Easter. 2014.

pretty much simply said.

when there is a photographer in your family.

it is a perk. a bonus. and ya have pictures.

huge bonus.

my brother, mark, and his wife, heather, have beautiful pictures.

of everything.

not just their family.

their homes. their vacations. their life. in general.

so. when he's around. it usually means there will be some pictures going around.

i got them today.

here are some fun ones of my family.

from our Easter celebration last weekend.

 

Just another day on the farm.

Must have been a good morning. Matt took these pictures with his *blackberry.
His title was "farming bliss". :))))

bedtime.

you see i tried to do a timer shot the other night. i read somewhere that you should try to get some "everyday" shots, so you remember the things you do regularly. well. i am here to tell you as the kids get older, bedtime gets less and less routine. i feel kinda bad about that. i always, always, always read bedtime stories to the older kids, when they were little...and now that the bigger kids are reading their own books before bed, i have become lazy and busy with other things, so a LOT less bedtime reading is going on to the younger children.  BOO. i  am trying to do better. i really am.

this was the *best* shot. of about 4. [which isn't even saying a lot, because it's pretty bad] and then. there were tears. so it had to stop. in all the chaos, campbell got hurt. or her feelings did anyway. so. then i tried reading the story...but she was sobbing down the hall. so it didn't even work on this night. ;(( regardless, this was my attempt at remembering that i did read to my kids. sometimes in my bed, but not so much anymore, because we just DO.NOT.FIT without someone falling out on the floor. for real.

so. then i gave my camera to calli. she's 5. and this is what she got. love them. karolina had just woken up from a nap. she requires a few extra snuggles at that time. :)

 so here's to more nights reading Bible stories at bedtime. celebrating the everyday. smiles. and laughing. and then. the QUIET. ;) happy Monday friends.

and this one is my FAVORITE...

new liFe. neVer gEts old.



the thing with farming is.

you are in it. done. all in.

the good. the bad. the ugly.

all in.

our first kid of this spring, was born on saturday night.

no problems.

mama birthed quickly. baby looks healthy.

nursing well.

done. the good.

new life. check.

so.much.fun. and beautiful when all goes well.

thankful.

[and...an UPDATE on my last post. we did not lose a SINGLE goat due to the overfeeding corn incident.
according to the vet, it may have been miraculous. whoo.hoo. we will take every little blessing we can get.
Thank you Jesus!! Makes new kids extra special this time around.]  ;)))

Friday.

Just a little glimpse into our Friday. a)  Hard to keep clean animals when it rains all the time. Just the reality. b) Campbell has always been our little farmer. She's checking out the new goats. Small mishap yesterday. Well...maybe that's debatable. Could turn into a large mishap. Matt told them they could feed 5 ears of corn to the goats. He meant in the morning. The girls fed them 5 ears of corn each time they visited them ALL DAY LONG. So...we have some very, very sick goats that might not make it. :((  Just another life lesson here at Pleasant View Farm.  c) We learn something everyday. I promise. :)))

Campbell's 7th birthday party.



Campbell turned 7 years old on Wednesday, but we didn't have a party until last evening. It was kind of a crazy day. Matt took Campbell and Kaden to their last basketball game, while I took Calli to my sister's at 8:30 a.m., so that she could deliver her to my neice's "birthday tea" which didn't start until 10...all the while I am scooting back to White Horse to make it to Campbell and Kaden's games...it was play the parents day. Yippeee. I think Matt did not want me to embarass the kids, because he played in both games. ;)

Then...after the game, Matt left with Karolina and Kaden, and got a phone call that one of our chicken houses was on FIRE. EEEEKKKkkkkk. I can only imagine how fast he drove to get home. Kaden was  praying audibly in the car. He is so emotional and sensitive. I will be the first to second him that his daddy drives way to fast all the time, let alone, when there is an emergency at home. : / He told me he brought Karolina up to the house, and they immediately went to the basement, and turned on the t.v. so they wouldn't hear the sirens. 4 different fire companies came. I should have been home serving donuts and coffee, but alas, I was with Kayee and Campbell, getting Campbell's ears pierced, for her birthday. :))

Fire was not bad. Miraculous. Some damage to the chicken house, and lots of mess to clean up, but in general, not a big deal at.all. Anxious to see if there is anything they notice in how the chickens look?? What does smoke inhalation look like in a chicken? ;) They leave tonight. An electrical "short" was the culprit...have been having a few of them here and there...our chicken houses are getting on the "older" "needing improvement/taking lots of money stage", which is depressing, but a part of farming, so what are ya gonna do? Complain, i guess? :))

Feeling thankful for God's faithfulness and provision, favor and blessing upon us. So...then the preparations began, or continued when I got home...I had spent HOURS on the above cake. LOVED it, and was worth every minute of love labor, but was just hoping it would "turn out"...it did.

Enjoyed a fun party with a dear family of friends who we are getting to know better and better each week it seems. Campbell was allowed to decide who she wanted to have to celebrate and she chose The Fishers, who are one of the new pastor families to join our church. Their kids are close to our kids ages, and they seem to act like they have been friends forever. Thankful for friends and another birthday to celebrate...

