Party like a princess...

So times are a changing here in the King household. Almost 2 teens live here, and soon to be a bunch of pre-teens to follow. :) Trying to...

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

hmmmm....

fyi: don't let your husband try this at your house.

so.long.insecurity.

so...hmmm. over a year ago i went to a video feed of
beth moore
speaking on her "then" new book
so long insecurity.

i just now read it.
my signed copy. ;)
i figured i had better get my butt in gear.
you know. being the mom of 4 girls, is going to be no small feat.
i am 33 years old and still dealing with insecurity issues.
how in the world am i going to teach. show. instruct.
my daughters, if i don't have a handle on it myself?

it is soooooooooo good.
for real good.

here are some of my favorite parts
and i quote...

....some people eat when they're about to rupture with emotion. others throw up. or jog. or go to bed. some have a holy fit. others stuff it and try to forget it. i can do all these things in sequential order, but i still don't find relief...

....the preacher had done his homework. he offered half a dozen scriptures describing what men should do for women. "women want to be told that they are captivating. that they are beautiful. desirable."
     i won't deny that. what woman wouldn't thrive under that kind of steady affirmation?
     but here's my question: what if no one tells us that? can we still find a way to be okay? or what if he says it because he's supposed to, but to be honest, he's not feeling it? are we hopeless? what if a man is not captivated by us? what if he doesn't think we're particularly beautiful? or, understandably, maybe just not everyday? are we only secure on his "on" days? what if he loves us but is not quite as captivated by us as he used to be? what if his computer is f ull of images of what he finds attractive, and we're light years from it? what if we're seventy-five, and every ounce of desirability is long behind us? can we still feel adequate in our media-driven society? or is it only possible if our man has gone blind?...

...men are not our problem; it's what we are trying to get from them that messes us up. nothing is more baffling than our attempt to derive our womanhood from our men. we use guys like mirrors to see if we're valuable. beautiful. desirable. worthy of notice. viable. we try to read their expressions and moods in order to determine whether it's time to act smart and hard to get or dumb and needy....

so, what do you think? that is only in the first 5 pages. yep. the first 5.
and how about this?

....sometimes women dress sensually around other men because they want their husbands to wake up and notice them. but they have no idea how they could be making the other wives feel. (aa-hemm...especially when they are a little more round, and pregnant. ;) ) let's exercise a little sensitivity and deal with our insecurities and cravings for attention in ways that don't  minimize the women around us...

and i thought this was really good too...

...where on earth did we come up with the idea that we have to subtract value from ourselves in order to give credit to someone else? the insecurity equation can play out any number of ways. let's consider these:

      ~ i tried to talk to her + she seemed really distracted= she hates me.
     ~ she's really gorgeous + she gets a lot of attention that i don't= she must
           be really conceited.
     ~ she's got this + she's got that= i've got nothing.
     ~ she doesn't have this problem + i've got this problem= she doesn't have
           a care in the world.
     ~ look what she's got on + look what i've got on= i have the fashion taste
          of a teste fly.

...do any of these equations sound vaguely familiar? that's exactly why we need to start catching ourselves in the act of comparison and tell ourselves to stop...

that stuff is more toward the end of the book. but she covers a zillion topics of some of the twisted ways that women think about themselves and others...i highly encourage all women to read it...it's that good.

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

and on another note...my toe is feeling much better. thanks for praying for me. it still looks a bit horendous, and i cringe when i put on a shoe, but it's feeling great compared to a few days ago...

now...i am off to spring clean some more. i think i am going to try to do a room a day. totally do-able. yesterday i got done my powder room/laundry room...it looked and smelled so good, and now...it's off to have pee stains on the toilet seat and dirt on the floor. oh well. it felt good for a couple hours anyway. someday i won't have any pee stains on my toilet and i might even miss them (we'll see about that), so for now...i am thankful for them and my healthy mess makers. gives me a reason to stay home and call this my job. ;)

and i am awaiting my new dishwasher *today*
that's always fun.
my 3 year old dishwasher has been functioning on one button
for months, and is now barely functioning on that button,
so...i get  a new one...for very little money.

with a little christian-like ;) kicking and screaming
thanks martins appliance!

