Wednesday, April 26, 2006



Preschool

Well I think I finally found the perfect preschool for Corben. I went and met with the director today and she was so sweet. They have a full class for the fall but apparently one of the families might be moving and that would give Corben a spot. I really hope it works out because he could really use some boy interaction. Also it would be great for him to have some friends his own age. It is also a Christian preschool so he would be having those values reiterated, which I think is wonderful. Also I spoke with the girl's principal to the school I am trying to get a geographical acception to and he said they could fit them in. After having a full house this year it will be so weird to have some one on one time with Londyn. I really think the kids are going to enjoy the interaction at school as well. Speaking of school I should get back to homeschooling. Just wanted to share some of my good news for the day!

Monday, April 24, 2006



Mission Impossible

Tonight we had our last bible study meeting. We had finished the last three chapters of our book and were all meeting at Ruby Tuesday. I had the best of all worlds by having an appetizer (smothered french fries), and then splitting both a BBQ chicken Burger and an appetizer platter with Vanessa. There is nothing like satisfying all your cravings at once. So we all participated in the usual small talk and discussed what study we want to do next, and next thing you know it was down to the last three chatters at the table. Myself, Vanessa, and one other girl. We stayed for another hour the whole time they mostly talked about work because there husbands work together while I sat and analyzed her. I was sitting there wishing I could nominate her for what not to wear. She is one of those gorgeous women that just does not know what to do with it. She has a beautiful face but never wears makeup and dresses really plane. So I was doing her hair, clothes, and makeup in my mind as they chatted it up and just when my make over in my mind was about to be complete Vanessa pulls a yawn "sorry I have to break up the party but I am going to have to head home" since I was her ride I guess that means my night away from the kiddies was coming to an end as well. I was a little disappointed because I can usually count on Vanessa for a fun time, but I thought hey everyone has those nights when they are just too pooped to party and become the party pooper. so we gather all our stuff and head for the door. The rest of this blog is top secret so I am going to have to use code names. So agent A and agent V get into the car say goodbye to our bible study groupies and drive off. Just outside the parking lot Agent V suggests a secret mission back to the restaurant for a secret mission drink. So we got into our invisible suits and secret mission tiera's and sneak back into the bar after all said bible study goers were out of site. It was a dangerous mission, but someone had to do it. Take one for the team, I believe is the term. So we contemplated over the lemon drop or the cosmopolitan and since we were on a daring mission decided to go with the lemon drop. It was sour with a zing but we concurred it like heroes. Soon the waitress twisted our arms and caught us in her evil snare and the next thing you know we were washing it down with a cosmo. It took all of our strength to defend ourselves against her but we beamed each other with our telepathic tiera's and got out of there before any more harm was done. Mission accomplished. Normally I would think this was a dangerous mission to attempt after a bible study but the book we are reading is called "Bad Girls of The Bible" so I think of it more as on the job research!

Saturday, April 22, 2006



Tag I am it!

Five Movies You Can Watch Over and Over Again:
1. When Harry Met Sally
2. Love Actually
3. Finding Nemo
4. 50 First Dates
5. Bridget Jones Diary one or two

Five Embarrassing Songs You Know All the Words To:
1. …none… I never know the words I just pretend to

Five Memorable Halloween Costumes:

1. space girl ( I won first prize)
2. those stupid plastic costumes that would get cold and crack while trick or treating in the -20 cold Canadian weather.
3. Go Go Damcer
4. Camryn as a strawberry
5. Londyn's Poodle costume that I already bought for next year before she was even born.

