Hunter is Two

I can't believe my baby is two years old. We celebrated on Sunday with our traditional breakfast party. On the day of each child's birthday they get to choose their favorite breakfast and we make it and light candles and have our little family party. Hunter is the complete opposite of the other two and only likes eggs for breakfast. He will tolerate some cereal and maybe eat a pancake but never indulges himself unless its eggs. We had a party that night with the whole family over and he was so cute. Maybe its because he has watched so many other birthdays of cousins but he totally understood what he was doing and what came next. He is my photogenic kid too, so I ask him for a picture and I get exactly what he is feeling in that picture! We had an airplane party because he is amazed as we watch them in our front yard and he can hear them coming and we always have to wait and find it. All I can say is thank heavens for the internet, I found some great tips for an airplane cake. I think that is my favorite part about birthdays is helping the kids figure out what kind of fun cake we should do and then we go for it!

 Breakfast Party!

This was from a McQueen car he got.

Happy Cake Eating!

I'm in love with his reactions!

Hunter we love you for so many reasons the list could go on forever, but if we had to choose just two:
1) We can't resist you dimpled smile no matter what you are doing or saying it melts our hearts and your brothers and you usually get whatever you want!
2) We love your excitement for life, no matter what it is you are our example of embracing life as it comes no matter what changes. You like to gallop to whatever is next whether its breakfast in the morning or galloping out to the car for a trip to the park. It makes us smile and helps us remember that its the little things in life that really give us joy.
Happy 2nd Birthday to our Joyful Hunter!!! We love you!

Fall Soccer

Its that time again! Fall soccer has started and our Saturdays are filled with games. This is Jake's first year playing on the little fields and I see potential in him, still a little timid when he sees a big guy coming up fast. This past Saturday he did awesome defending the goal and stopping some shots. Jaxon is in the U8 division and is now on the bigger field. I like to actually watch the games now, they get to touch a ball a lot more and his coach is really awesome and has taught them a lot of things. This is also his first year of having practice on a different day than his game. It has been an adjustment for me to have him gone each Monday till 6pm, but thankfully I have some good friends that have boys on the same team and they are great to carpool with! Go Broncos and Red Dragons!

First day of Preschool

There is something so exciting about the first day of school. It is the same for my kids as it was for me. You just can't stop counting down the days, you hardly sleep the night before, you already have your new school clothes picked out  (the ones you mom wouldn't let you were for months now),  you are up and ready with chores done in lightning speed. This is how Jake was this morning. He was so pumped to go! He is especially lucky because he gets to ride his bike to preschool. When we met his teacher we went through the whole routine of stopping at the stop sign, waiting for his cousin, staying close to or on the sidewalk and watching for cars. We followed him, much to his dismay, and he just took off without us. He came home so excited to show us the chicken dance he learned, his "kissing hand" (I love that book!), and that you can only run outside not inside! He made it all the way home without me and I am so proud to be the mommy of this handsome funny guy!

Cooking

Each one of my kids has loved to help in the kitchen and its about at 2 years that they actually get what is going on and I love it! The older boys were out playing and Hunter and I were alone to make mint brownies. He was such a good helper to dump it all in. And who doesn't like to lick the chocolately bowl at the end. I love it that he is starting to talk so well. This day he looked up at me as I was starting and said, "Me help?" How could I resist that!

Abscessed tooth

I week or so ago Jake started complaining about his mouth. Coming from a family that constantly gets canker sores I figured he had one and tried to get him to just let it get better. I also knew he was due for a dentist appt. soon and it could definitely be a cavity with this kiddo. The next day it hurt him when we brushed his teeth and he was screaming at me. He wouldn't tell me exactly where it hurt and I couldn't see anything wrong. He just kept screaming and then I started losing it because I felt helpless that I couldn't fix it for him. We had to run a quick errand and he fell asleep at 10am, so I knew something had to be wrong. He woke up screaming and holding his face again so I gave him some Tylenol and he fell back asleep for 3 hours. That night I was dreading but he slept all night. However when he came into our bed in the morning his face was huge and swollen and he had a fever. I had no idea what it could be. We called the dentist and they told me it was an abscessed tooth. The kid was so patient to wait till the afternoon when they had an opening for him. We know his dentist pretty well and I trust him so much. He looked at the x-ray and said the tooth was abscessed but there was no reason why and we would have to pull it. They sedated him and the Dr. said when he went in there was so much pressure behind it it burst all over. (Sorry kinda graphic) He was hurting that first day and so out of it, but the next day he was like a new kid even though his face stayed swollen for four days afterward. The dentist gave him a cool little tooth carrier and the tooth fairy came to visit us for the first time. What a brave kid. Hope is doesn't happen again though.

