two minutes of play time

i really do, turkey.

make your own geoGreeting;
the alphabet = real buildings in the real world.

ps – a compellingly alive kitchen:

tea party princesses

the girls of friday preschool
gather to celebrate
k a t h r y n ’s birthday;
isabella, abby, betsy, jane, caroline +
the birthday girl herself

a proper birthday teaparty
(chocolate milk as the mainstay)

kathryn & ami

dance party
in full effect

view from the partypad
(see fairway’s blue awning?)

my during-the-bday-party
impromptu citywrites office @
fairway cafe
(new york’s best kept secret,
in my opinion)

c, j & b
saunter home
from a happy
birthday affair
(princess dresses, tutus + raincoats =
we’ve got a lot going on)

childish behavior

i’m digging ross campbell’s book,
how to really love your child.

i’ve posted these words below
inside the bathroom vanity,
inside the kitchen cabinet,
and they’re rolling around
in my mind.

regarding loving our children
‘unconditionally’,
he tried to constantly
reminded himself
of the following:

‘1. they are children.

2. they will tend to act like children.

3. much of childish behavior is unpleasant.

4. if i do my part as a parent and
love them despite their childish behavior,
they will be able to mature and
give up childish ways.

5. if i love them only when they please me
(conditional love), and convey my love to them only
during those times,
they will not feel genuinely loved.

this in turn will make them insecure, damage their self-image,
and actually prevent them from moving on to better
self-control and more mature behavior.

therefore, their behavior and its development is
my responsibility
as much as it is theirs.

6. if i love them unconditionally, they will feel
good about themselves and be comfortable with
themselves. they will then be able to
control their anxiety, and in turn,
their behavior, as they grow into adulthood.

7. if i love them only when they meet my
requirements or expectations,
they will feel incompetent.

they will believe it is fruitless to
do their best because it is never enough.
insecurity, anxiety and low self-esteem will plague them.

those feelings will be constant hindrances in their
emotional and behavioral growth.

again, their total growth is as much
my responsibility
as theirs.’

after that, he said that he prayed
that his love for his children would be
‘as unconditional as i could make it.’

whew.

rate it

i’ve been using a tip
renee r., mom of two boys,
shared with me
specifically in talking
with boys:

instead of asking the boys,
‘how was your day?’

asking them,
‘rate your day on
a scale of 1 to 5 -
1 is not good,
5 is really good.’

and then following up with,
‘why that score?’

i’ve loved the answers i’ve
been getting;
what was funny &
what was frustrating
about their days @ school.

thanks, r

a + b does not always = c

so, remember the scooternapping from two weeks ago?

well, our angel friend, abby,
was over on friday morning
riding her
shiny pink razor scooter,
exactly like caroline’s was.

(perspective: about every third child
on the streets here is riding on a
scooter of some kind.
loads & loads of them around
and most of them are razors)

so after our sweet friends left,
caroline came inside the front door,
went to cory
and whispered to him,

‘abby stole my scooter.’

?!

in the mind
of a 3 yr old…

and what crazyfun timing:
thanks to uncle scott & aunt katie
who sent a replacement pink scooter
that arrived in an amazon.com box
about 10 minutes
after abovementioned incident.

yay!!

(you’ll notice in the greenmarket photos
she has her helmet on and is
Back On Wheels.
double yay +
thanks, guys.)

tan-ish thumb

gardening isn’t my strong suit,
but i do like to take a stab at it.

lincoln center green market +
3 eager helpers

drawing the fruit + flowers,
an important step

cider + doughnuts

this wknd’s goal =
2 windowboxes of flowers
in front of the boy’s windows

2 flats of coleus, check.
10 lbs. of potting soil, check.
[this little maclaren volo stroller
is a workhorse, baby.]

julia, gardening queen.

our favorite coloring spot

lucy’s growing up.
it was a perfect saturday evening
for dessert in the garden
celebrating paula’s birthday
w/ r + p + r’s lovely mom,
(visiting from canada
to help with her newest
granddaughter).
happy bday, friend.

‘mamapaya’
like gray’s papaya,
only not.
(the kids’ fancy name for
‘mom-brought-hotdogs-from-home’)

sunday hymns
on the fatboy

the big t-w-o

happy birthday, daniel

thanks, kat, for the dresses;
waytoocute.

stripey overkill?
i’m eating it up.

go, eagles

‘MYGRLROX’

baby mama is
even funnier than
the trailer suggests.

and even the trailer-bits
that you saw coming still
drew huge laughs
again in the theatre.

there is this courtroom
scene at the end that
almost put me over the top,
laughter-wise.

loved it.
great entertainment.

spoiler alert:
(don’t read this part until
after you’ve seen it)

i almost got over my
preconceived idea that
amy p is too old to play
her character.
almost.

see, the premise that tina f’s
character is too old to conceive
doesn’t work when you put
amy p’s character as the ‘younger’
more ‘conceptive’ character.

it’s obvious that tina and amy
are actually the same age
in real life.
peers.
so can amy pull off
the ‘younger’ role?
almost.

worth noting:
steve martin & sigorney weaver’s
characters are kooky and terrific.
greg kinnear’s most loveable role
in a very long time.
love the casting overall.

