Throwback Thursday - This still rings true today

I posted this to FB last year and today when it popped up on my memories I smiled when I realized that once again I need this reminder in my life. I need to keep reminding myself of this.

I can easily admit that I really struggle when it comes to me not being in control and actually feeling really uncomfortable in some situations when I'm not. It's why I say yes to things that I know I shouldn't do. Because I know if I do it it will turn out the way I'm comfortable with. If I let someone else do it and it isn't done the way I would do it I can sometimes find myself irritated. I like to control situations that I don't need to and I like things to be done my way. All things I know about myself, and really want to work on in the future. That and saying no to things and just letting others do them, and then if I do find it hard, just remind myself of this saying!!

Wednesday Wishes - To my kids

I wrote this post and then put the photos in and when I went back to proofread it and I took a second to look at this picture I got that big sappy mom feeling of super power love when I looked into their 3 very different but very similar little faces. They are such great little mixtures of Jim and I in their looks and their personalities. I truly enjoy watching them grow up and am so happy that I will always have this blog to look back on for what I was thinking and what I wished for them back when they were 1, 5 and 8 years old.

My biggest wish in life is to raise my kids into responsible and genuinely nice adults. I truly want them to be the kind of people that I choose to now surround myself with. I want them to be supportive and reliable people who can be there for their friends and family when they are needed and to lend a helping hand or ear when they see the need. I want them to do what they say they are going to do when they say they are going to do it! I want them to love their friends kids like their own and to foster good relationships with those around them. I want them to be positive people who focus on the good in life rather than the bad (which we all know there is lots of in life).

I want them to be successful and to work hard at whatever they choose to do with their lives. I don't care if they choose a career that I think isn't right for them, as long as they do their best at it then I will be happy. I hope to raise them to think and do for themselves without relying on me or their dad to do things for them that they can and should do for themselves. Working at VIU it astounds me how many moms call in for their kids to make appointments with advisers or fill out their application forms for them. These are all things that I truly believe that teenagers should be doing for themselves! I certainly did when I was growing up. I had a job at 15 and often worked 2 nights per week and both days of the weekend. It taught me about responsibility (and gave me a love for McDonalds food!) and working hard and I want that for my kids (maybe not the love of McDonalds though!).

In thinking about this post for the past few days I've been thinking of specific things that I wish for each of my kids individually that reflect on who they are and who I want them to become in the future. Here are my top three wishes for each of them.

James

(1) I wish for you to take the time to slow down sometimes and learn to listen more and talk less. You come by this trait honestly as I was you as a kid. I struggled to listen and always wanted to be heard. In some aspects of my life this has served me very well, but in others it's made my life far harder than it needed to be. This is a skill that you will learn over the years and I try to have patience and remind myself that you are still young and learning when it is appropriate to talk and when it is best to just listen and take in the world around you. You may be a big 8 year old boy physically and intellectually, but emotionally and socially you are often much younger than that...and that's okay too! I'm not in a rush for you to grow up, I'm just hoping that with some more guidance you will be able to grow into the amazing young man that I know you are destined to become.

(2) I wish for you to keep loving sports like you do, but maybe pick 1 or 2 that you truly want to excel in and practice really hard to get really good at them. If it's going to be hockey then I want you to skate like someone is chasing you on the ice and never stop until the practice or game is over. If it's karate I want you to work really hard at focusing on the things you are being taught and try hard to ignore the kids around you. If it's baseball then I want you to spend all year bugging your dad and I to take you to the fields to practice your pitching, hitting and throwing so that when baseball season hits each year you are ready to shine.

(3) I wish for you to keep learning and keep reading lots. You are an exceptional little boy that has a real love for learning new things. Your math skills blow me away all the time and I hope that that love keeps growing year by year. I can't wait to see what path you end up taking in life! Will you be a lawyer (you do love to argue)? Will you be a pro athlete (it's your biggest dream in life)? Will you be an engineer or accountant (your love and affinity for numbers makes me believe this could happen!)?