~happy tuesday~

Sunday, March 27, 2011

love.like.crazy.

pause "my music" at bottom.

i think this will be matt and i's new theme song.
it's totally appropriate i think.
maybe we are crazy?
but i'm lovin' it.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

to facebook or not too.

so...normally i get a lot of "crap" for not being on facebook. yeah...i know...and maybe i will be ~some~ day...but i was reminded once again this morning why i am not...

i was watching the today show ~this morning~ when they did a little clip on facebook. and how just over 50% of married people get in touch with an "ex" on facebook at one time or another...and a higher percentage of that percentage continue facebooking the so called "ex" when it's not entirely appropriate. an even higher percentage just "check up" on the other, with no communication.

you know the times. you had a bad day. the kids are screaming. you are feeling less than attractive and you get a ~nice~ facebook message from someone from your past, who says things that affect you in  a ~nice~ way because of the way your day is unfolding...

Grand Teton Photos

it's just not right for me.
that's all.
high school was a bitter sweet time for me.
i have great memories.
but i also have some memories that i don't really need to be reminded of.
like...

i dated someone for 6 years. who i totally loved.
but...things did not end so pleasantly...
did i forgive him? absolutely.
have you ever forgiven someone, and they not even asked to be forgiven?
or admitted even that they did something wrong to begin with?
it's kind of one of those wierd scenarios.

(my past boyfriend got drafted out of college to play major league baseball)
i don't want to paint him in this negative light... ~well not entirely~ ;)
he has worked very hard and accomplished a lot
and is living his dream a bit.

but...
it was "weird" enough to go and chaperone the christmas ball,
and see a big "shrine" of ryan...just staring at me.
hmmm.



if i am honest with myself...
i don't really want to run "into" him...i don't really even want to chat with him.
(although it was ironic that matt ran into him one night...whew...)
hearing about him from all my friends is "fine" enough for me...
do you get my drift?
we had friends that were loyal to both of us.
and that was hurtful to me in the end. so i don't really even want to
"chat" with them either...
not that i haven't forgiven, but i don't intentionally want to remember
all those feelings all over again.
is there really such a thing as forgive and forget? i don't think so.
you can chose to forgive and forget,
but it doesn't get erased, now does it?

i needed to forgive myself, and him, and move on.
and that happened.
but...this whole facebook thing makes me ask a lot of questions.
to myself. about myself.



i was either loved in high school or kind of hated.
there really wasn't a lot of middle ground for me.
it intrigues me how people from your past just "show up" on facebook
and you chat, and become friends, and that's that.
kinda like you show up at class reunions, and shoot the breeze,
and talk about your life...

so...now you know why i don't "facebook".
call me un-healthy or rediculous.
totally fine with me.
i am very well aware of my insecurites
 and working on them.
oh. my list goes on and on. a million reasons why it's not right for me.
right now. all wrapped up in my insecurities and who i am trying to be. :)
maybe it's comparable to those parents who chose not to have a tv in their house growing up...i know I thought they were crazy...just like some of you think i am a wack job. ;)

i am happy with my life right now.
i am in a 'good place'.
i am married. to the the man i love the most in the world.
i am involved in a lot of things, and completely blessed to be able to stay
at home, and be a wife and mother.
our kids are healthy and happy. and i guess i feel like i make an effort to
talk to the people who are important to me. a priority.
and what facebook will bring to my life, just isn't important to me right now.

Jerome Lake Photos, Chugach National Forest

i have bigger things to spend my time doing. more productive. for me.
i know a lot of good things happen thru facebook.
and if used the wrong way, some not so good things.
i have enough trouble making time in my day to spend time with JESUS.
can you believe it?
the one who knit me together. who knows my every thoughts.
who knit each of my children together.
and knows all about the one who is growing inside me right now.
he even knows her name. and how much she will weigh. and her birthday.
and i can't even prioritize my days to spend time with HIM,
and my husband for that matter...~we did watch a movie last night.yay.us.~
much less facebook.

until my insecurities have been worked out. you won't see me there.
that's all. happy saturday. lots of cleaning and laundry here.
and chickens. peeps. yay peeps. ;)
how about you? how will you spend your day? besides facebooking, i mean?

