kaycee agnes turns 7!!

i can hardly believe it.

my kaycee turns 7 in almost exactly 2 hours.

you got it.

we hit december 30th at 11:54 p.m.

they asked if i could hold on for a few more minutes to make it a new years eve

baby, and i politely declined.

(i think i was polite)  :)

kaycee was 8 days late.

matt's back was broken, and healing.

he was in a brace.

but healing in month 2 out of 4 1/2 if that helps put things in perspective. :)

kaycee is a lot like me.

she is: extreme-ly sensitive, a people-pleaser, a go-with-the-flow kind of girl...

by that i mean, she does not like attention drawn to her. at all.

she loves the arts. dancing, singing, drawing, painting, music.

she hates gym. and pretty much all sports.

she likes to read.

she is a great help to me. she does what i ask of her, and usually so without complaining.

she is a total pack rat...she does not inherit this from her mom. :)

she loves to play school with her sisters.

(she does my job for me in this regard...she teaches them A LOT.)

she is a joy to us.

we seek wisdom in raising her.

mainly because of her quiet spirit.

i worry a lot about kaycee because of this...

but trust the Lord has created her just as he wanted. 

to teach her mom a few things no doubt... :)

regardless...happy birthday big 7 year old.

we love you.

a few shots from over the years...

(meg...i think she looks like you in this pic)

and...we did have an ortho appointment today for matt's knee.

the surgeon we saw was much more encouraging than the report i had gotton from our family doctor.

this doc did not make a big deal out of his mri at all,

nor the 2 x-rays he got today,

so...we are going to try physical therapy for a month,

and then he will re-evaluate him.

hoping NOT to do surgery, but we'll see.

assured matt he will be able to play hockey again. regardless.

but not before the 2-6 month window...

so that is great news.

thank you for praying for him.

perhaps it is a miracle. :)

 kaycee with my parents, richard adn debbie, posing with the birthday bear.
my parents bring him to birthdays, he is a pretty loud singing bear. matt was
more than happy to send him on his way. :) but the kids love him...

 blowing out the candles, with poppy in the background...
she picked out a flag cake for me to make...pretty easy.

 this isn't so good. obviously. but kaycee got a look alike american girl
doll this year. she has her ears pierced, which means kaycee gets to get her
ears pierced for her birthday. she has been waiting a loooong time for both...  :)

 i love this pic...

 the headbands we made for kaycee's birthday. they got to pick out the flower
petal colors, as well as feathers and buttons, and i did the rest. :)

and just for good measure...i think she is teething...

Make It Your Mission…

one of the things i love about nursing a baby is the quiet it ~forces~ me to have.

not just during the middle of the night feedings,

but during the day, when i have things to do and places to go,

and i have to ~stop~ and feed her when ~she~ is hungry,

which doesn't always coincide with convenience in my schedule.

it makes me stop.

be still.

it helps me to pray over my babies.

speak blessing into their lives.

i have been thinking over 2011.

what did i like. what did i not. what surprises did we have.

part of that thinking was because my sister-in-law's mom died last week...

after fighting a 2 year battle with cancer.

sitting in her funeral service watching and listening to her children and grandchildren

speak of the awesome mom they had,

with tears streaming down my face no doubt...

but that service has caused me to stop and ponder a little more this week.

what will my children say about me someday?

what will my children say about me tomorrow?

and not even just my children, my friends, my family...what will they remember?

i came across this blog post this morning

and it ~resonated~ with me.

her words are perfectly written.

they drove the point home.

if you are looking for some inspiration for the new year as a mom,

check it out...

Make It Your Mission…

and now onto some pictures of our Christmas vacation so far...
we had fun times with family.
we spent an  hour on Christmas morning at church...
i was maybe a little appalled, or surprised at how many churches did not hold services...
isn't Jesus why we celebrate in the first place?
and now we are too busy and tired to go to church on Christmas...really?
i know it makes for a busy day, but seriously??
i was kind of saddened and shocked by that.

 

 i am *thrilled* to let you know matt got me a nice camera for an early birthday present.

*thrilled*.

i love.love.love it.

so much to learn. so little time.

it was fun playing with it at my family Christmas dinner.

mainly because all of my siblings have really nice cameras, so they could

*advise* me a teeny bit. :)

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

so, the pictures above these words were taken on Christmas Eve with my old camera,

and the pictures taken below these words,

were taken with my new camera.

 karolina grace~ 5 months.

my nephew~ silas mark.



 my son~ kaden rockwell. :)

 karolina. again.

my mom. deborah arlene.

 cousins: campbell meg with reese deborah with her sister: piper...

 my neice: piper erin...she loves to stick her tongue out. :)

 kaycee agnes with cousin piper.

and sleepy, sleepy karolina...

so you can see i had so much fun,

playing with all kinds of settings and modes, and oh my.

we'll see if we can figure something out.

if nothing else i will try to stop chopping heads off. :)

off to fold some laundry.

happy thursday.

matt's knee.

we had a great Christmas.

i hope to post pictures soon.

