Dreamin' of a White Christmas!

Well, it started getting white, but this snow picture was taken on December 26.  I think that still counts doesn't it?  We had a wonderful Christmas.  We made it around to every side of the family between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Christmas night we had Steven , Elaine, and Keith over and we played the Wii and watched it snow.  We usually have a larger crowd, but this year we lost several groups of people for various reasons.  Maybe next year it will be back to normal.

Emily got a BB gun from Santa and Abi got lots of Squinkie stuff and a pillow pet.  Santa also left us a replacement DVD player for the car since our old one bit the dust several months back.  So we are all good.  Emily thinks she is Anne Oakley and couldn't be happier with her new gun.  She didn't ask Santa for it, but Santa must have known.  I got a pair of Montana Silversmith earrings and a nut cracker.  I am such a lucky girl!  Brandon got a set of chrome flaming GT surround emblems for his Mustang.  Now if only the temperature would get up over 50 degrees he could put them on.  Hopefully everyone had a good Christmas and now for the New Year we all must make our resolutions to lose that 10 pounds we gained over the Holidays!

Christmas Vacation Continues...



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Emily making peanut butter cookies



Ok, maybe I shouldn't have had such a good day on Monday because we have been paying for it for the past 2 days.  Abigail woke up yesterday throwing up.  We still made the best of the situation and she and Emily were able to clock in over 8 hours on Netflix.  I got some much needed house work done since I was tied to the house for Abigail's little emergencies.  I did however take the time to hold  Abigail and watch Where the Red Fern Grows between cleaning bathrooms and mopping floors.  Later that night Emily and I hit the kitchen to make some Gingerbread shaped peanut butter cookies.  Abigail was a tough little trooper and so pitiful but by last night she acted better.  Then this morning I was woke up by the sound of little feet hitting the floor and running to the bathroom.  She got better as far as the throwing up went, but was completely drained energy wise.  We had planned a movie and Melting Pot trip for today and so here again one of our kids was subjected to the Burnette Boot Camp way of doing things.  I packed Abi an entire change of clothes, her Motrin, and a double layer plastic Food Lion bag lined with paper towels (can you guess what that was for?) and we headed to town.  We got Abigail some Chik-Fil-A because she thought she might could eat that.  She hasn't ate much of anything these past 2 days.  She ate 3 nuggets and I was relieved to finally get something in her, but worried that it might revisit us.  I was prepared and what will be, will be, so we headed to the theatre to watch the new Narnia movie in 3-D.  The poor child is sick to her stomach and we make her sit through 2 hours of action packed 3-D torture.  She slept during a couple of parts and when we left we rode over to the Melting Pot to do dessert.  Brandon decided he wanted to order the entire 4 course meal for us so we were in there for another 2 hours and Abigail had to sick there and smell all of those crazy aromas for all that time.  She was able to enjoy one little shrimp and we made it back home without any incidents.  Then at 11:15pm she decides she is hungry so we head to the fridge to see what we could make quickly.  She decided on a gogurt and then she wanted me to fry a smoke sausage for her.  Here is was almost midnight and I am in the kitchen frying up some smoked sausage!  As I said before, it is all about the kids!  So... what will be in store for us now?  Will tomorrow be a great new day?  Will one of the other members of the family be sick tomorrow?  Will we be able to enjoy it?  Of course we will be able to enjoy it, we are the Burnette's!!!  I am so thankful to have the most wonderfully resilient kids ever.  They are the best ever and have made this week at home rather enjoyable (in sickness and in health). 

The BEST Day Ever!!!!

