♥ As Requested

Here are some pictures of "The Belly" and "The Baby".  :D

The last picture looks like she's yelling. LOL!! Already just like Mommy. :D

I CELEBRATE myself;

And what I assume you shall assume;

For every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you.

- Walt Whitman,  From "The Song of Myself"

3 weeks and 19 years

So yesterday, Nina went for an ultrasound and we finally found out it's a girl..she has three more weeks to go! The baby was always turned the wrong way, so we couldn't tell what it was, and was breach until this week.

We'll keep ya posted!

I'm very tired today as I went to the MIDNIGHT showing of INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL. I had to get up at 4 a.m. for work, but the movie didn't actually start until today and this way, I saw it before everyone else and didn't know when I'd have the opportunity again.

It's been 19 years since the last Indiana Jones movie...

I saw the first one with mom and dad, and ( I think this is correct) Mike and Debbie went with us? It was 1981. All I knew was Han Solo was in a new movie.

Winter and spring 1984, I wrote a parody of the entire script to RAIDERS called TATERS OF THE LOST ARK, for film class. I got an A PLUS PLUS, from the teacher, and began filming it..but never completed it.

The second one I saw when we all went to the beach, with my friend Darin. He spent a week with our family at the house we rented, and then I spent a week with his. It was the summer dad had a heart attack driving the car,1984.

The third one I saw at the Bijou cinemas in Greenville with my high school buddy Brian Kelley and Mom. It was 1989.

I thought about all these as I walked out of the theatre last night...I won't spoil anything, but I personally thought it was the best one since the original. It was fun and nostalgiac to see Dr. Jones on the big screen again.

A few years ago my film teacher sent the TATERS script to mom's house and it had a note that said it was still the funniest thing he'd ever read.

They now have an INDIANA JONES MR. POTATO HEAD called...TATERS OF THE LOST ARK.

The Art Director Formerly Known As Prince

Smurf Halloween

Looking For The Good

I have been thinking of Mom in terms of my ongoing attempts at adhering to the principles of Anusara Yoga. Anusara means "flowing with Grace," "going with the flow," or "following your heart." It is an extraordinarily positive practice that focuses on intrinsic goodness.

I was thinking of just how soft, open-hearted and positive our mother had become in the past couple of years. Despite all the moving, the unfamiliarity, the doctor's appointments and physical ailments, she remained mostly upbeat, accepting, and proud of her children. She made true friends in all of her new homes, was slow to anger and quick to forgive. She was kind and supremely generous. She had a cheerful tone in her voice absolutely every single time she called me on the telephone.

So today, on her birthday, try this: Look for the good in all of those with whom you come in contact. Be with that person fully. Recognize the connection. Open to the present moment. Share your gifts. And smile.

Professional Wing Toss

Thursday we had our open house at the agency's new office. It was a big throw down to reveal our new office, branding and website. All the food was using our clients' products from Texas Pete, Red Gold and Zatarain's. While we had a Zatarain's chef from New Orleans cooking the low country boil and jambalya, I was put in charge of the hot wings (as you can see I have mad skills... and I never even worked at Hooter's). I thought this picture was cool so I thought I had to share it (photoshop was not used to enhance this photo).

Mother's Day

To Mom....on Mother's Day...



So it will obviously be a busy day around here with an expecting mom and woman who already gave birth to two kids getting her due. Yesterday was the baby shower...so it's been a hectic weekend.

However, my own mother hasn't been out of my head for a second, especially with her birthday coming up this week. I try not to be sad about it,but it's VERY hard some days.


I offer up two things this early morning (Lex was up at 5:30...yay) about Ann, mother to Mike,Autumn, Shannon, and me.


The first, is the word 'SHONKY'. It's pretty much her substitute for any swear word when she was irritated, but not angry enough to actually say s*#@! The thought of it still makes me laugh.


The second...and I know it's hokey, are the lyrics to the song 'I.O.U' by Jimmy Dean. Yes, the sausage guy...who actually began his career as a down-home country singer. I sent a copy of it to Mother on Mother's day a few years after I moved to Boston. I thought about it in Colorado when I was talking to her and I said.."Mother, I love you, thank you for always being there when I needed you...I hope I was there when you needed me sometimes too." She said back to me, one of the last things she really said to me in the hospital."I always will be there for you."


She really is.....


Everytime I hear this song, or even think about the words...I think about mom. It's all I can do to hold back tears right now even typing it for all of you to read.


Enjoy....and think happy thoughts about all the mom's out there today.


You know most people look through
Their wallets or their pocketbooks
And way down at the bottom
Past the credit cards
Baby pictures and so on
You usually find a little old
Piece of dog-eared poetry.


I's cleaning out my wallet the other day
And I ran across a whole bunch of I.O.U.'s
Some of them thirty-five years overdue


And you know the funny thing
All these I.O.U.'s are owed to one person
And I kinda felt like that maybe now
Would be a pretty good time
For an accounting


Mom,I sure hope you're listening


Sweet lady,I owe you for so many things
A lot of services
Like night watchman for instance
Lying awake nights listening for coughs
And cries and creaking floorboards
Ha ha,and me coming in too late


Boy, you had the eye of an eagle
And the roar of a lion but you always
Had a heart as big as a house


I owe you for services like
Uh, short order cook,chef,baker
For making sirloin out of hamburger
And turkey out of tuna fish and
Big old strapping boys out of leftovers


I owe you for cleaning services
The daily scrubbing of face and ears
All work done by hand


And for the frequent dusting
Of a small boys pants to try to
Make sure that he led a spotless life


And for washing and ironing
That no laundry could ever do
For drying the tears of childhood and
Ironing out the problems of growing up

I owe you for services as a bodyguard
For protecting me from the terrors
Of thunderstorms and nightmares
Heh, and too many green apples


And Lord know I owe you
For medical attention
For nursing me through measles,mumps
Bruises, bumps, splinters and spring fever

Oh, oh,let's not forget medical advice
Important things like if you keep on
Scratching that, it'll never get well
Or if you cross your eyes
They're gonna stick like that


And probably the most
Important advice of em all
Boy, you be sure you
Got on clean underwear
In case you're in an accident


And I owe you for veterinarian services
For feeding every lost dog that I
Dragged home at the end of the rope
And for healing the pains of puppy love


And I owe you for entertainment
Entertainment that kept the household
Going during some pretty tough times


And for wonderful productions at
Christmas,4th of July,birthdays
And for making make believe come true
And you did it all on such a limited budget


I owe you for construction work
For building kites and confidence
Hopes and dreams and somehow
You made em all touch the sky


And for cementing together a family
So it would stand the worst kinds
Of shocks and blows for laying down
A good strong foundation to build a life on


I owe you for carrying charges
For carrying me on your books
For the necessities of life
That a growing boy somehow
They just gotta have


Things like,ha ha
A pair of high top boots with a
Little pocket on the side
For a jackknife


And one thing, Mom, I'll never forget
When there were two pieces of pie
And three hungry people
You were always the one who decided
Well, I'm not really that hungry anyhow


These are just a few of the things
For which payment is long overdue
The person the I owe em to
Worked very, very cheap
She managed by simply doing without
A whole lotta things that she needed herself


My I.O.U.'s add up to more
Than I could ever hope to repay
But you know the nicest thing about it all
That I know she'd mark
The entire bill paid in full
For just one kiss and four little words..


Mom, I love you.....

Colorado News

Greetings and Happy Mother's Day:

• We're getting used to having a family of four once again -- Jake is home from Minnesota, and there is a lot more laundry. We also have to buy the milk in gallons again. He starts to work at Panera (the one some of you have been to) on Monday. He decided to go back there and start earning right away, rather than spending a few weeks looking around. It is great to have him home.
• Dan is commuting and trying to get in a mountain bike ride every once in awhile. He's riding right now, at Green Mountain Park in Jefferson County.
• Kate has finished the track season and has a couple of weeks left in the school year. She is planning to go to Elitch Gardens (a theme park) with a bunch of friends today.
• I am getting ready to do some fairly intensive Microsoft training with money provided by the state. It may help the job search. I'm focusing my efforts on admin support with a communications department or publication. Hopefully with the fed, state or a city government.
  

Shannon

Kevin's Clone

Hey everyone!! It's me......Nina. :) Kevin said I should feel free to post pictures and videos for everyone to see, so here I am!!! I'll start with this one......

When Kevin showed me that picture of him on the left, it was like looking at Lex. Amazing!!!! :) I'll post more soon when it isn't so late.

Played the Lottery... well sorta... and lost... well sorta

Well after weeks of long hours at work (the most was 20 hours in one day) to prepare for an open proposal to apply to do the creative for the Tennessee Lottery and Powerball, we (my agency) found out that we did not get the lottery account. Oh well... I won't bore you with all the art work and creative ideas... but I cannot help but share this one (it was part of the "our staff" section).

There will be Uncle

           Okay...my humor may be strange, but every time I looked at the picture..this was what I saw. I'm probably the only one who thought it was funny. I could've put him on stage in a musical...but he looks more 'rustic' than CHICAGO or HAIRSPRAY.

I Went to Fargo

I looked for a photo to share with you all. This about sums it up.

Family

The other day I was looking at old pix my mom had saved. They were really funny! She even kept Mama's "brag books." I really wish y'all hadn't moved away from Greenville!

Seamus is very scary! I'm pretty sure I couldn't have him in my house for fear of where he would show up.

This is a pretty crazy week in our household. Alex's prom is this Saturday. Between hair highlights, nails, altering the dress, finding the right jewelry, trying a million different hairstyles just to find the "right one," pictures, and the perfect "after-prom" outfit, it practically takes all week to get her ready. She's very, very excited, and all the hoopla is worth it!

Allison is Cinderella in her school play. Performances are every morning this week, with the last one being Friday night at 7:00. She's so excited, and her acting and singing abilities are great! However, I have to get up at 5:00 Mon-Thur to do her hair and stage makeup before taking her to school. But it's definitely more than worth it!

Billy is an usher in a wedding on Saturday. We've been running around trying to find a black suit. (He has strange measurements.) Getting it altered, finding shoes, etc.

I'll just be very glad when Sunday gets here and I can sleep all day after church!

Hope everyone is doing GREAT!

Love,
Candi

Seamus part 2

 I saw Seamus in the boiler room at Shannons' on my recent trip to Colorado when Mom was sick. I wasn't told of his existence until the day before I left, which is a good thing as I would have made full use of him for comic relief (much needed that week).

  My last morning there, I plotted on where was the best place to leave him to be discovered later. Kate was sick so I wanted to make sure she didn't find him, and I think Dan had already had a fair share of shocks from him in the past.  I thought about the shower, but the one downstairs wasn't used that often. I thought about the downstairs futon, but I didn't want to wait a week to see if he was found.  

 

     Finally, after placing him in Jake's bed reading a book (too obvious)..I realized the best place for him was in the laundry room. This way, Shannon was SURE to see him first and he also served as a convenient place to hang the one towel I used while I was visiting.  (see photo)

I'm finally here!!!

Sorry it took me so long to do this...the Barbare family EAST is here now. Kevin,Nina,Reven,Lex, and child to be named later. XXOO Kevin

Meet Seamus

For those of you who haven't already met him, this is Seamus Packer-Baughn. He has lived in our basement for about a year now, since he was created (chicken wire and papier mache) for a history project. This photo shows Seamus right before his one appearance as a model for a project on battlefield medicine during the U.S. Civil War. Seamus now wears regular clothes and leans against the wall. Everytime we go down the basement stairs, Seamus spooks us, even though we know it's just Seamus. We finally put him in the furnace room, but (with assistance), he escaped a few weeks ago, and has been caught ironing in the laundry room and sleeping in Kate's bed. He needs something else to do, and since he likes many kinds of ideas and quotations (one of his favorites is from Gandhi: "If you don't find God in the next person you meet, it is a waste of time looking for him further."), I have decided to allow him to post from time to time. 

Happy May Day

Typical Springtime in the Rockies. All Maypole dancing moves inside.