A few recent pictures

A quick picture before heading to Matthew's baseball game.  I am hoping to have all three kids in one place to take a bluebonnet picture before the season is up.  We shall see!

Reve d'Or just starting to bloom.
Trumpet vine
I love when Mary Beth dresses herself.  You never know what combination she will come up with!  She is very proud that she doesn't need any assistance with swinging now.
Ready for school!
Finch feeding frenzy!
My two favorite sports stars taking a break from playing!

An exciting season!

This,

has been dominating our lives (more than usual) over the past 1 1/2 weeks!  There are usually at least 2 Barnhills at every basketball game, unless we have a major conflict.  We are huge Baylor basketball fans, and this has been an exciting post season!  Our men had a promising preseason, and were ranked #20 in the country before completely falling apart during conference play.  Then, somehow, we rallied during the Big 12 tournament, and managed to knock off Kansas, Texas, and Georgetown in one week!  Both our men's and women's teams played for the Big 12 championship.  Our girls won, the boys fell to an incredible Missouri team.  Just a few points short of a NCAA automatic bid!  Oh well, they got a bid for the NIT, and the women are a number 2 seed in the NCAA tourney.  We are enjoying watching both teams in post season play.  This is the first time since my 60 year old Dad was 14 months old that the Baylor men won a post season game!  Next stop....Auburn of all places!

Go Bears!  Sic 'em!

Spring Break 2009

I can't believe it is Monday, and the boys and Bryon are gone!  We had a fabulous spring break!  Our family had a busier than normal winter, and a lot coming up this spring, so my chief objective on our trip was to relax, and have lots of quality family time.   Bryon's friend/mentor/colleague has a cabin near Angel Fire, and he has given us an open invitation to use it when we wanted to.  We felt that this was the perfect time to take him up on his offer!   I feel like our relaxation mission was accomplished, and our family has some great memories from our trip!  Here are a few highlights:

*After baseball practice and two soccer games on Saturday, we headed west and had the privilege of eating in Abilene with our dear friends, the Wertheims.  We ate a Perini Ranch, which is a working ranch/great steak place.  It is always so great to see the Wertheims, who have been dear friends of our family for over 20 years.  

*We made it to Angel Fire mid afternoon on Sunday.  Our friends' cabin in set in a valley a few miles outside of Angel Fire.  It is known for good bird watching, and some wild animals (we saw elk every day).  The temperature was cool, and the kids enjoyed seeing their first snow this year.

*For Christmas, my parents got me the dvd of Centennial, my favorite mini series of all time.  It is 26 hours long, so I thought it would be perfect for the trip!  We watched two episodes a day, and are about 3/4 of the way through it.  It was great introducing the kids to this special movie.

*Driving/shopping/eating in Taos.  On Monday, we drove over the mountain and spent some time in Taos.  My eyes were open for Julia Roberts' house, but I couldn't find it!  We ate at a great place called Orlando's, and enjoyed people watching.  Taos has some interesting residents!

*Tuesday we took the boys tubing.  The boys had a blast!  Toward the end of the session, the workers told me I could do a run or two (I tried to get a ticket, but it was sold out).  I had a great time!  I couldn't believe how fast we were traveling.  I was scared to death, but there was no fear on the boys' faces!  I raced both boys down, and beat the pants off of both of them.  Matthew said I was lucky to be 100 pounds.  I am a lucky 100 pound person, don't you think? ;)

*Wednesday, Bryon took Matthew skiing for the first time.  We decided to take the whole family skiing next year, but Bryon wanted to give Matthew a taste of one of his favorite activities this trip.  Meanwhile, I stayed home and had a Yachtzee marathon with Mary Beth and Thomas.  Bryon reports that after he gave Matthew a few pointers, he was skiing down blue trails without poles, and not falling down!  Matthew has a new found passion for skiing, so I am sure we will all be hitting the slopes again soon!

*We had a huge treat Wednesday afternoon.  The people who had the cabin next to us are big bird watchers.  They invited us over to observe one of three known bald eagles nests in New Mexico.  Through a telescope, we were able to watch the Daddy eagle feed the Mama eagle, who was sitting on her eggs.  All five of us were in awe of this scene.  The pictures I took don't do it justice!

