What's in a Name, Anyway?

The time has come for an explanation of my blog title. It just dawned on me that the whole world might not know the significance of "LottieB's Life"!
It all started so many moons ago. I was born Laura Elizabeth Rhodes. 8:00 PM Ozarkian time, July 26th, 1988. I was commonly known as Laura Elizabeth Rhodes, though many folks found it more convenient to simply holler "Laura!" when my presence was wanted. This name stuck fast for oh, 6 or 7 years.
About 5 years after my birth, a monumental, earth-shattering phenomenon took place. I got a baby brother. When he was first discovered, he didn't call me anything. Too shy, I guess. In fact, he seemed so bashful and confused that for a year or so he barely moved a muscle, let alone said a word. But soon enough he remembered how to talk and boy could he talk! He'd beam up at me with his big, brown eyes, big, bare belly and big, poofy diaper cover and chatter, "Da Da, Ma Ma, Doggie Doggie, Lottie!"
So then, amongst family the hollers began morphing from my given name into my new nickname. I liked it and felt only slightly embarrassed when outsiders got wind of it. Slightly proud, too.
This nickname was used by most family members, but my next older brother began putting his own twist on it. Rather than just plain, old, ordinary "Lottie", I became "Lottie B" to him. No real reason except it seemed to fit. He still calls me that to this day.
Then, a few years later (when I was 11, but that's another story), I met a certain Robert Douglas Barnett. I thought, "How cool! His last name starts with a 'b' and that would make my nickname my next older brother gave me make sense and my life would be complete!" So I up and married him. The end.
Oh, wait. The "Life" part of "LottieB's Life" hasn't been explained. Well, that all started at 8:00 PM Ozarkian time, July 26th, 1988. I think you get the point. The end.

Obedience, What's That?

Today, I'm sharing a link to a fellow blogger's recent post. Missy, over at Moments for Mommy, wrote an excellent post on why we teach our children to obey. Here's the link to her post: Learning to Obey. It's not a "How To" but a "Why To". She has such a good take on what our hearts as parents should be as we discipline our children.

Hiking With My Men

We went for a little hike up the backside of Badger Mountain yesterday evening. It's not really a mountain, just a big hill. We're hoping to make a habit of going a couple times a week.

I love the view, don't you? It was a beautiful time to go with the sun just setting. I can't wait to go again!

Our Little Couch Potato

1st Birthday Party!!

Saturday, August 20th, we celebrated Eli's 1st birthday with most of the Barnett and Rhodes relatives that live close by. The party ended up being so nice! We rented a gazebo and everyone pitched in with setting up. I had put Auntie Amy in charge and she got everything rolling on the decor. Grandma Marty and Grandpa Bob helped out with the food. Everyone else just lended a hand where needed and everything went so well.

All in all, we had about 20 people there. We started out with cupcakes for the grownups and whipped cream and peaches for Eli. He was so cute. It took quite some time for him to dig in but as the pictures can attest, he did.

Then we had snack and visiting time. Once Eli was done making his mess, we moved on to opening presents. Boy, Eli sure got some fun ones! A couch, a bouncy puppy, a farm, an airplane, a piggy bank, a bouncy bike thing, clothes, books, a truck, the works!

After that, Eli and Cousin Logan played in the splash park. Logan wasn't too keen on getting wet from the fountains, but Eli had a blast! We'll definitely need to take him back before the cold weather hits.

Here are a lot of pictures! And these are just a fraction of what we took. I think there were around 200. Yay, digital cameras! Anyway, these will give you a taste of our party. :)

He Ain't Zero No More!

Our little Mr. Cute Stuff turned one today! We had a low key celebration with just the three of us. It was a special time!


Here's Eli checkin' out his early morning birthday present.

Yay, bouncy and squishy balls!

Water fun in the afternoon with Mommy.

My very own Doggie?!

Not quite sure what to do with this one, Dad.


We are so proud of our son. Such joy he has brought to this household. What fun is in store!

No Words Needed

What's Coming Next

Howdy there, folks!

So I've been thinking for a while about coming up with a more systematic blogging method. I felt a spark of inspiration a few minutes ago and sat down to plunk my thoughts out. And here are the results:

Future LottieB's Life topics of discussion:

Hillbilly Proverbs

Bookworm Bites

Current Occurrences

Buster Brown Updates

Personal Contemplation

These are subject to changes, of course. But those are what popped into my head. I hope you find them interesting and worthy of reading!

