Bumpin' Along With the Burms

Mysterious Reaction

2009-09-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

A few days before Traeton turned eight years old I took he and Addison into the doctor's office for their well-child visits. Everything was routine. Nothing was a surprise. Praise the Lord they are healthy.

Trae and Add each got a shot or two to keep them caught up on their immunizations. No biggie. The next day one of Addison's shot locations became hot and hard. No big deal, we've seen this before. I was not concerned.

The next morning, however, her whole bicep was swollen to the point of splitting the skin. There were also blisters all over the area. I called the doctor's office, a little more concerned. They said 'circle it'. If it gets bigger then we want to see her.

That night Todd, who was on call at the hospital, had me do a drive-by, front-door exam on her. He was very concerned. He said that if the swelling went down into her elbow she'd have to been seen in the ER. Whew, all night I woke every few hours to check her out. We made it through the night.

The next morning we visited the doctor's office. They were not very concerned. They felt it was probably an allergic reaction to the immunization. We covered it up and headed to Estes Park for a camping weekend. By time we got to Estes her whole arm was swollen to the point it was stiff-straight. Weird!

We enjoyed the beautiful mountains, great fellowship with our church group and Todd's 34th birthday. Addison was a trooper! Never once did she complain. She would get frustrated because her balance was off and it was really difficult to climb around with only one working arm.

So the weekend passed and the swelling began to subside. She was good to go, back to normal within a few days.

Todd's next call night, a few days later, her ankle began to get hot and hard. Her ankle and foot swelled so quickly. She was completely unable to walk.

We returned to the doctor the next morning. They had no idea where this was coming from. We had no idea what was going on. The only thing we could think of was it was a major reaction to a bug bite from Estes Park. Bizarre but possible I guess.

Long story short, they sent us to Children's Hospital with a possibility of surgery to release the pressure from the swelling to regain circulation to her foot. We arrived at Children's. It is a beautiful facility. We bounced around all day long from one department to another. No one knew what was happening. No one could give us a diagnosis. We were over-done! Finally at the very, very end of the day we were seen by a team of six dermatologists. Within seconds they identified it as a poison ivy reaction!!!!! What!?!?!?!

They said she got it in Estes Park. Then how do you explain the exact same reaction on her arm the week before Estes Park?

So with that she started some heavy duty steroids and it all disappeared.

Still mysterious. Todd doesn't agree with the poison ivy diagnosis. I just don't know what to believe. I am grateful it is over and so is she!

This is a picture of us sitting in a room at Children's Hospital. Did I mention she was a trooper? She was amazing! I only hope and pray that when I face some mysterious ailment that I can weather it as well as she did.

Traeton Turns Eight!

2009-08-27T23:00:00.000-07:00

Eight is a great age. We are loving eight. Traeton loves being eight. So many things come with eight. Traeton is a proficient reader so he is super helpful in many areas. Traeton is gaining oodles of freedom which he loves. And greater responsibilities which we love. Traeton is a huge help around the house and with the family.

Traeton called most of the shots on his birthday day. For breakfast he had his favorite, cereal mix - a little of everything.

Traeton chose to go see a movie the morning of his big day. No surprise there. But he did have two very special guests, Nana and Bebee, join us which made the whole event even more enjoyable.

We did have to make a quick stop at Wal-Mart for some last-minute birthday party supplies.

Daddy was on a short shift the day of Traeton's birthday so he was home nice and early. This provided the perfect opportunity to open presents before things got crazy at the party. As you can see all his gifts consisted of supplies for a new pet. Traeton had been asking for a new something for a long time. We decided it'd be fun for him to get a guinea pig - a pet all his own.

After opening presents we headed out to dinner at the restaurant of his choice, CB and Potts. We were joined by the grandparents. Here Traeton opened the presents from them which were all super cool. Traeton got a full-size air hockey table which has been lots of fun. He also got a motorized airplane that has yet to be built. Together with his grandpa Traeton will spend the next several years preparing this plane for flight. So much fun!

After eating a quick dinner we hurried home to prepare for the party, the big birthday party!! The theme for this year was Mad Scientist. Traeton personally made all the invitations on his homemade paint spinner. At the party we did all kinds of fun experiments, made goop, exploded things and made our own snack, drink and frosting concoctions to eat. It was a blast!

Due to privacy issues I don't have a lot of pictures I can post. I really want to respect the privacy of all the children who attended so I won't post any pictures of them. But this one is perfect of our master scientist, Dr. Slime.

Happy Birthday, son. We love you.

Mount Holy Cross

2009-08-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

Burrrrrr......

At the tail end of the Burmeister family trip to Durango a few of us split off and hiked deep into the woods to tackle the beautiful and famous Mount (of the) Holy Cross.

Todd and myself along with Tony and Lindsey Brown (Todd's sister and her new-ish husband) left the family for this super adventure. None of us thought to check the weather forecast and we all regretted that in a big way! A big cold-front came thought and dropped the temps to freezing levels. We shivered our way to the top.

This was my first 14-er since before children. It is pretty difficult to tackle a mountain of this size with little ones in tow or on the back. I have put this part of me on hold for this season. Never was that more apparent than when we calculated it took us four hours to summit and three hours to descend. People were passing us all over the place.

Here is a picture of Lindsey and I trying to boulder our way upward through dense clouds. Yes, those are socks on our hands. It was Lindsey's brilliant idea, we needed gloves but had none. Socks were the next best thing. I am so, so thankful for my sock/gloves because our hands were frigid and we needed them for bouldering up and down the mountain.

There is the summit, right behind me!! Can you see it!?!? Neither could we... At times we could just put one foot in front of the other and have faith we were heading the right direction. From time to time climbers coming down would steer us this way or that.

Every once in a while God would open the clouds so we could see across the valley or to the peak. It was pretty incredible. I am glad we made it to the top. There were moments when each one of us second-guessed ourselves and thought we should turn back. This is the second time Todd and I have tackled Mount Holy Cross. The first time we weren't able to make it due to bad weather. This time we prevailed though!!

Oh, in case you are wondering why it is called Mount (of the) Holy Cross it is because when there is snow on the mountain it gathers on a vertical crevice and a horizontal crevice so that the snow forms a beautiful cross.

This is Todd being crazy. No, this is not the summit. This is on the way down, a rock that juts out over a cliff. (The first picture of the four of us together is at the summit.)

Durango Celebration

2009-08-17T22:12:00.000-07:00

Durango, Colorado
A very neat town in far southern Colorado. I have to admit that my expectations were quite low. I didn't really expect that there was much to Durango, let along much in Durango. But I was wrong, and I love that I was wrong.

This June 22 the Burmeisters celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary. For the occasion the whole clan gathered from San Francisco, Chicago and Denver to caravan down south to Durango. It was a great week filled with great memories, isn't that what you really want your family vacation to hold, lots of great memories?

On our way down we swung by the Great Sand Dunes. I was amazed at this gigantic sand box right in the middle of nowhere mountainous terraine.

We had snow sleds to slide down the hills. It took some work but we were finally able to send the kiddos down.

Some of the highlights of our trip included riding the famous Narrow Guage Railroad.

This was especially exciting for Elias.

The train took us up into the mountains outside of Durango to the zipline park called Soaring. It is a one-of-a-kind, largest-in-the-world zipline park. There are 30-some zip rides that take you through the trees, over rock formations and cliffs and over the ginormous Animas River.

This is a picture of Addison and Traeton linking together for a tandem zip over the river.

This is a picture of Traeton and Addison zipping over the Animas River! Exhilerating!

The last night we were together as a family in Durango all of Glen and Jan's children and grandchildren put together a special evening for the lovely couple. We made a gourmet dinner that they enjoyed out on the deck of our cabin as the sun set. All the children took turns serving them and performing for them.
It was very special for us to honor them and their marriage in this way, I hope they enjoyed it as well.

Addison Turns 5!

2009-08-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

Tonight is officially the very last day of summer vacation for our family... Tomorrow morning kicks off our 2009-2010 school year in full swing. Traeton had his first day last Friday but Addison's first day is tomorrow and Elias' first official day is Tuesday. Here we go!!

Our summer turned out to be a lot more than we had expected. As I begin to catch up on the many events of our summer you will see that we sped through our summer at lightening speed!

Alas, I step back in time to Addison's fifth birthday. It landed on a Monday. As birthday tradition goes in the Burmeister home the birthday girl/boy gets to dictate much of how the day runs. This begins with their choice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. One of which will be out at the restaurant of their choice. For breakfast Addie chose cold cereal, of course! The most sugar she can consume in one sitting is bliss for this little girl.

After breakfast we went to get her haircut. This was a very big deal because it was finally time to cut her hair back to one length. You see when I was gone in the Philippines last fall Addison took the scissors to her own hair. She took a chunk out so short it took seven months to grow long enough to even it out.

Afterward we went to her all-time favorite restaurant for lunch, Gunther Toody's! We had so much fun sitting at the bar, playing cheesy games and slurping chocolate shakes!

That evening we celebrated Addie's birthday at Pump It Up! It was a wild time with lots of jumping, sliding and sweating! Addie invited friends from school, our small group and our neighborhood. It was so much fun and great exercise, too.

Shared Father's Day

2009-07-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Father's Day this year was a very special one for not only the fathers of our family but for Addison as well. As I mentioned a few posts ago it is 'All About A' and that theme continues as this Father's Day fell the day before her big fifth birthday. Since we had the whole family together we decided it would be a good time for her to receive her birthday gifts from them.

