Christmas in November!

 Yes.  Christmas has started over here at the Burnhams.  It has been especially special because this will be the first Christmas that we spend in our new house!  We left our pencil tree in its box (we should honestly toss it) and happily bought my dream tree that I am proud to look at!  It was fun trying to figure out where to put each decoration.  I know some people's vision of their dream tree might include beautifully matching ornaments.  But not mine.  My dream tree is covered with ornaments that have been gifted to us through the years by loved ones, and ornaments my kids have created.  Nothing matches.  But somehow it is still so beautiful to me.  We blasted some Christmas Pentatonix and Mariah Carry and decorated the tree while Jane had a dance party and ate candy canes.

 

The kids have begun their Christmas wish-lists which is always fun to look back on.  Jackson:

Zoe:

Noah:

Ellie:

Both Ellie and Zoe want those motorized cars or motorcycles that are like $300 bucks.  Um.  No.  Noah's first thing on his list is for me to give him back his tablet and headphones.  I have been hiding them for two months now, due to some disobedience, and was hoping he would forget about them.  I sure did. 

Tis the season for hot chocolate.  Every day after school.  This is starting to become the routine, even on days that are not-so-cold.  I don't mind though.  It gives us all a minute to wind down after school and visit.  I wish it lasted longer.

Last night we went to "Light Up Okotoks."  It was awesome.  Jackson was at Scout camp and Ellie was at a birthday party so it felt so weird with just three kids.  In fact, the whole time I kept feeling like I was missing something or forgetting someone!  Haha!  This was our first experience with Light Up Okotoks and I think we really lucked out.  We were the first to discover the horse drawn sleighs, AND the first to discover Santa before a massive line formed.  Again, Jane liked Santa from a distance but as soon as I put her on his lap, she lost it!  

 After Santa visited with Zoe, he tried again with Jane, and if you can believe it she gave him a high five.  Then a hug.  Then she actually sat on his lap so he could dry her tears.  And she sat for a picture.  Christmas miracles ARE real!

 Before we said good bye to Santa, he took Noah aside and said he got to have a look at his report card and that he was really proud of him for working so hard to and to keep it up.  Noah's face lit up.  And so did mine.  I think this was the real Santa.

Along the way there were fire pits and people handing out cookies and hot chocolate.  Next year I am bringing some money so I can try the maple candy! 

I think my favourite part was the sleigh ride.  There is something magical about a sleigh ride.  We sang carols the whole way.

 It was pretty chilly that night.  I kept thinking about Jackson at his overnight Scout camp.  It was -13 (and overnight it dipped down to -18!  Ack!) and we were able to warm up at the library for a bit for some more treats and a potty break before heading over to the tree lighting ceremony.  It was beautiful.  I wish we didn't need to leave directly after but we had to pick up Ellie at a birthday party.  Next year, we will stick around for the program.  As we were leaving I could hear Elsa singing, "Let It Go" and my heart went out to Jane who is now obsessed with Frozen.  She was too busy singing, "Jingle Bells" at the top of her lungs and hitting Joe in the face with each beat.

I wish you could see the whole tree.  It was really beautiful and special to see.  We all counted down from ten and I felt like I was in a Christmas movie.  Jane did NOT want to go home.  And neither did I.  I love the magic of Christmas.  You can't help but feel alive and happy.

Oh Jane....

 She knows when I need to do stuff.  I am back in the studio working on a couple songs ("65 Years" and "So Far Away"), which means I need to actually take time for myself and prepare!  You know, practice!  Haha!  She doesn't care.

I'm Climb a Mountain!

Jane is at that age where she if often quoted because everything that comes out of her mouth is basically adorable or hilarious.  My favourite thing about her these days is now that she shares a room with Ellie and Zoe, she gets to share in their bedtime routine.  I usually sing the girls a song before bed (sometimes it's three because each girl wants a different song) and Zoe REQUIRES a back scratch as I sing to her.  The most requested song by all three girls these days is, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."  I have sung this song SO much over the past six months, you would think I know the words by now, but Zoe still corrects me and makes sure I don't miss a verse.  Sometimes I try to trick them and skip a verse to shorten the song, but she always knows.  Haha!  Jane likes to assist in the scratching of Zoe's back as well as the singing.  Each of my girls have their own distinct beautiful voices and Jane is just finding hers.  It is ADORABLE!  Her vibrato is this wild but loose warble that can never quite find the key, but she smiles through each word.  We play this game sometimes where she is the Mom tucking me in and I am the child that requests a bunch of bedtime songs, and I LOVE IT!  I keep trying to catch her on camera, but she never performs for me.  Because Jane only does what Jane wants to do.   Going back to quotes, one of her most famous quotes came from this past Summer when we actually climbed a mountain as a family with some friends.  The thing with Jane is she has to do everything herself.  She does not want your help.  Joe was trying to hold her hand or carry her and she would respond by swatting him away, "I'M CLIMB A MOUNTAIN!"  And that is basically her personality.  She re-quoted herself a couple days ago when she saw this massive rock.  

This kind of fierceness is a wonderful quality to have in a child.  Unless it's bedtime.  Last week she kept getting out of bed and crying and finding ways to stay up.  Finally, like a Mom who has done this five times and is usually firm but is getting tired, I gave in.  She came in my bed (Joe was away) and snuggled beside me and it was pretty cute.  I think I need to remember that sometimes we just need to be held and snuggled for five minutes.  Pretty sure this girl is going to ruin me though.

