Homesick

We made another trip home from Pennsylvania. I checked Avery out from school and we piled in Aaron's truck for the 1200 mile trek home.












It was my fifth time to make the cross-country voyage ... Yuckiness. But, so, so worth it.
With Aaron driving, we go straight through-meaning we left town around 1pm and arrived at my parents at 6:45 am. He barely allows bathroom breaks. It's all business.
I feel like the trip felt very weighted. I'm just so heart broken for someone I barely know. Facebook allows community to seem smaller, friend circles to become broader and lives always much closer. Friends and family of one of those lives have been crying out to God for the last week for healing of another mama just like us. One that loves Jesus, one that is loved by many, especially her three darling babes.
After a series of strokes and surgeries she is fighting for her life in Austin, Texas. My heart is just broken for she and her children. I keep a running tab of prayer requests in the notes section of my phone to be consistently praying for those close and sometimes far from me. Sometimes it's someone that I share a roof with and sometimes it includes something broad like the Friends and families of the Sandy Hook tragedy that I'll probably never meet, but am heartsick for nonetheless. She's high, high on my list right now. One of my most desperate petitions.
I couldn't help but feel ill driving home praying for Sarah Henry. I still do. I'm still checking in with those close to her and constantly looking on the Caringbridge site for updates.
I know God is who says He is. I believe His ways are perfect. But I'm so homesick to be in His eternal presence sometimes I can't stand it. I'm tired of a world full of death and despair. Pain and suffering.

I just want Him.
I just want His joy.
I just want His peace.

I like so many others are lifting up this sweet mama. Her children, her babies.
Will you join me in crying out to our Creator? I just can't handle the thought of her not coming out of this healed.
I know He hears us. I know He is able. I know He loves to answer His children. I know He promises a hope and a future.


I'm praying for a miracle ... A big one.

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Kindergarten Craft Day

This morning I had the best time working with the five classrooms that make up the Kindergarten program at Avery's sweet elementary school. I'm not going to lie, I had major anxiety thinking about sending her this week after the tragic events of Friday; Craft day was a great way to be up at the school all morning without looking like an overprotective nut ... Although, I would be totally fine with that.

My group made ornaments with the students that turned out pretty cute! Then I hung out in Avery's class through lunch.

Loved being with all these cute kiddos!!

Holiday Weekend Happenings.

We had a good December weekend at the Boone house. It was very full and allowed many family moments, and after the tragic Newton, CT shootings on Friday, December 14, 2012 it was exactly what my broken mama's heart needed.
Friday night we went out to a park in Waverly, NY where the town put on a festive event: Tinsel and Lights.

There were precious carolers and bell ringers, real reindeer, Santa, lots of yummy treats, horse drawn carriages and more. It was a fun, family night even if our kiddos were falling asleep left and right. 

After we left the festival we dropped off the kids with sitters and went to a game night with a bunch of other couples ... it was a great night.

Saturday morning we made gingerbread houses!

Unsurprisingly, Avery was the most interested in this activity. She took at least two hours on her house ... the boys really just ate the candy.
We laid  around the house, piled in my big bed to watch The Fox and the Hound and even all napped there. When we woke up Aaron took us out to eat for my birthday Monday. We have plans all week before leaving for Arkansas Thursday, so Saturday night worked out best for our family outing.

Avery came up with Hibachi, which turned out to be fun for all (except for Sawyer who always gets a little skeered during the big fire parts).
Afterward Aaron gave me a gym membership ... and I was pumped about it. I'm obviously closing in on 30.

This morning we had a relaxing, rainy Sunday. Then Aaron came up with a last minute idea to take the kids to see Life of Pi during naptime. I agreed. I was seduced by the idea of popcorn for dinner and early bedtimes ... It was a terrible mistake.

