busy bees

Today was one of the down days that normal people take after a long trip, or vacation with family. For me it was because I had three really busy days all back to back, and felt like I have been running the entire time. To most moms and probably regular people everyday is packed full, but around here I like to keep our schedules open with lots of time for playing outside and naps. Yep that is right I want my kids to have a lot of time to take a good nap, because that means that I too will be resting during that time. Go ahead and call me lazy,but it is what it is.

At 6 am this morning both Gwen and Harrison were laughing and calling out from their beds ready to start the day, I was not so ready for the long list of things that I hadn't gotten done due to the previous chaotic days of this week, but when the kids call, the mom goes.

We lounged in our jammies and had breakfast, then lounged some more as the temperatures outside climbed. Then when the kids no longer wanted to just hang out it was time to get to work. We started off with some dishes and washed some clothes and some cushion covers, vacuumed, and dusted, made the beds, got dressed and emptied the trash.

Break for lunch

Cleaned up lunch, cleaned up toys played some games, changed some more laundry and folded the first batches. Read some books and played catch ya (our version of tag), then it was nearing nap time and the kids looked like they just might cooperate.

break for naps...and a great and extra long nap it was.
while the kids slept for a good 3 hours I made sure to do a few things online, and make some phone calls to the dentist and such, you know just more things on the list. When the kids got up they were running around like maniacs and not quite so interested in the other loads of laundry that I was folding. But we made it through the list of chores had a breakfast buffet for dinner, and played and read some more too.

I know a lot of moms that are super busy with all the house stuff, more kids, jobs, and other activities than I have, how do they do it? Where do they find the time? And do they ever get caught up on all the stuff that has to be done? I am seriously considering not putting our kids into any extra activities that require us to shuttle after school, take up the weekends, or shuttle out of town. I may change my mind later, but as for now I am trying to keep the free time. It is exhausting being busy all the time.

Depressed starts with an H

So this is normal Harrison. Playing in the pantry, pulling out things that he knows that he shouldn't be playing with, making a mess, you know the everyday sort of stuff. Well a little while ago we decided to start Gwen in a little joy school, a couple days a week kind of thing, just to see how she would do. On the first day I was nervous to let her go all by herself, but what I didn't think about was what her sidekick Harrison would be doing without her. It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen. Poor little guy, he wandered from room to room looking for her and then I found him like this...
hulled up in a corner so sad. I didn't realize that by sending Gwen to play with some friends was going to bring on a case of depression for Harrison. The whole time she was gone he just wanted to be held and to cuddle. So while Gwen was doing this at school, (that is a chefs hat)
Harrison was doing this at home, waiting just waiting.
And when she did come home we had some lunch and Harrison didn't let her out of his sight the rest of the afternoon.
I asked Gwen if she had fun at school and tried to get her to tell me about it, but she was much much more interested in eating lunch and playing with Harrison and the toys. So maybe she missed him too.

a little vitamin D

Yesterday the weather was soooo nice. The perfect kind of day to visit the playscape and soak in a little needed vitamin D. So that is just what we did.
we played a little game of hid and seek...that is when we found out that Gwen wasn't really playing, just hanging around.
And giant Harrison stomped all around the place, more than happy to be outside in the sun.
We also found some rocks and dirt to play in and...
leaves and bark chips too. The best part was that when we finally made it back into the house we had a quick lunch and then super long naps. Now that is the way to spend the day with the kids. You know where we will be today if it is looking nice outside.

one to frame

James and I got these really great picture frames about a year ago and except for the holidays have yet to fill them with something permanent. Until now. During the Christmas picture attempt James snapped this while adjusting the settings on the camera. The rest of the Christmas pictures didn't turn out so well, as a matter of fact we couldn't even get the kids to sit side by side on the couch for more than five seconds. But I love this one so much that I think that the chaos of the entire photo shoot was worth it.

Family fun...Barlow style

Grrrr! I have been trying to add one other image for the last hour, and lets just say that blogger is driving me crazy. So I guess that I will do that one later. As for our weekend it was fun and filling. On Friday we had dinner with Ryan and Leslie and on Saturday we took a family trip to Chili's. I will admit that taking the kids to a sit down restaurant is a risky game, but we took a little chance and it was great the kids did so good. Gwen played with all the sugars and she and James counted them and played a color game.
Harrison was a champ too. He didn't cry or fuss, he just ate and looked around and played and threw his food on the ground. Hey I can't complain he was being so quite. So at the end of the meal James had told Gwen that we could get some cake if she was good, so we had to hold up to our end of the bargin, no complaints on my end.
The chocolate molton cake is one of my favorites!! And I think that it went over really well...
Even Harrison dug in and liked it. I guess they really are my kids. Sunday was our first day in the new callings, I am excited to see how James likes hanging out with all the YM in our ward, and as for me Primary is pretty entertaining. Oh how I do love a good extended weekend.

nope not dead...

