we may be different but our hearts don't lie

The family has come and gone. All that anticipation for months, and all the fun, and now its so quiet. But we are so glad to have had a great 2 weeks with the Russells and Warrens here. There were a lot of children, a lot of noise, tons of food, and not much sleep. Who knows when we'll get to do that again, so we'll live on memories and pictures. Speaking of which, you'll have to check out the other family blogs to see pics. Evidently we forgot to take any, which I'll blame on my very-pregnant brain. There were some great ones, check out some of the family links at left. Anyway, I have a great family, and I miss them so much. Don't you wish your family was as great as mine? I know, I know. We can't all be so lucky.

every day, its a-gettin' closer

So, six weeks until our new little person shows up. I can't believe the time has flown this quickly. Until this one, pregnancy has always seemed to drag on forever. I feel like we just found out, freaked out, calmed down, and here we are. Of course in true second-born fashion, I've done absolutely nothing to prepare for the home birth. CJ is here though, so that should help balance out my procrastination with some "type-A"ness. I'm also trying to get ready for starting the school year. For the first time, I'll be schooling 2, while soon juggling 3 little saboteurs (Henry alone is a full-time job). We would have started this week, but princess Carrie picked up chicken pox somewhere and so that may delay us by a week. We'll get there eventually, just can't promise Molly will make it to college on this crazy schedule.

Well, its my birthday too, yeah!!!

Ok, finally birthday pictures! Blogger hasn't been working for us, so that's why I'm just now posting these. We still have Henry's party in a couple weeks, but here are the other three kids, looking too grown up for their own good. They all had fun and got cool stuff.

all I wanna do is have some fun

Ok, so I'm finally getting pics up of our weekend in the Poconos. A couple weeks ago we went up there where Dave's sister and bro-in-law, Steph and Rob, have a lake house (known as "The Camp" in their family). We spend most of the weekend on the boat, and taking turns in the three-man tube. This picture was Molly, Henry and Robbie. Molly and Robbie spent the most time in the tube, being the oldest and most fearless cousins. Uncle Rob drives the boat pretty fast, so that tube goes flying. We also just had fun visiting, playing, fishing, and resting. The cousins love to be together and all get along so well. Life is going well for the Slaughters here in VA. My pregnancy is progressing well, though too quickly for my liking. I've begun the 3rd trimester already (!!!) and haven't done much in the way of "preparation" yet. I figure since my sister CJ is coming soon and staying, she'll get my rear in gear, like she always does. The kids are enjoying spending a lot of time outside and at the community pool. Work is busy for Dave as always, and we pray it stays that way! We'll be joining our new church on Sunday, so that's a milestone of "settling in" for us. And we're in the middle of "birthday zone" right now. Warren's was last week (5 already! pics soon), Molly's on Sunday (8), Carrie's the next Sunday (2). I think we'll be broke by then. I'll post more summer news and pics later.

slow down, you're moving too fast

This is the view of the tube from the boat while speeding along. That's Dave and a few kids. The ride is a bit scary and bumpy, but tons of fun. Everyone enjoyed it....well, some were forced to enjoy it, but that's all part of childhood, right?

its always more fun to share with everyone

Here's Dave supervising all the cousins. Anyone else scared?? L to R: Victoria, Carrie, Robbie, Molly, Olivia, Henry, Warren.

balancing the whole thing

Dave helping Carrie roast her dog, with stylish Olivia joining in.

life, I love you, all is groovy

Here are the boys right after our hot dog roast. We let the kids roast their own, which was probably not the best choice for that age group. But they enjoyed eating them anyway.

I'll come running

and you know wherever I am

You just call out my name

Wow! So much fun was had this past weekend in the Windy City with my three best friends. We stayed up too late, ate too much food, walked way too much (for my pregnant body, at least) and just enjoyed being together again. It was such a treat, and we're gonna have to do that more often. Its hard to believe its been 10 years since we were all at Moody together, but time passed hasn't changed our wonderful friendship, and I am so grateful to these three for being such an important part of my life all these years. From left to right: me, Jackie (due with her 5th as well!), Amy, Janelle. Thanks Posse, for all the love.

to see you again

there's no combination of words I can put on the back of a postcard

In two days I leave for Chicago, for a much belated, much anticipated weekend with my three best girlfriends from college. We were inseparable in school, and unlike many have managed to stay in touch, see each other now and then and FINALLY plan a reunion back in our old stomping grounds. I am so excited! I love these girls so much and miss them all dearly. I'm looking forward to lots of fun, eating lots of food at our favorite Chicago restaurants, and not even having to cut anyone's food in little pieces :-) I'll post pics when I get back.

I'll find you in the morning sun

Here are the Slaughters on Easter morning. It was beautiful, and we had a lovely Resurrection service at church. CJ went with us, so that made it even more special. Beth accompanied the Weltys, and enjoyed the afternoon with their extended family. It was great to have the girls here and we miss them already.

We just returned from our weekend in PA, visiting the Finks. We had so much fun, and the kids loved playing with their cousins. Its nice to be closer to them now and we hope to see much more of them soon.

