Like Sands Through The Hour Glass...

FALL FUN

2008-11-07T09:43:00.004-06:00

Family Fun days, Fall Festivals, Halloween, Camping, all combined with Work, School, Girlscouts, and everyday home life make for 4 busy BARRETT'S!

Here's a few highlights...

Megan made straight A's on her report card, and her request as a reward was to go bowling! They've actually not bowled for real, only on the Nintendo Wii, so it was a little bit of a change. Ryan had a lot of help from Dad, obviously since he couldn't possibly pick the bowling ball up...but that was good for him because he ended up getting a better score! Megan wasn't happy about it ( I mean, it was HER idea to go bowling for her straight A's....she should've won the game! lol). Daddy was more diplomatic with her, and actually taught her how to hold the ball correctly and how to most efficiently toss it down the ally. She improved her score on the second game...she was happy again .

We also took a few fall family photos at Turkey Creek. I had high hopes for these pics, because it was such a sunny, beautiful fall day. But as it turns out, it was too sunny, and all our photos have everyone squinting in the sun too much! haha

Here's the best shot:

Well, it takes so long to upload pics for some reason, and I've been sitting here for so much longer than I intended. I'll try to get back to this in a bit and post a few HALLOWEEN pics. The kids costumes were great! But it'll be in a later post...sorry fans.

What's UP???????

2008-10-17T13:20:00.006-05:00

Snaggle Tooth In Second Grade:

Those top teeth have been loose for a while now, and Megan has just left them alone...until it got to the point that she looked like Nanny McPhee (a movie character that has a big tooth sticking down on her lip). Anyway, she finally pulled that tooth last weekend and of course, the tooth fairy delivered big...inflation sends prices up for her too! She only brought me a quarter, or two...But lucky Megan in the 21st century got a whole $5 bill!!!!!

Girl Scout's Keep us bussssssy!

Then after she lost a tooth, we went to Harvest Days at Camp Coleman with her Girl Scout Troop. It was actually a disappointment from a parent's perspective, but at least Megan had a good time. She rode ponies, a wagon ride, picked out a pumpkin, went to story time, petted a corn snake, roasted S'mores over a campfire and went on a nature hike. The last part of the hike took us to "Fairy Rock" at Camp Coleman, and the girls were very excited to try to find the fairies there, but of course, THEY WERE HIDING!!!!

I LOVE TO BE LOVED!

2008-10-08T22:14:00.002-05:00

I feel like I am on a spiritual high! You know that feeling you got when you came home from your weekend retreat, or week long camp when you were a teen? I remember them well-I would come home on FIRE for God, and with a bonding with believers like no other! I LOVE THAT FEELING!
Since I returned from my weekend trip, it has felt like that alot. As stated in my previous post, I participated in a Beth Moore study while on this trip, and I was delivered from something that had plagued me for months. PRAISE JESUS! My poor sick husband had to sit and listen to me ramble on for hours last night as I told him every detail of my trip! (Isn't that just like women? Only interested in the DETAILS?! haha)

But perhaps one of the most special parts of my trip was the moment I returned home to my wonderful family! My family met me in the parking lot of Kmart to pick me up, and I honestly could not unpack the car fast enough....Ryan saw me first and he immediately began screaming "MOMMY MOMMY!" and the best part was, when I opened the van door, and gave him a hug, he grabbed me so hard and squeezed me so big that I really thought he was going to choke me! He had his head layed down on my shoulders, but I could hear him crying as he hugged me and kept calling my name. As I type this now, it actually puts a mental picture in my head of how I ran to God this weekend and cried with relief when I was glad to see Him moving in our lives. I can visually see myself wrapping myself around the throne and being so happy to have a God to love me! Ryan did my heart so much joy by reacting to me that way! And my Megan was right there with him, (with no tears, because she's all mature now, lol), and we were all hugging and loving on each other. It was a wonderful moment....5 days away from your babies will do that to ya. I am loved. And better yet, I am appreciated too! Ha! Jonathan was sick the entire time I was gone, and he was never so glad to see me and "TAG" me for parental duty so he could relax! aaah, a Mommy's work is never done....but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
The split second I got home, it was back to basics as usual. I got in at 5pm and Megan had a Investiture ceremony in her Brownie troop at 6pm, so it was off to being a taxi again. I love my role as Megan and Ryan's mommy, and Jonathan's wife, and I love my role as teacher, friend, sister, daughter, and most importantly CHRIST FOLLOWER! Only a God like Him would get me through this weekend by revealing to me my wrongs, still love me the same despite of them, and absolutely bring me to a place where I could freely give it away in return for a healed heart! I'm free. I'm free! I'M FREE!
I'm excited! I'm thrilled!
I'm singing and dancing His praises to all!

I'm also a little sleep deprived...there wasn't a night we didn't go to bed before 2 or 3am!!!!! I love my sisters in Christ! We had the best time together!

Free...and Loving Well!

2008-10-06T13:32:00.004-05:00

I'm in Pensacola at the Teacher Clinic that my school goes to every year. We came down on Friday and began a Bible Study called "Loving Well" by Beth Moore. I have never done a study by Beth Moore, and I am quickly becoming a huge fan. The first session on Friday night left me in tears. There was so much hurt, that mainly dealt with the situation I described in the post before and though I thought that my blogging had helped me eradicate it from my system, I was so wrong. I was still holding on to it. I had missed out on one of the most important parts of this journey, and therefore I was still harboring my anger. But after the first session, God revealed my anger, and hurt to me in a different manner. He made me realize that it was MY PROBLEM not the offenders issue to work through! WOW! I hated it. I argued with God. I was angry again because I knew God was right, however, I still didn't want to deal with it. I shared my conviction and hurt with some of the ladies on the trip with me, and when they supported me and offered me prayer for restoration, I actually resisted it! I didn't want it! I WANTED to be mad! I wanted to wallow in my little pit of self absorbed hurt. But praise be to God that it worked. Praise be to God for the fact that I am blessed to have such lovely, Godly women in my life that will speak His truth and do it lovingly when I am in the midst of a pity party.
That night, I gained insight. I learned a little bit more about my "foe" and realized that what had happened to me, was more about a coping skill of my former friend...the "leave them before they hurt or leave you" thinking. I learned about past hurts, and losses of my friend. And for the first time in months, I began to see her as a human again. I began to feel compassion for her. My heart broke for her heartache.
And then, God spoke it to me....PRAY FOR HER.
That's what had been missing all along. I had not prayed for my friend...and that is exactly what I am called to do as a believer in Christ! Matthew 5:44 says "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." So, with that conviction, it was time for ME to do some business with the Lord. I had to stop and admit all of my feelings about this person and ask my God to heal my heart and my hatred. I had to take it all to Christ and literally lay it down. I prayed and told God everything that I wanted to say to my friend....everything I felt, I said it to God as if I were speaking to her...and when I got it out, and layed it down only THEN was I free enough to pray for her. Only then, did my compassion and love for her win out over the hurt. Only then was I able to release it all. I had been repeatedly denying my forgiveness to be given to my foe, and at that point, I was allowing my heart to be raped over and over again by the hatred I was choosing to harbor. But not anymore. I am free. I am free of the anger. I layed it all down to God, I prayed for my foe, and I cannot tell you the weight that was lifted off of my heart! I'm not sure that I understood that there was a weight because of my denials.
As Beth Moore pointed out to me in this Bible study, "When we ask God to give us insight into people we could have a compassion and a love for them we didn't think was possible!"
Absolutely! Truth!
Restoration of people is always the will of God.
Sometimes reconciliation is not.
I may never be reconciled to my friend...but she is no longer my foe, and if I see her, it will all be alright again. Because I'm restored with the perfect love of God.

One who will NEVER let you down...

2008-09-22T14:49:00.005-05:00

Have you ever been let down by someone you hold dear? Have you ever been deeply cut, or hurt by a person that you trusted not to do that? I'm willing to bet that at some point or another, we all have. It's bound to happen to us all. During the course of this year, I was deeply hurt by someone that I considered to be a dear friend, someone that was very special to me. When I first realized what had happened, I remember sitting down and crying in disbelief. It hurt. It stung. It was unreal. And I think the part that made it worse for me is, the person didn't seem to care that I was hurt by them. I did what the Word of God commands us to do when we have anger in our hearts toward another person. Matthew 5:21-26 (ESV) says, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgement.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement;whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny."

I actually did go to my friend, and speak to them about my hurt. I explained to them how I was hurt and caught off guard, and even though I am typically very vocal about my feelings, it was actually quite hard to talk to them about it. And the worst part is, while I was telling this person about how they'd let me down, I felt patronized. I was patted on the back and told "Oh, don't be mad". No explanation on their part. No apology for me in any form. If I thought for one instant that something I had said, or done in any form had hurt someone, I would apologize to them for their hurt, EVEN if I felt justified in my words or actions. For me, to think that I have been the cause of tears, and heartache for anyone is painful to me, yet when it came to my "friend" it didn't seem to matter. In a way, I think that cut me even deeper. Our friendship became so scarred, that I fear it will never be the same. I know I've done the right thing by going to my friend and sharing my grievances, but I have also done wrong every since that day by holding a grudge and continuing to be angry. I know it is wrong, and as many times as I have told myself that "I'm only human" in an effort to justify my anger, it is still sin. And the one who hurt me is "only human" too...mistakes and bad choices happen, even if they are right or wrong. I have to let go, and LET GOD in this situation. I am still working on forgiveness, and though it's been a hard road, I'm getting there. I am taking steps toward it every day...and even though some days I take a few steps backward I know on some level I am still healing. I know my Savior forgives all sins, and I am trying to forgive the one who wronged me. I am not justified in my anger, and I do not have the right to withhold that forgiveness...even when the offender hasn't asked for it. I must freely give. Anger is a form of hate, and hate does nothing to build one up....it only destroys the hater's heart, and witness. While I am not willing to let that happen, I am still struggling with forgiving. To not be able to do so freely is really a very foreign thing to me, because I do not usually hold grudges...I generally get over anger fairly quickly. I do not like to be angry. I do not like to harbor anger in any form...but this....this has been an uphill battle. But I'm almost to the top of that hill...it's coming.

The good thing that came from all of this is that I have connected with others who have been there. I have made new relationships, and deepened other friendships through the experience of this hardship. The Glory of God is being revealed when He is made strong in our weakness. God has unified me with other believers and made our purpose in each others lives stronger and deeper. We have become accountable to each other in our healing, and in our spiritual walk. I praise the Lord for my relationship with these believers, because they love me, they challenge me, and they encourage me in ways that I am not sure would have happened if this hardship had not come upon us.

Thank you Jesus for my new friendships, my deepened relationships, and even for the friend who hurt me. Thank you for teaching me throughout all of this, and Thank you for being slow to anger and abounding in your steadfast love! (Numbers 14:18). Thank you for forgiveness. Amen

WHO IS THIS MAN?????

2008-09-20T22:40:00.003-05:00

All this time and you think you know somebody....
I don't know what got into him. There I was, minding my own business, and my husband of nearly 11 years (we've known each other for 14 years) just completely pulled one on me! Out of nowhere he announces "I'm going to shave my beard and mustache."

Stunned. Why was I stunned? Mainly because he's had the "stache" since long before we were married. I think out of those 14 years of knowing him, I have spend 13 of those years with him having a mustache. And off and on for the last 10 years he has had a goatee. More On than Off during those times. I like the goatee. sniff sniff.

"Why?" I asked.

"Just because. Is it OK?"

Well, to be quite honest it really IS OK...but I like his goatee and he's had it for so long that I was afraid of having to get used to his new look. But he doesn't tell me how to wear my hair...long, short, WHATEVER, he is supportive of whatever I have done to my hair over the years and I am thankful for that because that is a sore subject with some husbands! So I can't really TELL him "NO" even though part of me wanted to.

I consented and told him to do whatever he wanted. I explained that I really like him with the mustache and goatee, but if he wants to shave it, then go ahead. (all the while, secretly hoping he wouldn't)

So, it's gone. He's got a baby face again. It's a bit tough to get used to...even for him. We kinda laughed about it later, because he looks so DIFFERENT! But we'll get used to it soon, I'm sure.

So, here is a before and after pic....

BEFORE:
My cutie hubby, with the goatee. My favorite part was that some of it was turning gray. I like it...it's distinguished looking. But maybe that had something to do with it, even though he says "No"

AFTER:
The "new" Jonathan. I can't decide if he looks younger, or just a completely different person.

Update as of: 10:58pm....this most definitely IS a different person...he just offered to help me fold the laundry that is piled on our bed. I know his ulterior motive is to remove the pile of clean laundry so he can actually get in the bed, but he's NEVER offered to do it before. He usually either shoves it in a corner somewhere, or just shoves it to my side of the bed and he gets in and goes to sleep! Now he wants to do laundry....WHO IS THIS MAN????

Deep Thoughts on Parenting...

2008-09-19T15:08:00.008-05:00

Disclaimer: Parenting is such a wide and sensitive topic, and this is only one small section of the subject...

Being a teacher of preschool aged children, and having much interaction with the different ages throughout the last 7 years, I have come to realize that every parent does their job very differently. Some parents are considered overbearing, overprotective, or worry too much, and still other parents are unstructured, undisciplined, or too lenient with their kids. Where is the line, and where is is drawn in our assumptions of how others "love" their kids? Have you ever found yourself saying "If that was my kid, they wouldn't behave like that!", or "Wow, they're a bit too hard on their kids, lighten up!". I do not believe there is only one way to parent every child because every child is different and every child, yes-even those in the same family, require different discipline and parenting techniques because what works with one, may or may not work with another. With all that in mind, I have found myself wondering what drives some parents to choose the methods they do, or what makes some parents more inclined to handle situations drastically different from what I would consider to be a normal reaction. I can't help but think that in so many cases, a child's action or reaction to something may directly be related to how the parent's actions or reactions to those instances affect them. Now, I can't go into details on the situations that prompt me to write this post, obviously, but I will generalize it as best I can. I will place myself into the parenting roles here and critique it that way.
I consider myself to be a very protective parent. I am very cautious about what "worldly" influences come in contact with my children...music, TV, movies, Internet, the language we/they use, the clothes they wear, the holidays we choose to acknowledge, etc. Examples: I am very cautious about what friends (and their families) my children are allowed to spend time with away from my supervision (like spend the night parties, play dates, etc) I am very cautious about what clothing my kids wear...call me crazy if you must, but I simply do not believe my 7 year old girl needs to wear "attitude" shirts with sayings like "It's all about ME". For holidays, yes, we love them and celebrate them, including Halloween...but I do not choose to celebrate the "scary" part of Halloween with skeletons, grave stones, or anything bloody or Gothic looking. For Christmas, we do celebrate Santa bringing gifts, but we have taught our children that without the birth of Jesus, we would have no reason to celebrate...there would be no Christmas at all! Same for Easter...yes it's fun to see the Easter Bunny, and believe that he hides eggs for kids to find but even at this young age of my children, they are aware that Jesus died on the cross, but we celebrate his RESURRECTION on Easter. But I also consider myself to be a "laid back" parent in the way that I don't panic at every little thing my kids do, say, or react to. For instance, if they hear something that I consider inappropriate on TV, I don't necessarily shut the TV off and forbid them from ever watching that program, or television in general again, instead I have taken those as teaching moments for my child and explain to them why it's not acceptable in our home. There are certain words I don't like for my kids to use that are widely accepted in today's social culture, and in other families. Example: The word "hate" for me is too strong a word to hear from such a small child, even if they are only saying "I hate broccoli". In my adult life, I realize how strong HATE is when I look at the world and how religions, politics, prejudice are born from hate, so I do not want to teach my child that hate is OK in any form. But that also puts accountability on myself, and I have to change my vocabulary so that I am not the bad influence on my child. And boy does that sting sometimes!
For me, I feel like at this stage of their life, Megan at age 7 and in second grade, and Ryan at age 4 in K4, this is where mother bird starts learning to let go. I have to teach my children how to fly. I have to teach them how to function in a world that will not love and protect them as I do. I have to teach them that there are outside influences that will present themselves and they have to know the right choice to make. Basically, I have to teach my children that they are in the world, but not OF the world. (1John 4:4-6 ESV says, "Little Children, you are from God and have overcome them [the world], for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world;therefore they speak from the world and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.")
Conclusion:
I can not control what type of kids my children come in contact with at school-even a christian school, or church for that matter, but I can keep an open mind and try to see what it is that the Lord has planned for my child to learn from them, or to learn about themselves through interaction with them, or better yet, what my child can teach the others around them-which means that one of my jobs as a Mom is to teach them a loving diversity of their peers so that the influence my child has on those around him/her is a positive one. But it does not mean I should second guess my values or accept someone else's way of doing things just because the world says it's what is right. It doesn't give me a right to place judgement on others for their way of parenting, but I do have the right to protect my child should he/she be placed in a situation where their well being is put in any question.
I'm sure this sounds very random, and perhaps the purpose of this blog is just for me, so that I can jot down my thoughts on what is going on behind this post....(which, don't worry, it doesn't directly deal with me or my children, but is affecting others around me). I guess the most important job of any and all parents when raising their kids is to seek wise counsel from first and foremost our Creator, and secondly from other believers who are parents. And lastly, take what you've learned and share it....God brought you to it for a reason, and that is not to harm you, but to teach you and to teach and minister to others.

