Kindergarten Baby!!!

I can hardly believe that my little boy Blake just started Kindergarten on Wednesday, August 11th. It's funny, I remember shortly after he was born, my sister saying to me "just think in 2010 he'll be in kindergarten" and I remember thinking she was crazy...why was she already thinking about kindergarten that is so far from now...but the reality was...it came too fast.

Blake was super excited to start Kindergarten...we had been talking it up to him for a couple of weeks prior to school starting. On Friday prior to him starting I took Blake to his classroom to meet his Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Santos and to do some placement testing. He was very anxious to meet his teacher, He was even more excited that he could see the playground and his favorite park from his classroom window! After Blake's testing I took him to Target to pick out his school supplies, he really liked having the opportunity to select his own supplies. We also picked up some stuff for his very first homework assignment, which was to decorate a gingerbread shaped figure called "his buddy" that he had to bring on his first day of school so the teacher could display it on the wall! When we got home we completed his homework project so we could have the whole weekend to relax before his first day of school.

Wednesday, August 11th finally came...Blake had gone to bed early the night before in anticipation for this day...he woke up early, made his bed, went downstairs and ate pancakes while watching cartoons and then headed upstairs afterwards to brush his teeth and get dressed. He was a little upset that I wouldn't let him ride the bus to school on his first day, but there was no way I was going to miss out on taking him to his 1st day of Kindergarten. When we got to the school, I took a few pictures of him outside of his school, and then we heard the bell ring and we entered the building. I held his hand as I walked him to his classroom....it was very hard for me to stay strong and not cry, but I pushed hard to surpress the tears welling up inside...that was until the teacher read a book to all of the students and parents called "The Kissing Hand" it was over for me right then and there. After Mrs. Santos read the book she gave each child a hershey kiss and a kiss sticker to give to their mom's and dad's as we said good bye and left our kids to thier 1st day of school. When Blake gave me my hershey kiss and sticker he told me "Don't worry mom, I'm going to be just fine and you are too" How could this be...my baby was now consoling me! 2:30 rolled around and Ryan and I headed to Blake's school to pick him up...we couldn't wait to hear how his 1st day went. We picked him up, gave him big hugs and he ranted about how much he loved school...Ryan and I were so excited that he loved school so much so far!

The next morning came and I walked Blake to his school bus stop...he was so eager to get on that bus that when it arrived he rushed to the doors and tried to get on....I had to call out to him "Blake that's the wrong bus"...he tried to argue with me that it was his bus but when I explained to him that the numbers on the bus route he was to take were 317 not 331 he finally agreed that,that was not his bus and he impatiently waited on the edge of the sidewalk for the next bus to come...asking me every 30 seconds "Where is that bus, it's late isn't it mom?" Finally 7:08am came and his bus pulled up...all the kids rushed the bus as it came to the stop and opened it's doors...Blake included, he was so anxious he didn't even remember to kiss me or hug me good bye...infact he didn't even sit in a seat where I could see him from where I was standing...I could feel my heart strings tugging...that boy wasn't a baby anymore he was definitely an independant little boy.

Yesterday we had our very first back to school night...Blake's teacher told us that Blake is doing an excellent job in school. She said that he is very attentive, cooperative, and polite. She said he was an absolute pleasure to have in class, and that we should be very proud of him...You have no idea how happy Ryan and I were when we heard all of this! We couldn't have been more proud or happy then we were at that moment! Blake got to show us his Gym class, Art Class, Music Class, the Library, lunch room and his favorite the playground. We are so excited to see all the new and exciting things Blake is going to learn in his first year of school! We have a very sweet and smart little boy on our hands!!!

Dave & Fielding's little Miracle

After a 2 year struggle of trying to get pregnant and going thru all of the motions of stress, disappointment, anger, surgery, praying, hoping, faith, dreaming, believing, and finaly Happiness, Two of my best friends, Dave and Fielding finally welcomed thier first child into the world...Baby boy Jase David Snedden!!! He was born on Sunday, July 4th!
I couldn't be more happy for the both of them! What a precious little life they brought into this world! I just know they are going to make wonderful parents. Congratulations to the Snedden family and their new baby...He's just beautiful!!!

4th of July at Lake Navajo

It has become a tradition for the past couple of years that our family along with some of our closest friends all go camping to celebrate the 4Th of July! Last year we spent in Sterling and this year we decided to go a little further and Camp at Lake Navajo. Talk about beautiful camp grounds...you really couldn't ask for a prettier place. Ryan and Sliver drove up Thursday Morning along with the kids while everyone else worked, They got the campsite set up for all of us, so when we pulled in at 4:00 in the morning we could come right to bed! We woke up early Friday Morning and took in the beautiful mountain scenery ate some breakfast and then hit the lake. Boy was that nice, not a ripple in the water! We spent most of our morning swimming and wakeboarding in New Mexico...we didn't even know we were in New Mexico! After spending the morning out on the water we came back to the campsite to have some lunch, good thing too, a crow decided to ran sack our campsite, and ate most of our bread and chips. After lunch a little storm rolled in bringing with it some lightening, rain and crazy wind....I sat in the tent with the kids trying to keep them calm while the rest of the group stood outside holding our canopy up and Mandy and Silver's tent. The storm soon passed and we enjoyed a beautiful Rainbow that it had left behind. After the storm we made dinner and ate Smore's we headed to bed early as we had big plans for a long day out on the water Saturday. The rest of the weekend ended up being sunny and hot...we spent hours upon hours on the water...Our group experienced many firsts over the weekend, Blake got to go tubing for the very first time and he loved it! David learned how to wakeboard for the first time ever thanks to the teachings of Ryan, and he really did do a good job, I did my first face plant, can't say I enjoyed that, but in 5 years this was my first so I've been pretty lucky!! and Alina finally trusted her life jacket and swam in the lake with all of the other kids!!! We left Monday morning to head back home, it was a gorgeous ride back, and we had a great time with our friends! Each year the camping trips seem to get better and better!

