatians who migrated to Texas in the early 1800's came to find land and jobs. Henri Castro was an empresario who brought thousands from Germany to Texas via Galveston (think Stephen F. Austin-type guy). There are some people in Castroville who still speak Alsatian regularly to keep the dialect alive. We drove through Hondo, Bandera, and Boerne, stopped for a day there, then through Marble Falls and Round Rock. I had forgotten how beautiful the country is in that part of Texas. We saw exotic animals on several ranches, lakes, mountains, limestone houses with tin roofs, and lots of cattle herds.

It was a great way to celebrate our 35th anniversary.

PS. the captions to the photos are on the Picasa site...

35

Today was our 35th wedding anniversary. We celebrated with a low-key candlelight dinner at home followed by dessert at Sonic (can you tell we live in a small town?) Alan sent me a dozen red roses which are glittered.

On Thursday, we're traveling to Castroville, TX for a long weekend getaway. Castroville was settled by Alsatian people from the area of France (Alsace) that has often switched between French and German ownership. So there are hints of both cultures in this town with German food and Alsatian half-timbered homes. We're looking forward to getting away together since I've been traveling solo quite a bit since February.

I'm thankful God has seen fit to bless our marriage with these many years. Probably we don't have 35 more to go...but maybe 25 or 30? Whatever it is, I pray God will give us grace to grow old together, to ignore each other's failings, and to remember to be thankful for each other.

Scrappin' Good Time

Here are some photos from the retreat this weekend. It's obvious we had fun!

Ian Visits Grandpa's Office

Friday, Ian and his mom made a quick visit to Palestine. We stopped in at Grandpa's office to pick him up for lunch. Ian loved the telephone on Sue's desk,
the singing birthday card in Kristi's office (he danced to the tune),


the stairs that connect the buildings,

and running in the parking lot.
He did NOT like being told a) to get back in the car, b) no you can't go outside yet, c) this way Ian, d) don't touch.

After naptime, we made a quick trip to the grocery store. He was pretty tired by then!
We enjoyed their visit so much!