family night ~ back 2 school

Tonight was the Burchard Bunch's first "family night"! We had such a great time and I'm kicking myself for not doing this years before! If you haven't read the post below... stop reading, scroll down and catch up:)

Our theme was, "Back 2 School" since today was the first day of the new year. Rusty was such a trooper and was an awesome decoy! He took the kids for a stroll around Wally World (not his favorite place!) while I set everything up.

Here's the kids when they first got home.
The table was set with their own name tags and pencil boxes full of the supplies they would need for the night. We even had a word wall with Carter's first list of spelling words.
Going through the lunch line to get dinner! (all Rusty needed was a hair net)
We had all the fun things you would get in the "hot lunch" line. Instant mashed potatoes, canned green beans, chicken legs and bagged rolls. As you can tell, Abby thought this was a hoot!
Here's Carter-Man with his hot lunch!
After dinner we did our school work. A word search and a classroom treasure hunt!
Notice Abby making sure Carter doesn't cheat!

We ended the evening with yummy cupcakes and lots of "thanks mom and dad"s. It was a blast!
Can't wait to see what next week's theme will be :)

family night ~ thanks whittaker woman!

I've been following this blog for well over a year now. Heather is a stay-at-home mom, who some days, seems to be masquerading as Super Woman. Her husband, Carlos, is the SPD (same job title as Rusty) @ Buckhead Church in Atlanta. I read both their blogs daily.... somehow, I feel connected. It's probably because of how transparent they are in their posts. What you read, is what they are feeling. Whether is gratefulness, frustration, love, or just plain silliness. You have a window into their families lives daily and I have to tell you, it seems like a pretty cool ride to be on! They have three children, two girls and a boy, and do some pretty amazing stuff as a family.... They run 18 miles on a Saturday (on purpose!), have traveled with Compassion Internation to Uganda to blog about the needs of the children, and adopted one of the most adorable little guys I have ever seen. This is not a plug for their blogs (they don't even know who I am), although I do think you should check them out! I know it seems like I'm rambling, but I say all this to explain how the above post came about....

Once a week, the Whittaker home has "Family Night". This is just a time for them to slow down and spend some real quality time as a family, doing some pretty fun stuff. I have watched this week after week unfold on her blog, and week after week, and I've told myself many times how much I'd love to do that. "I don't have the time", was the phrase I often used. I realized, this last week of summer, how fast time is going by. If I don't have the time now, when will I??? Do I just keep waiting until things calm down?? I'm not sure they ever will (well, at least not for the next 11 years, or so!) Well today I bit the bullet and the Burchard Bunch had our first official "Family Night"! The post above has all the pictures and details of what we did.... If you think this is something you would be interested in, you should definetely check out this and this. Between the two of them, they've covered just about every theme you can think of! Have fun - Remember, they're only little once!

first day of school blues

It's 10:30, the night before the first day of school and I'm already a nervous wreck.... We moved into a new house a little over a month ago and with that change, came a new school for the little two. I've had a very hard time with this whole idea. My entire life I attended only three schools~Greynolds Park Elementary, John F Kennedy Junior High and Clewiston High. In Carter's short life, this will be his third school in three years. Carter started shedding tears just before bedtime. He claimed a million reasons why he should stay home tomorrow...

Can I be home schooled? Can you stay with me in my class? I will miss you too much if I go to school. You will be lonely without us here. I'm scared. What if I don't make any friends? What if my teacher is mean? What if the work is too hard?

All of these questions just broke my heart... I know how he feels. I have always had a hard time with new experiences; this is probably the main reason I never went off to college. I am always uncomfortable in a new environment and meeting new people and walking into an unfamiliar place makes me nauseous. At remember at 18, I had all those same questions. All I could do was hold him and pray with him and tell him how he is precious he is to Rusty and I. I also told him how Jesus knows just how he feels and what his worries are. I told him that although I can't stay with you at school tomorrow, that Jesus will be right there with you all day long, He will never leave you! Now, if I could just take my own advice and relax in the truth that my Savior is faithful and that He knows my needs and fears, tomorrow will be a great (well, maybe an almost great) day!

girls night

Aren't they pretty???

Melanie, Katie and Lara

Last night, seven of us "girls" headed out for a night on the town. I think we all needed a good break and were long overdue for some girl talk. We started out with pedicures (thanks Katie for the "black is back" idea!) and then a long, leisurely dinner and dessert at Carrabas (with no food to cut up for the kids- believe it or not, there are 17 kids between the 7 of us!!!). I've been thinking lately about how blessed our lives are here and how grateful I am for the friends God has put in our path. Last night was just a great reminder of how much we need to take the time, even when our schedules are busy, to get together and just celebrate friendship! Thank you Lara, Angie, Melanie, Ashley, Lisa and Katie....and thank you Rusty, for always encouraging me to take that time.... I love you guys!

baby drew

Last Monday morning, Rusty and I received one of those phone calls that breaks your heart in two pieces.... one of those calls that puts all of your own stupid and selfish frustrations in perspective in a little over half a second. Jeff and Melanie Robinson, dear friends of ours, had found out earlier that morning, that their baby Drew had gone home to be with Jesus. Melanie was 32 weeks pregnant and Drew was to be the youngest of five of the sweetest kids you'll ever meet. Baby Drew has three adorable brothers and one pretty princess of a sister, who have loved him since the day they knew he was coming into their lives. I'm not sure I even can come close to knowing the pain of losing a child, and I pray that it's something I never have to experience. Jeff and Melanie have amazed me everyday... they have continued to glorify our heavenly Father in all they do, although I'm sure there are days that it just hurts to breathe.... Please pray for them, pray for Jeff and Melanie and for Susie Q, Luke, Sam and Elijah. Also, pray for their extended family. I have never met a group of people so in love with each other and they are all so broken over this. If you can, take a moment and go to Melanie's blog and leave her some love and let her know that you're praying for their family....

a sight for sore eyes

it has been over a month since i could turn around and see these three faces in the backseat...
today is good day!

San Antonio

Tonight is our last night in Texas... We've had a marvelous time. When Rusty agreed to work this event, his schedule was pretty tight and for the most part I figured I'd be on my own. Not a bad thing if you plan for it. So, I bought three new books (SexGod, The Shack and Craig Groeschel's "it") and settled in. By Wednesday afternoon, I had read all three , and Rusty's event took a pretty cool turn. There were enough people working the event that everyone was able to take one morning and one afternoon shift off to do some sightseeing. Today, Rusty and I took a boat tour of the San Antonio Riverwalk and then spent some time just being together. It was wonderful! Tonight is the Youth Service and then tomorrow morning is the last session and then we'll be heading home tomorrow afternoon. It will be so good to be home....

Remember the Alamo!!

View of the front of the River Center Mall (just outside our hotel!)

The Alamo!

A view from inside the River Center Mall

So, we've been in San Antonio for 2 days now and I am wishing that Rusty and I had a bit more free time.... The downtown has a pretty cool layout and you can find just about anything (except a place to get a pedicure! but that's another blog!) in a 6 block area. We didn't rent a car this trip and I've had a great time checking out all the cute little shops around the hotel. This morning I needed to find a post office to mail postcards to the kids and a few other letters.... I was told to walk two blocks from the hotel and then make a left at Alamo Road. I was just walking along and looking off to the left... when I looked to the right, I saw a sign that said Alamo Parking. I thought to myself, "Wow, the Alamo must be pretty close.." I walked another 1/2 a block and all of the sudden, there it was! Not real impressive of a building. It was actually much smaller then I had pictured it in my mind... but pretty cool. I snapped a few pictures but Rusty has the morning off tomorrow so we will head back then and see it together. We've had a great time so far! The gentlemen that Rusty works for are really great guys and they have just adopted me into their little tech world! Hopefully Eduardo will stay away and tomorrow will we'll have a great day for some adventures! I'll post more pictures tomorrow!

Crazy Week

It has been a crazy and very hectic week!! I'm not sure what one thing to post about, so here's some of my thoughts this past week.....

I unpacked the last box around midnight last night, so I guess that means we are officially moved in!

Rusty flew out on Thursday, on a flight that was supposed to leave Charlotte at 7:30pm and have him in San Antonio by 11:30pm. but.... I guess there was some horrible weather in Atlanta that shut down that airport, which then practically shut down everything else, and he ended up not getting into Texas until 5:00am (our time!) He then had to begin his workday @ 8! I don't know how he does it..... I'm so blessed to have such an amazing husband!

The kids are still in Ft. Myers and are having the best time. My mom has been teaching Abby and Carter how to cook and Abby has even had a few lessons on the sewing machine! Last I heard, she was making purses! Anyone wanna start their Christmas shopping early??

I'm so grateful for all of the family and friends who have loved on my kids these past few weeks.... You guys are amazing! Thank you for loving them like they're yours :)

Rusty and I fly out at 6am tomorrow to head back to San Antonio for a week. I've never been to Texas so I'm excited to see and do some new things. While we're there, Rusty is working the Church of God annual convention at the AlamoDome, so I'm sure we'll be rockin' out at worship!

I miss my kids more than I ever thought I could.... I couldn't even think of them yesterday without breaking down into tears.... One more week, one more week...

We are having our first children's baptism service @ Ridge tonight! It's called a "Birthday Celebration" and I know it will be a night to remember!

Sorry for the brain dump!!!