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

and on another note...

i was at a birth care appointment the other day, slightly distracted by my arguing 4 and 2 1/2 year old, when i couldn't help but overhear the conversation happening next to me.

it looked like a typical 1st baby expecting couple. very young. not your "typical" birth care couple. he was a tiny alternative looking guy, and she was wearing fish net stockings  and had a very short spiky hair style, if that helps draw a picture for you.

he had just returned from the bathroom, and was awed by the fact that there was a scale in there, and would not let it rest that he weighed 150 lbs. i saw sheer terror wash away the smile on this young woman's face. she said, i weigh more than you now?" rubbing her belly. and he didn't get it. he started asking her if he looked okay, and he couldn't believe he weighed that much, and on. and on. and on. she re-affirmed him, that he looked great and said again, "i can't believe i weigh more than you now." that's all. end of story.

so in the rare case that some male would be reading this. please don't ever behave in that manner. as if it's not hard enough watching the scale slowly creep up with a baby in your belly. your body is looking like something you have never seen before, and the last thing you need to be doing is re-affirming your husband on how HE looks. infact, you should never even discuss how much you weigh with your wife, when she is pregnant, because it is a little bit horrifying when you start approaching your husbands weight, let alone surpass it. i know. i know. seems trivial. but i felt so sad for that poor little lady. :)

loves. mk.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

a broken toe.

MY BROKEN TOE.
can you believe it?

i have never been one of those pregnant women who trip and fall.
i count my blessings and knock on wood.

today...i was on the phone...and totally walked
~right into~ the leg of our ottoman.
(now...i will have you know i didn't skip a beat on the phone,
did i kim?)
but i couldn't believe i did something so...just...dumb.

it was swollen right away
but now...it is PURPLE.
dark purple
and totally throbbing and painful to walk on.
i tried to tape it to the next toe...and it does feel better that way.
we'll see.
should i take a picture?
just kidding. i won't. :)

i told myself i was going to do better at exercising now.
since it's getting warmer and all. ;)
i guess this is the Lord telling me to stay sitting on my butt.

oBviOuSly. 
luvs. mk.


Tuesday, March 22, 2011

the boova hut.

the "boova hut" was a semi-finished room above the garage that my husband, matt, and his brother, mark, called  their own...hmmm. to have fun in? i don't know ~nearly~ everything that went on in that room growing up, nor do i probably want too, but do know that anyone who is or was a friend of either of them, has memories of "the boova hut"...except me, i mean. ;)

we decided to re-do the boova hut, install some insulation, and re-do the walls, put some doors in, some closet space, and a sink...all in the name of having somewhere for our small group to meet, away from the noisy 19 children...

it's been finished for a couple of weeks, and i started painting last week, but haven't had time since to work on it... bummer. but know i am going to love.love.love it when it's done...



you actually walk up a very long, kind of scary, set of wooden steps, with no handrail :( to get up here. once you get up, you would enter the door and turn to your left, and there you have this pic...

the red door is supposed to go out to a balcony into the machine shed, but i think for now there needs to be some sort of bars or something prohibiting young children to get out of that door...it's simply too dangerous, with our kids ages right now...

anyway, can't wait to show more pics when it's all done...  ~mk.

~the mountains~

this past weekend we got to go to the king cabin.
in potter county.
it's a "cabin" that was purchased by matt's grandpa
long, long ago...
when it took forever in those days to actually get there.
today...it takes about 5 hours...unless you drive an average
speed of about 80 mph,
which we do...and then we get there in about 4. ;)

currently, there are about 20 "male" members.
no female members allowed.
i think there are some pretty bogus rules in the
by-laws...but it doesn't matter what i think...first...
a) because i married in, so i am not "really" a king
and second...b) i am a woman.

kidding. kidding.
(well...maybe partly kidding).

these kings. ;)

okay...so on to our weekend:



it was the first time that matt's immediate family...
he, his parents, and brother
have been to the cabin together since the boys were teenagers.
eeeekkkk.
hope it's not that long until we return again as a family...
aldie and judy,
matt and i, kaden, kaycee, campbell and calli, and
mark, jamie, and rhiannon.

always fun to retreat to the quiet of the king cabin
lady bugs and all.

our highlights:
~ playing with rhiannon
~ eating and relaxing
~ reading...well...mostly missy. :)
~ target shooting
~ hiking
~ watching our pod boats float down the river
~ the warm weather friday
~ indoor volleyball (moppy's invention...a homemade net with a balloon).





Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day...




and Happy Birthday Moppy!
we are lucky and blessed to have you in our lives.
thanks for all you do for us!
love you.
us.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

bathroom.

so...life has been a whirl-wind since Sunday.
matt had left at 6 am sunday, to go skiing
with a bunch of guys...
he will be returning late this afternoon and we will hit the ground
running with a busy schedule and preparing
for peeps to arrive next week. ;)

when he leaves, you would think i should just let all "go"
and relax...but i actually do the opposite.
i stay up until all hours watching fun shows on tv,
or movies, and getting stuff done.

the bathroom is put back together.
thanks for all your kind words and encouragement.
my hope is that matt has forgotton about the whole ordeal
by the time he returns. ;)
the floor is painted, and actually doesn't look that bad
for an old rustic farm house.

i also started painting our newly remodeled upper room.
it will take forever, but i am loving it.
hopefully will post some pics this afternoon.
off to a.m. bible study, and then have
check ups scheduled for the kids before
heading off to talent show at church
should be a riot.

cheers. ~mk.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

coffee talk. done. finished.


friendship

so...for the past 5 weeks i have held "coffee talk" in my basement.
every other sunday night at 8 p.m.
i usually provided the coffee,
and jaime provided the tastey treats.
(thanks again jaime...)
we discussed the book,
creative correction by: lisa whelchel
(who was "blair" on the facts of life)

so...what did i learn?
i don't know that i "learned" anything.
but there is something comforting to me knowing that we
are all in the same place.
just trying to do things right and raise God fearing children
in the midst of us messing things up.

so...my 'favorites' from the book...

~ seeing another parent's struggles is like walking into a friend's house and finding unfolded laundry on the couch, dirty dishes in the sink, and cereal on the floor. i hope you will find comfort in my failures and in my children's foibles.

~ fortunately, God can continue to mold our kids even after we've tried everything. he can use us in our weaknesses, whether or not we feel we're being effective parents. but that still doesn't make the process easy.

~ ( i think i've noted this before...) if we ever run into each other's children on the streets-even if that means literally "on the streets"- let's not judge each other as bad parents. let's give one another the benefit of the doubt. after all, we're doing the best we can. "my children aren't perfect, but neither are yours."

~ you love your children, and i love mine. so let's give each other room to try new things, learn from failures, and find what works best for each of our kids.

~teaching our children to obey us and our words is primarily to teach them to obey God and His Word. when we discipline a child for wrongdoing, we do so because God says his action is wrong, not because of some arbitrary standard we have fabricated. if the Bible is our authority, our children will grow to understand that "right" and "wrong" are based on God's standards, not our own personal standards...for instance, "honey, i didn't make up these rules, God did. And this is what he says makes life work. and because i believe him and i love you, i'm going to enforce what he says."

~ and how challenging was this for me to swallow :) "God has given our children the free will to choose or reject Him, so we, their parents, must give them good reasons to follow His ways. the goal is for  our kids to make obedient choices because they know it's the right thing to do, because it pleases God- not because they want to avoid correction. if our children are motivated to obey only out of fear, they'll miss the whole point of obedience." hmmm. :)

~ even if we as parents do nothing in the way of guidance or correction, God will be able to accomplish His purposes in our children. imagine all He can do with our help!

~ our kids are going to face plenty of failure. we can't expect them to be mature christians in tiny bodies.

so thanks laura, jaime, kim and glenda. i appreciated you coming out in the cold and sharing your hearts. thanks for being real...   ~mk.







