Fabulous!

Without exaggeration, Mary Elizabeth in this outfit is one of the cutest things I have ever seen! The outfit is nuclear pink! How appropriate for my all pink, all the time ME Lou.

This week, we received ME's ballet/tap recital costume, and we had her pictures done yesterday. Trying on the outfit has been a great source of leverage for me. She has been going to bed on time, not fussing, etc. all for the ability to try on her costume during the day. Her dance recital is three weeks away. We can't wait!

Baby Cardinal!

I didn't realize that baby birds would be the subject of two of my blogs this week, but I thought I would share this picture! Mary Beth and I were walking through our garden this afternoon, and I found a nest in my arbor. I peeked in and found this handsome little cardinal! He looks pretty new especially given that his sibling still hasn't hatched! What a fun surprise!

Track Day!

Always one of the biggest events of the year! We were blessed with beautiful, crisp and cool weather for Track Day this year. Here are a few pictures from the morning. I love when I catch Matthew's hair mid bounce!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

We are expecting again! (Baby birds, that is.)

They say that the three most important things when talking about housing are location...location...location. I am sure that this is even true in the animal world. If so, one little sparrow is probably regretting his choice in real estate.

I have been noticing lately, that when I open my front door, a bird flies off. Perhaps, I have been too busy to notice the past week, but today, I did some investigating. It turns out that a sparrow looked at my spring wreath, and thought the backside of it would make a great home for her four babies! Stephanie, do you remember me getting this wreath in Canton on our trip there a few years ago?

I am excited about the new arrivals, but am worried that five people going in and out of the door will give the mother bird a heart attack! Maybe we will just use the side entrance for the next few weeks!

Middle of the week..looking back then forward.

I haven't written yet about Mother's Day! I had a great day with my family on Sunday. Each child gave me a gift, and I think my favorite this year was a new baseball glove from Matthew! I mentioned earlier that we play catch in the backyard, and I usually wear Thomas's glove when we are playing. I can't use Bryon's because he is a lefty!

So, we spent the beautiful day playing catch in the yard with my new glove. One funny thing, is that Matthew complained all last month about how his neck was bothering him. He kept moving his neck around, and when he had his baseball helmet on, looked like a bobble head. Well, after several hours of catching fly balls on Sunday, I have suffered from a very sore neck the past few days. I can now understand where the bobble head came from!

I also received a new coffee maker, and it is the coolest thing. It actually grinds the beans in the machine before brewing the coffee. I have jumped up every morning to make the coffee, which is usually Bryon's job!

We have a busy weekend planned with three birthday parties, a ladies function at church Saturday morning that I am singing/preparing the food for, ballet pictures, and Matthew's piano recital! Should be fun!

Empire Strikes Barack

It doesn't matter if you are a liberal or conservative, soccer mom or NASCAR dad....this is hilarious!

Who doesn't love all things Star Wars?

Don't Cry For Me, Woodway Elementary!

There are lots of fun days in school, but "Roof Day" is perhaps the most anticipated day of the year at our school. This is the day that our principal spends the day on the roof spraying all the kids with water. All the kids brings towels and a change of clothes. If the kids make their A.R. goals, they get to eat a picnic lunch outside. If a child earns over 300 A.R. points, they get the honor of being on the roof with the principal, vice principal, and librarian while their grade is outside.

I think Matthew was looking forward to this day almost as much as Christmas Day!

I pulled up to school and found the second graders outside ready to get sprayed. They all were eagerly watching the roof ready to get sprayed. Matthew hadn't shown his face yet. All of the sudden, Matthew appeared holding his hands in the air, and the entire second grade down below burst into cheers. I swear, it was like a scene of Evita! It was a fun hour, and the first time all year that I got really hot. Almost summer!
Thomas also had his track day today. Love kindergarten track day! I still remember my kindergarten track day. I won an award for being the first in my class to blow a bubble. Yes, I am a woman of many talents!

Those fabulous Barnhill boys!

I am having an absolute love affair with my boys right now. I think before I had kids, I would have totally been fine if I had had 5 girls. I just didn't realize how much I would adore the whole boy thing. These are some pictures I took last night. We spend a ton of time in the back yard catching fly balls, practicing pitching/batting, and just playing catch.

Sometimes, I think that boys get a bad wrap. I actually had a pregnant "friend" one day tell me, while I was standing with preschool Matthew and infant Thomas, that she just couldn't IMAGINE having a boy. Too much energy and too loud. Can you believe someone would say that to me?!!

So here is my tribute to my little boys...

I love that they still want me to throw the ball with them.

I love that Matthew gets excited that he can still "juke" me playing soccer.

I love their sweaty faces and stinky, grass covered feet.

I love comforting Thomas when he finds out that Shaun Alexander was released from his Seahawks contract.

I love the difference in the boys when they have the ball. Matthew is extremely focused and serious. Thomas giggles and has a huge smile on his face when he is in control of the ball!

I love hearing them giggle in their room before (and sometimes after) I threaten them with punishments. The would talk/laugh until midnight if I let them!

I love Matthew giving Thomas a hug when Thomas tearfully says that he only has two more years in school with Matthew until high school.

I love Thomas telling me that he doesn't want to get married because he already lives with the most beautiful girl in the whole world. I do believe that he could have asked me for a pony that day, and I would have given it to him! ;)

I love Matthew starting to call his buddies by their last names.

I love that we have transitioned from Gymboree and Dillards to Academy when looking for clothes! Love the athletic shorts and cleats.

I love spending my nights at the ball fields. (mostly)

I love discussing the NFL draft at the dinner table.

I just love my boys, and wanted to share that today.

16 days left!

Only 16 days left of this school year. In a few short weeks, I will have a 3rd and 1st grader! I am sad and excited about this ending and beginning all at the same time.

Thomas:
This has been a good year for Thomas. I have not bonded with his teacher as much as Matthew's teachers (she is pretty private), but I know that Thomas loves her and has learned a lot this year. I did carpool yesterday and watched my sweet boy walking and talking with other students as he entered the building. Last year at this time, I wouldn't have been able to imagine him in school. Now, he just looks like one of the big kids this year. I absolutely love kindergarten, and I can't believe that two of my kids have already gone through it.

Matthew:
I have loved this year with Matthew. I adore his teacher! We have gotten to be good friends this year, and we talk often. Second grade is more challenging than first grade, and Matthew thrives on challenges. He is particularly fond of timed tests and research projects! I will be very sad to say goodbye to Ms. Cooper's class, but I am looking forward to Matthew's schedule slowing down, so we can spend more quality time together.

Bryon and I are brainstorming getting ready for summer. We are looking for a little structure, but definitely not as much as in the school year. Amazingly, we have something going on every week, but most of our afternoons and evenings are free! Yippee! Our weeks will be filled with vacations and day camps. Thomas is going to play coach pitch this summer, just like last summer. We just couldn't fit in another sport this spring, and this way we can focus all of our attention on Thomas. He is Matthew's biggest fan at the baseball fields, so I am looking forward to the family returning the favor for him!

Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters

I am completely obsessed with this version of Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters right now. Oh, how I love (almost) everything Heart sings.

I had to put it on my blog since I can't get it on iTunes. I am fairly convinced that darling Bryon is getting sick of my singing it over and over! ;) This way, I can listen to it whenever I want!

Weekend in Marble Falls.

What a fun weekend! I took my camera, but never took a single picture. Below are a few from a throwaway camera that our fishing guide gave us. This is us fishing on Lake LBJ. Bryon caught the most fish, but I caught the biggest! That is a 3 1/2 pound bass, Baby! The last picture was a funny story. I caught a catfish, and our guide handed him to me while he was getting the camera ready. As soon as he took the picture, the catfish CROAKED, and it scared me so badly that I threw him out of my hands! Didn't know that catfish could croak!

The rest of the weekend was great! We had lots of good meals, I got in lots of reading time, we got to socialize with the lawyers and wives/husbands from the firm, and spend some quality one on one time as well. The kids had a blast with my family reading stories, watching movies, eating ice cream, and going to Six Flags! They weren't ready for us to come home! ;)

This week in pictures...

