The Barto's Blog: Just a simple life, chasing our tails!

Wow things have busy! Between school for both kids, being sick, holidays, birthdays, playdates, cleaning, cooking, cleaning, cleaning, laundry, cleaning, and trying to have just a little fun, I feel like I am chasing my tail a majority of the time. Which leaves me exhausted in the bed every time I have peace and quiet, and that leaves little time for blogging. But today, wow, I feel energized! Here are some recent pictures of my little family.

So here's what we were up to between September and January!

Our first morning on South Padre Island. The lighting was gorgeous! Isabelle loved the beach.

The first morning there was about the only time Connor liked the beach. He was like, "Peace out everyone, I'm going to the pool." It made it very enjoyable for us...

I mean, can you get any cuter? Wait...am I talking about my husband or my baby? Or both????

Grandma and Grandpa Seal with all of the grandkids.

This is the kind of photo you keep framed for life, right? Your two children walking hand in hand. However, what I will always remember is that she grabbed his hand for a sixteenth of a second and I just happened to catch it on camera. He HATES having his hand held! :-)

At the Arboretum with Grandma. Face painting and hay throwing! Woohoo!

Our neighborhood has an annual Halloween party. We always go with our neighbor buddy Chase (Woody, above). Isabelle was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and Connor and Daddy were Cowboys!

There is a really cool pumpkin patch near our house. Connor loved running through the pumpkins and Isabelle looked like a pro on that pony! I think we might see horseback riding lessons in our future.

Trying to get a pic of these two is torture!!! But this turned out pretty darn cute.

Starting him early with his fan gear!

At the McKinney Christmas event held in the downtown square, Isabelle got to take a train ride, and ride in the caboose next to Frosty the Snowman! It was really special for her.

Kicking off the Christmas season with our blow ups in the front yard. Any time we would go somewhere Isabelle insisted on giving each of them a hug and a kiss goodbye. We are on our way to the neighborhood Christmas party. They have lots of characters, carriage rides, and visits with Santa.

She was not too sure about Mr. Grinch.

Isabelle with the love of her life, Frosty the Snowman.

Sweetly telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas: "A toy dinosaur for Connor because he can't talk to tell Santa himself (tears from Mommy inserted here), dolls for my dollhouse, and a bike."

Fun in the tiny dusting of snow we got in early December.

A Barto family pic taken with my tripod.

Here is Isabelle dressed up and performing at her preschool Christmas performance. Thank you Aunt Rosemary for the beautiful dress! So what if I ball like a big baby every time I watch the video of it. She was just so darn cute and proud of herself.


Hangin' by the Allen Christmas tree with Luke in our crafted reindeer shirts (thanks Aunt Tori!)

Gingerbread house making with Grandma

Matching jammies and new matching cups. C'mon kids, break a smile wontcha?

Now she's happy! Our new bike!

Loved the new Minnie Mouse snow hat from Grandma!

So glad that Grandma and Grandpa were here for Christmas.

Lots of snow made it an extra special day

The weekend after Christmas we traveled to Houston to visit Robin and her family who were home from Thailand. Isabelle and her long lost friend Douglas were reunited! Here they are at the Houston zoo.

We might be all smiles in the pictures I choose to post, but I had to share what typically is happening during most events. Two crying mad children in the stroller, and two parents really wanting a margarita.