birthday/birthday/christmas

birthday boys

a quilt for c.j.

the party attendees

waiting for the show to start!

ida and a bird from the show

who has arrived???!

making sure the kids are all on the nice list

BELIEVER.

the kids were all stunned and amazed.

eli, thrilled at the combination of lego + sorry. too good to be true. pretty easy to please.

ida's crabby attitude, christmas 2010

the christmas morning puffy, smiley family picture. yes.

this time of year is always so busy. a good kind of busy. a happy kind of busy.

birthdays and christmas and family parties seem to run one into another. this year we celebrated eli and c.j.'s birthday by a lasagna smack down at our house, some presents to open and tickets to Seussical the Musical. we had a great time. the play was fun and colourful, ida sat through the entire thing happy and quiet. GOOD FOR HER.

we were all able to get together last night for christmas eve at mom and dads. we ate, acted out the nativity, had a talent show/sing-a-long and then had a very special visitor drop by. a bonafide santa claus arrived and chatted with the kids for a while. the kids could not believe it. santa claus, here????! HE WAS DELIGHTFUL AND PERFECT.

this morning was christmas. it was an early start. so early, ida and c.j. are both napping right now, it's noon and i am feeling a bit heavy eyed myself. eli was easy to please this year with simple lego, a couple of books and a looney tunes dvd. ida was grumpy, scowled most of the time, didn't want to open any of her gifts and was more interested in elis things which caused some problems. i had a brain wave while i was eating the really dry coffee cake i made for breakfast. next year we will do christmas in shifts. if eli wants up early we can wake, open gifts, whoop it up with him then head back to bed until ida wakes a couple of hours later {naturally}. it just may be a more pleasant way of celebrating christmas until ida can deal with it. they are so far apart in age that the early rising is fun for eli but not for ida. MUST STRATEGIZE NOW FOR NEXT YEAR.

in a couple of hours we will head back out to mom and dads and have a nice christmas day meal. it's going to be awesome. i'm going to eat like there's no tomorrow and then start thinking about tomorrow and the next day and the next... 2011, you will be here before we know it. MUST BE PREPARED.

merry christmas.

merry christmas folks

i present to you... NYC

i love new york

well, we have walked our legs to bloody stumps, our eyes are blurry and tired and our hands/faces are cold and chapped. we punched manhattan in the face and i have about 1,000 pictures to prove it.

will post when i get home tomorrow morning and get my wits about me.

enjoy the above until then...

a great big fat awesome long weekend straight ahead

doug & emily + new york city = FUN FUN FUN

can't wait

yes, the blue chairs are airplane seats. old school seats with ashtrays in them.

oooooh boy.

we had a hairy hectic day here. cj had a great big shoot. i was getting things ready.

ready for what?

ready to go to manhattan. yes, manhattan. did you hear me?!? HAHA!!! MANHATTAN!

HOLY CROW WE ARE LEAVING THE KIDS TOMORROW AND GOING TO MANHATTAN.

we have only left eli once when he was 3. it was when we met up with doug & emily and hit the sundance film festival. that was 6 years ago. now 3 kids later {between the 2 of us} we are meeting up with doug & emily in manhattan for round 2. why manhattan? doug has been shooting a film there for the last who knows how long, eh em? emily needs a break, we want a holiday, manhattan sounds like a perfectly perfect location {especially this time of year} soooooooo LET'S GO!

so many places to eat and see and go and shop and eat and eat and eat. we have tickets to "a prairie home companion" on friday night at town hall. other things on our list: statue of liberty, central park, the guggenheim, moma, skating in rockefeller, walk the brooklyn bridge, max brenner chocolate, purl soho, see a broadway show, attend the temple and hang out on set with doug. we shall achieve this list and anything else we can do/see squeezed in between.

ohhhhhh, i'm nervous. please fly steady plane, get us there safe. kids have fun with grandma and grandpa. {thanks mom and dad} we'll see you in a few days.

experiencing technical difficulties...

