Updates

I had a little birdie (aka Mom) nudge me that I needed to update the blog. So that is what I am going to do.

Things have been crazy to say the least. I think the last time I posted was sometime in September. I am not sure I even remember what has transpired since then.

I guess I will start by going through the list of us and update:

Richard: Doing good. He is still enjoying going to his Men's Bible study on Tuesday mornings. I think it is a great thing that he does on his own and he truly enjoys it. He is learning more each day about the Bible and God's teachings. He probably knows more than I do.

He was able to go on a Men's retreat a few weeks ago with a couple of the guys from our Couples Group. They had a great time in South Lake Tahoe. They were able to hike, talk and just enjoy the fellowship.


Mandy: Work is going good. I am enjoying my new group of students. I am also enjoying the new people in my department. They are amazing women and I am so happy to have them on my "team". Work is keeping me busy and I feel like I should work more but don't want to be away from the kids but then I feel like I am letting my students down. A vicious cycle.

I am enjoying the women's group that I attend but feel as though I haven't been giving it my all lately do to being so busy. Now that things have slowed down, I am hoping to focus on it more again.

I am still enjoying the couple's group and the people in it. I have been lucky enough to become good friends with one of them and she is a great support. I truly value her friendship.

I am losing weight (slowly but surely). I am down about 10 lbs and hopefully more by Christmas. It feels good to see numbers on the scale that have not been there in a LONG time.

Evelyn: She is still enjoying Kindergarten. She just got her first report card last week. She did great. She has met many of the CA state standards for Kindergarten and is working towards the others. She is starting to read more and more and points out sight words everywhere we go.

She is opening up a little more and is making friends and requesting "play dates". She is changing so much.

She just started going to Gymnastics and LOVES it. She is learning all kinds of things and then comes home and practices them. It is neat to see the things she learns.


Camille: She is also doing well. She is doing great at school and the teachers there love her. How could they not?

She is also in gymnastics and really enjoying it. They are not in the same class which is kind of nice for them to be separated a little bit.

Her speech is coming along and getting better. Her annual review will be in January so that will be nice.

Camille turns 4 in about a week and I cannot believe it. She is getting so big and changing everyday. We are not sure what we are doing yet but we know we are taking her birthday off to celebrate. 


Other: Sandy's birthday was November 7th and she is 9.

Halloween was fun. Both of the girls school had little parade's. It worked out that Richard and Camille got to see Evelyn's since it was Camille's day for speech. We went trick or treating around the neighborhood for a little bit and then went to a nearby friends house for a while.

About a month ago we did "date night" with the girls. I took Camille and Richard took Evelyn and we just spent the afternoon with them. I took Camille to "Color Me Mine" and painted and then went out to Thai food for dinner. Richard and Evelyn went to "John;s Incredible Pizza" for the afternoon. We met up at the park to watch the sunset. It was a magical evening for all of us and something we will do again very soon with the switching who has who. If you have never done it, I highly encourage it.

Thanksgiving: We were supposed to go to some friends house but Millie had a high fever so we spent the day at home with each other. Her fever broke and we went to the park. We had a nice day as a family. On Saturday we celebrated with Mark and Cheryl. It was a great time and we really enjoyed ourselves. We played Catch Phrase which is a fun game to play with a group. It was nice being with family.

Here are some pictures. We have slowed down on taking them but need to ramp up again.

Girls Girls Girls

Whirlwind!

The summer is coming to a close and I didn't post about 1 thing that we did. I guess you could say it was because we were having too much fun, which is true. We had a great summer visiting family, hanging out with friends and just being with each other.

Some highlights: Girls took swimming lessons and enjoyed them. By the end, they were both swimming under water for a little distance. Lake Havasu with the family riding on boats and relaxing at the river, Jelly Belly factory with some friends. Those are just a few.

We are now back into the daily swing with work, kids and school.

Evelyn started Kindergarten and is doing GREAT! She loves it and it is fun to talk with her about the day. She is counting to 100 by 1's 5's and 10's. She is reading and knows all the sight words needed for Kindergarten. She has taught herself how to do handstands (they are quite good) and how to put her hair in a ponytail. She amazes us everyday. She is still loving going to children's ministries. I am so thankful to have Jesus be such an important part of her life. I feel blessed.

Camille is going to school and just started back at speech. The speech is getting better but it can still be difficult to understand her at times. Some of the tendencies are still there but at the moment they are not as bad as they were. Hopefully they don't come back as the school year goes on.

Richard and I are doing good. Going to church and starting to meet more people. We started a small group of our own and have met some nice people. It is great getting different perspectives.  I look forward to what the future holds for us and our family.

Enjoy the pictures!

Summer Fun 2012

T

Catch Up!

Hang on this is going to be a long post...I think!

Summer has officially started in the Burstiner household (well for 3 of us at least, Sorry Richard). Summer means sleeping in (sometimes), naps (everyday), playing with friends, Bible studies, going on short trips and long trip and last but not least swim lessons.

I have been off for 2 weeks now and we have already had a lot of fun. We have played with friends, gone to a water park, had picnics, gone to the Sacramento Zoo two times, Fairytale Town, and lots of playing at home.

I guess the best way to catch everyone up is update about each of us. I will start with the girls first because we all know that is who you want to read about. :)

Evelyn: She is almost 5 yrs old (I still don't believe it) and will be starting Kindergarten in the fall (her first day is August 8th). She is reading all kinds of books and words. Just this morning she read the word "fresh." She is so interested in learning and we try to continue to foster that. She is taking swim lessons now with Camille. We are hoping by the end she will put her face in the water. Small steps for some but BIG for us. She is starting to stand up for herself and others when there has been an "injustice". If you know Evelyn, you know this is BIG. She is finding herself and her voice and I love it.

Camille: Camille is 3 1/2 (can't forget that 1/2). She is doing good. Her speech is getting better but it can still be hard to understand her at times. We will go back to speech therapy in the fall. It seems to be helping with her communication and lessen some of the anxiety. She can write and spell her name by herself and is noticing letters all around. Camille is growing like a weed and is about 38lbs. I love it! She is trying new foods and growing into a great little girl.

Both girls are going to Church with us and attend Children's Ministries at Rolling Hills Christian Church. They are loving learning about God and Jesus. We are trying to bring God and Jesus into our homes more on a daily basis and as a way to teach them right from wrong and how to love all people. It has changed our family dynamics in a great way. We pray together and the girls are now learning to pray on their own. It is great.

