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!

Bring it on!!

Today I received the girls' softball schedules for this fall.  We have 22 games in a 6 week period.  WOO HOO!  I can't wait!  Emily's 1st game is at 6pm next Tuesday and she has a 4pm dentist appointment on the same day to have a tooth pulled!  Sure hope there is good clot formed by game time!  We have a game every Monday and every Friday and most Thursdays and Saturdays.  Only 1 game we are going to miss due to Brandon's sisters' wedding.  There are only 2 days when the girls have a game at the same time in different towns. 
Thank goodness Abi's ball team is down to 7 girls.  Some of the non-interested and non-behaving ones have seemed to drop out.  Practices go much smoother when all the girls that are there actually want to be there.  It is still funny to listen and watch them.  There is 1 little 4 year old the other day said her panties were soaken wet and and stickin' to her butterbean!  She is a cute little thing!  I will check back in hopefully over Labor Day weekend.  Have a fun Holiday!

Abigail's 1st day of school

Well we made it through the 1st couple of days of school.  Abigail loves her classroom and her teachers and Emily can't seem to get enough of it either.  I am so proud of them for doing so well.  They are so go with the flow kind of kids.  Several people have asked me if I cried or if I was sad about sending my baby off to Kindergarten.  It's bad to say, but No, I am not.  I get excited for them, but I am not a crying sentimental mom about those kinds of things.  Don't get me wrong, I watched Emily struggle through a season of softball and one game towards the end of the season I watched her get two players out in one game and I got teary eyed because of this.  If either of my kids get really hurt I cry along with them.  So I am not completely cold hearted!  School is a big deal, but I don't worry that I am" losing my baby".  I am planning on enjoying every phase of their lives, not just their baby phase. 

We couldn't find a hard lunch box for Abigail.  I can't stand those soft one because if they get milk spilled in them you can never completely get rid of it and it ends up stinking.  Brandon had his lunch box from 1979 up in the attic and he told her she could use it.  I went and dug it out and wiped it down and she was good to go.  Abigail didn't seem to mind that it was different and at school their were so questions about why her daddy's name was on it.  She was able to tell them the story of how she inherited the antique lunchbox.  I think she is proud of it!  I can almost bet that no one else has one like it!  

So this coming week the whole school thing will get into full swing with real homework and an actual 5 day week, so we will hope that it goes smoothly!   

Exercise by the Sea Anyone?

Here is Abigail caught exercising on the beach.  She didn't realize we were watching and notice at the end she gets up and says "What?"  She is so funny!

Kure Beach trip

We just returned from a quick little beach trip down to the North Carolina coast. We stayed in Kure Beach in a quaint little hole in the wall. We went with our friends Ned, Kelly, and their little boy, Nicky.  It has to be one of the most relaxing trips we have taken in a while. There was no schedule or place to be. We slept when we were sleepy and ate when we were hungry and that was just about all that we got done.  I enjoyed early morning walks on the beach by myself while everyone was sleeping. This was a wonderful and very peaceful thing for me. I would take my mp3 player and just get in a good 30-45 minutes of bliss. The beach at 6:30 in the morning is a wonderful thing. The overnight tides and winds have erased the previous days' tracks and replaced them with a pure blanket of untouched sand. Later in the day I spent time on the beach, then a dip in the pool, and then some chilling out time in the room or outside in our rocking chairs. I read an entire book that I had just started right before I went on vacation. That is the fastest I have ever read a book!  We did take a trip up to Wilmington and had dinner and a horse drawn trolley ride of part of the historic district.  My new interest is Wilmington and don't be surprised when we decide to go back there soon to do some more sightseeing.

 I started getting a little homesick about 3 days in and was comforted to know that it wasn't just me-Brandon also wanted to get home. We go on vacation and have time to think about what we need to be doing after we get home. Brandon has a Bobcat problem that he wanted to get home and tackle and he has about 15 chickens that he wants to kill and put in the freezer and I wanted to get home and clean up the house, get the girls to their 6 month dentist check-up, and spend some time at home before I have to go back to work. The girls both start ball practice this week.  AND both of the girls start school 1 week from today. There are some things we still need to get before we send them off on the merry little way next week!

This is what you call the playpen by the sea.  Brandon kept an eye on Nicky while Ned and Kelly enjoyed a dip in the ocean.

March 17, 2007-Stroller Ride

Here is a video of Emily pushing Abigail in a baby doll stroller.  This was a toy stroller that Net Net bought for Emily and they put it to more use than I ever got out of a real stroller.  We still have this exact stroller in the basement.  I won't let the girls have it upstairs at the new house because I didn't want the wood floors here to be scratched! Abi still sits in the stroller and plays with her dolls in it.  Last Halloween she even rode around a blow up skeleton for weeks in it!

TROUBLE-April 20, 2007

Here is another video of Abi having a conversation with us about who was trouble.  Notice she says at one point "I am Abi"  and also note she pulls Emily into the accusations while Emily is not even in the conversation and then when Emily disagrees Abi yells "Emi!"  She is almost 21 months in this one.

Toy spider video from November 18, 2006

I started going through some of my old videos and came across a few funny ones.  This is one of Abi and a play spider that Brandon was terrorizing her with.  She was 16 months old. 

Lazy Day

We started the day with running errands with the entire family in tow. We got everything done and came home and sat around like lumps on a log. Brandon decided to go over to his shop and Emily wanted to go with him so she could play with the new baby goats born earlier this week. This left me with Abigail.

The wind was picking up outside and a storm was brewing so it actually felt nice outside. I told Abigail to grab her fairy chapter book we had been reading and head for the hammock. We finished her book, she "rocked" me in the hammock, and then she wanted me to color with her. I had a peaceful 3 1/2 minute rest while she ran inside to get coloring books and crayons. The temperature had dropped drastically outside and we decided to sit on the front porch steps and color. About 10 minutes in we were forced to take cover. We still were able to stay on the porch, color, and eat a tootsie roll pop. We sat and talked about random things on our minds. It is so much different to be able to talk to her without Emily putting ideas in her head and steering the conversation for her.

About 15 minutes later the rain was coming at us sideways and we had to go inside. We decided to bake some cupcakes. Abi broke the eggs, measured the water and applesauce, and used the electric mixer all by herself. We made yummy mini strawberry cupcakes and stood in the kitchen until they were done so we could eat them hot out of the oven. I was about to suggest we go snuggle on the couch when daddy and Emi came back in and put the brakes on our "fun" afternoon. Well, it was a great afternoon with my baby girl and well worth ignoring house work for!