i got an early birthday present,

so i am playing with my *new* camera,

and have no idea how to get pics off of it yet. :)

spoke to our doctor this morning, and the results of Matt's MRI yesterday are not good.

he has a severely torn ACL, and partial tear to his meniscus,

and probably a bone fragment floating around as well. :(

(the family doc and myself, if i count, really did not think it was so severe...

we were thinking it was a medial ligament because

his knee is really not showing much laxity,

which usually appears with an ACL tear.)

so, i spent some time on the phone today,

and after maybe 5 phone calls got a consultation for this Friday...

it's not with a doc that was recommended, so i am not sure how i feel about that,

but being that this happened on the 17th, we are just thinking sooner is better than later.

i hope we don't regret that decision...

he has good days and bad.

he still does not walk real great, go figure, eigh? :)

thankful we went ahead with the MRI...

would love.love.love your thoughts and prayers as we go ahead with what is next....

chickens come again next week, so...

things should be interesting, anyway. :)

hope your Christmas was Merry and your New Year looking brighter

than the start of ours?  :)

wishing you...

a very, very Merry Christmas!!!

                                                                                                         photo credit: Ang Stoltzfus.

it's been a little bit of a crazy week,
for a variety of reasons...
i am looking forward to some rest and relishing in the reason we celebrate.

 that reason is the birth of Jesus.
the great plan of God that is still unfolding as we go about our daily tasks...
may you feel his love, peace and comfort as you take time out of your schedule
to celebrate Christ-mas.

Goose anyone? :)



the hustle and bustle...

of the season has hit our home.

which is not a bad thing.

i love.love.love Christmas.

the decorating. the coziness of our home.
(if you can look past the dust...i for one CAN, but i know some people can't...)
:)
family gatherings.

shopping on the computer, so i don't have to go out and get cranky with people who butt in line.

ha. :)

we had our first Christmas dinner on Saturday.

 i think karolina had enough, what do ya think? :)
and i cropped everyone else out on the below pic because they had their eyes closed...
she got a second wind. :)

where matt was occupying the children playing dodge ball,

and unfortunately landed on his foot wrong, hurting his knee.

it is looking like he might have torn his ACL or MCL, he kind of has symptoms of both, :(

but it's too swollen to get an MRI just yet.

he is living on ibepruefen pretty constantly, and not sleeping real well.

the complication to the story is that he flew out this morning for michigan

to pick up a truck he purchased, and needs to drive 15 hours home.

eeeeeekkkkk.

it is his left knee, so he is able to drive, just not comfortably.

so...if you think about him today, please pray for him...

~thanks~

me on the otherhand, i am busy cleaning and doing laundry

and wrapping presents and planning our menu for Christmas Day.

i love when we can stay here and not run around on Christmas.

all of Agnes' great grandchildren...
we watched some old home movies and played some fun games.
then we headed home to elevate matt's leg. :)

oh and i forgot to post this picture earlier.

my floor looked like this for maybe a week???
i really was crafting some of each day of that week, but that really is no excuse.

then throw in the horsee's, trucks, teething rings, and blankee's and ya have a little bit of everything.

i know some of my friends come away from blogs feeling depressed and like they cannot ever
achieve what blogs typically show...
so i want you all to know, you should never leave mine feeling that way...
because behind every fun thing i have done to decorate there is a mess like this left behind..or a meal
gone uncooked/served, TONS of laundry un-folded, getting wrinkly, which puts me more
behind, because now i have to iron it...the list goes on and on...

maybe this will inspire you?
ha.ha.ha. :)

campbell's merry christmas program.

just a couple pics from campbell's preschool christmas program. it's always a hoot to watch the little sing...

here's the little peanut with her daddy. i am glad matt has a camera phone, as i do not.

because guess what? i forgot my camera. again. hmmmmm.

okay. the other picture will post later.
i was interrupted this morning during this post.
i was blogging, and doing Christmas cards, as my pics were loading,
and discovered campbell and calli were hiding "eggs".

and coloring them too.
my fresh eggs. not hard boiled.
eeeeeekkkkkkk.

now i am updating quickly because i was just upstairs tucking campbell in for her nap,
and read her a story as calli sat at the kitchen table to finish her sandwich from lunch.

i came down to find little pieces of bread all over the stationary jumper karolina was in,
and karolina smacking her lips together.

with calli holding up her sandwich to me saying...
"i shared with karolina."
can my day get ANY better?   :)

my head is pounding. i know it's because i am tired.
would LOVE a nap.
but i guess i will go for a run. :(
(do you know i hate running.
i should have had a lot stronger willpower with food when i was pregnant.
i do this every-time.
ugh.)

however, i am in love with the new jumper karolina is getting for christmas.
she is the only one who got her presents early.
found it for $15 second-hand of course,
but it totally rocks, and she loves it. yay...
okay. off to run, and then a nap?
yeah. right. :)

a sneak peak...



this is ONE of my most favorite pictures we DID NOT use on our Christmas card.

love.love.love it of karolina, and kaycee is just hysterical.