Nope we are not dead, not even close. We are however working with two nutty kids that seem to have some kind of a cold/cough not fun in the least. I do realize that it has been quite a while since I have updated with new posts. First off I can't believe that it is Friday already, but this week has been kind of busy. Here are a few little things that have been keeping me busy and away from the blogging world:

Baby Shower for ward member, and an awesome movie afterward! (total treat to myself, mind you it was at like 9:30 at night so I wasn't really neglecting my kids and husband.)

YW Always an exciting time with the youth, and never lacking in yummy treats.

events taking place between:

8:00 am to 9:00 am

9:00 am to 10:00 am

10:00 am to 11:00 am

11:00 am to 12:00 pm

Are we already to noon in 24! The day is going by way too fast. But what a treat to see Jack Bauer back in action...not to mention while on trial. LOVE that. Maybe this week will bring some new and exciting things to blog about, maybe not I hope that it will though.

maid in training

For Christmas Harrison got this little vacuum, and he is crazy about it. I am pretty sure it is the first thing that he goes for in the morning. It is like a little pretend cleaning wake up call. Sometimes he will look like he is really trying to get the carpets clean, he has this intense face that he wears to vacuum. I hope that he decides to continue to love to clean and tidy up. I would love the help.

And the Heavenly choir sings...

You Can't Always Get What You Want...

Yesterday morning on my way to take James to work this song came on the radio. I actually really like this song and the way it is combined with the choir, little did I know that this was going to be the theme of my day. Later that morning I took Gwen to the pediatric dentist for the first time. I didn't think that it was going to be a really big deal, I mean she is only two after all.

When we got there we were in the front waiting room for a little bit and the kids played with the toys and computer and the movie "Cars" was playing, they were loving it.


Then the hygienist showed us back to our little area, and Gwen hopped right up into the chair. She showed the ladies how she brushed her teeth and read them a book while we were waiting on the dentist.
We waited for kind of a long time so they let Gwen get down and play with some of the toys that they had in the back room, and how fitting Gwen found some toothpaste that went with the giant toothbrush she was using earlier.
I had another little picture here but it just got deleted thanks to some little hands, and I don't really feel like re-posting the whole thing, so just pretend that you see Harrison and Gwen playing with some toys in a corner.

Gwen did a really good job at the dentist, she wasn't afraid or difficult, a little excited, but overall pretty great. The dentist came out to check her teeth and put some fluoride on them and she decided to check her back teeth for cavities...well she found some, more than some a lot! While she explained to me the options that they can use for kids that probably won't sit still for a filling Gwen was off greeting the staff and running around with Harry. I was devastated. How did this happen to my little girl that actually likes to brush her teeth? And asks to do it? I cried the entire way home, and sobbed to James' voicemail about what a terrible mom I am for letting her have a sippy cup.

After I talked to James, and you know that he was all calm and collected about the whole thing, we put in the paper work to get her in to have it all fixed up. And last night I scoured the entire kitchen and everything in it, then moved onto the bathrooms cleaning like a maniac trying to process the entire day. What I came up with is that I guess that I will be more mindful of what the kids are eating, and drinking from now on.

you try, you like...

We took a little adventure to Build-A-Bear and got some really fun little animals, Harrison got a puppy, and Gwen made a panda bear that she named kung fu panda, I know totally original.

On New Years Eve we tried a new place to eat, a little Thai food. So here is what the kids thought of it, and I think that made it a success.
Nothing like dipping a little chicken in some peanut sauce and some fried rice.


And the rest of what we ate.
Later that night James and Ryan were off shooting a film, and Leslie and I took the kids to burn off some energy to good ol' McDondals and here is a little preview of what took place...and a whole lot of screaming and yelling.
Then after that we made a pretty good attempt at the bedtime routine. Poor Harrison he is always the lone boy.
But he doesn't seem to care that much, as long as there are toys in the tub and water to splash.
A little splashing and some shampoo and rubber duckies, then it was clean kids and no sleep. James and Ryan were out kind of late so that means that the kids were up way past their bedtime and then we made out first attempt at 9 am church. Yikes! I think that time is going to take some getting used to. Its a good thing that we have all year to practice being on time.

So the lesson learned this weekend is trying yummy new places to eat is good, and kids staying up past their bedtime not so good.