you should see it

.. the look in cory’s eye
[gently excited]

.. the faint smile constantly on his lips
[so happy that our family is here
with the cates' family at large]

.. happily wincing from his sore muscles
[golf, tennis, wakeboarding, and lots of wrestling;
they're off golfing again this morning.

on tuesday, after finishing 18 holes,
they noticed that the beginning of the course was wide open,
and opted for an additional 9]

.. his adventurous side
[he and jacob took the boys on
a 3 hr jaunt yesterday along the
missouri river,
looking for snakes + turtles.

imagine the popularity points
i earned when i picked them up
in the car with sonic drinks for all.]

rest
is
good.

ps – the point of contention for the week:
he took me on an afternoon date
the other day + we sauntered thru
downtown parkville
(his parents live on the bluff
above parkville, mo, which has a
little main street with cool shops;
amc, you + i could’ve spent an hour
in this shop, nine lives)

so he wanted to show me this
awesome science store
he and the boys had gone in
a few days before

and i couldn’t
get
him
out.

old + new physics books, astronomy books,
about 12 different big telescopes,
microscopes, anatomy models (humans + insects),
chemistry experiments, fossils,
and on and on.

i was enchanted, too,
but after 40 minutes
(which is equivalent to ‘eternity’
on cory’s shopping-tolerance scale)
i was ready to wrap it up.

my find?
the coolest lab notebook ever.

science-store, schmience-store:
show me the paper section.

wild kingdom, of sorts

animals we’ve seen in
grandma + grandpa’s
neighborhood in our
week here, so far:

. 1 fox
. 2 raccoons
. 2 deer
. very cute dogs
. frogs galore
. insects i’d rather not
think hard enough about
to come up with their names

family day

uncle jacob is getting nowhere fast.
but rather loudly.

aunt amy teaches caroline
her in-the-kitchen tricks;
whitney’s next in line.

thanks for such a perfect afternoon/evening, j + a;
not many people are brave enough to
invite a family of 6 for dinner
(and keeping the boys for a cousins-sleepover;
hope it’s going well over there)

after the fiesta @ jeremy + amy’s,
+ leaving the boys with them,
the girls and i dropped cory off
for some tennis doubles with his brothers + a friend
and felt nostalgic as we drove by his old
alma mater, sm north

(it’s 7:45pm, but the sun is
still radiant,
prompting the girls bedtime protests)

creative tuesday

the girls take the stage @
crown center.

the kids giggled when i told them
that this is where cory and i
used to come on dates
[in the winter
when the stage is
an ice skating rink]

betsy channels bono.

audience members include:
melanie, will, carsten, kaitlyn,
nathan, henry, caroline, betsy +
grandma barb

introducing will + carsten
(they just moved to kc;
so good to see you guys)
to kaleidoscope.

i have fond memories
of coming here
as a school girl.

the grown-up cates’ boys
are relaxing after an early
tee time this morning,
and are indoctrinating
my boys into the world of
’sandlot,‘
a childhood favorite of cory + his brothers.

up next:
nightly game of cards.
or three.

missing person

they almost had to file a report
on me yesterday afternoon.

on our way home from the lake,
we needed to pop into to the
grocery store to pick up a few
final things for our
post-full-day-of-water-play-we’re-starving
dinner
(all the boys + stacy went back out
for another round of tubing +
wakeboarding,
so we were going to get the
girls settled in at home and
fix something yummy for dinner)

so i volunteered.
sure, i’ll run in +
grab the 3 items we need.

my
oh
my.

i
forgot.

i completely forgot how
amusement-park-like
grocery stores can be.
(if only they had handed me
a map on my way in)

what is this behemoth
known as ‘pricechopper?’

i needed rollerblades +
a GPS.

i’m pleased to report,
i found the 3 items and
dashed back to the safety
of my mother-in-law’s
waiting car.

seriously, suburban parenting classes
must offer a class or two on
‘edibles management’
so your family doesn’t
starve to death.

a hunter-gather-er’s degree of sorts.

sidenote:
the girls who had been dozing
in the backseat of the car
woke up while i was in the store
and as barb recounts it,
it went something like this:

girls: where’s mommy?
grandma: she’s in the grocery store
girls: what store?
grandma: the grocery store.
see where the red door is?
caroline: that’s not a grocery store.

ps – i was thinking later on
that it reminded me of when they
had to tie a rope to
the high priest’s ankle
when he went into the
holy of holies
so they could pull him out,
if need be.

i’m kinda thinking i shouldn’t
go back in without a
rope
next time.

waterlogged

henry, danny, stacy + jacob

cory + caroline, danny + betsy

junior driver

nathan + jacob

memory lane

daddy was little once?
a dawning new revelation.

after church + lunch with
the fam
(read: dick + barb,
danny + stacy,
jacob + us)

we sat in a comfy circle in the
living room + went through
2 big boxes of cory’s memorabilia.

personal humiliation:

having dated this boy since we were 17,
and being prone to note-writing and
picture-drawing and
their embarrassing counterparts,
there are far too many
(say 200? more?)
embarrassing examples
of expressing my
delight in the young cjc
and his affection + attention.

