Clayton's 1st Parade

My flag-wavin'-patriotic-son of Uncle Sam...All American Boy!!!

I took Clayton to the Union County Independence Day Parade today. It is one of a kind- always over 2 hours long, every state is represented, every era of our country and there's a reenactor of a soldier from every war our country participated in. It was really great. Clayton seemed to especially enjoy all the bands. Parades are so exciting for children, and I know there will be more more years of parade-going for Clayton!

Watching the parade

5 Months Today!

Clayton is such a big boy at 18 pounds and 26.7" long! He is rolling all over the place, likes his rice cereal, hums himself to sleep, and laughs out when you play with him. He is the joy of my life, and I am constantly amazed at his little hands, chubby legs, sparkling eyes and charming smile.

Kara's Gone AWOL

I'll be back. I've got a lot on my plate right now with vehicle troubles, finals week at school, getting ready for my GRADUATION, and just trying to cope with my hectic schedule. I do miss blogging, and I'll be back in action soon, I promise. Say an extra prayer for me this week, and I will greatly appreciate it!

thinking out loud

Right now, I am spending some time at FOB (forward operating base) Mehtar Lam, Afghanistan. Its amazing to me how several months ago I would have considered this place "primitive". Now, however a place where you can shower every night, and eat three full meals a day, and have decent Internet service, qualifies as luxurious. I've forgotten what it takes to "survive" in the states. Instead I have found how little it really takes to make one happy. For example: A letter from home, a picture of a loved one, a cold bottle of water, a good book,...or a small, dirty child giving you the thumbs up and saying, "tank you, amerikee!" Its in these moments I am discovering what I consider precious in my life. In the movie Braveheart, Mel Gibson playing the part of William Wallace says, "All men die, but not all men truly live." I am grateful that in the midst of the struggle of facing the unknown and being far from home and family. I can say that with God's help, I am learning what it is to really live.

food for thought

The warrior class,...has been painted with two brushes: that of the victim and that of the felon. They appreciate neither. - David Bellovia (in his book: House To House)

Our Growing Boy

My grandparents are home for a little while, and since my parents are away on vacation over Father's Day, we ate lunch with the Tillis'. They are now first time great-grandparents. (Papa mentioned it was nice to be great at last.) We had a delious meal, and it was perfect weather to swing on the front porch.

Miner Died from Cave-in

Andy's civilian job is being a coal-miner. He works at Harmony Mine, just outside of Mount Carmel, PA. Yesterday one of his co-workers, Bob Carey was killed from a roof that caved in and crushed him. This is a sad and sobering time for this family and the rest of us who knew him or worked with him. The dangers of this kind of job are never far from my mind, and I am sorry to see this happen.

DAD

It was a high stakes game of basket ball. My cousin Joe, and I were teamed up against my Dad. The winning score was set at fifteen points. Dad had challenged us with the promise that if Joe and I won, he would take us to tour the Civil War battlefields at Gettysburg. We often played hoops out back in the driveway. Joe was living with us at the time, and we would team up against Dad. We had never won, but we had never had a prize like this to aim for. We were bound and determined to win this game. But, the situation was looking grim. Dad, couldn't seem to miss. His points were stacking up, and Joe and I had yet to score. When Dad put up the ball, and it came down through the net with a ugly swish, adding to Dad fourteen to our zero.We knew that defeat was knocking at our door. Much like the Confederacy, Gettysburg was slipping out of our grasp. But, even as defeat loomed over us, something happened to Dad's game. His shots suddenly begin to go wide. Where usually when I'd be going for the shot,and Dad would be in the way knocking the ball off course, now he seemed to be tiring and arriving to late to block Joe and I from making a basket. Dad's weariness was so great, that under normal circumstances would have been worthy of medical attention. Joe and I however were quick to take advantage of whatever sickness had overcome Dad's playing abilities, and we quickly racked up the baskets. Dads fortune was so bad that he wasn't able to score another point the whole game and we quickly won the game. Some how Dad recovered from his sickness and drove us to Gettysburg the next day. I'm sure we had fun, but I've toured Gettysburg many times since then. Now so many years later I can't really remember a single detail of that particular trip. But, I'm sure I'll remember that basketball game for the rest of my life. Dad's sickness never came back, and never since have I beat my Dad in a game of basketball. Could it have been something he ate that day? Hmm...a mystery indeed.



Note to Dad:



Thank you Dad for all the good times growing up. You never complained about fixing the tangle in your little boy's fishing line. Or when I ruined the trout fishing by falling into the steam and scaring all the fish away. You never complained when during hunting season, you drug yourself through a brier infested, half frozen swamp, trying to drive a deer my way only to find me sleeping peacefully on the other side....well maybe you complained a little on that one. But, what I'm trying to say is: Your the best Dad ever.

