We have a blog?

Where to begin???? I guess to say we've been a little busy is putting it mildly. We had a great first semester in school. Can't believe Avery half-way done with 5th grade (Jr. High is way too close!) and Wil is nearing 2nd grade. They both love there teachers this year and are doing great. Avery is enjoying Art Curator's Club, an academy where she gets to help Mrs. Carrington, the art teacher, every Wednesday and Thursday. She just started a Script Writing Academy and couldn't be more excited. Wil started his very first academy last week, Outside Games. He really enjoyed the first day, although he reported that his team didn't win. I hope he gets to go to his 2nd week,as I am typing this he is sick with strep throat. Poor bubby!

Avery was in her 2nd play at the Forum in December. She played one of the Martini children in "It's A Wonderful Life." She loves her drama! They just announced that VPA's spring musical will be "Alice In Wonderland" and she is already preparing for auditions!

Another Christmas treat was our trip to Six Flags Over Texas for Holiday in the Park. We left the day after Thanksgiving and got to enjoy a couple of days in Dallas, riding rides, looking at Christmas lights, enjoying the music and LOVING the food! Looks like another family tradition has been born!

2011 looks pretty good so far. We are praying that God has some wonderful things in store for us. I will be working toward finishing my National Board portifolios, which are due in March. Blake continues to work hard at Wells Fargo and we are so happy that he is not always on the road anymore! Blessings abound!

Summer Favorites

I thought I would begin a list during our first week of summer break to keep up with all our favorites of the season....

1. Water balloons - specifically, water balloons from the $1 bin at Target! You get more than 100 balloons and loads of fun and giggles.

2. Sonic Jr. Candy Sundaes - another $1 favorite. The perfect size for mom and kids. Not as much guilt as a full size Blast!

May 2010

What a busy month! We at the Barnett house are looking forward to next Wednesday, when school is officially out for summer! May has really flown by, thanks to all the activities. Avery was a servant in VPA's musical, "Annie Jr." on May 10-11. As always, she had the best time! She also enjoyed her spring Academy, "Designing Dudes and Divas", designing clothing for her stuffed animals. We were treated to a fashion show at the school last Thursday and all the girls did a wonderful job on their designs. Avery has told me that she has changed her mind about her career. Instead of being a fashion designers, she will be a costume designer for movies!

Wil graduated from Kindergarten on May 17. He did such a great job singing and walking across the stage to get his diploma. I was the most of proud of him on the morning of the 18th, when he went back to school without complaining! He is very excited to be joining Avery at VPA next year. Mommy and Daddy are very excited to be able to make one stop to drop off both kids!

Easter 2010

Memories of Easter 2010:
1) Wil sporting a new red cast because he pulled the black one off at Kindergarten to impress someone.
2) Daddy making the trip to Wal-Mart to purchase elastic so a sick Mommy could finish Avery's dress.
3) Mommy making Avery's dress....Wasn't Avery the one who was going to do that? (In her defense, it was a hard pattern!)
4) 2 baskets overflowing with candy. Easter Bunny, what were you thinking???

Stitches - 7, Broken Bones - 1

It was Avery who required the stitches at 18 months of age, when she feel on the tile floor and cut her chin. This week, Wil took the lead in the "kids with broken bones" category. He fell while running across the church parking lot and broke his wrist. The sad thing was, we didn't realize it was broken until after we sent him to school on Thursday (it honestly didn't start swelling until then)! Poor baby, he is doing well with his cast. He chose black, "becuase cool dudes wear black"!

Sugar Plum Banquet 2010

Tonight is the second annual Southwest Sugar Plum Banquet. It is a very special night for girls in 1st-6th grade at our church. Each girl brings their dad or another special man in their life and the evening is spent celebrating these young ladies. It is a tradition that I am so thankful for!

Picture of the Artist (see previous post)

Avery, the Artist

Avery has definitely inherited the family's love of art. She is confident that her career path will be in this field (leaning toward fashion design at the moment). We were so thrilled to find out that she was a winner in this year's ASU Draw/Play Contest. The picture was actually drawn in the Spring of 2009, but awards were given during basketball season this year. We are so very proud of our artist!

Winter Fun Photos

Winter Fun 2010

Jonesboro (and most of Arkansas) was hit with the most snow we've seen in awhile yesterday. It was beautiful to watch it fall yesterday and we couldn't resist the urge to get out and play today. Blake grew up sledding on snow days and we recently got his old sleds from his parents,so we were excited to give it a try. Thankfully, we live in a neighborhood with lots of hills. We started out on the one closest to the house and ended up walking to try out some others. What fun!

