Tyler's 4th Birthday Party!

Tyler's 4th birthday party was held at my sister's house this year. Our entire family was together for Father's Day so we decided to combine the two. This worked really well this year as my energy was a bit low in just having Paisley and adjusting to life with 3! Thanks Shrish for allowing us to have it there!! I got a Thomas pinata and filled it with candy! Tyler's cousins had fun taking a swing at it! After that Daddy and Mitch brought out the BIG GIFT!! This gift was actually for both Tyler and Luke for their 2nd and 4th birthdays! I love Jake's face in this picture, he's just as excited as the boys are!!

SURPRISE!!!

and they're off...this picture could make me cry if I would let it!!!

We made some fun cupcakes too....

if you look closely, you can see Tyler is sticking out his tongue,
he did this the entire time we sang to him, it was so funny....he just
didn't know what to do with himself!!

they were enjoyed by all....

especially a certain brown eyed boy!!

Tyler, do you know how many people love you??

a lot.

Tyler's 4th Birthday!

Yes, my son turned 4 more then 2 months ago!! OH dear, where is time going??? His birthday fell on a Sunday this year so we made some yummy chocolate chip cookies to take to his Sunday school class! He felt so proud handing them out to everyone!! After church we went to Grandpa and Grandma's for lunch and then to Wal-Mart to pick out a gift. We were sure he would like a bike, something we were envisioning buying for him. But alas, all he wanted was this: The "Play-Doh Magic Swirl Ice Cream Shoppe." I suppose we should enjoy these days when small priced items bring much happiness! The boys played for a long while with it in the back yard while Jake and I relaxed with Paisley! I will say that since our great birthday purchase, this thing has become my nemesis! It's quite the bugger to keep clean and I am constantly being beckoned to help make ice cream or be a customer. It's really hard to push the play-dog thru the tiny holes. I don't mind this, but it's the clean up that gets to me! I know, I should let them be, but there's nothing like having play doh everywhere! So, this toy has now retired to the bathtub....a nice compromise! Perhaps I'll take it outside again soon and let them have at it! If you're undecided about this purchase for your children, I'd say let it pass!

Before leaving Wal-Mart we got an Auntie Anne's pretzel and an iced cold lemonade and then let him ride the Tom and Jerry ride! Again, small things bringing much joy! The life: sip and ride!
Later in the day we made ice cream cones for everyone and blew out the "4" candle again and again!

My boys needed haircuts in these pictures which I will say I ventured out and did all by myself! I was impressed with how I did with my one tiny comb and dull scissors. I was even invited by my husband to cut HIS hair! That was fun and he was happy!! Whoo-hoo!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY 4 YEAR OLD BUDDY!!
TIME, please slow down....

Tiger Woods!

Hello Friends! My talented nephew Carson enjoys spending his free time making incredible videos....he does it for weddings, birthdays, keepsakes, etc. He is very creative and amazes and humors me with each one. Just recently he entered a contest which was looking for the best video promo for the Tiger Woods 2010 video game. AND he has been selected as a Top 5 finalist ...from the NATION!! Now up to the public to vote for the video they like best! The Winner is awarded $50,000!! Hello!!!!

I was wondering if you guys would be able to help him out? Voting starts TODAY and goes through the 31st! You can vote on: tigerwoods10.com Thanks so much.....here's the video that started it all!

GO CARSON!!!!!!!!!!

Sweetness!

I just had to capture the sweetness of the moment...Paisley was lying in the pack n' play the other day which is set up in our kitchen. The boys were napping and the laundry was drying. Enjoy our sweet Paisley girl, (and please don't mind my baby talk)! You'll see that at one point I think I scared her when I peeked around the camera....dear girl!

"It is not a slight thing
when those so fresh from God love us."
~ Dickens~

bloggers brunch gone bananas!!

So the other day a few of my fellow blog friends, Beth, Aimee and Kara decided to get together for a light brunch. (See Beth's blog for her side of the story!!)We try to stay connected in person as well as through our blogs. We've been together a time or two before and always have a great time together. This time however takes the cake!!

Beth made a great brunch which we enjoyed around her dining room table. Her little boy just kept yelling every time he wanted food, which was all fine and good, but it was freaking out Kara's kiddos every time! My boys were eating outside on their lovely deck so they weren't bothered in the least at his cries for MORE FOOD!! I had to laugh as Beth just kept handing him food and he kept packing it down....although upon lifting him from the high chair I saw most of it had fallen onto his lap, (thus the continual screaming)!!

I looked outside and saw Luke waving two objects around...I squinted my eyes to get a closer look and upon closer inspection I realize it's two SHARP PARING KNIVES! Um, "Luke has knives"!! I rescue my child from danger and Beth is happy to have her missing knives back in her possession. "Sorry about that, the neighbor boys were husking corn and put our knives back on the deck, we couldn't find them and they've been missing for a week." Always happy to be of service!!

We continue our conversations between feeding ourselves and our nine children, (ages 8 weeks- 4 years)....not an easy task.

I went in the other room to feed Paisley and all is well. Suddenly Tyler walks in, "there's a black dog out there." I peer around the corner, (Paisley still nursing) and see a GINORMOUS BLACK DOG headed my way. I shout to other room, "Um, Beth, do you have a dog? There's a big black dog in here." She comes running out to see it just as it enters the living room where most of the children are playing....the children commence to scream and run to the corners....I meanwhile get the grand idea of corralling this beast back outside. So there I am all hunched over, (Paisley STILL nursing) whistling at this stupid thing and backing up at the same time. Thankfully the dog follows me out the door and runs away, (and almost gets run over while racing across the busy street). Stupid, crazy dog! And sorry to the neighbors if you totally got flashed!!