1. Matthew and Thomas's last soccer game. Matthew played goalie for half the game. At one point, a kid kicked a ball smack into Matthew's face. The impact could be heard from the bleachers with a chorus of "Oooooooo's" ! The ball deflected right back to the kicker and he kicked it again. Matthew caught it! Nothing like sacrificing your face for the team! His team was undefeated until their last game. What a heartbreak! My dad took Thomas to his game while I helped Mom with a baby shower. I heard he scored a goal! Yea, Thomas!

2. Matthew's end of season soccer party at Chuck E. Cheese on Monday. We are Chuck E. Cheesing it again tonight for Thomas's party.

3. Second attempt to go the planetarium on Monday was successful. Mary Beth and I went with our good friends Amy and Hayden. What a fun day!

4. Bryon's birthday celebration at Outback Steakhouse. Remarkably, for the first time in several weeks, we had no obligations on a weeknight, so Tuesday night, the 5 of us had a great dinner together. We then came home to eat Bryon's traditional banana ice cream cake that my mother makes for him every year.

5. Matthew's baseball game was last night. He has had two games in the past week that didn't start until after 8 p.m! I am a little bleary eyed this morning.

6. Tomorrow, Bryon and I head out for his firm's retreat at Horseshoe Bay in Marble Falls. We haven't been out of town by ourselves in over 2 years! It is just so hard to get away, but we are very excited. Meanwhile, my awesome parents/brother/sister-in-law are taking my kids to Six Flags when we are gone! Needless to say, EVERYONE is looking forward to the weekend!

Mt. Rushmore bound!

Well, it's official....I owe Matthew a trip to Mt. Rushmore!

Last August, Matthew told me he wanted to get 300 Accelerated Reader points in 2nd grade. I told him this was quite a lofty goal, as he would have to read around 500 books and take tests on them. He was adamant about it and asked me if I would take him to Mt. Rushmore it he met the goal. It has been Matthew's dream for a LONG time to visit this famous landmark. He has quite the little obsession with all things American history.

Matthew's teacher called me yesterday to inform me that Matthew finished his goal! It was extremely important to him to complete his goal on Bryon's birthday.

Bryon and I are taking the kids on a long trip in July, so Bryon was unable to take the time off for this trip. He suggested that Matthew and I fly there one weekend. Now, Matthew is also is desperately wanting to add more states to his "been there" column, so we decided that driving it would be better. Matthew invited Thomas on the trip, and I invited Lauren for some company! I cannot wait to spend 5 days straight with my sister and sons. (ME and James are going to have to sit this one out.)

We will leave the week school gets out and add New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, (possibly Montana if the boys are super good) South Dakota, and Nebraska to their "been there" list. Just a few more weeks!

Happy Birthday, Bryon!

Just for fun, here is an old picture of Bryon me taken at Cape Cod 10 years ago, after we had been married 2 years!

I just wanted to let everyone know that my sweet husband turns 37 today! Thomas is very excited about this since Shaun Alexander's jersey number is 37!

Bryon has been in my life for 15 years, and he continues to be the most joyful person I know. Bryon exudes energy, happiness, and love from his pores. He works so hard, and NEVER complains. He is never too tired to play with the kids. I know I am very loved. Life wouldn't be nearly as fun without Bryon in it!

I love you, Briney Boo!

Been tagged!

Tagged by Karen:

What I was doing 10 years ago:

*Finishing up my externship for my masters in Speech Pathology- getting ready to graduate!

*Looking for a job.

*Enjoying being a young married.

*Loving being the mother of two large Labrador Retreivers.

*Teaching preschoolers at church.

Five things on my to do list for today:

• Get the boys to their soccer games.
  
• Get Matthew to piano ensemble practice.
  
• Help Mom with a baby shower
  
• Have the family over for birthday celebration.
  
• Cook for our potluck at church tomorrow.
  

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

• Buy a beautiful ranch.
  
• Pay off the houses of my loved ones.
  
• Set up a foundation to help others.
  
• Find people in need and secretly help them out.
  
• Travel the world.
  

Three of my bad habits:

• Throwing away everything.
  
• Saying yes to too many things.
  
• Worrying
  

Five places I have lived:

• Waco, TX
  
• Abilene, TX
  
• Champaign/Urbana, Illinois
  
• Northport, Alabama
• Tuscaloosa, Alabama
  

Five jobs I have had:

• Bagger/Cashier at HEB
  
• Photo lab person at HEB
  
• Jan's Perfect Presents
  
• Speech Therapist
• Domestic Engineer
  

I tag anyone who wants to do this!

