A little Country in the Family

Back before we had Ethan and even when he was a baby, Bill & I went to a few concerts when we could. We are big Kenny Chesney fans and at one of his shows we wore these Cowboy hats.
I think here Ethan just had turned one.

So the other day Bill was cleaning out his closet making his pile of things to give to Goodwill, and the next day noticed as I was poking around that the hats were in that pile! I called him at work and teased him I couldn't believe he put our hats in there! We might go to another concert in this lifetime! But my main reason to keep them is so the kids could play with them, wear them at Halloween- whatever.
When I showed Ethan and Elena my discovery they were thrilled! Especially Ethan who wore it around all day. He is becoming a country music fan as well. He walks around the house singing all the time. At any moment he could belt out "When the Sun goes down" When I told him Mommy & Daddy wore the hats to a Kenny Chesney concert, he decided he would wear it everywhere! So he wore it to Walmart, the bank, to school, outside to play.

Here Miss Elena likes to wear Mommys hat, but don't you dare call it a cowBOY hat... It is a cowGIRL hat!

They wore these when we went on errands .

Boy did they think they were cool...

Saint patty's Day!

For Saint Patricks Day this year we had a dinner at our house.The kids were excited about having cousins come and helping to get the house ready.
So we decked the family in GREEN and got ready for a fun night. We are only like the smallest bit Irish, but an occasion to plan a party is all we need!

Here is mommy and Natalie right before our guests arrived.

It turned out to be a real good time. Lots of yummy food, a little green punch (A little beer and baileys as well - not mixed together of course!) Oh and I can't forget the Irish Creme Cake that got us all drunk! hee,hee (It's a joke - for anyone who wasn't there we blamed everything on the cake since there was baileys in the cake) Natalie was a good girl throughout the night. Jason had a blast playing cards and showing off his tricks. Ethan and Elena loved chasing their cousins all around the house and were a bit tired by the end of the night .

Now on to plan the next party... I believe Mr . Jason is next :)

Here are some additional party pics. Just click on the link to view.

http://groups.msn.com/BillHeatherBarber/saintpattysday2006.msnw

Punk Rock Preschooler

Last week when I was spraying some detangler into Elenas hair to put it in braids, Ethan thought he might get a bit creative with his hair as well. He stood up on a chair and stared at himself in the mirror for a moment then began to spray away! He was sculpting his hair all over the place. He had quite a bit since he was overdue for a haircut. He finally ended up with a spikey little Mohawk. He called it Dinosaur hair which I thought was so cute.

He was quite excited about his new doo. "I want to wear my hair like this to school tomorrow "he says. He was a bit upset that it didn't stay up so long though. I explained that he wasn't spraying with hair spray that makes it hard. So the next morning after he showers up he asks me to help him with his cool spikey hair. So we are gelling and spraying and once again the little Mohawk was created. He couldn't wait to go to school and show it off! He thought he was it as he walked into the school.
It lasted 2 days, He was tired of all the maintenence and by the end of the week he was ready for a haircut. It was cute while it lasted! My little punk rocker:)

Natalie is up to no good.

Our little girl has quite a curious side. She has a mind for adventure. She is very good at knowing when mommy has just turned her back and then she is headed for the first off limits thing she can find!
Her latest obsession is the drawers in the bathroom


(They will be locked here soon)

She loves to get in there and pull all of daddys things out of it. She just looks at you so proud once she has broken into it and emptied it all out.
Poor thing will be so upset once she no longer can get in there. Lucky for her the towel cupboard will be left open for her.
She can empty them as much as she likes :)

The Boy has sports on his mind

Ever since he was like 2 Jason has been a sports nut. I will never forget the time he was 2 and Bill had a baseball game on TV. Jason looked at the TV and said"football" and Bill told him it was baseball. He said "BASEBALL" and sat down next to his Dad and watched the game! He has never been a kid to play with cars or toys even. He has always wanted sporting equipment. And he loves all the sports. He has played on soccer teams, baseball, football and last summer he went to basketball camp. He is the most 'sporty' kid I know! I always tease, but kind of encourage that he should aim for something like sports journalism or broadcasting when he gets older since he never would be able to choose just one sport to play. Plus he is very into the History of the teams and will watch ESPN classic for hours if we would allow it!! Here are some pics of him this weekend playing basketball. I can't believe next month he will be 12!!

Let Me Out!

Since we have reinstalled the baby gate in our living room, Natalie wants even more to get on the other side of it! She might not even have an interest of crawling out into the hallway, but if she hears it click shut then that is her mission. To get out of there. It is one thing Natalie is not real happy about. (along with being strapped or confined into anything - Her playpen, carseat, highchair, you know - ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.) So I thought I would share what our little wild woman does when her protests to being locked up are successful and she is aloud to crawl and be free!