Dora comes to the rescue and settles the kids after being scared. out. of. their. minds!

After all that action Paisley commences to throw up on me and on Beth's floor...sorry about that!

And to end it all Luke accidentally closed the car door on Tyler's finger, as in, it was STUCK in the door....oh, bless his heart, he just cried and cried. Beth's daughter kindly shared one of her "sponge bob" bandaids and soon all was fine. Although I will say he is quite proud of his battle wound!

I was crazy enough to go to the grocery store on the way home, but all went well! Well, except Paisley had a blow out and pooped everywhere! After the grocery shopping was done and the poo cleaned up I felt like I needed some ice cream! We made a stop by Dunkin' Donuts and I had this:

and then a nap.

Of course with all of us blogger buddies and the craziness we didn't get one picture! Oh, the good times roll on!!!!! Thanks Ladies for the humorous day!

Grammie's prayers

I took this picture a few weeks ago as Mama/Grammie, (Jake's Mom) was holding Paisley at church. She is such a prayer warrior and I could just tell she was in prayer over Paisley's life. It was so precious.....so meaningful.....so tangible! What a blessing; a deep, real, eternal blessing having her prayers COVERING us. She is little, but quite the warrior in the heavens!

We begin renovations this weekend on the carriage house, the old roof being torn off and a new roof being put on....out with the old and in with the new! We anticipate great favor as we begin this project. We want Mama to have a place to call HOME!

"In prayer it is better to have a heart without words
than words without a heart."
~John Bunyan~

A package for Paisley

My dear, dear Southern Belle friend Vickie sent Paisley her first package, simply overflowing with lovely goodies! We all had fun opening it! Thank you dear friend....I love our connection through hand-written letters and gifts full of hugs!! Whenever I receive a "Talleyrand" letter I wait and create the perfect moment to open it.....usually involving silence, a cup of coffee and my feet propped up!

Look at this, the GREATEST idea to spell her name with.....she's sooooo creative!

"Look Mama, my new outfit from Miss Vickie"!!
"Let me do a little pose for you!"
"Thanks Mommy's friend, you are nice
and Mommy talks about you to me all the time."
"Maybe you can hold me next month!!
We're still working out the details of a visit to your house!
That would be FUN and SPECIAL!!!"

A visit from the South

We had some precious visitors a few months ago....June 17th I believe it was....and yes, I'm only now getting around to blogging about it....so goes the Summer!

Chris and Megan Vengala from YWAM Charlotte and their four adorable girls stopped by on their way through PA!

What a special time to reconnect over baked oatmeal, scrambled eggs, fresh strawberries and meadow tea. It was a quick visit, but so sweet. It was really neat to be able to introduce them to Paisley and to have them see Tyler and Luke growing like weeds!!

Luke stayed in his little "fort" most of the time, but came out of hiding to eat!

Thanks for making the time to come by!
Our door is always open for you!

"Hold a true friend with both your hands."
~Nigerian Proverb~

a new blog

Dear Friends, my sister just sent me this link from a wedding they attended this past weekend. I just could hardly get enough of this sweet gal and all her lovely pictures. Thought I'd pass the beauty onto you as well! ENJOY, especially all my photo-loving friends!! LydiaJane.com

So much to post about, so little time!! Here are some clues of things to come: hot air balloon chasing, day at the beach, sweet little pink nursery, yellow birthday hummer, barn sale beauty and our trip to Wutch Donderland!! Stay tuned... for now, I'm off to fold laundry and clean and feed my children and make some dinner on this Thursday afternoon and attempt to find joy in the little things!

"what a feeling in my soul,
love burns brighter then sunshine.
let the rain fall, I don't care,
I'm yours and certainly your mine

and it's brighter then sunshine."
~Aqualung~

Barnstormers Game

Believe it or not, we have our very own baseball team here in Lancaster County....they're called the "Barnstormers"!! A few years ago a beautiful, family friendly baseball stadium was built in town, about 15 minutes from here. It's such a FUN place to go to. You can visit their site if you'd like to see more pictures or learn more about them! I'm delighted with the decision to bring more life to downtown Lancaster. We're thankful to live in such a culturally unique place....within a few shorts miles, the rollings hills and the Amish settlements.

This was our first baseball game as a family....actually, this was the first baseball game for ALL of the children....I saved their ticket stubs! It was nothing fancy, but it was their first game! Upon entering the employees proceeded to drive every parent crazy in the head by giving each child a cow bell....yes, a COW BELL. I wanted to kindly decline, but hey, it's all for the love of the game right?? Needless to say, since that day these two cow bells have mysteriously-on-purpose-accidentally disappeared!! Below is Luke with his cow bell....
We ate entirely too much food and consumed more sugar then a human being should in a two hour period...but it sure tasted good going down!

We had great seats and the boys took it all in!Paisley sat in her seat amused by the people around her, the new sights and sounds and smells wore her out and before too long she was sound asleep!
Tyler wanted to take some pictures, this was one that turned out pretty neat! My friend Tina has inspired me to periodically hand over my camera to my 4 year old!
Every Friday night they have fireworks. I can say we were honestly surprised at how GREAT they were. Three times we thought they were over, but they just kept going and going. Way to go Lancaster! Thanks for the great night....we'll be back for sure!!

"If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball
and saving an infant's life,
she will choose to save the infant's life
without even considering if there are men on base."
~Dave Barry~

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~