8, 8, (I forgot what 8 was for)

It seems I forget a lot these days, including updating the blog. Pregnancy DOES shrink the brain, its been scientifically proven, so don't blame me for acting like an idiot half of the time. Anyway, here I am (or half of me). Things are good here at the Slaughterhouse. I'm feeling pretty good these days, despite some pesky insomnia. The baby is moving, and we've found a midwife, thankfully. We have found a church, and that is a big answer to prayer. We are attending Good News Pres. in Frederick, MD, and will begin the Inquirer's class soon to start the membership process. The people have been great and the kids love it, too. CJ and Bethany are coming to visit on Saturday, so we're looking forward to a week with them. The kids can't wait for Beth to do messy projects with them and make them messy snacks. The next weekend, we're heading to PA for my niece Victoria's 2nd birthday party. We'll spend a couple nights with Rob, Steph and kids -- we're all excited about that. Not too much else to report. I'll post pics when the girls get here. Peace out.

I'll catch my breath & count to 10 & open my eyes

This post is LONG overdue (haha, no pun intended), and I'm sure most who are kind enough to visit my blog of ramblings and nonsense are already "in the know"....but for those behind, the SlaughterHouse is adding a member come October. If you know me at all, you know this wasn't "in the plan" (ours anyway), and so has taken me by complete surprise. I'm at 10 weeks, and still adjusting to the news, letting it sink in, trying to swim through the surreal aura to a sense of reality. Blessedly, we serve a sovereign God who most certainly knew and ordained this child that we hadn't conjured, and so we give thanks for the life even while our minds are spinning with change. This has brought up practical problems to solve (money for another birth, moving sooner than we thought, I gave away all baby/maternity stuff, etc.) as well as emotional ones (can I stay sane, keep the children from hating my guts, homeschool without sounding like a raving lunatic, etc.). I know those of you who already have 5+ children are probably laughing at me, and that's ok. Fear of the unknown is relative, and I'm sure in a year and then two, I'll laugh reading this post, too (that's if I still have the mental faculties to type by then). Right now I'm giving thanks that my morning sickness has been light, and I've been able to stay functional. And we're so grateful for Dave's work, that it's steady and that the future looks bright. Once again, I am so aware of what a blessing it is to be able to confidently say, "God is good, all the time".

Lalalalalalala life is wonderful...

Here are the long promised pics of the kids in our first real snowfall since moving to VA. I've been having trouble with my computer, and it won't let me add more than one picture in a post for now, so I'll just post them individually. The kids loved the snow and played in it for days until it melted. Especially the boys were in total wonder, never remembering seeing snow. Molly did remember snow a bit, so she was the "snow boss" (bet you're surprised, huh?). They made snowmen and ganged up on their Daddy and Uncle Nathan (who was here at the time) for snowball fights.

Don't stop believin' (hold on to that feelin')

Ok I know I've been bugged to add kid pics, which I haven't done in a while, and I promise to do that. But....my mission today is to let everyone know...

The Seattle Seahawks are going to the SuperBowl!!!!

Wow. The Seahawks have never been to the SuperBowl, hadn't even had a post-season win in 21 years until they routed the Skins a couple weeks ago. Their day has come. Hasselbeck has been so versatile and on his toes....Alexander just reminds us all why he's NFL MVP...and that Hawk defense has been impenetrable. What a year, what fun. Dave is still in shock that he gets to watch his team try to take the NFL crown. The fun twist here is that of all years, after we move East, the Seahawks face the Steelers (bro-in-law Dirk's beloved) for the big win. So, the family angst should proliferate, as will the heated rhetoric I imagine (though all in tribal love). If you love football (or want to pretend that you do) watch the Bowl on the 5th and root for the Hawks (and don't tell me if you didn't).

I'm looking forward to looking back on this day

The long trip is over, and the Slaughters are safely in Virginia. The trip was long and not very fun, but its over. For pics from the road, click on the "Family Grandstand" link at left, where CJ has already posted on the greater family blog. God is faithful as always, and has led us here by His grace. Our home is in Lovettsville, a tiny town in far northern VA. We are in a townhouse, 3 doors down from my sister Annie. We're hoping that Carrie and Erin (Annie's baby) will grow up to be great friends, since we'll force them to be together often :-) Dave's work continues to be busy, which is good. We have only been here 11 days, so we have a ways to go before it feels like home. But we're slowly settling in, unpacking, trying to remember what its like to live on our own again. It was fun to see my dishes again! Hopefully settling in will soon mean finding a church and friends for all of us. We were sad to send CJ back home today. Carrie thinks that CJ is her mother, so she'll be the saddest of all once she realizes that CJ is gone. She was such a help and plus I really like her. Thanks to everyone who was praying for our safe trip. Here's a picture of us before we walked in the house for the first time. I'll post more pics soon.

live, love, laugh and be happy

Here's our family on Christmas day. Just to be together was present enough, and to see the kids have so much fun. Its been tough to plan for the celebration while concentrating on moving, but we had a great few days with family and worshipping our Lord. During the festivities we have been mourning the distance that will separate the family in just a few days. How many Christmas days like this will we have in the future? But we look forward with much hope and anticipation to what life will be like in Virginia. A New Year will bring so much that's new. More updates from the East Coast...