Exciting News...Children!

Hahaha.....hopefully no one got any hopes or dread up about anything relating to the potential future Barr offspring. There are none in the immediate plans, and my recent time spent at the play place at the Galleria mall is expanding what that immediate time frame looks like!

As of yesterday, I am the new nanny of a really fun 2 1/2 year old boy names Will! His mom only needed someone until the end of May, and I figured I didn't have much else going on so why not! It has been a lot of fun so far. It's definitely an adjustment being around a 2 year old all day, but he is getting better at listening to me and we really get along well.

Several funny things about little Will:

1. He learned baby sign language when he was an infant and reverts sometimes when he is tired or just being lazy. We had chick-fil-a for lunch and Will signed he wanted Milk. I wanted to find a video to show what the sign looks likes, but none did justice to what he signed to the nice man at the register. It basically looks like he was trying to milk a cows utters. I cracked up and apologized, definitely mentioning I was the 'new nanny.' I'm not taking responsibility for this.

2. He is not potty trained. Oh joy! And is a big 2 1/2 year old, so I think people look at me like I should have potty trained my kid by now. He's not mine...I'm the 'new nanny.'

3. He loves to watch Handy Manny. But I've kept him so busy at the Galleria "aren't these scarfs so cute?" and playing on playgrounds yesterday and the play place today so we haven't had to endure much of this Hispanic handy man!

Overall, Will is a really fun kid! Those were only the silly kind of crazy things, but he is really fun to hang out with. 2 days a week he goes to speech for an hour and 2 other days he has preschool from 9-12. And he naps everyday from 2-5. So, basically...I think this is going to be a great experience! I'm learning alot and get to be out and about all the time! I am really really grateful to God for this opportunity.

This past weekend we were privileged to be visited by my bff Melissa and her boyfriend Scott...I will dedicate a post to that later! And to attend the birthday party one of our favorite 1 year olds ...Miss Harper Pardue! Her mom made amazing decorations for the party and those homemade cookies were delicious....couldn't believe they weren't from a scrumptious bakery!

Weekend Update...Yeah!

This weekend, we went to church. Ben and I are alternating writing sentences to give you an update on this past weekend, I think it should be pretty easy to follow whose is whose. Ashley is mean to me. Anywho, this weekend was the membership class at the Village Church, and we really enjoyed learning about everything the Village does and believes and are excited to become a part of it! I think our favorite part of the class was getting to listen to Steve Hardin, the Dallas campus pastor, talk because he is the most energetic guy we've ever heard in church, and he never really gets to the point of his message because he's so fired up! He does make some really great points eventually and you definitely cannot sit through one of his messages without getting excited too; I am beginning to think this free flow couples writing on the blog may be a one time only shindig!

I really suck at "free flow" writing, but that won't stop me from getting my 2 cents in. Oh perfection...we've been watching the Oscars tonight and really enjoyed the format this year. I feel like this year's show was much better than the BORING shows of years past, and I actually didn't lose interest after only an hour or so of watching. This is most likely because it was DVRed and Ben was constantly berating me to "forward faster" and "stop, stop, stop"; I think we watched the entire show in less than an hour and a half.

This is a unique way of blogging. All this to say, a very busy, very fun weekend was had: membership class; Clue with my little cousins while babysitting; Dinner and S'mores with Dallas friends (love the outdoor firepit Hencys); church; outlet mall shopping; Oscars; ended by the first joint blog attempt. Don't forget about the man we saw peeing behind a dumpster at the Regions Bank near Love Field while riding in the car with a 7 and 12 year old! Bahahaa....talk about awkward; literally a 65 year old Mexican man (well dressed and complete with cowboy hat) urinating in one of those brick shells that are built to disguise dumpsters while we were trying to turn around in the alley behind the bank!!!! Topped off by Ash answering the question of her sweet 7-year old cousin by replying that the 2 men canoodling outside of Hunkie's Bar & Grill on Cedar Springs were just "funny friends."

This has been exhausting. Goodnight and God bless...I'm posting to end this madness!

IDOL...Too much like the original? or not?

What? Can someone please explain to me the judges on American Idol? First of all, I love Ellen and watch her show as often as I can; however, this season, these judges are ridiculous! If I was on the show, I wouldn't know whether I should sing Amazing Grace or some obscure version of a 1980s ballad. They are giving the most ridiculous tips and criticism.

"you didn't change it up enough" & "It was nothing like the original" (conundrum for our contestants? I think yes)

"I want to see you be 17. I want to see you play and be current and be fresh and be modern" followed by the precious Katie Stevens singing a song including the lyrics "Summer came like cinnamon so sweet, little girls double-dutch on the concrete." What is more childish than that. And they told her it wasn't young enough. Who cares how old you are? Just sing....and when did you have to start playing 10 instruments and be able to arrange all this music. I thought it was a singing competition. Not anymore, Idol, not anymore.

If I were on Idol, I guess I would need to sing something kind of funny, kind of young, creative and that has to do with liking to decorate my apartment for the holidays....but it couldn't sound too much like anyone else, but you'd definitely have to know who the original was! ARGH! It's ridiculous.

Let them sing! Puh lease

A lack of jobs leads to Law School?!

Well, the job search has been unfruitful thus far. And this has led me to reanalyze my options and pray alot. I am currently applying for nanny positions and starting to buy my books to study for the LSAT! Another thing I don't enjoy purchasing...Boring books! But I know these will be the sort of books that will benefit my life eventually, so I will buy and I will read. It's nice to sort of have a direction.

Please pray for one of our best friends, Heather Phillips, as she heads to the Peace Corps on Tuesday! We couldn't be more excited about the opportunities she is going to have and the change she is going to help bring to the Dominican Republic.

We had a wonderful weekend in Fayettenam celebrating a friend's bridal shower and sending Heather off to the DR. A hot vacay destination that we will sure be visiting within the next 27 months! It was a fantastic couple of days and made me remember how much I love my Fayetteville friends. Many of which aren't in Fayetteville anymore, but it's the place that brings us together.

Oh, and also, since I posted last we saw Ben Rector live in concert for his new Album "Into the Morning" buy it now! It really is wonderful.

And Ben is going to Hotlanta tomorrow to get his CIRA certification. I don't understand it, so google it if you are curious! Change of scenery from DETROIT so that's the plus in my book.

Hope to update more, so my updates are not just life catch ups and can contain interesting thoughts and ramblings...I have many and that is my intention for this blog!