The joys of home ownership

No one ever told me before I got married that owning a home is so much work. I always that that owning a home is a lot cheaper because in the end its yours. What I didn't realize is that there is a lot of maintenence and keepup a long the way. Okay so tallies of fix-ups for the last month. This is ONE month mind you. AC broke, had it fixed, two days later ac broke again. It was a different component that broke so a totally different charge. Sitting in our bedroom and we can hear buzzing. Realized we have a beehive in our attic and noticed a hole in the wall outside with honey dripping out of it. Then a few days later the pipe got clogged that carried the condensation for the ac to the outside. Water is dripping through the kids ceiling. Hard to fix because we have a beehive in our attic and Eric can hear the bees when he goes up there. Hot water heater broke and water leaked all over and got into the dry wall in our garage. Hot water heater must be replaced, but also the stand for the hot water heater had to be torn out and the dry wall around it because of water damage. Dry wall must also be torn out upstairs where the pipe got clogged. Because of the water damage, they think we have mold. One of our bathtubs will not drain no matter how much draino we pour down it. Oh and to top it all my vacuum broke.

Seriously, who knew a house was so much work and money to maintain?! My poor husband has really had his work cut out for him this month. Its been impressive to see his handyman skills at work. I have also learned to appreciate a hot water heater. We have a warentty and they said that they are not able to put in a new hot water heater for a week (crazy, huh?). So this last week I have had the fun of taking cold showers, boiling water to warm the kids baths, boiling water to do dishes by hand and mop. I seriously do not know how those pioneers did it! Okay so its not that bad, but I really never thought about how nice it is to have a hot water heater until now that I have been without one the last couple days.

Also, funny story. We had a water damage restoration company come look at our water damage to give us a quote and check for mold. The guy was really nice and was asking the guys some questions to see if he could take care of it himself. That is when Eric asked the guy if he knew where or if he could buy some 'spermicide' that would be strong enough the kill the mold and take care of it. The guys started laughing and said that he didn't think Eric would be able to find any spermicide that would be able to take care of mold. Hahahahaha.... I was laughing so hard! Spermicide?! Really? What I think he meant to say is sporicide. The chemical that kills the spores from mold. Whoops! Love you hon!

Little Moments

This week I have been a little stressed and overwhelmed. Not about anything in particular just the stress that comes with everyday life of having two kids. Feeling like my house will never be clean, I will never be a good enough mother, never tackling ending mound of laundry, never being in shape enough, spiritual enough and never having time to myself. I saw a little one of the mormon messages the other day and it made me think about my priorites in life. Really like it so I will share:



Life gets stressful sometimes, but is nice to remember the things that matter most. I am so grateful for my family and for the gospel in my life. I am trying better to enjoy all of the little moments with my kids and not stress about all the little things so much. Today in church we also had an amazing lady that gave a lesson in relief society. She has cancer and has dealt with a lot of sickness and struggles these past couple of years. She has such a good attitude and outlook on life. She talked about how she has such a different outlook on life now that she has cancer and how she is preparing to meet God. So touching, she is so courageous. Brought me back to when our twins were sick and in the nicu. How strongly I felt that nothing else mattered expept for families and the gospel. Situations like that really help to put things in perspective and help us remember what matters most. Makes me want to be a better person and enjoy my kids more.

This last week has been a busy for us. The kids were getting over pneumonia and we also have had a lot of doctors appointments. We also are now proud owners of a minivan now! I really wasn't very excited at first, felt like I was a couple points lower on the coolness scale, but the more I drive it the more I like it. So much for spacious and practical with kids. The kids are also growing and learning by leaps and bounds. Connor is getting so cute and is starting to talk a lot more. He is starting to imitate words that people say. Some of his new words are "whoah, drink, hi, daddy, mom, and drink. Kenna is taking voice therapy and is starting to make a lot more noise. Its so great to see her making progress. She also started taking a dance class which is really fun. Here's a few pics from the week!


The kids enjoying their first ice cream cone! They loved it and both ate the whole thing!


Yummy!


Playing is so much fun!


Dance class with daddy!

Snow in July?!

Yesterday, we went to the Phoenix Zoo with my good friend Amanda and her son. They were having a special event, Snow in July, so we decided to head out and join the bandwagon. Little did we realize that half the people in the valley would decide to come for the same event. It was super hot and crowded, but also fun. The snow was halfway melted by the time we got there, and dirty and ice. The kids weren't quite sure of what to think of it. After playing in the snow, we went to the splash pad, which also was a lot of fun, but very crowded. Aunt Calli, also came with us which the kids loved.

What Mckenna thinks of the splashpad


What is this stuff?



Benefits of going to the zoo = two happy and very worn out sleepy babies!:)

Eat Mor Chickin!

July 8th is now my favorite day of the year. For those of you who are unaware of the significance of July 8th, let me explain. Chick-Fil-A offers a free meal to anyone who dresses up like a cow each year on the anniversary of the restaurant. I'm told that a half-cow outfit gets you a free chicken sandwich, but a whole cow outfit gets you a whole free meal (and a special thanks goes out to my sister Allison who reminded me this year). So what do you do when you have a family of four? Dress everyone up in a full cow outfit, and you get free meals for everyone - yes, even the babies. It didn't matter that the workers at Chick-Fil-A looked at us strange for ordering adult meals for each of our one-year-olds- it was worth it when mom and dad ate Connor and Mckenna's food for the next two days.

