Sunday Walks

Spring is back people.  And so are Sunday walks!  Noah decided to hang back with Joe because he wasn't feeling too well, but the rest of us were ready to be outside in the sun and fresh air.  Zoe is usually in a stroller or being carried from car to house, house to car.  But not this time.  I let her explore.  Which was kind of mistake because all she really wanted to explore was the street and every single driveway.  Ha!  Until she discovered puddles.  And since Mommy wasn't stopping her, she dug right in and splashed away.  I think what I learned from this little billy goat is that when she has her mind set on something, there is no stopping her.  She doesn't need my help walking---she kept pulling her hand away when I would try to lead her in a different direction.  She is perfectly capable of choosing where she would like to go on her own, thankyouverymuch.  And if you try to change her mind (aka, pick her up), she will NOT have it.  She is one determined little toot.  But she was the happiest little toot that day.  Actually, that's not really fair to say because I think Jackson and Ellie were equally as happy to be outside.  We are all ready for Spring!

My Last Sunday

Technically, next Sunday is my last Sunday in Burlington, but it will be General Conference, so today was my last day at church here.  It was hard.  I just finished watching my bestie, Darla Major, go through this two weeks ago.  She just moved away with her fam.  And today was our turn.  I'm just grateful I wasn't asked to give a talk on my last Sunday like Darla, but they managed to get us to sing today.  Our family sang, "I Am a Child of God."  Ellie started with the first verse.  She sounded like a little angel.  Somehow, I managed not to cry through it.  And then the boys joined in for the chorus.  Joe and I sang the second verse, ...which I think suits adults more than children, "...and so my needs are great...."  ---yes, they are!  And then we all sang the third verse together.  Well, except for Joe.  He decided to CRY!  How could he abandon me like that?  So, of course I cry.  And then Jackson is looking back wondering why it got so quiet behind him.  Ha!  It was a special moment.  One of those, "this is my family and I love it" moments.

And then there was Sunday School.

I teach the 16-18 year olds in the second block and they are awesome.  I was called like two weeks after having Zoe, so, I'd say I know them quite well.  That's almost two years of building trust and learning to love each of these youth.  Ack.  That was definitely the hardest.  We started out light by playing a game to prep us for General Conference called, "Who Said it; Pres Uchtdorf, or Albus Dumbledor?"  Haha!  It was so fun.  And hard.  They are both so full of wisdom!  Then we had treats.  And THEN, Erin and Emily Homer and Danielle Marshall surprised me by singing, "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" and made me cry!  And THEN, I invited everyone to make a circle and share one thing they learned this year (not necessary through me, but just generally).  Well, that was a dumb idea, because I cried even more.  I have such a pride for each of my youth!  And they will always be my youth and I will always want to know how their lives continue on.  And this is where I bore my testimony about Facebook.  Haha!  But seriously, I am glad I can stalk them from a distance and keep tabs on them.  My closing thoughts were about the temple.  Women's Conference yesterday was awesome.  I wasn't sure how it would be since it was our very first official Women's Conference, instead of the "Relief Society" Conference.  I loved seeing all those Moms bonding with their daughters.  That will be me and Ellie in four years!  Well, there was a video clip they presented starting with a young girl getting baptized at eight, and then showing Young Women serving in YWs and then getting a temple recommend to get married, and then having children and then watching your children grow up and then you grow old with your husband.  I loved at the end it showed this elderly couple going into the temple holding hands and THEN it showed them sitting at the breakfast table GAZING and smiling at each other.  GAZING.  Like they were more in love than ever.  And then the final shot was her at her husband's grave site with all her posterity and the temple in the distance.  It was such a beautiful portrayal of what it's all about!  And I feel like I got a small glimpse of that today when Joe and I started crying while singing with our family.  We exchanged one of those, "I love you and I love where we are at and I love our children and we are in the right place" moments.  And the temple made it possible for us to enjoy that moment.  We have an eternal family.   It made me think of how Grandma and Grandpa Burnham are always telling us how much joy they feel through their posterity.  So I told my youth (in so many words) that I wanted each of them to feel the same joy that I felt today, and that can be made by preparing for the temple, going on missions and marrying in the temple.  I hope they know how much I love each of them.  They have truly made these two years for me.

