the Cochranville carnival goes B.I.G!!!

what a day yesterday was.

started out by having moppy...matt's mom...come over to watch the kids around 8 am, while i helped to put 48,000 peepies into our chicken houses...

then...decided i would jump in the shower, and hi-tail it down to the cochranville carnival. word on the street around here, was that Extreme Make-over Home Edition was THERE, but if you wanted to be on tv, you had to be there by 9am....we rolled in around 10 of 9. :(

most of you know i don't really fool around when it comes to famous people. so early on i got my ducks in a row...i found a man with a headset, and asked him where Ty was...Ty Pennington of course...the main man from my kids FAVORITE show. i kid you not...we really do watch this show every sunday night...most nights kaycee and i have tears streaming down our faces at some point. :) anyway...this guy told me that Ty was here, but i couldn't "see" him just yet...

to explain the scene furthor...there are a few gobs of crowds of people standing around...not allowed into the carnival yet...so, i started asking around again, what was going on? and how could i get on tv? totally SELFISH...i know...

so...this same man tells me he can get me on, if i can act REALLY excited. "well, of course i can...what do you mean, i ask?" he tells me that there is going to be a raffle, and there are 2 "staged" winners, and i could be the 2nd place winner of a prize...that i wouldn't really get to keep. (huge downer...i mean, COME ON ALREADY...i can't even keep my prize?)  of course i accept graciously...and then had to sign my life away, and all my kids, and my mother in law's too.  then more standing around.

the guy kind of to my right is Jason Houghton...he graduated in my high school class, at Octorara, so he was loving giving me a hard time, AND his family owns all the rides...which is how the show got to come to Cochranville in the first place...huge.long. story....i am happy to tell it if you really want to know it...but this is going to get kind of long, so maybe another time. :) the guy to my left is the guy who hooked me up, and then stalked me all morning long to make sure i wasn't going to "blow" it and sneak off and leave or something? 

this is rhonda stoltzfus, my neighbor...(she actually owned the expensive canopy that was destroyed at our shower last week, which is besides the point, and totally another story)...her daughter, maria, happened to be picked to be the 3rd prize winner...that big brown bear. my other famous people stalker friend, mary lou, is the one who took all these great pictures...because of course, i didn't have my camera. :) thanks mary lou!!!

now...in this picture, i am trying to get something accomplished. he is holding the dvd player that i won...which really was just a re-taped box...he already gave me the dumb big rhino...but i was hoping to get something better, so i was  negotiating because i did such a great job reacting...for real...i made a total. complete. scene! they didn't even have to "re-shoot" me...like they did the first place...real time winner...of the makeover....

here i am telling matt i actually met ty pennington, and that his wife just might make it big on tv, and he should really get his butt down to the fairgrounds. he was content to stay where he was...

and i showed him these pictures this morning, and he said, "you wore those dumb boots, and that hat?" shucks. my husband was not impressed with how i looked...most of you also know that is no surprise. our styles are slightly different...{please don't tell me i look dumb, because i am about to be on tv in about 2 months...}

and i can't even remember this guys name. fun day. by this time my kids and mother in law were waiting in the car...the kids got a bunch of tickets and got to ride the rides, and play games for free while this was all going down...

anyway...got to meet a lot of neat security guards who lived in places where i just visited on my motorcycle trip...small world. :) they were dying in the humidity..it was kinda funny. and poor ty...was wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt. bummer. and...they kept telling everyone to put their cameras away...because this was supposed to look real.

in all actuality, it was a little disappointing, how much of everything was staged. i will never watch the show in the same light again, but it was still fun. they couldn't tell me exactly when the show will air, but around the 2 month from now mark...the family is from Hamburg...near Reading...

here's to seeing me and kaden, and a bunch of other people you just might know...on the show...  :) kelly king and ashley fritz were part of the "hometown crowd" who came running in...you know the people who i always THOUGHT were REALLY from the town where they were shooting. a total crock. fake. oh well. they are going to get to be on tv too. look for us all. :)

oh...and i did get 6 shirts too. :)

p.s. please leave a comment and let me know...when i post big pictures like this, can you see the whole picture, or are they being cut off? my sis can't see the whole pic, and i need to know if that's just her, or everyone? thanks. mk.

so are you feeling the love? famous people. hmmmm? TOTALLY intriguing.

jamie's bridal shower.

what a day.

what else can i say.

