Trick-or-Treat

Today is Halloween. I can't remember a recent Halloween that the weather has been so nice. Unfortunately, this is the first Halloween in four years that we have not had Sierra and Pierce. They are both excited and plan to dress-up as Princess Laya and a Ninja. Pierce keeps saying he is coming over here to trick-or-treat, but I think they will probably stay at the other house and go in that neighborhood. Either way, it is about them having fun and we are so blessed that which ever house they are at, they are loved and will have fun.

Hudson is dressing up as a Sock Monkey this year. He is not quite as excited as Aunt Sierra and Uncle Pierce about the whole trick-or-treat festivities - see picture below. This was taken at Haunt the Zoo the other evening.


I remember it took Pierce until he was about 4 years old to really enjoy it. I'll never forget when he was around 3 years old, we were trick-or-treating in our old neighborhood and an older boy with a really scary mask came up to him. He dropped his candy bucket, started crying, and ran as fast as he could toward our house. I thought he was going to be scarred for life! haha Now he wants to be the one dressing up in a scary mask scaring the small children. I guess pay-back time! Oh, how life does cycle.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween...and enjoys the nice weather this weekend. I don't think it's going to last much longer.

DON'T FORGET TO FALL BACK AN HOUR!!
KB

A fun day at the Pumpkin Patch!

Sunday after church, we took Sierra, Pierce, Megan, and Hudson to the TG Farms Pumpkin Patch in Newcastle. Other than the wind blowing a million miles an hour, we had a great time! There was a lot for the kids to do...ride horses, petting zoo, corn maze, slides, and most importantly...each person got to pick out their own pumpkin to take home. Hudson seemed to enjoy sitting in the wagon eating cheetos the best. We all piled our pumpkins on top of him so he wasn't going anywhere. But judging from the cheese all over his face, I don't think he really cared about the pumpkins! :)

Attached are some pictures of our fun day. One of the funniest things all day was Pierce getting in the pig pen. He saw some other older kids doing it, so he slowly climbed over, but kept his distance. Below you will see a picture of him running from a "small" pig. He's definitely a City Boy!

Feast or Famine!

We picked up the kids today from school. We have laughed all night because we go from a quiet week with just the two of us (me & Brett), to a house full of kids! Don't get me wrong, we love it! On the weeks Sierra and Pierce are home, the neighborhood kids are waiting on our doorstep when we pull into the driveway.

Tonight we only have two friends over. There have been times, when we have up to 8 kids at the house at once. I just cooked dinner, and now Brett has taken all of them to the Family Video store to pick out games/movies. Hope he makes it back in one piece. haha Let's just say they were a little hyper when they left :)

Here's to another great, eventful, LOUD, active, week at the Burleson house.

Heck... what's a few more running around here??

KB

Cutest Baby EVER!

Hudson found his shadow this weekend and loved chasing it! He has to be the cutest baby EVER!!! And so affectionate. Although, I am a little partial :)

Tradition

This past week Sierra turned 9 years old. In the past, birthdays and holidays have been about receiving gifts. As we looked around, we realized our children have more than they will ever use. We also know there are children, and adults, that go without every day. So, we sat the kids down and talked to them about starting our own family tradition. Every birthday and Christmas, one of our gifts to them is to drive them to the Jesus House and let them give some of their things to a needy child. They were both excited, and accepting of the idea. So Sierra collected some of her items...a new coat she has outgrown, shoes, clothes, etc.. and we loaded it up and drove her downtown. When we arrived, we got out of the car and met a really nice man. He was so nice to Sierra and told her he knows a lot of sweet girls about her age that he has dinner with every night. He told Sierra he would make sure they knew that she brought the things "personally" to give to them.

As we drove away, Sierra had a huge smile on her face...and of course I was crying. What better gift to give a child...the gift of giving. We are pretty proud of our children, and hope that this will be a family tradition they will pass down to their children.

"Children are the living messages we will send to a time we will not see."
~John W. Whitehead

Fall Break

Beginning today, the kids are on Fall Break. Pierce is already up playing with toys, and Sierra is still asleep. We have a lot of fun things planned for the next several days. And it looks like the weather is going to cooperate! I love this time of year...and it's so much fun to be home and be able to share it with the kids. I owe that to my husband. He was determined that I was going to have "my turn" and stay home. He's so awesome!

