the little girl who stopped by today

It must be the jeans. Something about Kajsa today made me feel as though she had grown up into a little girl, instead of the toddler. I’m not in denial of the fact that the terrible twos could be just around the corner. It just seemed, today, that Kajsa had grown up a bit more. It could be that she was talking more, listening more (and less, at times), followed commands, actually tried to say “pleeeez” instead of only signing it…

or, it might be the jeans.

Just so you know,

I did not stage the photo of Kajsa reading to Abby. (yes, that’s Abby’s nose under the book Kajsa’s reading.)

Several times today she brought a book out of the toy area, and I asked her if she wanted to read a book.

Each time she pointed to where Abby was.

And she plopped herself down in front of Abby,

and began turning pages. So dang cute.

The book she is reading to Abby is “Hush”, a Thai lullaby book that her cousin Bennett gave her. It has different animals in it, and of course, we make the animal

noises.

The photo of Kajsa with her hand on her nose is her making the elephant noise and motion.

Kajsa loves her moose rocker now.

She used to be a bit afraid of it, and needed help getting up on it. Now she climbs on it by herself, and even gets moving a bit. And she loves posing for the camera–

what a surprise! Actually, she loves posing for the camera–when she feels like it. Sometimes she does not want to smile or pose for the camera! But today was a good camera day.

We all missed Abby

while at Midwinter. She was at Aunt Sue’s house, and I’m sure she had a blast. But we didn’t realize how much Kajsa missed Abby. When we got home Friday afternoon, she kept hugging Abby, kissing her, and even read books to her. Soooo adorable. Kajsa would sit in front of Abby, trying to fit in between her front paws, skootch (sp?) herself backwards to get as close to Abby as she could, then open the book and start “reading”… flipping pages, and making occasional noises. And, besides “Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”, one of Kajsa’s favorite books now is “If you Give a Pig a Pancake”…. so that’s what Abby got to read. Good thing Kajsa’s exposing her to this great literature, because we have neglected to do so. I think the last book I read parts of to Abby was “The Daring Book for Dogs”..

when friends come to visit…

Kajsa enjoys storytime and play time. Along with Kia, Kathy and Steve’s little dog.

“There’s a Wocket in My Pocket” is one of Kajsa’s favorite books–a Dr. Seuss book that has quickly become one of my favorites! But as much as Kajsa loves this book, it seems as though Kia’s more interested in it. Maybe it was Kia’s first time hearing the story?

Baseball cards, smiles, puppies & books

photo on a different blog

A photo of mine is on another blog again. The green blogger “Green Talk” who used my reindeer photo… Check it out. Interesting article, as well.

Mental Health Break

It’s been stressful. Life, in general. This latest adoption update (see yesterday’s post) hasn’t helped. And, by the way, one thing I forgot to mention about the latest adoption update: a couple who received a referral in this latest batch had requested an infant, yet received a referral for a 3 or 4 year old. Just when I was starting to think, again, that we might actually get an infant, or a young toddler. Anyhow, I digress…this adoption stuff… other stuff… It’s been stressful.

Today I talked with a friend I hadn’t caught up with in too long… That was good mental health, and emotionally nourishing for me, both to talk about my life, and to hear what’s been going on in hers. It was a good thing. And part of our conversation was while I was walking slowly through Michael’s, then Bed Bath & Beyond, and finally Target, and for some odd reason that was mentally good as well..to walk slowly through these stores, through many aisles.. simply browsing, while talking.

Somewhere at Target I lost my list. You know, my “things to buy/places to go” list, scribbled on a bent, torn sticky note. Sometimes I work on these lists for awhile, until I can justify the gas to do the errands. Today I knew I had lots to do and buy, but more than anything, I really wanted to go out and about. So I had scribbled this list down in the minutes before leaving the house. Maybe it’s the stress, maybe it’s being 37, maybe it’s that I just have a bad memory at times. I don’t know. But when I realized I had lost my list, I suddenly forgot everything on it. Good thing I had already bought some items. Too bad I forgot the ones I needed. Oh well.

