Less than two weeks

In less than two weeks from today my son, will leave his home and begin a new chapter in his life; creating a new family, his own. I can scarce type out the words without the emotion of it all welling up hard and strong from my deepest parts.
Even now my youngest grandson lies beside me on the floor kicking and jabbering and life is being lived all about. Kaleb has already escaped from his crib and skipped his way downstairs and into the kitchen; all the while grinning and proud of his Houdini-like talents. I believe he thinks that the sweeter he looks when he shows up free the less likely he will be returned to his cherrywood bar prison. An older son and his fiancee, struggle with the financial decisions of life and my heart yearns to make it all easier.
Like any life changing event, life walks on. We can keep the pace and continue on the journeys God has laid out for us, or we can allow ourselves to be sidetracked by the changing seasons and squalls of living. But then I ask myself, what is living, clinging only to the soft and easy of life? Most likely that could be done, wandering around in a self-created fog of fantasy, allowing for minimal pain; but not accessing the true joys and deep seated contentments that come from endurance and long suffering. Every moment of breathing must be embraced as a God given gift; cherished, caressed, savored. Knowing that all things work toward the the good of those whose life foundation is built on the Cornerstone Jesus. Truely there is no other who will fill, satisfy, heal, or carry our hearts, none other than the Godchild whose birth we celebrate during this Christmas season.
So while my young man son, becomes a husband, the bridegroom to his young wife, I am blessed, and overjoyed to know that their home will be built on the Foundation. I am blessed he has found a kindred soul who will love him and all his humanness. A sweet woman of God who has chosen to set herself beside him and walk out their life journey together.
With all this joy and happy contentment filling my heart, why then will the tears not stop? Why does my heart tremble as if broken? Nothing could be further from the truth. But it is at these crossroads, milestone moments of life, that all of life reels past our mind's eye and our heart's passion. I see that dark haired infant with the long fingers and toes. I remember my mother, mother-in-law, Skip; I want to hold them each close and feel them close. I want to hold on to all that life has been, and yet not miss a moment of today, all the while anticipating the adventure of tomorrow. How do those without Jesus keep all of living this life in perspective and not implode with it all?
Finally, my babies sleep. The talking book is silent and the singing mobile is still. Thank you Heavenly Father for this day, all its laughter, joys, and disappointments. You are a good God, and I have a good life.
And, it five months I get to do this all over again...

two days after the day after or A Very Kurig Christmas

The holiday and all its festivities has passed; gifts have been given and received. The giving as always far exceeds the getting in my book. Watching Jen jump up and down over her Kurig coffee maker was the best. Drew bought Ben and Jen, and Ned and Hannah a Kurig coffee maker. Jen was going to put one on her wedding registry. Kaleb and his cars/tractor riding toys was hilarious. Seeing him go from one to the other was a blast.
We are watching a movie that Ned and Hannah bought for Drew and I; "The River Wild". Gotta go the good part is coming up

Uncle Ben & Aunt Jen

nU

Baby Cooties

Before I was fully recovered from my tumble, the snot, slobber, drool, and other baby body fluids had did their duty to me and infected me with a horrific head chest virus. Yuck! As I am just beginning to feel better I will try quickly to catch up a bit. Of course that must be done in the next few minutes as I turn in to a zombie at ten...four minutes from now.
Yes, the wee one is sitting up alone; not too sturdy, can totter over easily. But, it is so fun to see him burst with joy at his new trick. He was the sickest and is now the wellest. Praise God. Kaleb who also had infected ears is coming along, along too well I suppose, as he can now crawl out of his crib and gently let himself to the floor. Very quiet and very sneaky he is. We are working very hard to convince him that his acrobatic stunt is not in his best intersests for several reasons. Discipline being one and not busting open his face being another.
I wish I could go on, but it is past ten...Oh and Ned graduated from IUP this past Sunday. Yea Ned!
I am nearing ready for Christmas. And my house is only a few short weeks from being move-in ready. So much excitement. Ned's wedding is coming quickly also. I am a blessed woman. My life is full of the Goodness of God, His Joy, His laughter, His Grace, the blessing of family, a growing expanding family. I can truely scarce contain the heavy contentment of my sinful heart.

