lovin' my new camera

i think i have a camera obsession!

hate to admit it but i think it comes from working for the camera shop- seeing all the new stuff

getting a discount and all that...

and then there was my grandpa who stopped to take pictures constantly.

he was the only one to ever take pictures of me.

when we traveled i was in the back with all our stuff because the camera equipment needed all the space in the trunk. i kinda liked being piled in with all our stuff, it oddly made me comfortable.

back to the subject- i have been using jordan's point and shoot for 2+ years and not that she minds- but i think she would like to have it when she wants it, and not always have to hunt it down wherever i last used it. i am glad she shares, so i'm sharing my new point and shoot.

i am a loyal canon user but a coupon came up in the costco add for this camera and another one, and i wasn't about to buy the crappy other one they advertised.

so i went with this one. i bought it on a whim sort of. and thankfully did, because a few days later the economy hit my house and i lost the majority of my job. {but this post isn't about that}

so the fact is that i love this camera! i call it my diaper bag camera { also something i just bought. finally..}


to share a few.

my True

my house

my wonderful father in law

My big Family

We had this picture taken a few weeks ago. I didn't really see how big of a family I really had till the photographer handed me the picture. And I said "Wow! There are a lot of us!" There is much to be said for having a big family.

I make a Costco run every week, people always look at me these days- baby hanging over one arm, pushing my full cart one handed, Shilo trailing along.

A family of this size takes organization. Who needs to be where when. How much attention does each child need.
Schedule. Schedule. Schedule.

Some times we joke when people stare " do we have something hanging out our noses?"

Or when we take up a row at the play and everyone needs to comment on how many seats we have. I always tell my kids- better to have positive attention than negative, so smile, say thank you for the compliment and enjoy the fact that you will always have someone to do something with.

So maybe I have to work so we can do some fun things- like eat at the Salty's Buffet, take week long camping trips in Montana, go out to dinner for our kids Birthdays... but we feel like it makes the outing that much more special.

We enjoy the chaos of our big family and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

So for your enjoyment- a list, a few stats if you will, of what it takes to run this 'gig'

• one loaf of bread each night when making lunches


• 7 gallons of milk a week


• 3 rolls of t.p a week


• 2 Netflix movies a week


• 3-4 bags of popcorn a week on average


• one box each of ziploc snack/sandwich bags a month


• 2 dozen eggs a week


• 4 Costco size bags of chips a week


• 2 dozen cookies for lunches a week


• 3 gallons of juice a week


• 50-100 photos taken every week {try staying organized with that!}


• 12 lbs of fruit a week just in lunches


• 5 lbs veggies a week


• 50 lbs potatoes a month


• 10-15 lbs of meat a week


• 2- one gallon size liquid hand soap a month
• one pack of wipes a week
• a dozen diapers a day

Some might be planning their next cool trip, buying their next nice car, buying designer clothes, as for me, I have chosen to have a big family over those things for now. And sometimes my eyes turn green, and I wish I had it all...

Then I stop and thank heaven for the choices I have made. Play with my kids instead of buying them something, take a walk with them and just breath in their love. When I wish they were all in bed quiet, I try to remember that they won't always need me, won't always want to talk to me about their day, that I only get to have them all home for really a short period of time in the whole scheme of things, and I am grateful they chose me as their mom. That I chose to share my love, energy, patience, {income} and home with these 5 kids.

I guess this is just more of a journal entry than anything...

I just want to remember this time in my life.

A plug for my friends at Ballard Camera

Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale Sale!!!



Ballard Camera is having a giant sale this Saturday!
All scrapbook stuff is 50% off! Now they are not an over priced store so you really are getting a good deal. They have all sorts of albums, tons of stickers, crop-a-dials, and lots of other goodies!
More paper choices than anyone needs and cute add ons.
Frames and albums are also 50% off. So if you have any projects you would like to get working on, maybe now is the time to start! I know I will be stocking up on adhesive!
Just thought I would share the deals!

