Be prepared to be impressed

I'm giving you all notice in case you need to work on your superlatives before you walk into the newly painted kitchen at 1208 W. Giles Rd.
Wow! Awesome! Beautiful! or Stunning! might be OK for most paint jobs, but for this one you may need to turn it up a notch or two. Some may need to learn new words of awe and amazement in foreign languages in case the English ones are not strong enough. Or you may have to create your own English words by connecting appropriate words together such as "Wowcoloreriffic!" or "Amazawondertastic!" I'm sure college educated students and especially English majors will be up to the challenge.
I didn't post a picture so the full force of the new paint job will hit you all at once when you enter the door.

Peter Practicing Pillar Production

In case you've had trouble with your towers lately (maybe you're a little rusty on your refuge rearing), I'd like to offer this challenge in advance.

Peter and the girls have been delving deep into design with Duplos to see who can make the finest fortress and the highest high rise. So be prepared to build big over the holidays if you want to keep your status as the coolest ________ (uncle/aunt, grandpa/grandma, nephew/niece, guy/girl off the street, etc.).


Don't worry if you forget to travel with your tinker toys - they'll work with whatever is at hand. Smartphones stack to make spires; minty fudge makes great monoliths. So grab what's handy and start building.

Eight or nine paint samples later...

Those of you who've visited me at any point over the last 2 years know I've been putting some long, hard thinking into what color to paint my living room. I picked out some samples and painted a swipe or two on the wall. Then picked out some more samples, and some more, and so on. This is what I was living with for awhile.

One of my friends decided the paint sample splotch was actually a flag for the Nation of Barnhart, which I quite liked. But this past Thanksgiving I finally chose a color. A whole new color! Not even one of the samples! I'm pretty pleased with the way it all turned out, and here are some photos of the living room along the way.

You can't really see it here, but I've just finished painting the ceiling.

I painted a coat of primer on the walls—after washing them. Mom, you'll be ashamed to hear that was the first time I'd washed these walls since I moved in 3 years ago!

Once I had clean, white walls again, I couldn't resist the temptation to paint a few more samples. The bottom color (which is the color I decided to go with in the end) is a 65% tint of the color above it.

And here's the final coat.



And a nighttime picture of the Christmas tree. I knew Lisa would have thrown a fit if I hadn't included this one.

I'm Thankful (Turkey)

The daily barrage of bad news from around the world can be pretty depressing, economic instability, wars, murders, revolutions, earthquakes, hurricanes, and the endless chatter of politicians seeking office who criticize those who already hold offices in government. Then on top of that are the personal conflicts and disappointments that seem to follow us around where ever we go. All of that and more has to be put on hold for at least one day of the year when we stop and say in spite of all that is bad, I am thankful for what I have in my life both good and bad. We of course only want good, but have to acknowledge that the bad either makes us stronger or makes us rely more on God or helps us sympathize with others who are having the same problems, or perhaps is for no other reason than to show grace under distress to those watching us.

This Thanksgiving Day we need to look for the secret code words hidden in our feast that represent our thankfulness. It starts out easy- Turkey being the obvious one- I'm Thankful as I eat my turkey. Then please pass the Green Bean Cassarole because I have Generally Been Content with my life this year. I think I'll have some Mashed Potatoes as my Mind Ponders all that I have been blessed with. And of course a Piece of Pie only remind me of my Peace about my Place in this world.

So wither you are being Thankful for Turkey today or your Tuna Fish sandwich is making it Tough to Find your blessings, if you are a Barnhart reading this blog, I think you will be able to come up with something to be thankful for. Oh- and may I have another helping of Brussel Sprout Cassarole? because we Barnharts are Simply Content people today.

Fresh Faces

The kiddos have been growing like crazy up here...I'm guessing it's all the tasty produce from our abundant garden harvest this fall. They're learning, growing, helping, and working, besides the obligatory playing, every day.

Ella's in 1st grade this year, minus 2 front teeth (working on a third), and has recently gotten glasses (which she doesn't always wear in her pictures). She's reading copious amounts of books - whatever she can find and way above her grade level. It's nice to hand her a book and say: "Read this to your sister/brother, please!"

Elisabeth is doing pre-school stuff as Ella's been working, and she's easily at kindergarten level in her knowledge base...she still has all of her teeth, and is eagerly awaiting the day when she will be able to get glasses (like big sis).

Peter is stretching out...he's grown quite a bit taller, and thinned out a lot (but still weighs in at a hearty 35 pounds). His languages skills are dramatically improving (full and complete sentences, with some good verb conjugations) - and he's even begun actually speaking on the telephone.

And Andrew....hmmmm.....what do we say about a 3 month old who mostly eats and sleeps (and needs diaper changes). He does LOTS of the eating (he's nearing 20 pounds, by my best guess) and sleeping (last night he did 9.5 consecutive hours!). He smiles, coos, gurgles, holds onto things that get near his hands, and LOVES to be held (by mom/dad/Ella/Elisabeth/Peter). He's been a fabulous addition to our growing family.

So, here's the requested, much looked-for photo of the Hancock Barnhart crew. Enjoy!

Just Add Caption, Continued

Just add caption (There goes Peter Cottontail)

Toadies

For some time now, I've been aware that there are toads living outside my window. I think I became aware when I came home one day to find one sitting on my windowsill, staring blankly into my room. In contrast to that one-time outpouring of curiosity, the toads are usually very silent and very well-hidden. In fact, I rarely see them, despite looking out my window for them every day. Today when I opened my blinds, it appears that one was in the middle of a game of hide-and-go-seek:

I decided to look around a little more closely and I discovered that the toad population was in fact much higher than I had originally imagined. This one is the smallest toad. He had perched himself on a rock, undoubtably looking for the hiding toad.

His cousin is a little bigger and was hiding under a leaf: 

And of course, the grandaddy. This one's eyes quickly scared me out of the open window and back into my room. He looks like he's about two croaks away from warping into a small dragon and flying around my window-well belching fire and brimstone. I'm going to have a difficult time mustering much sleep at night knowing that he's about 10 inches away from my head. He didn't give the least effort in attempting to hide.

Applefest Cancelled

As you can see by this picture of my lone surviving apple tree, there are no apples on it now. There were 3 small, rather scruffy looking apples on it until recently. Apparently someone or animal decided they wanted them and took them.

I wasn't sure how we were going to celebrate, perhaps we could have made a quarter cup of cider or a few tablespoons of apple sauce or even a half slice of pie. Or perhaps David and I were simply going to each eat 1 and 1/2 apples to begin and end the festivities. But regardless the event has been canceled so you can make the appropriate notations on your calenders. Maybe next year...

A truly electrifying experience

After days of goading, I've finally caved to the peer pressure and agreed to upload photos of my new electrical panel. For the clamoring hordes eagerly awaiting these images, have fun!


Here's the old panel—pretty messy, and not altogether safe.


Here are the two panels side by side. In this picture, the old panel (on the left) is being backfed from the new panel (on the right). That way I had power in my house between the time when the power company switched over the outside wires and I when I finally finished transferring over the circuits.


The new panel, with all the circuits moved over. Pending a final inspection, this job is done.


The lonely, old panel. Poor old panel, locked out of its electricity. I'll put you back...


Outside the house, the new mast along with the new wire running to it.

Picture of Electrical Panel

I decided to post a picture of my electrical panel as a seed picture. Thought maybe it would germinate other pictures of other family member's electrical panels on the blog.

A Walk in the Woods

Over Labor Day Weekend we spent some time at the camp in Gladstone (Brampton, to be specific) relaxing and enjoying the outdoors. We had several visitors as Mom and Aunt Sue made a short visit on their way from Hancock to Muskegon and Dad also stopped by on his way from Minneapolis back home. We also had a big family get together on Labor Day proper, after which we became the proud owners of two large taco salads.

In addition to picking apples and watching the deer, the kids had a blast using their imaginations while playing in the pine forest. We also had a demonstration of how a mousetrap works (fortunately not with a real mouse). There were no bat appearances in the camp this year.

One of the exciting experiences at camp is going for a walk - over the Days River and into the deep woods.

Everyone made it to the trail-head. I think the kids were told to look for acorns, which is a challenge because there aren't many (any?) oak trees at camp. Instead, they've identified several pine cones.

There are feisty crayfish in the river. This is one of the bigger ones.

After crossing the bridge, we handed out the cameras. We took pictures of the flora and fauna:

Everyone had to have a leaf:

We found another frog. Actually, there were tons of these little guys. They jumped around like grasshoppers.

A nice crow flew by and offered to take everyone's picture:

We found more to photograph:

It was a good walk.

For you non-facebookers...

In our spare time, Karl and I have been working on decorating and settling into our new home. Ok, mostly it's been me decorating, but he's been very helpful in hanging things on the walls : ) I thought I'd take some pictures so you could all see our new place!

Our spare bedroom/office

Cozy bedroom complete with new age bedspread

Our tiny, yet functional bathroom

The refrigerator is laughing at you

Our tv doesn't actually show any channels or movies, we just like to watch it glow