.....Sometimes being a BROTHER is better than being a SUPERHERO....

My LAST 35mm roll(again)....

Where did December go??

This is Travis blowing out his six candles....I am sure his guardian angels are relieved he was able to see another year...This kid has sooo much spirit his little body is about to burst, and it is all we can do to keep him on this side of the veil....His teacher recently sent me a note saying he showed up for lunch with candybars and a DrPepper (my kids don't take their lunch)....she made him go get a tray....My other children never snuck a lunch to school-let alone with candybars and a dr Pepper!

He shared a birthday party with cousin Ethan.....

We celebrated his birthday at the skatepark(a favorite for the boys).....

Littel Heath was extremely bored with the whole celebration-thing......

My dear Travis has a birthday between Thanksgiving and Christmas...which makes for some serious complications as far as scheduling a party for him.....

1. I'm still in a daze from celebrating now 4 other b-days in a 3 week span.....

2. The whole world is trying to get a million things done to prepare/celebrate the holidays and all the jobs related to that craziness....

Next year should be better (I won't have just had a baby).....but I did want it on the record that Travis did turn 6 this past December ( I think we will throw a party for him in August)

Time Flies.....

about 1month old....

about 3 month old......

Heath is actually four months old(today)...so he looks like the above picture, just a little chunkier :)

This baby is just cute cute cute...We just can not hug and kiss him enough...I am still in awe over how mellow he is....he seldom cries and is a good sleeper....He loves his siblings and enjoys it when they hold him and talk to him....he all but sleeps through the night, and even when he does wake up for a midnight feeding, he is so sleepy it is not hard for him to go back to sleep....We love this baby...he has started smiling and even a few giggles, with the constant cooing...I love this stage!

Barton Photography

I love projects to work on.....I have taken this photography thing and taken it to a new level....This summer I should have an official website to check out....in the mean time, I set up a blog (the address is mbartonphotography.blogspot.com) to organize my portfolio.....it will be updated a few more times until I get it set up with the pics the way I want it so check in now and then.....there is a link on the side of my blog with my lists of blogs if you want to do that....

watching Food Network

I've noticed that while I am at the gym trying to melt the last of the baby pounds(plus chocolate chip cookie pounds) I migrate to the treadmill that has the clear view of the food network channel...I've also noticed that when I am running w/the reg programs...time drags on and I can barely make it through my time....BUT, when I'm watching t.v. showing yummy food, the time just flies, and I can cruise through my workout without even noticing the time and distance....I can even keep my higher pace when I am watching cooking (eating) shows that I lOOOOve (Barefoot Contessa & Mrs Paula Deen)......I'm not sure what that says about my subconscious self...but,yea, cooking channels=good workout...go figure?!

Having kids changes you....

Before kids this post would be absolutely ABSURD.....but, five kids later, there is not much that will knock me over-especially if you have boys....tonight, the kids and I attended a fundraiser for Haiti- it was very cute and done very well....the kids got to spend $3 each-and of course there was food, so we do as we love to do we eat....it was dark and I was sitting next to the boys while they finished their GIGANTIC serving of nachos, it was dark and I hadn't paid much attention to Travis but when the boys said they were done I told them they could go off and play....I was STARVING and so I went to finish off what was left of Travis' dish and come to find out, he had licked off the cheese of every chip (that in itself takes some talent) in his dish...once the connection had been made as to WHY it didn't taste right I had about gagged, and realized I had broken one of my #1 rules, never share ANYTHING with Travis....this rule was established when he was 4.....I had a household of kids and served everyone a turkey mini roll-sandwhich w/ a fruit cup (back when my kids would have never been allowed to thrive off of ketchup sandwhiches).....well, everone but Travis had devoured their lunch....instead of spending the extra time making me one for myself, I went over and took a bite out of his...what happened after that still makes me gag! He, very discreetly(sp?) dumped his entire fruit cup inside his sandwhich and then put it back like it had never been touched- fruit cup and all the fruit cup syrup, with a turkey sandwhich........never share anything to eat with Travis!!!!

...it never fails....

Yesterday afternoon had all the makings of a rather effecient(productive,organized,on top of it) kind of day....when my older kids came home from school, we tackled homework and reading( X 3)like a well oiled machine....I even set us on the path of extra-curricular activities like cleaning (changing sheets & vacuuming) bedrooms, starting dishes, etc. I felt pretty good about sending Jared off to an evening church meeting....With dinner made and served, I sent the children upstairs ahead of me with the green light to play a little Mario Brothers together, while I selfishly indulged in a little Facebook time....as always, one friend led to another and before long I was way over my alotted time....only to discover that: my children had turned into video-game zombies, Chloe had found a(black) PERMANENT marker and colored her face so extensively she looked the the star wars sith....I found a cut up pillow case next to a certain 4 year old's bed and scissors, but of course no one knows who did it-including the guilty 4 year old....and we had one melt down(two if you count the adult) before we were even gathered for prayer.....needless to say, Jared was rather surprised to come home from his meeting(3 hrs later) only to find a wife who was not interested in staying up to watch the TX game....

Top 5

With a new year, come thoughts of the now 33yrs(yikes) behind me...being a stay at home mom with little ones still, it is few and far between when I have the chance to have a semi-thoughtful thought....so, here it goes: in my attempt to "master" the stay at home thing....I have learned a few things here and there that I didn't know going into it (which wasn't hard b/c I didn't have ANY homemaking skills when I started)
5.when you have many plates of food that need cutting up before serving...don't waste your time with a knife and fork, whip out a giant pizza cutter and you have little cut up portions of food in seconds instead of mintues.....
4.When ever things are going badly (or badly going)try re-directing, otherwise know as CHANGING the SUBJECT (it works well with husbands too!) If you can perfect this skill, you can minimize melt-downs, tantrums, fighting, you name it by at least 25-30%....did I mention it works well with husbands too!!
3.Home-made chocolate chip cookies is the cure all for bad days, sad days, don't know what we're going to do today days....the perfect reward for getting it all done, to making yourself feel better when you get absolutly NOTHING done...
2. It is ABSOLUTELY true, : a moment on the lips=months and months on the hips (I think there is a correlation between #2 and #3)
1. Well, I thought I could come up with 5, but sadly at the moment, I can only come up with four, and even more sadly, two of them had to do with chocolate chip cookies....sad.....very sad....