New Addition

Our family has grown by four paws and 11 pounds!! We adopted a Yorkie/Lhaso Apso mix from a rescue last Saturday and he has fast come to rule the roost. Some of you may remember our black Lab, Duke, who we sadly had to say goodbye to almost a year ago. It's taken me that long to be ready for another dog. And I knew I was only ready for a small-ish dog. I loved Duke to pieces, but he was a beast! The biggest 112 pound baby ever.

When the kids and I saw this little guy at an adoption event, and he was sweet as could be when we took him out to play, I knew we had found a good match. Once they had walked (carried) him around the parking lot and received a thousand wet kisses from him, I knew there was no way he was going back in that cage. Some paperwork and a trip to Pet Smart for a collar and leash and he was ours. 

We went back and forth between the names Denver and Sailor (if you know anything about our football loyalties, these names should make sense!)...but in the end, it was Wyatt's birthday the following day, so we let him make the final decision, and he said Sailor was his favorite.

Sailor was only with the rescue agency two weeks before we found him and they aren't quite sure of his story leading up to when he arrived there. Our best guess is that he's around three years old. Which is great because he doesn't have any puppy tendencies - no chewing, no potty training, no hyperactivity. But because of his tiny size, the kids totally think of him as a puppy! Our other best guess is that a man, or men, weren't very nice to him. Because he barks his head off and growls at Matt and any other men that come to our house. When Matt tries to get down on his level and pet him, Sailor cowers and shakes, and barks some more. (Insert sad, breaking heart face here!) So we are working on that. After some coaxing, Sailor is happy to snuggle up to Matt on the couch or in bed at night - but every day, we have to re-introduce them to get to that point.

Sailor has attached himself to me. He literally follows me everywhere I go. Even to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He always has to be by my side. And while I never used to think I was a little dog person, I have to admit having a lovable, cuddly shadow pulls on your heart strings. He's even sleeping at the foot of our bed (sometimes in the middle of our bed) and I NEVER would have guessed I would be THAT kind of dog person!! 

The kids are over the moon for him. Fighting over who gets to hold the leash when they go on walks - usually Sailor ends up getting three separate walks a day! And no complaints when it comes time to give him a bath or clean up his messes. Overall, we are very happy with our newest addition and are having so much fun giving him all the love he missed out on for awhile. 

ObSEUSSed!

"Today you are you. That is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you!" -Dr. Seuss

It's Read Across America Week :: aka Dr. Seuss' Birthday - and all week the kids' school is celebrating reading and Dr. Seuss in creative ways. Monday they dressed in red and white, Tuesday they wore funny socks. Today kids were to come to school dressed as their favorite book character. So last night I got to working on some "costumes" and thought it would be fun if they woke up to a Seussical Breakfast. Believe it or not - this is all set up with stuff that my mom or I already had. Our garages may be chock FULL...but we are pros at recycling our stuff! 

"A person's a person, no matter how small." -Dr. Seuss

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." -Dr. Seuss

  

As I was digging through my party supplies, I came across this neon orange hat I had bought for Molly's Glow in the Dark Birthday, but never wore. I knew Wyatt wouldn't want to wear a full costume - so I came up with an idea. A little felt and some googley eyes and it's The Lorax! He LOVED it! I was so happy.

When the kids woke up, I told them "There is a surprise for you in the dining room!" They all ran out to see what it was. Megan looked confused and asked, "What is this for?" And I replied, "For you! I just thought it would be fun to have a Dr. Seuss breakfast this morning before school." She laughed and said, "Mom! You are so crazy. This looks like a 3 year old's birthday party...not breakfast!" hahahaha.

Perfect example of how quickly my OCD can take over. I made these One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish jello cups at 1:30am last night...cause they were totally necessary for BREAKFAST?! 

Our neighbor Maggie joined the fun, as she was Thing 1 to Molly's Thing 2 - and showed up with donuts. I quickly scrambled some eggs and almost made them GREEN...but all the kids looked at me like I was insane when I suggested that idea! 

Munch makes a pretty cute Lorax if I do say so myself. 

"You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose!" -Dr. Seuss

"OMAHA!" Go Denver

Oma-ha

exclamation

1. used as a warning at the line of scrimmage in American football before a likely gain of yards.

2. aka: your defense is screwed.

This family, myself included, is crazy about football. So much so, that even when Matt is out of town for the weekend, or working late on a Monday night...I watch it alone. Good thing I married a football coach! Furthermore, this family is crazy about the Denver Broncos.

Crazy as in, our son was almost named Elway Burns, CRAZY.

So we are beyond excited for Sunday. We normally go to a huge party with a ton of friends...but this year, Matt and I both agreed we want, no...we NEED, to be where we can watch the game with no interruptions or need to make small talk. This is serious, people. What are your favorite game day eats? Mine is French Onion dip and potato chips. Or nachos with homemade guacamole. I cannot stop eating that stuff. DANGER! 

 Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Monkeys

cousins.

ready made friends for life.

SNOW! and a menu plan

California kids in the snow

I've been attempting to take the Burns Family gluten free...I'm not crazy strict about it, but where I can easily make the changes, I am. The Gluten Free Goddess has been my menu planning saving grace lately. We also just got a new, Breville juicer that I am excited to use. Send me your favorite juicing recipes!

The lunches are what I pack for Matt and I to eat...the girls still take their normal veggies, fruit, sandwhich, & chips. Wyatt, bless him, is a work in progress. I'm happy if he eats half a granola bar and a single carrot out of everything I pack for him. He is more interested in playing at lunch than eating. Then he comes home ravenous at 2pm. The life of boys.

Here's what will be on our table this week.

TUESDAY

B – egg whites with turkey, spinach, tomatoes and mozz cheese

L – Greek chicken wrap, cantaloupe & spinach salad with honey

Snacks – string cheese & dried cranberries, Greek yogurt with berries

D – Ground turkey spaghetti over spinach & spaghetti squash

WEDNESDAY

B - Smoothie & GF toast with peanut butter for kids

L - Lime chicken “taco” salad

Snacks - fresh fruit with unsweetened coconut & almonds

D – Sweet potato & black bean enchiladas with poblano cream sauce and salad

THURSDAY

B – Cinnamon quinoa with apples & walnuts, vanilla almond milk

L – Turkey, spinach + havarti wraps, red & yellow peppers with hummus, gala apple

Snacks – string cheese, salt & vinegar kale chips

D – Grilled skirt steak with chickpeas, feta & red peppers, baked potatoes for kids

FRIDAY

B – Poached eggs with turkey bacon and avocado

L – Roast beef rolled around asparagus, sliced tomatoes with basil & balsamic

Snacks - fresh fruit with unsweetened coconut & almonds

D – Turkey meatballs with Asian noodles, mint & cilantro

I mean, tell me you don't want to eat this...

(source)

Inspiration Saturday

Last night it smelled like Football. If that makes any sense at all.
But during the days, it still feels like Summer.
I can't wait for Fall to stick around.
Then decorating with bats and ghosts wont feel so weird!
I made my first costume purchase of the season.
Halloween is so fun.

I had to edit this a bit to keep me happy. I get what the original is trying to do...but I'm never much a fan of labels or their stereotypes. Especially when it comes to bringing up Girls!
Today we are sleeping in and breaking down films and building Ninjago Legos and turing the last page in THIS BOOK and frying bacon and walking the dog and riding razors and spending the night at Grandma's and GOING ON A DATE!!
I flove Saturdays.

My So Called Life Sunday

It fills my heart with hope and joy and overflowing thankfulness to watch the faith of these three grow strong in the TRUTH they are taught.

\

So many blessings to count today.

We have a new member in our family!

Mr. and Mrs. Charles & Michelle Gregg were married yesterday.

(that's my baby brother)

We partied til after midnight.
Rejoicing in Lifetime Loves, Family and HE who reigns over it all.

Happy Sunday!

Growing Up

This weekend in the desert has been pure bliss. Very relaxing. I took an hour long bubble bath with a bottle of champagne, slept in both mornings snuggled up to Mateo, read 2 books, fell asleep poolside with my iPod in my ears...ALL EVEN THOUGH OUR THREE KIDS WERE THERE TOO!!

I used to think I'd never not miss having babies...but I have to admit, this weekend I did not miss needing to pack and navigate tinys. There wasn't a diaper bag, bottle, breast pump, floatie, or naptime to be had on this trip. We didn't have to leave any events due to tired babes, i never had to change my clothes because someone spit up on me, and dinnertime happened when it happened (once in a bar!) and did not require a 5PM start time in a place with vinyl booths, high chairs and chicken nuggets.

All the kids are water safe, no one naps anymore...they even put themselves to bed. Saturday night, Matt and I went to bed before the kids. They stayed up with popcorn and Netflix in their part of the hotel suite!! That's right...they slept in a different room than us. All. Night. Long.

Big kid families are fun. Way less Mommy guilt when I take time for me...and lots more energy for things like Chicken fights and never ending Marco Polo games in the pool. I could get used to this.

Only bad thing about going the desert?? Coming home to 65 degrees at night and I'm MAD FREEZING!! I think I lived on the Equator in my former life. Cold is not my friend.

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Can't Get Enough

Of this girl with her missing tooth and top knot!

Quick family trip to the desert this weekend. We're doing nothing but relaxing and it's bliss...

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Back To School Eve

Last night was our 4th Annual Burns Family 'Back To School Eve' dinner. It's a tradition we've been doing ever since our firstborn started school. I love it for two reasons. One - after the FUN that is Summer...we want our kids to grow up looking forward to school starting again. The first day of school shouldn't be something to dread, or an "end" to the fun. By turning Back To School into an event with an "EVE" (think Christmas Eve)...it makes it so going back to the classroom is something to anticipate and celebrate! Two - I have found this family dinner is a great way to take away those "first day jitters." Even for our oldest, who will be in the third grade this year, the first day is always a little daunting. Will I like my teacher? Will have friends in my class? Where will I sit? Who will I play with at recess? All these questions are talked out and worries put to rest around the comfort of the family dinner table. Everyone realizes, being excited and nervous is normal!

The past three years, our Back To School Eve decorations have been very classic and vintage. So, this year, I wanted to punch it up a bit. Once I knew what our Family Theme was going to be...the color scheme sorta fell into place all by itself. Our celebration was very COLORFUL! Roy G Biv colorful to be exact.

I set the table with the same, old lace tablecloth I use all throughout the Summer and used three lengths of ruffled, rainbow crepe paper for a table runner (just run the crepe paper through your sewing machine with the stitch length set as long as it can get and it ruffles right up) I placed Alphabet flashcards (these are always at my dollar store) in order, down the middle of the table as well. For centerpieces, I put white dahlias in little galvanized pots and added rainbow colored, yarn pom-poms, I had hot glued onto wooden skewers, to the arrangements for FUN! Sprinkled around everything else was silver star confetti and Bazooka bubble gum. And lots of votive candles, of course. 

Part of our tradition is to come up with a new family theme every year. For the 2012-2013 school year, our theme is "Be Bright." The turquoise and yellow windows hang outdoors year round. So to "brighten" them up for our dinner, I made a rainbow felt bunting and spelled out our theme with silver glittered chipboard letters.

At dinner, we talked about how we can each Be Bright, both at school and at home, and how "Being BRIGHT" can have more than one meaning. We discussed finding opportunities to "be the Rainbow in someone else's cloud." (Inspired by the quote by Maya Angelou). And how being compassionate, and shining God's love, is just as important and rewarding as being smart!

Each kid's place was set with a chalkboard dinner tray (I found a set of 3 ugly green trays for $1 at the Goodwill and spray painted them with chalkboard spray paint!) and their own rainbow chalk. For "favors," each child received a felt Apple bag filled with torn up book pages, a glue stick, pencils, erasers, bubble gum, a pencil sharpener and a mini highlighter.

Part of our family tradition as well, are the CROWNS! Each year, I make the kids different ones. This year, I used the foam ones you can get at Michael's, in their $1 bins, as a template, and covered them with felt in rainbow shades. Then I zigzag stitched around the outside edges in contrasting colors and added some ric-rac, school-y charms, buttons and bling!

Wyatt thought the traditional crown shape looked too "princessy" and he opted for just a rounded (upside down visor) crown instead. I think it looks a little random, but he was happy...so me too! 

Each year, we go around the table and discuss things the kids are anticipating in the upcoming school year - as well as ways they think they can live out our Family Theme. 

Megan is looking forward to 3rd Grade because that's when they start Science on a regular basis. She is excited to see who else is in her class. And happy, because 3rd Graders get to ride their bikes to school. She thinks she can Be Bright by being nice to new kids at school and reading everyday.

(It's getting dark outside! And my phone was all I had to take pictures. Boo.)

Molly is looking forward to 2nd Grade because she likes who her teacher is going to be. She is excited to do her Endangered Animal project. She thinks she can Be Bright by helping someone on the playground if they get hurt and always following directions. 

Wyatt is looking forward to Jr Kindergarten because this year his classroom is "upstairs" (translation = only cool, big kids get to have classrooms upstairs). He is excited to ride bikes and dig for treasure in the sandbox. He thinks he can Be Bright by being a good listener and a good sharer. 

We ate outside. A final farewell to the lazy family dinners of Summertime. For dinner we had build your own burgers, rainbow fruit kebabs, and baked zucchini fries

.

For the kids' drink, I filled their glasses with rainbow ice cubes (made with Kool Aid) and then topped it off with 7-Up. The grown up version = champagne with rainbow lifesavers. YUM!

For dessert we had Rainbow cake in a jar with sparkler candles!

Finally, I really wanted to come up with a way to encourage our kids to "Be Bright" throughout the year.  Each of them was given a wooden treasure chest at dinner and allowed to color it. Over the next few months, if one of them SPYS someone in the family "Being Bright," then they come to me and ask for an apple and a marble. They write on the apple how the person was Being Bright and present it to them with a marble. Once their treasure chest is full of marbles, they win the right to pick what we do as a family on Sunday Funday. 

It's my hope this will make "Being Bright" FUN, and teach our kids to be aware of each others' actions as well as learn to encourage and praise each other.

After dessert, the kids blew out the candles and helped clear the table, changed into jammies and made it into bed at a decent hour. (This earned them their first marble!) When I kissed them goodnight, I couldn't help but feel Full. Content. At Peace. Back To School Eve has become one of my favorite family traditions...and I think I've grown to need it as much as the kids to. To calm my nerves and settle my woes. To wrap my brain and heart around the FACT that they are, yet again, another year older!

Looking Back

CLICK HERE to see all our past Back To School Eves

Happy Year of the Dragon

Last Sunday, my parents and I took the kids to experience the celebrations for Chinese New Year. We walked all over Little Saigon (much closer than Little China for us) throwing poppers on the ground.

We visited all the outdoor markets and bought hot candied mango, fresh lemongrass, red gladiolas and pink peach blossom branches. The fabric and the produce markets were my favorite.

We visited all the curio shops and tried on paper mache masks.
Grammie even bought the girls traditional Chinese dresses.

The highlight of the afternoon was seeing the Dragon parade pass right in front of us.

Tonight we are having a Chinese New Year celebration for dinner. I'm not daring enough to serve some of the stuff we saw for sale on Sunday (raw eggs and snails still in their shells!) So we'll be having a very Americanized feast of Chinese chicken salad and egg rolls. After school, the kids and I are making these Almond Cupcakes with fortunes inside again, for dessert. I've been saving the China Little Passports just for this occasion! I've set the table with everything red and gold and Megan wrote place cards using a Chinese alphabet worksheet she got at school. We are looking forward to a fun night learning more about China, its people and their customs! 

Happy Year of the Dragon!