surgery.

a little over a year ago, matt was playing kickball with the kids.

at the King family Christmas dinner and tore his meniscus and his ACL.

we were advised not to do surgery, although, i thought long and hard about that...

a little over 2 weeks ago, he was playing rec league volleyball,

and tore his ACL again. boo. :(

ACL reconstruction surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, tuesday, April 9th.

my main prayer concerns at this point, of course, are for wisdom for the surgeon...

an uncomplicated surgery, uncomplicated, quick recovery,

and a happy patient. :)

it will be interesting.

matt is expecting to be able to walk down to the chicken house to "show" me what to do. :)

i think he is underestimating a little bit, how much he is not going to feel good.

but i am not going to tell him that. just yet. :)

[let's remember i was a physical therapist assistant.

and have re-habed a decent amount of ACLs.]

my main goal and intention is for him to stay OUT of the chicken houses for at least 5 days...

the last thing we need is for his knee to get infected....

which basically means i get to take orders for a bit.

and work a little harder.

kids have half days most of the week...along with pssa testing for kaden.
the teachers get those kids sooooo nervous.
so. you might as well pray for kaden too. :)

i tried to go against the current and tell him that it's NOT the biggest test he is ever going to take.
that infact, would be life.
but. he didn't buy it.
mrs. lynch has so much power. i wonder if she knows it? :)
he takes anything his teachers say, anyday, over me....
my hope his that he can relax, and focus, and do his best by making wise choices.
the same prayer i pray for him every test he takes.

so,
back to focus here...
please join me in praying for matt to rest.

rest means no work. :)

which is why it really is imperative the surgery happens now...

to quick squeeze in months of rehab so he is ready for the crazy busy spring and summer

his crop farming entails.

and to stay out of those smelly, dusty, dirty chicken houses. :)

my apologies...now i can't get any photos off my phone. :(

i don't know what's up....there sure will be a load when it happens...

John 1:5

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can

 ~never~ overcome it."  John 1:5

that's all for this Sunday.

reminded that God can do whatever he wants.

and will bring beauty from ashes.

best ever chocolate chip cookies.

so. earlier today i instagrammed some cookies i made today.

a recipe i got off of pinterest.

and they were *the best* ever.

really. good.

you can find the recipe here.

i will upload my pictures later.

isn't it amazing how this gorgeous weather just *brings* people outside.

the playground and sports fields were busy all day long.

we had a great day.

ate waaaayyyy too many cookies. started cleaning out the playhouse. started working in the flower beds.

played catch. went to the playground. had a friend over to play. took lots of pictures....

laughed at karolina...her character is really shining thru, and i LOVE her. she is very funny.

and the normal stuff my day consists of: like laundry, cleaning and cooking.

yee. haa.

how about you...how was your day?

Easter 2013.

(my apologies for this blog post...it was set up correctly on my drafts page.
and as soon as i published it, the pictures and words went all crazy on me...
i tried to fix it about 5x now.
and it won't fix. :) so. i am DONE with it. :)   )

Brrrrr. bring back the warm temperatures please. :)

some pics of Easter...

unfortunately we didn't get a family picture this year.

boo. on us. :(

as i mentioned previously,

we got chicks again on wed. and thur. of last week.

i was hoping to get some easter chick pictures...but it's been so windy around here.

i didn't bother. yet.
no need to get our chicks sick. lol.



(calli was teaching the peep how to fly...it was hilarious to listen to her...)

(calli is proud of her finds...)

(there are always great spots to hide eggs at my parents house).  :)

(gorgeous daffodils from my mother-in-law)

(kaycee is begging to do gymnastics...i keep putting her off.  :(  )

(i made these egg rice krispie treats for campbell's class...

they turned out really cute...)

(nephew ezra with niece piper...she was sharing her candy...)

hoping your Easter was filled with much happiness and reflection.
a friend sent me this to watch.
i loved it.
i have watched it over and over again...

*lance and chelsea*

okay. so we had a most fabulous time in chile.

but while we were there, my cousin, chelsea, got married.

boo. that i wasn't there.

chelsea just sent me this little video.

so, now i am sharing it with you...

my brother matt married them.

so that always makes things a little more special.

you do know that i am a 'hang on the coat tails' kinda girl.

so. i am hangin' here. ;)

i have yet to put a package together and stick in the mail

headed directly to lance and chelsea's new home in GEORGIA...

but soon. i promise. :)

look for it soon chels!!

and thanks for sharing your special day with me. :)

the *belly* bug.

so i am not going to post any pictures of my kids puking.

but.

we finally got the dreaded belly bug that is circulating the community.

we are down. and out.

i am supposed to host Easter on Sunday.

hmmmmm.

not looking so promising.

ugh.

pray for us.

thanks. :)

p.s. at this point kaden and matt and i have not gotton it.

however,

we think we might be sick a couple times a day...so i wouldn't say that any of us,

"have our game on."

Happy Spring. and Easter. if i don't squeeze in an Easter post.

:)



just in time for easter.

you got it.

we got peeps. chicks. chickens. whatever you want to call them.

just in time for easter.

yippee.

can anyone hear the sarcasm in my voice?

