Barnes Boys - Where They At?

November - Also known as "Crazy Birthday Month"- I feel like October, November and December are pretty whirlwind months as far as the year goes. Just as we come down from our sugar high on Halloween, there goes my birthday and Brysons and approximately every other child we know. I swear, we have like the entire month of November covered with someone we know having a birthday - so the whole month just turns into PARTY month. Which is just fine, really...usually i make myself very sick...and its usually this weekend that it happens - because i plan too much, say "yes" to everything - i dont typically schedule a weekend at home...so i was a little more intentional this year. maybe i am growing up? Nah - i am sure i will forget it all and do the exact opposite next year...just wait...But seriously, I will...Seriously though - i am enjoying my November very much so far and look forward to our trip to Tahoe later this month. Nothing sounds better to me than being in the woods with a cozy fire and (snow?) and NO computer! yay! I have also been enjoying co-leading a life group with some other mamas at my church - it has truly been life giving and i have thought about Grace more than I ever have in my life and it has proven powerful, who knew? uh, God i guess. 

Enough on my udpate... 

Bobby - fresh up from a nap - this kid kills me with his big ol eyes and big ol teeth! Just in the last couple of weeks he has been wearing underwear WITH NO ACCIDENTS. this is exciting you guys, because before this he would have at least 4 accidents a day and i was doing laundry basically all day. so - mama is very grateful that he learned the body cues and applied them to making it to the toilet. The only problem with this kid is that he sees absolutely no reason to get me involved in the potty process any longer. He will run into ANY park public bathroom without telling me to poop or pee and it FUH-REAKS me out. He has been punished, scolded, i even told him there were ghosts in public bathrooms and zero effect. this kid is a walking liability. But - aside from that, he is doing amazing and then in the same week he demanded to buckle himself in the car seat...and he can! so my life just got a teensy bit easier overnight...next...dressing yourself. what will i do in the morning when i dont have to get them all dressed and brush their teeth? love it the first week and then get all nostalgic circa week two as is my norm.

Bodie - he is such a snuggle bug and i eat it up! he always asks me to carry him - either in my arms or the ergo. he is about 45 pounds, so this is not an easy feat, but i cave every time because - look at him! you try to tell that curly haired face no! anyway - its nice to have at least one that likes to cuddle - i am a lucky mama. The bottom picture is of him and a soccer friend after a game. They played like 7 year olds that game- they were passing to each other - bodie would get in front of the goal and the other boy would pass to him and SCORE! they did this like champs and scored about a million goals and i dont think the other team scored at all, which is always so awkward to me and i usually handle that by walking away. 

He got his very first trophy for soccer and to say he was excited would be an understatement. he also got this book of all the teams and their pictures and he sleeps with that book and the trophy every night. Then he puts it on the shelf next to Bryson's trophies and ogles it dramatically. Its so stinking cute! Soccer is over though, so now his sights are turning to baseball...oy...

Bryson's fishing obsession is back in full swing. His birthday request was deep sea fishing, last night at farmer's market he brought his pole and fished the whole time and has asked me about a hundred times to take him to the beach. He somehow managed to get these very nice people to fix his line that was tangled and they gave him all new line...he could sell ice to an eskimo that kid. 

Soccer is over and golf season is over for the year...but basketball is up next for Bryson. He dribbles the basketball to school every day and stays for an hour after school playing. We talked about doing baseball next year and he shocked bryan and i by saying he wanted to golf instead. So i am excited he is doing basketball so he gets some variety. plus that is my favorite sport, so...although...i dont know how i will be able to watch any of the game because as i type i am picturing bobby getting under the bleachers and finding "candy" and eating it and i'm already anticipating bryan coaching and me in the stands herding cats. which, i guess, is like, our thing.  

Eight!!

My goodness Bryson is EIGHT YEARS OLD!!! Let me just tell you a little about this crazy kid. For the past 3 weeks he got up every morning at 5:45 - set his own alarm, got dressed and his clubs ready - woke his dad up to hit some balls or play a practice round before school. Then he would come home from school and practice sometimes too! All in preparation for the Monterey Challenge. He got invited and spent his birthday weekend in Monterey with his dad and grandparents (and his aunt and Don and Don's parents went too!) and got to play all kinds of golf and eat all kinds of seafood (his favorite- the kid ordered mussels(!) what? ) and play with his new bey blades and basically have an awesome time.

