this little *light* of mine.

isn't this song beautiful?

i heard it yesterday, and i think it's my new theme song.

i think i change my life verse and theme song every other week. but i am in love with this one.

take some time to sit down and listen to the words.

my computer is getting re-built today

so i don't have access to my pictures,

hopefully, i can post them later.

happy  foggy rainy day in the northeast. :)

*pink* eye.

so. you will get this update because when i don't post on my blog, i am told people don't know what's going on in my life. that's how bad of a friend i am. :) texting and posting. you got it baby.

small group is officially somewhere else tonight.

will continue to un-germ today. and the next. and the next.

that horrible picture of kaden, posted yesterday, has multiplied over night to ~both~ of his eyes. :( so. he will not be going to school today either.  i guess i will do a little preventative eye drops today in the others, just in case. that is why they give you more drops than you need for 5 days, correct? so the woman with 5 children can treat all 5 children without going to the doctors 5 times, like my doctor prefers. :) i do like my doctor most of the time, but the not calling prescriptions in is a lot of huge rediculous in my mind.

enough of that. happy thursday. it's jammie and slipper day at school today. i think we should participate from home. only sounds "right". :) guess i will have to clothe for calli's speech class. shucks. :)

this morning.

this morning i spent some time playing with my camera. that is why i am still in my pajamas and it's 10:18 a.m. yikes! kaden is home today with a horrible case of pink eye. i guess it will be a miracle if someone else in the family doesn't get it, but for now, i am using lots of clorox, and doing lots of laundry. :) he can go back to school tomorrow.

we discovered some kittens at our house last night. this momma cat is pregnant ALL the time. seriously. and she moves her litters all over the farm, so we never really know where they are...or when they arrive. :) so this morning, as i was getting everyone breakfast i sat karolina in her bumbo, and she played with her toys, and watched the kittens play.

one of our friends might want a couple kittens, so i tried to take a couple extra pictures for her to see them.

and this last one, well...this is his eye looking better. he couldn't even open it this morning, it was that swollen. started him on drops last night, so hopefully it will look a little better until tomorrow comes. :) karolina is looking at him like "you've got to be kidding me." :) here's to healthy households !!



poor rabbits.

(from left to right: nathan bromley, mark fiscus with joy, kaden, and matt)

mark enjoys bringing his hounds over to our farm, to help us learn how to hunt rabbits.

kaden told me she found 12 rabbits, and we shot 2. :)

(the one kaden is holding isn't entirely in the picture...my fault). surprise. surprise. :)

the big 34...

i can honestly say it really rocks when your birthday falls on a saturday. i feel like i started partying yesterday, and we are not quite finished until tomorrow. yeah. totally rocks. i am loving 34 already. i have high hopes for a great year. thanks to my friends and family who rock as well. all the phone messages and cards and presents, ya all know i do love presents...i can't help it is one of my selfish love languages. :)

(matt's phone pic)



we went to delaware tonight for dinner, to some place matt went to with a bunch of guys

 on a motorcycle ride the other week.

he said it was really good, so we thought that's where we would go for my birthday.

we got there a little before 6pm...and there was already an hour and a half wait, for our

family of 7. so we got back in the car and came back to chili's for dinner. :)

it was delicious.



my sister and mom were here for a little bit yesterday, and megan told campbell the "directions" for how my birthday morning should un-ravel. and i must say campbell totally delivered. she was instructed to let mommy sleep as long as she wanted, and to sneek downstairs and play in the basement until mommy woke up. then she told campbell to make me some breakfast and take it to her mommy in the basement. i heard her little whisper this morning..."yeah...she's awake, but let's still go to the basement" as she tiptoed past my bedroom. i got up maybe a half hour later, and went to the basement and sat by the fire. kaycee was instructed to bring mommy a banana, and she followed thru, and then campbell brought me a bowl of honey nut cheerios. she poured the milk and everything! she was a jem all day. maybe party because she knows her birthday is now next (coming in march), but still, she was a total riot.

(matt's phone pic)...campbell was delighted with her corn on the cob.



the biggest joy of year 33 was of course the healthy pregnancy and arrival of karolina grace. i was blessed to be a mommy all over again, to another precious being. wow. i am overtaken often by the wonder of it all. yeah, overwhelmed of course that somehow i am the mom of 5 children...but how did i get to be so lucky? i am sure i will not be feeling so "lucky" come another 6 years or so, :) but for now, i feel very blessed and yes, very lucky. my little almost 6 month old, started some cereal last night before bed. she loved it. and i think it made a difference. she's had a bad cold, and has been waking up to eat about 3x a night for the past 1 1/2 wks, so...last night, she whimpered around 3am, settled herself, and then woke at 5 am, i nursed her, and she slept again until 8am. a full night's rest is a glorious thing. it really is.



i am challenged to find a verse i want to claim over my life for this 34th year. which is a gift. really. what do i hope my life radiates? my love for Christ? my love for my family? integrity? purity? devotion?

 there are several verses i fell in love with, and want to cling to this year...

  the Lord your God is with you,

He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with his love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

and then this one seemed to apply as well... :)

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.

Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace

for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:11

(and this isn't just for me in training my children, but me re-training my eating habits as well...) :)

and then...

a wife of noble character who can find?

she is worth far more than rubies...

her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her.

Proverbs 31:10, 28

who doesn't want to be called noble? worth far more than rubies. call her blessed? what a high calling.

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

we did infact make it to the farm show this week.

traffic. tons of people.

but fun.

and if you ever take a group there.

don't meet in front of the butter sculpture.

really. it's that neat. but you block the view from everyone else who wants to see it.

there really are much better places for you to catch up with your group. :)



what else do i hope to accomplish this year?

maybe have a cleaner house? i think that was on my list last year.

and i didn't make it.

i really do need to try to put myself on some kind of a cleaning "schedule" but that

seems so restrictive to my social life. :)

be a good mom.

that looks different to me ~every~ day. ha. :)

learn about my camera...which i am really trying. it's so much fun to explore.

get to be my regular size again.

complain less. rejoice more.

hmmm. my list could go on and on and on.

that's going to be all for now.

and this pic pretty much stinks. but it was soooo cold out this week.

too cold for me to get closer.

but kaden flew a kite for pretty much an hour.

wow.

good night.

my eye is twitching.

i am tired. :)

a new year. a new beginning.

well...i was hoping to put off a post until i had something grand or profound to say. but it's just not coming. i am hoping to look back on 2011 and come up with some highlights, but that hasn't even happened yet...and then, hope also to look forward into 2012, and come up with some high and lofty aspirations i hope to achieve.  sarcasm sort of intended, but part truth as well. :)

life continues to be. just be. karolina is fighting some snots and a nasty cough. she rightfully got from her snotty sisters campbell and calli, who don't stop kissing her, even if they do have a cold. they are on the mend. i am complete-ly thankful we have had a great winter so far...we have not battled sickness like we normally do...this is only january, i know, but i have high hopes. :) i am in love with these warmer temps...if only they would stick around now and again all winter, it would be much more bearable for me. :)

kaden and kaycee have started basketball and cheerleading, respectively, so my ante has been up'ed. i was hoping their practices would be on the same nights. that would have been a total dream, i know.  all these moms always told me my life would get busier as my kids got older, i don't know that i agree totally, it's just busy with different things, that's all. a lot more time in the car, that is for sure. so instead of throwing laundry in when i feel like it, it is thrown in around my car trips... :) but then i have "down time" at the practices and games to read, or text, or color with campbell and calli, or snuggle karolina, so yes, we are coming into a new stage for our family. but fun, none the less. :)

life has also been swallowed up by phone calls and doctor appointments for my precious man. we are trying to do therapy for his knee for a month, before the surgeon decides whether surgery is "needed" or not. it's funny. there are lots of surgeons out there. lots of specialists. and each recommendation we have gotton has been for a different one. and we have gotton a lot. :) so, we are forging ahead, making our own path. no surprise that a "king" would do that, is it? :) again. part sarcasm. part truth. i was delighted to know that the exercises i had given matt to do, were the same ones the therapist had given him. yay. me. :) but still push him out the door. i do think it does him good to hear direction from somone other than his wife...and he is doing a fairly good job following thru on his therapy, at this stage of the game.

so. i have spent the first week of the new year trying to keep up with the normalacy of my life (this would be laundry, cooking, cleaning, packing lunches, helping with homework, etc.) and trying to tear down Christmas as well. it doesn't happen as quickly as it once did. calli is very good at destroying rooms, one by one, so i am also disciplining a lot in this new year. :) and teaching, teaching, teaching to clean up as we go. sometimes it feels as if i am starting from square one, but hopefully she is retaining "something". :) calli is also doing speech once a week, and i can already tell a big difference. i am amazed. and she LOVES going to school...for this i am also very thankful.

my good friend (thanks, precious!!) got me a little present. the devotional, Jesus Calling,
by Sarah Young. it is so good. i am going to share today's reading with you...i think each one of us can take something from it.

     {I AM WITH YOU AND FOR YOU. when you decide on a course of action that is in line with My will, nothing in heaven or on earth can stop you. You may encounter many obstacles as you move toward your goal, but don't be discouraged- never give up! with My help, you can overcome any obstacle. do not expect an easy path as you journey hand in hand with Me, but do remember that I, your very-present Helper, am omnipotent.
     much, much stress results from your wanting to make things happen before their times have come. One of the main ways I assert My sovereignty is in the timing of events. if you want to stay close to Me and do things My way, ask Me to show you the path forward moment by moment. instead of dashing headlong toward your goal, let Me set the pace. Slow down, and enjoy the journey in My Presence.

(romans 8:31, psalm 46:1-3, luke 1:37...all for furthor reading).}

how often i think that things should happen when i think they should. why would i think that? rediculous. but i continue to do so. anyway, this reading brought rest to my soul...for a new beginning. new thoughts. oh, the things i will learn this year...i wonder. :)

there ya have it. a quick synopsis of my life for now. hope to have a more exciting post soon. and maybe even some pics. we might even make it to the farm show later in the week. could be fun. :) ~mk.