Saturday, March 12, 2011

raining. buckets.

so when it rains a certain direction at just the right "speed"
i have lots of buckets in my house, catching all the rain inside.
5 to be exact and lots of towels too.

thursday was one of those days.

i decided since my friend had a baby,
that morning,
2 wks early, might i add...(how do i NEVER get that fortunate?)
that i needed to get started on her burp cloths...
so calli was put to bed for nap,
and the girls and i headed to the basement for a little sewing and tv time.

it wasn't until about 4:30 p.m.
that calli came down, soaked...and upset.
i had just gotton some new "cheap" pull ups...
so i muttered under my breath, about why do i buy cheap pull ups?
this always happens, changed her,
and we joined the chaos in the basement...

i  then went in the "cold" part of the basement to get some wood for the fire, when i noticed water pouring down from the ceiling.
hmmmm. that is not good. and at a really odd spot...
sliding right down from a skinny pvc pipe.

called matt immediatly.
got directions to shut off the water.
i guess all women should know how to do this...
it will alleviate unnecessary strife at an already stressful time.
i on the other hand did not. :(

then went upstairs and put towels and 2 more buckets in the entrance way
to our re-modeled powder/laundry room...
because water had "appeared" there all of the sudden too.
then, i went investigating...



much to my horror and dismay,
found that our upstairs bathroom had been flooded.
the water had been on full force.
toilet paper had been stuffed down the drain
and my make-up was floating all over the place with little
pieces of wet toilet paper stuck to everything.
the carpeted floor was soaked.
my make-up drawer was overflowing with water
and hence, water logged makeup.
the underneath vanity was also soaked
along with everything stored there.


in hind sight...
what a great way for the Lord to send to me to have a MAJOR
clean out.
i had always wanted to clean out my make-up drawer.
but, who wants to take the time.
(ladies...one moral of this story is to go clean out your drawers
before the Lord ~makes~ you. ha.ha. )

i worked as fast as i could to get as much cleaned up as i could before my man got home...who rushed out of work early...
there's only so much a woman can do.

needless to say,
 i spent much of the night in
tears.
and i still might tear up if you ask me about the story. :(

i hadn't experienced that ~guilty~
~it was your fault feeling~
quite like that before...
or at least since this same little girl had wondered up
to the school playground, while school was in session,
at 18 months old.

so, clean up continues.
 i actually ~thought~ about taking some pictures for here,
but it was just too devestating for me.
so...no pics. sorry. :)
the old office ceiling is the worst...
seems are showing up, some peeling drywall appearing...
but there is a small water mark on our new basement ceiling as well,
which is the biggest ouch.

did a base coat on the bathroom floor last night.
i don't think i am even going to bother putting the gross, old, smelly carpet back in...bathrooms shouldn't be carpeted anyway, should they? :)

but my ever so encouraging husband reminded me
that the next time this happens, :)
there won't be that carpet to help soak up all the water...

Dear Lord...i will beg you to not let this happen again.
at least on my watch.  :)

and from another one of my favorite books:
The Mission of Motherhood, by: Sally Clarkson

"But having four children in a home, automatically means
frequent messes, poorly completed chores, a few dozen socks lying
on the floor at any given time, crumbs hiding in different corners
throughout the house, and at least some dirty dishes, no matter how
recently the kitchen has been cleaned..."
and i add...and a flooded  bathroom... :)

you better believe i didn't let that kid out of my sight since...
until now, and i think she's washing some dishes. :)
gotta run.

(can't wait for catching some rays this summer, how about it? )
Happy Weekend !!


My husband is leaving on a much needed ski trip.
i hope he can have some fun,
and not think about the bathroom. 
and maybe one of you guys can speak some encouragement into his life too. 
he might need a good dose of that. ~mk.


Thursday, March 10, 2011

addendum.

~to my fun friday~

yep...i was at freedom life's consignment sale.  i went with a friend, and we got there around 6:45 or 7 pm. i think that may have been a great time for us...from what i saw, there must have been chaos before that. :) i don't go to a whole lot of consignment sales, and that was my first time there...fun.

i also was at the lancaster goodwill bins. they are my favorite, but i do like to go to east earl as well...i rarely go into a regular goodwill anymore, just because the bins make things look so cheap.
it was just made to be that day i guess. ;)

and yes, i am selling my pins and headbands for the girlies...you can e-mail if you want to take a look at what i have...
i am not sure how i am going to handle that yet.
prices range from $2.25 to $8.25.
headbands are $6.25.
not sure if i really want to open an etsy shop just yet. ;)

happy thursday.
my 2 youngest have gotton that horrible cough that's going around.
miserable. ~mk.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

my fun friday.

so last friday my mother-in-law watched my kids
while i took a fun day.