Back row L-R: Kanoa Bootland, Andre and Michael Manahan, Preston Checketts, Raphael Manahan, Brett Jackson, Bryan Accorda.
Front row L-R: Emily and Erin Homer, Me, Danielle Marshall, Kendyll Parker

Four Weeks

Nima Maham was in Toronto visiting his family and came to Burlington for dinner and it was honestly so awesome seeing him.  Nima is one of those friends I know we will have forever.  I am sure many people feel that way because he knows every single person in the world and every one loves him.  I think what his visit did for me was bring me a little taste of home.  I loved catching up and seeing what he was up to, and finding out the latest on others back in Edmonton.  Man.  It got me really excited.  We are so close to moving.  We've been selling all of our things through Kijiji so we literally have no furniture.  We just sold our couches on the weekend so we decided to pull out the boys' queen bed in the middle of the living room floor.  And I'm not gonna lie.  It's kind of awesome (minus today when we had no couches to sit on with Nima after dinner---Ha!).  Yesterday, on Sunday, we all gathered together and watched "Frozen" on it with our blankets and pillows and it was just so fun.  Super ghetto.  But fun.  Then today they were having a pillow fight while jumping around on the bed.  Who can say they've ever gotten away with doing that in their living room?  We are borrowing our neighbour's kitchen table since ours is already gone (Krissy and Slav Solic---best neighbours ever!), and someone is coming to pick up our King bed and BBQ next week.  After that, we are pretty much in the clear with selling, aside from a few minor things.  I think the saddest thing we got rid of was my keyboard.  I wasn't ready for it.  I wasn't at home and while someone was picking up the couches they made an offer on it and BAM!  It was gone by the time I came home.  No piano for four weeks!!  I guess my goal of finishing all the music for my musical has kind of gone down the drain with all this moving stuff.  It has been all-consuming for the past couple months.  But I still have the rest of this year to work on it I guess.  And speaking of lying.  Joe and I aren't going to New York City anymore.  As we were talking about it, Joe threw out there that it would be cheaper to go to the Dominican Republic.  At first he was kind of joking.  But then we decided that it would be kind of amazing.  So.  That's what we're doing!  Weeeeeeee!  We are still going to visit his mission in DC, but sadly have to cut out New York with the promise that he will take me to see "Newsies."  Some day.  And I am going to hold him to that!  To be honest, I am little more excited about the fact that instead of walking ourselves to death trying to squeeze in as much sight seeing as possible, we are rather going to be swimming in the ocean and basking in the sun!  I want to read a book and eat food that I don't have to make or clean up and snorkel and walk on the beach and do something spontaneous!  And top of the list is to do a lot of nothing.  SANS kids.  SO excited.  I am already kind of pre-missing my kids.  But.  I'm pretty sure I'll get over it.  Lately I've been having a lot of fun playing with them.  Usually I am too busy to want to, but the last couple weeks I have really enjoyed chasing them around or reading with them or talking with them or singing songs with them.  Then again, I've also been getting a lot more sleep with the whole Spring break thing all last week.  This morning was pretty rough trying to get out the door in time for school!  Ha!  I am a beast on no sleep.  Point is, I think I am going to miss them.  It will be two and a half weeks without them and that is the longest I have ever gone without my kids.  Joe and I are trying to pump ourselves up by telling ourselves that we're going to go on dates every night our last week here and then we've got our trips to look forward to.  But the long and the short of it is I am going to miss those little nuggets.     

It's Still Winter

This is Zoe's life.  Going through things that are not hers and wearing them around the house.  It is always a joy as we are getting ready for school early in the morning and can't find boots or toques.  We always know the culprit. 

Nursery!

Zoe is officially Nursery-aged!  Here is a little mini-photo shoot of her first day of Nursery before church.  I think we captured most of her personalities.
 
I dropped her off and she did NOT even look back. It wasn't until I picked her up two hours later that she realized I wasn't even in the room with her.  And THEN she got mad at me.  Looking at these pictures just makes my heart skip a beat.  How did I deserve such a cute little spunky thing?  She already has more personality than Joe and I combined and she's only one and a half!  She is hilarious.  And busy.  She can open lever door knobs so her favourite place on earth is on a stool in the bathroom brushing her teeth with everyone's toothbrush.  Her second favourite place is on a chair or kitchen table grabbing markers to colour on the wall and then showing me her artwork AFTER the fact and saying very animatedly, "NO!  NO!  NO!"  Her third favourite place is on my "lack" so I can read her a book or so she can whine about wanting to watch "A Fass Say!" on You Tube ("What Does a Fox Say?").  It is by far her favourite song.  Ever.  She only requests it 50 times a day while pointing at my "Ayaya" (iPhone).   She is very chatty and social, so with it being Spring Break this week, she has LOVED the extra time with her brothers.  Tonight we were having a movie party and she climbed right up next to Jackson on the couch, shimmied under the covers and snuggled so close to him he could barely see the screen (she is all hair, and it's twice as big after a nap).  A couple days ago Noah and Zoe played for a solid hour in Ellie's Princess tent and tunnel, climbing in and out while saying, "boo!" and laughing hysterically.  He even read her a book called, "Princess Panties," while she laid next to him in the tent.  Now THAT is a good big brother.  But the person she is constantly asking for is Ellie.  The one who will not give her the time of day.  I think if Zoe weren't such a genius at pushing her buttons, there might actually be a chance at them being friends.  Every once in a while I see them playing nicely.  But it never lasts.  Lately before bed Zoe will run into Ellie's room and crash onto her bed before I can put her in her crib.  She wants to sleep in her bed so bad.  Well, tonight Ellie was TICKED.  And Zoe just laid there.  "I don't want Zoe to poop in my bed!!!!"  It's a fair concern.  I was hoping they could be roommates in a month when we move.  But now I'm not totally sure that's a good idea.  Definitely two beds if we're going down that road.  Zoe has all these favourite places, but MY favourite place is in her room snuggling her before bed.  She is getting so interactive so we end up singing way more songs before bed than we should, but I can't help it.  Her all time fav being, "Sleeping Bunnies."  She loves getting up and hopping around.  Sometimes the other kids will do it with her and she is all joy hopping around with them.  I love my family.  Happy 18 months Zoe.