Five Celebrities You Believe May Secretly be Aliens:

1. Tom Cruise
2. Katie Holmes if she is crazy enough to have his alien baby
3. Paris Hilton
4. Martha Stewart
5. Donald Trump

Five Occupations You Could Never Hold:
1. nurse
2. Mortician
3. Plumer
4. Army soldier
5. Garbage man

Five Books You’ve Recently Read Outside of School:
1. Bad Women of the bible
2. In Her Shoes
3. Dress Your Family In Corderoy and Denim
4. I Don't Know How She Does It
5. Shop Girl

Five Ways to Perfectly Spend an Afternoon:

1. At the beach
2. at the pool
3. At the mall
4. at the spa
5. on Vanessa's Patio

Not Your 5 Favorite Foods, But the 5 You’re Most Likely Eating:

1. vita mix smoothies
2. tortillia soup
3. steak
4. cereal
5. atkins milkahsakes
I would be better doing 5 things I wish I was eating!!!

Five Lines You Blatantly Stole From a Movie, TV, a Commercial, or Song:

I am so bad at that. I never remember those one liners. But I do remember hearing allot of funny ones at the time. Sienfeld was always good for a few.

Five People Who Must Immediately Respond:(Don’t worry “immediately” is relative)
1. Kelly
2. Colleen
3. Jeff
4. Jennifer
5. GFF

Friday, April 21, 2006



Only me......

Only I, Alyssa Turner, can go into a store to buy shampoo, and come out with a $400 blender. How in the world does this stuff happen to me? They just had to be demonstrating the Vita-Mix right there at the front of the store. I can not watch a demo and not buy! I have the Kirby, we got the time share, we got that case of steak from the meat guy that swore it would be the best steak(it wasn't) So if you are selling something knock on my door because I will buy it! I practically had to buy it after all my kids kept eating sample after sample, so much so that I didn't even need to make dinner:0) So I immediately started making excuses in my head, and out load of why we need it and how I was going to sell it to my husband. It did have a 30 day return policy, and I was a good girl and kept it in the box until I talked to my husband about it. SO when I got home I emailed him and said something like: Ben I really need to talk to you. Call me ASAP. I love you so much it hurts, Alyssa. Not one minute later Ben calls me all worried that something happened. He asked what was wrong? I began by asking him ?What price can we put on our children's health?" "Our children's health, what's going on?" "Well more like their nutrition?" "I guess it is priceless" he says reluctantly. Oh well I am glad to hear that because I just spent $400 on a Vita-Mix. It was the demo! That thing is amazing! It can heat up soup in 4 minutes because of the fast friction of the blades spinning. It can make ice cream in 30 seconds. All the smoothies under the sun. In fact it is the smothhie maker that all thoses places use. You just throw in the entire fruit or vegetable, and don't even have to take out the seeds. It is amazing. He had actually seen the demo in a store before and wanted to buy it himself, but he has more self control then I do. So I reaffirmed all the good things about it, gave him a few more I love you smoopy woopy and tore open my new box! Well I have a smoothie calling my name! Blend ya later!

Wednesday, April 19, 2006



One of those days.....

My kids tested every ounce of my patients today. Mom is a three letter word, however my kids have found a way to add about 15 o's to the middle and can sometimes draw it out to a full one minute wine. I had to bribe Addison to do school with her chocolate Easter bunny, Camryn spent 5 hours reviewing her letters and learned nothing, Corben followed me around all day, and I must have tripped over him 17 times. Londyn was good as usual, and she even surprised me by rolling over for the first time. I asked her how they all start off so sweet and then turn into these little monsters who wine and sass all day. I don't get it. They are so darn cute when they are sleeping. My biggest problem with the girls is that they do NOT take care of any of there belongings. I spent yet another hour today looking for the back to their remote which I just found two days prior from the last time they lost it. The leave there video games lying around and Corben grabs them and turns them to Chinese and well since I do not read Chinese have no idea how to turn them back. Yesterday he purchased another dog on Camryn's nintendog game, which is usually a planned even t that I save for "one of those days". When I thought I was at the end of my rope I decided to jump in the shower for a quick 5 minutes of peace. No sooner did I get my clothes off did Addison run in saying she took the keys to go get something from the van and Corben and the keys somehow got locked in. So I rushed out the door, pulling my pants up on the way down the stairs. Then proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes trying to coax a two year old to flip that little button on the door. He would not stop crying enough to listen to me and was getting more frustrated by the moment. Addison was no help as she is crying sorry mama in my ear the whole time. They are all in the bath now and let me tell you bed time could not come soon enough tonight.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006



Beach Baby


Monday, April 17, 2006



I guess I should write something to...

