Lions and Tigers and Bears- Oh my...

Okay, so it's not really that bad, but for poor Elizabeth it seems that way. Elizabeth is not exactly overly excited when it comes to animals, especially if it is fuzzy or moves- so that just about includes everything. As you can tell, she's not too keen on the bunny and she entertained the idea of the pony ride for all of 20 seconds. We were at the College Hill Pumpkin Patch this past weekend and while E likes the idea of animals, it's the reality that isn't so great. Two weeks ago we went to a festival at one of the forests near our house and she did touch a pig- a shocking development. I took the photo to prove it.
I was pretty proud of her for getting on the pony. She was pretty good until it moved and then she was done. I give her points for trying!

As you can see, Hannah is the complete opposite. She wants to be a vet. when she grows up and if she had her way, we'd live in Noah's ark.

Photo catch up

Happy Birthday!
Here are a few pics from celebrating Hannah and Brian and my mom's birthday. I made the cake and Hannah and Zach and Elizabeth helped ice and put the candy on it. They had a lot of fun and it was pretty easy to make (much easier than the famed giraffe cake and the baby carriage cake). I'm learning as I get older. Hannah had a great time as did the rest of the family.

It's been busy at the Kershner household. I think I'm getting used to that fact that from here on out, it's just going to be that- busy. I've been trying to figure out how to balance the 'busyness' of the family with my own needs and when is it okay to put myself first and when is it moving into selfishness. I'm learning that it is a hard balance to strike. I'm not very good at it- I came from a small family, as I'm an only child. I'm trying to figure out what's normal and not normal for siblings. Hopefully, as we continue on this journey, I'll feel more comfortable in my role and the boundaries that I have to keep to stay sane.

Last week was birthday week in our family. Wednesday, Hannah had a birthday; Friday, Brian had a birthday and then on Sunday, my mom had a birthday. We celebrated with Hannah with an ice cream cake and then on Sunday the girls helped me make this so cute cake for all of them. Minus cutting out all the pieces on Sunday morning before church, it was pretty painless. I found these really cool decorating icing things. They look like accordian bottles and you just screw the cap with the icing tip on them and off you go! I find that they don't break the line as easily as icing bags do. They are my new find and friend! Hannah and E were extra 'helpful' on Sunday morning and rolling and cutting out their own cookies. Really, we just made a big mess, but it was a lot of fun.

Hannah also started takin violin lessons last week. She seemed super nervous, but I think it was just the new place and new person and trying to figure out what to expect. She can be more introverted than I realize at times. She may process verbally through things (and my goodness does she do a LOT of it) but she is more of an introvert in every sense of the word. She was more comfortable this week and seemed more confident. Her little (and it is little) violin is SO CUTE!

Zach has started playing flag football and he is a beast on defense! His team is mostly city kids and it was awesome to see them whoop up on the Mason teams last week (not that it is about winning... I know, I know!). They are playing up in Mason again this week. Brian's dad will be in town and so Z is pretty excited. Brian is coaching- I know, no reason to state the obvious (we're WAY too busy to have Brian coaching)- and it is going pretty well. He seems to be enjoying it and we're trying to figure out how to take this experience and turn it into ministry opportunities for the kiddos in College Hill. Brian's dad was a commissioner for a league in Cleveland and Brian has been talking with him about what to do to make it sucessful. We'll see where that leads.

Tuesday was eventful in it's own right as Hannah had a tooth pulled! When she was 2, she fell off a bar stool and knocked one of her teeth loose and there was some damage to the tooth and to the root. I've been praying that it would stay in until she was 5 and less than a week after she turned 5 it finally came out! She was stupendous at the dentist's office and was super excited to get to have a visit from the tooth fairy. She's pretty cute with a missing tooth as well. She has a little lisp which makes it even better.

Abigail is great! She loves the little birds on her swing and when she gets fussy (which honestly, is like once every few days) we pop her in the swing and she gets all happy because she can see the birds. It's pretty cute!

Elizabeth is wonderful as well. She's growing up so much. Next week is potty training week. I'm not sure how ready I am to do it, but I'm definitely ready for the result! We'll see how it goes.

Picture Updates

Hannah and Zach at the Drive-In

E's ruby red slippers that she loves!!!!

Abby's first trip to the zoo! Elizabeth was so excited to show her all the animals
and of course the train ride.

Hannah's first ballet class. Isn't she adorable?

This would be the reason why I didn't have power for a week. Not cool.

I'll post pictures of the tea party in the next few days. They are ADORABLE!!!!

what a week...

