Happy Holidays!

I took a few pictures of the kidlets yesterday that turned out pretty good! They are getting so excited about Christmas and I'm enjoying having the little stinkers home more and not having to worry about living on someone else's schedule for a few weeks! We hope you're all enjoying your holiday breaks too!

I have been in bed a lot the last few days because my back hurts really bad and it is hard to sit. Laying is okay, walking is okay as long as I don't have to go up any stairs. I had to take almost a day and a half off work but today I can sit in the desk chair fairly well. Yesterday Hope spent the day reading her own books while I read mine. Once she got bored with that she dug a pair of fangs out of the Halloween box that is still in the closet. She said "I'm a vampire like Edward." It was too cute! I think the bottom picture is one of my favorite pictures of her.

They are plotting against me, I tell you.

Hope just turned 5 last week and Olivia was 7 in November. Isn't it amazing how they can take up a king-size bed? Olivia and her knees are not allowed to sleep in the middle next to me. She is banished to the furthest point away for the sake of me being able to sleep. Should the CIA be in need of a torturer, I know a little girl with some knees that will make you beg for mercy in the middle of the night. Olivia told me tonight "but Nana loves my knees sleeping with her!" My response? "Olivia, tomorrow remind me to explain sarcasm to you."

She loves that lizard! And the blanket. And the pillow pet. And the teddy bear. And the water bottle Daddy put Hello Kitty stickers on for her. And the pink unicorn. You get the idea.

My little spawn looks so peaceful doesn't she? Driving a teacher into a straight jacket for 8 hours a day really takes it out of a girl!

Hope: Mommy, can we sleep with you tonight since Daddy's at Oma's house?

Me: No.

Hope: Pllllllllease?

Me: No amount of begging and batting your eyelashes is going to...oh fine, go get your stuff.

Hope: Oh-live-lee-uh too?

Me: Yes, of course Olivia can come too. How about we just invite Kaleb, Hannah and the neighbors?

Hope: *You're-so-retarded-mommy look on her face.* Our neighbors not wanna sleep over!

Twenty minutes later: I'm wondering what on earth I was thinking. Oh, that's right! I hate sleeping by myself and have not yet accepted Hope and Olivia are no longer infants that might need their mama during the night.

An hour later: They are asleep! FINALLY! Praise Jesus! They are snoring and Hope is spooning Olivia in the middle of my bed. That's right, Hope is spooning Olivia. Its a California king and my 7- and 5-year-old daughters have taken up all but 2 inches of it.

Two hours later: Olivia is now spooning Hope on my side of the bed. Either Puff the Magic Dragon has moved into my downstairs living room/bedroom/office/storage facility and is deeply exhaling in preparation for blowing a large plume of fire out his nostrils, or Olivia's snoring needs medical attention.

Pictures of Home

This is our first Christmas back in Utah since 1999, well the kids and I spent 1 here in 2008 but its the first time we've been living back here all together since January 2000. We have lost a lot over the past few months and are still scarred we might lose even more. Some of us are dealing with it better than others. Some of us pretend it hasn't been hard because that is easier to do than being sad about it all the time. Tonight we enjoyed looking through pictures from happier times like our trip to the Strawberry festival or that day we spent at Busch Gardens or all those trips to the beach. We talked about friends that we miss and we talked about Army things we miss like the sound of artillery fire or hearing Daddy laugh about a cadence he called at morning PT. We miss seing Daddy's uniform laying around the house. We miss unit Christmas parties like the one last year where Santa rolled up in a humvee. We miss knowing we were special because we were an Army family. We miss that kinship with people we really had nothing else in common with. We miss rules and regulations. We are back to what should be home and yet feel like we're so far away from home and will never be there again. We talked about how having lost everything important in life but us is so painful for Daddy that we shouldn't talk about these things when he is home, but when he goes to visit his parents we can talk about it all we want to and that is the time it is okay to talk about how much we miss it and how sad we are about what we have also lost. We remembered adventures we had, like that time Mommy and Brooke put the babies in a playpen next to the van and figured out how to replace a battery together because Daddy and Dennis were both in Iraq. We talked about that year we spent Thanksgiving with Miss Liz and the other wives and children whose soldiers were away in the war and how Miss Liz got sooooooooooo mad at Mommy for making the ham with a honey glaze! I couldn't believe the kids remembered so much of it. We talked about things we miss about Texas and things we miss about Florida and then we talked about things we like about being in Utah. I made sure they know that Daddy will eventually find a job and Mommy is getting better at hers every day. I think they are associating Utah with not having material things and we don't want them to feel that way. We talked about all the good things here they need to focus on and let the adults worry about the other stuff. We talked about how its okay we all miss the life we had in the Army more than anyone around us can possibly understand, but that we need to start being happy where we are too. We looked through pictures of the day we left Florida. These are a few of them. Hannah pointed out that one of these pictures is the last picture that will ever be taken of Daddy in a uniform. She got up and left after that and I let her because I figured we all need to deal with the loss of what we had in different ways. These are some things we said goodbye to on June 18, 2010.

Our beloved flower bed! We had so much fun making this little flower bed look pretty! We had gone to Fort Stewart and been told we would be staying in the Army (6 weeks later and with less than 2 weeks notice we were told that decision had been overturned and we had to leave immediately) so we went about making our house more of a home. We made a full day of putting this flowerbed together. You can see the Florida humidity on the camera!