My Christmas Cookie Party - Avery

Last year I invited some friends over for a Christmas cookie party. This year it was even more fun. It was me , Mackenzie , Sarah Grace , Mary Beth , Laney, Jordyn , Betsy, and Victoria. So we were lucky and everyone arrived at about the same time. We did a lot making bracelets that turned out to be bookmarks , Cocoa making , cookie decorating , eating pizza , playing games , and finally a Christmas American Idol. Mary Beth , Mackenzie , and Victoria were judges. I played the guitar, Mackenzie used my guitar also, Sarah Grace announced , Mary Beth took pictures , taped , and judged , Laney sang and danced, Jordyn sang, Betsy sang and did a cheer, and Victoria judged. It was so much Fun!!!

Yes, We Celebrate Christmas

Had to share another "Wil Story"...

Yesterday, I picked him up at Kindergarten and was met by one of the teacher's aides with a grim look on her face. "I need to ask you something", she said. "Is Wil allowed to watch Christmas movies?" I laughed and told her that we watch them nightly this time of year. Well, Wil had told them at indoor recess that he was not allowed to watch the Christmas movie they were showing! When we got to the car, I asked him why he said that he wasn't allowed to watch Christmas movies and this was his response...

"Well, that isn't exactly what I said. That movie was boring and I wanted to work on my roller coaster drawing, so I told her we didn't celebrate Christmas!"

My mouth hit the floor and I informed him that both Santa and God heard him say that! His reasoning turned out to be sound (in his eyes). Another little boy had told the teacher that and he got to do what he wanted. Granted, that little boy's family really might not have celebrated Christmas.... Never a dull moment with Wil!

Breakfast With Santa

This was the 2nd year for our church to have "Breakfast With Santa" and we just couldn't wait to go! Unfortunately, Wil got sick on Friday and we told he had to stay home all weekend. Wil was very good about missing the event. He said that "after all, I saw Santa at the mall."

Avery and I attended the event on Saturday morning. We started with yummy pancakes and sausage and Avery enjoyed making various ornaments and decorating Christmas cookies. Thankfully, she was not too old too sit on Santa's lap. I was quite amused to hear her tell him that she wanted dolls for Christmas, since she told us that "all" she wanted was a Zune, cell phone and lap top!!!

Wil Words

Tonight, Blake and Wil were watching a "World's Most Shocking Videos" show on Animal Planet. The second most shocking was about a python that was discovered in a neighborhood sporting suspicious bulge in its middle. Wil just couldn't wait to tell his sister about the story and what the "bulge" turned out to be. Went something like this...

Wil: Avery, you're not going to believe this!

Avery: What?

Wil: A hypothesis, that's a kind of snake, ate a cat!!!!

Avery: huh????

Background noise: Blake and I trying not to fall on the floor laughing!

Halloween

Can't pass up posting a few pics of Dorothy and Power Ranger #5! We were so excited to have a real Halloween store in Jonesboro this year. Wil found his costume right away. Avery on the other hand had to search and search. She had wanted to be a gypsy, but that was about the only costume this store didn't have! She is also in that stage where many costumes were too baby-ish and many were too grown up! She finally decided to be Dorothy and I think she looked just beautiful! The only sad part of the whole holiday was Blake being sick with the flu. He wasn't able to attend Southwest's Fall Festival with us.

Welcome, Fall!

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! I have loved the past few weeks with the cooler weather. I have my pumpkin spice candles out and apple cider in the fridge at all times. We are slowly making the transition from summer to fall clothing in the closets and drawers. Both kids had a growth spurt recently, so a shopping trip in going to be needed to round out the wardrobes (at least until Christmas).
This past weekend we got to go to one of our absolute favorite fall events....The Goat Roast! We have been going to this event, hosted by family friends, since before Blake and I were married. Now, the kids look forward to it year round. Saturday, we made the trip to Hardy and enjoyed time at the Young's home. They have the most beautiful setting. We were able to sit in the sun room and use binoculars to watch wild turkey cross the pasture below. The food, well it is simply the best! Just imagine the best church potluck you've ever been to! I don't think I need to eat a thing this week after what all we had Saturday! My favorite thing this year was watching my children interact with the older people there. There were several older ladies that adopted Avery as an extra grandchild! She spent the evening showing them her digital camera and all the pictures she was taking (will add those to the site soon!). She just talked and talked to them! Wil did his job entertaining. One lady told me that another couple was unable to attend this year and that they was sad to miss "the boy"! Everyone remembered that he had started Kindergarten and wanted to know how it was going. Wil's other favorite is the Young's spiral staircase and loft. He has come home before with carpet burn on his stomach from sliding down the stairs!
Hooray for fall! We are looking forward to all the fall festivals, our fall outing to Six Flags in Dallas, the Miley Cyrus concert, Thanksgiving and Christmas (which Avery told me tonight was only 72 days away!).