Yeahhhh ... I fought Sawyer for about an hour before bringing him home. The others stayed and liked the movie. Sawyer and I came home and took a very long nap. Aaron ordered pizza for dinner, so I still got my wish of not cooking. :)

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful, but in light  of the awful happenings, even nights where nothing at all happens can prove to be special when you have little ones at home.
These yayhoots came in for "one more kiss" about four times, and I didn't even get frustrated. I'm just so thankful for their sweet lives.

I'm almost constantly praying for the victims families right now. I find myself turning over in my sleep and still whispering a cry to God to be near all the broken hearted. It's honestly too much for a mama's heart to stand. I've burst into tears several times for no reason at all but being scared for my life that that kind of evil exists. That lives of those so dear to us can be stolen and gone like a puff of smoke.

As silly as it may seem, I just want to post the sweet babies names who were taken. If you will, pray for their families with me. Intercede on their behalf. I can't even wrap my mind around that kind of pain. The devastation. The expectancy to move on.The new normals. It makes me physically ill.

Charlotte Bacon, 6

Daniel Barden, 7

Rachel Davino, 29

Olivia Engel, 6

Josephine Gay, 7

Ana Marquez-Greene, 6

Dylan Hockley, 6

Dawn Hochsprung, 47

Madeline Hsu, 6

Catherine Hubbard, 6

Chase Kowalski, 7

Jesse Lewis, 6

James Mattioli, 6

Grace McDonnell, 7

Anne Marie Murphy, 52

Emilie Parker, 6

Jack Pinto, 6

Noah Pozner, 6

Caroline Previdi, 6

Jessica Rekos, 6

Avielle Richman, 6

Lauren Rousseau, 30

Mary Sherlach, 56

Victoria Soto, 27

Benjamin Wheeler, 6

Allison Wyatt, 6

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.""
Revelation 21:3-5

Come quickly, Jesus. So quickly.

The Plague

Well, it's happened.
The plague has hit our house. And by plague, I mean gosh-awful. And by gosh-awful, I mean something of a biblical, Old Testament, probably was the next option if Pharaoh didn't let God's people go kinda thing.
Ya followin' me?
I promise on my life, one of the FIRST thoughts I had when AB brought up the possibility of moving to Pennsylvania was, "what happens when we all get sick?" Of course, by that meant what happens when I get sick and am still expected to carry out my motherly/homemaking responsibilities ...

"Hey, babe-Can we fly my mom and Lynda up here now?"

No?

"Dangit."




I do feel like I've now had a motherhood rite-of-passage or something though.
This may be my first wake up in the middle of the night to clean up yuckiness, bathe children affected by said yuckiness and change sheets, further affected by the afore mentioned yuckiness.

Mmm Hmmm.

Lovely.

Life is so glamorous as a mama.

I do have a teensy positive though. They tend to turn into the sweetest little snuggle bugs when they're sick. They're calm and just want to lay around (my favorite pastime). Definitely not worth all the ... Um, yuckiness ... But if I had to find a positive, that'd be it.

Pause- another complete bed change. Yikes.

What was I saying, oh yeah - A positive. I take it back. There are no positives here.

We had lots of fun-Christmasy-December outing and "innings" planned for the weekend, looks like all of that will be put on hold for at least another week.

For now I fear this may be the highlight of the weekend ...




Popsicles and movies in the big bed. Clearly, we're getting to the bottom of the barrel on linen options. Cue the Tinkerbell comforter.

Yay for bone broth, Epsom salt bath's, and pedialyte. And wine to get me through.

Wash your hands people. I'm serious.
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Christmas Time's A-Comin'.

Since Lynda was leaving last Saturday morning and the woman just lives for Christmas time we decided we should have a Christmas Breakfast to introduce our new Elf on the Shelf, Mr. Penn, to the kiddies. Her house is always spectacularly decorated and you feel like you're walking right in to the North Pole. So bringing in Christmas with Lynda was a must!

