check it out.

aghhhhhh. i am soooo excited. i entered this little contest on my friend's sisters blog...last night...after my doozie of a day..., and I WON! can you believe it? I WON! btw...i never win anything...and it's a fun, awesome trendy notebook...you wonder how a notebook can be trendy? well...it just is...and then she wrote this fabulously encouraging entry on...ME! you got it. how sweet. and as a bonus, you can check out some cute pics her sister, ang, took of campbell and calli last evening...check it out at: www.blog.saralazio.com. cheers. :)

just a really bad day.

yesterday, was just what felt like a REALLY bad day. it wasn't intentionally bad, infact, it started out pretty good, but little by little it got worse and worse. my children were DRIVING me crazy...crying, whining, instigating and disobedient ...the little girl i was babysitting made it worse when she said, "i don't want this spagetti, it doesn't taste like my mom's." now...what a compliment if you are HER mom, but what NOT one for me. :) my dear friend ang came down to take pictures of my not-so-impressed 3 year old and 18 month old, in the FREEZING cold...hopefully we got something...

so...FINALLY in the quiet before bed, after most were tucked in and sleeping, and ONE was still snuggled beside me wide awake, i pulled out the book i have been reading...called Captivating...by John & Stasi Eldredge...
this is what i got to read before bed:

...our dear friend Carol has a bright mind and a keen intellect. the sky is the limit for Carol. and she just gave up what looked like a golden career move to stay at home full time with her newborn son. there is nothing on earth Carol would rather do-yet it was an incredibly difficult decision to make. there is so much that she wants to do, to learn, to experience. she has given up so much of her own life in order to bring life to her little boy. learning to mother her child is requiring more of her heart and soul than she thought possible. God called Carol to the high position of mothering, and she is choosing to die a thousand small deaths to her self every single day while at the same time falling ever more in love with her son.

Carol chose to say "yes" to God and followed his lead into the hidden life of a stay-at-home mom. God is meeting her there. In the hiddenness, she is discovering the holy. And she is playing the most irreplaceable, essential, powerful, life-impacting role imaginable...

this book is AWESOME. it is hardly about mothering at all, but more about God captivating your heart as a woman...what that means...and what that looks like. there are a million stanza's i could also share, but i won't ...go get the book out at the library. :) this was what God had intended for me to read at the end of a bad day as a mom. i have high hopes for today...smiles. and enjoy your weekend. looking for some warmer temps next week...until then i will try to hang out in my cozy basement, and clean some other day. :)

memorization.

But the fruit of the Spirit is

love, JOY, peace, PATIENCE,

kindness, GOODNESS, faithfulness,

GENTLENESS and self-control.

Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

kaden has started kindergarten in a public school this year. (granted it's the same public school that matt and i graduated from, so we have high hopes for our children to graduate from there as well...we didn't turn out that bad, eigh?) we have been for the most part pleased with what we have experienced this year, and feel blessed to know that he is in the care of a christian teacher during his mornings there. that being said i try to be very intentional about teaching my children from the Bible, and have them memorizing scripture...i learn it with them too...(i don't know my bible near like i should...it's been great motivation for me .)this is what we are learning this week...

my deals.

i guess it's been about a month now already, but we packed up the kids and headed to a fuRniTurE aUcTioN. i have been looking for a long dresser for the girls room...and of course have iN mY hEad what i want, and can't find it...bUmMer.

turns out, things were a bit backed up, and they weren't going to stArT the furniture until around 1 pm. so...i walked around kind of pointing out things that could "wOrK" or that i "lIkEd". (now know that matt and i have a bit dIfFerEnt sTyLe when it comes to dEcOraTinG, so i wasn't quite sure what he might come home with...) sMilEs. and i took the kids home and put them down for nAps.

this is the fUn StUfF he came home with...granted it wAsN't fReE, and it did cost MoRe than $4. but not near or even close to the rEtAil stIcKeRs. yea! that's a sCoRe for me. :)

since he ended up getting all 3 of these pieces, we rEplAcEd kaden's dresser, (which came with the fArM...and i loved it, but it just wasn't pRaCtiCal right now...it's falling apart {and has been repaired many times} and veRy hArD aNd UnCoOpEraTivE to open), so...this is PeRfEct for kaden...eAsY tO oPen and he's tall enough to get in the top drawer...