I posted some pictures of Easter but I suppose I should write a bit about our weekend as well. It was a fun weekend. On Saturday the kids had an Easter party at the pool. The home association put it on and it was pretty fun. They had an egg hunt and activities followed with a lunch. It was a great way to meet new neighbors to. Then Saturday night we had friends over to our house for an Easter egg decorating party. We ordered pizza, decorated eggs, made cookies and rice crispie treats, and then proceeded to eat them all. Sunday we did the Easter thing at home with the kids and then went to our new church (that we love!!!) I almost feel like I am going to a comedy club because our pastor is so funny. I am still laughing at parts of the sermon from Sunday. After church we went to my friend Vanessa and Kirks. Kirk attempted to fry a turkey for the first time, and he did an awesome job. Especially since we sent all the kids outside for him to watch at the same time while all the women chatted over a glass of wine. Somehow it ended up being Kirk and a bunch of women and children for Easter. Two of the husbands were deployed, and then one other one got sick, so that left Kirk with 4 wives and 8 children. I am sure he could of thought of better ways to spend his day, but he was a great sport. Like usual I wore out my welcome and after everyone left we stayed to watch Desperate Housewives and a new and potetial show called What About Brian. We all crashed hard and fast when we got home and today we are heading to the beach!!!(5 pounds fatter)



Easter














































Friday, April 14, 2006



I love ME day!

What a wonderful and relaxing day I had. I spent three hours at the pool. I caught up on my bible study reading, but mostly dozed in and out of a nap. I have my sunkist glow back and it feels great. Then I went for my relaxing pedicure and some good girl talk with Vanessa. There is nothing better! We both picked the shade Bye Bye Tokeyo by OPI, and I also got a habisscus painted on my big toe! Then we hit one of our fav resturaunts for a cosmopolitan, which hit the spot. Now I am at home enoying a nice glass of wine and going to cuddle up with the kids and watch Dreamer. CYA!

Oh yeah here is a picture. This is really strange for me because I totally hate feet. But my feet are real cute so here you go.....



ME Day!

Today I am putting my nanny to good use and taking a "me" day! I am going to start off with my morning run, which some days is like my morning torture, but it has to be done. Then I am going to shower and I plan to be pool side with some books and magazines by 10am. I am going to stay there until my tan has been refreshed, shower again, then go the day spa for my peppermint Pedicure. I will sharing this girl day with my good friend Vanessa and I can't wait for it to start!

While we are on my favorite subject....ME........I am so excited to announce that I am 5 pounds away from my skinny jeans! I have 4 weeks until Ben gets home and I have been dieting and exercising hard core. I have lost 11 pounds this week and 30 since I had the baby. 5 pounds and I will be in all my old size 6 clothes. I would still like to lose another 5 after that so my 6's will be a little loose on me. The last 10 is always the hardest, but I have 4 more weeks to get it done so I think it is very do-able. Ben has been working out 2 to 3 hours a day since he has been deployed so when he gets back hopefully we will be the new skinnier versions of ourseves!

My shopping habits have been obnoxious lately. I have grounded myself from any further entrance into the mall. Last week I needed an excuse to shop so I bought my "pick up Ben from the airport" outfit. Of course it came complete with new $40 wedges and a matching purse. The sad thing is it was not the first "pick up Ben from the airport outfit" I have bought. Hello everyone! My name is Alyssa Turner, and I am a shop-a-holic. I have been sober for 3 days.

Well I cannot stall anymore. I need to get my butt on that treadmill. This sounds like the most conceded post ever but hey what can I say, it's "ME" day!

Wednesday, April 12, 2006



Patio Is DONE!!!!!