fairway finds

my favorite finds
this morning include:

skippy natural pb, 15oz for $2.49

dole raisins, 24oz box for $2.99

and it’s time to bust out the
soy vay, baby.

our chicken is marinating
as i speak
in the ‘veri veri teriyaki’
awaiting the grill
later this afternoon.
mouthwaternggoodness in a jar.

and they posted a lovely
large sign & photo
in tribute to robert g.
who passed away last week,
a longtime fairway employee.

unfortunately, the tribute &
wake announcement are
quite personal and moving
and i read them as
i was checking out and then
was choking back tears while
trying to complete my transaction
with altagracia & santiago.

a good gesture on fwy’s part.

urban walkabout

cory and the boys took
a 3.5 hr walk yesterday.

the kj-as-mapquest-version:

1. leave 255 w 70 and walk east to central park

2. saunter thru the park and exit on 5th ave

3. continue east to gift shoppe,
select baby gift [baby rattle]
and wrapping paper [orange,
as nathan reasoned,
'i think little babies can actually see orange']

4. proceed to nypres/cornell hospital
[68th/york;
mapquest says it's 2.23 miles from our house
to the hospital, one way]
to meet
b a b y j a n e

[cory admitted to tearing up;
the Lord is very gracious +
we are so excited for the holmberg fam]

5. on to serendipity

6. and to fao schwarz

7. back thru central park

8. pick up sandwiches for

9. family dinner in the garden

[cory said henry was lagging about
a half a block behind for the last 2 blocks.
way to go, kiddo.]

whew;
a perfect afternoon.

did these guys even blink
when their heads hit the pillow?

baby jane holmberg

. jane stuart holmberg .

she was born
last night @ 9:55pm

yay
yay
yay!

baby jane is named after
merritt and merritt’s mom.

we can’t wait to meet her.
congrats, jim & merritt

‘the Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.’
psalm 116:5

please ignore this post

oh.
my.
goodness.

mtk will have to take
full credit
for this one.

have you seen this
crazy piece of work?
watch out,

you will have this
running thru your head,
i promise.
my apologies in advance.

(when have i seen cory laugh this hard?!)
NIVwitharibbonbookmark…
NIVwitharibbonbookmark…

which reminds me of when
i used to host that christian tv
show in high school
and one of the rap groups i interviewed
had this song that went like this…

(personal note:
i like to wait until cory’s least expecting it
and then whisper it in his ear
and watch him c r y.
with laughter, that is.)

‘her skin’s so smooth
you really want to touch it
instead you grab The Book
into your arms
and then you clutch it

remembering what the Bible says
just wait your turn,
get busy before you’re married
and you just might burn

so do the right thing
and forever you’ll stay

in love with your girl,
the almighty way.’

oh.
my.

too too much.

(nice theology, by the way.
remind me again if sarcasm
comes across online?)

and of course,
’stuff christians like’

8 seconds

whew,
i just heard the
[imaginary]
horn go off.

i managed to ride the
elementaryschoolspringbreakbull
for the full
eight seconds.

you see,
because of mom’s cheerful help,
we made it through
(in seriously great form,
much beyond my expectations)
and now cory’s
off tomorrow &
home for the weekend and
from here on,
i know it’s going to be great.

we made it.
we made it!

photo credit: henry

dude, i seriously
audibly
screamed
when this big guy’s
b l a c k
tongue came out and
slurped the foodie pellets
off my palm.
grooooooss.

daniel was the best at it;
he would hold his hand out there
and then give The Best
squeal when they were
consumed by said cow.

ps – if cory had a nickel
for every time i tell him
mtk wins ‘momoftheyear’
he’d at least have
a latte.

that’s a lot of nickels.

hot dogs by the bandshell

making creepy crawlies
(aka. cooking bugs)
ethan, eli, henry + meg

and then we performed yet another
feat of endurance-genius:
a full-fledged target run
in less than an hour.
(enter-to-exit time lapse)

(rather impressive
if i remind you that i
only go to target, oh,
three times a year, no?)

i felt like the half-mad
woman on the supermarket tv show
from the 1980’s where
they give you $500 and
only 20 min to fill your cart.

lacrosse sticks, check.
fruit rageous, check. (read: generic fruity cereal)
pink girly bike helmet, check.
largest bucket of oxy clean possible, check.
monkey head plastic plates, check.
(i didn’t even know
monkeyheadplasticplates existed
but Once I Laid Eyes On Them…
$1.49 worth of dinner magic)
vanity fair dinner napkins, check.
(one of my indulgences, thick paper napkins)
2 pr girls white summer sandals, check.
delightful art supplies, check.
frisbee, check.
‘ratatouille’, check.
diapers & wipes, check.
(but not for long!
caroline finished wearing
them at night 2 wks ago.
how happy are we?!
comeonbetsygirl, youcandoit!)
bike lock, check.
etc. etc., check.

whew.
and yay.

cheers to paula, meghan & julia
for such a fun target run.

ps – when cory opened up his computer
tonight, here’s what was in the google bar:
‘PAWERRANJERSDOTCOM’

nice try, hen.

pps – cory hit ‘enter’ just to see…
no search results for that one.

riding the spring break vibes

the morning’s agenda:
projects, projects, projects

you say ‘free’
i say ‘burritos’
free
burritos!
free
burritos!

i wish you could smell the lilacs;
intoxicating.

that’s right, we’re so far back in the
free burrito line that we have to
turn a corner to even see the
storefront.

so this is where we ended up, instead.
hot dogs + papaya drinks
in the back yard;
perfect.

now, what are we going to
do when my mom leaves
tomorrow morning?
i don’t want to think about it.

ps – one of this morning’s projects
included tackling a few shelves of
office supplies and restoring order.

so henry, my artist-in-residence,
was glad for any handmedown
supplies to create with.

tonight, he was happy to show us
his set of ‘personal files’ created
with a stack of discarded manila folders.

three of my favorites included,
‘files’
‘problems’ and
‘head starts’.

he explained that the ‘h.s.’ file
would include ideas to help solve
the problems in the ‘problems’ file.

hmmm?
cool.

note to self:
get a ‘head start’ file of my own.

‘just know it’

n and i are the earlybirds
around here this morning,
so we read psalm 95
aloud together
(2 verses each, back + forth)
and afterwards we
were talking about
what we each
learned about God
in that passage.

and he reminded me that
i should just know that
God loves me and not
test him or
harden my heart;
he said that’s what ‘faith’ is.

that’s right, kiddo,
i pray that God will
help both of us
‘just know it’
today.

because it’s True.

ps – merritt’s in labor!
hip hip hooray +
we’re praying for you.

merritt, ashley & moi
@ morv & jono’s engagement party

pps – cade & melissa fly to london today.

i think baby holmberg’s arrival
could take away a bit of the sting
of the newman’s move…
we’ll miss you two
very
very
much.

supertuesday

everything is more fun
when my mom is here.

morning wrestlefest

licorice-loading before we hit the met

jeff koons on the rooftop.
n + h drew their way thru
the museum,
starting with these babies.
(pen & paper, pencil & paper, respectively)

jasper johns: gray

betsy, caroline, annie + madeleine

picnic dinner on pier 70

…and caroline came tumbling after.

ps – henry’s wearing heelys
with 2 rollers each.
the perfect hill-climbing shoe.

pps – cory & i hit chipotle
for a tasty dinner tonight
with julia & faith.

[i'm practicing saying 'chipotle'
so it sounds like i know
what i'm talking about.]

we’ll see the rest of you
there tomorrow btwn 11am-8pm.

i feel like a college student saying this

the new chipotle
(i’ve never been in one,
but i hear they’re quite tasty)
on 72/73rd and amsterdam
is giving away
free
food.

doesn’t that bring back
college memories?

free food was always a hit.

today & tomorrow.

hungry + in the ‘hood?
make a run for the border.
or whatever their slogan is.

ps – we’re talking a free meal.
my mom and the boys had
burritos, drinks & chips
for lunch.
gratis.
they’re evidently training their staff
for the grand opening;
sounds like good p.r. to me.

pps – hannah’s engaged!

scott proposed under moonlight
in a hot springs pool.
way to go

hannah & morven lived in our
bunkbeds one summer.
So Much Fun.

she’s teaching international law
in colorado now after
working @ the hague;
so proud of you, hannahbanana,
our favorite palindrome.

let the games begin

first official day of spring break today.

between my mom (aka. grammy) and i,
we covered some
serious
bases.

music class for betsy, check.
train park, check.
picnic w/ the crosby’s & cho’s, check.
library + local toy store, check.
henry’s kindergarten class event, check.
central park zoo, check.
classic playground w/ the jennings’, kramers’ + harris’, check.
celebrating grammy’s bday, check.
superfun + fancy cocktail soiree w/ momfriends, check.

now, what?!

we love spring break.
and we love that grammy’s here!

strains of ‘i’m every woman‘
are playing as jordyn
performs motherly feats of strength.
(a future festivus event?
ezra + caroline + lydia)

we love seeing tim’s book in the stores.

i’m imagining the neighborly negotiations
that went into this paint job.

we love mondays

happy 35th, mom.
(henry’s guess at grammy’s age)

sundayfunday

we totally got in on the
afterparty
for the adidas
‘run for the park’
in central park this morning.

‘turntables on the hudson’
kickin’ it in the bandshell,
impromptu salsa dancing,
adidas/cliff bar/cabot cheese/tshirt
freebies

and henry was positively
scandalized
by the number of port-a-johns
they had lined up;
i liked the
company name,
‘a royal flush’

cory estimates the tree @ 30ft.
nathan is at, oh, about 25ft,
henry’s right below n’s shoes at about 20ft
and caroline is inches below henry
at about 15ft.
i wish you could hear the giggles.
betsy kept circling,
but was too smart to enter in.

monitoring the progress
from a boulder-top perch

can you see one little
black patent mary jane
on the rise?
(left-ish-middle of the photo)

i love a man who’s not
afraid to wear carry pink.

our makeshift parking lot
outside of magnolia
(see our stash of bikes/scooters on the left?)

henry opts to stay outside with me
while i watch the bikes
but the whole time he’s concerned
that they’re not going to get
him the exact right cupcake.

oh, that these are the biggest worries in life.

collective wisdom of godly women

at a brunch yesterday,
godly redeemer women
(about 20 of them,
from whom i have much to learn)
were talking about how they
read the Bible and what other
books inspire their spiritual life.

(note: their ideas were so candid + encouraging;
my translations of them are less-than
how they presented them.
my apologies + i hope you’ll get the gist)

a few ideas
on this sabbath:

1. helicopter reads. (kathy k.)
in addition to daily study,
every so often, sit down and
read straight thru a book of the bible
to get the whole picture.
(ex: luke takes approx 30min,
mark = 30 min,
corinthians, etc.)

2. know that your scripture study/reading
is going to look differently at different
seasons of your life.
(ex: during the season of child rearing,
your daily schedule
is much less predictable than
perhaps during other seasons)

3. pray the psalms in the morning (joanne g.)
for ex.: ps 119:36
‘turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.’

4. don’t beat yourself up.
whenever you see a ‘lack,’
the response of our self-righteous heart
is to say, ‘bad christian! bad christian!’
and feel guilty about it

rather than to look to Christ,
to have our heart warmed by his mercy,
and to move on from there.

shame never motivates.
you need a positive point to start from.

5. hymns and spiritual songs
(psalty was even given
a serious shout out)

6. reading scripture with your husband
as a way to see it from a different perspective
(what strikes you will often be
completely different than what
resonates with him)
and in the long run,
can help you get to know your
spouse on a profound spiritual level. (joanne a.)

recommended books:

. the satisfied heart, by ruth myers (maureen k.)
. tabletalk, monthly devotions by ligoniers.
. valley of vision (’don’t read it unless you want to be
convicted of sin.’ -dorothy g.)
. streams in the desert (patti s.)
. morning & evening, by charles spurgeon (dorothy g.)
. the daily bible, readings are in chronological order as
to when they were written (carole k.)
. the robert murray m’cheyne bible reading plan
(i shrank this down & put it
in the back of most of our household bibles.
i read that day’s passage
regardless of if i read
yesterday’s or not.
i’ve used this schedule for 7 yrs now
so i figure over time i hit
every part, right?
i put it in nathan’s bible, as well)

baffled

henry, amazed, describing something
he saw on his bike ride yesterday:

she had this ‘wallet transportation’
thing where you can only carry ONE thing,
like your wallet.
or if you had something
really small, like ants.
you could carry ants in it, too.

honey, it’s called a ‘fannypack.’

ps – who read the interview with
bill nye in the times’ magazine today?
talk about inspiring.
he gives back energy
to the LA power grid?!

sunny saturday

last night’s guest chef: greg
he came + cooked us a
tremendous meal of
butternut squash risotto,
haricot verts + fresh portobello
for a lovely late evening
dinner in the garden.

now accepting applications for
future guest chef positions.

no shortage of uses for the
fatboy point (ottoman);
piano bench

go, eagles

family movie night: enchanted

okay, we loved it.
. amy adams = a+
. patrick dempsey = mcdreamy, for sure
. bebe + charis’ old building @ 116/bway!
(we recognized the marble hallways
before they gave away the address)
. and of course, there’s a whole musical number
set right where we rode our bikes this week.
(the funky roller skating place in central park)

great show.

ps – i hope they get the stink
cleared up before cade & melissa
arrive this week.

popemobile

oh, duh.

we’ve been wondering what
all the helicopter buzz
was about
(they’ve been hovering all day,
a teeny bit unnerving)

the pope is in town
and he’s riding down
fifth avenue
(from 70th to 50th st)
right now, apparently.

we can see 4 heli’s
from our back yard
and the sound echoes
from the neighboring
buildings sounds like a
fleet of them are up there.

quiet

the song that is running thru
my head yesterday & this morning
is the one based on zephaniah 3:17,

‘the Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save,
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.’

and these
words of
explanation:
‘The Lord’s purging and transforming
work of grace creates a
renewed people who acknowledge
His rule and trust in His name.’
-reformation study bible

yesterday,
my heart was not quiet.
and required supernatural
transformation to cease
the bitter chatter in my soul.

His mercies
are
new every morning.

[cory & nathan left for the
baseball field at 7:40am;
i was glad that betsy was still sleeping,
the perfect reason for
the little kids and i to join them
just a wee bit later,
at a little more humane
saturday morning hour]

daniel, henry, caroline, jandro, nathan & elena
take a break to catch a bit o’ popeye

between you and me,
i must admit that
henry’s legos book,
‘the trouble at the bridge‘
is a surprisingly good read.
a bank robber w/ a curly moustache,
a construction project, firemen & helicopters -
quite a range of elements tied up neatly
into a compelling story.

don’t mind if i do read it to them again.
and again. and

fatboy

do i love it for this:
that the boxes alone
held our attention for
over an hour today?

there are 5 children and 2 boxes
hidden under that pink sheet
[trey, harry, caroline, henry + betsy]

b’s about to open pandora’s box
with 4 children giggling inside.
and each time they close the flaps,
harry says the subway thing,
‘please stand clear of the closing doors’

or
do i love it for the initial
reason we chose it,
the flexible piece of
kid-and-adult-friendly
pseudo-furniture
that it is:

fridayfriday

the people @ nbc are
so thoughtful.

the sweetest gift
to receive every friday?

a new episode
of 30rock on nbc.com

tgif, amigos.

’surprised by hope’

i could’ve listened
all night.

n.t. wright spoke at
a local church tonight
about the future +
the present.

quoting george herbert,
groucho marx,
woody allen &
manly hopkins, among others,
he talked about the
resurrection,
about ‘life after life after death,’
and how if God intends to
renew the world,
then what i do today matters.

‘who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,
makes that and th’ action fine…’
-g. herbert

slow and swift

one line from a
memorable hymn
has been circling through
my mind this week:

’slow to chide
and
swift to bless…’*

wouldn’t the children
and cory love it
if i was, in fact,
’slow to chide +
swift to bless.’

james reminds me of it, too:

‘my dear brothers,
you should be
quick to listen,
slow to speak,
and slow to become angry.
for man’s anger does not bring about
the righteous life that God desires.’

james 1:19-20

*remember the rest of the lyrics?

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
To His feet your tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who like me His praise should sing:
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise the everlasting King

Praise Him for His grace and favor
To our fathers in distress.
Praise Him still the same forever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise Him, praise Him,
Glorious in His faithfulness.

Fatherlike, He tends and spares us;
Well our feeble frame He knows.
In His hands He gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Praise Him, praise Him,
Praise Him, praise Him,
Widely as His mercy goes.

the rollerskater guys

you know that area south-west of
the bethesda fountain
and north of the sand volleyball court
where those guys in funky outfits
do the fancy roller skating
on summer afternoons?

well, that was the
perfect
bike-riding
scootering
spot
yesterday.

just what the doctor ordered.

betsy was on foot,
chasing everyone
as hard as she could

he searched the ground
for the most perfect
of the fallen ones;
thanks, nathan.

thanks, meg, for all your
help & good humor;
my stress-o-meter
lowers dramatically
when you’re with us.

back & forth with henry

morv reminded me of
this first one,
so i’m adding a few more
from the notes we keep:

‘did you know you can kill a man
by kicking him in the weiner?’ (age 4)

‘no naked karate!’ (cory, age 33)

” ’stupid’ is a bad word.
but that’s what a somersault is.
a ’stupid’ somersault is a weak somersault
so ’stupid’ means ‘weak’.” (age 3.5)

‘henry, take that sock off your
peepee and put some underwear on!’ (cory, age 31)

h: mom, what time is it?
h: mom, what time Is It?!
h: MOM, what TIME Is It?!!
kj: henry, it’s 10:05
h: what does that mean? (age 4)

h: i’m just feeling a little sick.
c: oh, really? what’s wrong?
h: it’s just a little fever.
c: what does ‘fever’ mean?
h: oh, it means coughing.
i’m coughing because i drank
a little coffee yesterday. (age 4)

‘mom, jesus is a christian, right?’
well, actually…

kj: hen, the Lord has some great plans for your life.
h: yeah, like steak for dinner?!

‘we should pray that jesus
takes away all our germs
even after we go to the
bathroom and don’t wash our hands.’
[ewwwww]

h to n: i’ll owe you a coke
if you give me a jinx.
do you want a coke?

‘nathan, go ask mom if i can
give you some of my money.
i think i have too much and
i want you to have it.’

h: mom, can i play on the computer
when caroline goes to bed
kj: sure, hen, sounds fine.
h: okay, can you put caroline
down now?
[author's note: it was about 4pm]

h, praying for our dinner:
‘dear jesus,
thank you for this spaghetti.
thank you for nathan and
please help him to obey
even when he doesn’t feel like it.’
n: well, that’s offensive.

h, recently acquainted with the
meaning of his name:
‘mom, does ‘ruler of the home’
mean i’m the boss of nathan?’

“if your mom dies,
then your dad does all of the work
and it’s called a ’step mom’. “

‘mom, God always existed, right?
that means he doesn’t have a
little birthmark like betsy, right?!’

‘don’t say that God is stinky
because he isn’t
and he doesn’t like that.’

when you’re on a moving subway train
and you still need more action,
well…
we love you, henrycates.

faux-fulfillment

a serious shout out
to the fellowship group staff
@ redeemer.

every week, they write a
study based on that week’s sermon
which groups across the city use;
we use it at our mom’s group and
at the fg that meets in our apt.

two sundays ago, tim started a series on
‘christian practices’,
things that take our belief in Christ and,
when practiced,
effect lasting change
in our behavior.

that first sunday,
he taught on ‘worship’ and
has us look at psalm 95.

here’s how part of the fg study went:

“Read the following statement about worship aloud to
the group, then discuss the questions that follow:

We will always give our time, energy, and money
to whatever we feel gives our
lives the most meaning—
and we will do so with the least amount of effort.

Where we spend our time, energy and money
with the least amount of effort is an
excellent indicator of what, or whom, we worship.
Something is engaging your
heart, moving your will, influencing your mind.

What is it? Is it Jesus or is it a rival-god? “
the questions that
followed that statement,
went something like this:

1. identify your rival-god(s).

[ex: the ones on my short list
include a variety of things that
offer a sense of control + order;
shopping, eating, playing, creating, etc;
it's unfortunately a
rather
long list.]

2. what do these faux-god(s) promise you?
how often do they deliver on that promise?

[is what they deliver ultimately helpful or
harmful to you in the short term?
in the long run?
ouch.]

3. in light of what ps 95 says,
that ‘the Lord is the great King above all gods,’
are there ways he could grant you
what you’re looking for/needing from
your ‘gods’?

are there ways that Christ could
deliver what your ‘god’ only promises?

[how often do you think he could deliver on that +
do you think that would be ultimately helpful/harmful to you?]

seriously.
way to make me look at this one, fg team.

i can’t shake it.
and that’s a good thing.

lucy listened very patiently
as caroline read her book
after book
after book
after…

we’ll come to you

we heart sabon

union square;
we decided to hit the strand

rockon.

on nights that cory has
session mtg after work,
we love to head his way and
meet up for some playtime
@ madison sq park
before he goes

happy meeting, babe.

and thanks, jules, for walking
nathan home from cub scouts +
making the whole daddy-less
night work.

scooternapped

fiddlesticks.

caroline’s new
hot pink
razor scooter
was
snatched.

from right inside
the entryway.
(where all the other
scooters remain hanging;
i guess
beat-up-blue and
whacked-out-black
aren’t as tempting)

at least she had a week’s fun!

(and i do feel sorry for whoever
took it home because it has
2 labelmaker labels with our
name and address on it and
then on the bottom, it says,
‘caroline cates’
with a big heart for the ‘o’,
so someone somewhere
is riding around with a
hearty-’o’ that’s not their name.

hey, maybe the girl’s name
is
‘caroline’.
well, at least that would be
the tiniest bit wackyredemptive.)

a very satisfying sunday

laura m, maya g + emma s
were baptized this morning*

which made us nostalgic
at breakfast this morning,
remembering that
in our 12 years at redeemer,

drew (field) received us as members,
tim baptized nathan,
tony baptized henry,
john baptized caroline +
tuck baptized betsy.

during the service this morning,
henry was doodling at one point
and just about audibly burst out
when he noticed cory’s name
printed in the bulletin.
(list of elders)
so he took his pen and proceeded
to circle the names of all of
the elders that he knows.

shea stadium, baby
go, mets
(w/ the kramers, reynolds + harris crews)

jim & merritt’s
ingenious bunkbed project
involved, oh, about
4hrs straight of jim
on the table saw downstairs.
brilliant idea, j, + we hope it fits

the girls and i went to
joseph pharmacy
(to ride bobthebuilder and)
to buy their very own,
very first
bottle of nailpolish.
c chose bubblegum pink, por supuesto.
and their 40 little nails
look
supercute.

(the next 10 yrs of my life
are flashing before my eyes,
visions of
polish &
remover,
lipgloss (philosophy ‘lemonade’ is the flavor du jour) &
hairgel
abound)

*i love the significance
of child baptism.

the pastors ask the parents
the following questions,
to which they respond verbally:

1. do you acknowledge your child’s need
of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ,
and the renewing grace of
the Holy Spirit? (yes)

2. do you claim God’s covenant
promises in his behalf,
and do you look in faith to the
Lord Jesus Christ
for his salvation,
as you do for your own? (yes)

3. do you now unreservedly dedicate
your child to God, and promise,
in humble reliance
upon divine grace,
taht you will endeavor to
set before him a godly example,
that you will pray with and for him,
that you will teach him the doctrines
of our holy religion,
and that you will strive,
by all the means of God’s appointment,
to bring him up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord? (yes)

and then the minister turns to
the congregation and asks us
to raise our right hands in affirmation:

do you as a congregation
undertake the responsibility
of assisting the parents in the
Christian nurture of this child?
(an auditorium full of raised hands
always makes me tear up at this point,
esp when i’m standing on the stage
next to cory being visibly reminded
of God’s care & provision for
the children we’ve been entrusted with)

human chia pet

ahh, sunday;
a day for reflection,
for confession,
for perspective
and remembering
that we are God’s people,
that our identity is rooted in Him
and
in His character,
not our own abilities or
performance.

but can i take a minute
for vanity’s sake and just say:

the humidity this week
is killing me.

i practically have to bolt
my hair down onto my head.

this morning,
nathan was the first to
pipe up about my blonde ‘fro,
‘mom, did a tornado hit last night?’

i may be taking a sabbath rest today
but my hair grows on.

my choices this week, apparently,
are going to be
pigtail,
ponytail,
barrettes, or
baseball caps.

operation: keep-it-under-control

oye.

ps – one afternoon this week
was so crazy that
the kids and i had to
pop into a drugstore
en route to the park
to buy a ponytail holder;
it was getting dangerous
without it;
i couldn’t see
the kids.

classy.

pps – the only kind the
tiny drugstore had (jaros’ @ 65/cpw)
was the kind from elementary school
with the two plastic baubles
at the end
and i actually had to stop
and try to remember
how it worked
to get it to stay in my hair.

london or bust

the only photo i snapped of
our dear cade & melissa
(guests of honor)
is this back-of-her-head,
side-of-his-face shot.

they’re evidently already
transitioning
out of new york
as they opted
not
to wear black
to their own farwewell party.

pre-party deck cleaning;
we don’t age-discriminate
our workers.

david, jen + greg

the perfect morning-after breakfast
using all the leftover bits of
baguette, multi-grain and raisin/walnut
from the various cheese & salmon platters
to make cory’s famous french toast.

