‘opportunity’ and ‘occasion’

‘receive every inward and outward trouble,
every disappointment, pain, uneasiness,
temptation, darkness, and desolation
with both thy hands,
as a true opportunity and
blessed occasion of
dying to self,
and entering into a fuller fellowship
with thy self-denying, suffering Savior.

look at no inward or outward trouble
in any other view,
reject every other thought about it,
and then every kind of trial and distress
will become the blessed day of thy prosperity.

that state is best,
which exerciseth the highest faith in
and fullest resignation to God.’

-william law

Lord,
help me to handle my
suffering well
today,
to see it as
‘an opportunity +
a blessed occasion
to die to self.’

..     ..

cory has a little league mtg this morning,
and after stringing beads at the
kitchen table,
the girls are playing ‘house and gymnastics’
and
the boys are playing oregon trail on the iphone.

cracking.me.up.

oregon trail?
no kidding,
we played that in 7th grade
and our computer didn’t even have color.
it was yellow-on-green.
and i thought that was the
Coolest Game Ever.

and now my oh-so-cool boys
are buying supplies +
running out of food
before they get to the fort+
hunting rabbit +
going fishing,
but theirs is in
color.

and has sound effects.

progress, indeed.

ps -
‘the eagle took louise!’

louise was nathan’s ‘daughter’
and that sucker just swooped
down and carried her off.

the dangers of the prairie, apparently.

oy.

pps -
henry bought
150 lbs of bacon.

but no coffee to go with it.

ah, the frivolity of youth.

half written,
half to go.

personalizing the little tags +
tying them to shinynew pens +
sending warm wishes to our
classmates for valentine’s day.

reading under pressure

here’s what i picked off
the living room bookshelf
for tonight’s
snuggle-up-at-the-end-of-the-day
readings:

lament for a son.
and
shantung compound.

a few chapters into
the first one,
cory rounded the corner
and popped into the bed
to find me
sob.bing.

his kisses cheered me
and he wiped my tears away
and suggested maybe i
try a different approach to
the night’s reading, no?

so i set those
(so good, but so weighty)
books aside
and
phoned my kind friend, diane,
and asked to borrow an
agatha christie.

two and a half minutes later
henry came bundling
down the building stairs
with not-one-but-two
leather-bound literarygoodies
in his hands,

and i’m heading in a new
direction:
‘and then there were none’.

much more like it.

a working lunch

er, a working coffee
is more like it.

an early-evening dedicated
to aligning
family event planning
with
family budget
for 2010.

i came armed with
2 brochures, 1 pamphlet,
internet-access, multiple handwritten lists,
paper-and-electronic calendars,
+
he came armed with
a head-full-o’-vision and
the ability to runnthenumbers,
and a good sense of humor.

and as we walked home,
hand-in-freezinghand,
(seven.teen.degrees.holikamoli.)

cory prayed aloud.

offering ourselves
and our resources
to the Giver of All Life,

reminding us both of
His provision and
His guidance.

we’re yours, Lord;
do with us what you will.

and help me be creative
with the food budget, no?

he works in ticonderoga,
i work in pigma.

(micron 01, as it were.)

ps -
my favorite part of his
walkingprayer was
the
‘and help us not confuse
‘ministry‘
with
‘a fancy life’. ‘

pps -
hugethankyous, em, for
manning the homefront
so we could concentrate.

and goof off.

it wasn’t all concentrating.

maternal despair

i’m crying:

‘giving birth in haiti‘
in the times this morning.

tgifnight

that’s right,
it’s time to boost some cat empire
(lullaby + sly, preferably)

fix The Friday Night Easy Meal
(spaghetti + frozen broccoli)

and listen to the kids + hubby
hooting and hollering
over the beginning of familymovienight
(alex rider)

and i’m going to remember that:

today really was a great day.

co-op preschool here this morning,
coffee with k,
4 friends over after school,
minimal chaos;
what more can a girl ask for?

oh,i’mtickled.
thankyou,ktc,
youmademyweek.

hand-selecting the
exact. three. roses.
we wanted to give to three of our
very favorite people = delightful.

the sky.

the sky was spec.tac.ular.
this week.

the dorkypicture that i sent to cory
in the middle of a work day
to celebrate a
New Scarf.

oohhhlala,
it’s so softandwarm.

(and timely
on a 19 degree day)

the traderjoesbuilding (72/bway)
is quite splendid
in the morning sun.

[dear trader joes,
we're quite hoping you're
actually moving in there and
not just toying with our emotions.
expectantly,
the cates family]

and now i’m going to
have a cup of tea
and try to figure out
why, exactly,
i huffed
and
rolled my eyes
(i so get onto cory when he does that)
when not-one-but-two
of my children spilled
the chex box at breakfast this morning*.

(come on now,
it’s just clumsy.
and it’s just cereal.
and if i want them to begin
understanding that making
clumsy mistakes is
an expected and embraced
part of life -
do you think i could lighten up
on the spilled-cereal bit?
geesh, kj.)

and then i’ll repent,
and pray,
and go to bed
with my cory
snuggled up with this wknd’s read.

happyfriday, friends.

*you guessed right.
cold cereal?
cory’s at an early mtg.
and I’m In Charge.

of course.

justice, not anger

‘i know, O Lord, that a man’s life
is not his own;
it is not for man to direct his steps.

correct me, Lord, but only
with justice,
not in your anger,
lest you reduce me to nothing.’

jeremiah 10:23-24

and a clear word from
the much-admired h. clay trumbull,

‘anger is hot blood.
anger is passion.
anger is for the time being
a controlling emotion,
fixing the mind’s eye on
the one point against which it
is specifically directed,
to the forgetfulness of all else.

but punishment is a judicial act,
calling for a clear mind,
and a cool head,
and a fair considering of
every side of the case in hand.

anger is inconsistent with the
exercise of the judicial faculty;
therefore no person is
competent to judge fairly
while angry.’

hints on child training, p.122

saturday night;
i’ll follow that man anywhere.

and to chambers street, specifically.

his i-know-you’re-photographing-me face.
reminds me of henry.

see us?
cheese-city.

youwanttogotothere:
cory’s sabbath morning feast.

(in your best batman-announcer voice:
‘and later on the Lord’s day…’)
they devoured the
corn, salmon, + arugula/parmesan salad
and except-for-cory, left my
(reallydelicious,inmyopinion)
sweet potato soup
untouched.

if at first you don’t succeed.

sneak-a-peek

if you were to question nathan and i
as to why this weekend was
uber-delightful,
i doubt we’d list off any of the happy events
or even the delightful people
we’ve spent it with,

i suspect we’d sneak a look at each other,
shrug our shoulders guiltily,
and confess that we found
plenty of time to curl up
with our respective books.

i saw his nose in at least three
separate titles and
i know i devoured
2 ‘maisie dobbs’
(ohlala, superthanks, p!)
and
am drinking in a quick run
of ‘mary poppins’
before i sleep tonight.

ahhh, the guilty pleasures
of a reading weekend.

indeed, cory and i
intentionally enjoyed an early date
last night (read: 6:30-9:30pm)
so i could spend the rest of the evening
curled up under the duvet
with the ohsoproper + inquisitive ms. dobbs.

divine.

ps -
cory’s still scooting thru
the stephen jay gould,
but guess what i discovered
in a black plastic bag
from the used booksellers table
after their basketball outing yesterday?

two ian rankins;
his guilty pleasure, indeed.

(rankin and asimov
being two of his favorites)

happy Lord’s day, friends,
and here’s to finding some
stolen reading-moments
throughout the coming week.

salt ‘n pepa, it ain’t

huge props to brent for
fearlessly leading us through
‘how and when to tell your kids about sex’
last night @ the church office.

in order to raise wise + discerning children,
brent encouraged us to take a closer look
at our own views of sexuality
in order to understand what we’re
communicating to our children.

as a group, we talked thru some questions
that i can’t wait to talk about at
further length with cory,
including:

. how did you first learn about sex?

. what kind of attitude was communicated to you about sex during childhood?

. what were attitudes toward nudity?

. what did your parents communicate about the human body?

. did you witness your parents being affectionate and open with each other?
secretive? cold?

. how do you remember feeling about being a boy or  a girl?

. any significant experiences in childhood that shape your feelings about sex?

. when you entered puberty, how did you feel about your sexuality and growing interest in sex?

. are you and your spouse able to talk about your sexual relationship with each other?

he reminded us that an awareness of
our experiences and feeling about sex
is vital to how we will communicate
with our children.

the good dr. bounds also reminded us
that like most things worth doing in life,
we need to create a plan for having
these conversations.

one of my favorite things about
the evening’s conversation was
recognizing that we’re all in this together:

thinking about our sex-education-history
(whether clear or anemic)
and prayerfully engaging our children
as we communicate to them,

‘God made you in his image
as a sexual being
and that’s a great thing.’

gulp + alrightythen.

ps -
two recommended resources:
the stan + brenna jones series
and
the biblical parenting series.

pps -
now i’m going to have
that song running through
my head all day.

6:48pm
friday evening,
en route to the church office
via times square,
33 degrees.

and notetoself:
what’s ‘rosen and chadick’?

wholesale + retail fabrics,
40th/7th
2nd + 3rd floors.

i want to go to there.

peppermint vs. dynamite

i’m considering two
choice bits of advice
from my ‘labour saving hints + ideas’
circa 1924:

no. 4: to banish mice –
a good way to get rid of mice is to
sprinkle oil, or essence, of peppermint
about their haunts, and then push a cork
firmly into any mouse-hole you may find.
mice have a strong aversion to
peppermint, and they cannot
nibble through cork.

and

no. 1026: to get rid of mice -
plaster up their holes with a
mixture of soap and pepper.

?

and here i was
about to go all
caddyshack
on the cheeky little guy.

on balance

if only it were that easy
(and pretty)
to get the balance right
on a daily basis.

happyfriday.

explicit

‘turn my heart toward
your statutes,
and not toward
selfish gain;

turn my eyes away from
worthless things;
(read: my own agenda, my idols du jour)
preserve my life according
to your word.’

psalm 119:36, 37

‘real’ church

in case i fumble this on
my way to mom’s grp today…

the pear+pecan cake
from the magnolia cookbook
reimagined today as an
apple+walnut cake.

arriving at mom’s group;
isn’t the church breathtaking?

the building – central baptist @ 92/amst
the mom’s grp – redeemer presbyterian

it used to get confusing sometimes,

‘okay, kids, we’re going to church.’

‘which church?’ they’d inquire.

and then i’d try to describe
one of the many churches
we (rpc) might be meeting at
that particular day/evening:

1. hunter college
2. advent hope
3. first church christ scientist (remember that funky elevator?)
4. first baptist
5. st. paul and st. andrew
6. ethical cultural society
7. fourth universalist society
8. all angels
9. and now, central baptist for mom’s grp.
(10. and st michael’s, for some of you)

you get the idea.

83/columbus-amst is going to be
such a luxury.

one of the sidewalk caravans
leaving mom’s grp this morning.

and on our walk home,
we passed our ‘real’ church,
gorgeous in the sunshine.

you know, first baptist,
our real church.

where rpc meets on sunday evenings.
for another year or so at least.

and then we’ll have a new ‘real church.’

i love what God is doing
in this city.

i spy

let’s play.

see the red bricks under
the top-floor school window?

see the young man
vigorously waving to
his mom + little sister?

it’s nathan,
hooray,
it’s nathan.

my favorite moment of the day,
so far.

see the bottom-left corner?
newman’s own pasta sauce?

he’s the reason i’ve felt guilty + disloyal
every time i’ve opened the pantry
since purchasing that little mister
last thursday.

instead of our beloved
fairway pasta sauce, oy.

in my defense,
i was speeding down aisle 7
and saw those magic words,
‘vodka sauce’
and my hand shot out
faster than betsy-at-the-newsstand
and, voila, the dirty deed was done.

but no longer.

we’re having pasta tonight
and we’ll enjoy the
fruit of my, um, disloyalty.

mmmmm.

what’s new with this picture?

we added a bookshelf like wendy’s;
ikea-loving.

bins full of pink-ness
makes me happy.

the first thing that greets me
when i descend into the girls’ room?

the vows we took
when they were baptized.

and every now and then
i’ll read them aloud.

for their benefit,
for my instruction and reminder.

‘to the parents of caroline belle cates,
do you…
do you…
do you…’

and

‘we do.’

we mostcertainly do.

the Lord’s day

a quick buck

after an awesomely whirlwindish week,
i’ve been in my pj’s and ready to
curl up with a book
right after the girls go down (6:30pm)
the past three evenings.

so as cory, nathan + henry were on
their way home last night at 7ish,

cory wondered aloud if i was
going to be up or not…

and nathan took that bet.

and won.

(i was far away
in beautiful south africa
with a young madiba
thinking about the results of deprivation -
intentional or hardship-related -
on the shaping of character.

earlier in the afternoon,
i was looking at elisabeth elliott’s grandfather’s book,
‘hints on child training’ where he encourages
deprivation-of- as a means to teach self-control
and contentment.)

this week’s picks:

nicholas wolterstorff
(have you read, ‘lament for a son’?)

nathan finished by streetlight
his new alex rider (anthony horowitz)

and cory is in:

top o’ the morning

i love saturday mornings.

bits + pieces

bits + pieces
of the last day.

just because.

it’s friday afternoon.

surprise (to caroline):
cory was the guest reader
in her sweet class this morning.

he chose, ‘duck on a bike’ and ‘george + martha’

leaving c’s classroom,
cory was reminding b that
this will be her school next year.

oh, and that’s the gym where
daddy + michael + abe
(+ rich + mr. nick + mr. miller, etc)
play basketball on thursday nights.

cool.

we sneeked-a-peek in h’s classroom
as it was on our way out.

(see him standing w/ his back to us
in his green checked shirt?)

hi, harry.

jack is back +
he’s handing out free coffee
@ columbus circle all day today;

head on over.

yes, maia knit that coolest
circular scarf/turtleneck gorgeousness.

2 strands of yarn together,
in less than 4 hrs,
while watching the bbc ‘pride + prej’

sz 19 needles, if you’re interested.

blue mint sugar?
i’m curious.

cupcake + cricket run.

cupcakes for us.
crickets for the chameleons.

thurs morning starbucks school =
kumon cut + paste.

love those (pricey) books.

all i know is that the game:

a) ate up almost a solid hour
b) involved a roll of kitchen twine,
a tennis racket,
nathan/adam/daniel downstairs
and
betsy upstairs
and
c) raising, lowering, and
(the boys) howling with
conspiratorial laughter.

pictoral proof that i can
serve a hot breakfast
when necessary.

cory – early morning work mtg
kj – hard boiled eggs, baby.

i’m so proud.

ps – all photos taken on
my fancydancynew iphone;
will i ever drag around
my favorite nikon again?

surely.

the quality isn’t amazing
(though surprisingly good)
but the accessibility
can’t be beat.

pps -
i’ve officially landed in the next century;
i made my own ringtones.
(just modifying itunes files, really.
.m4r? anyway.)

my favorite one?

when karen calls me,
jonathan sings ‘great big god.’

hello, technology.

in that order

massive props to scott s
for sunday’s sermon;

one line in particular lingers
in my mind today,

(no, not augustine’s ‘whore’
though also memorable)

jesus loves us
and
then we become lovely.

thanks be to God.

afterschool

the entryway hooks are full
of discarded coats and backpacks,
shoes and gloves,
as 3 of n’s and
1 of c’s classmates are here.

early dismissal =
an apt full of jovial (read: loud) children.

and this mother’s prayer
is for God’s love and grace
to be conveyed  in

every bowl of cheerios served,

every word of redirected speech
(one young friend is trying to
break his ‘omg’ habit)

and

every frillyprincessdress pulled on + taken off.

sacred ordinary, indeed.

cereal + apples + far side/calvinandhobbes books =
an afterschool winning combination

playing school in the girls’ room.

a cozy monday evening

ladies dessert in honor
of kim’s sweet new little one,
jonathan.

welcome to the world +
welcome to the community,
sweetiepie.

lisa’s famous raspberry turnovers

(not pictured, but spectacularly scrumptious:
jen’s famous lemon rosemary cake.
hotdog.)

blurryhappyladies
as taken by hpc on the iph.

yes, shorter haircut
as seen by caroline.

and if you’re looking for a
new hairperson,
you must consider my favorite  alex.

(who can replace matthew, really,
but alex is fantastic for wildly different
reasons than our belovedcrazy m.

and you guys who went to mr. matthew
know exactly what i mean.)

breaking bread*

we’ve lunched together weekly
for five years now,
and together we represent
five families and sixteen children.

(w: i can’t bear to think that you’ve
actually moved, so i’m keeping the
numbers at 5 and 16.

you’re moving back to the city
any minute now, right? )

the conversation revolves almost exclusively around
real life
and
God and His Word.

nourishment for my soul;
thanks, ladies.

*well, tomato/feta, mushroom + leek quiches.
silver moon, to be specific.

just another reason to
eagerly anticipate
thursdays at noon.

really, now

parts of my life-with-growing
children
are entirely,
well,
civilized.

to my grateful delight.

2.5 hrs and counting

you know what tonight is, right?

our first fellowship group of 2010, baby.

i’m so wearing my
cheerleading uniform
and busting out the
pompoms.

i’ve made them a word search
in honor of the occasion, of course;
prizes will be given*.

*only patti + i know what the prizes are.
hint: they’re small, shiny + chocolatey.

. dearest baby julia .

our hearts are bursting
as we see the photos
of lucy’s new baby sister,

julia russell anderson.

we’re simply desperate for a julia-snuggle.

congrats, ryan + paula + bigsisterlucy;
we miss you something terrible.

(the photos are helping.)

oh, girlie!
we’re in love.

evil breakfast genius

cory strikes again.

i like henry’s reaction.

ps -
caroline labels the boys’ lunch sacks
in the morning;
this morning was unusually
girlish.

(though neither of them complained,
i wonder if their friends will say
anything at lunch.)

big heart-y n’s and h’s all around.

pps -
a few wks ago, henry reminded me
that it’s much more ‘green’
to use a reusable lunch bag.

i wholeheartedly agree.

however, i’ve purchased 2 new
lunchbags for each boy this year
and they’ve wandered off
and at some point it becomes more
‘green’ ($) to spring for the
little paper sacks
than to keep purchasing $11.99
resuable bags, no?

we’ll try again,
have no fear.

i swooned

‘you are my whole existence,
and I will love you until my very last breath. ‘
-the dashing prince albert

‘young victoria,’ @ lincoln plaza,
two thumbs up, certainly.

i laughed,
i cried;
terribly romantic + inspiring.

well done, ms. blunt, well done;
strong work for one so young.

(aka. the future mrs krasinski, no?)

‘when adam was 130 yrs old…’

i had to laugh at genesis 5
this morning,

dude, if i’m feeling tired as a parent,
can you imagine having children
at 130 (and older)?

poor Adam.

ps -
also, i think that if you have a name
like ’sheshbazzar’
you deserve to get to
rebuild the temple;

his name is like a party in a box,
sheshbazzar.

i like it.

pps -
how about that matthew 5?

