A white Christmas

Christmas was wonderful and WHITE! Filled with a ton of gifts and a surprise visit (brought by Santa of course) from Grandma Carol and Papa Barker!

I love that Christmas falls at the end of the year. There is so much to celebrate always, but having Christmas at the very end of the year makes you reflect on not only why we have Christmas -the Birth of our Savior Jesus Christ-, but it also gives us time to draw near family. The sentimental stimuli are always on alert and super sensitive for me during the holidays. Time goes by so quickly that I think it is important to have these special Holidays to stop and reminisce, while eating like Kings and Queens, opening gifts that mean so much, and looking at the new fallen snow.
It get's said, and heard over and over... but how do they grow so fast? How does this happen so quickly? I just want to press "pause." They are little still, but it is feeling like the little is slipping away ever so quickly. I don't want them to know that "Charlie," ( our special Santa's helper Elf) doesn't really have magic and can't talk. I wanted to do so many things this season. I told Ben while packaging Charlie ( short for Charleston or Charlie-West) up on Christmas eve night after he had made sure they were dreaming of "sugar plums dancing in their heads"- that I am going to have to start writing these little traditions down, so we can remember them from year to year!
I wanted to go caroling, I wanted to re-enact the Birth Story, I wanted to let them go give gifts to needy ones, I wanted to make more handmade gifts like doll clothes and wooden tool boxes! There are so many things that I wanted to do, but didn't. How do you fit it all in?

We did accomplish alot this Christmas season and it was all wonderful and sentimental. But I guess I will start pre-planning for next year and fill my calendar with daily activities to fit it all that I want to in!I am looking forward to the new year! This new year will bring many changes, good ones of course and a milestone birthday- 30 for me! We plan to accomplish a lot of things this year, a few of the items on the list include:

Lucy
-no more night-time Pull-ups
-learning to throw- cause it's sad right now!
-turning *gasp* 4 years old!
-reading
-learning to confidently swim
-loving her Brother always!

Peter
-potty training
-giving up the Binka (binky/pacifier)
-throwing and catching a ball
-riding a trike
-turning *double gasp* 2 years old!
-trying to swim
-getting rid of the banging his head when mad
-in other words... using his WORDS!

Ben
-major career move into the Q-400 (still as a Captain!)
-re-committing to push-ups and crunches
-keeping his lovely, dear wife sane while moving (hopefully!)
-cheering on his lovely, dear, fantastic wife on as she attemps a marathon!


Kristen
-saying goodbye to my twenties- (it's going to hurt my ego BIG time)
-that whole marathon thing at about the 30year mark.... OH DEAR!!!! ( might just be a 1/2?)
-cheering on her dashing, fabulous hubs as he transitions into the "Q"- that's a 6 week process!
-going to the Bahamas for a little "me" time before the "Q"
-finding balance in all that I do, keeping my priorities in line with what I know is good and right.

We have had a wonderful year here in Twenty-Ten, and look forward to Twenty-eleven!
May the new year bring you love and happiness, good health and determination.

In Omnia Paratus

Christmas Pictures

Thanks to the lovely and talented Shalece... we had a successful outing downtown Charleston yesterday for some good old fashioned Chrismas/Family pictures.
Here are some favorites!They do love one another!
The sun held out with some mild warmth for most of the day... thankfully!
The forecast has changed today and tomorrow will be much like last week.
Cold. Cold. COLD.

Thisandthat

I have written/typed a thousand things so far and keep hitting delete!
I guess we've been pretty busy. But "busy" seems to be a relative term.
I like the Holiday season, but I sometimes liked it a lot better when I reminisce about past years.
Like the year Ben and I were dating... I found some old picts of us when we visited his family and went out to Gig Harbor.

I just realized that I am still wearing those jeans... Yikes! and Sweeet!
I feel like we look so young then? It wasn't that long ago?

Then I came across picts of us that same year for "New Year's"
Who did I let cut my hair? NOT my sister... Wow! That was bad. But Ben looks GQ.

