Progress...

Well, I'm making progress. The kids are in bed, ( although the boy child just came downstairs in a sound sleep-walking state and flopped on the couch.... I believe he caused his father a few brief heart palpitations.... ), the presents are under the tree...Santa has come and stuffed stockings, left gifts, and 'ate' the cookies and milk. Whew....

I've got Whitney's quilt in the dryer... looks like I can go to bed very soon....

And, it looks like the Burns kids are going to have a very, very , nice Christmas.

Merry Christmas, everyone... God Bless....

Suzi Claus

The Christmas Crunch

Well, it is Christmas Eve, and I'm waiting for my kids to go to bed. I still have much to do and miles to go before I sleep ( and miles to go before I sleep ), but I thought I'd take a break while the coffee is brewing ( yes, that much to do. ) and blog a bit.

I haven't blogged since my birthday, and I plan on making up for it tonight, as I will be staying up very late.... not wrapping gifts, not cooking a huge meal... but doing laundry. YES. Laundry.

You see, I got this crazy idea while I was taking a shower last week (all my big ideas seem to hit me when I'm in the shower... I have no idea why... ) to make each of my kids rag quilts for Christmas. Not that I had anything else to do, or any other projects to finish....

So, I gathered up my fabric and set to making quilts.s I have two completed, and ready to wrap. I need to finish Whitney's tonight... I still need to fringe it, wash it, and dry it. I'm looking at a good 4 hours of work after they all go to bed. Yeah, I'm nuts.

Most (normal) people would say ' forget it' and just not finish it for Christmas at this point. But, I am SO CLOSE!! And I have put SO MUCH TIME into it already with the other two.... I must finish it. It is the OCD in me....

Anyway, while the quilt is washing and drying, I'm going to try to compress the last month of blogs I've missed into a bunch of little snippets of the Burns's life.

My friend, Frannie, said she noticed I haven't posted in a while. I said, "well, actually, I 've written many blog posts in my head in the shower, but by the time I am out, dried, and able to blog, I'm off in another direction. "

So... stay tuned. I'll be back later tonight... until then, as I'm sure you have nothing better to do, have fun looking at this year's Burns Family Christmas Photo.....

You Say It's Your Birthday....

So, my parents called first thing in the morning yesterday and my Dad said, "Happy Black Tuesday, Chop of Lamb!" ( 'Lambchop' is his nickname for me.. and he's weird that way) I said, " It's not Black Tuesday, its Fabulous Forty Tuesday!" And it was. I was worried that I'd be all depressed and morose about turning 40. I thought I'd sit and ponder all the things I havent done and wanted to do, lament about the 15 pounds I swore I'd lose by my 40th birthday, and just plain concentrate on all the failures I've had in lo these last 4 decades. But yesterday was anything but sad and depressing. It WAS fabulous, and here's why:

1. My sweet husband brought me a Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks first thing in the morning. ( Non-fat, but WITH whip, since it WAS my birthday.)
2. He took the day off to spend with me.
3. I got 3 homemade cards from my little homeschool kids, professing thier love for me.
4. My kids gave me huge hugs and kisses upon waking up.
5. Veronica gifted me with a gorgeous scarf, some yummy candles, and a gift card to Michaels... all in a seriously cool retro bowl.
6. Allison dropped off my favorite coffee and some biscotti.. and a hysterical card.
7. Heather stopped in, gave me a touching handwritten card, and some of her favorite lip balm ( which is now MY favorite lip balm, too!)
8. I went to lunch with my husband, the love of my life.
9. ... and I drank a Cosmopolitan at 11:30.

10. I took a short nap.
11. I got to sit in our front room while I listened to the kids argue over who was going to frost my birthday cake, and while Bryan tried to mediate. ( ie... " Dad! Kellie is icing the whole thing! That's not fair!" "Well, YOU stuck your finger in the icing and licked it..." " Jackson! Dont burp on the cake!" " NO!! I'M doing the sprinkles!" " THAT IS ENOUGH SUGAR!!!" " NO... I want it to be the color of my bedroom..." " MOM!!!!! Whitney isn't giving me the knife!!!"

13. The kids tried to put 4o candles on the cake, but only had 24, so I TRIED to blow them all out, and they laughed when I couldnt.
12. I ate cake with my family... it was warm, and yummy, and VERY sugary.

14. My sister called, and my little niece played "Happy Birthday" for me on the piano... specially learned for this special day.
15. My in-laws called to wish me well.
16. I got a TON of birthday wishes from old friends from my highschool and college days.. who I miss.

17. My kids made me homemade cards telling me how much they love me, and containing coupons for 'free back rubs for a week', promises to 'sleep in my own bed for 2 days in a row ( and that is a while for me ) ", 'I'll make your bed for a week.", 'you pick a job for me to do and I'll do it." Priceless cards.... I'll keep them safe somewhere to read when they are adults and I miss my babies.....

At the end of the day... I crawled into a warm bed to a sleeping husband and thought to myself....

"Family, Friends, Health.... cake that's been burped on by an 8 yr old..... all these simple things in my life that have made me so happy today.....

.....yeah.... 40 is fabulous"

$25,000 a year for this...

So... my parents should be happy that I am finally putting that expensive music degree to work.... teaching music to preschoolers once a week. I call is Suzi-cal.

Certainly a far cry from the formal, classical studies I found myself in at Susquehanna University. Check out my ABC bling. Mr. Magnus and Mr. Stretansky would probably be breathing into paper bags if they saw this.

Certainly not formal. Certainly not a classical approach. But learning is going on. So is laughing. And singing. And dancing.

And a bit of cheesy puppeteering. That handsome gentleman is Johann Inmabach. ( pronounced Yo- han In- Mah- Bacchhhk) --- because it is.

Whitney played soccer again this year. She loves it. Each year she grows as a player. Her skills improve, she gets faster, she thinks like a soccer player and makes some awesome plays which many times result in scores. In all the years that she has played, however, she has NEVER scored a goal in a game. She has assisted too many times to count.... she has saved many goals as a defender... but never scored herself. Until this year. This year she scored 2.... HOW INCREDIBLY EXCITING!!!!!

I love that she is improving her game. I love to watch her become an awesome soccer player. I LOVE that she loves the sport. This season was an awesome season personally for Whitney. She loved the girls on her team. She scored a few goals. She took her practices seriously. She got faster. She honed her skills. In short, she worked her behind off. And she became a better player because of it.

It helped to have such an awesome coach.

Even if it was her own Dad.

4 is the new 2

When I was 10, it was having to get glasses what a traumatic event. What a blow to my self esteem to have to pull out those horn-rimmed glasses with the stems that bent and attatched to the bottom of the lens... Add to that a few lovely pimples the size of Mt. Vesuvius and I looked, in my father's words, like the poster child for puberty.

These days, however, it is quite "IN" to wear glasses. So, when Dr. Gore told Kellie Sue that she needed a bit of optical help, she was elated. Excited. Overjoyed.

I don't ever remember looking this adorable in my spectacles... in fact, I don't think I ever did.

She wears them more than she needs to... and I've caught her reading ...something I'd never thought I'd see. It used to be quite a chore to get her to pick up a book. Now she loves it. THANK YOU DR. GORE!!

Oh, and what is even more exciting to her is that now she looks even MORE like her Mama....

Mini-Me and me.....

One more post before....

Well, I figured I'd post one more time while I'm still in my 30's..... and how appropriate to post about a sweet little birthday treat?

These are little cupcakes that I've been making recently. They are selling like hotcakes. I'm loving creating these tiny treasures. They all look just so.... so.... YUMMY.

I think what I like the most about these is that I can have as many as I want and none of their sweet goodness goes to my rear end. :)

But seriously, aren't they just so cute?

Next project, after the Christmas gifts are finished, is a knitted DOUGHNUT......a powdered sugar one ......