a r.a.i.n.y. day.

for those of you who live on the east coast...pretty much from florida to maine...we are seeing r.a.i.n. today. lots of torrential downpours. some sprinkles. flooding. big, b.i.g. puddles. so big that kaden has to ride the bus home from school today. (that now makes him quiver...he really likes walking home...) even some thunder and lightning.

it was the p.e.r.f.e.c.t. day to sleep in...i jumped out of bed, ready to start the day...thinking my alarm clock read 5:53 a.m. so i overslept 20 minutes, big deal. i donned my sweats and t, ready to start my workout, and glanced at the clock again. oh no. it REALLY said 6:53 am. oh no! i TOTALLY overslept. so much that i don't have time to fit my workout in afterall, so... i climb back in my warm bed, and cuddle under the covers, and watch the news instead.

glorious.

this is what i love MOST about being a stay at home mommy.

i call the shots...USUALLY. ;)

{i am sorry to all the moms out there who had to go to work this morning...

i mean...really had to get up early, get the kids packed, and delivered, and walk into work in the pouring rain, when it's kinda still dark outside.

sorry about that.}

so...here i sit. laundry in. coffee poured. 2 littles coloring...

while i look out the window, and see the lights to BOTH of my

kids rooms at school shining bright...we really do live THAT close.

i can see both of their homerooms.

is that cool, or what?

talk about being nudged to pray...

yes, everytime i walk past the window,

i pray for my kids,

sitting somewhere in the public school building.

for their friends. for their teachers.

for us.

we are called there. for now.

so...what will i do today. hmmm. obviously stay in my sweats.

totally okay with me, even if the associate pastor is now our hired guy,

and comes in for coffee most mornings.

has he seen me without make-up. yep.

seen me in sweats. yep.

seen my house a total wreck. yep.

{maybe that's why i grew up with a pastor for a dad, a pastor for a grandpa,

and well...a pastor for a brother.}

actually, that is a probably a bad thing...when MOST people know their

associate pastor is coming in for coffee, they would probably scramble to

put on their make-up, get "proper" attire on, and push all the "crap"

into another room...and well...some days i do-do that, but most, not so

much. matt probaby wishes i would care a little bit more...well...

and maybe jon too. sorry...but at least you get coffee right?

and sometimes cookies. doughnuts. or brownies. :)

maybe i will scrapbook, or iron, or give my blog a face-lift.

maybe i will dust. or vacume. or do a huge overhaul clean up job

in my house. maybe i will just spend some much needed time with the Lord.

maybe make some applesauce.

maybe clean out my desk. mail some cards. organize.

color. paint. cook. potty train...naaaa. who wants to ruin a great day?

not sure. here's to the beauty of my life.

i love it.

{today anyway}

happy rainy day.

okay.okay.

so my husband's definition of  "bust my butt" and my definition of "bust my butt" are slighty different. surprise. surprise. :)

 he showed up with the kids to watch the alumni field hockey game, this 32 year old wife and mother of 4, decided to play in on sat...simply because...i was not pregnant or nursing...which quite frankly is kind of a rare-ity these days.

so...let me do a re-play for you...we played 30 minutes...he showed up with maybe 7 or 8 minutes left in the first half, then we got a 5 minute half time break to sort of try to catch our breaths, and swallow as much water as we could, between our gulps of air...and he says to me, "do you feel kind of slow out there?" and then we played 30 more minutes.

hmmmm. i guess there would be 2 ways to handle that comment, when i couldn't breath, (without my asthma inhaler, i might add. :) ) and that would be a good way, and a well...a bad way. well...to be honest, I really didn't feel that slow...regardless of the fact i apparently looked like molasses out there to him, and the fact that my "game" consisted of some jogging, some sprinting, some running, and yes... some walking...but i was NOT the only one...just so you know... :) at the time, the "old" team i was a part of had scored 2 goals...on a goalie...to the NONE the young team hadn't scored on us, without a goalie...and i had assisted one of those goals. huge smile, yes. AND most of the women on my team play for a league team...i do not. more smiles. and yes, while some of them would have blown me away on a sprint, SOME of them would NOT have. :) yep, more smiles. and by the games end...we won, 5-1...and i had assisted in 3 of those goals, (which means i passed the ball in, and my girl scored)...and yeah...missed 3 of my own shots by inches...but, hey...he missed all that to go pa-ruse the rest of the homecoming grounds with the kids...

i must say that i THOUGHT i would be okay, because quite frankly, i have lost a ton of weight in the past almost year, went out and ran 3 continuous miles the first time i went out to run, a couple months ago, and have been since lifting weights, running, and doing various dvds in my basement many, many times a week...

well. sprinting up and down a hockey field when you are a forward, and running a continuous 3 miles on chester county roads are a bit different. okay. HUGELY different. but it's okay. i was glad i played, and it put my life back into perspective...whether matt thinks i am slow or not.

here's to the cheetos.

