david's song.

you will have to press pause at the end of my blog, to be able to hear this song.

it got at my heart.

at the end of the day.

i may not have all the laundry folded.

shoot. i may not even have my bed made, and i insist that my children do...

there is always dirt on the floor and more toys to put away.

always.

but how did i love?

how did i love my husband?
how did i love my kids?
how did i love on my friends and family?

how is my heart?
really.

how is yours?

a day in pictures.

i can always figure out when it's been too long since i have posted.

my mom calls, and leaves me a message...

saying she doesn't know what's going on in my life anymore,

because i haven't blogged. 

:)

( she is rolling over and sucking on her fists ~all the time~
cooing and laughing....loving it.) 

(everyone is toting her around these days. hmmmm. :) )

(would love to know what big brother is thinking right now...)

(happy days, wouldn't ya say? :) )

 

(however, kaycee did go to the nurse today for a tummy ache...

i guess it got better, because i never got a call...just in time for our

mountain trip for the weekend...)

and can i say i don't know how in the world single moms do it?
i have been feeling a lot like a single mom these days.
i am very thankful for a husband who has a strong work ethic. i am.
but that doesn't mean that i don't miss him, even when
he is working so hard for us.
i guess i should just shut my mouth and be grateful.
but it's still hard.
he is very, very busy...with chickens (who thankfully aren't here now),
real estate, and a fixer upper house, we purchased
with a business partner
 (to sell again...)
and then fills in his fun things,
like playing hockey and hunting.
makes a girl tired, that's all...

looking forward to a quick trip to the moutains.
to reconnect.
yay.

i haven't ever carved pumpkins before.

i am not a big halloween fan to be honest.

but i helped in kaycee's classroom and the kids had so much fun,

i thought we should come home and try it.

they loved it.

i even roasted the seeds tonight.

and get this.

forgot i put them in the oven.

yep. they totally fried. totally.
did i mention i can't find time to exercise or sleep? :)

and just look what matt brought home for dinner.

we were tickled. :)

his first ever bow kill...

( i LOVE how calli is "petting" the dead deer...poor guy.)

and tell me that i will miss this...

because quite frankly it's driving me banana's for the time being...

why in the world is it so hard to keep the butter in the middle of the

butter dish?


and Good News Club started at the PLC last week.
there were about 60 kids.
this week there were 72.
awesome.
but i need more helpers...
anyone???  :)

randomness. and catch up.

so. if i haven't mentioned before, i will mention it now. this 5 thing is really kickin' in full gear here. i can't seem to catch up on anything. except laundry. and that's a really good day. :) most of the time it has to sit a day or two before it's either a) folded, or b) put away. still trying to enjoy the here and now, because i know it's flying by me faster than ever before.

and no wonder i keep up on the laundry. do you see the cuteness i found in my laundry basket this weekend?

is karolina sleeping thru the night, you ask? no. not really. she really likes to get up and eat at 3 a.m. sometimes 4:30 a.m., but mostly 3 a.m. i have decided it's most of the time okay with me. she's only ever gotton me up once, since she's been bitty...and before i know it she'll be one, and nursing will be gone forever, so...i enjoy. and when i get up in the wee hours to nurse, that means i don't get up for real, when it's still dark outside. yea. that's called sleeping in for me. the 7 or 7:30 a.m. get out of bed. pretty glorious. :)

so, she may not be sleeping thru the night, but she did graduate to a bumbo this weekend. yay karolina. she was watching the eagles...

i am nursing myself back from a horrible case of poison ivy. i guess i thought since i didn't get it ~at all~ this summer, that i wouldn't get it now. so. i pulled some out of my flowerbeds. ooops. and did that in short sleeves and flip flops. ooops. i take calli to the doctors tomorrow for her 3 year check up, and am going to try to pay the doctor off to prescribe me something. we'll see how that goes... it's really bad on both forearms, so everytime i hold karolina, to nurse, or burp, or anything really, it gets irritated all over again. it's very gross.
enough said.

and what happens when your 3 year old doesn't want to take a nap...you ask?

she draws pictures of people on her wall.

