catch up

I have a few things I wanted to share.



Shilo calls Eggnog Eggmilk, I think it's funny...



Chastin told Shilo that on Christmas Eve 'virgins of sugar plum fairies will dance in our heads'
that too I thought was pretty funny!


my new favorite drink is something my grandpa use to drink on cold winter mornings-
i mix decaf instant coffee granuels with dry non fat milk and add boiling water. i love all things flavored coffee, coffee ice cream from b&r, coffee flavored nipps, and so on. i figure that it must come from my grandpas love for the flavor, because he use to give me the nipps and coffee flavored italian sodas. but my all time favorite coffee flavored treat is tirimisu.
i know, i know, i can hear a few of my friends telling me about the caffine in some of the treats, but really it's not any different than a diet coke or a pepsi or even a dr. pepper or mountain dew. so there you have it, my not so secret treat.






My new favorite shoot-













this was the easiest family to shoot!
their personalities shine through each photo! it was such a pleasure to go with them to Kerry park and spend some time capturing them in some candid moments. i am not going to post any that they might use for their christmas card, but i will post some of the girls in the family soon. paige did such a great job picking the colors for them all to wear, i wish i had thought of pink and grey myself!
thanks for the invite paige- i had a ton of fun & am glad that the weather was so nice and that eric had the perfect park in mind! it fit right in with the seattle backdrop idea you wanted.
{if only sarah and bretts shoot turned out this good}.

Checking off my list

So as many of my readers know, I have had one very busy weekend. I really enjoyed all of the different events the weekend held, but I'm glad it's over. I am actually sad at the same time that the weekend went by so quickly. I don't feel like I actually ever took the time to soak in all that it had to offer. I am sure that we have all had weekends that left us feeling blurry headed and exhausted. My exhaustion stems more from an emotional standpoint than a physical one.
Right now I feel as though I hurried through each event to keep on schedule, and now I regret it. So to fill you in- the weekend went a little like this...

Thursday

• Rush to get Chastin & Shilo's hair cut and mine colored
• Tell Chastin I ordered him a cake because I don't have time to make the cake he picked out after all. Upset 8 year old- upset mom= failure
• Thursday night wait in dumping rain for Great Grandma to arrive on the train, run into Burlington Coat factory to see if they have suits in Chastin's size. Which they did, and I never made it back to buy him one to wear after the baptism. Another failure.

Friday

• Start work at 8:30, take Shilo to dance, get yelled at by a dance dad for using my cell phone in the hall to make a schedule with a daycare mom, walk/run on treadmill during nap time for 70 min.
• Friday night get to have dinner with good friends and enjoy some girl time!

Saturday

• Go to work for Ballard Camera from 8:45-1:30
• Drop Chastin and Shilo off at church for primary service project
• Miss Jordan's last soccer game where of course she wins for the second time in the season. And to top it off- against an undefeated team. Defeat for mom
• Rush home- set up for Chastin and Shilo's Birthday party
• Take Shilo to Urgent Care in downtown Seattle from 7-midnight,to find she has a fever of 104 and a UTI. Another point lost for mom. I have let my 4 year old daughter get an infection.Uhhh. I don't know how much more I can handle by this point. Shilo sleeps in the car on the way there and on the way home and stays awake in her bed talking to her new lions she got for her birthday till the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday

• Another day of going to bed last and getting up first.
• Late to Sacrament Meeting, Shilo stays home with John and Great Grandma.
• Run home during Sunday School to retrieve plates for Baptism and pick up Great Grandma.
• Panic about being prepared for Chastin's Baptism- and due to lots of help from my wonderful husband and great friends all ran smoothly. Big thanks to them! Score for mom!
• The most important piece of the whole weekend went the best!
• Come home, unwind for once in two weeks, finally get some sleep.

I feel like every time I achieve something, the first thought that goes through my mind is "something off my list" and I have decided to not live that way anymore. When someone says " can I help you?" I vow to say "Yes" I am choosing to let go of some of my control. I know it will be hard, and that some of my grand ideas will have to wait for another chance to be put into action. But I am willing to give it my best, for a better quality of life. I want - I deserve to enjoy each moment that I am given; to experience the lesson, the joy the moment has to offer. Maybe I need to give myself some credit and treat myself as I would someone else. With kindness and love and patience. I don't have to do it all, and I don't have to plan so many things that I have to have a list to check off.

So there... Another thing off my list- {update blog:)}

IT'S GREAT TO BE EIGHT!

November 1st 1999
The most wonderful event to ever happen to me {up to that point} Chastin Zaine Barnes entered this world.
Via C- section @ 4:00am on the button!
Due- October 10th! Way over due!
He lived in intensive care for a week then came home to our place in Edmonds.
We couldn't have been happier or more tired!
He stayed in our bed and hardly ever cried or slept.
Now it is eight years later and we still couldn't be happier!What a wonderful boy!

Shilo and I brought Costco pizza and juice boxes to Chastins class to celebrate his birthday! It was a total hit!
John always brings home a special gift for Chastin and Shilo on their birthday. Something he picked out just for that child, and doesn't tell me so I can be just as surprised, I always know to have the camera ready when dad gets home with a gift in his jacket.

Here we are out to dinner at Rubys Diner with our good friends the Blasers. We had a wonderful time celebrating Chastins special day!

We were so glad that Chastin was able to have a wonderful day filled with friends, family and lots of FUN!