Project Norya

Please take a few minutes to look at this and contribute if you can. I can personally tell you that this is an amazing project. My cousin, Miranda is trying to get a young woman over to the states from Russia. She has until this Sunday to finish raising the money. Please, donate if you can. It's something so simple to us but so life changing for someone else. Thank you!

http://www.projectnorya.blogspot.com/

"Cheese"

Cannon LoVeS stickers! They are right up there with Legos! If I give him a sheet of stickers it gives me a good 30 - 45 minutes to get something done! And we all know that that is golden time! As you can see he puts them all over his hands, then he goes to his clothes & will finish with his face!
Then his big brother thought he needed a hat...

Which he liked the idea of... because he wouldn't give it back!

Back to the stickers...

And... on last "cheese" before I walked away!

My Oldest...

McKay also known as, Mac, Big Mac, Mac Attack, Pudge, Bug & Turley... random I know! But, he answers to them all. I have to admit that when he was little I really didn't like people calling him "Mac"... Now, I call him that as much as anyone. Lately he has really been pulling at my heart strings... I don't know if it is because I see him growing and changing so much right before my eyes... But, I look at Cannon and I can soooo remember McKay that little & now he is so big! I had a total moment last night as we walked into the school together for his first parent teacher conference of the year... how did I get here so quickly! How can I already have a first grader... Because of his birthday being late we held him back... So, in all reality he could be a second grader! I kept telling myself that last night! Trying to make myself feel better that first grade wasn't all that bad! He of course is doing amazing. Top of his class in all areas! Ahead on reading! But, is a little bit of a jabber box! Ha! Ha! She didn't tell me anything I didn't know! I'm glad he is a jabber box because he jabbers to me all about his day and everything that is going on in his life! And I think that is very important! McKay likes school once he gets there... in the mornings it's always "Mom, can't I just stay home with you"! So, often times he is a little grouchy as we load up to go... I have found the cure for that is me singing Man In The Mirror (by the King of Pop himself) at the top of my lungs as we drive to school! By the time we get there he is laughing hysterically and he is off to a good day (and anyone who has passed us on our way has got a good laugh at the crazy lady rocking out to!). I'm proud of the little man he is becoming. He has never been mean a moment in his life... He likes to make up funny stories - but, when it counts he is always honest. I will full on admit that McKay has more energy then any person I know... and he can get pretty hyper at times... he has a true love for life & enjoys everything that he does. He is never grouchy, he is never cross... but, he can be a little bossy at times! Kids gravitate to him. As I drop him off at school and he gets out of the car they just start gravitating to him... I had lunch with him at school last week and I loved watching as they all came up to him & he is truly kind to all of them. We were out to lunch last Saturday at Golden Coral (it was Carter's Birthday and he got to pick!) when an little boy tripped and spilled his food everywhere... McKay was behind him and quickly picked the boy up and started brushing the food off of him... I was so proud of him! I am so proud of him. I love the confidence that he has and how gracious he is. He can be quite persistent.... or maybe really persistent at times! But, it is good because he never gives up. He knows that we prayed so hard for him and I think it gives him a special confidence that is hard to explain... he just gets it. He is my son, but he is truly my friend & I love him so very much.

I'm A Bag Stalker!

I have been stalking this bag for a few days now... I LoVe it & am really trying to muster up the courage to sew it... I keep telling myself that it doesn't look like it would hold diapers, wipes, sippy cups............ yeah you get the point! But, I think it is darling & maybe I could just make it bigger! Here is the tutorial from The Boy Trifecta at Ucreate :

http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2010/10/grandview-bag-tutorial.html

Carter

With October comes Carter's Birthday! By fall he has waited through his brothers & his cousins birthday's and he is always really excited! This year we had a little birthday party & invited neighbors & cousins & had a movie night. We put Karate Kid up on the wall & had all the fixin's of a movie theater. A few minutes before all the kiddo's arrived I decided I wanted a couple pictures of him and we walked out back & snapped a couple photo's.

My sister-in-law, Kristin told me after seeing the pictures that Carter looks like my step child! That I am so dark & he is so blond! When I have been out running errands with him I have had people ask me if he is adopted! Or, I get "He must look a lot like his father... because he looks nothing like you"! I got used to my children looking nothing like me a long time a go!!! Even Cannon who looks so much more Wall - looks like my brother, Jason & not me!

Things I don't want to forget about Carter at 4:

1. He still hums when he is waking up - he has done it since he was a baby and I absolutely love it!

2. He likes to be "in charge" of something... it doesn't matter what it is big or small if you put him in charge of it he is all over it!

