12 days

Here is a sarcastic look at the craziness of the weeks leading up to Christmas at the Barker home...

...On the 12th day of Christmas, my true loves gave to me:

12 gifts of wrapping

11 balls a popping

10 hands a building

9 picture out takes

8 songs a singing

7 treats a baking

6 colds and flus lingering

5 nightly cryful wakings

4 melting down children

3 cute Shepards

2 crashing down trees

...and

1 big broken toe!

 It is kinda funny how all the hustle and bustle can cause me to count my blessings... I had my fair share of melt downs (I blame that on the prego hormones!), but also couldn't feel more blessed to have the family and friends that do.  What joy this chaos brings to our lives :)! and how could I finish this post without acknowledging the biggest blessing of all- the gracious gift of a Savior!  Merry Christmas!

home life

This season in our lives we are home more than ever.  It is truly our home base and my hope is that it is where the heart is! 

School day!  Our first grader has a personal assistant.

 Most of the time, they make a great team!

 We opened pumpkins very late this year, I put the preschoolers to work getting the seeds together for roasting.

 

Tickle time! That is what he gets for touching my keyboard over and over!

 Tree decorating... They were all so excited!

 Leaf piles, the remainder of the leaves finally fell today.

One on One

With schedules, sibling chaos and household demands these days, I try hard to cherish the occasional one on one time I might get with each kid.  This time it was with Kyle... J was at school and the other two were napping.  We did something he has been asking to do for some time, make slime!  We mixed equal parts of liquid starch and glue, added some color and squished around.  He has a curiosity and imagination that amazes me! 

 



 His little hands are growing fast!

 Too fast!

 He is the one that is not afraid to get his hands dirty!

 I wonder what he is thinking...

 This is his map to California!

 The big stretch and little J joins him... I hope you enjoyed our time as much as I did!

November Rain

It has been warm, very warm this fall!  We haven't had any snow or barely any freezing temps, but we did get one little November rain (really more of a drizzle).  By now you should know what happens when it rains here in NM... Mad dash for the rain boots because the drizzle could be over in a matter of minutes!  Luckily it was actually a drizzly day, but that is still a rarity!  With that said, I had to capture it! 

"This is cool mom!"



 Pretty fall colors all around our backyard!

 That smirk stayed on his face the whole time, he thought rain was pretty neat!

 The rain drop catcher.

 "This stuff is really, really fun!" 

 The puddle jumper!

 Even the big man made it out outside to prove that he is 'never cold'!

Thankgiving 2012

This year for Thanksgiving, we enjoyed the company of Grandee Dee for the day and later went to my parents house for dinner.  My dad is currently in TN with a job & made his way to IN to spend it with my brother's family.  I wish we could of ALL been together, someday we WILL all get together! 

Grandee Dee is so patient with each of the kids, she is a blessing!

 Helping Josh with his reading...

 And later Josh teachering her how to play chess (his latest self learned obsession)...  He was quite the teacher and she took his lessons to heart. 

 This was the first year that Mike got to carve the turkey!

 Oh Boy!  I told you they were trouble makers!

 Happy Thanksgiving!

 I think he enjoyed his meal... Maybe he ate too much like the rest of us!

Number 5!

As of tomorrow, I am officially 3rd trimester... 12 more weeks to go!  The wheels of time keep rolling and don't seem to have working brakes anymore, where did the other 28 weeks go?  This is the first pregnancy that I got privilege of seeing a 3D ultrasound of our baby.  The pictures are amazing to me (the mother :), so I just had to share!  These were taken a few weeks ago when I was 24 week prego.

He looks like the other boys, that is for sure!  I love his lips and jawline.

 Sleepy baby!

 Rubbing his eyes and already hiding from the camera ;).

 The tech even captured a yawn... Amazing, he is beautiful!