this is in the GiRls rOom and qUiTe pErFecT. not quite mY sTyLe but campbell certainly can't pull this oVeR on herself...(as she had done 3x with our ikea yArD sAlE dresser...yIkeS).

and this of course is my fAvoRiTe. i surely didn't think he'd even buy it. it doesn't even pull out nicely, which usually is a mUst for matt. i have it in the hAllWaY now and have sHeEts in it, so i don't have to run doWnStaIrs in the living room to get sheets now...(they were in a wardrobe in my living room). now yOu kNow. :) surely a negative for living in an oLd fArM hOuSe is the lack of closet space.

have a BeAuTifUl SunNy dAy...mk.

.teddy.

***we have a new friend in town...he's been wandering the neighborhood about a week now...and hung out a lot here yesterday...we named him "teddy" (although we keep calling him sheba by mistake). we would LOVE to keep him...he is the nicest dog ever...my kids aren't even afraid of him, which tells anyone who knows my girls A LOT...and me too...he's so so friendly, and never barks. :) but...we cannot keep him, due largely to the fact that he's been loving the school...roaming the hallways and all...friends, teachers, administrators have been calling us all week long, so last night we finally decided we need to take him to the spca...and he disappeared overnight...and since, we have found a home for him with friends. yippee. now...if we could only find him this morning. ***

***now really...who wouldn't bark at a five year old dressed up like a flower anyway?***
***p.s. after a phone call this morning, i was notified that a nice dog-loving friend took him home last night...so hopefully the other friends who are going to "adopt" this cute little guy have gotton in touch with the other friend and now have him already. hopefully he stays put on their farm. ***got it? :)

another great book.

okay...so another new favorite book is:

the mission of motherhood

touching your child's heart for eternity

by: sally clarkson

it's so fabulous. check out this little glimmer...

most of us live under the heavy cloud of "house beautiful." we see it in those magazines at the grocery-store checkout, in the elaborately decorated homes and apartments on television-perfect furniture and decor, sparkling-clean floors and countertops and baseboards, fresh flowers in crystal vases, candles whose wicks are long and actually light each time, with perhaps a few toys placed "just so" to let us know that adorable-probably nonexistant-children add to the ambience of a certain house. but having four children in a home (or even one) automatically means frequent messes, poorly complete 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.
because the responsilbities of maintaining a home, especially a home with children, are so varied and unrelenting, the pressure to get it all together and keep it together is constant. doing laundry, cleaning messes, cooking, washing dishes, shopping, organizing, keeping clutter under control-the tasks can be daunting. that's why effective home management is an important part of making a home into a nurturing envirnment...
going on to say, " my purpose in organizing my household is not to live up to some external value system (oh yeah)? but to make life easier and more peaceful for the whole family." hmmm. that's something to think about, right?

now...if that isn't a pep talk to get it together, i don't know what is...how...so...my life. i actually SERIOUSLY thought about putting a hamper in my basement this week. FOR SOCKS. i am so TIRED of picking up my kids dirty socks, they leave them EVERYWHERE, but especially the basement...anyway...this resounded in my soul. this book has been GREAT for me to read. so fun. highly recommend it...maybe one from the library, because mine is SOOOO highlighted. :) cheers to your week. mk. (and i decided against the hamper for this week anyway...just need to suck it up and do a little more "instructing").

gaither vocal band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxlqC-EoPOo

oh...so...matt and i may have aged ourselves a good...oh...say...20 years or so last night. we had the opportunity to go to the gaither vocal band reunited tour concert at the Soverign Center in Reading. we rode a chartered bus, that left from our church at 5 pm...and boy...those old people stay out late...we didn't get home until 12:30 a.m. whew. (the memories of being up nursing babies came flooding back this morning...as i peeled my eyes open). :) I must say I kind of had a bad attitude about going, but we had such a blast. i love. love. love David Phelps voice, amoung others, but he was my favorite...besides his great. great hair...he's the guy with ringlets...check it out...and hey...if you want in on it, they are at Penn State next weekend... :)

(of course you'll have to pause my music to enjoy their's.) :)

favorite magazine.

i got my new favorite magazine yesterday...

i love, love, love it! check it out at:

• http://go.family.org/thrivingfamily/

for those of you who don't know...

i am a huge focus on the family fan.

i believe in their ministry...

i have 94.5 on all day in my house...