You climb that mountain, Jane! 

Born To Be a King-RELEASED!

Last week I released the official music video for my new Christmas song, "Born To Be a King."  And holy smokes!  The response has been incredible.  I thought maybe I would get 1000 views.  And that would be my very optimistic goal.  Haha!  I got 1000 views within an hour!  A week later and I am almost at 10,000 views on YouTube.  Each time Joe would update me on views, it was like this big shocking surprise over and over again.  The sad part about this is that something happened to the rendering of the video and what was supposed to be bright and light and beautiful turned out dull and dark and muted.  I thought maybe it was just my screen.  But not so.  So, our crummy dull version has almost 10,000 views (haha!) and then we released a re-mastered version just a couple days ago---the good copy.  The copy that should have been released originally.  And we are over 1000 views.... WHICH if I am looking on the bright side of things, at least I reached my original goal!  Honestly, it's crazy.  I'm getting people all over the world telling me that their primary will be singing my song for Christmas.  And that is honestly a dream to hear.  It's a dream because I love the message and I can't believe I was the instrument used for them to be able to sing this.  I mean, I am happy with the song and have a level of "I am pleased with myself," but to hear that others actually want to sing it is something pretty special.  Just wow.

On another really cool note, communications for the Canadian LDS website asked me to do an article in time for Light the World with the theme of "Light Your Faith."  They said they needed to fill one more spot, and when they saw my video they wanted to approach me to see if I'd be interested in being apart of that.  YES!  YES I WOULD.  It's pretty neat.  No, it's not the regular LDS website that you go to for everything, but just another platform to share the message from my song!  It's been very rushed because the campaign starts next month!  So check out my article next month at: www.canada.lds.org

Merry Christmas!

Trick-or-Treating!

Different day?  Different COSTUME!  These girls.  Sheesh.  So, their original plan was that all three of them were going to be unicorns together, but Zoe stirred things up by changing her mind last minute.  ...Again!  She wanted to be a witch since Ellie got to be a witch at the trunk-or-treat.  The difference between these two is Zoe wanted to go all out and instead of being a "cute" witch like Ellie, she wanted to be an ugly/scary witch!  Haha!  Of course.  When I was doing her make-up before school she said, "but Mom, not too scary.  We don't want to scare the little kids."  Zoe.  YOU are the little kids!  Haha!  I did my best to make my adorable little child "ugly" and "not-too-scary."  The best part is that the unibrow was her idea!  I think she looks a little like the young Grinch in the Jim Carry version of the movie.  Haha!

After seeing Zoe get her make-up done, Jane wanted her turn.

We even left the house!  She loves "play place" (Parent Link).  And it was even more fun because she got to wear her costume.

...As well as her mermaid costume to the library on another day.  There have been lots of reasons to dress up lately.  I don't know what she's going to do now that Halloween is over.

Ellie got over her bossiness about all three of them matching and was fine with just her and Jane.  Who cares when in the end we all get candy?!

 

Bless Jackson and Noah's hearts for simplifying everyone's lives and keeping their costumes the same!  This year I was able to nab a group shot before Jackson met up with his friends.  We even got in a few houses together as an entire family before he took off.  

For some reason this year was so pleasant.  Maybe it's because Jane was all over this and was totally able to keep up with the older kids.  Maybe it's because I decided to simplify and have it just be our family instead of matching up kids with their friends.  I know the last couple years I have allowed myself to get a little stressed about meeting people at a certain time.... but let's be real!  Who can possibly be on time with five children?!  Not.  Me.  So, I didn't really have to feel the pressures of being anywhere at a certain time.  We just chilled, watched part of Harry Potter while we ate some dinner, and then left when we felt ready.  It made such a difference.  Although, I'm sure that won't last long.  Kids will want to be with their friends as they get older and older, but for now, being just our little family felt kind of great.  Trust me, I love my friends and I love that my kids love their friends, but it's all me.  I just can't handle stressful situations well sometimes, and Halloween has become kind of stressful for me.  By the time the kids are ready to go out the door, I am usually ready to climb into bed!  Haha!  But somehow this year, it just made such a difference not having a time-line!  So, I will hold on to that as long as possible if I can.

The highlights of the evening were when Zoe was so excited about receiving a compliment about her witch make-up that she forgot to get candy.  Another was Jane kept saying, "Good bye, Mom!" and waving at me each time she went up to a new house.  Each time.  Haha!  Noah went as Slenderman, which only a small handful of kids knew about at school because he is a character in a video game.  But LOTS of the adults handing out candy knew exactly who he was (because there is also a horror movie out.  Like, way too freaky for me to even consider watching).  So.  Noah was pleased about that.  

Here's Jackson with Will Moore and Jack Doney.

I found this little treasure at the Dollar Store and put this under the covers on Joe's side of the bed thinking I would get a great response out of him.  Not even a flinch!  The bum.  I would absolutely have screamed.  He got me back by placing a picture of a freaky clown that Ellie drew in my drawer, His trick wasn't near as good as mine.  

Happy Halloween everyone!  Time to start making Christmas lists!