more photos later
as we’re off to
morning church to celebrate
laura morgan’s
baptism

we love friday nights

hot dogs + strawberries,
the perfect friday night non-dinner dinner

getting ready for the talent show
tap girls: julia on the left + isabel second from right
don’t lose a screw

and now,
off on a date
with my favorite cory…

hook + ladder

we may need to call the
fire department.

betsy decided to join
the rest of the children
up on the loft
and,
long after they’ve
all come down,
she remains.

she’s been up there for over an hour,
playing and singing.
and at points,
she actually wants
to come down.

but the only person she
considers worthy of the
task of removing her =
cory.

you know,
cory,
the one person in our family
who isn’t here.

nice.

come on, little kitten,
come on down.

update: 5:49pm, we have touchdown

camaraderie on the go

this specific season of having
9, 5, 3 and 2 yr olds to care for,
makes me long
(and i mean long, and yearn, baby)
for my friends,
my peers;
for conversations and
advice,
for their encouragement and
humor.

this week was unique
and satisfying
in that i got to talk at length
and pray with anne marie & jordyn
last night
and
enjoy a lingering dinner
and conversation
with charis & melissa
on tuesday night.

the Lord has been
generous this week.

ps – cory would dig this
(if it were cheaper)
vintage baseball sign @ etsy

let it out

ps – this website has captivated
my attention.
what will you do if
i send you money?

pps – carolyn mahaney’s talk on ‘watch your husband’;
(free download)
i kept thinking of my parenting,
in addition to my wife-ing,
while i was listening to this, as well.

game face

so, after school,
we voted to go to
hecksher playground
(south-west corner of central park)
for a romp in the sun.

it was our first time there
this season,
and i forgot
that we would need
A Plan.

on the full-o-meter,
the park was
‘quite to mostly’
full.

and i’m introducing
four happy joiners
to the mix.

(it’s a Huge playground)

and just one me
with one set of eyes.

hmmmmmm.
?

note to self:
come up with said
Plan
before we return
and
pray grateful prayers
for not permanently
losing anyone
today.

painting with marion

virginia’s here!
and marion,
and baby caroline,
and matt, of course.

new schools for new orleans,
the reason they moved;
a solid reason, to be sure.

betsy as photographer,
baby caroline

just like ‘mary poppins’

caroline kept hoping our
ponies were going to
jump the track and take
off on a race
“just like ‘mary poppins’; “
don’t we wish.

caroline, betsy, meghan & trey;
nathan, samantha + henry
(random: anthony bourdain was
riding right in front of betsy
with his baby daughter)

at one point,
caroline came skipping over saying,
‘henry’s over by the car-way!’

(see the cars to the left of nathan?
it’s the 66th st traverse that cuts
thru central park)

though she’s an urban girl,
i promise she knows what a ‘road’ is.

a post-carousel picnic in sheep’s meadow
(much of it spent chasing a lizard hiding
in the south boulders) +
a stint at the 69/cpw playground =
a splendid afternoon’s outing

[and the apt was kept clean for
bible study tonight.
we arrived home just in time for
bath & jammies & to whip up some
carribbean black bean/tomato pasta
for our fellowship group friends.

i needed this wed to go smoothly
after last wed went so bump-ily;
i was starting to fear 'wednesdays']

earlier in the day:
a new aspect of our trek to mom’s group
(92+amst) is caroline & trey on scooters.

i love that trey asked rachel before
we took off, “red is faster than pink, right?”

they’re developing some
mad scooter skills.

phase 2

here’s where we are today:
. the loft is up
. all hardware in place

here’s what’s left to do:
. mount second ladder to the east wall
. build the radiator cover (floor level below the windows)
. fill screw/bolt holes with joint compound
. sand
. sand some more
. sand again (mr. projectforeman is a stickler)
. paint that baby white

(you know if it were up to me,
i’d just paint it now)

sunshine abounds

to give you an idea: the finished platform
is the size of a king-size bed

fool me once

shame on you.

fool me twice,
shame on me.

well, not this time, sistah.

operation: rid-the-house-of-loft-y-sawdust
is in full effect today.

i spent a good chunk of time
taking everything off of the boys’
bookshelves and dusting and
replacing.

the stuffed animals took a
dusty hit, so i tossed them into
the wash-o-matic.

but take heart!
i remember my mistake last time:
Dryer
Disaster

note to rookies:
if the animal has fur that
moves when you rub it back & forth,
do
not
dry
it.

ugh!
brillo-ish animals
aren’t snuggle-worthy
any longer.

oye & sorry, kids.
i did better this time.

in context

the repetitious ordinary
circular cycle
that is
my life with children
often
makes my
vision myopic.

a breezy walk
[central park]
and
a relaxing coffee break
[le pain quotidien]

reminded me of
the larger context
of my life this morning,
and my heart is
beaming
because of a
wee bit
larger-than-myself
perspective.

whew.

lincoln center looking pristine
in the early sunlight

waiting for players

waiting for pint-sized riders

‘nothing spared’

“we hope that life is good for you all
and that you know the
Lord’s passionate,
‘nothing spared’
excess of love!”

how sweet to
drink in these
words from
morven’s mom (in scotland)
that arrived in my
mailbox today.

thanks, kris

ps – caroline turned to
cory this morning and said,
“ewwwww, daddy,
betsy’s trying to kiss me
like mommy and daddy,
not like sisters.
sisters don’t kiss like that!”

pps – i know, i know,
you guys have already read these.
i haven’t even started.

