Gift List 3001: The Gifting of the Future

On the side of the blog is a list of all our names (well, almost all our names*). If you click on each of these, they will take you to a document that you have all been allowed to view and edit (well, almost all of you). The exception is that you aren't able to see your own list. This, of course, would spoil all the surprise. I am sure that Dad will immediately begin trying to hack into his own list, but I am confident that my AES-256 cryptographic algorithm can withstand his technical cunning.

It's often the case that I'll think of a gift idea for someone at a random moment. It's not really close to their birthday or Christmas. Of course, I forget about it by the time said birthday rolls around. That, ahem, is why many of you have failed to get presents from me. Ever. Now that all changes. Please feel free to use these lists when inspiration strikes.

If you don't want others stealing your gift idea, then maybe note that. Otherwise, we can use this to share ideas. We can note other stuff, like probability that they want such-and-such a gift, or estimate of price. As this is the future of gifting, there truly are no limits whatsoever. You can do anything. Yes, Daniel, that means that you can go back in time and appear within Star Wars. Yes, Lisa, that means that you can turn Karl into a penguin. Yes, Janell, that means that Shelley can really, truly talk to you.


* The name missing from the list is me. I can't set up a list and then deny myself access to it. So if someone wants to create a new document for me and share it with the remainder of the family, then I can add a link for that to the list too.

The Young Patriot

Andrew took Grandpa Mike's words of advice to heart this week.  Here he proudly displays his "I Voted" sticker.

The Scariest Jack o' Lantern

Back in September Olivia brought me a pumpkin to carve for Halloween, and I promptly set it on my front porch and forgot about it. It was way too early to start carving pumpkins after all.

The girls (Cecilia and Raina) pointed out to me that the squirrels had been nibbling on it, and sometimes they'd ask me why I was letting the squirrels eat my Jack o' Lantern. "Because I'm lazy," was usually my response.

Then a few weeks ago I went to Seattle for the weekend, and when I returned I saw that the squirrels had inflicted heavy casualties on the pumpkin, opening several mortal wounds and completely eviscerating the innards. Being the savvy homeowner that I am, I realized it was better to join the squirrels, having previously acknowledged that I could not beat them.

So what you're looking at is an entirely untouched pumpkin (well, untouched by human hands, that is), into which I've simply placed a candle. I've been told by several trick-or-treaters that this was the single most terrifying thing they saw all night, and that it's scared them away from a life of petty pranks and misdemeanor crime.

I can't wait to see what the squirrels carve next year. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

 A few weeks back we took a drive just to enjoy the colors.  We wanted to take advantage of a beautiful, if windy, fall day.  Though our destination was on the sheltered side of the peninsula, we found that the cold wind was almost too much to bear.  But, to our delight, two freighters were bunkered down just off-shore waiting out the gale.

Rachel snapped a few photos and the kids swung for about a minute and a half before the wind forced us back to the shelter of our minivan for a quiet ride home.

 This is the lighthouse at Portage Lake's south entry in White City.  Usually the rough water is on the Superior side, but here it's on the Portage side.

Ella says, "It was a cold day.  It felt like it was freezing.  I loved swinging, though."

Elisabeth says, "I was cold.  I look like I was sad."

Peter was not available for comment at the time of this publication.

Andrew said "What's for dinner?"

Make like a tree and...

I'm thankful for a new roof

I'm thankful for a new roof.  First to God for providing the money for the materials and the time off from work, and the (sort of) good weather to get it done.  And the (sort of ) energy to work on it.

I am very thankful to those who helped- Ben, David and Oscar.  For the most part I was just helping Ben re roof the house.

I'm thankful for all the delicious meals brought in by Sandy, Sue, Judy, Joe, and Annette.  We had more cookies, pie, ice cream, etc. than even I could eat.  I gained weight on this project.

I'm thankful for all the tools that friends loaned me such as nailers and compressors to make the work go faster.

And I'm thankful for all the good advise on how to proceed.

Hopefully I won't have to worry about a leaky roof for a long time.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Almost Christmas!!!!

Well, with Christmas 2012 coming up pretty quickly, I've decided to release my tentative pre-October Christmas list. I'll be updating every two weeks as more gets added. Thanks everyone! Spread the holiday cheer! #poorcollegestudent


Sweet Stuff I Want/Need

Macbook Case

Star Wars Picture Book

Star Wars Poster

Star Wars Poster 2

Star Wars Poster 3

Space Pen

Bullet Pen

Hey, check out my post!

I finally got back to my epic poem of good and evil and finished it more or less.  These things are easy and fun to start and hard to finish.  I just decided to send it out the way it is- kind of half baked because it just seems you never can get satisfied with something like this and a half baked poem is better than an incomplete raw one.  It is on my blog so you have to click the link to "Dad's Blog".  It even has zombies in it so Daniel will like it.  I call it epic because everything that is called epic in real life is impressive, plus, it covers a lot of ground -from the fall of Satan to the final judgement of him.  In between is all that happens on Earth from the beginning to the end.  Don't worry, I fly through things pretty fast, it's the condensed version.

Create Your Own Caption, Round 1

A Legacy Ends...and a Polka Begins

Well, I've been doing some major renovations in the upstairs floors of the Barnhart house on Giles Road. After much grunting and sweating, lots of trips to Goodwill, and quite a few trips out to the garbage, I've done a makeover on my room once again. This time, however, I have finished my lifelong goal of taking over the entire upstairs with my room. Now, it is my little kingdom. So I thought you all would like to see that. So I posted some pictures.

Also, Mom bought me accordion lessons for my birthday and I thought you would all enjoy seeing the fruits of her labors. So here is the Dorothy Polka.



Anyways, who's going to post on here next? I feel like I'm single-handedly keeping the blog alive right now...


UPDATE: I actually wrote this up about a month ago, but never got around to posting it for some reason. I felt the need to finally put it up, however. Hope it's not too old of news for you all.

Uh....P...P-Puppies??....

Thanks for my Birthday Skates!

In response to David's plea for mercy blogging and because I am somewhat overdue in offering public thanks, I'm taking this opportunity to thank any and all that contributed to ice skates for my Birthday (five months ago).

Thanks!

A little before my birthday, Mom put together a really neat post and poem to get people thinking that this was a good idea.  If I recall, it was shortly after she interrogated me about my birthday wishes and squeezed out my desire for a good (not dry leather and plaid) pair of ice skates.  I settled on hockey skates since I figured the kids might want to play hockey some day and because Rachel didn't think I could handle the toe pick on figure skates.

I was excited to find a really good pair of used skates so I didn't have to buy a new pair of "recreational" hockey skates.  The kids were excited to try them out with me, but that was about the time of the big thaw.  I'm looking forward to giving them a try this winter.  When the portage ices over, I should be able to skate to work.

Many thanks again to those who contributed.  And to those who didn't, let me just say... I can't really remember who didn't chip in.

BarnhartCentral Hits New Lows: Dad Growing Increasingly Bored of the Blog

I understand that the heat of the summer has beaten us into a lethargic state of inaction, but I sincerely believe that we can all rally our best efforts and try to give Dad a reward for logging onto the internet each evening and checking the blog. For two weeks, the picture above has been played out night after sad night. Although his back is turned, I believe that you can still perceive the slump, the resigned defeat as Dad comes to terms with such lazy children as these carrying forward his family name. Where are the posts?

New smart phones!

Please welcome Mr Daniel Barnhart to the exciting wide world of smart phones!

And we can also welcome Amber to the world of iPhones!

This is certainly a lively night in the Barnhart kitchen tonight!

The Daniel Memorial Post

I don't think this post requires any additional explanation...

Thank you, Daniel, for being you. And also for letting us take these awesome pictures.

Birthday Castle

According to the youngest generation of Barnharts in the family, all things princess-y, knight-like or horse-y are fabulous and consume much thought.  And so, thanks to Grandpa Mike, Grandma Sandy, and Aunt Janell & Uncle Andy, they have become the recipients of a fabulous castle, with appropriate accoutrements, in honor of all of their birthdays this year!  It arrived before any of their birthdays, and was immediately set-up and has been a non-stop play spot since then.  Here's a photo of it's initial home on our kitchen table (it has since moved to a table in the living room so that we can eat at our kitchen table). 

Thanks to all of you who helped procure such wonderful fun!  Please note: it is usually used by all 3 of the "big kids" at the same time, playing very creatively. It has a dungeon, a "breakable" wall, an elevator in the tower, moving doors, a "crashing down" gate thing (which has a technical name, but I don't know what it is), and some rocks that fall down from the space above the door onto the bad guys.  Lots of excitement.

Thank you for my present!

My birthday books showed up today. Thank you to everyone who contributed! I really like them!

Three Little Monkeys

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed.

One fell off and broke his arm.

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,

"Jumping on the bed will bring you harm!"

Happy Mother's Day

Here's a 2006 vintage photo to wish our Mom a wonderful Mother's day.  The family has sure grown since then (Ella says uncle Daniel looks "funny").  Maybe someone wants to take a stab at photo-shopping in Amber, Karl, and the grandkids.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.  We love you!

As an added treat Ella would like to show Grandma her secret island, Fairy Island. 

And a recital piece on the piano:

The Face All Babies Love?

Seems that Hazel caught a glimpse of the face all babies love, but didn't agree!

The Bad Boys

I'm back from South Africa, and it seems that Barnhart Central went on hiatus while I was away. Or maybe everyone was just too busy adding their comments to my blog posts over at Bonavox. Can't blame you for that, I guess.

I've posted a lot of trip pictures on my blog, but I wanted to share one special picture with all of you. It seems as if David had a prescient vision of Cape Town in his younger days, as you can see below. Everywhere we went, we saw trucks filled with Bad Boys, though I was unable to confirm whether they were in fact drinking and if large rocks were strategically placed before their vehicles. Fortunately for all the Bad Boys I saw, none seemed to come to a tragic end during my time of witness.

A blog is born

Most of you know that I'm heading to South Africa for a couple weeks, visiting Matt and Leah and my friends Loren and Kelly (who are visiting at the same time). If you didn't know before, well, now you do.

All of this imminent travel has me thinking that I'd like to keep track of my travels and share that with as many of you as are interested (or as many of you who are having trouble sleeping at night). As frequently as possible, I'll be showing photos and stories at my new blog, Bonavox. I hope you enjoy following along.

Adios!

A New Home for Grandma's Deer!

Wouldn't Grandma be pleased to see her deer at Dad's! They look quite natural, don't they? Thank you, David and Amber, for giving Grandma's gentle critters a new home, since she went on to her Heavenly home.

Intrepid Explorations

There comes a time in a man's life when he needs to see for himself the brutal nature of the wilderness, smell the alpine scent of conifers climbing the sides of mountains, test the mettle of his survival skills against the bitter cold of an arctic landscape. And that time is today. By the time you read this, I will be trekking down the frozen runway of the Minnehaha Creek, a rugged, untested wilderness that runs through the heart of South Minneapolis (about 30 blocks from my house).

Along with about a dozen other explorers, I'll be hiking east on this frozen wasteland as we try to maintain our provisions and ignore the ridicule and taunts of joggers and bicyclists (running and biking along the paths that border the creek). With fortune on our side, we will journey the five miles to our overnight destination, where a base camp will be established so that we might endure the bitter, dark hours of the night (also, this location is where Di Noko's Arctic Outfitters has confirmed they can deliver victuals for our sustenance).

So as you nestle into your warm beds tonight, send warm thoughts my way. Chances are I'll be trying to warm myself by the sled dogs, though I'm not sure they'll take too kindly to me. Please pray that I'll make it safely to morning. Because we have brunch reservations at a breakfast cafe nearby, and they're really mean if you show up late.

Birthday Skates for the UPer!

In the land up above, lives a fella we love,
Where the cold, snow, and ice do abound.

When the ice is like slate, one can put on their skates,
And commence to go ‘round and around.

But this fella, you see, has a problem, oh me!
For he hath not the skates, yet, to don.

And the kiddos, oh dear, on the ice can’t go near,
For there’s no one to help them skate on!

So what say, this Monday, for his birthday, this Friday,
That we help put this fella in skates?

Then Daddy and all, (who doubtless may fall:)
On the ice can then frolic and play!

A cuter toothbrusher

While Twila and Nikki are pretty cute pretending to be people, I happen to think this little person's obsession with tooth brushing is even cuter. She really loves having her teeth brushed. And brushing your teeth. 

If she ever sees one of us brushing our teeth, she just stands and watches with a funny little half smile on her face, and then after a few moments demands to brush your teeth for you. Which doesn't actually clean your teeth, but it keeps her on your lap for a while. 

Doggie Dentals

Twila has been complaining to Nikki about her bad breath, apparently, because I walked downstairs this evening to find Nikki sitting next to her dog bed, brushing her teeth.

She was careful to get back behind some of the hard-to-reach spots.

I believe the dark evenings have thrown off their internal clocks and Nikki thought that it must be time to get ready to go down and get in their cage.