3. He is a very hard worker. He loves to do jobs and work - no matter what it is. His favorite job is cleaning the toilets!

4. when our kids are sick they get to sleep with me... it's quite often that Carter fakes sick just so that he can!

5. He LOVES boiled egg's! You will walk into the kitchen & you can't see him because he is smaller than the bar - but, you can hear him cracking his egg against the cupboards & peeling it in to the garbage.

6. Carter eats with a dish rag... he hates a mess (yes, we know where he got it from!). So, if he dribbles anything he has his dish rag to wipe it up!

7. Carter washes his shoes! He doesn't like dirty shoes! After playing outside he will come into the house & climb up on the bar & wash his shoes in the sink!

8. He loves a meat and cheese sandwich without the cheese... & he loves a peanut butter & jelly sandwich without the peanut butter!

9. Carter is VERY good at obeying the family rules... and has a very hard time when others don't... especially those who are not in our family!

10. He always wears his under ware backwards! And I have to admit that I love his little bum cheeks hanging out the back!

11. Carter loves rope... he is always tying knots & tying things up.

12. He loves to sing and has many of the Primary songs memorized & will start singing them where ever we are...

13. He loves to cuddle and have his back scratched.

14. He has a love/hate relationship with his hair... some days he loves it & some days he wants me to cut it off... and I just can't bring myself to do that!

15. Carter loves to color, draw & do school work. He loves to learn.

16. He has a total attitude... but, it's a farce! He is truly the most sensitive little sole I have ever met!

Carter has such a captivating little personality... when he talks he is so expressive that it just holds your attention! He is such a true friend to his brothers & loves them so much. He loves to do what ever I am doing - if I am cleaning he helps, if I am cooking he helps, if I am folding laundry... he helps. He brings us so much joy and happiness to our lives - I am truly so grateful that he is my little man!

Carter's Buck

Hunting is a way of life for us Wall/Turley's! I was raised with it & James was raised with it. I was the crazy girl at school each fall with dead animals hanging in her tree's at home! I was always grateful when my Dad chose to hang the animals in the shed or the garage... but, if it was a big elk then it usually went in the tree - And I started getting funny looks at school!!!

When I was pregnant with Carter and was on bed rest Wayne & Becky came and stayed with us to help out. Wayne had a deer tag and took McKay with him to get a little buck. The antlers were mounted and hang in the boys room... (yes, I let them hang antlers in their room!). But, Carter has always wanted a set of his very own! They are the coveted possession! So, when Wayne shot this buck - Carter was very quick to ask for the antlers! And Grandpa was very quick to give them to him!

After pictures were done and we were back in the house Wayne came in yelling for me... Look back at the pictures... See those little black dots on the deer's face... those just so happen to be ticks!!! AND my boys had just been crawling all over that deer! I can handle the dead animals hanging in the tree - but, ticks I CANNOT handle! They were quickly stripped down and thrown into the tub! Luckily we were safe!

Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza

I will honestly admit that I don't care much for food... However, I am married to a man who really enjoys food! He is an amazing dutch oven cook, he bakes bread almost every Sunday & is getting to be quite the grill master! It's to the point that I really have a hard time going out and paying for a steak because James's are so much better! So, I have decided that I need to really make the effort to have a nice meal ready for him - and he appreciates it so much! So, I have decided that I have to try 2 new recipes a week - at least! We have friends visiting from St. George this weekend and tonight I made this Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza for the first time! Everyone loved it & even I will say that it was VERY good! The kids ate it without all the salad toppings & LOVED it. I tried to take a picture... bad lighting... So, I used the picture from My Little Gems & here is a link to the recipe: http://mygratitudeattitudes.blogspot.com/2010/07/chicken-caesar-salad-pizza.html

I used 2 Rhodes Rolls loaves and rolled them out on a cookie sheet. I used the Walmart "Great Value" Caesar dressing & really liked the flavor along with their "Italian Style Cheese" blend. I had to bake mine a little longer then the baking instructions because my crust was a little thicker. Enjoy!

Feeling a Little Fall'ish!

I think that these little mini caramel apple pies at My Little Gems are just to cute! My cute little Nephew, Crew is having his own little piano recital tomorrow night (how cute is that! The kid is only 4!) And McKenzie asked if I had any ideas for a little treat! I think these would be perfect!

http://mygratitudeattitudes.blogspot.com/2010/10/mini-caramel-apple-pies.html

Total Heartbreaker... With a Good Ending!

