So What If We Shirts For Skirts

Hi Bloggy Blogger World! So excited to for you to grace us with your presence once again!

I know I say this a lot but things have been a little crazy at the Burke house.

Cambri learned how to dress herself.

Yay for that.

And yay for me for taking all day to realize she had on a shirt underneath her dress. Around her waist.

I can't even tell you how many places we went to that day. Oh well. I'm 99% sure I didn't brush her hair so hopefully people were looking at that instead of her random shirt skirt.

And that's not even the weirdest thing we did this week.

We walked around the river barefoot. Why? I have no idea. But when Izzy asked why we had to wear shoes the only reason I could come up with is "because I said so."

And I try only to use that excuse when I tell the kids we are having snowcones for lunch. So we got in touch with our ancestors and walked 2.5 miles without shoes.

You won't believe the stares we got. I didn't think it would attract as much attention as it did.

So random but people were kind of rude.

I'm not posting this picture to condone unsafe seat belt practices. My two-year-old is a descendant of Houdini.

Chase and I took the girls on a drive and looked back to check on our little ladies.

Only to find them dressed as Pull-Up Ninjas.

Trust me when I say all the weirdness in the gene pool comes from Chase's side. I just know it.

Cambri really wants her ears pierced. So until we take that plunge (next week!) she was satisfied with clothes pins.

One last thing:

I have developed an addiction to planking.

Stay tuned for that.

Chuckie Love

First and foremost, this is my 300th post. Oh M Ba Gee Gee. I have too much time on my hands peeps, really.
Have all of you met Chuck? El es mi padre.

He is my concert companion. And has been since I was 8 years old at my first Reba concert.

Since that point, we have seen lots of shows together. Shania, Tim, Faith, Toby and I'm not joking the list goes WAY on. I never remember him telling me no when I wanted to see someone. Even if we had to drive a few hours.

And we always had kick A seats. One of the perks to a having a music loving father.

When I was in high school and our music tastes veered a tad, he was the dad that road tripped me and my friends to our concerts.

Many a time (at least 3) he checked us out of school and took us to either Boise or Salt Lake to see N'Sync.

And at least twice to see the Backstreet Boys.

We loved us some boy bands. And we loved leaving town for the weekend. Naturally. We would stay in a hotel room next to the one that he stayed in. Obviously he paid for both.

One time he took me and my friend Holly B. to a ska concert in Pocatello. It didn't even start until 11pm and it was a school night.

What the hello were our parents thinking?

Oh yeah. My dad was driving and her mom said "Have fun ladies." These are the things memories are made of peeps.

After I got married, Chasey kind of stepped in to concert companion. And we have had fun. But he knows I would leave him for Toby Keith.

Seriously.

Well not that serious, but I love Toby. I LOVE him. But being that we are both happily married, I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Anyway, this story does have a point. Chase has been hit or miss and my dad has never let me down.

Flashbulb memory time: In 2006, Chasey surprised me with Phil Vassar tickets. He was actually making a random stop in Blackfoot, Idaho of all places. I still remember exactly where I was (walking into the Venetian in Las Vegas) when Chase called me on my birthday to let me know that he bought me seats as a gift.

Two months later when the concert rolled around, his brother called him 4 hours before said concert and invited him to a Jazz game.

I'm sure you see where this is going.

Katie: What do you mean you are on your way out of town? I thought we had plans tonight. In fact I'm sure of it.

Chase: I know you understand. Shouldn't we both spend the evening doing something we really like?

Katie: Umm no. The difference is that you will have companionship at your event and I will be completely alone. Enjoying my birthday present.

Chase: Oh I'm driving over the Malad Pass. I think I might lose...

Trust me when I say that you don't lose coverage while driving to Malad. This wasn't the 90's.

Side note: Yes, I am a score keeper. It's a character flaw. I'm working on it peeps.

But guess who saved the day? Chuck.

I didn't bring up that story to hate on the hubby. I only use it as a reference to the point that every girl needs her dad.

Chuck went with me and never complained. In fact we had a great time.

