Our Little Walker

The pictures pretty much speak for themselves- I'm in trouble! This little guy is officially walking- everywhere! He started taking steps on the 8th (a b-day gift for Aunt Sabrina even though she couldn't be here to see him). For the next week he would sometimes walk back and forth to people, if he wanted to. But for the last few days, he is walking around even when no one is egging him on. He'll be standing at the coffee table, see something he wants, and off he goes on his own 2 feet! It's really cute to watch because he keeps his arms up to balance himself and sometimes, when he is halfway to his destination, he stops, claps for himself, and then continues on. The girls are absolutely loving it, they get so excited for him and are by far is greatest fans!
Oh how we love our crazy busy Lincoln!

Rylin's "Short" Hair

So Rylin's hair was starting to get just a little too long in the back, so I decided to pick up some scissors and do a little trimming (Kaitlin- why do you have to live so far away?). I cut over 4 inches off the back, but much to Kevin's delight it is still definitely "long"- just don't tell her that! She thinks her hair is now "short" like Mommy's and Kacia's. If only the rest of her grew as quickly as her hair!

So now you know,,,

So thanks to my incredible husband's thoughtfulness and very kind words (combined with his surprising computer hacking abilities) all of my blog readers now know, that yes, it's official- I am 30. Over this last week I've gotten a lot of "So how does it feel?" "Do you feel older yet?" and to be honest, I feel a little nostalgic to be saying goodbye to a decade that has really shaped my life. So many things have happened in my 20's, so much more "life" took place in these 10 years than I had ever expected. The 4 greatest days of life all happened while I was in my 20's, along with some of the most painful and heartbreaking days. I feel like even 30 years from now, so many of my stories will begin with "Well, when I was 20something..."
Here's a very brief rundown, the highlights and lowlights of a decade in which I learned to love my Savior even more, but still not nearly enough:
20- I married the man who will forever hold my heart
21- Graduated college and got to be Mrs. Burns the teacher
22- Finally began to understand the cries of the Psalms writers, this Earth is not my home
23- My mom went to be with our Lord
24- I became a mom! Kevin and I welcome Kacia into our lives
25- We celebrate 5 years of marriage in Maui
26- Gave Kacia a sister, Rylin is born and sleep becomes a thing of the past
27- Learn that people fail me, I fail my God, but my Lord never does!
28- My dad passes away
29- My family is made complete with the birth of our son, Lincoln
See- a lot happened, and that's just the big stuff, not the day-to-day things of life. So, saying farewell to my 20's is a little bittersweet, but here's to hoping the next decade has a lot more growth with a few less "major" things. Plus, 30 is the new 20, right?!

A Post About My Wife on Her 30th Birthday

Well, in case you haven’t guessed by the title of this post, this is Kevin writing not Jenny. I have decided to hijack her blog today, her 30th birthday. As I think on the number of years Jenny and I have been together, it floors me how quickly it has gone by. I was remembering this morning the day I met Jenny. As the memory has faded slightly in the last 12 years I still remember it quite well.

It was the first day of our first semester at The Master’s College when I first noticed her. I chose my seat in the back of the classroom as I had been doing since elementary school. I was always more comfortable back there & was rarely ever called on to answer questions. Jenny of course, who was on an academic scholarship, sat in the first or second row. As I noticed her, I knew I could never get to know her from the back of the classroom. She was definitely out of my league (and still is), but hey it was a Christian school and it’s not all about looks, right? So, my plan was to continue to inch my way to the front over the next few classes and let my smoothness work from there. Well, as providence would have it I wouldn’t even have to wait for the next class to meet her. My roommate Matt & I went to the computer lab the next day to check his e-mail. There were only 2 seats available and they happened to be right behind Jenny & her roommate Ali (Matt didn’t know that he was meeting his future wife as well when he met Ali). I kept going through my mind on what to say to introduce myself. She actually probably noticed me but only because I had just dyed my hair and it turned this nasty orange color after a bad reaction! I really wasn’t in to e-mail at the time and had yet to start an account. This was my perfect lead in. I asked Matt to help me and I spoke loud enough for Jenny to hear. She turned around & asked me if I wanted some help. SCORE! I didn’t even have to use some cheesy one liner (not that I had one prepared). You could say the rest is history, but not so fast. After talking about being in the same class together she asked if we could share books. Come to find out it wasn’t so much about getting to know me & study at the same time but rather a good way to save 75 bucks. Can you say frugal? Over time, after my orange hair grew back to its normal color & after Jenny had checked out all of her options, we started dating. Sometimes I miss those days where we didn’t do anything but hang out. About 1 ½ years later we were married.

