Quote of the Week

"Stop chewing on the milk to get it open."

Al to Caleb

Not True Texans....Yet

As we headed into Wal-Mart (the place to be in our small town) on Saturday, I noticed that our family stood out more than usual, if that is possible. A cold front had hit Texas with temperatures hovering in the high 60's. While the Texans were bundled up, some even in heavy winter coats, my kids were wearing shorts and t-shirts. Our family was just relieved to walk around without sweating.

Brady Bunch or Hannah Montana

We aren't sure which TV show title better fits our family now, but it is down to Brady Bunch or Hannah Montana.

Miley Eliza Burns joined our family on September 21st. She weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz and was 20 inches long. So far she seems pleased with her choice. She is a sweet, happy, healthy baby. Damage from siblings has been minimal. The kids think she is one of the best toys that we have ever gotten for them. More pictures on facebook for anyone who can't get enough.

Where Has The Time Gone?

The last two months of our lives have been a whirlwind of activity. Every night when I go to bed I wonder how the day went so fast.

For our entire married life, we seem to unconscientiously seek out ways to make our life more interesting. Perhaps this time we went to far: Packing up a house for 7 while the hubby works 60+ hours a week, moving all that stuff 1500 miles, unpacking a house for 7 while the hubby works 70+ hours a week, adjusting 5 kids to new surroundings, starting up a business from scratch, setting up a temporary office, figuring out how to run that business, overseeing construction on the new office, figuring out how wife can work 15+ hours a week on office stuff from home, two new time consuming church callings, and the last trimester of pregnancy. Somehow blog entries have not made it into that list.

For an update: We are still breathing, still married, and all of our kids are still alive. We love our small town of Seguin, our new house, and our new life. There are many stories to tell, maybe blogging can make it on the list after something else gets crossed off.

Mother Knows Best

"Caleb, you will stay on that couch until you take a nap. You need one so bad today."

He was so tired that in the midst of climbing off, he fell asleep.

Aloha and Mahalo

Things we should talk about when reminiscing about our Hawaii retreat:

* Gorgeous view from the balcony of our hotel room every morning gazing at the picture perfect beach

* All you can eat sushi restuarant

* Signing closing documents for our house in Texas in the lobby of our hotel with a lady named Nani.

* Very productive dental conference

* Eating dinner right on the beach while watching the sunset followed by a fireworks show.

* Authentic luau complete with the best-pina coladas-on-earth on a secluded beach.

What we will talk about when reminiscing about our Hawaii retreat:

* Al's patience while doing circles in LAX Terminal 4 for 45 minutes looking for a place to eat lunch because nothing sounded good to me.

* The elevator ride and shuffle down the hall in our hotel at midnight in our pajamas with all of our luggage in tow. They couldn't get the air conditioning to work in our room so they switched our room.

* Kayaking on the Ocean. It sounded like the perfect way to celebrate our 9th anniversary. We spent the hour at sea clanking oars (we couldn't catch on to the synchronized part), doing lots of circles because we were confused about which way we wanted to head, and unable to have a conversation because of the ocean waves + me in front shouting + Al in back not being able to hear a thing. To top it off, we both had some sunscreen issues. Al's neck looked like he had had a tracheotomy with a big white circle in the middle. My shins were so burnt to a crisp (who burns their shins?) that I could have marked my ethnicity as mixed (caucasian and red).

* The bus rides to Pearl Harbor. The first included a death march from of 1 1/2 miles from the flea market to the Memorial with bags of souvenirs and 90 degree heat only to find out it had closed 15 minutes earlier. The second included a very crowded 45 minute return bus ride with my charred legs (see above kayaking on the ocean). I fought for the only available seat on the bus, between these two guys:

One guy was drooling as he was sleeping and the other spent the ride making phone calls to his job lying about why is was late. I am pretty confident neither had showered that day.

* The morning ritual of seeing who could wake up first and get dibs to work on the computer while the other person had to use a paper & pen to work on all of our business "To Do" lists. I only won one morning (at 3:30 am).

* Getting busted by the US Department of Agriculture for attempting to illegally transport fruit, they found an orange in the bottom of my bag from breakfast that I had forgotten about.

Taking a Vacation From My Problems

One week, no spilled milk to clean up, little bums to wipe, pb&j sandwiches to make, timeouts, toys to clean up. What are we going to do with ourselves for that long? Spend a week cramming our heads with knowledge on how to run a dental practice, eating pineapple, counting how many sno-cones we can eat in a day, and enjoying the Waikiki beach. Not a bad trade-off.

Kudos to my mother-in-law and sister in-law that are playing caretakers of the munchkins for the week! They should be in for a wild ride.