So bringing this story back to current day.

Chuck bought me tickets to see Diamond Rio last weekend. I was so excited. And I had my concert companion in tow.

Halfway through the set, he started looking tired and wanted to go. What can I say? My concert companion is 55 and getting freakin' old.

But I had the best time! It was so nice of him. And extremely thoughtful.

The very best part was when he paid the babysitter (my brother) in exchange for his evening services.

I have learned to value every moment that I have with my dad becuase you never really know. Two years ago on my birthday, my life was fine and normal. And now its different.

On the way home from the concert, Chuck and I had a very real conversation about maybe both of us letting go a little in order to move on. Not love less or forget but just let go of a life that we assumed we would always have.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Life As of Late

Ok so you are all probably dying to know what life at the Burke house is like.

I just know it.

Actually you probably don't care but that's ok. I'm hoping you will join us for this little adventure anyway.

Where to begin?

Well, we just got done with swim lessons. Which meant a trip off the diving board and a little note from the teacher saying Izzy isn't quite "focused" enough and another try at Eel would probably be best.

We went bowling and Izzy randomly became a "Woohoo" girl. Even a gutter ball was reason to throw her arms in the air and shout "Wooooohoooooo."

Izzy and Cambri started sharing a bed. A twin wasn't really made for two but they are little. It's actually been startling for me to have a baby with access to the house at all hours. Her preferred way of waking me up at 2 a.m.? A quick slap to the face.

And we have throw A LOT of fits. We are super good at it.

One of the BESTEST things we have done this summer is gone fishing with a puppy.

Just in case you are wondering, basset hounds are the cutest puppies EVER. I was so thankful Chase didn't meet her because we probably would have our own by now if he did. They are that cute.

Besides the puppy we have already withstands a large amount of abuse. Like having his nose blown by a concerned two year old. 

And we made sand angels with good friends. Not in a crazy thirty year old housewife on a crowded beach kind of way. Just a normal we are bored in a small town kind of way.

And we took the girls to the circus. Chase had never been before. And he's almost 30.

When he took the girls on an elephant ride, the elephant snotted all over him.

So disgusting! The little girls went on a pony ride. You'll notice the responsible parent (me!) was holding on to Mia's arm with a death grip. She was my responsibility and I didn't want her to get hurt.

You'll also notice that the irresponsible parent isn't even in the picture below with his two-year-old responsibility. In fact he wasn't even with reaching distance of my baby. And the Carnie (that word seems to have a negative connotation but it shouldn't, its a J-O-B) had to yell at him! Those poor animals were hustling it around that ring.

So that is really our summer so far. It's been low key but relaxing.

Oh yeah, we also found our cowgirl hats. They have only been missing for like a year.

So life is good at the Burke house.

Two Two Cute

My baby turned two. Two days ago. I still pretend she's one to make myself feel better. Naturally.

But we held a party anyway. Even though I was in denial. We had so much fun!

There was a pinata.

So that means a LOT of candy. The birthday girl picked out a Skittle/Starburst combo. So the selection wasn't huge. But hey, candy is candy, right? There was some controversy about some kids getting more than others. In these situations, I let the kids work it out. I mean it's a good life lesson and I was hoping my kids ended up with the short end of this stick so I didn't have to deal with sugar highs.

There was presents.

My dad gave Cambri the exact same doll he gave her for Christmas. And he didn't even realize it.

It's moves like this that required me to spend an entire week moving TRUCK LOADS of toys to the thrift store.

But the highlight of the event was the cake.

I felt completely ghetto ordering a Spongebob cake for a two-year-olds birthday but hey Cambri LOVED it. It was completely worth my pride.

It was a little sad to cut into this beauty. But it tasted great!

We had Cambri's party a little early because Chase was in town the week before the actual date. So on her birthday, we took her to the spray park in Rexburg.

Seriously so fun! And free. My bumblebee had so much fun. 

I hope Cambri had a good birthday and has a stellar year. She has such a sweet spirit. Love that girl!