With the arrival of her fifth birthday came time for her to receive the most special gift this side of heaven - a handmade doll house from my dad, her Papa. He began the project right around her first birthday and for the past four years he has been working on this masterpiece. It is completely made from scratch! Every little detail was placed, painted, glued, nailed by hand. It is truly a work of art. My dad invested countless hours in this gift of all gifts.

He even had a plaque engraved with the house's address:
62204 Addie's Way (62204 being her birthday, June, 22, 2004)
The address is attached to one of the front steps.

My dad made sure each member of our family had their own bedroom in the doll house. Addie has the largest room of course, complete with pink princess wall paper. Elias and Traeton each have their own rooms with their names on the wall and our room (the master) is the tiniest but in my opinion the most beautiful.

After Add opened all her gifts which consisted mainly of doll house furniture and
characters we enjoyed dinner as a big family at our local Japanese steakhouse. Delicious! The children had a blast as all their food was prepared in front of them.

Catching Up To Do

2009-07-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

By reviewing my last post I can see that I have a lot of catching up to do. We have been going non-stop since those last posts so there is a ton I need to write about. Please stay 'posted' (hehe) for upcoming posts to catch you all up on our fabulous Summer of 2009!!

The Next Morning....

2009-06-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

After Addison's big graduation night we woke and hustled out the door to the 24th annual Firetruck Brigade. This was a new event to us. We heard much about it from friends at preschool. It was everything they explained and tons more.

The Brigade begins with a firetruck parade complete with blaring sirens. There are dozens of trucks organized chronologically beginning with the oldest and finishing with modern-day trucks.

As the trucks finished with the parade they took up position in the Arapaho Community College parking lot. The newer trucks put up their ladders. This was an amazing sight! The picture doesn't do this justice. These trucks are powerful! We watched them as they raised them, there was something majestic about the whole thing.

Traeton, Addison and Elias had the opportunity to spray a hose...

climb on antique fire engines...

dress up as a firefighter....

get up close and personal with the 'jaws of life'...ride an antique engine, watch a few demonstrations and have tons of fun!

Next year is the 25th anniversary of this event. I was told that next year Denver will be hosting the national Firetruck Brigade so there will be over 300 engines. Pretty cool, I am marking our calendar right now to ensure we won't miss.

All About A.

2009-06-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

It has truly been all about A, which in my opinion, is a great thing. Beginning on Friday Addison rose to the spotlight of our family and stayed there for many days. As you can see by the pictures Addison has successfully completed preschool and graduated with much pomp and circumstance Friday evening.

Addison just recieved her mortar board and diploma. She shared with the audience that when she grows up she wants to be an artist.

This is Addison with her teacher and grandmother, Mrs. Ready. I was told she worked very hard to call her Mrs. Ready durning school but often slipped and called her Nana.

Team Burmeister so, so proud of our little graduate!

School's Out, Let's Roadtrip!!

2009-06-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

SUCCESS! We have now completed our second family road trip of 2009. This time we traveled across the uninhabited state of Wyoming to the north western corner where God created the incredibly beautiful and mind boggling underground (at this moment in time) volcano called Yellowstone.

We traveled with our dear friends, the Bisping family. We each had our own RV. Yes, this is everything the Bispings packed and brought laying on the ground next to our RV. Due to some scheduling and logistic issues we had to do some fancy loading and unloading and reloading.

Early one morning we stoked up the campfire and roasted s'mores. Yep, after breakfast because the night before we landed in our campsite way after bedtime which also means way after s'mores time.

Bison are HUGE and bison are EVERYWHERE in Yellowstone. The first day or so we'd stop for every sighting, near or far. After the first day we quickly learned there are thousands of bison in the park. There is no need to throw on the brakes every time a bison came into view thus causing major traffic jams on the thin two-lane roads.

Never-the-less to be so near the largest mammal in the North America is completely awe-some

"Yes, baby boys, turn your backs on the ginormous animal behind you, look at me and smile!!" These animals could crush these baby boys with a single snort from their nostrils. It is an amazing amount of trust to turn their backs to the bison, scoot backwards toward it (I kept pushing Elias closer to it) then casually smile at the camera - CRAZY!!

With a slight turn of our head to the left or right we'd move from God's great bison to one of the most powerful volcanoes of our time simmering beneath our feet. This geyser is called 'Dragon's Mouth' because of the sound it makes as it releases built-up pressure.

Does he look bored? Yes, there are hundreds of geysers in the park but come on each one is so unique!

Yes, we are wearing coats and gloves! The weather was still quite chilly. Every day we saw every sort of weather from the warm sun to sprinkling rain to driving rain to sleet to snow. We even drove through blizzard conditions over a mountain pass late one night as we tried to get back to our campsite!! If I had to do it again I would still go up early June as the park was pretty empty.

One of our most favorite things about our trip to Yellowstone was seeing all the wildlife. This little herd of mountain goats stopped us still. The baby danced back and forth over the road as the adults casually grazed on the grass along the edges of the pavement.

The waterfalls were powerful.

Addie wouldn't go near the red dirt. She truly thought it was disgusting. There were beautiful colors everywhere, in the dirt, on the rocks and in the water. The volcanic activity and chemicals cause all kinds of different reactions to various elements.

Our grand finale was to visit Old Faithful. Here is the whole gang, drenched from a down pore minutes before the eruption of good ol' O.F.

Dinner Time Conversation

2009-05-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

Tonight at dinner was one of those times that really makes me proud to be the mama of our three little treasures! I am seeing the fruits of my labor and it feels great!

As we often do during dinner conversation I threw out a question to the children. Tonight's question was: "What is your favorite Bible verse?"

Traeton immediately answered without missing a beat, "In God We Trust!!"
Hmmmmm, the verse that is printed on our currency?!?!? Oh, my, at least it has to do with God.

Addison went next, "What is a Bible verse???"

And so it ended, just as quickly as it began.

Another Uplifting Conversation...

2009-05-15T21:10:00.007-07:00

As a parent I take my job extremely seriously. I devote that largest part of my day to our children, helping them to be all God has created them to be. I also spend tireless hours developing myself as a mother, reading, studying, praying and conversing with other mothers in my same stage.

It is very disappointing when conversations happen like the one I posted a few days ago entitled: "Dinner Time Conversation".

I was comforted by a dear friend of mine as she shared a recent conversation with her children.

Speaking of a fabulously touching, meaningful conversation with children:

On Mother's Day, we're driving out of church.
Dad: "Let's all give 10 reasons why we're so glad Mommy is our Mommy. Cole? Why don't you start."
Cole: "Uh....."
Dad: "OK, what about the great things she cooks?"
Lacey: "Uh...."
Mom: "Anyone?? Anyone??"
Children: "Uh....well, uh...."

And thus the conversation ended.

Tooth Fairy Failure!

2009-05-15T21:10:00.004-07:00

What happens to a mama and daddy when they fail at the very simple job of being a tooth fairy!?!? Todd and I found out very early this morning...

Traeton lost his third tooth yesterday afternoon. We had a crazy, busy evening with Growing Kids God's Way, rushed bath time and several other little things. I admit I completely FORGOT about the tooth! It is quite amazing that I did forget because most of his classmates have lost 6-8 teeth and this was only his third - quite a momentous occasion - especially since the last time he lost a tooth was almost two years ago. Loosing teeth is not something that happens here very often!

Anyway... It is about 5:30 a.m. I am just getting Elias his morning coffee (hot cocoa) and getting ready to put him in front of Sesame Street for 30 minutes so I can find a moment alone with the Lord before our day gets rolling too fast for me to catch it.

Traeton's skinny little bod slinks around the corner in a very down-trodden way. This is NOT my boy, I know immediately that something is not right. The fact that he entered the room silently was alone enough to alert me that something was amiss. Traeton is the loudest moving child ever to exist, we call him 'Thumper' because he runs, jumps and thumps everywhere he goes. Every single morning I know he is awake not because I can see him but because I can hear him.

Even after this odd entrance I am still completely oblivious to the fact that I forgot the tooth! Then he opens his little hand and his itty-bitty tooth is sitting in his palm and the tears begin to roll. 'She forgot me.' He says. The pit arrives in my stomach. He was so, so excited for this.

My mind races, 'how can I fix this??' I grab my phone, I will text Todd who is still upstairs getting ready. He can rush in and put something under the pillow while I distract Traeton. I have half the text written when Traeton sobbingly says, 'I am going to tell Daddy that the tooth fairy forgot me.' Crumb, what do I do now...

As soon as Todd and I have moment alone we begin scheming - after we admit we are the most rotten parents ever - about how to fix the situation. Todd has the grand idea of pulling out a 'bigger' gift from the gift cabinet and put it into his backpack with a note saying, "Sorry Traeton, this was waaaaay too big to fit under your pillow, I hope you don't mind that I left it in your backpack instead." So into the backpack goes the gift with the note.

Traeton eventually discovers it all and doesn't believe, even for a second! He was totally on to us. Todd, being the very black and white kind of man he is couldn't pull off the lie and admitted the whole thing, guilty. So now Traeton knows the tooth fairy does not exist and he knows that we totally forgot him and his tooth last night.

Parenting is so hard. Can I get an 'Amen'?

Pool Opening Party - part III

2009-05-15T21:10:00.002-07:00

So this morning everything was a go! All the food ready, the volunteers showed up and worked hard, the weather was beautiful! Perfect setting for a pool opening party.

The party was slated to begin at 12 noon. At 11:30 I run home to heat the Chick-Fil-A nuggets. I am home for just a few minutes when the phone rings and I am told someone pooped in the pool! Thirty minutes to go time - poop in the pool! The pool is emptied of all warm bodies. Emergency phone calls were made. Pool people show up and measured the chemicals - they add chemicals - we wait 30 minutes - they shock the pool (more chemicals) - we wait another 30 minutes. Finally the party ends at 3 p.m. with the pool still closed!

I have a marg in hand and I am heading out back to sit in the sun and read a book.

Here's to the 2009 Weatherstone Pool Opening Party!

Pool Opening Party - part II

2009-05-15T21:10:00.001-07:00

I don't have much time to write. Todd is waiting for me to watch a show with him, one of our many, many recorded shows.

Anyway, it is Saturday evening. The pool party did not happen today. We are on for tomorrow. I just wanted to share that today's weather was absolutely gorgeous! We could have easily had the party. As a matter of fact the pool was packed all day!

I know I am whining...but it is what it is....

Pool Opening Party

2009-05-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

As a Weatherstone Block Captain we are required to help host one event a year. For the past few years my event has been the pool opening party. I don't know why, we are not huge pool people. Probably because I am perfectly fine being at the pool for several hours during the event, not wearing a suit and working the event.

It is pretty easy and this year will be much easier since we are having the food brought in by outside vendors. In years past we've rented a ginormous grill, had hots and hams donated and found volunteer grillers to grill the whole time! Ugh!

Anyway, this will be the sixth year (not my sixth year) of the event. It was scheduled for tomorrow 12-noon to 3 p.m. Yes, I say was because we changed it! The weather forecast for tomorrow is rotten, windy, cold and rainy. Easy decision, right?? Well, the hitch was that today was absolutely beautiful! One of those days that you think, how in the world could tomorrow be so bad that we'd have to cancel the event?? I mowed the lawn and got a sunburn! It was very difficult to make the call but we did.

And now as I am typing this post the rain is pecking at the window. The cold front has arrived, whew! I don't think I've ever been so grateful for a cold front to arrive as I am right now.

So, the Pool Opening Party is now going to be Sunday, same time, same place, different day!

Loving Spring!

2009-05-13T22:23:00.000-07:00

Spring is the best, isn't it?!?!

I love spring because it is a joy to see everything come back to life. Every fall and winter I seriously doubt whether or not our flowers and shrubs and fruits will come back but they do every spring, much to my surprise! This spring our strawberries are so lush and filled with baby berries! Our challenge now is to keep the birds away so we can actually enjoy them.

Yesterday we planted a cherry tree and today Todd planted an apple tree. I have wanted fruit trees in our yard for a very long time and after being in Portland with my friend, Lisa, I got motivated to get it done! We still want a few more but they aren't the cheapest things around so we may have to wait until next year for those.

I love spring because I love seeing my babies' short, fat little legs in shorts. Winter is a long time to have thier little limbs covered with clothes. I love to see them enjoying the warm weather with thier white little legs and arms running around everywhere.

I love spring because I love open windows with the fresh breeze floating through the house.

I love spring because there are birds everywhere sharing their music as they come and go.

Thank you, Jesus, for the seasons. There is a time for every season and a season for every time.

I Should Be....

2009-04-23T22:22:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning I am hopping on a plane and flying west to visit a dear friend of mine who now lives in Battle Ground, Washington. I should be upstairs packing and putting the final little things in my carry-on but here I am playing around with my silly blog! You know I have been having some big-time blog-envy, not healthy at all! So I humbled myself, admitted my covetousness and asked for help from a friend who's blog is absolutely adorable. She shared some of her tricks and so I have been doing my best to employ them. What do you think?

snowed in!

2009-04-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

This is what our house looked like yesterday afternoon. At this point it had rained for almost 24 hours then turned to snow Friday morning. By 11 a.m. the Traeton's school called and said, "Come get your child immediately." So with that we began our comfy, cozy weekend at home drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows, eating Easter candy, reading stories, playing in the snow and having snowball fights and making a snowman. We still have to hit the sledding hill. Because this is a spring snow it is very, very wet and heavy - pretty much slush. Everyone's snow clothes are so wet, dripping actually, it takes a long time for them to dry for the next outing.

This is Todd and the children shoveling the driveway the first time. We have shoveled it several times since.

Elias did his best to help out but he still hasn't figured out how to put his thumbs in the thumb-holes of his gloves. This puts him at an extreme disadvantage, not having thumbs to pick up the shovel.

When school let out we brought home two neighbor friends to hang out with us for the afternoon. We had tons of fun painting rocks, pictures and making mosaics. Good times had by all!

Todd, Traeton, Addison and Elias are itching to hit the hot tub right now. Everyone is suited out except for me. Since it is not Todd's favorite thing to take our three little jack rabbits into the hot tub alone I should sign off to join them.

Rob This Day?

2009-04-10T06:00:00.001-07:00

I woke this morning later than I prefer and by our two-year-old, a double whammy. This is not my ideal way to begin the day. I like to be up before our children so I can steal some time to myself with our Lord. It is the only quiet, unruffled time of the day.

I also woke with my head swirling with all the 'stuff' of life. Stuff I am doing and stuff I am not doing. Stuff I am pleased with and stuff with which I am not pleased. Stuff I would rather be doing and coveting others because they are. I am stuck in a worldly mindset this morning.

That mindset is not a good place to be settled ever but especially on the morning of Good Friday! As I poured out my frustrations to the Lord (Elias was happily stationed in front of Sesame Street and Traeton was restlessly reading in his room) the Holy Spirit showed me that this is all spiritual warfare... Satan is distracting me from the most important focus of the day. Satan is trying to rob this day from Jesus Christ who suffered this day for all of us. Satan is doing what he does best as the father of lies and that is tricking me into thinking all the stuff of this life is more important than the stuff of heaven.

So with a refocused perspective and a fresh view of the day I am choosing to ignore Satan and his wiles and instead focus on our Savior.

Let this be a day of clear perspective for you as well.

Antiquated Already?

2009-04-09T21:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends...

I believe I have figured out my animosity with my blog! For months and months I have been vowing to spend more time blogging, to use our blog as a more consistent way to keep in touch, to go deeper with the content of my posts and to ultimately glorify our Lord through this avenue.

But after months of trying to figure out how to change the look of our blog, to add precious backgrounds and graphics I admit defeat. I just cannot figure out how to change the elements on our page. I view lots of super creative blogs with all kinds of personal touches but how in the world do they add them! I can barely add pictures and I am sure I am doing something wrong there because of all the steps I have to go through to get them up.

I am totally embarrassed to admit that I just don't get it. I am quite worried the technology world sped by me years ago and is travelling so rapidly I may never catch up! This is so humbling but I think I may be antiquated already. Barely in my thirties and clueless on how to add personality to our family blog. Can anyone tell me how to get rid of that silly '565' in the headers of this new template?

Alrighty then, now that I have vented I am feeling like I can move onto stuff you all actually care about.

Our spring / winter breaks were fabulous. Both Addison and Traeton have returned to school. While they were home we packed our days with lots of stuff, some fun and busy and some lazy and without much direction. With each passing break from Stone Mountain Elementary (fall, winter and spring) I find that I am supremely satisfied with our modified traditional schedule. Two weeks for each break allows for one week of travel and one week of recovery/down-time.

That is exactly what our spring break looked like this year. Our first week was spent in Surprise, Arizona with my parents. We drove down which marked our first official family road trip. I had the whole drive built-up in my head as a pending horror film but I was extremely pleased as it turned out to be a lot of fun.

This was also Todd's first time to experience Surprise. I say experience because it is truly an experience. My parent's house is in a retirement community. It is extremely clean, quiet and slow. I find it a place of true refreshment and Traeton sees it as the perfect place to live once he flies the coup. Poor baby will have to someday understand in order to live in this area one must be at least 55 years of age.

I will leave you with some pictures of our time there...

Thanks for visiting.

Burmeister Debrief

2009-03-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

Can it be, can it really be that March is already half way over? We have had an extremely busy few weeks, so much so that I am going to have to bullet-point to keep this from turning into a novel.

*Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day! This was never a significant holiday for us Burms but this year it has taken on a whole new meaning with Trae's first grade teacher, Mrs. O'Dougherty! It has been all about leprechauns her at home and at school. Trae and Add have built two traps to catch these little stinkers. They leave notes every night. They've even left snacks for our guest! While they haven't caught a leprechaun they've had a lot of fun playing the game. Our little green friend 'Lep' will be sadly missed after the 17th passes.

*Two weeks ago Elias began climbing out of his crib!! Along with this new found freedom came the realization that the second his eyes pop open he can hit the ground running! Naps are becoming scarce and in the morning he is up and exploring around 4:45-5:15 every day!! We are going crazy! I think the little man sleeps less than I do some days. Yep, we've switched the lock on his bedroom door but he has been able to work is way out the sliding pocket door into his bathroom. One morning after riding his trike around in the dark for a bit he decided to head out back to play and set the house alarm off at 5:30 a.m.!! It was still pitch black outside!!

*Two weekends ago we had the privilege of watching Ryan and Carly again. Their Daddy and Mama took a night away to some well deserved R&R. Ryan and Carly were such a joy to have around. They loved to be outside and probably spent most of their time running circles in our backyard. That is perfectly fine since our three joined in! It was great!

*Traeton has had two field trips within the past few weeks. I joined the whole first grade on the second which was to the Botanical Gardens. Hmmmm.... all I have to say is that it is quite clear why I have all silks in our home and why my thumb is definitely not green! I truly have no interest in botany!

*Addison is still on winter break! I am going to miss her terribly when she goes back to school in just a few weeks. She has been in swimming lessons since being out of school and she absolutely loves it! We go to a swim school that teaches swimming with a current. It is different but she seems to do well with it.

*Traeton is on another kick, robot building and anything electronic. He has disassembles several broken things (small boom box, keyboard, cell phone, and the list goes on) just to figure out how it all works! He has even been picking up extra jobs around the house to earn money to buy robot kits. Poor thing, Todd and I have no knowledge of electronics what-so-ever so he is eternally frustrated with us because we just can't make a robot that does something!!

*A few weeks ago Todd and I, along with our small group, began Growing Kids God's Way. Tomorrow night is night three.... Unfortunately we will have to miss as we are taking Traeton to the Newsboys concert. But even after the first two weeks it is painfully clear that we have a lot of work to do with these three jack rabbits. We have made some big mistakes in letting basic things slide, ie. manners, and now we have to backtrack a very long way to get it all straightened out.

*This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting a baby shower for a dear friend who is expecting a son. It was a very nice party where we served brunch to all the guests. I hope it was a blessing to her and everyone who came.

*Just four more days until we leave for our spring break trip to Arizona. Watch out Surprise, here we come! Get ready to rumble....the Burmeister children will shake things up, that is for sure. The quiet, peaceful retirement community trembles when our three come into town. They've been known to do some pretty outrageous things like steal lemons off the next door neighbor's lemon tree. Oooooo.....

*This will be our longest ever family road trip. I am beginning to freak out! I would like to take the shortest route from home to there and back again to reduce the 'togetherness' in the van but Todd just mentioned tonight that he thinks it would be fun to 'swing by' the Grand Canyon!!!! WHAT?!?!?! I do not recall that being on Map Quest's directions. Hmmmm, probably because it is NOT!

Thanks for hangin' with me... ERB

Blogging World

2009-02-24T20:47:00.000-08:00

It is bedtime. I have been catching up on blogs for almost two hours now! My eyes are blurry, my neck is stiff and I have an incredible amount of information flowing through my head. I'm sure I'll subconsciously dump it all sometime in the night. There are some incredible blogs out there. People are so creative, so smart, so interesting. I could read blogs all day long.

I would love to know how to add music to my blog. One blog I visit plays all kinds of amazing music. It makes reading her blog so much more emotional, very powerful.

I would also like to be more bold in my blog, more me. I would like to show my true colors a little more. Many of the blogs I follow are impressive in an opinionated way. I love reading the things people are passionate about. Passion is powerful.

But right now I am going to bed. I will tackle this tomorrow in between speech therapy, piano and AWANA.

Over A Mountain and IN the Woods...

2009-02-19T15:04:00.000-08:00

If you keep up with this sluggish blog you might remember my last post about our fabulously, fantastic weekend in Winter Park. So much about that weekend was amazing but there was a fraction of it that was absolutely rotten! I could go on and on about the great memories we made but it would take only a second to explain what was the sour part.

This leads me to the point of this post. That weekend pushed Todd and I to our parenting limit. At one point during that weekend I seriously questioned if I was properly hired to raise our three vibrant blessings. Surely God overestimated me and my abilities. I truly felt that all my efforts of the past 7.5 years were for not. Not a single thing I had taught my children worked or presented itself that last night. Okay, maybe the lesson on how to dress themselves properly but it ended there. Manners, respect, boundaries, all of it out the window!

Upon returning to town I quickly made an appointment with one of the popular family counselors in our area. Today was my first visit. She diagnosed the problem in about 2.2 minutes and spent the rest of our visit giving me a plethora of ideas on how to work with our strong willed child a.k.a. Traeton Burmeister.

One piece of advice she had was to talk to everyone I could about their strong willed child and what tricks have worked for them. So, if you have any experience with a strong willed child or are one yourself will you please reply to this post with a trick or two or ten about what has worked for you. She said the longer list I can compile the better because as we all know things only work with these children a day or two before they've mastered it and moved on to the next challenge.

Deepest thanks from this mama who has made it 'over a few mountains but is still IN the woods'.

Over the Mountains and Through the Woods!

2009-02-13T14:16:00.000-08:00

Over the mountains and through the woods is how our family spent this past weekend. We were blessed to be able to stay at the Burms condo for several days this past Friday through Tuesday. We spent our weekend with dear friends who have two little boys which brought our grand total to nine people in a small two-bedroom condo. We shared some fun, fun moments but we also shared some stressful, chaotic moments. It is a weekend that I will treasure for years to come as we did some pretty cool stuff.

Our first day in Winter Park we headed to the tubing hill in Frasher. Total BLAST!!! If you have never been put this on your 'must do' list for the near future. The amount of speed one reaches while flying down the hill has to be illegal!! Traeton had his own tube but Addison and Elias had to ride in our laps because they were too young to fly by themselves.

The next two days the children spent in ski/snowboard school. Traeton has been asking to learn how to snowboard so we thought, 'hey, why not' and signed him up. He took to it very well which should be no surprise since he is a great skateboarder. Addison didn't fare so well, she made it very clear to all of us that she does NOT like skiing and had no interest in hitting the slopes again. She spent the next day in the condo with the baby boys. Hopefully someday she'll learn to like it because I am certain as soon as Elias is old enough to put some boards on his feet he'll never look back. She might be pretty lonely in the lodge all by herself.

The Whole Day...

2009-01-24T06:42:00.000-08:00

It is currently 7:45 a.m. Saturday morning, January 24th. Todd left for work an hour ago and won't be home for another 24 hours. This is the third Saturday he has worked this month. Saturdays that Todd works stink. They stink because Saturdays are family days and without him our family is not complete. We don't usually have much to do on Saturdays because I do our 'chore' shopping during the week and our children are still too young for all the sports that usually fill Saturday schedules. So, right now, at this moment our day is wide open...

All three children have been playing in amazing harmony for over 30 minutes in Elias' room. They are building and rebuilding Geo train tracks. Todd and I agree GeoTrax are the best toy investment we have ever made! We began collecting GeoTrax when Traeton was three years old and now he is 7 1/2 and still loves them. Even Addison is a GeoTrax fan. Traeton is usually the engineer who designs and builds the track while Addison and Elias wait patiently or sometimes not so patiently to run the trains.

Traeton had a teacher-in-service day yesterday, Friday, so we headed down to the National Western Stock Show. BeBee, Great Grandma Schilling, the children and myself spent a large chunk of the day exploring the grounds. We didn't do a rodeo this year, we are on the 'every other year plan' for rodeo attendance. This is because by time we sit through 1.5-2 hours of the rodeo the kids are beat. We wanted to take our time this year to see all the sheep, pigs, cows, horses, mules and donkeys we could!! What a rich experience for them!

We also spent a fair share of our time shopping the booths. Trae and Add had their money burning in their hands for that super special stock show toy. Traeton chose a whole weaponry set complete with rifle, pistols, handcuffs, bandit mask, and much, much more. After we got him outfitted he was feelin' like he could take on any 'Bad Guy' who would dare come his way.

We love the National Western Stock Show. This is the last weekend in case you think you might want to visit!

2009-01-22T13:53:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends...

I owe you all a new post. It has been way too long and lots has happened around here in the past week.

I did finish the silly Twilight series, what an experience that was. It has been over a week, Todd and I saw the movie and I have now moved on with life. Interesting affect that had on me but it is now part of my past, whew!

Eleven days ago my grandmother passed away. She was very special to me because she and my Grandpa were the family with whom we spent all our holidays. She has been on the decline for the past year at least so her passing is a good thing. I am not sad, I do not miss her, death is a good thing for those who know Jesus Christ as their savior. I will see her again when my time on this earth is finished.

I am sad for my Grandpa, however, as he is missing her greatly and is broken without her. They were married for 61 years and still best of friends. Last year, for their sixtieth anniversary, we had a huge family reunion. What a blessing to have that time with them to celebrate their lives, their marriage and their legacy. He truly didn't think he'd outlive her so this is an unexpected situation in which he finds himself. Our prayer is that time will dull the pain some and he will find himself a life worth living in his remaining years.

If you believe in prayer please pray for him when thoughts of him cross your mind.

ERB

Hiatus...

2009-01-08T19:11:00.001-08:00

I truly cannot believe that we just sent out our Christmas letter notifying everyone of our family blog and asked you all to drop by and visit. Then a few days before New Years, completely unaware of what I was about to embark, I began reading the Twilight series.

It is now January 8th and I have read over 1000 pages of an amazing love story. I am completely hooked and cannot wait until the next chance I have to read. I have never experienced addiction but I imagine this is what it'd feel like on an psychological level. I will sit for hours at night after the kids are in bed and read. My eyes never get heavy. The latest I stayed up was 1:30 a.m. and the earliest I've turned off the light after reading was 10:45. I read no less than 2 hours every night and sneak it in during the day when I can. I think about the characters and the storyline all the time. My poor husband has been completely neglected.

So until I can plow through the rest of book three and all of book four I may not be back to post anything. There is plenty to write about though... Yesterday for instance when Elias ate who-knows-how-much toothpaste while I was preparing breakfast. Shortly after I discovered him he began vomiting toothpaste over and over. Then the diarrhea started...I thought he may have rota virus considering he had been exposed and how it presented itself. Next Elias took my brand new cell phone and sent it for a swim. It is completely toasted!!! Thank goodness the diarrhea did not continue today. Todd and I assume it was an ill reaction to the toothpaste snack.

Traeton's Junior Piano Program

2008-12-30T18:56:00.000-08:00

Traeton has been studying piano and everything about piano for two-and-a-half years. We go every week for an hour to the music school, Children's Music Academy. It is an amazing program. I am still, after two-and-a-half years, quite impressed with it and everything about it.

A few days before CHRISTmas Traeton and his classmates performed their first program. The students were able to show-off all their hard work through solos, playing as a group, performing songs they wrote themselves, playing games that demonstrated thier ear training, their recognition of notes through three octives and nearly all musical symbols. Yes, I am very, very proud of Traeton. It has been a lot of hard work for him, for myself (since I did not know how to play the piano before this) and for our relationship.

Here are a few pictures of Traeton at his program.

Thank you to all our supportive family who attended his program. We are also greatful to each one of you who have taken him to class from time to time and helped him practice. Each one of you is a piece in his puzzle of success.

One Of My Favorite Christmas Traditions!

2008-12-16T20:18:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday afternoon BeBee (my mother-in-law, Jan) and Great Grandma Schilling (Jan's mother) came to our home for the afternoon to make Christmas cookies with the children.

They've been doing this for many years. It began when we lived away from home and they would travel to see us for the holidays. While BeBee was staying with us she'd make cookies with/for the children. Well, now that we are living back home we've kept up the tradition but without the expensive plane tickets.

This is, without a doubt, one of my most favorite holiday traditions. I know you're thinking this is true because of the plates and plates of cookies we have afterward, but you are only half right. The recipe they use is a family recipe passed down from Great Grandma Schilling. It is amazing and the time spent with their grandmothers is a treasure that will never perish. Thanks so much Grandma and BeBee!

Pretty Near Perfect Thanksgiving!

2008-12-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

There isn't much I would have changed about this Thanksgiving. It was a blessing through and through. We hosted at our home with the Burmeisters, Readys and some dear friends, the Schrocks.

>There were four generation present. The youngest at the party was Elias at two years and a few months and the eldest was my mom's dad, Bud, who is 88 years old. There were actually three great grandparents in attendance. In addition to Grandpa Bud was my dad's dad, Harold Ready, and Todd's mom's mom, Marian Schilling. Whew!

At one point we tried to take family photos.

My favorite pics are when there is total mayhem happening with the subjects of the picture. Most of the time is the children trying to wiggle out of the picture and the parents trying to make silly noises and faces or promising crazy things to get them to stay, bribery, hmmm...

Except for the turkey that took about an hour longer to cook than I had originally calculated the day was blissful, a pretty near perfect Thanksgiving. Oh, yea, and except for the well-intentioned idea of having Traeton and Addison help with serving the meal to our guests. The hope was that they'd catch the vision of serving others, especially our guests, and how wonderful it feels to do so and how it makes our guests feel. When Addison and I barely made it around with the soup I figured this may be more challenging than I had thought through but as soon as Traeton grabbed the red jello and headed for the dining room I knew this was a totally stupid idea!!

Until next time...

Bangkok, Thailand

2008-11-09T16:17:00.001-08:00

Hello Friends!

I have now been in Southeast Asia for five days. In that short time I landed in the Philippines, flew to Thailand for a whirlwind tour of a gigantic city that could easily take weeks to visit, and now back to the Philippines.

I am having a difficult time downloading pictures from my camera to the Gooden's computer so these are not my favorite pictures but they'll have to do.

The first morning we were in Bangkok we toured the most famous part of the city, the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace consists of several temples, meeting halls and the old residence of the Thailand king, Rama IX. Within the Grand Palace is the most famous Buddha Thailand has, the Emerald Buddha, made completely of one piece of jade. While is was very beautiful it was no bigger than a medium sized dog. This was very surprising to me since the anticipation of seeing the Buddha was built to a very exciting high. It has different outfits that it wears according to the season. Right now is the 'rainy season' so it wears its rainy season shawl.

It was fascinating for me to watch hundreds of people worship this figure with their whole hearts, mind and soul. Outside of the Emerald Buddha's temple was another area to worship and offer sacrifices. This was also fascinating since the people were literally praying to a golden calf!! Just like the exiles Moses was leading out of Egypt! Their sacrifices were of fruit, incense and we even saw a chickens, pigs and ducks (already dead) offered!

The picture of me with the people in costume and on the elephant were taken that night, after we spent the day touring around the temples. We went to the world's tallest stage, they're in the Guiness Book of World Records, for a Filipino show. It was awesome! The costumes, the choreography the music were all amazing. I really enjoyed it even though it was extremely difficult to stay awake!! Riding the elephant was way cool! Curt and I went and took little Jones for his first elephant ride.

In case I didn't mention it the Goodens took along their baby, Jones, he is 10 weeks old and this was his fourth country to visit since he was born!! He was such a great baby to travel with, he napped on and off everywhere we went. Julie planned the whole trip she did a great job. There were 15 people in on the tour (trip) total. It was great getting to know all their new friends who are also American working here in the Philippines for various reasons and for various lengths of time.

I think I should sign out for now! Sending my love from Manila, Philippines. ERB

And they're off...

2008-10-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

This morning before the sun arose I pulled Traeton out of bed to shower and hit the road to Juarez, Mexico for his very first mission trip! He and Todd are joining a very large group, about 57, from our Sunday school class to build houses for the extremely impoverished in Juarez.

Todd and Trae have been working toward this trip for quite a while and Traeton is beyond excited to do God's work! He is bubbling over with anticipation. I pray his little perspective on life would be rocked and he would never again fall into the self-righteous mindset in which he currently lives, not unlike most seven-year-olds in Highlands Ranch, CO.

I will post pictures as soon as I have them!

Also, I have neglected to post that I, myself, will be leaving the country. Next week, on election day and Lisa Bowden's birthday, I will be taking off for the Philippines and Thailand. I will be spending 11 days with my childhood friend, Julie Gooden and her family. They're living in Manila for a few years and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to visit this part of the world, a part I may never again be able to go.

Busy times in the Burmeister home!

Pierced with Pride

2008-10-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

Today I had the privilege of hearing Fern Nichols speak. Mrs. Nichols is the founder of Moms In Touch, a prayer organization for mothers of students, any age, any 'grade'. The purpose of Moms In Touch is to cover every school in the world with prayer one school at a time. Ideally, each and every school is covered in prayer by a small group of mothers whose children attend that school. Naturally, my Moms In Touch prayer group is for Stone Mountain Elem, Traeton's school.

One focus of her talk today was on pride, the root of every sin. Pretty hefty statement, eh?

This is what constitutes pride:
A prideful person:
-is confident in how much they know and flaunts it
-focuses on other's failures
-puts others on probation and waits for them to fall again
-can't bear to fail or have others see them less than perfect
-is a work-a-holic or a perfectionist
-drives others
-places unrealistic expectations on self and others
-tries to control people and circumstances
-independent spirit who does it all because others can't do it good enough
-doesn't think they have anything to repent
-must prove I am right
-must have the last word, 'I told you so'
-desires to be known as successful
-doesn't want their sin discovered
-wounded when others get credit or is overlooked
-elated by praise
-deflated by criticism

What constitutes a broken/humble person:
A humble person:

-admits they don't know it all
-doesn't try to have an answer for everything
-accepts limitations
-focuses on own spiritual needs
-trusts in God and waits on him to act
-gives up the right to hurt back
-dependant spirit
-admits just can't do it all
-willing to yield the right to be right
-desires to make others successful
-willing to be exposed
-seeks forgiveness
-has a continual heart of repentance
-any received praise belongs to Christ
-criticism makes them a better person
-doesn't try to justify criticism

Oh, wow, sigh... Unfortunately I carry far more of the prideful traits than the humble ones. The characteristics of a humble person are not completely foreign to me. I know this is what I strive to be, broken and humble and sometimes it is true of me. But more often I self-righteously walk around pierced with pride.

Lord, renew a right spirit within me...

Playin' Hokey

2008-10-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

This Tuesday we played hokey! All five of us just completely cut out for the day. Well, almost all of us, Todd was post call so he had the day off anyway and Elias has no commitments so he really didn't cut out on anything. But the rest of us did! It was exhilarating!

Traeton has had a very tough year so far, his teacher has been out of school for a whole month with pneumonia so they've had some subs in and out of his room. The long-term sub was doing a great job and just getting the class caught-up when she fell and broke her ankle! More subs... So Tuesday we kept him out of school and out of the chaos of the sub-led classroom.

I missed my Tuesday morning Beth Moore study and Addison missed piano class.

This is what we did!

Why The Guilt???

2008-09-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

It is three o'clock in the afternoon. In 45 minutes I have to walk down the block to Traeton's school and pick him up. I have had Elias down for almost two hours and Addison fell asleep one hour ago. I have yet to complete one single thing off my growing 'to do' list. I have checked my email, I have caught up on Facebook and now I am posting on our blog. None of these things, in my mind, are productive ways to spend the afternoon. So, as a result I feel terribly guilty that I have wasted away this time.

WHY??? Why can't I chill for a few hours and not be productive with out feeling wasteful? How do we get to this point where we feel the need to constantly be achieving? If there isn't forward motion happening, crossing off tasks on the to-do list, then I feel I have fallen short, wasted the hours God has granted me to be all I can for my family, myself and my community.

Todd is so great at balancing. He feels no guilt to just check out for a while and play a game of Aquire on the net. Good for him. For ten years I have been trying to learn from him but it just frustrates me to know there are things to be done that are not getting done. Just call me Martha.

Elias - The Fun One!