p.s. I had a chocolate chip smudge on my face all evening and didn't realize it for many hours.  Feeling like a true Mom today.

33

What the heck.

I'm 33.


This is going to be a year of change.  Joe and I get to be real adults now.  He gets to find a job.  And we get to move to Calgary.  The kids will have to make new friends---so I ache for them, but they will be closer to their cousins.  I will get to be closer to my family which makes me giddy just thinking about.  I was re-reading my patriarchal blessing, which I haven't done for a while, and it reminded me that I find a great deal of happiness with the relationships I have with my parents and siblings.  Ain't that the truth.  It will be nicer to be a lot closer to them.  I have found that although these two years have brought a lot of joy and adventure and new friendships, etc, they have also been lonely in some ways with Joe being busy with school all the time and me being stuck at home.  Yes.  I have been able to use a lot of that time working on my musical and other projects, and even the odd girls-night-out.  But even then, it is still lonely.  I DO need to give Joe props because we still manage to have weekly date nights, but we don't always get to go out.  I look forward to this new phase of life where I will not be as lonely any more because I will be surrounded by my extended family on both sides and maybe Joe will even come home for dinner and STAY home!  I've been in a super funk these past few months, but I think it's because the time cannot pass by fast enough.  And winter.  Jenny and I keep telling each other that we wish we could just skip forward 3 months so we have our houses settled and our husbands will have started their jobs and the kids will be settled in school by then, etc.  I've kind of already checked-out of Burlington, to be honest.  I will miss it here, but I am ready for the next phase.  So.  So.  So ready.

This will be a good year.  Lots of changes.  But the good kind.

I was going to talk about how age is not fun and all the changes I am noticing physically, etc.  But then I thought, that's not very constructive.  And honestly.  I am 33.  Not 100.  So, I will act 33 by acting like the 16 year old I know I still am inside.  16 is pretty young for having four kids.  I think I'm doing pretty well for myself.

Besides, this morning the kids all jumped on my bed and sang me happy birthday.  That reminded me of how lucky I am.  I have a lot to be grateful for.  I'm so glad that Joe was persistent as heck so that we could get married.  Now he's stuck with me and my craziness.  Last night I was making weird voices and laughing at myself because I thought I was being so funny and Joe did not even crack a smile.  That poor man is stuck with me.  At least we have cute kids.  And to my advantage, Joe is a good birthday date night planner.  For my birthday Joe treated me to a night out in Toronto.  Our entire time living here we haven't been there once!  I've been telling him we need to go at least once before we move back.  And he listened.  We took the GO-Train into Toronto so we could enjoy the very over-priced experience, followed by one of the scariest cab rides I've ever been in (I even nervously giggled once because I thought we might die at one point), to the Ed Mirvish Theatre to see "Heartbeat of Home."  Heartbeat of what?  Joe and I had never heard of it but apparently it got great reviews and it's from the makers of the Riverdance.  Now, I'm not a particular fan of Irish dancing, although I DO appreciate and enjoy dance in general so this was going to be a surprise.  It.  Was.  INCREDIBLE!  It wasn't just Irish Riverdancing.  There was also Latin and Afro-Cuban dancing.  Such talented people.  The band was fantastic, and there was even a little humour in the show.  All in all, way better than what I was expecting.  Honestly it is so fun doing something different that is not a dinner and movie.  We ended up walking back to the train station (didn't feel like risking our lives again) and although it was brisk, it was kind of romantic.  And we got a hot chocolate for the train ride home which made me feel pretty posh.  I am not going to lie.  It was a treat feeling so spoiled on my birthday.  I kind of love it.  I think one of the highlights for me was that we got to sit and chat uninterrupted for an entire 30 minutes on the train.  We laughed over the "pixie like" main dancer who looked like she was bouncing across the stage on a trampoline.  We talked about the future and the possibility of me going to school or at the very least taking a few classes (just when we thought we were done with school!).  We laughed over our kids.  We flirted.  It was just a nice time.


Another birthday highlight is the promise of a steak dinner made by Joe tomorrow night.  I'll take being a year older if it means I get to have steak.  And chocolate mousse cake.