Wading through water, or is it just the 80's again?

2008-09-17T19:41:00.008-05:00

OK...so when I really remember the 80's culture hitting me, it was the late 80's and I did it all. Side ponytails. Scrunchies in side ponytails. Acid wash jeans. Holes in the knee of your acid washed jeans. "Valley Girl" talk..."like, oh my gah!" High top tennis shoes, NINTENDO NES and the birth of Super Mario Bros obsessions! Lots of my clothes were covered in polka dots and the shirts were big and long...Yep, I did it all.

Now, my most favorite thing is that a lot of the late 80's trends are back, and my kids are totally into it! Ryan has a huge obsession with Mario these days, thanks in part to an old Nintendo 64 game system that we still had. Megan is cracking me up trying to talk "Valley" and even though she doesn't even know what she's saying, there's like a lot of funny stuff she says, and she's like totally into the fashion these days!(her words, not mine) Shopping for school clothes is like, the most fun EVER! lol I swear, the day she pulls out "Grody" or "Gag me", I will wet my pants laughing. So, here's a shot of my big boy, my ever growing Ryan...after he got ready for school yesterday, I snapped these few shots:

He's wearing his red high top converse (knock off) shoes, and a Super Mario shirt.

Cute as he is, I just can't allow the space between jeans and shoes (especially HIGH TOPS) to continue...just chalk it up to all the ridicule I received as a kid when it was in style, but I couldn't HELP it that all my jeans were too short for my long legs....emotional damage? Not much...lol

In my best valley girl talk:
"Like Mom, totally take my picture, and I'll like, strike a pose and VOGUE!"

Then after really looking at the length of his jeans next to his TOTALLY 80'S RED HIGH TOP CONVERSE SHOES, I realized that it was time to go up to the scary, and ultra cluttered attic (ugh), and dig out the totally awesome hand-me-downs from older cousin Lane! (THANK YOU AUNT MARY). So after a difficult climb to an attic that is half my height-HEY, TALL PEOPLE HAVE DIFFICULTIES IN SMALL ATTICS-, I found the bags and Ryan is set to get started the season wearing clothes that actually fit him~NARLY!

side note: hey! I'm getting better...3 posts in three days...wow!

Timing ISN'T everything...

2008-09-16T20:54:00.003-05:00

So the Lord has been teaching me about patience. Yep, not only did He provide me a job teaching preschoolers (sometimes, that is the ULTIMATE test of patience! lol), but the Lord has led us to put our house up for sale about 5 & 1/2 mnths ago and not one little bite has happened. I know this is "bad timing" when it comes to how the world views the market, but when a believer feels led by God to do something, do you honestly look at him and say "NO GOD, THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IS TERRIBLE RIGHT NOW, I DON'T THINK THAT IS A GOOD IDEA!"...I mean, come on! Who would truly do that?????
So despite the fact that we've had no "lookers" to our property (not surprised, really), despite the fact that we've done a facelift to the curb appeal of the house and painted shutters, trim and gutters, replaced doors, and fixed flower beds, and despite the fact that we have decluttered our home, only to clutter up a storage unit about 3 months ago that is costing us money every month...despite all that, we still have not had any interest in our property.
But through it all, God is teaching me about my dependance on Him. While I already am aware that I do depend on Jesus all the time, I think I have tried to micro manage even the Savior of the World. (Are you laughing yet?) So, yeah...I micromanaged to the point of getting the house on the market, to the point of getting new doors, new paint, and general repairs done around here, I micromanaged enough to get a storage unit close to our home so we could store the junk we don't use but don't want to part with for the mere reason that we quite possibly could use it in another home....yea right! I've even micromanaged God to the point that I have spelld out a time line for HIM! (insert raucous laughter here). Can you believe it? ME! I told God that the house didn't HAVE to sell right away because Megan was ok in school right now, but if He "could just please oh please get us moved by the spring of next year that would give us enough time to 1. sell, 2. buy, 3. move, 4. get settled, and 5. get Megan started in 3rd grade at a school of my top 2 choices.
So, when I truly stop and think about my prayers, God has been telling me to shut up. God has been telling me that even when I wasn't thinking about our situation (which are rare moments), He was thinking of it and he's already working on our solution. Everytime I get to worrying about that "time line" a bit too much, it seems it's a matter of a day before I get a message from God telling me to chill out, and telling me to let it go.
So, I'm letting it go....again.
Despite the fact that I am worried about all of the above, I am going to remind myself that I am dependant upon God to supply all my needs (Phillipians 4:19), and even when I am worried or frustrated about the time line...he is telling me to cast all my cares upon HIM (1peter 5:7). When the world is telling me that it is next to impossible to sell my house with the housing market being as bad as it is right now, God is tellng me that it's all in His plan and all things are possible! (Luke 18:27)
So, wether or not God is honoring my wish of this ridiculous time line I have set, or whether my timeline is something that God has predestined to work out for us, He is in control....and I'll take His plan over mine anyday!
Keep us in your prayers!

Quick Catch Up...

2008-09-15T21:35:00.000-05:00

I'm finding it harder and harder to keep this blog current...but I won't stop trying. Here is a quick catch up in the world of "Barrett"

FIRST: We're all in the swing of things when it comes to school. Ryan is loving his teacher in 4K, and I think God has blessed me with a wonderful group of 3K students. I am really excited about teaching and also excited for what Ryan will be learning this year! I can't believe it, but he will be learning to blend consonants and vowels together and by the end of the year, he should be able to read! CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE? It seems just yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital.....
Here are a few shots from the first week of school:

Beyond school, Megan started back to girl scouts this past week and there are lots of fun things planned...overnighter at the McWane center, flag ceremony at a local PTA meeting, Harvest Celebrations at Camp Coleman and many more!
My mom just got back from an over seas trip to PORTUGAL! Her boss invited her to go to a board of directors meeting for the company and she traveled by herself to Lisbon,Portugal as well as Paris! I am so proud of her because this was not easy for her as she has a fear of flying! She faced so many fears head on and is all the better for it! I picked her up from the airport last Monday afternoon and she was soooo glad to get home, as were we!
In a couple of weeks, I have my trip to Pensacola with the teachers from the school, and Jon is mulling over the idea of going camping the weekend I'm gone. I think that will be a great idea for them to have some fun while mom is away! I am very much looking forward to this trip...much more than I was last year. I have had a great time getting to know all the teachers, and the new ones at the school and there is a renewed sense of unity among us. I think this will be one of the best years at the school!
AND, we are still trying to sell our house! We really are anxious to do so but are aware that it's in God's hands. It seems every time I begin worrying about "progress", God sends me a sign that it's all in the works! Although no one is viewing our home in person, I have had two little signs in the last week that it's coming. We are going to keep following this path that the Lord has laid out for us, and be confident that he is working for our good! I'm excited about where our family will move, and what our home will look like, and where the kids will go to school, and who our neighbors will be and how we can be involved in our neighborhood and community. All of that is what we are looking forward to, but for now, we are going to remain planted where God has us and pray that we are blooming for his glory!
As you can imagine things are busy, busy, busy, and aren't' going to slow down! I will try to do a better job of blogging. I hope to do so, anyway.

We're still alive, and kickin'!!!!

2008-08-31T15:20:00.004-05:00

A quick, small little post...then I'll try to get back on track of regular postings....

Ok...Here's what's been going on that has prolonged my postings....(sorry to the one fan I have on this site...I know you've been disappointed, and my apologies Regina!)

We took in a Baron's baseball game at the first of August...Ryan was uniterested in the actual game, but thought the mascot was cool...Megan was all too concerned with getting hit in the head with a fly ball...needless to say, I don't think we'll go back anytime soon. The best part of the night was that it was 25 CENT hot dog night, and of course, the icecream in a Barons ball cap which was our take home souvineer!

In the much anticipated event of selling our home (praying everyday!), we have tried to "declutter" and we've put a good bit of stuff in storage. Sooooo, pray that we can sell our house soon and be relieved of that bill each month, because its actually sickening to have to PAY to store stuff you don't use!!!!

And then there was the start of school for Megan. This is going to be her final year at her school since it only goes to the 2nd grade. I can not believe that she has gone all the way through school from the age of 2 years to now. I always knew I'd keep her there for school, but WOW how 2nd grade has snuck up on us so fast! She has so grown, and I am so proud of her.

STAY TUNED! Tuesday starts the first day of K4 for Ryan, and for me teaching K3 at the school...so there will be more first day picks to come...

A little something....for your funny bone....

2008-08-16T11:27:00.003-05:00

I know it's been a long time since I have posted anything and the excuse is the same as always....BUSY! Between me working round the clock to get my classroom ready (which wouldn't be so hard if we didn't have to take EVERYTHING down at the end of the year which makes us start from scratch again), and getting Megan started in school, and being addicted to the Olympic coverage from Beijing...there's not been much time for blogging. So here is a peace offering (mainly for my mother in law who faithfully comes to my blog several times a day only to find that I have added nothing new...sorry Regina!)
Megan and Ryan have enjoyed watching some of the Olympics this year....could this be a sign of things to come? (I SERIOUSLY HOPE NOT!)

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Summer pics...

2008-07-21T13:20:00.003-05:00

Sharing a few photos of our crazy hectic and fabulous month of JULY!!

Swimming parties! We went to a birthday party for good friends of ours and the kids had a great time at the pool! Ryan liked sitting under this little waterfall area.

Birthday parties (yummy cake!) We've actually had lots of b'day parties to go to this month, and I think we may still be suffering from a sugar high because of it! lol

And, our favorite way to spend our time: Camping! Here is Jon and Ryan relaxing at Tannehill after we went to another friends' birthday party there.

Visiting with old friends! I finally got to meet Camden and he is soooo sweet! His eyes are just as beautiful as his Mother's!

After taking Megan to KidzCamp at church, Ryan and I had a special lunch together. His request was to eat "at Chips N Salsa", aka, any Mexican restaurant. I am always happy to oblige!

Summer is dwindling down....

2008-07-19T23:06:00.003-05:00

In just a few short weeks, the new school year will start, and with that a whole new bevy of possibilities and questions are running through my mind. How will Megan do in 2ND grade this year? Is Ryan really ready for K4 and learning to read? Am I going to have my classroom and yearly schedule worked out in time for the first day of school? I'm hoping for good and new friendships at work this year. Will our house ever sale and will we move in time for Megan to start 3rd grade in a decent school system?

With the school year rapidly approaching, we have been pulled into the full swing of the ending of our summer vacation. I am spending more and more time up at the school getting my new classroom cleaned out and decorated. My boss has finally officially hired my new cohort, so I am looking forward to getting to know her better. I am enjoying getting to know some of the other teachers that I didn't get to spend much time with last school year, and this time around, I am actually looking forward to the conference in Pensacola that the teachers always go to.

Another thing keeping us busy is some of the home improvements we've taken on. We're hoping to finalize everything this week (with some help from a good handyman...namely not my hubby!LOL) and I will take new pics of it all to share later:new doors, downsize with furniture, etc. Everything in the house has been in disarray, which is not all that out of the ordinary, but just more-so. Big bonus though is that we're actually getting things cleaned out and either sent to storage, or ready for a garage sale, or donation. I'm still working on it, and am far from done, but I've really cleaned out a lot of stuff! Even though there were lots of times that I thought the dust bunnies were going to take up residence in my nose and I'd never stop sneezing, I actually got all of it cleaned up behind the computer desk we were moving to storage....I am so excited and proud of myself! Now, if only I can keep the whole house clean...and don't let the mess pile up so big again! Who knew I could actually have a uncluttered home after cleaning out 10 years worth of junk!

Even though this has been a bit of a "work" weekend, last weekend we spent some good time with friends during 2 b'day parties in 2 opposite ends of the city. It may have been a long haul driving between them, but we all had a great time. One was a pool party, which is always a hit with my little fish/children, and the other was a "camping" party at one of the local campgrounds, which just reminded us that we really need to start planning that last camping trip of the summer before school starts....maybe that's what we can do next weekend...or the next.

So there is an update of all things "Barrett". Tomorrow I will try to share some photos, as I can't seem to download them tonight....could it be that I "cleaned" out so much that my computer doesn't know how to run on the lack of dust bunnies in this room?!?! Hmmmm.....

The Best American Holiday!

2008-07-05T18:46:00.002-05:00

One of the most fun holidays my famiy participates in is The 4th of July. Every since the kids were small babies, my mom has had a cook out at her house, and the kids swim in the pool, play games, and hang out all day together. In years past we have gone downtown to view the fireworks over Vulcan, but it has lost its lustre with us a bit. One the last year we went, we found ourselves surrounded by complete idots who had no regards or concerns for those around them, and they were shooting off bottle rockets within 10 feet of us. Call me crazy, but running from stray fireworks as they are blasting off while have 2 kids in tow is not my idea of a terrific experience. So, last year we didn't go at all, which made the kids sad and they were not about to let that happen this go. We brought all the kids inside and watched the local Fox 6 station's coverage of Thunder On The Mountain. I wasn't all that excited about the prospect, but it actually turned out great. The coverage was decent, and we didn't have to leave the comfort of Nana and Papa's house. The kids sat in front of Papa's big screen TV and "Oooh" and "Aaah" was abounding with each pop of fire in the sky. Sadly, we enjoyed the day so much that the thought of taking pictures of it didn't enter our minds until Papa pulled out his camera to capture us watching the fireworks tv show! I'll leave you with one shot as I bid you all a HAPPY INDEPENDANCE DAY WEEKEND!

The World according to Megan

2008-07-03T14:28:00.005-05:00

A couple of months ago, I gave Megan my old camera to play around with. She is always wanting mine and I do not want to turn her loose with it since it costs a pretty penny, so I gave her the old and nearly broken camera. She has had more fun with that camera than I ever did. Recently I found it and looked through the pics she had taken. While most of them are typical "kid pics" where someone's head is cut off, or she's taking a close up that is FAR too close up. But I thought I'd share of few of her shots....through the eyes of a child.

The stove...with 3 empty soda cans. Hey-this is a day it was actually clean!

Her bed. Or rather the ladder to her bed.

Granny came to our house and was hit with the flash!

Yep, her foot. She laughed so hard at this one.

Her booty. She's obsessed with taking pics of people's booty's. It's a kid thing I guess....

Our backyard? HA! It's a path at the Botannical Gardens

from her seat in the van...a pic of Mom as we've ridden about 2 houses down from ours.

Dad relaxing on the couch in his PJ's

The fridge. Because, who wouldn't want a pic of their fridge?
Later, she opened it up and took pics of the inside...but I'm not including those! Ha!

Posters on her wall.

So there's my post for the day...different. But fun. Now that she knows I made this post of all her pictures, she is currently running around the house taking more photographs. She'll want me to post more later on...yay.

Watch for GATORS!

2008-07-01T23:00:00.003-05:00

One of the fun things about the Gulf Park camping grounds was the fact that it was a great place to ride bikes. It's a flat park, and even has a paved bike trail that takes you throughout the state park...it's quite a long ride. The kids had a great time riding around the campgrounds and Jonathan and Megan took the bike path one morning to see where it went. They enjoyed the ride so much they insisted I go with them the next day, so I did. We found a black lagoon, which was cool to see, we saw HUGE butterflies all over the place. And perhaps one of the more intimidating parts was the swampy area that had warnings signs posted about an aligator habitat. This totally freaked Megan out and she made sure to pedal really fast through that area. But it wasn't dangerous, we never even saw anything. But who could when your cycling the speed of light! haha

She loved riding the path.

Can you tell she was a bit worried? Look at her expression! haha

It's not WHAT you know, it's WHO!

2008-06-26T12:59:00.008-05:00

One of the best appeals for us to go to Orange Beach on vacation is that Jonathan's dad and stepmom live in Foley...which is just minutes away. Since we rarely get to visit with them, it's always a priority to catch up with them while we are there. This past visit was no different. On one of the evenings down there, we went to The Warf because Mimi (Sonya-Jon's stepmom) was working at the Ferris Wheel. Since she works there, she gave us "The Mimi Special", which means we ride for free!!! Here's a couple of photo's:

The ferris wheel is so pretty all lit up at night.

Waiting to get on and full of smiles!

Ryan didn't like waiting in line-he wanted to get on NOW!

