just what i need

Life has been especially heavy and hard this week.  When my eyes opened this morning I was overwhelmed and not ready to face anything about the day.  But I had to get up and feed kids and do all the normal things morning brings with it.  Part of what I had to do was take Haven to the doctor.  I left the house in a rush, feeling crazy and scattered and unsettled.  I got in the car and these words immediately came out of the speaker...

And I believe You're my portion

I believe You are more then enough for me

Jesus You're all I need

...

Nothing is impossible for You

Nothing is impossible

Nothing is impossible for You

You hold my world in Your hands

And it was just what I needed.  The truth, simple and clear.  About Him and me.  I've held tight to these words all day.  The heavy and the hard have not let-up, but I don't carry the burden alone.  

Thank you, Lord, for giving me ears to hear just what I needed.

lyrics by Michael Jon Guglielmucci: listen here

Loving

Some days love comes easy. It's simple, carefree and fun. Those days are few and far between of late. But those aren't the days that define us anyway. It's the hard ones; when we choose to love and it costs us something, that tell me who we really are...who we will be.

Eight years of love come easy.

Eight years of choosing to love.

I'll always choose us.

Fall fun

Fall fun is in full swing around here. Several weeks ago we went to Wesler's Orchards and picked a full bushel of apples. It was a great place to go with the kids and we enjoyed seeing the barn animals, sampling some apple cider and picking eight different varieties of apples.

Quality control by Mati...

and Haven!

Sometimes you just need to climb up in the tree to get 'em!

Our trip to the orchard was just part of an almost perfect day. We drove on back roads and enjoyed the beautiful area that we live in. We had no agenda other then to get some apples and once that was accomplished we were spontaneous. The road led us to an adorable small town that I was immediately smitten with. I was already enamored, but when I was given directions to turn left at Annie Oakley (a statue) I was a goner. The day got even better when we happened upon an amazing sale at a KitchenAid store and my man purchased this for me (at a better price!). We even stumbled upon a garage sale and I scored 2 old small school desks complete with chairs for the kids for super cheap. It was just a beautiful day and we enjoyed being together with no real plans. That doesn't happen often enough. Then we walked in the door and Haven puked. Our idyllic day came to a screeching halt!

We've enjoyed several hikes and walks, taking in the gorgeous fall leaves and changing season. The kids loved going on a hike and collecting leaves to make leaf rubbings. They were a big hit around here.

A classic- leaf rubbings after a nature walk at The Narrows

This past weekend we went to a local farm that has all sorts of fun fall things to do. They are known for their maze, but mazes sound like a torture activity to me. The kids loved playing in the corn pit, trying out the -tiny- hay maze, petting animals and riding in the cow train. We also went on a great hay ride all around the property and through the woods. It was a perfect evening for it and we had so much fun!

Mastering the hay maze...didn't take much, but they liked it!

Mati got in and posed and then got out! He was not having this!

I love these two rascals so much!

Lots of fall fun around here! What have you been doing to enjoy my favorite of seasons?

1:51am

1:51am

The world as I knew it stopped in that moment, never to return to the course I'd come to know. I was left to find a new path, a new way.

I'm still finding it.

But today I'll get up with a heart full of memories. I'll live the life I hope he'd be proud of. I'll kiss the babies he never got to meet. I'll fix a dinner he would have loved to enjoy at my table. I'll remember the good and push away the hard, just for today.

I'll keep finding my way.

Weekends should be longer

I spent my weekend here. Rough, I know. But someone had to do it. And this is just one small room of the beautiful Thistletop Inn. Saturday night we had the run of the place and strangely, felt completely at home and loved every minute of it. Great food, wonderful people and a beautiful setting all with my favorite guy to celebrate -8-.

Why'd we have to leave?!

Mexi what?

My sister-in-law is a vegetarian, so it's a concept and a word that Haven's familiar with. We eat a lot of meat-less meals around here and last week we happened to eat three of them in a row. On the third night of our veggie-rama, I was teasing Cale about the lack of meat in our diet and that I was going to turn him into a vegetarian yet. Haven was asking if we knew any other people who were vegetarians; then she asked what we were. Laughingly I told her we were flexitarians, to which Cale snickered because he thinks that's a silly, made-up word. Haven paused for a minute and then said, "What are we again? Mexi-tarians?"

Oh, if there were such a thing, we would TOTALLY be it! Any other Mexi-tarians out there?!

Super Mati

Of all that things that fall brings with it, footie pajamas has to be one of my favorites. And this new pair of Mati's about take the cake!

Super Mat-Mat to the rescue! Complete with red cape and boots!

Here he is in action!