I am so excited to finally have my yard done. Now all I have to do is get the grass to regrow after being trampled, but that should not take long. Now I can;t wait until Ben gets home so we can sit out there and enjoy it togeather. (IN 4 MORE WEEKS!)






Tuesday, April 04, 2006



interesting little tid bit!

On Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.That won't ever happen again.

Monday, April 03, 2006



Can she possibly get any cuter????


Sunday, April 02, 2006



Long and Boring

Well since I haven't blogged for so long I though I should just do one long blog to catch everyone up on our last 3 months. First of all we are down to 6 more weeks until Ben comes home. I am so glad that there is a light at the end of the tunnel now. He is doing well and staying busy and we get to talk for 15 minutes per day and then usually email back and forth once a day or so. It always sucks because the 15 minutes seem more like two. Especially when you have to waste time talking about what bills came in, car troubles, where he put a certain piece of paper, and of course the kids chanting I want to talk to! I guess it is better then nothing and I should not complain. I can't tell you how much I miss the nights when we would get the kids in bed, light a fire outside, open a bottle (sometimes 2) of wine and just chat for hours.
Let see what else....Since Londyn was born (4 months ago) we have had a constant stream of company. First Ben's mom came for 10 days when Londyn was just a few days old. She was such a great help with the kids and it was a pleasure to have her around. She is one of those grandma's that just comes and puts all her time and attention into the kids. I think they played every card and bored game known to mankind, and then did it again. After that Ben left and 4 days later my brother Aaron (youngest brother 24) came for three weeks.

He had never been to Hawaii so we had a great time showing him all the sights. He also helped my tear out the grass seed that Ben planted before he left (which was not growing) and we planted plugs. Don't even ask! Plugs are totally weird and the most popular way to plant grass in Hawaii. You take a slab of grass and cut it into little squares and plant them about 6 inches apart. Then eventually in about 5 months the grass all grows into each other and you have a solid yard of grass. Like I said weird!

So After two days and several beers we got the lawn done and it is really starting to look great!
unfortunately all good times had to come to an end and it was time to take Aaron back to the airport. The kids really had a hard time saying goodbye to him and it hit them pretty hard. In fact to this day when Corben gets in trouble he says he wants Uncle Aaron. Too funny!

So I think I had 9 days by myself and then my best friend from Canada and her husband came to visit. They also had never been to Hawaii and we had a great time with them. Well all except the whole superbowl incident. I still miss her terribly! Nobody can make me laugh like she does.


Lisa and Dave had not even left yet when my dad and his wife came. It actually worked out great that they overlapped because then we had grandparents to baby sit while we got to go to a luau together. We had a great time and I am sure the Mai Tiys had nothing to do with it!
However after the luau I had to say goodbye to my best friend and they caught a plane back to the ice cold tundra we all call Canada.

This being my dad's second visit to see us we decided to visit one of the neighboring islands and spent 4 days in Kauai. The weather could have been a little better but no complaints. We had a cabin right on the water and it was beautiful. At night we went crabbing with the kids and they had a blast. Crabbing is when you take flashlights and a bucket and catch sandcrabs when they pop out of their holes. The kids love the thrill of the hunt, and watching them all scatter when we let them go at the end. Corben had so much fun he fell asleep on the walk back and my dad had to carry him all the way home. In Kauai they have what they call the "Grand Canyon" of Hawaii and that was quite the site, and quite the steep drive as well. I didn't know I was scared of heights until I found myself at the top of a mountain looking down.

While me dad was visiting he had also planned on building us a deck in our back yard. However since we live in a condo-like community we have to get everything approved by the design committee, and needless to say they did not do their end of the paperwork in time. After me complaining to the president of the company I finally got word about our application and we had to get some sort of permit from the State making sure we met hurricane regulations and blah blah blah! So that being said there was no way we could get all that done before my dad left. So we decided to forgo the deck and my dad gave us a very generous housewarming gift of cash to go towards having a patio built by contractors. More on that in the following paragraphs. So thank you dad and Donna for a great time while you were here and all the help that you gave me. It is great having family that you can count on.