did i have time to take a fun day.
no...i didn't.
did i make time to take a fun day...absolutely.
should i have taken a fun day?
that is debate-able depending on who you ask. :)

i used to be a list maker.
up until about a year ago.
i used to put all kinds of things on my list,
and check them off as i got them done.
it was such a great feeling, when everything got checked off.
it was such a defeated feeling when it didn't.
i am tired of feeling defeated.
really.tired.of.defeated.
so. no.more.lists.for.me.

i don't know if my list got longer or i just got lazier.
(i really do know the answer...)
it's just not worth discussing.  ;)

anyway...my house was not in order.
the laundry was not done.
i did not have dinner in the oven before i left.
dusting. ummm.no.
painting. ummm. no again.
so you see, i have realized that if i don't make a run for it
when the running is good.
(like talking FREE babysitter)
then i don't get to run...
so i ran...and i ran hard.

here's what i have to show for it:


(these items were all from the 50 cents rack...
except for one, which was 50% off. )


(i did get a slammin' maternity dress which i love...
i actually didn't buy it friday night because i didn't have
enough money along...i know.i know. pathetic. so i actually went
back sat. morning, and got it...even, for cheaper).


(got so much fun stuff at the bins...my favorite place to shop by far.
that's a no-brainer for sure...26 items for $22.50...
COME ON!)


(and this ~made~ my day...for sure).

i plan to paint it black, and probably hang it in our
remodeled "upper room". if you don't know what re-modeling we've
done lately...hmmm...you haven't talked to me recently. ;)

it's the old "boova" hut from matt's growing up years.
and it has a much higher calling or purpose these days. ;)
pics to follow when done...

more birthday.

what i left out before
was that we also celebrated
a) my niece Hope's birthday (today)
~and~
b) my brother-in-law Chris' birthday (tomorrow)
at the party we hosted on Sat. night.


our parties ~might~ be terrifying to an outsider...
but we think they are grand.
~there are STILL five cousins "missing" here...they live in N.C.~

you will need to pause my music to hear this next video...


my mom brings a "birthday bear" to each party we host.
~we actually thought the bear died at the last party...
but he must have had a miraculous recovery~

we love to see the bear...and are just as happy to see the bear leave again.

regardless...it is so special to live around family.
i try not to take it for granted, but i know i do...
happy day. ~mk.

amish grace.

those of you who know me, know that i am a little bit behind
on the movie scene.
kaden and i went to the library the other day,
and i picked up this movie.

i wasn't sure i wanted to watch it.
but, i am so glad i did.

talk about shaking your faith to the core.
it was made very well...there is nothing "graphic" in the movie...

that being said, i bawled most of the way thru the movie.
(again...no shocker there for all who know me. :) )
it made me think about life in a new ~not-every-day~
perspective, from all sides.

it asks some very, very moving thought provoking questions.

i am sure there are parts of the movie, that are not quite right,
but that's not what it was about for me...

the questions it made me think...about my own faith...
and what i choose to believe and act out...
 astonishing. 

Saturday, March 5, 2011

happy 4th little girl.

so i just kind of sat down all day.
today, campbell meg, turned 4.
i am a little bit in disbelief over that mere little detail of life.
but, not much i can do about that.


celebrated tonight with family.
always fun chaos.
you will never know how hard i work to make things special for you.
not until you get to be a mommy.
that's just how it is.
will post more pics soon.

but as for campbell...
you are not like kaycee. character wise.
yes, you like ballet, and love to do crafts and color and play babies.
but your spirit. it is hugely different.
you are filled with pizazz. lots of it.
spunk. you betcha.
you say what you mean when you want to say it.
there is not any filter there.
you are not persuaded easily.
you are determined. shy. at times.
you always want "a prize". even for no reason.
you hate cleaning up toys and do not like to nap anymore.
 you are looking forward to going to pre-school next year,
and are learning to write that long name of yours.
you say funny things. a lot.
you love to cook with mommy and be a helper. when you want to be.
oh. and you love candy. even for breakfast.
and you love macaroni and cheese. not the homemade kind.
the cheap box kind you can buy for 50 cents. hmmm. ;)

you are a princess of the King.
you are treasured and priceless.
we love and cherish you.
thank you for being you, and helping mommy to learn soooo many things.
xoxo. mommy.