//FAMILY HISTORY: THE BEGINNING//

Brian and I met in the fall of 2005 when I began to work for his parents at a Farmer's Market near Philly. It was a bit intimidating to have to talk to and work with the boss's son, but he was always friendly and helpful- maybe a little too friendly sometimes and that was even more intimidating :-) I knew we had a connection though, when his mom stated one day that he just does not talk very much to anyone; he was usually very talkative and funny with me. We had fun working together and slowly started to build a friendship beyond work. A year after we met, we started dating.

After one year and eight months of dating, he proposed marriage and we planned a wedding in 4.5 months. We got married September 28, 2008 on a rainy ((beautiful)) day.

There is something so comforting and secure knowing that you are 100% committed to someone, and them to you. Love is a choice, every day, whether it comes easy or not. It is not always easy to choose love, but it is always right and worth it.


//I found the one whom I love with all my heart.
I held on to him and now I won’t let him go. Song of Solomon 3:4//

//A HOUSE NOT YET A HOME//

I have seen this run down house all of two times, and I am sincerely in love with it already.

It needs oh so much updating, but I can see past all that and this is what I see:

//Early morning breakfast with my husband in the kitchen, looking out over the miles to a beautiful sunrise// little feet padding out of their rooms in the morning to the kitchen for their warm milk// a sweet little bundle of baby girl sleeping in her rock and play in the living room// my husband and I working together to finish the basement and get our Family Room completed as a place to send those little rascals to play// room outside for the kiddos and I to roam// a little hill for them to sled down before having a hot chocolate break// so many precious memories of the best, craziest, hardest, longest, and shortest time of our lives//

I don't look through rose colored glasses; I know the reality of what we are taking on right now. And we are ready for the challenge and are excited to see what God has for our family in this new adventure.

//"Home is the nicest word there is." Laura Ingalls Wilder//

//SIMPLE LIVING//

Paper or plastic? Food from a tin can, or a glass Mason jar? White refined sugar, or local raw honey?
You don't have to browse more than a minute or two on the internet to see some sort of topic involving "healthy choices", "good for the environment", or "crunchy". As a young mom, I feel like there are more choices to make than ever before; of course, I have only lived in this generation so I may be wrong.

With my first baby, I tried baby-wearing; she was not a fan of the uncomfortable sling and disappointed as I was, I didn't pursue it further and just gave up that romantic notion I had of grocery shopping with a cuddly little baby sleeping on me. I then found a used, standard carrier at a yard sale for $3 when I was pregnant with my son, and was so excited to think of grocery shopping with TWO kids, this time with one surely sleeping cozily on my chest. He actually did enjoy the carrier for a little while, probably more than I enjoyed the annoying straps and clicks and weight on my shoulders.

Little did I know, that I was doing it ALL WRONG. I was part of several Facebook groups, and came upon an article that more or less said, "Be kind to the mom who is baby wearing in the wrong way! Smile! Give her a break; at least she is trying!" I am sure the author did not mean to discourage anyone reading, but here was my first realization that I was doing it all wrong. I had the wrong kind of carrier, I didn't have him in the right position, I was surely causing future injury to my sweet little baby by doing it all wrong.

Well, we are expecting our third baby in March, and you'd better believe that I have my fancy pants Ergo carrier all ready to use and maybe I am even excited about grocery shopping with THREE little crazies. Maybe I'm the crazy one.

I choose to live simply rather than go green or natural or crunchy. To me, Simple Living is not about doing everything in the most natural, healthy, organic way possible, all the time. Although baby-wearing is supposed to be natural and simple, sometimes simple means we break out the stroller to go to the mall; sometimes I am even tempted to push around a baby-less stroller just to carry all my belongings.

Most of the time, simple means that I cook from scratch with the food we have in the freezer and whatever groceries I bought that week, because cooking from scratch is usually cheaper, and healthier. But sometimes we let it mean that we grab a pizza and bread sticks for dinner on a Sunday evening so we don't have to spend more time than necessary in the kitchen.