Richard: He has made some BIG changes in his life and it all started when we decided to start going to church in January. He jumped right in with going and was interested in learning more about Christianity. He joined a men's group that he goes to regularly. We also joined a couples group that he has been able to ask a lot of questions to. It has been exciting to watch him grow, question, seek and find the Lord. It was an amazing day on May 20th, when Richard accepted Christ as his Savior and then was formally baptized on June 2nd. I am amazed by him and am so thankful to have him in my life and to share eternity with him.

Mandy: Not much has changed with me. I am out of school and this year I saw my first group of students get promoted. That was a great day and sense of accomplishment for me to see my work come to fruition. I am teaching 2 weeks of summer school. I am lucky enough to have a friend watch the girls for one week and my mom for the next. I am excited that the girls get to have some good 2 to 1 YaYa time. They are looking forward to it and so am I. I get to see her for some good catch up with mom time.

I am in the couples group with Richard and have met some amazing women that share my love for Christ with me. I am developing some great relationships with them and am happy to have them in my life now. I also joined a woman's group. There are some amazing people in my groups and their love and understanding of Jesus and the Bible amazing me. I pray that someday I have their understanding of the Bible. As we have started going to church and diving into the Bible, I realize my relationships with my husband, family and friends have changed and all for the better. I am in a better place and am so thankful.

Lots has been happening and things are busy but we are still here, happy, and growing together. Looking forward to the rest of the summer and even starting back to school in the fall.

Catching Up 2012

New Year... New Adventures... New Challenges

Happy New Year! Ok so I am a little late but at least it is still January (barely!)

Things have been crazy, exciting and new. I am not sure where to even start. I guess I will start with the biggest change we have made this new year and that is going to Church. We have talked about it for a long time but finally made the decision to start going the 1st of the year. Some of this was brought on by going to a Christmas Eve service with Lavon and remembering how much I LOVED going to church. Thanks Lavon!

We started attending Rolling Hills Christian Church on the 1st and it has been wonderful to say the least. I feel so much more connected to God and know that I am learning and going down the right path. The church feels right for us at this point. It has an awesome rock band that I truly enjoy. I have already downloaded 3 of the songs from the services because I love them so much and they speak to me. The pastor is great and we got to talk with him a little more last night at a Membership meeting. We are considering becoming members at this church.

Richard and I am both participating in small groups on different days of the weeks which is nice for us to get some time with other people in the community. It has only been one week but we are both enjoying the small groups. I am looking forward to reading more scripture and learning more about what God wants from me and my life. It is a journey I am excited to take and am glad Richard is taking with me.

The girls also go to Children's Ministries and they are loving it. The first week was hard at the drop off but now they walk in and are excited to learn new things. They are not in the same class which I was worried about but they are great and enjoying learning versus.

Now I will break it down by person and the happenings of each of us.

Evelyn: Growing like a weed and learning more every day. She is trying new foods which is great. We are so proud of her. Evelyn has this compassion about her that I treasure and wish I had more of. She is an amazing person and is so aware of the things happening around her. She is all about pretend play and playing mommy and daddy with Camille. It is adorable. She dresses in crazy outfits that fit her to a "t". People ask if I let her dress herself and I said yes because 1 it is not worth the fight and 2. I want her to express herself. She is most excited about turning 5 this year because then she will be in Kindergarten and be going to Silva Valley.

Camille: My sweet Camille is doing good and growing like a weed as well. We started this year off with some assessments for a speech referral and had her initial meeting last Wednesday. We were concerned with her ability to produce speech. We knew she could understand everything we said because she can follow directions but she doesn't seem to be able to articulate and express herself.

At the meeting, our observations were confirmed. Camille's receptive language (what she understands) is Superior at about a 4 year old level. She does great at following directions and understanding directions. Her expressive language is moderately delayed. She is below the 10% for other children her age. Her articulation and the letter sounds that she can produce is less than 1%. Needless to say, she qualifies for speech services and now has an IEP. She will be going once a week on Wednesday's with Richard. I expect to see great growth and hopefully it will lessen the frustration that she has in expressing herself.

There are a couple of other things we are concerned about and will look into further but are focused on this at the moment.

Richard: Has almost completed the bathroom. Has trim left and a couple of other little things and then we will be done. He has worked so hard and it makes it harder because now we go to church on Sunday mornings so he loses time to work on it there. Saturdays are busy watching the girls while I am out (I'll explain more in my section). He is doing an amazing job and we will both be happy to enjoy the finished product. He has also started exploring his own personal relationship with God and I am excited to see where that will take him. He has taken the first step and I am proud of him for that.

Mandy: My biggest adventure (other than going back to Church) is I joined a running club with a co-worker of mine. Every Saturday I run with the club and my group so Richard is at home with the girls. I am loving it. I ran 4.6 miles on Saturday which is something I never thought I would do and I have done it and am excited to keep going. My goal is a half marathon in April and to run it under 3 hours and 30 minutes since I walked it in that 2 years ago.

Exciting things are happening and we are excited to following them and see what the Lord has in store for us. For now we are going to Church and enjoying the teachings each Sunday.

I will post pictures soon.

The forgotten blog...

I have been neglecting my blog due to things being chaotic at home but that is slowing down some so hopefully I will be able to write and keep you up to date more.

What's been happening?

BATHROOM:

The bathroom is almost complete (I can take a shower, bath and brush my teeth in my own bathroom).
Richard has been working VERY hard on it and it looks FANTASTIC!
We still need to texture, paint, install baseboards, install door and toilet.
We are also waiting for a window to come in to put in above the bath.

EVELYN:

Has been thriving and is even reading a little. She sounds out words all the time. It is adorable.
Had surgery for bladder infections but found that everything was okay so hopefully we won't have anymore issues.
Enjoying Preschool and Music class. She sings ALL THE TIME. I love it.
Finally hit the 30lb mark which is nice.
Loves her sister and family.
Has been asking a lot of questions about Papa Joel and him being in Heaven.
Loves to color, sing, read, and ride her new scooter she got for Christmas.
Says "I love you" about 10 times a day.

CAMILLE:

Is now 3 years old. CRAZY!
Is 35lbs and 40inches tall.
Knows how to write most letters of the alphabet (We didn't know she could do this until she asked to spell some names.) She has a great R.
Loves dressing in Princess dresses and often runs around town in them.
Enjoys school and music.
Loves to dance.
Happiest child in the morning and just after nap. ALWAYS wakes with a smile.
Loves to whisper "I love you"
We are having her tested for speech since we are having a hard time understanding her and see that she is getting frustrated. Hopefully we can get her help early.

RICHARD:

Working hard and home and work.
Made the bathroom (with the help of the contractor) BEAUTIFUL!
His company just launched 6 more satellites. YAY!
Great dad!
Great husband!