Name change

I have been "A day in the life" for 3 1/2 years, and thought it was time for a change! I liked this title, because it really fits where I am in life right now. When I started this blog, Mary Beth had almost no hair for hair bows, and the boys weren't maniacs on heelies (the culprit of many a scraped knee!). Who knows where the next 3 1/2 years will bring us?

I have treated no less than 8 bloody scraped knees since the weather has gotten nice. No tears, usually, just "Mommy, can you help me clean this up?"

Do I have to explain the hair bows? ;)

Atsome point, I want to change up my lay out again, but that is a project for another day!

Change of plans!

What a crazy morning! The 2nd grade field trip was scheduled at a planetarium an hour from school. We all got to school early this morning and got in our cars to follow the buses. The first bus left the parking lot and circled back into the parking lot. We were all confused, but then learned that there was no electricity or running water at the planetarium!

Most of the mothers and fathers attending had to make special arrangements for kids and jobs, so it was a little frustrating, but the principal gave us permission to spend the morning at the park. We are going to try to go back to the planetarium on Monday. What a mess!

We did enjoy a nice morning at the park. I loved talking to Matthew's teacher, my friends, and watching my little man have fun with his friends. The second picture is Matthew's friend, Ashlyn. I met Ashlyn's mother at the beginning of Matthew's kindergarten year at the ball fields. We found out we had a lot in common and began carpooling together. The kids got to be great friends, and Amy is one of my closest friends. We still carpool even though we don't live in the same neighborhood anymore! You can check out her blog on the right under "Amy S."

Totally crazy, busy weekend ahead. Will talk about it later. Have a great weekend!

A day at the zoo!

What a fun day! Thomas has been so excited about his field trip to the zoo for days. He couldn't get ready fast enough this morning and was particularly excited about traveling on a bus for the first time.

I enjoyed hanging out with other mothers from our class, and just hanging out with my little T. This doesn't happen nearly as much since school started, and I love watching him interact with his friends, but also love on me! More pictures from the day are in our Family Pictures on the right.

Matthew got to be librarian for the day today. He earned enough AR points to spend the day helping out in the library. What a special day for both boys!

Writing her name!

I am so proud of my little Mary Beth! We have been working a little while on writing her name. For the longest time, I would write her name and tell her to try to copy it. All she wanted to do was add "pom poms" to the letters I had already written!

Lately, she is getting more and more into drawing and writing, and here is a picture of her first successful name writing! That is a lot of letters for a little girl! This is probably interesting to no one but me, but here it goes:

Bryon- 5 letters
Thomas-6 letters
Matthew-7 letters
Mary Beth-8 letters
Elizabeth-9 letters

Fascinating, huh?

Wednesday

I have been trying to write a blog with pictures all week, but blogger isn't letting me! I just gave up, so you can check out my pictures under my "blogs I frequent".

First of all, Mary Beth reached another critical preschooler milestone this weekend...she cut her own hair.

Early on Friday, Mary Beth looked in the mirror and said, "I need a STYLE!" She sort of sounded like Betty Boop lilting the word style! I thought nothing more about it until Friday afternoon. I was making guacamole, and my sister-in-law, here for James's birthday party, found her in my bathroom with scissors in hand. She cut off a good handful of curly, goldielocks. The funny thing is, is that she did a pretty good job! She cut bangs for herself that weren't too long or short, and cut layers in the front of her hair as well. You can check out a picture of her in my April photo album. Maybe she has a future as a hair stylist?

Other than that, we have been eating, sleeping, and breathing sports. Soccer will be over this weekend, which will free up some time, but we are right in the thick of baseball. Matthew also started his piano ensemble practice for his Houston performance this June.

The boys have their field trips back to back on Thursday and Friday. I am looking forward to both and will have lots of pictures to share later.

Today is an orientation for the Master Gardener program in our county. This program is offered every other year in our area during the summer time. I want to do this so badly, but really need to pray about whether this is the best thing for me to do right now. I think I will have a strong feeling about it one way or the other after the meeting today.