His birthday celebrations actually lasted almost a week starting last Wednesday at Farmer's Market with our other November baby friends - cupcakes and snacks and plenty of friends to kick soccer balls around with, or hunt for crabs on the rocks with - we live in a pretty amazing little community and what a special time it ws to be with other awesome November babies!

Then on Thursday I took my baby out to (his pick) Sushi for a birthday lunch. I was feeling a little sad that I would not be with him on his actual birthday (first time EVER) and wanted to have a little alone time with him. I gave him an Angry Birds watch and he was sooooo excited. he tells me what time it is now approximately every 10 minutes.

Then he left early Friday morning to drive up to Monterey to play a practice round before the big tournament. He played really well - placed 10th (out of 16), which earned him an invite to Pinehurst, which before Monterey Bryson told us was his "life's dream" to be invited to Pinehurst. I think a lot of people may think my husband is driving this crazy golf train, but let me just point to exhibit A - his bedroom wall. The boy is obsessed. He is so self motivated and has worked so hard - I am beyond proud...I know I complain a lot about golf, but really - what a great sport for Bryson - it teaches integrity, patience, self-composure, good sportsmanship...really just a good fit for his temperament I believe. 

The party didn't stop there - since Bryson had a party last year, this year he got to go somewhere special with a friend, so on Monday Bryan took Asher and Bryson deep sea fishing! Again - bryson's idea. He caught a big surf perch and ate it up as soon as they got home. I had a bite and it was delicious! So fresh - not fishy at all! And now...exhale...and listen to the boys fight over the bey blades...I overheard Bryan saying something anti-bey blades and I just reminded him, "This too shall pass"...hopefully sooner rather than later! 

Happy Eighth Birthday Bryson! I have big hopes for you this year! And I can't wait to see what new thing you dive head first into next! Your spirit is contagious and your ambition is inspiring - we love you to pieces!
Love, Mom and Dad

Halloween

I am not one of those moms who plan for Halloween far in advance. I can not keep up with the evolving list of costume desires. I saw the cutest little lumberjack on a blog and thought the boys could all wear the flannels in the coming holiday season, so i had lumberjack costumes for them. Bryson had the hardest time deciding...first he told me he wanted to be Peter Pan, so I made him that costume, he poo-pooed it and told me he meant Harry Potter...we located a Harry Potter costume (next door - free!) and then he changed his mind again...the night before Halloween Bryson still hadn't landed on a costume and my mummy idea failed, so he decided to be a "miner" not a lumberjack, the difference being he sported camo pants instead of jeans (?) and carried a "bag of gold" and a plastic canteen. For Halloween night he wanted to be something scarier, so he dug through the costume box and found this red cape and wore some fake vampire teeth and voila - vampire.

Bodie was a ninja at a birthday party and the lumberjack for both his school and Halloween night. Originally he also wanted to be a "golf guy" but i guess he liked the beard.

Bobby would have nothing to do with the beard and insisted on being a lion, so i made his mane (isn't that obvious?) and tail and found this cute vest at Old Navy

Bryan and I threw on some flannels, and Bryan for some reason threw on this gross wig...and we spent the evening walking around our neighborhood trick-or-treating - running into all kinds of Fremont friends. It was a fun evening and we fell even more in love with our neighborhood. so fun!

Birthday Month

I had to document this weekend because it really was an amazing birthday weekend, especially since none of it was too "planned". I had a big birthday party last year that was amazing and very planned and so this year i just kept it on the down low. Also, my cousin Melissa was getting married the day before my birthday, so there was already a party that someone else was planning that involved all kinds of people I love, so who could top that? certainly not I! So Friday night found me and 7 other close friends at dinner. 3 of us all celebrate birthdays the first week of November. Not only that, but our kids all celebrate birthdays late Oct/early November as well...so you can see how November can be a busy month for all! I loved celebrating with these ladies. Truly blessed to know such amazing good people. Just solid, good, drama free women...my favorite kind. I left dinner feeling encouraged and warm inside, and I think that is how good friendships should make you feel - don't you agree? 