ME:

Working and loving the people that I am working with!
Enjoying my new bath!
Reading a little here and there.
Loves listening to music over watching T.V. (have some on as I type)
Signed up for SacFit and am training to run a half marathon in April.

Overall, we are all doing well and have each other and our health. For that I am thankful.

We went to Church on Christmas Eve with Lavon and the girls were great. Hopefully we will start going more regularly in the new year. After we went back and had a nice dinner with her before coming home.

We had a great Christmas at home with the girls and Lavon. They had a nice day and were able to ride their bike and scooter and play with everything throughout the day with nowhere else to go. We made a cake for Jesus' Birthday and they loved it. We celebrated with the rest of Richards family the following day. Christmas is more about the kids and less about us and that was nice. We talked ALOT about Jesus' birthday and the meaning behind that. We chose not to give gifts from Santa (sorry if you think that is wrong). Evelyn said on Christmas morning, "I got my bike and Santa didn't even come." She also drew a picture of God picking a flower for Mary because she was going to have a baby.

I am loving the ages and stages that we are in. We have been baking, singing, dancing, riding bikes/scooters and truly enjoying them. We are happy.

Here are some pictures as of recent. Hopefully the chaos will settle and I will post more. Here's to a great 2012!

Christmas Season!

One of the reasons I have been gone...

Here are some pics of the bathroom renovation. You can see it from the beginning of the process to where we are now. We have the shower and vanity installed and the marble tile will be installed on Monday. Tomorrow my bathtub is being delivered. All the pieces are starting to come together. We will post more pictures of the next steps soon.

Enjoy!

Bathroom Remodel

Girls Weekend

I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful husband when asked said I could take a girls weekend with a dear friend that I hadn't seen in too long. He asked which weekend and I was ready to go.

Marissa came up late Thursday and we set off for Tahoe on Friday morning (after packing WAY too much). Marissa had never been to South Lake Tahoe before and thought this was a great time to go.

On Friday, we headed up the Gondola to the top of Heavenly Mountain and had a nice lunch with drinks. My wine was filled to the brim and Marissa's Bloody Mary was one of the best she said she had ever had. It was nice catching up. Even though we haven't seen each other in a while, we pick up right where we left off and didn't really stop talking the whole weekend unless we were taking a nap.

We went out to a couple of nice dinners and had some drinks. I got a new pair of shoes because the ones I wore broke while we were out walking. We went kayaking around Emerald Bay which was absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend it to anyone going to Tahoe if they have the time. We laughed, we cried, we drank and we just had a great time seeing each other.

We have vowed to make this an annual trip and I hope we stay to that vow. Times like this reminds me how much I miss her and how truly great of a friend she is. Thanks for the good times Marissa.

Tahoe Girls Weekend

Finally....

Finally things are starting to slow down and allow for time to blog (that I am sure will be short lived as we are starting our bathroom remodel) and I realized it has been WAY too long.

We finished off our summer in Las Vegas celebrating my grandfathers 80th birthday and had a great time. We stayed for a week and got to have some fun while we were there with the girls. We went to Shark Reef and The Secret Garden with the girls to see the animals. For Evelyn's birthday we went to lunch at Rainforest Cafe which was a lot of fun. Camille wasn't so sure about the elephant at the table but enjoyed it once I told the elephant not to take my food. Richard and I were able to see Bodies Revealed which was amazing and so interesting. I loved it and I think Richard enjoyed (found interesting and intriguing himself) it as well.

School is back in session and I am loving the team that I am on and working with. They are amazing people who are about the students and helping them succeed, which is who I am as well. It is a breath of fresh air. I think this is going to be an amazing year for me, my students and our team. So excited!

Evelyn and Camille are doing wonderful. Evelyn is now 4 and we took her to the doctors last week for her annual checkup. She weighs in at 29.8 and is 40 inches tall. She is at the 5th % for weight and 50th% for height. Right on track for where she always is. She is meeting all of her milestones and is doing great.

Camille is growing like a weed and I suspect that it will not be long before she is as tall as Evelyn. I believe she is measuring about 37.5 inches tall and 34.5 lbs. Love it. She is learning more letters all the time and we are still working on her speech. We can understand more and more but it is still hard to understand. I can't remember if it was this way with Evelyn but we are monitoring it anyways.

The girls are FINALLY sleeping in their beds in their rooms again without one of us with them. It has been about 5 months of off and on being in their room or them with us. It was too much so we decided on Friday to make them sleep in their beds. They both cried for about an hour but have been in there since. It is nice to be all back in our own beds.

The biggest news is that we have started deconstruction on the master bathroom and it is going to be a MAJOR project. We are hoping that we can keep cost down with doing some of the work ourselves but we definitely cannot do it all. Wish us luck and hope there is nothing more that we find.

I have added some pictures because it has been such a long time. Did you forget what the girls looked like? Hope not. Hopefully I can do this more often but I am not making any promises.

Las Vegas

Busy Summer...

Well to say this summer has been busy is an understatement. A couple of weeks after school got out we went camping in Bishop with my family. We had a great time and the girls loved sleeping in the tent and going to the lake. They really wanted to go fishing but I feel that they are still a little too young. Maybe next year. We will have to practice at the duck pond by our house.

While in Bishop we went to Mammoth and walked around. Visited Schat's Bakery where they have the best bread and ginger bread cookies.

After Bishop, my parents took the girls and I to Riverside for some time with them and then we headed out to Havasu for a little over a week. We had some much fun. The girls loved playing in the water. WAY more than I anticipated. They jumped right in and splashed around. It was fun to watch them enjoying themselves and exploring.

While in Havasu, we decided to go to Vegas for a couple of days to visit my grandparents. The girls did great on the trip and it was nice to see my grandparents. We caught them on their anniversary which was nice. The girls warmed up to them quickly. We enjoyed swimming in their pool, eating ice cream and playing with hula hoops. Evelyn got to be pretty good at it.

After a couple of days we headed back to Havasu to finish out the week. We swam, took naps, ate ice cream, sewed and did "fun stuff" (crafts according to Evelyn). It was a wonderful time. I truly enjoyed spending some good time with my mom. I don't get to often but cherish it when I can. Thanks for showing my how to sew. Love you mom.

When we got back to Sacramento, Richard picked us up at the airport. Evelyn and Camille went RUNNING to him and jumped in his arms. They truly missed him. It brought tears to my eyes to see them running to him. He missed them a ton too (he also missed me).

Now that we are back home, we are focusing on remodeling our master bath. We have some problems we HAVE to take care of so we are focused on that.

Richard is in Louisiana for business this week and then we have one more vacation planned before heading back to work on my birthday. It has been a whirlwind summer but has been a blast. I will post pictures when I get them from my mom. I didn't take a camera as I already had too much stuff and was traveling with two kids by myself on the way home.

**** Forgot to mention, during this time we got Camille completely potty trained (using Ice cream as a reward). It was great. She has not had any accidents in about a month. I love having no more diapers. YAY Camille!

Summer has begun...

how can you tell? My house is clean and has stayed cleaned for several days now. It feels so good to have a clean house all the time. When I work, I find it hard to keep it clean and picked up all the time.

The other way you can tell is that I am making Richards lunches for him. I think he enjoys it and it is a nice gesture for me to be able to do it for him. I still have to ask what he wants but at least it saves him time in the morning with me making it for him.

We are enjoying out time so far. All 4 days of it. We haven't done much but are enjoying sleeping in and doing what we want when we want. We have played outside with the water table, read LOTS of books, had friends and family over and just enjoyed not getting dressed for the day until the afternoon arrives.

It is going to be a fun summer with lots of trips planned. I am looking forward to traveling and seeing family and friends.

The girls are doing great. They are enjoying staying home. They are sleeping in their beds without us mostly so that is nice. It is nice to have Richard and I in the same bed again. The vacations will probably mess it up again but it will all be okay.

Summer Time!

The end is near...

of school that is. I am in my final week of school and cannot wait for Summer to begin. I am ready to spend time with friends and family and especially the girls.

I have finished up both credentials and my autism class so things are settling down here. Thankfully I have a great husband that took over when I needed him to. It would have been impossible to do without him.

The girls are great. They are playing together more and more which is fabulous. We often hear them playing "doctor" in the playroom. One is usually laying on a large block while the other is examining them. It is funny to watch.

Evelyn is growing like a weed and shows us multiple times a day how big she is. She even grows at nap time. :0) She is excited about mommy being out of school so we can have some time together to "cuddle".

Camille is good. She is still working on the potty training for #2 but it is getting better. She has her moments of greatness followed by moments of kicking and screaming. I guess this is the terrible two's we all hear about. She truly is a joy. She has started singing songs that she knows and dancing it is hilarious to watch. Her vocabulary is growing more and more so we can actually understand what she is saying.

Richard and I are doing well but both happy that school is almost out. I am looking forward to a relaxing summer with everyone. We are looking into having to replace our master bathroom soon due to leaks that are not good under the house. Hoping we can do it nicely but fairly inexpensive. We are thinking it will have to be taken down to the studs. Thankfully Richard is handy and has some good friends we can call upon to help. Hoping that it is not too bad once we start. Wish us luck!

New Beds!

Spring Break

Spring break has been over for a couple of weeks now and sadly this is the first chance that I have had to sit down and write up our adventures.

The second week of spring break we drove down to Southern California to spend the week in Escondido, CA at our timeshare. It was beautiful and was right on the 17th hole of the golf course. It had about 5-6 pools and recreation centers with fun activities throughout the day. We spent some time at the pool, some time making sundaes and some time painting ceramic owls and cupcakes. We had fun.

We arrived Friday afternoon and just hung out since we had been in a car for 8-9 hours. (The girls did great). We didn't do much since we got there late, we had to stop at my parents house in see them since we were driving right by and hadn't seen them in a while. We went to dinner with the family and were lucky enough to be joined by Scott and Nicole, Tyler and Shalena. So happy to see all of them.

Saturday, we settled in some more, went grocery shopping and met my parents for a while. We went to the pool and played in the splash pad area and then eventually ended up in the pool. Evelyn still had her cast on but since it was waterproof it worked out fabulous.

Sunday was Easter so we headed to Riverside and celebrated with my mom and dad, brothers, sister-in law, girlfriend and grandparents. It was a fun occasion filled with laughter and love. The girls LOVED it all the great stuff they got in their baskets. We had dinner at my grandparents house and it was a really nice time. The highlight though, was my dad and grandpa competing to see who was better at golf. My grandfather beat out my dad. Sorry Dad!. We all got to hit some balls while the girls ran around in the grass playing. It was a beautiful day with family.

Monday was DISNEYLAND and the girls did not know anything about it. We got up, dressed them up in princess outfits and were on our way. We had a wonderful time and met lots of princesses and rode a couple of rides. The girls were great and LOVED going. They wanted to go back.

Thursday we headed off to the San Diego Zoo with both Yayas, which was a rare treat. The animals are phenomenal and the park is beautiful. There are some wonderful exhibits and the girls are in love with all things animal so it was the perfect time to go. We saw the new Elephant Odyssey exhibit which was great. The coolest thing we saw were two rhinos playing with each. One actually lifted the other off the ground. It was a fantastic moment. Too bad both girls were sleeping.

Friday we checked out and headed to my mom's work to celebrate my grandmother's retirement. It was neat to see her happy and surrounded by family and friends.

After the retirement party, my mom got to do something that is so rare it has only been done a couple times before. We got to get pedicures together with no kids. It was FABULOUS and just what I needed. I got alone time with my mom to talk in person. Thank you mom.

Saturday we headed home again. The girls were great the entire trip and I am so glad so many people could see us and the girls. I miss my family so much but times like these make them so much more special. I love you all.

Enjoy the Pics.

Spring Break

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the love of my life! I love you and I hope that you have a wonderful day. You have made my life more meaningful and wonderful.

I Love You!

CRAZINESS...

That is all that can be said for the last couple of weeks. We have had a rough couple of weeks on every front and I fear Evelyn had the brunt of it. Since my parents left (I am not blaming you for leaving and this all starting...not completely :0), Evelyn has thrown up, got an ear infection, a bladder infection and fractured her wrist. She has been through so much these past few weeks and I feel so bad for her.

The bladder infection came on just before my parents got here. She started peeing herself every day at least once so I knew something was wrong. Wednesday, I took her to the dr. and they said it was a bladder infection. While waiting for the doctor, the nurse asked if everything else was okay and I was about to say "yes" when Evelyn said her ear hurt. Sure enough the doctor checked it and she had the start of an ear infection. Started antibiotics for both of those and thought we should be good now. Fast forward to Monday morning about 3:30, all is quite, both girls are sleeping in bed with me and "THUD" Evelyn falls out of our bed and starts crying. No biggie, I get her back in bed, thinking she is crying because she fell, but she wouldn't stop and said her wrist hurt. Richard came in and we looked at it but couldn't see anything so we went back to bed.