I have boxes and boxes of canned tomato products in my mom's basement right now, but we are still squeezing our ketchup out of a plastic bottle because it is just easier. And I am sure that SOMEDAY I will bake the perfect loaf of bread, and my husband will declare it the best he's ever eaten, but until then, we do what we can with the $1 loaves of bread I stock up on from the discount grocery store.

When "doing it all" gets complicated and stressful, not to mention expensive, it just isn't worth it to me for my sanity, and the sanity of those who live with me.

I do what I can with what I have, and do not think less of anyone who does things differently, and I try not to think less of myself when others do more than I do.

Simple Living is a journey I am on; sometimes dragging my family along with me, sometimes on my own in ways that make sense for us now. Living Simply might mean something completely different for you, but I believe that it should be the goal for anyone who values their time and time with their family. Cutting out unnecessary commitments is incredibly freeing.

Living Simply also goes hand in hand with Taking Delight. Although it took years for me to learn this, sometimes I say no to something just for the simple reason that I know I am better off missing out than to stress myself out giving away my time and energy. I think it is hard to understand that sometimes in the culture we live in; it is hard to say no to social activities, it feels uncomfortable to say no when someone asks for help, and it is certainly not easy saying no to a great opportunity. But I know myself well enough to know when to say no, to let myself take delight in the things to which I say yes.

Life is about to get busier than ever for us. With moving, renovating, adding another little human to our family, I expect there to be more shortcuts taken than usual. We will do what we can to make it through the next year, surviving and delighting, by hopefully keeping things simple.

Whatever helps you to enjoy your day to day more fully, I hope you too can make choices to //LIVE SIMPLY//.

//DELIGHT//

"I delight myself in You Captivated by Your beauty I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You"

These lyrics have moved me in a deep way recently, and gave me the word I want to embody in 2015; "delight". I am so taken with the details of life; the smallest gestures from my husband, the silliest details in my decorating or wardrobe, the goofy expressions of my son, the perfection of my daughter's messy hair.. I take delight in the simple, the mundane, the ordinary. What is life, if we cannot enjoy the routine of every day? I cannot drudge through the boringness of everyday life, waiting for fun and exciting to happen. I've tried, and realized that as a woman, wife, friend, and especially a mother, boring and everyday make up life; the big stuff lasts but a moment, and while I immensely enjoy the big stuff, it is not the majority of my life. If I can be content and fulfilled in my daily life of serving food, wiping noses, brushing through knotty hair, sweeping crumbs after every meal, then I can live a delightful life, despite the fact that it does not always feel glamorous, it certainly might not look enviable, and I come up short far, far too often.

My heart's desire in this year is to truly find delight in my life, and naturally cause others to delight with me. I want to find delight in my husband, and give him greater reason to delight in me; I want to delight in my children, and watch them delight in the details of their lives; and I want to delight in Jesus, and realize more fully, and more effectively, His delight in me.
//Take Delight!//

//WELCOME//

Hello. A quick introduction of myself and family here.
My name is Kayla; Brian and I have been married 6 years and have two kiddos here, Addisyn and Chase, one sweet baby in heaven, and one kicking little girl due in a few months.
We are currently living with my parents, which is ironic given the name of the blog, but it is only temporary due to crazy and exciting changes in our life right now.

//sweetfacephotography//

We were both born and raised in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; we have lived in the same two-story house for just over 6 years. We just sold our dear old home and business in a Farmer's Market with plans to move to the Finger Lakes area in New York state this February. So for a few weeks we are invading my parent's house with our pillows and fuzzy blankets, clothes, a few dearly loved stuffed animals, and random miscellaneous that cannot be stored outside. Setting in the lawn we have two trailers, a storage pod, and a bunny hutch housing Susie McFurlies, whose name has recently been changed to Buttercup, I guess.
The house we are buying in New York needs a few walls knocked out, a urinal removed and replaced with a brand new bathroom, new flooring, paint, time, hard work, and lots and lots of love. I enjoy do-it-yourself projects, especially house renovations, so while it will be a lot of work and decision making, I am looking forward to it and also want to blog about it as we go. That, and staying connected with our friends and family in Lancaster, gave me enough reason to start a blog. I hope to be a faithful blogger, but time will tell.

//Welcome, and feel free to introduce yourself by commenting!//