The Barney Blog

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-08T13:02:00.000-08:00

Coming to you from SO-Cal it's Hannah Montana and her trusty sidekicks Sam the Vam (Pire) and Magic Mickey.

Mark spent the evening sleeping on Nellie's couch.

Here are some individual shots. I love how their poses show their personalities!

House Special #4

2011-10-15T10:45:00.001-07:00

We have always conferred with a professional baby-namer when deciding our children's names. This year, her top suggestion was House Special #4 (I think she had just eaten Chinese). She wanted us to name Lucy either Bam-bam or Hertie Gertie. ACTUALLY, she's not so much a professional baby-namer as she is a co-worker of Chris'. But we always enjoy her creative opinion. We went another direction, though.

So what DID we name Barney Boy #3 and Barney kid #4???

Mark Henry! Isn't it lovely? He was born just a day past his due date and weighed in at 7lb 4oz. He's absolutely perfect (I think the jaundiced look gives those first weeks of baby pictures a little bit of a Hollywood "fake bake" look). He's eating, sleeping, and doing all of the other unmentionables babies love doing without any problems! I am eating him up. I always dread the new born phase and once the baby is born, I fall in love and wonder what I was so concerned about! Then again, I've had a lot of help in my mom and husband this week so ask me again next week...I might be a bit more frazzled. But now I am quite enjoying this sweet new spirit. The rest of the family loves him, too. Sam's already given him a dance lesson and Ben enjoys holding him for up to 10 seconds at a time, as long as he's sleeping.

She LOVES this boy! She begs to hold him whenever I'll let her.

The kids (with Grandma's help) made a welcome home sign for us. I loved coming home to see their shining faces and excitement for the new addition.

Chris got put in as bishop about 8 days after the baby was born.

It was quite a surprise for our family when he was extended the call, but we have already seen the Lord's hand in blessings we've received since then. We had a big family gathering for Chris and blessed the baby right after in our home.

Here's the Barney family circle.

Here's the Roundy representatives (Mom, as usual, was keeping busy swinging kids and holding babies).

No you can't sit on my head

2011-08-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

Today the kids started school. I didn't eat for days before Sam started kindergarten. I had a moment of nostalgia a few days ago as I watched Lucy showing off her mad monkey bars skills and told her she didn't have to go to kindergarten. She didn't even look at me and nonchalantly replied, "I think I wanna twy it out." She wasn't concerned and I honestly was so ready to be done with summer that I didn't dwell on my concerns too much.

This picture captures how fierce she was feeling in her new duds (and sparkle toe shoes she calls them). She didn't want me to do her hair. She has her own style all figured out. Ben was all about the photo shoot even though preschool doesn't start for a few days.

Sammy woke up good, but he got a little too wound up and he felt like this as we left for his big first day of 2nd grade.

They both have really sweet, wonderful teachers. I feel so blessed to know they're in good hands this year. Lucy found her desk quickly and made friends with a few other little girls at the table. She was a bit miffed that one of the other girls thought she was 4 because she was shorter than her. Otherwise, I think the day went well for her.

School starting felt kinda like Christmas to me! I loved our carefree, fun-seeking summer, but I'm wearing down in this last trimester of pregnancy and being the "cruise director" got a bit tiring in the end there. As I arrived home with Ben and Ben alone, I felt like a new woman! He helped me with my chores, we played outside, and we finally made the treat he's been asking for for months since it was his turn to choose for family home evening. We have a magazine with these "charming little cakes" on the cover. It says something like "easiest baked goods ever!" next to it. Well, Sandra Lee, I beg to differ. Luckily, Ben seemed completely satisfied with the finished product.
Here's the pic from the magazine:
My version of the charming little cake. The kids still gobbled them up.

He definitely missed his siblings. Him and Sam got to be quite the wrestlers by the end of summer. I know it's in a boys nature to be physical but it's just against my nature to sit back and watch the grappling which inevitably turns to someone crying. So I didn't miss it. But when Ben suddenly asked me today "Mom, can I sit on your head?" I really wished Sam were there and I think Ben did too.

By the way -- It's a BOY! We're having a boy and have known awhile, I just haven't posted forever. Yeah for more wrestling matches, right? Actually, yeah for more Lucy-Mommy dates since she has solidified her position as princess of the family and now totally earned that extra attention. 6 weeks to go of pregnancy and then we'll get to meet our newest little nacho libre.

As an attempt to fill in summer gaps, here's a short list of what we'll remember most about this summer:

Searching for the King of the Red-Bum monkeys at the zoo (Grandpa said he was the king of the Red-Bum monkeys and that's something by boys will never forget). We only caught a glimpse, so this sign had to suffice for our proof of the existence of said red-bum monkey.

Swimming at Nellie's and getting spoiled with oodles of popsicles and rootbeer.

Lake Mead with cousins -- we survived a sudden storm with lightning and wind that drove us off the lake once it got calm enough to travel on it. Otherwise -- beautiful weather and water and lots of sunburns to prove it.

Kidnapping Daddy on National Cow Appreciation Day.

And a few sweet moments like this mixed in to remind me that what happens at home matters most.

Halfway

2011-07-20T21:44:00.000-07:00

Summer's halfway over. We're actually really enjoying ourselves for the most part. I thought by now I'd be exhausted and done, and, well, I feel that way sometimes but I'm starting to dread getting back to the grind. Why can't I just enjoy the moment, eh?

I'm in my 3rd trimester officially. We're having a BOY in case the word hadn't otherwise reached you. 3 boys in the house. I really can't wait. Lucy has solidified her position as princess of the Barney family without equivocation. I love having an excuse to go out and do girly things "We girls have to stick together, Luc, since we'll be the only ones in the house!" Doesn't that merit a pedicure?

Something that's on my mind often lately and I think will be a reason that I find more joy in the moment happened last week. My good friend Sarah (you can review the posts -- she's been a part of my life since I've lived here) has a 16 month old son who got an e-coli infection which developed into more complicated HUS. After a life flight and surgery he is now hooked up to every tube in every spot possible while he's under every measure of sedation to hopefully right the wrongs the deadly little bacteria caused. If he recovers fully, which they say is possible, it will mean months of hospitalization for the poor little guy.

So what are my big problems? Well sometimes Ben hucks the Wii remote at Sam or Sam walks passed the socks again that I've asked him to pick up for the bobillionth time. I know, how do I manage, right? But sometimes when that stuff has happened this last week or so, I have felt this new layer of understanding that helps me see how blessed I am to have healthy, happy (mostly) kids. It makes me evaluate the things that matter most in a whole different way.And so this horrible experience has had an affect on my heart. Sarah's heart is going through faith bootcamp I'm sure. No one ever asks for that kind of challenge. I'm grateful that I've seen her strength and heard her testify of her trust in the Lord. She knows there's a plan. It doesn't relieve you from the pain of seeing your child suffer or wondering what really could happen, but it brings a measure of peace. The Lord knows each of us and helps each of us through our own challenges, whether they be great or small. He loves us all so much. And so I kindly pick up Sam's socks and give him a hug.

For those who only read my blog to see pics of the kids, I apologize. It won't upload anything right now....so more to come, hopefully sooner than later!

To Reward or Not Reward, and some weddings and mountains

2011-05-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

In the midst of developing a rather involved summer reward/chore chart system, I ran across articles comparing rewards to dangling carrots. "You're raising a child not training a puppy," they say and they tell me the only way to really teach correct behavior is to do it through love and logic type learning. But then there's the school of thought that says reward good behavior to encourage good habits. So I'm revamping the reward system and trying to think about whether or not my "carrots" are helping them want to be good intrinsically, or relying solely on extrinsic motivation.

What are your plans for summer with kids home? How are you preparing for all that free time? I think I'm going to end up with some basic chore requirements not directly linked to fun stuff, but required to be completed to participate in fun stuff....and maybe some extra chores that they can earn money for or something like that.

While you're pondering your response, I'll entertain you with pictures from my recent trip to UT and AZ. Our "Spring Wedding Tour," as we (I) called it, included Chris' step-sister Tedi's wedding at the Salt Lake Temple and my cousin Whitney's wedding in the Mesa, AZ temple. We saw almost everyone we're both related to and got to squeeze in some wonderful family time in between events. It really made the top 3 for family trips we've done ever. We planned it with about 3 days notice and I think that worked well for us.

We spent some time as a family on the Salt Lake Temple grounds, where we were married. The kids had only seen it in pictures. They loved the vast conference center and the pictures in the visitor's center. The flowers reminded me of our spring wedding! Our poor CA kids could hardly handle the less-than-60 degree weather (it was actually more like 40 and rainy and windy!). We had our winter coats (hoodies) but I guess they have different winter gear in UT!