The short of it

OK, Wednesday I fell off of Dory, fell off getting on, mounting. Never got all the way in the saddle, the horse went forward, then went forward faster, into the barn and at nice trot too. I fell to the right, landed on my nice brick paver floor. Landed hard. Went to ER. Nothing broken. Very sore for several days. Still today some. First day I did anything much.
DrewAllen is sick, with bronchialitis. Baby asthma maybe. Too early to tell if it will develop into that. Spent the time I wasn't Vicadon snoozing helping my blessed helpers care for our wee patient. Jen took off work Friday to care for both of us, was here Saturday too.
Ned got a deer, and turned 22 on Saturday, getting married in 4 weeks. His IUP graduation is this coming Sunday. House is coming along. Trying to pick out lighting and such in my free time.
Bed time.

Heating Pad Blues

here I lie, resting on a warm blue pad. My bottom and lower back enjoying the calming radiant heat. The past five days have been quite laid back and also very eventful. Two entire parallel universes have been spinning out of control both within the confines of my droll country girl life.

I just spent 20 typing out the whole story of the above mystry drama, only to have it all disappear into cyber dust. oh well. to late now!

The Uncles

OK...so these are not all the uncles. I should be posting a few from our holiday Thanksgiving Day this Saturday past. As I have not loaded them onto my computer I cannot. So we must be satisfied with some older shots of the uncles. I thought it would make a nice follow up to the "Aunties". The one of Kaleb and Ben is from last summer which makes it very outdated in baby growth days. But it is all I have and very very cute. Ned and Kaleb are reaching new heights, and Jer and Kaleb are "horsing around". Clever and witty are very tired tonight. But I wanted to peck something out in honor of the holiday.

We did have a grand day on Saturday. All the people I love best were here. Now if you were not here do not assume that means I love you less...but geeze it was all my immediate family. Less Allen of course; which was very sad for me. So to make up for his absence I ate a double portion of noodles and gravy, his holiday favorite, twice. Sacrifices a good mom will make.
Truly though it felt strange not to have him there for the family dinner. They had make to them all the year before.

My faith is weak in many areas, but my hope is that recovery and restoration will be achieved by God's Grace, in His time and by His Perfect Will. I cannot fathom in my flesh how that will play out; but I am confident that all this current chaos will and is being used for all our good. We will see Jesus more clearly as my weakness becomes is His increase. I have the highest degree of respect and admiration for Bev, Allen's mom. She has been very brave and is carrying a heavy load. Thanks dear friend for setting such a good example of cheerfulness and sacrifice. I am continually amazed how God has used us all in ways we could never have imagined. For that I am grateful, along with the life I live that so very blessed!
Below you will find a little photo of a little guy with very little on...

new carpet

Cheerios and grapes
litter the floor
reminding me of
the maple in the front yard
in October
yellow and crimson scattered on the grass below
Cheerios squish
Grapes smash
between baby toes and grind into
the knit of my socks

Howard cleans up even the grapes
Odd I think

The Aunties

Kaleb and DrewAllen are very blessed to be getting two new aunts. They already have four wonderful uncles. Two of which are soon to marry a couple of very beautiful young women. Pictured above are Auntie Jen and Auntie Hannah. Grammy Sandy is also very blessed to have the girls in the family. First, they are GIRLS. Female type people, a new thing in the Kimmel household; secondly, they are a huge help with two very busy little boys. The pictures above do not do justice in portaying all the incredible joy they bring into our very male oriented family. My two tiny male-childs kept me very busy today. In addition, I had two extra babies this evening for a while. Feeding two babies at once and two toddlers on the shift prior can be quite entertaining. Not to mention the damp spagetti noodles ground into my socks. But all in all the evening was exciting and fun. I would not trade the boys or thier two little friends for anything. Lend them out occasionally, yes, but not trade. Again, God's Gifts are always good.

