Happy Thanksgiving!

Well as some of you know we were out of town last week visiting Brian's family and at a conference for our job, Campus Crusade. Six days in a hotel definitely did us in and we are all very happen to be home. Good to see family and friends but good to be home. It's funny how even little people get drained and out of sorts when away from home for a long period of time. And then just like us love being back in familiar surroundings. My most favorite part of the trip was the quality time I was able to spend with one of my closest friends, Kyra. We used to work together here at Chico State. She is an amazing mom of triplets who are almost 1 1/2. Like ours, her life is chaotic so it's always nice to share in the craziness of life together. Our time together (lots of time in the hotel hallway while 6 kids were sleeping/crying) made me miss her a lot and realize even more how special she is to me. Thanks Kyra!

Brian is home with us all week (lucky him!). No bible studies, library time or anything so it has been nice for us all to be home. As you know from the video posted yesterday we've had some fun outside, more pics to come. And side note, I'm officially addicted to our leaf blower! I could do it for hours, just blowing everything away. It's a great feeling. Mmmm, what do you think this says about me??? We've been preparing for our first family Thanksgiving meal. We had the traditional meal in Long Beach with Bri's parents so we decided to put a little twist on the menu.

• Rib roast- Brian is in charge of this and I'm not sure of the details but I do know it's is going to be stuffed with goat cheese and chorizo. With that said, how could it be bad?
• Sweet potatoe casserole
• Stuffing with sausage
• Asparagus- one of the few veggies my husband will eat
• lots and lots of crescent rolls
• Pumpkin cheesecake

Yummmmm I can't wait.
But first before we get down to business with the T-Day Feast we have some other important things to do. We are running in the local Run for Food race. It's a 3 mile fun run, with over 2000 people signed up! Yep all 5 of us. And then when we get home I'm continuing the tradition that I did growing up, which my mom didas as little girl too. We will watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, eat cinnamon rolls and little oranges and sip egg nog!

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your day, there's so much to be thankful for!

Yearly Check-ups

Last Friday all 3 kids had their yearly check ups at the doctor. With lots and lots of snacks we headed to the doctor knowing we would be there for a long time. And we were, almost 2 hours! But I am thankful to report everyone is doing well and all have excellent reports! M is now 40 pounds, this explains why I'm picking him up less and less. I was so happy when M was able to answer a proud YES! when the doctor asked him if he used the big potty! WOO HOO! I didn't tell the doctor it has only been a week! The doctor was impressed with how well he communicates, answering each question matter of factly and asking the doctor his own set of questions. K & T are doing good as well. T weighed in at a big 19 pounds and little K at a whopping 16 pounds. She is such a little peanut. T not only has a good 3 pounds on her older sister but also almost a whole inch. But don't worry K can definitely hold her own.

Other updates on the kids...
M is in to making up definitions for words. It's pretty funny the things he comes up with. And like we do with him when we teach him a new word, he has us repeat his words very slowly back to him. He is feeling a little tension with the girls wanting their own play time with Mommy and Daddy so any one on one time we can give him goes a long way! Brian has been taking him on "man dates" which he loves! I have been doing some fun art stuff with M, practicing tracing and other "school type" things. It's been enjoyable for both of us. For the most part M is a pretty good helper with the girls. He knows their bed time routine and can pretty much put them to bed himself, outside of lifting them up into their cribs. He loves to have them in his room to watch him dance to the music he plays oh so loudly. But the girls like it too and do their own dance as well.

The girls are starting to talk a little saying mama and dadda and "sssss" which is either M or sissy. Sometimes K says thank you. And they both can say all done. Their little voices are so precious. The girls are into everything! Taking clothes out of drawers, kitchen towels all over the floor etc. T has turned into our drama queen. Even when you say a simple no no she throws her head back and whails at the top of her lungs. Pretty funny. Both are very fast crawlers, especially K. T is getting so close to walking it's scary! We're excited for her to walk but at the same time there's no rush! T will pretty much eat anything and loves her milk. K could live on bread alone. She is our picky eater.

So that is where we are all at right now. Each day I'm learning about myself as a Christian, a wife and a mom. Even though they are all such little people that have only been in this world for such a short period of time they teach me and challenge me so much. Life is getting easier in some ways, like a good routine, and more independence out of each of them but mostly it's getting harder which I wasn't expecting. With everyone moving, and being very busy, and demanding their own things it's like being on a merry go round that never stops!

