Spending quality time with my middle

My Jordie boy is such a middle child, in every sense of the word. He is my quietest guy, he demands by far the least amount of attention, he is the most obedient one, he complains the least, he is the easiest going of the bunch (just like his daddy), and he just loves me through all the chaos of our life. 

He cherishes alone time with me whenever he gets the chance and his favorite thing to do together is play games. Our favorite up to this past week was the card game Kings Corners, but other ones he likes are checkers, Battleship and Uno. Last weekend we taught him how to play Ticket To Ride and he is hooked! Earlier this week we got KJ to bed early and James was still at baseball so we sat down to play a round and he absolutely kicked my butt. I really enjoyed this quiet time with him to just chat and to watch him carry out the strategy that he had learned the first time we'd played it on Saturday. This kid is a smart cookie and a very quick learner. So much like his daddy in so many ways! 

Pretty darn proud of himself! 

I love you so much Jordie boy and I hope you want to continue to play games with me for many many more years to come! 

The girl doesn't understand personal space

Kennedy definitely takes after her Mama and she still LOVES to "snuddle" with anyone and everyone. She loves to sit right next to you and if she can be touching you without you noticing she will definitely go for it. She loves to sit next to Daddy and have him rub her feet and legs (definitely takes after me there).

Jim and I looked over from our crib game to see these two on the couch. She thinks nothing of putting her feet on anyone who happens to be close to her and this time Jordie was the victim! He didn't even seem to notice until he saw me taking the photo.

Maybe the last time he wanted her to snuggle with him?!?! I joke, up until about 6 months ago he adored her and always wanted her around, nowadays though he's not quite so in love with her as he used to be. He now thinks she's just an annoying little sister :) 

Living her best life here. Tablet, Daddy snuggles and a raw wiener for a snack (and on the couch which she is not usually allowed to do!)

I've become a pro at working from home with a toddler strapped to my side. Some days she's great and plays all morning while I work, and other times she definitely wants to be my assistant. Here she was just really NEEDING a snuddle! Who can say no to that?!

Sitting beside me wasn't enough so she crawled right onto my lap. Luckily I'm a great multitasker and can easily still type with her around me.

Are you almost done work now Mama?

"Jordie, I will rub your back while you play your game"

Couch snuggles with Mama

And also with Daddy

Cute little moment caught last weekend. Jordie ran up and told one of us to come down and see them. This chair holds so many special memories as it was in the nursery and I rocked all three of them in it. 

I loved seeing them all snuggled up in it! 

Big hugs for Jamesy before school one morning.

We only had 15 minutes together but we made the most of it

Last week was crazy for both Jim and I with work, baseball, strata, PAC, etc. We got to Friday night and I hadn't seen him since Wednesday night (and only then for just a few minutes). I think the total time I'd spent with him all week was maybe 3 hours! 

Friday night I was working till 8:45 at the Complex and Jim was heading back to Texada on the 9:15 ferry to work OT on Saturday morning. I left work and he left home and we met at the ferry parking lot and walked together hand in hand down to the terminal chatting about the kids and just enjoying some quiet minutes together. Of course I made him snap a picture with me with the pretty sunset behind us. He only gave me just a little bit of a hard time about it! 😉 He is a very good sport with me and my picture taking. 

Our time together wasn't long but I did get the hugs and kisses I was needing and I was glad that we snuck in the short time that we did. Over this past year we have cherished our alone time together and have worked hard at making it a priority. We both know how much we benefit from it and how much our marriage has been strengthened because of it too. 

Looking forward to summer time fun in the sun!

I've wanted to buy a paddleboard for the past 2 summers but other things always just come up! Two years ago it was a new generator for the trailer and last year it was kayaks for the kids. I've tried paddleboarding a few times at my aunt and uncle's cabin and while we were camping a few friends let us try their boards out too!

This year I begged Jim to get me one as an early Mother's Day gift. We've both been working so hard lately so we decided to splurge and buy an awesome brand of board that converts to a kayak as well with an attachable seat and paddle extensions. We got one with a high weight limit (but not too heavy to carry inflated) so that I can easily be on it with any of the kids. We also wanted one that would be great for James to use as he is definitely close to being too big for the kids kayaks!

I am SO excited for the nice weather to come back so we can get this out on the water! I look forward to lots of fun times this summer. 

I was pretty darn excited when it was free shipping and got here from Florida in just 9 days! 

Watch for pictures of the maiden voyage! All of us can't wait to get on it! 

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!)