(Carter leaving... It's not a good picture... it was taken with a moments notice with my cell phone!)

My parents have been back east for the last 10 days on an east coast cruise with my Grandparents, Aunt's & Uncle. They flew back into SLC last night & came to Logan to bring Curtis & Susan home. I didn't tell the boys they were coming. I wanted to surprise them. So, we dropped McKay off at school this morning & Carter, Cannon & I headed over to Curtis & Susan's. On the way there Carter asked me if we could go to Moe's (that's what my boys call my Mom) house today... I told them that they were still on their trip & that they weren't home... So, he asked if we could go where ever they were! When we walked up to the house & my Dad answered the door he was beyond ecstatic! Right away he started asking if he could go home with them. But, my Dad has a Elk hunt that he is going on this week & my Mom works Tuesday & Wednesday every week. So, I told him that it would have to be another time... But, he kept asking, and asking... So, we loaded up and went to surprise McKay - he almost tackled my Dad in the hall at school when he came out of his classroom & Grandpa was standing there! We headed up to the house because James had bought a new snow blower & we were sending our old one back for Travis to have. Everything was well until it was time for Grandma & Grandpa to go... I knew that such a short visit was going to be hard on the boys. But, Carter was so sad... My Dad tried to love him better & promised him that he would come and get him in a week... It didn't help... I finally had to peel Carter off of my Dad - literally kicking, screaming & crying. As I pulled him away I saw my Mom start to cry & my Dad had to turn and walk away... Carter was crying so hard he couldn't even breath & it totally broke my heart & I started to cry to! We were all just a big mess. I had been in with Carter trying to console him for almost 30 minutes... & I was getting NO where when I heard the front door open... When we came out of Carter's room to see who it was my parents had come back. I told them they were only making it worse! But, they said that it had broke their hearts to see Carter like that & they had come back to get him! My Mom said they both had cried all the way down the hill! Carter jumped in their arms - his face was soooo swollen from crying! So, we quickly packed his bags... Winter clothes & all because it looks like he might be going elk hunting with Grandpa for a couple days! After my Parents & Carter left I just started to cry again... I am so grateful for my Parents... for the love that they have for my little family. For the love that they have for Carter & how in tuned they were to his feelings. Thank you for coming back... It meant more to me than you will ever know! And I can guarantee that Carter will remember it for a very long time! Enjoy your week with my little man!

skeleton cupcakes

I teach the Valiant 9 class at church. I have 7 boys and 4 girls... It can get a little rowdy. So, I full on bribe them! I have learned that the best thing to gets boys to hold still and listen is food! It just works! I start with all of their names on the chalk board. If their name gets erased for not being good they don't get a treat the next week... and they get to watch the other kids eat their treats! Needless to say I hardly ever have to erase someones name! I always try to make their treats fun and special & they always look forward to them! They requested cupcakes for next Sunday & these are what I am going to make! And of course I will have to make a couple for McKay & Carter because they will LOVE them!!! Infact, Carter talked me into these skeleton's at Walmart this week! So, I already have some ready to go! I found the cute idea over at Holidash.

http://news.holidash.com/2010/10/05/halloween-skeleton-cupcakes-kendra-smoot/

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

So, I have to admit that this is not a picture of the muffins that I made... My kids & family ate them before I could take a picture! So, this is a picture of Bree's muffins from http://www.modsblog.com where I got the recipe! They went quickly here at the house and that is always a good sign that you should share the recipe & make them again!

1 egg

3 ripe bananas

1/3 Cup melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 Cup brown sugar

1 1/2 Cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 Cup chocolate chips.

Combine ingredients & add to papers. Cook at 350 for 20 minutes!

Enjoy!

A New Tradition

Joe, Wendy, Jackson & Maxwell came to visit over Conference weekend. Wendy introduced us to a family tradition that they do with Jackson for Conference. We went to the grocery store & picked out a bunch of treats & fruit. Then Joe & James came up with the words. The object is for the kids to listen to Conference and when they hear the certain words that we have put in front of the treats then they get one of those treats. The kids LOVED it! It really held their attention. We did different treats & different words for each session. I have a feeling that my little family will also be doing this from now on!

Bad Habits Start Young....

I was wondering why there was strawberry cream cheese frosting (if you look close you can see it around Cannon's lips) on the apple juice jug. I even felt bad after I saw this picture that James took because i scolded McKay for drinking out of the jug! I even had to make a special effort to go and track him down and apologize to him! Some days I truly feel as if there are battles that I might not ever win!

i LOVE lego's!