marker, crayon, hallmark, homemade,
it’s all in there
tidily preserved in
big ziploc bags (thanks, barb).

was i really that shallow?
(que ‘has that changed?’ jokes)

i gave in to stacy’s joking pleas
to let her read one especially effusive
example entitled,
‘you make me smile;’
a handmade (8×11in – oye) booklet
with the top 10 reasons i love cjc.

i was eighteen.

number 4 and number 7;
oh, brother.

they were guffawing*.
nice.

anyway, the kids found hours of amusement
dressing up in daddy’s old duds
and
the adults had fun coming thru
all of cory’s old grade cards +
football pictures +
writing examples.

beanie time;
bison, gowithkarip.

betsy loved the trophies,
caroline the pep-club-ish memoribilia of all sorts,
henry + nathan were in heaven
looking @ all of the cub scout/boy scout
uniforms + badges, 2 pinewood derby cards
(‘the green bullet’ and ‘no. 83′), etc.

freshman-sophomore year
baseball jacket from
university high,
the lab school @ isu,
normal, illinois.

i like the little scripty
‘cates’ in yellow thread
on the front
of the jacket.

*i might have pulled out
the top 20 worst offenders
(on the cheesy-scale)
and quietly disposed of them.

i guess the authors get to
rewrite history, no?

church tour, week 2

one of my favorite parts of our
extended summer vacation
is the chance to worship with
different congregations.

last week: st. philips of the highlands,
garrison, ny

this week: new covenant baptist church,
parkville, mo

last week, tears were running
down my cheeks as we
heartily sang
‘the church’s one foundation,’
embracing our common
dependence on Christ +
his provision.

and i welcomed the rector’s
admonishment to
‘cast away the works of darkness
and
put on the armour of light’
and to
‘fearlessly and courageously’
seek the Lord Jesus.

and this week, my eyes
brimmed with tears as we sang
‘here i am to worship’
and was grateful for the pastor’s
clear teaching on our
inherent rebellion vs.
the freedom of obedience.

thanks for having us
and
greeley wesleyan, here we come.

ps – we miss you, redeemer.
i was feeling wistful
last night around 5ish
wishing i was with you.

see you on sept 7th.

maybe ‘reunited‘ will start
playing when i do a
chariots-of-fire slow-mo run
through the front door of the church
and start hugging
unsuspecting necks.

also, i miss not having to
‘watch my skirt’
when i walk down the
aisles of other churches.

how boring.
how predictable.

belated

oh, happyhappy birthday,
friends-with-july-birthdays.

i have egg on my face
because i missed
all
of them.

happy birthday, friends.

jenny, amanda, merritt,
stacy, sacha,
karen e-c, sarah k, jack r,
xander sweetie,
kim d, amy c, brennan girl,
connie, abby r, heather,
chelsea, thatcher, paige,
jake, jim b, and jerry d.
and many more.

and happy anniversary to
mom + dad (41 yrs),
merritt + jim,
daniel + ashley,
andy + baylee,
scott + anne marie,
and
my sweet cory love.
(12 yrs ago today)

them dry bones

grandma barb  took us to her friend, suzanne’s, house
to look at the fossil collection.

much to his pleasure,
she sent nathan home
with his own raccoon skeleton.

here’s how we spent our saturday afternoon:
frog catching

‘caroline, let me put the frog on
your hand + it will just jump out.
it won’t hurt.’

‘caroline, please!’
‘please, caroline.’

lemme get this straight

(you guessed it;
they’re still not home
from the game yet)

buck the system

do it,
go against the grain.

in my opinion,
you use more
(read: waste more) tp
if you overhang
and less
if you underhang.

okay, okay,
i’m looking for things
to keep me awake
to greet the boys
when they get back
from the royals game
any minute now.

i’ve propped my eyelids open
with toothpicks +
am scrolling thru
page after page on
fffound.com

ps – i guess you could
solve the whole issue with this:

good night already.

kc or bust

caroline + grandma
cut flowers from grandma’s yard
in prep for tonight’s big family party.

cousin parker brought
the boys these supercool KU hats;
rockchalkjayhawk.

aunt stacy gets her workout
treating caroline to a wagon ride

betsy + cousin aiden
give maddiedog some lovin’

henry + cousin connor follow
nathan around like the
pied piper.

their haul tonight included:
3 toads
2 moths
several crickets +
a snail

cates’ boys w/
great grandpa on the right

wwf cates-style;
betsy’s on the lighting crew
with her big yellow flashlight.

but watchout
or she’ll smack you with it.
(we’re working on that)

if pictures had audio…

the stats:
great grandpa + marjorie
the dick cates fam = 10 of us (missed you, jacob)
the brad cates fam = 7 (missed you, chris + brian)
the kevin cates fam = 3 (missed you, kinsey + taylor + randy + tate)
the ken cates fam = 6 (missed you, andrew)

(missed you linda + crew)

could you hear the laughter from there?
i thought so.

georgia on my mind

run the numbers:

5.5 =  hrs in the smallest la guardia terminal imaginable
100+ =  degrees in said terminal (my guesstimate)
far too many = people in said terminal
1 = overnight stay in atlanta because of
aforementioned mess

but the children were champs +
we’re now happily in kc.

whew.

