Blog | The Barela Family

Latest Posts

simple words.

Published by Aubrey

I am reading through the bible this year and right about now I am stumbling my way through Leviticus. It’s a lot of do’s and don’t’s and I get lost in most of it to be honest. But what does catch my attention is the phrase that is repeated many times over:

“Fear your God. I am the Lord your God.”

God says it over and over. A constant reminder.

Just like in Leviticus, I can get lost in my day. I’m going about my list of things I want to get done. Trying to act in obedience all the while but I often find myself just going about my day in my own way. Then something happens, I’m caught off guard and I realize I have lost my focus. I have forgotten this…

I am the Lord your God.

Just like the Israelites I need the constant reminder of what is true. That truth to keep me grounded. To remind me of who I am pursuing above all else. To walk in obedience and humility.

So even though I am stumbling through Leviticus and getting lost in all the sacrifices and atonements I am clinging to those simple words…

I am the Lord your God.

love it.

Published by Aubrey

A couple things that I’m loving right now.

This new app my friend Robin told me about called Red Stamp. It’s a super cool way to freely send cute cards to anyone. Like this one I sent to Brian on Friday. I love it.

The girls in their new BIG GIRL booster seats. Oh my goodness the complete and utter JOY over these seats is really hard to describe. But their faces in this picture come close.

And this awesome picture our friend Dan took last week. He’s way proud of his artistic talent that somehow came out in this picture while shopping. Yes, I do love it.

He pulled up a chair.

Published by Aubrey

Already, there had been crying, shouting, discipline required, countless questions and demands. It was only 7:30 am. I’ve had the touch of the flu this weekend. My energy was low. I sat in the chair attempting to read my bible amidst the chaos that was swirling around me and I thought “I don’t know if I can do this today. I just don’t know.”

Have you had those days? Please say yes.

You feel tired, alone, overwhelmed, D O N E. Not a good feeling. Especially when the day is only hours old.

As I was sitting in my chair this morning wondering how I was going to get through the day I remembered a verse in Psalm 51 that I was reading this week.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Psalm 51:12

In those moments of “Ahhhhh! How am I going to do this?!?”

Remember He’s there. He hears our cry. He understands. He gets it. He’s there to restore us. To remind us of the joy we have because of Him.

He’s there in the moments of desperation. The quietness when we have nothing to say because we just don’t know where to start. He’s there to fill us, to sustain us. To give us the willing spirit when we don’t have it within ourselves.

Restoration. Joy. Willing spirit. Sustenance.
He freely gives.

I’m so thankful I’m not on my own. Or I might still be sitting in my chair. But instead. He heard me. And He pulled up a chair beside.

And for the record. Even with the touch of the flu, we had a wonderful day.

donotdepart.com

5 on friday.

Published by Aubrey

1. So we’ve had a visitor this week. We’ve been looking forward to our friend Dan coming to stay with us and the anticipation has not left us with any disappointment. We’ve all had a great time hanging out. Dan was a former student when we doing ministry at Chico State. He then interned with our staff team and later joined staff. He’s now joining with a church plant ministry in San Francisco. The kids have LOVED having Dan here. Their have been many conversations about who sits next to Dan in the car or at the table, who gets to have special time with Dan etc. So yes we are all good friends and love to hang out but we know the real reason he came out here to visit. Dan has an intense love ~~obsession~~ for all things Michael Jackson. Which he so proudly has passed on to Mason. This weekend there is a Cirque de Soleil Michael Jackson show in Indy. Dan and Brian are going to the show tonight to live out some sort of MJ dream. I will be contently sewing at home. Sounds good to me. Have fun boys! And thanks Dan for a great visit! We’ll see you when the MJ show returns to Indy. I kid. I kid:)

2. As mentioned above I’m on to phase 2 of the girls’ quilts. All blocks are cut and now I am step by step sewing them together. Last night my friend and partner in this great feat of mine, Karen came over to help. We got a good chunk done. If my sewing machine wasn’t possessed there would have been more done. Oh well, I’m learning lots. Sewing shall continue tonight.