2008-09-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

This is it! It is here! Elias' second birthday! Here is a picture of our Baby Bear enjoying an ice cream sundae at lunch today. He truly is a ball of fun. He has yet to begin talking yet he 'communicates' very well through squeals and squeaks. Today, his big day, was spent on an impromptu trip to Pueblo. The whole way he gave commentary on all the large sized vehicles on the road, tractors on the side of the road and trains passing by.

Huge thanks to those of you who have inquired about his Child Find appointment last Monday. Elias was found to speak in the lower 5th percentile for his age bracket. He was put at the 15 month age for speaking. Today he turned 24 months. So he is nine months behind on his speech development.

Todd and I are not surprised or shocked. We both knew there was a problem now we'll get it taken care of. The experts say that he has low muscle tone in his mouth/tongue/lips so he is physically unable to form words. We are to do exercises with him that'll help strengthen those muscles. And he has been approved for speech therapy. His first appointment is this coming Wednesday at our home. Due to his age all his appointments will be at our home!! Yea.

Ahhhhutumn

2008-09-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else out there just love crisp autumn air!?!? I absolutely love having the windows cracked just enough to let the fresh air flow in along with the slight chill that begs for a light sweater and a pair of slippers. Autumn candles are the next most important ingredient for these crisp days. The aroma fills the house with that 'this is our cozy home' smell. LOVE IT!

Tomorrow is Elias' Child Find appointment for his speech delays. I am not worried or nervous, just curious. I am eager to find out why our baby bear does not talk. If it is nothing then no big deal, we know to be patient and wait on his natural development. If it is something then let's take care of it so he can join in on the conversation!

Super Long Time

2008-09-09T20:21:00.001-07:00

Since it has been a super long time since I've blogged I feel that I really need to post something. I am stuck in a conundrum, there really is nothing to write yet at the very same time there is so much to write I could never cover it all. Hmmm... Throughout my days I often think 'I could really post this' but then life sweeps time away, the sun falls out of our sky just to climb back up a few hours later and all my well-intended plans dissolve out of my brain.

So, as I wrote the above paragraph one topic did come to mind. I am preparing to embark on a whole new realm of adulthood...Quicken - finance tracking!! For all the years and summers and holiday vacations I worked for my Dad I entered more expenditures into Quicken than I believe was countable. I believe I was Quicken-ed out. Well those memories have faded enough that I believe it is time for me to get a glimpse into where our money is 'invested'. hehehe.

Don't read into this, we are not struggling in any way. We, to the best of my uninformed knowledge, are doing just fine. The problem is that I really don't know percentages. You know, what percentage goes to basic needs, food, shelter, etc. and what percentage goes to fluff.

I should really be spending my time setting up this new Quicken account and not babbling on and on about this. There probably is not another person in all Douglas County who is like me in this area. People here are way too in touch with their money, did I just say that??

Eli's Newest Trick

2008-08-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

Needless to say we've had an exciting lunch hour! While I was in the kitchen preparing lunch Addie was nestled in the couch watching The Magic School Bus and Eli was happily entertaining himself upstairs!! I had checked on him two times before this, the first time he was playing with toys in A's room and the second time he was playing hide-n-seek with Fizz in our shower, too cute. Back down stairs I went to finish preparing lunch.

A few minutes later lunch was ready so back up I went to retrieve my little bundle of wiggles and giggles. At the top step I could hear the water running, the bathtub filling!! My first thought, unfortunately, was not of his safety, "he could be drowning!!" No, my first thought was, "Ugh, I bet he is standing outside of the tub, wasting water down the drain while he pours water all over the floor!" I don't know which is worse!?!? This was definitely a 'quick, grab the camera' moment.

People often say to me, 'Wow, three little ones, you sure are busy." Actually, I belive that Elias alone keeps me on my toes, he definitely adds the most 'excitement' to the day. Now that he knows how to turn on the bathtub faucet I don't know what I'll do! Any ideas??

Thanks, Lord

2008-08-10T19:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Lord, for never giving up on lil' ol' me. I am so thankful that the Lord's patience with me will last my lifetime. In my fallen state I cannot comprehend how He will persistently guide me along this journey teaching and reteaching and reteaching me (sometimes the same lesson over and over again) for the past 32 years and the next 60 or so years.

My MOPS leadership retreat was this weekend. The book upon which the weekend was focused was an allegory of a woman's journey from being hopelessly fallen to a new creation in Christ. It is called Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. The lessons I've taken away from this book are life-changing. Thanks to God who met me at the retreat this weekend I am a little more like him.

One of the themes of the book centers on the enemies in our lives who walk along our path with us doing everything they can to turn us back. In the book Much-Afraid's enemies happened to be Self-Pity, Pride, Craven Fear, Resentment (notice the capitals, the author personified each trait). After much reflection over my life I recognize that I have several enemies who walk at my flank whispering or sometimes yelling insults at me in hopes of making me turn my journey back to the valley from which I came.

The most interesting thing I learned, besides my constant companions, is that these used to be parts of me! An example is Anger. Right now Anger is outside of myself, always hanging around waiting to spring. Before when my walk with Christ was much newer Anger lived with me, it was a part of me, actually, it was me. I was angry much of my teen years. I see the redeeming work of the Lord in my life as he has amputated Anger from my being so now it is an annoying enemy who no longer has a hold on me.

Does any of this make sense???

Wild West Relay pics

2008-08-07T19:08:00.001-07:00

crossing the finish line as a whole team!

school days

2008-08-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

We've arrived, I cannot believe it but it is here, the first day of school. Addie's was yesterday and Traeton's is tomorrow.

I was excited for Addison to begin because she is still in the safe bubble of Mom's school. There are three new little girls who've joined her class this year, her best buddy from the cul-de-sac, Taryn, being one of them. She is thrilled to back in school and I am thrilled for her.

Traeton, however, is a different story. Tomorrow he'll begin first grade. At our school that means he will be in five full days now. Last year in kinde he was in only half days. This is going to be quite the adjustment, surely more for me than for him. I cannot imagine him being away from home under the instruction of others for a greater amount of time per day than he is with us. As of tomorrow my 'cannot imagine' will have to dissipate into reality. I've heard this can be a painful transition. I've heard the empty feeling strikes without warning and an overwhelming feeling of 'something missing' engulfs you. We'll see... I don't even get to pack him a lunch on the first day as the teacher really wants him to buy his lunch since she'll be with them all day walking them through the process.

For those of you who are curious, Todd and his team completed the Wild West Relay beautifully. The twelve men completed all their assigned legs without injury. Their final time was something like 29 hours with a per mile average of 9:30:00 or so. Thanks for all your prayers, I truly believe he was protected as a result. While Todd was very, very sore and limping painfully for a day or two he reflects that the whole experience was mostly enjoyable.

I will post a picture or two.
ERB

Wild West Relay

2008-07-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

As you think about it over the next few days please pray for Todd. He is going to be joining a relay team in the 5th annual 'Wild West Relay'. It is a 195 mile run where teams of 12 take 36 hours to run... actually, I copied and pasted a few bits of info from the website.

This Colorado relay race begins by the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Fort Collins, and finishes in the beautiful ski and summer resort town of Steamboat Springs. Held on open public roads, much of this very scenic and remote course runs through National Forests or on dirt roads. The route winds through Roosevelt, Medicine Bow, and Routt National Forests, and through small, mountain and ranching communities.

Please be aware that the WWR is is held on public roads - there are no road closures, traffic control, or aid stations. All participants must understand that there will be vehicle traffic at all times and several of the Exchange Points are along busy roads. Also be warned that any road hazards along the course are NOT marked, the route goes through National Forests and other unpopulated areas where wildlife lives, and that there are cattle guards and areas of open range (livestock not fenced in) so caution is required from all runners and drivers.

As you can see there will be dangers of all types from busy roads to wildlife. Please pray for his safety as he has calculated that one of his routes is going to be around 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. Also, as you know the forecast is to be 102 tomorrow and 101 the next day. For those of you who know, Kolby Lathrop and Dusty Anderson will also be running.

The children and I will head to Ft. Collins in the morning to see them off then come home for the night. Then we'll head up to Steamboat early Sat. morning to meet them at the finish line.

2008-07-25T06:33:00.000-07:00

"Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!

Praise your God, O Zion!

For he has fortified the bars of your gates

and blessed your children within you.

He sends peace across your nation

and satisfies you with plenty of the finest wheat."

Psalm 147:12-14

Today, July 25, Todd and I celebrate our tenth anniversary! I am brought to complete humility when I reflect on the years we've spent together. The Lord has blessed us beyond measure, He has protected us, guided us, gifted us and counseled us countless times - 'he has fortified the bars of our gates.'

In this world where marriages are disposable, temporary and victimized I feel that Todd and I have conquered many a battle that would have otherwise destroyed our union. We are resolved that our marriage has a lifetime guarantee since it was formed by God and is sustained by our threefold cord.

We praise God for he has 'blessed our children within us,' 'sent peace to our nation (family),' and continuously 'satisfies us with the finest wheat (basic needs).'

I love you Todd! Here's to the rest of our lives!

2008-07-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

It has been well over a week since I last posted... I've been waiting for the next event to take place so I'd have something to write, pictures to upload. There hasn't been anything monumental happen in our home in over a week, whew. Hard to believe considering how this summer has gone.

These last weeks of summer vacation we are spending our days doing summery stuff, the zoo, parks, concerts in the park, swimming at the pool. It is wonderful. While all the birthdays are parties are super fun, wouldn't do life without them, this probably more enjoyable for me, cruisin' along to the beat of summer.

