Second Birthday Party

Yesterday Evelyn and Julian had a joint birthday party.  They are 3 days apart and have many of the same friends so it just made sense to combine forces.  Little did I know when I agreed to do this, Ann is an amazing party planner.  To go with our zoo theme, she had wooden signs up that said, "aquarium" by the baby pool, "rainforest" by the water table, "monkey house" by the playground, etc.  

Her sister, who teaches science experiments to kids for a living was in town and made adorable oceans in a bottle with the kids and let them touch starfish and sea sponges.  

Maic and I made animal tails to pin onto the kids (and some of the adults), and we hung some of Evelyn's stuffed animals in the trees.  

We had brats and burgers and mac and cheese, sweet and salty snacks, salads, and some amazing animal cupcakes.  And everyone who said they were going to come came!  Always struggling to understand the boundaries between work and friendship, we decided to invite anyone who has babysat for Evelyn and their families.  That included several people from the church without having to invite the entire congregation.  I think it was a good line to draw.  

Evelyn was very into the concept of presents, and Julian couldn't have cared less.  I think she would have opened all of his if he let her.  She got a lot of great presents, and among them was this tea party set from Ann, which she supplemented with some amazing handmade felt cookies and cupcakes and embroidered napkins.  They are so beautiful and she loves playing with the whole set already!  I didn't get pictures of all of the presents she got, but I did take a few.  

Erin (and Casey) made this great magnetic bear and clothing/accessory set for both her and Julian

She got a new hedgehog family to go in her beautiful hand-me-down dollhouse

And Maic and I had a great time making a board book for Julian that is about Shakespeare as a child.  Maic wrote and illustrated the book, and I constructed it into a board book by using a different board book, cardstock paper, and duct tape.  It turned out so cool! I apparently never got a finished picture of it, but I will look into doing that!

Evelyn was not sure of the candles.  She is definitely a "rule-follower" and she was very disappointed that we would put something "hot" by her.  While Julian was clapping and excited, Evelyn was going, "Hot, Mommy.  Hot."  You can see the disapproval in her face.  She did not blow out her candles, but she did eat the frosting with her hands.

Overall it was just an amazing day.  I was completely exhausted by the end of it and got rather grumpy around 8:30.  As much as I'm aware that I need to take it easy at 9 months pregnant, it is very hard for me to stay sitting when there is stuff to be done and people to converse with, so I was up-down-up-down all day.  I am definitely sore today! 

I just cannot express how blessed we are to have found Julian and his family.  They have come into our lives at such a perfect time and we look forward to so many more amazing birthdays together.  Happy TWO, you two!  

Weekend Love Songs

When we lived in St. Louis, it was so easy to jump in the car and go to a museum or a zoo or some  event that was geared towards young families.  Here, I find that it's not so easy.  Ripon is a good family town, but it's still small.  And when something's small it doesn't have quite as many opportunities.  That's just the way things go.  

It's hardest to find things to do during the winter, because we can't just go to the park down the street or play for a long time in the backyard (plus I hate-- nay, I detest being cold).  So when we reached this weekend and I was feeling a particularly large amount of Cabin Fever I was determined to find something to do other than sit around.  So yesterday we went to the Zoo in Madison.  It's about an hour and a half away, but it worked out well because I was able to visit a church member in rehab as well.  

The zoo was practically empty because nobody goes to the zoo in the winter, but there are plenty of places to go indoors at the zoo, so that's what we did!  And it was a blast. 

There were little jumpy quails in there.  

She loves alligators.  They say, "HHHAAAA-UMP" with a chomping gesture.

Curious little guy. 

This guy didn't mind being outdoors.  

Neither did Evelyn mind being outdoors if it meant seeing a bear walk around!

Then this morning, we did stay inside but we got a great pots and pans band going with Julian.  They loved making lots of noise!  Good kids! 

Alright guys, winter is LONG!  Get out and do something.  Or stay in and do something.  Just get goin' on the memory making, because even if winter is long, life is short!  

A Lesson in Sabbath

I don't write much right now because every week is so busy.  I mean, SO busy.  Every week, I think, "next week I'll have time to do this..." and then something comes up.  This week, I got to Wednesday evening, counted the hours I'd worked since Monday, and came up with 30.  Knowing that I still had a funeral on Saturday (this afternoon) and a worship service on Sunday, and an accompanying sermon/homily for each, I took Thursday and Friday "off."  That was a good decision.  