 It will be our first year to do the Elf on the Shelf tradition and it's already off to a great start! Well, except  for the mornings where one of the kids come in to wake me up and I have to trample over them to race into the kitchen, plopping the elf from one out-of-reach spot to another. But, other than that ...

Friday morning we put away the Fall and Thanksgiving decor and transitioned into Christmas in the Boonies.

Yeah, that's a shower curtain being used for a table cloth. We're classy over here.
I couldn't find any of my table cloths!! It did the job and the kids didn't care ... So whatevs.

We made Red Velvet Pancakes, Bacon, and of course, hot chocolate. The kids thought this was all too fun.

Blurry, but we're all here ... even Mr. Penn himself if you look high and hard enough.

Then we read the Elf on the Shelf book that was pretty darn cute.

Immediately following breakfast we found Dalton standing on his chair making Christmas requests! Silly thing ...

Then I ordered them all downstairs for a Christmas PJ pic ...

You'd think with both Lynda and I taking pictures we would have gotten a great pic ... this is the least blurry with the most smiles.
Shoutout to The Toggery for their precious pj sets! They have TONS of great options for all sizes! You can also purchase your Elf on the Shelf and all the accessories there. One stop shopping for birthdays, school uniforms, babies, Christmas or just every day cuteness. Hands down my fav children's store. Evuh.

As the day went on Lynda, Avery, and I went on a little Black Friday expedition- more accidentally than anything else. But at 3:00 in the afternoon it wasn't bad at all. We started off at Barnes and Noble looking for one of Dalton's Christmas happies, but were soon drawn to the aromas of coffee beans at Starbucks where I snapped this pic of my favorite shopping buddy.

After we were good and revved up from our caffeine splurge we ran by Hobby Lobby to find the crafty things for our oh-so-non-traditional tree.

Yes, this happened.

We didn't bring any Christmas stuff to PA since we expected to spend most of December in Arkansas and honestly I have no idea where we would squeeze a  big tree in this little house. So the felt tree was born (Thanks Pinterest!) ... I don't think Lynda would have been able to return to Arkansas without knowing a Christmas tree would be up in the house. Mission accomplished. The kids really have had a great time decorating and re-decorating.

One Pennsylvania Perk we've been enjoying is the snow fall! We see flurries almost every day, and have  had some accumulation a couple days as well ... so fun!

We love watching from inside ...

and out.

And snuggled up together.

Ready for a month full of celebrating our Savior!

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Thanksgiving 2012

Turkey Day 2012 went off wirhout a hitch and I was definitely pleased and content with our first Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania. Def want to give credit where credit is due ... so if I was receiving a ribbon for participation I would like to start out by thanking Lynda Boone for coming to Pennsylvania for the holiday. She has a bigger servants heart than anyone I know and is the biggest encourager to me. So glad she was here.
Also, lets thank Danny Knox for cooking a fabulous bird. That took quite a weight of my shoulders and I'm thrilled that I didn't have to tackle that. It was Delish!!

Lynda and I cooked most of today. We made chicken and dressing, Paula Dean's sweet potato casserole, yeast rolls, roasted veggies, cranberry-apple salad, and Lynda's famous mini cream pies: chocolate and coconut. Yum. O.

Earlier today we woke up and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, ate a yummy breakfast and drank hot chocolate (at least until it turned quite the mess!).





Then we got ready to go out and take some family pics. We were planning to go to our favorite park but it was closed ... Arg. So we went on QUITE an adventure for picture-taking-land ...
Finally we found some! It was way too close to nap time and they weren't on their best behaviors. Nothing like threatening spankings to make your crying, fit-throwing pre-schoolers to throw on their most angelic faces. Clearly that didn't work. I think we finally got a couple decent shots ... Kinda.















We came home for cooking for some, playing for a couple, and napping for some that shall not be named.



It was a scrumptious feast and I'm thankful for so many loved ones (new and old) to have spent time with today.


Thanksgiving love all the way from Pennsylvania.

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