Burdorf Christmas

On Saturday morning, after packing and packing and packing some more, we finally headed out to Sioux City for our Christmas with Aaron's side of the family.  The roads weren't too terrible and we made good time.  

We ended up having to finish up some shopping on Sunday and just hung out and relaxed.  We played the game Beat the Parents on Sunday night.  Have you heard of this?  I hadn't, but it was pretty fun and Jenna and Brody even got to play.

On Monday morning I met my college friend, Kristin, at Caribou Coffee.  First, I adore Caribou and always make a point to get a coffee there when I'm in Sioux City.  Second, Kristin and I hadn't seen each other for FIVE years!  Two hours later, I think we were pretty well caught up. :)

We have definite traditions at the Burdorfs.  Christmas Eve we go to church and when we get home, we take family pictures!  It's a must.  Here is the best of the bunch...

Jenna and I took a "girls picture" before church.  We tried to do a picture of the boys, but Bowen wasn't having it.  And, don't be afraid friends, your eyes aren't deceiving you.  That is me.  In a dress.  I think it's the first time I've worn one for Christmas since about...1999...haha!

 Aubrey and Blakers had some fun writing on the white board.  They were pretty cute!

 After the family pictures, we all change to some comfy clothes and make supper.  Supper is yummy appetizers like Aunt Jill's Rotel Dip, Aaron's man candy, my cream cheese wraps, a veggie tray and a meat and cheese tray.  We don't starve, let's just say that. :)

 These three monkeys were so stinkin' adorable in their Christmas pjs, just playing in the middle of the kitchen floor completely oblivious to the chaos around them. 

 Grandpa Frank spoiled us with some really good beer! Some Leinenkugels.  He enjoyed some along with some man candy.

 Present time!!

And, guess who found my empty beer bottle?  Yep, Mr. Bowen...

 Having boys = trucks

 Photo bombed by Blake!

 Jenna was so excited that Santa brought her a Furby!  I can't decide if I think they are cool or creepy...

 Bowen liked Cousin Addy's sparkly boots

 We played cards.  Lots of cards.  I love that!  Grandma Linda taught the youngsters to play UNO, so many games of that were played. 

 Addy was a lean, mean winning machine!

 During the games of UNO, Adam and Aaron were SUPER excited to do the dishes. ha.

 Since the guys did the dishes Aunt Jill and I decided to join in on the UNO fun. 

 And then, it was a two hour marathon game of Phase 10.  Aaron ended up winning that.  Sorta.  We sort of cheated to get the game over with!

 I think Santa did really good with this gift.  The kids are loving it!  Popcorn, m&ms and movies. 

 

Here they were watching a little 'Home Alone,' on Christmas night.

 And, then it got interrupted by a flying Blake...

 And a daddy versus three boys wrestle fest.

 We had a great four days in Sioux City!  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for letting us disrupt your quiet lives with all of our chaos. :)

Here is our Christmas 2012 family photo.  We hope your Christmas was just as merry as ours!

Christmas Card 2012

Merry Christmas from the Burdorf Family! 

Every year, despite the fact that it causes me stress, one of my favorite things to do is design our family's Christmas cards.  I did this year's twice, because after completing the first try, I realized another option where I could add MORE PHOTOS!  You know me, I love photos, so I kind of redid the card.  I have issues, I know.... :) 

Anyway, Merry Christmas from our family to yours!  

Wishing you all happiness, health and much hope in 2013!

 Front

Inside Left

 Inside Right

 Back

Snow!!

We got our first major snowstorm in about two years here in Central Iowa.  It was GREAT!!  We here in State Center got about 13 inches and the wind, it was a whippin'.  Aaron and the kids didn't have school on Thursday or Friday, so Christmas break started a little early.

The thing about the snow is...Jenna and Brody LOVE it!  It makes me smile to see them smile about the snow.  Even though it's pretty cold out, the kids go out for short spurts and then come into warm up and then head back out.  At the end of today, I finally bundled up Blake and Bowen and took them out too.  They seemed to enjoy it.

Here are some pictures from our afternoon outside...

I just like the sun and the trees and the snow in this one.  Beauty of winter!

 The kids tried to "sled" down the hills our neighbor, Jon, made from his tractor. 

 A timeout to take a picture with the mom.  I think I had as much fun as the kiddos in the snow!

 I just realized looking at this picture that Brody has two stocking hats on.  Nice...

 The twins were kind of obsessed with the shovel.  And, Blake's mitten kept falling off!  See cold, freezing hand below. :)

 Blakers, looking adorable...

And Bowen, who loved the snow.  He was a miniature Brody toddling around...

 Was digging the black and white.

 

All four kids!  Looking at the camera!  Was this my lucky day?!  Probably. :)

 And...we're done here.  Cold hand.  Snow in the face.  It was fun while it lasted!

The way I see it...

Consuming

I was all set to write this week’s column about fun Christmas stuff.  And then, Friday happened.  I tried as hard as I could to think about anything else to write, but I just couldn’t do it.  The tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut is just consuming my mind.

Friday night, my husband and I headed out for some Christmas shopping and we talked about what had happened at Sandy Hook.  Although it was nice to have a night out without the kiddos, it didn’t feel completely right.  I felt like I should be at home squeezing on my four kids.  It didn’t feel right that I was buying presents, when a town had been completely shattered.

When we got home we turned on the news and watched.  Tears just rolled down my face as we listened to the news reports.  My husband is a teacher.  My dad was a principal.  My mom a guidance counselor.  I have young school age children.  What happened in Newtown would be a nightmare.

I’m one of those people that puts myself in the position of those people affected.  They interviewed a priest from a church who said they had to tell a little boy that his sister didn’t make it.  The little boy’s response was, “Who am I going to play with now?”

In that instant, I pictured my little boy saying that about his big sister.  Those words from that precious little boy just haunt me.  After that, I had to go to bed because I couldn’t take any more.

Saturday morning I woke up and Jenna was watching the news!  She is very much a little adult like that and it’s not unusual for her to watch the news.  I had to talk to her about what happened a little sooner than I had hoped.  She admitted that it kind of freaked her out.

Later that morning Jenna wanted to give us her present she had made at school.  On the card she had written, “Mom and Dad I love you so much.”  I just started to cry again, thinking of some card that was probably unopened that was made for a set of parents that lost a child.

Maybe it sounds terrible, but I tried to avoid the t.v. over the weekend because my heart was just aching.  Sunday night after the kids went to bed Aaron turned the news back on.  Again, the waterworks started as they read the names of the children and school officials that had been lost in this tragedy.

Then, my husband read a story on twitter about how one of the victims was a twin boy.  His twin sister was safely in another classroom.  That did it.  Can you even imagine?  I just can’t.  I went upstairs and kissed my sleeping kiddos and said a prayer of thanks that they were safe.

Christmas is less than a week away.  It seems to have taken on a whole new meaning this year.  It’s not about the gifts under the tree.  It’s about family.  It’s about spending good quality time with your loved ones.  It’s about telling them that you love them often.  It’s about showing them that you love them.    I’m going to do my best to keep things in perspective for the rest of the holiday season.  Less stress and more hugs from my babies.

Merry Christmas dear readers, may your days be merry and bright and filled with the ones you care about the most, but that’s just the way I see it.

Christmas time!

Christmas is just a week away as I type this.  I'm not sure that I'm really ready, but Dec. 25th will come regardless if I'm ready or not! :)  We've been keeping busy around the Burdorf house trying to get in the Christmas spirit.  

One of the things we've done is start a new tradition.  Since the kiddos are always asking me how many days are left until Christmas I went to the library and checked out 20 children's books about Christmas and wrapped up 10 for Jenna and 10 for Brody.  And then, I wrote numbers on them from 10 to 1.  Each day they get to open a "new book" to read.  They LOVE it!  They get so excited to see what their book of the day is.  

 

A little story time.  Bowen is a cheeseball!

  

Jenna's first book was "Bear Stays Up for Christmas." I love those books.

Another activity around our house is a little crafting.  Every year I like to make an ornament of some kind with the kids.  Every year we pull them out and put them on the tree. This year, I just found these cheap wooden ornaments at JoAnn Fabrics. 

The final products.  Jenna, Brody, Aaron (yes, I made him do one!) and I all did one.  Next year, I think the twins will be ready to start participating.

Sunday Aaron went to Ames for a couple of gifts and Blake prescriptions, so the kiddos put together a Grinch craft with my help.  The Grinch song is one of their favorites and Jenna likes the "real" Grinch movie and Brody the cartoon.  Here they are with their final products.  The mean faces were their idea!  These two crack me up!

Can you really have the Christmas season without a church program?  I think not.  Ours was a crossover between "The Night Before Christmas" and the story of Jesus' birth.  Jenna was a mouse and Brody a shepherd.

Singing some songs.  Brody looks enthused, doesn't he?!

Jenna in deep concentration... She had four sentences in a row.  She practiced all day.  Can you say oldest child perfectionistic tendenencies?!  LOL...I can relate!   She spoke slowly and clearly and messed up on one word, but kept her composure and corrected herself.
Afterward, I told her I was proud of her and she said, "Mom, you couldn't see it but my eyes were all watery because I was so nervous!"

