farming.

so we don't live in kansas...but it still made me laugh. i had to think of kaden and 2 of his buddies that will do something like this in a few years. :)

we are *back*

and it feels good.

although...i really think i could be quite happy living at the beach for a whole summer. :)

this year there was 10 adults...and this is my parents with their 18 grandchildren.
( the 15, 13, and almost 11 year old were so helpful...the rest are all under 8 years old)  :)
we were all there. in one big house.
was so much fun. most of the time.

highlights:

the beautful warm weather,

cousin time,

a "rest" from the normals of life...especially farming,

getting stuck on the boards with a jogging stroller, and 3 nephews, in a HORENDOUS thunder storm

and down pour,

reading!,

hearing the waves crashing...always makes me wonder at God's might!

 i've heard this year at the beach best described by my sister-in-laws...
it was more "divide and conquer" this year than ever before.

"can you watch these 10 kids on the beach,
 while i run these 3 back to the bathroom."

 that's what that means. :)

(kaycee-7, calli-3, and campbel-5  on ferris wheel)

 i didn't get a lot of good beach pics.
i left that up to my brother mark...and have yet to see them. :)

(cousin jaiden and kaden-8)

(neice piper-1...she walked at 8 months old. )

(while karolina was back at the house napping for hours, busy piper got to be at the beach with the big kids.)   :)

(calli...building in the sand.)

karolina threw my cell phone in the pond today. :(
ya know. i was just trying to be a good mom...
play with the dog...manage some extra kids...and get a tan...all at the same time.
boo.

so...it is "soaking" in rice for the recommended 3 days.

so...no texting for me.

call me on my home line or e-mail me.

thanks. :)

(FYI...cell phone works great. was kinda hoping for a new updated version.
oh well. my patience will continue.)  :)

campbell...(good-bye ocean city, new jersey...until next year)

it got me.

the bug has bitten.

or food poisoning.

or whatever in the world it was.

i returned precious aria bathed and ready for bed last night at 7:45 p.m.

went to watch the last night of bible school program at church.

came home and went to bed.

awoke and started puking at 2 a.m. and didn't stop until 9 a..m.

i slept on the bathroom floor.

it was that bad.

kaycee and calli joined me around 4 a.m.

oh. i am soooo thankful aria was no longer here.

to say the least.

matt's mom came and got kaden, campbell, and karolina...

so, the rest of us sick girls hung out in my bed, and got lots of sleep.

now i am doing laundry and chloroxing the bajeebies out of this place.

:)   ~mk.

a bird.

so...i woke early this morning, not because i wanted too, but i just cannot fall back to sleep. my head is lightly pounding. i know i am exhausted. isn't it frustrating when you are really tired, and can't go back to bed, for the life of you? i tried reading a really good book...bloom, by kelle hampton...(i put her trailer on here a few weeks back...my friend got the book, and loaned it to me...) anyway,  that didn't work, so i just relucktantly got up out of bed. matt is already gone for his thursday morning breakfast routine.

i came down to the computer, sit down, about to get frustrated, and hear something "banging" around my kitchen. seriously. i am thinking oh man. who is in my house, now? at 6 a.m.? (it is really not uncommon for me to come downstairs during the day to find people in my house...friends, the mail woman, salesman, the list goes on...but at 6 in the morning, that would be a little un-usual.) my thoughts immediately go to my brother and sister in law who had an intruder in their house at 4 a.m. the other month. talk about a wierd, scare you out of your mind story, but anyway, i slowly peer out into the kitchen, from my office, and there is a big black bird, tearing my kitchen apart. flying around, trying to fly through the closed windows, knocking stuff off the counters. oh . my.