Today I started the day by dragging 2 kids out of their warm little beds so I could make it to my 8:30 dentist appointment.  Fun, fun, right?  Well not so... I have to have 2 old amalgam fillings refilled.  There goes my 2011 FSA money already.  Oh well, it got better from there.  Me and the girls rode over to my work because I had to drop off an ornament exchange gift for later this week.  Then we went to Showmars for lunch.  We wanted to go over to The Melting Pot for dessert, but they don't open until 5pm during the week.  Emily was crushed but we decided to go visit daddy at work and use the internet to find the closest ice skating rink.  Emily has been wanting to ice skate ever since we went to Gatlinburg at Halloween.  We found a place out in Indian Trail that had an ice rink open to the public so we headed down there to check it out.  Neither one of my kids has ever set foot onto ice with sharp blades under our feet.  I figured I would go and pay the money, they wouldn't be able to do it, and then we would turn around and go home.  Well, I paid the money, suited them up and let them loose.  About 5 minutes of watching them and I was just torn up.  Abi was clutching to the wall and had only went about 10 feet and Emily wasn't far ahead of her.  I couldn't go out there without ice skates so silly me said a short prayer (for those of you that don't know-I have a metal plate and screws in my ankle from a roller skating accident), and then went and paid for my admission and rental fees.  I felt like a big goof, but hey my kids needed me!  When I first went into the rink area, Emily just thought I came out there to talk to them, but when she realized I had skates on she was so excited.  Abigail was relieved too and I stepped out on that ice and thought to myself, My God Lisa you are 32 years old and have a huge medical deductable, what the hell are you thinking!  But my babies needed me!  Abigail and I got our rhythm figured out and before the 2nd time around we were really skating.  The more we went around the less we needed the wall and it was the most wonderful thing I have done in a very long time! I LOVED IT!!!  Then BAM!! down on our butts we went.  I had my sunglasses on top of my head and they flew in the air and then came down and landed in my lap.  I was laughing so hard at myself I couldn't get up and the few seconds I was down I got my butt wet.  Abigail said her butt got hurt, but I said Oh, you're ok, let's go!  Besides, it's all about the kids, right?  Then we ran into one of Emily and Abigails softball aquaintances and her mom.  The other mom got Abigails other hand and the 3 of us followed Emily and her friend around the rink.  We would make a few laps and then rest a few minutes, then repeat.  It was wonderful.  Why in the world did I wait this long to ever try this?  I think it is better than roller skating.  Abigail got hungry, I got 2 bleeding blisters, and Emily got a small rubbed place on her ankle so we left after about 2 1/2 hours.  Apparently when you go ice skating you need to eat well before going and wear socks that are thick and tall up your legs so the skates don't rub.  We will know next time.  I am going to try to get Brandon to go with us then.  The kids were asleep by the time we got home and Abigail was ready to do some stacked Christmas tree cookies.  Then Brandon came home and no supper was on the table (all we had were sugar cookies) so we had no choice but to go out to get something, dang what a shame!  So to say the least, our 1st official day of vacation was fabulous!  Here is a picture of Abigails tree creations.  I think she did pretty well by herself.  She is such a cute thing working in the kitchen.  She put herself to bed by 9:30 tonight.  I think I got all I could out of her for 1 day!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Oh my goodness, less than 10 days till Christmas and I feel like I am forgetting something or someone!  Please forgive me for not sending out Christmas cards this year.  For some reason this year I am emphasizing cookie projects and making edible goodies (yay for my waistline).  I have the week of Christmas off at work and I have all of these wonderful ideas about what I want to do with the kids while we are all at home for the Holidays. Ii want to make reindeer and Santa Claus cookies out of Nutter Butters, Star stacked cookies in the shape of a Christmas tree, and of course the normal Chex mix, white chocolate pretzels, and ritz crackers with peanut butter covered with chocolate.  Abigail and I have already made 2 batches of Chex mix and we started some pretzels Wednesday.  I guess if I forgot someone's gift I could just buy their love with homemade goodies. 

Kayden, Olivia, Abigail, and Renae (not sure of the 2 little boys' names)

I haven't even taken the time to go have a family picture made.  I wanted to do this back in the summer and it never happened.  Then I thought we would just do a Christmas picture and so far that hasn't happened.  I guess we will just depend on my amateur photography skills for collecting the Holiday snapshots.  I was able to take the kids to see Santa on Tuesday and we do have a picture of them with him so I have done one traditional thing this year.  Tuesday I only worked a half of a day so I could go stay with Abigails kindergarten class while they watched Polar Express and had hot chocolate and popcorn.  Boy was that an eye opener!  Thank goodness there are people suited for that kind of work.  I would never make it a week under those conditions.  Of course there are the really good kids that listen and don't complain and can sit still for more than 45 seconds at a time, so I guess those kids give you hope!
Check back soon because I plan to show some more of our Christmas fun plans as we encounter them!

We have had a wonderful start to the Holiday Season. We went to Maw Maw Kaye's for Thanksgiving and had a great meal. I actually won a Butterball Indoor turkey fryer and it came in the mail the day before Thanksgiving. We fired that baby up and used it to deep fry a whole turkey and a turkey breast. It did a really good job-I would have to say it is one of the best things I have won off of the radio! Thank you Bob and Sheri! I only took one picture the entire day. Abigail had made a pilgrim costume at school and I got a picture of her with her Great-great aunts Ruby and Ernie. Later that night we went to see Brandon's mom and stepdad. We had a late night and I went to bed at 11:30 and got up at 4am to go to Belk and JCPenney before work. By that afternoon I was exhausted and for the rest of the weekend I felt like a zombie.



That Saturday after Thanksgiving we had some friends over for a weinie roast. We just had a little fire over at the shop to roast the weinies and marshmallows on. Afterwards we went to the house and brought out all of the Rock Band stuff up that we haven't played with in months. We distracted the kids with a movie in the basement and the adults got the band going again. We have never been able to do good with the drums and Amanda showed us how to get it done. She was the best drummer we have ever had! I think Brandon will never want to play them in front of her now that he has seen how good she is! Of course the kids came up and joined after the movie and we played till after one in the morning. It reminded me of the late nights with Amy and Brian on New Years Eve! Nothing beats a good band practice!


Brandon and I took our annual trip to Charleston SC on December 4 and had a good time as always. We had a wonderful room at the Lodge Alley Inn. We always stay there and it is always interesting to see the room because they are never the same because of the way the building is. There is nothing cookie cutter about it! We had a big split room that was divided by a wall that held the gas logs. I even have a pole in the bedroom! No No No, not a pole for dancing, just a pole, but we did get some laughs out of it! We visited our favorite oyster bar Pearlz and went to some other restaurants we hadn't ever went to before. 



Abigail the pilgrim girl with her two great-great aunts Ernie and Ruby on Thanksgiving



Brandon and me posing in front of fireplace at the Lodge Alley Inn

Abigail before the Christmas program

Sydney with her big sister Taylor (Abigail and Renae's 8th grade buddy)



Renae and Abigail-the Kindergarten divas



Abi and Kelly

Monday night after we got home we had to go to Abigail's Christmas Program at school.  We had supper and rushed out of the house as I snapped a few pictures.  The pictures turned out good, but Abigail still had spaghetti on her face.  Oh well, that's life!  She had a cute little program and I have to say I had one of the cutest girls in the crowd!  I was so glad to get home from Charleston to see my girls.  I have lots of special activities planned for the holidays and I can't wait to get started.  Hope you enjoy these pictures and more will follow.

Emily's Birthday

I can't believe that I have a 9 year old!  We had a wonderful party at the skating rink.  18 kids showed up and it was a lively party to say the least.  Emily had half her ball team there and lots of other friends.  She was so excited to have such a good turn out.  Some of the softball girls talked Emily into playing basketball so they would have enough girls to make a team.  I guess we will be signing her up on Monday.
We had plans to go to the mommy and me dance from 5-7pm and while at the skating rink Emily decided she didn't want to go because she wanted to have friends over.  She had no plans with anybody, so I don't know what she was thinking.  I told her we had to go to the dance and she was fine with that until we got home and she realized that the neighbors across the road were out playing and she wanted to go over there.  Abigail wanted to go to the dance so I let Emily put play clothes on and me and Abigail put our dressy dresses on and went to the dance.    We had such a good day.  Thanks for everyone that helped make her day special!

Gatlinburg for Halloween weekend

Girls playing putt putt at Ober Gatlinburg



Ober Gatlinburg restaurant

Burnette's enjoying scenery in Cades Cove

The girls found them a friend-they wouldn't let him get a word in edgewise

Girls trick or treating at Tanger Outlet in Pigeon Forge



Standing on a rock over the waterfall




Super Girl and Cheer Girl with our favorite Hooter's waitress, Cousin Lacey

 We enjoyed our long Halloween weekend by taking a trip up to Gatlinburg.  We visited Ober Gatlinburg 1 day and cruised and cruised/hiked Cades Cove on the next day.  We left on Thursday after school and came home on Sunday.  We had a wonderful time.  The leaves were absolutely beautiful and the weather was nice during the day for us.  As always we packed as much as we could in one trip and came home exhausted. 
When we got back into town we decided to stop at Hooters in Concord.  We told the girls that Lacey was working and as we got out of the car Abi said,  "Gosh she works a long way from home!"  I thought me and Brandon would roll!   She thought just because we were in the car all day to get there Lacey had to do the same.  We had to explain that Lacey doesn't have to drive all the way from Gatlinburg.  She was like "Oh yeah..."

Curtis Mountain Adventure

This past weekend we went to the mountains to see

the fall leaves and to ride 4 wheelers. We invited some

friends along that have 2 kids similar in age to our girls.

We ended up having a blast. I can't imagine going with

just the 4 of us now. It was so much better to have another

family going that have kids the same age. They kept

each other busy and I don't think anyone got bored.