‘…but i tell you,
love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be sons of
your father in heaven.’

happy tuesday.

we miss you, mom + dad.

big brother is watching

or in this case,
big sister is watching
little brother.
(he’s in the cockpit)

first family returns from hawaii

this is one way for us to keep tabs
on what scott’s doing
during the day,
just watch the wire
for where his big boss is coming/going.

ps -
as we were watching this,
henry said,
‘i bet it’s hard to be president
and
be a dad.’

singwithmenow

these words from the 5pm service

(while our fingers + cheeks defrosted;
apple bank is touting 17 degrees right now.)

‘behold him there!
the Risen Lamb;
my perfect spotless Righteousnes.

the great unchangeable I Am;
the King of Glory and of grace.

one with Himself I cannot die;
my soul is purchased by his blood.

my life is hid with Christ on high;
with Christ my Savior and my God,
with Christ my Savior and my God.’

cold-blooded

are those snow flurries i see?

pshaw;
let’s hit the zoo,
says our fearless+handsome leader.

b + c were thrilled that they
could lead us to the zoo,
thanks to these helpful signs.

it was 27 degrees on apple bank
when we left

and 25 degrees when we
returned,
oy.

but cory’s enthusiasm + good humor
made it so we barely noticed the chill.

that’s how i roll when i’m cold:
c offered his stockinghat,
yesindeedy;
i’ll wear anything at this point.

do you think we’ll see anyone else
the entire time we’re here?

smart shuttle staff;
they’re huddled up in their own homes
with steaming mugs of coffee and
their toes-eys toasting by the fire.

it’s the staff + us.
cool.

they even took down the tram wires;
everything is hibernating.

n’s praying mantis was
awesomely gross.

the bug carousel = 5 stars.
i would’ve ridden a second time.

ps -
henry’s having a high time of it
in the snowy poconos
with the hinzman fam;
we miss you + have a blast, babe.

those cheeks

we’re in love.

that sweetest jonathan.
and his sister, juliet.

and Those Cheeks.

a morning’s offering

breakfast in bed
for their favorite daddy.

safety-first-nathan carried the steaming coffee.

where there is no vision
the people perish;

thanks for casting our vision,
every.single.day,
cjc.

weloveyou.

ps -
marvelous thanks to my mom
for making the girls’ coziest
nightgowns;
they choose them every night.

snowy museum day

photocredit: you’ll-never-guess

watch out, caroline.

hayden planetarium
museum of natural history

birthday girl

happy birthday, ava love;
yay for you.

invictus

a must-see in the theatre,
if possible.

c’s taking n to see it again.

‘invictus

out of the night that covers me,
black as the pit from pole to pole,
i thank whatever gods may be
for my unconquerable soul…

it matters not how strait the gate,
how charged with punishments the scroll,
i am the master of my fate:
i am the captain of my soul.’

-wm. ernest henley

mandela + pienaar

freeman + damon

hot handed

we’ll let you know how
this one works out:

jacob sent nathan some
‘4 minute magic’
for christmas to break in
his new glove.

1. spray on shaving cream-ish goo
2. bake in oven for 4 min
3. bind w/ rubber bands
4. wait for said magic

i’m sorta thinking this might
be j’s idea of a practical joke.

that’s how we roll

sunday afternoon in central park

mom, dad, and the boys opted
to head downtown,
so it was just cory, the girls and i,
a remarkably civilized outing.

beach volleyball stand

finished this off with a little
magnolia bakery action,
the perfect end to
any outing.

voila,
a dreamy Lord’s day.

ps -
congrats, bebe + brian;
we’re dying.

prayers of the people

it was a pleasure to pray
the ‘prayers of the people’
in morning church today.

and to look out at the audience
of friendly faces and to see
my mom and dad in the mix,
as well as nathan, henry + caroline,
since the children were
in the service today.

prayers of the people
9:15am service
redeemer presbyterian church
nyc

(the pastoral-brilliance of our friend, abe)

‘our heavenly Father,
we are reminded during this Christmas season
that you are now and forevermore will be Immanuel to us,
the God who is persistently with us.