Last friday was Jonathan's birthday and he shares that day with his Dad as well. We made plans to celebrate the two guys' birthdays on Saturday, and what better opportunity for Lou (Jon's dad) to put his connections in place! Since living down there for the past 3 years, Lou has met many interesting people. One couple he knows owns a condo at the Caribe resort which is a fabulous place! We were able to visit the resort to swim in the pools which was a welcome retreat considering that's what the kids were missing most-swimming! The Caribe resort has HUGE pools, with large areas for kids to play. There is also a lazy river (sooo cool!), and waterslides! I was really surprised at Ryan and how eagerly he took to the waterslides. He tends to be a bit timid when trying new things and my first impression was that he would be too scared to go down...or that if he did, he might panic when he hit the water so quickly. Well, as you can probably guess, I WAS WRONG. He was down that slide before I could completely walk over to the pool and the first thing I heard him say after he was in the water was "THAT WAS AAWWWSOME! I GOTTA DO THAT AGAIN!!!" And he did it again. And again. And again! He had the best time and I was sooo proud to see him doing it. Megan had a great time too. She loved swimming and juming and sliding all over the place. It was a great place to go, and even though I am sure I could never afford to stay there, it's great that we were given that chance on Saturday.

The pool with waterslides

The kids with Papaw. (Ryan's being goofy...as always)

Megan on the lazy river

Ryan and Mimi on the lazy river.

So like the saying goes, "It's not WHAT you know, It's WHO you know". Free rides on the Ferris Wheel...thanks to Mimi! (And she let us use her exclusive restroom in her ticket booth, so we didn't have to go hunt it up in one of the shops). And a fabulous day at the Caribe Resort...thanks to Papaw!

It was a great trip and we would love to do it all again...SOON!

An interesting June, to say the least...

2008-06-24T18:06:00.006-05:00

Yeah, I know it's about time I updated this blog...however, between a weeks worth of VBS, a camping trip to the beach, swim dates at Nana's house, several trips to the library, and the occasional bum day at home, we have had quite an eventful month for the first of the summer. Here are a few highlights...some with pics:

Vacation Bible School: A week of exhaustive fun!

The second week of this month was dedicated to VBS at our church. The kids loved it! I signed up to help out with registration...which basically means I am a wimp and couldn't handle being stuck in a small classroom full of rowdy church kids for a week of my life. Yeah, I know, it's ONLY a week and it is pathetic of me. But I wanted my kids to go and experience it. It's so much fun for them. Here are a few pics of the fun:

BFF's! They were so happy to see each other every day.

Ryan won a Tshirt at Family Night on Wednesday

Megan and Chloe with their VBS teacher

Ryan loved the "jumpy things" that were available on Family Night.

Camping in Orange Beach-not so bad.

When Mom and Dad invited us to go with them, I had to eat my words. I can't tell you how many times I would pass those camp grounds down there and say "Why on earth would you want to come to the beach and camp...especially when you aren't even on the beach!" Well, since we had already taken a couple of trips to the beach, we treated it more like a camping trip than a beach trip. We had a blast! First off, the camp grounds were immaculate! The bath house was very clean! It even smelled clean when we went in! And every day, I watched a van load of park employee's pull up and 4 would get out and go inside to clean. I never saw scum on the tile walls in the showers, the toilets were clean, the sinks were clean...everything was clean. I was very impressed, because there is nothing worse than going camping and having a nasty bathhouse to use.
Anyhoo-there were lots to do...the public beach was only 2 minutes from camp but we only spent one day there. The jellyfish were in the ocean during this trip, and even though we only saw a couple, Megan had a panic attack when she thought one had stung her. It turned out that all she felt was a rather large school of small fish swimming around her legs. But it was enough to send her into a panic screaming rage! It was quite comical, really...but don't tell her I said that.
The other fun thing we did was ride bikes. We took the kids bikes with us, but Jon and I don't have them (yet). Nana and Papa let us use theirs and there is a nice paved bike trail that takes you all into the State Park. It was really nice,and Megan had a great time. So now, I have to have a bike for the next camping trip. Jon and I have already begun to think about where we'll go next and what bikes we want. Here's a slide of a few pics of our camping trip:

One more beach trip memory...

2008-06-15T20:41:00.004-05:00

One more accomplishment from our trip a few weeks ago is Ryan's new love for swimming...under water! I had to be the mean mommie and limit his trips down under because he has tubes in his ears and we didn't have ear plugs for him. I never thought to bring ear plugs because he'd never had an interest in going underwater before this trip...so basically, he grew a little more right before my eyes in just these last few days. I am so proud of him. He learned about kicking his legs to get back up to the top, and he was fearless! Of course this means I will be keeping another cautious eye out for him all summer, but I always have, so that is really nothing new. Here's a quick couple of video's of our fearless, brave and handsome little fish:

(the lines on the video are the sun reflections on the pool)

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGETY JIG!

2008-06-05T20:20:00.004-05:00

Well, I must say, I am so glad to be home! I wouldn't have thought so when we first left for the trip last week, but if you read my former post, you would probably agree with me, that our trip turned out to be more like the Griswolds vacation! We made it through with no more injuries, other than a slight sunburn. The kids and I are going down again in a couple of weeks with Nana and Papa so say a prayer that we can make it without any other drama's! As for Megan's finger, she's doing better with it, but she won't make a fist with that finger curled up, so we are going in for a recheck with our doctor tomorrow. She's probably fine, but the nail is still an ugly deep purple...she may still loose it, we'll have to wait and see.

Here are a few of my favorite photo's we took over the last week:

This pirate was outside a Piggly Wiggly in Port St. Joe...ironically, he looked like a former hairdresser of mine...haha

getting ready for our "family movie night" by watching a movie via Daddy's laptop.

The kids attacked Daddy and buried him!

The carnage continued...by piling seaweed on his head. The look on his face is his reaction when I told him that's the most hair he'd ever had on his head! LOL (good one, jen!)

We finally got to building that sand castle!

What kinda vacation IS this?

2008-06-01T21:01:00.004-05:00

I'd like to write and report that we are on vacation, at the beach, having a lovely time building sandcastles, and swimming in the pool. I'd like to...but I can not. First off, this is a working vacation for Jon. The origional plan for this "vacation" was that we would leave on Saturday, go to Mexico Beach, and Jon would report to work on Monday through Tuesday, and we return home on Wednesday...but as it always does, plans change. Alot. A WHOLE lot. As a matter of fact this trip in no way resembles the itinerary that was origionally intended. On Thursday of last week, he was told he had to go to Orange beach THAT NIGHT because he had to be on a job site at 6am Friday for an inspection at 8am...which would in theory mean he'd be back at our hotel by 11 am and we'd spend the afternoon together. But, as it turned out we didn't arrive in OB until midnight Thursday, he got on the job at 6am, inspector didn't show up until 4 O CLOCK that day, and the kids and I had spent an entire day at the hotel alone, without food and drink (until I decided (with kids in tow) to cross a busy four lane road to a BP station to find something to eat!! The kids did eat a decent breakfast in the hotel cafe, but I elected to skip breakfast thinking Jon would be back soon, and the fact that the restaurant was pretty pricy-$18 for the kids alone!) As you can imagine, we were all irritated that things worked out that way, but we decided to believe that things wouldn't get worse than that. HA! We laugh at that thought now! We spend an entire day driving to Mexico Beach on Saturday and got turned around a bit...thus eating up our beach time. But, that's ok...we'll make the best of it. We get to our new hotel, get checked in, and the kids and I go up to the room. We are not in the room for more than 5 seconds and I hear Megan screaming to the top of her lungs! As I am still trying to get stuff into the room, they have gone and opened the balcony door, which caused a huge wind draft with the hotel room door still being open...the balcony door has slammed shut on her fingers and she is in a complete panic! I finally got her calmed down after about 10 minutes, and realize after inspection that it's just one finger...she may loose the nail on this one. I thought that would be it. Well, at about midnight last night, she is writhing in pain in the bed with me, kicking me and screaming in her sleep. I got very little sleep all night with her being in pain, and me not having anything to give her...no tylenol, no ibuprofen, nothing. After Jon get's up, I inform him that we are not going to the beach immediately but we need to get her finger checked...it could be broken. Well, since there is absolutely NOTHING in Mexico beach, we had to drive 30-40 minutes into Panama City to find a doctor...and after a 3 HOUR WAIT we discover that she has a hairline fracture in her finger, and they want to "evacuate the fingernail" because there is a blood clot under it...they do that by heating up a needle, and poking a hole in the nail to drain the blood. Yeah...discusting and painful as it sounds, it pretty much was. But she was a real trooper and didn't cry one bit. They put her finger in a splint and told her no swimming today.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

We are at the beach, yet we can't go to the beach because we're in the doc office for 3 hours, and add the hour traveling time, and now she can't swim today.

What kinda vacation is this?

Quite simply one we won't soon forget!

Megan is doing fine...proud of heself for being such a big girl, as are her proud and exhausted parents.

Jonathan reports to work tomorrow and Tuesday.

Hopefully we'll get some fun outta this trip! Tune in to this blog, for there may be more drama to report. Until then....here's a picture of our wounded hero:

One more video of the camping trip

2008-05-28T10:31:00.001-05:00

See...they forgot all about getting muddy and decided it was all in fun. Haha.

Memorial Day slide show

2008-05-28T10:24:00.001-05:00

Here are a few photos from the weekend...

Memorial Day MEMORIES...

2008-05-27T19:41:00.003-05:00

I hope you all have had a restful weekend with an extra day off. Some people spend this time together for cookouts, some go to the beach, and some go camping. We did the latter. We joined my Mom and Dad camping up at the Ridge in Springville this past weekend, and took the kids with us. They had a great time riding with their Papa in the Razor and Jonathan was happy hogging the 4 wheeler all day long. I however, sat with Mom most of the day at the campsite, and we had a good time just sitting back, relaxing, and reading a book. What a wonderful weekend. I saw friends that I had not seen since I was a teenager, and that was nice...I made memories with my kids and my parents that we will all carry with us for a long time, and I had a great time relaxing. Thanks to my parents for inviting us to tag along for the fun!
Here are a few video's from the weekend...AND LET ME WARN YOU -THEY ARE PRICELESS! HAHA

Papa taking Megan and Ryan through the mud hole in the Razor:

And how did they feel about it, you ask?

...so, she doesn't like getting muddy-and Ryan's scream CRACKS ME UP!

But it didn't stop them from getting back on to ride again, AND they begged to go again all weekend...even cried when we packed up to come home!

Summer Lovin....havin a blast.

2008-05-20T15:48:00.005-05:00

Ok, Ok...I know I haven't posted anything in quite a while...but really, we've been extreeeemly busy! And what little time I've had since school was over last week, I've been on a mental vacation-meaning, I've done VERY little of anything for the last few days. I've been a bum. I've been a slacker. I've been catching up on sleep, rest, and yes, fighting my summer cold. It's inevitable. The summer cold hits, and makes it's rounds among us. Ryan was the first to catch it, I'm getting over it and Ryan's still got it. Jonathan on the other hand...he had to "one up" us all. He decided to skip the summer cold, and go into a full fledge outbreak of POISON IVY from head to toe. Being the good little motivated husband that he is, he worked in the yard this weekend, clearing out the overgrown areas of the backyard, trying to clean up and beautify everything since we're wanting to sell the house. Well, all that work has consequences. He is home from work today because his poor hands and fingers are totally swollen and he can't move them. A trip to the doc yesterday resulted in a shot, and 2 prescriptions, but he is actually worse now. I feel his pain...being highly allergic to it myself, I got it after doing yard wok about 12 years ago, and it was then that I swore if off and promised NEVER to do it again! Landscaper, I aint! Yard Work, I won't! So much for having a pretty manicured yard around here....the weeds will just have to win, I guess.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Today, I actually got out of the house with the kids. We packed a picnic lunch, and headed to the park. They had a blast playing around for about an hour or so. Here are a couple of shots I took today:

Then after the park, we walked into the library and signed the kids up for the summer reading program. I have really been battling Megan about reading lately. I want to encourage her to be a good reader, but for some reason, she went into a phase where she didn't want to read anymore. That was surprising me, since she's always loved to read. I finally figured out that she was intimidated by chapter books because it took so much longer to read them. She prefers the quick ending books, like Dr. Seuss, or her "Gigi, God's little Princess", etc. So, I decided that I needed to be a better example for her, and I need to read more books too. Lately, we've cut the TV off (gasp!), and had reading time. The Rules: both of the kids have to go get books to read, and Megan's has to be a chapter book. They can either read in the living room with me, or they can go to their bed. I tried letting them read outside, but it was too distracting for them because all they wanted to do was jump on the trampoline, or swing in the tire swing. Even though it was hard for them in the beginning (and yes, hard for me, because I really had to stick to my guns, and push it on them!), I can see improvements. Today at the library, we found a curio cabinet that had about 9 of the American Girl Dolls in them. Megan got so excited to see it and was thrilled to find out that they have the books there too. It will be great to check the books out there rather than purchasing them, but today's challenge was finding a book about the girl she wanted to read about, and finding the first in the series...we finally elected to read about "Julie" and unfortunately the first book wasn't available, but she really wanted the second...so who am I to say "NO" when she's BEGGING TO READ!? Wooo Hoo! VICTORY FOR MOM!
And what is my little angel doing right now?

Watching the dvd she checked out at the library...

Apparently, it was a small victory-and I still have some work to do. haha

SWEET LITTLE BROWNIE'S

2008-05-10T21:01:00.004-05:00

Megan has really enjoyed doing Brownies this school year. Last week was one of the last meetings, and the troop went to a local Assited Living center to visit with the Seniors. The brought each of them flowers, a box of girl scout cookies, and then brought books to read and share with each of the residents. Megan shared her's with a really sweet lady who kept giving her hugs, and kisses. She was so very impressed with Megan and complimented her reading many times. I took a pic of them together, and the lady asked me if she could have one! I will have to send one to the nursing home for her.

Overall, it was a nice experience for Megan. She enjoyed herself, and I must say that a tear came to my eye at one point when I saw her interacting with the residents. Brownie's has been very good for her this year, and she is looking forward to more fun in the future.

Here are a few pics:

I'm APPRECIATED! (as a Teacher)

2008-05-06T19:16:00.004-05:00

Today was a ~~good~~GREAT day! I was bombarded with kindness today as my precious little students arrived for class. This week is Teacher Appreciation week, and my sweet little angels arrived to class today with gifts in hand. And GOOD gifts too! Here are a few things I got:

LOTS OF CANDY! (Seriously, I think I brought home 500 pounds of candy...or at least that is what I will weigh if I eat it all!!!)
I also got a cookie cake, but between my class, myself and my kids at home, it's just about gone...but it was gooooood!

One of my mom's owns a Home Decor store in Springville, and she gave me this birdhouse from her shop, and a bag full of Diet Dr. Pepper's (my favorite drink), and Hershey Kisses.

Lot's of cards, and homemade cards, and about $60 in Gift Certificates to eat out!!!!! Now I need a babysitter so Jonathan and I can have a date night!!!

It is certainly nice to feel loved and appreciated. I have truly had the most wonderful experience teaching preschool this year, and I am so very excited to do it again next year. The best part is, I'm graduating up to K3 with my current class, so chances are that I will have a lot of them again! I think the Lord has wonderful things in store for us next school year. Please remember HillDale Christian School in your prayers, and all of the teachers. We need them!

GIRLS ONLY BEACH TRIP!

2008-05-05T16:16:00.005-05:00

I just got back from a long planned beach trip with 2 of my girlfriends and we had a WONDERFUL time! My boss was so good to us and let us rent her condo in Orange Beach this past weekend. We loved it and had the best time! It is really nice to get away for a few days and "be a girl"! Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in our day to day assignments...."Mom", "Wife", "Teacher", "Church Responsibilities", "Girl Scouts", etc. I have learned over the last year how important it is for me to take some ME TIME. It reminds me that I am special-because it is a sacrifice that my husband makes to be able to alott that time for me. It reminds me how good it feels to have fun, to hang out with friends, and to realize that I am not drowning in my many roles...at least not alone. It allows me to make real connections with other friends that I hope are going to be around for life. As I said this weekend, I would love to go every year, and when we are in our 80's and still having our "girl time", what wonderful memories we'll have.

Thank You to my dear friends for going to the beach and helping me to create some wonderful memories! I LOVE YOU GALS!

Thank you to my WONDERFUL husband for taking on all the responsibility of the weekend...especially when the realtor called on Friday afternoon and informed him that she wanted to show the house that afternoon!...and it was a mess!...and he had to rush home and clean it all up! And I think he did a good job too!

Here are a few pics from the weekend of us GIRLS having fun!

Louie Gigliano

2008-04-30T22:54:00.001-05:00

Ever heard of Laminin? My boss sent me to You Tube to watch this video, and it really spoke to me. I love it! I've always known that Jesus held me together, but WOW!