Fathers Day at Water World

This year Daddy decided he wanted to celebrate Father's Day at Water World...and what an excellent idea that was. So we packed our beach bags, and sunscreened up the kiddos and headed to Sonic to meet our fellow friends and fathers for breakfast before catching some sun and waves! Much to our surprise Water World wasn't all that busy...we thought it was be a circus since it was a weekend and it was bogo (buy one get one free) We got their right as they opened and we stayed until they closed! We all had so much fun on all the rides and in the wave pool, it was a great way to celebrate all the special Dad's especially Blake and Brooklyn's Dad! We love you Ryan, and thanks for being such a wonderful Dad...or as Blake would say "Your the best Dad I ever had"

Blake's 5th Birthday

Wow, I can't beleive the time has come to celebrate Blake's 5th Birthday! It seems as though it was just yesterday that I gave birth to that little 8 pound 8 oz handsome little bundle of joy! We had originally planned to take Blake to Disney World for his 5th birthday but some issues came up with our buddy passes we were using to fly, so we had to post pone the trip...I thought the next best thing would be to have a Water Park Birthday Party...of course the weather didn't want to cooperate with me and so we had to yet again change our plans and move the party to our house. Blake was such a good sport about all of the last minute changes...he ended up having a Great Party! He told me it was the best birthday ever...which made me feel really good and happy! Blake Loves the cartoon Phineas and Ferb so we did a Phineas and Ferb themed birthday party. To start off the party we played games that related to episodes of Phineas and Ferb the first game we had all of Blake's friends break into groups of 3 and then took one kid from each group get dressed up like mummy's with toilet paper...the kids seemed to have fun with that...and the mummy's were good sports! The next game we played was find Dr. Dofensmurtz nomes, Ryan hid rolo candy's in the backyard and the kids hunted for them...and then last we had a water balloon toss, the kids threw water balloons at pictures of Phineas, Ferb and Candace...I think that was every kids favorite part! Blake loved his birthday cake...it was a Phineas and Ferb cake that matched his invitations...he got tons of presents and had lots of guests...he really did have a great party, and I am glad he enjoyed it so much! Happy 5th Birthday to my little buddy Blakie!

Our Little Love Bug Turn's 2!

we can hardly beleive it's true, but Brooklyn just turned 2!! We had planned quite the agenda for her...we started her birthday off with a visit to the Dr.'s office for a Well Baby check up...at the appointment the Dr told us he had no concerns for Brooklyn, that she looked as Happy and Healthy as she should. She weighed in at 25 lbs even and was 2'9" tall..She was due for a shot so she did get that, but surprisingly she did really well, she didn't even scream or cry...she's a tough little cookie! After her Dr. Appt I had scheduled her an appointment at Sweet and Sassy for a mini mani/pedi...I think she really liked the pedicure but could have gone with out the Manicure (can't sit still that long!) When she was done with her mani/pedi we picked Aunt Jen up and took the kids to Chucky Cheese for lunch! Brooklyn only liked Chucky from a distance, any time Chucky got close she started to cry and say "go away Chucky" You can imagine after her busy morning/afternoon she was pretty tired so I took her home for her beauty rest! Later that evening we continued with our Burke Children Tradition, and took her out to dinner at Rosies Diner! They sang Happy Birthday to her and she got really shy...the shyness went away when she got her Ice Cream Sundae!

The following Day we had a birthday party back at our house for Brooklyn and invited all of her little friends and family! I did a Lady bug themed party and had one of my co workers make Brooklyn her Birthday Cake and Cupcakes for her party...they turned out amazing! Brooklyn had a great party...she got lots of fun and cute presents. Ryan and I got her a motorized Motorcycle with side car for her and her baby dolls to ride, she seemed to really like that...and her big brother Blake got her a ring lollipop which needless to say she loved that too!

Now we just hope that the "terrible two's" as they call them, aren't so terrible...but the outlook isn't looking good!!!!

Happy 30th Birthday Ryan!