Ben and Grandpa Barney at Erica's house celebrating Chris' birthday.

Here's the Barney family at Tedi's wedding.

On our way from UT to AZ we drove through Zion's National Park. Holy gorgeousness!

The kids trooped up a mile long trail to a beautiful vantage point.

The kids (if you couldn't tell by now) are in this "pose for the camera" phase which means different things for Lucy than for Sam and Ben.

THE TOP!

I just realized I have no pics of Whitney's wedding. We went from 45 and freezing our pathetic California tails off in UT to 100 and sweltering in AZ and I think that just sucked all of the rest of what energy we had left out of us. Basically it was swimming, swimming, eating, wedding, swimming. So pretty much as good as it gets.

Something's different....

2011-03-09T20:12:00.000-08:00

Is it my new hair-do?
No! This is just Lucy's new hobby. She loves doing hair, and just perfected the side-ponytail. If you ever see me in person with this special up-do, please let Lucy know how good she's getting at doing hair and don't laugh at me too much. Even if I pull it out or try to push it a little further back, she'll grab me and say "let me fix that foh you, Mom."

Here's another hint. It's a before and after picture of sorts.

That's right you clever person, you. I'm going to look like Amy in about 7 months! Oi. We had to time the passing of the maternity clothes just right. I must say though that it's not fun to see the end from the beginning, whatever I might have thought in my scripture pondering. Sometimes it's better to have to wonder how huge I'll get. But Amy looks fab, really. She's due today, by the way, and we're all betting on how long that baby can hold it's horizontal position without pushing straight out the front!

We're really excited/nervous about making the leap from 3 to 4 Barney chilluns. I expect Ben will probably rough the baby up enough before it's even out of my belly that it will be a tough little kid. Lucy's set to "make bottles, change it's diapoh (she doesn't say her r's), and hold it. So mom you bettoh eat lots of food (done) and take some naps (done and done) cuz the baby needs to sleep." I told her it's a peanut (I meant size) and the next morning she said "It's bwown! I can see it." Sam, after absorbing how this will change his life, noted that "now we need to wake up Dad at night if we're scared." Too bad he's the only kid that never wakes up. So October 7th here we come!

I also meant to post about our cool expedition down south to the Mormon Battalion church site. It's right in the Old Town area of San Diego and has recently been redone. We met Chris' bro and family down there and the kids LOVED IT! I enjoyed it too. I totally recommend going and checking it out. It's free, it's an excuse to go to beautiful San Diego, and they really put on a good show for kids of all ages (and adults) to learn what the Mormon Batallion's trek really meant for the church and for California (for more info check out mormon.org/mb). Here's what the kids loved:

The kids panned for gold and couldn't believe they actually found some (fool's gold, that is)! The sweet sister missionary let them pick two little bits from their findings to take home. They talked about how rich they would be if it were really gold.

Ben could have pumped that water spigot all day long. I suppose he'd make a good cowboy.

All of the cousins gathered at the end for this vintage photo. One of the best things about the whole tour is the sister and couple missionaries who run the place. They made sure all the kids were in it, pulling over crates and adjusting heads until we got this -- not bad from what we started with.

That's a Deal Breaker

2011-02-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

Although our efforts to explain "tattletale" to the kids produced the phrase "Sam's tittletattling on me!", we are not deterred in teaching them these important concepts! Last night at dinner we spent some time discussing what a "deal breaker" was. I don't know if it totally sunk in but you have to admit if your 4-yr old pulls out a "that's a deal breaker!", then it's funny no matter what. I think her best example (after my stellar example of "if you want to go to a friend's house but then they get sick and throw up -- that's a deal breaker!") was "If your friend pulls out her eyeball!" Yeah, Lucy, that's definitely a deal breaker.

Sam couldn't be bothered with such tiresome linguistic lessons. His very first tooth is loose and thoughts about how best to deal with this new and dangerous upcoming event consume him. We've tried to ease his anxiety by explaining our own experiences loosing teeth-- Dad used some pliers and yanked it out after saying he just wanted to check on it. Mom tied floss around it, tied the floss to a doorknob, then slammed the door. Chris even showed him a youtube video of some kid who pulled his tooth out with a rocket (check it out -- it's a riot). Luckily he hadn't paid attention during dinner or he would have said "That's a deal breaker!" He started basketball recently and I told him a good ball to the face might help. He had already taken a few in practice and I wanted him to feel like at least the act might accomplish something good. Maybe we're going about this the wrong way. The first kid, as everyone knows, gets experimented upon mercilessly. Any suggestions on making teeth-loss a fun process? He's relieved that it's finally happening. He's one of the last in his class to loose a tooth.

Ben, well he's busy vacuuming his hair and trying to learn how to be as cool as Sam. He sleeps like a rock and cracks us up with realistic re-enactments of shark attacks and jokes like "Knock knock. I said banana!" He didn't want to go to bed one night. He propped his head on his hands and gave Chris stink eyes. Chris left. 10 minutes later we found him like this.

Chris and I are settled into the new year quite nicely. We have a fresh bag of oranges delivered every couple of days from a goodly neighbor. What more can you ask for, really?

Here's our 2011 in pictures thus far (with a little throwback to 2010 and Courtney's wedding)

I already did a half marathon this year so I'm done with my new year's resolutions early. My good high school friend Jen came down from WA to run with me. I still hold to the truth that running brings people together. I undertrained and still pushed myself, but I didn't hurl and I hit my goal time so all in all it was a good race. I think the best part was recuperating on the beach after.

Sam's the oldest Grandkid at 6. And Courtney's not even started yet. Man, my parents are in for it!

This is the infamous "angry eyes" pose that the Barney men do so well in pictures.
Our best family picture effort.

New York at Christmas

2010-12-19T21:49:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK REPORT!
I got to tag along with Chris on a "business trip" to NY. He really only had one day of business, but we extended and stayed 5 nights. It was my first time staying in the city and his first time to really get to sight see although he's been a few times. We've been dream-planning this trip for awhile.

What we did:
EXPLORED! We saw mummies and antique furniture at the MET and saw the whole city from the top of the Empire State Building. We traveled all over the subway and loved watching the street performers and the people in general. We even saw a couple with horns -- real implanted horns! A whole bunch of people tried to convert me to judaism. I guess I looked like I needed some religion. We went to church though, and loved how it's the same everywhere. Except they say "Good morning" when each speaker gets up and greets the audience. We in California always assume it's kind of a rhetorical greeting, but it sure felt friendly. We even heard Wilson Phillips perform at a tree lighting ceremony in Bryant Park(even though I begged, they didn't sing "Hold on", so sad!). We shopped in Times Square and bartered in China town. It's kind of scary how that place actually feels (and smells!) like China. Then you step across the street to little Italy and you're surrounded my mafia speaking Italian and using the hand gestures (not the bad ones, the Italian ones).

EAT! We found a heavenly gluten free restaurant -- Risotteria (they give you GF breadsticks as you sit down to order! Chris still loves me even though he watched me enhale them like an animal!). I didn't stop eating because I could actually eat everything! The pizza, the risotto, the black and white cookie....so delicious!
I also hit the Shake Shack during Chris' meetings and never wanted to leave, but felt bad sitting too long because so many people wanted my spot! I'm still dreaming about their special sauce....Wendy's even tasted good there. All that trekking makes a girl hungry!

Walked and Ran....a lot! I LOVED jogging through central park because I got to run past all the crowds and go wherever I wanted. You can still see the city but you feel like you're protected from it somehow. And walking across brooklyn bridge at dusk is like magic! So beautiful!

There's so much to do there it's actually really exhausting! The whole city kind of sucks you in with all of its excitement and energy. But we left snow flurries to come home to 75 degree sunshine and thought....there's no place like home!

Here's the magical moment on Brooklyn Bridge. The sun broke through the clouds, warmed us up, and set the skyline on fire!
The Staten Island Ferry -- it's free and offers a great view of the Statue of Liberty.
Here she is -- that Lady of Freedom in all of her glory. This is the best shot we could get.
Times Square feels kind of like the great and spacious building in real life. At the same time you can't help but like it at the same time. My favorite moment -- a group of young adult Jewish men singing and dancing spontaneously around a giant menorah.
Here's a picture of Chris and I...I mean Chris' friend "the bull" and I in the financial district. He was riveted by all of the business going on down there. I liked the old cemetary next to the Trinity church.

Halloween and the big 3-0

2010-11-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

First things first -- Halloween pics!

Sam was Harry Potter (we've been reading the books together). He kept saying "Wouldn't it be cool (how most of his sentences start) if I could just ride my broom and meet you at the trunk or treat?" Ben was a pirate since he can't decide yet and we had the stuff. He liked it and played the part well. Lucy was Pinkalicious this year (a book character who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink -- it's a cute book. You should look it up!)
We went to Sam's school's carnival. They had like a 20-foot long path that was the "Scare Zone." Sam went through five or six times. Lucy started going through more times than that and kept chickening out. She peeked her head down the alley once and said "I did it!" And ran away. She wants to be so brave (and really is brave).

We met our cousins at our trunk-or-treat. Here's Gabbi (as a pirate) and Luke (as none other than THE Michael Jackson. And he even perfected his moonwalk).

Here's Ben, Afton (as Purplicious -- the sister book) and Lucy. Ben I think wouldn't mind wearing that hat everywhere he goes, especially if it meant he could bring a sword along too! He felt a little more confident when he was armed, even if it was with flexi-soft-plastic.

So I turned the big 30. The "no spring chicken anymore" 30. The "I think she's in her thirties" 30.

Lucy asked me how old I am. "30," I said. "Foaty," she repeated. Lucy can't say her "th" sound (or her r's either). Sam couldn't at her age so it's never bothered me too much, until she just now said that I'm "foaty." That's not OK.

But being 30 isn't as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, I'm actually quite enjoying telling people my age. I feel as if I'm in a whole new club now. It's not as traditionally fun maybe as the 20's, but it has a lot of promise. I feel like I have at least accepted the fact that when it comes to life in general, I have a lot to learn. At 20 I thought I knew everything. But you know what? I guess now that I know I don't know anything, I have also learned to deal with all of the less-than-perfect stuff life throws at me a little better. So I guess I have a few more tools in my belt that will help me this decade. I am really excited for a few things in the next 10:

1) All of my kids will get baptized. And by the time I'm 40 almost all of my current children will be teenagers. Woah!

2) I'll see how long my joints will hold together as I continue my saga of running.

3) All of my siblings will be married, so I'm sure Grandma Kristi will be redefining Grandmotherhood as the numbers will most likely begin growing exponentially. It will be fun to get together and have it be absolute mayhem. Up until now, it's just been mayhem.

4) I'll probably get Ben's baby book finished sometime this decade.

5) Chris and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary. And even our 15th! That's like the hay and pewter anniversaries or something really rivetting, right? But I'm looking forward to us as we increase in wisdom and love through our thirties. I have an awesome husband to weather the storms of life with.

How did I celebrate? I ran the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay. It's a 195 mile relay where me and 11 others on my team took turns running three legs each varying in distance from 3-10 miles per leg. I came, I ran, I survived. Here are my favorite sayings I saw on the vans we competed with:

Ragnar -- what happens in Vegas, still hurts your shins.

It's a 200 mile relay, what could go wrong?

There are a lot of sayings I can't repeat. Maybe it went along with the Vegas crowd or something, but most of them were cool and creative. There was a Dexter van (some of my family might have appreciated that) and an Antoine Dodson van, a monty python themed car, a "running from the law" van where they dressed in stripes, and of course the mullets. They knew how to do a ragnar. They really ran with mullet wigs and cut-off flannel shirts! They had pasta salad in a cooler attached to the bag of their van. And they were all about the spirit of the run. They would drive ahead of the runners and write encouraging chalk messages on the sidewalk like "Mullets love you" or "You rock".

It was fun in a weird "let's run all night and hang out in a van for 30 hours" way. Our van of runners (6 total) was an awesome mix of people who didn't know each other well, and we really came together as we supported one another through the running and other challenges. We nicknamed our van the Chrysler Town and Stinky. It lived up to its name. We made good friends with some other vans, too. Chris asked an older guy in my ward (he was going out there since his daughter-in-law was competing in it) to meet me for my night run since I was scared to run in the dark alone. It was a good thing, too, because it followed a trail that was pretty isolated. He's in his 60's and I could hardly keep up with him! We finished a 5K distance in like 24 minutes. He's tough as nails! People really came together and helped make the whole thing interesting. And the scenery made my early morning sunrise run spectacular even if I'd only slept 3 hours. I loved doing the whole thing with my good friend Sarah! Even though we've known each other for years, you get to know someone in a whole different way when you're totally sleep deprived and getting ready to run at 4 am. Sarah was tough and optimistic through it all. Go Team Hang Tender Toes!!!

Here's where my last fun ended. It really was out in the middle of nowhere and it was beautiful.

Me and Sarah at teh finish line. We'd been woken up to meet our other van at the end and we were really delirious.

The team -- Angela, Barrett, Shannon, Tyler, Shannon, Joel, Angela, and Sarah (missing a few)

Here's our van -- Sarah, Eric, Angela, Me, Matt, and Nichole.

Here's Tyler -- I thought this shot looked like a sponsor pic.

Fun with Fritz

2010-10-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

Amy's back in CA! Yeah! It's kind of our routine to do an after dinner dance party. This night Uncle Fritz (Chris' nickname) pumped up the tunes with the kids while Amy and I were cleaning up dinner dishes. We ditched the dishes once we heard all the fun we were missing.

Bubba Got Married

2010-09-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

This is a make-up post -- this all happened a few months ago, but it's too memorable to skip over.

Bubba is my little bro. He's great and he married Emily who is at least equally as great. Don't they just look like they both made out like bandits in the deal? I love it. The whole family made it for the event making it even more memorable.

My Aunties and Mom master-minded the reception decor. Fancy, eh?

Every time there's a photographer around, I give a family picture a go. It always turns out kind of like this.

And now we're getting ready for the last of the siblings to join the ranks of the espoused. Courtney's engaged to Greg -- the date is set for December. YEAH COURTEY!
She came out to visit a few weeks ago and updated me on all things hip. I learned about Antoine Dodson, Maroon 5, and played a lot of "What NOT to wear." Courtney helped me teach my kids a lot of lessons, like when she told them "When you get to college you can eat Oreos for breakfast!" and when I told them "Look kids, this is what happens when you don't put sunscreen on at the beach!" She got fried.

The kids LOVE having Auntie Courtney here. Lucy even suggested they play beauty parlor and allowed Court to put her hair in pigtails!

We're finally in the swing of things now that it's about the first day of fall. Something about those long summer days makes me want to throw all responsibility and care to the wind, but the cool (it's only 72 right now at 2:44 pm) weather somehow grounds me again. Now we're planning Halloween costumes, looking forward to a last hurrah boating trip with cousins in a few weeks, and I'm training to run the Las Vegas Ragnar relay with my girlfriend Sarah (and 10 others as our team). It's my turning 30 "coming of age" adventure. I'm going to celebrate by spending that many hours relaying across the desert. Courtney, who can't understand my need to run, said "But you can run here for free and spend that money on a nice dress for my wedding!" A dress or exhaustion and blisters for a cause? It's an obvious choice.

And then there was the time we dressed up like cows...

2010-07-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

If I were really cool, I would have posted something a week ago so you too could have sported cow costumes and eaten for free. Put it on your calendar for next year. July 9th: Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A. At first I felt a little apprehensive to go out in public dressed like a cow not on Halloween. But, my good friend Sheri was totally down with sporting the spots and really it's always fun to dress up, isn't it! The free food made the late-night spot pinning worth it!

Can you guess what they're saying?

This is just one of the ways we're having the rockin'est summer ever.

Actually, though, I'm just trying to stay afloat with all three kids home. I know I only had one less during the school year and that was only for 6 hours most days, but it makes a difference. We're settling in to our schedule a bit more and also enjoying not having to stay in the schedule. A few things that define our summer:

It's a good day when we only wear PJ's and swimsuits throughout the entire day.

Popsicles count as a snack anytime (rewards for Benny's potty training right now)

We try to keep up daily quiet time and chore charts (some days better than others...).

We took the whole fam to the beach for a few nights of enjoying nature. Once we got used to the idea that Ben would be a ball of dirt for the entire 3 days, our camping trip improved dramatically! Really, though, we had ourselves a nice couple of days together -- just the family and the sand (and dirt).

To stay entertained while not at the beach, we frequented the camp store, antagonizing the sales person by playing with all of the toys and pulling candy away from Ben.

We explored the caves in the morning at low tide and found lots of cool anemones, muscles, and crabs.

Check out Ben's curls. Oooh, I just love 'em!

Chris likes digging big holes. The kids like playing in big holes. The only downside -- the lifeguard made him break it down because I guess big holes are dangerous. Shyah!

Finally! A break from the daily grind.

Next time I'll give the kids their lollipops after the picture.

