LottieB's Life

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

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.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

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.

Friday, September 16, 2011

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!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

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. :)