The Barton Family Blog

We headed to story book land last night with the kiddos! Such a magical place for them... They act like they've never seen the displays... It's so sweet!  Some of the pics are terrible! But I love the moments captured!  They were just so excited to see each new display!  Con-con all bundled up! He was so excited by everything & a little overwhelmed too.  Brocky's smile kills me here!  Natalee wanted her picture taken by Aurora who apparently is her favorite princess. Although she's never seen be movie (to my knowledge!) because CREEPY! :) Daddy & hollie watching the trains go by  Shy & hollie showing sisterly love with Monsters Inc... At least Connor is smiling ha ha ha Can't wait to do it all again next year!!

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...

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...

Our month in pictures... December 8 my dear friend Cassie and I hosted a Christmas Holiday Bazaar fundraiser for Jason and Naomi's adoption.  It was A LOT of work and we could NOT have done it without a ton of help from friends and family.  Namely, my mom who literally facilitated the majority of the funds raised.  Between gorgeous handmade wreaths and hundreds of household items for sale... she really took our event to a whole new level.   One part of the original plan was for Cassie to do free hair cuts while Mackenzie Rice did free family photos.  The whole thing came together beautifully and was just so great! A big thanks to Naomi's best friend Jaime O'Halloran for driving all the way here to help cut hair with Cassie. In all we raised $1,500 and we were thrilled to see Jason and Naomi that much closer to their goal! Hollie snuck in on the free hair cuts & got a fab new do! This little guy is just a little love bug. He'll be 18 months ...

I love going to our traditional Christmas Tree farm. I love parking in the mud, getting our tag, and heading out in the midst of trees to find that perfect one. I love hiking, in and out, searching and rejecting tree after tree until we find that one we were looking for. I love my kids' excitement as they point out trees and tell me their favorites. I love the pictures we get and the memories we make. But this year... it just wasn't in the cards. So we settled... for a $5 tree from the lot on the corner (what's not to love about $5????). And yes. I did have to crop Bi-Mart out of the picture below.... (both photos the tree-guy took were blurry & Hollie's eyes were closed... ) I think the people who ran the lot did a double-take when 6 kids & a pregnant lady joined Johnny in searching for a tree. HA. and no. I couldn't crop the highway out... But the kids didn't mind too much... and heck... we've got a GIANT tree in ...

I don't even want to talk about Christmas at my parents or inlaws. No pictures. None. Unless some sweet relative of mine would like to share?!? Anyone?! Does anyone have pictures of our first Christmas with Shy & Hollie? Does anyone have pictures of Natalee's first Christmas where she really got it?! Wahhhhhhhhhhh....... Like I said. I don't want to talk about it. But... I do have some cute shots from the day after Christmas. When all the madness was over and we were able to PLAY!!! Ok. Actually. It's just 3. And only of Natalee. Shyanne was waaaaaayy past her nap time and completely losing it. Poor baby I just kept trying to get one good picture and she was so done. Hollie was already long gone by the time I got my camera out... Nonnie created dress-up galore for these kiddos. Their Christmas consisted of crowns & necklaces & dress shoes & princess dresses & purses and any other girly thing you can think of... it was probably in there! Natalee ...

Christmas morning = easel, stockings, fun little presents! Opening some little acccessories that went with their easel. Thank You Grandma Westbrook! Video: trying out the new easel New vests from Mommy & Daddy New babies from Granny Brock (Hollie was losing it at this point... we woke her up too early. She headed back down for a nap while we put together the girls' stroller, play pen etc.) Natalee's new dress from Mommy & Daddy Ok I was really mad at myself for not taking pictures at Christmas... but... I did do quite a few videos! Yah for that! (: here they are... Maga Doodles from Santa & Granny Holls was just crackin' me up opening this one.. Initially she was more concerned w/ handing me the paper, than the present inside...! And the finished products... Thank you Grandmas!! You blessed these girls' socks off! (: