Bear is here!

Bear moved in yesterday and is doing great. He missed his mom last night, but he's off to a good start today. 

Scott and I also got a delayed Christmas/anniversary gift thanks to craigslist. More on that in the next post.

Happy New Year to all!

Out Little Artist

Brooke made several gifts for us this year. My favorite is the reindeer wreath; I love it!

principals award

Today was the 2nd grade award ceremony. Brooke and her friend Spencer received the Principal's Award for all A's, not being absent than 3 times,not being tardy more than 10 times and perfect conduct.
And the picture above is the principal giving brooke her award .
by Brooke
I'll put a picture of my teacher Mrs. Brim tomorrow.

You're never too young to give

After months of letting her hair grow to a 10 inch pony tail, Brooke got her hair cut off yesterday. She donated her ponytail to Locks of Love which will make use it to make wigs for children. Over the last few years, we have struggled with why we have so much while others are in great need and tried to figure out ways as a family to help those in need. We are very proud of Brooke for using her limited resources as an 8 year old to help those who are in need.

www.locksoflove.org

A peek into Brooke's life

It's been a rough week for Brooke. Last Thursday she had three teeth pulled then yesterday we thought she had broken some bones in her hand after a desk fell on it at the end of the schoolday. Fortunately, the x-ray came back good, but she's looking pretty beat up now. She's been a trooper.

Spring Break 08

So now that you've been filled in on what's going on in the kids life, it's time to write about the Barber's spring break. The begining of the week turned out to be much like winter break - sleeping, playing guitar, watching tv, even a little bit of studying. On Thursday we embarked on our journey to - drum roll please - Alabama. We came mostly to visit with family, however, I must admit, there was a side motive.... The David Crowder Band.... phew, now that I've got that off my chest I'll tell you about the concert. It was held at Samford University, where my mother went to school - EXCITING! *cough* So anyways, the concert was pretty grand, though, rather than staffing the event with college students - the logical approach - they called in the fun police. Every usher looked pretty much the same: white shirt, black pants, white poofy hair, and wrinkles. Throughout the entire concert the 70 year old women were walking around kicking people out of the "pit" and the aisles. Aside from the fun police, the concert was great. Crowder is a great entertainer and, for lack of a better term, a goof-ball. He used various instruments including the keytar and a guitar hero controler. He wasn't kidding when he said he had too much spare time on the road....

Then on Friday we visited with my dad's brother's family. Sometime in the afternoon my mother and my aunt accompanied all of the kids on a hike through the woods and then an unexpected swim. The water was quite chilly, though it was still fun getting to goof around with my cousins.

Loafing around, jamming at Crowder, and chilly water all made this spring break one to remember!

bethany

Mathfest

Brooke participated in Mathfest today- a math competition in the Atlanta area. Eighteen second graders from her school were chosen based on preliminary testing. Brooke made it through the first round where seventy-five students out of 350ish moved into a more intense testing time. She lasted fifteen questions in that round before being eliminated. She must have gotten her math smarts from me.

Brooke's Birthday

Brooke celebrated her 8th birthday this week. Her birthday fell on Tuesday. Unfortunately, Scott and I were on staff retreat and were not here on her actual birthday. She did get to spend the day, however, with her grandmother. We had a birthday party on Friday since school was out. The girls watched a movie, had makeovers (this is the after photo), and had lunch at our house. We had a great time. Her other grandmother is coming up today to celebrate her and Scott's birthday (Monday). It's hard to believe our little girl is eight!!!

School's out for . . . Winter???

The kids are on break this week, and this pretty much sums up what they've been doing. Actually, Bethany and Brandon were on a mini-retreat from Monday through Wednesday. Brooke has been sick but fortunately does not have the flu or strep. (Yes, that is a giant remote in the picture. If you know Scott, he often loses things. This is hard to lose). Bethany is sleeping and writing a paper for AP lit. Brandon has been running in the rain this morning (a popular Barber saying is "If it's not raining, it's not training." Of course, I usually say this while sitting in my pjs by the fire sipping coffee) and playing the guitar. (He's currently playing the piano. It's all LOUD). I have been working this week but only went into the office on Tuesday. I may go in tomorrow for a little while. (Don't feel too sorry for me as I just spent nine days in Italy). We were going to go to AL for the day tomorrow but will have to pass since Brooke still has a fever.

Mother/Daughter Tea

The tea was great and the food was great but the best part was having fun and seeing friends.We learned tea maners.The bedrooms were beautiful.There were a lot of buetiful american girl dolls.My favorite type of food was the petitfore( pet a for). I loved the tea and I would like to go to another tea.

by Brooke Barber