After all of these years I am so thankful to the Lord that he has blessed me by giving me Jenny as my wife. She is still by far the person I’d rather do anything with. You know the question, “if you were deserted on an island, who would you want to be with”? Jenny is not only the person I would pick, but she is also the only person I could live with on that deserted island and not go crazy. I don’t know what I would do without her in my life. As I start to get stressed out she calm’s me down by just being herself. She knows when I want to talk & when I’d rather be quiet. She keeps every aspect of our home in order. Most importantly, she takes time with our awesome kids. She doesn’t just discipline, feed, change and bathe our kids; she takes every opportunity to teach them about our Lord.

I was coming in from our back office late one night last week. Jenny was busy finishing up the dishes after a typical long day. I stopped and watched her through the window for a couple of minutes and thanked God for her. For as beautiful as she was that first time I saw her, she is so much more so even now. I know she isn’t perfect but I know her heart. I know she loves me, I know she loves our children but even more so she loves our Great God. The growing love she has for Him allows her to in turn love me more, despite my faults. I hope we have many more years together and tonight I am so thankful for the time we have had. Happy Birthday Jen!

Just a little off...

So yesterday was Kacia's class' Mother's Day Tea. I had a wonderful time of being pampered by my daughter and entertained by their many songs. However, it also gave me the chance to talk to the TA about the chocolate milk situation, and let's just say I was a little off! It wasn't 15 times that Kacia snuck behind our backs, but rather 33!!! Apperantly chocolate milk is only offered every Tuesday and Thursday, which means that she had been getting it every chance she could for quite awhile!!!
33 times my daughter hid something from us
33 times she chose to be deceitful
33 times she purposefully did something hoping not to get caught
33 times!!!
And who says we aren't born with a nature prone to sin?!
Boy do I have my work cut out for me, good thing I'm not doing this parenting thing all on my own :)

Oh, Just Charge It!

So last week I got a bill from Kacia's cafeteria stating that we owe $8.25. I was sure it was a mistake, Kacia has never once ordered hot lunch. So I asked her about lunch, and no, she'd never had it. As the questions continued coming, the truth, ever so slowing, starting emerging. You see, the school gives each kid and ID # that they can use to "charge" their lunch. I had never bothered teaching Kacia hers because it's quite a long # and I never planned on her needing it. But as she started to confess, I realized that my sweet little girl was "charging" chocolate milks! 15 chocolate milks to be exact! She, like so many others, never thought the day would come when we'd have to pay for the milk, afterall, she just gives them her # and they hand her over a chocolate milk! Oh, so early to be learning the harsh reality (and thus consequences) of charging things!

The Tooth Fairy Comes to Visit- Twice!

So a little over a week ago Kacia lost her first tooth! The pour thing was just hanging there, getting in the way. Kevin gave it a little tug and out it came! Our little girl was ecstatic and the Tooth Fairy made her 1st of many visits to our home.

Then last night after dinner, Kevin was checking on the other very loose tooth, and out it came too! Kacia now has a fairly large "window" in her mouth! She is proudly holding the very weird toy she picked out at Michael's today with her Tooth Fairy money. Silly fairy forgot about tax :)

I'm thinking Kevin and I ought to start saving for braces now.

I must say it is a weird thing to have one kid losing teeth at the same time another is getting them. Oh how much growing and changing we do in the first 5 years of life!