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather as much as we are. I'll post pictures of Fall Break activities later.


Addition: Okay, we have had a great day! I took Sierra, Pierce & Will to the park. We had a picnic first, then fed the ducks/fish, then took a nature walk. We are getting ready to go see a movie with Will and his family as soon as Brett gets home from work. I'll attach a few pictures from the park. We have more fun things planned tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Sierra (Not Daddy's "little" Girl Anymore)

Nine years ago today Sierra Burleson was born.
Who would know that she would grow into becoming one of the most caring young women in the world?!

She has a loving heart and beautiful personality.
She is a great daughter, sister and aunt (although a little too much like a "mom" sometimes). :)

It is scary to think that I probably cannot call her my "little" girl anymore because she has grown up so quickly, but I will probably call her that for the rest of her life. :)


Happy Birthday Sierra.

BB

The "BOO" Bandit

Yes folks, believe it or not, this is our little girl. She and I went and "Boo'ed" her best friend tonight. We had SO much fun! Sierra put together a really cute Halloween sack, complete with everything her friend would like. Then she put anonymous notes inside...because that's what Booing is, being anonymous. She dressed in black - down to her shoes, and then we drove over after dark. I parked down the street and Sierra carefully, and quietly, sat the sack on her porch. Then she rang the doorbell and ran like the wind!!! She was so fast she almost scared me! haha She was yelling, "GO, GO, GO" and I kept thinking, how old are you??


Then I remembered...that's right, she has a birthday tomorrow and will be 9 years old. Our little girl is growing up, and just "Boo'ed" someone for the first time.
KB

The Fun Continues...

Here are a few more pictures from this weekend. See others in post below.

Megan thought it would be fun to let the kids do shaving cream art this weekend. They had other ideas to do with the shaving cream! haha Sierra and her friend Bailey decided to cover the trampoline. They had a blast!

We thought it would be best to use pudding for Hudson. He eats everything :) We soon found out, he doesn't like to get dirty! haha Megan spray painted his hair red, white and blue for the day. He was hilarious, and had so much fun with the big kids.

Pierce had a friend over from school, Zion. They were inside playing games. Oh, in case you're wondering...this was Saturday. The photo's below are from Sunday.

Best Friends!

Today the kids both invited their "best friend" over to play. Sierra and Breck, Pierce and Jack, all played and had a great time. We love it when the kids have friends over.


THE BLACK PACK - The kids all dressed up in black and played hide-n-seek
Fun times!!

Birthday Pics

We had a small family birthday party for Brandon's 25th birthday. It was a little late...but didn't stop us from having a great time!

Brandon & Megan









Brandon & Mom










Brandon & Grandpa Ezra









Brandon & Nanaw Margaret









Mimi & Momma "sandwich" Hudson


Yes, my friends and family...Brett WAS at the party. But as usual, he is always the one behind the camera. He does a great job taking pictures, but he is missed in the photos :(

Four Generations

Photo of four generations (Mary Dell, Kelly, Hudson & Megan).

Saturday evening we had a birthday party for my grandmother, Mary Dell Daniel. She turned 91 on Saturday. Her sister, who lives in Texas, drove up with her care taker to help celebrate. My grandmother still drives to church, goes to the salon to have her hair and nails done, and still takes her friends out to eat (or cooks for them), on a regular basis. I hope I am this active, and look this good when I'm 91!
KB

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Brandon:
Twenty-five years ago today (October 3, 1983), God blessed me with a beautiful baby boy. I was twenty years old and just a baby myself. I was so naive, and didn't have a clue how to raise a child. But I loved children and knew I wanted a large family. Did I mention, I had married Brandon's dad July 9, 1981, and didn't care anything about going out with friends, or for that matter, going to college. I had a good job and was ready to start a family. SO...at 2am, October 3rd, I woke up and knew it was time to head to the hospital (he was due Oct. 1st). I got out of bed, showered, put on my make-up, rolled my hair...with Scott yelling at me to hurry the entire time. haha We got to the hospital at 4:30am and I was already dialated to a 6! I hadn't even had a pain yet. At 8:36am, I had a 9 lb, 3oz, baby boy with a head full of hair! He looked like a catcher from the beginning :) He was a perfect baby - I know all mothers say that. But he really was. From that day forward, I knew I was hooked. I am so proud of Brandon and what he has accomplished in his life. And he has a great future ahead of him. Even though I didn't stay married to Brandon and Megan's dad,we had two wonderful children. Now they are blessed with a great step-dad, and step-mom. Happy Birthday, Brandon!

