Blog, What Blog?

The Barnes household has been busier than normal. On top of our already stupidly crazy normal schedule, it's been busy season at work. That's meant work, come home, eat, put the kids to bed, log on and work some more. The blog was one of several things I put on hiatus. Here is what's been going on in the Barnes' world.

Nate and Kenny were Superbowl Runners Up.

(That may have been in my last post, but I'm too lazy to check.)

Nate had a fabulous 7th birthday party with tons of friends.

Nate was the All Star Student for his class.

Nate celebrated his birthday at school.

We bought Nate an awesome birthday present that turned out to be a total flop. Nate loves the surfing ride at Schlitterbahn. It turns out that there is a similar surfing simulator in a local mall. I say "similar" because the one in the mall is way more violent. After getting slammed into the back wall a couple of times Nate was done. Luckily we bought it as a Groupon and it didn't cost much. And, they never scanned the Groupon, so Kenny is planning to use it.

We discovered Gray's passion for cooking.

Can you have a passion for Manwhich?

Nate started playing basketball. And I started taking crappy gym pictures. Anyone want to give me a couple thousand dollars for a good lens to take gym pictures?

Nate is also playing indoor soccer. Between the lighting and the plexiglass wall, I haven't even tried to take a picture of that.

Nate participated in our church's Christmas Program.

We went to ICE! at the Gaylord Texan with the Barnes side of the family.

Shana took most of the pictures.

The boys made reindeer cookies for Santa.

Ready for bed on Christmas Eve.

Our sad, dry tree surrounded by the gifts from Santa. Watering a live tree is important.

Nate is looking for the pickle ornament to get a special gift. It's no easy task for Nate to find a green ornament on a green Christmas tree. At least Gray doesn't give him any competition.

Gray has a new obsession with trains. He always wanted to watch the train go around the tree when we were at home.

Dental hygiene is important. Santa brought a Thomas the Train electric toothbrush.

Hunting for treasure with Nate's Metal Detector from Grandmommy and Granddaddy.

A crazy New Years Eve teaching Nate to play poker. (Yeah, we're good parents.)

Gray got his first pair of boots.

Nate's class program called Rise and Shine. It's like a live version of the morning announcements at school

IT SNOWED!!!!!

A LOT!!!!

Gray helped put together the new storage system for the playroom.

Overall, it's been a great few months around here. Hopefully the end of busy season will let me keep the blog more up-to-date.