Snow Days

We have had another week of crazy Oklahoma weather. Freezing rain followed by sleet followed by snow. This is the third day that school has been out, but I'm guessing we will probably have school tomorrow. (And by the way, the high temperature for Saturday is 61!) We have tried to enjoy the crazy precipitation to the best of our ability. Benson has been loving it and would have stayed outside all day the past three days.

Day 1 - Just before it changed over to actual snow the kids and I went outside to play in the sleet. So we were getting pelted with tiny balls of ice the whole time we were out there which really wasn't bad until you laid down to try and make a sleet angel.


Day 2 - We met Grandma, Aunt Jenny, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Paul, Aunt Molly, Aislee, and Olivia at the mall for lunch and shopping. Then they came back to our house with the sleds. First we tried sledding in the backyard.

Then we decided to try this wicked awesome hill that is only a few streets down from ours. I'm not sure who started calling it that, but that is how Benson now refers to it "the wicked awesome hill."



Everyone had a great time...everyone that is except Grace...

Thanks Uncle Paul, Aunt Jenny, and Aunt Sarah for taking the kids sledding!

Day 3 - Mike woke Benson up early this morning and headed out to the wicked awesome hill for some more sledding. Then the kids and I went out later in the morning to play in the quickly melting slush. We went inside when Grace and Benson started stomping in the big puddle at the end of the driveway.

Every Monday night...

this is how our Family Night ends.

P.S. Mike is pretty sure if his joeys get any bigger he's going to throw out his back during the animal game.
P.P.S. Hey Hancocks, we think our daddy is stronger than yours!! :) Come to OK and we can have a contest (not really, we just want you to come visit)!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Weekend

For Martin Luther King Jr. Day Weekend**, we headed down to Houston to see Aunt Whitney fresh off the plane from Russia. We had a great trip, our only complaint was that it wasn't long enough. The kids were really good on both drives. Perhaps that is because they each had their own DVD screen. So spoiled!!

Here is Sabrina with her headphones on enjoying a Baby Einstein DVD. It was so nice to have two separate DVD players so Sabrina could get her Baby Einstein fix while Ben and Grace watched movies.

Our first stop was Uncle John and Aunt Emily's. They treated us to pizza and cheesy bread for dinner and a wonderful french toast breakfast. We really enjoyed spending some time with them in their home. I was hoping they would post some of the pictures they took with their camera (hint, hint) because I didn't take very many with mine. Grace especially like hanging from Uncle John's pull-up bar which gave us all a good laugh. Thanks for treating us so well you guys!

(this is the best picture I have...I know you guys have better ones!)

We then headed up to Grandpa Gary and Grandma Kathy's house. The kids love to play with all the toys Grandma has saved and they also really enjoy playing with Copper (the dog). It was fun to see Whitney again. She seemed very well adjusted for just barely being home off her mission. Sometimes she seemed to struggle a little to come up with the right word in English, but at least she didn't seem to have too bad of a Russian accent. We found out she managed to learn a little French from one of her companions while she was there too. She told us some great mission stories and still carried the missionary spirit with her. I thought I would include a picture of Sabrina with Aunt Whitney right before she left on her mission (July 2007)and one of the two of them right after she got home (January 2009). I think Sabrina definitely changed the most during the 18 months that Whitney was gone.


Eric was able to come out for a couple days while we were there, which was the first time we had been able to see him since he got home from Iraq. It's always great to be together as a family and we are grateful that everyone has returned home safe and sound.

Since we were all together, we took some new family pictures, which were actually pretty fun. The photographer did lots of more candid, casual shots which made it much easier with the kids. Hopefully they turned out well. These are just a few of the pictures that we took with our camera.


We also really appreciate Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Eric, Aunt Whitney, and Uncle Steve for being so willing to play and spend quality time with our kids. They had eager playmates the whole weekend and loved the attention. It is wonderful to watch our kids develop relationships with our parents and siblings who we love so much and have influenced us in such positive ways. Jess and I also appreciated being able to go on a date and go shopping together. All in all, it was a great, relaxing weekend! Thanks to all of our family for helping us to have such a good time.

