BABY #4

We are excited to announce the coming of baby #5, or Really #4 depending on how you look at it. Baby is due March 6, 2010. I am currently 14 weeks along. We would LOVE to have a little guy to temper the mood swings of all these girls, but a healthy baby will be just fine. Jeff, as always wants to wait to the END to find out the Pink or Blue. He is the Father, so I will go along, though I totally wouldn't mind "accidentally" seeing something on the Ultrasound screen here in a few weeks.

The girls are all very excited and constantly ask me to get the baby out "today". They finally understand to wait till at least after Christmas.

Jeff is very busy with work and as always continues to look for other opportunities. If you know people in the Retail Management Business...TOTALLY hook us up!

We have started Homeschool for Eliza (1st grade) and Norah (K4) It is fun, challenging and they are excited, which is the best part. We can normally get everything done in about 2 hours and have another 30 min in the Evening of worksheets. My current Plan is M/T/Th/F School and W Field Trip days because Jeff is usually off those days and can go with us someplace special. Zoe is the one I have to balance the most to make sure she gets her Morning nap in while we are hitting the books. :)

I am still consulting for SimplyFun, just not as aggressively as I was this summer. I do LOVE the games and products. They are so Fun, Family Friendly and Educational. Make sure you check out my website to find some awesome gifts for family/friends for the coming Holidays! tbartmess.simplyfun.com

We are headed out to go camping this next week. Our first Real Camping trip with all our own stuff. Excited is an understatement. 3 days at the Beach and a lot of fun memories.

Parable of the Pencil

I know that I haven't put anything up here for, oh, like 3 months. SO I thought to return and share something I heard in RS today. I really enjoyed the visual. So enjoy the thought.

I know we all experience hard times so just remember...



The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

"There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."

"One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand."

"Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil."

"Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."

"Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside."

"And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.


Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.

And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.

Spring Dresses

So, one of the perks I would call it, of having 3 girls, is matching dresses. I know Eliza is going to be too old for it here soon, so while they all still think it COOL, I will take advantage of it. Children's Place has some really cute Spring Dresses and we got them for Easter and Pictures coming up here in a couple months. Eliza and Norah have been begging me to let them wear them, so we finally pulled them out Sunday. Jeff seemed to like them and coordinated with a Pink Tie. Guys can look pretty snazzy in pink ties I think, at least My Guy does.

It was a cloudy day, but here are the pics. ENJOY!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Maybe I should update this....

So, It feels like forever since I have posted anything and I just went to my Posts and saw 2 that have just been sitting there waiting to be made public. I guess Facebook can really take over the world! That has become my way of connecting lately.

Not a very busy month for us here. February is nice that way I think. I am down to one calling at church which is wonderful! I want to be able to spend less time managing and more time enjoying my husband and children while at church. I will say though that being choir director has been fun and I have learned some great things and re-kindled my love of good music. Now, just to the responsibilities of the Stake RS Presidency. We have Sherri Dew and Wendy Watson Nelson coming to speak to us at the end of this month! WAY exciting.



I have officially become a SimplyFun Consultant. I will be sending out a MASS email here soon with more about it. But I am excited to represent a company that is all about FUN, FAMILY, and Building MEMORIES. Go check out the products at tbartmess.simplyfun.com.

Melissa our niece came for a nice visit this weekend, but we did a tag team sicky flu/fever bug thing almost the whole time. LAME, but we still had some fun times. WE LOVE YOU MELISSA!

Jeff got a new Nikon D90 for his Valentines/Birthday/St. Patricks Day/Engagement Anniversary/July 4th/Labor Day/Presidents Day/My Birthday/Christmas Gift. He played around with it last night and finally began to realize how cool of a gift it really is! He is great at taking photos, so it will be fun to post some of them here.

We are on the countdown to Spring Training...so excited to go VACATE!

That is a quick update, hopefully I do better about posting.

Book Review

A Walk in the Rain with a Brain by Edward M. Hallowell

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars

I appreciated the authors approach to intelligence. As Fred says "no brain is the same, no brain is the best, each brain finds its own special way." To teach children at a young age of their personal potential and also help acknowledge the potential of everyone around them is a wonderful gift to give. Society tries too often to lump us into categories and it is good to have a book for children that takes that and brakes the trend by teaching them early how to view themselves and others.

The Discussion guide is wonderful for Parents/Teachers/Coaches to create a dialogue with children and help reinforce the important concepts expressed in the story.

The rhyme and flow was comfortable to read aloud to my daughters.

The pictures were a fresh and different approach to childrens book illustration.

"Have fun with your brain every day. Brains do best when they play."

View all my reviews.

Christmas Card 2008

Sorry folks, nothing in the mail for you, though I loved all the Christmas Cards you sent to us! Instead, checkout our smilebox album to get a feel about the Bartmess family happenings. Make sure you click on each pic to read the snippets of info.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to EVERYONE!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook