Barnes Boys - Where They At

in bobby news...he must eat all meals with a fork. he also likes sitting at the kitchen table on a chair...he also tries to ride a Razor scooter. pretty much he wants to be one of the guys...now please. its mostly super cute and only kinda annoying.

this was taken round bryson's birthday. i had to document his amazing outfit that he put together. he is obsessed with my "indian boots" as he calls them...so i got him his own pair for his birthday (see the tassles on the back?) and this was his church outfit i believe...a polo under a button up...with a bow tie...and a hat...just amazing...what a style leader this one...and we are holding up our waffle egg sandwiches. bryan got me a waffle maker for my birthday and i dont think i have eaten a plain waffle yet...i have bruxie to thank for that obsession!

bodie bo...big news...he rode his bike yesterday WITHOUT training wheels! can you believe it? he is still just 2 (for one more week) bryson didnt do it till he was 4! mama is not ready for this...which is why it happened when mama was out running errands!!!! but daddy was nice enough to catch it on video for me - which i will post whenever we happen to get to our little video project...hahahahaha....

bodie is such a sweet heart....but oh man...today i almost pulled every hair out of my head and his with all his whining!!! mostly its "im just hungry" the boy is always hungry...but its really everything and anything and today i found that i have indeed reached my wall with that child and the whining.

we are celebrating bodie's birthday tomorrow and i am so excited to give him a little family party - and that he knows what is going on...he isnt one for excitement, but i think he will be over the moon tomorrow! maybe even not whine...as much...??

one can hope anyway...

Barnes Fam - Where They At

i normally do these posts just about the boys...but i am gunna jump on the update train too...so prepared to be dazzled...just kidding...nothing dazzling around here...just a lot of silliness - look at these guys...how can you ever be bored with these guys around? 

so these pics at the aquarium were taken on 11/11/11...how do i know the exact date? i came straight there to pick up the boys from watching my best friend give birth to her third baby girl - safely and beautifully at home surrounded by everyone dear to her. i dont know that i have the right words to adequately describe how much of an amazing experience that was quite yet...so i won't...until it comes to me...i am still processing it all and i think about little Penelope Claire every day and send off prayers. i know her mama knows this. 

look! i got 2 out of the 3 smiling here...that is a bonus...score! and all 3 are looking at the camera - double points! bobby just doesnt like being held in any way...

oh bobby...bryan calls him lunatic...affectionately of course! he likes to bang his head against things...like your head, the back of the car seat, the wall if you happen to be holding him near a wall, his crib, the ground...i am not sure what this is all quite about because most of the time it is done when he is happy...so we will keep you updated if any thing evolves from that.

he no longer walks...just full sprints as fast as a 14 month old can sprint. he likes to book out the front door if it is ever open. good thing bodie already trained us on never leaving the front door unattended. he is giving kisses now...which is nice...usually he just slaps you in the face or bites your lips or pulls your hair real hard. 

he is still my best little sleeper and still goes to bed around 6pm...which is real nice for mama. i think he needs the most sleep because he spends the most energy destroying all day. 

oh goodness...bryson is learning so much right now! last time i wrote, back in October he was trying to make his own words...now the kid is making sentences! so nuts...i helped out in his class the other day and their assignment was to make up and write out 5 sentences. total brag moment...bryson and this other little girl were the only ones to finish! he is so into it...just like everything else he does - he puts his whole heart into it! 

he just finished his first soccer season - they were undefeated the whole season - their team was something kinda incredible...they were passing the ball and waiting at the goal and scoring like crazy - i thought it was going to be a big dog pile on the ball for an hour, but they have actually played games. at their end of the year banquet the coach said a little something about all of them...about bryson he said, "bryson is very hard to control on the field. but he plays with his whole heart. he always wants the ball, always wants to score and that is what makes him such a good player." i leaned over and whispered to Bryan, "just like in life, huh?" the funniest part is that later on that night i asked Bryson if he heard what the coach said about him and bryson said, "not really - i wasnt really listening" HAHAHAHA!