We also got a visit from Grandma and helped watch cousin Kate while her parents went on a cruise. Let me tell ya-- adding one kid and a grandma to the mix required adding a Dr. Pepper to your breakfast milk. Actually I think that Grandma might have really been spiking her breakfast milk with Dr. Pepper. Maybe Kate's too. I'm not sure. But we had fun. Mom and I even got a girls night out complete with a Tom Cruise flick and shopping. Love ya, Mom!!! We had so much fun having you out!

Show me your eyes Ben! (that's what I said and that's what I got).

Grandma even made cleaning the windows fun! How does she do it?

Free Mercer Lane Frames

2010-05-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

So you know how my aunts make really amazingly gorgeous frames? Well, I've been helping my aunts get a blog to help them market those frames (mercerlane.blogspot.com if you want to check it out). Someone girl who has a product review blog found the frames blog and asked for some frames to do a review. She LOVED them (of course) and is now running a FREE FRAME GIVEAWAY through her blog (and supported graciously by my loving aunties). Here's the link. It only runs through Memorial Day at midnight (the link tells you how to enter the contest):

Go here to enter http://takeitfrom-me.blogspot.com/2010/05/mercer-lane-review-giveaway.html

And here are a couple of my favorites!

There's a Lizard on my Head

2010-04-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

We had Chris' parents and sister Theresa visit this week for spring break. We had a great visit with them. I love when family comes to town because then we actually get out and enjoy all thing So-Californian, like In-N-Out.

And what trip down here would be complete without paying homage to the happiest place on earth? (Thanks, Doris, for tying quilts to earn our "Give a Day, Get a Day" Tickets).

We let the kids pick out some souvenirs--their very own mustard packets! Included in the price of admission, I might add. Our poor, poor children.

We visited a few museums locally as well. One of them had a reptile room with snakes, lizards, spiders and other things that make your skin crawl. Benny has been quite afraid of lizards. We have them all over our yard. I heard him screaming one day while they were playing back there. I found him on some stairs in the very back of the yard paralyzed with fear, a 3-inch lizard clinging to some bricks a few feet from where he sat. He's a pretty thick-skinned kid usually, so I'm trying to help him get over it. We looked at all of the caged specimens at the museum. He clung to me, but seemed interested. I set him down for a few minutes after he got comfortable. I turned to look at something, inadvertently brushing his glamorous blond curls that extend quite beyond the edges of his head. He let out some screams that made me think one of the tarantulas had escaped and was gnawing on his scalp! We ran him out of the room, calmed him down, and after a thorough check of his head determined he just thought a lizard was on his head. The next few days confirmed our theory. He kept one hand on his head most of the time. Upon awakening, he would grab his head and ask "Li-yo?" (Lizard?). "No, Benny. All of the lizards are locked up in their cages. You are safe." We ate our Easter dinner outside. The breeze kept blowing his curls. He wouldn't eat. He kept looking around, one hand holding his head, saying "Li-yo, li-yo." I finally grabbed one of Lucy's hairties and pulled his hair back in a pony tail. That helped. I thought it looked dope. Chris said "No. It looks white-trash."

Later that night.

I love Ben's curls. Do I really need to cut them? Will this be the straw that broke the camel's back (or the needle that cracked the donkey's back, right Amy?)? Someone told me my little girl was cute the other day, too. He doesn't look girly. Really. He's husky and looks boylish if you ask Sam (his made up word). But maybe it's time.

V-Day and the B-Fam

2010-02-10T21:24:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in awhile. Oi! I was so excited when the new year came -- I felt motivated to clean up Christmas and get jumping on my resolutions. I've been going full steam ahead organizing junk drawers, getting back on the running bandwagon (it's on between Chris and I for a half in May -- he thinks he actually has a shot at beating me), finishing projects...I even learned how to prune my roses! As wonderful and magical as Christmas is, the post-Christmas detox has really left me feeling good. The rain down here has turned our normal desert landscape green and lush. It's only the second time since we've lived here that we've seen this kind of greenery. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Cupid's arrow has hit a few of us here in Barneyville. Sam says the girls at school organized a "crew" and chase him and two other boys around trying to kiss them. Lucy got her first non-family-boy Valentine and it was from our neighbor, a 1st grader -- he laid the carnation on her pillow during her nap! And Ben, well, Ben started acting like a puppy and licks everyone all the time. I guess that ties in with my love theme in the puppy love category. Chris loves me, too. He watched the kids after dinner so I could go get a haircut and do some errands. Of course we're going on a classy Valentine's date to our ward dinner dance. I told him we could leave early and hit a movie to sweeten the deal. Any suggestions on good flicks out right now?

I hope you all have a fantastic Valentine's Day. We send you our love (and licks!).

XOXOXOXOXOXO

What do you bring to a white elephant gift exchange?

2009-12-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

That!

The month in review

2009-11-29T14:44:00.001-08:00

Doesn't that title just grab your interest and make you want to read this post? I bet you're on the edge of your seats. Well, I won't let you down!

THE PRICE IS RIGHT

I fulfilled one my lifetime goals (I set reasonable goals for myself) by attending a taping of The Price is Right. I went with my Grandma, my sis, and my friend Sheri who I found out while we were there is my third cousin! Her grandma and my grandma were cousins and grew up picking potatoes together. Crazy mormons are all related, I guess. The day required hours and hours of waiting in lines, but we met a lot of nice people. One elderly couple we waited in line with entertained us with some stand-up comedy that they perform on cruise ships (the wife asks him to nibble on her ear like he used to. He jumps out of bed. She says "where are you going?" Husband replies "To get my teeth!"). We got in the show, and although we didn't get to come on down, we yelled ourselves hoarse saying "One dollar, one dollar!" Overall it was totally exhausting, but I guess that's the "price" you have to pay for fame and fortune! Hee hee...

Grandma hung out with us for a few days. The kids loved having her around, especially Ben. He likes to eat and she likes to feed people. It's a match made in heaven!
What else did we do this month? I'm glad you asked.

THANKSGIVING

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We invited Nellie over and had our own meal. Man oh man, what a great holiday. As my friend Carly said "Good food and being grateful, how much better could a day get?" And it really can get better when my friend Jill, who also has celiac disease, did a pie swap with me. I had four gluten free pies. It was like a little turkey day miracle. And then it got better when Sam wanted to help, so I gave him the ingredients for the cheeseball and he made it! It was the first time that he helped in a way that actually diminished my workload instead of the other way around.

I have so much to be grateful for, so I wrote a poem about it:

Turkey day helps me count all my blessings.

And you also say "please pass the dressing."

I love all my family

I love all my friends

And I promise with you I'm not messing.

The sugar rush begins

2009-11-01T22:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween from the Barneys!

We went to our ward Halloween Hoopla and had loads and loads of fun (almost as much fun as we had candy in our buckets afterward!) Here's Tinkerbell, Usain Bolt the Olympic 100 M dash gold medalist, and a chicken.

This video shows Ben in action as a chicken. Too bad he could only keep the costume on for 15 minutes before he started sweating to death. He made one cute little chicken, though, for as long as it lasted.

The other pics are our recent trips to Disneyland. Amy and I celebrated our birthday there. Birthdays are so cool with a twin. And especially when it's Amy. We had a birthday sleepover the night before. She kept doing nice things for me during the day saying it was in honor of my birthday. Then I had fun making my own birthday cake because, really, it was for Amy. That's what I call a lesson in service! Here's baby Kate with her matching Moms at Disneyland.

Chris has gotten used to me hounding him to take pictures. He has the longer arm and he's gotten pretty good at it, don't you think? Here's us on our date night at Disneyland on tea cups (thank you Sheri for watching the kids!).

3,000 Miles and a book full of pictures later...

2009-09-27T22:24:00.000-07:00

Yeah. We totally drove all the way to Seattle (and all over WA) and back as a family and we're actually alive to tell the tale. And you know what, I'm glad we did it! We had a really good time together. It seems like the traveling part of the trips comprise a lot of my memories of vacationing with the whole family as a child, (wrestling in the back of the blue van/ watching out for our pet iguana as it wandered the van when we moved from CA to CO). Traveling is different now than when I was a kid. Maybe Sam will remember the hour upon hour he watched Scooby Doo, or how it was even cooler in Portuguese once they tired of the English version. Scooby still starts his words with r's, even in Portuguese.

Other possible experiences that indelibly etched upon thier young minds:

Seeing a tree you could drive through if you didn't have a fully loaded mini-van with a storage thing on top. Pulling over to see a "life size" creation of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. We'd seen a special about this place on a Huell Howser show (that guy is the coolest), and couldn't miss a chance to be somewhere Huell had once been. He even talked and waved to us! Camping in the redwoods where we enjoyed skipping rocks and all sleeping soundly in one tent (wonder of wonder, miracles of miracles).We got to see Seattle and ride the ferry to Bainbridge Island.

Here's Chris with the kids and an oh-so picturesque Rainbow settling just over the Space Needle. Beautiful, isn't it? Here's me Reading Harry Potter in the car on the ferry while Sam sleeps off the last remnants of the food poisoning that we all got, but he was the last to get it and the last to recover. But a quiet moment in the car is almost as nice as a rainbow and the space needle sometimes.

The real reason for the drive was Chris' sister Becky's wedding. The groom's (Jon's) Dad lives on Bainbridge Island and has a gorgeous backyard where they held the ceremony. Lucy got to be the flower girl and made it most of the way down the aisle before becoming completely terrified and running to me crying. Ben liked playing with the petals, so it all worked out, and I think they got a few good pics of her before she saw the crowd, so all is well.

The bride and groom glowed and we loved being with Becky and the rest of the Barney family whom we definitely don't see often enough. Here's Chris and his brothers (Dean, Jason, and Aaron) with their sis Becky.

The women: Bridesmaid I don't know, Theresa, Becky, and Erica holding Eva.

Becky graced us with her singing/keyboard talents (she is SO amazing!) and her friends from other bands from the Seattle area rocked the reception. They were so good, they even got Grandpa busting a move! Now I know where Chris gets his moves!

Daddy-daughter dancing is the BEST!
Cute cousin Eva found Ben and remember him from their visit this summer. She gave him a little kiss and he stood ever so still. I think it means they'll be friends forever.

Forgive the shoddy camera work. She can really sing.

After the wedding, we spent a few days touring Seattle, Mount Rainier, and Mount St. Helens. Those mountains sure make you understand what it means to be the dust of the earth. They tower over everything. They are some amazing creations!

Grandma Doris and Ben playing dress-up in Ye Olde Curiousity Shoppe. Sam finding butterflies at the Pacific Science Center.

Mount St. Helens lost over 1,000 feet in height when it erupted. The whole area looks desolate compared to the lush forests everywhere else (it's still greener than SoCal!).

Mount Rainier vs. Sam -- who would you bet on?

The Grove of the Patriarchs.

We also spent some time with Grandpa Chris and Grandma Doris, who let the kids ride one of their miniature horses. They LOVED it!
That's it! We are back and glad to be back. I don't think we'll be traveling out of state for quite awhile. Come to sunny so-cal and visit us instead!

Mourning the end of an era

2009-08-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Up to this point my life as a mother hasn't been controlled much by anything but me. I got used to doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. We had a good schedule of things we were involved in and doing, but nothing we HAD to do, usually. Now school has started and it's all changing. I am officially controlled by the man now. I have to take my child to school every day or they'll throw me in "JL" (that's Jail in Sam's dialect of English). At least I tell Sam he has to go every day or we'll both get in trouble -- I didn't tell him I'd go to jail, promise.

I have to say that three kids at home at once did get a little overwhelming near the end of this summer, though, making me ready for school to start. You can only sing and dance for so long before you just want them to go and clean up their room just because you told them to do it. Can you tell I was ready for a change? But I will miss a few things like:

Lounging around in our pj's all day.

Camping in the backyard -- not caring about bedtimes or routines.
Lounging in the tent.
Boating with the girls.

Making cookies outside so we could recklessy sprinkle the dough with flour (and taking a bath on the grass with the hose afterwards).

Summer ended when I told Sam "Finish your homework first"." And then I realized I'm probably going to say those exact words a lot more for a long time. I can't believe Sam's in school. Gone are the carefree days of summer and here comes structure and schedules. Gone is my baby boy! But he's ready and I'm ready. It's not all bad, but it'll take some getting used to.

He could hardly sleep the night before he was so excited. He woke up early, brought out his carefully planned clothes, dressed, then asked me every few seconds when it was time to go. During breakfast he told me he felt like a teenager. Once the time finally came, he donned his backpack and jumped into my view saying "I'm Kindergarten Boy!"

That's his teacher Mrs. Stephens in the background. She's great!When I picked him up, he looked like they'd been performing China torture on him. He moped over to me and when I asked how it went, he said "Not good!" Day 2 and 3 have gone a little better, I think.

Our day is different without Sam. Lucy and I like doing girly things now like dress-ups and painting our toe nails. Ben jumps right in. He has lovely pink toes right now and he loves it. I don't know if things have changed for the better for sweet little Benny boy. Change is good, though, right?

To make my family jealous

2009-07-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

I got to see my brother today even though he's still on his mission. We have been good his whole mission while he's serving an hour away from where we live and haven't tracked him down once. The mission pres granted us a lunch date before he left and today was the lucky day. He flies home on Wednesday.

I was nervous, and he later said he was nervous, about what the outcome of our little date might be, but it ended up being a great time. Everybody wants to see the newly home elders, but I hated to be the one to remind him the real world is coming. I told him it's good, though. I don't think he believed me.

We met in a bit of a sketchy neighborhood at a cool Mexican food joint. His companion gained five pounds worth of burrito during the meal (he's a bean pole, so he could use it). We talked about his mission and how things might be when he gets back. I think he's in for a bit of a shock based on how he reacted to a couple of Chris' slightly off comments, but he's going to do just fine. Just don't make him watch any movies for awhile. He's not ready for that. And he doesn't want to hear Weezer right away, either.

We love Bubba and can't wait to have him back! He has definitely served with honor and is coming home a different, wiser, more mature man (but still as skinny as before, to his chagrin). Hopefully we'll rise up to his level a little bit as he rubs off on us.

MJ's memorial is tomorrow, so LA is covered with murals like this one down the street from where we ate. Bubba was worried he was breaking the rule of looking like a tourist. I thought it was more of a historical picture. It marks the end of an era in so many ways.

What we did on the 4th

2009-07-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. My friend pointed out today that it has all the fun of the best holidays without the fuss of gifts (like Christmas) or insane amounts of food prep (like Thanksgiving). Ours was nice. We started with a refreshing pancake breakfast. The flier sent out at church said "Come enjoy a refreshing pancake breakfast." I can't eat pancakes, but it looked like everyone else was very refreshed by it.

I told Sam we celebrate the 4th in honor of those who fought for our freedom and who continue to do that. He said "like Uncle Danny?" who is in Iraq fighting right now. I think it meant more for the kids knowing someone they could relate the meaning of the day to.

That afternoon we swam at Nellie's with the cousins. Sam got stung by a bee as he was about to cannon-ball into the pool about 15 minutes into the festivities. A few popsicles later he still wanted to go home, so we did. We barbecued and ate outside. The kids werekind of jumpy about bugs after Sam's incident, but they forgot all about it once I started filling water balloons for our water balloon toss. It's funny how I spent so long filling balloons and never had more than 10 filled at one time. Ben especially loved grabbing them, giggling, then chucking them on the grass. Chris snuck up on the roof with a hose and sprayed us as we worked so diligently filling and tying (all the kids helped, of course). So then the 10 I had filled were launched at him. We got him pretty good. That counted for the water balloon toss, I think.

Later we had a huge communal bath (it's nice having kids and cousins 7 and under--they don't care yet). Then we enjoyed our first batch of homemade ice cream for the year. We were all totally spent even though we really wanted to watch fireworks. Cousins left, hoping to catch some fireworks on the ride home. We got lucky. As we were putting the kids to bed, we heard the booms of the nearby show. I peeked out the window and there it was! We could see half of the show pretty clearly. Sam was exhausted! He lay in bed and watched for a few minutes before I heard him lightly snoring. Lucy kept saying "Oooh, that's a pitty (pretty) one!" and telling me which ones were her favorite colors. She got tired and jumped in bed, too. Chris wandered off, so I watched the end of the show as my kids fell asleep. It was a perfect way to end the day.

Check out Ben's Blog

2009-06-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

I just accidentally posted the blog meant for here on Ben's blog, so follow the link to see it. I'm too lazy to recreate it.....

The Force always Prevails!

2009-05-23T21:58:00.001-07:00

Sam turned five (AAHH!! He's growing up) and chose a Star Wars theme for his first "friends" party (we've always just done family parties). He had been a Jedi for Halloween because he reveres his friend Brayden who let him borrow the costume, but he hadn't seen the movies. I guess a light saber is enough reason to want to have a Star Wars party, right? I tried to talk him into other party ideas, but Star Wars he wanted and Star Wars he got. He asked me as I was explaining some of the activities I had planned what Star Wars' younger brother's name was. Hmmmm.....I decided I'd better let him watch some of the movie, at least, so he would get the games. All of the activities were training to become a Patowan. I learned a lot of vocab as I did my homework to do this right. It's not like anyone knew what was going on, but it's the principal of it, you know? And I had a lot of fun with the details. Here's the sign that greeted them.