Love,

your kid

My Daddy

My Daddy wear combat boots and digital camo. He is far away saving the good guys from the bad guys so they can live in freedom like I do. My Daddy has only seen me a hand-full of days, so he read me stories before I was born and now my Mommy lets me watch Daddy every night before going to bed. The sound of his voice always makes me laugh out loud. Mommy tells me that Daddy and me are going to be the bestest of buddies. He is going to take me swimming and fishing and all kinds of "boy" things. I wish I could see my Daddy every day like other boys do, and have him pull me up onto his lap for a hug. I wish I could see my Daddy kneeling by his bunk to pray for me, and I wish I could run out to meet him when he comes home from work, like other boys do. But I know when my Daddy comes home, we will have the best of days then. We will play with the dog, and play in the park. We will go up to the farm and look at the pond and collect frogs. But my Daddy wears combat boots- that means he is bigger and tougher and stronger than your Daddy. He is my hero, and on his first Father's Day as a Daddy, I want him to know how much I love him!!!



Posted by Clayton Plank =)

Our Fathers

Andy and I both have wonderful, Christian fathers. I'm sure more will be mentioned this weekend, but as for me, I just want to say Happy Father's Day to all Dads. It takes a lot of sacrifice and discipline to be a good father, and I sincerely admire those men who are the best Dads they know how to be. One thing Andy and I's Dads have in common is that they could have bought many a car, truck or boat with the money they spent to give us a Christian education. They could have sent us to public school with the thought that -they made it through and so could we, but they didn't. They scrimped and saved to put us through Penn View. I will be forever thankful, because it is in those years, that Andy and I found God and found each other. Our lives could be very different if it had not been for that sacrifice. There are many more things to be said of a Father, but it boils down to love, quality time spent, prayers, sacrifice, and belief that your child can achieve whatever he or she dreams in his/her heart. Those qualities are what makes a Dad, and I for one, am thankful to have a Dad and know other Dads who portray these qualities with strength, honor, dignity and character. Real Fathers are real MEN, and that's a fact.

Clayton's 4 month pictures

Toasty Toesies

Today was a scorcher, and I forgot to turn on the air-conditioner in my house before leaving for church. When Clayton and I got home, the house was HOT, so I put him to bed in his diaper. When I checked on him a little later, I saw toes sticking out the crib, and Clayton fast asleep. Cute.

Clayton's Quirks

Clayton has to have something against his face in order to sleep through the night. I don't want to give him a blanket in bed yet, for fear he will smother himself with it, so he got ingenius and stretched the bumper-pad down far enough to his face that he can feel it against his cheek. Since he can't pull the whole thing down because it's tied, I don't mind his silly trick. I'm just glad it helps him sleep for 7-9 hours!!!

Clayton laughs at Daddy being funny in his Curious George stories!

Clayton thinks rice cereal is finger food...

Nature Walk

Today I took "my" kids out on a nature walk to look for things to collect to make collages. Each kid was equipped with a plastic bag and giant imaginations. We found lots of leaves, flowers, pine cones, tree sap and bugs. Below are lot of pictures of our wonderful finds...There was lots of fun had by all
-Here I am talking about turtles: this one being a large snapping/hissing one.

The turtle digging close to my feet:it was trying to have some privacy to lay eggs...

Luna Moth: very pretty! (for a bug)

Deer Tracks- we also found bunny track and 'snake'tracks (actually made by a lawn mower, but they were convinced otherwise)I told them to keep an eye out for dinosaur tracks. hee.hee.

A kid with his finished collage

One thing down, a million to go...

A coach of mine recently encouraged me to make simple goals, no matter how big or small, and write them down. There's something about writing things on paper that adds another level of committment, more then just talking about it. I have wanted some kind of order to my overflowing shoe problem in my closet. (I got tired of playing "Where's the shoe" with myself...) So yesterday after getting some very much-needed rest, I tackled my shoes. I packed my boots away, and organized the rest, as you can see. It's amazing what that tiny accomplishment did for my day/week! I am just so glad I forgot to take a 'before' picture of my closet!!!

Distractions

This morning I woke up with the same rotten headache that I had gone to bed with last night. ugh. I decided to stay home and try to sleep it off. These pictures are some of the ways I had Clayton content himself while I tried to sleep. I also let him watch all 3 of his Daddy's stories-in a row. Hey, if it works, we both win!!!

Church Picnic

We just had a church picnic, and these are a few of the pictures I got taken before my camera batteries died...
Steve and his buddy Justin (check out Justin's "Andy Plank" haircut)

Eric Susan Family

Cute Kids

The bib says it all...