2008-04-30T22:26:00.002-05:00

I AM…

I am, A WIFE, A MOTHER, A DAUGHTER AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LOVE, A SISTER, A GRAND-DAUGHTER, A NIECE, A COUSIN, A FRIEND TO ALL. I AM A TEACHER, A STUDENT, A YOUNG GIRL AND A GROWN WOMAN. I AM CONFIDENT AND SCARED, TERRIFIED AND EXCITED. I AM LOVING, AND CARING, THOUGHTFUL AND HOPEFUL, OPEN AND HONEST. I AM SICK AND TIRED AND FULL OF ENERGY AND LIFE. I AM SHY AND FRIENDLY, AND CAREFUL AND CARELESS. I AM BROKEN AND WHOLE, I AM MISUNDERSTOOD, AND SOMETIMES NIAVE AND MISLEAD BUT I AM LOYAL. I AM HARD WORKING, AND DETERMINED, BUT A LITTLE SCARED ON THE INSIDE. I WISH ON STARS, AND DREAM MY DREAMS. I PRAY TO GOD-THE MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, AND WORSHIP JESUS THE GIVER AND SALVATION OF LIFE EVERLASTING. I CRY MY TEARS, AND SMILE ALL THE WHILE. IF I AM HURT I SPEAK IT, IF I AM HAPPY I SING IT. I LISTEN TO OTHERS AND SPEAK TRUTH AS I SEE IT OR AS I HAVE LEARNED IT TO BE SO. I WALK THROUGH FIRE FOR THE ONES I HOLD DEAR, AND I PROTECT, PRAY AND SERVE THEM AS BEST I KNOW HOW. I BELIEVE IN PASSION, BUT ACKNOWLEDGE TRUE LOVE AS THAT OF THE LORD’S INVENTION. I AM NOTHING WITHOUT MY SAVIOUR, AND HE IS EVERYTHING TO ME. I AM BLESSED AMONG CREATION AND FAVORED BY GOD. I BELIEVE WHAT I BELIEVE, AND DECLARE IT AS TRUTH. I BELIEVE THAT IF ANYTHING IS WORTH DOING, IT’S WORTH DOING RIGHT…BUT I CAN ALSO ACCEPT “GOOD ENOUGH” AS PERFECTION. ALL I WANT IS AFFIRMATION, AFFECTION, AND APPROVAL. I CRAVE LOYALTY, AND LOVE FROM THOSE DEAR IN MY LIFE.

I AM A CHILD OF GOD,

SAVED BY GRACE,

REDEEMED BY CHRIST.

I AM WHAT I AM…

Botannical Gardens & Pictures...

2008-04-30T19:09:00.006-05:00

After the zoo snooze, we went across the street from the zoo to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. It has been so many years since I was a visitor at the Gardens. As a matter of fact, the last time I remember going there was for my 8Th grade prom in 1988!!!! (yeah, we had a prom then.) The girls got to work on a new "try it" patch at the gardens by planting seeds, and learning a little bit about the gardens. They did leaf rubbings, planted beans, planted seeds for other herbs and vegetables, and explored the gardens. It was actually quite nice. I enjoyed walking around the gardens and looking at all the different plants-even though I had not a clue what I was looking at unless there was a sign telling me what it was!

I know lots of people take their children there and have professional photographers take their pictures, but since we don't have the money to do that, I would like to try to get Jonathan to try to get some pics there of the kids. Since he has his pretty big camera now, he should be able to do it. I envision them in white shirts, khaki pants/shorts and big smiles. I even suggested to Jon that he do this over the weekend while I am gone to the beach...but the thought of having to fix Megan's hair just sends chills up his spine. Plus, being a dad, he probably wouldn't think to make sure they match, there is no dirt or food on their faces, and no stains on their clothes. The stains on the outfits might prove to be a bit challenging for even me-Megan has a couple of options, but Ryan is a carnivore, so all of his clothes has remnants of his meals on them. (Why use a napkin to wipe cheese curls off your fingers when you have a perfectly good shirt?). Maybe he'll do something like that for me, and then again, maybe not. (I did kinda request if for Mother's day-we'll see.) But I'd also want to do a family picture, so maybe that kinda thing is better left to when I can plan it all out and we can go together. I'm going to have to plan it soon though because it's going to get HOT before you know it and sweaty kids make bad pics! (so do sweaty moms who don't like being outside!) ha ha

Planting her seeds.

She's proud of them.

Doing leaf rubbings.

I gave her my old camera to take pics with.

preeeetty.

Brownies ZOO SNOOOOOOZE!

2008-04-28T15:53:00.003-05:00

Well, Friday night was the big nite. The night Megan has been looking forward to every since she joined her Brownie group and her troop leader announced that they'd be spending the night at the zoo! OH What fun....for a Dad to take a little girl. But the thing is...DAD wasn't allowed to go. Just Moms. OH what joy. That meant IIIIIII had to do it! I don't mind camping. I can handle that. But at the ZOO?!?!? Excuse me, didn't a tiger get loose and attack some people over the Christmas holidays? Now, I have to go sleep in the same vicinity of these exotic and rather LARGE animals?
Calm down Jenny.
We pitched our tents in the children's play area. It actually turned out quite nice. We were able to get most of us all in the same area. We got a night tour of the zoo, and our tour guide took us over to the Lions, the White Bengal Tiger, the monkeys, the black rhino, the croc's and the camels. I think we saw more animals on the night tour than on any day light tour of the zoo! The animals were up and walking around...and yes...roaring all night long. After our tours, and our animal shows, we headed back to camp at about 11pm and lights out at 11:15. I couldn't go to sleep. Any guess why? Yep. The Lions were talking and roaring all night. One of the other Moms and I stayed up pretty late (like, 1:30 am!) just talking and trying to make it through the evening. The wake up call the next morning came really early...6am! We ate our breakfast and were out of the zoo by 7am. Then it was over to the Botanical Gardens for our troop to work on a "Try It" badge there. I will blog later about the rest of the weekend. In the meantime, here are a few pics:

American Idol Review of David Cook-HE ROCKS!

2008-04-18T00:14:00.005-05:00

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of the show American Idol...I mean, if you know me at all, you know I've been obsessed with it every since the beginning. And even though I have not enjoyed every season of the show (Season 3 and Season 6 were my least faves), I am totally in love with the current season. There is soooo much talent this year! I have literally loved everyone in the Top 10 this year...yes, even the country girl, Miss Krisy Lee Cook has a great voice...but I must say, it was definatly her time to go this week!
Anyway, I am completely blown away by each of the contestants for one reason or another, but none, and I do mean NONE of them hold a candle to David Cook. He is the one to beat! He is awesome! I admit that I was not a big fan of his in the beginning...and let me allow myself to be totally transparent and superficial....but the reason was mainly because of his hair. I HATED his hair when he first came on the show. I just didn't see the point of having a reverse comb over and having bangs that started from the back of your head, with a mass of spiked turkey feathers poking up everywhere else....
But then, he did it. He won me over during the Top 20 week where they were competing to be the Top 16. I didn't have high hopes when I first heard he was coming out singing Lionel Richie's ballad "Hello"...but who would. Then he sang, and it ROCKED:

He even did a cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" which I know it was not "origional" but none the less, he still OWNED it!

And every week since, I have soooo looked forward to hearing what he was going to do next! He is the KING of doing cover songs, and making you feel like you've never heard them before! Again, I was a little worried when I heard this past week was Mariah Carey's songs, and she was the mentor...and to make me gasp even more-He was singing "Always Be My Baby"...you know, the very popular, up tempo song of hers? Yeah...well, He ROCKED it out! Had a very Edwin McCain feel to it...I totally loved it and he made my heart "swoon". He's changed the hair style a bit (thank you AI Hair and Make up team) and I am now his 1 fan! David will be this year's winner if I have anything to do with it!

Here's his performance from this week:
Alway's Be My Baby:

Girls Night at Sips N Strokes

2008-04-11T23:34:00.002-05:00

Tonight was "Girls Night Out" and we went to Sips N Strokes in Trussville. We all had a great time, and I really look forward to doing it again...although I think I must choose a painting with a little easier skill level. It seems that we found out AFTER we had finished our painting that tonights lesson was a little higher on the difficulty scales, since we had so many paints to blend, etc. We all had a blast, and I promptly hung my painting once we got home...but it may end up in a more inconspicous place...it's not as good as it should have been. But for my first one...I like it OK.
For more info on Sips N Strokes, CLICK HERE!
Here is a slide of a few pics from our evening...enjoy!

PRAISE GOD! OUR HOUSE IS ON THE MARKET!

2008-04-11T11:43:00.006-05:00

One prayer at a time...if you know me at all, you know how long I've been griping and complaining about wanting and NEEDING to sell our house! I've lived here for 10 years and my husband has lived here even longer than that. I am attatched to our house in some ways...its our first home, it's the place we brought both of our babies home from the hospital, it's the place I've created memories with my kids.

But, it is just a house.

Our HOME is wherever we live.

Jonathan has been promising me since last year that 2008 was going to be our year. He said we'd look at putting the house up after the first of the year, and maybe actually do it in the spring. Well, when January 1 hit, I did too. I kept bringing it up, relentlessly. I am more ready than ever, and my goal was to get him on board too....he resisted. And resisted. And finally, I enlisted the troops...whenever conversations would turn to the subject, I was able to get our friends to agree with me (it wasn't hard, haha). So, after talking with someone Sunday who recommended our agent, we emailed her, and she came over last night.

Our house is now, OFFICIALLY for sale.

We signed the paperwork, she gave us a "Honey Do" list to work on the house

....and she pounded the hugest sign in our yard.

It was really exciting!

Before she left, she hit me with a question that I wasn't really prepared for

"When do ya'll want to start looking?"

LOOKING?

Oh, wow! Yeah, well...I don't know. I would love to look now...but we have to sell this one first.

I really hadn't thought of this angle...my whole focus is selling this house, and I only dream of what we want out of a house and where we want to move. We elected to wait until we got a bite on the house before we go looking...When time comes to look, now THAT will be fun!!!

Did I mention I'm excited?

Idol Correction?????

2008-04-10T22:13:00.002-05:00

Hmmm...tonight's show was the elimination episode. Always a heartbreaker show. But before the booted contestant get's the bad news, they always have one last number, and tonight it was the same one that they sang last night..."Shout To The Lord". Only this time, they did sing "My Jesus". I'd be curious to know why they made the change this time....was it because they had complaints, or they made a mistake, or what? Whatever the reason, I was certainly glad to hear them sing the song the correct way and proclaim the name of Jesus LIVE on one of the biggest television shows in our history.

Idol leaves Jesus out...

2008-04-10T00:28:00.006-05:00

Did anyone watch the Idol Gives Back show tonight? First off, PRAISE THE LORD for what they are doing...it's really a great thing. Such a huge amount of money being used in such HUGE humanitarian ways. I enjoyed the show for the most part...well, the parts I watched. You see, since God gave man the knowledge and ability to create one of the most wonderful technological advancements, my life has gotten a bit easier when it comes to TV. I was not bogged down watching the entire 2 & 1/2 hour show tonight...I zipped right through most of it and only watched the parts I was interested in! That fast forward and rewind button is a beautiful thing! THANK YOU TIVO!
For anyone who did tune into the show, what did you think of the last musical number performed by the idol contestants? Were you surprised? Were you pleased? Were you aware of what they left out? For those that didn't watch, the idols were singing "inspirational" songs this week during the competition portion of last nights show...tonight, they did a musical number to "SHOUT TO THE LORD". When I heard Ryan Secreast introduce that the idols were singing that song, I shouted "WOW! I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY'RE SINGING THAT!". And then my mind thought of all the people watching idol at that moment and how they were being exposed to "Jesus" by listening to that song! It's such a powerful song. Such powerful words. But they left out, what I consider, to be the most important part of that song....the name of Jesus! The person that the whole song was written about! Here are the lyrics for anyone who does not know them:

Shout to The Lord

Darlene Zschech

My Jesus,

My Savior,

Lord, there is none like You;

All of my days

I want to praise

the wonders of Your mighty love.

My comfort,

my shelter,

Tower of refuge and strength;

let every breath,

all that I am

never cease to worship You.

Shout to the Lord,

all the earth,let us sing

power and majesty,

praise to the King;

mountains bow down and the seas will roar

at the sound of Your name.

I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,

forever I'll love You,

forever I'll stand,

nothing compares to the promise I have in You.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just the lyrics of that song say so much...and it hit me like a big brick wall when I realized that they weren't singing it to, or about Jesus. They changed the song so that it would not "offend" anyone. Why else leave out the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior of all mankind, Son of God and Son of Man, Perfector of our Faith and the slaughter for our sins. Why would "Jesus" offend anyone? Hmmm, maybe because He's Truth. Maybe because He says there is "NO OTHER WAY to the Father, but by ME". Maybe because so much of the world has bought into the "me" mentality and are following in the steps of Oprah Winfrey and her Godless faith (click here to go to a video on You Tube about Oprah and her "answers")

The idols lyrics were more vague. They could fit any god. Instead of leading off the song with the first lyric of "My Jesus", the lyric was changed to "My Shepherd, My Savior, Lord there is none like you". I guess some would say I'm being a bit too picky about this...but I say to you, if I'm being too picky, then what was the harm of singing the song the way it was written and use the name of Jesus?

Without JESUS that song would never have been written in the first place!

Well, there. I'll leave it at that.

I welcome your comments, but I warn "anonymous" critics...claim your name or I won't approve your comment...that's a big pet peeve of mine. Don't hide behind anonymous if you really want to give an opposing opinion.

RYAN

2008-04-07T12:35:00.002-05:00

These last few months have been getting a little bit emotional for me. I'm starting to realize that I no longer have "babies"! Ryan's birthday was a little more than a week ago and he turned 4 years old...which I am on one hand SO proud of! I can't believe it's been 4 years since we took a ride to the hospital to be enduced and that sweet little boy was brought into this world. It's no secret that he's had me wrapped around his little finger all his life. I'm definatly a little softer on him than I was for Megan at that age. But it's certainly not any other reason than the parenting one...I'm just realizing as I work my way through raising my children, that some things aren't as important as I once thought...even the little things kids do. Unfortunately my first born is my "trial child"...we try something and see how that works. If it comes up with Ryan, sometimes he get's the more lenient method. I also think Ryan is a "softer hearted" child when it comes to being disciplined. Most of the time, the tone of my voice is enough to send him over the edge in tears because he doesn't like me to be "mad" at him (or at least that's what he says while crying). I am so enjoying being a mother...and quite frankly, it's the only thing I can think of all my life that I wanted to "be". I do not recall dreaming of the day I'd grow up to be a career woman. Sure, I dreamed of being a ballerina, or a nurse, or a teacher. But those dreams changed with the wind, none of them were grounded. But to be a MOM! I was practicing that role very early in my life. I wanted to have children to take care of, and all of my baby dolls, and cabbage patch kids, and barbie's were all ways of "practicing" for my future MOMMY role. I've heard that a child's play with baby dolls, stuffed animal toys, etc is a good indication of how well a child has been loved and parented. I'm sure that was true in my case, and I do see it in my own children. There are certain toys they have that are their "babies"! Megan has a Winnie the Pooh bear that she got from Disney World at 11 months old and it's has spent only a few nights away from her snuggled embrace since. (We left him at Mimi and Papaw's in Gulf Shores one time, but got him back within the week because of the sheer devastation for all involved!). Ryan's love is his Mickey Mouse. There are several stuffed animals that sleep in his bed every night, but the main one that get's the snuggle spot in the bed is Mickey. Mickey also goes to school with him for nap time. Ryan will be a good friend to anyone, because he is so loyal. I see it in his play. He will be a good boyfriend and husband to a girl one day, because I am the fortunate one (for this time in his life) that get's to soak up all his hugs and kisses. He will keep you laughing, because he has his dad's sense of humor, and his laugh is contagious! It comes from deep down in his belly and when you hear it, you can't help but laugh too! He's such a blessing in my life, and I love him so dearly! He's my sweet baby boy!

The talking "jenny" stain....

2008-03-30T22:37:00.004-05:00

This cracks me up! Have ya'll seen that Tide commecial with the "talking stain"? Jonathan and I laugh at it all the time, and now, I can make myself the talking stain! Yeah, I know..."sounds" just like me, huh? hahaha
Play the video, and laugh along...hahaha

The "American Girl" phenom...