There are many reasons why i loves Lego's... they truly entertain my boys for hours. I would say that it is some of the best money i have ever spent on children's toys. However, this is why i love them the most! I have a one and a half year old baby who will not play with toys, watch movies or cartoons... Mothers out there are truly feeling for me right now! He is very difficult to entertain. He just follows me around all day and undoes anything that I do! In comes the Lego's! Carter got a new set of motorcycle Lego's a few weeks back from Grandma Moe (my Mom) when we were in Idaho Falls. He loves them! And Cannon loves them to!!! To the point that I was always just begging Carter to give them to him! So, Grandma got him his very own set! And they truly entertain him for hours! He has his little box that he carries them around in & they have saved me!!! Now we just need to find something that will cure him getting up every morning at 5:15... Daylight Savings Time is coming & I really don't want him getting up at 4:15!

Peach Salsa

Anytime I need something here in Logan I call my Uncle Curtis. He has lived here for a long time and knows where to find anything I might need. So, one morning I called him on the hunt for tomatoes. As usual he gave me the exact location of a couple good fruit stands in the valley. But, he also told me that if I was making salsa that I needed to try something new... That I needed to half my tomatoes and put the other half peaches... Peach Salsa! I knew I had to try it! So, I picked up a bushel of tomatoes & peaches & it is truly amazing!

Here's the recipe:

6 cups tomatoes diced

6 cups peaches diced

3 green peppers diced

3 red peppers diced

2 long green peppers diced

3 onions diced

2 jalapeno peppers diced

3 TBS salt

1 TB pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

You can make it as chunky or as fine as you would like it. We like it chunky. I do use a food processor to cut my veggies. Just be careful to not get it too fine or it will be salsa soup. Simmer the above ingredients for about 2 hours uncovered. You can add more peppers if you want it spicier. After 2 hours add: 1/2 cup dried onions for 15 more minutes. Then seal & process for 20 minutes.

This recipe is amazing as just plain salsa to! It's James's favorite! You would just substitute the 6 cups peaches for 6 more cups of tomatoes. Thanks Brooke for the recipe! It has become a Turley family favorite!

Special Date Night

James & McKay left Friday to go Moose hunting with Uncle Jason, Gavin, Noah & Grandpa. I knew that Carter was going to be heartbroken that he couldn't go... So, I asked him if he wanted to go on a special date with me... He said "If we go on a date that means you take me out to dinner and give me a kiss when you bring me home"! I guess that is probably what he sees when James & I go on a date! But, I wanted to make it extra special for him! So, I planned his favorite dinner & a movie & he didn't even care when McKay left to go hunting with his own box of Twinkies (McKay's FAVORITE treat)!

Carter has been asking for "dumplings" (he calls pot stickers "dumplings" because that's what they call them on Kung Fu Panda!) for a couple months! He loves them & LOVES the sauce to dip them in! So, I went to the store & bought him some "dumplings" to make for dinner. Aunt McKenzie was going to be gone for the night so we invited Crew to go to Toy Story 3 with us. I have to admit that the Toy Story movies aren't my favorite... But, it was the only kids movie playing in town! And, I knew that the boys would love it! But, what I LOVED so much was watching these two little boys as they watched the movie and laughed & giggled together! About half way through the movie they had both ended up on my lap cuddling together! And I have to admit that it was a really cute movie!

Thank you Melissa for watching Cannon so that I could make a special evening for Carter!

The Zig-Zag

We have a red couch that I love that we put in the boys play room. I want to make a couple fun quilts to go on it for the boys to cuddle with. This pattern I LOVE! I was even lucky enough to find a easy tutorial at http://aquiltisnice.blogspot.com - my friend Ilona is coming to visit this week & I think this might be our project to work on! Now I just need to find some time to go to the fabric store without three little men......

Halloween Lunchbox Jokes

So, McKay hardly ever takes a cold lunch... only when they are serving soup! He LoVes hotlunch! (crazy kid!) But, I thought these would still be cute to print off & put in his backpack for him to read on the bus ride home! Print off a copy of your own at: http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/2010/10/halloween-lunchbox-jokes.html

Chalkboard Pumpkins

I saw this cute idea of painting your pumpkins with chalkboard paint over at http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com

& instantly fell in love with it! Here is a link to the post that has the witch & cat templates http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/2010/10/chalkboard-pumpkins.html

* I think we will have to find a pumpkin patch this week!