* happy 7 *



so. the three words matt would use to describe campbell are: energetic, cute and fun. the three words i would use to describe campbell are: spunky, loyal and independent.

campbell is a fun loving addition to our family. her personality is completely different than both kaden and kaycee's. campbell turned 7 today. she is my first kid who gets to celebrate a birthday at school. (kaden's is over the summer, and kaycee's is always over Christmas break). So...what does this mean, you ask? well. campbell got to have her name announced over the loud speaker. she got to take a treat into school...which happened to be homemade pumpkin whoopie pies, at her request. i also packed her lunch full of wrapped presents, and she was too SHY to open them...they were still packed in her lunch box when she came home. can you believe it? maybe compassionate is another word for her? :)

i drank castor oil to try to induce labor on my own with campbell. she was 12 days late, and well. when you go to a birth center, you can only be 14 days late, and then you HAVE to deliver at a hospital, by law. so...i took matters into my own hands. did it work? i have no idea if it was the castor oil, or really just labor starting on it's own. it was the thickest, grossest sprite i have ever consumed in my life. would i do it again? you betcha. i had a great experience, and her labor was only 2 hours long, from start to finish. yeee. haa. she was the smallest of my babies at 7 lb. 12 oz. i had to have quite a few ultrasounds with her...they kept telling me she wasn't growing, and i was still growing, so that was reason for concern. ; / all was well. a lot of worry for no reason at all. i guess that meant a lot more praying on my part as well...

campbell told me today that i was the best mom she could ever have. the same child who can change her mind on a dime, about me being a good mom for her i mean. :) pretty indecisive like her momma.

loves school. dreams of being a missionary at present. isn't concerned with not having a lot of friends.

doesn't mind chasing her shadow, alone, at recess. wants to please her dad. loves to write and draw. and dance. and play house. likes to read. walks home from school, if she can have a choice. loves noodles.

this girl is gonna give me a ride. i know it. i can feel it. i hope she always knows she is a princess. and will always be loved. no matter what. good choices would be nice. :))) oh. but i guess being a mom would be too fun that way, right?

Happy Birthday Campbell Meg.

if only you knew how much fun i have being your mom. on most days. if only you can see how you sparkle. your eyes. i love your laugh. i love to listen to you sing. you bring joy to our home. and sometimes moodiness. but mostly joy. :)

i can't wait to see what your 7th year of life brings you.

besides getting your ears pierced. :))

rabbit.

DISCLOSURE: PLEASE DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU ARE SOMEONE WHO WILL BE GROSSED OUT BY A DEAD ANIMAL. IN THIS CASE A RABBIT.

THAT WAS YOUR WARNING. :)))))

so this was taken a couple days ago.

rabbit hunting in the snow.

i thought it was a freezing day for this, but, what do i know?

what a day.

woke up with a raging headache.

that quickly took a downward spiral into a migrainey kind of headache.

i got sick. the whole sha-bang.

thankful for a husband who cancelled my dentist appointment.

took the kids to school.

took the other 2 for a 2 hour field trip.

and went to be the homeroom mom in kaden's class, for the valentine's party.

while i tried to keep it together under my covers. in the black.

ugh.

he really shined today.

thanks matt. xxoo.

love him forever. *

and here is to finding a new norm...maybe the kids will go to school for a full day tomorrow.

here's to hoping.

i feel like my house is a total wreck all the time.

i.am.over.it.

but i think i told you that the last post.

dreaming of all things sunshiney and warm.

i am off to bed.

sleep tight.

* growing up *

ice storm. 2014.

(this is the generator shed, hence the door is open, because it was RUNNING for awhile.)

i guess i am officially going to call this the winter of no school.

i think we went to school 1 day this week.

1 DAY.

no school again today.

did you know at this hour 50% of chester county is STILL without electricity?

that means, we were for sure a priority.

but that doesn't explain why I still know farmers in Cochranville who are without electricity.

does that mean my husband yells louder and more often?

quite possibly.

;))))

yesterday we went swimming with some friends at Bird-In-Hand Family Inn's pool.

well. it is safe to say that I stayed in the hot tub MOST of the time.

but the kids had a great time.

we basically had the place to ourselves until the last half hour of our time.

awesomeness. right?

today. i think i am taking all five kids to see a movie.

i think it will work only because karolina STILL has a nuk and blankee, so i will take this along.

and she might just fall asleep.

frozen. that's the movie.

appropriate. don't ya think?

i know. i know.

karolina is STILL not potty trained AND still has her nuk.

eeeekkkkk.

this would have been the perfect opportunity to seize the day for that...

but alas, i just could not bear to tackle it when we cannot escape the house.

enjoy some pictures of God's handiwork this week.



 

 

PoWEr.

Just a quick update here...

our power was finally restored sometime thru the night.

yippee.

i am not sure how our district is fairing.

we are supposed to be a critical customer because of our farming operation,

which gives us priority,

but i did hear from a friend this morning, from Parkesburg, and they got their power back last night as well.

i did see a lot of Chester county schools are still off today,

as are we, 

POWER being the main issue.

760,000 was the number on the news today.

we were one of them.

whew. glad we are not anymore.

hope to post pictures from our ice storm soon.

thanks for all of you who were praying for us.

it is a little stressful not to have power when your chicken houses are FULL of chickens.

even with a generator.

hoping to take the kids on a fun field trip today.

will keep you posted.

;)))