[we were on a motorcycle ride most of the day sat...and i shouldn't have been...even though it was so much fun]

so...i stayed home from church to get ready for the 2 pm start to my

soon to be sister-in-law, jamie's, bridal shower....HERE. 

this is the cake...isn't it stunning?

very, very few "before" pictures...

and this is the devestation.  :)

 i was completely and totally THANKFUL that i took the time to clean my house on sunday morning! a few people had gone thru the food line, when it started lightning, and just like that it was pouring....TOTALLY  pouring. we were dodging food into the house, throwing gifts in the door...there were about 8/40 people who got sopping, and i mean TOTALLY sopping wet. i got out my bath towels to help them dry off. Infact...the tent collapsed on precious ruth ann as she was gathering stuff into a table cloth, trying to get as much as she could inside...

so...i quickly tried to re-organize with a kitchen full of people in my way. :)  drinks were left outside, plates, dip, mustard and ketchup....ugh. so, i was pulling things out of my pantry, passing out cokes from my fridge. oh yeah... and the power promptly went off. :) oh yeah, number two...all the men had left...just us women here...after about 10 or 15 minutes of no power, i did decide to turn on the generator, which was a good move, as we did not get power back until 7 pm...the start of our next party...our sunday school class. :)

(it was purely the Lord LAUGHING in my face. we wanted to have the sunday school party while all the tents were set up...ha. ha. ha. what tents?)

regardless of the chaos, people really seemed to have a good time and stayed until  5 pm or so...lots of this...

and this going on...all throughout my HOT house. :)

yep. it turned out to be completely inside, as the rain hammered on outside, for hours...memorable, if nothing else, right? :) the Lord confirmed by many how calm and relaxed i can be in the midst of the storm...there was plenty of panic from everyone else to go around. :) no one needed the hostess to lose it. :)

   Congratulations  Mark and Jamie!

 We are excited for you, and can't wait for your big day! Thanks Lori for all your help and direction in throwing Jamie a once in a lifetime experience. :)

happy birthday...

i don't know where the time has gone...really.

kaden turns 7 years old today.

my first baby.

what i love about kaden:

his spirit of adventure

his sensitivity

his snuggles- he by far prefers snuggles way more than his sisters

his determination

his hard working spirit

his shy smile

his friendliness- waving at random people :)

his helpful spirit

his kind heart

his love of hearing books read to him

his joyfulness

his attention to detail

the way he looks out for his sisters

and the way he completely reveres his daddy. no. matter. what.

oh kaden. it makes me sad to think of all the years that have wizzed by already. i love being your mommy. i have loved every minute of watching you grow, and stand back in amazement at the young boy you have become. God has such a special plan for your life, and i have loved watching it unfold...looking forward to discovering with you what your 7th year of life will hold.

                                                                                                   love, mommy.

our motorcycle trip. part I.

(june 18-20, 2010)

okay. so i have been having all these cool thoughts about how i am going to post about our trip, and the reality is, that i am just plain ignorant with computers, and we'll just have to leave them as that...thoughts. :)

here it goes. we left lancaster at 2:45 pm fri the 18th, and drove straight thru to denver, colorado...arriving at 6 pm sat. the 19th.

first things first...we all...and by we all...i mean, aldie, judy, matt and i, kaden, kaycee, campbell and calli arrived at the smoketown airport by 8:30am ish on friday morning, june 18, 2010. this...i was not quite expecting. i guess i just assumed that i would be the only one taking the kids, but it was fine this way. [this made my good-bye to calli and campbell very short and sweet...because i could jump in the plane and try not to cry. :)]

i think we took off a little bit before 9am...and it was amazing. i have said before that this trip was totally ordained by God...and i mean it. zach said that we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to fly...the skies were clear and magnificent, and the ride was smooth as glass. Praise the Lord! no one got sick in the plane, and it was just grand fun, sipping on our cokes, munching on our peanut butter crackers. we got to wear big, heavy headsets, so that we could all talk to each other, and hear the chatter between pilot and all his control people.