We stayed at a cabin that we used to stay at all the time

while we were dating. We hadn't been there since I was

pregnant with Abigail. I think Brandon said we rode almost

20 miles on Saturday and maybe 15 on Sunday. We rode

out in a caravan of 5 4-wheelers with Emily riding all by

herself. We were a bit worried about her and the steep

inclines, but she did pretty good by herself. One time she

couldn't make it up the mountain and got scared while

waiting for Brandon to come rescue her by foot. She was

able to hold the brake and wait for Brandon to move the

4-wheeler out of the holes it had dug itself into. We think

the 4-wheeler just didn't have enough power or weight to

make it up the incline. She recovered quickly from her

crying/scared episode and did rather well the rest of the

weekend. I would love to go back soon!

The whole Austin/Burnette gang



Brandon and Sam




Emily on her little 4 wheeler




The girls howling




Kids have to explore the upstairs loft




Guys checking gas and oil levels before we head back out




Brandon has a moment of solitude on the porch




Me smiling for the camera



Little Michael and Michael on the "racing" 4- wheeler





Amanda and Abigail riding the "cadillac" version of a 4-wheeler

 

ABIGAIL AS LUNCH LADY

We were talking about being rushed through the line at restaurants the other day at work.  I told them how at K&W cafeteria I always felt rushed and so I would just say "No I don't want any bread" or whatever else they were rushing me to make a decision on.  A few years ago Abigail was wearing a hair thing that Emily got on a field  trip to the Food Lion deli.  Here in this video you can see the clown we were making out of her.

Labor Day Weekend Fun

We had an eventful 3 day weekend.  Saturday we spent all day outside enjoying the cooler weather.  We played frisbee, threw the softball, practice hitting, went to ball practice, played cards of the front porch, played kiddie volleyball, and just had plain old fun.  Saturday night we went to visit my cousin who was home from Richmond (where she works) and we had chinese take out and let the 4 kids run wild in the playroom.  I started my tanning bed sessions while I was there.  I am usually anti-tanning since I have gotten older and know better, but I am just in it for 3 weeks until Mellie's wedding.  I have this beautiful yellow dress that I am going to be wearing and I am trying to even up some bathing suit lines I have on my chest and shoulders. 
Sunday morning we packed a cooler and a change of warmer clothes (just in case) and we headed up to Mt. Mitchell.  We had a few problems finding our way due to state signs not being complete and for us just asking mapquest for directions to Mt. Mitchell instead of Mt. Mitchell State Park.  We got there finally and hiked up to the summit.  Then we took a moderately aggressive nature trail out into the park.  We got way out there and it was so quiet and it smelled like Christmas!  It was very cold too!  It was maybe 65 degrees in the sun and in the deep thick woods it felt colder (especially when we were all still in shorts)  The climate at 6684 feet is very similar to a Canadian forest and the trees were so different than around here.  Lots of hemlocks and ash trees and ferns and moss.  We kept reading about bear warnings and we heard a grumble way off and me and Brandon looked at each other and we couldn't decide if it was a bear or someones dog.  Abigail got a little worried and we told her that bears were only aggressive when they had young babies to watch out for and that this wasn't the time of year for young babies.  I don't know if this was to put her mind or our minds at ease!  Later on when we were closer back to the parking lots we heard the noise again and realized it was motorcycles starting up! WHEW! 
After a day of breakfast at home and a pack of crackers in the car, we were ready for a good meal.  We went to the Mt. Mitchell restaurant and Brandon had local trout that had been recently caught about 30 miles away and brought straight to the restaurant.  Abigail ate an entire baked potato and a hot dog and Emily had a cheeseburger.  I had a bowl of chili and Emily's baked potato.  Then Brandon had apple pie, Abi had a scoop of icecream, and Emily had carrot cake.  My goodness they were hungry.  It's amazing what a little bit of hiking could do to my kids!  When we left the restaurant at 7pm, the temperature outside was 54 degrees and we were still in shorts!  We thought about putting on our jeans, but figured if we hadn't changed by now there was no need to.  Besides, we were planning to head on home and the car was warm inside.  By the time we drove back down to the bottom of the mountain it was 68-70 degrees again.  July is the hottest month on Mt. Mitchell and the average temperature then is 67 degrees.  Why didn't we think about going here a month or 2 agao when temps at home were 100 degrees?  We thought about how nice it must be to camp there during the summer.  Hmmm??  Maybe next summer?!?  We got home about 10pm and got baths and watched the movie Hachi, A Dog's Tale.  The girls had picked it out from Netflix and couldn't wait to see it.  It had to be the saddest movie I have seen in a while!  We got into bed by 1am and then today we have hung around the house.  I did a little house work, Brandon worked on his Bobcat, and the kids have did nothing but watch TV and color.  Abigail has tee ball practice this evening.  Then the 3 days of "vacation" will be over.   I am dreading tomorrow when reality strikes back.  I am excited to see Emily play her 1st ball game though.  Hope everyone has had as good of a time as we have this weekend!