memories. and the grinch.

wow. sandy sure did know how to pack a punch, eigh?

my family has vacationed in ocean city, new jersey most of my growing up years.

i have fond, fond memories there, and surely that contributes to my love of the beach.

i haven't found many pictures of the devestation of ocean city, new jersey,

but did find this one of the pier...

the caption said, the ocean city pier survived irene...

but not sandy...
eeekkkk.

it's so devestating to think about all those people who have homes there. homes of any sort.

i can boo-hoo about not having my favorite vacation spot this summer...

but what, really... do i have to complain about?

not.a.bloomin' thing.

well...

except halloween. :)

can i vent for just a minute?

i am the grinch of halloween.

officially.

i hate it.

i really usually love to go to school. because i am involved with good news club, and well...
have 3 kids in the district now, lots of kids know me, and teachers too.
that is fun. to have a presence there.

but i kinda hate going there for halloween. and truth be told, try to bribe my kids not to stay for the parties.
eeeekkkkk. i know. horrible.

we really do feel called to our school district, and then listen to me, i am trying to bribe my kids away

from their halloween parties. :)

so. i go. and there are some really cute costumes.
and then there are some really gorey, horrible costumes.
like. what are people thinking? why exactly would you put something like that on your 7 year old again?

and wonder, why they would have nightmares? for real...

(kaycee and i copied some owl costumes off of pinterest.
ours of course looks original...but we liked it and it was from stuff we had around the house.  :) )

so i go. and chit chat with the other moms.
and let me tell you there are a ton.
at octorara, this holiday brings parents out of the woodwork.
there are more parents BY FAR at the halloween party then any other party during the year.
it's bizzare.

so. i smile. and wave. and smile.

and thank the mom who proudly passes out cupcakes with R.I.P tombstones  and a bloody hand

coming up out of the cupcake, around to my 5 year olds kindergarten class.

i graciously thank the other mom who passes out plastic skeleton cups with goodie bags in them.

( i think campbell just got a glimpse of those gorey cupcakes)
(just kiddin')  :)

so kind of her. just how i like to start my day. drinking my milk out of a skeleton cup.
especially when i am 5 years old. :)

i hate that i am so critical...

i know in my head that this may just be a  part of being in the world, and not of the world.
nor me, nor my family is in this alone...i chatted with many christian moms there today...
but sometimes it's a little much.

and then i feel a soft hand on my shoulder, someone telling me it's so good to see me at all these events.
and i turn and smile bigger.
lynn brown.
a christian teacher who happens to know my mom AND my mother-in-law. double yippee.

and then get an e-mail from campbell's teacher, avis benard, wishing us traveling mercies on our get-away.
and don't do any school work, just have fun as a family.
time goes by so fast.

and then. i sigh. and think. it's gonna be okay.
gorey cupcakes and skeleton cups and all.
God has us in his hand. We are right where He wants us to be. and that feels good afterall.
it doesn't have to be about me. all the time. now does it?
thank you for listening to me rant.
i am done.

(and cowgirl campbell...who asked if we could come home at 3 p.m. yeeeee-haaaa)  :)

i was at Bible Study from 9:30 until 11:30 a.m.
then with kaycee from 12:30 until 1:45...
brought kaycee home early and picked up campbell,
to take her back to her party,
and was with her until 3 p.m.
which meant i missed kaden's party because it was at the same time as campbell's. :(

boo.

one of my friends said, i guess that's what we get for having our kids 20 months apart.
i cracked up.
we can't be everywhere, all the time, now can we?

so now it's off to clean and pack for a little va-cay.

catch ya later.

stay cozy.

good morning monday.

good morning rainy, hurricane sandy laden monday.

we stayed in bed until 8 a.m.

well. me and the kids that is.

my energetic husband was out of bed at 5:30 a.m. and off for breakfast with some guys.

something about bad weather that drives him to the road??

kaden and i stayed up to watch the giants clinch the series.

yay. for the giants.

so fun to watch them win and celebrate.

congratulations to ryan vogelsong and his gorgeous family.

what a ride. a wild, wild ride.

for those of you who have been fascinated by the fact that i knew ryan. :)
there is a great article you can find...
here.
you will see that i am not kidding when i say his family. well. mainly his wife. is gorgeous. :)

today. looks like a jammie day. and trying to cook while we still have electricity.
and make some costumes for parties on wednesday.
i am also certainly thankful i have the pleasure to stay home with my 5 children,
and do not have to hustle off to work this morning, in this storm.
i am blessed.

we are so thankful our chickens left last week.

life is much less stressful during a storm with no chickens.

let me tell you that. :)

here's to a look over the last week.

digging in the flower beds. spending lots of time outside in the 70 degree weather.

playground dates.

story time outside.
decorating for fall.

