The New Quests of The Turetzky Family

Time, hugs, discipline, patience, encouragement, meals, home, tickles, love. Motherhood is made up of these things and so much more. It's taken me becoming a mother to appreciate just how much a mother does. I don't think there is any job that compares! The late nights, the days on end without much of a break, the menial tasks, the never ending chores...but the rewards of tender kisses, tight squeezes, smiles from ear to ear, and a bond like no other make every minute worth it. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. I'm a more compassionate person because I am a mother. My love and admiration for my own mother has deepened. Speaking of my mother, I want to list something of things I love about her and the things she taught me. Me and my mom, Easter Sunday 1984 She has sewn many things for me and my siblings, and now her grandchildren. From dresses to pajamas to quilts and much-loved flannel baby blankets. She also taught me to sew, and tho...

As promised, this post is all about smoothies! For months I wanted to get myself in on the green smoothie trend. Back in November I finally got a new blender container/blade for the Vitamix blender Darren picked up at a garage sale 6 (!!!) years ago. At that time I tried one green smoothie and did NOT like it, so I stuck to fruit and nut smoothies only for a few months. In April I revisited the green smoothie when I found some interesting looking recipes via Pinterest. Now I'm a green smoothie lover!! Lila and Darren are too chicken to give my smoothies a try (they're crazy, so don't be like them), but me and Walt slurp one down just about everyday. Tips and links One thing I've learned that was great advice when making green smoothies is, blend your liquids + greens FIRST. This ensures a smooth texture for those greens. Frozen banana slices are also great for getting your smoothie cold and creamy without needing to add ice.  A couple of the recipes I've liste...

Yoga, smoothie, chocolate, dinner I didn't have to make...it's been a nice birthday :o) With today's milestone birthday I thought I would indulge in a list of things about me. I better write some of these things down before I get any older and forget them :o) Without further ado, 30 things you may or may not know about me: 1. I am a chocolate addict. The addition of two children in my life isn't helping me kick the habit ;) Chocolate makes me happy, so no harm though, right? 2. I love the color green. I actually love all bright, happy colors, but I'm particularly drawn to green. I love living life in color. 3. I am colorblind. After we'd been married for about year or so Darren tricked me into taking a colorblind test and the rest is history. Darren is colorblind as well, which means we will only produce colorblind children! 4. I stood Darren up for our first date. It was supposed to be a double-date with our younger siblings, but I we...

Looks like this I'm a once-a-month blogger now. Those of you busy with the responsibilities of motherhood know how each day flies by and the list of things to do never ends. One day I'll have more time to devote to writing about our lives. For now I'll just jot down my notes of the highlights and be happy for all the good memories we're making right now! Walter is becoming a little talker and its so adorable :) Today he said "bubble" for the first time, and over the weekend he learned "Hi!" or "Hi there" either while pretending to be talking on the phone or waving. He also says: tickle tickle (while trying to tickle you), go, look, book, Mom, Lila (yi-ya), "da" for dance, "mo" for more, whoa, uh-oh, "woof" for the sound a dog makes, "ba" for the sound a sheep makes, "moo" for the sound a cow makes, and a variation of "quack" for the sound a duck makes. Right before he had his bir...

Well, I've found out that a middle aged man has been coming on my blog and looking at pictures of my children.  I am obviously very uncomfortable with this, so it's time to go private. I'm happy to let any of you continue reading, as long as I know you and know you're not creepy! Just post your e-mail address and I'll add it to the list :o)

I have been quite the slacker in regards to this blog lately. I write blog posts in my head all week, but my pillow has been taking precedence over the keyboard in my evening "free time." I finished my Financial Management class on Feb 21st (just 3 days before the deadline!), then two days later we were off to California for 8 days. Darren's been working on an app that had its big reveal at the TED conference in Long Beach, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to bring the whole family and go visit with my sisters. And little Walt had his first birthday while we were there! We celebrated with a trip to Disneyland. I got sick just before we left for Cali (the kids passed it on to me), and I was unfortunately sick the entire trip. It was basically a regular old cold, but the first couple days I could hardly talk and the whole week I had a difficult time sleeping. We got back to Texas and just in the last couple of days I've finally gotten over whatever cold and...