The Burns Family

Austin's New Eyewear

2011-01-07T23:39:00.002-07:00

At Austin's 7yr Dr. check-up the recommended an eye appt. Austin is far-sighted, just like his daddy...Don't you think he just looks hansome!

Meeting Her Iso Isa

2010-03-09T23:13:00.002-07:00

My father was not able to see Aarikka until she was almost a week old because of sickness (Thank you father for keeping her health in mind...I know it was hard waiting that long to meet such a sweet little girl) I thought this was a precious picture of her meeting him for the first time. For those of you who do not know...Iso Isa is Grandfather in Finnish. Thus also where we got the spelling for Aarikka.

Seriously...She cannot get more adorable!

2010-03-09T22:59:00.001-07:00

My Little girl..OH so cute!

Girlified Carseat

2010-03-06T23:00:00.005-07:00

Well since we have boys most of the stuff we have is boys colors. Our infant carseat is blue, blue and blue. I wanted to make it girlie. So I found a tutorial on etsy and this is how it turned out... By the way I LOVE IT!!!

Big Brothers

2010-03-05T00:23:00.004-07:00

Austin and Aaron are fabulous big brothers. They LOVE to hold their sister, and they do a fabulous job with her. Here are some fun pictures of them loving her.

My Little Burrito

2010-03-05T00:08:00.003-07:00

Aarikka LOVES to be wrapped up like this...I think she looks like a little burrito. Look at her size on the zoomed out picture...she is so tiny....she is in preemie clothing at this moment, but I know that will not be for long.

She's here... 10 days early!!!

2010-02-28T22:14:00.003-07:00

Our little girl decided that today (Feb 28, 2010), she would grace us with her beautiful presence.

Aarikka Anna Lyn Burns
February 28, 2010
10:40am
6 pounds 1 oz.
19 inches long

More details and pictures to come...

Oh so ready...to have this baby!

2010-02-20T22:18:00.004-07:00

I NEVER felt this way with my two boys...but this little girl is definately taking a toll on my body. I know partly it is because I am at home with my boys, and not at work sitting in front of a computer all day.
A. Every morning is like clock work....I need to empy my empty stomach....yes very fun! YUCK!
B. My body aches sooooo much, I dread going out because I know I will either have to run after Aaron, or carry him...not much of a choice. I have resorted to bribing with candy (this habit will stop as soon as the baby is born and does not always work)
D. I KNOW I was not this BIG with Austin or Aaron. I am definately HUGE, not weight wise...but belly size wise. (I am actually going to come out weighing less that I did before I was pregnant..a plus...but due to item A...I think mucus has calories)
D. I am sooooo emotional. Last night I just wanted to cry...just because...
E. I do get anxiety from time to time...never EVER did before....
F. I am ready to be done...
G. I am secretly scared to go into labor naturally, Austin was not fun. Loved being induced with Aaron...I knew what and when to expect, but that happened 4 days late, don't think I can wait that long.
H. I KNOW SHE WILL BE SOOOO WORTH IT!
I. SERIOUSLY This is how I feel...not look but feel!

{image found here)

HunDuddle Hussy Vlog!

2010-02-15T13:28:00.003-07:00

No...it is not dirty. Actually quite halariously awkward! Definately going to be one of my daily stops. I already have to read her family blog daily, because she just says it how it is and hits the nail on the head. So...if you haven't check it out, stop by and enjoys some humor. I wish I have the courage just to let it out!

MASTER'S DEGREE....here we go!

2010-02-15T12:52:00.001-07:00

After Chris graduated back in the end of August 09 with his Bachelors, we weren't sure exactly where his path was going to take him... In January, he got the feeling that he needed to go and get his Master's Degree. We both prayed and felt that it was the right thing to do...so here we go. WOOT WOOT! I am actually very excited for him and our family for this...

He started last week, and we are looking about 2 years of school till he graduates. I can handle 2 years. I think 33/34yrs is not a bad age to get his Master's Degree.

His work schedule actually makes it probably the best time for him to go through the Master's Program.

So here is to you sweetheart!, good luck, and I am in full support of you. I LOVE YOU!

I'm back!! Hopefully for good

2010-02-14T23:31:00.010-07:00

WOW, again for the manyeth time I restart trying not to slack on this blog again. I have a TON to catch everyone up on. I will start from just now to make it not so complicated on me, but every once in a while I will add an update from the last 7 months....here is a list I will use to guide me, if I think of more I will add to it.

I'm Pregnant

New Niece

Aaron's 2nd Birthday

Austin Starts Kindergarten

Halloween

Austin lost MORE teeth

Austin's Birthday

Joys of Pregnancy

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Austin's Valentine's

So...I am sure some of you have noticed I have a floating baby on my blog....for those of you who don't know...Yes I am pregnant. I am due March 9, with a baby girl, woot woot! We had our 3-d ultrasound the first week in January and she looks SOOOOOO cute. I may be bias, but here is a picture so you can judge for yourself.

Cherry Pop Refashion Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

2010-02-09T18:32:00.003-07:00

OK...Just to let you know this lady is awesome. I TOTALLY wish I had her refashion sewing skills. This is an awesome dress she has...totally my sister-in-law's style. Check out her blog! and amazing giveaways...
http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2010/02/cherry-pop-refashion-frock-grosgrain.html

(Image Via Grosgrainfabulous)

AUSTIN is 6 years Old

2009-11-15T22:41:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to me how many times a kid can change thier mind of what kind of party they want. He went from, hockey to pirate to cars to Transformers and finally landed on pirates as the theme. It is easier when they are younger because you just choose for them.

We just did a small family birthday this year...but we did do a theme and the kids LOVED it! Chris was really into helping...he wanted to do a treasure hunt, with a map. He had fun creating the map and soaking it in hot chocolate (since we don't drink coffee or tea) and burning the edges. He was also the one who took all the kids outside to find the buried treasure. I got plastic blow-up swords and made pirate bandanas for the kids to wear. They loved it. Here are some fun pictures...

Kids Posing before they go look for the buried treasure

The mission was a success...

Austin's most exciting gift...yes a REAL bow and arrows.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BIG MAN!

HALLOWEEN! Shiver me timbers....

2009-10-31T23:07:00.000-06:00

So, Austin wanted to be a pirate for Halloween this year (because of the sword). And since Austin was a pirate I knew Aaron would want to be a pirate...He LOVES to be just like his brother...it is soo cute how he looks up to him. Austin does not understand that yet.
My SIL kids were characters from The Little Mermaid. Ariel, Sebastian and the shark. My SIL was Ursula, but I don't have a very good picture of that...
All this kids had fun Trunk or Treating...Especially the little ones once they figured out what people where putting in thier bags...

Aaron is TWO!!!!

2009-08-20T20:14:00.003-06:00

I cannot believe how time flies...it was just like yesterday that I was sent to the hospital because of low fluid to be induced to deliver Aaron. AND NOW he is TWO years old. He is an amazing little man...LOVES affection, hugs, kisses and cuddles. He loves to sing, dance and have these amazing conversations with complete strangers, I honestly have NO idea what he is saying, but he sure does and most of the time gets a kick out of himself. Since Chris works the MID shift, Aaron usually crawls into my bed in the middle of the night...moments I will cherish since he never slept with us as a baby.

Here are some cute pictures over the past two years....

1st Day of School...KINDERGARTEN

2009-08-18T23:31:00.001-06:00

Austin was SOOO excited to start school. The first week they weaned the kids into it.

1st day- 2 hours with a parent

2nd day - half day leave after lunch

3rd day- was when the full days started

Chris went with Austin on his first day...I made him take the camera, he did a pretty good job considering he is not our usual photographer.

Austin posing with his shoe box he decorated...He is SOO proud of it!

Listening to his teacher read...Don't Eat the Teacher, he loves that book

Here is Austin with his cousin Emmalee...They are in the same grade at the same school. Doesn't her hair look cute, her mom does a FAB job with it!

Breeanna Barrett...my new niece!

2009-07-24T13:01:00.000-06:00

My SIL just had here first baby, and it was a sweet tiny little girl. She is adorable. Aaron and I make the trek down to Durango to visit (Austin went ahead earlier with his Aunt Lisa). Let me tell you the trip down there was NOT pleasant. Out of the 6 hour drive...Aaron literally screamed half of the time. AHHH....an in car DVD player would have definately been a lifesaver, but next time... Ok... on to the sweet baby girl!

Here is a sweet picture of her and her parents on her blessing day. And here is some of Austin and Aaron both taking thier turn holding her....

From 011-BLOGGER

Meet Redneck Austin...

2009-07-14T14:18:00.002-06:00

I don't mean that in a flattering way... if there is a flattering way.