This and that

Yeah for Friday! It is so crazy to me how quickly the weeks go these days. It will be summer before we know it!

Here are a few thoughts from my week:

*Wednesday was my nephew, James's 2nd birthday. We love him so much and are so excited to celebrate his birthday tomorrow! Michael and Jilinda are also coming down for the party, and that always makes us happy. I love having Michael here to entertain my boys. Yes, there will be lots of ball playing in the backyard this weekend!

*Matthew had two games this week. Both games, he hit the ball! He has another lovely bruise on his leg from being pegged by the pitcher from Monday's game, and he is so proud of it. The pitchers are getting better, so he hasn't walked as much as he did in the last few weeks.

*Last night, I dropped Matthew off 45 minutes before his game, and started heading over to Lauren's house. Lauren graciously agreed to take Thomas to soccer practice so I wouldn't miss Matthew's game. We were in a hurry, so I ran through the McDonald's drive through to grab some takeout for ME and me. (The boys had already eaten). Other than an occasional breakfast, I eat at McDonald's maybe once a year. We have a Wendy's and Burger King on the same street as McDonald's, and I like those better.

Anyway, I ordered a happy meal for ME, and a quarter pounder WITHOUT CHEESE, ketchup and pickles only. Anyone who knows me knows my huge disgust at the sight and smell of cheese. ESPECIALLY the cheese those little squares of cheese they put on hamburgers. I am starting to gag just thinking about it. Well, the girl took my order and I saw it on the screen:

Quarter Pounder With Cheese
no ketchup
no pickles

I explained to her again what I wanted. For some reason, McDonald's is the only restaurant that I have to explain multiple times, "No cheese!". I might as well have asked for a hamburger without meat and bun.

Well, I get up to the window and asked the girl to check and see if any cheese was put on my hamburger. She assured me that all was good. She hands me the package, and I open the burger only to see two slices of cheese on it. I hand it back asking again for no cheese. I wait a minute and she hands me a new one and apologizes. I open it again and THE NEW ONE ALSO HAD CHEESE ON IT! Wow. They ask me to pull forward and they would bring it out. In the meantime, I reach in ME's happy meal to give her her hamburger. I look in the bag and see fries and a toy. No hamburger. I finally get my order right and ask for a hamburger for my happy meal. Mama's don't let your babies grow up to be McDonald's employees...

*Matthew's teacher called me yesterday to explain a low grade Matthew got on a test. They were studying about plants and one of the few questions on the test was, Why do humans need plants? Matthew's answer? To make their backyards look great! Now that's a gardener's son's answer! Unfortunately, that wasn't one they had studied in school! ;)

*Thanks to Alyssa's recommendation, I read The Last Town On Earth this week. I am always a sucker for a good tragedy, and this one fit the bill. It took place in 1918 during a horrible flu epidemic. Over 100 million people worldwide died as a result of it. One town decided to shut itself off from the world in order to keep the flu at bay. Very interesting! I even used a few hours of precious mother's day out time to finish it.

That's all folks! Have a great weekend!

Back from our Ladies Retreat

I just got back from a wonderful ladies retreat in Salado. Our church has an annual ladies retreat, and this one was on Beth Moore's Loving Well. I enjoyed it so much! I feel energized and motivated to be a better "lover" to all people...even the ones who aren't as easy to love! I also had such a great time with my friends on the retreat. I feel so blessed by my friendships at church and could have spent several days hanging out in our room talking and laughing!

I was so surprised when I came home last night to a perfectly clean house, three happy children, and one super husband. I always joke that when I go away, I hope it is hard enough for Bryon to appreciate my hard work, but not too hard where he doesn't want me leaving again! As Beth Moore would say, "Can I get an amen?" ;) I know he loves me and loves having me around, but I think secretly he likes alone time with the kids as well. I left him with quite a busy Saturday. The boys had games at 10:30, 12:00, and 1:30 at different areas of town! Rumor has it that he even did Mary Beth's hair on Sunday morning. What a guy!

Here are a few more shots of what is blooming in my garden at the moment. This might totally bore most of you guys, but I will enjoy looking at pictures of my beautiful flowers when they start wilting in the 100 plus heat in August!