Small Things

Geeze Ned your feet are bigOf course I can hold my bottle

I AM cute huh?

Howard the Wonder Dog forced to beg for Kibbles

Drew and I went to Lowes this evening and picked out some stuff for the house. Seems there is an never ending list of things we still need. I picked out paint a few weeks back and the painter has been busy primering and adding some color to my walls. If you know me, color has always meant something bold and daring. Not so much this time. Most powerful color we are applying is "Taupe #4." Neutral is a new and daring theme for me. But I think I am going to like it. Tile is down in the main bath and the laundry room-mud room combo. My kitchen cabinets are stacked high in the master bedroom. The kitchen sink was one thing I needed to choose tonight at Lowes. All these seemingly small things are necessary to complete the house. So many times it is so easy for me to deal with, handle, solve the big stuff and ignore the details of life. Details always seem like busy work that someone else should do...for me. Building a house and having babies, two very odd combos have forced me out of my comfort zone, into another universe truly; and now I must micro manage in a way I never would have. God is so good to use such wonderful blessings to bring a new discipline into my life and heart.
Bev and I split the kids tonight, I have baby DrewAllen and she has Kaleb. DrewAllen had his first trip to Lowes, and did very well, better than Jer who became a bit restless and anxious. I know I should have recent pics of the house, maybe tomorrow afternoon I can go up when there are no workers and get some pictures.
Please pray for the babies as they both have had ongoing colds. DA is coughing up a storm tonight, and some other disgusting body fluids that we won't get into. They seem to be passing this virus thing back and forth.
OK, time for sleep. I was going to move the baby into the nursery, but this cough is nasty, I guess I want to make sure he keeps breathing. I know he will, just good to hear the snores between the gagging. Yikes.

Chandelier for the dining room

All day or just a minute or two

The two Lucys

From behind, house on right barn on left

Saturday morning and I should be doing a hundred different things. And yet alas, here I lie in my comfy bed doing almost nothing. Skimming though a few blogs, looking at some accumulated emails. Lucy the Cat is on the bottom of the bed keeping watch. Lucy the dog is at my side, and Howard is on the chair beside my bed. Everyone is to darn comfortable for me to be the one to get up and disturb all this well earned rest. I mean seriously, have you ever thought about all the work house pets have to do? In addition the dogs have a double life as barn dogs, not to be confused with working farm dogs mind you, but still. All that cat chasing, hole digging, horse harassing. My, My; what a life. No wonder they are so whooped!

While up looking over my new home and barn yesterday, I was again but more so, overcome with an incredible awareness of God's kindness and goodness. From the view, to the design of both house and barn; and the proximity of one to the other. No other place on earth will hold such unique charm and peace.

Dave's attention to detail and design is amazing. An amazing craftsman he is. Jay has worked diligently to capture my dream and desire of a barn that will be both functional and charming. With only a few short steps from my back porch can be accessed from the master bedroom, the barn will house some of my dearest friends. No, I am not going all tree hugger on anyone, just that much of my life is invested in these creatures. And now with the grandbabies as a part of my family, the new home will facilitate the interaction of all the aspects and responsibilities of my life with much more ease.

While originally the thought of long term care of these dear wee ones wrapped my heart with fear and yes even resentment; I am now more open to whatever God has in store for us all. I have seen His Grace and Mercy abound where I had no faith. Slowly Kaleb and DrewAllen have become a part of my chaotic life. It is not like chaos is a new development in the Kimmel household. Surprisingly babies are just little people, little people with big needs, and I am not underestimating their drain on my energy and brain matter; but we are slipping into a routine or sorts, that is becoming doable. Mabye that is why I am lounging here resting my mind and spirit, I know that in a few short hourse the chaos returns and again I will be on high alert.

