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.

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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. :)