I did remember, however, that I had contemplated going to Half Price Books. I have been reading The Irrational Season by Madeleine L’Engle, but the copy I’m reading (which I purchased at Half Price Books a couple of years ago) is literally falling apart. So I thought… if I could find another cheap copy, then I could finish the book without having to literally pick up the pages. I never found that book… but I spent two hours browsing the store. I haven’t book-browsed in a long time. Way too long. It was so much fun. Granted, probably half of that time was spent looking at books that could potentially help me in the various stresses I am trying to manage/resolve/ignore… but aside from that, it was so good. So nourishing, so fun, so needed.

Good way to spend time I didn’t really have. And good mental health break.

I might be going to hell…

if the phrase, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” is true. Thankfully, though it may be partially true, I realize there’s more to it than that. But, just for a split second today, I realized that my “good intentions” list has been growing and growing… and my actual productivity level has not been growing in proportion. So, here are some of the many things I fully intended to do this week or last week or last month or even today:

send a Thanksgiving letter

write a Thanksgiving letter

catch up on work I’m behind on (church work)

reply to all those emails that came in that I’ve forgotten about, yet need a response

send a Christmas letter

write a Christmas letter

send Christmas gifts to friends and family

buy Christmas gifts for friends and family

post today’s Advent photo before noon

take today’s Advent photo before noon

respond to hard words rather than react

go to bed earlier than 12:30 am

walk the dogs today

forgive someone hard to forgive

ask for forgiveness

write a letter of appreciation for someone who is leaving his position

clean the house

move the home office downstairs

organize my winter clothes

start our child’s nursery

call friends and family

start sermon early

finish my list of “necessary phone calls” yesterday

Advent devotions today

call youth to see how they’re doing

read a book

read several books

play in the snow with the dogs

blog several times in the past week

read the newspaper

play the geography games online that help me learn world geography

check our adoption paperwork to see if it’s all good (might need to be fingerprinted again… joy)

call my Mom

spend less time on the computer

exercise

do my laundry

clean my church office

finish my Guatemala ‘06 scrapbook

and many many more things….

ah, well… such is life. Good intentions are great, but now I need to work on some of these items. Thank goodness–no, thank God–for grace.

Madeleine L’Engle… thank you

I just read that Madeleine L’Engle died yesterday. I read the A Wrinkle in Time series as a kid, and as an adult I have read many more of her books. My favorites? The Crosswicks series: A Circle of Quiet, The Summer of the Great-Grandmother, The Irrational Season and Two Part Invention. Love them.

I count it as an incredible honor to have taken a writing class with Madeleine L’Engle. There were about 12 of us, I think, sitting around a large oval table, sharing excerpts of our writing assignments, listening to Madeleine’s comments and suggestions and life experiences…. It was one of those wonderful seasons of my life: once a week for six weeks I took the train into New York City (we lived in New Jersey then). I loved riding the train into the city.. I loved seeing the Twin Towers as we left Jersey… I loved arriving in Penn Station I loved breathing in the city. I thoroughly needed and enjoyed the healthy soup and bread meal with the nuns (the class was held at a convent), and the evening vespers. And I loved being in Madeleine’s presence. She challenged us, made us laugh, shared some difficult experiences (for example, after “A Wrinkle in Time” was published, she received some not-so-nice mail from Christians…), inspired us. There have been some incredible seasons of my life, and I would daresay this was one of them.

Thank you, Madeleine, for your graceful presence. Thank you for your writings. Thank you for your willingness to share with writer-wanna-be’s… Thank you for taking the time to ask personal questions. Thank you. And Peace be to your memory.

Back…

I was on vacation in Vermont last week, visiting family. For two nights, 18 of us stayed at my parents’ home in West Townshend, and though it was crazy at times, it was also wonderful. Ok, it was crazy most of the time..

But one of the best parts is that we threw a surprise 50th annversary party for my parents (their anniversary was in June), and it was a surprise! So previous to vacation, during vacation, etc… I spent much time planning, coordinating, etc.. with the help of others in my family. The photo is my whole immediate family. Including an appearance by Oliver Twist, aka my nephew, Chandler.

Now we’re back in Madison, but life’s still crazy.

We finally finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows… Whew.

Sad news about the Minneapolis Bridge collapse the other night. Jim’s parents are fine, so we are thankful. And we are thankful to hear about those who narrowly escaped being on the bridge, including a cousin of Jim’s. But we are sad for those who lost loved ones.

Ok, time to run to a meeting…

more later, hopefully including photos of the 2nd Annual Badger + Dwight District Brewers’ Game.