UVA vs. VT

Leah started throwing up at around 12:30 am. She'd wake up only to puke again. She did nurse at around 5, but just threw it all up over me and the bed. To top it all off, we weren't even home, we were at my parents house. We stayed to watch the football game and we thought maybe Leah would be better, but she got sick again at 1pm. So, I washed everything while we watched Virginia Tech beat UVA. My parents weren't too happy, but Eli and I sure were. We left shortly after the game. To make sure Leah didn't throw up on herself in the car, we borrowed towels and the one in the picture had a convenient hole to put Leah's head through. Don't worry, she just had it on long enough for us to get a picture, then she took it off.

Leah at One and Candy Day

Leah is 1 today. We can't believe our daughter is one. Anyhow, today we went to Barbara's (aka Grandma) brother's house and made candy. This was our second time making the sweet hard candy, which is a tradition in Barbara's family. It took 6 hours to make what seemed about 20 lbs of candy. Grandma made Leah a birthday cake, which she unfortunately never got to blow the candles out for because she was asleep, but she did get to eat some later. After candy making we went to my parents to celebrate again. She got to blow out a candle on a cherry pie. However, since it was our second Thanksgiving, we didn't eat any pie, we were all too full. Leah was zonked and fell asleep early. We should have known she was sick then, but that's another story.

Thanksgiving 2008

Turkey, Stuffing, green beans, and cranberry sauce are just a few of the ingredients for a good Thanksgiving. For our Thanksgiving we added Grandma and Grandpa in West Virginia and had a wonderful Thanksgiving. In the morning we took pictures of the family by the Potomac. Then we had our meal at 2. After that we had a much needed walk on Terrapin Neck and enjoyed the beautiful day. Then we sampled Eli and Grandma's freshly baked apple pie. Leah got a really cool birthday gift from the grandparents. The Dora Rider not only entertained her, but the boys as well. After they pushed her around the house, Leah pushed them around the house. Needless to say, we had a very pleasant and fun Thanksgiving. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa.

Birthday Party and Thanksgiving

The cousins at my brother's house.

Eli and the kids at Avery's Thanksgiving in his classroom.
Okay, so it's been a while. Well, we've been pretty busy with Thanksgiving celebrations in the boys classrooms and traveling to PA for Brian and Nene's birthday party. We've also had birthday parties every weekend since Avery's birthday. So, if we aren't having fun, we are shopping for gifts. Okay, so that's fun too.

We're off to celebrate Thanksgiving in good old WV. We look forward to making candy and celebrating Leah's 1st birthday. Hopefully I'll post those pictures by next week. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Story of Nutmeg

One day in January 1997, Eli and I went to a pet store in West Virginia. We met this wonderfully friendly cat. She reminded me of a cat I had at home named Spicy and I thought for sure she was meant for me. Later that day I went home without that cat and found out that my cat Spicy was suffering from a stroke and would be put down the next day. I called up Eli and told him that I was sure that cat we met was meant for me, it was destiny. Sure enough, I had convinced him to get the cat and as a tribute to Spicy, he thought of the name Nutmeg. She was a perfect cat, a little crazy at times, hence the tail being amputated, but nevertheless a great friendly cat. She immediately inherited a brother named Pi from Eli's family. They grew to be friends. We lost Pi in Oct of 2002. Early on, we discovered she had a form of Feline Leukemia that was not fatal, but gave her a continuous cold, but she never stopped purring. Even to this day she purred. Eli took her this evening to be put down from the cancer in her jaw that we found 4 months ago. We said our goodbyes and she surely will be missed, especially by me. She was a very special cat.

Halloween

Halloween is our most celebrated holiday in our household. We had two Halloween parades, we visited the Air and Space museum, we went to the ASI Halloween party, and went around the block trick or treating. We also had Avery's Halloween birthday party twice. I almost forgot the two pumpkin farms we visited. Busy month for us Burkes.

Avery Turns Five

Happy Birthday Avery! Our big boy just got a little big bigger. Eli and I have been looking at each other and wondering what happened to the last five years.

Avery loves school, for the play time of course, but I think he is also learning by osmosis. He can write all his letters, and will write words if you force him to sit still and do it. Pushing him to do anything is a struggle; if you can trick him into thinking it is a game he will participate whole-heartedly.

Avery's favorite TV show / licensed character is Scooby Doo. He loves his nightly bedtime story, and pays very good attention despite distractions from Zach and Leah. He enjoys anything on the computer, or his Leapster game player. He has good eye / foot co-ordination and can dribble the soccer ball around. He's also speedy on his feet and in the pool, so we may try swim team in a year or two.

Before I forget, his favorite color is pink. Eli got him a Red Power Ranger costume and he was upset that it wasn't pink for a couple of days. I can't wait to see if it's still his favorite color in ten years...

On his birthday Eli took a half day. Per Avery's request we went to Chick-Fil-A and let them play in the gerbil maze for an hour. Back at home we had presents and video games, and then Eli surprised us with tickets to the Big Apple Circus. Then on Saturday we had a party for "older" kids, and on Sunday we had family over. The cake and cupcakes were commissioned from our friend Heidi.