'Tis the season to do some baking!  Here's my easy treat that everybody loves.  What you need: 1. Pretzel 2. Rolo 3. M&Ms.  That's it.  350 degree oven and bake the rolos for about 3 minutes or until just soft.  Take them out of the oven and put the M&M in the center. 

Star cookies are my FaVe!!!  I just put this picture on here because Brach's took the recipe off the package last year and it was devastating to me!  Now, if they pull that stunt again I have record of it on the blog.  :)

 

Aaron captured this photo of the boys.  Love, Love, Love!!!

 

And, I'd really wish this would happn...

 

It's Christmas!  I was born in Minnesota!  Raised in Northern Iowa!  What else can I say?  I dig the white stuff for the holidays.  They are saying maybe Wednesday or Thursday.  *Fingers crossed*

Are you ready for Christmas?  Are you feeling the holiday spirit?  I sure hope so!

Instagram Friday Catch-up

It's FRIDAY!  And, since it's Friday and I need to catch you all up on what we've been up to, I thought I would post some pictures for Instagram Friday.  Also, I have to confess that when I was looking through my photos I don't have a ton taken with my real camera.  I guess I better get that thing out and use it a little more in the upcoming weeks!

In November, our friend Scott hooked us up with four tickets to the Iowa State vs. Minnesota State Men's basketball game.  My dad and Linda watched the twins for us, so it was a nice afternoon with Jenna and Brody.

Although we may root for the team in Iowa City (Go Hawks!), we did have a fun afternoon.  And, we had to get a couple of Clone Cones when we were at Hilton.  That is some good soft serve ice cream right there.

  

 We had a small bout of the flu hit our house. Somehow, this mom was the only one who managed to avoid it.  We're praying we have a healthy holiday season!

Aaron had his birthday!  This year, it fell on Black Friday, so on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving I baked him some treats to share with the staff at the middle school.  He's a pretty lucky guy like that!  Haha!

 We went to Minnesota for Thanksgiving for the first time in YEARS!  It was so awesome.  We got to see people we hadn't seen forever and got to catch-up.  I had always wanted to do a run on Thanksgiving morning and Hastings actually held one.  Over 3,000 runners competed in the 8K and 2K runs.  The weather was so perfect and now I can say I did my first Thanksgiving run and my first 8K! Gobble, gobble...

 We stayed in Minnesota until Saturday morning and when we got home Aaron decided we should do a little holiday baking.  His favorite is always fudge.  For the first time in five years, our fudge actually turned out!

 Mr. Blake had a blow-out at daycare and ended up being pantless.  He just looked too cute...

 Bowen is still being his ornery self.  This was taken a Saturday morning when we were just hanging out.

 

Aaron and I have been busy taking sports photos at the middle and high school.  It's been keeping me busy during the early mornings, naptimes and after the kiddos go to bed.  This was the wrestling poster I was working on...

 For the first time ever, I put the boys in bibs.  I was dying over how stinkin' cute these little monkeys were!

 Brody keeps me on my toes in the mornings when we are at home together.  I laughed when I turned around while making breakfast and saw him lounging in the high chair. He looks so much like his daddy it is freaking me out!

 Jenna had her Christmas concert a couple of weeks ago.  She was so excited to be sparkly!  I love that girl.  We even put hot rollers in her hair and she looked way too grown up for my liking.

 We got our first snow!  Ok, it was only like an inch, but it was so beautiful last Sunday.  Jenna and Brody ran outside to play in it and were throwing snowballs at each other almost instantly.

 The weather has been insanely nice for December!  I haven't been running as much as I want because I've been busy and it gets dark so ridiculously early, but  on this day I took the twins with me.  That definitely makes for a good workout!

 I will leave you with this gorgeous Iowa sunset I snapped on our way to Ames one night...

That's just a quick look at what we've been up to.  I PROMISE to try to do a better job keeping up with the blog.  I have another post in mind that I will try to get up over the weekend.

This weekend is going to involve some Christmas shopping, basketball reffing and a church Christmas concert among other things.  It should be busy!  Have a great weekend everybody!! :)

I'm still here.

Never fear, I'm still here.  It's been almost three weeks since I've written on the old blog.  It's not on purpose.  I've just felt really, really busy and really, really overwhelmed.  With everything.  Life.

I have things to blog about, but it seems that other things have taken precedence over blogging.  I hate that.  Believe it or not, I consider blogging a sort of stress reliever for me.

So, it's been the paper.  And picture taking.  And photo processing. And Christmas card making.  And laundry folding.  And toddler chasing.  And basketball games.  And Aaron reffing.  And family visiting.  And concerts.  And...well...you get the idea. 

I am going to try really, really hard to get up a post, complete with lots of photos this week.  *Fingers crossed.*  Thanks for bearing with me and checking back day after day. :)