About 2 weeks ago Austin was screaming bloody murder in his room for me to come to him. I came in asking what all the comotion was about. He was crying, no screaming because he hit his mouth on his bed. I took him into the bathroom an his mouth was bleeding, with a loose tooth. Yes, my son knocked his tooth out (seriously, this kids has not had one injury from hockey, but from just being a boy he has had a split head and now a knocked out tooth). SO now my son has 3 missing teeth! Yesterday is when the tooth finally decided to make and exit. I am still "talking" sith the Tooth Fairy on if she is going to visit for knocked out teeth... well see.

So again I present Redneck Austin...

Check Out My Famous Friends: MANITU

2009-06-26T12:35:00.002-06:00

Check out their first music video...PRETTY AWESOME... I so need to learn Spanish!

I have known these boys (Lex, Lukas and Marcos)...now men for over 12 years...WOW they are now touring in Mexico. Pretty cool! Marcos is the youngest, and he is the lead Main singer, Lex the oldest has the gotee (sp?) sings backup and plays the guitar... Lukas plays the bass he has the nice curly hair. All brothers living the dream. GREAT JOB GUYS!

I'm Pregnant!!! Thank Goodness

2009-06-24T12:12:00.002-06:00

I am pregnant, and thank goodness for that. I have had SO MUCH anxiety, and I never have anxiety. I was supposed to go down to Durango for SIL baby shower and for some reason I was really freaking out. I honestly have no idea why. My reasoning was I better be pregnant, if not, What on earth is wrong with me... Amy for not making it down I seriously apologize...

I did not tell Chris for about 2 weeks due to him freaking out, not about the baby, just the typical money, room situation...but all is well and he did fine We did tell our families in August by having the boys wear shirts with the announcements of being a big brother and big brother again... here is the pic...

From 011-BLOGGER

They Grow So Fast...

2009-06-22T00:57:00.001-06:00

It is amazing to me how fast my kids are growing...I wish there was a way to keep them small forever, but not feeding them is looked down upon. So I guess they will just have to grow (good thing for pictures.)
Austin is growing up SO fast! I just registered him for Kindergarten the other day, he is so excited. I permitted him to the same school as his cousin Emmalee (but we requested that they not be in the same class, that is trouble, they totally feed off eachother). It is amazing to me all the things they expect the kids to know...we will be having some learning time during Aaron's nap time. Hockey this Spring has just been awesome. Last Spring as you may recall Austin split his head and missed half of the season, so he missed out on learning alot of the skills. This Spring we have seen a huge difference. I have some fun videos...I will post as soon as I download them. He LOVES checking!

Aaron is now sleeping in a big boy bed. One Monday I put him down for a nap in his crib (which was in our bedroom), closed the door. I heard him cry every once in a while like usual, but when I heard scratching on the door, yes...the door I went in and found him out of his crib, playing in the closet. That was the day he moved to the bottom bunk in Austin's room. (I have heard horror stories about kids climbing out of thier cribs and breaking arms or/and legs, I did not want that to happen) He is doing FABULOUS sleeping in his big boy bed. I believe having no bars around him makes it more easier for him. He is also VERY active like his brother...will try to do anything Austin does, which is cute, scary and a little annoying...depending on the activity.

Chris just graduated with his Bachelors...he actually just walked (since they only have 1 graduation a year), but he is taking 3 classes this Summer and he will be officially done...I joke with him saying you can walk the walk, but you can't talk the talk...not yet that is. He is an amazing man...He has so many things on his plate and is still a wonderful father and husband. He has been taking at least 2 classes a quarter and been holding a 3.86 average GPA, working full time (just took on a new job having to get certified in the systems they work on and doing rolling shifts - one week days, the next week swings, and the next week mids), he has a pretty heavy duty calling at church, and really takes it seriously. Seriously this man is pure Awesomeness and Attractivness! thank you love for all you do!

Me I am I think figuring out this stay at home thing....is it sad that I throw an at home party so I will clean my house??? an added bonus besides the clean house is the free stuff, right??? ;) I have some sewing things in the works...I am trying to earn some money on the side...I will let you know when I have it up and running...I have a great idea just have to do it.

I am missing the rain...maybe someday we will move to WA, Chris LOVED serving his mission there (Tacoma, WA mission). Just a little bit of useless information...as I was reading the book Twilight, it was describing a place called Forks, WA...it sounded very familiar...because I heard Chris talk about serving his mission there, that's right folks, rubbing his shoulders with vampires and werewolves. So I had fun verifying some of the facts with him that were in the book.

Ok...this looks way cool.

2009-05-25T10:43:00.003-06:00

Saw one of my friends post this on her facebook and wondered what it was...so I went to the site it is is pretty darn cool. Thought I would share it with everyone firstly there is a contest...if you post their link on you blog, facebook or myspace you would be entered in...and I thought I would share it with everyone. Secondly it is pretty cool...neat looking dinnerware that has decor to help measure your food, so you know approx what your serving should be. Take a look it is very nice!

All I want for Easter is my two front teeth

2009-04-11T00:14:00.004-06:00

Austin has lost his two bottom frontteeth... He lost them about a month apart from eachother. I will post the 2 missing teeth picture soon. The ToothFairy brought 4 quarters eachtime, Austin was SOOOO excited.

Day Two....WooHoo

2009-04-08T12:16:00.004-06:00

Well...I might as well update you on the boys...

Austin- almost 5.5 yrs old. He cannot wait to go to school...He knows he goes to school when the leafs turn yellow. He just started his second year playing hockey and is LOVING it! He is a wonderful big brother to Aaron...but sometimes too wonderful (he can defiantely annoy Aaron).

We have started a button system with him, which works really well. I would do an allowance, actually have already tried, but everytime he got any form of money, he wanted to spend it on candy (not good for the teeth). So my SIL mentioned a reward/discipline system that I believe she saw on one of the nanny shows.

You have two jars, one for the child and one for the adult (filled with payment ie beads, rocks...I used buttons.) With every chore, good deed, even immediate obedience you would give them payment to put in thier jar. With disobedience, backtalk, lying etc. they would have to pay you in to your jar. (we have Austin put the buttons in and out of his jar...not a problem when he gets them, but he is not happy when he has to put them back in our jar...I tell him he needs to do it, but if he refuses he looses an extra button. Also if he knocks his jar down (which he has done only once) he looses the buttons that fell on the floor.

So far this has worked pretty dang good (THANK LISA) Once he fills the jar (which he could do in a month to a month and a half, if he doesn't loose a ton of buttons... we will let him choose to go to Chuck E Cheese or pick out a toy. I also have lines on the jar as milestone when we get to do cheaper fun stuff..like icecream at McDonalds.

Aaron - 18months is growing soooo fast. He is walking/running like mad and nothing, I mean nothing can restrain the boy! We take the ladder off the Austin's bunkbed so Aaron wouldn't climb, since there was no ladder he climbed up the side. None of the baby gates work...he always finds a way...pretty smart kid. He is a huge talker, was told if he had a twin, they would have there own language. He totally is speaking his own laguage, and even laughs at what he says. I only understand a couple of words, his favorite one is "NO" or "No way"..this could mean either yes or no. He has a blanket, which he LOVES...Austin never has something like this. This blanket is not the design I would have picked out, but he doesn't go any where without it. He is a Linus. He definately looks up to his brother ans want to do EVERYTHING his brother does.

Six Months....SERIOUSLY...I suck!!

2009-04-06T23:49:00.002-06:00

Wow...I CANNOT believe how time flies and how much of a slacker I am. And I am truely sorry, and yes I know my last post pretty much started out the same way. But I am going to change!
Reasons:
1. I need to post more..This is my journel
2. Keep family updated
3. To get off of Jessica's Blogs in Time Out list

A lot but not too many things have went on...but to keep this post from being uber long I will give a quick overview and in future might do some "flashbacky" posts.

Beginning of October I went back to work to help out for 2 months while a girl went on Maternity leave (THANK YOU mother for watching the boys!)

Halloween was a blast! Austin & Aaron LOVED getting candy.

Austin's Birthday nice and small

Thanksgiving was lots of fun also...spent it with my family.

Christmas is always fun..it was neat seeing Aaron more excited about opening presents. Plus I got a new sewing machine! :)

New Years..Totally fell asleep before the ball dropped.

January & February not too much that I remember.

March Chris got a new job..5 year contract baby! WooHoo!

And here we are in April...Austin started his new Hockey Season. Aaron is our little daredevil following in his brothers footstep. (he climbs the bunkbed EVEN when we take the ladder down and still makes it to the top).

Just some cute thinks I heard today...

At Austin's hockey's practice, one of the kids forgot his stick and we had an extra one for him to use...The mother told me she asked her son "what is a hockey player without his hockey stick"..he no joke said "a figure skater"

Tonight we had FHE on the Easter story...we had Chris's sister's kids over for it. We got to the part about how Jesus died...Emmalee my niece said "all we need to do is put bandaids on and He will be all better".