Jordie

(1) I wish for you to keep your sweet and loving demeanor forever. I hope you always tell me how much you love me just like you do right now. Since my return to work 6 weeks ago and your imminent start to Kindergarten you have become a lot more demonstrative with your love and I think it's very sweet. You tell me every day multiple times a day how much you love me, and the past two days you've told me I'm the prettiest mom in the whole world. I have always said that you do everything big in your life. You love big, you get angry big, and you smile and laugh the biggest of all.

(2) I wish for you to always keep your great little sense of humor. You are a really funny little character that loves to make people laugh. You love to tell jokes (even if you make them up and they don't make sense at all!) and you love to make your sister giggle more than anything else in the world. You will do anything to get her to laugh and when she does you instantly break out into the biggest and proudest little grin that just warms my heart. The bond you have with your sister is incredible for me to see and I hope that you always remember how much you love her, even when she is being a pest. I hope you always will be her protector.

(3) I wish for you that as you navigate the new big world of your school years that you keep being the wonderful little boy that you are. Remember to be kind to your friends, keep your hands to yourself, always be polite and use your manners, and most of all to have fun and enjoy learning new things. I can't wait to see your new path begin in elementary school and I can't wait to see how this next year in your life is for you and for all of us. It's always a big change when a kid starts school and I am so very excited for your journey to begin, but I will miss you at the same time too.

Kennedy

(1) I wish for you sweet girl to always know that you can do anything in the world that you set your mind to. You can be anything in the world that you want to, even if society tries to tell you otherwise. I chose a very female centered profession in administration, but I hope you do what truly makes you happy. I hope you always challenge yourself to be the best you that you can be in everything that you do, whether that's sports, school or your high school job (which you will get because I'm a firm believer in kids learning responsibility early on!)

(2) I wish for you that you grow up to be a sweet and kind little girl. One that stands up to bullies and tells them how wrong they are for treating people badly. I hope that you choose your friends wisely and find some best friends that will last your whole life. I hope that you spend your teen years working hard and spending time with your friends, instead of worrying about impressing the cute boy that sits next to you in math class. Boys are good and all, but wait until they are a little bit more grown up before you spend too much time worrying about them.

(3) I wish for you that you always feel pretty, even if you end up in the awkward teen years with braces (which I had) or acne (which your dad had). I promise you I will always make sure to tell you how beautiful you are on the inside and the out and I hope those are the words you hear in your head rather than the ones that you will inevitably hear from some mean girls in the halls of high school at some point. It's sad that I already know when you are 1 year old that this is something you will most likely have to deal with, but I also know that I will work damn hard to make sure that my words are the ones that stick and will teach you to try your best to let other's words roll off your shoulder. I want you to focus on becoming the amazing girl that I know you are destined to become. I think you are going to be a perfect little mixture of me and your dad, and of your two brothers too. I think you will be talkative like me, helpful like your dad, smart like James and funny like Jordie. I can't wait to see what your toddler years bring to our already really dynamic family!

So...there you have it! My 3 wishes for each of my munchkins. I really liked writing this post and I hope to write more like this in the future.

Tuesday Top Ten - Barrows family

This is another new post I'm trying out! If you have any other suggestions for possible Tuesday posts let me know in the comments on FB or IG cause I'm liking having some jumping off type points to get these posts started.

So this weeks' Tuesday Top Ten is all about the Barrows Family as a whole. I'd like to do a separate one for each of us in the coming weeks too but we'll see how far I get :)

(10) We've lived in our 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom townhouse for 10 years already. We both would love to move to a house with a yard and it's definitely in the plans for one day down the road but for now we still fit (barely...but that's not because of the size of the house, it's because of the sheer amount of shit we have crammed in here!)

(9) Jim and I have been married for 11 years and together for 15 years now. We've had some really incredible years and some really tough years, but we're still here making it work. Marriage is hard, and marriage with little kids is even harder. Every day brings its challenges, but also its victories. We have always worked as a good team together and have tried our best to prioritize raising them certain ways above other things.

(8) The number 8 is my favorite number ever and if you are ever near me when I'm around any kids and I tell them to pick a number between 1-10, just know that the number will ALWAYS be 8! And yes I have taught James that now so I can't do that with him anymore because then he always wins. :)

(7) We used to have a big fat cat that you might remember if you've been reading this blog for awhile. His name was Coal and he truly was my first baby. I loved that big fat thing so much and miss him often...but have absolutely no desire to get any pets any time soon. Once we have a house and our kids are a little bit older we will look at getting a dog or two or finish off our family.

(6) This blog is my happy place and I wish I had more time to devote to it, but I find the only time I find any motivation and time to do it is after the kids are in bed, which is usually when I'm just exhausted. I do find though that when I do publish a new post that I still love seeing the stats and seeing how many people read it and I love when people comment on the blogs too!

(5) Our favorite family activities are camping, swimming and spending our spring and summer at the ball park! So many wonderful memories have been made over the past 8 years since we became a family.

(4) We love to spend our Friday nights with dinner in the living room and a movie. We call it Friday movie night and the boys look forward to it so much. We usually do an easy dinner like chicken strips, pizza, ceasar wraps, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc. Then the boys usually fight over what movie to watch and it's usually decided by me or Jim just to stop the arguing :)

(3) We love our kids more than anyone else on this earth, but having three of them definitely has it's challenges. I knew it would be hard for sure, but with so many other variables at play in our life I can easily admit that a lot of days (especially lately) I feel overwhelmed by the life that I've created for myself. I know that this too shall pass and soon all my babies will be grown up and won't need me the same as they do now, so I figure I'm just going to hang on by the seat of my pants to get through the next few years and hope that one day, some how, my life gets easier and I don't feel so overwhelmed, over touched, over stimulated and over talked to!

(2) I tell my kids I love them a ridiculous amount of times per day. I bet I tell them at least 5-10 times each. I also say to them all the time "hey, guess what?" to which they reply with "I know, you love me" I also tell my mom I love her pretty much every single day too and have for as long as I can remember. I used to call her from college every day just so I would hear that I was loved by someone. I really believe it's so important in raising good kids for them to know they are loved and taken care of, and I hope my kids will one day tell someone else that their mom told them every single day that she loved them.

(1) We love to laugh and I think that we are a pretty happy and funny family to be around. We enjoy spending time with our friends and their kids, and also our family too. There are always a lot of laughs and fun times and I'm proud of the people that are in our inner circle these days. We have an amazing support system around us and we couldn't be happier with the love that is shown to all of us on a daily basis. We are truly loved and blessed, and we couldn't be more thankful for that.

** So that's it for my first Tuesday Top 10 blog post! ** Now to start planning next weeks post :)

Monday Memories - Mother's Day 2018

I had probably my best Mother's Day/Weekend yet this year! It started off with flowers from the kids on Saturday after they went shopping with their Dad! Then I got to sleep in until around 8:30 on Sunday and got up to gifts from the kids schools and cards from everyone. I love the little handmade gifts that Busy Bee's and Westview have the kids make. They are some of my favorites to keep!

As we were waiting for Jim to finish getting ready for breakfast we had a little impromptu photo session on the front deck. I've learned that it's best to snap the pic when you think of it, rather than putting it off and waiting for later in the day because inevitably the kids are crankier, the hair is all messed up and usually they are grumpy! I'm so glad they cooperated because I do really love these photos of me and my babies!

These ones of the 3 of them just make me giggle!

Next up was brunch at Magpie's with the Tassell's which is always a fun place to eat and we always have a good time together. 

Here are some pictures from the meal!

Jaxon and his yummy Mickey Mouse pancakes

James finally remembered to order himself his own eggs benny! He ate the whole benny, plus maybe a quarter of the hashbrowns!

And for the first time ever we snapped a picture of just me and Ash and all the kids. I know we've gotten some good photos over the years but I can't think of any with us and all the kids together. Needless to say I LOVE IT and it's going on the wall for sure (if I ever get around to printing new pics for the walls?) 

After brunch we hit up a local park we had never been to and took a little drive around town. Then I got some quiet alone time while Kennedy slept and the boys went out and played some hockey. It's amazing how much I now cherish any time I get alone, even if it is only an hour or two. I so appreciate the quiet like I never knew I would. 

