and then came kindergarten... :(

So...I must say I always made a little bit of fun of the moms who cried on their kids first day of school. We have decided to walk Kaden to school, rather than take a bus, and this morning went well...I think it will really be a fun time for us. So... I left the stroller down by the playground (with Kaycee in charge), and Kaden and I trudged up a hill to meet the sidewalk, where busses were unloading. It was very obvious that everyone was a little nervous, as we saw a few kids from church, who barely aknowledged us, which is unusual. Anyway, we proceeded, and then he didn't want to let go of my hand. He thought I should walk him in...I quickly told him, I wasn't allowed, and he continued on a few steps. He then looked back, and I was waving frantically, but HE DIDN'T SEE ME. Oh, I felt the tears coming. He had a sheer look of TERROR on his face, as he turned and walked thru the doors into the building.

I quickly turned, and ran down the hill to meet my other kiddos. I could barely talk. We walked thru the playground, and I was looking up into his classroom praying so fervantly for him. It really is a great thing, our location. I am pretty sure I prayed for him constantly all morning. I looked up there and waved when I was hanging out the laundry...just in case he could see me. :)

This week I was working until midnight every night painting a new room for Kaden. It used to be Campbell's room, and a dark Cranberry color, and I thought this would be a good time to give him "his own room"...transition galore, right? A few pictures of the finished product. I kind of forgot to take any before pictures...bummer. Campbell and Kaycee are now sharing a room, and that will be my next project...this fall.

Okay...so I am not an artist, but I got this idea from a friend, and her's was MUCH better (She had done murals of her daughters on the wall), but it's not tooooo bad, eigh??? Ha.

Painted the desk and bed red...the rest is white, except for the wall at his headboard, is blue chalkboard...got the whole idea out of pottery barn. Love it. Love it.

On his chalboard I have written, his soccer number, number 9...and the verse I have been claiming for him as he starts school:

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified, for the Lord your God goes with you; her will never leave you nor forsake you."

Deuteronomy 31:6

We don't know what we are doing yet for Kaden leaving school. It would be nice for us to be able to walk him home, but there is a sign out procedure I am trying to work thru first...so for this week anyway, he'll be riding the bus a whole minute home. Seriously. A whole minute. This was daddy and Kaycee walking out to meet us. with Blacky the kitten coming too. :)

Here's my little man coming off the bus. In my haste, I didn't take a great picture, but you get the idea. We even know the bus driver. :)

He had a great first day. We really feel called to the public school system, and look forward to a great kindergarten experience...

our summer.

Well...I have been challenged with the brevity of life as we know it this summer. And have come to realize life is to be cherished during the good and bad, and we never know when things will change. So, I tried to let some things go this summer, meaning, not on "my" timing, and did some special, just fun kid stuff...

some of our summer highlights: a trip to W. Virginia to visit the Pruett's, and then we "surprised" my brother and his wife, and four kids, in New Bern, N.C. (so fun...they were so shocked), swimming at the Lapp's, vacation in Ocean City, N.J. with the Buckwalters, went mini-golfing, went to the zoo, went to see how "they did chips" at Herrs Factory, rode bike, swam in the hot tub, small group cook-outs, rode 4 wheeler, sleep overs, riding the lawn mower, and tractor with daddy, special "dates" at Moppy's, and Aunt Meg's, slip-n-slide, 100th anniversary at Maple Grove-dressing up like a little Mennonite family, running thru the sprinker, watching home movies, on "movie nights", the sno cone machine at the king reunion, along with the candy scramble, running thru the city fountains, Bible School, roasting smores, riding on the boat with Uncle Mark, and Jamie, baleing hay, celebrating Kaden turning 6...I am sure there are lots of things we are forgetting right now, but that's what we came up with in a couple minutes...

looking forward to a fun filled fall. mk.

kids.

campbell came running out to me last night, as i was cleaning up the kitchen, and said, "mommy, come and take our picture". so...i got my camera and went into the "office" to find this...

so. much. fun.

cherishing the moments. kaden starts kindergarten on monday. wow. and I am one who made fun of moms who cry when their kids go to school. :)

claudia's bridal shower.

we are anxiously awaiting 2 of my cousins weddings this fall. Kurt and Lorena will be married in October, and Kurt's brother, Jordan will marry Claudia Hess in November. Claudia's bridal shower was this afternoon, and Campbell gets to be the flower girl...my cousin's little boy Allen, is the ring bearer. They don't know each other well, but by the looks of today, it shouldn't be a problem. However, we did agree if they actually do as they are supposed to it may be a "small miracle". :) Allen is 3, and Campbell is 2 1/2...some shots of the shower.

Plumpton Park Zoo.

Well...I started out the day thinking I was going to take the kids swimming, but it turned out to be a last minute Family Fun Day instead. Yahoo to that! We went to the Plumpton Park Zoo (in Cecil County, MD) for a few hours. The last time we were there it was FREE, which obviously must have been ages ago... but still cheaper than the Philly Zoo I am sure, and a lot closer...here are a few of our favorite finds.