**Originally I had this post labeled as President's Day Weekend, which would indicate that our family dabbles in time travel since President's Day has not yet occured. Sorry, I got my 1st quarter holidays mixed up!

Burkinshaw Family Reunion 2008

I am so behind in my blogging, obviously since January is almost over and I'm still blogging about Christmas! Hopefully I will be able to get all caught up soon.
My whole family was home for Christmas this year. I don't have very many pictures to document the time we all spent together which is too bad since I'm usually the only one taking pictures. It must have been because I was sick. As per usual when my family gets together there was lots of game playing - slaughterball and volleyball at the church, football, all the new group games everyone got for Christmas, and my personal favorite the bazillion games of Nertz we played around the kitchen table. At one point I think we had 16 people playing together which was absolute craziness.

1 - Aunt Jenny holding Sabrina holding Aislee, 2 - Grace and Sabrina at their little table at Christmas dinner, 3 - Sarah, Sawyer, and Austin at Christmas dinner, 4 - Spencer in his Christmas outfit, 5 - Bryce, Jenny, Matt, and Chelsea at Christmas dinner, 6 - Playing games, 7 - The kids rocking out, 8 - Playing games again, 9 - Aunt Emily with Olivia

The rest of the family also went to Oklahoma City on the 26th and 27th, but Mike, Grace, Sabrina, and I stayed home because I was puking, Grace had terrible ear infections, and Sabrina we would later learn was developing terrible ear infections. We hear they had fun and appreciate them taking Benson with them. He loved going to the Omniplex, eating out (they said he ate a TON at every meal which is not like him at all), and he especially loved staying the night at a hotel and swimming in the pool. We wish we could have been there, but what can you do?

1 - Uncle John and Benson at the Omniplex, 2 - Aunt Chelsea, Uncle Matt, and Benson, 3 - Benson pushing the twins, 4 - Benson playing his silly peek-a-boo game with Spencer, 5 - Aunt Chelsea painting Grace's toenails, 6 - Aunt Sarah and Sabrina, 7 - Benson took this picture of Mike, he's getting to be quite the photographer, 8 - Sabrina holding Olivia, 9 - Mike, my mom, Kathleen, and Jenny playing volleyball

We also took a family picture which was a wonderful experience for Mike and I this year because FINALLY our kids were not the only ones ruining the pictures! If you think our smiles look extra big, that's why.

Back: Matt, Chelsea, Sarah, Jenny, Emily, and John
Middle: Paul holding...I'm going to guess Olivia, Molly holding Aislee (or the reverse if I'm wrong...I know I'm going to get passed over for Aunt of the Year!), Dad, Mom, Mike holding Grace, Benson, Jess holding Sabrina
Front: Bryce holding Spencer and Kathleen

The Sibs - Back: Paul, Kathleen, Jessica, John
Front: Sarah, Jenny, Chelsea

Our family...our kids were super cooperative...can't you tell?

The grandkids...it's actually a lot easier than you might think to get 6 kids 4 and under to take a decent picture...NOT!

It is crazy to think that in 2008, we added 4 new members to the Burkinshaw family (1 marriage, 3 births). We look forward to seeing added growth in this new year!

Silly Children

Conversation between Benson and Grace, overheard by Mike
Grace: I be a princess when I grow up.
Benson: You can't be a princess, princesses aren't real.
Grace: I can too be a princess.
Benson: No you can't be a priness, that's fiction!

This was what I got to enjoy at dinner tonight (Mike unfortunately is rarely home when the kids and I eat dinner).

They kept going with the singing for quite a while. Sabrina has been making up songs about whatever happens to be going on in her life all the time lately.

If you have seen Ratatouille, what Benson is doing will make sense, if not...well it won't.