First Lemonade Stand

With the hot weather in August the kids finally got the idea to do a lemonade stand after years of buying lemonade and cookies from the older kids in the neighborhood. It was actually Jaxon and Jadyn's brainstorming that put it all together and they had it planned to a T. I was just about to leave as they were telling me their plan and I told them we could as soon as I got home from the store. Their exceptional babysitter who is always up for a task put them to work on their signs. As soon as I returned I found an individual sign for each kid. Jax and Jadyn then gave me the orders as to what needed to happen next. We found the umbrella, tables, chairs, tape, lemonade and oj, a pitcher and cups. We borrowed the lemonade from Jadyn's mom and we were ready. I was prepared for them to sit on the chairs and just wait for customers. Having the Burgess "work hard to get what you want done" attitude. They all hopped on their bikes or went on foot and yelled "Lemonade and orange juice for sale!!!" Seriously they went all over the block. Jake was the smartest and went for the door to door approach. Who can resist those eyes telling you to come buy lemonade. He went to Ilene, our neighbor, and to the workers on the house across from us. They promptly came and we were in business. Any car that passed they hollered and waved their arms at. This one poor couple that was trying to have a conversation with a builder they hollered at forever until I came out after making another batch of lemonade and told them they probably weren't interested. Those kids didn't give up until every ounce of oj and lemonade were sold. In the end each kid (a total of 6) made $2.01 each. That's some good selling tactics for their first one.

This is Jaxon and Jadyn's sign they worked on for over an hour!

This is our set up!

Jax brought out his piggy bank in case they needed change. When we sold our 2nd or 3rd cup he started stuffing it into his bank until I told them this was a group project. That each kid helped and should get part of the profit.

Lake Powell 2011 Summer Trips

I am always excited and ready for summer to come especially after Cedar's long cold spring months. But what we get the most excited about is getting to go out on Grandpa's big boat to Lake Powell. We were lucky enough this year to go out twice on the boat and twice camping. It was amazing to watch how much the water was rising and it was so nice to have it almost all the way full it makes the whole lake different. Our biggest worry is with all the little kids and water surrounding us. The kids are pretty good to keep their jackets on most of the time and its getting harder every year as they get better at swimming. Luckily everyone is so good to watch each others kids and make sure we know where each one is. The kids did a little skiing, a little kneeboarding, and a lot of tubing. We trekked up Sand Mountain multiple times, I did it 3 times this year while packing Hunter and this last time Jeff was there so I was more than happy to pass him off. My favorite part though is when all the guys are there and we all go up and down and they are the last to come and they race down the mountain full speed. Last year Jace and I were racing and he was going so fast he did a full front flip I was laughing so hard! The kids watched this year and did their own mini race too. We play cards a lot also, though it has dwindled more having more kids around, but this year the kids played a few games of their own. Jayme was wonderful to be the supervision. This year was also one of the windiest year on record at the lake which made the trip a lot different. We did a lot of sliding too. Hunter was always too scared to jump in or go down the slide but he LOVES to push everyone else. Naps, relaxing, fishing and so much more. We are so lucky to have such a good family and such wonderful relationships. I am amazed every time we are all together which is a lot and so thankful for all of them and their cute kids. I can think of nothing better than my kids having family as their best friends!

 It was so windy that first trip Jace couldn't see on the jet ski unless he wore these. Awesome!

 Their game of cards.

 Beloved Sand Mountain.

 Hunter's first tube ride, his face looked like this the whole time. No change, no emotion. Almost as if he was just appeasing me for the ride.

 Jake kayaked all by himself out to the middle of the lake, after some initial frustration he made it all the way back to shore, we were so proud of him.

 The boys did some wake surfing with Jeff and were awesome, though I couldn't convince Hunter.

This is his imitation of what he just did behind the jet ski.