Sorry I have been away...

2008-10-01T22:31:00.003-06:00

I have an actual legitimate reason too. I went away, no husband no kids for a scrapbooking retreat in Silverthorne, CO and had a BLAST. I would have taken pictures, but I left my camera here for Chris to take pictures of the fun things he did with the boys. I hope to get some pictures from the other scrapbookers. It was georgeous up there (Amanda, you would have LOVED the leaves, fall has already taken a toll there and it was beautiful)!

I had TONS of fun, and met some awesome women. We headed up there Thursday morning (I went with my MIL and two SILs. The cabin we stayed in was awesome, I think I might want to move there. We did lots of scrapbooking, and of course some shopping. They have an outlet mall with some wonderful stores which had some great sales. I bought Chris a pair of dress slacks from Calvin Klien for only $10.00. I would have bought stuff for me, but man do I need to loose weight. (reason you never see pictures of me) I always get so depressed when I go shopping. I need to change that!

There were a ton of fly fishers there. I decided that would be a fun sport(it is a catch and release there) to take up, it looked soooo relaxing standing in the water just casting a reel listening to river flow past you feet.

Chris had a blast with the boys while I was gone. He said he didn't loose it once, and when he almost did, he called me and I was in the parking lot of our condos and life was good. On Thursday he took the boys to Chuck E Cheese. This was actually a prize for Austin to skate around the ice rink without falling, which he did. He really is a good skater, he just has a fascination with running himself into the walls as if he is checking someone. I don't have any pictures of this, because Chris forgot the camera (I let him know that was unacceptable, and he did great after that).

He did get some pictures of the boys wrestling on our bed. Aaron is a real go getter for a 1 yr old.

Austin also participated in a pumkin run at the Venetucci Farm with Rhianna and Emily. They had such fun, they all got a blue ribbon and would have been able to get a pumpkin, but they had a bad season.

(Don't you just love the pumpkin shades Austin is sporting?)

They also went to McDonalds to play afterwards and Austin and Aaron had a blast in the play area.

:::NEWS FLASH:::

2008-09-22T10:05:00.003-06:00

Aaron (13 months) has just taken his first two steps, like 10 minutes ago! My little boy is growing up too fast!, *sniff, sniff*.

Other things Aaron is doing:

-finds a tissue, he puts it to his nose and blows with his mouth, then tries to eat it.

-finds a marker (don't worry lid is on) and pretends to color (then of course he puts it in his mouth)

-climbs, he is a climber. His favorite is climing on to Austin's mini recliner, then onto my rocking chair, oh and he LOVES to stand on the chair - he has not fallen ....yet.

-He wants to feed himself, he won't eat hardly a thing if he is not doing the feeding.

Yes, I Am a Country Girl!

2008-09-22T09:07:00.004-06:00

My lovely sister Katariina got some Carrie Underwood tickets from a friend at work this past Tuesday (that is also when the concert was). She called me up (since she new I liked Carrie) and asked if I wanted to go...hmmmm...of course I said YES! It was an awesome concert. It was honoring the military, they they had the Color Gaurd post the Colors, and they honored 52 Medal of Honorees. It was really neat seeing all the men and women who served/are serving our country. (I was very disapointed though, the person who ran the ceremony , could not have been military, had the crowd sit down before the Colors were dismissed).

The concert it self was really awesome. There were two groups touring with Carrie Underwood, Lady Antebellum and Randy Travis (He has an amazing deep voice). They did a fabulous job. Carrie's performance was awesome, she is great with the crowd, and really interacts with her band. (wasn't a fan of her costume though) Katariina and I didn't get home until midnight, but ohh it was fun!

I would have took pictures if they allowed cameras, I could have snuck one in but I was trying to be honest (next time I will bring one, everyone else and their brother was taking pictures, and they actually encourage it on the artists' website, with and "upload your concert pictures here") I found one of Carrie and Randy posing together, you get to see the outfit I am not to fond of. She is wearing shorts, not pants.

Craft Fair

2008-09-18T21:46:00.008-06:00

Last Saturday I went to the Craft Fair at the White Horse Ranch (it is not called this anymore). We had lots of fun, and saw some interesting thing. Of course I found some things I could not live without, and spent some money.
Here are a couple of the things I found/bought:
Appalachian Bow Knife (Walnut) - Cuts bread (even hot fresh bread without smooshing, and you get thin slices) cheese, vegtables, etc. I love this. The first time I saw this was at my SIL Amy's house in Durango, her husband bought it, and neither of them knew where they got it.

Next is Patty's Pantry Preserves. This was SOOOO delish! I fell in love with the Tayberry (mix between blackberry and raspberry) and the Pumpkin Butter. It tastes soo good on the french bread I so thinly sliced with my new bow knife.

Next was Soup/Chili Mixes from Plentiful Pantry. These were sooo good. We tried the red Chili (not pictured because we ate it) and all of us loved it, even Austin and Aaron. I cannot wait to try the rest of these. The nice this is they are ready in 20 minutes, and usually you only have to add water and meat (optional) - Great food Storage.

Wow, I go to a Craft Fair and find/buy everything food related.

My New Addiction...

2008-09-18T21:46:00.004-06:00

Ok, I feel (key word, not a promise) I can forever give up my favorite caffine drink (Dr. Pepper) and replace it with this. It is ohhh so delicious! (reminds me of my Sonic working days)

Santa's Workshop - The North Pole

2008-09-18T20:26:00.002-06:00

We went to the North Pole a couple of weeks ago with Grandma Burns and Lisa and her kids. I have never seen Austin have so much fun. He wanted to ride all the rides over and over. Luckily, I think there was only like 3 other families there, so it was like we had the park to ourselves.

When we first got there, we did the tilt-o-wirl. I asked the girl who ran the ride how old do the kids have to be, she said 1 year old and I decided it was time for Aaron's first ride (sorry I don't have a picture I was riding with him) He didn't cry, but he didn't laugh, the way he was holding on to me I could tell he had no idea what was going on. I didn't make him ride it again. Austin LOVED it though. I think he could have rode it over and over for the rest of the day. There were lots of rides the kids enjoyed. Dominic (Lisa's boy) was not very excited about the rides after the tilt-o-wirl. It took forever to get him on the ride, then Lisa just put him on it and he cried for about 5 seconds into the ride and then was fine. I got some great pictures of his soo sad faces. Austin was such a sweetie and rode a pink rocket with Emmalee, and a school bus yellow bug to help Dominic ride. We were also able to go and see Santa. (sorry about the pictures, they don't allow flash photography in his house) Austin jumped right in his lap and asked Santa for a fishing pole and a bunny (I didn't know he wanted a bunny?) Then it was Aaron's turn, he looked so comfortable in his lap, like he could fall alseep there.

We had soo much fun, but with the cost of $15.00 a person this will have to be a once a year trip.

In a Galaxy Not to Far Away...

2008-09-18T19:52:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday we went to the Pottery Barn 4 Kids Star Wars Meet and Greet. We got there about half an hour ahead of 12pm(when it started). You had to have tickets to get in, so I went the day the I got the email.

It was a fun 2 hours waiting in line. There were a lot of fanatics there, little boys lightsaber fighting in line. They had security there (don't know why since they had the storm trooper and Jedi there?) ;) Darth Vader and the Storm Trooper came out for a little moment before they started letting people in. We also saw the Jedi and Padwaans arrive (I didn't see there ship though) We had lots of fun, and Grandma Burns bought a frame with a mat that had been signed by all the characters so we could put his picture in it.

Enjoy the pictures!

Here Fishy Fishy!

2008-09-18T19:40:00.003-06:00

We went fishing up in Woodland Park, CO end of August. Sorry I haven't been very good at blogging.

This was Austin's first time, and he was SOOOO excited. We went with the Scadden's, Brian and Vanessa (goods friends and home teachers). While the guys were fishing, Vanessa and I had fun talking. We only caught four fish, and Chris did all the catching (YEAH Chris!) Chris also go to learn how to clean out the fish (I chose the least grusome picture). Austin was exhausted, as was Aaron. We had such a fun time, so fun, thinking about getting a season permit rather than a one day. Thanks Brian and Vanessa!

my mosaic

2008-08-21T17:06:00.004-06:00

My cousin Molly saw this idea on Savoring the Details blog and did one. I thought it would be fun if I did one too.
Here are steps Molly created to make it easy
If you too want to create a mosaic about YOU then just follow these simple guidelines.Type your answer to each of the following questions into Flickr search. Using only the images that appear on the first page, choose your favorite image then copy and paste each of the URL's into the mosaic maker (3 columns, 4 rows).

