Selfie Saturday

I'm not usually in a lot of our family photos unless I specifically ask Jim to take a photo of something, but I am not shy about taking a selfie here and there to make sure I'm in some photos too! I don't want to be one of those moms that never shows up in their family's photos and years later my kids wonder if I was even a part of things.

KJ and Daddy came to see me on my break at the Complex last night and we went for a great 45 minute walk through the trails! When we got to this bridge she stopped and said "I want to take a photo of all of us together" She is definitely my kid :) 

I use the word "walk" very loosely for Kennedy, cause this is how she spent 95% of her time! She whined that she didn't want to walk so instead of listening to her he just carried her instead! 

Mommy and KJ afternoon park and beach date while the boys played baseball at a different park with Dad

Evening walks with my oldest love. He saw the sunset and said he wanted a photo!

Hahahahahaha....he insisted on switching glasses for a birthday photo! 

KJ and Mommy swimming while the boys did the drop in skateboarding at the Complex

Me and my honey on Easter

Tonight I realized I had no selfies with my Jordie boy so I made him come and take one with me :)

Photo Friday - the reason I take photos of everything

The other day Kennedy brought me a book that I haven't read to her in a long time (probably at least a year or more) and when we opened up the front cover we found this and it brought tears to my eyes. For Kennedy's baby shower people brought us books instead of cards and we love looking back through them all these years later and seeing the special messages in them.

 For those that might not know, Bumma (aka Barb) was my step-dad George's first wife, and my step-sister Andra's mom (I never refer to them as step, but in this case I will so it's not confusing). She was also one of my mom's best friends when I was little (that's a long family story we'll save for another day). She was Auntie Barb to me for many many years. 

Bumma was so very special in our world and we miss her lots. We talk about her often with the kids and remember the fun times we all shared together. I can't believe she's been gone almost 2 years already! From the very first day that Barb met Jim when we first came to Powell River for a visit, she was a huge fan and they just clicked. They shared an incredible bond over the years, filled with many Saturday game nights. I always knew he was her favorite Barrows, even though she'd known me my whole life. I always wished I had been closer with her over the years but I was glad that Jim got to spend that special time with her.

Bumma was a constant presence at all of the kids birthday parties and many family holiday dinners (you see, our family is family no matter what, divorce included). She came to Christmas concerts and baseball games. She always gave the best hugs and let the kids play with anything at her house. They loved her electric calculator on her desk the very best. 

She had the best laugh in the world and a sense of humour that would make even the hardiest of people blush sometimes. She was well loved by us all and she is missed always.

Whenever my family makes fun of me for the thousands (yes thousands) of photos that I take every year, I remind them that when they die I'll be able to share memories and photos of them from over the years. Others may not get it, but to me it matters a lot, so even if I do get made fun of for it, I still continue to take the photos and I hope that one day they will appreciate all of the memories I've saved and shared. 

This kid has always been a character

Trying to recreate a photo from his toddler years. Not quite, but still super funny. That picture of him on the left just kills me. In the full photo he was standing next to James who was very nicely smiling for me, and then Jordie gave me this face. That was VERY common back in his toddler years!

I love this photo of them from back in the day. Funny how fast time goes, it's hard to even remember what life was like back then. 

I miss this guy

Jim has been working a bit of a crazy shift the past few weeks over on Texada that has him spending every weeknight on the island. Usually he would have worked kind of one week days, one week afternoons, but lately he's been 6-2. He does get to come home a few hours earlier in the afternoon which is great for the kids and their baseball schedules, but I am missing our quiet few hours together after we finally get our monsters to bed. Our weekends have been busy too but we've tried to make the best of our time together by getting some crib games in, some family walks, and snuggles whenever we get the chance! Here's a couple of photos of my handsome hubby from the past few weeks.

A beautiful evening walk and bike ride last Saturday evening. The kids got new bikes and wanted to try them out so off we went. We are loving that the kids are old enough now that we can all get out together and explore our neighbourhood more. Yay for no more babies in our family!

Friday evening we stayed up super late watching our shows and snuggling on the couch. This was the only photo I took all day, which is super rare for me. I did work though 8:30-1:30 at VIU and then 3-9 at the Complex so it makes sense that I didn't even really see my kids so had no chance to take photos of them :) 

A few weekends ago we decided shortly before supper that we should go for a walk. None of the kids wanted to come with us so Jim suggested that we walk to Capone's to get him beer, so that's what we did. He was thrilled and it was a great walk where we just got to spend 45 minutes talking with no distractions. I am loving our lifestyle change that has us spending our time doing physical things, and without our kids sometimes too! It's been great for both of us!

It's not just me that misses him. Our sweet little lady is really missing Daddy these days too. Her evening time with him consists of books and snuggles when he tucks her in at night. Once baseball season is over she'll get more of his time, but for now she'll sneak in whatever snuggles she can get!

In the middle of James's birthday dessert time at Nana and Papa's she asked Daddy to read her a book so right there he dropped what he was doing and read her that book. He is such a wonderful daddy and all of the kids know how lucky they are to have him. 

The kids may realize how lucky they are, but no one realizes it more than I do. This man works hard every day, travels more than 2 hours each day, even if it's sometimes for just 2-3 hours of time with his kids. He is often totally exhausted but he gets up the next day and does it all again. I encourage him the best I can to take time for himself and in a normal year that would have been playing baseball, but this year that's not an option so instead he's jumped head on into helping coach the boys 4 nights a week instead. I hope he'll one day find something he wants to do that is just for him, so I can encourage him the way that he's encouraged me to take time for myself. It's been a game changer for my mental health, my life happiness and our marriage over all.  

Where did the last 2 weeks go?!

My last post was on April 9th and after that things got crazy with 2 birthdays and the start of two baseball divisions. Plus some amazing weather and a lot of work for both Jim and I. My 3 jobs are keeping me very busy these days, plus the PAC is picking up the next few months with some fundraisers and some planning for next year! And just to add to the craziness, I recently put my name forward for the Treasurer position on the board of PR Minor Hockey :) I do like to be busy and I suspect the next year will be that for sure. 

I'm hoping to get some time over the weekend to do some new blogs but for now I'll just put a few of my favorites from the past 2 weeks. 

She turned 4 and all of a sudden just looks like such a big girl!

Pretty pumped with his new baseball bat and gloves! Now to heal up the toe so he can get back out on the field.

Another evening walk after the little kids go to bed! I'm loving the longer evenings and getting that quiet alone time before settling down for the evening.

Beautiful sunset on my walk

My Spider Jordie loves climbing any and all door jams that he can! 

Photo Friday - hair cuts and colors!

Today Jordie got a haircut and go the blue redone again. He looks so handsome! 

James just got a haircut, and decided to just let the orange keep growing out. We all really like this color now that it's faded out a lot! Next time they are thinking they'll go with green, just in time for Fun Day at school in June (if they are in school...and if they can have some sort of Fun Day that is!)

Week 2 of Spring Break and Easter!

Week 2 of spring break found the boys in day camp and Kennedy at daycare for 3 full days. By the end of the 3rd day she was an exhausted mess but had so much fun playing for full days with her little daycare buddies. The boys had a blast at camp too and I even got to see them when I was working there on Tuesday and Thursday which was great. The camp leaders told me that they tried to engage them in the group craft activities but all they wanted to do was run around playing sports ALL DAY. They also got to do extra swimming each afternoon after camp so by Friday everyone was tired and ready for a quiet day! I worked a ton at VIU leading up to year end on the 31st, plus 3 shifts at the Complex too. It was a crazy long and exhausting week that led to a super fun Easter weekend. Jim worked Friday and Saturday and I worked on Sunday but we did enjoy an amazing family day together on Monday! 

She was so excited for her lunch for daycare on Tuesday that she insisted that I take a photo of her with it! 

Daddy worked an odd shift this week and was thrilled to make it home early enough to take his little lady in for her first real haircut with Auntie Ra. I just about cried when she showed up at the Complex afterwards to show me. So much had to be cut off to get it to one length! It looks so cute and feels so healthy and fresh! 

Morning snuggles with Mama and a few of her Care Bears

Lunch time walk for Mom! 