Ballard Camera is located on the corner of 20th and Market.
206-783-1121

Maybe I'll see you there!

A little barnes update

I feel really far behind.
I've taken well over 1,500 pictures in the last 3 months
Yet have no idea where to start with my blog.
So here goes nothing.







Our cub Scouts bettering our planet. We collected 20lbs of trash!
{John and I are the leaders}




















We met up with Shilos friend Rachel at the Children's Museum on Friday. Boy did they have fun.

True seemed a little bored, but fell fast asleep shortly...






Shilos five year old check up yesterday went well, she is all ready to start school in the fall!


















True at the cardiologist, he was so happy to begin with.
And all is going to be alright.












I feel like the Doctors are getting to keep much more of my pay check than I am, but I have decided to be grateful that we have insurance, and not complain.

new clothes for an old body

Well True is 10 weeks old and I have been able to wear my old clothes since he was 3 weeks.
Now this is not amazing to me because I wasn't tiny to begin with, and I worked real hard to not gain much weight. I gained 18 pounds and lost another 8 by the time he was 3 weeks. So I thought it was time to get some new shirts because I was able to wear most of my regular clothes {shirts,leggings and skirts} right up till the end.
People have been all a buzz about this H&M store, so we took a little trip down there last night.
Yes it was inexpensive- I bought a zip up hoodie and 4 shirts for about $60 bucks.
Yes it was crazy clothes - some things that I'm sure must have been left over from the 80s.
No it wasn't any Ann Taylor Loft- which really is my all time favorite.
But most of all it was scary in the dressing room. Not because I just had a baby- which is scary all in it's self, but because I felt like I was in the 360* mirror from what not to wear. I couldn't get done fast enough!
And another thing- you must not wear a bra size bigger than say a double D.... because the shirts only go up to size 12, and if you want to actually read any of the words on the shirt your trying on you might need a 14 or 16. But overall, it was o.k. And I came home with a cute shirt that has a big heart made out of words that says True Love, at first I thought it said 'I love True' and that's what made me try it on. So it wasn't bad. I can't complain, I went looking for shirts to cover my ' Oprah' arms as I call them, and I found 5 items to do the job! And all for a good price!

btw- I would post pictures, but my card reader is broken, and I'm waiting for my new one to come in from Ballard Camera. :)

it's like a scene from Hitch

So just imagine that scene from HITCH where he is allergic to the food and swells up like a puffer fish.
Well that's me.
I have a MRSA staph infection- which they have been treating for 6 days with a mixture of two sulfur based drugs, well it took six days but i finally had an allergic reaction to them. saturday night my skin got spotty like a heat rash that itched. the consulting nurse said to stop the drugs, and come in in the morning if it was worse.
well fine and dandy. can't take anything for the itch, because i'm nursing. cold baking soda bath was about it.
sunday i woke up covered in blotchy red patches, swollen lips and ears and a fever. time to hit the hospital again. joy.
pretty bad when one of the hospital workers recognizes you.
a shot in the hip started the process of relief.

i'm trying to be optimistic but it's tough when the list of problems continues.
so far i've had to deal with-
1 missed staple,
my incision opening,
true getting MRSA,
uterus infection,
me getting MRSA,
one extra week of bed rest,
one more week of no driving,
allergic reaction to drugs that shouldn't be prescribed together under any circumstance.

all i can say is pray for me. the dr said that if my staph infection comes back we will likely do ivs every 12 hours for how ever long. at least it will be gone.
wish me luck, i'm signing out.

precious moments

john made me this coat holder sometime ago.
nothing fancy- just something that fits perfectly in the space.
made of an old window from Paige's house, and old miss matched glass door knobs i rummaged for at Bernie's antiques.
I just noticed this morning how cute chastins zinger sweatshirt is hanging next to a sweet princess sweater, and a baby coat.
it's surreal to me. i have 3 kids. that are all mine.