back of the infamous christmas quilt

front of the christmas quilt

watching the muppets "christmas carol" under the christmas quilt. c.j. was sad and cried at the end. you can tell he is gearing up for it... poor, poor tiny tim.

things in our house are frying. dead. stopped working. gonzo.

the microwave, the phone system {all 4 phones} and now the iMac in our den. it's weird, every button on the microwave works BUT the "start" button, the phones ring BUT are dead when i answer them and the iMac sounds like it is running and the apple tv is functioning BUT all it shows me is a sad black screen... this has all happened in about a 4 day span. they must have all gotten together and decided to crap out as a group. is it a protest?

i finished 2 quilts this week. 2 years ago, sandra and i started sewing a christmas quilt. 2 years ago. sheesh. i decided to finish it up, so i packaged up, sent it to my talented cousin sylvie and within a few days she shipped them back to me quilted. how awesome is that? soooo i bound them and it got put to good use. the other night c.j. and the kids watched the muppet christmas carol {according to the advent calendar schedule} and cozied up with the quilt. yes.

ok, we just had sloppy joes and it's 10:00 pm. what? too late for a sloppy joe? no. way. jose.

advent update

ida & the sugar cookie

eli & the millenium falcon christmas cookie

hot chocolate by the fireplace @ grandma and grandpas

hey this advent calendar is working! we are having some simple, fun activities that are keeping us in the christmas-y spirit! we made cookies, drank hot chocolate by the fireplace, had treats and came up with our 2011 family motto/theme. for our theme we threw a piece of paper in the middle of the kitchen table and throughout the day, everyone was able to put down thoughts or words or phrases that came to their mind. when we were finished, the page was full of really good things. as i read through it this morning, a thought/scripture immediately came to my mind that sumed up everything we had written down {i love you inspiration, thank you}. i quickly did some searching through the scriptures and this is what i found:

"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires. Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated. And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace."

it is perfect. i read it to c.j., he agreed. so, there it is, our 2011 burton family theme. it feels really good and heaven sent. what will we do with this theme? we will memorize it, review it every family home evening, have it hanging in our home and strive to live it's message. this message is found in the doctrine and covenants which is equally perfect as this is the book of scripture we will be focusing on this year as well. awesome.

back to the advent, here is the list of activities we will be doing for the next week:

dec. 8. make paper snowflakes and hang them on the windows

dec. 9. watch home movies

dec. 10. watch the muppet christmas carol

dec. 11. ichat with grandma and grandpa burton

dec. 12. drive around to see christmas lights

dec. 13. make a christmas craft

tonight we are making egg nog shakes. c.j. will be whipping those up as he is a shake makin' pro.

we just finished up our 2010 christmas card. it is pretty good this year if i do say so myself. look for yours in the mail! {and if you don't think we have your current most accurate address, please send it to me ASAP.... you won't be disappointed!}

coldplay christmas

let her load and enjoy.

the secrets of the universe + the loch ness monster

lumpy trees, stars & the loch ness monster

THE purple tree by popular demand

colouring fun!

it is december folks.

i printed, organized and stuffed the advent calendar last night. eli just pulled out the first awesomely exciting suggestion of what to do today. "colour christmas pictures???..."

ooookkkkk.... {he is getting too old for this stuff, plus it didn't help that ida was sacked out on the couch not participating}. colouring is FUN! let's do it!! hurray! it's advent calendar fun!!!

by the way, here is a list by day of our advent calendar activities this week {i know the schedule so i can be prepared, but the kids don't know}.

dec. 1. christmas coloring

dec. 2. decorate sugar cookies {***made the dough last night, cooked them today, see thoughts...}

dec. 3. make hot chocolate and drink by the fireplace

dec. 4. TREAT! {i have placed in some pockets little chocolatey treats}

dec. 5. create a family theme/motto for 2011

dec. 6. make egg nog shakes

dec. 7. TREAT!

