Life's A Beach

Nathan is loving the Carpinteria waves! At first I had a hard time convincing him that the water wasn't that cold once he got used to it, before long, I couldn't get him out of the water.

VIKKI WINS VIA ARTE...AGAIN

Congratulations to my very talented sister, who once again destroyed the competition and won Via Arte for the third year in a row. Wow!

Nathan at Via Arte

Lookout Aunt Vikki, you may soon have competition in the Via Arte. With his new "Mohawk" hairdo, the creativity juices were flowing and inspired another Nathan Barker masterpiece - this one entitled "Scooby Doo."

Mini Me

Allison Barker with a few of her favorite things - Kit Kats and Dorothy the Dinosaur(s). Notice the Cowboys playing in the background, we gals obviously weren't paying attention - sorry Mike.

THING ONE AND THING TWO...

Univeral Studios in Orlando, oh so much to do-

here we are, my sister and I, as Thing One and Thing Two.

We went on lots of rides and loved getting wet.

Lots of fun was had by all, it was our best vacation yet!

HUNTINGTON LAKE, CA

Nathan and good pal, Nixon, enjoyed a beautiful day on the patoon boat we rented that day.

New Tooth

Nathan got a new left tooth. His previous tooth was actually two teeth fused together so the dentist filed it down and made a new tooth which he was proud to show off.

Wee Wees

Allison just loves the Wiggles (or as she calls it the "Wee Wees"). For those who are not familiar with the Wiggles - they are a kid's music group comprised of four men who wear different colored shirts (pure genius). Allison is so obsessed with the group that she carries the DVD case everywhere she goes (she even sleeps with it at times). I call her a Wiggles groupie.

Happy Easter

Nathan and Allison getting ready to hunt eggs and lots of candy at Nana's house. Because they were the only "little ones" there they we treated to a private hunt before the older kids. Life is tough.

It's Hard Being a Girl

I tried to put sponge rollers on Allison, but by morning all but one roller had managed to come off. But she did look cute the night before.

HAPPY GREEN DAY!

We had our annual color party in honor of Nathan's favorite color and this year's color was... you guessed it - green. We had the party the day before St Patrick's Day so that we could have two days of green fun. We served green enchiladas, green cake, green salad, green jello shots (for adults) and had lots of fun. Vikki held on to her "Best Color" title. Thanks to all who made the party. We can't wait to see what next year's color will be.

Cheese...

Nathan has mastered the art of the phony smile. Here he is hamming it up for the camera. Allison just loves her big brother. I love that they get along so well (most of the time) . He actually posed for this picture and then told me to go get the camera.

Nathan and Nana

I love this picture. This is the day Mama Lou and Big Papa taught him to play washers.

I'm gonna have to call you back...

Only 18 months old and already this girl is always on the phone.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone. I know this is a little late but I have just now got around to posting some more pics. Here is Nathan and Allison on Christmas Eve on their way to Nana's house in Shafter.

Daddy's little girl

Mike and Allison are all smiles as they watch Nathan blow out the candles.

Happy 4th Birthday!

Hard to believe that my little boy is 4 years old now. We celebrated with dinner out, followed by a trip to see Christmas lights at CALM, and then back home for cake and ice cream. We had held a party the day before with his school friends, but we made the mistake of telling him that his actual birthday was in fact the next day. So with some creativity and help from Nina Liz, we had another party! But that smile made it all worth it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN!

Nathan and a lego-made DIego smile for the camera

We recently visted Legoland in Carlsbad, CA for a pre-birthday celebration for Nathan. A great time was had by all. There aren't many places you can wear shorts at in the middle of November.

The Halloween Story

It was October 31, Halloween night. Nathan and Allison set off to go trick-or-treating with good friends, Nixon and Lola, and their cousins, Jonah and Emma.

Halloween Story

Shortly after our pictures, Allison got upset and was in a bad mood.

Halloween Story

So Allison went home with Mama Lou (Ma-moo) and Nathan and mom went trick-or-treating with our friends. Nathan loved climbing out of the wagon and running up to the neighbor's doors. He was so proud of himself because he always remembered to say "Thank you."

Halloween Story

But after we got home and Nathan graciously shared all of his Halloween candy...

Halloween Story continues

...Allison was finally happy. THE END.

Do you like my hat?

That's our happy little girl with a soccer cone on her head.

Nathan's Masterpiece

This is my future Via Arte winner - Nathan Barker standing in front of his masterpiece and making good use of his favorite color - orange.

And the winner is...

This is a picture of this year's Via Arte winner and my little sister - Vikki Cruz. She and her partner, Brent, won this year's local art contest again for the second consecutive year. Can you believe they did this with chalk? Both my brother, Vincent, and sister, Jennifer (that's her in the purple), were there to help fill in some squares. While Nathan, Allison, and I proudly cheered them on and watched in amazement. Beautiful!

CAR SHOW

Papa Jerry, Grandma, Nathan, and Allison standing in front of Papa Jerry's "69" Chevy Chevelle at the local car show held over the weekend.

The following commentary was added by Nathan Barker:

"Papa Jerry and Nathan Barker - we got 'bird shirts' ."

New Hair Cuts

The kids got new haircuts today (no I didn't do it myself). I think it might be a little too short but the beauty of their hair is both have hair that grows super fast so it will grow out by next week. Nathan is yelling some Power Ranger chant in this picture. "Mystic Force!"

Kern County Fair

Aunt Liz, Allison, and Nathan at the Kern County Fair on Saturday, September 23, 2005. We were impressed with Allison and her willingness to ride all of the rides - I think she just wants to be like her big brother. We all had a great time. Nathan said his favorite ride was the "Choo-choo train".