Birthday Weekend...and we're done!

The last 3 weekends we've had pretty big parties at our house. This weekend was the final one and I must say it was my favorite. It was the girls first birthday party! My parents were also in town for the weekend so that also made it an awesome weekend. We packed in as much as we could while they were here. Thursday we went out to dinner at one of our local favorites. Friday we went to open gym at gymnastics which was a blast! Who had more fun? Me or M? We both loved it and so did the girls, crawling around everywhere! And of course mom and dad loved watching us all. Friday night we had the annual Barn Blast with CRU. Lot's of fun fun doing line dancing and being in the "farm atmosphere". Saturday we went to the farmer's market downtown and checked out all the side walk sales downtown. Then it was party planning time for the afternoon. I did an initial party, lots of k's and t's everywhere. Party time was Saturday night and it all turned out really well. Even though the girls didn't really nap all day they did great. They went right after their cake and thoroughly enjoyed it! Brian made an amazing slide show to music of their first year. Tear jerker. I am hoping to get it uploaded to the blog soon. Along with lots of pics from our fun weekend. All coming soon! So finally I feel I can sit and relax a bit now that all of our big stuff is done. Whew!!! We made it:)

lot's of little things

Fall weather is coming! Finally it's not sizzling hot out in the afternoon so we've been spending a lot of time out on our back patio. Here are some fun pics of the kids playing yesterday. The girls will be 1 in 3 weeks! They are crawling everywhere, pulling themselves up on everything and talking away in their jibber jabber talk with a few mama's and dada's in there. For awhile they were looking different compared to each other (at least to us). But in the past few days we've both caught ourselves doing double takes making sure we are looking at who we think we are looking at! M continues to be their entertainer. There are many times when they all are playing together. I love it.

Incase any of you were wondering I didn't win the give away on simplemom Oh well. I tried my hardest. And I'm still hopeful for getting the necklace for my birthday, since I shamelessly told the whole world what I want!

Still to come are pics from Fall Retreat at Mt. Lassen. We had a great time, the trip went well, and I'm still sore from playing fun, crazy field games all because the girls took a 2 1/2 hour nap while we were there! So thankful.

I'm in the process of making a major decision. On Thursday night it is the premiere for both The Office and Grey's Anatomy. What should I watch? I know trivial in the grand scheme of things. I'm thinking The Office and then I could alway watch Grey's online later. Any suggestions?

ok that's enough for now. back to folding laundry:)

Let The Fall Begin

Our Fall with ministry began 2 weeks ago and it has been going great! We have had many new people get involved from the start. They are getting connected which is very exciting. There is always a new, exciting energy in the Fall. I love it! Brian has been speaking at the weekly meetings (CRU) and doing really good. This whole year as a large group we are going through Romans. Brian started it off last week. He has 2 more talks before we go to Fall Retreat on the 19th and then things will slow down a bit for him.

But....

For me and the kids tomorrow is really go time for us. We are starting many new things this week. Yes, all these things are starting this week...why everything at once?

• a play group with fellow moms of twins
• a women's bible study at church while the kids are in childcare
• our couples small group is starting up again after taking a summer break
• mommy and me gymnastics class with M! So excited. There will definitely be more posts on this in the near future.
• I'm going on campus 2x a week for discipleship with some our women leaders

ok so listing it out like that gets me a little nervous and makes me wonder if I'm a crazy person. But I'm excited about all that it brings...meeting new people, leading others, time away from home, special time with M, fellowship with others, learning about Jesus to be hopefully become a better wife and mom, growing in patience and flexibility and not being in control all the time.

Hope you all have a great week. I'll report back soon with updates.

What's going on?

What's going on with us? Well there is a lot these days, especially this time of year with school starting. Let me fill you in.

Brian officially started back to work this Monday planning with our staff team for this school year. Each day the team has met at one of our houses to rethink our vision for the campus and then plan accordingly so we can reach as many students as possible! It's very exciting. The team also plans our leadership retreat which will be Aug. 18-20, our discipleship times with our leaders (which I am so excited I will be co-leading 2 of those groups this year!) socials, fall retreat, our first day, first week, and first weekly meeting. Lots to do but the week has gone very smoothly and been very productive. Mr. Campus Director (Brian) is very pleased. Classes start Aug. 25. Life gets pretty crazy and non stop for the next 6 weeks or so for us. Ready, get set, hold on tight!!!!

On the home front we are settling back in to our normal routine when Daddy is gone all day. Playgroup, library time, bike rides, parks etc. Although we have been in the triple digits here this past week so we're indoors a lot. Along with playing Squidoo (see above post) we play baking, makes special art projects and practice our gymnastics for the Olympics. By the way I'm loving the Olympics but kinda bummed it's on so late. In a couple of weeks my women's bible study will be starting up at church. I'm really looking forward to that again. I forget what we are doing but we'll fill you in later.

M's birthday on the 24th. The big #3! Grandpa and Grandma Young are coming to celebrate with us for the weekend. He's really excited but has told me countless times he doesn't want any of his friends to come over for his birthday. Which is fine by me because we weren't going to do anything big anyways. But I think the real reason for this is he doesn't want to share any of his new toys! Way to think ahead, buddy! The girls were 10 months old yesterday. Too bad they are sick and had to go to the doctor on their 10 month birthday. Yet, another cold, bad cough, wheezing, snotty noses. Out comes our nebulizer AGAIN for breathing treatments. They are little troopers though and still keep smiling and laughing. They are almost 15 and almost 17 pounds. Still very small for their age but that doesn't stop them from moving around at all! T found the plant the other day and had her first mouthful of dirt and then decorated our carpet with the rest. K continues to move backwards everywhere. Yesterday she got herself stuck under our bed. I found her with only her little head peeking out! They laugh, wave, clap, say da da and baby, do lots of jibber jabbering, cry when their yogurt snack is all gone, steal toys from each other and LOVE their brother. He's is the funniest person they have ever seen.!

That's about it for now

**Pictures to come of our almost 3 year old and 10 months old girls.

Checking in from OHIO!

Hello hello hello! Here I am! I 'm sure there is not a great number of people who have been losing sleep that the barela family blog has not been updated and wondering where on earth we are but fianlly we are here checking in with you all. My original thought was to blog frequently and keep you all updated on our ohio visit. Well silly me, why did I think that would happen? We have been plenty busy over here and when we are actually home (my parents home) I'm still kept busy. It's been so much fun here and we have gotten to do so much and see so many people. Here are some high lights so far for each of us. More details and pictures to come.

M

• Feeding the fish every day in grandma and pa's pond.
• Playing with cousins
• swim lessons...jumping off the diving board (I'm so proud!)
• taking tractor rides
• watching Uncle Brent work with the Bobcat and cement truck
• His new friends ...all the neighbor kids
• catching lightening bugs
• playing in the mud

K

• rolling everywhere
• saying DA DA on Father's Day!
• eating lots and lots
• jibber jabbing

T

• one new tooth!
• rocking on all fours, and the starts of crawling
• standing up while holding on to something
• saying DA DA
• grabbing everything!

Aubrey

• seeing lots and lots of family and friends
• hanging out with Matt and Amie late one night
• painting at Brent and Angie's new house (brother and sister in law)
• being with my mom
• swim lessons with M
• listening to dad play guitar
• seeing grandparents
• running July 4th race with Linds

M and I are off to see Brian in Florida on Thursday. We're taking him to Disney! M is more than excited to see his favorite guy Donald Duck. Until we got to Ohio and he was introduced to the Disney Channel he didn't know who he was but they're long time pals now and he's so excited to meet him! That's all for now!

Let summer begin!

Our summer "vacation" has officially begun. This week is finals week for the students so our time with the students is over until the fall and now we get to enjoy a little break. There is still some work to be done from home but for the most part we get to enjoy some family time for the next couple weeks. We are looking forward to playing outside, going to the parks, having picnics, getting some long runs and bike rides in, swimming and just relaxing being all together. In mid June we will be heading to the buckeye state for a much anticipated visit with my family. We are are all very excited for that, especially for everyone to meet the girls!

Soon to come is a top 10 list of of what we enjoyed most about ministry this year. We can't believe we just completed our third year here!

7 months

Our girls are 7 months old today! I can't believe it, really. They are amazing little girls that make us smile and laugh all the time. On Sunday, Mother's Day, they were dedicated at church. It was special that it was on Mother's Day. This picture is from their dedication. (K is on the left and T on the right) They wore these pink linen dresses my mom got them and gold cross necklaces they got for Christmas from my grandparents. They looked beautiful!