Let me know if you give it a try

The Questions...
1.What is your first name? [sonja - yes that is my given name]
2.What is your favorite food? [sandwiches - they just feel healthy]
3.What high school did you attend? [Doherty High School - Go Spartans]
4.What is your favorite color? [Dark Blue]
5.Who is your celebrity crush? [Christian Bale - Loved him in Little Women, and he replaced Val Kilmer as my favorite Batman and Rebecca reminded me of Newsies]
6.Favorite drink? [Dr. Pepper]
7.Dream vacation? [Carribbean]
8.Favorite dessert? [Brownies]
9.What do you want to be when you grow up? [Artist]
10.What do you love most in life? [family]
11.One word to describe you? [independent - I asked my husband on this one]
12.Your Flickr name? [kristiinaburns - there was nothing, so I put a space inbetween names]

1. Sonja Henie, 2. magical sandwich up-close, 3. P3290633, 4. Blue dark chocolate M&Ms, 5. christian bale, 6. King of Soda., 7. St. John (USVI), 8. Valentine's day Brownies, 9. artists palette, 10. Snowmen family in TX, 11. NYC - Independent Subway, 12. Kristiina

iPhone 3G, Kaarina's New Toy, I mean phone

2008-08-14T01:05:00.005-06:00

Aaron and I went with Kaarina to Denver to the Apple Store about 1.5 weeks ago to pick her up a brand new 3G iPhone. Due to stores selling out quickly, we needed to get there at least an hour before. So we left our house around 6am to stand in line by 7am and buy the phone around 8am. When we got there, there was already two people ahead of us. They were very friendly and we talked till the store opened.
At 8am a lady came out and handed tickets out to everyone standing in line, this ticket was good till 6pm that evening, and specified the color and gb amount. Kaarina got a white 16gb. We had a little trouble separating her from her fathers cell plan, but that was finally over come with a few phone calls and help/calls from father.
Aaron did quite well, but got a little cranky at the end. (which is understandable, I woke the poor kid up at 5:45am
Here are some fun pictures of Kaarina standing in line, in the process of getting her phone, you know the most memorable moments)
By the way, the Apple Store keep there place incredibly clean. It is an uncluttered store as it is, but they were sweeping/mopping the floor, dusting all the crevices, I was amazed, it looks clean already)

Hear ye, hear ye! The Renaissance Fair...

2008-07-27T22:02:00.004-06:00

Colorado has a wonderful Renaissance Fair in Larkspur, about a 30 minute drive North from the Springs.

July 19, we were invited to the Renaissance Fair for our friends Josh and Bree's wedding. I was really excited because I have never been to a Renaissance Fair, and now I get to go and get the full experience with a wedding too.

I decided to try my hand at making out costumes, Chris said he didn't want me to make his because he didn't want it to look cheap, so I agreed in letting him buy his shirt. I made Austin a shirt that looked exactly like Chris' (by the way it looked just as good, maybe he will let me sew for him now...) Aaron wore a D&D onsie that was given to use, and I made my corset, shirt and dress. (My corset was fine for the day, but I now have my heart set on one of these for next time).

We had a fun day, first we had the wedding ceremony, where Josh the groom flipped a coin before saying I do (great laugh), then we headed to the party area where there was delicious food and cold drinks (definitely needed in the heat). After that we were free to roam the area, and then the Bride and Groom rode and elephant through the fair, it was neat to see. We watched a jousting tournament, and had fun looking at all the neat shops and fun(and some interesting) costumes. Enjoy a little glimpse of what we had fun seeing.

Eat Mor Chikin!

2008-07-12T22:50:00.005-06:00

Friday, July 11, Chick-fil-a had free meals for any one who dressed as a cow from head to toe, or a free entree for those who had on something cowish. We decided to go all out. Austin and I created our costumes to go to the restraunt. Austin had fun coloring the cow spots I made on his old white shirt. I made some short for him out of cheap muslim (the waist to crouch was a little small, but he still love it. For Aaron I took a white onesie and colored black spots on it. For me I basted black spots on a white shirt. I made tails for all of us, and Austin and I wore headbands with ears. We had a ton of fun, our total meal costed $.32 cents, because I like the lettuce and tomato on my sandwich. We are definately going to make this a tradition.

Here is Austin posing as a cow

Here is the back of his shirt and you can also see his shorts, and the tail (My favorite part)

Aaron loved his tail also, the front of his outfit said Cowz Rool, and the back said Chikinz Drule

Here are both of the boys enjoying there free food

I love to see the temple...

2008-06-29T12:20:00.002-06:00

We went up to Denver to pick up our car (it was fixed by Katjaana's husband Dustin - THANK YOU!) While we were in Denver, we decided to stop by the Denver Temple and walk around. It was a georgeously hot day, but we had fun walking around and talking about the temple. Here is a cute picture of Austin and Aaron in front.

Do ducks sleep on water?

2008-06-26T22:50:00.002-06:00

I just love it when Austin asks me intelligent questions. (what I mean by intellegent questions is when he honestly doesn't know the answer, not like when he has seen a movie a billion time and knows it by heart, yet he still ask what is happening). Tonight when we were driving home he asked me: Do ducks sleep on water? I honestly don't know, so I told he we would look it up when we got home. Well, here is what we found, for those of you who didn't already know.

Here is the answer and here is where I found it:

Ducks generally use three types of areas: open fields (for food), a wetland near their feeding field (also for feeding, as well as washing and drinking), and a roost site (for sleeping). Roosts are found in areas where the birds feel safe and are seldom disturbed. These resting areas may be found over a mile from the feeding field. Depending on what is available, roost sites are usually medium to large ponds, or wide rivers.
To avoid predators, waterfowl are most often seen sleeping on the water, with their head turned around backwards and nestled into their feathers, to keep their unfeathered bill warm. As if sleeping on the water isn’t safe enough, ducks also have a habit of sleeping in a line where the ducks on the ends sleep with one eye open, watching for predators.
Many duck species may also be seen sleeping on land near their roosting pond, often standing on one leg with the other tucked up into its feathers. Again, this is done to stay warm.
Exceptions to these sleeping habits include the Harlequin Duck, which tend to roost on rocky shores to avoid sleeping in rough water, and Wood Ducks, who usually roost in trees. Stiff-tailed ducks, such as Ruddy Ducks, have difficulty walking on land because their legs are set far back on their body and are almost never seen sleeping out of the water. In fact, Ruddy Ducks are so comfortable sleeping in the water that, if you’re very quiet, you may see one blowing across a wavy pond!
-Darren Wiens, M.S. Candidate

Breaking Dawn Contest

2008-06-26T14:31:00.002-06:00

Alright, I am a big fan of Stephenie Meyers, I love the Twilight Series and The Host Book (I even was blessed to be able to go to her The Host book signing in Denver. We Breaking Dawn's, the forth book in the Twilight series, release date is August 2. With that they are having a contest to win tickets to go to New York, NY for a Twilight Concert (it includes airfare, tickets, hotel and V.I.P treatment). So if you would like to sign up, here is the link. I have already put mine in the mail!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

2008-06-13T16:15:00.003-06:00

We have a membership to our Zoo in the Springs, and love it. The other day we went to see there new Rocky Mountain Exhibit. It was pretty amazing, the go rid of a lot of the hills. They brought in two grizzly bears, a moose, mountian lions, and porcupines. We were also there when they were feeding the hippos, I think that was Austin's favorite. Aaron's favorite was this little monkey that kept looking at him. I held him up to the window, and this little monkey kept tilting his head back and forth - Aaron LOVED it!
These Grizzys were having a blast wrestling with eachother, thier energy reminds me of Austin.

Here is the hippo getting a drink before he came into eat.

This Orangutan had at least 8 carrots in his mouth!

Here is Aaron making friends with this cute little monkey.

Here is Alvin as Austin says.

Messy Baby

2008-06-13T16:08:00.005-06:00

Aaron has really been enjoying the babyfood lately, here is a couple of pictures of him after he is done eating. Good thing we had a bib on.

ALERT: What I would LOVE for my Birthday!!!

2008-06-06T18:17:00.003-06:00

Ok, I know these are hard to come by, but I would LOVE this! PLEASE go in together to get me this. *puppy dog face*

My child is weird.

2008-06-05T21:40:00.001-06:00

As I was putting Austin to bed here is a short convo we had.

Me: Austin what would you like for breakfast?

Austin: Broccoli

Me: Broccoli, we don't have any.

Austin: We need to go to the store to get some. I need it to be like Spiderman. Because it helps me get webs.

Me: Ok, we will get some at the store tomorrow. So what would you like for breakfast?

Austin: Carrots

Me: How about some Spiderman pancakes also.

Austin: Yeah, that would be good.

Thought it was too cute, the broccoli thing. Austin went to Durango around the end of April beginning of May. He was down with visiting with his Aunt Amy and Uncle Kermitt. Amy got him stuck on broccoli because of the way it looks like webs, and that is what Spiderman eats to get his webs. He bought it, and was dissapointed we didn' t have any broccoli.