First Day of School Pictures

Another School Year Begins

It's funny how the beginning of a school year can make you totally forget things (like having a blog!). The Barnett's have had quite an interesting first few weeks. One new and wonderful thing is that Daddy is taking the kids to school in the morning! My school starts earlier than theirs do, so it is nearly impossible for me to drop off in the mornings. They have figured out their plan for the morning and all is going smoothly. Blake is enjoying the time with them. I am so thankful that he is in Jonesboro full time now!

Wil is enjoying Jonesboro Kindergarten Center very much. He is in Mrs. Star Martin's class. He has been doing very well behavior wise. He still doesn't like to come home and tell me all about his day, but I have learned that if I wait, he will eventually tell me. I especially enjoyed hearing about the day that they had a substitute. He said, "Mommy, she was old and didn't know what to do or when to do it!". Wil loves routines and I guess it was frustrating to him to have someone there that didn't know their routine. I hope he wasn't rude to her!

Avery is ecstatic about being in 4th grade at Visual and Performing Arts. The first day, she was beaming with joy as she told me, "we get to dissect Owl throw up!" Yes, you read that correctly.... This is the first year that she gets to switch classes during the day. She has Mrs. Clines for math and science and Mrs. Farris for language arts and social studies. She is also thrilled that it is time for after school academies to begin. Her first choice of the year is to learn about making movies! We somehow forgot to take her picture on her first day of school, but I had her recreate her outfit so I could take it. I will post that and pics from Wil's first day when I find the cord that hooks the camera up to the computer!

My first days of school were some that I will NEVER forget! The teachers returned to school a week before the kids. I worked for two days and came down with what I thought was a stomach virus. It was awful! I stayed home for two days and then headed back to work. I noticed that I was not feeling 100%, but thought it would just take some time since I had been so sick. WELL, on the first day for students, it hit me again! I was there for 1 hour before getting dizzy and light headed. I somehow managed to stay, although everyone was telling me I looked like a ghost. By the time Blake got home, I was ready to go to Urgent Care. After 3 hours of tests, we found out that my gallbladder was to blame! So.....after additional tests, I go to the surgeon on Tuesday to see when I can have it removed!!!! I will be so glad for this to be over. Everyone tells me that it is the best medical procedure in the world and I won't believe the difference. I can't wait!

Silver Dollar City

This year's Barnett family vacation was a trip to Branson and Silver Dollar City. We had not been there in about 5 years, so we had so much fun looking forward to this trip. Avery was 4 the last time we went, so only remembered what she saw in pictures. Wil, being 1 on the last trip remembered nothing. We drove up on Friday afternoon, so that we would be ready to hit the park Saturday morning. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day, but that didn't slow us down much. We started out by touring Marvel Cave. It is a 1 hour hike with about 600 stairs. I had not done a cave tour since we went to Blanchard Springs as a kid. Avery and I were a little slow to get going when we stepped into the HUGE Cathedral Room and saw how far down it went. After a few flights of stairs, we were loving it. Wil, on the other hand, had a great time. He decided that he was just like Indiana Jones!

We spent all of Saturday and Sunday at SDC. The rides, shows and food were great! Avery really enjoyed all the water rides and both kids loved walking through Grandfather's Mansion, which made me incredibly dizzy! Monday morning, we did a little back to school shopping and then headed home. It was a nice getaway!

CRYC 2009

For 5 years now, Avery has enjoyed spending a week at Crowley's Ridge Youth Camp each summer. It is the camp that Blake attended and served as a counselor at when he was growing up. One of Avery's ambitions is to be a counselor at CRYC when she is a teenager. This is her last year to attend day camp. Next year, we will drop her off and not see her for a week. I am sure she will handle that better than I will!