Hopefully my memory will pick this one up in the future too. Without a camera makes things tricky, but it's coming.. Santa spilled the beans! Wahhoooooooo!!!!!!!
We all had the "flu" this past weekend, and it seems as though I had it worse than anyone else. ?

I caught Lucy sleeping the other night and it is hitting me more and more that she doesn't look like this anymore, she does to me still, she is still so tiny, my baby. Even though she insists on the fact, sadly it is a "fact" that she is NOT a baby. I tell her she is my baby and always will be, but she says, No mom. I am not.
She still sleeps like this and that inFACT does make her my baby!
I have a thousand things on my list, and that's before Christmas begins. Hallelujah!
I 'll try to get some more up soon!

Fun times

We are busy busy busy... having fun with friends mixed with a little bit of serious business.

FOOTBALL all-Star in the making!
Or baseball... either way.
Your future's are bright little ones!

It's Fall

clarity

Lemme clarify a little bit of what some of you have interpreted my freight-train-of-thought major de-railment that not even I can follow sometimes...

I am NOT pregnant.

And I can prove it.... to those who need a little extra proof.

Lucy says to me this morning,"Mom, we have 2 coupons."
Me: We do sis? Okay.
Lucy: Mom we have blue and green coupons.
Me: What are you talking about doll?
Lucy: We have 2 boxes of coupons.
Me: Baby doll, show me what you are talking about.
Lucy: Opens the bathroom cabinet and points to the coupons.

SEE.... I told you I am NOT pregnant.
Cause we have
LOTS of
COUPONS.

Day 177 of 60 lbs

It is becoming VERY clear to me that I will in fact NOT reach my goal of losing 60 lbs in 6 months. However, I came to and have mentioned this realization a few times before and once again, I am OKAY with that. I have made, in my opinion, HUGE success and am going to keep on movin on!

I have reached the 1/2 way point and am happy to say that if feels really good! It also feels really good to know that I am not going to go back in the upwards direction- meaning prego- again for a while. It was at this point Post-Lucy that I was pregnant again with Peter. I was happy but was deeply hoping NOT to re-gain the amount of weight that I did with Lucy. No such luck.
Things here in the Barker household have been busy busy busy, but good! We are anxiously awaiting the Sale of our home and hope it comes quickly!

Swim lessons were a big hit for Lucy a few weeks ago and we are going to go with another session in a few weeks! She is a fish! Loves the water.... just like her mama! Maybe the fact that I labored in the water with her increased her LOVE for water! She is a natural and kicks her feet like a rockstar!

We are looking forward to the 4th of July and celebrating! ( Do you remember when our neighbor asked Ben if we celebrated the 4th? and I said " we're mormon, not British!" So yah.. we will be celebrating! the 4th is one of my favorite holidays!)

The humidity here in Charleston is in full swing and sometimes gets the best of me! But we are staying cool by getting some pool time in and frequent visits to the library! Oh and Popsicles.... LOTS of "pop-a-sicles!"

We have also been saying goodbye to GOOD friends... We are going to miss you Berrey's! we already do! Hope you are doing well in Oklahoma! One last trip to the Creperi for Elizabeth's farewell!

( ps. look at those calves on my little Lulu!- Grandpa will be so proud)I borrowed my neighbors camera to see if I really NEED a SLR camera.. and I do NEED one!

Here are a few picts that I took of some of our neighbors flowers!

I love this one of the trees and the flag in the background!

We are anxiously awaiting our trip out to Washington where we will go again for the 2nd year in a row to Coure D'Alene! Sometimes the knowing that we will be heading to the lake house is what keeps me going!

Peter got the "o.k" to be treated like a "normal" child again and a clear report from the Hematologist! We are pleased to know that our little peanut is healthy and well! Bruising now is not a concern anymore and unless we see any abnormal bruising or bleeding he is to continue normal activity! Yay buddy! So other than those horrible molars coming in and the need to "bang" his head on anything hard when he gets mad.. we are super happy!

That is a good re-cap of what we have been doing! I will be trying to update more and will give the final weigh-in next Monday!

Have a good one!