Christmas Morning

We told the kids, (really, Jaxon) that they had to sleep until 6 am. Jaxon has a history of waking up multiple times during the night in hopes of getting a few early presents. At 6, the bedroom doors flew open and the happy pitter patter of big and little feet could be heard coming down the stairs to see if presents or lumps of coal were left for them. Jaxon was easy to please with a new Lego set and an Ipod shuffle that kept him busy for 6 straight hours. Colton was happy to see that Santa got the note about the Star Wars toys that he really wanted. Ella was enthralled with a life size Barbie friend to play with, and Mason couldn't have been happier with a new plush chair to sit in while reading some new puppy books. Everyone was happy and there was joy in the Burke household for just about the whole day. Now that's what I call a Christmas miracle!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we had the Wonderful Walker family over for food and fun. The kids wanted to battle with their new Nerf guns most of the night, but we tried to throw in a little spiritual moment by trying to act out the Nativity while reading the account of the Savior's birth from the scriptures. Ella, who is already looking through bridal magazines to find a dress for her 'big day' with AJ, wasn't hard to convince to play the role of Mary while AJ was Joseph. We had a few wise men, shephards, and the part of Baby Jesus went to a fun loving 11 year old. Mason wanted to spend the time running around wrapped up in the scarfs.

Jaxon in Jeans

Jaxon has been telling us for the past five years that he has been 'allergic' to jeans. He has refused to wear them since he was three. I forced a pair on him for a few hours back in 2003. Seriously, he hasn't worn them since. He didn't like pants with buttons or zippers. He is 'king of the elastic waist' shorts and pants. We have been keeping Old Navy in business by buying all of their athletic style shorts for the past six years. Well, low and behold, a few weeks ago, a good neighbor brought over some jeans for Jaxon to wear so we could take a family picture. We had a huge rain storm so the picture never got taken, but Jaxon tried on the jeans and not only did they fit, but he liked them! I almost broke down in tears as I saw my son wearing real pants for the first time in almost seven years. I am a HUGE fan of jeans, so I just couldn't relate to the idea that jeans aren't comfortable. So, Jaxon ended up keeping the jeans, and actually wore a pair to school this week. I had to snap this picture as soon as he put them on because I was afraid it might be another decade before I saw him in jeans again.

Claiming our Christmas Tree

The day after Thanksgiving we went to pick out a Christmas tree. I LOVE real Christmas trees. It all goes way back to when I was a little girl and we had a four foot artificial tree every year that we had to put on table to make it look bigger. We nick named it Charlie Brown. Ever since then, I swore when I grew up that we would have real trees. Sean has been wonderful and indulged me every year in getting a big real one, even though it can be a hassle. The kids love to go and pick one out, and they smell wonderful. Well, this year we thought we found one right away, and asked Jaxon and Colton to stay with it while we looked quickly down the last aisle. Colton took his job of "claiming" the tree as ours very seriously. He offered to pee on it, thus insuring that no one else would want it after that. We quickly told him no. Then he suggested licking it, and we said, sure. So, this is a picture of Colton licking our tree, to make sure that no one else would take it after his saliva was all over it. The kids were happy with the tree we chose and we had fun decorating it. Since the initial decorating event, we have had to move all the decorations about three feet from the bottom of the tree. It seems a certain 15 month old derives great pleasure from pulling ornaments off of the tree and watching his mom calmly try to grab them from him before they break.


Ella and Colton were so excited to start decorating the tree once we got it home!

My Four Favorite Reasons to be Thankful

These guys are the reason I am most thankful this Thanksgiving. Even though Sean had to work, we had a great Thanksgiving. Our neighborhood had a huge pot luck with tons of fun friends and delicious food. There was eating, talking, chasing kids, more eating, football watching, a little more eating, and then serious strategizing for the next day's early morning shopping spree. The kids had a great time playing with their friends, and my great neighbors adopted me as one of their own while Sean was busy giving epidurals at the hospital.

We celebrated as a family on Saturday, and although my waistline wasn't too happy about two big feasts in less than 72 hours, it was wonderful to sit together and be grateful for each other. Mason, unfortunately, slept through the big meal, but he isn't a huge turkey fan, so he wasn't mad about missing out on the food the first time around. He was awake in time for dessert though, the most important part of the meal!

Twilight Premiere

If you haven't read the Twilight series yet, get off the computer and start reading! I love these books. I admit, I was skeptical when my mother in law introduced me to the first book back when I was getting ready to have Mason. I went into the hospital to be induced with Twilight in my bag. I spent the day waiting to have a baby, and reading frantically. Good thing he wasn't born til 4:00 am the next morning. It was a bit embarrassing to explain to each doctor's question "Whatcha readin'?" with the response, "Teenage vampire love story". I got quite a few weird looks. Anyways, I loved reading them and am proud to say that I have even gotten Sean and Jaxon to read Twilight. My neighborhood was caught up in the Twilight frenzy, with one friend even going to Borders at midnight to get the fourth and final book a few months ago. So, when we heard the movie was coming out, we set a date and told the husbands they needed to make sure they weren't working that night, cuz we were going to see Edward and Bella on the big screen! We had about 14 ladies get together for dinner and the movie, and we had a blast. Was it the best movie ever? Ummm, no, but it was still great and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We even took the whole vampire theme a bit far with a funny picture of us biting each other.