Brianna Learned to Two-Wheel

Brianna's close little friend learned how to ride her bike without training wheels last week, so of course, Brianna wouldn't rest until she did the same. She has spent the last two days at this friends' house figuring it out. Who'd have thought a six year old friend would teach my little girl how to ride her bike without training wheels? She's pretty excited!

First night in the Crib

Last night was Landon's first night in his crib and I am happy to say that it was a success. No more travel crib in mom and dad's room. Yeah!

(I'm happy to report that Corbyn
didn't touch him at all. Big day!)

Too tired to get into bed

Jason and I always check on the kids before we go to bed; this is what I found when I got to the top of the stairs.

I guess Amber was too tired to get into her own bed.

(Check out the beautiful quilt Jason's mom made - awesome, huh?!)

"Fingers, anyone?"

Well, I guess there's not much I can do about it, but sweet Landon is starting to prefer his fingers over the binky - Aaaa! (It's so cute though!)

Maybe I could start working on the head tilt!

Cutie Brianna

Brianna has been tagged by one of her friends and being the new blogger that I am, I had no idea what that meant. After figuring it out, we had a little heart to heart this morning - it was fun!

So here's a glimpse of my Cutie Brianna.

Brianna loves side pony tails (I am not really sure why - she's only had it done one other time. I guess we should have auditioned her for Napolean Dynamite!)

She played soccer for the first time this Spring and was a go-getter! She really enjoyed it and was quite aggressive. (Check out those awesome pants - is mom great or what? That's what happens when you can't find shorts 5 minutes before you're supposed to be there.)
It was fun to watch.

She loves, loves, loves to hold Landon and tries to do it all the time.

She is very photogenic and is my only child who gets self-conscious if she looks funny in a picture. (She actually liked this one.)

She loves her little laptop. (We had some birthday money from Grandma and this is what she wanted - I didn't think she would like it at all, but it was a complete hit!!! Everyone in the house loves it.)

Here's some of Brianna's Favorites

Favorite activities

1. drawing
2. coloring
3. playing with friends
4. doing stamps
5. playing with moon sand
6. playing littlest pet shops
7. playing with her laptop
8. playing make believe
9. playing I Spy
10. doing paints (painting easter eggs)
11. juming on the trampoline
12. playing outside/riding bike
13. playing on the swingset
14. playing soccer
    

Favorite Movies

1. Twelve Dancing Princesses
2. My Little Pony movies
3. Island Princess

Favorite Places to go

1. Boondocks
2. Hogle Zoo
3. Classic Fun Center
4. Dinosaur Museum
5. Lagoon

Favorite Vacations

1. Disneyland
2. Camping
3. Bear Lake

Favorite things to eat

1. Cheetos
2. Ice cream
3. donuts and oreos
4. cocoa puffs
5. cookie crisp
6. plain cheerios
7. multi-grain cheerios
8. taco soup
9. pizza

What she wants to be when she grows up

1. An Artist

Favorite Preschool Activities

1. Making Kites
2. eating lunch
3. learning letters and how to read
4. Circle time
5. Playdoh

Now it's Brianna's turn to tag someone else and she tags: Isabelle B., Maddie B., Kelsea B., Mckinley L., Alex B., Kelsie D., and Lizzie B. (And if you don't know what tagging is, it just means you get to feature your child on your blog so that we can read all about them.) Have fun!

A Day at the Zoo

One of my friends invited us to go to Hogle Zoo today and it was a lot of fun! I cannot remember the last time my kids lasted so long at the zoo (we were there almost six hours). I am glad we were able to have such a good time together!

Priorities

Today in Sunday School we talked about basic gospel principles and what we should be doing in our Families to strengthen our faith and testimonies. The main emphasis was on Family Prayer, Family Scripture Study, and Family Home Evening. As I was listening to the lesson and feeling pretty good about our own family habits, I started to realize that we really don't conduct regular Scripture Study with our children. Every time we try to read scriptures together, the children seem to get very hyper and unruly. They become so irreverent that I guess I just kind of give up. We always have Family Prayer and weekly Family Home Evening, but we are not as good about Scripture Study.

I have often wondered why there is so much contention between some of our children and why we do not have as much peace as I would like. I have tried to figure out how to fix it and have always come up empty. As we were discussing the blessings of REGULAR Family and personal scripture study, it became very evident to me that in order to receive those blessings in our home, we MUST be reading the scriptures, DAILY, as a family.

I am kind of embarrassed that I have let this slip. I am convinced that if I will take the time and make family scripture study a priority (even if the kids act up and do not cooperate), things will start to change in our home. I know that we will have increased harmony, the kids will not argue as much, I will feel more patient with the children, and the children will begin to gain a love and an understanding of the scriptures.

We came home from Church and talked to the children about having regular scripture study together. They all said that they would like to do it and we all agreed on a time that would be most effective.

I am happy to say that we started the Book of Mormon tonight and are going to continue reading it every day until we finish. I know that we will have times that will be trying and I know that the adversary will try to get us to quit, but I have a very strong testimony of the scriptures and I am determined to succeed! I know that this, along with our Family Home Evenings and Family Prayers, WILL be a wonderful blessing in our home!

I love my family more than anything and I want to give them the same opportunities that I had growing up. We always had Family Prayer, Family Scripture Study, and Family Home Evening in my home and it was such a blessing. We could literally feel a difference if there was ever a day we accidentally missed. I want those same blessings for my family and I know that our lives will benefit greatly by our dedication!!

Brotherly Love or Baby Obsession?!

For those of you who know Corbyn, you know that he loves babies . . . I mean, LOVES babies! He cannot get enough of them!! Any baby he sees, he wants to kiss and hug, and maul. These are just some pictures I took, when he was kind of in his own world with Landon.

I'm so glad Corbyn loves his little brother so much!
Now, if only we could get hime to feel the same about his little sister!

NOT in my backyard . . . PLEASE!

So I went outside to be with the kids today. I sat on our rock wall and looked down beside me and was shocked to find this . . .

A very large black widow spider and it's beautifully maintained egg sack
(the red belly was staring at me - Aaaa!!)
I very, nonchalantly, went inside and grabbed the spider spray!

Do you think I used enough?

Jason later went to dispose of the dead.

Thank you Jason!!

Landon's First Haircut

When it became apparent that Landon's comb over was just getting greasier and greasier by the constant petting of older siblings, I decided it was time for a trim.

Brianna's Birthday

Brianna turned 5 on June 30th and to celebrate we went to Classic Fun Center in Sandy. The kids had a ton of fun!

Jason quite enjoyed himself as well!!

This is Brianna blowing out her pretend cake (oops! Was I in charge of the cake?)

The 4th of July

Does it get any cuter?

We went to my mom's to fix sprinklers. Jason was "diggin'" it!


Aren't they HOT?! (They literally were.)

We went to the Sandy City Parade

We did fireworks at Jason's parents and his Dad's old Firemen buddies stopped by. The kids loved the Fire Truck!

The Journey Begins

After much consideration and constant haggling by all my closest relations, I have finally decided to start a blog. Yes, the Barker Blogging Journey has begun and what better way to start it off than by gracing you with a beautiful picture of the very reserved, very quiet, and very shy Barker clan. We hope you enjoy our site!