Traeton and Addison have only two weeks left before school begins. I am not looking forward to their return, I am actually feeling much as I did when I was a kid, mourning the last few days/weeks of the break. There is a part of me that longs for the return of routine. But I am learning that as time flies on my days with Traeton and Addison and Elias are flying away as well.

We have some friends who recently considered packing up the family and moving away for a year. Just to get away from the hectic pace we all keep. They planned to do nothing, no sports, no camps, no extra-curriculars, nothing but one another. I thought this was a fabulous idea. I would do the same thing without taking a breath if Todd's career was conducive to it. Unfortunately Todd does not have that type of career. Our friends decided to stay, God spoke clearly with confirmation and they've listened and obeyed.

Lord, please let these days of empty schedules last... I will always treasure the days when we have no where to go, no schedule to keep, no practice to attend. In my world, that is one of my most favorite things.

We call it Birthday Season!

2008-07-12T20:13:00.000-07:00

As I sit here I am beginning the process of re-establishing balance, re-engaging in the normal routine of our lives here in our little home. This is because we are rapidly nearing the end of birthday season. Birthday season here is a short, yet very long, three weeks or so where the majority of our family, immediate and extended has their birthday. Here is the list:

Tony and Lindsey anniversary - 6/14

Mom B. - 6/16

cousin Brigg - 6/18

cousin Trevor - 6/21

Addison - 6/22

Burmeister anniversary - 6/22

Dad R. - 7/2

Traeton - 7/8

Brandon - 7/10

Todd - 7/11

cousin Tisha - 7/11

Kaylene - 7/16
our anniversary - 7/25

Grandma B. - 7/26

Okay, so I threw in a few anniversaries. But, as you can see that is a lot of birthday dinners and birthday cake! As of right now Trae and Addie get full-on birthday parties. I am thinking they may have to alternate years between parties and a small, yet special, celebration. This way there'd only be one party per season. Our neighbor a few houses down has this policy in place for their three children and I think it is a good one.

I love birthday season! The excitement in our home is just electric! The children are at such a great age for birthdays. They love the count down, seeing the presents wrapped and waiting for the big day to arrive and of course writing all those thank you notes - haha!

Have a fabulous week!

All my love...

A few more pictures from Jan's Birthday Party.

2008-07-05T19:52:00.001-07:00

This is our backyard filled with dear family and friends of Glen and Jan. All here to celebrate her 60th birthday.

Todd shares a thing or two about his mama.

The children performed an impromptu circus for all the guests. Bebee was the guest of honor chosen to come on stage for a special trick!

The Big 60th Birthday Party

2008-07-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

The birthday girl!

A few short days after the fabulous wedding Todd and I hosted a birthday party for his mom, Jan. It was her 60th birthday party and we were thrilled to be able to throw her a bash to celebrate this most special occasion. She is a treasure to many and we wanted to honor her as she deserves.

The guest list included 80 or so people from various parts of her life. The most special part was that her extended family, aunts, sister, brother, nieces, her in-laws (mother, brothers, sisters, etc.) were all in town for the party. It is not often that one's whole family from around the country is in town at once on a special day like a 60th birthday!

Wedding Day!!

2008-07-03T06:31:00.000-07:00

The pictures are chronologically backwards, sorry. I now know that when adding images they're put in front of the existing pics, not behind them.

Enjoy!

Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner

2008-07-01T06:07:00.000-07:00

So here is a handful of pics showing how beautiful the day and the place was. Tony and Lindsey got married at the Sanctuary in Castle Pines North. It is a private golf club off Daniel's Park Road. It is quite impressive.

I see I need to work on my picture layout as all the pics are clumped together. Because of this I won't be able to write captions for each one but I think you can figure them out.

The first picture of the five children are T, A & E with their cousins, Brendan and Brianna. Todd's older brother and his wife, Tracey now live in San Francisco. All the children have so much fun together. Addison cries when Brianna leaves for home, she absolutely adores her.

There are various pictures of rehearsing the isle walk. You can see the girls getting their flower girl baskets from BeBee. They were adorable flower girls. It was perfect they had one another to walk the isle, I don't know if Add would have been able to do it by herself as she gets pretty shy in front of strangers.

I'll post the wedding day pics later as Eli is wide awake wanting to be retrieved.

Seek Him today, he has big plans for you.

I'm Back!

2008-07-01T05:55:00.000-07:00

Can it truly be July 1st??? Happy Birthday dear Jennifer M!!

Thank you Lord for a fabulous June! It was filled with blessings left and right. The wedding week was a blast! Then immediately following we dove into VBS. This year we chose to attend St. Luke's Methodist Church's VBS as that is where my parents call home. I was the lead teacher for one of the four-year-old classes. It was tons of work but as it goes when there is a lot of work there is just as much blessing, so tons of blessings as well. My heart just melted the last day when the children put on their show. Traeton performed four or five songs complete with sign language or motions. He was so into it, his heart flowing with knowledge and understanding of what he was singing - thank you Lord!

I know many of you have been waiting patiently for wedding pictures. This is my plan..I am going to produce a new post for each event. Today I'll start with the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. For archiving purposes I am going to close out this post and start a new one. This will make it much easier to retrieve if I ever need to.

Blessed!

I haven't forgotten you, I promise!

2008-06-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

I am still in a daze. A heavy daze. I am hoping to emerge from it tomorrow as I plan to do nothing! I have a pool date set for 9:30 but I think I may have to cancel. Tonight is the first night I've been in my own home not preparing for the next big activity! I am going to bed and I hope I can roll out in the morning early enough to get into the Word before the children arise!!
My goal for tomorrow is to down load the hundreds of pictures we've taken this past week. Yes, the festivities have been going on for a whole week!!

All my love...

Four Days...

2008-06-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

Is it truly here, Lindsey's wedding and Jan's 60th?? All the details are in order. All the plans have been made. I have checked and rechecked. I have just a few follow-up/confirmation calls to make then it is showtime! Our final count is 74 people.

Tracey and my Dad have both recently informed me that thunderstorms are in the forecast for Monday evening!! Let's pray that God will hold off until after Monday evening.

I'll post pictures of Addie as a flower girl, Traeton as an usher/bulletin boy and Eli sporting the smallest tuxedo I've ever seen as soon as I can.

Spoken To...

2008-06-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

Have you recently spoken advice to anyone? I have. It seems as if I am always speaking advice to someone, especially my children. Well this week God spoke to me... This is not abnormal, God speaks to me all the time through His Word, through promptings in my heart, through others, through things that happen to cross my path, there are several ways God speaks to me.

But this one is different. This talkin' to from the Lord is sticking with me pretty firm. As I go through my days this message is lingering in my mind and in my heart. These are the lectures that change hearts, but only hearts that are willing to be changed. Praise Him for His relentlessness.

Todd and I are participating in a read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year program with our Sunday school class. I am embarassed to say that I have yet to read though the Bible cover-to-cover. I guess there is a season for everything and this is my 'read-through-the-Bible' season. This week I finished Job, all 42 chapters of Job.

The book of Job has raised several questions and issues for me. In some ways I admit I am more confused about God's ways now than I was before reading Job. But I know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, and Job deeply loved God, so I know that even though I may not understand several things in the book of Job God's goodness is at work.

In a very short synopsis the book of Job is about a man who is fully devoted to God. God allows Satan to wreak havoc on this man's life guarenteeing that Job's devotion would not change regardless what hell Satan brought into his life. Through Job's sufferings three friends rallied by his side. They came and they sat and they offered advice...

Eliphaz...Zophar...Bildad... Friends??

Each of these men came from far distances during Job's deepest sufferings. Each man listened to Job's pleas to God and claims to innocence. Then each man took his turn to offer advice to Job explaining why they thought this suffering had befallen him.

Eliphaz - "You are supposed to be a wise man, and yet you give us all this foolish talk. You are nothing but a windbag. It isn't right to speak so foolishly.... Have you no fear of God, no reverence for him? Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception. But why should I condem you? Your own mouth does!" Job 15:2-6

Zophar - "Shouldn't someone answer this torrent of words? Is a person proved innocent just by talking a lot? Should I remain silent while you babble on? When you mock God, shouldn't someone make you ashamed? You claim, 'my teaching is pure,' and 'I am clean in the sight of God.' If only God would speak; if only he would tell you what he thinks! If only he would tell you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom is not a simple matter. Listen! God is doubtless punishing you far less than you deserve!" Job 2-6

Bildad - "How long before you stop talking? Speak sense if you want us to answer! Do you think we are cattle? Do you think we have no intelligence?" Job 18:2-3

What is so disturbing to me is that each man truly believed he was giving Job sound advice. Several times these men spoke 'for God' telling Job exactly what God was thinking and why this calamity came upon him. While much of what they were saying about God's laws and God's character were true I believe they were wrongly applying it to Job's situation.

How often I do the same... I have my opinion, I have scripture that I feel applies to a certain situation so I spout it out. Have I sought God's direction, sometimes, not always. Most of the time when advice is given it is in the heart of the conversation, the moment at hand. It is quite disruptive to the flow of a conversation to say, 'hmmm, I really don't know what God would say about that, let me pray on it and I will get back to you." But I believe we should be doing this a lot more than we do, seek the Lord.

I am not saying it is wrong to advise our brothers and sisters in Christ. The Word tells us to do so. All I am saying is that I am guilty of preaching of my own accord. I must be ever so careful when giving counsel to my family and friends. Have I first sought God before I give counsel or am I 'torturing them, trying to break them with my words'? Job 19:2

Summer Vacation is Awesome!