on the day of the birth of your Son,
the angels proclaimed peace on earth and goodwill towards men.
we come to you with prayers because that peace and that goodwill
has yet to take a full and final hold of our hearts and of our world.
knowing that it has been accomplished with Christ’s final breath,
we bring our prayers knowing that your peace and your goodwill
is already doing its work among us.

and so we pray for the unrest that continues to plague iraq
and in particular the violence that has flared up there
because of this Christmas season.
we pray that you might protect both the christians in iraq
as well as the Shiite, both of whom have been recent victims
of attack during this holy season of pilgrimage.

we pray also for our troops in afghanistan and other areas of the middle east
who are separated from family during this holiday season.
would you grant them a peace that transcends all understanding,
that they might know your nearness is these times?
we pray for a quick and peaceful resolution to the conflict there.

we pray for the zimbabwean refugees who have recently
been the victims of violence in South Africa,
where they have fled to find refuge.
we pray that you would intervene there as the Prince of Peace
and bring different peoples together in peace and harmony.

closer to home, we pray for our own nation.
we pray for all who continue to be affected by the economic crisis—
for those who are out of work and underemployed.
we pray for families who are struggling to pay the bills
as these needs are often felt more acutely during this season.
would you come and show yourself to be provider, sustainer and protector.

we pray also for our city.
we thank you for its rich diversity of cultures and races.
we pray that we would see more and more here, in our diverse city,
what it means to live out this great peace on earth and goodwill towards all men—
regardless of race, creed or color.

finally, we pray for our church.
that we would seek to be a faithful witness of your great care and concern for this world.
that we would be a community in which the shalom of God is manifest
and where the great Prince of Peace truly reigns.
we pray all this for the sake of Christ who took on flesh to give us life.

amen.’

ps -
cory got to read a beautiful portion from isaiah
@ the 5pm service last week;
and i loved that i got to go on a hot date
with that hunky scripture reader post-service.

pps -
if the prayer sounds familiar
at the other services,
it’s because sara + michael are reading
it at the two east side services, respectively.

go, team.

sneaky gifting

i disguised a christmas gift to myself
as a gift to ‘family gift’;

i think they’re on to me.

we framed ours in white,
thanks to a.i. friedman.

and huge thanks to jen @
mytreeandme.com.

wow.

ps -
as cory and i are doing some
‘mid-course corrections’
this next week,
evaluating what worked well this
past semester +
what needs to shift for this
next semester,
i’ve taken a fancy to skimming these ceo interviews
in the times.
(with a grain of salt)

‘be brief, be bright, be gone.’

25 december 2009

today, O God,
the soles of your feet
have touched the earth.

today,
the back street,
the forgotten place
have been lit up with significance.

today,
the households of earth
welcome the King of heaven.
for you have come among us,
you are one of us.
so may our songs rise to surround your throne
as our knees bend to salute your cradle.

amen.

-the book of common order,
church of scotland

warm wishes from our toasty apartment to you.

love,
kj
as i snuggle with my cory,
the wii-playing kiddos,
my favorite parents,
my brother + his lovely wife + their cutest gracie

christmas eve @ the white house

see that handsome pilot?

quite the way to
start your christmas eve, little brother.

drive safely.

ps -
fake christmas no. 3
with bethany, lisa, em, meghan + dan

notetoself:
next year, schedule babysitter
so cory can join in the fun.

sorry, love.

pps -
ladies,
who has photos of fake christmas no. 2?
bueller?

wishful drawing

while i was writing an email
to my beloved paula in ca,
caroline sat next to me and
drew a cheery picture
she then entitled,
‘mommy and paula in the sunshine’

now,
where’s my magic button to press +
make the art become reality?

hello, paula.
hello, lucy.
hello, ryan.
hello, small!

ps -
the first flakes
have begun to fall.

hello, snowstorm.

