Ordinary Miracles

So, it's been a while, and now I'm backlogged. The roster now holds posts for Thanksgiving and the boys' birthday. But, the pictures, they are taken. And alas, they must rest in Picasa for a few weeks more. Because as much as I like this laptop, it is not precious enough to claim a spot as a carry-on. Toothbrushes first, you know.

I'm up early to finish packing. As I went to sit in the recliner, I was startled by a gnarly black and red spider two inches across. All kinds of red flags exploded in my mind, until I realized it was rubber. It's a common occurrence these days. We've got lizards, spiders and snakes, most of them fairly life-like. I can't complain, though, because we're the ones who've bought them!

WB has taken an intense liking to his morning banana. I think it's his first toddler obsession. Yesterday morning, I set his banana on the table, and turned to finish gathering the vittles. No sooner had I turned, and he was sitting on the floor clutching that banana. He already had his teeth on it, peel and all, and was about to chow down! I seem to remember his big brother doing the same thing about this age, except he climbed up on the table! I guess I know what we can expect. Time to push the chairs under the table.
Later on, I saw how WB did it. He stood on tiptoes, and reached about 4 inches in from the edge of the table. My, how his arms are growing!

Packing has coincided nicely with WB's fascination for taking objects in and out of containers. It's a funny game; I load up a suitcase, and he empties it. Now I have to keep the bags zipped in between placing items in them.

Speaking of suitcases, SK is seriously jazzed about his new Spiderman rolling suitcase. It's already made about 300 trips around our house.

Last night, KiSA took the boys to Chuck-E-Cheese while I went shopping for jeans. That's living up to his name, don't ya know--Knight in Shining Armor. SK knows which exit off the highway leads to said venue, even though we've only been there once. He talks about it every three days or so.

Well, to packing I must go. We'll be seeing many of y'all soon. For all the rest, Merry Christmas and God's blessings upon you and your families.

Forgot the moving pictures as part of the previous post.

I looked at SK this morning and realized he was shaggy. Couldn't bear to let the kinfolk see him all scruffy looking. So we went to the sports-themed haircut place with TVs and video games. Fun for dudes and their sons alike. He's been asking me to fix his hair so it "goes up." I have yet to try, but now it is at least cut so I can. To his delight, SK has been able to tolerate cheese made from cow's milk. So I made mac n' cheese for lunch, and threw in some chicken and red peppers for nutrition. Of course, he picked out the red peppers. The rest went down with ease.

WB has been puttering around the house today. Unstoppable. He climbed into the stroller and sat in it for a while, then decided to liberate the clean laundry from the basket. Then, he reorganized my kitchen cabinets; the bake ware in particular looked like it needed to be pulled out. The strainer made a nice hat, though.

He pulled about 1/2 a package of wipes out of the warmer, and emptied most of the lego bucket I had just picked up last night. He got stuck between the armchair and the wall--twice--and knocked the dirty laundry hamper over and scattered the clothes all over the floor. He has realized that any time I am eating, his dinner bell is ringing, too. He nursed as often as a newborn, abeit much faster. He screamed bloody murder when I changed his diaper because I-was-holding-him-down, and that was totally unacceptable.

He is getting more confident about walking short distances.

I cannot believe I have a toddler!

Different isn't always bad. It's just, different.

It isn't always great, either.

Take, for instance, the grocery store. The salsa selection has three (3!) brands from which to choose. Ditto with the canned chili. There is usually one kind of taco seasoning packet.

Now, y'all know I'm pretty open-minded on the culinary front. But boiled peanuts and pulled pork just aren't a fair trade for smoked brisket and chorizo breakfast burritos.

To be fair, there's a lot to be said for fresher seafood and summers that aren't life-threatening. (I'm trying to be fair, here)

The result of this culture shift (shock?) is that I enjoy my own cooking even more. It may sound conceited, but the fact is that KiSA and I are both pretty good cooks. And I really, really enjoy it. I love gettin' crazy with the spices, jammin' down to whatever kind of music fits the cuisine, and teaching SK how to find his way around the kitchen. I get a kick out of fresh vegetables, especially. I get an even bigger kick out of SK exclaiming, "Celery? I LOVE celery! It's crunchy!"

KiSA did a fantastic job with some brats and kraut last week. He was infusing and deglazing and caramelizing and amaze-ing! We teamed up to make a killer carne guisada the week before. And I plan on pulling out KiSA's dad's award winning chili recipe this week. (Don't even ask me to post it, I was in the family for years and had to do some intensive, top-secret-level-negotiations to get that recipe.) Mostly, I just like sitting down at the table together as a family, soaking up the richness of together, sharing, and love.

We were longing for some comfort food, so I made KiSA's mom's Chicken Spaghetti recipe.

WB patiently munched the 1/2 inch pieces of noodles and tiny bits of chicken I placed in front of him. At one point, I was so engaged in conversation with KiSA that I let his supply run out. He took a look at my plate, then his brother's, and decided his sibling's was closer. Then, the little pasta caper lunged over and grabbed a fistful of the gooey goodness from SK's plate! Gratified, he sat back in his high chair and slurped away.

To his credit, SK was shocked but not angry. "Baby," he scolded, "That wasn't very nice!"

To state the obvious, it has been easy to condense this blog into a collection of exclamation points of cuteness. More accurately, it's been like water running downhill. It just happens (path of least resistance and all that).

In case you've wondered, these two supernaturally adorable children do, in fact, have parents. And we have stories of our own. However, I tend to assume that anyone interested in the possibly more parenthetical aspects of our lives will prefer to call or email rather than get an update by blog.

On the other hand, I am aware that the glut of email correspondence has almost completely transformed that medium into the antithesis of interpersonal communication. When was the last time you wrote or received a long, personal letter by email? Hmmm?

And phone calls--what are those? Isn't it odd how we have two handsets connected to our landline, and two cell phones for talking and texting, but it can be months or tragically longer before we talk in a meaningful way? Ah, I could lament for much longer than either of us have tolerance. The point, then, is that I shall resort to broadcasting our personal news here, in a public forum, in an attempt to establish some sort of rapport with your handles and avatars.

KiSA is doing well, I think he would say. He is very much enjoying life without 100 extra pounds, and looking forward to casting off even more. He likes his job. Of course, if you ask anyone on Thursday afternoon, after his computer has crashed more times than he can count, and his coworker is baiting him to discuss politics--again--after he just discovered how said coworker destroyed hours of work by his incompetence--again; if you ask him on such a day how he feels about his job, he might possibly say that he's looking forward to Friday. But his occupation is a good fit for him, testified to by the fact that he likes to continue designing his pet projects during his lunch hour. That's right, after 60 hours or so (his hours lately) of making what to me looks like a diagram of a circuit board transform into a 3-D digital model of a parking garage, he'll turn around and design a bullet. Just for fun. It's a lot of geometry and calculations and lines and labels, if you ask me. But I'm thankful for parking garages and energy-efficient office buildings, and I'm proud of him.

He has been deer hunting as well. So far, it's been hunting, not shooting. But seeing as we've been blessed with a full freezer for at least the past two years, and I still have meat left from January's harvest, I'm not complaining. I have faith. His bow is a sight to behold. It has a fascinating array of gadgets and gear all over it, a far cry from the recurves of old. There isn't a pro shop in the state for the brand he shoots, so he has learned to service his own bow, which is (of course) a very technical pursuit.

He misses Legacy Outfitters and his brothers there. It is rare to find such a tribe, and not easily replaced. We hope to build friendships with other families in our church, though that can be a slow process.

I have found the transition challenging. The adrenaline rush of our blast-off out here has subsided, and I've found myself struggling to find my footing in our new life. I have been through this before though, and I know that it is a puddle I will get out of, with no small amount of help. Building relationships is a priority for me, and God has provided me with at least a few people I can call in an hour of need, and share a degree of daily life with. I am thankful that KiSA is supportive of me finding ways to take care of myself, including a Bible Study and Weight Watchers. There's also my occasional solo dashes out the door, which we call an "Es-kah-Peh," Dory-style. That's ESCAPE, for you non-Pixar types. I can get a lot of mental mileage out of an hour sans crying, wiggling or Raffi.