When we first entered the restaurant, I won't lie... it was a little embarrassing as we realized that we were the only ones dressed like cows. Here we were- dressed head-to-toe in cow outfits, courtesy of paper plates and construction paper taped to our all-black outfits, (and the kids' full-body cow-outfits from last Halloween), and we had the wrong day - or so we thought at first. It wasn't long, however, until we spotted the cow mascot and a few others who entered the restaurant dressed like cows, and then we felt right at home.

After eating until we were full, we wanted to hit up a few more Chick-Fil-A's in the valley for quality leftovers for the rest of the week, but we started to feel a little guilty for dressing Connor and Mckenna in their fur-cow-coat Halloween outfits when it was 115 degrees in the middle of summer in Phoenix, so... we decided one restaurant was enough, and that we'd just continue the fun next year. We'll do it all again on July 8th, 2012!!

Fourth of July!

This year for fourth of July, we stopped by my parents house for a little bbq with some awesome chicken and steak from the grill. After we lit a couple of sparklers and fireworks. The kids eyes were soo big! It was really fun watching the kids reaction to seeing fireworks for the first time. I also couldn't help but think of last year, and how much they have grown since that time.

Burns Family Vacation

Two weeks ago, our family had the opportunity to go on vacation to North Carolina. It was so much fun, a little crazy at times, but an overall, big success! Eric's family actually used to lived in North Carolina, for about 7 seven years, so we all met back there for some beach fun. It was awesome to see all the brothers and sisters, cousins, and nanny and poppy.

We first started off our trip on Saturday, June 25th. Our flight left at 700 in the morning. We had two flights, our first one was five hours with a layover in Alanta, Georgia, and our second flight was two hours, from Alanta to Raleigh, North Carolina. Honestly, the idea of a full day of flying with two babies absolutely mortified me, but the twins did a lot better than I thought they would. Before flying, I went to the dollar store and got any new toys and snacks, I could think of that might possibly entertain them. We had books, a flashlight, hand held fan, stickers, markers, fruit snacks, you name it! Eric braved connor and did and amazing job at keeping him entertained. I think Mckenna, actually enjoyed flying. She loved looking out the window and pointing at the clouds and everything. She also loved having hours of one on one time to sing, read bookd, color, and snuggle. Once we got to Raliegh, we went to our hotel and got settled in. We later met up with Alison, Eric's sister, and had dinner together, and later met up with the rest of Eric's family. One of the highlights of that day, was also getting to see Jeff again, Eric's brother, who just got home from a mission. The last time we saw him was when he left for his mission, which also happened to be the same time as our wedding. lol. It was great to visit and see him again.

The next day we headed off to Rocky Mount, NC, Eric's hometown. We attend the ward Eric grew going to, and I even got to see the house Eric grew up in. He also showed me his old high school, and around the town. After Rocky Mount, we went to my sister in law Ev's parent's house for lunch. They served us an amazing lunch and we all to visit and play. We then headed off to the condos, where we would be staying for the next week.

The condos that we stayed in were AMAZING! I wish I took pictures. It has always been a dream of mine to stay in a condo on the beach, and thanks to Nanny and Poppy, that dream came true! It was so nice because we all stayed on condos by eachother on the beach. It was perfect because we could visit eachother whenever we wanted to. We also had plenty of space for the kids to run around, and had a kitchen to where we could feed our kids. It was also just a short walk to the beach, which made it so nice with toddlers to come and go as we please. Thank you so much Dave and Ruth!

The beach was so beautiful and fun. I have never been to the beach on the east coast. It is a lot warmer than the Pacific ocean. The waves where also bigger where we were and it was just so pretty. The kids LOVED the ocean. They could sit in the sand and dig for hours. Connor also loved the water and kept scaring me by randomly running towards the ocean. That kid is so fast! Me and eric had a lot of fun boogie boarding, and there even was an ocean kayak.

During the week we also got to go to a cool little aqaurium on emerald isle that the kids loved. On another day, we took a pontoon boat on the bay, and found a sand bank where we went looking for shells. I also got to try some authentic north carolinen bbq. It is nothing like the bbq that we have out here. It has a spicy kind of vinegar taste, sounds weird, but it was soooo good! We also hit up a Bojangles whenever we we able. I have never heard of Bojangles before, but apparently its the Mcdonalds of the South. It has the most amazing fried chicken ive ever had, way better than KFCs! Getting hungry just thinking about it!

Anyways the week was great. We loved being able to see everyone and just visit. Our kids had a blast playing with all of the other kids. The ocean was amazing..... I miss it and everyone! Here is some pics!

Beautiful North Carolina! Soo green!


Eric's house he grew up in and home town. I think its beautiful!


Auntie Allie, Ev, and Me


This is actually Eric's twin Art. Really funny, if Eric and Art were together the kids could tell them apart. However, if Art walked by without Eric around the kids would think he was dad and reach out for him. They would get really upset and start saying dada and reaching for him if he didnt pick them up right away. Poor art got double duty this week!


Nanny and Poppy and all the grandkids

The Girls!


Grandpa's pal!




Fun at the mueseum!

Sweet boy!

Love this girl!



Having so much fun!

How Poppy got a black eye!

Beach Babe!


Lovin Life!


The kids LOVED diggin in the sand!


Wagon Rides with Poppy are the best!


Still have so much fun together!