That's all, folks!

My Daily Wisdom

The house don't clean itself.

Read them instruction labels.

Don't lock the sliding glass door if yer partner is still outside. (I do this at least once a week.)

Days are shorter'n they otter be, 'cept when they're too long.

A Written Thought

It's easier to write noble thoughts than to think them.

Proverbial Wisdom

I discovered a statement of wisdom today in my devotion time. It struck home on a bad habit of mine.

He who answers before listening--that is his folly and his shame. Proverbs 18:13

Yep, I often find myself forming my response as someone speaks to me rather than focusing on what is being spoken. This happens especially when I feel tension or "know" I'm going to disagree.

I needed a reminder that listening is vital for relationship. And having the best response is no where near as important as weighing and valuing the other person's input. I know I feel frustrated when I'm not listened to. So, I'm going to make a concerted effort to improve my listening skills!

A Smashing Chicken Salad

I threw this salad together this afternoon when I felt starvation setting in. It's based off of the types of salads my mom is great at fixing. I didn't have all the ingredients I would have liked, but it was still smashing!

Here's what's in it:

Lettuce

Chicken (I seasoned it with salt, garlic, and paprika)

Smashed almonds*

Raisins

Italian dressing

I didn't have any hardboiled eggs at the time but have since cooked some up. Next time I'll add the eggs in. Also dried cranberries instead of raisins are great! Any other suggestions?

*The almonds are significantly better when smashed. Hence the name. It's thrilling to smash them with a rubber mallet. It was necessary with mine since they were frozen. ;)

Relative Introductions

We finally ventured over to Canby, Oregon this last weekend to visit with my grandparents and introduce Eli to them. We set out Saturday morning, spent the night, and came back Sunday afternoon. Eli did amazingly well on the trip! We were so proud of him! He wore himself out and slept like a rock at their house. Now to figure out how to get him to do that here. ;)

While we were there, my aunt Elaine and cousin Drew stopped in to see us, too. They also had not met Eli. We all went out to eat at Panda Express which was a little bit of a stretch for my grandparents who have decided over their 90ish years of life what kinds of foods they like and what kinds they don't. But they did alright and we bought a watermelon afterward to eat back at their home. So that made Grandpa happy.

Grandpa and Grandma couldn't get enough of Eli. I haven't seen Grandpa that happy and silly in years. What fun!


Eli being his usual goofball self shortly before we took off from home on Saturday.

Cousin Drew with Eli.

Eli and Grandpa played many duets throughout the visit.

Special Grandma and Great Grandson moment!

Two of my favorite people!

Bipedding, Here We Come!

Even though Eli has been taking a few steps here and there the last 3 or 4 weeks, yesterday he took off for good! It must be so satisfying to start walking.



Today some steps; tomorrow a marathon, baby!

Misty Edwards- Soul Cry

This song has been on my heart for the last several months. Please take the time to listen and dwell in God's presence!

Remember Me?

Hello! I know I have been absent from the blog world for quite some time. I have been wanting to start back up for a while and am finally taking the initiative! I am saving up for a laptop which will let my computer time be a little more flexible and hopefully should result in more blogging. Right now our PC is stuck in the guest room where it is hard to keep Eli entertained if he is awake and hard for me to get to if he is asleep. Anyway, for now I plan on blogging once or twice a week.

Here is a tiny update on where the Barnett family is currently:

*Rob and I have been married for 2 1/2 years! I love that wonderful man and am so very thankful for him.

*Rob is still at his same workplace as a network engineer. He's been taking/studying for some tests which will increase his knowledge in areas he's moving in to. I'm so proud of him!

*We had our son, Eli, last August. He is such a joy to us both. There's no challenge quite like becoming parents. We have learned so much this past year. Eli will be turning one on August 18th!

*I have shifted gears significantly in the last 12-18 months. I had to let go of my online tutoring and my piano teaching. Both of those were jobs I really cherished. But now I have moved on to being a stay-at-home mommy. It has been an incredible venture and one I feel so blessed to be doing.

I touch on these and other topics more as I get back into blogging, but I just wanted to let you know the highlights for now. God is teaching me some amazing things right now and I am excited to share some of it with you all.

God's favor be on you and the places you go this week!