Stopped in to wish Maddie a happy Birthday and take her flowers but I didn't get any photos with the birthday girl this time! Jordie also scored a new bike that Jaxon had outgrown! 

And Kennedy did too! 

Best buds since babies

Showing off her daycare Easter goodies

Mom's favorite tea cup

It was that kind of dinner! Subway and movie night :) 

Morning playtime with big brother

Another beautiful evening walk

Snuggles with Dad before bed.

Early Mothers Day present for myself! 

Another beauty walk through the neighbourhood! I love this view every time I walk down this hill.

The kids were playing at the school and I was walking around when all of a sudden daddy showed up early by taking an earlier ferry than expecting and surprised his two girls with flowers. We are so lucky to have him as ours :) 

"Mom, I want to be underwear girl"  Okay kid, you do you. She is SO her Daddy's girl sometimes! 

Yummy crockpot chicken dish we tried this week! 

Chicken, then stove top stuffing

Topped with cream of chicken soup and sour cream mixture. Cook on low for 4 hours and it was super yummy!

Walk to Nana and Papa's house on Saturday to decorate cookies.

Hahahahahaha...we had JUST finished watching Onward before we left for our walk. This makes me laugh so hard.

Cookie decorating with Nana and Papa was so much fun! 

Nana giving James a hard time

Nana still giving James a hard time

And still giving it to him! These two have the cutest relationship ever these days as he's getting older!

This was him seriously debating squirting the icing on his Nana :) 

The cookies were delicious and came in a kit from a company in Nanaimo that had someone bring them over to town the day before. 

Practicing her letters with Nana

Chilling out in MY spot on the couch!

Sunday morning I was up ridiculously early and decided to get a walk in before everyone was up for the day and off for our egg hunt and then my day of work. 

Easter at Nana & Papa's house!

The egg hunt was again a huge hit. Each kid gets two colors to search for which works out great and has little to no fighting over fairness in the number of eggs they each find. Lesson learned early on when we only two kids who loved to compete and fight about anything! 

Seriously...have you ever seen a happier, more excited little girl with an egg! I even captured the jump and I just love this photo! 

And such a cool big kid too? My god he's looking so grown up these days! 

This kid was the one that just kept calling out whenever he saw an egg whether it was his color or not :)

Annual egg hunt family photo!

Had to get some with Nana and Papa too of course! 

I love this one so much of the 5 of them! We don't take a ton of photos with them, especially this past year, but this is one of my favorites ever! 

These two and their daily piggy back ride

Pretty pumped about her new Natives

After the egg hunt I went off to work and then the kids and Dad went swimming that afternoon.

Daddy and Kennedy made her new Lego set right after swimming

Monday was our only day off together on the weekend and we spent a glorious day at second beach with Ash and the kids.

The kayaks were a big hit again this year. Kennedy is thrilled that she's now big enough to paddle all by herself. Jim said the water was freezing cold, and I believed him and didn't even dip my toe in to check!

This was the highlight of the day for the kids. We let them sit in the back of the truck just up the dirt road to the pole line. They all laughed and had so much fun and it reminded Jim and I of when we were kids and this was just something every family did! 

Hahahahaha Jordie thought he was so sneaky with the open cooler beside him and taking out raw wienies for everyone.

We got home from the beach with just enough time for a few quick showers and then James and I took off on foot for a beautiful walk to N&P's for Easter dinner.

Easter dinner and we got kind of dressed up...or as much as really anyone does these days.

Patiently waiting for dinner

Thrilled with quiet time after spending hours at the beach

Nana's best helper doing dishes after dinner

After dinner I drove James home while Jim and the littles headed towards home on foot. I dropped James and then walked to meet them on Joyce. We got as far as Lytton and decided to take a detour up the hill to take an extended neighbourhood walk. It was a beautiful night and Kennedy didn't start whining until just the last 2 blocks, so a quick little piggy back ride was just the reset we needed to get her all the way home! 

Wow, what an incredible second week of spring break for the Barrows family. We are so blessed to live where we do and have access to family and friends in a small circle during these really difficult times we are all living in.