designating time

so this is me...taking a picture of me...relaxing...ha! actually i wanted to see how bad my freckles have gotten this summer...pretty rad! i found like 4 freckles on bodie and got a little excited that my kids may actually get some freckles :)

i wanted to write about designating time. i get into these ruts - where i start to feel nostalgic about how i used to read my Bible every day or how i used to sew so much more or how there was that 3 month period where i worked out religiously or that week where i actually stuck to a diet and then i start to feel guilty that i have let it ALL go and then part of me wants to not eat anything for a week and lock myself in a bathroom with a Bible and then go run for 20 miles while working on an embroidery piece. not very realistic...or even appealing really...actually it all sounds a little lunatic-ey...

BUT...after a period of chaos, which inevitably interrupts any sort of good thing i get going - in this case, SUMMER (since we own a pool business) - i start to crave a little sense of order and routine and doing something for myself.

my (very sweet and thoughtful) husband bought me for my birthday a massage once a month...only since my birthday (november) i have only scheduled it 3 times. i always put it at the lowest priority and it inevitably never gets done. bryan and i had a conversation about this the other night - he told me he got it for me to use...(duh) and he is willing to do whatever for me to use it...which i know...but for some reason...when it comes to picking up the phone to schedule myself a massage...when that money could go toward this or that and my time could be better spent here or there...i just dont seem to get around to it.

now...i realize...as i type...this is silly talk...this was a present and meant to be used and appreciated. why dont i value that? i dont think i am the only mother to feel this way. i also lately have felt extremely spent...work is super stressful..the kids right now are ALL super high maintenance and stressful and i feel like if i wasnt there they would surely kill themselves or each other right now (did i mention that my 2.5 year old snuck out the front window the other night and we found him around the corner from our house?) and at the end of the day i have little to no energy after the kids are in bed...not enough to sew...not enough to work out...just enough to sit on the couch...maybe have a conversation with my husband...thats what the kids are calling it...anyways...

i got to thinking...my problem is that i look at my time in the day/week/month as what can i accomplish for everyone else? if i dont set time aside as valuable and sacred, it absolutely won't get done. i started blabbing off things to my girlfriend of days/times i want to schedule throughout the week/month...at first it was all silly talk and "in a dream world" but then as i was talking i was realizing...hey...this isn't so crazy...this is do-able...and actually a little brilliant of myself for voicing my desires...so here are some of them for your entertainment...

1. i want to workout at least 3 days a week without my children...i am over that right now at this point in my life - the only way i will look forward to working out is if it is also a time for me to be refreshed and re-juvved...is that a word? anyway - i think tue, thur, sat...for me and he gets mon, wed, fri...that could be do-able...the sad thing about this is that i love working out with my husband...but we are in survival mode baby! maybe 2 days a week alone and a weekend workout together?

2. i want to designate a week night to sew. this should totally be do-able since the hubby has golf or softball or poker or something at least once a week...i just need to set it aside to get through the (large) pile of projects!!

3. i crave a girls night every other week or so - i would like to designate a night of the week or every other week where i intentionally hang with a girlfriend or a group of girls...i live in a house with 4 BOYS...also 2 additional BOYS work at our house M-F...so needless to say...i am surrounded...outnumbered...i need my girl time to feel sane and also remember it is not normal to "let it go"

4. date night - we are pretty good about this, but i want to be even more intentional. at least every other week leaving the house...with each other...somewhere not lame. i love my husband but working together makes it even more important to date...

5. reading/meditation - on my off-days of working out (probably during nap times)  i want to spend at least a half hour reading some type of devotional or the Bible...i feel like it should really be every day...but since it is not at all right now, i dont want to overwhelm myself!

6. finally...i want to work into our budget somehow once a month for four hours me hiring a babysitter and having a Mama's Day Out...and NOT feel guilty about it. i can go thrifting or (finally) use those pedicure gift cards that have been sitting in my purse for a year or just go to a coffee shop and read or meet up with a friend...just do something outside of work and kids for myself...with that very intention...because i truly need that...every mom needs to carve out some sort of time...the trick is the NOT feeling guilty part...but whenever i do start to feel guilty i will read this post and remember how run-down mama gets when she hasnt left the house for a month and threw a throw pillow at her oldest son because he got out of his room for the fifth time after putting him to bed.

