David is 10!

i regret that i only got a few pictures of this day

and the few that i have are grainy and blurry

i forgot to check my camera settings before 

i started shooting :(

but, our big boy turned 10 on saturday

for as long as David has been able to comprehend that

he and i share a birthday, he has always made a point to make sure i get acknowledged

here he's pointing at me while we're singing. sweet.

 

his expressions crack me up!

it was a small gathering since the earles were out of town,

but we made the most of it with the schickler cousins

david, our passionate boy

eager for justice and to do right

soft hearted and compassionate

and increasingly silly (maybe it's the age??)

we don't know what we'd do without you

and i'm 35, which feels very old

my age is hitting me differently this year

usually i can hardly remember how i old i am

i'm having lots of "what do i have to show for my life so far" thoughts

and there's been a little soul searching

but overwhelmingly above my feelings of inadequacies and such

i'm grateful for the very rich life i've been given 

here's to much more!

 

farm house I

after some prodding

i finally took a few minutes to take some pictures of our farmhouse,

(at least the main level)

i'll get to the upstairs and outside another time

this house has MANY windows, which i LOVE

but they also expose (literally) my lack of photography skills

i apologize in advance for the blow outs ;)

 here she is, built in 1929

i would love to learn more of the history of this house, and the surrounding land

my mom and i have tried to figure out what is original

but i'd need to see old records to know for sure

the view when you walk in the front door, staircase is to your right

living room

can't wait to use this fireplace in the coming months

more living room

living room leads to the dining room

i am in love with the built-ins!!

the other side of the dining room has built ins as well

off of the living room is my favorite room

the sun room turned family room

very excited about the wood stove

we spend lots of time in here

it's amazing when the weather is good, and all the windows are open

it's also where our tv lives

the main level has a "master bedroom" but we use it as the playroom/computer room

 the kitchen has more original built ins

and then off of the kitchen is this little mud room turned kids eating/homework/craft room

love that i was able to get all the craft stuff out of the dining room

the entire house is painted white--so contrary to what i've had in the past

but i'm actually really enjoying it, and am in no rush to paint, if i do at all

 i know i've said it, but we feel like this house is such an undeserved gift

i could've searched for years looking for a house that i love as much as i love this one

and then, when we weren't even looking for it

the Lord just dropped it in our laps

we're renting, and although we'd love to buy it someday

we're doing our best to enjoy it while we have it

and trust the Lord to take care of the future details

more to come...

clapping!

emelia learned to clap this week

you just have to say "yay!!" 

to start her compulsively clapping

and she's very pleased with herself

can't get enough of this girl

emelia gets cousin time

since I forgot my camera

jonalee took all of the pictures

of our beach camping trip

score for me ;)

here are a few of emelia with josiah and mary

feeling...

a wee bit sentimental this morning...

missing the early days :)

krispy kreme on the 4th

a little more catch up...

here are a few pics for our annual gathering at k.k. on the 4th of july

we are quite the crew, and i'm wondering when the staff is going to start dreading 

our arrival

fun, fun times

(somehow i didn't get any pics of the girls--aside from emelia)

beach trip #1

this poor neglected blog.

i'll try to catch up a bit, as summertime is nearly over

and the busyness of the school year will be here before i'm ready for it

the day after school ended, we headed to the beach for a week

it was an unusual trip, and didn't feel as vacation-like as it normally would

just days (or really the day) before we left, we found out for sure

that we were going to be moving

we had come across a charming farmhouse that was for rent

and decided to go for it--we put in our application

and paced the floor for about 2 weeks, waiting to hear if it had been accepted

i didn't want to start packing until we knew for sure,

and for sure ended up being the day before we left for vacation--the last day of school

we packed our house like mad that friday,

mark came home a few days early from the beach

and moved us (with movers to help with the furniture, and some friends to help with the boxes)

i came back from the beach to our new place

we LOVE it here

we found a cute little newly married couple to rent our townhouse

really every little detail worked out so perfectly--

we are so grateful, and feel like the Lord just dropped this huge gift in our laps

i will post pictures of our place when i get around to taking them,

but for now, here are a few from that trip

the cousins and nona joined us for an overnight,

which made for more fun