I don't think many people understand all the work that goes into being a pastor.  I recently heard a colleague in ministry joke that when people ask her what she does, she says, "I'm a preacher on Sundays and the CEO of a non-profit during the week."  I think that's true.  I'm not complaining, just trying to explain.  The way my congregation volunteers is extraordinary, truly.  I couldn't ask for more.   But it's such a behind-the-scenes job.  So much of it is about presence and trust-building-- being there when people need you, being a role-model, keeping up with what's going on in the community and in the lives of members.  I can never really stop working.  But that's okay, I love it.  And one of the things I'm learning is that if I'm a role-model, then I must display appropriate care of myself and my own family.  I want others to take care of themselves and their families, so it's also my job to say, "I've already worked 30 hours this week and have about 15 hours of work that I must do before the week is over, so I will take tomorrow and Friday off," because if I don't, I'm telling everyone else that it's okay to overwork and under-nurture their relationships, and I don't believe that's healthy.  

Anyway, yesterday was a really good day off.  We went as a family to Appleton, to the Children's Museum.  It was a free day so it was really crowded, but we had a blast.  The children were supposed to wear costumes, so Evelyn wore her cowgirl outfit (a costume we didn't think she'd get to wear anywhere, she's already worn twice, and I think we'll do a tiny bit of trick or treating, so that makes three!).  She was thrilled that there were some children dressed as animals.  Right now she is obsessed-- I mean, obsessed-- with animals, especially cats, dogs, ducks, and lizards.  So when she saw a little boy dressed as a dog, she just stood next to him and barked and panted at him for several minutes.  She's also been pretending that she is a cat lately, crawling around meowing.  We don't have a cat right now and I'm beginning to feel guilty about that.  But, to be honest, I'm still on team Bearded Dragon, and I think Evelyn is too, but Maic says no.  There was actually a Bearded Dragon at the Children's museum and Evelyn was thrilled about it, but Maic said, "She just likes anything with eyes that moves."  I think I know what he's getting for Christmas...

The traveling exhibit was a bunch of scenes and activities from Children's books--
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Abuela by Arthur Dorros

Stackable snowmen from the Snowy Day

Little cowgirl stacking blocks

Climbing up a salad.  Where do they come up with these things?

So, here's my lesson in Sabbath for the day.  When you work too much, stop working.  When there's a free day at the children's museum, go.  And when you can put the baby to bed and watch Dancing With the Stars while knitting stuffed animals, do it. 

Lately...

Life has been something else lately.  I can't imagine many people get the opportunity to stay at home all day every day with their whole family for a couple months at a time.  We're having a blast, remembering that we will never get this opportunity again (God-willing; it's fun but unemployment isn't something we hope will happen again anytime soon).  We're moving to Ripon on August 27th, and my first Sunday will be September 2nd.  

I can't believe how quickly the days go by, still.  I've found myself several times almost in tears thinking about  how hard it will be for me to switch from staying home to full-time employment.  If the days go fast now, what will happen when I'm gone for most of the day?  At the same time, I am giddy-excited about starting my job.  I'm trying to come up with ideas that will make full-time employment and motherhood more balanced.  For example, I'm going to try to arrange for my workday to start later in the morning so that I can spend the mornings with Evelyn, and I want to lead a weekly afternoon Bible study in our home. 

We've been filling our days up pretty well, spending time with family and friends a lot and getting some stuff done that we might not have time for later like sorting books and repainting furniture.  We've also spent some time painting and clearing out the house we're living in so that my in-laws can rent it out when we move out.  We were clearing out the basement, and found this on one of the floor beams:  

It's a Catholic tradition-- the Blessing of the House, from the first year they lived there.  On the Feast of Epiphany each year, they use blessed chalk to write the first two numbers of the year, then the initials of each of the three kings-- Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar-- then the last two numbers of the year, then they say a prayer to bless the house for the year to come.  

We've also been preparing for Evelyn's first birthday.  We aren't having a big party-- just a few friends and family.  Below is her gift from us.  Don't tell her, but the big one is a bike seat so she can ride with us on our bikes and the top one is some cat pajamas.  She's obsessed with cats right now.  Incidentally, the last week for Evelyn has been full of milestones.  I think she is quite the talker for her age, but I don't really know what's normal.  She already says daddy (di-deeeeee), Nos (na), and mommy (which comes out, "Bob-Bob."  I kid you not), plus she meows at cats and says "Muh!" when she kisses, "Ummmmmm" when she eats, and "Oo!" when she plays peek-a-boo.  She isn't walking yet, but she will be any day now.  She just needs to realize she can let go.  

The past couple of days, the main thing that has been taking up my time is that I'm making curtains and some other things for our house in Wisconsin.  We never got the chance to set up Evelyn's nursery because at first she didn't have her own room and then when we moved to Ohio it was so uncertain, we didn't do anything special with her room.  So yesterday we went and picked out fabric for curtains, a crib sheet, and a pillow to go on the glider.  I finished it all much more quickly than I expected, so now I have to figure out which room to work on next.  

She sat on my lap while I sewed for far longer than I expected.  She's seriously the most patient baby that ever existed.  

You can kind of see in this photo that she has a little bruise under her right eye.  The story either goes that she got in a fight with a 15 month old ninja, or that she fell on a laundry basket.  You choose.  

Here is the finished crib sheet and one of the sets of cafe curtains.  We didn't have a curtain rod for this photo, so yes, they're on the Swiffer.  I'm really pleased with myself for this crib sheet.  I actually used this online tutorial.  If you are crafty at all, this is a great project.  It took me less than an hour.  

Well, just wanted to catch you all up.  Life is fun, and we're so excited for what's to come!  

Some Catching Up

It’s clear to me that I’m a product of an internet generation.  We moved to Oberlin slightly less than a week ago, and won’t have internet access in our home until this coming Tuesday.  I’m amazed at the anxiety that comes out of not checking my e-mail for a whole day.  Surely there’s a part of the anxiety that comes from being in the midst of a job search in which most of the communication is via e-mail, but the part of it that exposes me as inept at communicating with people/getting from one place to another/finding out information/listening to music is kind of embarrassing.  In desperation, I contacted the pastor of Oberlin UCC to see if I could use the church’s internet instead of having to pay for coffee every time I wanted to check my e-mail at a café.  Pastor David is so kind that he’s even issuing me a key to the church so that I can use it as a place to do my Skype interviews without a dog barking and a baby crying in the background (or incessantly screaming her version of “yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay”—totally my fault for egging on a cute new vocal discovery). 

Speaking of dogs barking, our dog Nos is living with us once again.  We had to send him on vacation to Gramma and Grampa’s house for a few months back in October because this Mama could only handle so much.  It is awesome having him back.   He’s so good to Evelyn and she is just totally enamored with him.  Until you see a nine-month old “throw” a tennis ball for her dog, you’ve not seen cute (this is kind of where the incessant “yay” started). 

Having a house is just amazing.  Evelyn has her own bedroom, there’s a window in our kitchen, and we have a washer and dryer in our house.  With both of us temporarily out of work, we are having the best time just being a family.  We take walks every morning and sit out on the porch and talk or read.  We take family naps sometimes.  Life is so good, and I think when the time comes, I’ll be ready to go back to work. 

The search and call process is encouraging.  I think the UCC has a great set-up that allows for prayerful and intentional placements.  In the meantime, with the exception of this coming Sunday and the week I'm in Arizona, I'm preaching every Sunday for the next month and a half--making some money, doing what I love, getting to know other congregations.  

On Tuesday I'll be able to update more often.  I'll post some photos of the inside of our house and I'll get a list up of the churches I'll be preaching at this summer so that if you're interested and nearby, you can come worship with us.  

A Reptile Lover

As if this girl hasn't already captured my heart, she's proving herself to be a huge fan of things that creep and crawl, as am I. (One of my favorite stories about myself as a kid is when I captured a baby garter snake and brought it to church with me.  Another is when my neighbor Pat brought his Ninja Turtles over and we played with them and a live toad in my doll house).  We went to visit Stacy at her school and one of her fellow teachers has a large collection of reptiles and amphibians.  Evelyn could not get over the turtles, but she was also quite smitten with the bearded dragons.  I can't wait to catch frogs and salamanders with her.  

A turtle!

Look at that goofy, totally beside-herself smile.  

Hi Friend!