A new name for mom

I don't know if any of you have experienced Mom's expertise in weather, but I've found that she is consistently more knowledgeable about my 7-day forecast than I am...and we don't even live in the same state! I used to have this little thing called weatherbug on my computer, which is basically a customizable program that pops up with your updated weather information whenever you want. I thought it was great, but Andy claimed that it bogged down the computer and brought lots of unwanted pop ups with it, so we got rid of it. I missed it for a couple days, but soon after I realized I no longer need weatherbug.

I have Mombug! I don't even need to go to my computer for weather updates - they come to me! If a storm is coming, a cold front moving in, unusually strong winds expected, or possible hazardous driving conditions called for, you can expect a friendly and knowledgeable update from Mombug. Better yet, the service is completely free!

Interested in subscribing? No need! If you read this blog, chances are you are already a lifetime member of the Mombug club. Send her a token of your appreciation today.



P.S. I know a more literal and apt name would have been "weathermom", but it didn't have the same ring to it.

Familiar?

A Barnhart Christmas

Top Ten Barnhart Christmas Traditions:

10. Saying "Do you wanna do chores....eat breakfast....or open presents? PRESENTS!!!!!" (this actually starts about 1 week prior to Christmas, and all accompanying faces must be made)
9. Develop and hone our vulture-like eating habits
8. Lots of computers (and by lots I mean more computers than people)
7. Everyone making complete fools of themselves for the two smallest members of the family
6. Taking pictures...of people taking pictures...of other people taking pictures
5. Sneaking your Christmas presents under the tree as if they weren't wrapped hastily only seconds ago in the other room.
4. Opening gifts about 4 hours after scheduled to begin (because we just finished wrapping them)
3. 14 trips to Meijer
2. Ben's world-renowned pineapple upside-down cake
1. The 7 hour gift-opening marathon, including commentary and frequent, unexplained breaks

If these are the things that have made up your Christmas day, you may as well admit that you are most definitely a Barnhart. Don't try to fight it; its much easier if you just give in.

Merry Christmas!

And because this is what we all get excited about, here are a few pictures of the two sweetest girls around.

Guys Rule!

Couldn't manage to get this one on with the others, but too cute to leave out, altogether. What macho guys!

R.P. Christmas Dance

Thought the rest of the family might appreciate seeing their little brother all dressed up and stepping out! He escorted Emily Andrews, to the dance, and reportedly had a good time. Uncanny, how much the young lady on the left resembles Rachel Holtzhouse (in my opinion.) Your little brother is growing up!

Dad's Puppies Get Lonely For Him

When I came home from work yesterday, I found that Nicky and Twila had dragged Dad's boot over to their nest and was apparently easing their loneliness for him via the comforting aroma.





Nicky needed a bit stronger dosage.

Wintery Wonderland

I know that you all have anxiously been awaiting our snow pictures. Well, we've finally managed to shovel ourselves out after a week of winter storm advisories, so that we could actually take the photos. Just to keep this all in context - we had NO snow last Sunday. And we weren't sure we'd even have church services this morning because of predicted snowfall (we did, by the way, have services - we didn't get as much as they were predicting).


The top photo shows what it looked like out our entry way door (pretty much) last Sunday - just a little less green with siding on the garage. The bottom photo is what it looked like out the same door this morning, before Steve shoveled us out.












This is a photo out of our garage before Steve cleared snow this morning. Both the car and the truck were cleared off Saturday evening before we went to bed - and here they are, only hours later, very snow covered! Notice the snow piled up where it was next to the closed garage door - Steve said it was easily a foot deep there.


Here's the path from our house down to the garage and driveway. It was a bit challenging to get Ella NOT to play in the snow on our way to the car this morning. But she did manage to do so.
Since it's been so snowy here, we've been staying inside doing "fun" inside stuff - recovering from colds, mostly. But Ella has also learned a new game. Here she is in her very first (and exciting) round of UNO. She's pretty good at matching the colors. We're still working on the numbers.

Ella and Elisabeth got to wear their "wintery" dresses to church this morning, in honor of our snow. They are our "little snow princesses" - and we thought you'd enjoy a chance to see them in their winter finery.


Ella also got to try her first meringue this evening, as Steve had some egg whites left over from making a pound cake (see photo) and decided to make meringues.

It was a new experience for all of us, as we'd never made them before (though Steve and I had both eaten them before, and I hadn't been a huge fan). However, these were extremely tasty - and I decided that he could definitely make them again! Now, just to make some more pound cakes so we have extra egg whites that need to be used...

Christmas Time is here again....

Hello Barnharts. I'm sure you're all anxiously awaiting this year's installment of Andy's gift list. So, here it is.

