the night before the big day

The night before the big day, all of the Burtons & Thompsons gathered for a fun evening at Gatti-town! Pizza & games! It was great, especially since between us all there were 11 little ones full of energy.

Sisters.....all with new last names now! 2 Burtons, a Barrow & a McClellan

My little sleeping beauties!

Catching Up.....

Ok....so boy do I have some catching up to do!!! Life has been CrAzY lately and to top everything off our computer has crashed :( So I am hoping that I can recover the pictures that I had just downloaded so I can document some other big events that have been happening like Emma's 8th birthday and baptism. She & Hayley shared their special day. All of her grandparents were able to attend. Hopefully I can post pics of that soon, she looked beautiful in her white dress!
We have also moved! Not far...still in Allen just in a larger home. We were so suprised at how smoothly everything we went. We went looking at homes and fell in love with this one so we thought we would just see what happened by putting our house up for sale and we were pleasantly suprised when within 4 days we had a great offer! So we are still working on getting settled in. I still can't park in the garage though....that's where everything is hidden!! I can't wait for the summer to have a little more free time to clear it all out.

Happy Birthday Dear Erin.....

Erin celebrated her 3rd birthday in May! She is getting to be such a big girl! She still loves to swing as you can see but at least has learned to pump herself this last year giving my arms much needed rest!

These are just a couple of pics from her birthday. The summer concert series in the park has started so we took pizza & cupcakes to share. Erin & Maleah loved blowing bubbles and dancing!

Aunt Emily & Hayley made Erin a cake - all pink, of course!!

Spring Pics..

I can't believe how big they are getting!!!!

Throw me somethin' mister!!!

Happy Mardi Gras!!! Last weekend we went over to Shreveport for the annual Mardi Gras parade. They have a groovy spot just for families right off of Clyde Fant Parkway (meaning no crazies or drunks!) We took Emily, Amber and Hayley with us too! It turned out to be a beautiful day!! The kids had fun just being outside and enjoying a very spring like day while waiting for the parade to begin. We caught lots of goodies...beads, cups, and stuffed animals. Sure helps to have a little one in your arms. Erin was "given" lots of cheesy stuffed animals. We then headed to my moms for some yummy southern shrimp gumbo and of course King cakes. Here are quite a few pics. of our day at the parade.

All decked out in our mardi gras best!!!

Erin teaching grandpa the correct way to eat an oreo



Amber & I passed the time painting our nails....purple & green of course

Ryan tried to teach Grandma & Julie how to ride the Ripstick....they still need work

Erin bonding with her new uncle-to-be!

The future Mr. & Mrs. Burton

Check out our loot!

Throw me somethin' mister!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

week in review

Last week started off with crazy Texas weather! It was so frigid! We even had an ice day on Wednesday so the kids enjoyed the day at home. No worries now though we are back up to 60 and are forcasted for 70 for this weekend! Ryan and Seth -mostly Ryan!- have been working really hard on Seth's pinewood derby car. This was his last year to participate and after their performance last year they felt they had something to prove...at least to themselves. He didn't win but came in 4th. He did great and had a blast with his buddies.

The 2nd graders held their annual 'Underground Railroad'. Emma had a great day! The kids all dressed in some ratty old clothes as slaves. They started off working different jobs on the plantation (cafeteria) like picking cotton, bricklaying, cleaning, ironing, taking care of babies etc..As they worked Harriet Tubman would come and take a few at a time and help them find freedom in Canada. They had so much fun trying to make their way down the halls without getting caught by the marshall (principal). They would stop along the way and find rest & food in safe houses (classes). What a great hands on way to learn!

Emma & her friend Jenna after a long day of pickin' cotton!

As for Erin, she has been rather entertaining this last week. She is getting so good at saying her little prayers. The other night though as she was wrapping things up instead of an "amen" we got a "bye". So cute and personal though! She has also decided she wants to buy a 'Pixie' (aka Annabeth). She told me I could "probably buy a baby for her at Wal-mart." When I asked how much that might cost she replied "probably twenty dollars". Can you tell she likes the word probably and she wants a new baby? Good thing she has her cousins!