:)

the chicken company we usually grow for was bought out by perdue.

so...this was the first time we actually got chicks from "perdue" per say.

it was kind of cool, i must say.

less work for us...

the driver drove the chicks around on pallets on his tow moter

 and we unloaded them from crates from his tow motor.

rather than me driving our truck around, with pallets matt unloads onto the truck.

yes. to that.

for all my city friends. who really care.

for the rest of ya'll. skip this part. :)

we get the rest of house 2 and all of house 1 from our "old" company tomorrow.

surely to be an interesting settlement come 6 weeks,

when we can't help but compare whose chicks did "better"...

not sure why they are mixing this way??

sent out the S.O.S. this morning to my praying friends.

i had a headache for 2 days...

it is finally going away.

hallelujah.

thank you for praying for me.

you can continue if you want. :)

looking like Matt tore his ACL again, playing volleyball on Sunday night.

didn't get an MRI yet, because chickens were coming,

but will be soon... 

guess there is never a "good" time to tear your ACL ~again~, right?

:)

off for a busy day of easter parties, and piano lessons, and little league, and then a girls nite...

i am going out for coffee with a bunch of young guns.

sheesh.

we'll see what the night brings. :)



man...

i am tired.

i am spent.

exhausted physically. mentally. emotionally.

a lot has happened this week.

the 40 day prayer challenge i am a part of is.

well. huge. but a lot. a. lot.

we also had renewal meetings at church.

they were *fabulous. exciting. and fun.

but. it's still a lot "extra" for this mom of 5 to get everyone to church for 4 nights in a row.

and leave your 20 month old crying every night.

*she*, karolina, is apparently not adjusted to me being back.

and not leaving again.

she will always settle, but...

she cries when i leave.

she screams when i put her down for a nap, or bedtime.

only for a couple minutes. but still...

she used to LOVE her bed. WANTED to get in it.

it's a bit frustrating...

yes, i try to love and snuggle and pray her out of it, but it's still...

frustrating

and exhausting

to know what's coming everytime i put her to bed. :(

yesterday was the first day she went downstairs with calli, and played with her.

without me. yay. i thought that was huge.

and now today.

no. go.

shoot. :)

~despite my tired and exhasuted feelings,

i am encouraged to rest in the Lord.

to love my children well. generously. much.

to celebrate life with them. with matt.

i will be still. and know that God is God.

that it is in his nature to reward and bless me and my family.~

seek Jesus' face today...



proverbs 31:17-18: "she girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
she senses that her gain is good; her lamp does not go out at night."

galatians 6:7-9: "do not be deceived, God is not mocked;
for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
for the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption,
but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap
if we do not grow weary."

and a challenge to me...now that i am 35. ha.ha.ha.

titus 2:3-5: "older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior,
not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may
encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible,
pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that
the word of God will not be dishonored."

and did i mention i finally caught up on my chile and mountain laundry?
it feels good.
did i mention that kaden hid 10 days worth of laundry under his bed?
i said, "kaden...why couldn't this laundry  make it to the hamper?"
"i didn't want jackie to have to much laundry, mom, that's all." 

:)

*open* up the heavens.

my spirit is drinking in this song this week.

it's a culmination of things really. continuing to reflect on my trip to chile. the things the Lord stirred in my heart over that time. how do i not forget them? how will chile change my life? how will it change other's lives? and...

i am doing a 40 day prayer challenge with a group of Christ followers...more reflection. hitting my knees, earnestly seeking the Lord for what he has for me and my hubs and my kids, and...

we have renewal meetings at our church this week.
and we are rockin' this song every night.
it's one of my favorites...

(i hope that no one stops in this morning, and sees me rockin' it out. :) ...i mean i LOVE visitors...i love to have a "reason" to sit down and enjoy another cup of coffee with a friend...so please drop by, but ONLY if you promise not to video me rockin' it. :) )

may YOU be ~blessed~ this day...

she *WON*

thanks so much friends.

for all of you who checked out the video of matt's cousins wife, mary lou.

and *voted* her way.

she *WON* the grand prize...

on friday. on the LIVE with kelly and michael show.

(i was so bummed, i did not see it, we were at the mountains. the no t.v. mountains. :)  )

i think it's $100,000.00.

and they won a cruise to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary coming up.

can you even believe it?

i'd say she's famous.

i have never, ever known anyone to win that much money. :)

awesome.

20,000 applicants. 15 finalalists.

then 4 more finalists.

and SHE won.

way to go Kelly for even thinking of nominating your mom.

how special.

we are going to see if we can get her autograph and quick photo at church tomorrow.

ha. she's gonna love the papparatzi now. :)

vote *mary lou*

i haven't watched the kelly and michael show since i was a little girl...

and then it was regis and kelly LIVE...

and my dad watched it when he came in from the barn, and ate breakfast. :)

until now.
when my sweet friend kelly stoltzfus, honored her mom by writing a letter to the show

about her "unstoppable mom".

you can check out the video below...

all these moms are super-fantastic...there seem to be two that really stick out to me
as being "unstoppable", and mary lou, hands down, is one of them. :)

kelly and her husband kyle, were a part of our youth group, when matt and i were leaders.

so of course they hold a special place in our hearts, as anyone we have mentored in that way.

neal, kelly's dad, mary lou's husband, is the brother to my sister-in-law, naomi...

so there are more connections.

kristy, kelly's sister, mary lou's daughter, is our top notch babysitter.

and well. mary lou. who doesn't look up to her?

they also go to our church...
and although their faith was not accentuated in the video...
i love that they trust in Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior...

we love their family for many reasons,

and think it would be an absolute astonishing honor for her to win

"the unstoppable mom challenge".

check it out.

voting starts thursday on the kelly and michael homepage.

http://unstoppablemoms.livekellyandmichael.com/entry/10413244