and it was LOUD...the hum drum of the plane just kind of droned on in your ears. kaycee actually took off her head set halfway thru the flight...i think it was just too much for her to take, and they were very heavy for her little head. :) she then listened to my generic i-pod.

we arrived at the little new bern, nc airstrip at 11am...to see my brother matt, his wife, naomi, and their 4 children, (judah-13, ezra-11, noah-almost 9, and zion-almost 7) and foster son, (gage, 18 mo) waiting our arrival...waving and all. it was confirmation to me, that this was right...this was where my children should be for the next 2 wks...(aghh...i get tears in my eyes writing that)... 

the kids were giddy with excitement. i snapped a few pics, and really was a basket case. kind of bawling on and off. matt and naomi were very good...speaking words of comfort to my ears...it was just my heart that was hurting. i couldn't believe i was leaving my babies for 2 wks....i was going to miss out on their little lives for 2 whole weeks. the thought was so sad for me to bare. the tiny little thought that this could be the last time i hugged my kids...the last time i saw them as i was, as they were...

regardless...i said my good-byes about 3 different times, and saw to it that they all barely fit into the suburban, and cried again, stopping off in the rest room one last time. poor zach. a crying mommy sitting beside him in a tight little plane...there was like no air moving, and it was hot, as hot could be. the Lord quickly drifted me off to sleep for a mere half hour...my thoughts and tears were collected during that time, and i woke up feeling as if i might be able to carry on a conversation with the man...who did us a huge favor in flying us to n. carolina...saved me massive amounts of driving time. thank you zach.

i actually had fun on the flight back. we talked about fun stuff...husbands and wives, and kids, and childbirth, and child-rearing, and adhd, and how the king men can be a little bit obsessive compulsive a bit in cleanliness, and order, and cleanliness, and order....thanks zach for the stimulating conversation....

we arrived back at the smoketown airport at 2pm, scurried zach home, grabbed some mcdonalds, and were off...to the first leg of our trip...denver, colorado.

my hubs, matt, is a driver. he can drive a lot. he can drive at all hours on very little sleep. he did most of the driving as i tried to catch a nap here and there... i drove from 9:30 pm - 12:30 am, and then again from 4 am- 4:45 am...and i couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. we pulled over on a ramp, and slept from 5 am- 6:30am...sleep had never felt so good to me. we listened to a book on tape, the lucky one, by no one else other than nicholas sparks...i really didn't think matt would listen, but he did, so that was fun. lots of country music, texts and phone calls, and conversation of course...un-interrupted conversation. we drove thru massive storms...thunder and lightning thru indiana, illinois, and then kansas...God was getting it all out then, while we were driving in the truck...as that was the last rain we saw until we returned home the first week in july.

we popped in on a cousin of matt's (ian and nedra rutherford) who were in transition to moving back into their house in kansas city, missouri. didn't actually see them, but did break into their home, and took a quick shower...drying off with a hand-towel, as that is all we could find. :) traveling with my hubs...it's always an adventure. always. we then had our first sit down meal in over 18 hours of driving. yum. did i tell you i learned to drink coffee on this trip? we did become addicted to mcdonalds caramel frappes...they are to die for...but i can drink coffee now...lots of sugar, and flavored creamer is the best...

we arrived in lousiville, colorado at 6 pm on sat. the 19th...our goal was to have the truck dropped off to the denver international airport by sunday morning, the 20th...we are doing good. we had a fabulous dinner with my cousin, shelly, and her husband, matthew that evening, and chatted as late as we could before we passed out with exhaustion. :)  the matthew kings...her husbands name is matthew king too...went over all kinds of iteneries that night...concluding that we could spend a week just touring colorado...okay...that was not helping my "10 day pitch" at all. :)  after dinner the guys had headed out to try to find a spot to unload the motorcycle. some kind man let them borrow his ramp...there was some sort of "accident" that happened with the kick stand...but he told me it was "nothing" and we'll think about it later.

