Look out below!

I call Hannah the spitup queen.

She spits up all day long, but not enough to keep her from gaining weight and growing like a weed.

Sometimes she spits up while I hold her facing outward.

Sometimes it lands on Joe...

He's a good sport about it.

I'm glad it hasn't landed on Heidi yet - she wouldn't be.

LOOK OUT BELOW!!!

Oh the things we do to get the kids to do chores

Last weekend Brian got very ambitious and made a long list of housework for the girls to accomplish. In return, they got to pick out one toy at Walmart if they accomplished the whole list (with about a 50/50 chance of that happening). Aubrey wanted a pink car and Heidi wanted lip gloss from Claire's (of course).

So I'm thinking he's a bit generous. For Christmas we might buy something like this for the kids, but for a bribe... its a bit much.
Well, the girls worked harder than they have ever worked in their lives and accomplished the difficult tasks set for them.

Aubrey seemed particularly excited for her car. What does she want a car for anyway? To play with Joe? Sure... whatever.

Well, on the way to Walmart we learn that Aubrey is planning on riding in this car... "Um, Aubrey how big is this toy car?"

This is what Aubrey was thinking:

No way Jose! Not paying $250 for a car I don't want. So Daddy helps her find an alternative toy. A Zhu Zhu "habitat" compatible with the Zhu Zhu Pet she won at the Easter Egg Scramble last week.

Its probably double anything we've ever bought for Christmas for our kids... But Daddy couldn't take back the bribe, so he was stuck. So now we're the proud owners of a Zhu Zhu habitat. Not so pleased, but we just laugh at our little misunderstanding and vow not to do that again!

By Request

And, now, with all the time I have left for blogging today, I will honor my Mom's request. She tells me that when a mother comes into the church, it opens a whole new world of parenting with new methods and ideas not considered before. How do you parent the LDS way?
When I hear this, I cringe and laugh and cry inside myself all at once. I cry - "I have no idea!" and "I know, I know, pick me!!!" all at the same time. Let me explain.
Brian and I live where there are few young families and few families with kids at all in our ward. I am pretty sure there is no "LDS way" to parent. I'm pretty sure we parent differently from many other great families out there, but we just don't have many models to follow.
The good news is that there is a manual and Expert Advice on parenting. The scriptures and personal revelation. The bad news is that it takes patience. Years. Lots of mistakes. And you want to know the worst thing I've discovered - it requires me as an individual to stretch, grow and change to become a better disciple of Christ, and then I can see clearly enough to parent the spirits he sent to me. Its not the kids that need fixing so much as myself. If the kids are disobedient, rowdy, fighting etc. - you know who needs to be more Christlike? Me.
That being said, I've found the Proclamation on the Family extremely helpful as well as this site from BYU that helps me get perspective on parenthood. I've read Steven Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Successful Families" and all the Richard and Linda Eyre I can get my hands on (I really like that stuff). I just devour anything in the Ensign about parenting. I do a lot of footwork, and praying - then I wait (patiently and impatiently) for answers to my needs. God has been good. He has taken care of my family. I couldn't and wouldn't be able to do it without His help. God bless each of you in your individual undertakings! I will try to include more of the way our family actually works in my posts in the future if you want to see what it looks like... But, your way will be best for your family, so don't pay too much attention!

Joe and the Mess

So, I get off the phone with Brian and this is what I see first. (Did I leave that out... hmmm)



Nope, that is Superquick Joe off to be independent again.... Making his own "corntillas". I watch as he expertly rolls up his "corntilla" for a quick snack.

But what to do with the mess?

Joe knows!

Superquick Joe saves the day again!

...And enjoys a tasty snack to boot!

(I bet your mama is tired...)

A Blessed Day

Hannah was blessed at church last week. This is the only picture of the 6 (6!!???) of us together.




Hannah was such a pretty little woman (its the hair) in her blessing dress. Pictures follow in no particular order as I just don't have time to do much more than upload them to the blog.

Goofy kids

I don't even remember now why we made these cupcakes a couple weeks ago... I think it was some treat I promised the girls. We made them and then decorated them. Pretty fun. Pretty messy. Pretty much gained a couple pounds eating them...

My kids are funny. Aub and Heidi stuffed themselves int 12-18 month sized costumes and ran around the front yard... I love those kids!

Goin' home...

Time passes so quickly. I always thought I would have enough of it to spend with my family all together ... someday. Then I realized - things don't always work out the way you'd always thought. Suddenly, it became essentially important to be with my family all together. I guess I felt like we had all been following our various seperate paths, and I had to make sure that my family was etched firmly in my memory just the way they are now so I could keep them in my mind for years to come. I wanted my relationships with them based on something really real - like being in the same room together, and being us, together again.

In short, it was wonderful. Everything I had hoped for happened. I got to be with my family all together doing "Barnhart" things. I got to hang out with my sisters talking about the quirky medical oddities we all share. I got to spend time with my Grandparents, revelling in the safety and happiness I feel when I am in their presence. I love my family.

I learned we are all pretty much the same as always... good. Everything else changes, but at least our "us-ness" is the same as always!

Oscar (Janna's husband) quickly became Hannah's best friend. It was so sweet to watch how gentle and loving he was to her. I just love Oscar - I'm happy he is part of the family.

This is mom and Erin in Joyworks in Snohomish. We all loooovvvee Joyworks.