3. Confession time: I have had The Flying Cupcake three times this month. Sinful. Sinful! I tell you. But there’s no shame or regret. I loved every bite of every flavor. What is The Flying Cupcake you ask? It’s my fave bakery in town that makes the most a maz ing cupcakes. Huge, glorious, designer cupcakes! So that’s all. Just had to get it out there. And you know, there are 5 more days (leap year!) in the month, no guarantees there won’t be a 4th visit.

4. I have been implementing some new rules around the Barela household. Do you have the moments where all of the sudden it’s like a light shines on a situation and you think “Why are we doing this right now? And how did we get in this pattern?” We are in season right now of arguing with one another. I say season because I know it will pass too as other irritating seasons have. It seems to be constant and over the silliest things, like who gets to sit in the “best” chair. The best was unknowingly to us labeled the one that has best angle of the TV. Really our dining room and living room is all one rather small room so you have a great angle at the TV no matter what chair you sit in but that point is quickly ignored as I have learned. It doesn’t matter if the TV is on or not, the best chair was still THE coveted chair at every meal and snack time. So what did this smart mama do? I closed the chair. Yep, special chair is closed for an undetermined length of time. Problem solved. Now if you are a guest in our home then you may sit in that chair and enjoy it to its fullest. Dan has been having a great time in special chair this week. And I just have to laugh. When I thought what it would be like to be a mom, making rules about special chairs being closed did not come to mind:)

5. The battery on my laptop died awhile ago so I’ve only been using our desktop. If Brian is home and is not using his cord I will plug my laptop in but that wasn’t happening much. It was working out fine (although I did miss sitting on the couch while on my laptop) until our desktop decide to have some issues. It’s going into the Apple Dr. Sunday. Sad. But good news my awesome husband surprised me my very own cord. Back to sitting on the couch while using my laptop. It’s the little things.

Hey you! Have a great weekend.

1,2,3…

Published by Aubrey

I haven’t been nearly as diligent with the girls as I was with Mase about doing preschool activities at home. It happens here and here but nothing really consistent. Still, somehow they know their letters and numbers. Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Little Einstines probably could take more credit than me but whatever.

One thing I did find on Pinterest that was super easy and the girls love is counting beads into an egg empty carton. We go through a ton of eggs so I always have an empty carton on on hand. I buy a dozen and half. But whatever you have on hand will be fine. Number each egg compartment 1-18 (or 1-12 if you have a dozen) with the number at the bottom of the hole. Have your child put the correct number of beads, beans, etc. in the compartment. It’s an easy activity that will keep them busy for maybe 10 min or so! Hey us moms will take what we can get, right?

Have fun counting!

Organize yo self!

Published by Aubrey

Feeling a little scattered? Overcome by the piles, the clutter, the STUFF? I know I have these feelings at times. Well I may have a fix for you. My BFF Amie is hosting a give away on her blog from the organizing guru Krista Colvin Organize the Whole Shebang! Got to Amie’s blog and leave a comment about what you want to organize or why you love to organize. The winner will be chosen on Friday so head on over there and comment away!

I do. And I don’t.

Published by Aubrey

photo credit

This idea has been rolling around the blogsphere. A list of DO’s and DON’Ts of our family. It’s so easy to compare ourselves to other friends, mama’s, wives, families. It’s also easy to focus on things I DON’T do. But like my friend Julie said there are a lot of things I do DO. What works for your family may not work for mine and vice versa. One thing that is true, we all are trying to figure out what is best for our own family. And also for me where God is leading me as a woman of God, wife and mom. So here we are.

I do…

have music playing almost all day long and it’s not always Christian music. Yes, my kids know who Justin Bieber is and we often have dance parties dancing away to JB.
give my kids band aids whenever they think they “need” it. We go through countless band aids.
menu planning but don’t like to do it. It’s only because it’s a necessity.
let my kids mix as many cereals as they want at breakfast. The more the merrier.
go to bed often with a pile of clean clothes on the floor that need to be folded.
clean our house on Fridays.
work out most days.
make muffins, pancakes, waffles and cookies from scratch quite often. I like to bake.
read to my kids often.
enjoy doing crafts with the kids.
make a BIG deal out of birthdays.
let our kids watch TV during breakfast.
make our kids do morning chores with no allowance or reward. It’s part of being in our family.
pray with our kids every night.