yes - that is a leaf that we stuck in his helmet...he was actually very happy about it...dont let his bodie face fool you! this was taken up in san jose over thanksgiving - we were able to spend a whole week up there (if i am lucky another post to come)

bodie is so funny. his new thing to say is "I'm just hungry" - we hear it about 500x a day. and he usually is. the kid is eating like crazy - do you know he only weighs 3 pounds less than bryson? and he is gaining on him! bodie is doing awesome on his "new" bike. he also loves his scooter. we ride them just about every day to walk bryson to school. he gets very sad when bryson tries to turn it into a race though.

bodie is loving the Jesse Tree and bryan and I are getting a kick at seeing how much he is retaining -"Who made the earth Bodie?" and he will reply in his deep cute little voice "God" 

he turns 3 on Christmas Eve and i cant believe that 3 years have gone by since he was born. always will be the best Christmas ever!

Advent

it has been a while...i think a month...and i really missed writing in this space. i enjoy the process and there is a lot that i intend to get written down...but sadly i haven't gotten around to it. and its not that things are crazy busy either. perhaps the opposite. our lives slowed down a bit to breathe and we are all resting in that exhale right now.

because our business is so seasonally different we know that we need to take the winters to breathe and re-cooperate and enjoy the down time. we are still working a lot, but trying to take an afternoon (or two) off. or a long lunch date. or a trip to disneyland during the week. or just long walks as a family because we can right now.

i have also realized these past few years that i am in control of the family calendar pretty much - i think that it is pretty standard that wives assume this duty...maybe because our brains are like computers and we can store conflicting data in there at the same time...men's brains are like calculators...that was a total gross generalization, but in my experience this is true...doesnt mean we are smarter...just better multi-taskers. anyway - because i have a highly advanced brain, i keep the family calendar. and so in this calendar-keeping business i have realized that if i plan too much for one day...or one week...or one weekend...the whole family suffers. i really try to keep balance and am getting much better at saying no. It has helped tremendously since we keep a google calendar that we can both edit and it goes to our phones. i can see when he has auditions and golf classes with bryson etc etc etc and keep it all in mind when trying to navigate our months.

this is just what i am in the process of learning...please do not mistake me that i have it figured out...my husband will readily laugh in your face if you suggest that. this is more like a reminder to myself that this is the right track and go with your gut...if you feel like its going to be too much...it probably is.

so all this silly business to say...this advent has been such a wonderful season so far.

we got a kickstart to the season right after Thanksgiving. we got our tree and put up the lights and the boys helped me decorate...a little...and bobby helped destroy just about everything at ground level. i wouldnt expect anything less.

our evenings have been amazing. i think anyone who has known me this past year can be surprised at this statement because our bedtimes have been a couple thousand notches less than stellar for a while. around 4 my kids get possessed by the devil and then we eat around 5 and they complain about the food the whole time and then they run around like maniacs until  story time at 7 and bedtime at 7:30 when we start the awful process of torturing them with a tooth brush and tucking them in. it wasnt like that every night, but it felt like it and i would have nightmares about putting my kids to bed. literally...i dreamt about it like every night for a week at one point...isnt that horrible?

anyway - since we started advent season there has been a shift for sure. our routine after dinner is a lot more structured - we eat and then clean up...bath time and then the boys run around outside and look at the Christmas lights. then its bobby bed time. after bobby goes to bed we do the Jesse Tree - they hang the ornament, we read the Bible, talk about the story a little, re-cap on all the ornaments we have done and then the boys color a coloring page. my girlfriend suggested that part and it has been a big success. they color for like a half an hour and dont fight. that is amazing to me.

it makes the bed time so much easier since things are so structured. i am NOT a structured person and i doubt that once the advent season is over that i will be able to keep something up like this, but for now - i am loving it.

but i think i would be fooling myself if i pinned it all on the routine. it has a lot to do with my attitude and state of mind. i am realizing how powerful my attitude is on my whole family. how i have the power to change the tides with a simple change in perspective. part of this is done by God's grace and the other part is done by coffee.

i think that the advent season is so important for us as a culture and it has been for us as a family to take time out to wait and breathe and enjoy all the blessings from the past year. i hope that you are able to take some time out to drive around the block and look at the pretty lights...or have hot chocolate as often as you can...or light a fire whenever the temp drops below 60...merry Christmas!
xoxo
Carlee