On Saturday we had our soccer games and grocery shopping, then headed out to the wedding. The wedding was amazing and my cousin (and her mama) did an absolutely phenomenal job. Every little detail was considered - I can't wait for the pictures to come out for you all to see. Just simply perfect. So happy for her and Justin and so much fun to spend time with that side of my family. I got me some amazing cousins! 

Sunday was my actual birthday and Bryan told me to get dressed because we were leaving, but didn't tell me where. We ended up going to Santa Barbara for the day and hanging out with our dear friends and just no plans, which is sometimes the best plan, which happened to be the case on Sunday. We walked along State St with the kids and pointed out significant places to them (that is the coffee shop where mommy and daddy first met each other) and them not caring AT ALL. ha! and we played a bit of soccer and then an early dinner and headed home since we had planned a Bad Movie Night like the night before...again going with the hardly planned theme. Our movie was Garbage Pail Kids: The Movie, which was truly terrible. After the movie we got to play this horrible game I got for my birthday (thanks Mom!) and luckily the people we played with had good senses of humors and didn't get (too) offended. Man - that game is amazingly offensive - it was pretty epic...i may have snorted at least 12 times. 

A big thank you to my husband for making the whole weekend so special and another big thank you to everyone who celebrated with me. I think in the course of the weekend I was able to see so many people who are instrumental in my life - from old friends to new friends to family to friends from far away - humbled and blessed to be connected to all these amazing people and starting my Monday with a big smile plastered on my face! And if I didn't get to see you this weekend, don't worry - there is a month long expiration on birthday celebrations, so you have until the end of November to celebrate with me...and seriously not kidding...its a true thing...

Barnes Boys - Where They At?

October - Fall and our yearly tradition of apple picking happened this month...although we got there late in the season (usually we go mid-september) and there were no apples to be picked...it was still so fun - they boys picked the last remaining raspberries and we made it through a corn maze (bryson led us astray too many times, so we put bodie in charge and he led us out and was sooooo proud of himself - really cute stuff) and we picked pumpkins from the vine and of course brought back some yummy apple cider and apples. Bryan and I talked about how fun it is to be creating our own family traditions and how every year it is going to be more fun than work ;) this year was especially fun with their ages. I just love 3 years old. I could leave the tantrums, but this is just so fun!

Bodie - our little soccer star! it is so fun to watch him play a sport finally! he is also in a children's choir at church and every day he asks me 1. do i have school today mom? and then 2. do i have soccer today mom? and then 3. do i have my singing class mom? this boy is very much like his dad and likes to know "the plan" and what is expected of him. He gets very sad if the answer to all three questions isnt "today" - we listen to his choir music in the car and he practices his little hand motions and it is really the cutest thing. We are trying to work on singing louder...but that may take a while -he whisper sings right now. I think it is so good for Bodie to be involved in things a part from his brothers - he gets such a sense of pride and confidence - he just beams! (p.s. being a fellow middle child, i get it!!!)

Bobby - oh man - this kid is so full of charm and spit and vinegar and all that. He melts your heart one minute and makes you want to just lock him up in a kennel (i would never) the next minute. He is still amazingly destructive and energetic - the other day he rode his scooter 5 miles with Bryan. and then once they got where they were going he ran around for another hour or so. This kid could power a city. He is talking up a storm too - he cracks us up. Having two older brothers he just thinks whatever they like is cool - which right now happens to be these things called Bey Blades (they are like plastic tops you launch with a launcher) so you hear him and Bodie "battle" their bey blades (which they dont have any - they just find random things and call them bey blades) and you can hear bobby yell "let it rrrrrriiiiippppp" all day. Bodie and Bobby spend a lot of time together these days while bryson is at school and they are learning to play better together...and by that i mean they only fight like 50 times a day now. 

