Tina's Top Ten (Things that make me Smile!)

In no particular order!

1. Abby's smile (forget about college $, we need a braces fund!)
2. Starbuck's Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha
3. The clearance racks at Kohls
4. Rusty's kisses on the back of my neck
5. Paige's big feet (Size 9 @ 12 years old!)
6. The way Carter still curls up in my lap
7. Talking to my sister while walking around Target
(while she's walking around the Target in Ft. Myers)
8. Sunday afternoon load in at Ridge
9. The way Rusty's hair curls up from under his hat
10. The smell of fresh baked brownies

What are some of the things that make you smile???

Fun in Greenville

The 5 monkeys at the Zoo!

Four friends

Gaby Rose (my attempt at being artsy!)

Paige and Carter (another attempt)

Carter and Sofie

Abby enjoying ice cream @ Sticky Fingers

Today was supposed to be rainy and nasty here in Charlotte so we decided to travel southwest to Greenville, SC to try and outrun the rain. It was unseasonably warm, high in the sixties! Beautiful! We visited the Greenville Zoo and window shopped around the downtown area. The night ended with ribs and ice cream at Sticky Fingers. I love spending time with my sister (John and the kiddos aren't so bad either!). She is what I miss the most about Ft Myers. I am so glad they came to visit. Only 2 days left... they head home on Tuesday.... boo hoo

Half and Half

This morning, my parents, grandma and brother left to go back to Florida. We had a great time visiting with them. It's an odd thing being in the same house with your parents ,with you now as an adult. The roles are so different... now they are grandma and grandpa, no longer just mom and dad. I guess when you are together for just a few hours every couple of months, you don't notice it that much. When you are together for a week... believe me, you notice it! It was great though. I love to watch the kids interact with my parents and especially my grandma. They adore her! I know our time with her, even if it lasted another 20 years, would still be too short for me. She is so precious. The Lord used her to lead me to the Burchards and because she allowed Him to use her, I am so grateful. Now we are down to just half the company we started with - my sister, her husband and my two nieces! Let the real fun begin!!!

Christmas Chaos

Sofie, Abby, Carter, Gaby and Paige

Rusty putting together the Ping-Pong table.
(Santa said there were too many pieces for her, I mean him, to put together!

Gariela and Paige all bundled up to play outside

Burchards on Christmas Eve

The past few days have been a blur. Lots of food, family and fun! My mom, dad, brother, sister, brother-in-law, two nieces and 86 year old grandmother are all here for Christmas. 13 people under one roof and there is bound to be some chaos.... All in all, things are going great. Rusty, my mom, the kids and I all went to service at Southbrook Church on Christmas Eve. Later that night, Rusty and I were talking and realized that had been the very first time we sat, as a family for Christmas Eve service. So many changes this year.... all good ones! Our family is having a fantastic time just hanging out together. The kids have been playing with all their new goodies and Santa brought Rusty a ping-pong table. Now the "boys" only come inside to warm up!! (It's in the garage!) Here is a picture of us before church and a few others of the week.

The Year in Review

2007 has been filled with all kinds of twists and turns. It's been a pretty wild ride. As I sit here putting these pictures of this past year together, I have to just sit in awesome wonder at the path our lives are on now! So much has changed and I am thankful everyday for the blessings He has given me. I saw this idea on a friend's blog and asked if I could steal her idea. (Thanks Debbie!) Here are a few pictures, one representing each month in the Burchard house. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed traveling down memory lane!
Have a Christ filled Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

In January, I was blessed with my own class of 22 kindergartners at Gateway Charter School!

In February, we purchased season passes to the Imaginarium. The kids loved the "Touch Tank"
In March we traveled to the Kennedy Space Center (Carter is a space nut!)

We spent a weekend in April hanging out with the family in Port St. Lucie

May was spent packing for the move and a few last trips to the beach!

We spent most of June in the pool!

In July, the Ridge staff traveled to Daytona Beach for BigStuf camp.

(the highlight of the trip was dinner with Andy Stanley!)

August marked new schools, new teachers and new friends!

September 9th, Ridge Church had our official launch service

October brought apples and cooler weather. This is in Henderson, NC.

In November we made the trip back to Florida for "Thanksmas" with the Burchards.

December brought lots of fun! Birthdays, ice skating, hats and scarfs!

ridge volunteer christmas party

Patrick, Chris, Lauren, Melissa, Adam and Rusty

Last night Ridge Church had our Volunteer Christmas Party. It was held at the Charlotte City Club in Uptown. It was an amazing time of worship and it was great to just get to sit and talk with everyone. Usually we are so busy with load in and load out on Sundays that we don't get the chance to just sit and chat. The City Club is on the 32nd floor, and Chris asked us look out a large window that looked out over downtown Charlotte. It was a little (maybe a lot!) overwhelming to know that the Lord had brought together this team of people to reach this city. It was overwhelming to know that we are part of that team..... I was in tears during most of the worship.... We sang "How Great is our God" and all I could think of was where I was exactly one year ago; in my faith and in life, and how I am constantly amazed that He allows Rusty and I to play a small part in this.

Pancake Breakfast

This morning, I was lucky enough to be able to spend an hour and a half in Abby's 2nd grade class. Her teacher hosted a Christmas pancake breakfast for her students and it was BIG fun! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed volunteering in the kid's classrooms. It's been a whirlwind since we moved and between job and "life" I haven't been able to do much volunteering this school year. I'm glad that I was able to do it today! Her teacher, Mrs. Osborne made pancakes and a few of us moms brought in fruit platters, donuts and muffins. The kids had a great time and I doubt any one of them actually ate any lunch. They were stuffing pancakes and chocolate chip muffins in their mouths for an hour straight!