2008-06-06T14:59:00.001-07:00

It has already been one full week since Trae graduated from kindergarten! I absolutely love having him around! We have had a blast this week. He has been a huge help around the house, he has really begun to grow up, sniff, sniff. With that said he has brought in a lot more 'activity' as well. Having him back in the house means a lot more slamming doors as he runs outside, then inside, then outside, then inside. It also means a lot more kid messes in the kitchen as he loves to help himself to snacks, breakfast and lunch which is usually chocolate milk or strawberry milk.

I am going to post some pictures of our first week of summer break. I'll start with kindergarten graduation. Next I'll post pictures of the ice cream party we had in the cul-de-sac for all the children who finished school for summer break. It was such a simple thing to do, put up a card table, buy some ice cream and then each family brought out any toppings they had on hand. The kids absolutely loved it. Some of the sundaes looked delicious and others looked repulsive there was so much junk on them. Every kid ate to his fill though.

And today we took the children roller skating at Skate City!! They had itty-bitty little skates for Elias and Addison. They were so cute. I have pics but I really can't upload them since Eli is waking from his nap and is not happy at all, wonder if he had a nightmare?!?!

Twelve days...

2008-06-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

It is so true that the older you get the faster time flies. It seems like Lindsey just got engaged and set her wedding date for nearly 1 1/2 years out. Well in ten days her wedding day will be here! Incredible! When Todd and I met and began dating Lindsey was only 12 years old. Now she is all grown up ready to make a family of her own.

Her wedding weekend is also Father's Day weekend and her Mother's 60th birthday that very next Monday, two days later. So that this monumental birthday was not overlooked during a busy wedding weekend Todd and I offered to plan and host her birthday party at our home.

Since all the extended family will be in town for the wedding we'll be able to include everyone from far and near. We are getting anxious for the big birthday bash in just twelve days!! She chose to have a fajita bar, her favorite. So we've added a margarita machine, also her favorite. I have all the rentals reserved, the entertainment lined up, the invitations out and R.s.v.p.s in. I haven't counted the list lately but I am sure we're pushing 70 or 80.

Todd and I have been working endlessly in the yard re-mulching, weeding, transplanting, reseeding dead spots in the lawn and the list goes on. I believe we are nearly there. I have a few planters to fill with flowers and our new garden was just finished this week so the children and I have to get some vegetables in the fresh soil!! This is one of my favorite things - vegetable gardens, a berry patches of course. Our berry patch is on the other side of the yard. This year we put in several new strawberry plants, a blackberry bush and a raspberry bush. I've been looking high and low for a blueberry bush but haven't seen one in a while.

The children are awaiting their Quality Time so I better not keep them waiting.

Confirmed

2008-06-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

We finally got the results back from California and yes, Eli has chicken pox immunity. This confirms that he indeed had CP!

Still Waiting, Yet Moved On...

2008-05-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

In case you've been following the case of 'really now, what does Eli have all over his body?' This is the latest, the blood work was sent to California... Hmmmm....curious, yes. They didn't give us a reason but only said we'd get results next week, midweek.

Upon seeing our dear friend's child we were able to clearly, without a doubt, identify they do not have the same thing. This brings Todd and I back to Chicken Pox. Though he never had an outbreak on his tummy or back, neck or head he had at least 100-150 on his legs and arms combined. We've all heard of people who had the virus but only 10 spots or 20 spots. So right now all the scabs have fallen off. The spots are disappearing slowly. He is no longer contagious.

This is the end of this bumpy ride. Enough with the Chicken Pox already!! We're currently regrouping for our next adventure whatever that may be!!

Inconclusive...

2008-05-27T21:30:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I do not have an answer to yesterday's post, Chicken Pox (CP) or Hand, Foot and Mouth (HFM)??

Our doctor today ruled out HFM because the sores aren't consistent with HFM. But they aren't 100% convinced that it is CP either because it is not on his torso/head which is odd because CP usually begins at on the back/stomach and moves outward. For a moment they thought it may be impetigo so he was cultured for that but it came back negative.

The way this was all left is that we had to go to a separate lab for blood work. The blood work is to specifically screen for the vericella virus (chicken pox).

Time will tell...

Thinking Twice!?!?!

2008-05-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is a humble moment for me... Todd and I are beginning to wonder if Eli really does have chicken pox or if it is a really bad case of Hand, Foot and Mouth. There are two reasons for this: 1. The spots/blisters never made it to his torso, neck or scalp, all the sores are on his arms and legs. Chicken pox works the opposite way, torso/back first then to the remaining part of the body. 2. Another child with whom we've been recently has now broken out with them. The gestation period for pox is around 14 days. We were with this little boy only five days ago.

So, it is off to the doctor we go tomorrow. Yes, our little friends will have to tag along. Hopefully they'll get us in and out very quickly considering the 'diagnosis'. Trae and Addie will be in school so I'll be at my normal number of three children.

Curious though... Neither Trae nor Addison have shown any signs of being infected with HFM which is odd because neither of them have ever had it. BUT they've both had chicken pox which would explain the lack of symptoms (if Eli does indeed have chicken pox).

And, yes, I am sick to my stomach to think we've completely exposed our little guests to this yucky disease. I am afraid to tell their parents.

We'll see what happens. I'll post when I know more.

Little Friends On Their Way!

2008-05-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

I know I just posted but I wanted to post again because we have some little friends coming to stay at our house for the next four days. This is terribly exciting for Traeton and Addison, and Todd and I as well.

Our dear friends are taking off for some well-deserved couple time at a spa in a different state. We have the privilege, the blessing, actually, of taking care of their most precious valuables until they come home.

I am thrilled at having two precious girls in the house. That means two little girls to make up in the morning! Ahhh, bows and barrettes, definitely one of life's sweetest treats.

There will be three little boys to race cars, build tracks and hopefully some awesome block towers!

To D and J, we hope you have a fabulous time! Thank you, thank you, thank you for trusting us with your babes. We will love on them as we do our own, I promise.

Oh Blessed Chicken Pox!

2008-05-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it truly been a whole week since I've posted!?! Please know that I am so excited about this blogging thing! Everyday I think of about 100 different posts but due to my current stage life I am rarely able to sit down when I get the urge to write. But, oh, I would never, never wish for any other stage of life but this exact one right here.

In these upcoming days, however, I may find myself closer to the computer than usual since we are officially quarantined to the house. Yes, Elias, sweet baby boy, Elias has full blown chicken pox. This is definitely a bittersweet experience because it is heart wrenching to see my baby so uncomfortable yet now I know he'll be set for life, in the chicken pox department that is.

I am quite relieved that he has contracted the virus because I really thought his chances would be nil not that most children being vaccinated. It was just two weeks ago that I had him in for his 18 month well-baby visit and refused, once again, the vaccine. As with Traeton and Addison we decided to hold out to the last possible minute in hopes they'd contract the real-deal. Success!

The great thing about a long contagious stage is that one is forced to be home, be still, slow down and notice the small things. I remember really enjoying the simplicity of life when T and A had the pox in Chicago. I am looking forward to the same this time. If you need something you know we will be home.

Splashing through an awesome day.

2008-05-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today was a fabulously beautiful day here in Colorado. It was warm, sunny and filled with lots of splashing in the neighborhood pool. Today was Weatherstone's annual pool opening party. Since I am a block captain I helped organize this little gathering. We had hundreds of hot dogs and hamburgers to grill and polished off nearly every one of them. The pool was packed with little bodies having the time of their lives.

Todd flipped burgers on the massive grill for about an hour with our next door neighbor while my parents chased the children around. Elias is just about more than anyone can handle as he gave several mamas mini heart attacks time after time because he kept trying to sit down or crawl along the bottom of the pool. This was impossible since the water was over his head in both instances. He never really figured that out though. Since exiting the pool he has over filled every diaper till it soaks his clothes. Who knows how much water he ingested!

We all managed to get a little bit of a sunburn here or there. Trae's face is quite red as are the back of my legs. It was a beautiful day.

Also, we are re-decorating our master bedroom and today our dear Sandi finished painting. This was quite the task since she had to apply four different colors throughout the room and bathroom. We are really supporting our CU Buffs now as our walls are black and gold!! Black on the bottom and magical gold stripes on the top. It all turned out very cool. To get the full effect you'll have to come walk our room.

A Realization

2008-05-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

I started this blog several days ago, visiting it every day, adding an element here and there. Yet I still haven't sent the address to anyone. As of right now no one even knows this exists, at least, no one that knows me. Why is this? What do I want to accomplish through this blog? Why do I feel the need to have a family blog?

Earlier this week I had a realization, a moment of understanding, about the lack of updates from far off friends that used to fill my inbox. I realized that I no longer get updates from friends because that is completely outdated since the popularization of blogging and Facebook/My Space pages. So I immediately, not to be left in some high tech graveyard, developed a Facebook and blog for myself/our family.

Part of me is freaking out at the voyeuristic aspect of blogging. Do I really want people, friends and strangers alike, knowing intimate details about us? I really didn't think I was a private person at all until now...this is definitely pushing a comfort zone that I didn't even realize I had.

Another part of me is completely stoked about having a platform. A platform for what is yet to be determined. I love hearing/reading others' points of views and this is a fantastic way to be a voice but not an obtrusive voice.

So here we go...along the bumpy road of life. Welcome to 'Bumpin' Along With The Burms' because this is a wild ride.

ERB

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

2008-05-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday dear sister! As my first official post on our brand new blog I thought it'd be fitting to wish you a happy birthday since afterall, today is your big day!!