Bryson - A few weeks back Bryan took Bryson to see this movie/documentary called The Short Game and ever since then Bryson has been OB-sessed with golf. He is doing really well too and we recently found out he was invited to play in the Monterey Championships. It is a 2 day tournament in Monterey and he will have some stiff competition and he is stoked! This picture is of Bryson on picture day at school and let me have you know i had zero to do with both the outfit and the paper towel handkerchief in his pocket. This kid has his own style and no one can tell him what is cool. i love it! I feel like bryson is never really ho-hum about anything - he goes from one obsession to the next and right now it is his praying mantis and also his lizard pets. He wants a bearded dragon something awful, but right now is taking very good (daily) care of his bug and reptile.

Things are settling into a routine and it feels nice to have a rhythm again. We are working on ever-changing Halloween costumes and tackling homework and right now I am reading them the Chronicles of Narnia before bed. We are on book #2 and it is so fun. I love that Bryson is enjoying them as much as I did!  

Barnes Boys - Where They At?

September - the weather is cooling down, school has started (for all three!!) and dinners are being cooked during breakfast (my favorite). We are still adjusting to the new schedule of weekday school/sporting practices and weekend sporting games. I am enjoying the (somewhat) cooler weather, the earlier mornings and the two mornings the little ones are in school- i get soooooooo much done- its amazing!

Bodie O - Soccer star! I missed his first game, but the second one last weekend - he played so well! 4 goals!!! he was unstoppable - i asked him how he got so good, he replied,"because i was zigging and zagging" and bryson walked over and said, "yeah - i taught him how to do that" -so stinkin cute! and bryson was cheering him on the sidelines...it was so sweet - ah brothers...my brother would never have gone to a dance competition and cheered for me...but maybe that is just my brother and not indicative of sibling relationships as a whole...at any rate - bryson was super proud of bodie too - and bodie is just LOVING soccer. he asks me every day if he has practice (he doesn't during the week) but wishes it were every night. Bodie is also playing with Bobby more...which is the good thing...the bad thing is that if Bobby does not wish to play whatever game with Bodie it turns ugly...Bodie feels strong emotions about that.

Bodie also started pre-school again. This is his third (and final) year. He and Bobby go 2 mornings a week for 3 hours. He has Bryson's old teacher and she is finding out how different the two boys are first hand. It's cute!  

Bryson - here he is with his golf coach - Mr. Mike Krantz - eyeing his putting line...or something...Krantz is great for Bryson - very patient and only tells him a couple of things at a time. We have noticed a lot of improvement. Bryson is in soccer and golf - in fact last weekend and this weekend is soccer games on Saturdays, golf tournament on Sunday. Bryan has been super patient with him as well - I don't know how he does it so well - 5 minutes with Bryson and homework and I'm ready to lose it! But Bryson has been doing great in both sports. He wrote in his class little introduce yourself project that when he grows up he wants to be a professional golfer. Speaking of which, he started the second grade...which is weird for me to even write that down. His teacher seems really great - and although he had a rough few weeks in the beginning -he told me the other day that he is actually starting to like school - so yay! that made me happy because my heart was breaking to see him so defeated every morning. 

Every night before bed I have been reading The Magician's Nephew to the boys. Bryson is at the perfect age for this. He gets mad every single night when I finish the chapter because C.S. Lewis does a great job at ending every chapter in some cliff hanger fashion. It has been great to see the correlations he is making on his own about the Bible and the story and it is a great springboard for conversations about big moral questions, biblical questions and also literary devices (i.e. cliff hangers). The last time I read this was 5 years ago and I only know that because I remembered blogging about it way back when. It is just as much fun for me to read it as it is for him to listen, I'm sure!

Bobby - First day of pre-school. He has Bodie's teacher from a few years ago and she is seeing what how different the last two are - ha! understatement of the year. She told us this morning, wow...that Bobby...he can sure...play! i think she was trying to find a nice way to say how exhausting he is? We are in the throes of potty training right now. yesterday he wore underwear out for the first time. I had to change him 4 times, then just put a pull up on him before his nap and never changed him out of it. He pooped in the potty 3 different times that morning and then pooped in his pull up before bed. It seems like every step forward we make, we take a step back...I know he will get there - just wasn't expecting him to be our toughest to potty train! I mean...come on...he has 3 teachers! It is hard to stay mad at that face for long. Its pretty pointless actually...he lights up our world!