Bedtime has been a little rough at our house for the past week or so. The girls did really well sharing a bed for quite a while. But now they feel the need to be giggly and silly for an extended period of time EVERY night. It is driving us crazy. It could be worse I suppose, they could be fighting. Nothing we threaten seems to help and so several nights we have had to remove Sabrina and put her in our bed to fall asleep. I'm hoping that this is a phase that will pass quickly. What are the odds?


I have a feeling that some time in future I will miss all the silly antics of these 3 little monkeys of mine. If I write it down then I can at least have a good laugh while I'm missing the silliness.

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam!

Last Sunday was Grace's first Sunday in Primary. They call the class for the littlest kids the Sunbeams. (18 mo - 3 year olds go to nursery, in January of the year they turn 4 the kids start going to Primary until they turn 12 years old) She of course went with no tears and I think thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Her teachers are Brother and Sister Abbott, who were also Benson's Sunbeam teachers who we love and appreciate more than words can say! Grace is such a happy girl. Even when she is being disciplined it is really hard to upset her. She loves to have fun and make people laugh. Life is so much more fun with her around!
With the new year we now go to church from 1-4pm, which is a first for us since having children. We have moved at just the right times to avoid being on the afternoon schedule which falls during nap time. We really lucked out because Benson is done napping, Grace can handle going without a nap one day a week, and now instead of having to take Sabrina out in the hall during Sacrament Meeting she will "nuggle" with her mama and take a nap which is more enjoyable for everyone involved.
I had Grace get dressed up in her Sunday clothes again to take a picture right before bedtime, which she was very willing to do. She loved her new leopard print sweater from Aunt Chelsea!

She was also wearing black tights and shoes at church, but you get the idea.

Grace showing off her picture that she colored in Primary.

Such a Daddy's girl...in looks and personality!

They love to be silly with Daddy

Christmas Morning

The girls were both up by 7am on Christmas morning. We tried to entertain them in their room for a while, but they wanted out so by 7:30am we just woke Benson up. All 3 kids were definitely into opening their presents this year. They each got lots of fun stuff and most of their presents were things that their siblings could also enjoy. Such a smart Santa we have! We made them take turns opening one present at a time, going from youngest to oldest. They were actually really patient and genuinely interested in what everyone else was opening, which made the whole process more fun. Here are the kids with some of their favorites.

Benson playing with his Leapster 2

Grace with her new (but same as before) puppy purse and Cinderella doll, sporting her Cinderella crown and shoes

Breeny playing with her cash register. She loves to scan the food, it is pretty cute to watch.

And here are the highlights from present opening. I can't even tell you how happy I was that Mike caught these classic moments on the video camera!

We want to thank our grandparents and great-grandparents for the wonderful gifts and money they sent for us. We really appreciate all of the help and support you give to our family.

Christmas Eve

By Christmas Eve, the girls and I were pretty under the weather with an upper respiratory virus. Mike ended up getting called into work and he took Benson with him and then they spent the rest of the afternoon running a bunch of last minute errands while the girls and I tried to rest. We ordered pizza for dinner and then started our Christmas Eve traditions.

First the kids opened up their new pajamas and slippers (they were less than thrilled about taking pictures together in their new jammies)


Then we let them open their presents from each other. This year we took each kid to the dollar store and let them pick out 2 things for a sibling. Ben bought for Grace, Grace for Sabrina, and Sabrina for Benson. I think they had fun buying for each other and opening one present on Christmas Eve helped to tide them over.


Then we attempted to act out the Nativity Story. I say attempted because it didn't go as well as we had hoped. Benson only wanted to be a shepherd and Sabrina, well she looked like this pretty much the whole time.






We finished off by watching "Joy to the World," a video about the birth of Christ produced by our church and listening to Mike tell the Clockmaker story that is a tradition from his family. We had the kids in bed pretty early because we all needed a good night's sleep.

Christmas Eve Eve

By Tuesday, all of my family was in town except for my brother John and his wife Emily. So of course the kids and I headed up to Bartlesville to hang with the family. We played volleyball and slaughterball at the church and then went to Grandma's house and made Christmas cookies.