*Thursday morning, we woke up and saw that a big snow storm was moving in later that day.  We decided to pack our things and head out 1/2 a day earlier than planned.  We did manage to stay long enough to watch no. 9 seed Baylor knock off no. 1 seed Kansas in the Big 12 tournament.   That was a great way to top off our great vacation!

*We drove onto Abilene and spent the night.  I spent 10 out of my 18 years of childhood in this city, and I loved driving around and showing the kids where their mother went to school, church, and where I lived.   After an hour or so, we made the trek southeast, and back to Waco.

*I can't tell you how great the kids were on the trip.  They were so happy to be together, and were great car riders, a great asset in our family!  

*Our vacation plans had been made to allow for us to be home in time for baseball practice and soccer games on Saturday.  Wouldn't you know that everything was cancelled because of the rain!  It was such a treat to be home on Saturday with no sporting events.  We worked hard to get our mudroom and laundry room completely cleaned and organized.

*This trip was another reminder of how much I love my family, and how blessed I am to call them mine!

Where do you buy that costume?

The boys have a Storybook Character day at school this week.  Matthew and his good buddy want to be Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.  The kids get to dress up, then introduce themselves on the announcements.  Thomas has been asking me who he can be.  I told him I would think about it.

Later, I overheard the boys talking...

"Matthew, do you know who I should be?"

"Thomas, you can Huckleberry Finn's father.  You can stand next to Connor and me.  All you have to do is tell the school that you are the town drunk!"

Great idea, Matthew!  

Baylor Cheer Day

We had an eventful Saturday!  First off, the boys finished their basketball season.  I am so proud of both of them, and will miss watching basketball.  Immediately following the last game, Matthew walked out of the gym, and had soccer practice in the adjacent field.  Off with the old, on with the new!

Mary Beth attended Baylor Cheer Day today.  Little Baylor fans spent the morning in a cheer clinic, then got to perform during half time of the Baylor vs. Colorado game.  She had been counting down for the past six weeks.  She constantly asked me if today was the day to cheer!  It was very cute, and we are very proud of our little cheerleader in training!

Love Thomas in this one!
Nana and Deedah came to cheer Mary Beth on!

A few recent pictures

Our lives are full with wrapping up basketball, and starting up baseball, soccer, and LTC at this moment.  Here are a few pictures that I downloaded today:

Thomas lost his other front tooth one week ago.  I love his new smile!  He loves to come up to me and flash me a huge smile.  I told him I had just turned 7 when I lost both my front teeth, just like him.  He said, "Mom...I've been 7 for a while now!"  Two whole months!
Lauren, Josh, Bryon, and I took Mary Beth and James to Sesame Street Live on Friday night.  They were hilarious together!  I have never heard more laughter in my life than our Friday night date!  Mary Beth and James are so close and I don't remember them every fighting.  I love their sweet relationship!  We had two half hearted attempts at a picture after the show.  Should have tried before!
Mary Beth and Bitty Baby.  Her favorite doll! She loves getting their picture taken together!
I am turning into a huge bird nerd!  A few weeks ago, I bought a goldfinch feeder on sale.  I had never seen one in my yard, and didn't think I would have success, since our goldfinches are about to travel north.  Yesterday morning, I had 15 on my little feeder!  I have tried to get a good picture of all of them, but I will have to settle for this one now.  All three kids are getting involved, too, and love identifying the goldfinch, purple finch, Carolina wren, etc.  Wild birds...my favorite kind of pet!

Valentine's weekend.

We had a wonderful, busy Valentine's weekend!

Friday night, Bryon and I went out on a date.  The kids are always thrilled when we do, so they can hang out with their favorite babysitter!  We went to a place called The Cactus Grill in Meridian, TX.  The food was great, and the service was slow.  What else are you going to do in the middle of the country? ;)  We enjoyed talking the 45 minutes there and back. 

For Valentine's Day, Bryon gave me this bird feeding stand that I have been wanting for a while.  You can slowly add on to it, and there are a few more feeding stands I want to put on it, but we have all enjoyed watching the house finches, sparrows, and cardinals by our window.  You can see one sitting on our fence, no doubt ready for me to get inside so he can eat again!

