Health Report on Dondee

Just to let everyone know an update on Dondee's stomach virus experiment, he is fine and well and referring to himself as, The Omegaman.  Sorry we were unable to help calculate the incubation time of the stomach virus from exposure to ill effects on the system.

A Dondee Story

For those of you who don't know my Father-In-Law, he is a genius. Seriously, he is a member of Mensa. To say Dondee analyzes everything is an understatement. Well, we have had the stomach virus at the Barrett house. Yesterday, Jane Ellen called and she had gotten it too. This has Dondee petrified. Now he is just sure he will get it since it is obviously highly contagious. So, today I get a phone call from Dondee. He is making a chart of who got the virus, when they got it and how long it lasted. He is trying to calculate the incubation time of the virus to predict when he will get it.

To add to his fun, we decided to take bets on when he will get it.
Jane Ellen - Sunday
Burt - Saturday
Amy - Monday
Eva Grace - in 2 days (Sunday)
Emma - in 2 days (Sunday)

I'll keep you posted to find out the winner.

Owl Dilemna

OK, Burt and I have been having a discussion for weeks now about those owls they put on the top of billboards.  These fake owls let out these really loud screeches and appear very realistic. I was reveling at what a great advertising gimmick they are. You hear this noise and look to see what it is and see an owl. They look real and it took me several glances to determine if it was real or fake, in the mean time I noticed the billboard advertisements! Great idea!

Well, Burt tried to punk me out by laughing and telling me their sole purpose was to scare birds away from making nests in the billboards. This too, was a great idea.

My poll is this... I think both of these answers are great reasonings for having the owls but apparently I'm the only one with this thought.

4th Fun

These are late, but better late than never. Every July 4th, since I have known Burt, we have spent the 4th in Senath, Missouri. We have a blast every year and this year was no exception.

We started out the day by heading out to Sage Meadows to be in the parade. The Reed girls and us decorated the golf cart the night before and we showed up decked out in our festive outfits. Unfortunately, we were rained out and the girls were very disappointed.

After lunch, we headed to Missouri where we met up with our cousins, the Timmons. We let the girls buy some fireworks and then went to the Country Club for some swimming.

After swimming, we got dressed and headed to Mike and Terry Thomas's house. They are always so nice to host the big event. There was a variety of great food, including ham and tenderloin. We ate and the girls got to light some of their fireworks. Emma was old enough this year to have her own punk(?) and light her own fireworks. Eva Grace thought she was too, so against my discretion, she also got her own punk. Fortunately, no one was hurt by this...

The firework show is always awesome. Bill loves to go all out and this year was no exception. The guys always enjoy putting on the show, I don't know why that is exciting for them.

A memorable event from the night was when one of the neighbors fireworks turned over and started shooting towards the Thomas house. A few of us were injured, but thankfully, all of the kids were safe!

The girls fell asleep on the way home and the parade was rescheduled for Sunday, which we still missed because they started early! So, we had our own parade followed by more swimming! It was a good weekend!

Fun times with old friends!

This summer has been so much fun. We've made a few new friends and got to hang out with our old friends more than ever! This weekend the Erwins are in town. Destiny was my first roommate in college and we have been friends for over 13 years! Last night Destiny and I joined up with our gal pals Stacy Sample and Amy Reed and had a girls night out of coffee and the new Sex and the City movie. It was a great girlfriend chick flick! We were the only ones in the theater, except for one other crazy young guy. (I really don't think he knew what Sex and the City was about). He was a little bit of a nuisance, but that didn't hinder our fun!
Today, we got to enjoy church and lunch together, and tonight, thanks to all our in-laws, we all got to enjoy a couple's night out. 

Happy Birthday, Marie!

Today was a fun first for me and the girls. My friend, Elisabeth, had a birthday party for her cat, Marie. It was a lot of fun. The girls all got their faces painted like kittys, then we all sang Happy Birthday to Marie, first we meowed the tune, then we sang the song. Then Marie ate her cake and the girls each ate cupcakes. Marie even had her own little birthday hat. She didn't like it much and it didn't get in the pictures. After cake, Marie opened presents, she actually enjoyed them more than most children at birthday parties do. It was a fun and memorable party!

Barrett meets Brown... How we met

September 1995

Burt's story:
I met Amy when I first moved to Jonesboro to start college. I had just moved over and in the first couple of days I went out to get a job. I went into Sears to apply, got the job and walked over to the children's department with a friend (Billy Pool). He was talking to Amy and introduced me to her. She did not pay me much mind but that's ok I figured that I didn't have my good butt pants on at that moment. Amy doesn't recall that meeting but I remember because she was standing in the front corner by the hardware department wearing a blue dress with a rabbit on it. I think that proves that that was the first time I met her. I caught her attention at a party at Jason Willis's house about three weeks later. I was in full swing and having a good flirt nite. I targeted her because of the prior weeks meeting and went out with her a couple of days later for the first time.