it was glorious. especially comparing it with what's going on outside today.

happy monday to you. how are you going to spend your day?

living life slow.

someone recently told me about this ladies blog.

so i have been checking it out. and loving it.

this post especially resonated with me.

check it out here.

lots of snot and coughing around here.

which means some extra snuggles. cries. and early bedtimes.

looking forward to funner days. :)

and how could i forget about friday?

disclaimer to this post. the pictures stink.
my good camera is broken.
and my 2nd camera the kids were messing with,
and made some kind of change...
so i have to figure it out...the pictures are blurry and wierd.
my sincerest apologies. :)


last friday we were going to celebrate calli's 4th birthday

with a cookie party at 10 a.m.

campbell woke up throwing up.

once.

i was still going to have the party.

then she threw up again.

so, i called the doctor thinking she had strep, and cancelled the party.

at 10:30 a.m. the party was back on.

that's how rockin' and flexible my sister and sister-in-laws are. :)

no strep. allergies. hmmm.

not sure i am biting, but, we could have the party, so that's all that really mattered.

i made little aprons for all my neices that could come, and the one nephew.

lucky silas. :)

out of pillow cases, place mats and old table runners.

(this is the only picture i have of the aprons. bummer. they were each a bit different...)

the kids helped to make sugar cookies, and then they each rolled their own

and decorated them when they were cooled.

we then had calli's requested pizza and chips and pink lemonade for lunch.

it was a delightful couple hours.

she was tickled.
(another reason we called the party back "on"...calli was devestated, as were a few of her cousins. :)  )

happy 4th birthday sweet calli

you are special. a treasure. and greatly loved.

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

on another note...

lots of you are asking about campbell's eye.

it seems to be healing great.

her stitches came out on monday.

another reason we were back at the doctor's friday when she was vomitting...

it just made me nervous, having all that head trauma recently.

and kaden's finger seems to be healing with super power!

he will be on antibiotics for awhile, but this morning it looked great.

thanks for caring about us. :)

texting and ryan vogelsong.

so. if you know me. you know i commuincate best thru e-mailing or texting.

i just do. :)

last night i was serving snack to our small group,

and got a text that read.

"scott wants to know if you are watching the game.

there is a really good pitcher on and he wonders if you know him."

i love it.

it's kind of a hard, wierd, akward thing.

a lot of people know we had a relationship. a long drawn out relationship,

but don't quite know how to handle it now?

do they bring it up? do they ask me about him?

do they tell me they saw him on t.v. or is it to wierd to bring up?
i thought of doing this post before, but struggled myself, what it would look like...
it's time. and totally okay.

this is the guy, ryan vogelsong, i dated for over 6 years thru high school and college.

thru his draft to the giants years ago.

he is doing so well. and i am so proud of him.

all he ever wanted in life was to play MLB, thru doubt and lots of speculation...

he is doing it. and doing it well.

i did have to flip thru some of my yearbooks to see what he wrote.
"p.s. keep your eye out for the big 14 on t.v. someday."
oh. it made me laugh. i am so happy for him.

to be honest, there are times i still pray for him, and his gorgeous wife and family.

i was a poor reflection of Jesus back then.

I hope they can see Jesus more clearly now.

Their life looks like a hard one to live...but it's ryan's dream...and that's worth something, right?

so to answer my questions of earlier.

it's fine to talk about ryan.

i haven't spoken to him for Y.E.A.R.S.

it doesn't seem to bother my man *at all* or at least he says it doesn't. :)

sure, i am glad i am not running into ryan at the coffee shop around the corner every week,

but it's great to see his picture in our high school...

and it is very fun to watch his successes on t.v.

i can still wish him the best of success

despite some choices i wish i would have made differently in the past...
surely. he holds some responsibility  for my love of baseball.

so. without furthor adue.
go giants??
and  boy, would some comp. tickets be nice.
ha.ha.ha.ha.

:)

october baby and a visit to urgent care.

watch it. that's all.

matt spent the afternoon with kaden in the urgent care in downingtown.

kaden told me this morning his whole arm hurt.

and then i noticed his finger.

gross.

it was huge and bulging with fluid. and red.

uck.

amazing the things you can make yourself do for your child.

i gave him some medical attention and soaked his hand in epsom salts.

(i will spare you the details.)

went to church.

he felt sick in the sanctuary.

sent him out.

long story. but i couldn't get it out of my mind.

so we decided to take him.

kaden was in tears. matt wanted to take him. i don't know why?

and i wanted to take him. for the compassionate mommy factor side.

i lost.

matt won.

well not really. i decided to play the submissive wife part.

that's all.

they got home at 5:30 p.m.

they did not have to cut open his finger like the original quick care place thought.

the parkesburg place we tried first.

yay.

he is now on 2 antibiotics.  and i will run a wound changing station. :)

i opened my Jesus Calling this afternoon, and this is what it said.