After the boys games on Saturday, we did a kid swap with our good friends.  Whitney wanted Mary Beth to spend the night with her, and we asked Whitney's brother, Justin, to spend the night with Thomas.  Bryon took Thomas and Justin to the Baylor/A&M game (Baylor won!) which left Matthew and me by ourselves.  Normally, Matthew goes to the games as well, but was at a birthday party which lasted until after the Baylor game began.

So, I took Matthew to our favorite Thai food restaurant!  I didn't perceive of a time in the near future that Matthew and I would be alone on Valentine's Day, so we had a fun and special date together!  After a great meal, we went to Barnes and Noble, and had a Starbucks drink together.

Sunday was filled with LTC activites.  Matthew is thrilled to be old enough to participate in Leadership Training for Christ.  He is doing Bible Bowl, a puppet show, and the chorus.  Bryon is coaching the puppet team.  While they were busy doing that, Mary Beth and I enjoyed a wonderful nap!  Heavenly!

Upwards Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day!  We spent this Saturday, like all others, watching the boys play basketball.  Matthew had a great game, and scored 6 points.  He is so proud of his Rec Specks, which saves us from having to fix his glasses after every Monday morning!


Thomas had a great game as well!  He made a basket.  We wish that he could get points for steals, because that is his favorite part of the game!  He stole balls and got so many jump shots during the game.




He shoots!  He scores!

Friday Photos

When Bryon and I were getting educations, we liked to think that Baylor would provide us with the tools we would need to help keep our family with clothes on our backs.  We didn't think that Baylor would LITERALLY keep clothes on our backs!  

We have season tickets to the Baylor men's and women's basketball games.  At each game, cheerleaders throw shirts into the crowd at court side, and also parachute them from the rafters at the ends of the games.  Matthew's life mission is to catch as many of these as possible!  Between Matthew's heroic jumps to retrieve shirts and the shirts they pass out for White Outs, we have enough Baylor T-shirts to clothe a third world country.  I was reminded of this today as I washed a load of whites and colors.  Here is a sampling of the basketball shirts that were in the wash today, which by no means includes all the shirts!

Mary Beth was excited to write her Valentines all by herself this year!

Baby's First Hair Cut!

I am always very apprehensive about pruning my roses back, but seeing how every one of my rose bushes were taller than me, I decided to do a major pruning this year.  I have worked over two days on this project, and am not quite through yet!  Somehow, we keep having beautiful weather during the week when Bryon is working, and yucky weekend weather, so this massive project was mine, and mine alone!  I have trimmed back over 50 rose bushes and countless perennials, and am now very aware of every aching muscle in my body!  I have also been picking out thorns from my scalp, hands, fingers, arms, and legs.  This project is not for the faint of heart!  It is such a mess today, but I am excited that in a few short weeks, the backyard will be bursting with blooms!  You may also see in this picture the treasure trove of sports paraphenalia that were found deep in the middle of my flower beds.  The boys think Christmas came again!

Mary Beth at 4 1/2

I haven't written a post about my Little Emmy Lou Who in a while.  She has changed so much this year, and I need to write down my thoughts on her:

*She is a huge mama's girl!  The fact that this precious little soul looks at me and want to be with and like me is the most flattering and humbling experience of my life.  Any small errand I run, she wants to be with me, and since I love being with her, I always let her tag along!  I see her studying me, and she is really picking up on my phrases and speech patterns.  

*She continues to have very mature taste in food.  Her favorite meal is a salad, and she still eats tomatoes like they were apples.  She doesn't like onions very much; however, she was downing the onions on a fajita plate last week.  I said, "Mary Beth, do you know you are eating onions?"  She looked at me and said, "Ummm, roasted onions!"  Apparently onions aren't so offensive if they are roasted!

*She loves to shop.  I took her to the Gap this weekend to pick out an outfit or two.  The overhead speakers were blasting music with a down beat, and she pranced around the store dancing and picking out outfits!  When I told her she could have her favorite outfit, she said, "Whitney (her best friend) is going to FREAK out!"  Um, are you 4 1/2 or 13? 

*She said hilarious things all day long, but hates it when I laugh at her.

*She has to put on both socks before putting on her shoes.  I, myself, am a "sock, shoe, sock, shoe" kind of girl, and she corrects me every time I am getting her dressed!

*Mary Beth loves pajamas, and puts them on as soon as we get home everyday.

*She still loves her blankets.