That's supposed to be Yoda in case you can't tell--I'm quite artistically challenged and almost had to draw a grid like in middle-school art class to get this right. Then there were the games. We did Pin the X-Wing Starfighter on the Death Star (blindfolded using only the power of the force), Yoda-Vader (red-saber, green saber), and of course an obstacle course involving a meteor shower (one mom throwing rice), ducking under a lava flow (cellophane), and avoiding the dark side (Chris and Lucy with a light saber). If they completed their training, they got a classy homemade light saber (pool noodles and dowels make for a very safe and inexpensive version of the original). Then, thanks to a friend in the ward andy my bro-in-law, there was a disturbance in the force and Darth arrived to take on the newly trained warriors. Only one kid cried when he showed up. Yeah, it was totally intense. When they got over their fear, they went a little postal on him, but luckily only one kid had a real plastic light saber. The rest were pretty soft. Jason was a good sport. The best line happened when he came out and invited each kid to fight him individually using their new moves (I ripped this off from Disneyland's Jedi Training show). He called his son Luke, Sam's cousin, up and said what he'd been trying to find the opportunity to say since he was born "Luke, I am your father!"

Yoda's green, I know, but I was going to do Darth and it was too hard (see the three Darths in the middle? It looks like a nun with a mouth guard). All of these ideas were online--what did mothers do before the internet?

A birthday tribute--Sam is so grown up. He loves preschool, his new friends there, and looks forward to getting homework in kindergarten (we'll see how long I can milk that one!). He likes fixing things, working on puzzles with Dad, and learning new things. He thinks he could drive if I let him try (thanks Grandpa!). He told me that one day he's going to marry Lucy and they'll have Ben as a baby and I said, "Yep--I can't wait!" I keep thinking I don't want him to grow up, but I love every step of the way. Happy birthday Sam! We love you so much!

Lotsa Turtles

2009-05-03T21:03:00.001-07:00

I'm always trying to take the kids exciting places and to do educational things with them. We've gone to Sea World, museums, zoos, spent hours driving, packed a million PB&J's... And then a few weeks ago I found a gem of a place literally across the street from where I live! We walked through our neighbor and Sam's buddy Logan's backyard (they have access to the gardens) to the coolest little turtle pond in the heart of the UCR Botanic Gardens. We chose the hottest day of the year so far, but that meant all of the turtles were out sunning. The kids counted turtles (19!) and then ooh'ed and aah'ed at the koi and other fish. After the turtles, we wandered through the beautiful foliage trying to get hit with sprinklers and stay in the shade. We've been here for 5 years and only visited the gardens once before, and then without really exploring much. It proves that you don't need to go much further than your own backyard to enjoy the beauty of the earth!

Updates

2009-04-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

I actually updated the kids blogs. Please take a look (the links are on the right)!

Lying to my children and Counting my Blessings

2009-04-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

Sam really wanted to know if the Easter Bunny was human or not. I'm not hugely attached to the idea that my kids need to believe in the Easter Bunny, but at the same time I'm not ready to admit that it's all a hoax. He didn't press that much. In fact, when he found a sippy cup (shown above as my decoy while taking Ben's picture) in his easter basket that he had seen in the closet, he accepted my explanation that some of the stuff in his basket came from me and some of it came from the Easter Bunny. He'll figure it out soon enough, right? Let the children enjoy a bit of fantasy while it lasts. Here's the best shot I got of Easter clothes--I know it's washed out, but I thought it kind of looked like a perfume add or something.

We had magical weather on Easter Sunday, making our traditional dinner with Jason, Beth, and Nellie as perfect as it could be. We are so blessed to have family we love close by! (Don't ever move Jason and Beth! We'd be forced to follow you!).

Otherwise, our family is elbow deep in mulch and compost working on our garden. I worked at a garden center for a few months in college and managed to learn nothing, so Chris takes care of most of it. I figure I'll be in charge of harvesting and cooking/canning (if I get that ambitious). The kids and I help water every afternoon, which usually turns into a big mud-fest, and then a big cry-fest as I hose them off and drag them to the bath. Ben eats dirt like it's keeping him alive. I wonder if that kid's missing some nutrients in his diet or something, which is very unlikely seeing as how he eats more than the other two kids combined. But we love being outdoors right now and plan to enjoy the cool weather while it lasts.

Barney Butter, Wedding Bells, and Birthday Candles

2009-03-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

My friend Sarah and I ran The Great Race of Agoura Hills last weekend. They have a great after-race party and had one vendor called Barney Butter. I told the woman manning it that that was my last name and she thought I was really cool (I've always thought Barney was a winning last name!) and gave me a shirt. It might not have made up for all of Chris' sacrifices for him to allow me to go to the race (we stayed in Agoura Hills the night before), but it is a pretty cool shirt. Check out barneybutter.com for more details. And yes, it's a gluten-free product and tastes great. I had a blast racing--thanks Sarah for the great trip and for always keeping track of me in the crowd!

Chris and I got away without kids for three whole days! Chris' old roommate finally (I'm kidding Pope!) joined the happily wedded masses and we got to attend. It's our second trip to Oakland for a wedding. Last year we went for his other roomate who finally got married (I'm not kidding, Trever). We reminisced, reconnected, and ate a lot of really good food. I felt like an adult eating tapas and traveling with a small purse. Chris and I basked in the quietude of a car without kids in it. If only Chris hadn't gotten the slide whistle from the wedding favor basket (the bride and groom gave out little games because they had gotten to know each other playing games)--it would really have been quiet the whole way home! And upon returning to the homestead, I seriously felt rejuvenated and prepared to better meet the challenges of the day-to-day. I spent the next three days playing a lot, cleaning a lot less, and generally enjoying my 3 blessings a bit more than before the trip. Thank you to Amy and Mom for holding down the fort. The kids had the time of their lives getting spoiled by Grandma. Ben clung to Aunt Amy (who he wouldn't stop clinging to when we got home-we confused him thoroughly about who his mom really is).

Lastly, we celebrated some birthdays this month. Lucy turned 3, Ben turned 1, his cousin Tommy turned 1 also, and my brothe Jaeson came out and had a birthday too! Look at the kids' personal blogs for more birthday party pictures soon, but I did want to include a couple of pictures from when my brother's family visited. We loved getting to know cousins Carter and Simon and having a house full of boys! And Sarah cooked some delicious mexican food. We miss you guys already! The picture of Carter demonstrates my favorite habit of his--if you ask him something he's unsure about, he'll decline respectfully with his hands forward saying "No thanks,"...and then some excuse. In this picture, I said "Smile Carter and Lucy!" And he said "No thanks, I can't really smile right now." The other two are pictures of Lucy and Ben on their birthdays.

Indulgent Grandmotherly Post

2009-02-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

I'll preface this post by admitting that this will contain nothing but silly stories, cute pictures, and possibly boring information unless you think my kids are as cute as I do, and I'm not so close-minded as to think that that includes everyone (or even more than like 5 people). My kids are amazing, but you know what I mean. So here goes:

Lucy is SO independent. Whenever I try to help her with something, she shuts me down with an emphatic "I do it mysels!" I told her I'd paint her fingernails, but of course she had to do it herself. I figured I could just remove it after, right? I hovered while she painted her fingers. I tried to have her show it off, but this pic is the best I could get of her beautiful very berry manicure. Funny story: One night at the dinner table we heard a weird noise. Chris turned into ninja mode and got real intense listening and looking around. "What is that sound?" He kept saying. I heard it too, but wasn't as interested as him. "It's me, Dad!" Says Lucy. We just ignored her. "It sounds like a cat, but it sounds like it's in this room!" Sam was getting scared now. Chris kept investigating. He opened the window, walked into the next room, had us all pause and listen for awhile. This whole time, Lucy keeps saying "It's me, Dad, it's me!" Finally I look at her and notice the sound happens whenever she took a deep breath. She had been sick and was wheezing through her nose in the most cat-like way imaginable. So she had been telling the truth all along! And we didn't have a cat hiding in the kitchen after all.
We got TWO inches of rain over the last couple of days. I love it! The kids think holding an umbrella is a special privelege since it only happens once every couple of months. Ben splatted around aimlessly in the rain and loved it.