Finally we finished off the day with Sunday dinner at Nana and Papa's house and the kids played in the pool in the backyard too. 

Yeah I'd say she was loving the pool!

hhhmmmm....strawberries and angel food cake for dessert!

Here's the pictures of me opening my presents. They aren't my favorite photos so I didn't want them at the beginning of the post...but also don't want to not include them either :) 

Overall a really wonderful Mother's Day! Thanks so Jimmy and the kids for making me feel special! 

Funny Friday - Brotherly love

I want to start doing some regular quick and easy blog posts that are just snapshots into our life. Yesterday I did Thankful Thursday and today I'm doing Funny Friday!

A few weeks ago we took the kids to Willingdon to the Beach Hut for supper. While we were waiting for our food Kennedy started toddling around the picnic tables and walked right up to a group of four people also waiting. As she does, she quickly made friends and put her arms up to be picked up. A really sweet lady that I don't know (but definitely recognize from around town) picked her up and started walking around with her. She was walking back and forth from the food window to her table carrying food as it came up, all the while carrying Kennedy with her.

Meanwhile, Jordie and James are sitting at the picnic table with Jim and I. The next thing we hear is James shouting at the lady "hey, that one will cost you $100...but you can have this other one for free!" while actually pointing at his brother!

Everyone around us started laughing, but no one more than me and Jim. I was so embarrassed but also really amused that he had literally just tried to give away his brother!! I remember years ago when Jordie was around Kennedy's age and we tried to tell James we were going to sell him to the circus and James was so upset he was in tears saying we couldn't get rid of him. Oh how times have changed!!

  

Thankful Thursday - Mama edition

I have the best mom and dad in the whole world. They are always there for our family and are always willing to help out whenever and wherever they can. I KNOW how fortunate I am and please don't ever question whether I appreciate them, because I do, and I try very hard to make sure that I tell them that all the time so they know that I do, and I hope they never feel like I take advantage of them. I have seen friends over the years struggle to find the kind of support that I have always had since even before I had my kids.

I have always felt and known that they were literally just a phone call and 4 blocks down the road and many times I've leaned on them hard. They have come to my rescue in the middle of the night when I had the flu and Jim was away working, they've driven me to the hospital during more than one Crohn's attack, they've come to comfort me and Jordie after a really scary fall in the bathtub, they've helped me clean up barf from a really sick baby James when I was scared and alone, they've held my hand and comforted me through multiple hospital stays, an appendectomy, bowel resection surgery, bowel perforation complication from a colonoscopy, 2 regular c-sections and then the scariest of all, my c-section/hysterectomy last year with baby K. They have literally come to pick up my kids when I was at my absolute wits end and just needed a break. They have saved me from killing each of them at least once in their lives :)

A few weeks back I was feeling very overwhelmed and emotionally just spent and I showed up in their driveway at 9am with a grumpy Kennedy and just broke down into tears. I had a to-do list a mile long and desperately had errands to run. I knew I could get them all done, but also knew it would take me twice (or three) times as long to do them with Kennedy. I don't know if other people do this, but the moment I saw my mom and she hugged me I just started to sob. She is and always has been my safe place in life, when everything else is going to shit, I know my Mama is always there to listen and give her opinion about something. She encourages me to reach out when I need it and always just lets me know she's there. I don't think anyone could ask for anything more than that.

Today was another errand running morning and I called up Nana on my way to taking Jordie to school and she thankfully let me drop Kennedy with her for an hour while I ran to 4 stores for stuff I needed for Jordie's party. She also then went and picked up Jordie from preschool an hour later while Kennedy was napping. And then this weekend she's watching K during the party so we don't have to worry about a crazy little toddler running around the bowling alley!

If you've read this and you haven't told your mom lately how much you love and appreciate her...go and do it!

So apparently the only picture I can find on my phone right now is of these two goofballs on the night before their garage sale wearing some of the boys old hats! 

Hahahahahahaha...what an awesome photo!