The Barton Family Blog

This girl was right at home.... She leaned in really close & whispered all the things she knew her mom wouldn't let her have.... Like a laptop... Or an iPad... Or some makeup.... :) A tad more shy... This girl hmmm'd & haw'd with her Christmas request.... I guess she  just had a brain freeze... Cause she finally glanced at the dry-erase board on the wall behind him, and blurted out that she wanted a white-board for Christmas....  Little Miss Hollie May didn't want to miss out on making a request similar to Natalee's so she also requested a white board - along with a baby doll...  And these two....  Brock was quite adamant about shouting Santa's name along with his request:  "Anna-Claus! Anna-Claus! Umm.. tractor! Connor just kinda checked Santa out... Looked at Brock to make sure he was cool... And then just took it all in stride!  I'm glad we grabbed the chance to go and experience Santa in a low-key en...

I posted a sneak peek of Connor a few days back...  Here are some more.....  Love this one....  Beautiful work by  the talented Miss Mackenzie Rice! Thanks Kenz!! You're amazing! 

Well... If all else fails.... Make sure you at least take professional pictures of your kid once in his first year!!! :)  Photo by Mackenzie Rice!! 

We got our tree this afternoon. O how I LOVE cutting our own! It's my favorite part! So much more "Christmasy" than going to a tree lot! (A lot more expensive too unfortunately!). This year we tried out a local tree far just down the road. What we paid for our tree compensated for the gas it would've taken to drive to Kings Valley where we usually cut our tree - and it left more time to decorate! The kiddos were excited in spite of the 28° Weather! Conor was the only one who seemed less than thrilled with the prospect: Pretty little boy!!  With the smaller tree farm, choosing was a little less daunting! We quickly honed in on one Johnny pointed out and I completed the mommy inspection! The girls gave it two thumbs up!  Natalee and Brock were busy off running through the trees.... We don't get out much! I think they thought it was a park. :)  Soon Daddy was wow'ing them all with his mad cutting-tree-down skills. They think he's pretty cool...  Especially...

I am slowly evolving into a mother of grade-school children.  It's been a process... and I'm still a work in progress. I'll be honest, I'm not very good at making friends with other moms.  I don't know why. I'm just not very outgoing in that area.  I'll go to the same pick-up line day after day, week after week, and never introduce myself to anyone. And if I finally do, it stays at that. "Hi, my name is Danielle, I'm the crazy lady with five kids under six. Nice to meet you." There. Now I can act like I know you, like we're friends. But that's it. I  need to get better. I'm on the board for the Corvallis Indoor Parks here in town.  I've met a lot of people this way, and I love it! But still, I meet so many people, and I'm terrible with names (and sometimes even faces!).... so often times, when I bump into someone, it becomes that awkward moment when our eyes meet, and I should say "Hi", and instead I look ...

I forgot to share our trip to the pumpkin patch aka Bauman Farms! Johnny's cousin and his girlfriend shared their trip there and I knew that was where I wanted to take the kids this year.  We had SO much fun and we only went on a weekday where many parts of the farms were not open. I can't imagine visiting on the weekend.... We could've stayed all day!  The weekday price was perfect -  It was $7 for the kids to use the farm unlimited and Brocky was free so all the better!  Gotta love the awesome decorations. I was sad both Johnny & my phone died after only a few minutes so we didn't get too many pictures.... But it was also nice not to focus too much on picture taking and just enjoy the time! (Who am I kidding?!??! I'm the one who usually only snaps 3 pictures the whole time. 😁)  Heres a few things we did: giant tunnel slides (tons!!), hay mazes, forts, animal petting area, hazelnut pit, several playgrounds, the dark maze (seriously pitch black and huge! I...

Halloween Day started at 4am when a little-over-zealous Natalee shook my arm:  "Mommy, Hollie won't wake up! And it's Halloween!! " Me: Natalee! It's 4am! N: no mom! It's 7:00.  Me: glancing to make sure.... no Natalee, it's definitely 4am. Is shy up? N: yes! I woke her up. She's getting dressed!!! I'm sooooo excited!!!!  M: GO BACK TO BED!! It's the middle of the night.....!!! :)  And then... Our real day started a few hours later.... :)  .... with Daddy home and a quick trip to the Elementary school to watch the girls in their annual Halloween parade! The boys were right at home as the entire office staff was dressed up as minions, including the principal (too cute!) I wasn't going to include these pictures because they're blurry and not that good.... but they captured a moment... these crazy 1st graders refusing to slow down so mom can get a good pic as they paraded by!  I tried to get Shy to make a grumpy face but this...

My baby!!!! So big and cute....! It's funny how some outfits look better on one kid than another. Connor fills these 12-18 month pj's out nicely.... :) skinny little Brock wore them when was 15 months lol! I love them on both of them - but the pudge is sure cute!  We purchased these minion hats the other day in preparation for Halloween! Brock & Connor are going to be the minions from Dispicable Me and the girls are going to be the 3 orphan girls. Can't wait!  Caleb Rice whipped up a hat for Natalee to wear and the girls are just going to be darling!  Yes I know Connors head looks bigger that Brock's... But it really isn't! :) We went on a nice fall walk with Daddy a few days ago. Enjoyed a crisp morning and nice time together!!  Loves these kids!!!!!  His teething face! This is how crazy Brock is... All the time.  Sweet sisterly love! Teaching him how to use a chalk board :)  Natalee will pretty much read to anyone who asks.... She's so sweet to h...