ITS OFFICIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What you say...

As of August 3rd my new full time job will be working for no pay.. (except smiles and kisses), the hours will be 24 hours a day 7 days a week, the benefits will be ... well, many benefits.. no not health, dental, vision or even retirement.. but I will have benefits... I will be able to take care of my kids full time, be with them and teach them, help to guide them down this twisty turny path called life, and be there when they are sad, sick and happy!!! We can go on adventures together, (sometimes) be lazy together but always be together!!!! I have missed soo many "moments" already and am soo thrilled and excited about being able to be with them all the time from now on. I will be working for the owners of Burchill Construction .... (images in picture not reflective of real owners....well, kind of) but Ryan and Barry will be dictating my days to some point. They are two amazing men who have taken a small town construction company to new heights. They are hard working, talented and amazing men!!! I am proud and honored to be a part of this company... So, while leaving leaving the City of Wahpeton (and the paycheck) is bittersweet ... I look forward to many tea parties, play dates with friends.... old and new, work, zoo visits, POOL VISITS (yippie), preschool this fall and being more involved in my kids life. Soo humbled and honored!!!!! That is really what I am feeling right now. Thank you to those of you who have stood by us.. been our friends and wonderful family through the good, bad and ugly.... I am hoping to start a new chapter in our lifes... stay tuned for all of the adventures and stories... I am sure there will be many. I hope you are all included at one point or another. God Bless....

Walking, Rock Painting and the pool.

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Truffle Cookies

YUP... gotta try these... gluten free or not!!! THEY ARE GOOOOOOOOOOOOD!

1 Cup Creamy peanut butter (I used reduced fat skippy since it is what I have here)
1 Cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup choc chips
I added a bit of salt. It takes away from any bitter taste from baking soda.

Preheat oven to 350
Combine all ingredients except choc chips until well blended. Add choc chips. Drop slightly rounded tspfulls of dough on cookie sheet. DO NOT FLATTEN! Bake 10 minutes or so until puffed and golden. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from sheet. They are nice and soft and SOOOOOO GOOD.

Jenna is walking... every day she walks more and more and more! Watch out world.. here she comes!

Boat, bikini's, 4wheeler rides and a poop bucket.

This past weekend we went to the farm and got to go on a pontoon ride Saturday afternoon. It was sooooo much fun. We did not take Jenna with as it would have been a very long afternoon in the sun for her. Grandma got her to herself all afternoon!! Jackson LOVED the pontoon boat ride and even got to go on the tube. This was the COOLEST tube I have ever seen. It didn't have a hole in the middle but rather had a bottom on it so the kids can just sit in it. The big kids went first and then the little ones got to joint htem . They were soo cute. At one point hte kids were yelling.. STOP STOP. So we stopped.. Whats wrong we were yelling... Jackson has to pee!!! They helped him up so he could pee off the side and then we were off again. After our ride we tooled along and fished. Ok.. .since there was no fish being caught... we "boated". Then our gracious hosts cooked us supper on the grill ON the boat.. YUM!! It was yummy... but then... ah... the dreaded words you don't want to hear in the middle of a HUGE lake... MOM.. I have to poop. LUCKLY... there is a bucket on the boat used for potty and yup... the occational #2. So Jackson sat on the bucket and then did his business. The funniest part of this whole thing was a little later it was getting to be past bed time and he was getting "testy". I said if you don't shape up I am going to stick your head in the poop bucket. I have NEVER seen a face like that!! It was hillarious. He shaped up REAL quick. I offered to buy that bucket so I could keep it at home and use it.... WAY better than time outs!

Jenna had a fun time showing off her bikini that Dad says she is NOT allowed out of the house in. She was also getting lots of loving from Jackson and her two cousins Hunter and Calahan. We are still trying to guess what the sex of the next Burchill is going to be. NO.. not me.. my sister in law Deb!!! She is due in October... I can't WAIT! I put Jenna in the back of Barrys work truck and she was playing peek a boo with me. It was not only adorable but I am going to find a way to use it in our marketing. THEN... mommy got to relive her younger days and ride on the 4 wheeler. Jenna LOVED every second of it. Later I took Jackson on a ride... we went a little more wild than I did with Jenna. Finally, Jackson got to ride on the man lift. He went all the way to the top of Bumpas new shop. What a fun weekend it was!!!! Thank you Grandma, Bumpa, Deb, Casey, Hunter, Calahan and Baby Burchill #3.

Soo many pictures to post.

I had soo many things to post... so here I go. The cakes are me taking a picture of a picture. I love doing cakes and being I didn't have a digital camera at that time I took a picture of the picture. The blues clues cake was from his 2nd birthday and the train cake was from his third birthday. The next pictures are from Jackson playing in his swimming pool... yep.. I definatly make him look like a geek in his "gear".


Jenna...eating.. yep. Hard to believe!!!

I am trying to post some pictures from our weekend at the farm but am having technical difficulties... and I am tired.. so I will post more tomorrow!

Jackson and Jenna... just playing.

Jenna trying out the bike that is on rockers. Jackson had this and never really used it until he could ride it like a trike. She loves it. Yah.. yah... give me heck about the two ponys... I know.. she looks like someone from the 80 's.. but this was a pretty bad hair day and I did not have the patience to do anything else nor did she allow me to do anything else.. so granted she wore a hat most of the day...this style made me giggle.


Jenna and Jackson love to swing... so they did that for a portion of the beautiful afternoon and then it was supper time. I had seen this oreo pudding and it was calling our name.. this weekend was a weekend of cheating and not sticking to our diet restrictions and though it was delicious.. I will not be doing that again anytime soon. Anyway... oreo pudding.. got TWO thumbs up from everyone.. Jenna LOVED IT!

Pictures of my Jackson playing outside. He is always being thoughtful and picking us, the neighbors, the dog, his webkins flowers... Then he played with some bubbles that Jenna got for her birthday.

Jackson got a blizzard (no, I did not allow him to eat the whole thing) but what he did get... he finished every last drop off with a straw. Then just some pictures of him on the swing. I love his smile... not only his smile, but the way his eyes "smile" when he does. Thank goodness Saturday he got a hair cut.. he was looking pretty shaggy.

Our new house... yep.. we are moving.. Want to buy our home?

Here it is.. our new house... that is if our current house will sell. I LOVE our house but this house has room to roam. It has two garages, a pool, an acre of land and GEO THERMAL HEAT... yep,.. heat costs are $250 PER YEAR.. SERIOUSLY... that is cool. We need to do some updating to this house but we are used to that. Our house now is updated and "nicer" than this, but this has more opportunity for us to have the lifestyle that we want. So we'll see how things go.. if our house sells... we will be closing in August and moving out to this home.. BIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG back yard!
POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL party anyone?

My new cleaning lady and Tiny Tot T-ball.

These pictures make me laugh. I used to wear something like this in my hair when I was younger.. my mom always wore one when she cleaned. So putting this on Jenna just made me giggle. I love this dress.. soo nice and summery when we are having such icky weather. I am home with the kids today. I have a sore throat and am just taking it easy. It has been a long week with many many things going on. My body is worn out!

Jackson started tiny tot tball this week. Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-6:15 ... now... anyone that knows us knows we THRIVE on routine. This tball game falls into our supper time so I was a bit nervous about how things would go. Our first day was skills and practice. Jackson loved it and did great as did his cousin Carter. Thursday was more skills and then a "real" game. THAT WAS HILLARIOUS!!! A bunch of 4 and 5 year olds playing tball. Jackson hit the ball and started running, but he was running toward 3rd base not 1st. Parents have to be with them at all times so Barry realized he was running the wrong way and grabbed him and got him running the right way. He made it home and scored a point for the team. Then he played outfield. He was a bit bummed that the ball didn't come to him, but it didn't stop him from running after the ball. Infact there were about 8 boys running for the ball each time.
Jackson swinging at the ball.
Jenna wanting in on the action
Trying to catch the ball.

Wagon Rides, Crabby Kid, Gluten Free Bagels and Sign Language...Oh My!

We broke out the John Deere wagon yesterday and went for a walk. I figured I would have Jackson and Jenna in the wagon... well, I didn't plan for ALL of Jacksons buddies. Jenna got to ride with all of Jacksons friends. Jackson even pulled the wagon the whole trip. I was very impressed and as you can see.. Jenna had a BLAST! Her first wagon ride.
Her brother was very entertaining.
This is what happens when you have a child who is not sleeping the best, not used to the busy summer days and additional kids at daycare... and ... not to mention.. is just plain crabby. He was not listening so when we got home from daycare he decided on his own to go to the "cool out corner"... by the way... that is the first step before a time out.. gives him the chance to, well, cool out... other option.. time out. He is getting smarter and chosing the cool out corner. Well, I started feeding Jenna, making supper, getting Jenna cleaned up... and was like.. Hmm.. it is quiet in here.... I went upstairs and he was not in his room.... I looked on the floor.. in the bed.. then I got a little scared... I knew he came in with me.. and went upstairs. I looked in our room... he was sound asleep in bed. I let him sleep for a while then woke him up. He came downstairs.. would not eat and was lipping off, got sent back upstairs and fell back asleep. I went to get him and finally got him up. He told me he was "feeling a bit blue" :) He was upset that I had taken away his webkins because he wasn't listening.. oh.. the DRAMA a 4 year old goes through! After supper the rest of the night went great.
Yep... wipe the drool.. these are HOMEMADE BAGELS.. Gluten free of course! I HAD to try these since I saw the recipe. They have cinnamon and sugar on the top. Now.. like I could resist a hot bagel.. so me and Jenna and Jackson.. even Barry tried them. NOT BAD... they are not panera.. or even wonder bread style.. but man.. for a girl who has not had a bagel in a long time.. this is HEAVEN. I can't wait for breakfast tomorrow... peanut butter and toasted bagel.. YOUR KIDDING ME!!!! I am going to make blueberry muffins and rhubarb bread (gf) tomorrow morning and Sunday make another batch of these but add pureed strawberrys... YUM!!!! How many hours until Breakfast???
Here is Jenna showing off her sign language. We taught Jackson some sign language too since he didn't talk. More.. is when she bangs her hands together.. .and please is when you do a circluar motion on your chest. I don't know much signing but just what we learned from our you can sign with kids book... I am impressed that she picked it up soo fast!

Some summer time fun!

We had a great day despite Jackson waking up this morning and announcing that his belly hurt. Sigh.... But... after a few hours and some rest and oatmeal, he was feeling better. This afternoon we hung out in the back yard playing with our water fun toys. Jenna even got to wear one of her four bathing suits :) Jackson had his first experience with the slip and slide but mom had to show him how to do it first... yep... I actually did the slip in slide. It was cold... and HARD... but kinda fun. Brought back some memories. Jenna is my pressy little girl.. didn't want to get wet.. I think because it was FREEZING cold water... She did a good job sporting her bikini. The last picture is of Jenna and her "expression". I laugh because this is just her look... not a sad look, happy look etc... just her look when she is not making any expression. I think it is just adorable... kind of a pout! Supermodel Jenna... I can see it now.. are rolls on thighs "in" yet??? The other picture is of her outfit that I got from Target when she was born. The entire thing costed me $4... I loved it.. kinda 80's like she needs leg warmers. Finally the video is of me coaxing Jackson into the FREEZING cold water!!! He finally did it and soon we were unable to get him out!