These cool monkeys were hands down most everyone's favorite. We kept coming back to them. Loved their yellow hands (which are just like ours...wow-o) and feet. They were eating apple slices when we went back a second time...and spitting out the skin. :)

These pesky turkeys kept following us around, and caused Kaycee and Campbell to scream in terror everytime. They were kind of a pain...finally a "keeper" came and moved them...carried them off by their legs, squawking and all...

There were two of these little guys...some kind of Arctic Foxes...

never saw a white fox before?

This poor big growly bear was so hot and tired it showed...

Gross...Gross...Gross...


Fun, eigh? Some kind of cow from Africa. Wouldn't his head hurt from these heavy horns?

a beautiful tiger...


and then we topped that all off with a trip to the Herrs Food Factory. I really was completely amazed at this place, totally amazed. Making in some cases 10,000 lbs of chips an hour...AN HOUR...can you believe it? with a 3-5 day turnaround in their HUGE warehouse...meaning, in 3-5 days all those chips in there today, are gone...shipped...consumed...wow.





Campbell was scared of "Chipper", and well Calli...she had a little accident. I will say in all my 6 years of parenting, I have never had one of my children have an accident on me...in public...totally, totally gross. So...amidst lunch, I cleaned up as best I could, and turned my shirt inside out. Love it. :)

calli.

we had our pediatrician appointment yesterday, and all is well with calli. thank you JESUS! She is developing normally, and her standing was just a wee bit delayed. She has no muscle tone or strength deficits at all. She is not really termed "lazy" as she crawls all over the place, but just has no interest in standing right now... or ever for that matter. :) some x-rays were taken just to be sure, and they all checked out great. life is so very fragile. health is almost always taken for granted. thanks for thinking of us.

fish.

hey, just a note...you can feed my fish by clicking with your mouse...fun, hugh? they are right above "my music". see you. life is too busy for me to be on here now. :) mk.

Pray for the Shellenberger twins.

So...I don't know these people either, but the Lord is probing me to pray for these precious children of his also. If you want to check out their cool blog, please do so. They are friends of many friends of mine, and live here in the area...

http://shellenbergertwins.blogspot.com thanks. mk.

calli.

calli will be 10 months old next week. she is such a content, happy kid...i am so thankful for her life. she laughs a lot. she is just plain tickled with herself when she claps. she feeds herself, and loves her sippy. last week she started to pull herself up in her crib, and will now stand in my lap. yay. she crawls all over the place, and babbles all the time. she is easily entertained and toted around by her brother and sisters. she will take a few steps if i prod her along, holding onto my fingers with every step.

we are waiting to go to a Pediatric doctor to furthor evaluate her hips. she never liked to stand...ever...and i was concerned about it. she is doing much better in the last 2 weeks, as i have been very intentional in working with her. in all the knowledge i have in my little head, as a physical therapist assistant, she is developing very normally...was just very behind in standing...as we all know infants can even stand on their mommies laps...so, if you think about us, you can pray for us. i am trusting in the Lord that all is well...and if it isn't... that the doctors will be quick to discover her limitations, and we will learn more of what we can do to help her.

and something from a book i have been reading..." As a mom, I crave control but rarely have it. And there is something freeing in the knowledge that control really isn't my job to begin with-in being able to trust in someone else to take care of me and my own. Frankly, we all know God is much better at handling all of that than we ever could be. What could I be missing because I am too afraid to let go?" by Tally Flint.

For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13

Gemma Sue.

Matt and I had the pleasure and shear joy of taking a motorcycle ride to Womens and Babies Hospital this morning to visit his cousin, Emily's, precious newborn baby, little Gemma Sue. (a big shout out thank you to mom for watching the kiddos) :) We are tickled to help welcome this little peanut into the world...Kaycee got to be a flower girl in Emiley's wedding, and we got to host her baby shower just a month ago...perhaps that's why I feel I get the right to love on her a little more. :)

And to Matt and Emiley, now you are thrown into the realm of parenting with the rest of us, floundering around wondering which way is up most of the time...Best Wishes as you adjust to her life being part of yours. It's really so much fun! And she is just so precious. We love you.

corn...

wellllll...i thought i had my mind made up that i was not going to do any corn this year because i still have a shelf full in my freezer from last year. however, this morning a family friend called, and said he could bring me 100 ears of corn...FOR FREE. now how in the world could i turn that down? i couldn't...so my father in law and dayton sat in my kitchen and cut off corn while i bagged...wasn't what i had planned for my day, but really...who could turn down free labor and free corn? :) got 22 fresh quart bags of corn in my freezer...

it was quite a mess until it was all said and done. but what a blessing...thanks guys. :)

a new calf.

Last new calf of the season...born last week.