Amy's story
I don't remember meeting Burt for the first time at Sears. I remember being at a social gathering at our mutual friend, Jason Willis's house. Burt and I were sitting on the couch and he was having a "good flirt nite." He kept telling me I looked like Barbie and that is what he called me all night long. I remember he was hilarious and very charming and cute! Later that night we decided to go to a party at the Lambda Chi House, where Burt lived at the time. When our group of friends were ready to leave I couldn't find my friend, Julie. I got worried and went to get Burt (who was in his room asleep) to help me. Thankfully he did, got my number when we left and we went out a few days later. Our first date was to eat at Pancho's and to a movie (neither of us remember what movie!). Four years later we were married.

Lambda Chi Christmas Formal, December 1995

Engagement Photo, 1999

Wedding Picture, August 7, 1999

The sweetest girls...

I have the sweetest little girls ever! This morning, my girls got up much earlier than usual. I was still very tired so I laid in bed a while longer. When I opened my eyes and was greeted with Emma and Eva Grace and breakfast on a Strawberry Shortcake tv tray. "Mommy, we made you breakfast in bed." They prepared me cocoa pebbles (with very old milk), a sippy cup of juice and had even went in the back yard and picked one of the potted flowers for decorations. Is that not the best way to start the day!

Emma - 6 years old
EG- 4 years old

13 Thursday!

Life has been crazy busy but lots of fun. Here are 13 things that have been going on over the past few days!

1. Bunko! Our bunko group is the best. We always have a GREAT time. The theme for this month was "Superheroes." We each had to create our own Superhero and costume only with things we owned, no buying anything. Among our company was Super Wife, Super Knitter, Bunko Girl, Eco Girl, Super Preggo, Captain Save a Sock, Band aid Girl, and more! I was Super Mom, just another chance to wear a tiara which I really enjoy doing and do frequently around the house!

2. Swimming with friends. We have been swimming almost everyday this week. Here is Mrs. Collins and her class (kidding). We went swimming with the Collins and Reeds and wanted a group shot of all the kiddos. Since Addison is only 3 months old, Erica (a Kindergarten teacher) held her for the photo.

3. Play dates. All play dates are fun but this one kept getting better and better. It was planned to be us, Danna and her 3 girls, Jenny and her 2, almost 3 girls, and Stacy and her 3 sweeties. As we were chatting along comes Heather and Crystal with her Ella. It was such a great time, we are going to do it again next week!

4. Check this out! I made this for Matthew Maconoghey! There is a lady in California who subcontracts me to do personalized things for her business (she makes very beautiful, elaborate diaper cakes). Turns out that she is making one for MM's baby shower and they wanted a personalized onesie and bib. I got baby shower details, it is done in surfboards/palm trees using greens and browns, but no baby name... I was still pretty excited!

5. Swim Lessons. These have gone on all week and will go through next week. We are are all enjoying them. Eva Grace is friends with everyone in her class (Sophie, Lucy, Chloe, & Avery) so I get to chit chat with their mamma's, also my good friends, as lessons are taking place.

6. At swim lessons, Emma has learned to jump off the diving board and swim back to the edge UNASSISTED! She is so proud and I am so proud of her! woohoo! Here she is getting fancy with it!

7. I have got to work out 4 days this week! BIG for me, but my ankles are now reaping the consequences of that and I think I am going to have to take a few weeks off so they can catch up - very aggravating. When did I get so old - not old enough for a mini van yet though, my good friends :)

8. Burt's Aunt Paul makes the BEST coconut pies EVER! Sometimes she calls out of the blue and tells me she has made me one and to come pick it up, and she did Tuesday! It tastes divine. My girls have had a few bites and I have eatten half of it by myself (in 2 days). I don't share well when it comes to food, nor do I feel bad about this!

9. My house cleaner is now my new assistant! Shana, is now helping me do stuff for my business. I tell you that girl is awesome and I got to hire someone to help me! I feel so professional. (I'm sure she would quickly tell you otherwise!)

10. Tomorrow we are going to be in a 4th of July Parade at Sage Meadows so we got to decorate the golf cart tonight, more pictures to come of that soon.

11. Story time at the Library. Actually, this week we showed up and there was no story time, but we still enjoyed library time with our friends.

12. Church Play date! This week we met at Chick Fil A. These are always fun!

13. I have to give a "shout out" to all the baby sisters in our bunch. These little diva's are such troopers. They get taken from one place to the other, mainly in high chairs and strollers, most of the time. They never seem to mind and seem to enjoy being along for the ride. I (we) are blessed that they are all so easy going. They never whimper and are most always content. If not, bribing them with food will usually fix whatever the problem.

This summer has been so much fun and full of busyness. More to come soon, until then.....PEACE OUT!