The next day, Evelyn was good but said he wrist hurt so we kept an eye on it and told daycare to do the same. That evening she didn't want to move it and the next morning she wouldn't do anything with it so I took the day off so we could go to the doctors. 2nd time in a week. The P.A. couldn't tell by looking at it so we were off to get x-rays. She was a trooper! Got them done and waited to hear from the doctor. They finally called at 3:30 saying it was a "buckle fracture" and needed a cast. Richard took her the next morning and she got a Hot Pink cast put on.

She will wear the cast for 3-4 weeks. It will be a long 3-4 weeks as she already doesn't like it and tried to take it off. She told me "I don't feel pretty with this on." How sad is that? We will make it through and she will heal. I just wish it was her left hand so she could color and write still.

That was just Evelyn!

I won't bore you with everything about Richard and I but we are hanging in there and working HARD!

Camille is doing great. She is staying dry all day and all night. Still working on #2 in the potty but happy there is an end in sight. She is talking and singing up a storm. She has these conversations with us and they are adorable because she knows EXACTLY what she is saying and has all these gestures to go with it and Richard and I are just like "uhhuh..." It is cute.

The girls now share a room and Camille's old room is now a play room. We are hoping this will help with them sleeping together and not with us. I will let you know when that works for us. I like the separate rooms and I think the girls do to.

Spring Break is coming up in a couple of weeks and I am ready to relax! I need a break!

Enjoy the pictures! Remember to click on the picture below to see more.

Casts, Walks, and Sillyness. Oh My!

Updates on the family...

Camille: She has had a language explosion the last couple of weeks. We recently had a parent/teacher conference and this was the biggest area of need and she must have known we were talking about her because she all the sudden has more words and is putting longer sentences together. We had a dentist appointment yesterday and she did great. She got x-rays and her teeth cleaned. She barely cried. She has 19 1/2 teeth (molar still coming in) and they all look perfect.

The tantrums are still there but have been a little better. They happen most often after watching "Mickey Mouse" so we have limited it even more. She is stubborn and funny as ever. She can be the happiest child (usually in the morning when you get her out of bed) and she is becoming quite adept at potty training. We have few "wet" accidents but are still working on "#2" with her. It will come in time.

Evelyn: She is growing like a weed. She is taller and her hair is longer. I can't open the kitchen cabinet without hitting her head. A while back she had growing pains so bad that I slept with her and rubbed her legs so she could sleep. She comes up to me and says, "mommy look how tall I am. I am growing big." It is adorable. She loves school and we are starting to teach her how to spell and sound out words. Last night, she sounded out: cow, sat, dog, and frog. I sit back in awe as I watch her eyes light up and take in the knowledge.

On St. Patrick's Day, we got to school to find the leprechaun box was missing. The class later then went on a search through the whole school to find it in hopes that they left treats. They got back to their class and it was trashed (tables turned over, glitter on the floor, tissues everywhere, etc.) and they continued to look for the box. Evelyn found the box behind the block area and her teacher said her eyes were huge and she could barely talk.

Richard: Still working hard and helps as much as he can. He has been watching the girls while I go to some classes. He is amazing. I don't tell him enough. He is still at Globalstar and hopefully that will continue for a little while longer. Who knows what the future holds?

Mandy: Working hard and trying to balance it all, which can be hard at times. I love what I do but it can be exhausting sometimes. I have a job next year so that is a weight off my shoulder. They are looking to hire a couple more Special Ed. teacher so I won't be low man anymore. YAY!
My weight lose has not been good. I am not sure why but I can't get focused on it. Maybe I am focusing on too many things (work, school, family, money, etc.). Maybe soon!

We are all doing great and looking forward to Spring and spring break. Have some fun things planned for us!

Best. Weekend. Ever.

This past weekend I geared up for bunco at my house. The house was clean, the girls came over and we have a great time laughing and drinking. The girls and Richard stayed home and stayed out the way for the most part. It is hard being at home and not wanting to be with mommy. Oh well. It was nice to have some friends over. We had such a good time talking we didn't even play. Sometimes that's better.

During the evening, Richard heard a knock on the window and looked up to see my mom and dad standing outside. They surprised US! Neither of us knew they were coming and it was perfect timing because I had just gotten done telling the girls how much I missed them and POOF! there they were. I need to stay out loud more often if it gets them here.

It was a fabulous weekend filled with Folsom Zoo, playing at the park, pizza, candy, Mexican Train, and swim lessons. Oh and LOTS of laughing. I love my parents. I love being with them. I love seeing them with my children. I love everything about them. I could do without out Papa's snoring but then again that wouldn't be Papa so I love that too.

I was sad to see them go Monday morning, but I know that I will see them soon when we go down for Spring Break. Happy I got my mom and dad fix before then.

Surprise Weekend!

Parent Teacher Conference

So this week was busy. Monday started off with taking Evelyn to the allergist to get tested for cashew allergies. Scratch test came back negative so we had blood drawn and just found out that was negative as well. YAY! We still don't know what caused the reaction which is a little scary but hopefully it won't happen again.

Tuesday we had a parent teacher conference with Evelyn's pre-school teacher. Evelyn is doing great. She can identify all upper and lower case letters. She can also identify numbers 1-9. She can follow most directions on a coloring paper (color 2 squares blue, color 1 square red). She did not color in the first and last square correctly so we will be working with her on those. She is writing her name well and getting good fine motor skills.

It was a good meeting and good to hear that she is on-track. She LOVES learning and that makes me happy. Hopefully the progress will continue and she will keep thriving.

Camille is scheduled for a parent-teacher conference for next week. I am curious about Camille because I think the Camille we see at home is different than the one at school. Should be interesting.

Tonight we had snow (hail still on the ground) so the girls got to play in it. Sadly, I wasn't home to enjoy it with them. We are expecting more but I won't be home tomorrow either to enjoy it. I am at a conference all weekend. It is a fabulous conference but I will miss some fun times tomorrow if it snows tonight.

Swimming and Allergies

The girls had another swim lesson and it went pretty well. Evelyn went with me this time and Camille went with Richard. Both girls were putting their faces in and blowing bubbles like no big deal. It is nice to see some progression. Hopefully they keep going.

Today we had an appointment with the allergist. I must say that I was not impressed by the doctor. They did a scratch test for cashews and it came back negative so we got her blood drawn as well. We will get those results in a couple of days. It is the saddest thing to see your child cry and scream because they don't want to do something. Evelyn did great after it was all said and done. We went and had ice cream and just spent the day together. It was nice.

Camille did not like the fact the Evelyn did not go to school and once she caught on she SCREAMED the whole way to school. Luckily the wonderful ladies at daycare could tell and welcomed her with open arms and happy faces (they always do). Camille was the first kid there since it was a holiday so she got some extra attention which was great.

Here are some pics from recent things. Enjoy!

Weekend Fun!

Pee...poop....and potty training...

Things are a changing in the Burstiner household. Camille is potty training and doing FANTASTIC. We have gone several days without any pee accidents. Poop is a whole other ball game. She is doing good and is so proud of herself. Evelyn cheers her on and asks her often if she has to go to the bathroom. It is really cute.

I am soooo looking forward to having no more diapers. At $45 a box, it will be nice to put that toward something else. She has been dry during naps most days but we are working on the overnight. She stayed dry one night but it is a start.

What else about Camille? She is throwing tantrums which is not fun but is part of the age I guess. We never had it with Evelyn but it is something Camille likes to do when we tell her no. Bad parents we are telling our child no and causing a tantrum. Hopefully they are short lived. We try to hold her and comfort her but that usually makes it worse.

Evelyn is doing great and becoming her own person more and more each day. She has really come out of her shell at school and has a great teacher that works well with her and Evelyn LOVES her. She is also getting more sassy and girly. She walks around in high heels staring at herself in any mirror that she can. I know, this is EXACTLY what I did when I was younger, but I have to admit it is pretty cute to watch.

She is learning to spell and write more. She can spell her name, Camille's name without any help and can write most letters all by herself. It is amazing!

The girls started swim lessons last week and they did not go well. They screamed the whole time and didn't want to go back. So bad that they would start crying as we drove to the place. This didn't sit well with us so we talked with the owner and decided to do a parent and tot class this weekend. It was GREAT! The girls were happy to go in and eventually warmed up to the teacher. Camille was blowing bubbles, going under the water, jumping off the step in no time at all. She loved it. Evelyn took a little longer to warm up but by the end she would go under without too much fight. It is nice to see them learning about the water. It feels good that they are not screaming and crying the whole time. The icing on the cake that we made the right choice was that tonight during bath they were both blowing bubbles and were ok with water on their faces (even Evelyn). This is a big step in the right direction. I look forward to the next lessons instead of dreading them.

Richard and I are doing good. I am back in school so he has the girls when I have class which isn't too bad this semester. It is my last semester. I am so excited about being done.

I am working hard trying to finish school and BTSA. I am still trying to lose weight but have gotten a little side tracked. I will get back on it soon.

We have been enjoying the nice weather by working outside in the yard, playing with the girls and going on bike rides. The girls enjoy being pulled in the trailer. We just go around the neighborhood or to the park. It is nice to get out of the house and get some exercise.

Nothing too exciting happening around here. Just enjoying the girls and the house. Trying to fix little things around the house. This house is a wonderful place to live and we can't wait to get things exactly how we want them even if it takes a while.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Hope everyone has a great one. Tell those around you that you love them. It doesn't have to be a spouse but can be friends, kids, or family. Without their love you wouldn't be who and where you are today.

Enjoy the pictures.

2011 Pictures

Happy New Year!

New Year. New Joys. New adventures. New goals.

I hope that everyone had a safe and Happy New Year! We were in bed before the New Year arrived. Surprise surprise. We did have a great night before that celebrating Christmas with Richard's family. It was great and the girls had a wonderful time.

Today is the start of a new year for everyone. I have a feeling it is going to be a good year. I am turning 30 this year. Is that good or bad? :0) The girls are going to be 3 and 4 and we have a vacation planned that we are looking forward to.

My goals (new year's resolutions) are:

1. Keep up on the blog. I do really mean to do this, life just gets crazy. Good thing we aren't buying a house again this year.
2. Lose 30lbs by my 30th birthday in August. I can do this and will do this.
3. Start exercising more.
4. Spend more time with the girls and not be on the computer so much (expect to blog about their wonderful selves.)
5. Bring our marriage to a new level. We are doing great but things can always be better.


Not to far out of reach and definitely something I will strive for. I hope that you find health and happiness in 2011!


Enjoy some pictures from our Christmas in Tahoe.

Christmas and Silly Girls!

Gearing Up!

The holiday season has officially began and so we have started gearing up. It usually starts with a dessert party the night before Thanksgiving, sadly this year I was not feeling well and opted out of it (good choice since I had a fever the next night).

Before Thanksgiving happened, I was thankful for the wonderful surprise my dad and husband came up with for me and my mom. They flew my mom up to see me for the weekend. She surprised me for breakfast and I was completely shocked. We went to the Harvest Festival with the girls, Richard and Lavon. It was a great weekend just talking with my mom. We haven't spent that much time with the 2 of us in a very long time. It was much needed. She had a late afternoon flight out on Monday so on Monday I took the girls to daycare and my mom and went shopping. After shopping, we went to a movie and had lunch together. It was perfect. Thank you dad for thinking it up and thank you Richard and Lavon for working out the logistics. Finally, thank you mom for 1. going through airport security and 2. for a fabulous weekend with my mom. I love you.

Thanksgiving was nice. It was our first Thanksgiving at the new house and we hosted. It would have been perfect if I was feeling better. The turkey was done cooking in 3 1/2 hours. Learned later it should have been cooking at 325 instead of 400. Oops! It was nice to have Richard's family here and watch the girls playing with their cousins.

Next up is Camille's birthday. That's right, MY BABY is turning 2 on Friday. I can't believe it. It is amazing to see what she is doing and where she is headed. We have her party scheduled for Saturday and I can't wait. Looking forward to seeing family and friends.

Christmas will be great and spent in Lake Tahoe. Who could ask for more? We have booked a sleigh ride and cannot wait to play in the snow and have a "white Christmas".


Yesterday, I got a wild hair (I seem to get them often) and decided to have Richard put up the daybed and trundle bed in Camille's room. It was a great decision. The girls love it. Camille took right to it and so did Evelyn (although her sleeping in there was not the plan). We had intended it for Camille but once Evelyn saw the second bed she seized the opportunity to sleep in the same room with her sister and have someone with her all night. We told her that if she wanted to do so, she would have to go to sleep when her sister does (8pm) and she could not cry. She agreed and we are on night 2 of sharing bedroom.

It is amazing the time you get back when a child goes to bed at 8. 3 weeks ago, Evelyn was going to bed at 9:30 and about a week ago we moved it to 8:30. So to have bout 1 1/2 hours extra a night is bliss. Hence the reason I am blogging. I am not exhausted, trying to type at 9:30 at night. Who knows, if this becomes commonplace maybe it will be updated more often. I will try not to get too far ahead of myself. Right now I am enjoying the extra time and using it to blog, get ready for Camille's party and sleep.

