Happy birthday, Kansas!

Kansas' 150th birthday Saturday was 70-degree beautiful day, a perfect testament to how wonderful it can be to live here. A few additional photos of my Kansas-born baby on the state's sesquicentennial:






Brian, Eric and I later watched the KU-KSU basketball game together while enjoying bison burgers and Free State Beer. Happy birthday, Kansas!

Click to view more photos from the day.

Snuggly Meowsers

My brother-in-law Eric visited this weekend. As Meow Meow was lounging on my computer bag in the living room, I overheard this comment from E:

"Meow Meow, look at you. You're like a pillow. With a head."

You know it's cold ...

... when even the statues are bundled up!


Douglas Avenue, downtown Wichita

Keeping tabs

I love volunteering, especially when helping others is a no-brainer.

That's how I feel about the aluminum can tabs that the local Ronald McDonald House collects and recycles. The money goes toward the organization's general fund, which, among other things, pays for lodging when guests with sick kiddos cannot. That's what I call trash to treasure! If you have tabs, I'd be happy to take them off your hands. (It's called being a "McHelper.") Or click here to learn more about the mission.


Volunteers at the house tell me that home baked cookies are the guests' favorite. So I baked these up to take in with the tabs:


I'm conspiring with our church's youth group director to challenge the tweens and teens to collect tabs, too. Two more no-brainers: teens and pop!

Silly monkeys

Westley and I spent the evening with Auntie Jen Jen and Cousin Kaden tonight. The cousins shared toys and even changed into their footed monkey jammies at the same time. Kaden and I traced hands and feet with crayon and played Wii mini golf for about three minutes.


Shhhh! Jen and I delayed splitting the rest of Brian's cherry chocolate fudge birthday cake. The secret to having your cake and eating it, too? Waiting until the 2-year-old is asleep.

Lean on me

On Thursday, Brian and I attended a funeral service for dear family friend Faith Holmes. My parents, sisters, brothers-in-law and mother-in-law ... and lots of friends and former neighbors and middle school teachers were there.

I haven't been to a funeral in years, but it was wonderful and terribly sad and hilarious and inspirational all at the same time. There were laughter and tears and hugs and reunions and goodbyes.

Coming from a large Catholic family, my relatives seem to know how to do funerals. A very odd thing to admit, I guess, but it's a comforting truth that I'm proud of in an odd way. We toast our loved one. We tell stories. We remember. We celebrate the life that is lost. But then life goes on. We have a party. We dine. We play.

I have lots of good memories of family funerals (from the parts that comes afterward, of course). I can remember playing in church halls with cousins, eating too much of the scrumptious desserts made my loving church ladies, swimming in hotel pools when we've needed to travel and visiting around a bonfire with sisters, aunts and uncles. I think we just like to celebrate the connections and the family and network the loved one had surrounding him or her. We fall back on our faith and remind each other that the one whose loss we're mourning is feeling no pain, is not hungry, is not sad. And we try not to be, either, but know that time will help. Our loved one's death also is a reminder of how precious life is, how very miraculous and limited our time here together is. As with Faith, we're ready to follow the example of our loved one's success stories, chiefly to love more, to live fully.


Last night after the memorial service, we picked up kiddos from daycare and met for dinner at Jason's Deli. There were lots of musical chairs and trips to the soft serve ice cream machine and plans for possible future vacations.

Yep. We were THAT family in the restaurant dining room: the party of 10 at the tables pushed together. The one that had lots of jokes and laughs and noise and spills. The one with the half-eaten hot dog and cracker wrappers on the floor and coats piled up. The one with all of the hugs and the sitting-on-laps and the stories and the love.

Fittingly, I think that's what Faith loved about us.

Great eight

This week, Westley James turned eight months old!


He's experienced so much in the past month: his first Christmas and New Year, family introductions, his first time to play in the snow, his first college basketball game, green beans, peas and cauliflower. We're also teaching him baby sign, which I'll have to blog more about soon.

The weather was pretty enough in late December to go for a walk outside. Look how big he's grown since Halloween, the first time we used this cute Radio Flyer:


Some of West's favorite things are to play peek-a-boo ...


... and play with the pet dishes, especially if they contain water.


He's learned how to open cabinet doors in the kitchen and bathroom, so a trip to Lowe's for baby-proofing items was in order. The baby gate we bought for the top of the stairs didn't fit, so a return was in order. Installing everything is still on our to-do list.

Westley loves to grin a big cheesy smile. He scrunches up his face and cheeses it out, showing off his adorable two top and two bottom toofers. Cute, cute, cute! He also has started to grind them. Not cute. It makes my skin crawl, in fact. I asked him very nicely not to do that anymore, but he doesn't listen to Mama on that one.

Life with an 8-month-old is busy, wonderful ... and busy!

Chore time

I wonder if he'll be as eager to help in, oh, about 15 years ...

Happy baby

Sometimes I worry that one day in the faraway future I'll think back on these days and be unable to remember Westley's sweet baby smell, super-soft skin or quiet little snores.

