Insanity

I’ve mentioned that my children are insane, right?

Everywhere I look, I see more evidence of their sheer insanity. And then once they start talking, any doubt which I may have had is erased. They’re certainly insane. They got that from their father.

Kinsley informed me last night that she had “heard that when you are a baby in your mama’s belly, you have to be naked”.

A few nights ago when Dan was reading her a fairy tale, and he read the phrase “She was broken-hearted”, Kinsley said “Wait, wait, wait! Did someone break their heart? Who broke their heart?”

At nap time yesterday: “Mama, I can’t go to sleep when Papa is not home, because Papa is the best man I ever seen for helping little girls go to sleep in their beds”.

This morning: “You know Mama, when little girls carry stuffed animals around, people will say ‘Oh, that’s just darling!'”

When Kinsley smashed her finger a few days ago, Sophie kissed the injured spot and told her sister “It’s okay Kinsley, at least A Hippo didn’t bite you…”

And Sophie’s answer for everything lately, from diaper changes, to naps, to eating – “I too busy”.

“A worm, and two reindeer”

Kinsley has taken up sculpting. She then wants me to photograph her work and “put it in a picture frame”.

The Belly

It continues to grow – which means that everything is as it should be, though I do feel rather large and unwieldy these days. I seem to be experiencing brief moments of nesting, which the house (and husband) are very grateful for, I’m sure.

One of my new favorite things

This humorous little family was handmade by my family – aren’t they talented?

First, they managed to induce the gourds to grow two summers ago. See, this is where I’d already be lost. Nothing very productive ever comes from my gardens.

But then they managed to dry the gourds (called penguin gourds, by the way) for over a year(!) without losing them. This would be the next problem I would have, since I lose everything.

To top all that off, they manage to come up with this amazingly creative and charming idea, and then implement it!

I come from such a talented family. I often wonder what happened to my portion of the talent.

A holiday lunch

We enjoyed a leisurely weekend together, working and playing in the yard, and even making a spur the moment trip to Saint Louis.

Kinsley has been very interested in “helping” me cook, and took great pride in arranging the food on the plates for our lunch.

Our Christmas Walk

a winter’s morning

This is as close as we came to a White Christmas, this year.

Christmas with my Family

Sweet, lovely Grandma.

My handsome dad in his new Fed Ex uniform.

My strange, artistic little brother.

My brother in law, and my second eldest niece. Me, doing my impression of a beached whale.

Dan. Kinsley insists that this is actually The Grinch, and wonders how Sophie and I ended up in the background.

On Boxing Day

On Christmas day, a family in our neighborhood lost their home. It is still smoldering, as I type.

I can’t stop thinking of them today, and what it must be like. Can you imagine everything in your home being reduced to that?

Seeing this, reminds me again of our incredible wealth. It’s not just the items. It’s not even mostly the items. That family is almost certainly so very grateful to have each other, that they must feel almost blessed, this Christmas.

Still, it is a sobering reminder. Boxing Day was meant to help us to think of the poor in our lives. I keep thinking of what makes a person or a family need. It’s certainly not just not being able to afford certain extravagances.

Dan and I were talking about how we can invest ourselves into those in our lives and our neighborhood who are needy, and he pointed out that often the need has nothing to do with finances.

Often the need is loneliness, maybe especially this time of year.

The lonely old man who lives alone in his cold, dark house, just next door to ours.

The lonely old lady who used to be our neighbor, and is now all but forgotten in the local nursing home.

So, just a reminder (to myself, more than anyone else) that the need out there is probably bigger we realize, and that this is a really good time of the year to take the focus off of ourselves, and our perceived needs.

May God grant us the wisdom to know how to be useful and comforting to those around us in the coming year.

Christmas Morning :: Indoors

Christmas morning was as lovely indoors, as it was out.

One thing that struck me, is that while we may think that times are getting more difficult, we are not needy. Look at the abundance under that tree… We are so rich that I think we can’t even begin to comprehend what need actually is.

Everything we gave to our daughters came from the thrift shop, and while it was an unusually abundant Christmas for them, everything cost less than $30, when it was all said and done.

One of the highlights of Kinsley’s stocking, was the can of black olives which Dan suggested adding.

Sophie on the other hand, was thrilled to death with a twenty-five cent stuffed hippo from Goodwill.