Thanks Amy!

Too Cute...

2008-06-04T23:54:00.002-06:00

It was sooo cute. Austin, Aaron and I went to the park the other day to play. While Austin was running around making new friends, Aaron and I sat down and observed. It was getting ready to rain, so the wind was blowing pretty good. I got a great picture of Aaron when the wind blew at the right moment. Enjoy, you can see his tuft of hair blowing pretty good.

Anything NOT to crawl

2008-06-03T12:36:00.003-06:00

Aaron just doesn't want to crawl. The kid will be 10 months on the 2oth of June, and has absolutely no desire. I try to encourage it by putting him on his hand and knees. This morning he didn't bend his knees and this is what we got.

As you can see in his face, he got unhappy real quickly.

Father Son CampOut

2008-06-03T01:07:00.004-06:00

It looks to me as if everyone is having one of these in the ward. A brother in our ward owns a ranch, and every year they have a Father & Son campout. This is the 3rd year Austin has gone (his first one was at 2.5 years, we start 'em young). They had such a fun time, and came back filthy as ever.

Austin loved checking out anything he could climb, run on and jump off.

What kid doesn't love a lake...

Don't worry, that is a rootbeer.

What a neat pan...

2008-05-31T22:02:00.005-06:00

I ran into this Brownie pan when I was blog surfing. Isn't neat, I added it to my wishlist...

Teething Terror -- Poor baby

2008-05-30T23:31:00.003-06:00

I feel soooo bad for Aaron. He is teething, and not enjoying it one bit. Poor little boy has trouble sleeping, and doesn't want to eat unless he has to. Doesn't want his pacifier or anything to chew on. I just want him to be happy again.

(Photo courtesy of Lisa Crane)

Book Signing - Stephenie Meyer

2008-05-30T23:14:00.005-06:00

Monday May 19, Stephenie Meyer was in Denver, doing a book signing for her new book "The Host" (you might recognize her as the author for the Twilight Series). I found this out the Saturday before and thought this would be fun to do (I have never done a book signing before). It was really fun... My mother-in-law Jean and I went. I was kind of worried how late we would be there, because our tickets were numbers 699 and 700. There was about a total of 850 persons there, it was pretty crazy. They went in order of the numbers on your tickets to get your books signed. It started at 7pm and we got out around 10pm. I have to say I am impressed, 700 signatures in 3 hours. It was neat to see the dads who brought there daughters there for the signing, and the crowed seemed to be decent, which was great. It was a pretty fun evening. By the way, I loved the book. She did a great job.

ER - Take Two

2008-05-30T11:29:00.004-06:00

What is better than going to the ER once, how about twice within a week and a half for the same wound. That is right Austin split his head open again. Him and his cousin Emmalee were playing cats and dogs and he rubbed/hit his head underneath the table and re-opened it. It was bleeding more this time than last time. In the picture below you can see how well his head was healing. This visit didn't take as long as the one in Denver, thank goodness. Austin really liked the bandage on his head, he called himself a pirate.

His head is all better now, and he will be able to play hockey again (he is very happy about that).

It was bound to happen someday, surprised it wasn't sooner...

2008-04-20T21:32:00.006-06:00

We had a wonderful Friday. Amy, Chris' sister came to town as a chaperon/piano player with a middle school group for a competition on Saturday. They had a lot of fun things planned for Friday. First we went to the Denver Zoo, it was a mad house there. I think every school was there on a field trip. It was tons of fun. The Denver Zoo is much bigger than the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and it didn't have as many hills also, which is very nice when you are pushing two kids around. We saw tons of fun animals, lots that we don't have at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Some of the kids favorites were the Nemo fish (clown fish) and the Polar Bears, one of which was playing in the water with a big plastic thing. We were there for about 4 hours (definitely not enough time to see all of them, so we need to go back).

Next we went to the Cherry Creek Mall (these middle school kids don't have a big mall where they come from -- Farmington, New Mexico) so the really enjoy this. I had fun finding fun stuff on sale for Chris at Macy's, then we took the kids to the big play area to play in. It is a nice big area, they have breakfast food for the kids to play on, waffles with butter, eggs, bacon, bowl of shredded wheat and blueberries, etc... Well towards they end some little kid brought a football (and we all know Austin LOVES any type of sport) and they started playing together. A couple of minutes later Austin smacks his head on the side of the play area and literally cracks his head open. So after getting some ice and TONS of napkins for the blood, my mother-in-law (wonderful lady) drives me to the Children's Hospital. It took us about 30-40 minutes to get there, so the whole time I keep asking Austin all these question to keep him awake (he has already had a long tiring day before the incident happened), the only thing I am afraid of is him falling asleep and not waking up because of a concussion. (first time I ever thought of my kid dying, I know a little overboard for a cracked head). We get to the hospital for a long 5 hours before we get to go home.

The Children's Hospital (definately different than a regular hospital) was very nice, the food was actually very good (We had dinner there instead of Casa Bonita --huge Mexican restraunt with cliff divers). Austin recieved 3 staples to the head (staples work better than stitches on the head), poor kid. It was about 3.5 hours in the waiting room, we had to keep Austin from running around, you would have never thought he was hurt the way he was acting, he made new friends. Once they took us back they had to irrigate the wound they staple it. It was really neat, there was a lady named Roni whose job was to destract the kids while they fixed the wound. She had a huge backpack full of all kinds of neat toys, Austin really enjoyed that and I think it really helped him till they had to staple his head. But after it was over he was able to pick out a toy from the treasure chest, he chose the yoyo (he was very excited)

On our way home (11pm) Austin told me that he was tired and wanted to go to sleep. It was too precious, he thought I was going to still try to keep him awake like I did earlier...He was out cold.

What a fun day, something I will never forget. As for the ER visit, it was bound to happen, sooner than later with a kid like Austin...Actually surprised it didn't happen sooner.

We are slowly shaving (to help the tape stick with the guaze) and trying to wash out the dried blood from his hair. While shaving we had fun and gave him a mohawk for the day, we will be shaving it tomorrow.

I would like to take a small moment to thank Chris' sisters Amy and Lisa for ALL the wonderful help they gave in taking care of all my stuff and little Aaron while i rushed to the ER, and for Jean in taking me to the ER -- THANK YOU!!!

Just a small note...Do you know how hard it is to keep an extremely active boy not to be active? VERY HARD, and DARN NEAR IMMPOSSIBLE!

Here are some pictures from the zoo and Austin's battle wound...

Wow, I haven't updated in a while!

2008-04-17T14:54:00.011-06:00

Wow sorry about not updating in a while (I know I have said this a lot) I will try to get better. So many thing have been happening since "a while ago" so please make sure you scroll down.

HOCKEY - Austin has started hockey (he is the shortest one out there, but not the youngest)! Colorado Springs Armature Hockey Association (CSAHA) has a Spring League Training type camp. It is and 8 and under league, they have beginner (which Austin is in) and advance. He is having such a ball! He loves playing hockey for the Jr. Tigers. They teach them a lot of exercises to teach them how to play hockey. They put cones down and the kids slalom through, skate on one leg, hop on one leg, pull each other on the ice, to do a fast side stop, handle the puck, moving from a standing position to sliding and back up. It is pretty facisinating how much Austin has progressed since his first to his fifth practice.
Here is Austin showing off his jersey

Here he is all ready to play, we even had to buy him a mouth guard (and a cup).

Austin scored a goal the first night when they had a little scrimmage! What a stud!

Here he is in his hockey stance listening to the coach. (First thing he learned)

Here is his hockey stance, bend the knees but not too far.

Here he is skating with the puck. He actually is pretty good at this. (Chris has been practicing at home with him, on our wooden floor)

Here is Chris and Aaron being Austin's support squad. (Isn't Aaron SOOOO cute!, We call him Jack Jack - from The Incredibles)

SPAGHETTI DINNER - I made a cake for the auction

I did my traditional spaghetti cake, I destroyed the first half of the cake, so I let Austin decorate it. Here are some fun pictures of our cakes, I bet you can't tell who did what cake.

Daughter's Poo as Keepsake, YUCK!

2008-03-29T18:29:00.003-06:00

Ok, so I like to go and look at Esty every once in a while, especially the Etsy Alchemy part where people ask for bids from creators to do projects for them. I ran across a really odd one just a few minutes ago, and found it fairly disturbing! Now tell me, would you do this with your child's first poo? http://www.etsy.com/alchemy/request.php?id=3392

Happy Birthday Mother!!!

2008-03-17T08:51:00.003-06:00

Today is my WONDERFUL mother's Birthday, Yes, she was a St. Patty baby. I want to share with you her birthday gift, that I had fun making. She was supposed to recieve it yesterday at our family dinner, but she it sick with that yucky flu thing.