you may have never seen me move so fast. i run over to the living room, prop that door shut. a farm house is lovely. most of the time. but having a bird in your kitchen, with doors that don't close all the way, is a big.fat.bummer. came back over to the office, and prop this door shut. now what? i can feel my heart start beating faster. i can feel myself start to get hot and sweaty, like i do when i see a living, moving, breathing mouse. i am TERRIFIED of mice. my cell phone is in the kitchen, and i am surely not going out there. the way things sound this bird is going to fly right for my head if i make an appearance. :)

so, i do what any normal wife would do. i go upstairs and call my man. "did you miss the bird that is tearing apart our kitchen?" i say. "what,?" he responds? "did you miss the bird in our kitchen", i say. "i guess so." he responds. well, this clearly is not going well, i thought. so...he instructs me to close all the doors to the rest of the house, which thankfully this smart woman already did, and open the doors and chase it out with a broom. not really what i was hoping for, but kind of what i was expecting him to say. :)

i casually come down the steps.  i dart into the kitchen, run down the basement steps, get a broom, exit the basement to the outside, and go to the back deck, and slide open the patio screen door. the poor bird. any sound i made made him go crazier. by now, i am PRAYING profusely. dear lord...don't make me go in that kitchen with a broom. PLEASE don't make me go in that kitchen. my biggest fear is that another bird is going to fly into my house...there are about 5 birds flying around outside...they like to roost behind our chimney that is falling away from our house, :), which happens to be right beside our patio door.

anyway, i run down the deck stairs, and wait. i am contemplating my next move. i think i am going to go pound on my kitchen windows with the broom handle, when i see this bird, gracefully come out of no where, and fly across the field. could it have really been that easy? i don't think so, but that bird HAD to come out of my kitchen, it was flying FAST. so, i go around the side of the house, broom i n hand. i cautiously open the back kitchen door and listen. silience. the bird did infact fly out the open screen door. thank you JESUS. you totally rock.

now. i better get some coffee, and get my morning started off a little better. and to start to wonder how that dumb bird got in my house in the first place...i was hoping to find some big gaping hole in a screen. no such luck.

J.O.Y.

one baby is sleeping.

one is not.

so i sit down at the computer. sip my coffee. and type out some thoughts

as my five kids play "cow" around my feet.

it's a beautiful thing. :)

(aria and karolina...usually have to be right with these two, or there is poking and tackeling. :)
aria usually has a headband in her hair, but karolina has taken to pulling her's out as well. :(   )

i opened Jesus Calling this morning.

and this is what i read:

i am creating something new in you: a bubbling spring of Joy that spills over into others' lives.

do not mistake this Joy for your own or try to take credit for it in any way.

Instead, watch in delight as My Spirit flows through you to bless others.

Let yourself become a reservoir of the Spirit's fruit.

Your part is to live close to Me, open to all that I am doing in you.

Don't try to control the streaming of My Spirit through you.

Just keep focusing on Me as we walk through this day together.

Enjoy My Presence, which permeates you with Love, Joy, and Peace.

it seemed so fitting for me today.

right where i am at.

and then i think about how this devotional has been best selling this year.

and how millions of people are reading this very thing today.

just. like. me.

crazy to think about.

here's to enjoying your day. :)

down.for.the.count.

so another "main" reason why i felt like i should keep aria this week,

was that special people like my sister, and sister-in-law, and in-laws kept my 4

children 2 summers ago, when matt and i went on our motorcycle trip out west

for two weeks.

it was a dream. i am not kidding.

so surreal.

it was a very special time for us. so.much.fun.

married people don't get to go away and have so.much.fun.

that frequently. that's all.

it's hard when you have kids. and babies.

and who in the world would you trust to keep your babies?

all that to say.

i am so glad matt "made" me go.

it was the hardest trip i ever made. but also the best.

can that be?

yep. simply. it can.

so while some wonder how in the world i would even consider adding another to my own,

...that's why. it's worth it.
and i have ~never~ seen an easier baby.
i knew aria was a good baby. but she is ~rediculous~
not a cry. lays around and plays and coos and laughs at us.
she just lays in her pack-n-play.
the only reason i know she wakes up, is because i keep checking on her.
she doesn't even make a peep.
it's the craziest thing.
a new place. a new bed. new people.
she's so good.

anyway...when we were on our trip.

our 2 oldest children got sick.

throw up sick. at my sister-in-laws...

who at the time, had four children of her own,
and a new little foster guy...

and my brother was away on his own motorcycle trip.