All Weather Floor Mats for my Jeep (preferable tan) They need to be specially made for Cherokees, because they have a goofy shape.

Pioneer(or other good brand) 1.5 Din Car Stereo - These are a little tough to find, but eBay usually has some good deals. I don't mind a used one either (as long as it doesn't look cruddy). A detachable faceplate is a must though (as to deter thieves).

Seinfeld Seasons 8 and/or 9

Case and chargers for my Vision:M - The black one

I'll add one more option here.

A subwoofer for my home theater.

Merry Christmas

Breaking News from Hancock

This just in: Elisabeth rolled over! All by herself!

For the very first time in her short life, Elisabeth has turned herself from her back to her belly - and then was able to get back again! She's been practicing up all day, now, and has quite good form. Here's a snapshot taken just moments after the exciting event. See how proud she is of her new-found ability - quite the smile!
So as not to show favoritism, I'm including a new photo of Ella.
This photo was taken last Tuesday (right before Thanksgiving) - it was pretty warm out and we went to play at a neighborhood park in Houghton with some friends. Ella had a blast. Glad we hit the park last week since we got hit with snow this week. We've currently got a few inches on the ground and a pretty decent pile down near the driveway. We'll get some photos of that soon.

The Sousaphonist

Happy Birthday Greetings!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Mike Barnhart! This post was supposed to be ready and waiting for you this (Wednesday) morning, but we just finished getting the technical aspect resolved, so here are the Hancock Barnhart Happy Birthday Greetings (HBHBG). By the way...the card is literally in the mail. Hope your birthday is a good one!

The Spirit of Gifting

UPDATE: Daniel would also like to add to his Christmas list Simcity 4 by Aspyr, it can be found on Mac.com and it comes in a deluxe package, and also he would like a digital watch. He likes casio.







As much as I hate using the internet(I try to avoid chatting online with friends, sending emails, and using myspace as little as possible) I have valiantly ventured online to The Barnhart Hub to post my Christmas list, and provide helpful ideas for Christmas gift giving reconstruction(CGGR).



To start us out, I suggest we sack the whole "get gifts for your brothers and sisters" idea. I'll admit, in the past it has at times been fun and merry, but we all know what were going to get since we were forced to tell the person since nobody makes Christmas lists(I am stepping up to break this tradition) and also I think Christmas day would be both surprising and much more "exciting" if we all bought what we wanted for Christmas, and then put them under the Christmas tree in identical boxes. This way you have a 1/8 chance of getting what you want for Christmas, rather that getting exactly what you want for Christmas(more "exciting" eh?). I for one, would rather get a James Bond 1995 Goldeneye McDonald's action figure rather than getting $100 for clothes. I mean, which will you truly remember when you're 50?


At any rate, now that you all know how Christmas gift giving should work, I'll tell you possible ideas for me to buy myself for Christmas, just any of you want to buy them and donate them to me to give to myself, although you have a 1/8 chance of getting the gift yourself(theres that "excitement" again) as described in the above paragraph.



The List


Ipod Earphones
Itunes gift card
Macbook laptop(for you big money makers with so little to spend it on)
Wii
Guitar Hero 3
Star Wars Battlefront for Wii
Job
100 Dollars for clothes
Car
James Bond 1995 Goldeneye McDonald's action figure



Well, I can't think of much more. Send me an email with an attatched PDF of your reciept when you've bought my donated gift, and I'll send in your tax deductable request to the IRA.

TURKEY?!?!?!?!!!!

A new birdie for Andy

I found a new birdie for Andy, I think his name is Happy.

The Girl's night out

Twilla gets ready for a big night out


Nikki says I hate wearing the same dress Twilla wore


Twilla checks Nikki's "hem"

Random Thoughts from the Snow Princess

Well, this is a non-Ella and Elisabeth photo blog entry. Just a few things to post for others to view.

The biggest news is....the garage is sided (minus the very top board on the eave sides, as those need to get cut to the proper width, and it is a 2-person job). Here's a photo of the very last side "in progress". Great work, Steve!!!!! (It was finished on a relatively beautiful day, too)On the same day that the garage siding was completed by Steve, my dad installed 2 new windows in our basement. It's a huge improvement, even though we don't venture into "the dungeon" all that often. Thanks, Dad!For those of you who haven't been to visit us within the past month or so, we've also gotten new entrance steps and a small deck by the entryway door (the door we use all of the time). My dad spent a weekend up here to put them in, under Steve's supervision. We really appreciate a new entrance. And Steve extended our gravel path all the way up to the steps, too. So it's like a facelift for the whole area.And last, but not least, a non-house photo. Thanks, Janell & Andy, for the new coffee mugs! Here's their christening round of cappuccinos...made with our Trader Joe's espresso beans. We're really enjoying them!