***sugar cookies. love to eat them, hate to make them. wow. what difficult finicky little morsels. it's the flour and the rolling and dough sticking to the counter top/the cookie cutter/the rolling pin and my hands. i did get better with each batch that i threw into the oven, perfecting my skills... but those first few... WOW. not good. the cookies we will decorate tomorrow are wonky stars, saggy trees, rocking horses {which look like the loch ness monster} and several star wars characters that i decided to throw in just for the heck of it.

on another note, last night eli found out. on the way to cubs, eli turned to c.j. and said, "dad, a couple of kids in my class told me today that there is no santa claus. is that true?". c.j. said all he could do was smile nervously and look straight ahead at the road. {do i tell him, do i not tell him.....} "yes, eli, there is no santa." then the conversation went something like, it is important to have and enjoy the christmas spirit, remember what we are really celebrating, it is fun for little kids, keep it a secret, etc, etc... it might be a different christmas this year with eli knowing we are sneaking the presents under the tree and ida just old enough to be really excited about "santa claus". two totally opposite ends of the spectrum.

alrightttt! ida just woke up. the coloring-o-rama is in full force. the most wanted "christmas-y" type picture printed out? anything from GREMLINS. no santas or elves, just gremlins.

sure, why not.

more december prep

sometimes when i read other peoples blogs about fantastic things, fancy finds, dinner parties and people going to live in exotic places, i want IN on that life. it is a bad, bad thing.

i am looking at my dining table piled with todays tasks. file 2010 files away, make new files for 2011, organize patterns, fold/organize fabric, pay bills, print and laminate eli's emergency contact list, order eli's school pictures, gather items for the advent calendar, vacuum the back hall/organize coat room, etc, etc.... i don't mind doing these things. i enjoy it and i imagine that these "fancy blog folks" also do these mundane things as well, but somehow they conjure up the exciting life that goes with it. OR DO THEY? ..... maybe they are run ragged with all the things they are doing. maybe their kids don't get enough of their attention. maybe their house is a mess. you can't do it all, right? something has to give....

SO. i'm feeling good about all these tasks i accomplished today. because i finished them, it will help us finish out december and ring in the new year smoothly, calmly and organized. i won't be madly filing on december 31st or shoving fabric in every nook and cranny for my space to be nice and clean. i have things ready for the advent calendar, BONUS. the gravel bought in from our boots is gone from the back hall and is not being dragged through the house. i won't be pulled in a million directions.

conclusion: i guess there is more to life than someone else's exciting life. i don't need perfect weather, a flat in paris or reservations at the hippest place in town.

i got my things done today and that is good enough for me.

prep work

santa!

advent calendar

ida and the back of the advent and her new sleepers

soooooooo. we are getting ready for christmas around here. why not, winter has come early and it's as cold as the north pole up here... FOR REAL.

a couple of weeks ago we all happened to be at the mall. SANTA WAS THERE?!?! already? yup, he was there, hanging out on his large throne {why are santas always sitting on a throney type chair??}, checking his iphone for new texts or the hockey game score..... there was no line so we thought, what the heck, get the kids in there. so we did. eli told santa of all the LEGO he wanted, ida squirmed and reached for the miniature candy canes. when told to "smile!", eli gave his overly happy squinty face and ida winked. it was pretty awesome. christmas 2010, you are off to a good start!

then we decided to buy a new christmas tree. c.j. wanted a traditional green tree this year instead of our white one. we ended up leaving with a 8 foot green and a 6 foot purple. that's right purple. i love it.

i decided we needed an advent calendar. i found a pattern on sew mama sew, got all excited about it, stayed up all night cutting out fabric, worked away for the next couple of days and VOILA! we have an advent calendar! IT IS ALIVE. it was fun to do. now i am looking for really good ideas to put in these little pockets. pass along all your good suggestions please and you can be involved in our count down to celebrating Christmas. yes!

today is american thanksgiving. we are doing up another fat meal and thinking about the things we are thankful for. over the last couple of weeks we have had root canals, car accidents and near death experiences. today i am just happy we are safe, healthy and alive.

now, pass me a piece of pumpkin pie.

robert falcon scott

our kids like to read. A LOT.

