Turnbough Olympics

Tonight the kids decided to make their own Olympics. 

Below...John practicing his backwards dive. 

Below...Sophia practicing her gymnastics. 

A John Story: (on our way home today)

John: "Mom, I've been thinking. I am 4 now and I am big, so I think I need a bigger bed."

Me: "Well, I will talk to dad about it."

John: "I don't think I can sleep in my bed till I get a new one."

Sophia Story: 

Me: Sophia, what is your baby's name? (Up until now it has always been "baby")

Sophia: "Cindy" (We don't know anyone with that name.)

Matt: "What is your baby's middle name?"

Sophia: "Cindy Barkoff"

Have a good night. 

Abbey is Engaged!!

Well it has been a big week for the whole Turnbough family...the kiddos are getting another uncle!! Brant popped the question on Wednesday and we all got to be there! It was so special! 

We started out at Bucca (an Italian restaurant) without Brant. We pretended we were celebrating my first day of being an Assistant Principal. We "decided" at dinner to head over to the Liberty Memorial to get a picture of our family at sunset with the city behind us. It was funny because the family was trying to play it all cool, but you could tell we were also trying to keep a secret. However, Abbey had NO idea...as we stood to get our picture taken, out popped Brant and Abbey was so surprised. He dropped to one knee and popped the question. It was precious and there wasn't a dry eye watching. 

So we get to plan a wedding this year and we are so pumped!! 

Congrats Abbey and Brant! Welcome to the family Brant...we are so happy you are joining us. 

John Turns 4!

John turned 4 today!! We had a "Benny" birthday party that was filled with baseball! I have to say it was a blast. Tonight I asked John if he had a good day. He said "Yes. When I have another birthday, I want another Benny party." I asked him his favorite part of the day and he said, "All the baseball stuff."

So I would say it was a success! 

 We had a concession stand set up with popcorn, hotdogs, Twizzlers, cupcakes and ice cream. 

 I could not get John to stand still enough today to take a picture of him. He was so excited for his birthday and his party. He was decked out in PF Flyers, tall baseball socks, baseball pants, his new Benny shirt, and he had a baseball jersey on...but it got to hot. 

 John received some awesome gifts today from his friends and family. Above is a picture of what our friend Danny got John. A real telescope!! We checked out the moon tonight with it. 

 Baseball was the theme so we had some tasty baseball cupcakes to celebrate! 

 Our family made a pinata this week. I didn't want to buy one because they aren't cheap and they are always hard to break. So I thought if we made one it would be easier to break. Boy was I wrong!! We can make quite the pinata! Each kid got to hit is quite a few times and we finally got the candy out! 

John got a keepsake from his birthday party. All of his guests signed their name on a baseball that is now sitting in his room. 

Dear John, 

4 years ago, your mommy and daddy were so excited to meet you. At that time we didn't know if you were going to be a little boy or a little girl. When we met you on July 28th at 2:35 pm, I never knew I could feel love like that. I remember holding you in my arms, just thinking, "I have a boy!" As you have grown, you have made us laugh, entertained us, and made us proud to be your parents. I am excited to see the plans God has in store for you. 

Love you, 

Mommy and Daddy

Potty Training Sophia

We arrived home from the beach on Saturday and Sunday morning marked "Potty Training Boot Camp" I did the same thing with John when he was being potty trained. You spend 3 straight days following your child around asking, "Tell Mommy when you need to potty." You don't leave the house or the child's side. You throw away the diapers and only use underwear. While you are following the child around and asking the question over and over again, you are also cleaning up pee throughout your whole house. It is draining but oh so worth it! 

I wasn't sure if it was going to work with little Miss. I had tried it in January and it didn't work. She just wasn't ready. After Day 1...I thought maybe "Bootcamp" isn't for her. However, by the end of Day 2, she was recognizing that she needed to go, just not quite in time to get to the potty. Day 3 was a successful day. She pooped in the potty, only had 2 accidents, and went to the potty by herself without telling anyone! We are well on our way to being totally potty trained!! 

We celebrated tonight with Yogurtini and stayed dry for the whole trip. Of course, Sophia picked her "princess skirt" to celebrate the occasion. Tomorrow she will get her big prize for doing such a great job at becoming a big girl. 

I try not to compare John and Sophia but it was interesting to see how differently they acted during this whole process. These are some of the things I found out about Little Miss...

1. She doesn't care about bribery. Sure she liked getting a sticker, a Skittle, or even a piece of jewelry. However, she would say "no" to getting anything quite a few times. (John loved and still loves to be bribed!)

2. Sophia doesn't need people to play with her. When John was potty training, he thrived on me being with him constantly. Sophia would often times try to get away from me! At one point she went to her room and closed the door on me before I could get in. I couldn't help but smile. She also will go into the bathroom, say "I privacy." and then close the door without me being in the bathroom. 

3. She doesn't need approval. I would ask if she wanted to call Nana, Pops, Papa, Daddy and she would say "No" and then she would go onto playing. John was on the phone constantly wanting to tell people that he went potty. 

4. Sophia uses going to the potty as a delay for bed. I don't remember John thinking of that when he was potty training. 

5. Sophia takes a pile (5 or more) books to the bathroom every time she goes. 

It's fun to see how you can have 2 children by the same parents and they are so different. 

Miss Sophia...Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you. You are becoming a big girl!! We love you!

Kiddo Crafts

Well with potty training and the heat advisory, we have been stuck indoors. As much as the kids were excited to return home to play with their toys...we are all getting a stir crazy. So for a fun snack we made "cute food bear s'mores". See the picture here and get the recipe here

The kids loved these and they were easy to make. I did make a few changes because I didn't have a few of the ingredients. 

I used mini M&Ms instead of mini chocolate chips

She used Nutella as a "glue", I didn't have any so I used marshmallow creme (you could use peanut butter) and I used chocolate sauce a toothpick to make the mouth. 

Sophia's words for this was "That's good!" (in a low voice).

I also made homemade puff paint. This is super easy!!  

Here's the recipe... (This is for one color. I did 2 colors, so I made it 2 times.)

1/4 c of self rising flour

1/4 c. of salt

4 tbsp of water (I used 5 because mine wasn't runny enough)

A couple drops of Wilton Icing Gel

You mix it until it is smooth and runny. Then you put it in a squeeze bottle and let the little ones paint away. You need a canvas or heavy card stock. Once they are finished painting, pop it into the microwave for a minute or two and VOILA...you have puff paint! 

I am going to be grabbing more squeeze bottles to be able to make more colors. 

John loved it...the more paint the better. 

Sophia wanted to use it as finger paint. The bottle was a little big for her so I gave her a paint brush. 

The paint puffed!

Sophia's picture...doesn't it look like a fish? 

Here is the link to where I got this idea. 

Sophia's Nails

Sophia got her own "Princess" fingernail polish. She decided since it was her own, she would paint her own toes and fingernails. I think the pictures say enough...

Notice her knee in this picture...it is also been painted!