like the real wall. not the painted chalkboard side of the wall.

 i actually think they are pretty good.

well. and then she loses the fight.

and can't even stay awake to read the bunny book.

and i will leave you with this.

mainly for my sis, meg, because she makes fun of me for dressing

them "matchy" on sunday mornings. oh well.

i love them.

maybe a family picture soon?

matt was in the shower. and i was still in my jammies.

unwilling to put a smile on because of my poison. :(

i am off to bed. good night.

calli turns 3!

calli turned 3 on tuesday.

she is the fourth child. the third daughter.

she is spunky. full of attitude. she has a lot to say, although we don't

always know what that is. :) she is loving. determined. outgoing.

precious. creative. she loves to color. and paint. and play play dough.

she loves her sisters and brother. will wrestle like a champ.

and will dance too. she loves to sing...although may have inherited her mom's

singing ability...she is a bit sneaky. and tricky.

oh. and she loves. loves. loves to talk on the phone.

our house will be so interesting come, say, 10 years or so? :)

we love you calli ann.

we cannot wait to see what God has in store for your life.

we are thankful we have you.

 



life.

some are wondering where i have been. why the lack of blog posts?

well...i can honestly say, that having 5 children has settled in. not in a bad way. just it is normal now, and i am whizzing around on a daily basis. i haven't hung out laundry on the line, since karolina has been born, nor used a single coupon. hmmmm. don't know that those are good things, but i am not taking the time out to do them, as i used too...i finished my coffee from breakfast time, at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, and realized i never had breakfast at all this morning. one would think i could be skinny, acting this way...always takes me awhile... :)

(i had to laugh...i love this picture of campbell. she is sandwiched...

on her left is a pregnant belly, due in 2 wks, and right, is me...post pregnant belly... ;) )

karolina will be 3 months old next week, i don't know how? i don't know where in the world the time went, but yeah...she is up more and more each day, (which means less time to get things done), but with that comes being more alert, smiling, and cooing and laughing. very fun. still a snuggler which i love.

 school is back in full force and i am finding my evenings are sucked up by homework, dinner, and caring for my family...



(campbell is 3rd in from the left. standing beside her friend molly.

molly's sister, lily, is in kaden's class at school...)



i am feeling very, very busy, just keeping up with the mundane tasks a stay-at-home mom deals with daily...that would be cooking, cleaning and laundry...

and then add in all the other stuff that fills my life, and well, blogging is getting squeezed out. there just isn't enough time. that's all.

these are all pics from campbell's field trip, that i went along on...

thanks rhonda...

campbell standing beside the scare crow they helped to make.

 hope to post some more pictures soon, as calli turns 3 tomorrow.
 did i mention how fast time is moving? :) ~mk.

just another day.

you know they say, that by the 3rd and 4th kids, there are never any pictures.
hmmm. i have tried to be intentional with this...i have tried to keep baby books for my kids, and have nice photo albums for each of them...to document life. and stuff.

i get kind of funny. i know life isn't fair, but i do try to make it as "fair" as i can. :)so because i went on kaden and kaycee's preschool apple orchard field trip, well, it would only be right that i went on campbell's. when i asked her if she wanted me to come, she politely said, "no mom. i would like to be brave. you don't need to come." well. hmmm. i almost cried. :) (you know i am always on my high horse about letting my children go...this might have been a good time for me to practice, what i preach...) so then i told her that i really wanted to come, and that i went along with both kaden and kaycee on their field trips...she thought for a minute, and then decided i could come along. yay. for me. (thanks mom for watching karolina and calli, so i could go...)

so, i was prepared. directions out, wallet out, cell phone out, camera out. coffee ready to go. and off we went. and i left the camera on the table. can you believe it? i got my coffee, and left my camera. ugh. so...hopefully one of my friends will pull through and send me some pics...so i can document ~her~ first field trip, just like i documented her other siblings field trip to the orchard. :)

all that to say. here are some pics i took today...when i got home of course.

 (karolina grace...11 wks old on sat.)

(calli- 3 next wk. eekkk. with karolina...)

so fun.

isn't this so fun?

can you totally see me running down to check this out as i get ready in the morning? i totally will. just me. love.love.love some of them.

what did we do without the internet, anyway? :)



this world.

so...i am being deeply challenged in the beth moore daniel Bible study i am partaking in. i heard this song on the radio yesterday, and started singing, (this in itself is scary...i ~cannot~ carry a tune gracefully, but it didn't much matter, as it was just campbell, karolina, and calli and myself,  :) ) and getting teary...

how we are in the midst of our own Babylon, right here in america, can be overwhelming...and  how am i being Jesus in it, AT ALL? hmmmm. by that i mean, she talks about how over-indulgent we are here in america. we have it all. if you drive A car, then you are considered one of the richest people IN THE WORLD. we have more shoes, sweaters, jeans...more choices of coffee than some people have in food...for pete's sake.

and our discussion in small group last night was interesting too. i did not win. i lost. but still don't agree with the winners take. :) we are studying nehamiah.

it was thrown out there that this man (neighbor of mine, no names, though :) )would take it upon himself to shoot someone who was willing to harm his wife and children. he was insistent that he believes God has given him that duty, and whatever it takes to get that done, is okay.
 not only was that statement surprising to me, from someone who grew up in a very conservative household, but didn't sit well with me either. we talked about praying in that instance, and while he agreed that God could intervene, that he probably would not wait for any intervention...like an answer to his prayers.  then i said, that that person he was shooting, yeah, made a really bad choice, but that that is someone's son...he just disrupted someone else's family system, by the choice he made. well, that didn't matter to him, so much. he wasn't even sure he would feel bad...initially anyway. well, then i threw out there that God allows really bad things to happen in life, and well, sometimes he uses those really bad things to draw others to himself. uses a really horrible "thing" he allowed to happen for something beautiful.  and well. the reality is, that sometimes really bad things happen to really good people, and we will never know or maybe even see, the "reason" God "allowed" it to happen, and that is a very, very painful thing to many who have gone thru tragic events in life. it felt like this guy heard what i, or then, we, were saying, but was so set in his thinking, that that was that. that gets frustrating, you know? and i know it's only my job to keep friends accountable, it's ultimately God's job to get thru to him, but, it was an interesting night. i did finally leave the room when they started going back and forth with the old testament, vs. the new testament, because i was getting frustrated. :)

 all that to say, i don't think i could ever shoot someone...he than brought up our policemen, etc., and i guess it's really gray for me. i am thankful for all of our service people who's job it is to protect me and my family, and i am thankful for them, just rejoicing it's not my job, or my husband's. :)

it does seem to be really trendy? right now to be wearing a gun...down this way anyway. that also scares me a bit. surprise. surprise. i don't know if it's the threat of our government taking "our gun rights" away, or just this God given
"responsibility" to protect their families, well, and anyone else who might need protection, i guess? it makes me uncomfortable, to say the least, which i think is interesting, because aren't they wearing guns to make me feel "more" protected? i don't know. anyway...thanks for listening to me ramble on about my thoughts. :) do love that you listen to me ramble. :)
anyway, rock out to the song. i need to jump in the shower. will post more later. my sister and i and partial kid loads, :), are heading to the philly zoo today.

update: zoo was fun. however, as we were driving home, my 3 year old neice, reese, started crying in the back seat.  when asked what was the matter, she tearfully told us that she didn't want to go to the zoo, she just wanted to go to campbell's house to play. meg and i looked at each other, and chuckled...well...if nothing else, the new mommies got a workout, and had fun being together, and talking a lot...now...i am looking into free aquarium tickets. :) anyone in?

homecoming weekend at octorara. made it to the homecoming parade last night, and will make an appearance this morning sometime, although missing the alumni hockey game this morning. :( oh. to be in shape. someday. just not this day. :) and then will freeze my hiney off at kaden's baseball game, while my husband has an ice hockey game of his own this afternoon. happy weekend.

karolina grace. 9 wks.

we've decided to encourage reading at a young age...

karolina's dedication.

So...for those of you who know me, you know that i was born
and raised in the Mennonite Church, as was my husband, Matt.
Matt and I continue to go to a local Mennonite church...
infact, the same church that Matt grew up at.

Today, was a special day,
in that we dedicated
Karolina Grace
 to the Lord.

I am going to explain what that means, right off the certificate,
because, well...it says it perfectly, for those of you who are
unfamiliar with a dedication service.

and i quote:
"The birth of a child is an expression of God's work in creation.
In a service of consecration, we praise God and bring the child into a relationship with the body of Christ.

Infants presented to God and the church are placed in the care of the congregation. In this consecration service, Christian parents commit themselves to the call to nurture their children into faith.

Pilgram Marpeck, in his Confession of 1532 (wow), states,
"We admonish the parents to cleanse their conscience, as much
as lies in them, with respect to the child, to do whatever is needed to raise the child up to the praise and glory of God, and to commit the child to God."

Infants and children have no need for baptism, since they are safe
in the care of God. When they are able to be accountable
for their own actions, they are able to make the church's faith their own."

Thanks Venus for these pictures.
i love them.

i wish i knew what we were laughing at...

i can get a little teary at these things...
(especially being that this is the 5th time around...)
and it again becomes a reality that
i am totally and completely ~BLESSED~

one of the questions we had to answer was:

"Do you promise to gladly surrender Karolina Grace to the ministry
God has in mind for her, even if it might involve
going to the ends of the earth?"

i answered yes...

but it was a slow yes.
(do you see it says promise, and gladly surrender?)

i think about this nearly everyday in being a mommy.
how am i going to let these kids go?
to be their own person...whatever that may look like.

i am hoping not to be completely wrecked,
when they drive out our driveway for the 1st time...
or when they start dating, or graduate and leave for college
all the way across the country...

it's a small step, to send them off to preschool,
and then a little bigger when they start at our public school...
a lot of other people are affecting them now...
a lot of hours in the day...

i must remember they are not "MINE"...
i am preparing them to leave, and teaching myself to let go...
a little at a time.

our children all wanted to come up and be a part of the service...

and our pastor, Steve, praying over our precious girl...

karolina usually sleeps all morning long.
for real.
but this morning, she was wide awake.
she did great.

We had 3 names going into laboring with Karolina...
however,
the week before i gave birth, they suggested that she wasn't growing,
and recommended i get an ultrasound.
i know. i know.
anyone who saw me, would KNOW that there was no way
i was going to have a teeny baby, but we went ahead with the ultrasound,
just to be sure...

it was during this time of nervousness that i started looking
up the meanings of the names we had...

karolina...means tiny... but strong.
and that...she is.

we love you sweet girl.
you are devine. and precious.
and i am so glad i was chosen to be your mommy...

parenting.

well. i have quickly learned that this ~may~ be my favorite time in life. i think i am in an "easy" stage of life. people laugh at me. i have 5 kids in 8 years...what is easy about that? (and don't get me wrong...i have my fair share of bad days, when i speak louder than i intentioned, when i do my share of complaining and whining,...infact, i had a really bad day on tuesday...just bad, anyway, the list continues on and on...but...) i just mean i love babies and little people.  i cringe at imagining the teenage years. i have lots of seasoned women i admire in life, and some tell me they loved the teenage years. the Lord will work in my heart. i know it.

in sunday school the other week...(i love sunday school by the way...tons of young families in the same stage of life as we are...and have been cherishing my time there...only because i have a nursing baby...i am usually teaching our littles...anyway...) we were talking about parenting...and a friend said that growing up, her parents never really said what they could or couldn't do...but left it up to them. what? i thought. how in the world did you guys turn out so "good"? ha.ha. she went on to explain her parents quoted this verse over and over to them, and that is how they were supposed to make their decisions...by reflecting on this particular verse. genious. complete genious,
i thought.  that is what the Lord intentioned for us to do? right? we don't have to read a million parenting books...although i love them...all we really need to know is in ~his~ precious God-breathed word. i am now working on my memorization of this exact scripture, to not only use with my kids, but myself...totally applicable to myself.

finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble,

whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-

think about such things.    ~philippians 4:8.