Weekend Roundup

Busy, Busy, Busy. That was our weekend!


Friday night my soon to be niece Alexis spent the night. She is the same age as Gavin so they have a blast together. They spent the night playing the Wii. Boxing seemed to be the favorite of the night. Of course with any sleepover bed time came and went with no one laying down. Not even Katelyn. She was mad as a hatter when I put her in her crib. Screamed and hollered for about 20 minutes before she fell asleep. Gavin, Danyelle, and Alexis finally laid down around 1130.


Saturday morning after Alexis went home, we headed out to cousin Brandon's 6th birthday party. They had it at the clubhouse where they live so we could use the pool. The kids had a great time. Gavin learned from some of the older kids how to do a cannon ball into the pool. WOW. He was so proud of himself! Katelyn ran back and forth between the kiddie pool and the adult pool. Of course my no fear daughter thinks she can just walk right into the big pool-- as in walk off the side into the pool. After swimming it was time for cake and presents. But the best part of the party was probably the spongebob pinata. The look on Katelyn's face was priceless when all the candy a started falling out. It took her all of 2 seconds before she caught onto what was going on and started grabbing some candy for herself.


It was early bedtime that night! Gavin and Katelyn were so tired after all that swimming.



Sunday was another big day! Gavin, Katelyn, and I met some friends of mine up at a local hands on childrens museum. We were there to celebrate my friends sons 2 year birthday. I have never been to this museum before and now I cannot wait to go back. The kids had a great time. There was so much to do for all age groups.


Gavin and Katelyn got to shop in a mock grocery store:

They also played at the water table:

Made me pizza in the mock pizzeria:

Played forever in the tree house that came complete with a slide:

Lets see, there was also a pretend vet shop that had a pretend xray machine, a doctors office, a pretend cafeteria, a library, a school room, a fire station that even had the fire pole, and so much more. There was one area we didn't even get too! Our time there was over way too soon. Really, I cannot wait to go back!

Sunday evening we had my brother's family over for pizza. Again, the Wii was on!

That's it for our weekend. Have a great week everyone!

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Summer Safety Tips

Well, summer is definitely here. I can tell by Gavin's slightly sunburned nose, Katelyn's cute new tan lines, and the 15 or so not so cute mosquito bites running up and down Katelyn's legs. Poor girl!

But with all the running around and fun we are having it is important to remember some safety tips too. MommyDocs.com is a wonderful site full of pediatric information. It is run by 2 moms who are also pediatricians. Right now MommyDocs has listed the 5 Simple Summer Safety Tips.

1) Have a Sun Protection Strategy: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends sunscreen with a minimum Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15. Look for products that provide "broad spectrum" coverage to protect against both UVA and UVB rays. Use this sunscreen routine with your child--daily application 30 minutes before going outside and reapplication every 2 hours (or sooner if swimming, toweling off, or sweating). Creating a routine will establish good habits for the future. In addition, don't forget a wide brim hat, sunglasses with 99-100% UVA/UVB protection, and sun protective clothing.

2) Keep Pests off Your Little One: In the summer, many insects can bite or sting your child. For pesky mosquitoes and ticks, consider a DEET containing insect repellant. Apply sparingly to exposed skin (avoid backs of hands and around the eyes and mouth) and/or to clothing once a day. As the percentage of DEET goes up, the duration of action increases. To prevent unnecessary exposure, always use the lowest percentage that will last for the planned length of time spent outdoors. Never go above 30% or use on children under 2 months old.

3) Keep the Pool Cool and Clean: Small yard pools provide a great way for kids to have fun and cool down when the temperature rises, but they can also harbor germs, such as bacteria. To keep the pool free from unwanted "swimmers," after each use disinfect it with bleach by cleaning with a solution of ¾ cup regular bleach to one gallon of water, then rinse well and dry thoroughly. Safety must: Always supervise children regardless of age when they are around any water; whether it's a bucket, a small backyard plastic pool, or the local community pool.

4) High Heat Means Hydrate: Excessive heat exposure may cause your child to experience a heat-related illness such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion, or even heat stroke. How to prevent this: take breaks in the shade, avoid playing outside during peak sun exposure hours, and drink, drink, drink! Make sure your child is taking in plenty of fluids before he become thirsty.

5) Rid Rashes and Relieve Itchies: Running through the yard in bare feet, taking a nature walk on a trail, and picnicing in the park are some of the joys of warmer weather. But all of this outdoor activity can expose your child to a host of plants including those which cause poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac. If an allergic reaction occurs, ask the pediatrician about an oral antihistamine and/or a topical skin care product such as a steroid cream or calamine. If the rash is extensive, looks infected, or is not getting better, call your doctor right away.

Have a safe and wonderful summer!

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Wordless Wednesday ~ Tantrum

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Weekend Roundup

Here's my weekend roundup- better late than never, right? Ha ha.

Friday night some of my family came over to celebrate my birthday with me. My sister bought me a yummy cookie cake. Sooo good, Thanks Gina!!

Later that evening Gavin was playing around with his slightly loose tooth wondering when it would come out. I felt it to see how wiggly it was and told him sometime next week it should fall out- it wasn't that loose to me. Gavin told me he thought it would come out on Saturday. I said I didn't think so!

5 minutes later he walks back into the room and says "Here's my tooth mom" WHAT?!?!?

He pulled that sucker out himself. And there was blood. Lots of it too! He was really excited and ran to get his tooth fairy pillow.

Of course the tooth fairy came Friday night and Gavin was Very happy Saturday morning.

Saturday evening we dropped both kids off at my mil's to spend the night. Ken and I headed off to my birthday dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. One word : Yummmmmyyyyy. I love that place. We went with Katie and a friend of hers. Great food, great friends, and much laughter made the night wonderful.

Sunday morning Ken and I picked up the kids and made an hour and a half drive to see my brother's new house. He just moved in Wednesday and I couldn't wait to see the place. We barbequed , played horseshoes, and had the slip n slide out for the kids.

Katelyn spent the time walking up and down the slip n slide and getting in the other kids way. Very funny to me actually. We had a great time there and cant wait to go visit again.

Hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend too!

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Flashback Friday ~ Me ~

Who is that adorable sweet little baby? I know you all are wondering. Why, it's me! Yep, those are my baby pictures and I thought for today's Flashback Friday I would post about little ole me! Why? It's my Birthday! Yippee! Today I turn 34 years old.

I love looking back at old photos of myself. I love to see how much I've changed, the clothes I wore, and all the different hairstyles I had. And now since I have kids I love looking at my pictures to see if I see Gavin or Katelyn in them.

This next picture is of me in pre-school. I love the shirt I am wearing and my hair- red like Katelyn's!!

Next one up is from kindergarten. I love looking at this picture now, but back in the day, I hated it. I did NOT want my mom to put those pink foamy curlers in my hair the night before picture day but she did anyway. I remember crying the whole way to school because I hated my hair. And check out that cool 70's outfit!

This one is from 2nd or 3rd grade- I think. I am missing my two front teeth. And I love how the blond is coming out in my hair!

My next picture is when my looks started to go. My 6th grade picture. What is going on with my hair. Oh, how I hated it. I think it was supposed to be feathered. Who knows.

For the next couple of years I went through an awkward faze. Oh boy. I had my share of bad perms, bad clothes, and even glasses. I will not be sharing those pictures now!

The next one is my senior photo. I loved my hair then! It was 1992 so of course my hair was BIG.

It seems like time has flown since I graduated. I went to college, got married, and had my 2 beautiful babies. Today, I am 34 years old. Wow. I feel 34 years Young!!!

For more Flashback Fridays head on over toMommy Always Wins .

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Wordless Wednesday - Rays Win !!! -

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Share The Love

I received this award from Kristi at Music Mom Of 2. Thanks so much Kristi!

It was created by Memoirs Of A Mommy to honor the donor who saved her son Noah's life with a heart transplant. Her hopes are that in passing this award, we are creating more awareness of the importance of organ donation.

So, now it is my turn to pass on the award and Share The Love and spread the word about Organ Donation.

I am passing this on to Great Life-Happy2BMe, Blessings Of Love, All Day Night, WesnLani, and Mommy Always WIns.

So please, Share The Love and pass this award on. Please include a link to Memoirs Of A Mommy in your post!

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Pay It Forward ~ Winners~

All right now! The winners are in! Using my very high tech winner picking system I have 3 names for you. All the commenter's names were written on a piece of paper, put into a bowl, and Gavin picked who won.


Colleen at Mommy Always Wins

Quite Contrary 1977 at Now Entering Mommyville

Andrea at The Laughs Will Go On

Winners: please email me at mkbarker at verizon dot net with your mailing address so I can ship these out to you!!

Also, remember to hold a Pay It Forward of your own.

Congratulations! ! !

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Weekend Round Up

Yes, we had a busy Father's Day weekend.

Friday night was scrap booking night up at the church again. Katie and I headed up there after dinner at my house of pizza. Once again I had a great time with the girls up there and got a lot done.

Meanwhile at home Gavin was excited because Katie's son Austin was over and was spending the night. Ken really had a full house with Gavin, Katelyn, Danyelle, and Austin. Everyone but Danyelle was sleeping when I got home so I guess all went well.

Saturday night was another Ken and the kids night. Ken took Gavin and Danyelle to the movies to see Incredible Hulk. I stayed home with Katelyn.

All 3 of them said the movie was excellent. Gavin immediately got out all of his Hulk action figures when he got home and started playing. I guess acting out the movie. And a little while later he changed into his Hulk jammies.

Father's Day morning we let Ken sleep in of course. Then we headed over the my mil's for lunch.

After lunch we went back home and played the wii. In the evening we went out to dinner with my dad, sister, and brother. We went to a local sushi place and had a great time.

Fun, busy weekend for us! Have a wonderful week everyone.

*For more weekend roundups head on over to WesnLani.

* Pay It Forward winners will be posted later this afternoon!

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Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband Ken.

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Pay It Forward ~ Giveaway ~

I was recently a winner in Donna's Pay it Forward. You can read about my gift here. The rules for Pay It Forward are simple : If you are a winner on someone else's giveaway, you promise to hold one of your own.


So here is mine


I am giving away 3 handmade Boo Boo Bunnies. In pink, blue , and yellow.

They will come with a little round ice pack to stick in the back of the bunny for when your little one gets a boo boo.

If you would like to win one of these bunnies please leave me a comment. Make sure to include in your comment what color you would like and an email address for me to contact you if you are a winner.

Remember, if you are a winner you are promising to hold a Pay It Forward on your own blog.

I will leave the comments open until Sunday night and announce the winners on Monday.

Good luck :)
****Update **** I didnt mention previously, but I will be drawing 3 different winners to win one of the bunnies! So, 3 winners- woo hooo!

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Wordless Wednesday - Ready For Summer

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Gladiator Ready ?

Someone, please tell me that Gavin and I are not the only people watching American Gladiators. We LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Actually I loved watching Gladiators when it originally ran back when I was in high school.

Now Gavin and I are keeping the tradition going. Gavin loves all of the stunts and challenges they do. Of course the old favorites are there: Joust, Powerball and the Eliminator. And alot of new challenges too.

Gavin's favorite Gladiator is Wolf. He thinks this guy is awesome. And he always roots for the Gladiators to win, never the poor contestants. And most of the time throughout the show Gavin is acting out the stunts on our living room floor.

I, on the other hand, root for the contestants. I think the Gladiators are a bit cheesy. Ok, ALOT cheesy. But I cant help myself, I love watching the show.

So please, someone, tell me that I am not the only one watching this on Mondays? Please?

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Pay It Forward

A little while ago I was one of the winners in Donna's Pay It Forward Exchange. And yesterday I received this lovely handmade gift in the mail:

I am loving it! Thanks so much Donna!! Donna had asked me what my favorite holiday/season to decorate for and I said Fall. I love the colors on this and cant wait to display it when the weather cools off!

Ok, the rules for Pay It Forward are simple. If you are a winner you promise to hold a Pay It Forward of your own. So next week I will be having a giveaway on my blog. Be sure to keep checking back because I have 3 cute homemade prizes to giveaway.

Once again, thanks to Donna at Blessings Of Love for my great gift!

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Wordless Wednesday - Yard Work

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Good Bye Kindergarten

Today is Gavin's last day of school. His last day of kindergarten. I cant believe his first year of school is over. It really flew by. And it makes me sad. He is going to be in First grade next year. He's not so little anymore. Next year he will be one of the big kids.

This year was full of excitement and changes for Gavin. He brought his lunch to school every day except Fridays. Friday he got lunch money and would eat pizza and ice cream with his friends. He also wore his school T-shirt on Fridays for spirit day. He was in a parade in school. He was in the play Peter Rabbit. By the second half of the year he was getting dropped off and picked up in the car line. He had homework every night of the week. He is now writing sentences, doing addition and subtraction, knows all of his sight words, and call tell time.

His teacher constantly told me how kind, thoughtful, and just how great Gavin is. He is friends with everyone in his class and doesn't shy away from anything. He loves PE. He loved going to the school library and checking out books. Especially when he could find ones on football.

Overall it was a wonderful first year of school for Gavin. Ken and I are both so proud of him. I hope that next year he continues to love school and do wonderfully again.

And to see how much time flies, below is a picture of Gavin from his first day of school.......

and then this one that I took this morning from his last day of school............

** Thanks to Kristi who also did pictures like this on her blog ***

Gavin, Congratulations on completing Kindergarten! Love you bunches, Mommy

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Weekend Roundup

I was so busy last week! Doing what? Since my car was still in the shop it might seem like I wouldnt be busy. But.... I was babysitting. In addition to Ethan ( who I have m-f normally ) I watched a friends son for her. Her babysitter cancelled at the last minute and I stepped in. All week. Her little guy is almost 2 years old. Katelyn is almost 2 years old and Ethan is 10 months old. Yikes! I survived the week :)

But of course by the time Saturday came I was dead on my feet!

Saturday morning we headed up to Wallll Mart to buy a pool for the backyard. Nothing fancy, just something so the kids could cool off. Got home, set it up, and Gavin and Katelyn played in it for hours!

Danyelle also got a special treat from my inlaws. They took her out to lunch and to a movie Saturday afternoon to congratulate her on completing 8th grade. Off to high school next year- yikes!!

Early to bed for all of us Saturday night and then off to my MIL's for Sunday lunch. Danyelle helped cook the asparagus- which she is getting pretty good at.
And grocery shopping later sunday evening just about completed our weekend.

Have a great week everyone!

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