Ben likes combing his hair, wiping his head with baby wipes, and putting glasses on. I think he just discovered that he has hair, and it's all he thinks about. That and how he can get his hands on anything edible. Sam started preschool a few weeks ago. He goes every day and it's weird having him be a real pre-student and that means I've had to be a real pre-responsible mom! It's preparing both of us for the real deal when he starts kindergarten this fall. Did I just say that? Is he really going to kindergarten? Oi--he's growing up so fast! But he has made lots of friends at preschool and seems to like it. Only once so far has he tried to goldbrick it. He kept saying he had a headache as we were trying to get out the door. I reminded him that his good friend Carter had invited him over after school and if he felt sick he couldn't go. "Oh, it feels better already!" One more cute Sam story: We were eating a lemon meringue pie together. He started eating and said "Wow, this sure is rich!" I took a bite and agreed, "You're right Sam. This is rich!" Sam-"I don't think I can even eat it all!" Pause.....Sam-"This pie isn't even poor!" "Yeah, Sam, it's not poor at all!" Sam-"How did it get so much richness in it?" I didn't have an answer for that one.

Chris organized a little wrestlemania Barney style. It's a bit long. You get a good shot of Ben's tubby belly about second 42. Man, that kid can eat! And Nellie--there's some good moments of Lucy laughing from her toes, as you say.

Supermom can't even open the mac n cheese box

2009-01-18T20:22:00.000-08:00

This week I thought about the expectations I, and moms in general, set for themselves. I had trained for months to run a race that happened last week, but I got sick and, although I had hopes of kicking it in time, I couldn't race. I learned some things about myself. 1) I don't always listen to my body. 2) My body will shut down if I don't listen to it. 3) Optimism helps healing much better than wallowing about being sick.

And with the lessons comes some changes, hopefully. I hope to 1) Listen to my body and know when to take it easy (like running 5 miles before going to the doctor should have triggered that something was wrong with me). 2) Face unexpected trials with a more positive attitude, and 3)There will always be another race.

I thought about the unexpected trials others have gone through and feel embarrassed to say that this qualified as a trial for me--maybe it's better labeled a disappointment. I suppose I'm used to my kids causing changes to my plans all the time. I expect that. This was different. This time it was all me and I didn't like that. I thought I could will myself to overcome my weakness. But the flesh is weak, and believe it or not, that's all us moms are (although we must have an extra tough gene somewhere--just not a superhuman gene).

On a lighter note, how about those mac and cheese boxes? I have never successfully opened a box of mac and cheese by pushing in that half circle on the corner. It just hurts my thumb and dents the cardboard. Sometimes it rips a little hole in it, but it's so small it would take you all day to shake the noodles out. I usually just rip the whole top off the box. Please share any techniques that work for you. Maybe I'll make that Sam's first science experiment--inventing an easy to open mac and cheese box. I guess I've had more time to ponder these mysteries of the universe since I haven't been running the last few weeks.

So I admit my failures in this post. Failure to meet a trial with greater optimism. Failure to patiently open the noodles. Not failures altogether, but learning experiences. Chances to grow and be humbled. They are all around us.

Merry New Year!

2009-01-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

What a whirlwind of a Christmas! This year, we had the luck of scoring Mom and Dad and Courtney for the holiday. They came out of the snow of Colorado and into the cold cold rain! What was that all about anyway? We had our coldest week since we've lived here the week they were here. I think the weather gods followed them out because within hours after they left, the sun shone again like the beautiful SoCal I know and love! My kids didn't know what to think wearing all of those different clothes (what are these called mom? Oh yeah, socks!).

We tried to keep it real and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. We had our cousins over to do the nativity scene on Christmas day, and of all the activities of the week, that lined up at the top! The kids requested singing "Picture a Christmas" (a great primary song about Jesus' birth) at the end. My Dad didn't want Lucy to feel lonely as the only barn animal, so he joined her as a cow and doubled as the narrator, adding only minimal commentary to the Bible verses that guided our story.

Otherwise, we spent most of time swinging, dancing

and eating--three of my very favorite pastimes.

And for all of you who might not have received our Christmas card yet (oh wait, no one got a card from us!), I'll just say we love our dear friends and family. We wish we were better at keeping in touch, but we appreciate how everyone enriches our lives in different ways. I love this special time of year and hope to keep the spirit of Christmas, or the spirit of Christ, with me in to this new year.

note on picture to your left: Sam was in an angry picture mood. He was happy and jolly otherwise, but thought it was cool to mad-dog the camera anytime he had the chance.

Underappreciated Crayons

2008-12-10T21:55:00.000-08:00

I don't have any cool pictures, so I guess this post will be a monologue. You'll have to close your eyes and visualize with me what I'm about to share.....

Doodle di doo, doodle di doo (picture Wayne's world with the wavy lines going right now)

Ever since we were young, Amy and I have had this problem of cracking each other up in the worst possible places. Church, for instance, or Mr. Andrjewski's freshman chem class. I even remember having to walk out of Spanish 101 at BYU because something set us off and there was no stopping us. We don't do it on purpose. It's just some weird twin phenomenon where we both see something or hear something and we know exactly what the other is thinking and all of a sudden we're rolling on the floor. We turn into 10 year olds all over again!

Last week Amy and I are sitting in sacrament and Lucy is absorbed in her coloring book. We're absorbed in the testimonies. Lucy pulls out a crayon and starts coloring. All of a sudden she stands straight up, raises her crayon and says (in her not-so-primary-voice) "Hey, this not working!" I looked down and saw her holding the white crayon. That's all it took! We are better at controlling ourselves and didn't actually have to leave the meeting, but we couldn't look at each other for a few minutes. It's not even that funny, is it? Lucy moved on and still thinks they put a faulty crayon in the box. I couldn't chance explaining it to her for fear I would start laughing.

Keeping up with the Kiddos

2008-11-21T21:35:00.001-08:00

Aah, the challenges and joys of motherhood. In reference to trying to clean up after toddlers, I heard someone say it's like shoveling snow during a blizard. Do I hear any amens out there? I'm a bit frazzled as I try to get my work done, enjoy time with the kids, teach them all that stuff they're supposed to know so that kindergarten is obsolete, and the list continues. But such is life. And the simple joys bring me back to a moment of clarity enough that I don't self-destruct in a whirlwind of Glass-plus and crayon bits. Here are a few simple joys recently:

I swear I didn't do this to them. They were only quiet a few minutes. At first, I didn't notice and continued doing dishes. Then I remembered the truth that all mothers learn early on: although intuition would dictate screaming or crying as a bad thing, silence is really far worse! The result of this silent spell didn't require much clean up. In fact, I didn't "clean up" this mess for a little while.

Ben crawls and climbs all over everything. Sam can't wait for Ben to actually play with him. I found them like this with Ben laughing like crazy! Anytime he gets attention from the big kids, he loves it. I love it, too.

And a little early for Thanksgiving, but always something we love to hear, a little video with some words of grattitude from Sam, Lucy, and cousin Luke. And yes, it's November, but it's still swimsuit weather (kind of).

Who cares about B.O. and J.M., what's happening with the Barney's?

2008-10-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

You know those days when life is so busy that you feel certain that things must slow down soon or something will explode? And then you realize that they'll never really ever slow down? Well, I've had a lot of those lately, so I'm putting other seemingly pressing responsibilities aside (you know, like mopping the floor and organizing my shoe closet) to do something even more important: BLOG! I hardly know where to begin so I just chose some of my favorite recent pictures to elaborate on...

Headline #1: Sam and Lucy get a bunk bed!

Lucy graduates from the crib and Sam can touch the ceiling with his toes! And best of all...

they can keep each other company when the bed bugs bite. Lucy snuck up to Sam's bed after we put them down one night. I went to tuck her in only to find her missing! Luckily, she was just a few feet higher than usual, fast asleep. I cringe at the thought of her dragging blankies and Ariel up the ladder in the dark, but she made it unscathed!

Headline #2: My son is smarter than I am!

We got a new bookcase. I asked Sam to help me put it together expecting less help than hindrance. To my dismay, as I sat trying to absorb the directions and figure out what hardware fit in what hole, Sam picked up the pieces and told me exactly what to do! And he was right! Once the directions actually made sense (several minutes later), I could see that what he was telling me was correct. You're probably saying to yourself "Come on, Amber. Any four-year-old should be able to put together a bookcase!" In my defense, I've never claimed to be tool-savvy and I've never really assembled anything out of a box. I leave that stuff to Chris for the most part. I feel capable, but I just know he could do it in half the time. Well, now I know that Sam could also do it in half the time. I think he takes after his tool-belt wearin', drill-gun lovin' Daddy.

Headline #3: Benjamin skips months 4-8 in development in an attempt to keep up with the sibs and stay on top of Dad.