Having only each other to lean on has strengthened us more than we could have imagined. We are closer than ever, having crossed the threshold of twelve years since our first date. We are racing head-over-heels toward nine years of marriage. Some days there are more speedbumps than others--he is from Mars, after all--but this fall has been a season of rich joy in our marriage, and in the life of our little family.

Well, now I feel better. Even if you didn't want to know, now you do. It is highly likely that following posts will continue to be more in keeping with the "aren't they the most amazing children ever" theme. So don't worry, the pictures will keep 'a comin'.

WB's sixth tooth came through last night. He now has four on top and two on bottom. All the better to munch with!

On a beautiful afternoon last week, the boys and me wandered around the yard. This is what we found. The white flowers are from a Rose of Sharon, the berries from the Nandina, the stems from the Butterfly Bush, and the burgundy leaves are from the flowering Dogwood.

Sometimes, one thing can change your life. Well, this stroller is changing mine. Mom and Dad helped us get it, and I could not be more appreciative.

I run on sunshine. Four walls can close in on me pretty quickly. I bust out of the house, gasping for fresh air. My normal walking route is right at a mile. Add in a small track around a nearby park, and it adds up to almost two miles. Also at said park are slides and sand. Yeah, good times are had by all.

From Linford Detweiler's letter to fans,
"I know it's a cliche, and this paragraph will be wasted on the young, but now, looking back from this vantage point, 20 years seems like a snap of the fingers, gone."

"But there are days now when we pan back on a chapter that's ending, and the overwhelming feeling is, We had so little time. The years vanished. Take care what you hang a life on.

So we hope to live in the present. There's a goldfinch sitting on her new nest on the other side of the locust grove even though summertime is running out. There's a thick, cream-colored mug of fresh coffee on the desk. We're still here. There's still time. I'll bet good money the September moon will rise with her full-lipped face and drench us in her sacred light.

When we least expect it, in our hearts we'll come to find, a tiny, insubstantial spark of hope.

So what kind of beautiful ruckus will we make in the next 20 years? How will that look? How should we join in, play our small part in the everywhere, always going on song? Good questions. We'll have to find out. But first we're going to have a little fun.

Join us if you dare."

To experience more of the rebirth of letter-writing as art, visit Over the Rhine at http://www.overtherhine.com. They've got just a little bit of out-of-this-world music as well.

I don't know about you, but one of the first things I do when I read any magazine or newspaper is check out the readers' comments. And when looking at a table of contents, or headlines, I always wonder what stories are not told.

In those veins, what would you like to know? What haven't I told you about? Ask in the comments, and you shall receive. Probably.

This is NOT Amanda. I am spreading my wings and venturing into the "Blogosphere". EEK!

Halloween this year brought a new super hero duo to town. I introduce SuperKid and WonderBoy.

The world is a MUCH safer place now that this team is in place to protect the innocent.



WonderBoy's primary mission tonight was "Saving the Turtles" Dr. Chaco (the sandal) had devious plans for the turtles. Enter WonderBoy! The evil Dr. Chaco thought twice when he realized the force he was up against.



















SuperKid is caught in action immediately prior to takeoff. He can fly fast don't you know!


















Speaking of flying... here is a candid shot of WonderBoy coming in for a landing. Can you say CARPET BURN! Ouch!












Even the biggest-bravest superheros still need their Mommas sometimes!





















Wonder boy Came away at the end of the day with his "Damsel" He let her share his ride... (He was flirting)













SuperKid hides his secret identity.






















We went to a festival at a church close to the house. They had a "Trunk-or-Treat" People just decorate their trunks and line up in the church parking lot and hand out candy. After that, we all went inside the church and had Hot Dogs. This went over VERY well with both boys. My little WonderBoy was putting the munch on a hot dog... even the mustard and onions! That's my boy!

Following the Hot Dogs, WonderBoy needed to refuel at the Momma-Station. SuperKid and Daddy went outside and on the church lawn was a Hot Air Balloon! We got to take a tethered ride up and then back down. It was pretty neat. Being up there knowing that all that's keeping you suspended is basically a few ropes and some nylon cloth!

All-in-all, we had a blast! The weather was a bit chilly but the evening was everything a Halloween should be. Both boys had a blast and it was a lot of fun to see them having so much fun.