Cowgirls Just Want to Have Fun!

This year we enjoyed a relatively calm All Hallows' Eve here in Hancock. And very spur of the momently, we decided that Ella would get to go "trick-or-treating" with her good buddy Cameron, mostly because Cameron's grandma and grandpa Cischke asked if she'd be stopping by their place. And since there was not much notice (the call came at 4 pm, and treats were being handed out from 5-8 pm), we had to come up with a costume with whatever was on hand. Grandpa Mike to the rescue! After spotting Ella's new horse sitting in it's "stall" next to the toy box, I was taken back to memories of myself as a youngster dressing up as a farmer girl. And since Ella had a clean pair of bib overalls and hair long enough for pig tails, and I could contribute a red bandana, we had the makings for quite the costume. We didn't have appropriate footwear (read: no cowboy boots), but the galoshes stood in - saying that they're muck boots and suitable for mucking out the horse's stall. Ella looked quite adorable, if I do say so myself. And here's some photographic proof of her adorableness. By the way, Elisabeth dressed up in Ella's old ladybug costume, but we didn't get any pictures of that as she spent most of her time resting in her car seat.I thought that perhaps I'd also include a photo of Ella and Elisabeth lounging on Elisabeth's pink blanket the other morning, mostly just because they're so cute together.We were blessed with our first blanketing of the fluffy white stuff this morning. Here are Ella and Cameron "romping" in the snow. (Cameron was very determined that Ella play in the snow with him this afternoon, and even though she didn't have boots on, she was willing to run around the house and play in the white stuff)

In this box, are my help-mates, Thing One and Thing Two

Thing 1 and Thing 2. Thing 2 and Thing 1. They can find anything anything anything under the sun.

I think the resemblance is remarkable. Especially Thing 2. :) You should see how clean our house is now too. It's amazing what a pair of red long johns can motivate one to do.

Halloween Fright!

Ghosts and goblins ne'er abound on local streets tonight,
For home they've gone, tummies full with yummies of delight!

Gruesome, scarey, wicked ones, moved spookily about,
In search of candy (more, more, MORE) that, without a doubt!

But where were Mother's little ghouls, spread both near and far?
She wonders what they all looked like; did they dress the part?

Darth and Lucy, re-appeared, or so the story's told,
Would so like to see costumes, of both the young and old.

So share your pictures, if you please, of Halloweeny fright;
Can't wait to see what's yet to come, it should be quite the sight!

Sharing Some Fall Colors

The first four pictures were taken on Buys Rd., about a week ago. The last one was taken on Giles. Anyone who has done Rte. 531 should recognize the green house in that picture. Hope you enjoy the lovely colors!

A Hancock Barnhart Pictoral Progress Report

Greetings, fellow Barnhart-bloggers. There have been numerous requests for a pictoral update on the progress being made here in the soon-to-be winter wonderland. So, here are a few favorites from my latest batch of photos (the past week or so). I'll include some text as well. Read on......and on, and on, and on....or so the story goes. At least, this one in particular. Here Ella sits through her first reading of "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" in its entirety. I'm quite certain it won't be her last, though it might be a while before she picks that one out again (it's a bit lengthy for a girl whose longest sentence is somewhere around 5 words).


Elisabeth turned 4 months old on Saturday (the day before Mom's big birthday). Here she shows off her smile and her bear (we photograph her monthly with this bear to record her growth).



To celebrate the autumn season, crazy hours at work, lots of progress on the garage (wait, Mike, I'll get to those photos soon!), and just life in general, we enjoyed a scrumptious Deep Dish Pizza. It made the menu since the recipe calls for it to be made in a cast iron pan. And because it looked amazingly yummy.



Here's what was left of the pizza after we'd stuffed ourselves.



As Steve watched the weather forecasts, we decided it was finally time to finish harvesting our produce from the garden. Ella and I picked tomatoes and peppers on Wednesday afternoon, and Thursday morning we awoke to a very hard frost. Excellent timing, if I do say so myself. Here's what we gathered. (we didn't pick the strawberries, though there were a few ripe ones still out there, and even more green yet! - a 3rd wave of berries from this season)



And last, but certainly not least, the much anticipated garage siding photos. Please note, it's beautifully sunny and the garage siding looks amazing. Great work, Steve! Feast your eyes on our newly sided garage.....Steve wonders how much longer we'll have nice enough weather for outdoor work and whether or not he'll get ALL of the siding onto the garage in that span of time. Just a few more boards to go! (we'll be putting on some paint come spring...it - the paint - will spend the winter waiting in our living room for it's final destination)

Well, that's all for now. Back to work...there's more progress to be made!