It is a reversable apron... Tell me what you think

Just in from Colorado Springs...

2008-03-17T08:27:00.005-06:00

***DISCLAIMER: Pictures were taken through the window for safety, thus the crappiness***

Chris, Austin, Aaron and I were just sitting peacefully (well, Austin was jumping on his mini tramp) Saturday evening when around 5pm we see this HUGE police RV outside of our window. (of course the first thing that comes to my mind is , great now the re-sale value on our property in going down)

So I bring it to Chris attention, and he decides to go out there and ask them what is going on. (Silly him) They tell him to not go outside his front door. So of course something is happening out front so I run to the kitchen window, and this is what I see...

Austin really wanted to go out there and help the "cops", said he would be safe because he was going to be with them. Do you know how hard and long it took to explain to him that it was not safe to be out there, and even though the "cops" have guns, doesn't mean no one is going to get hurt. I don't know if he really understood, I think he gave up just asking, thank goodness it only lasted 3 hours.

So I get the story, and here is what it says... (We had the Colorado Springs SWAT Team in our front yard)

Springs man threatens to shoot police

Members of Colorado Springs Police Department's Tactical Enforcement Unit swarmed the Sierra Point Apartment complex on Van Teylingen Drive, Saturday, after a man threatened to kill police. Sergeant Dennis Dougan says, "We set containment up, because if he truly is serious about killing a police officer he would not hesitate to kill anyone else either."
It all started shortly before five o'clock. Police say the man reportedly said he'd shot people at his mom's house; a claim that later turned out to be false. He then drove to his place, 3230 Van Teylingen Drive, barricaded himself inside and said he'd shoot anyone who came to his door, including police.
While the SWAT team swarmed the complex, the people who live there couldn't return home, but were forced to wait for hours. John Hesli says, "I was just out and about and decided to come home you know...and its a shock. Jeremy Wardell says, "We pulled up here and you know, its blocked off so its kind of a wild situation going on."
Shortly before eight o'clock Saturday night, the man eventually surrendered. Police say he was unarmed.
The suspect's name wasn't immediately available, but he's described as a 46 year old white man.

Sebastian Ashley Crane

2008-03-01T21:41:00.004-07:00

The newest member of the Crane family, Chris's sister Lisa little boy. Sebastian is such a little sweetheart. Here is a "tender" (my Grandmother Pierce's word) picture of my mother-in-law Jean kissing Austin who is kissing Sebastian. I just love it! enjoy...

Austin and Aaron 6mo. Comparison

2008-02-19T22:49:00.003-07:00

Well, I thought I would just show you the differences and similarities between Austin and Aaron at the same age. Enjoy!

Phone Pictures

2008-02-19T22:35:00.007-07:00

Here are a couple of more pictures I took with my phone. Reasoning for the phone instead of the camera is so I could send the picture over the phone...

Austin and Aaron

Aaron all pimped out in his suit for church

Spur of the Moment Day at the Zoo

2008-02-19T22:14:00.006-07:00

This morning at 9am, I asked Austin if he would like to go to the park or the zoo (stupid question to ask him I know) of course he said the zoo. We have a membership there so we stayed for only two hours. Don't know how many of you have been to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, but it is very hilly. And when you are pushing a stroller with two kids, it gets very tiresome.

9am was a perfect time to go, hardly anybody was there and the animals were out and about and busy. Austin enjoyed feeding the giraffs. His main goal was to see the hippo's. We were able to see the Peguins being fed, and the gorillas being very active. There was on disturbing female gorilla. She would eat, throw it up, eat it, throw it up and so on. I thing we saw her do this more than a couple of times. GROSS! Well the caretaker said that this is a learned habit in captivity, and she does it to get attention. bleghck! We did see this cute little baby gorilla. He was all over the place, the caretaker said he had been like this since early this morning (hmmm... reminds me of Austin) Well, we had a fun time, Aaron enjoyed watching it all from the stroller - he stayed awake the whole time. I didn't take my camera because it just stinks right now, and also the batteries needed to be charged. I did take a couple of pictures with my phone, yes I know my yucky camera would have been better, but you know the batteries. So try to enjoy what you can see.

Here is the crazy little active monkey...He was running, swinging and jumping around everywhere.

Next is Austin's Favorite the Hippos, two of the hippos were sleeping sooo cute, don't know if you can make it out (regretting I didn't have my yucky camera) but the hippos where sleeping with thier noses where touching. Austin said they were kissing... Awwww Hippos kisses.

Well hope you enjoy, don't worry I didn't take a picture of the female gorilla eating her throwup, I am not crazy.

Be sure to scroll down...

2008-02-17T23:21:00.001-07:00

Be sure to scroll down to see all of the updates. Wouldn't want you to miss the fun!

My Love of Aprons (I take after my mother)

2008-02-17T22:06:00.008-07:00

Don't know how many of you out there wear aprons, but they are a wonderful thing. They save your clothes from who knows what when you are cooking, cleaning and crafting. I know there are tons of other uses out, but these are the ones I mainly use them for. Some of you are thinking ugh.. aprons... they are so ugly... But do not fear, I have found a couple of adorable ones that I have fell in LOVE with. Please take a look below...

MEG MCELWEE
This one I fell in love with while I was blog hopping. Meg designed it and created a pattern that you can buy at Motessoribyhand.com. She has alot of other lovely patterns also.

HEATHER BAILEY
The next apron I fell in love with has no pattern yet, I am sad, but cannot wait till Heather has it up for sell, she also has a fabric line which I am drooling over. Here is her site to go and see it, I need to get her permission to use her photo, Click here to see the apron

The Men In My Life

2008-02-17T21:27:00.005-07:00

I thought I would share with you a special moment in my life...My Men
I love the way they love each other, and have fun.
Enjoy these pictures of one of those moments...

Mmmmm.. Rice Cereal and Nothing Else

2008-02-17T21:19:00.003-07:00

So Aaron has found the joy of rice cereal. He LOVES it! I made the mistake of buy the banana flavored rice cereal, big mistake. My child loves the bland stuff. He must get that from me. You see, Chris is a Chipolte fanatic, but I do not like the spices they have (I am a wimp), I am more of a Qdoba girl, Chris calls them bland, but eats there for me (isn't that sweet). Ok, back on subject... here are some cute pictures of Aaron chowing down on some yummy bland rice cereal.

Crooked Crack

2008-02-17T21:05:00.006-07:00

So I have yet to tell you about Aaron's "Crooked Crack". Yes, he literally has a crooked bottom crack. It is very cute. When he was about a month old, I had to take him to get an ultrasound and x-rays due to this thing. You see, where the crack goes crooked (vears off to the right) there is a dimple that goes a little too deep for the doctors comfort. I guess this can be caused by the spinal cord being attached all the way to the tail bone which is not good, it can make it hard for the child to walk, or not be able to walk at all. But every thing turned out alright for Aaron, he just won't be able to have the profession of a bottom model (don't worry, we didn't wan't that to be his life long goal anyway) Here is a cute picture of his bum... (Sorry the picture is not the best, I need a new camera)

Chris's Hockey Skates

2008-02-17T20:52:00.006-07:00

For those of you don't know, Chris plays on an adult city hockey team. He has a enjoys it(but his body does not), Austin has a ball watching him play also. The last game we were at, both of Chris's skates some how broke at the same time, CRAZY!!! So we had to buy him some new skates which we got a great deal on. (thanks to Chris's boss Nate for telling us about hockeyoverstock.com)
OLD SKATES

NEW SKATES Nike Flexlite 4 Senior Ice Hockey Skates

My Cousin Molly's Favorite Things

2008-02-14T07:50:00.003-07:00

All, my cousin Molly has a wonderful website where she talks about and review many neat products. Every once in a while she has some AMAZING give aways! Today only she has a package for some scrumpious cupcakes from a bakery in Chicago called "Cupcakes". Check out her site and enter to win! Remember to check back often for more great product and fun give aways!
Just click on her button under Things I Love called a few of my favorite things

A Little bit of Kaarina

2008-01-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share a little bit of my sister Kaarina!
Austin was watching this with me and I asked him isn't what she doing weird? He said no, she's beautiful. I thought that was so precious!

Ice Skating - Getting Ready for Hockey Season

2008-01-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

Chris and I took Austin Ice Skating on Saturday evening. I stayed in the bleachers with Aaron and took pictures while Chris went out with Austin Ice Skating. Austin is really doing a great job, he can't wait for Chris to take him to the Sticks and Pucks session so he can take his hockey stick out on the ice. We are going to be starting him on a Hockey team this next Season (I Believe it starts in September. We are very excited! Here is a cute little video of Austin Ice Skating. He is doing very well, but still falls down a lot. I think when we get him into hockey he will have a lot more dicipline to not fall down.