This is Hannah and Kaleigh, her best friend, saying goodbye. We saved that goodbye for last and it was probably the hardest. Seeing your child hurt is the worst feeling there is.

Olivia's partner in crime, Isabella. Those two were always in trouble in Mrs. Beede's class!

Hannah and Anna. Those two went back and forth between being best friends and hating each other!

Hannah and Kaleigh together one last time. That is Jeremy in the background and, as Hannah pointed out, that is the last day he ever wore a uniform. Jeremy looks 20 years older since that picture was taken. He says they didn't discharge him that day, they killed him.

Kaleb and Kaitlyn, Isabella's older sister. These two were just alike and always in trouble.

Now for some happy pictures in Utah! Some of these are just of beautiful places we hiked this summer. We LOVE hiking together! Hiking is free, it is great exercise and, best of all, there is nothing to do but enjoy what is around us and talk. Hiking and camping make for the very best family times and I am so happy that all of my children enjoy the outdoors as much as I do.

Through What Has to be a Time Warp, My Adult Daughter is In This Video

Well darn it, the link won't work. Keep in mind you're not going to really get it if you don't know the little red-haired girl in person or have seen a lot of pictures and know what she looks like. If you do, go to you tube and watch I Will Possess Your Heart (Album version video) by Death Cab for Cutie. I just learned that band is not called Death Camp for Cooties. Nice. I wonder how many people have heard me say that and thought I was a total bimbo? I'm probably better off not knowing. You can fast forward to about 4:40 and you'll see her, grown-up Olivia.

Cataclysm!

Everyone in our house has a certain special nerd quality. We all play World of Warcraft for example. Tonight at 12:01 the long awaited expansion, Cataclysm, is being released. This has gamers everywhere tingling with anticipation. Times are tight and there is no way we're going to spend $40 per copy for it! No way, Jose. Stores everywhere are having costume contests and the prizes are free copies. And so, Hannah and her daddy are off to wal-mart at midnight dressed as World of Warcraft characters. Hannah is a straight A student who never has any problems in class, so we decided she could go in late tomorrow. That kiddo deserves a little fun. She's had a really tough time with the move and transition out of the Army and has figured out we might be moving soon and she's been cranky because of it lately. I figured one day going in late so she could feel better for a while wouldn't hurt! Hubs is going as an Ogre mage and Hannah is a blood elf. Hannah's costume and makeup were absolutely perfect! The makeup was all either what I had or what was left from Army camo makeup! Yes, we're a creative bunch here in the Barton house. I don't think I'm going to leave these photos of my daughter up for very long, but here are a few of the two of them for now! I thought about putting a bikini on and going as a boss in Icecrown Citadel named Festergut, but hubs thought that would be in poor taste. See, that's a joke. You would have to see fester to get it I suppose.

UPDATE: She won 3rd place and he won 2nd. Since neither had 1st, they got 2 copies. So they will go up on the shelf for a later date when we can get a 3rd. No one wants to be the 2 playing without the 3rd. I was given one copy as a birthday gift, but I couldn't play it without everyone. Ahhh well, 2 is better than none and they had fun!

Slide Shows

If for any reason you cannot view the slideshows on this page or they load with a very blurry appearance, just click on them and they will show up in a separate window. You can slow them down, spead them up or pause them with a control you should see at the left-hand corner of the slideshow. It is a much faster way for me to share bulk pictures than loading them one-by-one into blogger.

Treehouse Museum -November 2010

All of the families with children in Head Start in our area were given free 1-year passes to The Treehouse Museum. I was so grateful for that because we're a bit limited on what we can do outside of the house right now. We're actually going again tonight for an activity at the museum that will have the kids enjoying cookies with Santa! The museum puts on "plays" where the reader selects children from the audience and has them participate in the story. Olivia was the mama owl and Hope was a baby bunny.  All of the activities are very interactive and have costumes for the children. It is a lot of fun! Be sure you run your mouse over each picture to see any captions.

Why the cake? Well, it has nothing to do with anything. I was just pleased with how it turned out! I made the mistake of making it without a special occasion involved and now Hope has realized you don't have to have a special occasion to have a cake. It was so much better when she believed you could only have cake on birthdays.

Our First Family Camping Trip -August 2010- Bountiful Peak, Utah

We had both camped quite a bit before we were married and a little afterwards, but never with the children. We always had a baby in diapers and were never brave enough to go when the kids were smaller. Everyone had a wonderful time and we're looking forward to going a lot more once the weather gets warm again! Camping is free or very low cost and a perfect way to spend time together without the interruptions of electronics and gadgets!

Ogden Canyon Near Rainbow Trailhead -October, 2010

Five years ago tonight Jeremy walked back into our hospital room before Hope had arrived and said "Can we change her name?" Her name had been Emma since we had known she would be a girl. I wasn't pleased with this idea. He had come back injured from his first 1 year + tour and was going through a rough time getting ready to go back in a few months. It was the start of several very tough years for him. He said "I need a little Hope in my life." Who could say no to that? Our Hope was born a few hours later and I've always thought it was the best name we could have given her.

Hope!

Hope is wearing her new shirt that my friend Susan's daughter, Kristee, made for her! The "o" is a Christmas ornament!

A preview...

Just a few of the many many I have to share sometime soon. We spent a lot of the summer outdoors in Utah and have some beautiful pictures from a lot of different places.