Simple

Not only did I take a little break from blogging, but I also took a break from my camera.  I'm serious about this "focusing on family time" being priority number one.  I really have just wanted to do nothing but enjoy and accomplish the last couple of weeks.  I'm sure in time I'll feel like I did both of those things, but of course right now when I'm knee deep in it I feel like I've never been more stressed out and nothing has really gotten done.  But I know in time I'll look back on these weeks as a special time in our life and one that was full of little memories.  I know this because we've really just sort of stopped dead in our tracks with everything "normal."  I feel like time is flying by, yet standing still all together.  I have an extreme type A personality, so having Richard home as long as he has been off work and having a break in our usual day to day routine has just about driven me crazy at times,  (watching the movie Tangled this past weekend I realized that so many times I must appear just like her when she finally leaves the tower and is elated and grief stricken at the same time for leaving!!) but I know all too well what a gift 30 days of leave really is, and I'm glad they are not yet over.

Okay, so back to my camera.  After dinner tonight the girls wanted to run through the sprinklers.  Richard turned them on and I got my camera.  Just a simple moment, but a sweet one.  I'm glad to be slowly getting back into the swing of things again.

 

And one day when I get a chance, I'm going to take a class so I'll actually know how to use my camera.
Goodnight to you all!
MK

Milestones

It is April.  And, as promised, I'm back.  I'm going to ease my way back in, as I've got a lot of catching up to do with so many of you, and I still have a couple of weeks left before the next big shift in our life takes place.  Enjoying these last few weeks is still top on my list.

So where to jump back in?  How about with a little birthday celebration!  

Yesterday our oldest daughter turned thirteen.
I can't help but pause and think of the various responses you all might have.  I'm sure there is a response from both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between!  I can remember a couple of years ago people started talking about how she was "almost a teenager."  I don't like the term tween and I almost equally loathe the that of teenager.  I've come to be okay with the term, but to me it just sounds so negative.  Richard and I  we were simply excited yesterday to celebrate her 13th birthday.  For us, she didn't wake up a teenager, but 13, and my prediction is that she is going to thrive at this milestone in her life as much as she has in every other one.  She is our first born, our steadfast daughter.  Strong, kind, gentle and smart.  I'm sure there will be new challenges now that she is "a teenager."  But there are new challenges at every stage, not just this one.  Personally, until yesterday, I wasn't ready for her to be 13.  But by the end of the day, it just seemed to be so fitting.  It is such a joy ... such a blessing to have her in my life. What an honor to be her mother.  What a gift to train her up and to witness her "become."  

It was a super day.  Hanson Ellis requested a day just hanging out with me.  Pretty special!  I sort of felt like it was my birthday:).  We drove to the mall of her choice and talked and laughed and talked and laughed some more.  She got a phone.  I know, I know, so cliche.  But honestly, it was a must.  We don't have a land line and with her staying home alone more with the others and spending more time at dance without us waiting in the lobby and babysitting jobs just around the bend ... well, as I put it when I handed her the phone, "You sort of lucked out." :)

I'll never forget yesterday.  It was simple, yet as full as it could be.  A celebration of life.  A gift of a moment.

Another milestone in our family.
God is oh, so good.
To Him be the glory!

March (a peek)

Okay, so I said I'd be back in April and that is true.  We've been super busy tackling all of our things to do before Richard makes his exit.  It's been stressful on every possible level.  It's even been stressful trying not to be stressed.  :):):)  But life is so good and days like today when I look around and there are shoes and clothes everywhere from little girls frantically stripping down and getting into bathing suits at the speed of light ... and when there is pine straw on my kitchen table from a bug hunt the girls went on today ... and when doors are open and the smell of coffee fills my house, I am just oh so reminded of how blessed and wonderful my life is ... even, wait especially amidst the chaos and stress of preparing for all that currently lies ahead.

In Christ Alone.
MK

Off the Radar

Well, not completely, but mostly.  

Focusing on family-time the next few weeks.  

I'll stop by every now and then, but for the most part I'll return in April. 

Howdy

Have I mentioned that I have a cowgirl?  

Did I also mention that an iphone has entered our life?  Oh, yes, my last post.  Okay, here's the thing, many of you have asked "what camera do you use?" and some have even wondered it a camera is stuck to my forehead.  (ha ha ha ha!)  Let me just say, the iphone just might be my worst addiction ever!  It is suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper easy and oh so much fun!  Richard's phone died.  It just might have been a first generation Blackberry (it was a 2005).  Anyway, it finally died (and I almost JUMPED FOR JOY!!).  Mr. Don't Spend A Penny, had to finally buy a new phone.  HOOAH! (seriously, I was this excited)

So he comes home with an iphone, not the new one, but an iphone none-the-less.  And ever since, Hanson Ellis and I have enjoyed it probably a little too much.  He said he's getting me one Tuesday.  (I promise I really wasn't trying to annoy him ... it just happened.)

I was sick all Thursday night.  Nasty sick, and this is very uncharacteristic of me.  I am so thankful for Hanson Ellis.  She totally manned my post all day with keeping everyone in line and functioning.  I made it through school with Patterson, but after that I laid down and didn't get up until last night when Patterson got sick and then early this morning Richard and I were woken up all too early with Kate next in the line up.  The iphone, as cheesy as it sounds, was such the pick me up.  I had fun trying out a new gadget that captured little sweet memories during our "recover and reboot" stage.  

So here's a quick roundup of the last 24 hours via images from the latest member of our family.

Our first cookie thief .. oh so easily caught with her hand in the cookie jar thanks to the iphone:).

early morning coffee, book and time with Ellie cat while taking care of sick little girls

Ellie checking in on Kate ...

"Good Morning Olivia!" :)

Kate after her saying "I'm done being sick."  

Parker enjoying a little alone time with Patterson down for the count.

Looking for Kate, I find her curled up with her Clarice in her closet.  Sweet and sad at the same time!!

Patterson enjoying a little treat bought by her sister Parker as a "get well surprise."

Big girls (and healthy girls) enjoying the backyard and the new zip-line their Daddy installed yesterday.

So there you have it.  My first weekend with an iphone.  It was a good one and I am so thankful God made smart people who make amazing products that make life so much more fun.

Blessings to you all!

I Might Be The Last

Richard just got an iphone and I'll be a proud owner of one very soon, too!  I just might be the last person alive to have a smart phone.  That's okay.  I think we were the last people to get a microwave and a color t.v. growing up.

Maybe I'm just continuing the trend:).

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.  The weather is amazing here.  High of 75 expected tomorrow.  What???!!!  I'm so ready.