At seven months now they have hit yet another fun stage. They are really interacting with one another and with M. He is their little entertainer. They love it and so does he! And it's also very helpful to us. They are still about a pound and a half apart, T still the bigger one. But K is catching up! T can pretty much sit up on her own and K is almost there. About 6 weeks ago they started sleeping in their own beds and since then they have slept through the night. Amazing! Love it. They are full of smiles and giggles. K is always sticking her tongue out and kicking her legs. T lets us know when she is upset or tired by spitting. They have started eating cereal and have had squash a couple times. They may still be small for their age but they love to eat!

We feel like we are in a pretty good routine these days and really enjoying our kids.

Time Flies!!!

Wow! I can't believe how fast time goes. It seems like just yesterday that I was writing about Mason potty training and now it's 3 , weeks almost! So much has happened. Easter, a visit from my mom and of course the eventful week of potty training.

For those of you who are interested about how the potty training went read on. If not skip to the next paragraph. Our week was intense but fruitful. There were lots of laughs, M&Ms and spiderman gummies and cars, some accidents, tears and screams from Mason, exhaustion from Brian and I, and some victories! I can say that the pee thing is pretty much mastered the poop thing is a work in progress. But overall we are happy with the results. As Brian and I say we invested our week of spring break.

Our Easter was fun, spent with some friends. We realized that the life stage we are in right now does not allow us (Brian and I) to really spend time with one another when we are out of the house. Brian is usually keeping track of Mason while I am with the girls. The separation can be a bummer sometimes and a little exhausting but we know it is just a season. Easter night we went to visit our friends and co-workers new little boy at the hospital. Tobin Kelly has finally arrived and is doing wonderfully!

My mom came to visit this past Thurs-Tues. Although it was a quick visit time went slow and it was quality. I just enjoy doing the everyday things with my mom. We did a couple projects together, exercised, cooked and went on a family shopping outing to Roseville! It's great to have extra hands and love for the kids. Visits from Mom are always special :)

The Haps

This is what has been going on with us.

The kids and I have been on some new adventures. A couple weeks ago we were introduced to this new place that recently opened up in our town. In the afternoons it is a children's theater company but in the mornings now it is open to moms and small children as a giant play house. There are 4 different themed rooms: adventure, house, dress up, and the last room has a play house, blocks, tumbling mats etc. Mason loves it because it's all new toys for him and I love it because it really tires him out. His imagination has recently starting coming out more and more so this new place is great fun for him It's totally easy for me to take the girls and watch him run from room to room and of course get in the action too. Mason makes me some great meals in the kitchen!

Our other new find is the kids skate at the local roller skating rink. They play all kinds of games, give a little skate lesson, play kids music and I can take the stroller out on the floor and push the girls around. Mason kept his skates on about 1/2 the time and then just ran around the other half. The best part was when they turned off the lights and got the disco ball going. The kids were told to "smash the dots". He loved it! And again he was totally tired afterward :)
Here are pics from our skating adventure. Mason on the rink and then the other is what the girls did at the rink :)

Brian recently returned from the Destino conference he was in charge of. Everything went really well. He got great feedback for the way he led the conference and for the talk that he gave. And we are both happy it is over now!

I have my half marathon coming up this Saturday. I'm excited and ready as I'll ever be at this point. The goal is just to finish. I'll let you know how it goes.

30 years old and 4 months old!

On February 8 Brian turned 30. We had a great weekend celebrating his special day. On his birthday morning we had our staff team over for a birthday brunch. At Brian's request we had dinner plans at our favorite local resturant, 5th street steak house. He thought one of the college girls was babysitting for us but to his surprise his parents were our babysitters! We had a great dinner, just the two of us, and then came back home to have cake and ice cream with the family. It was a great weekend celebrating Brian and it was even better pulling off a surprise for him!

On Valentine's Day Kaia and Theia turned 4 months old! Can you believe it! Here is a little update on them.

• Kaia is weighing 9.11 now, still very small for her age but the doctor is very impressed with both of their growth rates. She loves to be held and snuggled and has this look that just melts you! She is our drama queen, enjoys playing with her hands, smiles quite a bit and likes her bouncer.

• Theia is weighing 10.12. Still a little bit bigger than her older sis and slightly more advanced developmentally. She is our little talker, she squeals with delight and will always smile for Daddy :) Theia doesn't cry as much as Kaia but when she does, watch out she gets mad fast! She does really well on her belly, almost rolling over and loves her swing.
  

So that's the update on us. Check out the pics on the next post.