tonight i threw ida in her crib with half a dozen books and c.j. laid down with eli to read a chapter out of their "dangerous book for boys". the book is a collection of "boy" stuff: games, biographies of explorers, knots, survival skills. i am sure you have seen this book in stores. i heard c.j. reading about robert scott and his expedition to the antarctic. c.j. finished up and left eli to go to sleep. about 20 minutes later i went to check on the kids. i opened ida's door slightly, she was growling and jabbering while flipping the pages of her chunky animal book. i poked my head into eli's room, he was reading through the pages of the book c.j. was just reading to him. i came into the living room and gave the update to c.j. 10 minutes later, eli came out to go to the bathroom. then he walked into the living room and wanted to talk to me. "that story, about robert scott.... it was so sad. he froze to death. it's just so sad...." that's when he started to cry. crying like someone had died. like he knew robert scott. so tragic.

c.j. and i went back into his room with him. he had re-read the account and was terribly moved by the letters mr. scott had written to his family and friends. his journal entries and thoughts. such a shame he had made it to the south pole and died on the journey home.

an excerpt from the last letter to his wife where he mentioned their only son.

"I had looked forward to helping you to bring him up, but it is a satisfaction to know that he will be safe with you... Make the boy interested in natural history if you can. It is better than games. They encourage it in some schools. I know you will keep him in the open air. Try to make him believe in God, it is comforting... and guard him against indolence. Make him a strenuous man. I had to force myself into being strenuous, as you know--had always an inclination to be idle."

{no wonder he was boobing, i had a hard time getting through that myself...}

to make it all better, we talked about explorers and the risks they take. you win some, you lose some. then c.j. read him the story of the wright brothers. he was asleep within a couple of minutes.

5 chapters left...

this is what it looked like right before we finished off ether last night

inspecting his progress and feeling pretty good about it i think

eli has 5 chapters left in the book of mormon. when i say he is dedicated/anxious/excited/f o c u s e d/hell-bent on finishing this book before he turns 9 is an understatement. his deadline isn't for a month, so i think he'll make it. he reads late into the night and early in the morning. he reads out loud and silently to himself. every time he finishes a chapter he grabs his little chart that grandpa gave him and colours in another little box. the chart is ragged and worn.

yesterday he got his braces on. after they were glued in place, the orthodontist passed eli a mirror to inspect his mouth. she began to inform him of things he couldn't eat like gum and sticky food. hard things like apples and a reminder to chew his food in the back of his mouth so his brackets wouldn't pop off. he listened quietly and intently, thinking and looking back and forth from his mouth and the doctor. after hearing the instruction and with a concerned look on his face, the only thing he asked was, "can i still read my scriptures with these things on?".

one. track. mind.

we are going to finish this special book tonight. we gave him a set of scriptures for his baptism last year. i wanted to write something personal in the front, something like the note my dad lovingly wrote in my scriptures when they gave them to me {i read it often, thanks dad!}. over this year i kept thinking i need to write something, however, i'm so glad i didn't write anything until now.

way to go, e. thanks for letting me read the scriptures with you this year. special, special times.

things i'm doing

i'm makin' cookies.

i'm sewing an advent calendar. i cut fabric out last night until 4 am.

we put our christmas trees up this weekend. 2 of them. one purple and one green.

i rescheduled my green card appointment for early 2011.

i've got to stop eating bread. i'm getting f a t.

we are brain-storming christmas card ideas.

ida can say hallelujah.

eli gets braces on monday.

c.j. is getting a root canal this week. his mouth has been throbbing for 3 weeks.

i am planning, planning, planning for december. it's going to be awesome. right new york city and doug and emily?

now i am going to eat a cookie.

trip, trip, trip

halloween party at cubs with cousins {cole & spencer}

me & dee

halloween trunk or treat catered by "in & out"

cruising claremont

the kids & pumpkin

whaaaaat?

twins

me & em

backyard halloween party

eli & the cousins

the salmon/burton/saunders sandwich
aunt ruth in st. george

SLC temple

eli & i at the spoken word, third row

president monson came to listen too

megan & me & our kids

we're back. the votes are in.

enjoy the pics.