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Thursday, December 31, 2009

HOLIDAY SNIPPETS

We were so busy over the Christmas Holidays it didn't leave much time for blogging. I want to post a few things so I'll be able to look back and remember them. If I don't do it now, my memory will fade over time and I will wish I had.

Baking cookies at Mimi's house - we've done it a few times but decided we want to make it a tradition from now on. M & M (Mac and Mags) couldn't have cared less about baking cookies. Reid put his two cents in toward the end. But Grace and Grant were in it for the long haul. Umby, we missed you! The next day was Christmas with my mom and dad. Mom, I know it wasn't exactly how we thought it was going to be, but what a blessing it is!

Get away from me with that camera, woman:


CHEEEEEESE:

So serious:

Taste test:


B, do you recognize Mags' shirt:

The cookie monsters:

Those two had a lot of fun with it! (and so did Grant and GaGa - HA!)


Meems gettin' some lovin':

STEP AWAY FROM THE COOKIES:

After a day of baking:

The pictures taken at my mom's were with her camera and Rachel's camera, and Santa kept my camera a secret until I was cleaning up from the tornado (a/k/a/my kiddos) that came through our living room Christmas morning. By the time I got it, it was time to get ready to leave to share my baby girl with the rest of her family, so there aren't many of her unfortunately. But Tara took some really cute ones of her at Grandmommy's house Christmas afternoon so I borrowed one - hope you don't mind, Tink! Bethany, you better get ready because I don't like not having many pictures of you. You're going to be seeing a Nikkon lens more than my face when you're here from now on. :) I loved this one:


We were excited to spend Christmas afternoon with Chris' family. His mom and dad came:


And Haylie:


And Grey:

And thank goodness for Uncle Donnie and Aunt Rae. Without them our toys may never get put together! :)




And what better way to conclude the Norton Christmas Festivities than with a bottle of Santa's Butt:


This week we headed to Selma for Christmas with my grandmother and also to celebrate her 80th birthday. 80 years - wow!

Not sure what that look's all about but...


Mi padres:

Such a celebration means time spent with family we don't get to see much:








And some I can never get enough of:


I'm so glad you're ok, Martha! God is so good!

You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah
Psalm 32:7

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

FOR SANTA TO REMEMBER NEXT YEAR

Keep in mind, dear Santa, when you get three of the same toys that are remote controlled, they will run on the same frequency. So when you think you've gotten the boys each a really cool remote control boat which would make for a fun way to make use of the pool in the winter, if Mac's remote is working Grant's boat and Grant's remote is working Reid's boat and Reid's remote is trying to work all three boats which means you've got boats going in all directions with no one knowing which one they're controlling, IT'S NOT SUCH A COOL TOY! :) Live and learn!

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

It was a monumental weekend for two of us Burnside girls - Rachel and I each bagged our first buck! Whoop whoop! :) Martha and my dad hunted in York with one of my dad's best friends where she killed hers. Chris, Reid and I went hunting Monday at our land in Macon County, and I got mine. I don't have any pictures of Rachel's yet - waiting on those. I have a couple of mine taken with my phone.



It's far from a monster, but it's my first buck so I was very excited! And we eat a lot of deer meat throughout the year - usually try to get about 5 or so every season - so we needed another one to stock up the freezer. My mom took Grant and Mac to Selma Monday to visit family which gave Reid and me a chance to go hunting with Chris. I really enjoy hunting but don't have many chances to go so when Chris asked if we wanted to load up and go, I was all about it. We had been in the tree stand about an hour and a half when 18 turkeys, my buck and one other buck came out in the field. Chris asked if I wanted to shoot it. Um, yes please. So Chris helped me get the gun situated and I'm getting ready to sit up and see if I can get a shot. So I whisper, "Reid, go sit with daddy - mommy's going to shoot this deer." Reid, "NO." The deer looks dead at us. I whispered again, "REID, please do not scare this deer away. Mommy's going to shoot it. PLEASE go sit with daddy." And again a bit louder Reid says, "Uh uh." And yet again, the deer looks straight into the tree stand - as if my heart's not racing enough already! But it was quite obvious Reid was NOT getting out of my lap. One of the advantages of being a mom: you learn to multi-task. I slid Reid over to my left knee, got the gun situated to my right, Chris helped Reid hold his ears, I waited for the deer to turn semi-broadside and took the shot. Oh my gosh what a rush! Chris said he was just as nervous as I was. :) We waited to make sure he was down then went and got the golf cart, loaded him up, and it was off to the processor. It's not even close to a mountable deer but being that it's my first buck (and my first deer killed with Chris), my sweet husband is going to do a European Mount for me. It was a fun hunt, and I love that we can enjoy these kind of things together.

And Martha...

STAY AWAY FROM THOSE FOUR-WHEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, December 28, 2009

CHRISTMAS '09

There's no way I can even begin to summarize all that's been going on. Let me just say this was one of the best Christmases I've ever had. I'm humbled by how abundantly blessed we are and so very thankful. Growing up my parents always made Christmas very special for us. Every Christmas memory I have is magical (except maybe the one where Rachel drove my battery-operated car into our brick wall - but we won't go there). And although we're grown and Martha and I have our own children, my mom and dad still manage to make it that way for us year after year. Experiencing Christmas through the eyes of my children is even more magical. Joy. Pure joy.

Santa was very good to me this year and brought me the camera I've been eyeing. Now I just have to learn how to use it! :) Here are a few snapshots - I'm still learning!







Santa brought two of these trucks and a four-wheeler and they all like to pile in one truck :)


Thursday, December 24, 2009

FROM OURS TO YOURS...


For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11

Sunday, December 20, 2009

DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HEAR RIGHT NOW?

Silence. It's not something I like a lot of but something that's nice every now and then. Chris has taken all 3 boys hunting this afternoon. It's just me, myself and I, a fire, my couch, a movie, elastic-waist pants, and a plate of these a friend brought by yesterday:
(fudge, haystacks, pralines, and divinity)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Saturday, December 19, 2009

WHO KNEW?

Santa can just bring the boys a few large boxes and they'll be good to go! I doubt that would actually work Christmas morning though. Another rainy day yesterday meant we had to be creative in finding something the boys could do inside. This is not an easy task with boys. Grant saw a diaper box in a corner in the kitchen and asked if he could have it. I could see those wheels turning. He asked if I had anymore boxes so we scrounged up a couple more (I never throw boxes away - there's always a need for a box), and this is how they played with them. Guess what they are...

They're bears in hibernation. I was mama bear who didn't get to hibernate because I was out gathering food for all my cubs (a/k/a/ Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper and strawberry fruit roll ups). I thought it was pretty creative. You can see Grant and Mac were all the way covered with their boxes. Obviously Reid takes after me in the claustrophobia department because this is about as much as he would stay covered:
May your days be merry and bright even on yucky, rainy ones! :)

Friday, December 18, 2009

I CAVED AND IT FLOODED; GRRRR... IT'S TIME TO SHOP

Let's start with the fact that I don't like rain. Nor do I like cold. Nor do I like shopping. When you wait until the last minute to do your Christmas shopping like we do, then you must endure the elements of a windy, cold rain (by Southern standards at least) and get that Christmas shopping done. I threw my hair in a pony tail, put on my rain jacket, put my hood up, threw my purse on my shoulder and I was off to conquer the world - well, Toys R Us and Wal-Mart at least but to me taking on those two one week before Christmas shopping for an item that's sold out everywhere IS like conquering the world. :) (Not to worry, Santa has it covered!) Toys R Us was our first stop and it just so happens it's right beside Krispy Kreme. When we rounded the corner coming up to that intersection, all I could focus my attention on was this:

I really can't believe those things are still legal. Seriously. I look over at Chris and didn't have to say a word. He knew what I was thinking. I'm serious when I tell you I cannot think of a single time when I've seen that sign and NOT stopped. It's like a force pulling me in. I am powerless against it! This is what was left of our dozen after we ate a few and shopped, ate a few and shopped:

I ought to be ashamed. But I'm not. And next time I'm in that part of town and see that beautiful, magical sign, I'll be stopping again!

NOW ON TO THE MEANING OF THE FIRST PART OF THIS POST TITLE:

The boys had been bugging me this past week to let them take a bath in my and Chris' bath tub. They tend to be a little messier in that tub because they have more room to play around. But Chris was hunting and I thought, aw, what the heck. How messy could they be? I had them all in the tub playing when I got a call from Chris asking if I would check on something for him. I only left them for a minute but when I headed back to my bathroom, I was met in the living room by my Three Stooges all in towels, ready to play with the toys they had gotten at their school Christmas parties that day. We had not even had time to bathe off yet but they were so excited to play with each other I put their pajamas on and went with it. I'm usually so good about making sure we've drained the water. It's so gross to me to have to stick my hand down in a cold tub of bath water to drain it if we forget. But I got so busy with putting pajamas on everyone then everyone was hungry, etc., etc., that I didn't give it a second thought. Boy did I regret that! Chris called to say he was in the neighborhood but was stopping by a job to check on it - said he would be home in a minute or two. Being that C and I take a bath every night, knowing he was almost home jogged my memory to go check and see if the water had been drained - it really would have made me ill had we finally gotten the boys to bed then had to wait on a whole tub of water to drain before we could even start ours. IF ONLY! I walked in my bathroom to see water cascading over the top of the tub and looked down to see I was standing in 1/2 inch to an inch of water. No exaggeration. Water was everywhere - EVERYWHERE. Not only had we not drained the tub, but the water had been left on - for about an hour. What we think happened is that when one of the boys got out, their towel got caught on the faucet turning on the hot water by mistake. The type faucet we have is very easy to turn off and on. I'll even turn it on without meaning to just wiping around it. It was one of those times where I had no idea what to do. I waded through the water pacing back and forth about to vomit. To put a towel down would have been like throwing a paper towel in a sink full of water hoping it would soak it all up. I called C and told him to get home pronto. After standing in the doorway shaking his head looking at it for what seemed like an eternity, he said a few colorful words that likely would have made a sailor blush then C, Mondo and I got down to business using every single towel we had in the house (bath, beach, hand, kitchen, all of them) and were able to get all the standing water off the floor. Only not before the water was able to completely saturate the carpet in both our closets. Mine was so bad it soaked all the way through to the hardwood floors in the hallway and inside office. It also soaked the carpet about two feet coming out of the bathroom into the bedroom all the way down the wall to the doorway leading out of our bedroom into the hallway. We ripped up the carpets and are letting them dry. In this weather who knows how long that will take! We will have to replace the pads and won't know the full extent of the damage for another day or so as far as the baseboards or quarter round goes. This is what it all looks like now:

Part of my closet:


Standing in hallway looking into bedroom:




Standing in doorway of bedroom looking toward bathroom:

Our insurance agent told us to take a picture of the wet towels. This was about half of them:

It's never boring around here, that's for sure! I think I'll go have another donut now! Because don't you know they make everything better!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

IT'S BEEN A WHILE

Goodness we've been busy. I can't even find time to do my Christmas shopping much less blog. But I wanted to do a quick post while some things are fresh on this ol' brain. Again, bullets:

  • Good-byes suck! Even when it's something you've prayed would take place, even when you know it's for the best, even when you know God's hands are all over a situation, it's so hard to say good-bye to someone you love. But it's not forever, and we cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for her. Please be in prayer for this sweet baby of mine as she takes some time to heal - physically, emotionally, and spiritually:
Ok, so she's not technically a baby but she's our baby. We're so proud of her and so thankful for God's grace and mercy!

  • WE HAVE BUTTERFLIES!!!! Yesterday couldn't have been a more perfect day for our first butterfly to emerge from its chrysalis. We have four now and are waiting on three more. This whole process has been so amazing to me. I highly recommend checking out Insect Lore's website to see what all they have to offer. The kids have thoroughly enjoyed it, and I've had just as much if not more fun with it than they have. :)

  • RAINY DAYS: We've had many yucky, rainy days lately, so we've had to come up with things to do inside. With boys that's not an easy task. These came in handy the other day:
The boys had their own hunting cabin and tree stand and patiently waited for a big buck to come out:

As usual, Reid's gonna have himself a snack when he hunts:

The serious hunter:

And Mac didn't want to be seen - he was "camouflaged": ;)
And doesn't everyone hunt with a sword? Barefoot? In pajamas?


  • OUTTAKES: I've been trying to get the perfect picture for our Christmas cards. I haven't sent out a Christmas card since the Christmas before Reid was born. Terrible, I know. I just didn't have it together. This year I was determined to get one out; however, with four children and three of whom are rowdy, rambunctious boys, perfect and picture do not go hand-in-hand. In fact, just getting a picture with all of them in it is a task. I finally did get one that was usable. And with what it took to get that one, it was dubbed "The Perfect Christmas Card Picture!" :) Here are some outtakes:
I thought it would be cute to get just their faces like this. As you can tell, it didn't quite turn out with Reid's "piwow" in the pic or the flash blinding everyone:

And here we managed to get the pillow out of the way only to have them all
bonk heads while Reid continues to pout in his blanket:

Reid was so happy he was having his picture taken:

Good times!

  • CALLAWAY GARDENS: If you've never been to Fantasy in Lights at Callaway Gardens, you must make it a priority! We went Tuesday night with Chris' parents and Donnie and Rae and Haylie and Grey (Chris' brother and his fam) and had a blast! It was absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend riding the Jolly Trolly if you go. There are different scenes with each one telling a story or Christmas song. Grab a blanket and some hot chocolate and sit back ready to be amazed at all the lights! I don't think it would have been as much fun if we had driven through in a vehicle. It was spectacular! I hope we make this a Christmas tradition from now on! I'm so glad we went.
  • FRIED SNICKERS: When I originally did this post I included this with the Callaway Gardens part because that's where I got it. But hey, this deserves its own bullet. I mean, come on, it's a Snickers. And it's fried. After seeing Fantasy in Lights we got funnel cakes, cotton candy, and I tried a fried Snickers. Oh my goodness. Think Snickers Bar. On a stick. Dipped in funnel cake batter. Fried. Then sprinkled with powdered sugar. Pure deliciousness!
And now I'll close with this (this one's for you, Umby!):

DO THE HEISMAN!