My new jobs.....

I took Travis on Saturday to sign him and Megan up for the local soccer league in Castroville...and sure enough they asked me if I would be a coach- I don't know how to play soccer(even though I took it at BYU) so they signed me up for an assistant coach (when I told Travis I might be one of his coaches he told me he wanted a different coach).....That's what happened in Scouts- I am the new Tiger Den leader with Jacob (Jared was rude and rolled his eyes implying that I am not a scout-type)....Just in time to do dance...Achievement Days, finish football season....several big ward parties....four birthday parties over the next three months....and brace for another holiday season!

Royal Flush

Still trying to jot down all those many memories...One of my favorite Megan memories was when she was only three years old...she had only been potty trained for a few months....We were visiting a Burger King and of course she had to go.....This Burger King had just been re-modled and so it was a very modern bathroom (everything automated).... Megan had been sitting on "the throne"- and when your little it takes a while to get situated and focused.....Megan made one false moove and sure enough the toilet flushed by itself....not just w/any swoosh...it was the super-duty, heavy industrial swoosh that sent Megan straight up in the air....Even to this day she has never come across anything that made her that scared- she thought her life was over!!!
In fact it was a good six to nine months before she could use public bathrooms with out have an anxiety attack!!

A Conversation with Megan

My children have such diversified personalities and unique individuality thatI can experience a full spectrum of moments with our four active children......My moments with Megan are much quieter and often "dreamy" compared to my moments with Jacob : getting plumbers-putty stuck up his nose or Travis: being brought home by the police at age three....We were on our way to our favorite hairdresser for our back to school haircuts and Megan and I were talking...She asked me if I was born in Florida-yes, I was born in Florida...Oh, that is nice...But what if you were born somewhere else-What's that place next to China and you can have more than one child??
Japan?? I asked
Yes....what if you had been born in Japan.....I wish you had been born in Japan because then I would look like them.....With dark hair and have those kind of eyes..I think the Japan girls are beautiful-don't you??
Well, honey...even if I had been born in Japan...I would still look the same and so would you....The only way I would look Japanese was if our ancestors were from Japan...and they're not they are from England, Germany and the Netherlands....so we look like them no matter where we are born
oh, so we are German-looking??
Yes, we are German looking..and English and Dutch....
Oh, I wish we had ancestors from Japan....

note: Megan has always loved the orient...even when she was four, she talked about going to China and live there or visit...she was turned off by how many shots she would have to get and the fact that the Chinese government only allows one child per household....like I said, My moments are totally different than the ones with the boys- but just as cute-I think....

I kid you not

My children- my boys actually, often remind me of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn(we actually call Travis Huck every once and a while) well, last Saturday they had one of those moments.....Jared has been working on a job site where the family has a couple of acres-or woods as my children call it....Occassionally they go to work w/Jared for a while and like to "explore" in the woods.....Any one who Knows Texas woods...there are bugs called chiggers (my Canadian friend calls them the invisible bugs-b/c you can't see them)...Such was the case last Saturday...while they were out"in the woods" they had to go the bathroom....They dropped their pants and did their business and didn't mention anything else about it...well, while I was doing bathtime that night I noticed all of the "bites"...Travis alone had a minimum of 60 bites-he wouldnt stand still long enough for me to get past 60 and Jacob too!!!!!!! They were only in the area of where there underwear covers.....We treated the Chiggers but there isn't much you can do for them once theyve bitten you....Come Monday morning, Jacob was having a reaction to a chigger bit in an oh-so-sensitive area...we had major swelling and had to rush him to the doctor...Travis had some swelling but nothing like Jacob...Travis began crying as we pulled up to the doctor's parking lot saying that he didn't want a shot (it was legitimate, he remembered his immunization visit last) Jacob tried to console Travis saying that Dad said no on would need a shot and that the doctor was just going to give medicine...Travis responded by saying "mom and dad are tricking us_I dont want a shot!" well, once the doctor got over the shock of Jacob's swelling...Jacob actually did have to get a shot and Travis lucked out w/just an antihistimine.....They say they don't want to go to the woods again-ever!!

A story about Travis

Because a blog is a journal, I've decided to include stories about my children that I have not written down...that way when I print the blog pages I can remember how cute they were.....So, I thought I would start with Travis- I think he has the free-est spirit :)

Once upon a time....a long long time ago (1 year ago to be exact)....our family was on it's monthly SAM'S run to fill our carts with food......We were in line to check out-by this point my kids are tired of using their "store" manners....so, like always, we sent our kids to sit at the tables to wait for us to finish paying...On this particular shopping trip, I went over to sit with Travis...I noticed he was chewing/chomping on something....I asked him to open his mouth...and there was a big wad of gum in there...I didn't buy any gum and I know there wasn't any gum on the conveyor belt...my first reaction was that he stole some gum and the rest of it was going to be in his pocket( we had had some incidents of gum snatching begfore) ...I asked him where he got the gum from and very honestly pointed to underneath the table....and sure enough there was a wide range of color choices to choose from....well, the rest is history- I think I screamed in shock,he spit out the gum and the next few days I watched him to see if he developed spots or any other indications of contracting a disease....Life is never hum drum with Travis...

Travis' first aid

Travis was surprised by a bloody nose he got while at the table, he quickly slipped into the bathroom, when he returned, this is how he "fixed" the problem....

Detmer Football Camp

This is one of my mom's former students (and since she doesn't blog, I will blog it up for her).
Ty Detmer held a one day football camp just down the road from us and so we went to check it out..We were hoping Jacob would participate but there were so many new faces and alot of people (he is very,very,very shy-my only shy one) he wanted nothing to do with it...
My mom and Jared -posing w/Ty.........
Megan posing w/his Heisman Trophy
Dad and Jacob(love his smile!!) posing w/the Heisman Trophy too!!
But the real star of the Camp was Mr Travis....he had no problem running out there and giving it his all...he played a couple football matches, this is him here showing them how far he can throw the football...

Football Season

I never had any brothers but there is something about playing football that I can not fully wrap my head around....Jacob is now part of the local football team and the three BOYS in the house are buzzing about it...The above picture is one of my favorite of him trying on his gear
Jacob probably tried his helmet on fifty times over this past weekend, shoulder pads as well...Travis too tried on his gear and they all (with dad's help) practiced being shoved around all protected-testing the gear of course!!

Dentist Appointment

Jacob had a couple of teeth pulled so that his adult teeth would have plenty of room to come in...Luckily, Megan had the same procedure done a few months back(except they pulled 5!!) so he wasn't so scared ...It helps knowing the tooth fairy will be coming around with a generous surprise...The dentist told Jacob he had very "clean" teeth!!- which made mom beam with pride...

2008 Barton Family Reunion-TEXAS

Barton family
all of the Bartons

Barton Grandchildren

Day 3 Landa Park

Travis(L) and cousin Luke(R) playing lightsabers/sword fighting/ninja something-whatever you want to call it
Getting wet in the river park with Dad, Chloe(L) and Travis(R)
Jacob and Dad
oops!! picture glich
Travis and Grandpa going to the water area together

Day 2.....River fun in Bandera

Cousins....McKenzier(right) Luke(middle) Travis(Left)-he's into hyper eye squinting
One of the Lazy days of summer.....Megan floating down the river
More cousins...Back L-R : Savannah, Emily, Megan Middle: Chloe, Travis and Levi in front
..........Jacob being brave on the rope swing w/ Uncle Gary
Jacob plunging into the water w/ arms spread wide!!

2008 - Day 1 of Barton Reunion Fiesta Texas

Here we are taking a ride on the train (note-Travis eyes...newest phase :squinting excessively for pictures)
My three big KIDS taking a ride on the roller coaster (Megan & Jacob's first)...only minor injuries (Jared bloody nose..and Jacob kinked neck-held his head funny for an hour)
This is what we did while the big kids rode the roller-coaster...an all you can eat bucket of cotten candy!!
We are in line for the car ride...mom still green after the tea cups
Jacob trying to smooze me for extra money so he can play a game to win a guitar...the sad thing was that Jared and I were exhausted before any of the children...my favorite was the water park.

Blessings...Blessings...Blessings...

Three days ago I had one of those moments where you get reminded of those invisble blessings...you know, the ones you don't even know existed b/c you're safe and all is well...One of my worries(there are several) now that I have babies, is to have a tire blow out-esp my front tires, where it could cause a rollover or something-we do a lot of freeway miles....Well, I had been running(driving) all over SanAntonio w/a car full of kids- dropping off cousins after a sleepover, we returned home like always, began unloading all the sleepy kids...by the third child there was a loud pow- my left front tire blewout in the driveway!!! Had I decided to do any extra errands in town, it could have been a disaster!! I am sooo grateful for ALL my blessings...especially the ones I don't ever know about b/c we are always safe !!!

I did IT!!!!

I just finished(well...actually 24hrs ago) my Breaking Dawn Book.....I loved it!! I heard mixed reviews from different people...I am a HUGE Stephanie Meyer fan!! This was my favorite book by far and pity the unfortunate ones who never made it past TWILIGHT....my family shares in my joy b/c now our lives may continue to move forward- as opposed to the past 48 hours hiding from children and husband, phone calls and even any time to eat any.... I even went to the bookstore party to be there at midnight with some friends from my ward- it was fun. It was interesting how the YW groupies and the Relief Society groupies(like my friends and I) stood out w/our modbe-shirts!! It was fun, in a crazy 16-year old way!!