~i don't know how that happened, but that wasn't my call~  :)

and now...it is happening here.

kaden was sick with a very sore throat and headache last week.

came home from school and slept until the next morning.

he woke up, and was fine.

(kaden...as one of his last days as a 2nd grader, "goodbye Octorara PLC")

yesterday morning kaycee woke up,

and had a very sore throat, and fever.

just didn't look so good.

did end up getting sick, but it was more of a "throat" reflux than anything else...

she can be a little dramatic if it has to do with throwing up. :(

praying she is back to normal today.
(kaycee was diagnosed with strep 6/12/12)

and now matt is sick.

yuck. sick.

he got in from baling/hauling hay last night at 10:30 p.m.

he works so hard.

i saw him at lunchtime yesterday.

and in the car when i was transporting him to pick up tractors, etc.

farmers work soooo hard.

it's so demanding.

sometimes i wish my husband worked 9 to 5. or even 7 to 7.

~sometimes~

:)

(this was not from yesterday, but last week...but happens everytime we bale.

i used to have to drive these bales. back when i had only 4  kids. :) )

anyway. he's throw up sick.

pray for him.

because farming doesn't give sick days.

and i ~really pray~ we don't pass this along at the beach next week.

that would be the true disaster.
i wouldn't want to send it home for aria to give her parents as a welcome home gift either. :(

now...as of 8:53 a.m. it is sounding like it's something we picked up at the king reunion on sunday.
lots and lots of people are sick.
oh brother.
now it's not sounding like something we "picked up" but more
like food poisoning. oh dear.
well...at least i don't have to worry about passing it along at the beach,
since it's food poisoning. :)

now...to just kick this strep outta here. :)

party of 8.

kings.

party of 8.

you say what???

nope. i am NOT pregnant. :)

we are quite happy and content being our own awesome party of 7.

however,

i am infact watching my friends sweet angel baby this week.

aria is 7 months old. karolina is 10 months old.

yippppeeee. :)

i now ~fully~ know why mommas of twins are SUPER skinny.

they never get to sit down. EVA'.

and i only acquired this sweet baby last night at 6:30 p.m.
did i also mention we have bible school this week?
 i cannot transport any of our friends, because our car is already packed
beyond full. yikes. :)

knowing i was going to have aria this week as caused me to become SUPER organized.
most of my beach food is packed and waiting in the mudroom.
my kids suitcases are mostly packed and waiting.
my groceries are bought, meal plan is waiting for the week.
why can't i operate like this ~every~ week? :)

did i mention this is our FIRST day of SUMMER?
i am so excited.
i started making our summer 'fun to do' list this morning,
and the kids haven't even helped with it yet.
i am afraid it's going to be pretty long.
intentional, right?
 i am going to be intentional about having one more great summer with my kids.
they are growing so fast. way too fast.
i am adjusting to each new stage, but thankful the teenage years are still off in the
distance a little teeny bit away. :)

anyway...

our first night went great.

one down, 3 to go, and i will return aria on thursday night to her own bed...

so that i can get ready to go on vacation...

ready to pull out the drive sat. morning.

yay. can't wait.

love the beach. add the fun chaos of my parents, siblings, and our 18 kids combined

and you have a slammin' good time. :)

beautiful sunny warm weather is almost a must...i should say that. :)

you haven't heard from me much because i was cranky with bad poison ivy.

first kaden got it.

and shortly after i.

i ~finally~ went to the doctors on friday for some steroids.

they are making a huge difference...although i cannot sleep.

i am like WIRED...and wake up every hour...which i have  been for the last week anyway,

because i am so itchy, everywhere. uck. the pits.

but i am on the mend.

have all kinds of inside work to do, while i have my extra baby...

ready  for a great week.

seth and glenda...

your sweet girl is doing great.

we pray for you, and talk of you missing her lots. :)

hopefully we will return her perfect.

she is getting lots of attention around here already. :)

have a great time being just the two of you!!  xoxo.