So after their two week stay I had 4 more days to myself and then our live in nanny arrived. She was a friend of the family from Texas. She is a 20 year old nursing student, and she is going to be with us for 2 months. She has been great with the kids, and I have gotten some much needed breaks. However I feel a little guilty about our arrangement.

You may have heard about us on the news but it has rained here for 5 weeks striate. I am not talking about a daily sun shower. I am talking about dark clouds covering the entire island, pour down rain in heavy sheets, with house shaking thunder and lightning all day long and all night long. Apparently it has not rained like this since 1904 or something like that. It is absolutely bizzar and quite frankly is starting to be down right annoying. I drove into a parking lot at the airport the other day and the parking attendant said "welcome to Seattle, this is not paradise!"
The roads are being washed out, the beaches are contaminated because of sewer and still water canals over flowing, and there is no sight of change. Since the day Haley (the nanny) got her (one month ago) I have been saying surly this is going to stop soon. No really it never rains like this in Hawaii. She has stopped believing me and I have stopped saying it. It is like Noah's Ark hits Hawaii. Except it has been more then 40 days and 40 nights. So like I said, I feel like I have cheated the nanny. I said you give me some help with the kids and I will fly you out to Hawaii and give you beaches and sun. So far I have given her 4 kids, a house to wear she is trapped in from the rain, and the walls are growing closer in every day. I told her if she does not get at least one solid week of sunny weather that we will fly her out again next year so she can actually see the real Hawaii.

So with all the rain the kids and I have had some major cabin fever. I know you Canadians reading have trouble feeling sorry for me bound in with your 7 foot snow drifts, but come on this is Hawaii and we cannot even enjoy it. There is nothing to do it Hawaii on a rainy day but shop. So lets just say that Ben better be on his knees praying for this rain to stop or he is going to have to get a second or third job in Kuwait. The other day week 5 of rain, we were so bored we decided to go to a movie and the bowling. The bad news is that little excursion cost the little pocket book over one hundred dollars. Ridiculous! That is like 5 outfits from the GAP! The movie was good though. Eight below. It was a 2 hour movie so at least I sort of feel we got our money's worth. Although I could have bought the movie three times over for the same price.
So rain rain rain and more rain and that brings me to today.

Today was Camryn's end of season cheerleading party. It was supposed to be a pool party but you guessed it.....it was rained out. Instead they moved it inside and played musical chairs, and ate pizza. She got her little pink trophy, and was prouder then punch!

On another note I am so happy, no wait ecstatic to say that we FINALLY found a church that felt like home! It is only ten minutes away, and it met all my requirement. The Pastor is hilarious, the music is great, the kids love their Sunday school, and they have small groups that meet during the week. This has been our second week there and once again I am starting to look forward to Sundays! I can't even tell you how good it feels to be back in The Word on a weekly basis. My spiritual starvation drought is finally over, and like the rain over Hawaii the holy spirit is raining upon me once again.

Other random news:

Londyn got her ears pierced last week. She hardly even flinched and I think it was harder on me then it was one her. She looks so adorable. She also currently has her cute little toenails painted pink. On one of our numerous rain days the girls played beauty parlor!

I think Addison and Camryn are going to go back to public school next year. There is a military school near by the I did not know was an option when I decided to home school. I have loved homeschooling, but every day it becomes more and more of a fight to get Addison to pay attention. I feel like all instead of teach all I do all day long is negotiate with her. By the end of the day Addison and I are so sick of each other, and it has really put a strain on our relationship. She feels she is being punished by having to do homeschool while her younger siblings get to play. Also she is so incredibly social that even though she has extra curricular activities it does not seem to be enough. So I am in the process of getting her paperwork done for school next year.
Corben has made some major milestones lately! First of all he has finally given up his blanky. Thank goodness because with the numerous holes his blanky was about to give up on him!



Also another proud mommy moment, he is officially potty trained! He will be three in May so I figure that is pretty good for a boy. There was a few rough weeks, and quite a few pairs of soiled underwear, which I threw out, but I refused to give up asnd the glorifying day has come! Now I only have one more to go and we will be diaper free for good!

