Southern Living Photo Shoot ready? You decide!

Bryon and I feel like our house is growing up.  Our home, now 9 plus years into parenting, has morphed from a home of large, hard plastic, brightly colored toys, into a more big kid house.  We feel like we have earned the right to live in a breakable house!  However, despite this transition, there are still lots of clues that children live with us.

The phrase I use a lot to describe the cleanliness of our house is, "Is it Southern Living photo shoot ready?"  Of course, the answer is always NO!  Today, while hanging out with Mary Beth at the house, my mind started wandering and I tried to imagine what a Southern Living article about my house would look like.  Here is what I have come up with...

(Nothing was moved around in the house to create this post.  This is how everything was this morning!)

"As you walk into the Barnhill house, you are greeted in the formal dining room.  This is the room that they entertain in on special occasions....

...............................and play a round of PIG or HORSE if there is time.

And then there is the table where Elizabeth loves to display her collection of bees.  She loves bees and is always looking to add to her collection.........

and so when she found that Baylor BasketBall on the floor, she thought that the "B" theme would be enhanced!

Elizabeth and Bryon would love for their guests to relax and read at their house.  Anyone up for Fancy Nancy?  Pinkilicious?  Perhaps you forgot your toothbrush?  You are welcome to use their Hello Kitty toothbrush, should the need arise.

Bryon and Elizabeth love to entertain their guests.  When you step into their guest bathroom, have a seat and stick Mary Beth's fake lips in your mouth!  Nothing makes guests feel more at home then when they can laugh at themselves!

Ahhhhh, the kitchen.  The heart of the home.

The Barnhills are an active bunch.  When Elizabeth is washing the dishes, she loves to hop on the Rip Stick and give it a go!  No more just standing there and washing dishes.  That is soooo 20th century!

Elizabeth's favorite way to relax at night is to hop in the tub.

and if she gets really bored soaking, she can always play with a mermaid who spins and spit out water!

Bryon and Elizabeth are products of the 1970s.  

They like to pay homage to their beginnings by displaying an important 1970s image.....

The Fall Of Saigon."

OK, so maybe we aren't completely ready for that imaginary "Southern Living Photo Shoot", but we wouldn't have our house any other way!

I can't look at in anymore.

I had a great time with Bryon at the Sugar Bowl, but I cringe slightly when looking at the photos.  I need something else on my blog!

I am home today with Little Emmy Lou Who.  Happy as a clam.

There has been a lot going on the past week.  I hurt for my dear friend, Karen.  I am blessed by her friendship.  I am blessed by my friendship to Tesney who doesn't seem to mind too much when I follow her around like a puppy dog.

I am blessed by my family.

That's all I feel like writing today.

Have a great week!

The Sugar Bowl!

Bryon surprised me with Sugar Bowl tickets on Christmas morning!  We calculated that it had almost been 3 years since we went away for the weekend, so we were both excited about our upcoming trip to New Orleans.

We had such a great time!  I got lots of dirty stares all over the place driving east on 1-10 in Lousiana.  Apparently LSU fans aren't the biggest fans of the "Scarlet Letter"!  Once we were in New Orleans, I was around my people again!  Bama fans as far as the eye could see!  Everywhere we went, we were greeted with "Roll Tide!"  I love the Bama Nation!  We feasted on beignets at Cafe' Dumonde, and had a great meal at Nola's, Emeril's restaurant.

As we were walking up to the Super Dome, it seemed there were 10 Bama fans to every 1 Utah fan.  In fact, I sorta felt sorry for these fans.....until the game began.  Good grief!  We were not prepared for that stomping!  It was a depressing game, but we refused to let it ruin the weekend.  The Crimson Tide did so much better than expected this year.  12-2 is nothing to be ashamed of!  The next morning when we went to breakfast, we were greeted still by loyal Bama fans giving us a warm "Roll Tide!"  Looking forward to next year!

The best part of the weekend was hanging out with Bryon.  It was so great just being together.  We were so happy to pick the kids up from my sweet in laws yesterday.

New Year's Eve

I always love having my family over for New Years!  It has become one of  my favorite holiday traditions.  New Year's is such a laid back, wonderful holiday!  I always make the same, yummy black eyed pea meal, and we enjoy watching football and hanging out.  

Since we left for New Orleans on New Year's Day, we had everyone over the night before.  Mary Beth and I cooked all day, and we even squeezed in some time rocking out to ABBA (Mary Beth singing into the red spoon.).  What can I say?  That child is more like me every day!  She loves to cook and wear an apron.  When she needed to leave the kitchen, she begged me not to do any more cooking until she got back!

I didn't take pictures of the family as we were busy playing cards, but managed to get a few of my funny nephew, James.  While the adults were busy, he decided to help himself to, well, the rest of the chocolate cake!

Matthew's pictures from Conroe

As mentioned before, Matthew took lots of pictures with his new camera.  It is interesting to see pictures from his perspective!

The Holidays Part 2

The day after Christmas, we headed down to Conroe to be with Bryon's family.  Unfortunately, my camera was left on my chair, along with several presents that were supposed to go with us!  Matthew did bring his new camera, and as soon as I figure out how to download his pictures, I will post them.

While we were away, my 3 1/2 week old nephew came down with RSV, and was hospitalized for several days.  We got home from Conroe, and got to spend time with my other nephew, James, while his brother and mom were hanging out in the hospital.  We were blessed with incredible weather last week, and spent most of the days at home outside.  Matthew became and old pro at his rip stick, and we didn't see him much after he got the hang of it!  I will say that the rip stick is extremely difficult to get on.  It is funny to see how many things my 9 year old can do that I have never been able to do!

The Holidays Part 1

Here are some pictures from Christmas.  We had a great time with family, and the kids were so cute!  We have such fun and special traditions in our family, and it is always nice to have lots of time together!