Oh, Kansas!

I should have known that Kansas had a place in my life. That I would end up here in some way or another. The evidence:

• My dad spent a year at Kansas State University, before transferring home to the better Wildcats (University of Arizona).
• I was obsessed with all things Oz at a little kid.
• Over the years, I've had not one, but three, friends with deep Kansas connections. Two who moved from Kansas in junior high. One who moved to Kansas in junior high -- her mom was from here and moved home after a divorce.
• Just after Clare was born, my dad started dating a very nice lady who was originally from Kansas. He ended up marrying that Kansas girl. (Love you, Rhonda!!)
• We have friends -- the ones whose advice led us here in the first place -- from Kansas. Even knowing them is a long series of coincidences. 
• Heck, even the Bishop of Phoenix is from Kansas! And since we've had the distinct privilege of meeting him on several occasions, I say it counts!

I think about all those things frequently. It's funny to feel so connected to a place that, until last summer, I had never even passed through. It's funny that our residency p is a place that never crossed my mind, but has always been in my heart.

I am, by no means, a providentialist, but I feel that God has, in some way, been priming and guiding my heart for this time in our lives. It was, after all, foreknown by the Almighty. I am always awed, looking back on things like this, at His hand at work. I feel humbled. I feel called to the kind of radical trust that I cannot muster when I look forward. Yet, I pray that I might.

Currently . . . 10.27.14

Joining Hannah at Joyful Life for another go 'round.

Thinking about Christmas. I know, I know. It's not even Halloween yet, but there's a method to my thinking ahead. Mostly that I try to do as much shopping and such before Thanksgiving and Advent and Christmas as I can. That way, I can spend my time enjoying December instead of stressing over it. It's also going to be a different kind of holiday season around here, for lots of reasons, so I'm trying to wrap my mind around it in advance. Expectations are everything to me, so I need to get mine fixed appropriately.

Dreaming of a big, open kitchen full of people. Yeah, that's related to my Christmas musings, but I'm, for whatever reason, doing a ton of soul-searching and growth in the self-awareness realm lately, and it just seems like a big, bustling kitchen full of food and love and life and people is pretty much my love language. I've mentioned before that our kitchen has some shortcomings by way of space, but the biggest is that it doesn't have a warm and inviting feel. Someday, I hope, that will no longer be the case.

Organizing the clutter. Kinda. We are facing a constant battle against the clutter. Toys make their way upstairs and overcome the living room. Stuff comes home and gets dropped on the table. Stuff. Piles. We're constantly working on finding new homes for things, so that we can put them away, but it's a war we're fighting!

Laughing at my kids. They do the silliest things. I don't have the art of the tell, so I usually don't try to post silly stories; they fall flat in my writing style. I can't help but laugh at Peter Army-crawling after Clare's toys, followed by her outraged, "NO, PETER!!!!! That is MY _______________!!!!!" I can't help but laugh when Peter smiles and giggles. I can't help but laugh when Clare "finds" something lost right in front of her face. Especially when she announces proudly that, "I found it!"

Reading Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy. It's the current read for Michaela's Stella Maris Book Club. I'll (hopefully) have a fuller report down the road.

Nice Job -- Theme Thursday

Since getting a new camera for my birthday, I've decided to start playing along with Theme Thursday. I might not be using a fancy-looking DSLR, but I've got a good point and shoot -- and frankly, I'm still in auto shooting mode anyway. ;-) (But of course, we're still working through the issue of my camera and computer not liking each other, so I'm having to route through my iPhone to post. Hence the cropping issues. Boo!)

I interpreted the theme a bit differently, mostly because I'm squealing, "Good job, Buddy!" 4396 times daily. There is something about my kids learning to crawls that gets me all worked up. I think because there are so many little steps they go through in the process. And I celebrate all of them. Also why I talk about it pretty incessantly. He'll eventually crawl and I'll start talking about something else.

None of which matters, since there are no rules for this. But there's a reason Wordless Wednesday doesn't work for me. ;)

Without further ado, I present "The Inchworm: A Photo Series." (As I've been typing, he's worked his way to the toddler toys. Waiting for Clare to freak out in 3...2..1...)

Visit Cari at Clan Donaldson for prettier, more artistic photos. ;-)

In the Kitchen with Clare

It was a rare, lazy Sunday morning, thanks to the Saturday Vigil Mass and Charles' scheduled Sunday shift. There were two well-overripe bananas (or "mananas" if you're Clare) itching to be mushed. So what did we do?

No, we did not make banana bread.

We made banana muffins to indulge in a little streusel topping. Yes, the recipe calls for nuts, but nuts in baked goods = wrong.

Clare still doesn't quite get the measuring or the waiting patiently and cleaning the kitchen while in the oven parts of baking, but she loves the mixing and "helping" prepare for the oven (scooping into muffin tins, shaping cookies, etc.) parts of baking. As a result, I normally get everything ready to go (do my mise en place, if you will) and call her in to help bring it all together. Then I distract her while I clean up, so she stops asking for a whatever it was we made while I tell her over and over that is has ___ more minutes in the oven.

On Sunday, since the muffins are a spoon batter instead of a stand mixer deal, she was an extra good helper:

Mixing

Licking the spoon

Eating

Yum!

I'm really starting to enjoy our little kitchen adventures together, and I know she does, too.

Currently . . . (10.20.14)

Joining Hannah at Joyful Life for Currently.

Doing the hospital hang out. Yesterday, while Charles was working a slower shift, we paid our first visit to the hospital. We got a tour and had lunch in the hospital cafeteria. Believe me, nothing says "resident life" more than visiting Dr. Daddy at the hospital. In spite of nap time meltdowns at lunch, it was a fun visit.

Hospital chapel

Praying in the chapel

Cafeteria feast

Planning for a couple of rough days. Clare has a couple of doctor's appointments in the coming weeks -- nothing major, just follow-ups from the stuff last spring, but it is new doctors and new environments. And Clare is always challenging at doctor's appointments. Fortunately (?), she's getting more bribe-able, so there may be treats for good behavior happening. Even so, prayers would be appreciated, please and thank you. :-)

Remembering my mom. Today would have been her 64th birthday! Happy Birthday, Mommy! I love you always.

With Baby Me--just like she's always remembered, laughing and wearing red lipstick.

Wishing my allergies away. I have had a couple of rough days of allergy action, and managed to lose my voice over the weekend. Mostly, the histamine overload is expected, but when it gets going like that, I can't help but want to scream NOOOOOOOOOO!


Loving autumn. It is our first real fall in a long time, and the first I've really appreciated. The weather is perfect right now. Cool in the mornings and evenings. Perfect in the afternoon. The light is that shady, shadowy, slanted light of fall, but hasn't faded into the grey of winter. The leaves are starting to turn, but haven't fallen yet, so the light dances through them.