Time to say goodbye....

Serenity

We bought our vacation home when our 4th child, Jack, was 10 months old. The rest of the crew were 3, 5, and 8. We spent Jack's first summer as a toddler chasing him up the hill on the side of the house (a great workout for the glutes, by the way!) and Maeve learned to swim in our "backyard". Killian and Joe discovered a shared love of fishing -- one they still agree on to this day. And, Kyle and I envisioned our young family growing up with leisurely weekend trips during the fall and winter for burning leaves and ice skating, interspersed with longer trips in the Spring and Summer for swimming, fishing, boating, and bonfires. We even hit fast-forward in our dreams and wondered what it would be like to play with our grandbabies "up at the lake".

Since then, we have have 4 more babies of our own (one is heaven-side) and watched so many of these dreams come true. We were blessed with caring neighbors and lazy days. Kyle and I agreed that the time spent away from "screens" together as a family was so very good for all of us, despite the struggle to pack up the car or deal with a teen's complaints about "being bored" (they always ended up having fun when they got there!).

When our family needed healing after we lost Fiona, a friend encouraged us to take time away at the lake. She was so right. It was exactly the right amount of bonding, fresh air, sunlight, and peace we had been yearning for. 

But, families grow larger and older. Your 5 and 8 year olds become responsible working young adults -- because that's what you raised them to be! -- and they can no longer sneak away for a weekend, much less an entire summer. The majority of our family members are promised to school, work, sports, and volunteer work. And that's a GOOD thing! But it means that paying to keep a vacation home which gets extremely little use is not the best use of our resources right now. 

"A time to every purpose under heaven." 

God is so good to let us know that the things which exist within time are only good for a while. And then it is time to move on. I won't lie, tears are streaming down my face as I write this, but sadness is also temporary. I was reminded by a very good friend today, "It is sad the idea of it being gone, but the sadness is really the sadness of life changing. Because even if you kept it, things wouldn't go back to the way they were.". 

Because, yes, we are selling the lake house. And we are sad. But we also know that the last 12 years were precious times. The were times of joy and adventure. Times of serenity and relaxation. Times of learning new things and perfecting old tricks. Times of our family's deep love for each other. 

"A time to keep."

(In your kindness, if you would click the picture above and check out our listing, we would very much appreciate it. Maybe you know someone who would love our lake house the way we do?)

It's Official!

Totally. There is not one shred of sanity left in me (as if the blog's title didn't already clue you in). AND, I have now infected my darling husband with a big ol' case of the crazies. OK, here we go. Deep breath...

We are going to Disney World!!!!*


*I know all you snitches out there thought I was announcing another pregnancy, didn't you?


Yes, that's right! As in:
"MK, you've just birthed an amazing amount of gorgeous children and then they told you the last one shredded your uterus! Where are you going?!?"
"Well, Bob, I'm going to Disney World!"

Well, that's actually pretty close to the truth. A mere 5 hours after our last precious dumpling made her violent way into the world and the reality of the life-threatening danger that another pregnancy would be for me & baby, I looked at my husband and said, "I want to go to Disney. Not today, but before all the older kids leave the nest." He said "OK", because as all you married mommies out there know, once your husband has watched you birth his baby, he feels like maybe he should give in on a few things. Score! Wait, honey, if you're reading this, I don't mean a word of it. It's all about keeping the readers entertained.


"But, wait", you say, "That was almost 17 months ago! What the heck?!" I know! I thought the same thing, too! To be perfectly honest, I thought that, maybe, my sweet ba-boo was using all the "Disney Money" for food gas electric other things and he had no intention of making good on his "OK". What a little fool I can be! My husband's company finally gave out sizable bonuses *those jackholes have been making their employees jump through ridiculous hoops for years* and after cursing out the Federal government for taking almost half paying off some debts and putting away some money, my gorgeous husband set a generous budget for a trip to Disney which we have already exceeded.

Before you get all "well, ain't she fancy and hoity-toity, what with her trips to see gigantic mice?", please understand that we are losers simple folk. We got married so young and poor, that we honeymooned I schmidt you, not! in Appalachia. Yes, we drove 10 hours to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN and STILL did not have enough spending money to go to Dollywood. For the first 9 years of our marriage, any vacation we took happened to be at rented summer homes; we had never flown on an airplane together. Four kids together, but zero airplane rides. Then, my husband's employer was going to send him to a conference in New York City and would pay for my plane ticket, too. Well, hee-haw! We somehow scrounged up the money for airfare for our kids and we spent 4 humid and hot glamorous days in The Big Apple! Then, 5 years later, my husband's new employer was sending him to a conference in Vegas and he said, "Why don't you & the baby come along?" after I threatened certain body parts and told him he'd never go to that den of iniquities without me. So, we flew to Vegas for 4 days with an 8 month old, only to discover that I was extremely ill with strep throat.

So, you see, not only do my husband & I not take fancy-schmancy trips, but our kids have not had these experiences, either. This is a big freaking deal to the entire family! Add that to my penchant for list-making and obsessing over every last thing that could possibly go wrong Spring isn't hurricane season in FL, is it? How bad is the bed bug epidemic there?, and you have a family ripe for the possibility of F.U.N!

Meanwhile, our kids are helping out by catching every last infectious disease known to humankind, and injuring various body parts. 'Cuz, our family motto is, "If someone ain't sick, wait 'til they are before you leave for vacation!"! Oh, and the baby's sprained ankle has recovered just enough for her to unpack all the suitcases I've just packed, while simultaneously filling the same suitcase with granola crumbs.

After Disney, my man and I want to take a "real" honeymoon in Mexico or Jamaica! But, first, I'd have to get a passport. Told you I am a loser!