Drew is home, guess lounge time is over. All God's gifts are always Good!

Most Wonderful TIME of the Year

Oh my yes, I L-O-V-E that wonderful day in October when the clocks all slip back one hour, giving moms everywhere that secret extra hour of sleep. Honestly it is like the best mental health day of the year. Christmas, birthdays, those are fun and all, but nothing compares to the unadulterated joy I get from crawling into bed and adjusting the time on my alarm clock to give that huge 60 boost of joy. I am sure I even tricked the babies last night. They thought they got to stay up and extra hour. But oh no, i was KEEPING them up and extra hour so they would sleep till their regular wake up time. I DID NOT want any babies up for the day at 5:30 or 6:00 AM. Yikes, that would have been like nutso. I am a little concerned tonight. DrewAllen, the baby, usually stays up until 9;30 or so, and he is already out like a light, has been for 15 minutes.

I know this is brief, but I am off to sleep now also.

I want to say though that today I was overwhelmed with how good God has been to me lately. I am so blessed by his continued Mercy and Strength in my ability to care for these boys, I should not be able to do this. It is a challenge but God has been faithful. My new home is going to be a true palace. I cannot believe Dave was kind enough to agree to work for us. Truly I cannot say enough at his brilliance and creativity. Again, God worked out what I did not think was going to happen. We were able to afford the new car to haul everyone and all their stuff around in. Not my car of choice, but good thing I am not in charge, cause it has been a blessing. I have been still able to get a day or two of riding in every week. Drew and I just got back from a three/four day get away with no kids and no animals. Wow!!

God is so very Gracious.

Nice Little Butter Dish

Isn't this a sweet dish?
Drew and I are in Gettysburg with his aunt and uncle. Right now we are just hanging around in the hotel watching TV. I have been to two auctions and eaten out twice today. Oh, and also visited a little outlet shopping mall. At the outlets I bought two little coordinating outfits; so very cute. They may become Christmas outfits or at least get the boys pictures taken in them. So I guess you could say I spent a little money. Drew did not come with us to the auction this morning and I only spent $10. Now this evening we went together and the bill went up, way up; but Drew bought several things he wanted. I really wanted this nifty little butter dish to match my new dishes that I bought for my new house. Not match really, just go with. http://cgi.ebay.com/Anchor-Hocking-JADE-ITE-Covered-Butter-Dish_W0QQitemZ370095000545QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116
I don't know how to insert a link but the above address will connect you to an eBay sale that will describe a similar dish. And well, we got a bargain. I had left a silent bid while we left for a while to rest. When we got back to the sale I had not won the butter dish. I did spy it under the chair of another buyer. As the evening progressed I could tell he was a dealer by what and how he bought stuff. After bugging Drew fairly shamelessly he did inquire about buying my coveted item. I was told "not to break it as it was in mint condition and it was worth at least a hundred dollars. I almost chocked. But my sweet husband bought the dish, for half the suggested retail price.
I was hoping to use the dish but now I am a bit nervous. The similar dish on sale on eBay is listed much higher than the $100 suggested.
OK, getting tired. We are relaxing and having a good time.
God in His Mercy has richly blessed this grateful daughter.

Grandmothering is not for wimps

Above are the long anticipated pictures from my visit to my dads. There are more, we may get to them later, but the second baby is almost asleep so I will follow soon.The trick is to fall asleep the minute they do to best optimize their down time. Kaleb just quit thrashing and fussing in the next room, at least I can no longer here the crib banging off the wall or the wails of agony that accompany the, "I am NOT going to sleep" routine. DA is s-l-o-w-l-y drifting off to sleep in the chair beside me. NO, I do not make him sleep in the chair. Remember, his car seat is sitting on the chair beside my bed. I could put the car seat in the other crib in the "nursery" but then the little guys wake each other up. And two up at 3 AM is truly no picnic.

Drew made the comment that if someone had two kids the ages of our guys all the time that they would have to hire two full time helpers. I had to laugh. Sure validates the term full time mom, or the phrase "No, I do not work OUT of the home". He helped me with the baths and bedtime routine tonight. But then this morning before church he said he worked up a sweat putting socks on Kaleb. He never even made it to the shoes. Don't think that I do not appreciate the help he gives. Cause I do...I mean every little bit helps. Right? And the side humor...his struggling with the menial tasks does make the chores lighter.

OOhhh, deep breathing has comenced and I believe snoring is around the corner. Gotta go...to sleep that is. No bodily fluid pun intented, but you may take it that way if you like.

Oh yea, my dad has chickens and we brought eggs home...

snuck in

I tried a different way to sign in. i am to tired to get out my computer. I can do this while lying with my head on my pillow. Even with a laptop you cannot do that. Crazy day today. Zulu came up with a huge gash on her front left leg. Had to have the vet out. She got a pile of stiches and has to be on stall rest for 10 days. She is liking being in the barn but I'm not sure how long she will like not going out.

Erin checked my mare Summer and she is still pregnant. The baby is the size of a football. Heh...That's cool. Christy N was here and rode Janet's horse and Dory this morning. She said Dory is doing well enough to ride. So most of the horse news is good news.

Babies will becoming tomorrow. It is sometimes an adjustment at firs if they have been gone for a while. And since they went home Monday morning it will be strange for a bit. But I do miss them after a while and am looking forward to seeing them tomorrow.
I know its early but I am going to try and sleep soon. I would like to try and read now before I get to whipped.

I'm a rambling girl

I know I should not go on and on like on the last post; I will try and keep this brief. In the past it was my habit to do most blogging right before going to sleep each night. Unfortunately now, sleep comes before all else. I try and stay awake to peck out at least a some feeble attempt at a funny story or two, but alas it is not to be. Even now as I type away Drew has come to bed and is waiting for me to shut of the light. The funny tags for the pictures are just a brain wave or two from my conscious thought. So lets see who can come up with the most witty caption for each pic.

In case anyone did not know...I am fifty now. Yep, one half of one century young.

This has been a busy week for me, an eye doctor appointment yesterday, a vet appointment I had to cancel today, and an appointment at Family Counseling tomorrow morning. I have to reschedule the vet, and an upcoming appointment on Monday in Pittsburgh that I must have forgotten about but cannot fit into my life right now.

Babies come back tomorrow or Saturday until Tuesday or Wednesday. Kaleb had strep throat, and was quite under the weather for a week or more. He seems to be doing better now. I am sure he will be full speed ahead by the time he gets back here. Now I am much too tired to continue. God's grace continues to abound; obviously or I would not have gotten this much out.

Techno Queen

Not really...but a can always dream On my way out to Sunday afternoon dreamland, and I discovered I was already signed in. One baby sleeping. One talking to himself in his crib. No, not Drew! I gave Jer a two hr reprieve from his TV grounding since he is on moniter patrol. I wanted to make go outside but I wanted a nap more. I,ll console myself by letting myself think we will take a walk later. There, That's done. Naptime!

Lost Pup

Please pray for my dear friend Cynthia. As if her recent car accident was not traumatic enough, her family dog of ten years had to be put down this afternoon. He had cancer and was in very poor health. We all thought it was doggie bronchitis or some such anti biotic curable ailment. She is very sad, and now has no companion to sit with her through her recovery.

Babies went to Grandma Bev's tonight. Seems so quiet. Restful though. I am weary worn, but looking forward to a few days to rest and regroup. Can't wait to see my house, Drew says the plasterers are done. Hope to get up tomorrow. Also, due to the increase in the size of my part time family; we are trading in my little Lincoln SUV on another Suburban. Not my choice of a car by any means. But praise God we are in a position where we are able to buy what we need. I swore I would never drive that large a car again. More challenges and changes; all in the Hand of a God who knows so much better than I what it is that I need.