2008-03-30T14:41:00.003-05:00

I thought I would post a little more about our experience at the American Girl Boutique and Bistro in Atlanta. We had a great time, as you can figure out from the slide show in the below post. Here's how it all came about:

Megan had been talking about wanting an American Girl doll for several months. Actually we saw the special on Oprah right before Christmas, and it peaked both of our interests. I really had not heard a lot about the American Girl dolls, and to be quite honest, never thought Megan would have an interest. Of all the baby dolls she's ever had, she's never played with them a whole lot. She's had several different ones, she's had all the accessories: bed, changing table, bath station, high chair, potty chair, stroller, and lots of bottles and bibs and clothes to play with...but she still didn't play with her dolls quite as much as I thought she would. I remember dolls being a big part of my play time as a kid. I had all kinds, baby dolls, cabbage patch kids, adoption dolls, flower kids, etc. I had names for each of them, and I actually still have them...I passed them on to Megan and they currently sit in her room;rarely played with. So when she saw the special on Oprah and expressed a slight interest, I didn't think much about it. It did, however, peak my interest greatly, and I began researching the dolls on the web. Megan caught me one day and found all the different accessories for the dolls interesting and "cute" as she said. An interest was there, but not enough for her to even ask for a doll for Christmas. So, I let it go. After all, the dolls' were only a minimum of $90 each, and why pay that much for a doll that she wouldn't even care about. Or so I thought.

Fast forward to January when school is back in session. The teacher invites the kids in her class to bring a toy to school for show and tell every Friday during the month. 2 of her very best girlfriends in her class brought their American Girl Dolls. So guess what happened. Megan came home telling me that her two friends had dolls, and she's ready for one too! I have to admit, my heart leaped. As a mother who loved dolls as a child, this is the kind of thing that would be right up my alley! But again, as a mother who doesn't have a whole lot of money sitting around, I wasn't about to spend $90plus on a doll that she might not really have an interest in. My strategy was simple. I showed her the dolls online, looked through the site explaining what the dolls were all about, etc. Then I let it go. I didn't bring it up again. But Megan did. Quite often. And each time she did, we would go to the site. I drilled it in her head that this doll is very expensive, and if she were to get one, I better not find it lying in the floor of her room where she just threw it down! It had to be taken care of! BIG TIME! Like it was a member of our family. The only thing she has ever loved that much is her pooh bear she got when she was 11 months old at Disney World. She has slept with that bear every night of her life, carried it on every vacation, to all the "show and tell" days at school, and treated him like a member of the family. I told her that her American Girl doll had to be treated that special. "Oh, I will Mama! I promise! She'll be just like my SISTER!". After talking to Jon, and forewarning him of the cost, etc, I explained my plan. I wanted to take her to the store and restaurant in Atlanta for her birthday present. Pretty steep, maybe. But, I justified it this way: We had actually returned one of her big Christmas presents back (a computer game that crashed my computer every time she used it) and gotten the money for it, which was about $60. She was upset at first, until I told her that we'd get something else. Combine that with a birthday present, and save up a little cash, and we could do it. I expected some resistance...but to my suprise, Jonathan was great about it! He was actually all for it! We booked a hotel right across the street from the North Point Mall in Alpharetta, and headed to our weekend getaway on Friday, March 21st. After arriving, Megan had her doll picked out in no time at all. We paid for it, and got her out of the box so Megan could carry her around. We had made reservations for the Bistro, and when it was our turn to go, I was really blown away at how they really "catered" to the doll!!!

"May I have your name please?" asked the hostess

"Barrett, reservations for 2" I respond.

"And how many dolls will be dining with you?" She asked.

I have to admit, I was somewhat taken aback by this! I knew Megan would bring her doll in with her to the bistro, but Ididn't expect to see what was coming next.

"One" I replied.

The hostess then get's 2 Menu's out of the box in front of us, then reaches under her table to get a mini menu FOR THE DOLL!!! It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud! Then she walks over to a shelf, and gets a HIGH CHAIR FOR THE DOLL so it can sit next to Megan at our table.
"OH HOW CUTE" I am thinking! I am eating this up! Reliving my childhood at that very moment and loving every minute of it!

The hostess has Megan place her doll in the chair and when the doll's shirt and skirt get pulled up slightly I am amazed at the fuss that the hostess makes over the doll.

"Oh let me help you!", and she begins smoothing the dolls clothes down again. Again, it's all I can do to keep from cracking up laughing in front of her! She attatches the doll to the table right next to Megan and then places our menu's in front of us. And yes-the doll got it's menu standing up in front of her too!

The food was OK. I wasn't overly impressed, but I'm paying more for the experience, not the taste of the food. We watched several girls celebrate their birthday's there, and Megan was so excited when if finally came her turn to have "Happy Birthday" sung to her.

Overall, it was a great day. I got to make a really wonderful memory with Megan, and relive some of my love of my childhood all at the same time. Megan is taking really good care of her doll, whom she named Miley. (Yep, she's a Hannah Montana fan for sure!). Right now, she is obsessed with wanting to buy other stuff for her doll. More clothes. Furniture. She wants the doll to have the pet cat named Licorice. She wants her doll to like soccer, so she is asking for a soccer uniform for her. She also thinks her doll would like to be an ice skater like Mia, the current doll of the year, so she is asking for all her furniture. (Again, it takes all I can to not laugh in front of Megan, but we are taking this soooo slowly.) I find myself getting all wrapped into this too! I would like to get her a set of PJ's that she and her doll can wear and match. I've also seen a Brownie uniform for her doll, and part of me really wants to get her that! We'll see. Whatever the case, she loves all things American Girl...right now. I am waiting to see if this interest is a fad, or if it will last. She is already planning a sleep over with her friends, and wants them to bring their American Girl dolls with them. If it does last, it's a phase I can get on board with!

So everyone out there that has a daughter-I say it's worth the investment. The dolls are a little pricey, but hold their value and are very durable dolls. If you teach your child how to take care of it, they will treasure the doll for a long time. I say it's a MUST to take your daughter to the store and restaurant. One day, I want to go to the one in Chicago and let her go to the theatre there. We'll see...

Our Trip to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro

2008-03-28T22:14:00.001-05:00

Playing Catch-Up...

2008-03-26T22:10:00.003-05:00

Below are 5 Slide Shows of pics especially for my dear Mother In Law, whom has been patiently waiting to see her grandkids on Spring Break at the Beach...Hope you enjoy Regina!
I have tons more photos of our weekend in Atlanta, but alas, those will have to wait! I have to download them from Jonathan's camera, which will take forever since he uses such a high resolution, and then combine (and rename) the ones from my camera. It's all a very time consuming process, but I will get it done!
We haven't seen a whole lot of Jonathan since we got back from our 2 quick little vacations. He's been working a lot of long hours because he has his back to the wall with big deadlines. Looks like he's going to need another vacation after he makes it past this one!
Anyhoo-be sure to scroll down, and view all 5 posts and slides!
Later~

Our last day at the beach...

2008-03-26T22:07:00.001-05:00

More pics...are you sick of them yet?

2008-03-26T21:48:00.001-05:00

Hanging out in our Hotel room...

2008-03-26T21:33:00.001-05:00

A few sunset Beach pictures...

2008-03-26T21:26:00.001-05:00

Finally...a slide show! Our trip through Montgomery...

2008-03-26T21:16:00.001-05:00

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

2008-03-22T21:57:00.004-05:00

Well, we are finally back home after a quick, and fun filled overnight trip to Atlanta. I will blog more about the American Girl store later, but for now, I wanted to post a pic of the kids with the Easter Bunny at the Atlanta Zoo today. We have had the best family time all weekend! We all loved the zoo today because we got to see some animals that Birmingham doesn't have...like Panda Bears chewing on Bamboo (did you know they will eat up to 220 POUNDS of Bamboo in one day!?), Kangaroo, which we learned will jump up to 29 feet in one leap, and the wart hogs and meerkat, which the kids were all too excited to inform the zoo workers that their names were "Timone" and "Pumbah" (from the Lion King). The zoo employees were very helpful standing about the animal exhibits and answering questions, or offering little tidbits of information. One of our last stops at the zoo today was to visit with the Easter Bunny. The kids were very excited to see him, and we were able to snap a quick photo....

We'll have more photo's of us at church tomorrow at the "Flowered Cross" that our church always does...provided Jonathan will actually turn over his wonderful camera so someone can take the photo like he wants. I am trying to convince him to take the tripod. He's very protective over that thing! He won't even let me hold it for long, or take very many pictures! He thinks he's the only one that can do anything with it! Haha!

Anyway, Happy Easter and Resurrection Day tomorrow!

Jen

Meet our new addition...

2008-03-21T21:36:00.004-05:00

Megan finally got her "dream come true" (her words, not mine!) We went to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro today in Atlanta and she picked out the doll she'd been wishing for the last few months. She chose a "Just Like You" doll which shares many of her features, with the exception of her eye color...it was just impossible to get a doll with brown hair and blue eyes, so her doll has brown eyes. At first Megan was a little concerned about it. That is, until she laid eyes on her....and when she did, Megan was sooo excited! We got her the doll, and a stand to keep her safe and clean when she's not playing with her. Megan has already named her Miley (but you can't guess why?!), and has informed us all that we are now a family of 5! I have to admit, this is something that I would have LOVED to do as a child, so to have the opportunity to give it to Megan was so fulfilling for me! I had a great time dining with the "girls" in the bistro. I will include a post about all that, and include a slide show later, but for now, here is Miley's debut into the Barrett Family-

More Pics...This time, of the beach

2008-03-21T20:47:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the beach this past weekend...they're coming in slowly. We're currently on our "American Girl" excursion and there will be plenty of pics about that too...but for now...

The sand was soooo cold at night! But that of course doesn't stop the kids from wanting to build castles!

Thank the good Lord the pool was heated because even though it was about 72 degrees outside, the wind was horrible and made it seem so much cooler! You were actually warmer in the water than outside of the pool!

Granny-I'll share more beach pics with you later...I just don't want to post em all here...you are my most faithful blog reader, but I know that ANYBODY can pull this up and see it...sooooo....

Pics from the weekend...

2008-03-20T19:24:00.007-05:00

Here are a choice few photos that I know you've been dying to see (any by you, I mean Regina-the only person who probably reads this blog! haha)

On the way down we decided to take our time and stop in Montgomery at the capital building. Megan and Ryan both had a great time running around the grounds, which was totally vacant since it was a Sunday and everything down town is closed! Perfect photo ops!!!

We're hoping that one day Ryan can actually stand still and smile at the camera when we ask him to. Right now, it's just a little too much for his nearly 4 year old body to handle...thus the silly poses he gives us.

Ahh, yes. Sweet girl has had a camera shoved in her face often enough to know just how to pose and smile! She went through the phase that Ryan is in now, which is what gives us the hope we have as stated above.

More pics to come soon...It just takes FOREVER for them to download from the camera, and then upload to the site because of the resolution that Jon uses on his camera. It does take nice pictures though.

The Barrett Beach Bum's and Bama Bound!!

2008-03-18T18:03:00.005-05:00

Well, as I sit and type this, I am also driving down the road with my family on my way in from the quickest beach trip I've ever taken! Jon's cell phone can act as a modem and has allowed me access to the internet while we are driving through the southern portion of Alabama...Dothan to be exact. I found out on Friday evening that we would be leaving on Sunday morning to go to the beach with Jon for a few days while he had a job to check on in Port St. Joe, Fl. We stayed in Mexico beach...which is perfect for spring break since it's far away from EVERYTHING! There is literally nothing down there. It is so quiet, and family oriented, and just what I love out of the beach experience! When I go, I don't like to be around crowds...I don't like all the filth that tends to come with party-going, beer guzzeling, niave and down right trashy teens and college students. Panama City would have been next to impossible to have a quiet vacation...not to mention NO VACANCY on such a short notice. We called our hotel on Saturday just to be sure we could get in and they assured us that they would have plenty available for us, since they don't attract the Spring Break crowds being so far away from everything....aaah....music to my ears!
So, we left Sunday and took our time getting down there. We made a quick stop in Montgomery, Alabama, and took pics of the kids at the Capital. I personally have never been there, so it was interesting and pretty to see. Megan had a blast and can't wait to get back to school and show her teacher the pictures of her standing on the capital steps. Not to mention on the way back in to the state on our way home today, we stopped at the first Alabama rest stop and the kind ladies at the info desk gave her a HUGE poster of the State Capital and told her to give it to her teacher and hang it in the classroom. Megan was ecstatic! She can't wait...
We got a book of Alabama "facts" and played a little trivia game...but the best and most surprising part was when our little Ryan informed us that "Bob Wiley" is the governer, and the "state birwd is the wellohamma" (state bird is the yellowhammer)...when asked how he knew that...he told us "Mrs. Hunt told it to me". Remind me to thank Mrs. Hunt for teaching him all the little facts about the state that I never even thought to teach him! haha
Anyway, we just passed a sign that says "Montgomery 83miles"...so we have along way to go...but at least I have the internet to keep me busy as the kids watch their 2nd movie of the day, and Jon keeps an eye out for the speed limits, and hidden cops so we don't get a ticket...it's bad enough we have an expired tag right now! (never got a notice, but we're getting the tag renewed this week...we're only 2 weeks late! gimmie a break! haha)
I'll post pictures later, as I don't think I can make it happen right now...but we got some really good ones.
Anyhoo-until next time!

Didn't know we were so talented, did Ya?

2008-03-14T20:14:00.002-05:00

Don't send a lame eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

OH CHAAALIE!

2008-03-05T22:21:00.003-06:00

Recently, Megan began trying to talk with a bit of an accent. A British one. I'm not really sure why, and who she heard talking this way to peak her interest, but she was actually cracking me up. I told her about this video that I saw on You Tube, and let her watch it. Both of the kids thought it was so funny, and laughed so much! There are even other video's of other people "acting" this part out! People are so strange...as am I for watching it, laughing at it, letting my kids watch it, and now posting it here for your strange enjoyment as well....

The Tooth Fairy Delivered!!!!

2008-03-05T13:13:00.002-06:00

EXTRA! EXTRA!

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Missing Tooth does not keep the tooth fairy away!

Megan found a nice $5 in her tooth pillow this morning!

Turns out, you don't need to actually leave the tooth for her!

Megan is super excited, and is ready for round 2 with the other bottom tooth.

It's not loose yet, but she's wiggling it around trying to get it that way!

Phew! What a day/night/week it's been!

THE INCREDIBLE DISAPPEARING TOOTH!

2008-03-04T19:35:00.005-06:00

Well...the tooth is gone.

LITERALLY GONE!

I made chicken soft tacos for dinner tonight to try to keep Megan from having to chew on hard foods with her newly loose tooth! After about the 2nd or 3rd bite, she was freaking out about her mouth bleeding, and low and behold, her tooth was gone! No where to be found! We looked in her taco, we looked all on her plate, the table, the floor, everywhere. I'm guessing she swallowed it. When she came to this realization-she went into sheer panic! She said she never felt anything hard in her mouth or anything, so we are both scratching our heads trying to figure that one out. She was excited about loosing a tooth, but to actually LOSE it freaked her out a bit. I think she really thought it meant that the tooth fairy wouldn't be coming! It took forever to convince her that the tooth fairy still knew about it and she would still have a prize under her pillow in the morning! As a matter of fact, I don't think she is convinced yet....

Even little brother felt sorry for her loosing her first loose tooth, so he went and got out his magnifying glass and started looking everywhere for it! It was so cute! He said "Megan, I hep you find yow toof!" (so sweet!)

A little over a year ago, I had begun anticipating her loosing her first tooth. I went to Christmas Village Arts and Crafts show in November '06 and found her a tooth pillow to safely and securely hold her tooth when the time came. I have held onto that pillow every since then, and today I was so excited to finally be able to give it to her! Now....we have no tooth to put in it! hahaha! How's that for karma!?

But anyway, she wrote a letter to the tooth fairy and we're going to place it in the pillow tonight. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the tooth fairy stops by and leaves a really good treat for a devastated little girl! She really wanted that tooth!

Here's a little video I shot of her soon after the milestone moment happened...

Here's a slide show of pics....enjoy.

LOOSE TOOTH ALERT!!!

2008-03-04T15:54:00.003-06:00

Well, it's finally happened! Megan finally has a loose tooth! I can not tell you how HUGE this is for us (er-I mean, her!)!! It's been killing her that every kid in her class has lost at least one of their teeth, and until today, she hasn't even had a loose one. Today, I was sitting outside my classroom door while my little ones were napping, and my cell phone rings...it was her teacher. I always panic thinking that it's going to be that phone call where Megan just vomited in class-ugh! But it was her teacher wanting to give Megan the chance to tell me the good news! I was so proud for her that I literally got a little teary eyed! Megan was so excited, and apparently, biting into the mini pizza lunchable is what did the trick today!

OH MY BABY GIRL!

It's just another reminder that she's growing up,

and she's hitting those milestones a little too fast!

When the tooth is gone, I'll be sure to snap some

SNAGGLETOOTH PHOTO'S!

7 years and 7 days later...

2008-03-03T16:50:00.003-06:00

Well, I had every intention of posting these pics before now, but we've had a crazy week, and there's literally been no time! Last Monday evening, we celebrated Megan's birthday by going out to eat to the restaurant of her choice. And, she chose Logan's Roadhouse. Why you ask? Because she likes to throw the peanut shells on the floor. Yep, for no other reason really...she just likes to make a mess! haha! Well, I'm sure the bread rolls had a little to do with it too, she loves that! Anyway, we gave her presents here at home prior to going out, and she got a pair of Yellow Box flip flops from Dad that match some Mom already have (she was excited about that). Ryan gave her a Hannah Montana doll, that sings the "True Friend" song, and says her favorite saying from the show.,..."OH SWEET NIBLETS!" *Hey, it's a girl thing...if you watch the show, you get it!