I have 15 more pounds to go before I am back into my old 4/6 clothes. I have 6 weeks to get hot before my husband gets home. Well maybe not hot but as close as a mother of four can get. I am just trying to accept the fact that I am just going to look good fully clothed, or naked from a distance in a really dark room. I am mourning the body of my youth but there is nothing I can do this side of the pearly gates to get that body back, so all I do is try my best, and stay in really dark rooms. So Monday is going to begin my hard core get my size 10 butt into my size 6 jeans in 6 weeks diet! Wish me luck on that one. I guess that means I have to eat as many last minute chocolate bards as I can tonight!

New favorite show......Sons and Daughters. If you have not seen this yet you are missing out. It is absolutely hysterical. It is from the makers of Saturday night live and the Office. It is partly scripted and is about this one disfunctional family that you find yourself relating to just a little too often! The pilot show was the best so far so if you could get ahold of that it is a great watch. Be prepared to laugh so hard your stomach will hurt!

New favorite drink....Mojitoes! I first tried these at my husbands restaurant right before he left. However at $7.50 a drink it is not a good fav drink to have. But since I have the in with the cute waiter I got their recipe and I can make my own. The good news is I can get the whole bottle for $12. The bad news is they go down way to good, and when you are not paying $7.50 a drink there is nothing holding you back. Well until you sit down and the room starts spinning. That is usually a good sign that another drink is not a good idea. That has only happened once but it has left a distinct imprint on my mind. Lets just say it may be awhile before I have another Mojito night.


Mojito

3-4 fresh leaves of mint
2 1/8 slices of a lime
1 tsp sugar or 1 tbsp simple syrup
1/2 cup ice
1 1/2 oz lemon rum
1/2 cup sprite
squeeze one lime wedge in glass, add mint leaves and grind together with the back of a spoon. Add rum, alternate ice and lime wedges to top of glass, top off with sprite!

Try it out! Caution....One may soon lead to five! You cannot taste the alcohol until it comes and kicks you in the butt!


Oh back to the patio situation. So basically you are suposed to submit a plan to the design comittee and then they have 45 days to review it and accept or deny your plans. Well it was 75 days and I still had heard nothing. So I started complaining (which I do quite well) and by the time I got written notice it had been 80 plus days. Well in that time we decided to scrap the deck and we were going to use the money from my dad to have a cement patio poured. So I had the guys come out and give me a quote. Since I already knew that a cement patio would get approved because everybody has them I was going to go ahead with the patio and put in my application later. Well while the cement guys were here he showed me some options in flagstone. Of course it was double the price but it is going to look awsome so we decided to go with it. So I drew up new plans to hand in and they told me it was going to take yet another month to get approved. Well if they would have done their job in the first place I would have got the first notice in 45 days and could have resubmitted and got approval by now. So like I said I was just going to go on with the project. So my contractors started to bring in loads of flagstone and cement mixers and were about to get started when I got a knock on my door. It was the site manager asking me what I was doing in my back yard with out a permit! Oh crap. So caught red handed I explained the situation. In our manual it says we have 3 months to get our yard totally landscaped, and I am trying to abide by these rules you set yet you are not letting me go forth. So I had to write aletter to the board which I also sent to the president of the company. Well apparently all my complaining worked because I finally got me approval and we are ready to continue. That is we are ready but still cannot do anything because IT WON"T STOP RAINING and my back yard is a mud bogg! So it has now been one month that the flagstone has been sitting in piled on my newly planted grass which is now dead from the weight and we cannot do a thing until the wetland we call paradise dries up! Note a little bit of bitterness here? I will post pics if and when we ever get it done!

Well I am trying to think if there is anything I have left out but nothing is coming to me at the moment. So there you have it....The last three months of my life in a nutshell. Told you it would be long and boring, but atleast I added pictures to keep you a little more interested. Blog ya later!