I don’t…

make dinner on Fridays. It’s always dinner out.
change our sheets nearly as often as I should.
wash my girls hair nearly as often as it needs to be.
go to bed with a dirty kitchen.
shower soon after work outs and quite often run errands or whatever smelling pretty funky.
iron. Only if needed.
scrapbook or get many pictures developed. It’s all on the computer and my phone.
get intimidated by household projects.
feed my kids veggies every day.
buy very much organic food.
give my kids vitamins.
go shopping. If I do, it’s to Hobby Lobby or Jo Ann Fabrics.
homeschool.

Just be me.

Published by Aubrey

photo credit
As I write this I am so happy. I am so content. I am alone. Thankful for the hours my loving husband gave me to go off and do as I please. After a couple quick, necessary errands that needed to done I found my way to a coffee shop with laptop in hand. I plug in my headphones and block out the rest of the world. Just for these next couple hours I can just be. I can slowly unload all those thoughts that have been piling up in my head. One by one as they are filed away in the proper place I start breathing a little deeper. My head gets clearer and I’m feeling a little more in control of the spinning that tends to happen in my head.

As I get older I’m learning new things about myself. I guess that is a good thing, right? I’m learning that I’m more of an introvert than I thought or more than I wanted to admit before. My husband always told me I was but I wanted to be the fun, extrovert. Life of the party. Maybe I am in the right crowd. But what energizes me more and more is time by myself. Time to think, to process, to dream, to create.

Time to just be me.

Sigh.

It feels good.

5 on friday.

Published by Aubrey

1. Mason is becoming a rock star at reading. Last week for the first time, on his own initiation he read a book to the girls. Precious. Wish I would have gotten a picture. But…I didn’t. To help encourage him in his reading we call grandparents and friends and he reads to them over the phone or skype. He gets good practice and of course whoever is listening loves it! It’s a win win.

2. I did this little project over the weekend with the help of my mom. There used to be a janky, folding door that went into our bathroom. One of the kids dismantled it. I wasn’t too sad because it was ugly to begin with it. Instead of putting the ugly door back up I made a curtain with material I had on hand. I like the way it looks. The only downside is that there isn’t much ventilation. So our bathroom turns into a sauna. I just want to say thank you children for ripping our ugly door off. You motivated me to do something cuter. Again, a win!

3. My brother and sister-in-law and their 3 kids are coming to visit this weekend. I absolutely LOVE when the kids get to spend time with their cousins. It’s wild, crazy, very loud and fun. I hope these early memories of hanging out with each other will be fondly remembered someday when we they are teenagers and when it will be different kind of wild, crazy fun!

4. I am finally finally FINALLY getting started on the quilts for the girls future bunk beds. I bought the fabric this summer and it has just been sitting in my closet waiting patiently for me to find the motivation to do something with it. Well the time was come. I washed and ironed it. Last night a friend who has more experience than me (I have none, so really anyone who has done anything is helpful) came over to help me lay it all out and come up with a pattern. I’m going to do a block quilt of some sort with all kinds of fun fabrics. I love fabric too much to land on just a few so I went with ALOT and I love them all! I started cutting blocks last night. I stayed up way too late cutting and even had a dream about cutting fabric. When I get going on something I have a tendency to go a little extreme. Anyways, stay tuned…and be patient!

5. And I just can’t get enough of this picture. So I will share it with you all. Oh, I just love them! Now it’s time for me and these girls to go grocery shopping. We have NO food in this house. Menu planning and grocery shopping are not high on my list of things I love to do but we all like to eat around here. So a mom’s gotta do, what a mom’s gotta do. With suckers in hand for my “helpers” off we go!

Fillin’ up.

Published by Aubrey

My fuel for the morning.
I’m feeling it.
Physically tired, a little scattered, a little overwhelmed.

So I’m filling up on two things that really never fail me.

The Word and coffee.

A to the Men.

Happy Thursday.