Then mommy gave her the biggie! The gift to end all gifts....a card. Haha, but not just any card! One I made for her...explaining her birthday present to her. We'll be going to the American Girl store in the Atlanta area during Spring Break, and she and I will dine in the Bistro at the store (Dad didn't have an interest, so this is a "girl thing' as she put it!) While we are there, she'll get to pick out the doll that she wants. This is a biggie for Mom too....because those dolls are not cheap! And I've already told her that after she gets that doll, if I see it laying around in the floor, HEADS ARE GONNA ROLL! AND IT WON'T BE THE DOLL'S! hahaha! I think I have her scared enough to take care of it! Her card also had a countdown marker in it, so she can keep track of the number of days until our trip. She's so excited, and quite frankly, so am I. This is definatly something I would have LOVED to do when I was a kid, so I am quite sure I'll enjoy it too!

Anyhoo-here are a few pics from her day:

Her whole class enjoying Pizza that I took up to the school. Another classmate was celebrating his birthday too, and his Mom had already sent cupcakes....Megan loved that I brought Pizza for everyone.

Birthday girl, eating her lunch!

Getting ready to rake all those peanut shells on the floor at Logan's

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!

2008-02-25T08:55:00.003-06:00

Today is an exciting day in our house!

MEGAN TURNS 7 YEARS OLD TODAY!
It's hard to believe that I've been blessed with being the mother of a little girl for 7 YEARS now! It's exciting, and kinda sad at the same time...she's growing up so fast!
She was so excited to go to school today because she wanted her class to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her! Plus, she said Mrs. Jordan was going to give her birthday spankings! haha.
Tonight we will celebrate by going out to eat, and giving her a few presents. We haven't had time to plan her birthday party, which really has her irritated...but it's because of HER busy schedule with all the girlscout cookie booth's she's had to work! But, I'm working on that this week, so we'll see.

Anyhoo...I'll blog later with a few pics, and I am sure a few stories of her birthday...
stay tuned.

KNOCK ON WOOD...WE'RE FINALLY WELL AGAIN!

2008-02-22T18:08:00.002-06:00

I don't know about ya'll, but this is the absolute WORST flu season I have ever seen! And it seems to be getting worse every year! After 10 years of working in pediatrics, I've never heard of so many cases...and the reason being, there are multiple strands of the flu virus going around, and unfortunately, the shot only covers one strand! I took Ryan to the doc the other day, and we are on yet another round of antibiotics to get rid of left over sinus stuff that he had from what the doc called a "flu like virus" over the weekend. So, multiple strands of flu, AND a flu like virus....where you run fever, and have aches similar to the flu, but it's not technically the flu! MY GOLLY! We've had it all...but alas, Amoxicillin gets us better. He was able to go to school yesterday for the first time all week, and now I feel like we're bathing in the GERMX any chance we get! I'm sure part of our problem is that with Ryan being in school more days this year, Megan being in longer days this year, and ME working with preschoolers who are sneezing and coughing and sharing germs left and right...we're destined to be sick!
But, as it sits, at 6:14pm on Friday, Feb 22...WE ARE WELL!
And we need to be...Megan's working a cookie booth at Walmart in Trussville tomorrow...so come see us and get your cookie fix.
Monday is her birthday, and while we don't have an actual PARTY planned yet, it's in the works, and we're planning on celebrating in small ways with just the 4 of us.
Hope ya'll have a great weekend...and remember to say a prayer for Big Daddy (Norman-Jonathan's step dad). He's in the hospital for heart problems, and from what I hear now, has pneumonia...he needs a little extra prayer lifting right now!
TAKE CARE, GOD BLESS, AND STAY WELL!

AT THE HOP...

2008-02-21T20:23:00.002-06:00

This past Monday was the annual Daddy/Daughter date night at our church and the theme was a 50's Sock Hop...Megan has been looking forward to this since last year when she went on her first date night. It's definitely a highlight in our home. I spent over a week preparing...I borrowed a poodle skirt from a friend, went to a not so great section of town to buy her saddle shoes, ran all over town looking for scarves, and decorations to put on a table I was asked to be in charge of. All Jonathan had to do was come home, get dressed, and go dancing! And they had a blast! The best part was, this year, Uncle Jason brought Gracie, and Uncle Steve brought Haley who were all sitting at the table I decorated. The girls looked so cute, and every had a great time...even Jason, who ditched Gracie momentarily so that he could do the Electric Slide with some of the other adults. The weird part was, they danced to "Ride Sally Ride"...not exactly a song I would think to do that dance to, but WHATEVER! Here is a slide show...

PRANKS, AND PUNKS...

2008-02-18T14:38:00.004-06:00

Don't you just HATE being the target of a prank? But isn't it fun to laugh at one, or actually pull one off yourself? I think the video clip below is probably one of the best pranks (also knows as "punked"). There have been many good ones, especially with the popular tv show "PUNK'D" several years back by actor Ashton Kutcher...but this is the most recent and quite funny...enjoy a laugh, courtesy of the Major League Baseball Team, the Phillidelphia Phillies. (PS, I'm no baseball fan, and I would have had no clue...good one!)

ANOTHER CRAZY UPDATE...

2008-02-16T17:52:00.001-06:00

FEVER BACK!

Now, after a short nap this afternoon, the cough and fever are back!

101.9

What is up????

UPDATE...

2008-02-16T13:37:00.002-06:00

Ok, Ryan woke up at 5am this morning, I took his temp and it had come down to 100.9. We went to the couch to watch tv and rest some more, and I had every intention of waking up and calling the doc at 7:30 am when they opened, only there was good news coming my way! RYAN'S TEMP IS GONE! Yay! He's feeling better, and is running around the house with more energy than I can tolerate right now. The bad news...now I have the sinus junk and scratchy throat, and Jonathan does too...I don't know whats worse, the kids being sick, or the parents. OH WELL! A mother can't officially be sick! We have to muster up whatever strength we can, and march through the day, preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner for the kids, and referring arguments in between....oh what a wonderful Saturday this is turning out to be....
To make matters worse, there is ANOTHER cookie booth we have to work at the Walgreens in Centerpoint tomorrow (SUNDAY Feb 17) from 12-2pm. And to add another slam to that...there is supposed to be severe storms all day Sunday...sooooooo we'll see what happens! But if it's not raining, and you haven't already gotten your fix of DO SI DO'S, THIN MINTS, TAGALONGS, OR TREFOILS, make sure you come by and pick some up! The girls did a great job selling box's at last nights cookie booth! Say a prayer that the rain holds off...I don't want to reschedule a cookie booth! hahaha

Here we go again...

2008-02-15T22:13:00.003-06:00

Today, we had a GirlScout event in which we were selling cookies at Lowe's...the cookie booth went really well...and I get the Mother of the Year award since I drug my sick son along. YES, you read correctly, Ryan is sick AGAIN. In my defense, I wasn't really sure that he was sick, even though he started coughing again this afternoon. But I woke him up from a nap, and he felt a little warm, but he was all snuggled up on the couch in a fleece blanket, so I just figured he got a little to hot during nap. Off we go to the cookie booth, but I still brought along my "medicine bag" just in case. (My medicine bag is a zip lock back with Tylenol, Motrin, and a cough medicine along with a measuring spoon...with as much sickness as we've had lately, I've learned to be prepared). Once we got there, Ryan just stayed in the van, and I helped man the cookie booth, all the while checking on him periodically. He ended up falling asleep again, and I went and checked his temp...YEP! 102.9! GREAT! I dosed him up with Tylenol, and down he went in the back seat for his nap again. He didn't move for over an hour! He finally got to go home with Daddy, and Megan and I stayed and finished up the selling of the cookies at our booth. Once home, he still has 102 fever...so if it's not down by tomorrow, I'm guessing there will be yet another trip to the doc! If he has the flu again, I'm gonna scream! UGH! But I hope they'll be able to give him the Tamiflu again...that worked great last time and he was better in 3 days! So say a prayer for my little man...

"THE BOY'S SHOW"

2008-02-11T19:59:00.000-06:00

This weekend, the World Of Wheels show was in town...which means that there is entirely too much testosterone decended upon downtown Birmingham in one weekend....I can hear the grunting of "Tim the toolman Taylor" (actor Tim Allen), from the show "Home Improvement".

Jonathan decided to take Ryan to the show, if for no other reason, but to let him meet some of his favorite characters and hero's that were appearing-(and the fact that admission was free for children ages 5 and under.)

Ryan had a blast! He saw his favorite race car legend, Mr. Lightning McQueen...but only from afar, as the line to see him was more than an hour long! So, Dad had to do the cheesy picture thing that we seemed to perfect a few years ago while visiting DisneyWorld..."stand child in front of camera with thus said superhero in the background and PRETEND you actually got close enough to see him!"

(Ryan and his best bud Jaggerd had a blast at the show)

But the highlight of the day has to be his encounter with the origional WEB MASTER...Spiderman! He loved meeting him, and even got his autograph. Jonathan said Ryan was having a hard time looking up for the camera to take a picture because he first had to make sure he had his "web fingers" right...It's just too cute! Jon did great, taking a picture, and even managing to get video of the whole experience!

The last person they really wanted to see was Jason Earls, who plays "Jackson" on the popular Disney show, Hannah Montana. Unfortunately, there was a 2hour wait to get up to see him, and that just wasn't going to happen...so, once again, Jonathan just took pics of him from afar.

It was a great day...but not because he met Spiderman, or saw the Lightning McQueen car, or came close to meeting Jackson...What really matters isn't that Ryan went to THE BOY'S SHOW (which is what he called it. All he knew is that there were no girls on this day, just him and Dad.) What is more important is that Ryan got to spend some quality, one on one time with Dad...and with all those hero's surrounding him...the best hero was DAD!

Yep, they saved a lot of money on car insurance by switching to Geico...

Isn't that just like God?!?!?!?!

2008-02-10T16:09:00.001-06:00

If you read my post from yesterday, you know that I struggle with my grandparents belief of issue of whether or not you go to heaven immediatly when you die. I gave my spin on things, and tried to provide scripture to back up my basis for believing that you do indeed go to heaven (ONLY if you are a repented, born again, believer in Jesus Christ who is the ONLY one that provides a way to heaven), immediately after death.
Well, today, I feel as though God was speaking to me directly. My pastor, Ryan Whitley, of CrossPoint Church, is doing an entire sermon series on the Glory of God. He is planning on taking the entire year of 2008 to lead us, and to delve into the Glory of God, and as Pastor Whitley puts it, even then, it wouldn't be enough time! Anyway, today's scripture reference, and subject matter revolved around the crucifixion of Jesus, and the two thieves on the cross. (Luke 23:32-38). Our topic revolved around the glory of God being revealed on the cross, but God also used those passages to reveal to me, what I'd been focusing on in the last few days while remembering my Nanny's death. It's found in verse 42 and 43 of Luke 23 when the thief on the cross was pleading to Jesus...
"And he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom'(v 42)
"And He said to him, 'Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.' " (v. 43)
First point...it wasn't a matter of "IF you come into your kingdom", it was WHEN! As my pastor stated, that is one of the greatest statements of faith! He wasn't just going out on a limb that it would happen, he believed it! The crimminal knew that Jesus was on his way to Heaven!
Second point...Jesus told the thief it would be so! v. 43 clearly states the words of Jesus as TRULY I say to you TODAY you will be with me in Paradise....Jesus gave that thief assurance of his salvation on the cross!
There was one more point from Pastor Whitley that I found especially interesting. He addressed the name of Paradise. I've always been curious to whether or not "Paradise" is the same thing as Heaven, or if it preceeded heaven...thus my struggle behind my grandparents belief of noone going to heaven until the day of judgement. Pastor Whitley pointed out that Heaven isn't really Heaven, unless GOD is there! Take these two scriptures and ponder them...
Genesis 2:8-9 "And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. (9)The tree of life was in the midst of the garden..."
And after the fall of man, God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden...the beginning of time began with God in paradise-a garden-with the tree of life...(hold that thought, I'm coming back)
and the end of time will END with God in paradise-a heavenly garden-with the tree of life...Revelation 2:7b, 22:1-2 "To the one who conquers I will grant t oeat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God...Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, through the middle of the street of the city;also, on either side of the river, the tree of life..."
Whatever you may personally believe, I feel that God has shown me what I'd been believing all along to be true....To be absent from the body is to be present with The Lord....and to be present with the Lord is to be in HEAVEN or PARADISE!
Blessings...

It's been a year...

2008-02-09T15:50:00.001-06:00

This week I have been thinking of my Nanny alot. It's been a year ago this past Thursday that she went home to be with the Lord...well, at least that is what I believe. My Nanny had different beliefs than I did...as far as the timing of when you go to heaven. I believe in 2Corinthians 5:1-9 when it talks about being absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. After all, Jesus himself told the thief on the the cross next to His that "...Today you will be with me in Paradise". My grandparents, being members and believers of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, believed that "The Dead are but asleep" based on the 1Thessalonians chapter 4.

Whatever the case, I know this is true...I miss my grandparents...but we will be reunited in Heaven one day. I know they were believers in Christ, as am I...

I can't wait to see them again, and to hear that wonderful laughter my Nanny was so affectionatly known for. I don't think it really occurred to me until after her death, but whenever I think of my Nanny, I see a big smile on her face, and even now, I can still hear the sound of her laugh in my head. What a blessing to remember that!

Praise you Jesus for blessing me with such a wonderful woman to be my grandmother, and an outstanding man to be my grandfather. I can only hope that one day I will be as influential in my grandchildrens lives, as they were in mine.

They loved this old porch swing at their home. Many hours were spend just sitting, swinging and visiting with family, friends, neighbors...even waving at the cars that drove past. I like to imagine that they have a porch swing in heaven...

FLU, FEVER, AND VIDEO GAMES-OH MY!

2008-02-09T12:04:00.000-06:00

So the past week has delivered complete CHAOS to us. Last Thursday started the sickness...Ryan with the flu...then Megan with a fever virus on Sunday and Monday, then Jonathan with flu/sinus stuff Wednesday and Thursday, then Megan with a fever again Thursday night, so she didn't go to school on Friday! (Which she probably should have, because as it turned out-no more fever on Friday...she was FINE! She and her brother did nothing but fight all day!) So last night...Dad met this lady that he found out was selling PS2 games for really cheap, and he met her in the parking lot of a grocery store and "made the drop" as he would say. Ryan was ecstatic to find out one of the games was "CARS" with his favorite race car-Lightning McQueen. So...what did we spend our Friday night doing after a week filled with sickness and being cooped up in the house?????

PLAYING VIDEO GAMES!

And, yes...Ryan is there now...playing again.

(RECOGNIZE THAT GLAZED EYE LOOK? HAHAHA)

If there is one thing most girls hate, it's being stuck watching BOYS play video games! It's very BORING! SOOOOOO,

Since I'm the Mom...I get to set some rules!

It's a sunny day...

I'm sending them outside to play on the trampoline!!!

MOVE OVER TROY BOLTON...

2008-02-06T22:38:00.000-06:00

Ok, all you who have kids, particularly girls, should be familiar with the popular Disney movies, "High School Musical"
and "High School Musical 2".
Well, in our house, it's a staple...we watch it all the time. Ryan even loves it...and he's 3 years old! His more favorite of the 2 movies is it's sequel, and every since last summer, he's been perfecting his impression of Troy Bolton (the lead character in the movie played by Zac Efron). Every now and then, I catch him running around singing parts of the movie, but his favorite is the song "Bet On It". Last week, this was the case, and he was good enough to do it again after I ran and got my camera...so here's my baby boy in his "acting debut".

HAPPY SUPER TUESDAY EVERYONE!

2008-02-05T17:45:00.000-06:00

Have you voted? If not, you still have a little more than an hour according to my clock. I'm not a super political person, but I do believe in the IMPORTANCE of voting...our military has fought for our right to do so...so please voice your opinions in the voting booths.

Anyway...I just wanted to post this for everyone to read. I've read and heard this tons of times, but there is so much truth in it. I hope you enjoy...

Christians

by Maya Angelou

When I say... "I am a Christian", I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin.'"

I'm whispering "I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven."
When I say... "I am a Christian", I don't speak of this with pride.

I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say... "I am a Christian", I'm not trying to be strong.

I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian", I'm not bragging of success.

I'madmitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian", I'm not claiming to be perfect,

My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian", I still feel the sting of pain..

I havemy share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian", I'm not holier than thou,

I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!

VALENTINES????

2008-02-04T15:35:00.000-06:00

So, I'm curious...