April 7th Ryan turned 30 years old! To help him celebrate his milestone birthday we went on a vacation to California! Ryan had so much fun when we went nearly 2 years ago for our anniversary that I decided to take him back! He really wanted to go surfing so we did just that! Jen and Ken were supposed to accompany us on this trip, however they couldn't make any flights as they were flying standby, so it ended up just being Ryan and myself along with our friends Kelli and Jamie. We had so much fun, we really got to take in a lot of California! We stayed in LA but we drove all over covering Hermosa Beach, Hollywood, Malibu, Huntington Beach, Manhattan Beach, and who could ever forget Venice Beach!!! Ryan did his surfing in Huntington Beach, but wasn't very successful...He caught a couple seconds on one wave but that was about it! The weather was a little un cooperative so we didn't get as much sun bathing in as I would have liked, but we still had tons of fun!

After our vacation in California, we came back and did some celebrating locally with some of Ryan's friends and family! We were supposed to have a Party bus, but that broke down hours before the party was to start, so we got a back up plan....we had a limo drop us all off at the Stampede! They took great care of us, buy letting us all in with no cover charge and giving us all our 1st round of drinks free, as well as some shots! By the end of the night Ryan and I were feeling pretty good! I must have been feeling good, I got on the darn mechanical Bull...that would have never happened if I were sober!

I think it's safe to say that Ryan had a pretty memorable 30th birthday! Looking forward to celebrating many more milestones with him!!!

Hoppy Easter!

This year Easter wasnt as traditional as years past. My Dad was originally going to host Easter Dinner at his house, but last minute (one week before Easter) he and his wife decided to go to California to celebrate Easter with Mo's family, so Jen and I were forced to come up with a last minute plan....and what a wonderful plan we had! (actually it was Kelli and Jenny that came up with the plan) none of us were much in the mood for putting together a big feast so we decided to have a BBQ! It was sooo good, I am glad we did! We couldn't have asked for better weather, and the food was delicious with cheeseburgers and braut's, accompanied with baked beans, chips, potato salad, cauliflour salad, deviled eggs, brownies, fresh fruit and rice krispy treats, who could really ask for more?!! We had a great turn out too, with Jen's in laws, Kelli & Jamie, Silver, Mandy and their kids, My Brother Chris & Sister Candee and Ryan, Myself and our kids, we had Great Company! After our delcious BBQ the kids did an Easter egg hunt, and then we headed over to the park to fly the Kites Jen and Ken got all the kids...I have to say this was by far one of the Best Easter's we have had in a long,long time! Happy Easter Everybody!

March Birthdays!

March is a busy month for birthday's among our group of family and friends! March birthday's include my Mom's birthday, My brother Chris, My sister Jenny and our dear Friend Kelli! See I told you March is Busy! But I must say, we sure do know how to celebrate! For Jenny's birthday a bunch of us got together for a Taco bar at her house and then headed over to Jump Street for some good Ol Trampoline Dodgeball! Boy is that game fun! Although I don't think I was ever on the winning team but maybe once?!!!
For Kelli's birthday we all went to dinner at Lime and then went to the Black Eyed Pea's concert! Man oh man was that an awesome concert! The BEP's rocked that stage! We also learned that Kelli and Fergi share the same birthday!
We had a great time celebrating birthdays, and April is going to be a pretty busy month celebrating as well, because Ryan's 30th birthday is coming up as well as Mandy celebrates her twenty something!

A Birthday Dedication to my Momma

Thought of you with love today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday, and days before that too. I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have are memories and a picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake, with which I'll never part. God has you in His keeping, I have you in my heart.

Happy 55th Birthday Mom...May you rest in peace, and know I will never forget the amazing woman, mother, and friend that you were! Love you always and forever!!!xoxoxo

Phoenix for the weekend!

So this weekend, I got to fly the Coop and head to sunny Arizona, with no kids and no husband, Just my sister, me and her husband Kenny! The weekend didn't quite turn out as planned, I had hoped to spend all day Friday and all day Saturday in Arizona, but due to some flight mishaps because of flying standby I didn't get there until late Friday night. None the less I still had a great time! The weather was perfect, and the company was great! Although I did find that I missed my traveling partner Ryan, I still managed to have a good time with out him! The Resort we stayed at had a nice water park so Saturday we just hung out at the pool all day and worked on our tans. We ended the evening doing some shopping at the mall! The trip ended quickly with what was supposed to be an early flight home on Sunday...but all in all, it was a nice little getaway vacation! I can't wait to celebrate my hubby's 30th birthday next month in Los Angelas!!!

Sweet & Sassy

Today we took Brooklyn to get her first haircut! I took her to a place called Sweet and Sassy....what a cute little place for little girls. They do mani and pedicures as well as a fashion show, and take the girls for a ride in a limo with red carpet service...and lets not forget they cut and style hair too! They had a great 1st haircut package, which included a haircut, style, glitter hairspray and face stamp, they also give you locks of their hair, take a picture and post it on stationary for the baby book and let your little one pick out a sucker...Brooklyn loved the experience, I thought she might get antsy but she really enjoyed the atmosphere and she patiently sat there while the stylist trimmed her hair. I was so proud of her, and her hair really turned out cute! Ryan and Blake came along for moral support but really I think Blake wanted to check out the girls in the fashion show, and Ryan wanted to make sure his baby girl's hair turned out just right...no pressure on the stylist! lol! we will definitely be back their for Brooklyn's next hair cut!