The other kids were content following the normal trend of growth, enjoying each milestone for awhile before attempting the next developmental leap. Ben, impatient and precocious as he is, thinks he can have his rice cereal and eat it too. In the last week he started marine crawling (in honor of Uncle Danny), pulling himself up on sturdy objects (like Dad), and jabbering in real baby language (which Lucy frequently interprets in really broken toddler language). He eats his weight in mushed up gerber nastiness every two days or so and just can't seem to get enough of the world in general. I was hoping for more of a lump on a log with the third child. A little inanimacy (I think I made that word up) would have made my life a lot easier. All the time, though, he laughs and smiles at every accomplishment. I just don't want him to grow up too fast! He's 7 months and 11 days going on 18 months!Other Barney snippets: Chris is busy with a stake assignment helping for Yes on Prop 8. Anyone with ideas on how to prevent people from stealing our Yes on 8 signs, please share. Otherwise, the mew house(that's what Lucy calls it) is sucking up all of our free time with painting, wall-paper removal, yard work, and tile laying. We love it. It's ours.

The Blessing of our Toddler and Spoilage at its Best

2008-08-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

You know your kid is a little older than the average blessed baby when you're saying "Suck it in, Ben--you've got to fit into this thing!" He did fit into his blessing outfit with only a slightly strained seam and two snaps left undone (covered by a vest that made me want to sing "Fat guy in a little coat"). I forgot to take pictures that day and I'm afraid in just a week he made it impossible to humanely fit it on him. But the blessing day was wonderful! Not only is it awesome to feel that special spirit of blessing a newborn, but to have so much family around made it even better. I felt really blessed to see the circle of priesthood holders holding Ben including Chris, my Dad, two uncles, Jason (bro in law), Josh Ontko (a friend), and my cousin. My Dad said they almost got a chair for Ben he weighed so much. Here are some pics of the weekend with family including such highlights as 1)going to see Wicked with my parents, sister, and aunt and uncle and it was way cooler than I could have imagined, 2)Balboa Beach with family and 3)dinner at Aunt Shara's who is a good cook AND cooks good stuff.

Did I mention that my parents officially spoiled my kids rotten? I mean it. My Dad gave Sam licorice and chocolate as soon as he woke up the first day they were there. That combined with 2 cups of juice and a strawberry jam crepe equals a big hurl all over the carpet. Everyone loves being the kids' favorites, but who gets to clean up the puke? Yeah, yours truly. My dad said that Carter (my nephew) wouldn't have even batted an eyelash at that much junk in the morning. I'll give him that, but I think they both learned a lesson.

Me and the rents at Wicked.

Chris LOVES digging holes at the beach. Even more than the kids.

My dad love soaking up the sun at the beach.

Me and Amy at Aunt Shara's.

Here's my Aunt Kathi. She's awesome.

Our new backyard!!!

2008-08-06T22:32:00.000-07:00

We got a backyard...and there's even a house attached to it (pics soon to come)! Could we possibly ask for more? We are so excited to be moving into our new house this weekend. But we're more excited about being able to go outside and play whenever we want! And I can even send the kids without me sometimes! I don't think they'll know what to do with themselves, but there's a lot of dirt digging and bug catching to be done out there, I think.

Some Tags

2008-07-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

I checked out some of my friends' blogs and found three different versions of a version of blog-tag. I like them all, so I'm posting them all. Please choose one and participate. It's a bit of fun, as Nigel Lithgoe says.

Option A:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Option B:

Take pictures of the following things just as they are right now - no stopping to clean, straighten, or to wipe a child's nose: The kitchen sink, the fridge, the toilet, the closet, the laundry room, your favorite shoes, your favorite room, and your kiddies. No cheating! Post them on your blog OR email me so I can see your true self! (I did half of this one and never finished, so I'll let someone else do that one).

Option C:

Answer these 15 questions about yourself on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Joys:
1) My kids
2) Water skiing on glass at 6am (I found a sitter!)
3) My husband

Fears:
1) Anything bad happening to my kids.
2) My teeth falling out.
3) Never sleeping through the night again.

Goals:
1) Spiritual: Food storage! Go to the temple monthly!
2) Paint my house.
3) Run a half marathon again.

Obsessions/collections:
1) Blogging
2) Running
3) Coupons

3 Surprising Facts:
1) I competed in the first ever High School Ultimate Frisbee National Championship Games in New Jersey as a senior in high school.
2) I didn't have a declared major in college until I was a senior.
3) I shot the sheriff (but I did not shoot the deputy).

A Day in Barneyville

2008-07-11T22:06:00.001-07:00

I don't have much excitement to share, so I thought I'd show a photo log of a typical day in the life of the Barney children and Mom. It starts with PJ's and TV, of course (some days I actually wake up coherent enough to go straight to breakfast, but usually I need Bunnytown's help in the morning). But don't worry--they watch Noggin and that's "Like Preschool on TV" so really it's a learning experience.

Next we usually do some morning exercises, which I'm not ashamed to say could be to the music of the all inspiring Greek God Yanni.

Then it's time for dress ups:

Or saving Ben's life (which usually happens a few times a day):

The kids love to take the baby for a walk. Of course they both have to push a stroller and I just make sure at least the one pushing Ben doesn't run into anything.

A few times a day the kids pause to refuel. It actually seems like they eat all day long, so I don't know when they have time to tear the house apart, but they seem to be able to accomplish both pretty effectively. On this particular day, Sam wasn't playing with his food, he was organizing his food.

Lastly, we wash the day away and get ready for bed. This is one of my favorite parts of the day.

Then it's books, brushing, and bed! It might seem monotonous, but somehow every day is very different. I have found that motherhood is anything but boring!

Family Camping Experiment

2008-06-15T21:35:00.001-07:00

I never posted this--whoops!

We stimulated the ecomony by buying a really big tent and then driving to Leo Carillo for one night of beach camping. We packed our van full of s'more ingredients and hoped for the best. It actually turned out well! We had to fight off some very persistent squirrel scavengers (they apparently like GF bread) and played on the beach for awhile even though it was cold. The kids slept great! The best part: after the kids were in bed when Chris and I got to sit by the fire with no distractions, a sky full of stars (rare to see in the city), and time to shoot the breeze. I think we might even do it again next year! The worst part: The 4 hour drive home during which Sam threw up his s'mores. Not pretty...

He's an early laugher

2008-06-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

Ben started laughing at about 2 months. My sister-in-law found an article that said most kids don't start laughing until 3-6 months old. So I guess that makes Ben an early laugher. That doesn't surprise me since my other kids were all ahead in things, too. Like Lucy, for instance, knows approximately 20 percent more than the average 2 year old about anything to do with Ariel. Sam excelled in his own way, too. He can spin 40 percent longer than most kids his age before falling over. I guess I'm just blessed. But really, they are great kids and I can't get enough of this little guy's giggles!

I love Boats!

2008-06-09T22:07:00.001-07:00

My brother-in-law Jason bought a boat last fall and now that I'm not pregnant, I get to reap the full benefits of the purchase. I LOVE BOATING! We got to go out for a short trip to beautiful Lake Perris tonight for FHE (it was kind of a bogus FHE because Chris stayed home with their toddler, Lucy, and Ben since we aren't all legal on the boat). Although we battled some rocky water, there's still nothing like being out on the lake at the end of the day and trying to hold on to that rope until your arms give out. The kids jumped in with me (Gabbi, Luke, and Sam) and they took turns honing their future skiier skills by getting towed in while holding the rope. What great family time and what a great way to enjoy the outdoors even in our urban jungle. Now if I could just find someone to watch the kids at 6am so I can join in on the early morning runs....any takers?

Sea World

2008-05-30T23:42:00.001-07:00

We went to Sea World for the first time as a family. Shamu rocked and we got to pet some pretty wild sting rays. Lucy loved holding the starfish. Sam braved the shark tunnel even when one swam right over us bearing his teeth!

Blogging for Idiots

2008-05-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

I've spent hours on these blogs and yet you have already read and looked at everything I've done in less than 5 minutes! Well, let's just say I'm learning. But I want to say thank you to all of you who supported me in this blog endeavor, namely my sister-in-law Sarah, who wrote me some gibberish about how to fix things and make things cute that ended up being very useful once I figured them out. Thanks for Sheri and Sarah for inspiring me and setting me on the right track. And I guess I need to thank my mom who has just always believed in me. Yeah, it's late. I'll add something worthwhile soon, but thanks for checking it out.

Welcome to the Barney Report

2008-05-08T21:05:00.001-07:00

This is my first ever post. WOW! I've been wanting to start a blog where I can post whatever I want. Here it is! I hope this can be a fun way to keep connected. Stay posted for more.