Wow, I'm way behind.

I sort of forgot about this blog for awhile. Sorry about that. 'Ill just post some pictures to get back into the groove.

Abby chilling with Ben and Jerry.

This is what happens when we let them stay up and read instead of going to bed.

Willow's bringing back the faux-hawk.

Luke just went off the diving board at the Y.

Willow really enjoyed hunting for eggs once she knew there were treats inside.

Luke is too cool.

Emily and Abby have matching Panda LPS's. (I love those two girls together!)

Willow is checking out her Easter loot.

Best Offense

This past Saturday Abby won "best Offense" at her Upwards basketball game. She scored her first basket in a game and managed to score another two baskets despite only playing half of the game. She also had at least three good steals and some assists. She seems to get better and more comfortable each week. Her next game is Saturday the 21st at 9am.

Willow in January

Wearing Abby's old bike helmut. She saw the humor in it.


Listening to Jason's ipod.


Eating Chick-fil-A after Abby's basketball game.


Playing in the snow. She's not sure if she likes it or not.


Potty-training gone terribly wrong.
Actually, we were at Jenny's house and we heard a terrible scream. This is how we found her. I won't win any awards for this one.

Luke in January

Riding his birthday bike (December)


Watching the Evansville Aces


Eating at Chick-fil-A after one of Abby's basketball games


Looking a lot like Wolverine in the ice

Abigail in January

Trying out her new rollerblades on a rare warm winter day (technically December 27).
Playing some D in one of her first Upwards Basketball games.

Sledding and looking good doing it.

Playing with Jason in the snow on the rare occasion they both have the day off.

Storm Video and Pictures

As promised, here is a video of the tree on fire. This was one of ignitions in the middle of a series. It got progressively bigger each time it reignited before finally blowing out the power. I was no longer videoing since I was running to get a fire extinguisher at that point.



And a few pictures, some of the beauty and some of the beast of a mess I have to clean up. I'll post ones with the kids later.

Winter Update

Tuesday night was incredible. We didn't notice a thing until the power went out around 10:40pm. Then we realized it sounded and looked like we were under attack outside. Every few minutes, sometimes even seconds, we heard loud crashing sounds. There would be a crackling, then a shattering sound like dozens of plates smashing. Or there would be a crackling and a loud thump. With the ice-covered ground, every sound in the nearest mile echoed and sounded like it was in the backyard, whether it was a clump of ice or a giant limb. Also, the sky was flashing greens and blues all over. All of this lasted the entire night. Our power came back on around 11:45pm so we tried to get some sleep, but every crash brought me back to the kitchen to see if it was in our yard. We had already lost several large limbs from each big tree in the backyard and some from the front. I think the electricity went off a few more times during the night, including one outage that lasted from around 3:30 to 7 or so. But the important thing is that we had power...and a huge mess in the backyard.
Wednesday: We didn't have cable, though so no tv or internet. That nearly drove Jason crazy as he stayed home from work. The kids sledded down the hill in the backyard and Jason and I cleared the driveway behind the van. The rest of the day we played Lego Batman. We also had another large limb fall.(Abby and Luke were off of school all week.)
Jason went to work Thursday. Still no cable.
Friday I went to school and Jason went to work and the kids went to Jenny's. The roads were fine, or at least, good enough. When we got home we found another giant limb had fallen on our fence. Amazingly it wedged itself into the gaps between fill boards and only one was broken and one was bent(!). Friday night around 9pm or so, Jason called to me from the kitchen. I knew something was wrong because he used my name. When I got there we saw that there was a limb on the power line that was sparking. It caught on fire and quickly went out. Embers kept falling and then it caught on fire again and quickly went out. Then the fire came back bigger and went out so we called Vectren. While Jason was on the phone, the fire came back really big so we called the fire department. I ran to get shoes and a fire extinguisher in case it fell on the fence. As I reached the stairs I saw a big blue flash and a heard a small boom as the lights went out. They came back on and then the flash and boom and lights out again. This time they stayed out. With the power out the fire went out. Two guys from the fire department stopped by and left since there wasn't anything to do. We survived a chilly night without power and went to the Donut Bank for some breakfast and wifi. The Bacon's kindly opened their home to us so that is where I sit now trying to recap all of this. When I get home, if we have cable, I will post some pictures to enhance the story.

Abby's Latest Milestone

That's right. Abby lost her first tooth Saturday. It was getting pretty wiggly to the point that she couldn't eat an apple. I told her it needed to come out before school Monday. If she didn't get it out I would pull it out with a dental floss lasso. So she pulled it out in the van on the way to church. She's got timing.

December 2008 Pictures

I apologize for getting so far behind on posting. Here are a few pictures from December in backwards order:


Abby and Luke took advantage of the great weather the other day. And yes, they are wearing pajamas.


