Tuesday, April 27, 2010




TO: CHLOE


LOVE: MOM

getting better with age......


As I look in the mirror and notice every new wrinkle and "squeeze" into my NON-pregnant jeans, I am more than aware that I am very almost middle aged (as opposed to being young, or not even close to old)....but then there's Jared, and in my opinion, he seems to be getting better with age :) thanks to home cooked meals, an endless supply of homemade chocolate chip cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and queso,he has filled out nicely and is actually more patient, more kind,more thoughtful, more gentle, softer spoken,more tolerant, etc.,etc., ....yup, it seems, some things do get better with age!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Jacob the brave....

Jacob has had a loose tooth for the past couple of weeks.....his father has begged to let him(dad) pull it out for him....recently, the loose toothe has become more and more of a bother.....while Jacob and I were in town, eating our lunch.....Jacob had had enough, he took a napkin, gave it a couple twists and a tug, and it POPPED right out of his mouth (along w/a pint of blood !)....I told Jacob NOT to show it to me, (that stuff makes me hurl!) and that he was a brave kid, never in a million years would I have had enough courage to pull my own tooth....hooray for Jacob!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Heath is the BIG six months....












We (all four of my children and I ) have been helping Heath build up thoses sitting up "muscles" so he could be sitting by himself for his six-month pics....I had big hopes of shots on the train tracks, but, we need practice more, maybe the big seven-month pics.....you will notice, that Chloe turned into my prop in some of these.....But, for another week, Heath will be six months....still, just as cute as ever, he has two sparkly teeth (since five months) and a couple more trying to make an appearance, rolling over occassionally, cooing to everyone.....He is as easy going as they get...loves to hold on to a blankie (my first blankie baby) is ticklish around the shoulders and around the lower back....VERY generous with his smiles and is anxious to eat what everyone else eats....insists on sitting at the table in "his" spot.....he must be awfully sweet, b/c he holds onto his thumb as if it were candy :)



Me and Heath

I never imagined life with 5 little ones would keep me sooo busy (mostly busy yes, but insanely busy-no) that I would have very few pics of me and baby Heath....so today, I just decided to utilize my resources just a bit more....gave Chloe an intro to photography (she did a pretty dang good job) and tada! Hopefully more pics of mom and baby Heath to come.....

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Family Time











Best Husband....

I have a long list of projects I want to do (now, that my swing is back from my pregnant days and just had a baby days), one of them is to get my sewing groove....unfortunately, I hardly know how to sew....Jared being the mechanical type, sat down for about two seconds, tinkered with it and wouldn't you know it- he was sewing (darn him).....the whole time, he is translating to me how to do it......ANYWAYS, the above picture is of him (showing off) helping with Chloe's tutu.....it turned out totally cute....

just hangin' around




These pics are of us just hangin around....we have had buckets and buckets of rain, lasting all day for the past several days....so here we are, just jangin around...


Our new dog....TRIGGER

The Bartons have new puppy....her name is TRIGGER....she is kind of an ugly dog in a cute kinda way....

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

love the skate park






This is the PERFECT place to take the kids....so much better than the regular park, my kids get a serious workout plus they just have so much fun....Jacob was busy throwing a ball (he has really gotten into baseball this season).... I don't know where Chloe is....

easter 2010



Easter pics







Travis

Looking at this picture, you probably could not guess the drama that went on to get this kid in these new clothes.....the pants were too big, the shirt was too big, he did not like the tie.....oh, and he didn't like his haircut......getting this kid dressed is a full time job in and of itself.....

Megan the Photographer


Date with Dad

A couple weeks ago, Jared took Megan on a "date" where they went to see the Spurs play the Orlando Magic....before their game, they enjoyed a yummy dinner at Megan's favorite restaraunt "Texas Roadhouse".... and of course, they had a BLAST- how could you not?!
To make all that much better, the Spurs won....




BEAR by:Travis Barton

I have a bear. He will lift me on his back. I love my bear! And I have a mom and me. And I have a dog.

In Kinder, the children draw a picture and then write about it. This is one of Travis' recent drawings/writings...it's a cute picture of him on a bear's back in the woods. I have purple hair and a purple body next to him and the bear. The dog is in the air above the bear and Travis. There is also a green bird, a red flower and I think a butterfly-very cute....It is ALSO very interesting to compare the different styles of writing and interests identified in their writings. Meg: beautifully illustrated,and imaginitive... Jacob: his main character was ALWAYS him and his dad-occassionally Travi,s about time spent together (I used to tease him that his teacher would think he lived alone with his dad).... Travis: the word LOVE is usually in there somewhere and mom.....

Thursday, April 8, 2010

that's how it goes....

when you're old(thirties and beyond) it is easy to forget what it is like to be little and full of life....especially full of life the way little girls are full of life....now, when little girls are little like Chloe, they seem to twirl and giggle and skip as they walk around.....when the are 8, 9 and 10, things are so much....so VERY different....they still have all their cuteness but in such a totally different way...at achievement days our activity was about the 13 articles of faith....shortly after I began to brief them about our game, 2 hands go up....I keep talking, then these two hands begin to wave as though they will burst if they don't get a chance to speak, so I call on one...."what ever happened to our skirt project"....I was sure their comment had to do with the current activity,not the one from January....so I try to quickly answer the skirt question before I realize that that 2nd hand is again waiving frantically, so, thinking that the second girl is also asking a question about the skirt I call on her...."I got to swim in our new pool, it was fun, especially in the 6ft deep in...".... In the blink of an eye, we went from articles of faith, to our skirt project, to swimming and when was the swimming activity....Little girls have so many thoughts at once about anything and EVERYTHING....watching them in their element being giggly and silly and happy and enjoying themselves makes me ever so much more aware of how boring it is when you're thirty-ish, all I think about is laundry, taxes, a quick inventory of the fridge/pantry and other boring stuff like that....

Thursday, April 1, 2010

favorite pics of Travis' game

Travis has waited YEARS to play in the local leagues (esp baseball and soccer) not just b/c he wants to do what Megan and Jacob are doing, but b/c he has the world of sports in his BLOOD....he lives for sports ....he has excellent coordination, speed and drive...in fact, he can concentrate on fundamentals for a good hour.....but have him sit reverently for FHE-good luck! This smile is tells you just how he feels about playing sports :)














Travis' game night cont...

Travis is on the left in the above pic
Travis is #11.....






hanging out with Chloe...





Travis found a friend in the above stroller NOTE: the toes poking out at the bottom of stroller

April Fools Fiasco....

Megan, Chloe and I baked some cupcakes and added about 1/4 cup of salt to the batter.....then, we even salted the frosting underneath the sprinkes.....when we practically shoved one in to Jared,Jacob and Travis' hand,- NOTHING.....not even a funny face (our cupcakes had no added salt, so we were good to go)....We couldn't believe it....Megan was dying for them to try just one more, she spilled the beans, and all we got was REALLY??- I didn't notice.....Next time these boys come over for a good meal, remember the salt thing when they try to give you a compliment, I know I will.........