Still on vacation

{Dana, Stephanie, Me & Mom)

Although I may be back in Alaska, I still feel like I am on vacation.  My mom, dad and Luke are here for the next 2 weeks and then Aaron's parents and sister are coming.  So, you probably won't see much of me for the next 3 or 4 weeks.  everyone.  I'll have a ton of updates when we are left to ourselves again.  In the mean time, enjoy your summer!!

A Night of entertainment!

Tonight, at our Convention in D.C. we recieved some AWESOME entertainment.  Jon Schmidt performed for us.  We were in stitches.  I haven't laughed this long in SUCH a long time.  Afterwords, we bought CD's and he took pictures and signed CD's.  Here is us with him.  Left to Right is Dana, Me, Jon, Stephanie, Paulette and Steven (Cello).  The only thing that could have made this night any better is having Aaron here to share it with me!

Memorial Day Camping - Not for the week stomach

We went camping for Memorial Day with some of our friends.  First time we have really been camiping since we've been married, which is 9 years next month.  Anyway, after getting lost trying to find our party, we were greated by a fried who went looking for the bear his wife spotted not to far from camp.  He came back not 30 minutes later and said he had killed the bear.  He went and picked it up, brought it back to camp and degutted it and everything you do to a bear.  (Not my cup of tea!)

He convinced me to take a picture with him and the bear.  Seriously, thought I was going to puke!!

2 years...WOW!!

Can you believe it?  It's been 2 years since sweet crazy little Maggie was born.  

We haven't stopped moving since.  When I get to the point where I want to lock her in her room and never let her out, I just remember how I felt when we thought she had a whole in her heart and it helps.  (Kinda!)  Anyway, Here's a few things about Maggie, with a few pictures mixed in.  Some of my favorites!!

She is a Sassy little thing.  (I don't take that lightly!)

She is completly adored by her brothers. (Most of the time!)

She has her daddy wrapped so many times around her little finger!

She has her Grandpa Burnside wrapped around her other little finger! (Not enough to get him to change a diaper though!  :)

She has recently decided she needs to shed her clothing (including diaper) several times a day!

She loves anything pink, princess or doll related!

She has more clothes than her mother!

This is my FAVORITE picture of her.  So innocent!

She weighs 28.4 pounds 

She loves to watch her Pony Movie! (My little ponies!)

She adores playing with Addison!  

She is doing well in Nursery.

I could probably potty train her tomorrow.  (However, I think it's fundamentally wrong to have her potty train before Nate, so I refuse to do it.)

She wants to do anything that the boys are doing.

She has a stubborn streak like nobody's business!

She is very shy of most people.

She loves to jump on the neighbors trampoline.

And ride her bike.

She isn't scared of the jets taking off and flying close.  (We live in between the end of 2 air strips.  F-22's taking off at all times of the day.  Literally!)

She has even gotten to where she will take her nap even with them flying over all the time.

She is trying to stop taking naps.

She doesn't realize that mom is too stubborn to let her stop taking naps.

She butts heads with her mother constantly!

She likes ice cream and mac & cheese.  Her two favorite things.

She says so many words, I can't even write them.

As you can see, she is spoiled!  Happy Birthday Maggie.  We love you.  Pictures of the party will come, but I just wanted to share a bit with you now.

We Love you Maggie!!

I am Crazy!!

 After you read this post, you will be able to admit that I am certifiably crazy! 

So, I thought things were going good at the kids school.  Until the last few weeks when I found out (at Kennie's Chuck-E-Cheese party) that there has been a lot of problems with 1 boy in Kennie's class.  LOTS of problems.  He threathened to bomb the school and daily threatened to kill someone.  He's in 2nd grade.  REALLY?? 

Anyway, because of the lack of communication with me as a parent, I have decided to pull the boys out and homeschool them.  I have kind-of figured out a list of pros and cons.  Want to hear?

Pros:

• I get to develop a better relationship with my kids.  My relationship with them now is constantly strongly speaking to them and moving from one thing to another.  We never really get to enjoy and do fun things together.
• I will KNOW everything about their education.  I will be able to use every opportunity to teach them and reinforce the things we are learning.
• I get to tailor their education to their liking and let them really study those things with which they are excited about and interest in. 
• In Anchorage, there are special classes just for homeschoolers.  Swimming lesesons, science expiriments and fun lessons.  
• There is a weekly Christian group that meets and does fun learning things, goes on field trips and has fun parties.  
• The kids are learning how to do chores.  Dishes, cooking, laundry, vacuuming, bathrooms.  Ya, once I "teach" them how to do it, it might lesson my load??

Cons:

• Alone time will be very rare.  Between Aaron's work schedule and the kids schooling my time will be the one thing that is sacrificed.
• Always havng 4 little ones under my feet.  With the boys home all day now (school was out the 20th of May) Maggie has decided she doesn't want to take a nap.  Fun times for mom!

• My lack of patience is going to be a problem.  I will try to limit my Diet Coke intake.  Seriously!

The nice thing is that the Anchorage School District has a Homeschool Charter School.  I have applied and both boys have been accepted.  I recieve a $2600 credit PER CHILD to put towards Curriculum, extra curricular activities and supplies.  I have spent the last few days selecting the kids curriuclum and it has been SO FUN!  Seriously, I am so excited.  I am nervous, scared and already tired just thinking about what I am undertaking, but in my gut, I KNOW this is the best thing for my kids.  They are excited about it and about learning.  They are constantly coming up with new things they want to leaern.  So, let the craziness/fun begin.

If you have any experience with homeschooling, please share.  Like I said, I am scared.  If you have any questions, please ask.  I feel so much better about my decision to do this when I talk about it.  So, start the conversation.

Justin's Birthday

Justin's friend birthday was earlier in the month since the last day of school was near his birthday.  We didn't want to deal with confusion, so we did it early.  Justin chose to do a bowling birthday part.  Much better choice than Chuck-E-Cheese.  Seriously.  The kids all interacted and the adults got to mingle instead of making sure all the kids were okay.  Anyway, here's a few shots.

Maggie's Hair

I really struggle with Maggie's hair.  She won't keep a head band in place and her hair isn't really long enough to do anything else with it.  So, I decided to put a clip in it.  Here is what she looked like.

Isn't she adorable?  More updates on her later!

Kennie's Chuck-E-Cheese

Kennie chose Chuck-E-Cheese for his birthday party.  (NEVER again will I do this.)  He had a blast, but everyone was everywhere.  Anyway, take a look.  Can you tell he was excited?

Let the mass posts begin!

I have a few minutes, so I thought I would start.  Enjoy your update.

Up first, Kennie's Birthday!  Kennie turned 7.  Hard to believe that I am old enough to have a 7 year old, I know.  I was a youngin when he was born.  Ha!  Anyway, we had a family/friend celebration and then a separate party for his friends.  This is the family party.  We had a few friends over.  The Hurst's and the Smith's.  Oh, the missionaries were here too!  Enjoy!  He's excited that there is only 1 more year until he is baptized.