Shenanigans in the Kitchen

 

Clearly, we are no longer resigned to using Dad's blackberry camera. Note the detail in our new aprons Mom made, our craft projects on the pantry door, and Barritt's devious nature. If you double-click on the picture you can almost hear B's laugh and Annabelle's shriek.

Overdramatic

Dad and Uncle Patrick, initiating their first annual post-Christmas climb up Roanoke Mountain. It isn't too hard to establish an outdoor post-Christmas tradition when it is 60 degrees outside. Regardless of next year's temperature though, there are big plans to have Uncle Sidney follow us in a support vehicle and shout at us from a bullhorn.

 

Lovefeast

Mom and the kids, taken inappropriately during the Children's Lovefeast. Merry Christmas everybody!

Advent Calendar - Day 22

Yesterday's advent calendar event: peppermint chocolate chip milkshake at the official restaurant of upper middle class children. And it doesn't matter if you aren't upper middle class; you can split one of these four ways.

Place holder

Our camera is broken, seriously. It something fresh batteries couldn't even fix, so we're asking Santa for a new one. Until then, enjoy this picture of me and Annabelle, mere days before her first birthday. I'm bottling beer, naturally.

Gettin' Juiced For the Day Ahead

Supply your own narrative here. Actually, this would be a good picture for a contest for blog viewers to submit their own narratives ....

We're still here

We are still here. Our camera is out of commission, and we have been really busy now that we are a normal family with two adults with responsibilities and two kids with lots of energy. More to come . . . . meanwhile, enjoy these pictures taken a few weeks ago at Hanging Rock. Barritt hiked a mile by himself. Look out K2.

Picture Day

This is the shot the professional photographer didn't get: Barritt's shout out to the Q-Dogs.

Who is that number 7 on the red team?

Is that Matt Stafford, sensational quarterback and number 7 for the red and black Georgia Bulldogs? No. It's not Mike Vick, is it? No. It's the new number 7 - Barritt Chambers, of the 3&4 year old Gators, of the Central Y league.

So far, he seems to know to at least look in the direction of the ball. He also has the capacity to let bygones be bygones, and even have a refreshment break with someone from the opposing team, so long as that person is Wyatt, our neighbor across the street.

He can also get his pre-game stetch on.

The Closest Thing we Have to a First Day of School Picture

Barritt is thinking: I did this last year. Am I going to have to take this picture on the front porch of wherever we live on the first day of school every year?

Annabelle is thinking: What do you mean "get in the car"? I have places to be now? I can be late to things?

Mom answers: Yes and Yes.

Where we've been, what we've done

There has been radio silence since August 5, and the 26 intervening days may surely have been the longest lapse the blog has encountered since Hurricane Katrina. Sometimes we want to quit. But when our blogging aspirations hit their nadir, we hear a nasal senatorial voice, quoting Harriet Tubman, encouraging us to "keep going."

We just spent a week in the High Country of NC, having some R&R and a sip or two of B&B, capped by a visit to the Upstate of SC, to herald the arrival (sometime this week) of Baby Barnhardt the Third.

See the eight pictures in the next few entries . . .

Here, B is strapped in, once again. We had to make a sortie every day to Boone or thereabouts, since it rained every single day. Save of course the day we left.

A on the rainy porch

B, sitting on the porch with Dad, on a cool crisp morning. The morning of our departure for Greenville.

The B, at Linville Falls, where we picnicked on Friday.

A, tastefully in her natural form at the Barnhardts.

B and Cameron, eagerly awaiting the passing of the peloton at the USPro Road Championships in Greenville on Sunday.


What we found in our mail when we got home.

Kiawah 2008

Off to the State Cap'tul

Like so many other domestic responsibilities, I've recently thought, "hey, I need to catch up on that blog." But we've been busy. A and B are getting a lot of sun time in at the beach with Mom and the cousins. B has apparently lost his aversion to all things water, and the reports are that it is hard to get him out of the ocean.

Dad is off to State Cap'tul. The powers that be there desire to test his prowess in all the kinds of law that he will never practice. It will all be over in 60 hours. Unless he has to do it again in February.

So in less than a week, we'll have peeling skin, we should weigh a little more, and we'll put up pics.

Falling down on the job

I can't help but notice our ratings have been declining. Many of you are wondering 'what's the point with checking a blog that can't even post once a week'? Accordingly average hits have fallen from 19 a day to 15 a day since we moved to the Dash. Why would you trouble your left click with us, when, for example, one of Mom's favorite blogs posts 79 times per day? (leading to an excitement and expectation causing Mom to stand by the computer, constantly refreshing the page).

I can't argue. And Dad won't help me make an argument. He is too busy trying to figure out who is a life in being for the purposes of the Rule Against Perpetuities. Or exactly what the difference is between equal protection and due process. Or how he did relatively well in law school, given his dearth of substantial legal knowledge.

So above is a picture of B and Cam, from this past weekend. In the tradition of what is presumably the most viewed Twin City blog, I'll give a free apple core to the first person to name the location.

Cousins

Connor, Tyler and Uncle Sid came for a visit last weekend. Barritt and Connor celebrated Tyler's first birthday (without Tyler) by decorating and eating some cupcakes, then spent the rest of the weekend running naked through the backyard. Those pictures are tucked away until I can maximize their embarrassment potential.

This shifty-looking kid is about to bite into one of the first fruits from our vegetable garden. Somehow, the very first tomato was eaten without proper ceremony...Matt snuck it into pasta salad last Friday without telling me what he'd done. Since I know the one pictured above came from our garden, I'll be sure to savor it on my BLT tomorrow.

Not pictured above is the black and blue big toe on B's left foot. A very heavy gate fell on his foot this morning. We consulted a pediatrician and a trauma surgeon in the neighborhood before we decided that it isn't broken and will likely feel better after a popsicle and a nap. In the mean time, the swelling has gone down but the bruising is impressive. We are very thankful for our neighbors and their expertise!

We love Barritt, we really do. But at this stage of his development (heretofore called the Tasmanian Devil stage), he is difficult to capture on camera. And when he is awake, taking pictures is one of the last things on our minds - we are more preoccupied with disciplinary measures, property protection, and fire prevention.

But in these slow days of summer, Annabelle is a visage of irenic bliss. Sure, she throws most of her food on the ground, bites her parents, and falls on the floor screaming when she is not allowed to climb in the pantry. But she sure is cute.

Annabelle wears the pants in this household, most of the time

The header is misleading - Annabelle is always in charge, she's just not always wearing pants. If there was any doubt as to who is in charge now that we've moved, one sidelong glance from her will set you straight. She doesn't care if she is too big for the tricycle, or if she is not really supposed to be on the stairs, or for that matter, if she is even wearing clothes on her bottom half.