JUST KIDDING. :)

thanks for the support baby...even if i AM slow. ;)

Happy Homecoming!!!

To Octorara Area High.

My alma Mater.

i guess it's kinda neat that i live here. in close proximity to my high school. this weekend is homecoming...always so much fun. i can kind of feed off the energy of the crowd. like at their pep rally yesterday, we can hear the band. we can hear everyone chanting. and screaming. it's fun. being so close.

last night we went to the parade in christiana...which marched right past my old house. tears. :) such memories. kaden got to ride on the soccer float and throw out candy. he had fun. this morning i am going to go bust my butt, on the hockey field, and play in the hockey alumni game...that means at 8 a.m. then go drop some money to the soccer boosters and enjoy a  pancake breakfast, which is totally against my eating habits right now.

did i tell you that i didn't exercise for 2 weeks, and didn't watch EXACTLY what i put in my mouth for the same time period, and my pants are tight.

ALREADY.

in 2 weeks. ugh. i vented to a friend the other day. it would be so nice to NOT have to worry about fitting exercise into every day, or THINKING about each little tidbit i put into my mouth, but i do. that's the bottom line. I do. so. i guess i should just grin, and bear it. part of getting older. maybe. part of having 4 babies in 5 years and 2 months. could be. just my genetic make-up. possibly. but to me...that stinks. especially when i have friends who don't have to worry about anything of the such. ugh. again. :)

here's to a new definition of busting my butt in the alumni game...as in my pants are too tight. we'll see how this goes. cheers.

here's some pics of kaden's last soccer game...

and yes...that is our beautfiful farm in the background. what a great back drop don't you think? ha. ha. just think of all the pictures we are a part of. :) kaden is number 6.

 guess he is not really in this above picture...but his good friends are...

 running for the ball...he's not so fast...but is a good little player. really excels at being goalie right now...has no fear going after the ball...

this game he scored the only goal. yay. kaden. love you.

we have exceptional...

PUPPIES.

~Our puppies were 12 days old yesterday, and 3 of them are starting to open their eyes. it's quite amazing. neat. a wonder. their eyes are not "supposed" to open until they are between 3-4 wks old. maybe it's all those good supplement bottles i have been giving them...and all the snuggles...quite possibly! ;) speaking of...i have now cut their feedings from 4 to 2. yay.~

~enjoy some pics...of this farm woman and her "non-animal lovin" kids gone wild. ~

i can't get it together.

i just can't.

i don't know what it is, i can't seem to get ahead of

ANYTHING

these days.

i am still behind...and i don't really know why...

well...okay, part of it is that fall is here, and when fall comes

i think in my mind that i can hibernate in bed until 7am,

and that lasts until spring...which is a huge downer,

because

i was getting up at 5:30 a.m. to exercise, and spend time with the
Lord...and now when i sleep til 7am, i don't do those things anymore.

why is that?

why can't i squeeze them in somewhere else?

not to mention how when i get up early it feels like the day goes on

forever and ever...i get so much done.

there are new demands on my time...i know that...

i am still adjusting.

homework, packing lunches, soccer, feeding puppies...

here's to getting my act together SOON.

      (a pic from poppy's new boat a couple weeks ago...trying to squeeze in some more "tan"
                                                      before the wedding!)

cheers.

our motorcycle ride.

just a couple shots of our motorcycle ride last weekend. it was a benefit ride for Joni and Friends...we had lots of fun riding with a bunch of people we did know...and a bunch of people we didn't.   i don't know how many bikes participated ...but there was a lot. and such a beautiful day. we couldn't hang out long  because we had to make a run for it to go to mark's lunchtime reception, but i was still glad we made the effort to go...despite our busy, busy weekend.                                          

quote of the day.

Oh, but it wasn't all bad, those few years...

Because God never slams a door in your face without opening a box of Girl Scout cookies (or however the old adage goes), some wonderful things did happen to me in the shadow of all that sorrow...

