Remembering last year

How can it be that one year has passed since our lovely outdoor French dinner party? My honey had a birthday and I wanted to celebrate it in high style. What an incredible night, I still think of it quite often. This year won't be quite as grandiose....but a celebration nonetheless. I'm so glad my husband was born!!!!!!

Have a happy day!! I'm busy preparing for our:

annual barn sale.....

FRIDAY, JULY 31ST 4-7

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1ST 7-2.

Stop on by if you can can.....LOTS of goodies!!! My Mom has been cleaning out her COLLECTION OF DISHES, there are hundreds here so far....so, if you're a dish-lover,

you'll NOT want to miss this sale! I might not make as much money this year because I'll be buying all her dishes.....oh, help!! The dish collecting disease has officially been passed on!!

Lots of furniture, toys, clothing and books too!

Maybe we'll see you this weekend.....pass the word along.

the mommy diaries

I've been reading a good book lately....well, maybe "reading" isn't the word, more like scarfing in the words of encouragement between nursing Paisley and teaching brothers how to get along!! "the mommy diaries ~ finding yourself in the daily adventure." The first 10 pages are basically FILLED with blue highlights, so I'll share a few with you that really encouraged/uplifted/challenged me. This being a Mom thing is hard....we need all the help we can get and this book, written by lots of Mommies everywhere, has been just what the Dr. order....or should I say the psychologist?? No, I kid....sort of!

(pictures from beach trip, May 2008 ~ Luke was 2 months old) "Once babies are born, priorities shift. No longer are we our first concern. And this is a good, growing, turning point. Our helpless infants become our raison d'etre, our reason for being. And while we are helping them grow emotionally, physically, and spiritually, it is so easy to neglect the same growth frontiers in our own lives. The result may not be pretty"

can I get a hardy amen here Sistas?? it continues reading: here are three little phrases that I have highlighted on one page: this may give you an idea of my last week!

"My unstable emotional cart tipped."
"I'd lost myself in the parenting equation."
"I took inventory."

"I knew I wanted to grow in my role as a mother. I hadn't realized that if I want to grow in my roles, I first needed to grow in my soul. My inventory revealed seriously bare emotional cupboards. My reading consisted of board books and occasionally a fast-food scripture, but no serious depth reading the nurtured my soul or emotional needs."

"With vigilance I guarded time each morning for my soul. To listen better, I started journaling for emotional, spiritual, and artistic health, taking notes on my soul, on my parenting mess-ups, on my disastrous attempts at wholeness. I practiced noticing sunsets and describing them, and I read everything possible out loud to the children. Journaling taught me to notice my needs, to practice honesty, and to work through emotional radioactivity."

"Who else are we, besides mothers?

What hopes and gifts nestle inside, buried treasure waiting for discovery?

Creating space to listen helps up to develop those gifts and hopes."

"I needed enormous practice in becoming----being the woman I was called to be, before a husband and children took up residence in my heart. It's a lifelong process. Thankfully, death is the only deadline." ~Jane Rubietta~

"I had to realize that being the mother of a baby is time-consuming and that each day showed little tangible proof of the hours of care and devotion to temporary things---that diapers and clothes just get dirty again, hours of crying bouts soothed soon begin again, and meals vanish except for the reminder left by the dirty dishes in need of washing. I needed to let go of my desire to have tangible evidence of my work and instead focus on something different: the importance of raising children who are loved and cared for." ~Elizabeth Selzer~

"God began showing me how I let the rush and panic of grown-up life pull be away from my Life Essentials."

So, I've begun staying up after Paisley-girls 6 am feeding. It's been, in one word, DELICIOUS. I never thought the day would come that I would prefer quiet over sleep, but that is truly the case right now. With Paisley consistently sleeping from 9pm-6am, I am a new woman of sorts. Sleep, (or the lack thereof) does astounding things to a human being! I don't always have the energy to stay awake, but when I do, it is ALWAYS, always worth it! An awakening shower, quiet cup of hot coffee and stillness....my soul is restored!

I pray that today or this week you too could find moments of soul-restoration. They may be few and far between, but they are there, waiting to be unearthed.

"I am a woman above everything else"
~Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis~

Some Summer Shots

Bench among flowers....stop for a visit!

meadow tea leaves, so yummy when mixed with country time lemonade!
watering my "flowers"!

My hard-workin' honey home again from work:
my FAVORITE time of the day....and hopefully his too!!
Check out these boots, now does that say "hard work" or what??

Introducing "Pride and Prejudice" to the girls!
Brianna, Kylie and Samantha had a sleepover here one night!
Paisley was happy to have some "girl time"!! Breakfast with my beautiful nieces the morning after our sleepover!
Pancakes, scrambled eggs and brown sugar bacon! YUM!
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DADDY~
"Dad is my Hero" is what their shirts read.

Aiden's 5th birthday party!! Tyler loves his cousins!!

Luke was off playing by himself.....something he enjoys and is often found doing!
Precious boy!

cool cups that you can scratch your name on! LOVE this!

The boy cousins: Luke-2, Chase-3, Tyler-4 and Aiden-5!!
Buddies for life!

My Mom came over to help me make strawberry jelly.
Bless her heart she basically made it while I tended to the children.
I love my Mom.

Luke takes his guitar everywhere and must always have his "ka-poo" and "peek", (capo and pick) on it! He uses the guitar stand for his microphone...it's sooo cute!

Cousin Lance was here for a visit.
He met Paisley for the first time.
Crazy thing is, I remember holding Lance when he was this age!!

A pop of Paisley!!

I now introduce you to Paisley and her LIPS!!!

"Mom, I made lunch" Tyler calls.....
this was it! "OOOOOH, yummy! Thank you so much!"
thankfully he got distracted before I actually had to EAT it!!

Fresh strawberries, milk and fresher cookies!
and PLEASE TAKE NOTICE TO THE LOVELY NEW COUNTER TOPS
MY AMAZING HUSBAND PUT IN FOR ME!!
One Friday night he calls, "hi honey, I think I'll put new counter tops in for you this weekend."
Um....OKAY!!!!!!!!!

before:

an evening stroll...behind us is where the new park will be located,
the one that Jake's business will be building!

"Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability."
~Sam Keen

MOCHA MADNESS!

i'm on a high.....i drank an iced mocha at mcdonalds this afternoon and i seriously feel like my eyes are going to pop out and my body is going to explode!! i got SO. MUCH. DONE. while the children napped because of it, i hope it doesn't mess with sweet Paisley too much! anyway, just thought i'd let you know that you should probably avoid this drink unless you really need to get a lot done, in which case, go buy one now and clean your house!! Paisley is cracking me up, she sleeps, eats and poops and falls asleep anywhere....she looks like a fat woman that eats too much cake!! i'm looking at her now all propped up on the pillow sacked out after JUST sleeping for 3 hours!
she is sleeping so well and we couldn't be more grateful, it was a tough/long/tiring eight weeks. she is consistently sleeping from 9 pm - 6 am! who-hoo! we all just love this little girl so much it's not even funny. she is quick to laugh, very patient and just the sweetest thing ever. if you're not looking at her she will smile and coo until you do. and guess what, i think she's going to have blue eyes!!!! not quite sure yet, but they aren't brown that's for sure.

i bought this little outfit when i was preggo with Tyler....i loved it so much and kept it all these years, how sweet to finally break it out and put it on my little love. it has the cutest little paris cafe scene on the front....love it!!

hope you have a great weekend. we're looking forward to outdoor movie night with some friends!!! the first of the summer....good times for sure!!!

"Her smile beams like sunshine,
which fills our hearts with love."
~Birgit B.~

Our July 4th

"We're all going to wear red, white and blue today Tyler because it's America's birthday!" "Oh, is that your cousin?"
HA.

HA.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. He cracks me up!

We had a great time together over July 4th. Friday night we all went out to eat at a local "Amish home cooked food" restaurant and did some touristy things...namely playing in a parked buggy at a "ride the buggy" place. It was so funny....just picturing what it would be like if we were an Amish family. I can imagine a lot of good conversation/naps could take place with the constant clipidy-clop of the horse. We had a fun time until we totally got yelled at. We thought it was for people to "play" on....apparently we were wrong and were added to the "those dumb tourists" list! I laughed and felt kinda bad about it....but not really! On Saturday Jake went to the Phillies game with some friends so the kids and I had some time to ourselves....wait, we do that everyday!!! No, seriously, we did have fun. We hung out around home and ate ice cream! Our neighbor came over with her little girl and we had some good times together. Sunday was a great day....we went to church, came home and took long naps and then Jake fixed up our "new" bikes! He's amazing. Takes nothing and makes it into something! We found them alongside the road, his was free and mine was $10. It's SO CUTE....just needs a basket and a bell thingy yet....you know, the kind that sounds like "tra-ring, tra-ring" when you flip it with your thumb. I'm serious, I've been riding this thing around every chance I get....I'll post more pictures of me with it later on. We loaded up all our gear and headed to the local Costco parking lot. I had heard that you could see the local fireworks from a distance so we took the chance. The boys rode their new birthday gift Hummer, (more on that later) around the giant empty parking lot and Jake and I rode our bikes!! Paisley was sleeping peacefully in her seat so I rode to the McDonald's across the street and went thru the drive-thru with my bike. I felt like I was 12 years old again....and loved every minute of it. I waited there for 5 minutes to say my order, but I guess I wasn't heavy enough to alert the lady of my presence. So, I petaled around to the window, got some stares, a few laughs and placed my order! It was GREAT!!! I emptied my new Cath Kidston purse and it worked just great for my food carrier! My dear cousin Shar just returned from visiting family in England and brought home some DELIGHTFUL things from the Cath outlet! LOVE THEM!!!! She's one of my favorite, if not my favorite designer. See more here and here. Thank you Shar! Thank you so much!!

We ate our picnic and watched fireworks in the distance. The boys were a bit distracted and I think they watched the fireworks for .9 seconds....but it was still fun just BEING TOGETHER. Paisley-girl slept the entire time.

All in all we had a great weekend together. I love my family so much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA,
LAND OF THE FREE,
HOME OF THE BRAVE!!

Cherry Hill Orchards

Yesterday we went to a local orchard called Cherry Hill Orchards. It's the largest "pick your own" orchard in our county. Our Pastor and his wife had the idea of getting the church children together for a fun little outing. It was a beautiful day, not too hot! We picked cherries and ate most of them!, had lunch in the middle of the orchard under the cherry trees and then they treated all the kids to an ice cream cone at Pine View Dairy, a local ice cream shop where they make their own ice cream. We saw the cows and took a group picture! I think the group shot is so funny, just a bunch of kids livin' life! I love it!

Although it wasn't the easiest trying to keep the kids somewhat near, it was a delightful day just getting out of the house, doing something different and enjoying my children. Summertime is memory-time! We ended up with a very small amount of cherries, (so few, the guy just gave them to us for free~thanks Cherry guy)! The boys had a fun time and I did too.....and then we all took naps!! Here's Paisley in her cherry pants and shirt, (thanks Jess for letting her borrow them for our cherry pickin' day)! She's getting so big, so fast! She's only 2 months old.....Come on!! Please, slow down!!!!!!!

"A life without love
is like a year without summer."
~Swedish Proverb

P.s. the new song on my playlist is from the Lay's potato chip commercial, i love it!