Mary Dell Daniel:
Tomorrow, October 4th, is my grandmothers 91st birthday. She is such a great role-model in my life. She has not only been a great grandmother to me, she is a wonder grandmother to all 4 of our children. I love my grandmother beyond words...and I am so glad she is a part of my life.
Happy Birthday, Nanaw!


Mary Burleson:
Tomorrow is also my mother-in-laws birthday. She came into my life on July 23, 2004 and I feel so blessed to have her in my life. I never dreamed I would have an extended family as fun, loving, and accepting as I do. I look forward to holidays when the entire family is together - which is unusual for most families. And I truly love and admire both Mary and Paul (Brett's mom & dad). Mary is a very strong, independent, smart person, who loves her children and continues to grow in her relationship with all of them. I really admire that. Funny, Brett always tells me I'm a lot like his mom. I take that as a compliment :)
Happy Birthday, Mary!

Two Cuties!

I know I'm a little prejudice, but aren't these just the two cutest kids you've ever seen?

Just wanted to share a couple of photos of the kids. They always like dressing up for school. In fact, they always want their picture taken! I seriously think Pierce is going to be a model. He posed about 10 different ways.

On a funny note...yesterday Pierce got in the car after school and threw his back pack in the back seat. He looked at me and said, "I have to change schools" haha. I asked what happened and he began to tell me how a little girl in his class pulled his Iguana (key chain we got him in Mexico) off his back pack and scratched him. He wants to go back to his old school. Whew...every day is a journey with Pierce. That's why we love him!

KB

Falling behind

I know I have been falling down on the job keeping this blog current. But not sure life has been so exciting lately. Don't get me wrong...life is GREAT! But just not sure it is anything out of the ordinary, and don't want to bore everyone :)

This week I have had the opportunity to keep Hudson. He is adorable and I will attach a few new photos. Pierce is beginning to like school a little better. At least he doesn't dread going...but not thrilled about it either. He is riding his bike all over the neighborhood, and he and Sierra got new air guns. I know, I know...I wasn't in favor of them in the beginning. But we have STRICT rules about goggles, where they can shoot one another (shoulders down), and a laundry list of other rules. Plus, all the kids in the neighborhood have them so it has become a huge game for them to run around and shoot one another. The bb's are plastic - but they still sting. Both kids say they don't hurt. It's hilarious because Sierra is the only girl in the group. The rest are boys, and most of them 9 years and up. Pierce hangs in with them and holds his own. They have a blast playing with them! Last night, when Megan came to pick up Hudson, Pierce put on his goggles, got his gun, and proceeded to follow her around pretending to shoot her...in the buttocks! haha She tried to be serious, but couldn't help but laugh because he was so serious. She threatened that he wouldn't see his next birthday if he shot her, which he didn't understand...but he waited until she loaded the car and started backing out of the driveway - then it was over. He shot her car all the way down the street! haha Did I mention his gun is an automatic? Didn't hurt her car, but she said it sounded loud from inside. He knows he is not allowed to shoot cars (including ours), but Megan doesn't seem to mind, and he has caught onto that. After dad got home, they all (including the neighborhood kids), put on black clothing, waited until it got dark, then played hide-and-seek outside. They had so much fun! I sat outside and watched, plus gave a few hints along the way.

Thursday evening we are having our first annual neighborhood cookout. One of our neighbors took it upon himself to plan it. We are all meeting at the community pool (parking lot - since the pool is closed). They have huge grills and are going to supply all the food. Will be fun, and will give the kids (and adults) a chance to meet everyone in the neighborhood.

Last, our "little" Pudge lost his manhood yesterday. Brett was really sad and felt sorry for him. He came through the surgery just fine and I think will be better for everyone in the long run. Pierce cried when we told him, but then Brett explained that he would be just fine. I keep telling Brett he is going to bark like a girl now! haha He doesn't think it is funny. :)

I'll attach a few photos of the kids. Hope everyone is enjoying this great weather!!