So, for now, I try to soak up every detail. My heart melts each time my beautiful happy baby reaches out for me. And even on those sleep-deprived hectic days when it's a blessing to find time to start a load of laundry, I thank God that I am living this dream come true.

Best furiends

Westley and his best pal Meow Meow both weigh in at 16 pounds, making them a very even match ... fur now. The weights are official, too, as Meow Meow has been to the vet and Westley has been to the pediatrician already this month.

Happy birthday, Brian!

Today, we celebrate Brian's 33rd birthday. Family and friends gathered at Egg Crate Cafe for brunch and the traditional cherry chocolate cake, Brian's favorite. He received some thoughtful gifts and the same birthday card from his godmother ... and her mother. We had a good laugh about that:


Westley, who had fallen asleep at church before lunch, woke up just as Daddy was opening his gifts. He didn't want to miss the party! His face was priceless as he groggily looked around the private party room and saw 17 people watching him blink away his nap.


Westley got to see Ron and Chari, Brian's Godparents, again:


And he and cousin Kaden got lots of time with Papa Dan:


The biggest hit with the little boys was probably the helium-filled balloons I bought at Dillons right before the brunch. For the second year in a row, I botched my homemade icing for Brian's cake. I had to make an emergency stop for process chocolate fudge frosting. Boo. (It tasted great anyway, and Brian assured me it was still fabulous.) What a sweet guy. I love how you can see Westley's reflection in the balloon in this picture ...


... and his two baby front teeth in this one:


Happy birthday, Daddy!


Happy birthday, Uncle Brian!


Happy birthday, my love.

Partying with TobyMac

We arranged a sitter and went out with friends and Brian's brother Eric to the TobyMac concert at Hartman Arena on Saturday. Toby to the Mac sure knows how to put on a show. What an awesome, inspirational night.


Eric, Birthday Boy Brian, Ann, Jeremey and me


Although TobyMac was the headliner and the band we really wanted to see, what I remember most from that concert is hearing for the first time one of Brandon Heath's original songs. The lyrics are poetic and beautiful and brought tears to my eyes. (You can listen to it on YouTube.)

I was thinking to myself how much love I have realized in the past year and how much love Brian has brought me throughout the years. I told him today that he's the one blowing out the candles, but I'm the one whose wish came true.

Love Never Fails

Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love after all
Matters the most

Love does not run
Love does not hide
Love does not keep
Locked inside

Love is the river that flows through
Love never fails you

Love will sustain
Love will provide
Love will not cease
At the end of time

Love will protect
Love always hopes
Love still believes
When you don't

Love is the arms that are holding you
Love never fails you

When my heart won't make a sound
When I can't turn back around
When the sky is falling down
Nothing is greater than this
Greater than this

Love is right here
Love is alive
Love is the way
The truth the life

Love is the river than flows through
Love is the arms that are holding you
Love is the place you will fly to
Love never fails you

My little snow angel

Winter is in full force in Wichita, giving us a chance to play with Westley in the snow for the first time:

Material girls

On Saturday, Mom, Westley and I went to Material Girls, a relatively new quilt store in Wichita's Delano neighborhood. We ran into friends and Brian's Aunt Lynn and had fun chatting. Several ladies were friends with Faith, so the conversations were therapeutic.

I don't have as much time for quilting right now, but it was fun to see some beautiful quilts, admire some new fabric (including a gorgeous brown cuddle fabric with a paisley texture to it) and make some plans for later.

Faith

Friday was a difficult day. I learned about the death of a dear family friend who was a neighbor to my parents for years and years, like an older sister to Mom and an aunt to my sisters and me. Faith hosted one of my wedding showers a decade ago. She loved quilting and Christmas and even decorated her living room in Santas. The shower she threw for me had a Christmas theme, and she invited guests to give me a small Christmas decoration in addition to the usual shower gift. She therefore made her mark on the first Christmas Brian and I celebrated together.

I feel blessed that she was able to meet Westley a few months ago when we ran into her at a local bakery. Mom, Brian and I had stopped one afternoon on a whim to purchase some gorgeous sugar cookies. It was a fun chance encounter.

Brian and I wanted to keep Mom company last night, but we already had made dinner plans with his parents and brother, visiting from Lawrence. So we all met up for dinner together.

I often find peace when I see patterns emerging in happenstance situations. It makes me feel as if things are just as they should be and that there is order in the chaos and confusion of life. Such was the case in this uncanny "We didn't plan this" moment involving Mom and my mother-in-law Janice. Check out the outfits they wore to dinner last night:

They say married people often start to look alike. What does it mean, though, when that applies to the in-laws, too?!

We hugged, shared stories and toasted both Faith and faith.

And I knew that my life is richer and more blessed for experiencing them both.

All in a day's work

Someone once told me that watching the quickly changing palate of the sky during a sunrise or sunset is like watching God's hand in the midst of painting a masterpiece.

Today, bundled up briefly for a quick dash in the freezing cold winter snow, I had the blessing to witness them both.

And my soul sang, "Well done!"

Sunrise:




Sunset: