New Ella Photos

That's right. There are new photos of Ella posted on our photosite. We'll try to get some winter photos posted soon (since it's now very spring-like here in Hancock and our snow is essentially gone). We hope that you enjoy seeing Ella in photos this way (so that it's not just a complete waste of our time to update our site!), and we know that you'll really enjoy seeing her in person in just a few weeks! She's growing and changing daily - and her vocabulary is blossoming.

We're looking forward to visiting with you guys!

Go to Mikesblogspot!

I didn't want to clog up the barnhartcentral blogspot with my impressions of Arizona, so I wrote it on my blogspot http://www.mikesblog-mike.blogspot.com/ You can go there, but I must warn you, it is a long story, and not for the faint of heart. Women and small children may not be able to take it.

Arizony here I come!

I'm off to Arizona, that great state of Rattlesnakes, Deserts, Mountains, and Grand Canyons. I will return after I have conquered them all- probably around 7PM on Wednesday. In the mean time, hold down the cushions of ease with your soft bodies while I go show Arizonians how a real man can tear up their state. My plane leaves Detroit at 2:10PM today (Saturday), I'm bringing some hand tools in my carryon just in case I have to climb out on the wing and fix an engine while in flight. You just never know.

What's With the Disinterest!!?!?!

Everyday, I check this webpage in hope of seeing the posts of yesteryears in which people posted, commented, and were merry. But those days are gone. Instead, I find the lackluster comments of obliging people. Where did the fun go??!! Have you guys really tricked yourselves into thinking you have real lives that are more important than the Barnhart Blog?

In an attempt to draw the attention back to where it belongs, I will be issuing a prize to the first person who leaves a comment.

And now, a visual representation of the activities of the Barnhart household members. You get to decide who is who.

An Editorial from Mike

Hell's hottest fires are being reserved for Weather Forecastors and Lawyers. This statement is prompted by yet another cancellation of an event because of standard winter weather. We have had such mild winters lately that when it does actually snow or get cold or the wind actually blows (like it always used to in winters past), the weather forecastors are practically wetting their pants while they shout out the warnings of death to everyone who is foolish enough to listen to them. This is the first punch of a one-two knockout punch for any winter time event that happens to fall on a day when snow also falls. The second punch comes from the lawyers, they are the insidious ones, not saying anything, but quietly waiting, anxious to rush into any calamity and pronounce condemnation and point out the utter irresponsibility of anyone who would dare not cancel an event on account of a weather forecast. You can just imagine them in court, villifing for example a middle school principal who failed to cancel an event, daring to use his own judgement, when some type of accident happened associated with that event, we all know who's judgement would be called reckless and irresponsible and liable for all damages whether it is reasonable or not. Event organizers know the lawyers are always there, and to prevent being dragged into court and sued to oblivion, they take the safe path and just cancel events at the slightest sign of inclemite weather. We are raising a generation of wimps and sissies. Why, if God didn't want us to go out and challenge the storms, he wouldn't have created monster trucks and put an SUV in almost every driveway. Worried about 40 car pileups? Humbug! most of these SUV's could make a new road around the accident without even staining a hubcap. I say, we have what it takes to shake our fist at the storm and come back laughing, so lets do it! And let the Weather Forecastors and Lawyers slither back under their rocks.

Updated Gift List

This is being posted as a request. Anyone may feel free to purchase from it though.

www.andy-mccann.com/gifts.html

Hamsterland!

I know that everyone has been anxious to see pictures of my hamsters. Or rather, everyone would like to see my improved hamster cage that I spent three nights building in the shed.

Previously, my hamster had to deal with a cramped cage (converted aquarium) that had one too many hamster toys in it. Since clearing out the toys would make his home much less interesting, I decided that the only option was to build a high-rise extension to sit on top of the aquarium. Most of the sides and the top are covered with wired mess, to keep the air circulating in there. The front, however, has a glass door that swings open for easy feeding access. There are a couple little platforms that I also built to give him room to crawl around.

By the way, Daniel, if you're reading this, can you look at the wheel and see why it's hanging down like that? I just noticed it in the picture. Hopefully it can just be straightened back up easily. I really don't feel like buying another one of those. The wheels are more expensive than the hamsters!

On a slightly related note, I have also unearthed one of the only pictures of my old dwarf hamster that I had when I was little. I admit that I feel pretty sorry for the little bugger. Not only is his food dish sorrowfully unbountiful, but his options for entertainment look like they're pretty much limited to a steel running wheel. I think the thing squeeked pretty badly too (the wheel, not the hamster). Oh well. Poor thing.

Birthday Boy Alert

In case you have been immersed in bad weather, or colds and flu, or are on holiday in foreign countries and haven't poked your head up to see what is going on in the rest of the world, here is a birthday boy alert. Steven Michael Barnhart was born February 17th, 1979 in Alpena Michigan. It was a very cold day, in fact it was -36 degrees below 0 F that morning long ago before global warming turned us all into winter wimps. If you are looking desparately for birthday ideas, call me, I have contact with a little birdie in the UP who has ideas. PS Steve don't read this blog.

Janell the Driver

20 years ago? 2 days ago? Who can tell? Janell's carefree, happy-go-lucky disposition behind the wheel is one of life's timeless constants.

Straight from the Source

After many years, I've finally tracked down the source for many year's worth of devotional readings. Cleverly, Uncle Charlie and Co. have disguised their devotion sweatshop as a storefront for piano lessons. I think we really know what's going on behind those closed shades, though. Thousands of Melissas, Kyles, Rubys, and Stevens are going about their daily lives, learning valuable lessons about things like not saying bad words and not lying about those cookies they stole. I attempted to infiltrate the operation to deliver a few lessons of my own, but the posted hours are only weeknights from 11:15 to 11:30 pm.

In one final note, I did take the opportunity to walk around the facility and, curiously, noticed a mustard jar in a car parked behind the building.

Update:
There seems to be some question regarding the veracity of this post, so I present, for the record, this photo of a mustard jar in the car.

Need to talk to someone? Call Ella!

If you need to talk to someone, and she isn't taking a nap, I'm sure Ella will be glad to take your call. She says "Hi" And "Bye Bye" and can tell you what sounds animals make. Call soon, before the rush starts and you can't get through.

Meet Groucho, Bruno, Sherlock and Wolfdad

This winter we have been blessed with a household of small animals. They are all quite active and cute, except for Daniel. I'd like to introduce you to:

Sherlock, who has escaped from his cage twice already,


and Groucho and Bruno, by whom the kitchen has already been christened multiple times.


"You guard the door. I'll, uh, be guarding that weird looking box over there."


And lastly, Dad turning into some unknown creature of the full moon.

The Living Room

Just thought we'd update everyone on the progress made over Christmas break in the living room. It isn't complete, but it's a huge improvement. If you notice a large circle on the wall in the new photos, that's the flash reflecting off a mirror. :)

Right when we moved in...

After I ripped out the carpet and put down the vapor barrier
(notice the tile that was under the carpet)

After finishing the floor, but no trim yet.

The finished product (with some decorating to do though)

Another view...

I'll post more photos when we finish. :)

Stepping Out in Style

Well, I hate to presume this is more interesting than a Scrib's pizza on New Year's Eve, but I've mentioned my sporting of a tuxedo T-shirt on New Year's and more than one person has asked to see a picture of it (to be clear, actually, two people asked to see a picture of it).

So, to quiet the clamoring (seriously, people, I can't deal with all the emails and phone calls), here's a photo of me in said tuxedo T-shirt. My date, who severely underestimated my ability to be dually formal and casual, is the lovely Rachel Schreiner (Matt's wife Leah's younger sister). It was generally agreed that she had the best dress at the party.

For anyone curious, the tuxedo T-shirt has been steam-cleaned and pressed and is hanging in my closet as it awaits the next formal occasion. I might be able to swing a deal on these for your wedding, David.

It doesn't get any better than this!

Scribs Pizza and New Years Eve, what a combination! Happy New Year!

Oops, someone made a mistake

Sorry if this caused any confusion, someone posted the wrong tree last week. I caught the error and am fixing it. The person responisible for making the mistake has been removed from the payroll. We don't tolerate mistakes around hear.

A Real (Nice) Christmas Tree and the Christmas Walk

The Barnharts of the North celebrated Christmas this morning in high fashion with the last advent reading and a gathering around the Christmas tree. Seen here, Mom tries to convince Ella of the fun to come while Fletcher practices his pointing skills by singling out his presents. Notice the snow outside, which arrived just in time for Christmas.

Below, Northern Barnharts prepare for the Christmas Walk

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas celebrating Christ's birth, friendship and family, and that grilled Christmas turkey (and subsequent walk).

HO HO HO! Breaking News!

This is just in from the Santa Daily Chronicle, Santa's sleigh got stuck last night in a wild snowstorm in Muskegon Mi, USA. Last word from Santa was he had to drop all the rest of his gifts there and try to fly out with his sleigh lightened by several thousand tons of less toys. According to Santa, the good folks at 1208 W. Giles Rd, where his sleigh is now lodged will keep the toys safe, if he can't make it back by midnight tonight, then they will have to either keep the toys or find some worthy charity to donate them too. It was reported that David was seen rummaging in the bag already and tossing out new Apple laptops for himself and all his siblings, and Daniel was connecting a PS3 to a new wide screen HDTV. Lisa had already found many soft blankets and had them piled to the ceiling in her room. Ben was carrying boxes of books to the basement. Andy was pulling out tools like he was robbing a Lowes store, and Janell was looking for a mini commuter system that would take her back and forth from work each day without having to drive. Mike was poking around in the bag, looking for a Triumph TR6, but the closest thing he found was a '58 Bugeye Sprite, it may have to suffice. Too bad Steve and Rachel aren't here, if the rest of the family wasn't so busy "shopping" in Santa's bag, they might have been able to pick them up something too. Someone pulled out a couple of Chia Pets, those may be for them.

See our tree?

Steve and I agreed to post our Christmas trees, since we won't get to see each other's tree. We really went big this year, and I must say, Lisa did a yoman's job decorating it. I also need to thank many other people for help with the tree this year.
First, I want to thank the State of Washington for donating their premier tree from this season's best.
Thank you to all the birds who willingly gave up thier nests, inculding 11 spotted owls.
Thank you ConRail for donating 3 flat cars and delivering the tree on time and free.
Thank you Bonners for donating all the decorations, we cleaned out the entire 2nd floor of their warehouse of stock.
Thank you Consumers Energy for adding a temporary substation for handling the extra pewer load from the lights, and also for firing up the mothballed Michigan City IN power plant to keep the grid up when we throw the switch for the lights. We hope the coal dust isn't a problem for Northern IN, but, we all make sacrifices right?
Thank you Muskegon County Road Commission for adding two new lanes to Giles Rd to handle the extra traffic.
Thank you Muskegon County Sheriff's Office for the traffic and crowd control.
Thank you Acme Lift for donating the man lift needed to string the lights and hang the ornaments. We just don't have any 50 foot step ladders here!
Thank you to all the thousands upon thousands of spectators that came to oooh and aaahh the tree every night.
And last but not least, thank you Santa, for designating our tree, as "Official Christmas Tree of the North Pole"

So Steve, when are you going to post your tree?

This means I don't have to buy anyone presents, right?