I'm not even sure where to begin. It's just been one of those weeks. On Sunday, Hannah celebrated her birthday (which isn't until the 24th) with a tea party for her and a few of her friends. It was so much fun with lots of really yummy food. They dressed up in hats and gloves; made cute crafts and seemed to have a really good time.
Last Sunday, the 14th, also was a strange day in that Hurricane Ike mixed with a cold front and produced unprecedented winds and gusts- some up past 70 miles an hour. On the half hour drive home, I saw trees snapped in half, whole portions of the city without power, trees falling in the road and on the Interstate- it was nuts. I kept telling Hannah and her friend in the van with me that it was just snowing leaves and that we were safe and all would be okay.
Well, as we got to the exit to get home, the interstate was closed because of an accident and as we were waiting my mom, in her car a few ahead of me called to tell me that she and Elizabeth were okay, but that there had been an accident and that a tree had fallen on her sister's home and they weren't sure if she was going to make it. I told her to get over there - quickly and I'd have Brian meet her and get Elizabeth. Well, I ended up being able to get to the meeting spot, by my aunt's home and as I waited I asked the neighbors how bad was it- they said it was pretty bad... and indeed it was. A tree, a HUGE tree that for years Aunt Min hated and always feared would fall on her house, did just that and she was killed instantly.
To top it off, the power in the entire city for the most part was knocked out and we were without power until Saturday morning at 1 am when it finally popped back on.
As we've been trying to deal with the electricity problem, our church allowed us to stay in the house they have for missionaries on furlough to stay at until we had our power back. What a gift that was. I'm not sure what we would have done- found a hotel or something I suppose. The kids didn't have school until Thursday so for 3 days I had to entertain the kiddos, try to deal with the power thing, watch ALL MY BLUEBERRIES SUFFER A HORRIBLE FATE (i'm a bit bitter about having to throw my precious blueberries away) and try to absorb the random tragedy that my family had on its hands- it's been a long week.
In the midst of it all though, I kept seeing God's hand and there are already things I'm understanding that I need to walk away from this week with...
1. Tell your family and friends that you love them as much as you can. Don't assume they know. I wish I had told Aunt Min more often that I loved her.

2. Nobody is perfect and those who seem to drive us insane the most are usually broken and hurting people who need more love to help heal the broken parts. As hard as it can be, I need humility to love those who are hard to love.

3. If you don't have a will and your stuff in order- DO IT NOW!!! WHATEVER THE COST- IT IS WORTH IT!!! Be sure to tell at least two different people (one family, one not) WHERE the will is and WHO YOUR LAWYER IS just in case. Keep all those important papers together and in ONE place.

4. The body of Christ is created to reflect God's love and mercy and grace and abundant provisions. IT IS OKAY TO ASK FOR HELP and EVEN BETTER TO RECEIVE IT!! (still not an easy thing to do- but I'm getting better at it.

I don't think that it was God's will for this to happen. I think it was a result of the fallen state of the world. God didn't create us initially to suffer and have us die- he created us to be a reflection of him and to have life. I believe that in all this, God is good and that there will be good found in it. While I'm not too sure exactly what that is now, I do know that I love God and it has been my faith and trust in His goodness that has allowed me to have grace upon myself and has allowed me to grieve for my aunt without losing my love for Christ.

Let's All Go to the Movies...

Oh, boy. So, yesterday I thought , hmm... I've not had enough chaos, let's see what I can do to change that. Let's take everyone to the drive in movies and load them up with candy, popcorn, sugar, glow sticks and let them stay up until some ungodly hour watching old Disney films. Okay, so I didn't say that, but that is what happened.
There is a drive-in about 25 minutes away that was showing Mary Poppins and Swiss Family Robinson- two of our family's favorite movies. So, we loaded up the van and off we went. My parents followed suit behind us and after getting the back seat flipped for the kids we settled in for the movies.
The kids actually were really well behaved and after Mary Poppins, I was ready to leave (I was tired and COLD- I'd been sure everyone had warm stuff, but myself- typical), but the kids wanted to stay so we decided to just stay and we'd leave when they fell asleep.... 1:30am and AFTER the second movie was over. I took a nap on the floor of the van while my mom slept in her car with Abigail on her lap during the movie.
God blessed us with two sleepy heads (the girls) and then there was Zach, who decided to be up at 6:20AM... he's nuts.
All in all, it was a bit crazy and it wiped both Brian and I out, but it was so much fun and CHEAP (it was retro pricing night with free kid's admission!). We'll do it again, but not until next summer.