Here is a cute picture of Aaron waiting with me up in the bleachers

Austin's New Suit

2007-12-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

Austin got this awesome suit for Christmas. There is a jacket, but he is not wearing it for this picture. I had to blur out the background because of our messy house. Doesn't he look so hansome. He is growing up to be a cute (I would use the word hansome, but he rather I call him cute) young man.

MIA - Sorry I have been not updating

2007-12-29T23:13:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Been busy with the holidays, I know that is no excuse, but hopefully I can make up for that with this post.

Please look below to catch up on what has been going on since my last update.

I have been having camera problems (time for a new one, ugh and yeah) So you will have to wait till I collect pictures of Christmas from others.

Here is a Christmas present Chris got me (and our whole family) that has been taking up a great deal of my time, RockBand. I don't know if any of you know a lot about it, but you can have up to 4 players (2 guitars, 1 drummer and 1 singer). I have really enjoyed the singer part. I have completed all of the medium level songs, and am now trying to master expert.

I had a little photo shoot with my boys for a Christmas Card. We had lots of fun. The hats that they are wearing are from Finland when my parents and sister went this past summer. It is the four winds hat that the Laplanders (Indians of Finland) wear. Austin had fun making silly faces for the camera.

Austin, Chris and I had so much fun making this gingerbread house. We watched "The Grinch" while we decorated it. During the process Chris and I had a marshmellow contest. We saw who could throw the marshmellow the highest and then who could catch it in thier mouth. Austin loved watching his parents act silly. Don't know who exactly won (I think it was Chris, but we will just say that I did). We had some left over candy so I created a little nativity scene at the back of the gingerbread house. Hope you like it.

Grandma Burns borrowed Austin for a fun day of Christmas shopping and Cookie making. Austin had so much fun. Here is a picture of the Yummy cookies they made.

Last we have some picutes of Austin's 4th Birthday (Nov 15). We had fun at Fargo's Pizza, eating yes, pizza and cake, and opening gifts. Then we headed off to the iceskating rink for some fun iceskating. Austin loved all the fun gifts he got! He was able to wear the Finland hockey Jersey my parents got for him at the Ice Skating Rink.

Austin's First Artist Moment

2007-10-28T21:47:00.000-06:00

Well, I think this happened when I was feeding Aaron. Austin decided to be an artist on the wall of his room. He actually did very good with his "A"s, yes I know they are upside down, but he did pretty good especially with out help. He hopefully should not do this again, he did get time out in the corner, I did have him scrub at it a bit and we had a long talk about how when he gets the urge to draw to do it on paper.

Our Ward Trunk or Treat

2007-10-27T23:59:00.000-06:00

We had our Ward Trunk or Treat last night. It was fun, short and chilly. Austin dressed up as Darth Vader (that was his choice). Aaron was our little Nuggett's Basketball Player (we chose that for him). Our Cousins Emmalee was Dorothy Gail and Dominic was the Cowardly Lion (From the Wizard of OZ). They has lots of fun trunk or treating. Emmalee was afraid of Austin (I don't know why, I wouldn't let him wear the mask.. I think it was the sword)

Well, for those of you who don't know what a Trunk or Treat is, it is where you go trick or treating at the trunks of each car in the parking lot.

Well, enjoy the pictures.

Paul Walker Look-a-Like??

2007-10-27T23:47:00.000-06:00

So, I walked in to KMart the other day looking for a specific toy bin organizer. They had me fill out a survey and while I was doing that, two check out ladies came over to tell me how much Austin looks like Paul Walker (Actor - 2 Fast 2 Furious). What do you think?

The Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-16T11:01:00.000-06:00

Austin, Aaron and I went to the Pumpkin with my sister-in-law Lisa and her two kids Emmalee and Dominic. We had such a fun time. The kids enjoyed running around, looking for the perfect pumpkin. We were able to pick some raspberries also, they were delicious! Thanks Lisa for the fun day out!

It has been a while...

2007-09-27T15:13:00.000-06:00

Sorry it has taken so long for me to post, but I got lots of pictures of the baby. We just had a Dr. Appt the other day and Aaron has put on over 2 lbs of weight since he has been born, YEAH!!! The Dr. said I had super milk (I guess that is a compliment) Aaron now weighs 7.5 lbs.
I am having so much fun staying home with my kids, let me tell you it is not easy - I give props to all the stay at home moms/dads - I have respect for you Molly and Amanda ;) I am having a blast though!

Below are some pictures my photographer friend Kim took when Aaron and I went out to visit my work. - Thanks Kim!

Next I had fun taking pictures of Aaron, he had SO MANY different faces in so little time, I thought they were cute.

Here I have some adorable Smiles from Aaron. Yes, it took about 10 minutes to get these since he doesn't smile on demand.

Last but not lease, here is my boy getting sassy with me. I couldn't help but post this picture.

A Request From My Aunt Nancy

2007-08-29T21:45:00.000-06:00

My Aunt asked me to post some pictures side by side of Austin and Aaron. Let me say thank goodness for digital format, or this could have been hard.
There are many differences between Austin and Aaron, but they do kind of look a like also. Austin had more thickness to his body when he was born, he was the same size in length as Aaron, but 1 pound more in weight. Austin I believe has a wider jaw line and a small clef chin with darker hair, Aaron has a thinner face and no clef chin with blonde hair. Go ahead and look below at the pictures. Austin will be on the left and Aaron on the right.

The New Man in My Life

2007-08-29T13:13:00.000-06:00

Here are some cute pictures of Aaron. Enjoy!

"I Wanna Hold My Brother, and Take a Picture"

2007-08-27T21:40:00.000-06:00

Austin absolutely loves being a big brother. Every chance he has he wants to hold his brother. He knows the protocol, wash hands (he loves to scratch his brain) and grab the boppy for support. After he gets his brother in his arms he cannot stop kissing him (I'm afraid he is going to kiss all his hair off *Smile*), then he say mom, take a picture. I have a ton of pictures of Austin holding Aaron which is awesome. I am so glad that Austin loves his little brother, he is very gentle with him. Enjoy these pictures of Austin & Aaron.

Aaron Nathanael Burns - 4 days over due and well worth it!

2007-08-23T15:38:00.000-06:00

I had my Dr. Appt Monday Morning. I went to work for about an hour, then went and had the BPP Test. They did an ultrasound. It was need to see the little baby, you could see his ribs, it is amazing the development they have over the next 20 weeks. Well, my fluids were dangerously low and my Dr. didn't even monitor the Baby. He sent me straight to the hospital for induction. We got to the hospital @ 11:20am and he was born @ 6:07pm. I had him out in 1 push. He was such a little guy, all of 5lbs 1oz. I was pretty exhausted, my placenta didn't and wouldn't detach from my uterus, so they had to take me to the Operating Room (Let me tell you, you think giving birth there is no privacy, try the OR room). Once they got my uterus to relax everything went fine.

Here are some pictures, I will get more up. He has beautiful coloring, and loves to sleep. I have to wake him up to feed him. Barely cries, and when he does, it is a sweet cry.

2 Days Over Due...

2007-08-18T10:27:00.000-06:00

I am 2 days over due and my body is definately feeling it. It is just so exhausted and the aches and pains of the back are just wonderful. This is a blessing, believe it or not. Looks like the baby is cooperating with my parents schedule back from thier vacation (knock on wood) :) Well just wanted to give you an update.

3 Days it is - WOW and the Dr says I"ve got nothing!

2007-08-13T20:33:00.000-06:00

I just had a Doctors appt today. He says if the baby were any farther up in my ribs it would be crawling out of my mouth. This little one definately looks like it is waiting for my parents to get back from vacation - Which is very good.
If I do not go into labor by this next Monday the Dr. is going to do a BPP appt. I have no idea what that stands for, but they said it is about an hour long appt. They do an ultra sound and then monitor the baby, just to make sure it is comfortable. I guess they want to see why the baby has decided it doesn't even want to drop yet. - so well see, I keep you gys updated ;)

6 DAYS LEFT - Wow how time flies!

2007-08-10T22:02:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe how fast time flies. This pregnancy has been flying, not to the point where it is easy, but I cannot find enough time in a day to get stuff done. I am trying to get everything ready at work for my maternity leave, and I hope that I am able to.
My body is definately ready to have this baby but mentally I am not. I know that will change one the sweet little boy comes into the world. I am very excited to meet this new little person.
Austin is extremely excited also. He is determined on the name Spiderman/Peter Parker Hockey Player. Everything he loves. I guess that is a good sign.
Sorry I have been so horrible about keeping this blog, but I promise I will get better. Right now sleep is just SO much more important, and I am sure it will be afterwards, but I will get better.