~taken from eat, pray, love  by elizabeth gilbert

a new day.

yesterday was a bit of a doozy...

campbell, 3 1/2 years old, fell backwards out of our little wagon, that was being pulled by her big brother kaden, at 6 pm on tuesday night. after much prayer and debate, we decided NOT to call the doc, figuring they would send us to the ER, where they would want to admit her for observation overnight. chickens were leaving, so matt was up with them all night, so i was on my own. :) she did not sleep well, which actually was a good thing, i didn't have to wake her then...but this sort of thing just stresses me out. she vomited 3x yesterday morning, in a hour and a half time period, which freaked me out a bit...however, by mid-morning after a little bit of breakfast, she started to turn the corner. yay! thanks for those of you who were praying for her, and us! we will continue to take it easy with her for the next week or so, and try to ensure she doesn't get another head "bumper". :)

been supplementing the puppies with bottle feedings every 3 hours or so (except for overnight), which is taking away HOURS to my days...i am feeling very behind in all areas of my life. :( i hate that feeling. i just can't seem to get ahead...

ended our day with a surprise visit from my mom, and a trip to the solanco parade. can't candy and pizza, fix anything? even a bad day?

this is an excerpt i came across today, out of one of my favorite books, "A Mother's Heart by Jean Flemming...Her paraphrase of I Corinthians 13.

If i keep my house immaculately clean, and am envied by all for my interior decorating, but do not show love in  my family- i'm just another housewife.

If i am always producing lovely things, sewing, art, if i always look attractive and speak intelligently, but am not loving to my family- i am nothing.

if i am busy in community affairs, teach sunday school and drive in the carpool, but fail to give adequate love to my family- i gain nothing.

love changes diapers, cleans up messes, and ties shoes over and over again.
love is kind, tough, tired and frazzled.
love doesn't envy another wife-one whose children are "spaced" better, or in school so she has time to pursue her own interests.

love doesn't try to impress others with my abilities or knowledge as a mother.
love doesn't scream at their kids.
love doesn't feel cheated because i didn't get to do what i wanted to do today---sew, read, soak in a hot tub.

love doesn't lose my temper easily.
love doesn't assume that my children are being naughty just because their noise level is irritating.

love doesn't rejoice when other people's children misbehave and make mine look good. love is genuinely happy when otheres are honored by their children.

and so i end, being challenged by my sometimes selfish thoughts, and reflect on this verse to start my new day afresh.

     be still and know that i am God.      Psalm 46:10.

they're here!

as i mentioned before...our chocolate lab, millie, had 15 puppies on sat. morning. matt and i had checked her on fri. night at 11:30 p..m. when we got home from the wedding, and she was jumping on us, and hyper...so we figured she wasn't going to have them anytime soon. however, i checked on her at 6:30 a.m. sat. morning, and there were puppies everywhere...at that point she had had 12...and by the time we got home from our motorcycle ride she had had 15. she had 5 of each color: chocolate, yellow, and black! lots of girls, only 4 boys out of 15!

we are trying to bottle feed the littles, but millie is doing a great job being a mommy! such a miracle to watch it all go down. i know...right...me...talking about dogs/puppies like that. ;) we have 10 living now...and are excited about that!

we can't wait until they are a little bit bigger and their eyes open up!

the w.e.d.d.i.n.g.

wow...this whole week has been a whirlwind of activity. we celebrated the wedding of matt's brother, mark, and jamie...with rehearsal on thur. night, wedding fri. night, and reception from lunchtime sat.continuing thru the early hours of Sunday morning. {we thought we might return for a bit on sat. night...but to be quite frank, we were so wedding'd out, and the kids were still exhausted, despite not participating in the sat. reception, that i stayed home and put the kids to bed, and started cleaning up my neglected house from the week...i know...i am a pathetic sister in law already. :(  matt did return for a short time...}

as if that wasn't enough activity, we had 15 puppies sat. morning, and had to be ready to leave on  a joni and friends benefit motorcycle ride sat. morning before the reception...at 8 a.m. {it really was bad timing...but you know how much fun we have on motorcycle rides...and it was a nice break from wedding "stuff" too. :) }

these songs on the blog are the songs of the wedding...we strolled down the aisle to the white flag song, jamie's procession was to the orinico flow song...and the allison krauss song was the song they had playing during communion. jamie's daughter, rhiannon, played cannon in d on the piano and did a great job! how brave she was to play at her mom's wedding! ;) very unique and beautiful...although we totally weren't lined up in time, and being that i was the first to walk in...i missed my "chime"...oops. sorry uncle mark...he was very concerned about that on thur. night...and i messed it up. :) not that it mattered because the bridesmaids did get to walk "fast" due to the beat of the song, and not to mention there were 12 of us to get up the aisle plus kaden and amelia...the flower girl. yikes. :)

it was a beautiful wedding. just some pics of the church, etc. these are the flowers the bridesmaids carried...they were pretty stunning, eigh? :)

this is kaden, the cute ring bearer ;) and rhiannon and 2 of the girls.

the mark king family, "moppy"- matt's mom with kaycee, campbell, and calli.
and our happy little family. :) {my parents graciously came and watched the girls...as they were not "in" the actual wedding...thanks mom and dad...that was a huge help...not to mention the fact that they took them home overnight, so matt and i could ride in the motorcycle ride sat. morning...}

i wish the lighting was better...this is a really cute picture of matt and kaden with groom uncle mark.

