hot in texas

In Texas, during the predictable hot summer....horror stories go something like this...."and then our a/c went out" or "we didn't even have a/c".....and yes, for the hottest summer on record, the Barton's have a horror story of their own....I'm seven months pregnant, we have an average heat index of 107 degrees which has lasted almost ALL summer which means we stay inside almost ALL day when we aren't at the community pool.....our upstairs a/c unit went out (it was fried)!!! Lucky for us though there was still the downstairs which now went into overdrive constantly sensing the 30 degree temp variance.....Jared, brought down several mattresses from the upstairs so we could "comfortably" camp down stairs....Jared (and the kids) thought camping downstairs, all of us together was SOOOO much fun....did I mention I was seven months pregnant- there are very few things which are so much fun....After 6 days, the fun has (finally) come to an end....we have our very own horror story, which will probably start out something like..." It was the hottest summer on record, and I was 7 months pregnant when our a/c went out !!!"

When I grow up.....

It's fun to listen to little ones think about the future....for Megan, she wanted to be a Mc Donalds girl and pass out Happy Meals in the drive thru....then when she got a little older she wanted and still does, to be an animal doctor and live in Hawaii (although she still thinks being a McDonalds girl is pretty cool!)....As for Jacob, he wants to build houses like his daddy....then sometimes he wants to be a professional golfer...every once in a while he wants to try out for the Xgames with his scooter.....Just recently, Chloe made her first verbalized wish of the future(with sparkly eyes and a great big smile)....to my surprise, she told me that whe she gets big, she wants to be an octopus like Oswald...I didn't even know how to respond to that...I did ask her why, she told me that she likes Oswald- enough said, I like Oswald too! Then, there is my Travis....he is now 5 1/2 and about to start Kindergarten and has yet to set his eyes on the future....Of course, he has a lot in common with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys too, and Peter didn't want to grow up.....

Move your meat ....lose your seat

Like life with four small children isn't wild and crazy enough....It seems our world now revolves around who sits where and the others wanting the one seat they aren't in....why one seat is more wonderful than any where else is beyond me, but for the four Barton children who sits where is all the buzz....from sitting arrangements in the family room to the dinning room table to the car....I know I can think of a ton more things to quarrel about than seating arrangements....but the real fighting doesn't begin until one person gets up to do something and they return to find one of their siblings in their prized spot....Now I grew up with only one sibling and don't really recall any earth shattering battle cries over seating, but our wise patriarch Jared who grew up in a large family was quick to establish the law of who sits where....as he so eloquently put it...." move your meat, lose your seat!!" who can argue with that....

murphy's law

Because of the drought south Texas is in right now....we have water restrictions- stage 2 water restrictions to be exact....and there were words about stage 3 water restrictions coming with in the next couple of days (b/c there was no rain in sight)....which would mean I could only water my dying grass every other week...well, it was Sunday night (after dark) and I wanted to water up my grass just before stage 3 kicked in (watering every other week is bad enough....add 100 degrees every day all day on top of that and we're talking dust bowl)...Now watering our grass is a big deal... it takes a while to water 1/3 of an acre so I was up rotating sprinklers and hoses til 11:30 pm in the evening......sure enough, less than 24 hours later, some mysterious rain storm came in and dumped 5" of rain on us...5" - seriously!! oh yeah, when ever it rains someone has always managed to leave a car door or window open....and yep, last night was no different!! So there is 5'" of rain in my now very saturated van......

It's a boy!!

It's official.....the Barton's are getting another BOY!! The girls are very bummed...Megan (and mom) are still in shock I think....so all the plans for pink are out and the plans for blue are in.....We are actually back at square 1 b/c I(we) don't have a name for this baby yet.....ideas are : Heath....Tristin.....Noah.....we usually do a family name as well, but so far nothing.....