********************************
i look at my family. and i smile.
i take it in. we are not promised tomorrow.
i am so thankful for today.

so much tragedy in our neighborhood right now.
4 young kids in our school left to celebrate Christmas without their dad.
he was killed in a motorcycle accident sunday.
another local family grieving the tragic loss of 3 of their 10 children  in a car accident...
ugh.
i don't want to think about what could be around the corner, ya know?
but chose to stay blessed in this moment...
and pray for those who are saddened by the grief and loss that overwhelms them right now.

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

thanks scott, ang, addalie and jyla for making our pics a reality this year.

we appreciate each of you!

you should not expect to get our actual christmas card in the mail until the week of 12/18...

but it is so much fun running to the mailbox to see whose cards you get, eigh? :) 

i ~think~ i am done decorating, but still have a pile of things to make in my spare time. :)
winks and smiles.

our * Christmas* tree.

i love.love.love Christmas time.

love it.

cookies are in the oven now.

just watered the tree.

now i need to water my ferns.

and then i am off to bed.

there is ~always~ one more thing to be done, ya know?

so. i am back in commission.

computer is up and running.

$31. later all updates are installed and actually working, so...

some pics from getting our christmas tree

from a few weeks ago.

one of the stipulations before matt left for deer hunting at the cabin was...

we needed to get a real tree. here. in the stand.

and then.

he could leave. :)

we actually cut our tree down this year.

a first for us.

i have ~no~ problem at all strolling into home depot and buying the cheapest tree i can find...

none.at.all.

but this year, we decided to go another route.

a whole 2 miles from our house route. :)

 our family is too big now to all fit in our farm vehicle...
so we packed up the yukon, parked it, and moved into the farm truck.

karolina promptly fell asleep, so she missed out on all the fun. :)

just for some perspective...

 this is when i asked them to look like they loved each other. ;)

the perfect tree.

for free.

thanks charlie and tom !!!

confusion on the web.

okay. so. yes. i am confused and trying to educate myself. :) i tried to "post" the other day, and my computer will no longer let me "post" or even "open" my blog. hmmmm. it says that my browser won't allow access to blogger anymore. isn't that great? :) so now i am educating myself on what a browser actually is, and which one i want to switch too. (this is a trial run on google chrome, for those of you who are laughing at me)...it's a bummer my kids aren't old enough to teach me what's up, but surely that will come in handy some day. for now it looks like re-entering lots of my favorite sites, etc. sounds like a major headache to me...i guess i needed another headache? i have been doing a lot of decorating, have lots of pictures to share, because i have been doing ~lots~ of copying off of pinterest. the best site ever in my book. it's a bummer i can't join since i don't use facebook. probably better that way because it is a huge time sucker for me. :) my sister did so wisely suggest that maybe the Lord is trying to tell me something...and possibly my blog is something i am supposed to "lay down" as i referenced in a previous post. i shudder to think, as my blog is a great outlet for my "thoughts", but she could infact be right. guess that means i need to pray about it, and see if i can glean some "direction" :) so...if you don't hear from me in awhile, that means i am lost in computer jargon and you should come help me find a new browser. :) smiles. ~mk.

Steven Curtis Chapman: Do Everything - Official Lyric Video

a little encouragement for ~today~

i think it's my new theme song. smiles.

(please press pause on my music at the bottom of the screen before pressing play here.)

psalm 105

what a beautiful Thanksgiving morning

here in eastern pennsylvania...

     give thanks to the Lord,

call on his name;

make known amoung the nations

what he has done.

sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

look to the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.

                                                                ~psalm 105:1-5

i hope you can take some time today to reflect

on all you have to be thankful for.

even if times are "tough" if you live here in america,

you are one of the richest in the world...

 

happy thanksgiving.

a visit to pappy and grandma's.

so 2 weeks ago i made it a priority to visit my grandparents.

i did visit my mom's mom.

and never got to my dad's parents.

until today.

these are the grandparents that i grew up knowing well.

we lived closest to them.

and now.

it is such a blessing to live so close to

each of our parents.

the bond that children and grandparents have is so

fun to watch transpire...

and well. the ~free~ built in babysitting is a blessing too. :)

but i watch my children making memories with

their grandparents, just as i did with mine.

it's kind of bittersweet as i watch my grandparents age.

and think ahead.

 (this picture is classic of how i would have acted when i was campbell's age...shy.shy.shy.)

 (there is plenty of loving baby genetics that i inherited from both sides of my family...) :)

(my grandmother can hardly see anymore, but it was precious to see her with karolina...)

(and calli wasn't so sure about pappy either...until we broke out toys, and klondike bars...) :)

we had a busy day. we then

 visited my mom at her work...the new holland re-uzit shop,

(where i found some great toys to put away for chrismas and birthdays.)

yay.

then we got some teacher gifts (in the way of food)

and some soft pretzels.

and then found our way home.

but...

i am beat. and now it's craft time.

eeeeekkkkk.

i try not to do craft time too often. :)