pps -
after a literal two hour trek
down to 65/bway,
back up to 72/bway,
hitting every conceivable
shoppe in between
(and quitepossibly hitting magnolia, as well)

the girls and i still had not tracked down
s l e d s
for our anticipated blustery runs
tomorrow morning.

fortuitously,
we ran into the mom of one of n’s classmates
who inquired about our jaunt.

i mentioned the sled-less quest,
she suggested one more spot to try
and we parted ways.

and as we redirected our route
as per her suggestion,
she came jogging up behind us
with an entirely new idea:

why not just borrow her sleds
and after we’re done,
they’ll hit it.

shazam!

an impromptu sledding time share,
i love it.

see you @ The Hill, friends.
(68 + riverside;
be there or be square)

tra la la

2nd grade chorus concert

love the auditorium’s funky ceiling

two proud performers;
way to go, guys.

sisterly love.

ps -
i was tickled by the formal note
that came home earlier in the week
reminding parents that floral bouquets
post-concert were not acceptable
as the children would still have
several hours of school left after
the performance and nowhere to
store the flowers and that their presence
would be generally disruptive.

and yet,
we still saw several parents
with elaborate bouquets for
their second grade superstars.

oh, wow.

quadruplets

the most delicious
fake christmas dinner
(complete with christmas crackers
since our beloved paula + ryan
introduced them to us)
before our m + j
headed home to scotland.

coronation chicken, anyone?
homemade oreo ice cream?
sticky toffee pudding?

strong work, team wraight, strong work.

quadruplets for christmas?

a spectacular gift:
4 chameleons for the 4 cates’ kiddos.

we couldn’t leave.

i can only remember two
of their names:
rosabelle (b) + zachary (h – previously known as ‘fang’)

and they all change colors.

when the children were in bed
and we were tidying up the kitchen,
cory had a moment alone with
our four fascinating new friends.

ps -
happy 2nd anniv, m + j!

it feels like yesterday
we were dancing at your
wedding.

their engagement spot
(minus the pouring rain that day in 2007)
belvedere castle,
central park.

shall we settle?

yes, we shall.

we might’ve played
nineteen (yes, 19) games of settlers
while morv + jonathan
were here.

we kept a leader board
that included the four of us,
nathan,
and six other friends
who joined as often as they could.

and a proper shout out to michael:
3 games on the board,
2 wins + 8 pts.
yowzers.

ps -
settlers in the wsj today:
strategizing with sheep and bricks;
thanks, brent.

clever halloween get-up.

pps -
guess what lisa + meg
gave cory for christmas?

seafarers.
plus expansion.

gentle reminder

‘lay your deadly doings down,
down at Jesus’ feet;
stand in him, in him alone,
gloriously complete.’
-james proctor

71st + bway

our dear morven iona.

sublime

no lemons?
no problem.

a fresh lime cake,
it is.

she sure had fun
at anna’s birthday party.

dear diary

dear diary,

we are alive.

and we’re oh-so-happy.

we’re just drinking in
every.possible.moment.
with our dear
morv + jono.

eleven days and counting.

hot-diggity-dog, we love these two.

we’re celebrating fake christmas
together tonight,
complete with coronation chicken +
sticky toffee pudding.

wish you were here.

love,
kj

ps -
remind me to fill you in
about the quadruplets.

day of rest

jono, cory, sara, michael,
carrie, lisa, emily, kj + morv.

ummm,

we might be on our
fifth
game of settlers
today,

a sabbath’s rest, most certainly.

far more importantly:
did you catch on from the photo,
compliments of njc?

morv. and. jonathan. are. in. the. house.

thanksbetogod.

they’re here
they’re here.
hotdog, they’re here!

ps -
how about that sermon?

. spk .

the happiest + warmest
birthday wishes to
our thoughtful, kind,
compassionate, gentle,
humorous and wise
sara.

i could go on.

endive, apple, gorgonzola + walnuts

we’re so glad you’re you;
we love you.

jam + scones
for the morning after.

and a million thanks to
my sous chef,
the one-and-only downtownlisabrown.