he...

Isn't he so cute?  He loves to sit on this chair beside me while I'm on the computer.  I turn on some music and he moves his mouth like he's singing and does a little dancing. 

creations

I thought that today I would share some of the creations that the boys have made lately.  Today we made this model of a telegraph for Jacks science lesson.  It works by using an electromagnet made from a nail and battery, the nail taps against the paper clip and the sound is magnified by the styrofoam cup.   Jack and I sent messages to each other using Morse code, it was really fun!
A couple of weeks ago we put these wooden models together and the boys painted them.  I love these models, I get them at Michaels.  They are inexpensive and easy to put together.  Of course Calebs is the tarantula and Jacks is the camo tank below.

Backyard

Did I mention I love having a back yard?  Caleb loves finding little creatures.  He later kissed this snail and called him his new little friend.

A note

So its Monday morning. 7:54 am.  Drinking my coffee and checking in with the world through Facebook and Blogger (ha ha, is it the real world?).  Anyway, I've been wishing that I had some insightful thing to write about on here, some cool pictures to post, something..anything cool.  Well, this morning I just felt like writing so it may be random. 

Weston took his first step last night, I missed it :( but heard everyone yell from the other room.

He can also reach the door handles on the doors and can pull them down, fortunately he cant pull them open yet.  He looks really cute standing on his tiptoes and shaking the handle.  He loves to be in the garage or in the bathtub and throws a big fit when I remove him from either.  Oh yeah he loves to eat sand at the beach.  Most kids try it once and then spit it out but he actually takes a little chubby fistful and shoves it in his mouth and then swallows it.  Can I tell you about the diapers he has after that? I won't go there. 

Caleb Caleb.   I keep calling him Weston then Jack and then lastly Caleb.  I don't know why I keep doing that.  Especially since he is the one that I have to call to the most.  He is the wanderer in the family, the escape artist.  The one I have dreams about him getting lost.  But he is so sweet too.  He tells me he is going to keep me forever and calls me his sweetie of course that could be followed by "you have bad breath mom".  He is sometimes brutally honest. 

Jack is going to be playing baseball this year.  He has try outs next Saturday.  He is really excited about it.  

I am thinking about buying a fiddle and learning to play.  I've wanted to for a long time so I figured I should just try it, I don't want another year to go by with me just thinking about all the things I want to do and not doing them.

Ok, so now I have to go attend to children...It sounds like Weston is emptying the kitchen drawers again!

Little Monkey turns 1

Its hard to believe that one year ago today little Weston Stephen Barker was born into the world.
Now he's already trying to kiss the girls! This is Casaiah (not sure if that is spelled right) She is a little girl that is a couple months older than Weston that we go to church with.
It was a very monkey birthday last night.  We had a bunch of friends over and tons of kids.  It was really fun, the first big party since we moved into this house.  Its such a blessing to have a bigger place.  I was really thankful last night to be able to have so many friends over.  I made Monkey cupcakes and banana cookies, Matt grilled up some steak and hot dogs and people brought food to share.  
And of course a monkey birthday banner!
Weston's favorite thing right now are balloons.  He gets so excited.  He tried crawling under his highchair this morning with this big bunch.  I was bummed to realize we didnt take a lot of pictures last night at the party.  Poor third child....we have a couple little videos but blogger wont let me upload them right now... maybe another time.  

Its a beautiful sunny morning.  Martin Luther King day so no school, which is good since I've been sick.  The boys are having a light saber battle and Weston is crawling around with one sock on and one off.   I have a lot of plans for today but will they actually get done? 

Weston is almost 1! I can't believe how fast this year has gone.  He has been standing up all by himself for a couple seconds at a time.  He'll be taking his first steps on his own soon I think.  He has also been throwing little temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way! He throws himself down on the floor and screams.  My goodness... but he is really cute so I guess that makes up for it.

Christmas vacation

We had a great time visiting our family for 2 weeks.  At my parents house you can sign up to have Santa come by your house on Christmas Eve and give your kids a present.  You buy the present and wrap it and drop it off for them to deliver.  Its so fun.  I used to do it when I was little and now my boys got to do it too!
Caleb was absolutely spellbound by Santa.  He watched him leave until he couldn't see him anymore.  But then five minutes later he decided that wasn't the real Santa because he didn't say Ho Ho Ho right. 
After Christmas we drove up to Toronto.  We had to stop off at Niagara Falls first though.  It was FREEZING but beautiful.  We stayed maybe 3 minutes then jumped back in the car and took off.
There was a little snow at Great Grandmas house so the boys got to have some snowball fights. I loved the cold! It was so nice and refreshing.  Waking up to a fresh snow covering the ground is a truly beautiful sight.


Here is Matt's Grandma or GG as my kids call her. I love her! She is so sweet and loves the kids so much.  We got to see a lot of people while in Toronto- all of Matts Aunts and Uncles and cousins.  It was a great time.
Right before we left, some last minute pics with the Grandmas.  
We came back to Akron for 2 more days, just enough time to have a little early birthday party for Weston, visit with some old friends and have dinner with my brothers and sister in laws before heading back to California.