A Shift, A Shower, A Seedling

Photo from Missie's shower this weekend, Me, Missie and my sister - photo stolen from FB - taken by Jennifer Johnson

I had a really wonderful weekend. I came to sit down to work today and read some blogs and had my coffee, which i like to do before i start my day - puts me in a creative/working mode i find...anyway - there were quite a few blogs that had sweeping realizations and lots of reflective posts, which was odd because i have had some thoughts swirling in my head from this weekend that i felt compelled to share here. I have been reflecting on my summer and what was different about this summer- because when i look back at the summer as a whole - it felt really balanced. this is not normal for me - usually i never say no to anything - i overpack my schedule and overcommit my time, but this summer i was super mindful of only traveling a couple weekends per month. of planning on "catch up" days around the house. i did not have a lot of community this summer- not nearly enough play dates and catch up time with girlfriends that i had every intention on doing. But we did have some great camping vacations with friends and a wonderful long weekend with bryan's family, so i suppose there was that, but of course the extrovert in me would always be down for more! I have found my thoughts shifting more and more toward simplicity. There was a big shift last year when we realized that all the material "things" and "stuff" in our house was causing fights, rather than encouraging play - so we downsized on stuff....a lot. Got rid of about 75% of their toys. The things we kept were their scooters, bikes, etc, a few board games and puzzles, and their hot wheels and monster trucks. These are the things that most often get played with, so everything else went to the goodwill. this had an amazing effect on our kids...and seeing that and witnessing how much better they play when there isn't "stuff" made me think about my own relationship with "stuff". i narrowed down too. I took a step back and realized that I have a problem with "stuff". I am not healed of that problem - i have a long ways to go, but there has been a small seedling planted and is now growing - of being mindful with things and cautious and deliberate.

I think my seedling of "simplicity" that started a while ago is really starting to flourish, when i think about my days and weeks and months. I have realized that although i am not a planner by nature, planning has really helped create balance in our home. Being thoughtful and intentional with planning ahead - meals, car pools, etc. has been my saving grace.

I have also noticed a shift in my attitude. The other day I was making these bracelets with bryson and he started getting really frustrated. i told him, "you know bryson, i got you these things because i thought you would have fun making them. i thought you enjoyed a challenge. things aren't always easy when we first start, but part of the fun is learning how to do it and how to do it better each time. It's why i like to sew and knit." and then i realized i was talking to myself because i haven't had that joy each time. I then started thinking about my own attitude and perspective on other "chores" like cleaning and making dinner. I started to desire to not just do it, but to do it and love it and enjoy it. can i tell you what an amazing "aha" moment this was. I took my own advice i was giving to my son and what do you know? i probably needed it more than he did! It has been really powerful to not just get through cleaning the kitchen, but changing my attitude about the whole thing has become a really empowering idea (having uplifting music helps this attitude!).

anyway...i am not always grinning ear to ear picking up the millionth hot wheel on the ground, or trying to pick granola out of a shag rug...or cleaning pee from the umpteenth sheet this week...so please don't let me give you the wrong impression - i am still a small seedling in this area, but my desire is to nourish and grow that little seedling into a beautiful tree - bearing fruit and all...if i can take the metaphor even further, please.

this weekend my sister and i had the pleasure of throwing a bridal shower for our cousin Melissa. It was such a joy to do and i truly loved making each little thing - partly because i enjoy that, but also I knew Melissa would appreciate it since she enjoys the same sort of thing. It was a small family shower and it was such a joy to just sit and chat with all the amazing women in our family. I wasn't the one getting married, but left it feeling so blessed to be from such good stock. to have such support within our family. to feel like no matter what kind of time has passed you can pick up wherever you left off. it was beautiful and wonderful and none of the decorations or food or anything else mattered nearly as much as that.  i am still basking in that love from that day and hope the bride to be feels the same!