Abby on the way home after one of several Christmas get-togethers.


Abby and her new sweater, one of many articles of clothing she got for Christmas.


Luke and his latest set of overpriced Legos.


Willow loved her new Christmas pillow. This was the first present she opened. She loved all her presents.


Luke and his Christmas concussion. According to Abby, he was jumping on the couch and then fell and hit his head on the coffee table. Much blood and screaming followed. We wrapped his head up and went about our business.


Willow loves to box. She hits the bag and says, "Boom boom!" Then she switches gloves and startes over again.


Willow loved her new barrettes. She wanted to wear all of them at the same time. I eventually had to hide them.


Willow was actually willing to wear a dress. She liked it even. I'm disappointed.

Merry Christmas

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/ANh8vNGACHmIswPJGo1B

Luke-isms

"Camden is really puffed up about coming over." (instead of pumped up)

"I'm just neating up my drawer."

"You should have named me Timmy. I like that name."

"It's a good thing I've got long-sleeve socks on."

Happy Birthday Luke

Happy Birthday Luke: The Big 5

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

Marriage is like boxing...

Jason and I were sparring with the boxing gloves. Luke asked me if I was winning. I jokingly said, "No. Nobody wins. It's like marriage." Jason quickly added, "Yeah, you just keep going until somebody gets hurt." (Okay, it may be a little sad, but I thought it was funny.)

Predictions for Abby

Abby will swim and play basketball and tennis at Castle High School. She'll graduate with a 3.8 GPA and get a swimming scholarship to the University of Florida where she will major in English literature. She will write her first young adult novel before she even graduates. She creates a wildly popular character in a series of best-selling books that are made into movies. She also writes and illustrates many children's books. She will be about 5'7" tall and, thanks to swimming, she will be skinny and strong. She will marry a veterinarian she met in college and have two boys and girl and lots of pets. They will live in Florida. We'll visit them often and play lots of golf and go to Gators games. She and her husband will go on lots of short term mission trips and she will start an organization that helps with child literacy in third world countries.

Halloween 2008

Abigail Lane is Hermione Granger of the Harry Potter series. She's wearing my old USI grad gown with at least 15 safety pins. We ratted her hair to get it big and messy.




Luke is Robin (Teen Titans version) again this year. We lost the mask so we made one out electrical tape, cling wrap and a head band.



Willow started out as a fairy. She was absolutely ticked off at having to wear a dress. She cried and screamed and pulled at it. (I'm so proud. That's my girl!)



So I put her in her cutest PJ's and she went as a baby.



This was Willow's first year and she loved it. We started out at a nursing home and she was very uncomfortable, of course. When we got in the car I gave her some Jr. Mints and she fell in love. She was ready to go trick or treating again to get that rush of easy candy. She loved walking door to door and holding out her bag. Every once in awhile I heard her whisper "Thank you" or "bye".

Now we are home and ready to eat some Halloween pizza and play games.

Peace on Earth...

We know there are many of you out there anxiously awaiting the Burton Christmas lists. I know most people would have to say they wish for world peace, but we want cash. Actually, if you are interested, we have updated our amazon wish lists, note the links on the right. If you would like the honor of being Favorite Person of 2009, we would really enjoy Holiday World season passes...or cash. Whatever. Peace.

There was a race.

btw

Tomorrow's the Day

We run tomorrow. Be there.

Run like the devil's chasing you

This Sunday is the big day. The Half Marathon. I will be running non-stop for two hours and 10 minutes through the streets of Evansville. I would love to have some people on the side to look forward to. Friends make the best mile markers. So if you are free and the weather is good, please find a place on the course and say hi.

I start on Reitz Hill at 7am. (I know, that's early for me too.) We work our way to north on Barker to cross the Lloyd and head towards Harmony Way. We run along the south side of Golfmoor and along Maryland and Columbia to Fulton. We go north along Fulton to Ulhorn and over to Garvin park. We run along the Pigeon Greenway and through Bosse Field. Then we run south on Main street all the way to downtown. It gets a little complicated after that. We are on MLKJ, Bellemeade, Powell, Kentucky and so on. We run through the park on Bayard
and around a park near Kentucky (Akin Park). Those are both good, shady spots. Eventually we get on Riverside (not the pretty part) and work our way towards the river. We finish right on the sidewalk by the river downtown. 13.1 miles of fun.

Here's a good map with vague directions: http://evansvillehalfmarathon.org/course/CourseMap.pdf

I wouldn't recommend being at the starting line. It's very crowded. But I thought it was fun last year to drive to a spot, wait for Jason to go by, pack up and drive a little farther ahead and wait for Jason and so on...until it reached 95 degrees. Then it lost it's fun. This Sunday is supposed to be around 70. Come and say hi.

If you are running too, leave a comment.