game junkies

Well I am sure that everyone knows by now that Gwen loves a little place called Chuck E. Cheeses, and I am beginning to think that she is not the only one pulling for game time there anymore. Harrison really likes running around there, and this last time decided that he is quite in love with his own reflection. James also enjoys a little game where he can shoot basketballs and the hoop moves just to make it a little more challenging. I don't mind him playing it either because then he is willing to go with us, and he wins all the tickets so the kids get a prize when we leave. I guess it is a win win all around.
The driving rides/games are also one of the perks of the kids day when we go there, Gwen is constantly asking if she can drive the motorcycles, cars, or whatever.
We took turns watching each kid, and James had it really easy with Gwen she just wanted to talk on this phone for a long time. (naturally she didn't want to do that while I was watching her)
I think that Harrison was expecting a little more out of this ride than he got, look at that disappointed little face, so sad.
And this one is ALWAYS a winner. Nothing beats the horse ride.
On your mark, get set, focus.......and GO!!! I asked her if she would look at me while this ride was going, and she said " not now mom, I am trying to ride." So sorry to interrupt.
I know that her eyes are totally red in this one, I couldn't quite fix them for this photo, but I had to add this one in, I am sure that Gwen would dance all day, everyday if there were only music playing all the time.
And just before we left she hopped on this star fighter game, you would think that she actually knew what she was doing with that joystick the way she is sitting. I think that maybe she needs to find a new outlet, one that doesn't include a video game arcade. Gotta love a little Chuck E. Cheeses every now and then, I know we do.

The Texas Way

It is that time again, Spring, and around here that means Blue Bonnets! You know the drill take the kids out and let them romp around and get some fun and really cute photos. So here are just a few of them that say a lot about the kids. ( now mind you that we tried posing the kids or having them do certain things but in the end it was just snapping the photos of the kids before they took off.)
Ready, set, go...
Good work kids, make them think that you like each other, Perfect!
Yes they are playing around the tree, not the actual reason that we were there, the flowers kids the flowers.
Better Gwen, but you are still holding a flower that is probably a weed. Whatever works is what I say.
We will take it.
Oh Harrison that photo almost makes me forget that I have to pull random things out of the toilet because of your creativity.
I guess this means that Summer is on its way, the Blue Bonnets are fading fast, so maybe we will be heading to the pool soon, um that is if Gwen decides not to go crazy and walk into the deep end of the water. Thanks kids for standing still here and there for the camera, maybe next year we will work on posing.

this and that

Gwen got these really fun finger paints for her birthday, and she just recently started to show some serious interest in painting. So we pulled out the paints the other day just to see how creative the Barlow kids really are, and here is what we ended up with...

Young Harrison can actually hold the paintbrush, and he likes to do so.
He and Gwen are very serious about their art, I mean look at the concentration on those little faces.
I told Gwen that she could use her hands and fingers, but she was more interested in using the brushes as well. Hello can you say cut the mess in half, perfect!
Gwen is kind of funny when she is painting, she is all about one color at a time, she will use tons of red, and then when 95% of the paper is red, then she will switch to another color to use all over everything. I wonder if there is a personality test for painting that I could use to see what she will be like as a teenager...?
Then there is Harrison, totally not afraid to use the brush, fingers, hands, and smear it on his face and in the ears if need be. Then there is the sure fire way to tell if he is finished....
Whatever he is eating, doing, painting goes in the hair. Yep that means it is time to get down.

Last Sunday Harry found a few things to make himself just like dad...start with some shoes...
walk a little and then add a tie...
then tie it up just like dad. Isn't that the cutest thing ever! I mean he really tried to tie it just like James. I guess that he is the daddy's boy through and through. Except James doesn't run food or paint through his hair when he is finished at the table. ( at least not that I am aware of)

smokers, a word please.

In the last few weeks we have had a lot of new neighbors move in, this is a good thing and a bad thing, first off it means that we need to tone down our wildness in this household, meaning rowdy kids. And maybe we should introduce ourselves just to make sure that they don't hate us when Gwen and Harrison are jumping up and down off the beds at 7:30 in the morning.