2008 pulitzer prize winners announced:

fiction .
“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” by Junot Diaz (Riverhead Books)

drama .
“August: Osage County,” by Tracy Letts

history .
“What Hath God Wrought,” by Daniel Walker Howe (Oxford University Press)

biography .
“Eden’s Outcasts,” by John Matteson (W.W. Norton)

poetry .
“Time and Materials,” by Robert Hass (Ecco/HarperCollins)

poetry .
“Failure,” by Philip Schultz (Harcourt)

general nonfiction .
“The Years of Extermination,” by Saul Friedlander (HarperCollins)

music .
“The Little Match Girl Passion,” by David Lang (G. Schirmer)

causing an explosion of varying magnitude

i so appreciate how tim said
this to us yesterday when he
was talking about the
christian practice of
worship.

we were looking @ psalm 95*,
and
he implored us

to think,
to grasp,
to weigh,
to count,
to reckon,
to regularly assess
who Christ is
and
what he has done for us

until
it explodes
with joy
in our hearts.

and then,
only then,
the patterns of our
life will change.

and be transformed more
into the likeness of
Jesus himself;
rather than being
an inconsistent believer
or, at worst,
a hypocrite

* v1, ’sing for joy’
’shout aloud’
v2, ‘extol him with…song’
v6, ‘bow down in worship’
‘kneel before the Lord’
v8, ‘if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts’

lofty dreams

overheard:
‘at least now
we know there
aren’t any monsters
under our bed.’

the boys are sleeping in
the loft tonight,
thanks to the diligent handiwork
of my cheerful cory.

i think i massively underestimated
how much time + effort it would take
to finish this project well.

and it is terrific.

(maybe 2 hrs of finish-up work
for c this week and then i’ll paint it)

i must say,
there’s been talk of
a fireman pole and
a swing;
the possibilities are
endless.

an urban bed-raising

aka. ‘loftbuilding 101′
aka. ‘operation: take back the light’

the skinny:
the two windows in the boys’ room get
Direct
Sunlight

so it’s long been a goal of mine
to maximize our enjoyment of those
rare and precious beams of light.

today,
a dream was born.

huge huge props to
chris & greg.

1. draft ideas 1-13,
narrow it down + make a materials list.
call prince lumber & arrange for
early saturday morning lumber delivery.
hit up home depot on way home from
work on friday for necessary
odds & ends.

2. dismantle bunk beds and
shimmy them down to the
girls room.
buh-bye, crib + toddler bed
congrats, big girls in big girl beds

3. begin prepping the room by
cutting holes in our perfectly good walls.
?

begin drawing measurements on walls
and even performing mathematical
calculations on the parts of the walls
that you’re planning to knock out anyway.

stand around for, oh, about one full hour,
tape measure in hand,
tapping your head,
think,
think,
think;
just like pooh.

*an important piece of information:
the ceiling in this room
vaults just before the windows,
so we’re trying to utilize those
extra square feet in the sky.
that’s where the boy’s heads will go;
the clearance in that half of the loft
will be approx. 4 feet. sweet.

girly helpers

4. pause while your wife hosts
a pink+happy baby shower for
one of our superfavorite friends.

5. chris + greg arrive to lend a hand;
whew.

6. cut wood & do lots of
busy things with tools and saws
for several hours

i’ll have to ask cory how to explain this,
but now that the loft is up,
i can see that this step was a really
important one:
they cut out 8″x30″ holes in the wall,
put in these thick boards (8×30 size)
and attached them straight to the studs.
so the loft is mounted directly to the
studs & reinforced.

this is what it looks like after
the thick wood has been mounted
to the studs:
(cory will laugh when he reads this;
i’m sure there’s an easier way to
describe what is probably an
uber-common procedure)




betsy has it in her head that
she needs to order ‘more wood’ from
the ‘lumber store’ on cory’s cell phone;
everyone wants to help.

7. hoist that baby into position:

so they removed the one
offending board

and
voila

[we love it already]

the clearance is 5′9″
(6′ between the frame studs)
so only some people will
have to duck

tomorrow =
railings, ladders, support beams, paint + the like

tomorrow night, hopefully =
two young male (if very eager) tenants

ps – who has already read this?
‘unaccustomed earth‘ by jhumpa lahiri;
can’t wait to get my hands on it as i
loved interpreter of maladies +
the namesake.

funny girl

i am loving that
charis, melissa & merritt
are all pregnant at the
same time.

today was charis’ shower
and it was a complete
laugh-in.

mrs. smith (ryan’s mom), and
charis’ sisters, christy (from ga)
and kate (from uptown)
were all here, as well as
a room full of some of
the most fun people in manhattan.

loved it.

loved celebrating that
adorable baby girl that
is just about to join us.

hooray for baby girl smith;
you picked an awesome family, sweets.

caroline + ashley;
lbrn – see the dress?!
cuteasabutton.