*She sings constantly.  If she is playing in her room, she is singing the entire time.  She loves making up songs, and singing with vibrato!

*She loves school.  She had pneumonia last week, which caused her to miss two days of school.  She bawled both days, because she didn't want to miss school!  She has had such a great year this year in preschool, and never wants to miss.  She also thinks it is acceptable to use the word "hate" only when talking about missing school.  She will say out of the blue, "Mama, I HATE missing school!"  She thinks she is getting away with saying a bad word in this context! 

*Mary Beth loves going to her brothers' sporting events, so she can hang out with her friends.

*Her two favorite books are Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious.  She loves talking "Fauncy".  The other day, I asked her to name words that started with "sh".  She thought about it, then said, "Shause'!"  I know I am butchering the spelling, but it is a ballet move!  Very fancy!

*She loves figuring out what letters different words start with.  She also loves to rhyme and sound out small words.

*Her vocabulary grows every day.  She is used the words "recognize", "difficult", and "certainly" while talking to me this week!

*I wrote about this recently, but she still loves cooking with me.  The other day, my brother and I were at a garden nursery.  Michael asked her if she like gardening.  She quickly responded, "No, I like to cook!"

Mary Beth is such a precious gift to our family!

Monday

Since the boys had baseball tryouts this weekend, we pulled out the gloves, balls, and bats, and started playing in the backyard again.  This is one of my favorite times in life.  Watching my three boys playing ball, and enjoying beautiful sunsets in my backyard.  I love the winter sky, and think there is something so beautiful about the silhouette of leafless trees and wispy clouds.

Speaking of being outside, I have begun the great winter digout in my garden.  I have about one hundred cuts on my hands, arms, and ankles to prove it!  In August, I am ready to give up gardening completely. By February, it's "Game On!"  

Mary Beth had a performance at her school on Friday night.   Isn't she looking big in pictures?  This is a picture of Mary Beth and her best friend, Whitney.  Whitney and Mary Beth are exactly 6 months apart in age, so the will be 5 and 41/2 this week.  I have never seen such a strong bond in friends at such a young age.  They are so cute together!

We had a busy weekend!  The plan was to go to Dallas for the weekend to be with my brother on his birthday.  Then we realized that we had 2 piano theory tests, 2 baseball tryouts, 2 basketball games, a Dodgeball tournament that Bryon played in, one that he judged, and 3 LTC practices on Sunday!  Sooooo, I took the boys to the piano test, grabbed Mary Beth, and hightailed it out of there!  Bryon had a boys weekend, and I had a girl trip!  We enjoyed being with Michael and Jilinda.  I am so blessed to have them in our lives, and I can't wait to meet my new niece, Lydia in a few short weeks!

I will leave you with this funny conversation heard on the carpool drive home on Friday:

Ashlyn: "My dad's piano teacher only had 3 fingers on both of her hands."

Matthew: "That's TERRIBLE!  If I only had that many fingers, I would never be able to rock climb!"

Hallelujer

OK, now I can go back to loving that adorable face!  As much as I hate the loose/losing tooth process, I love the snaggle tooth grin!

Oh, I forgot to mention this yesterday.  Thomas told me that the past day, he hadn't been brushing that tooth.  I thought this was hilarious because he knew it was just a waste of time.  Then he explained further.  "I read something at the dentist that said 'only brush the ones you want to keep' and I don't want to keep that one!"  Always, so literal!

Never thought this day would come.

There is no doubt that Thomas has me wrapped around his little finger.  He always has!  Little did I know that there would be a day where just looking at his face would disgust me.

But that day has come....

Anyone who knows me well, knows that loose teeth are on my top 5 disgusting things of all time. Kids wiggling their teeth in front of me can cause me to become unglued.

Please join me in praying that losing the two front teeth is a swift, painless process!

I believe he can fly....

I believe he can touch the sky....One of the most annoying songs ever, and now I can't get it out of my head!

Last Friday, Matthew and two of his best buds got to go flying with one of the boys' fathers.  Matthew's friend, Jared, brought along his camera, and his mom forwarded them to me.  Thanks, Lisa!

Matthew loved flying and even got to take the wheel for a while!  It is funny to think that there is now a list going of all the things that Matthew has done that I haven't!  Strange!