school days

Well, it's that time of year again- SCHOOL!!!! Hannah is starting kindergarten this year and had 2 half days last week and will go all week this week. Zach is in the second grade (that just doesn't seem possible!) and absolutely LOVES school. The first day, he was up at 5am and coming into our room every 20 minutes to see what time it was. At 6, he ran downstairs, got breakfast, got his backpack all together, sharpened a pencil (to be ready as soon as he got to school) and was ready to go by 6:10am. The rest of the week went similarly- with the early bird getting ready to go to school!
Elizabeth and Abby and I will be hanging out at the house next week and I think she's looking forward to it. She is so funny. My grandma gave the girls a bunch of her old jewelry and they had so much fun getting dressed up and playing- as you can see E was having a blast.
Abby is doing swell. Last night Brian and I took her to a wedding in Lexington and she did great! She even slept through the whole night. What a difference a whole night of sleep makes. Brian's mom was in town last week and stayed with the other kiddos so we could go. THANKS BARB! JT and his mom were so grateful that we made the trip and we were really glad that we were able to see JT get married. It was a beautiful night!
Zach has started flag football (I'll take pics this week at practice) and Hannah starts dance and gymnastics in the next week, so things outta get busy! I'll post more pics later this week.

One week down....how many more to go?!

As soon as I find the camera, I'll post some pics of the baby and the kids. It's been a good week all things considered! The kids have been great this week. We've been blessed by great people stepping up and taking them on so that I could just sleep and take care of me and Abby. THANK YOU SO MUCH SUSAN, JANET, VAL, KAREN and NIKKI!!! Brian and I would not have survived this week without you!
Speaking of Brian, I'm going to brag on my husband for a sec to say that he has been GREAT this week. Not only did he survive labor and delivery with me and no medication, he's gotten the kids up and fed and where ever they have needed to be be each day. He's come home at lunch to get them, feed them (and me some days) and then took care of all of us after work. I don't think he realizes how much of a gift that has been for me.
Zach and Hannah start school on Tuesday. In the midst of the summer, it seemed to be going on forever and ever and now that the kids are starting back I am finding myself wondering where in the world the summer went! They went to the building where they will be for the next 2 years while their current school building is being torn down and rebuilt. They ran into friends and Zach is all excited to be going back, Hannah is a bit apprehensive and shy, but I think once she gets back into the swing of things, she'll be good to go. At least, that's what I'm telling myself!

She's here!

Saturday night, Abigail Renee joined the Kershner family in true form! We got to the hospital at 7pm and she was born at 10:11pm. Our doctor was stuck in Chicago and the doctor covering didn't get there quite quick enough, so the nurses ran and got the resident who literally walked into the room and delivered one of his first babies. She already has a flare for the dramatic! I'll give her that.

Abby weighed in at 7 lb. 15 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. We are home and doing well. The kids are besides themselves. Zach is great and has been doing a good job of trying to maintain the stability of girls and is holding Abby and being a quiet presence. Hannah is just Hannah. She is very excited and I think is still trying to figure all this out. She is intrigued by absolutely everything that Abby does. Then there is Elizabeth. I wish I would have thought to videotape her reaction to coming home. She was running around saying "I love baby!" and "Baby Abby home!". Then she was literally jumping up and down yelling "I'm so happy! I'm so happy!" It was precious.

It has been an interesting and introspective last few months for all of us. Now that all is said and done, I can saw that I have not only experienced God's people prayers (THANK YOU TO ALL WHO WERE PRAYING AGAINST KIDNEY STONES!!) but I've also experienced how God can truly change calloused hearts (thanks again to all those who have been praying for that!). This isn't the road I wanted to go on, but now that we've been on it for a while, I cannot imagine being on any other.

Still waiting

It's been a quiet week this week. We're in the final countdowns of baby Kershner's arrival and we are trying to hold out until the doc gets back from vacation (today). So, Saturday or is fair game we'll keep you posted!

The kiddos are all doing swell. I think that they are getting the end of the summer blahs and are getting into school mode. We've got Zach's school supplies all ready to go and we'll get Hannah's list in the next few days. Fun... I think I'll let Brian take Hannah shopping for all that stuff. I took her (and my mom) out last night for some new shoes- one hour and 15 trying-ons later, we got back with 5 pairs of shoes (thank you grandma)- one of which is not my favorite and well, to be honest, I never thought that I'd allow my kids to walk out of the house with- they look like 2 disco balls attached to her feet. But, they are her fancy sparkling shoes- so what can you do? Now that I've found the camera (it was playing hide and go seek for a few days) I'll post pics of the shoes and of the rooms.