Hope everyone is doing great! Happy Holidays!

Girls!

Happy Halloween!

This was the first year we went out all four of us and we had a great time. We went with the whole neighborhood and had a great time. The girls were adorable and we even got Evelyn to say "trick or treat" and Camille to say "treat". It was fun seeing all the people out with their kids. I even ran into some students and got the "Hi Mrs. B..." I look forward to the coming years where I don't have to carry a kids the whole time. Anyways, enjoy the pictures!

Happy Halloween!

Crazy Month...

It has not been a month since I last posted but it has been too long. So many things have happened and this may get long winded.

The biggest news probably is that I stopped my Master's. It was a hard decision but the right one. I feel like the pressure is sooooo much less now and I am happier all around. Even though I was only in school two nights a week, I still had a ton of work to do for school the other days. I didn't feel like I had time to do anything fun and enough time with my family.

In other news, Camille is talking up a storm. Her newest word is "IcsH" which is "ice." It is adorable. She now walks around talking to herself. At daycare today she woke up the other kids because she was talking so much and so loud. It is so much nicer now because she can stay more and explain more of what she wants.

Camille is now in a big girl bed. I decided on a whim (much like I often do) that she was ready for it. So on Sunday night about 15 minutes before bedtime, Richard converted her crib to a toddler bed. I was worried about starting on a work night but there was no time like the present. We did our routine and I told her to get in her big girl bed, she hopped in and went to sleep. So far she has done great. She is really proud of herself.

Evelyn is great. She is developing her imagination in so many ways it is just fun to watch her. She is so aware of things happening around her and ask why something is that way. We had to explain to her about a fish that died and she seemed like she understood. She officially know all her letters, although sometimes she calls "s" "c". She can also tell you the sound that they make and can do so even if you go completely random. I am pretty impressed.

Evelyn is going to start Private Preschool on Monday at daycare. I think she is ready. She has been in the same class (which we all love) but they are starting to repeat things in there and I worry about her getting bored. I think this will be a fun and challenging program for her. We are all excited.

Richard is doing well. Trying to fix things on the house when I give him the chance. It can be so hard because time on the weekend just flies by. We almost need to take a day off to get things done without kids around.

Other than that things are good and we still love it her. I will post video of Camille talking soon. For now enjoy some pictures.

Sept-Oct 2010

***On a different note, please pray for my grandmother who is not doing well. We love her very much.

It's been awhile...

Happily life has been filled with fun activities and family get together's. It may be crazy but it has been fun.

I started back to CSUS to start my Level 2 credential for Special Ed. and my Master's at the end of August. There is a lot of work to be done and I realized that after three weeks the Master's was not in the cards for me at this point in my life. I had a headache for 3 weeks and was stressed trying to find time to study and time to spend with my family. On Monday, after a LONG talk with Richard (I talked, he listened), I decided not to continue my Master's and may go back to it later in life when the girls are older. I feel like home is where I need to be at this point and I am happy with my decision. The added bonus is that since deciding to stop, my headaches have gone away.

Now to good stuff! The girls are doing great. Camille is talking more and we are trying to get her to say words instead of grunting all the time. Tonight we had the best giggle session and was lucky enough to catch it on video. I will try to post soon. He giggles are contagious. She is no longer as attached to her blanket which is fantastic because I did not like taking it EVERYWHERE with us. Overall, she is great. We are getting her room finally put together with curtains and her name. Hopefully we can put up the shelves soon.

Evelyn is great. She is talking our ears off about anything and everything. She knows her address and can identify all of her letters. Pretty good I think for 3. She is doing great.

This past weekend we went to Bishop, CA and were fortunate enough to meet up with my family. My dad's birthday was on Friday so we got there in the early afternoon. The girls did great on the drive, except Evelyn got car sick so we had to pull over and take care of her. Otherwise, the drive was great. We stayed until Sunday and had a great time. The girls did pretty good sleeping in the tent. This was a first for Camille and was a little hard the first night but the next night she did great. Saturday we went fishing at Lake Sabrina (I played with the girls) and had a nice day at the lake. On Sunday, before heading out of town we stopped at Schatt's bakery and got some goodies. You can't visit Bishop without going to Schatt's.

It was a great time and it was great to see my parents, Scott and Nicole and Tyler and Shalena. I think everyone had a great time and it was nice to be with my dad on his birthday and my parents on Grandparent's Day. I will post pictures. Sadly I did not take many. I am hoping my picture taking starts to increase now that school is less stressful.

Hope all is well in your area. Love you all!

Bishop

Pics...Pics...and more Pics...

Happy Birthday Yaya!

Silly Girls and Pajamas!

Folsom Zoo

Happy Birthday Grandpa Fred!

Today is my Grandfather's birthday and though he is not close, I think of him often and love him very much. I hope you had a great birthday and know that we all love and care about you very much.

Love you.

School is in session...

I started back to work the day after my birthday. We had a couple of teacher days and then the kids came back. It was nice going back to the same school I was at last year. I hope that I can be there next year.

I am working in 7th grade with my same students from last year. It is great working with them again. I got to know them well last year so it is nice to continue to build that relationship with them and their families. I got to see a few of my parents (of students) on Back to School night and they were so happy to see that I was back. It felt like they were happy with the job I did last year and truly happy to have me helping their kids.

I am working with a great team of teachers and feel like I am part of that team. It feels good and I am happy to be back.

I start back to CSUS on August 30 for my Level 2 credential and my Master's. I took a placement test on Monday and I hope I scored well enough that I don't have to take an extra course. Please hope and pray with me. I am excited about going back but scared about the amount of work and time it will need from me on top of my full time job. I know that I can do and that I have a great support system at home so that helps. I will be done in a year, I can do anything for a year.

Everything else is going good. The girls transitioned back to daycare full time very well and are enjoying it. Tomorrow is Pajama day and they are happy about that. Evelyn is funny and a talker. Camille is learning more words and we are pushing her to say more words. She is hilarious and loves to dance. She is also loving the bath and will just lay in their on her back with the water surrounding her. It is great.

Last Saturday, we walked over to the park behind our house and went to Saturday in the Park. It was amazing! The girls LOVED the bounce houses and music. I saw a lot of students, teachers, my principal and even my superintendent. Richard got to meet them all as well. It was a really great family night and I am glad that we are close enough to walk to it.

Pictures to come.

Happy 3rd Birthday Evelyn!