"be prepared to suffer for Me, in My name.

all suffering has meaning in My kingdom.

pain and problems are opportunities to demonstrate your trust in Me."

i guess that means my kids then too.

got it Lord. i got it.

xoxo.

OH. AND.

we are raising money thru our church for Nickels for Neighbors.

one place the money is going  is the Pequea Valley School District Food Bank.

That is our neighboring district. and church friends made peanut butter balls to raise money.

so. we got inspired to.

but the lazy way. :)

we are selling Amish made banana or pumpkin rolls for $8 each.

money due at delivery on thur. oct. 25th.

leave me a comment or e-mail or call if you want any.

they really are delicious. and freeze great...



happy *4th* calli ann.

my sweet calli turned 4 today.

she makes the funniest faces and has great expression.

she loves. loves. loves karolina. well. all her siblings really.

she can be very tricky. and sneaky.

she never, ever puts her shoes away.

it is not uncommon for me to find 4 different pairs, in 4 different rooms, on any given day.

she loves ms. tracey, her speech teacher.

she loves to "do school"

and play pollies, and doll house, and store, and farm.

she is really starting to love to color and paint too.

and play dough. loves play dough too. and often forgets to put it away.

she tries not to wear her seat belt.

thoroughly enjoys going to the library to pick out books.

is kind of shy in that, she doesn't really talk to strangers. she looks at them and giggles when they ask a question of her.

calli would sleep on the floor every night if i left her.

i love her laugh.

she is sweetness. and i am loving being her mom.

xoxo.

calli was my bigget baby. she weighed 9 lbs. 3 oz. this was particularly a miracle, because calli's cord was wrapped around her neck ~and~  had a knot in it. it is not uncommon for these babies to die in-utero because they cannot get enough food and/or oxygen...

my first four babies came in 5 years. looks like forever ago...they all are so big now. :(  

(kaden-5, kaycee- 3, campbell- 19 months)

this is one of my most favorite pictures. taken by kelly lapp photography, i believe? calli was about a week old.

calli loves. loves. loves. her daddy.  



what do ya mean mom?

will post some more pictures tomorrow.

we are having a little party with some of her cousins, while the rest of her cousins are at school.

mean of me. i know.

cuts down on the chaos. and is something special for the littlest of littles. :)

one thing. after. the next.

do you feel like life is going so fast, that you have to take one day at a time?

because if you do anymore than that, it would be overwhelming.

and you might miss a beat?

those are the kind of weeks i have been having.

and i am ready for a break.

for instance. it started last week.

monday a project was due. then i hosted a brunch on tuesday. which i do love to do.

then Bible study wednesday. which we never got to. because karolina threw up in the car on the way out the driveway.

that same night. we took campbell for 8 stitches above her eye.

then calli's speech on thursday. then a meeting with campbell's teacher.

then another brunch for my  mother in law on saturday. and her friends.

they are sooo sweet. everytime they come.

kaden's baseball game on saturday.

which we didn't go to, because campbell was throwing up this day.

teaching kaden and kaycee's sunday school class sunday. being in calli's class for churchtime.

out for lunch. yay.

no school monday. but stitches out. and hosting small group in the evening.

women's ministry meeting tuesday a.m. matt watched the 2 littlest which was a huge blessing to me.

and we are at today. wednesday. already. piano tuner here at 7 a.m. sharp. and Bible study.
and getting ready to celebrate calli's birthday. she turns 4 tomorrow. now.
how in the world did that happen?

fill in the cracks. with laundry and cleaning.

and yelling. and snuggeling.

Bible story reading. library going.
and pinterest. of course.

we did start the fire. that is so cozy.

i have been trying to get up before 5:55 a.m. every morning to exercise and spend time with Jesus.

it is going pretty good.

but i am beat by about 3 p.m. just about the time when the kids get home, and it starts all over again.

with homework. piano practice. dinner.

yeee-haaa.

i laugh at my mom. she says all the time. she forgets.

she must. because she did all i do. and she had four kids.

what is one more, i ask?  :)

i culminated the evening last night, with watching one of my favorite shows.

i am so glad it's back. in time for the chilly weather.

parenthood.

did you see it?

i cried. and cry some more when i watch this trailer.

it was so good.

i can hear my brother asking if it has any redeeming value.

decide for yourself.

(and in case you didn't see it. kristina. the blonde mom tells her family she has breast cancer...that was her

daughter who came home from college. she couldn't stand being so far away from her mom at such a hard time.)

and i love the family dynamics at the restaurant. it reminds me of my family...
and so i hope and selfishly pray that i never have to make this announcement.
but gives perspective to my days.
we only get to live them once.
and things can change in an instant...can't they?



today.

so i don't need any grand titles to explain this post.

today. that's all. :)

campbell woke up around 6:45 a.m. and was complaining that her eye and head hurt.

so i got her all snuggled up beside me in my bed...ready for the day.

or so i thought.

i snuck out of bed, and e-mailed her teacher a little note as to where campbell would spend the day.

and just like that she popped up out of bed, like a little jack in the box.

"i wanna go to school mommy."

i tried to persuade her to stay home.

with lots of tv time, coke all day long and snuggles in mommy's bed.

she didn't bite.

not even for a second.

then i thought we better discuss what she looked like.

and that maybe kids would be looking and pointing and whispering.

she was fine with it.

"i will just ignore them mom".

okay then. i got the picture. she was going to school.

poor kaden took his cereal outside this morning.

looking at it made him sick.

i went out to get him, and he just cried and cried and cried.

he feels so bad.

he is so tender.

campbell came be-bopping out.

and told him it was an accident. and that the doctors and nurses were so nice.

and that she got lots of prizes for being brave.

is bribing really that bad?

moppy and poppy king brought us ice cream before bed tonight.

did i mention how blessed we are to have family around?

thank you...

this is what the little peanut does all day.

she has a little slit that stays open on her right eye that she can see out of, so she tilts her neck back

so she can see out of that little slit.

it's total craziness.

she is going to have such a sore neck...

kids get so confused at school.

they get kaycee and campbell mixed up because they think they look that much alike.

kids were walking up to kaycee all day telling her they saw a girl who looked just like her,

but she had a big puffy black eye.

so funny.

and everyone was so kind and loving to her in her class.

everyone was so concerned.

awesomeness.

stitches come out monday.

thanks for all your thoughts and prayers and concerns.

we are blessed.

* stitches *

i did mention in my earlier post today that i was glad to be living in this day and age.

glad to be born in 1978.

i am also thankful for technology and doctors and nurses.

we had our first ER visit with one of our children tonight.

campbell was riding scooter around 6 p.m. or so,

and collided with kaden swinging his metal baseball bat.
it was a total accident.
campbell is way to little to ride kaden's scooter.
but she is a free spirit, and she likes to ride it, so she did, and lost control and collision happened.
nothing you can do to stop swinging your bat. mid swing. ya know?

matt and i both got to go,

because my parents graciously dropped everything and came down at a moments notice.

thank you.

we are blessed to live near family.

the nurse was kidding us that it was our date night.

kinda. :)

my girl was a total rock star.

hardly a tear.

she was hysterical when it happened, but was quickly calmed down, and stayed that way.

she must have gotton about 10 shots of novacaine to above her eye.

and not a tear until around shot number 6.

but even then, she deep breathed thru them, while tears gently rolled down her cheeks.

a. total. rockstar.
matt took this as we were patiently waiting for the doctor to come stitch her.
lots of waiting.i think if she would have been screaming we may have gotton faster service.
but that's okay. i will wait. with my brave non screaming 5 year old.

she fell asleep waiting for her cheeseburger in the drive-thru at 10 p.m.

i guess she will eat it for breakfast in the morning. :)

then maybe i can update with a "stitched" together picture.

matt was chatting with the doctor and nurse the whole time.

turns out the nurse lives very near by.

funny. a small world.

that same thing happened when kaycee and i were at dupont...

crazy.

i am tired.

my babies are all resting.

sleep good.

i was setting out to have a great day.

and maybe i did anyway,

but...i was driving out the driveway with karolina and calli this morning

headed to the beth moore bible study i am doing...

and karolina threw up everywhere.

just.  like.  that.

my day was changed.

doing mostly laundry. and that's fine.

but i did some contemplating.

i am so glad that i was born when i was, and not about 100 years ago.

do you wanna know why?

i love.love.love pinterest. my cell phone. my blog. my car. pampers.

my washer and dryer. my toilet. .that's inside and flushes.

my camera. my computer. all the things in my life that make it nice and easy.

i am spoiled. and i know it.

BUT...those women of long ago.

they NEVER had to clean up vomit from the crevices of a car seat.

 just sayin' 

:)

so i changed my girl. and snuggled with her for maybe 10 minutes, and she looked at me,

climbed down off my lap, and was on her way...the rest of the day.

she seems fine.

maybe she just wanted to make her mom clean out the car, her car seat, and get most of the laundry done?

or maybe she thought that was a day off that i needed?

who knows. but i am thankful i was born in 1978.

joy in the unexpected.

i don't know this lady at all.

i do love her stuff.
and know lots of people who have some. :)

and i think she loves Jesus. and has great perspective.

i guess they are making a television show.

exciting.

watch for it.

amoungst all the other crap out there. it should be easy to find.
and shine.