my matt was sleeping before i had finished brushing my teeth. goal for tomorrow...get mark's truck to the denver airport, and be on our way...

really...

enough said?

this is clean laundry.

for real.

i had one of those days...where i had to laundry...because i had too...and i didn't feel like it. so...here it sits at 10:25 pm...and the picture, it just doesn't do it justice. it's really 2 huge wicker baskets piled high, and then i just started piling it in the middle of the 2 bottom baskets. it's that bad.

oh. and there is still some in the dryer...because yesterday i hung it out on the line, and then went to do errands, and it all got sopping wet.

so...wasn't going to do that again today.

here's to popping in a movie and folding laundry.

oh...and i forgot my 3 year old is "calling" me...

 i mean screaming for me...her siblings thankfully are sleeping thru it.

she feels like her throw up is coming.

she got a bucket.

i came to post, and fold laundry.

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

the good news is:

* i went out for breakfast this morning with a girlfriend...and

 we scored at a thrift shop before calling it a morning.

* i am almost all done weeding outside for the bridal shower i am

hosting for my soon-to-be sister-in-law on sunday. huge.

* and i really do have fresh flowers on my kitchen table...

                                        so...ignore the laundry. :)

it was too hot...

        NOT to go swimming today...

kaden and kaycee are doing a great job swimming under water...since the start of summer vacation. guess i have to keep going to the pool, so they don't forget all they learned at their cousins house...that would be awful if they forgot. :)

thanks to the Lapp's for the unlimited use of your pool.

we LOVE it!

a cute blog.

okay...i know i am SOOOO behind on blogging. i feel like i fell in a deep black hole...in blog land, i mean, and i am just trying to climb out. ugh. actually, in all reality, i just keep doing other things...like today, i came across the cutest blog...so i thought i would share...not to mention trying to get my video footage off of my flip camera, and experiencing major technical difficulties. i'm irritated...all i want to do is blog about our trip. :)

this lady "got me" when she made some comment about her sister in law having used to teach preschool, and does all these crafty things with her kids, and she, the writer,  is more like ME, in when she talks about having fun with her kids, which in her house it means things like helping mommy clean the potty...not making crafts. :)

funny...mostly because that's totally me and my sister to a T. in talking with Meg this morning...she was making puppets with her kids, and i was organizing toys...to recycle, to keep, and to burn.  anyway, check out this cute blog...

tHe bEaCh...

i am grinding back to a start this morning...i must still think i am on vacation...go figure...3 weeks of not getting up early to exercise, no wonder i stayed in bed this morning. :)

my family beach vacation is always a highlight to my year. we grew up not having vacations longer than a weekend here and there due to living on a diary farm...and each year after moving off the farm, my parents have gifted us with a week's vacation at the beach.

granted...it's a little more chaotic these days...let's see there are 10 adults (minus matt this year) and 15 grandchildren...quick math here...that's 25 people in ONE house. it's so.much.fun.  even when your kids get woken from nap, or your neice across the hallway wakes up screaming at 5 am, for no apparent reason, other than to say, "i'm up now...let's get this day started", { you are lucky you're so cute hopey...}  :) or you  have to yank your screaming kid off the bike that's not really there's... it's all forgotton, and we start over thinking about the next year...wondering, "who will have a new baby by then."  ha. :)

there are lots of highlights to this years trip...

first one being, we set off at 3am on sunday the 4th...to arrive in corolla, nc, at 10:30 am...the rest of my pa family had left on the day before, and sat in TONS of traffic...it took them between 9-12 hours to arrive, and it only took us 6.5 hrs. yippee for us! only one potty stop/gas fill up, and we were rockin' and rollin' again. [since matt n naomi have moved to nc, we have been doing a beach vacation to nc every other year...this year matt was unable to join us due to our 2 wk motorcycle trip the weeks previous, and having to catch up with farm duties and issues] i missed him greatly, and hope he can join us again next year...

secondly...we loved our house. it was huge...and had a pool, kiddie pool, and hot tub. sooo...when i brought the kids back for naps, i could just hang out at the pool, instead of my beach day being over and done with.  it was great...

thirdly...we got to meet and greet our new little foster nephew/cousin, gage. he is a sweet, sweet boy...and we are blessed to be able to be part of making his life a little brighter.

fourthly...we went out "crabbing" at night on the beach. we took flashlights, and the kids went crazy. we caught so many crabs...they were running everywhere. it was very much fun, even if we did just dump them out...

we also had a huge driveway...suitable for basketball, bike riding, playing "house and baby", playing in the stones, sidewalk chalk, etc.

boogie boarding, building sand castles, eating fun snacks on the beach...aunt meg had a girls night...where she did the girls make-up and aunt heather did their nails...while the boys went to see if they could find some wild horses on the beach. they ended up getting the truck stuck on the beach...and saw...no horses. all had a great night regardless...cousins just make life plain better. :)

thanks mom and dad. we are so glad to be home, but we are sure glad we came.

we're home...

yep. we made it home last night. 13 days. WOW. is really all i can think of.

where do i start? what do i say? hmmmm. matt and i had a fabulous trip. it was filled with safety, an awesome running motorcycle, good health, and mostly sunny weather...one cloudy day, and NEVER rain. all the things i have been praying for for months.

i had also been praying that i wouldn't cry when i said good-bye to my kids, and that they would do well, and not miss us too much. both of these things DID NOT happen as i had hoped. i pretty much sobbed dropping them off, after an awesome plane ride into New Bern, N.C., and kaden and kaycee struggled a bit with some frequent tears...not to mention they got a stomach bug while down there, which didn't help things for anyone. campbell and calli seemed to do well, although calli had NO IDEA who i was when i popped back into her life last night. :)

all that said. we are having 2 days to re-group here with daddy, and then i will be packing up the kids and heading to n.c. again. for a week at the beach with the buckwalter family. ( this is a highlight every year for me...you know...or i would for SURE not be doing this.)  :)

this was taken in the beginning of our trip...in colorado...we pretty much rode in leathers in the mornings, and then peeled clothes off by lunchtime...temps were that extreme...ranging from the 40s to 115 degrees.

this was taken in utah, maybe? on the way home... i just picked out a few fun pics, and will do a major series of posts when i get back from the beach...i did keep a journal, of course, :) which will help in remembering the fun times...and not so fun...did you hear i got bit by matt's uncles dog? for real. totally not a "bite" the marks were gone by bedtime, but really...most of you know how much i love dogs to begin with...

and yep...this is my luggage for 2 wks on the road. (i must say, our leathers...jackets, and chaps, sneakers, and our toiletry bag were on the pack on top of the motorcycle...but please...a little credit where credit is due would be great here...really great. :)

and this is right after we returned to colorado...packed up the bike...and had my cousin take a picture of us. we rode 3,450 miles in just 8 days...

it was awesome. i did think i was going to die a few times...but i rallied. we missed our kids immensely, but i try not to think about how they missed us too. i cried a few times. :) it was very sad for me trying to talk with them on the phone...they had a GREAT time at their cousins, i think it was just hard at night-time, and when they heard our voices.

we will never be able to thank everyone who contributed to the carrying on of this trip...thanks for all of your prayers, thoughts, phone calls, texts, e-mails, watching our kids, taking care of the farm, watering the flowers, ugh. the list is endless. we really felt God blessing our marriage thru this trip...we had so much fun just being us...no working or cooking, or changing diapers...it really was amazing. we loved every minute of it...except that coast ride...it really was freezing the whole day....but so beautiful too. thanks for all who hosted us, we had so much fun visiting, and passing thru...

kids are sleeping. line is full of clothes, washer and dryers running, kitchen a bit of a mess, but that's where i am headed next. take care of my man while i am gone...2 extremes here...had him all to myself for 2 wks, and now i am without for one. ugh. can't wait to share more from our trip.

until next time. mis.