i had to enlarge this picture so you could really see the whole wedding party.

saying it was huge...was kind of an understatement...but we were so happy to be able to be a special part of it. :)

these are just a few shots at the reception...it was at the bed n breakfast beside Cherry Crest Farms...the corn maze...Shelly and Steve Temple's...they are friends of Mark and Jamie's. It was such a beautiful setting, and a beautiful day for an outdoor reception...

this is matt's cousin, emily, and her little girl gemma. she is the cutest piece of girly...so sweet! lots of chatter happening at this afternoon reception...low key and comfy, which is exactly what they were looking for. :)

congratulations mark and jamie. we were so happy to be a part of your special day! hope it was just as you hoped it would be. we'll see you soon!

p.s. matt and i got to read an inspirational reading that i put together. we did a really good job...until i said the "to mark and jamie" part...then i started to cry...as usual. but then, matt's voice started to quiver...it was really very cute. i think we brought the house down in tears. :) but it really didn't matter, because mark had already been bawling at this point. it was so sweet. he just could not hold it together...and jamie was solid as a rock. :)

a sketchbook.

                                      *************************
                                               what shall i do today?

i'll start living the life i've imagined.

i will worry less and enjoy more.

i will add something beautiful to the world.

i will have a new adventure.

i will leave this day better than i found it.

i will fall in love with life all over again.

***************************

[more on this later.  calli is standing here bawling. :)]

ok. i am back...about 3 days later. oh.my.life. :) this post is a little bit random...so, just hang on.

so i got that little starter on the cover of one of my journals. i thought it was so fitting for the time that i typed it.

i am reading this fabulous book, called creative correction by lisa whelchel.
i am so l.o.v.i.n.g. it! it really does have such fabulous life lessons to teach your littles. and then. i had this fabulous idea. i think i will call it  coffee talk. it will be at my house on sunday nights, in the winter...after Christmas...starting in say feb. or something...once or twice a month, at 8 pm...
we will meet in the basement, and sip on yummy flavored coffee and munch on delicious desserts. we will discuss this book...because you know what...
there is a STUDY GUIDE in the back. how fabulous is that?
like. for real.
i have not talked this over with Matt or God or anyone...
it just seems like a great idea.
if you would like to come...please tell me...here or call me...or e-mail me.
and if it doesn't fly...then so be it.
i will keep all this good stuff to myself. :)

check out some excerpts:

ignoring moral issues when the implications are toddler-size can reap perilous, teenager-size repurcussions. we can't avoid our children's peccadilloes forever-but when would you rather deal with these moral and character issues? when your child is five years old or 15?
*           *         *         *         *         *
we can tell our kids all day long how much God loves them, but they'll better understand His love after they've messed up and He's forgiven them, completely erasing their mistakes forever. That forgiveness and God's promise of salvation is grace. The absence of punishment is His mercy. to make those concepts real, we must demonstrate God's grace and mercy at home...
*          *          *           *           *          *
A.N.D.
the first study guide question is this...

1. In the opening story, Lisa, the author, describes feeling harried and provides a lengthy list of what she feels she lets "slide" in her life. Think about your own list. What, if anything, do you let slide?

***i thought that was an awesome question. now...for this to work...we a) have to be real with one another...and b) have to be honest-first to ourselves, and second to our friends...***
*          *          *          *          *          *
sent my 2 littles off to their second week of school. they are both still so nervous. kaycee is afraid she will forget to do one of her kindergarten "chores" and kaden...he's just plain nervous. this parenting thing...you really should have to pass some pre-requisites...don't you think? i mean...i try to spend time with Jesus everyday...i try to give all MY worries to the Lord...but who am i kidding? i can't get it right...how do i expect my kids to be masters at it at 5 and 7 years old...the talks we are having right now are great...but hard...
so... i am praying for them like. crazy. :)

have a great, great week. our's will be crazy...we have something every night this week, for a whole week...most of that is wedding stuff. matt's brother mark is getting married friday night. busy. busy. busy. fun busy. but still lot's of orcastrating...we are preparing to party! :)

happy. birthday. sugar.

june 2010...fueling the bike for an early morning start in utah.

****************************

grand canyon baby...

**********************************

                                                  spring 2010.

                                    *******************************

i know it doesn't feel like much of a birthday today...as you have been in the hay since you awoke on this smokin' hot day...and kaden is home sick today...so it doesn't look like we'll even make it out to dinner tonight...but we'll celebrate soon...i promise. :) i love your hard working, servant heart spirit, and you will never quite know all that you are too me...even when i do get mad at you. :)

           Here's to many, many more birthdays...Happy 36th! xoxo. mis.