(and love their 9 am program...)

matt makes fun of me,

but really...i learn a lot...

how i can be a better:

wife, mother, friend, sister, daugther (n in-law), woman of God...

all that i strive to be...

check out their magazine...

it really is so fabulous!

one of my favorite spring things.

THINK SPRING...

(i just couldn't wait any longer.

planted some pansies yesterday afternoon.

it already feels brigthter around here. :))

we love all the cousins.

yesterday we had a fun day...meg and her kids came down to play for a bit...meg is always a little bit worried about the "safety" of her kids here on the farm...and who wouldn't be? (i must say that that has always been one of my hugest fears living here, that we will experience some horrific accident somewhere on these grounds...but i have to put it to rest, and leave it in God's hands...) regardless...i went down to "check" on the boys and they were climbing up and down the elevator, after they were chasing the goats around, shooting them with water guns. :) boys will be boys right...

the other picture is of some of our new "kids". last week we had 4 baby goats...a set of twins, and two others, and at a week old, they are already jumping and bounding around...it's so cute, and such a HUGE reminder that SPRING is like 11 days away. Yea!!

enough said?

we really have been having lots of fun seeing our cousins from N.C. so much...(noah and zion are in town much more these days, as their grandma was diagnosed with lung cancer a couple months ago, and naomi comes up every couple weeks to visit and help out)...we miss them, especially now that the kids are getting older, and really play well. you can tell they obviously loved the camera, right? :)

happy birthday campbell...

we hosted a birthday party for campbell...who turned 3 on friday...and hope...my neice...who will turn one on monday...poor hope...was not feeling too well...but i loved this picture...it captures hope, heather, and campbell...all with different emotions. :) i love these little headbands heather picked up...adorable...

calli and mam-maw...

calli was just diving into anyone's arms last night...

she loves to be held...

aunte meg and my neice reese...

the crowd...

me and my girl...
self portrait...again...takes me back to high school or something??

campbell and the cake she chose for me to make...

and my house was a total disaster yesterday...i had just finished
the cake, and had taken campbell up for a nap, and came down to find this...

calli had pushed a chair up to the table,

climbed up on the chair, up on the table, got the sprinkles,

climbed down, and left a trail on the floor from the kitchen to the office,

and then proceeded to dump them on my husbands favorite leather chair...

this is after she "found" a marker, and colored all over her face and hands...

when it's one's birthday...they think it's all of their birthdays...fun.

campbell...you are such a gem. it's been so fun watching your personality blossom...you are a girl who's laugh is infectious, you are a great big sister...always looking out for calli, and not wanting to be too many steps behind your older brother and sister. you definately have a little fiest in you (just like aunte meg), but have such a soft spirit too...her favorite line this week has been, "i forgive you mommy." you love to read and are not so much of a cuddler. you love to have your nails done and check on the baby goats, all in the same breath. it was just 3 years ago when i had to drink castor oil to coax you out of your comfy home...and 2 hours later...wa-la. love you precious. mommy.

junie b. jones.

so i had the opportunity to go along on kaden's first field trip on tuesday.

we went to see "junie b. jones and some monkey business" at dutch apple dinner theatre.

(i was a bit worried the night before about how many kids i would be in charge of...

and here...there were so many parents...i only had to take care of kaden...what

a nice surprise...)I was a litte disappointed...junie b. jones...is a sassy kindergartner who uses

stupid and dumb in excess, and likes to threaten the boy in her class by "punching his

face in"...so...i will chalk this up to another "teachable moment" in kaden's life... :)

regardless, we had a fun day together, and couldn't resist the self photo opportunity

on the bus. :)

thanks moppy and daddy for watching the girls

so i could go...