2007-06-18T21:27:00.001-06:00

Well, time has flown by SO fast; I cannot believe this Thursday I will have exactly eight weeks left till I am due. It is too crazy how time flies. Austin is very excited to have his new baby brother so he can teach him how to play hockey. Every night when he says his prayer he prays for his hockey brother, it is too cute. I am glad he is very excited to be a big brother.
I am feeling pretty good though, but I am starting to feel bigger every day. I just went through the 5 million baby items we have and sorted through them. That was a task, but I am glad I am doing it now rather than later. Well, just wants to keep you guys updated!

Happy Father's Day!

2007-06-18T21:15:00.001-06:00

Father’s Day was fun. Austin and I let Chris sleep in (shhh, he missed his Sunday morning meetings). Austin was sooo excited to make his Daddy breakfast. He made the mix for the blueberry pancakes all by himself (he washed the blueberries, controlled the mixer, etc.). He was so happy that he did that for his daddy. He also set the table for us to eat, I love how he has us all sitting SO close together. He couldn’t wait to wake up his daddy to eat.

The Greatest Show on Earth

2007-06-18T21:09:00.000-06:00

Friday was my birthday, yes the big 26. As Katariina put it, I am more than a quarter century old. To celebrate we went to the Circus, not just any circus, the Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus (just a side not, this is the only circus to go to).
Chris, Austin and I went with my mother and Kaarina, Chris’s mother and sister Lisa, her Husband Stephen and their 2 kids Emmalee and Dominic. We had so much fun! We were able to visit with the Circus performers before the show started. Austin wasn’t too sure about standing on the ball without daddy.
Austin loved the show! He says his favorite part was the Tigers. I think he really enjoyed his cotton candy.

The Durango Silverton Railroad

2007-06-02T10:37:00.001-06:00

We went to Durango for Memorial Day weekend to visit Chris' sister and brother-in-law. We had a ton of fun. We left Thursday evening and got there around 1am. On Friday morning we took the Durango Silverton Railroad. We only went one way (3hours and 45minutes), because we knew that would be all Austin could handle, probably all I could handle. It was a fun ride, Chris had to keep a constant hold on Austin, because he always wanted to lean out the window in the car. Austin was awesome the whole ride, he fell asleep the last 2o minutes. That is pretty good for a 3.5 yr old. (well, my 3.5 yr old). It was a beautiful ride!

Rockies vs Giants

2007-05-14T10:25:00.000-06:00

We went to a baseball game up at Coors Field on Friday evening. Austin has been so excited about it. He would every day if we were going to see baseball. We had to keep reminding him that Friday is when we were going to go.
Austin had a blast! We got great $15.00 parking right at the entrance. It was so much fun to see Austin enjoy the game and get into it. He would yell hey batter, batter, batter. and other cute comments he heard us and other people say. The game was fun too, even though we lost. Austin did great pretty much the whole game. He got a little restless at the eight inning (it was way long), but I was getting restless too. Here are some cute pictures.

WICKED - The untold story of the witches of OZ

2007-05-14T10:03:00.000-06:00

I have been waiting for this Broadway show to come to Colorado for about a year now. I was able to go and see it with Kaarina, thanks to Amy (Chris' sister). She teaches choir and was taking her students and I was able to get a ticket at a great price, and the seats weren't too shabby.
This was a wonderful show, if any of you have a chance to see it, I highly recommend it. It is based off the book "Wicked", I haven't read it, but heard it is much cleaner and the way the story should have been. The music is wonderful. It explains so much of the Wizard of OZ movie, why thing were the way they were, and is the Wicked Witch of the West really Wicked? Just thought I'd share. ;)

My Little Missionary

2007-05-09T22:27:00.000-06:00

Austin had his first Primary Activity 2 weeks ago. It's theme was Missionary Day. About a week before Austin got his Mission call in the mail. He was really excited, Austin loves to get mail. We told him that he was going to be a missionary and learn to teach the gospel. They asked that the children wear Sunday dress (Austin wore Chris's old missionary name tag). Below are some cute pictures of Austin. There is one with his companion, they were called to the Mexico Mission. There is a picture of the class were he learned to speak some Spanish, and of course the ultimate Missionary Food Pizza was served. Austin had a lot of fun, they also learned how to sew on a button, he did rather well. He is really excited to go on a mission and teach the gospel.

On the Ice with New Hockey Gear!

2007-05-09T21:42:00.000-06:00

Alright, You've seen photos with Austin in his new Hockey Gear, but here he is on the ice. He is having such a blast. He is doing so good Ice Skating, just last week he went around the whole Ice rink with out falling twice (not in a row) He was so proud of himself! I was at a scrapbooking convention or I would have taken pictures. I am so happy for him.

Here is a picture of My mother, Katariina, Kaarina and I. We try to go Ice Skating every Saturday. It is such a fun family activity.

Easter

2007-04-18T08:27:00.000-06:00

Thought I woulds share some cute pictures of Austin in his little Easter outfit. He is such a ham, and loves his pictures to be taken. He had a fun Easter Day, boy did he love his candy, and ate as much as he could. I know that is not good for them, but Hey it's Easter, right??

It's a Boy!!!

2007-04-06T06:04:00.001-06:00

My Hockey Man

2007-04-02T18:15:00.000-06:00

We promised Austin that if he went ice skating the whole time we would get him a hockey helmet with a face cage. He did a great job ice skating. We just today got his hockey helmet and we also got him some butt pads. He was so excited and couldn't wait to get the box open to wear them. He knew they were coming in the mail wanted to check the mail every day, even though it was coming UPS. Here are some cute pictures of our "Little Hockey Man".

Holly, CO's Tornado

2007-04-01T20:53:00.000-06:00

The begining of the week there were alot of tornados that hit. One of them was in Holly, CO. Chris said it is about a stone's throw aways from Kansas. The Stake President called the men in our stake to go and help clean up yesterday. So Chris and 12 of the men from our ward went up there to help. It is about a 3 hour drive from Colorado Springs. Chris said it was so sad to see all the damage that was done. The Tornado was about 2 football fields in length and definately did damage. Houses were completely torn apart, some houses were no longer there. It was an older community, Chris said he saw Christmas cards that were old (if he had to guess 1940-50's). Ton's of history gone. It was very sad to see. Chris took some pictures with his phone, not the best, but you can see alot of the damage. Keep these people in your prayers.

The Duck Pond

2007-03-29T22:56:00.000-06:00

About 2 weeks ago Austin and I decided to have a picnic at the Duck Pond in the park right by our church building. It was such a beautiful day. We made sandwiches for dinner and brought some bread for the ducks. We had such a great time. The park was not crowded, and the ducks were ready for some food. He are some cute pictures of Austin enjoying the duck pond. He seemed so peaceful and content watching the ducks. Then he got the bright idea to run along the edge of the pond (why wouldn't it be a bad idea?). I was just about to tell him how that would not be a good idea, and "Splash" into the pond he went. He was a little freaked out. The waster wasn't that deep, probably up to his shoulders sitting down. But Eww the duck poop, there is no filter in that pond. I asked him if he wanted to go home, he insisted on staying. Thank goodness we had an extra pair of pants in the car. It was a fun experience!

Bathroom Time

2007-01-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

Austin has been potty trained since last September, and let me tell you, I am loving it! Shall I say every minute of it. Well, recently Austin has wanted to be just like Chris and I when we use the restroom. Here are some cute pics of Austin reading his daddy's gaming magazine. He was so proud, he had to smile. It was soo cute!

Sleepy Dreams

2007-01-04T22:28:00.000-07:00

When Austin is at home, he absolutely refuses to take naps. If we really want him to take one we have to lay down with him, which is sometimes good for us so we get a nap. But if he is really tired, he will fall asleep just about anywhere. Here are some cute pictures of him sleeping on his chair while watching a movie (I don't recall which one), he slept for a good 1.5 hours. It was way cute. Excuse him just being in his underwear. That is just his daily attire at home, ( he tried to make it at other people's homes also, but we put a stop to that. That is the first thing he does when we get home from Daycare/Work, is strip down to his skivies.

Guitar Hero, My Rock Stars

2007-01-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

I don't know if any of you have ever played Guitar Hero I/II for the PlayStation 2, but it is awfully addicting. Every time Chris pulls it out to play, Austin has to be there right along with him, playing the "red" guitar. Austin has no idea what he is doing, but he is sure having a blast!

Ice Skating 101

2006-10-15T23:18:00.000-06:00

We took Austin Ice Skating for the 3rd time. He had such a blast. He couldn't wait to wear his helmet, and get the ice skates on. Chris took him out on the ice, and I took the pictures. Austin did one lap around the rink with the orange bucket, then after that he wanted to do it all himself. He had so much fun. He fell so many time, thank goodness for the helmet. Also every time he fell he had to lick the ice off of his gloves. If you ask him about ice skating he will tell you the whole story, from falling to licking the "snow" off of his gloves.