I also noticed that quite a few of these people have kids, is that a bonus or a bad thing? Well seeing as the other kids are outside playing while my kids are getting into bed I don't think that is going to work so well. But nice to hear other kids around none the less.

Bad news, all of the parents of the kids are smokers, and I am not talking about just your casual ciggy once or twice a day, I am talking about all the time. Now this is really none of my business and so go ahead and smoke your lungs away, but you make it my business when the ground that I walk on is covered in your cigarette litter. Is there a difference between regular litter, like a coke can or a McDonald's bag versus loads of cigarette butts all over the ground?

Now we have some great lawn and maintenance people here so they do take care of a bunch of the trash, however we have a neighbor that lives just across the way from us that discards her smokes in the breeze way, who does that? Well I am bugged because my kids LOVE to "find" things around the grounds and I don't want cigarette butts to be the treasures that they bring home. So I ask you neighbors is there some other place that you can put your trash?

The treasure hunters mom in Texas.

the sand trap

There is nothing quite like a sandbox, or in our case the sand volleyball court. During the day it is always open and ready for some sand castle fun. On Monday we had some friends come and help us try out the sand toys just to make sure that they worked.
Gwen and Katelin dominated the shovels, but throughout the afternoon they made (pretend) yummy things to eat, and sand creatures as well as a few castles too. Harrison and Seth took a little time to warm up to the sand pit, but in the end there were no clean feet or hands in sight.
I love to see these two girls play together, they come up with some of the most interesting things to "talk" about, and even though they may have a disagreement here or there they have plenty of giggles and fake laughs to round it all out. Tonight James and I took the kids back down to the sand pit and we were bugged because there was an actual game of volleyball going on, I know that is what it is really supposed to be used for, but for the last few months we have had it all to ourselves, and I guess the volleyball team didn't get the memo that we had turned it into a sandbox for kids. Well at least it is always open for us to use during the day, maybe we will stick to those hours for now.

let the hunt begin...

Before I begin on the Easter festivities I just wanted to say that I found this delightful surprise in the store while getting a new toothbrush for Harrison, pretty sure it was screaming Gwen's name!! It even protects against acid wear that is brilliant.

Now on to the day of eggs, and candy, and crazy things for sure. Our friend Kelly had a few families over from our ward and past ward, for dinner and a giant Easter egg hunt for all the kids. When we got there James let Gwen wade in their pool and as we all know, once the kids get the go ahead for water it is all down hill from there.
We had dinner then the dads hid the eggs, here are the kids anxiously waiting by the back door for the go ahead.
All the kids are ready and the younger ones got a head start. Harrison and Gwen were really good this year and they spotted them left and right...




This Easter Gwen actually got the idea of getting lots of eggs, but it didn't stop her from stopping right in the middle of the war zone to check out the things that she got.
Here she is showing Max a little candy, I think that she is trying to trade the candy for the stickers.
Harrison even liked the things that he found in the eggs.
So as all the kids checked out the goods they had gathered in and we were cleaning up, Gwen decided that she would head over by the pool for a little...swim and that is how we ended the night, Gwen in a towel and one of Lindsay's shirts. It was really fun, and the food was great, not to mention that we have lots of treats to take us through the coming week. Long live the Easter egg hunts, and Easter candy of course.

phantom phone

You may have heard of phantom limb syndrome, but I have a little syndrome of my own that has to do with my cell phone. I don't know if it is that I haven't made special ringers or if it is just that I love to have a connection with family, friends, or well anyone that wants to call me, but I think that I hear my phone ringing randomly throughout the day. Oh and it has not. So then I am just really disappointed, and buggged that I thought I heard it ring.

It all started when I worked the early morning shift for Einstein Bagels, mostly because of the days that I would have off when my phone would ring due to things like the alarm going off and lame ADT called, or someone forgot that they worked, or no baker and so on, I would have a hard time getting back to sleep after answering the phone because I would think that I heard it ringing again. Well over the years it has just become something that I live with. Lately things have been even more interesting because of the iphone, when you get a message, text or email a certain little chime will go off, and it is the same for all the phones, so I hear either mine or James' and in my mind I wonder was that my phone or was it for James, or do I really just want someone to email me?

The truth of the matter is I think that I just need to get out more. Maybe if I wasn't so dependant on that being such an important part of entertainment for myself throughout the day I might not be quite so...attached to it? Maybe, and maybe not, I don't really know. Oh and there is my phone now, or was it?

becoming a Barlow

Mmmm doesn't that look yummy? What do you mean you don't know what it is. Well here is the back story on this sweet little treat. After I married James we spent a conference weekend at his parents home and his mom made this really yummy coffee cake with a sugary crumble on top on Sunday morning, apparently it was a tradition they had. Well now that we have been married for awhile I finally obtained the recipe, well actually Sylvia just gave it to me, but the point is that even though we are 1500 miles away from her kitchen we had coffee cake just like they did for the Conference Sunday breakfast. Thanks Syl.

Moving on to something that is kind of random, the kids were playing with this little stroller that Leslie gave Gwen, and all of a sudden I realized that Gwen was strapping Harrison into it. I was surprised that it was holding his weight and that his chubby little legs even fit in there, but alas Gwen coaxed him in and pushed him around for a little bit, then we freed Harrison just in time for bed.

But I guess that it was such a fun game that this morning they were at it again, but this time Gwen had strapped herself in and was having Harrison pull her around. The best part of this little process is that Harry CAN actually pull her, he is smaller than her in hight, but the kid lacks no muscle.
Harrison had pushed he into the corner and when the stroller wouldn't go anymore he opted for a little break. I love that they are friends sometimes, and sometimes Harrison is the baby, and sometimes Gwen pretends that he is not there, or lately the classic "mom, Harry is touching my arm" has come up, but I will say that it is fun to have them both interacting together. They are pretty funny. Even though Gwen seems to never be wearing pants in her pictures.

the pixie nix

Alright before I get into what I have really had on my mind lately here is something funny that James and I saw at the store the other day. We were in the hair products section and he was looking for a new pomade/gel and we came across this little sign...don't you think that a better abbreviation for shampoo would be along the lines of sham or shmp? While I do think that hydrating poo is funny and totally worth the laugh, I don't think that I will be buying that one, just not something that I would like to ever think about again.

Now as Spring is in full swing in most places (northern Utah excluded) I have had a topic on my mind for many months thinking that I was going to get into the season with a new me, no I am no joining a gym, honestly people do you really think that I am that ambitious. There are some days when I just feel really bad for James that he has to love me because I don't feel very pretty. I have always considered myself to be rather plain, I don't wear a ton of makeup (mostly because I am lazy and in the summer it would melt off my face before 8 am around here anyway) I am not really a big jewelery wearer, I have thought at many times that I would like to be, but basically the kids are not so friendly with the jewelery that I have attempted in the past, and I don't really get dressed up for many things. So I guess what I am saying is that the thing that I can and do change is my hair.

I have been looking for a new style for quite some time now, but I have not really seen too many things that I am really loving, and well I am looking for something fun and simple. Here are some of the ones that I have found that I do like.
I like the shape of this one and I have to say that it looks like something that I just might be able to manage.

This is the girl from the Zyrtec commercial, this picture is not really great, but if you have seen the ad then you know how cute it looks as she is walking around and talking.

Then there is the style that James is always pushing for...the pixie. Yes ladies you heard correct. I have not heard of many husbands that are pushing for the super short cut, but James is totally one of them. As of today I am just a tiny bit intimidated by the pixie, not so much the chopping off of all the hair, as much as the part that it totally stinks to get your hair ready for another style after that, the in between hair is the worst.
Ah Victioria where would the pixie really be without your help. I dare say it would not be the trendy and glamorous haircut that it is now.

So now I would like a little feed back, do you like any of these styles, if so which one, or maybe you have found something better...I would like to know. And if you don't have anything nice to say, well just comment as an anonymous, but don't hold in your true feelings.