out of the mouths of babes...

My kids are 6, 9, and 10...and they still throw out some zingers sometimes that make me crack up laughing! I'm gonna document some from recent memory to be stored here on my blog. Since it seems no one is reading this anyway...this is a blog JUST for me...just for my "mommy memory" to be jogged when I look back a year from now! It kinda goes with the whole taking pictures thing...I don't wanna miss the moment OR forget it as time goes by!

***when Bren wanted to go swimming and was trying to convince me he was ok!***
Me: Brennan are you sure you don't feel sick?
Bren: I feel like I could run a thousand miles, Mom!

***when Liam was trying to convince me of the same thing***
Me: Li do you feel sick?
Li: No I don't feel sick at all.
Me: Does your belly hurt?
Li: No. Not at all
Me: Did you tell Cheryl that your belly hurt?
Li: Yes. It did. But only for a little bit. Now it doesn't hurt. I don't feel sick. I just feel like...like...my regular body! :)

Nothing heart-stopping or newsworthy...but they were funny Mommy moments for ME!

I'll post more as they happen!

Have a nice weekend...and cherish what comes "out of the mouths of YOUR babes"!

Had a long weekend away from work and away from the computer, so I’m just catching up now! Here’s a quik look at my weekend…in pictures, no less! (I’m getting’ good at this!!)
Friday night we went to the “Feast of the Flowering Moon” which is our local version of the town fair! It was a lot of fun and we couldn’t walk 10 feet without running into friends and chatting for a bit! I love summer in Ohio!

For those of you not in Ohio, let me explain our unique summer fun setup!! Each town in Ohio has a summer festival of some sort…celebrating something completely random and stupid…
a fruit (like the apple festival in Jackson),
a vegetable (like the Circleville pumpkin show),
a snack (like the Marion Popcorn Festival),
a time period (like South Bloomfield’s Old Time Days),
or even a home appliance/bluegrass musical instrument (like the Logan Washboard Festival)!

As a family, you can literally travel EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND from Memorial Day thru Labor Day and find free entertainment, lots of rides, and tons of fattening food!

Saturday was a looooong, but fun day with ups and downs…had breakfast at the local family restaurant!

Then drove to Cincy for a couple of shows…with a van full of kids ready to hardcore dance!!!

Sound checked and played at Git R Done Fest


Then it was off to the Battle of the Bands for Ichthus…where the fans came out both young and old!

We didn’t win the battle, but Liam and Brennan won door prizes! Liam won a Fender acoustic guitar and Brennan won 2 $118 tickets to Ichthus! GO MCNEALS!!! Woot Woot!!!!

Sunday Night after youth, the teens decided they wanted to have a sleepover at our house…last minute!16 people in one very small house…and we a had a blast!!




Ok, so obviously I hadn’t yet mastered the FOCUS on my stupid camera!! Hehe anyhoo…

So Monday we took the boys fishin’







Keenan caught one…Brennan caught three..and Liam was too busy posing to catch anything!!! Lol

And today…I’m back to work…in my cube…with too much paperwork…bleh… looking forward to Friday!


LOL…not a very pensive, deep-thinking blog today, but aren’t you glad I took pictures!! hehe

precious memories...

This an email I sent to a friend and my cousin last week...

Ok, I have noticed that you are great at documenting life through pictures.
I SUCK at this and I feel like I am missing out on the memories of some fabulous
moments. I have a digital camera. It is never with me! Sometimes I will remember
to buy a disposable if we are at some "life event" but I have probably 20 of
those cameras UNDEVELOPED in my picture tub in the closet! I guess that’s
another fear…what if I take a digital pic and then never take the time to put
them on the computer! What a waste! I have a picture phone and I have
probably 35 pics on it…it’s always full when I go to take another pic, and then
I end up deleting an older pic to make room for the new one…and now that “old”
memory is gone! UGH!!I really wanna work on this...Any ideas!??!! I have no idea where to start!!

yeah...honestly, the whole funeral thing is kinda what got me on this kick. I went to a funeral for a 9yo cancer victim...and a high school classmate...and a 28yo suicide victim...And then today I saw the family picture on your facebook from the month before Phil passed away...and it hit me...I mean what if some tragedy befalls our family and I don't have any pictures for the funeral!! I know that is the stupidest thing...but it got to me! I don't want my kids to only remember me by my bad parenting skills, ya know? I don't want my tombstone to read, "Kimberly...she yelled alot...and forgot to take pictures!" ARGH!!

After receiving some encouragement from said friend and cousin, I have become a shutter-flapping, moment-catching, memory-creating, picture-taking FOOL over the past week! And I am having sooooo much fun! AND I'm actually getting the pics from the camera TO the computer and onto this blog and my facebook! I feel so accomplished and productive! YAY ME!

Mom...

Spent some time with my mom today! We went for a manicure and a pedicure at a local salon and then went to lunch together. I can't remember a time when we have EVER done that before!!! And it was fun! It was different...

We talked about everything under the sun...which is normal for us because I call her like 5 times a day anyway...but today it was different. Usually we talk about what time she's supposed to pick the boys up or when we're supposed to be at her house for dinner...scheduling type stuff! But today it was different... we talked about what she wants to do when Dad retires in September...they wanna buy a camper and travel all over with the grandkids!!! How cool is that! I had no idea! We talked about her favorite food...and her hobbies...and all kinds of stuff that we've never talked about before...it was different!

Mom and I are both very agenda-driven...my honey says I am possessed by a "spirit of agenda" and I need to have it driven out of me sometimes!!! lol But today...it was different! Our nail tech was almost an hour late...and they only had ONE of us on the schedule, so the same girl did both of our pedis and manicures...and it took FOUR hours...i missed a homeschool curriculum sale that I have been anxiously waiting to attend...she didn't get the ironing done...

Normally, we both would have been freaking out because our schedule was all messed up...but today...it was different...instead of flippin' out, we went to a little mexican restaurant and sat out on the patio in the sun and ate enchiladas and talked...and...yeah, you guessed it...

It was different...

Thanks mom! I had fun today!

p.s. Pics tomorrow! Yes, I remembered!!

Who needs Calgon...?

I have just returned from the single best vacation that my husband and I have ever taken...second only to our honeymoon!
The destination wasn't exotic. The funds weren't unlimited. The weather wasn't perfect. But we had a most wonderful time together!

And the best part is...I took pictures!! LOTS and LOTS of pictures! Pictures of him...

pictures of me...

pictures of us...


pictures of the scenery...

We laughed, we cuddled, we almost tipped the golf cart, we marveled at all the drunk people, we relaxed, we ate ice cream, we sat on a dock and took silly pictures of each other for an hour, we didn't schedule anything, we ate at the same restaurant for breakfast two days in a row, we didn't answer the phone (for the most part), we chased a blue heron down the coastline, we went to an art gallery in the middle of a nature preserve and met the artist, we hiked a rock quarry, we visited a place where i vacationed as a child 25 years ago, we held hands, we yard saled, he made me feel like a sexy model, we skipped rocks, aaaahhhhhhhhhh...

If you are married...i encourage you to go on a date with your honey! No kid talk. No money talk. No scheduling issues. Just go to dinner and have fun. Talk about the "remember whens" and smile at each other! Hold hands and walk through the mall. And DON'T make excuses as to why you can't do this. I will come and babysit your children if need be! ALL married couples need to date. Show some love.

The Bible says, "...and it came to pass..." several times. I think that's a small reminder that we are to cherish each moment because it isn't here to stay...it came to pass...

Just ponderin.....

Helllooooooo.....?

Anybody out there?! I'm here! And I'm blogging! Whew! This is exciting!

I'm not really sure how I've come to this point, but I know that blogging is the next logical step on my journey...I am an emotional person...up and down and excited and reflective and sad and happy and frustrated and appreciative and worried and content...and I find that I need a place to release all of this...the good the bad and the ugly!

You can read all "about me" in my profile! And if you want to know more, just ask! I'm an open book! I love to communicate with people whether it's online, texting, phone, or mail!

So what's with the blog name, you may ask!! "...and pondered them in her heart..." is a reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus. In the biblical account of the birth of Jesus, Luke 2:19 says, "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." At this point in the story, Mary has been through ALOT!

• she got engaged
• she got pregnant...BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!!!
• she was visited by an angel
• she dealt with the uncertainty of Joseph's reaction as well as the reaction from her family and friends
• she travelled to visit her aunt who was OLD and pregnant also...and her aunt miraculously KNEW that Mary was pregnant before Mary opened her mouth
• she travelled a loooong way on a DONKEY to a busy city where she knew NOone...with no hotel reservations...only to find that there were no vacancies...and ended up sleeping in a barn...ALL while 9 months pregnant!! (can you say hormonal?!!)
• she went into labor IN THE BARN...and gave birth among the animals
• she had no family around to help with the baby, but raised him in this strange city...and had visitors from all socioeconomic classes who brought valuable gifts to him...

WOW! I think if I had been Mary, I would have been singing a song like...

"They're coming to take me away haha, They're coming to take me
away...hohohehehaha...To the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time and
I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're
coming to take me away HAHA!!!!" (wierd al yankovich)

But that's probably why God didn't choose me to be the earthly mother of the Messiah!! Cuz, you see, Mary didn't flip out! Instead she "treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart!" The good, the bad, and the ugly...she treasured it ALL...knowing that God's divine purpose was being accomplished in and through her! HOW AMAZING is all that?!

Now, I know that God has made me in his image...and he made me unique and special and blah blah blah...but I wanna be like MARY! She wasn't perfect...she was just human. I'm sure she struggeled with breastfeeding, and got frazzled with potty training, and scolded toddler Jesus for making messes, and had good and bad mommy days......and yet she was soooo in tune with God that she didn't BLOW UP! She treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. She asked God what purpose he had in all these things. She remained faithful. She stayed the course. She knewJesus.

I guess that's how I want people to look at me! I've been thinking alot about my epitaph..you know, what they write about me on my tombstone! Wouldn't it be great if it said:

Kimberly...she treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart...she asked God...she remained faithful...she stayed the course...she knew Jesus!!

WOW! That's so much better than

Kimberly...she yelled alot...and forgot to take pictures! (right, Emily & Rachel?)