Today my oldest daughter turned 3. I can't believe it has been 3 years already. She has changed so much and continues impressing and amazing us everyday.

This has been a year of laughter, making new friends, expressing feeling and having preferences. Her favorite food is chicken, her favorite color is purple, her favorite animal is the tiger (these all from her mouth).

She has been a blessing in our lives and we are so happy that God gave her to us.

To celebrate her 3 wonderful years of life, we had a party for her on Saturday with friends and family. It was quite the turn out with even neighbors coming over. It was a great time. We ate, we talked and we ate some more. We sang happy birthday and had cake and ice cream. She loved having friends over. The kids ran up and down the house for a good portion of the party.

She got some great things from people and we are starting to play with them all. So far we have colored with crayons and markers, played dress up, played tea party, took pictures, wore her new dress, read all the new books and played the games she got. Tinkerbell and the My Little Ponies have also come out to be played with and the giant 10ft alphabet puzzle we put together the first night. It has been fun.

Today we had breakfast together and then had lunch with Daddy at work. We played and played. Tonight we had her favorite dinner (Chicken) and ate the last of the birthday cake after singing and blowing out candles again. She also got to talk to Yaya and Papa. To end the night we read books and she and Richard went for a walk. What a great day.

Here are some pictures from the party. She did great for not having a nap. She went until about 8:30 and then crashed HARD. She had a wonderful time and was happy to have people celebrate with her.

Happy Birthday my sweet girl.

Evelyn's Birthday Party!

Gearing Up and Winding Down...

Gearing up for the new school year and winding down from summer fun. I cannot believe school starts in 2 weeks and I have to be back 2 days before that. At least we have some fun festivities to end the summer. Evelyn's birthday party is this weekend and we cannot wait. We are going to have fun seeing family and friends and celebrating our little girl turning 3. I will for sure take pictures and post them ASAP.

We have been having fun around here. Evelyn had her 3 year checkup yesterday with Dr.Brandle. She weighs 26.3lbs and is 38 1/4 inches tall. She met all her milestones and did great with the dr. She did everything he asked her too and even told him about her birthday and new shoes. She didn't have to get any shots which told us about for the rest of the day.

After the doctors we went to William Land Park and had a picnic (the girls and I) and then went to the zoo. We had a great time. Evelyn really liked the Chimpanzees this time and didn't want to leave the exhibit. We walked around for a while, shared and pretzel and rode the train before heading back to the car for naps on the way home. It was a great day with the girls. Everyone was happy and there was no crying!

Evelyn has been taking nightly walks with Richard, which she LOVES. It started when we were having problems with bedtime. It has been working (hopefully didn't jinx myself) but they talk about the moon, stars, our owl in the Oak Tree and the flowers along the street. She tells me the owl says, "hoo hoo, where's the mice?" It is too cute. They truly enjoy the time together. We have even made the neighbor boy jealous and now he is "Dying to go for walks at night."

In other news, the house is still getting better but has slowed down a little as we try to spend time with the girls. They have enjoyed playing with their water table in the front yard and that sometimes lets us work out there but sometimes we sit and watch. They are growing so fast.

Camille is talking more and more and we can understand more and more. She LOVES to dance and you will turn around and she is rocking out with or without music. It is HILARIOUS! She is getting bigger and bigger and I am waiting for the day she passes Evelyn in height (already did in weight). When she is happy the whole world lights up. She has this aura about her that is amazing. She loves Evelyn (lala) and is the first place she wants to go in the morning. I look forward to seeing their relationship in the coming years.

Not much else to report.Haha. I will post pictures from the birthday. Hopefully she and everyone else will have a great time.

More Pictures!

Fun Times!

We have been busy. We are finishing up stuff around the house and Richard had been fixing and replacing a bunch of stuff. The house is really coming together. We are VERY happy here and with our choice to move to the house and area.

I start work in a couple of weeks so I am trying to get everything done in the house before I go back. The girls go to daycare 2 times a week so that gives me some time to work without them here. I feel guilty but know it is good for all of us.

Evelyn's birthday party is in about a week so I am trying to get everything ready for that as well. We are looking forward to celebrate Evelyn turning 3 with all of our friends and family.

Enjoy the pictures!

Week in Photos

Here are pictures of things we have done this week. We are going to some friends house tomorrow for some swimming and dinner and then on Saturday having some friends over to our house for a BBQ.

Enjoy the pictures!

Girls

Brownie Making with the girls.

Catching Up!

To say a lot has happened since the last post is a MAJOR understatement. We have moved into the new house and are settling in nicely. We are getting things unpacked and put where we want them. It is coming along slowly but I am looking forward to being done unpacking. We LOVE the house! It is a great house in an even great neighborhood. I think we will be happy here for a very long time. The girls are settling in nicely and have adjusted better than I anticipated they would. We are making changes all over the house and it looks 10 times better already. There is so much potential with this house, I can't wait to tackle some projects.

The girls and I surprised my dad for Father's Day. He had no idea and it was perfect. We spent a week down there while Richard worked on the house. The girls did great on the flight and the whole time we were there. The following weekend we went to Havasu to spend the week with my parents, Richard and Lavon. We played in the water a ton (the girls LOVED it), went on boat rides, seadoo rides and just played. We had a great time. No one got sunburned which was nice. We had a great time seeing friends and family during the week.

We are all doing great. Camille had a language explosion these past couple of weeks and is talking/babbling a ton. Evelyn has the amazing language. She told me the other day, "Mommy, I was hot, so I went in the water with Yaya and cooled off." OMG. She is amazing.

The other really big news is that I have a job next year and it is at Rolling Hills again. So I get my old job back which is great because I loved being there. I am looking forward to seeing my students again and really figuring out how to help them.

I should write more but I am tired and have some things to do, so I will leave you with some pictures. Enjoy!

Lake Havasu 2010

Moving!!!!

Moving day is tomorrow! I can't believe that it is finally here. We are no longer owners of the Byrd house. It is a bittersweet feeling as this is where I brought the girls home from the hospital, where we came when we got married and where we got Sandy. It is has some wonderful memories that I will always cherish and look forward to sharing with the girls. I do know that we are moving on to something bigger and better, located in good schools. I am looking forward to the possibilities at the new house.

Moving day is tomorrow and we are not ready but will make it work. We have a very slim chance of closing our new house by tomorrow but we did sign papers last night and will give our down today. We can hope, otherwise it will probably be Tuesday because of the holiday. We can't wait.

I'm sorry I have neglected my duties of the blogging world. I promise to return someday (hopefully soon) with pictures of our new house and memories already created there. In the meantime, pray we have a safe move and that the girls adjust well.