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. :)

my son.

a friend asked me last night if i felt like things were "normal" now?

"yeah"...i said. "they just feel really, really busy.

like i can't ever catch up."

it's not necessarily a "bad" thing.

i am involved in a lot of good "things"...

but Bible study, yesterday, was about sacrificing some things to the Lord...

even really "good" things.

so. now i am thinking on that a bit.

all that to say.

my 8 year old son came down this morning.

and met me at the desk in the office.

i was paying bills, sifting thru the mess, and looked up.

to find him standing there.

with the same shirt on as yesterday.

i said, "honey. go change your shirt.

you can't wear the same shirt 2 days in a row."

he casually said, "it's not 2 days mom.

i've worn this shirt all week."

(may i remind you it's now thursday...)

yep. i am not overwhelmed. :)

(just clearly in denial)

life is normal.

but i did't notice my son has been wearing the same shirt to

school all week long. eeeekkkkk.

in my defense, he did say,

"the kids didn't know either. i wear a different sweatshirt overtop."

ha.ha.ha.ha.

i totally *cracked up*.

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

on another note.

my husband has come full circle.

i sneekily took the picture.

he was not happy about it. :)

i, however, am delighted!

it really does take awhile to paint all their nails.

i was happy for the help. :)

and it shows all of you, he really does have a softer side... 

:)

goin' on a fox hunt.

so the other morning we put in peeps, and our friend kendall, brought 2 of his 3 kids, austin- who goes to preschool with campbell, (and seriously, they are like best friends), and elise...who also seems to like campbell. :) it was such a beautiful day, so they stayed and played until around nap time...i thought they would play outside...but i think they were in the basement most of the day.  :(

oh well.

they were occupied and happy.

some days that's all that matters around here. :)

sometime after i popped out of the shower, and before lunch, my man called and told me to go check out a fox hunt that was just starting a few roads over. hmmmmmm. so, we loaded up and went. it was kind of a sight. me, i mean...with my vehicle that was making a loud sound...(scheduled to get fixed "the next day")...and these 4 kiddos, munching on their apples.

we head on over, and i hop out to see a ton of horses trotting along the woodline, and this man, well, there were people everywhere looking, but there was a man standing close to where i hopped out, so i started asking what was going on. seriously people. i know i am getting much more like my husband. there was a time in my life where i would have ~never~ conversed with a stranger eating his crackers, watching horses, but i did. i learned that the "dogs" are not dogs...they are "hounds" my terminology was completely off, and i might have offended him. ooops.

tried to explain it to the kids a bit...but once the hounds took off, then the horses took off, and jumping in and out of the truck, 3 more times, trying to get a glimpse of excitement on 3 different roads, we headed home...and i was only able to get one picture.

(this was only some of the horses...and the hounds were in front of the man with the red jacket...i forget the technical name for him? oops. but he was the leader of 'the hunt'.)

fun. but maybe i will wait until the kids don't need help getting in and out so much, til i go next time. what a learning experience though, and neat thing to watch...it was hilarious, watching these older folks hop in their cars, and head on over to another road, hop out with their binoculars, listening for the hounds, hopping back in their cars, heading to another road...wild. :)

and my 8 year old son ate 6 packets of oatmeal for breakfast this morning.

is that even allowed?