Do you CELEBRATE Valentine's day?

I know of couples who make a big deal of it, others who exchange small gifts, and others still who ignore the day all together. Jon and I are in between all of these scenarios...we've gone to a VDay dinner, exchanged small gifts, chocolates, and then done nothing at all. I suppose the more important thing is that you celebrate your love for each other every day, and not just ONE DAY OF THE YEAR! But as Feb 14th approaches, I'm curious to know how others celebrate, or if it's just mainly another commercialized holiday in hopes of selling cards, candies and trinkets....

COMMENT PLEASE!

MEGAN AND DADDY DAY

2008-02-03T21:47:00.001-06:00

The below slide show is of some pics Jonathan took Saturday. Anytime there is a trip needed to haul off trash to the dump, or to take items to be recycled, Megan and/or Ryan go with their Dad, and on the way back they stop at the Turkey Creek WaterFall, and then go get YooHoo's. It's a tradition that both of my kids LOVE! Such a small, seemingly insignificant thing...but it's time with Dad that they crave. Since Ryan was still recovering from the flu, Megan got her Daddy all to herself for a few hours, and Daddy made her feel like a SuperModel taking pictures of her around the falls. Here is a slide show....

Mommy Guilt....

2008-02-01T14:32:00.000-06:00

When I took my job teaching preschool this year, my husband and I develoed a plan to deal with sick kids and who was going to handle them during the week. I only work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so the thinking was (mainly on my part), that if they were sick one of the two days I have to work, Dad would be the one to take off and be caretaker. This was tested back in the fall once when Megan had the wretched stomach virus. Dad had to take care of her...unfortunatly, he took her to work with him on a job site, where she sat in his truck, watching movies on the laptop and, yes, vomiting periodically in his truck. Luckily, it didn't last all day and she got better quickly.
Once again, we tested the plan, yesterday. Ryan had been fighting a cold coming on. Two nights in a row, he woke up coughing. He was fine during the day, the problem was only at night. We talked about it Thursday morning, and decided that I would go ahead with the day as always, and if Ryan got any worse, Dad would come to school and pick him up.
School starts at 8:30am
Warn teacher of potential sick child..."bring him to my classroom if he gets worse".
Teacher brings Ryan to my class at 9:30.
He is fever free at this point, but has the chills BAD!
I call dad, and he's on his way to pick him up.
Call the doctor's office, and make an appt. DAD is taking him.
That just about killed me.
DAD...NOT MOM is taking my so sick baby boy to the doctor. That's the first time in 7 years that I haven't taken care of my kid when they were sick. Mommy guilt hit me hard.
Almost as hard as why hit Ryan to make him sick...THE FLU!
OH MY GOLLY! Now not only can I not take my sick baby boy to the doc, but he has THE FLU!
Dad did a great job getting all the info to the doc (via my note that I sent with him, haha). We have the TAMIFLU medicine, so hopefully we'll see a turn around in him within a day or so. But please stop and say a prayer for my sweet boy to feel better. If we could just get the fever down, it' would be alot of progess! Right now, he's resting and watching his 4th movie of the day...I'm thinking we're headed through our entire movie library by the time we kick this thing.

LET'S GO TO THE BAHAMA'S

2008-01-30T23:14:00.000-06:00

Last week, my daughter brought home an assignment for a project to be due this week. Her class is learning about different countries around the world, and each student was assigned a specific country to gather information about and put together a project on a half sheet of poster board detailing facts and information about that country. On friday, they are having a "tasting party" where each student is to bring in a food that is commonly eaten in the assigned country. When Megan brought the assignment home, we both were excited about it. I have actually looked forward to her first "major" assignment like this. I LOVED doing projects like this when I was a kid. I remember doing one specific project on the Pueblo Indians, and though I don't recall one single fact about them at the ripe old age of 33, I do remember getting an A+ on my 3D project of a Pueblo Indian village! (not to brag, haha). So I promised Megan we'd get started on her project the coming weekend, and I laid the assigment sheet down on the dining room table to read it later......

FAST FORWARD to today. Here is the conversation I had in the car on the way home from school:
MOM: How was your day?
MEGAN: Good...you know what?
MOM: What?
MEGAN: My project is due tomorrow.
MOM: What project?
MEGAN: You know...the "BE-HOH-MAAAAS"
MOM: Oh, I almost forgot, you have to take food for a tasting party. OK.

Then Ryan starts talking to her and we move on to a different conversation. At this point, I am thinking all I have to do is go to the grocery store and buy a few "Carribean" types of food to pass off as a Bahamian delicasse! FAST FORWARD to the conversation I had at 7:00 tonight.

MEGAN: MOM! Are we going to do my project now?
MOM: Yeah, I'm going to the store to get some Bahama food for you in just a few minutes.
MEGAN: OK...but my tasting party isn't until Friday.
MOM: (confused), OH! Well, do you have to take the food to school tomorrow? (which wouldn't make sense if they weren't going to eat it until Friday...so that was a stupid question!)
MEGAN: NO! I have to take my project tomorrow.

Suddenly, there is a slight memory if a project beginng to take form in my mind. I knew about the food....but couldn't remember about the other.

MOM: Megan, where is the assignment paper you brought home about your project and we'll read over it to be sure we know what we're supposed to do.
MEGAN: I don't know...I gave it to you, what did you do with it? (She says, with her hands up in the air...all sassy-like. Normally, that might irritate me, but hey...she's got a point)
MOM: I don't know where it is...lets look.

She tries to help me, but unfortunately, my daughter has inherited "man disease" when it comes to looking for anything! You know...the MAN comes to the WOMAN who did not wear his belt last, and asks "Have you seen my belt?". It's a constant scenario in our home...man loose belt...wife must have done something with it. Man says he looked everywhere...even in the floor. Wife walks to his side of bed and finds belt. (Sorry to any men reading this part of the post...it's just a sore subject in our house).

ANYWAY...BACK TO THE ORIGIONAL TOPIC.

Once I find the sheet, it's nearly 8pm, and I realized Dad has to go out to the store after all, but not for Carribean food....for glue, posterboard and construction paper. Megan and I head to the internet and print off pictures relating to the Bahamas...the contry flag, the scenary, the currency, a map of the islands, etc. Megan had the best time cutting, and gluing and I snapped a few pics. Her project turned out fine for a first timer, and she was very proud of it. She did most of the work...I did have to help her a few times. But here is the Project:

Hopefully, this isn't going to set a bad example for getting future projects done. I really didn't intend for my childhood days of procrastination on school work to spill over into my child.

A chuckle from the good ol' days...

2008-01-13T00:17:00.000-06:00

Does anybody remember these commercials before Jim Varney's "Ernest" character became popular enough to make movies? Jonathan and I were talking last night about commercials and TV shows we grew up on....Benson, SOAP, The Fresh Prince Of Bel Aire, etc. We had a blast looking up clips from all of these. In my search on You Tube, I also came across these old commercials from Ernest aka "Know what I mean Vern?". I just wanted to post a few of the ones I remembered most...have a laugh.

The Hands in the window Sprite Commercial....look at the can!

The short in the wire commercial..."My Daddy used to work on 'em!"

The "I like your little DUCK!" commercial...

WAY TO GO BABY GIRL!

2008-01-12T00:12:00.000-06:00

Well, we got report cards again today....Megan got straight A's once again! For a while there, I really was getting concerned because she had begun to slip a little bit in her math grades that were coming home. They have math drills once a week in class, and she was taking too long to answer questions, therefore not making it to the end of the drill in some cases. Then, after talking about it, she started blurting out anything that came to mind...most of the time being off by one.
Here is an example of our practice drills at home:
Mom shows flash card 8-4=
Megan shouts: "........3!"
Mom: "No, try again"
Megan: "....uh....{counts on her fingers}, OH,4!"
With many conversations like this...it gets frustrating to both her, and me. But hey, at least this is the kind of homework I can actually HELP her with! When she gets to prealgebra, it's over...we're calling tutors. I'm helpless...and Dad has NO patience with her when it comes to homework. So here's hoping that she continues to make straight A's, becomes much more "book smart" than her parents, goes on to college, and majors in something that will provide her with a lucrative paycheck so that her parents will be taken well care of in their elderly years. That's what every parent hopes for, right?
By the way...we celebrated like last time by taking her out to eat to the restaurant of her choice, or, by spending $36 on a meal at Red Robin. Not only is it really too expensive, but it's also completely full of fat! Makes it hard to loose weight when you are given virtually no low fat choices. I did my best, but failed yet again. I've really gotta get on the ball, or I'll be the only one on my team to NOT loose the required $10 pounds for the Scale Back Alabama program. If you haven't heard of it...click HERE for more info...
No pictures from tonight...but I'll take some this weekend.

Excuse me, is this the TWILIGHT ZONE???

2008-01-03T15:20:00.001-06:00

Sorry. I just had to document this.

I'm sitting at the computer doing my usual daily surfing of the net (and procrastinating with regards to ANY housework that I should be doing), when suddenly...my sweet, and semingly happy little girl bounces in the room and announces that she would like to help me by cleaning something. She then asks me if it's ok that she cleans the bathroom! I honestly didn't know what to say. I stammered around for a moment and probably gave her the biggest shocked look ever.

"Yes Ma'am, you absolutely may clean the bathroom"

I showed her where the clorox wipes were, and away she went. She was very proud of herself when she finished and couldn't wait for me to come view her work. So, I just had to document this remarkable event, because it couldn't possibly ever happen again!~!~!~!~!~!

The Traditional Family Pic

2008-01-03T00:37:00.000-06:00

Every year (for the last 4 years) we have taken a big family picture on Christmas day while we are at Mom and Dad's house. This year was no different. To get everyone smiling at the same time, we decided to sing "CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE" really loud until the camera flashed. It got to a point where we were laughing so hard and it was increasingly difficult to keep the pretty smiley face for the photo. And, every year, my dad sets the video camera up in the corner of the room and tapes us doing this! It is hilarious to watch footage from the past years of us doing the same thing. I know in years to come, that photo, as well as the video footage, will become PRICELESS to us! In some ways it already is! But, here is this years photo....

THE HOLIDAY BLAH'S...

2008-01-02T13:29:00.000-06:00

I love Christmas.

I LOVE Christmas.

But I hate after Christmas.

I hate taking down the tree,

putting up the lights and decorations.

It's just so depressing.

So, I'm protesting!

I'm keeping the decorations up forever!

Just Kidding! Seriously, I hated taking it all down, but I'm glad to have the house back. With such a small home, and such a large tree...it eats up our space. But this year, we've got more space than ever! We have officially moved the kids into their own bedrooms, and all of the toys have now left the living room (plus or minus a few they keep bringing back), and the toys are all in their own rooms now! I almost feel like I have a new house with all the walking space! It's awesome!

So how was your Christmas? Ours was great. Although, we had a lot of sadness surrounding us this year. On the Friday before, Jonathan lost an Uncle. He was elderly, but it's one of the last Uncle's he has, so it's sad. And on that same day, my cousin, Ricky, was killed in a car accident. He was in Calera, and apparently had a seizure while driving, and the accident killed him instantly. He had just started having seizures, and his neice was just diagnosed with epilepsy the same day, so we're wondering if it's all related in that part of the family now. I had not seen him in at least 15 years, but it was so sad to see him at the funeral. Please pray for that family, as they are having a hard time dealing with the sudden passing of Ricky.

Then on Saturday, a friend I work with lost her dad to pancreatic cancer. He fought a long hard battle...but the Lord healed him forever with a perfect body on December 22. It's definatly been tough for my friend, and my heart goes out to her. I pray you will lift her up as well.

Between all of that, I had to take my son to the doc on Christmas eve because he got so sick with "the crud" as the doc put it. He was running a low grade fever, and had major congestion. He was plain miserable. But we soldiered on through and he was actually much better on Christmas day....just a little groggy. On the way home from the doc on Christmas eve, I witnessed a massive car wreck unfolding before me, just 3 cars ahead on the Expressway. Cars spinning, flipping, and lots of smoke! I was praying the whole time "God please spare us from this!!!!!" When everything came to a rest, a SUV was lying upside down on the side of the road right next to my car. Miraculously, everyone was ok...thanks to seatbelts. When the car came to a rest, I really thought they were dead because all I saw were arms hanging out the windows. But then they got up and walked away! AMAZING! After witnessing that, and loosing my cousing in a wreck a few days prior, I was so rattled! Needless to say, we drove very cautiously the rest of the day and even now!

But, at least we made it through the holidays. My kids are spoiled beyond measure. They love all of the toys they got, and my hubby even got me a great gift this year! A new camera! YAY! He did good!

Here are a couple of pics from our holiday....

Here's all the Grandkids my parents have...They're all getting so big.

Granny gave Ryan his own bible...and he loves reading-uh-MOMMY reading it to him.

Another of Megan's favorite gifts...a picture frame that says "Brother 4 Sale". She specifically asked for this after seeing it at the Justice For Girls store....I can't convince her that he's not for sale! Go Figure. After opening this, she said "Oh Yeah! I am SO putting Ryan's picture in this!"

Megan leaving the reindeer food out on the lawn. Poor Ry was so sick, and already asleep, so he couldn't do it.

THE BIG ONE! The kids were so surprised to get a trampoline! They never expected it. We've ALL had a lot of fun jumping on it!

So now, to you and yours, I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2008 bring you peace, happiness, love and luck! May you find yourself in the center of God's will, and surrounded by his grace!

Christmas came a little early yesterday...

2007-12-21T11:05:00.001-06:00

Well, I gotta say...PAPAW DELIVERED! Megan has been begging for a Loft Bed for at least the last four months. One weekend, about 3 months ago, we spent the entire time looking all over town for the "perfect" loft bed. She wants a white one (as does mom, because it looks more "girly" and will match any decor best). She wants a huge desk that goes all the way across the bottom portion, lengthwise. While looking all over town, we came to one conclusion...We really didn't have $1000 to spend on a bed for her. We don't want to use credit. We didn't really wish to spend that much money on a bed...we haven't spent that much money on ANY piece of furniture in our entire house! Well, we put our desires for this bed on hold, indefinitely. That is, until Jonathan was visiting with his dad about a month ago and happened to learn that his dad was building bunk beds for the colleges around his town.

Jon's response, "OH REALLY!"

Hahaha. Yes, we told him what we needed/wanted out of a Loft bed, and Papaw said "I can have it ready the weekend before Christmas".

WOW! DEAR DAUGHTER'S DREAMS ARE COMING TRUE!

We didn't mention this piece of information to Megan, and yesterday morning, we got the phone call from Papaw that the bed was ready, and packed up in the truck and they were headed to town! Once they got close to our house, Megan and I went out for a bit, and let her daddy and Papaw get it ready (all unbeknown to her, of course). Once they were done, Dad called to tell us to come home, and SURPRISE! Megan walks in to a new LOFT BED in her room! It's so awesome! We still have to paint it, but she LOVES it already.

Here are a few pics for you:

IT'S CHRISTMAS! YAY!

2007-12-20T23:16:00.000-06:00

Well, a true sign that Christmas is near is when our kids get out of school...we are there! Tuesday night was the school Christmas program, and Ryan's first year to participate. He was such a HAM and he didn't even see me in the audience! He looked like he was having the best time up there, and he certainly kept me laughing! Every year, the kids pretty much do the same songs, but this year the teachers threw in a few new ones. One of the best was the first grade class singing the 12 days of Christmas. When it got to the "5 Golden Rings" part, all the girls had on golden rings, and held their arms out front while all the boys turned and "presented" them. It was really cute. They did the standard "Frosty the Snowman" song, but it was cute as always...it must be those cute black top hats they wear. Ryan's K3 class sang "Away in a Manger" and "Jingle Bells" and then the entire school came together for the finale of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". So now...the kids are out of school until the first of the year. It's only been a few days and already we've gotten so much done! I'll blog about all that later, but for now, here are a few pics for you to enjoy....

The Road To Bethlehem...

2007-12-19T23:19:00.000-06:00

This past Sunday, my church, CrossPoint, performed a Christmas musical. It was called The Road To Bethlehem, and featured our choir, as well as the newly formed Drama Ministry. I have had more fun in the last few months since joining this ministry, and I had the time of my life this past Sunday! I was only an extra, but those of us who were cast as extras took our roles very seriously. (BWHAHAHAHAH! We really did...but we goofed off a bunch too!) My husband took a few pictures of us during the second showing, and here is a quick slide show. Hope you enjoy!

When Santa's away, the Elves will play

2007-12-14T12:56:00.000-06:00

I sent this to some of you in an email, but in case you didn't get it...here it is again. Brought to you by the creative minds at JIB JAB, here is a movie starring THE BARRETT FAMILY. (plus an extra mom. The movie had room for 5 faces, and I didn't like the random face it chose to place in with us...a creepy looking guy was dancing with Megan...so I added myself twice).
Anyway, enjoy...