Barnes Boys Fashion - Church

 i have so much more respect for my parents for taking us to church every week now that i have three of my own...sorry mom i put up such a fight...its payback time i guess...but it seems like we didnt go to church at all during the winter due to illnesses...that lasted about 6 months...then when we were healthy we were so nervous to put them in with other germy kids...and ruin our healthy track record...so now we have been good and healthy and try to make it every weekend we are in town...which hasnt been often enough!

it usually takes me about 1 1/2 hours to go through breakfast (and clean up) and getting them dressed (and myself) and diaper bag packed...and that is on a good day. this is hard for someone like me who used to take all of 15 minutes to get ready and out the door...such is life...i am trying to teach bodie to dress himself and allowing him to pick out his clothes (for the most part) in hopes that one day we can all get back to that 15 minute time frame :) i can hope can't i?

On Bodie:

Hat - Sand Cassel Kids by Goorin

Shirt - American Apparel (decorated by sweetB)

Shorts - hand-me-down Osh Kosh B'Gosh

Shoes - Puma

On Bobby:

Shirt - Sweet B Vintage

Pants - ? (also hand-me-downs)

On Bryson:

Hat - his T-ball team - Rivercats

Shirt - H&M Polo

Tie - Thrifted

Shorts - Old Navy

Shoes - Puma

(Bryson wanted to pose on the car...what a goof!)

A *super sad* goodbye to ReadyMade

oh man...did you hear the news? i just heard this weekend and i am indeed so sad...so sad...in 2001 i graduated college...got married...moved into our first apartment together...found my first job (at a publishing house) and that is where my love for ReadyMade began...

we were SOOOO poor when i started working for Fairchild Publications...like...so poor...like we had been paying rent on our credit cards because we moved to LA in Sept of 2001..and a little over a week moving in Sept. 11th happened...just so happened to happen on the day of my interview at Dreamworks...needless to say that interview was postponed...then cancelled...and 3 months of temp jobs and juggling credit cards led to me working at Fairchild.

i was introduced to magazines of every type and not sure how i found out about ReadyMade, but i contacted their manager and worked out a trade every month of our publications for theirs...i have subscribed to their magazine ever since. i believe i have received every publication since their inception. i think i have kept them all too.

anyways...it is one of the only magazines i have ever subscribed to (apart from Mothering) and look forward to it every month and it is my go to bathroom magazine (TMI?) i have kept all the issues because there is inspiration everywhere and i believe it started my love for DIY...and made me feel normal for not throwing certain things away and for scouring thrift stores endlessly.

i think what blows me away is that this magazine is so ahead of its time and fits in so well with our economy and state of mind with how design is going...how can it fold? well, being in publication and specifically working for ad sales for magazines i can venture an educated guess, but it saddens me...deeply.

i will miss you ReadyMade...and hope and pray an e-magazine fills its place...that is just as cool and edgy and thought provoking!!!

Toms Eyewear

y'all know i am a toms fan...i wear mine just about every day - on my 6th pair now and love the company. i dont know if you recall in this post, but Toms had a secret marketing campaign around their next step - next product and gave retailers first right of refusal, but didnt tell them what it was...it was finally unveiled...

eyewear!

using their one for one model, for every pair of glasses you buy you are giving sight to someone in a developing country - either through medical visits, glasses or surgery.

pretty cool! read more about it here...

*picture from toms.com website

B is for Butterflies

when we first moved into our house the pine trees in the backyard had all kinds of butterflies stapled to them...they were kinda blinged out and weathered, so the result was not eye pleasing. i was tearing them all off a couple of weeks ago because i was a little tired of looking at them and bryson got so sad...he apparently had a deep fondness for these butterflies and really wanted to replace them. i thought they were cheesy...but hey...i am also very much not five years old...and i like the idea of creating this magical little space for them, so the next time we visited the craft store i picked up a little box of butterflies and went to work on the trees.

i really like them...what is fitting is that these actual butterflies fly around our yard, so they aren't so out of place. but i like that it pretties up the trees a little too. It was a fun and gratifying DIY and already Bryson is asking for more colors...i think a tree covered in a rainbow of butterflies could look pretty cool...but only one tree...not a row of 7...but then again...i am very much not five years old!

Garden Update

our little garden is so exciting right now - we are in our second "plant" and actually just had a third this last week, so we are expecting some exciting things...but i was out in the garden today and wanted to share a few little snapshots of the life happening around our little postage stamp of a backyard...

flawless roses from our seemingly endlessly producing rose bush

the flower from our wedding - purple cala lillies

this WAS a bunch of grapes...purple grapes...until my boys discovered how delicious they are/were!

looking forward to corn!

the biggest lemon ever

Cool Kid Places - Orange County Great Park

 A group of us mamas actually went here a month or so ago, but i was just cleaning up my phone and realized i never mentioned it here in this space and wanted to share!

i dont know why i had never heard of this park before. The Orange County Great Park is huge...and when i had received an invitation to meet up with some mama friends and ride the great big orange balloon (for free!) i went on the site and smiled...i remember waaaaaaayyyy back when i was 18 and all excited about voting and read all the literature about EVERY measure and every bill...i remember there being something on the ballot regarding what to do with government owned land - the El Toro Marine Base...there were all kinds of options - (another) amusement park, a water park, an airport...i can't remember what else...i can't remember what i chose either...although - probably voted for something that would generate money...and jobs...being the good conservative i am...but the people voted that the land be open to the people and a great park was to be had...well...fast forward 15 years...and now the park is finally being built...which is something to say about both our voting/political system and the legal troubles it all inevitably brings...

so - this park is still very much in the works - but it turned out to be a really fun day for us. we got there kinda early - which i recommend since the wait to go on the balloon can take an hour and a half on some days...and played at the little park area to wait our turn. They only let on about 9 people at a time that day (the carriage can hold up to 20) due to the wind.

The balloon was super fun...i was really worried how some of the little ones would do, but they all did great! i think because the carriage has a sorta high wall - they all felt really safe... it was kinda funny because the little ones did good, but some of the mamas had a tough time :)

they have a nice open space for running around and picnics and a little carousel (also free) and many plans are in the works that should be fun to pop in and visit from time to time.

the park ranger guy said the balloon rides should continue to be free till the end of the year and they run at night (cool date idea!)

i didnt take too many pics of the park - these are all pictures of us in the balloon, but you can visit their website here.

B is for Bikes

i dont think i should be taking pictures while riding a bike, but i love this picture anyway :) got to make that bike ride happen on the fourth of july at the LB Annual Kids Bike Parade - fun times! don't worry...i also fixed bodie's helmet after i put my camera away...i love biking with the kids, but it can be nerve racking, since bryson (5 1/2 years old) follows us on his bike. its good that he is learning how to navigate the streets with both parents herding him, but still...street riding can be a little unsettling...

i was at the park the other day and watched these two boys - aged 10 or so- racing their bikes and jumping them (all without helmets) and my heart skipped a little...this knowledge that one day my little boys are going to go off with their friends and try stupid things on their bikes...i can't watch Jackass anymore now that i have boys...i can't even watch people skateboarding...i am going to literally have a heart attack if one of them tries to play football. good thing i have a *couple* more years to adjust...

you know what has kinda helped me? talking with other moms of all (older) boys. they are pretty freaking cool moms...these women i have spoken with recently...seriously - they are so tough, such great senses of humor - so amazing...makes me inspired of how i want to mother these boys...but still without football and skateboards please :)

Barnes Boys Fashion - Beach Day

daddy is taking the boys out for a beach day today...makes me very happy and yet a little jealous they get to be building sandcastles and catching sea snails and i am stuck in a chair in a *super hot* room staring at a computer screen...not complaining or anything :) but truly...it makes me happy that they get this time with their daddy especially being boys i think they learn so much already from him. he happens to be an amazing dad - in my eyes...not just for wanting to be at home with the boys...for choosing that...not a lot of dads would choose to watch three young very energetic boys...but also because he handles it awesome - he enjoys his sons. don't get me wrong...he admits it is hard...and some days it makes me smile a little naughty smile when he is exhausted and dinner isn't made and he asks me *repeatedly* when i am going to leave my little hot room ;) so there they are - they were so excited to go to the beach - i had to snap a couple pics!

On Bobby:

Romper - Carter (hand-me-down from Bodie...that 

Bodie wore when he was 5 months old...Bobby is 10 months old...ha!)

On Bryson:

Shirt - H&M (decorated by Sweet B(

Swim Shorts - Old Navy

Shoes - Vans

Wobble Goggles - Imagination Movers Concert

On (super buff) Bodie:

Shirt - H&M

Swim Suit - hand-me-down from byson...not sure where we got it...

Shoes - Puma