Lake Waco


Matthew and Drew
Our neighborhood!

Our January

Here is what our January has been like...

1. Basketball!  

Bryon coaches both boys' teams.  They were on the same team last year, but Matthew has moved up to the next age level.  Now, they are each other's biggest fans on the bench!  Matthew LOVES playing offense.  He is point guard and loves being in control of the ball.  Thomas LOVES defense.  He begs Bryon to guard the opponents A player before each game!  I was so proud of Thomas on Saturday.  He made the first two baskets in his game!  He ended up scoring 6 points.  

2. Reading!  

I have read several great books lately...

Skeletons At The Feast- About a German family fleeing their estate in the waning days of WW2.  They were trying desperately to escape the Russians.

The Worst Hard Time- I can't recommend this book more highly!  It is about the Dust Bowl, how it came about, and the lives it impacted.  I was deeply affected by this book and learned a lot about life in my state and neighboring states 80 years ago.

The Book Thief-I am nearing the end of this one.  Very interesting told from a unique perspective.  I am really enjoying it.

3. Sewing!  

When I was a little girl, my mother constantly had a sewing project under way.  She quilted, made my church clothes, needlepointed, cross stitched, etc.  One of my favorite projects that she made was my name in flowers.   We were inspired to try and do one for Mary Beth, and the project has begun.  Mom drew out her name, and I (who is the proud owner of much younger eyes) am doing the needlepoint.  Mary Beth can hardly contain her excitement, and wants to see my progress every morning!  I love needlepointing and I can't wait to see the finished project!

4. Piano!  

Twilight has inspired me to pick up Claire de Lune.  I told my music teacher about the inspiration, and she lit up with excitement.  She, too, was a Twilight devotee!  We ended up seeing the movie together (her 1st time, my 2nd)!   I am using the music that my grandmother played with 60-70 years ago.  The music is falling apart, but I love that her handwriting is in the score.

5. Cooking with Mary Beth!  

I decided a while back to let her help me cook if she ever asked to help.  I believe I have created a bit of a monster!  I can hardly walk into the kitchen without her racing over to put on her apron.  She will grab a stool, slide next to me, and say in her raspy voice, "What can I help you do, Captain?"  At times, her "help" is a bit of a mess, but it warms my heart seeing how much she wants to be like me.

6. Taking  medication!  

I have been battling the mother of all sinus infections this week.  It was finally bad enough on Wednesday to go to the doctor with all three kids in tow.  You know it is bad when sitting in a doctor's office with three kids is worth it!  After a cortisone shot, days of antibiotics, nasal sprays, and eye drops, I am still not 100%.  It just isn't fun being a mother when you don't feel 100%.  

7. Watching basketball!

We are so proud of our 2 Baylor teams, despite our loss to #6 Oklahoma this weekend.  Mary Beth can say the players' names in the radio announcer's voice.  Out of the blue, she will say in a deep voice, "Quincy Aaaaaaaaaaaa-Cy!"

8. Meals with friends!

For some reason, I have had the great fortune of spending more time than usual eating with friends this month.  I dearly love my friends, and they add so much to my life.  I feel like I am a better wife and mother after being with my gals!

9. Watching Matthew on the RipStik!

I really hate the way it is spelled, but it is what it is!  Matthew and his neighbor friends can be seen skating around for hours on their boards around the hood.  From the time school got out on Friday, until 7 at night, they were outside!  I would say that without exaggeration,  Matthew was on that thing for 10 hours this weekend.  Is it wrong that as a mother, I have found a new weapon to use against my precious child? ;)  Heard often around the Barnhill house, "Matthew clean up your room, or no RipStik."  "Be nice to your brother, or no RipStik"  "You want to play on your RipStik?  Massage Mommy's feet for two hours."  OK, so maybe not the last one, but Matthew is on his best behavior these days! 

That is it!  Is it really the end of January already?  It will be spring before we know it!

A suggestion....

Can all my wonderful blog buddies consider my plea?

TAKE THE MUSIC OFF YOUR BLOGS!

2 reasons

1. I am talented in a few ways, but cannot read your blog and listen to music at the same time.

2. If I am on the phone and clicking on the computer at the same time, it makes my phone conversation partner think I am not paying attention when music starts blasting.

Just a suggestion.  Do with it what you will....