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

OUR TRIP WAS....

2007-12-12T18:05:00.000-06:00

WONDERFUL!

We had a great trip last weekend! I can't wait to go back there again, and especially at Christmas. Everything was tailored towards families, and it was so wonderful! The kids loved the trains, we got to go to an Elf Workshop where they could make ornaments, color pictures, etc. We went to the Tennessee Aquarium, took in a 3D Imax movie, rode on The Polar Express train all the way to the North Pole where we picked up Santa and he visited with us on board. Mrs. Claus was on board with a few of her elves, and we all sang Christmas songs, drank chocolate milk and ate cookies! The Chattanooga Choo Choo brought Santa in (very authentic looking!), and we had virtually NO WAIT TIME to get in Santa's lap and start listing all the things on our wish lists. Our Holiday Package came with a free picture with Santa, and an commemorative holiday ornament, as well as everything listed above. As you can see, WE HAD THE BEST TIME! I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to take a little holiday trip! Go to www.choochoo.com for more information on all of the holiday packages they offer. In the mean time, here is a little slide show to watch of the Barrett Family Trip...

HAPPY 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO US!

2007-12-06T16:18:00.000-06:00

WOW! 10 years flew by fast! December 6, 1997 seems like ages ago, yet also like it was only yesterday. Our lives have changed drastically since then. There have been good and bad times, healthy and sick times, and LOTS of poor times...still waiting on the "For Richer" part...haha.

Over all, I am so blessed and happy with my life. I had a wonderful Christmas wedding...I have a WONDERFUL husband and together we've been given 2 WONDERFUL children. It's more than I could have ever dreamed for myself!

HAPPY 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY JONATHAN! I LOVE YOU!

We got JUSTICE'D!

2007-12-04T16:47:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, right after school, Megan went to a birthday party at Justice for Girls. Her friend had invited all the girls in her class to join in on a "Glamour Girl" type of party. They got their hair, and makeup done...picked out 6 little goodies to put in their goodie bag, wore feather boa's and had the time of their lives!!!! Megan came away from this party looking FAB-U-LOUS! Of course, she wants to have her birthday party there in February, but we'll just have to wait and see. But here is a slide show of pics from the day!

PS...little brother was bored out of his mind during this party! But he behaved so well, and for the most part, played in the dressing rooms. He's such a trooper!

A little late, but...

2007-12-03T08:45:00.000-06:00

Here are just a few pics of Thanksgiving. I know we're over a week past, but I didn't have much time to download pics and post until now...so here goes.

Megan's class made their Indian (i.e. "Native American" to be politically correct) T-Shirts at school. She named hers "Pocahontas"...probably because that is the only Native American (or Indian...) name she knows. Whatever the case, my little Indian princess was cute in her shirt.

Ryan's class didn't do T-shirts, but fortunately he was still able to fit into the T-shirt his class made last year, and therefore got to be like big sis! His shirt didn't have a name, but we just called him CHIEF RYAN. He didn't mind...he thought it was cool.

Ah, yes. My little Native children gathering the corn to prepare for our meal! Haha! Megan loves to eat corn, Ryan...not so much. But he didn't mind holding it for a picture!

And, after those few moments, our day got CRAZY! With so much family to see on the Holiday, we were cooking, eating, driving, eating, visiting, eating, sleeping and eating ALL DAY LONG. Thankfully, we were able to fit everything into the day...we just didn't take any more pictures.

Jonathan bought a new camera this weekend....so I am pretty sure that we'll be posting LOTS of pics here soon! It's the camera he wanted, which means he'll actually TAKE the pictures and I can be in them....since he wouldn't really touch the old one, I was the one that took all the pics and then our family snapshots made my children look motherless!

Anyway...there they are, hope you enjoyed.

A RARE look at a Political Debate...

2007-11-30T12:47:00.000-06:00

I rarely blog about anything political. OK, I've actually NEVER blogged about anything political. But the clip below was sent to me in an email by a friend, and I thought it was cool. I am sure the moderator didn't intend an answer such as this...but it also begs the question "WHY?" I don't think they are honestly interested in this man's personal belief system. I really only think they are trying to break down the "religious quacks" from the worlds "normal" standard.
Watch the clip, and let me know what you think about it....

Let me state, I am in no way pushing my opinion of this man as a good choice for president. I actually have never heard of him! It's just an interesting video clip...

FROM THE MOUTHS OF....BABES? Or really blunt 3 year olds!

2007-11-29T00:05:00.000-06:00

At work, most of my day is spent sharing a bite of plastic fruit lovingly prepared for me by my students in the plastic kitchen playset of our classroom. I play along, because I know how hard they've slaved over this meal, and it will put a HUGE smile of pride on their sweet little faces. Well, imagine the smile on MY face after I had the following conversation with one of my students...we'll call her "Jane".

Jane: "Ms. Bawwett, herew you some food. Eat it!"

Me: "Oh, Thanks so much! How did you know I was so hungry?"

Jane: "EAT IT!"

Me: "OK...YUM!, Pizza is my favorite, and it goes so well with a piece of lettuce and....what is that? a cookie, or a doughnut?"

Jane looks carefully at the plate of scrumptious food she's brought to me.

Jane: "You bettur not eat that...YOU BE FAT!"

(INSERT BELLY LAUGHTER HERE...MINE NOT HERS!)

DIET ON!

Christmas time is OFFICIALLY here!

2007-11-24T13:06:00.000-06:00

HO! HO! HO!

Even though the retailers, and radio stations have been pushing Christmas for quite sometime now, there is only one thing that officially rings in the Christmas holiday season for us....When Mom goes shopping on BLACK FRIDAY and Dad and the kids stay home and put up the tree. It's tradition going 6 years strong now that Jonathan stays home and keeps kids, while I go out early in the morning and try to get as much Christmas shopping done as possible. What makes this year even more enjoyable is that I have a job, I get a paycheck, and I HAD CASH MONEY TO SPEND THIS YEAR! WOOOOO HOOOOOO! Hahaha!

After an exhausting, but wonderful day of time with all our family on Thanksgiving, it was out to weave in and out of the crowds of wacko's in Target, WalMart, and all the other stores. The bad news...I didn't arrive at Target in time to swipe one of the main gifts I was hunting for-The Hannah Montana Doll and her friends, Lilly and Oliver. It was a limited supply (what the crap!) at Target, and I've seen them on Ebay...but I'm not sure I can spend that much for the doll when it was only $30 to begin with. My Mom asked a salesman if they'd be getting in any more, and He said probably not since it was a limited edition doll set they did exclusively for Target.... BOOOOOO HOOOOOO! Oh well, maybe I'll one later in the year of 2008! But the good news is, I'm nearly done with my Christmas shopping! A few things here and there, and I will be ready to wrap it all up! The kids are sooooooo excited! I'm sooooo excited! Even Dad is in the Christmas spirit now-he refused to listen to any holiday songs, etc until AFTER Thanksgiving.

So we have the tree up, and decorated. Dad is putting the lights on the house today....and we are ready to start celebrating this wonderful time of year!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

USELESS...BUT INTERESTING...

2007-11-20T16:04:00.001-06:00

I found a web site today that gives random "facts" about an array of topics. You can visit the site by clicking HERE if you wish...but here a few facts I found today...

1. The first toilet being flushed in a motion picture was in the movie Psycho. (HEY! At least HE flushed!!!)

2.Most liquid laundry detergents are alive with living organisms that help to break down stains! (EWWW! KINDA SCARY!!!)

3.TIME Magazine’s “Man of the Year” in 1938 was Adolf Hitler. (WHAT?????)

4. In Tibet it is considered good manners to stick out your tongue at someone. (Great, that's all I need...an excuse from my kids as to "why" they stick out their tongue. Let's keep this on the DOWN LOW!)

5. In many countries, urine was used as a detergent for washing. (OK...I'll stick with the living organisms in my detergent!)

6.Americans did not commonly use forks until after the Civil War. (OMG! How do you eat primarily with a spoon???)

7. Americans will spend more on cat food this year than baby food. (For some reason, this is not so surprising to me)

8. Up to the age of six or seven months a child can breathe and swallow at the same time. An adult cannot do this. (Hmmm, I never paid attention to this when my babies were that age, but I guess that makes sense. Ryan could always sug his bottles down so fast, and I always wondered if he was breathing!!!!!)

9.Snails breathe through their feet. (huh? I've never seen a snail with FEET)

10.40% of women have hurled footwear at a man. (OH, that's a shocker! I mean, we women LOVE SHOES, so they are plentiful!)

Let me know of your useless facts! My husband is full of them and I call him "Cliff Claven"...you know the mailman from the TV sitcom "Cheers" who knew little tidbits of EVERYTHING! Yep...I married him. But tonight..at dinner...I can appear to KNOW IT ALL! LOL

FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS...

2007-11-20T10:04:00.000-06:00

To GirlScout, Or Not To GirlScout...

2007-11-09T12:50:00.000-06:00

Ok, growing up, I never did a whole lot of "extra curricular" type of activities. The most "extra" I got was being a cheerleader for 2 years for South Roebuck Football. I loved being a cheerleader, but my mom says she got tired of seeing my frowning face and didn't sign me up after that. As I remember it, I was told I couldn't do it anymore because I was too old...funny how the truth comes out as we get older...haha. And to clear up that misconception of my "frowning" face...I specifically remember that it was always a Saturday Morning that we were cheering for a football game, and we had to stand with our back to the field, faces to the sun shining in our eyes and I was only "Frowning" to be able to see!!!!!!!!!!

Nuff Said 'bout that...

Anyhoo...Megan has been invited to join a Brownie Scout group. I'm thinking this may be a good thing for her. Most kids her age have long been involved in SOMETHING...dance, gymnastics, cheernastics, softball, soccer, etc. I have never signed her up for anything because of one reason....MONEY$$$$$! There is a troop that meets at her school, which is really convienent since 1. I work there, 2. She goes to school there, and 3. I know the leader because she also teaches at the school. So we're thinking about it. There is not much to cost...as a matter of fact, the most expensive part will be to get her vest/patch starter at a $45 cost. I pay $10 a year in fees, $5 a month to the troop for "extras" (or something like that), and the best part is...GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!!!!!

THAT'S IT! I'M SOLD! HAND OVER THE THIN MINTS!

Megan's gonna be a Girl Scout!

Seriously...we're talking to her about it. We've been having "sassy attitude" problems lately, and we've told her that this is something that she can EARN as a privelege if she get's her attitude in check and stops talking back, and start being a little more respectful. She's been working on it since Tuesday....yesterday was a good day (the other's not so much). We'll see how it goes. I really want her to do this, but I feel she needs to earn it, so hopefully this will be a little incentive.

I'M ROUTING FOR YA MEGAN!

(Mama really want's those Thin Mints!)

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN!

2007-11-07T15:49:00.001-06:00

Yes, friends, it's that time of year again...the weather is doing a "John Kerry" flip flop and can't decide what Season it wants to be...Spring Temps of 70 degrees the first part of the week, Summer temps of 80 on an occasional day, Fall temps of the 60's here and there, and then here comes an ALABAMA COLD SNAP of lows being in the 30's, highs in the 50's and RUNNY NOSES, SCRATCHY THROATS, AND STOMACH FLU running rampid through all families! But don't worry, those cold temps never last long...we'll be experiencing SPRING again in a few days. No wonder we all stay so sick. We have the air conditioning on one day, smell the stinky heat coming on 2 days later, and the kids are swapping germs at school doing who knows what!

We've had the stomach bug...can u guess?

So, now I'm popping AIRBORNE! It's a wonderful little thing. I started getting the scratchy throat a couple of weeks ago and PRESTO! It's like magic! I was totally better the next day!

I think I'll buy stock in that product!

Here's a pic of my little one after he fell asleep last night for the second time. I say second time because the first time was interrupted by him getting sick in his bed. He only has one set of sheets for his bed, and I had to piece together a couple of different ones to be able to make his bed back up...thus the mismatch. But at least he felt better.....Let's hope it was the last of the stomach flu for us!

Like I didn't know already...

2007-11-05T15:44:00.000-06:00

This was kind of fun...a "Look A Like Meter" from this website helps determine who your child looks like -Mother or Father...
Well, it's really obvious in our family that the "Daddy DNA" is prominent! But it's still fun.
Check out the results...
Megan:

Ryan:

It's a TIE! They both look more like Dad...but only by 3% each! Haha, well, maybe I should upload some of Megan's "bald baby pictures"! Then it would be 100%!!

HALLOWEEN CAME AND WENT

2007-11-02T15:57:00.000-05:00

Usually I spend weeks ahead of time getting costumes ready for the kids. This year, Halloween snuck up on me, and I was pressured to get things together...which means most things are picked over and you get what's left! Megan had decided early on that she wanted to be a kitty...which was pretty easy to do. Black shirt and leggings...buy the kitty ears and a tail and we're set! Ryan on the other hand, flip flopped daily about what he wanted to be. At first he wanted to be SuperMan again...but I talked him out of that one since that was his costume of choice last year (he called himself "pooperman"! It was so cute!). I figured if he wanted to go the "hero" route, he could be Batman this year, and since Megan wanted to be a kitty, we could call her "Cat Woman". So off to the costume store we went and when Ryan saw her kitty ears and tail, he decided then that he wanted to be a doggy. OK...much cheaper to do, since the Batman costume was going to cost me no less than $20! We found a headband with doggy ears and a doggy nose that hung down the front of his face which was perfect because I wouldn't have to paint a nose on his face and have him rub it all off during the day. I couldn't find a white sweat suit that would have matched better with the headband, so we reluctantly went with black. I cut out felt circles and me being the cheap person I am, I didn't want to ruin the sweat suit that he could definitely use later, so I only stitched the spots on with one little stitch. Yeah, I did that at midnight the night before Halloween, so therefore my brain was already sleeping and I didn't think about the fact that the felt was not going to stay put with one stitch in the middle. By the end of the day, his sad little spots were limp and falling off. Oh well...at least I didn't put too much money into his costume! He still thought he was a puppy, and even though Mommy wasn't very pleased with how his costume turned out...Ryan certainly was. I don't think Megan will want to be a kitty again...she got really tired of people stepping on her tail, or using it as a leash to guide her around. I will try to do a better job of planning ahead next year. I just didn't have it together this year with me working again.
So here are a few pics in the slide show below to show you how our Halloween turned out. Still memorable for everyone....

A CAMPING WE WILL GO....

2007-10-28T23:18:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we had a blast breaking in the new camper my mom and dad bought. We LOVE it, and joked all weekend that it will be hard to go back to tents now! haha! Part of me did miss our tent, and I am sure we'll still get lots of use out of it. We may try to go one more time before it gets too cold, but that will all be dependant upon weather, of course. Did I mention it rained all week long leading up to our trip? In the last year, we have gone camping twice...and both times, we got rained out. Now here we are in the midst of the WORST drought the state of Alabama has seen in YEARS, and there hasn't been any rain ALL SUMMER LONG, but the one time we plan a camping trip...it rains all week long, and the ground is soaked! It sure is a good thing we had the camper this time...I don't think I could have handled sleeping on muddy blankets, etc.
Anyway...here are a few pics of our trip. Hope you enjoy!

CELEBRATION DINNER FOR MEGAN

2007-10-24T14:31:00.000-05:00

As stated in a previous post, my dear daughter got straight A's on her first report card of the First Grade. After keeping watch of her progress reports from the teacher, we pretty much knew that she was definatly bringing home the alpha's, so we decided to sweeten the pot a little and give her a little incentive. She loves going out to dinner...so much so that she is always asking if we can "go somewhere" for dinner because most of the time if we eat food that wasn't prepared at home, it's a dash at the drive thru and back to our kitchen! I'll never forget a day, here recently, that I took her to eat lunch at Subway. We walk up to the counter, place our order, and I told her she could go pick out a seat.

"We're eating HERE?!" Megan asked, wide eyed and ready to do a happy dance at the counter.

"Yes", I reply...a little shocked, but totally understanding where she's coming from.

"WOOOOOO HOOOOO!" Megan runs off and screams all the way to the table of her choice.

After the muttered laughter of everyone in the restaurant, I'm thinking..."Wow...we really need to get out more often". haha

So, after going back and forth over the last 3 weeks of where we will go to eat, she finally decides that she'd like to have "O'Charleys" because she likes the bread they serve.

PERFECT! KIDS EAT FREE!

I was looking forward to a nice dinner at Logan's Roadhouse as she had previously decided that is where she wanted to go, but that's ok. It's her night, so we'll go to the "kids eat free" restaurant! (hey...it's a win/win!). I definatly deserve to celebrate, because I've earned it too! Who do you think helps her with homework and studying for test every night?

MOM=THAT'S WHO!

So bring on my, er, HER celebration dinner!

We had a great evening, and here is a picture we took outside after we were done. If you look closely at little brother's face, you can tell he really enjoyed his dinner!