11:30pm, atlanta, ga.
girls are drowsily occupied while
their hero daddy
stands in line behind them +
rebooks our flights for
early the next morning

supercory strikes again
in securing us a place to
rest our heads.

the operator on betsy’s phone
must’ve been a bit confused.
say what, ma’am?

ps – earlier in the day,
jessica + nathan
show off their
twinkie-style

brownie points awarded

a zillion thanks
to the following
actual necks that we got
to hug yesterday

in this 24 hr window between
getting home from
glorious garrison +
heading out for
happy trails in kansas:

meghan
chris whit. (dubai-bound)
jessica
paula + lucy
tracy
justin*
carrie

virtual hugs to the rest of you.

*and a cheery round of
’settlers’ ensued,
in which lisa smeared us all.

from taxis to covered wagons

we’re leaving
on a jet plane
don’t know
when we’ll be
back again…

well, we do know.

adios, big apple.
hola, land of oz.

to

where’s the enmity?

yay:
the kids had a fun afternoon
@ the central park zoo
on their last afternoon in
new york for a good while.

not-so-yay:
nathan helped caroline buy her
Very Own
(stuffed) baby snake @ the gift shoppe.

so now she’s walking around
petting and cuddling
her ‘baby snake’
(it’s pink + lavendar and
shiny and bean-baggy-feeling)

yuck.

sun + rain

as we’re lounging in the pool,
caroline asks if lisa gets to
live with us ‘forever,’
so i tell her that lisa + julia
are going to be roommates
starting in september,
to which she promptly
lights up +
responds,
‘oh, wow -
then can i live with peter?’

pick a friend, any friend…

the most glorious deluge

committed to his task,
chris pulled the grill under the
portico + continued on with
said meatfest

waiting for daddy’s train
to surprise him

vegetarians, avert your eyes.
filet mignon, amigo.
wish you were here.

fishyfroggybuggy

huge, disgusting catfish
that the boys are infatuated with;
chris estimated it at 2.5 ft in length
and he’s rather ‘trapped’ in a small pool
that he’s much too large for.

horrifying to me = fabulous to them*

nathan took the camera on the boys
frog hunt + can you guess how many
photos he came back that look
exactly like these three?

i guess Every Frog Is Special.

chris, lead frog expert

when the boys went froghunting,
the girls and i sauntered up the road
to the local public library
which looked as if it had been
hand-plucked from an
‘anne of green gables’ book.

luckily, she was ‘Not Tired’
and was just going to ‘wait’
for rest time to end.

1.5 hrs later,
she awoke from ‘waiting.’

now, i’m quite proud of this bug.
i found him myself
and he’s roughly the size
of a small mouse.

seriously,
i think he’s some sort of
prehistoric beetle
that has been hiding in a cave
and just emerged this afternoon.

don’t worry,
we’ve saved him.

ps – maybe don’t menton to cory + chris
the game of spades they played against
lisa + i tonight;
they’re still a bit touchy about it.

*i might’ve agreed,
in a moment of water-logged-i’ve-been-in-the-pool-for-10-hrs-today weakness,
to go to said catfish’s pool
first thing tomorrow morning.

gross.
double gross.

but i’ll be there to
greet the morning cheerfully
with mr. nasty bottomfeeder himself.

if it’ll make my nathan happy.

paradise lost

taking the early train back to the
Real World.

see you tonight, lovey.

a sabbath’s rest

boscobel

the girls + i went to church at
st. philip’s of the highlands

the boys, cory + chris
hiked to arden point
and had spectacular views
of west point,
saw deer +
a red fox

after a leisurely dinner*,
cory, chris, nathan + caroline
went out on a twilight hike
and nathan came home
grinning ear to ear,
proudly displaying
a fantastic frog.

this is the life.

*the kids, of course,
started chowing as soon
as the prayer was over +
the first food hit the table.

(you know that
i’ve-been-swimming-for-
the-past-3-hrs hunger?)

when they came up for air
and assessed the situation,
henry proclaimed,
‘hey! i wanna trade in my
hotdog for some of that
Yummy Meat!’

their plates were soon littered
with abandoned, half-eaten
hotdog/bun carcasses
and it was
steak all around.

vs.

the 11:01 to garrison

we made it.

superficial disclaimer:
betsy + cory collaborated to
come up with her, ahem, outfit.

i wipe my hands of the whole affair.

swimming with james, peter + john;
thank you, thank you, friends.

chris is on the other end of the court,
smashing them back.

the first of the wild raspberries

4 for 4?

i sure hope not.

as nathan put it,
‘dad and i have a bad
feeling about trains
right now.’

the last 3 times
cory + nathan
have taken amtrak
in the past 2 months,
they’ve ended up waiting
over an hour
(one time it was 2+ hrs)
on this end or the other end.

point of clarification:
the delay wasn’t amtrak’s fault.

so,
the six of us are about
to jump on the metro north
this morning for an hour’s ride
out of the city…
(plus a 30 min subway ride
before we hit the actual train)

what are the chances
that we actually make it?

i’m thinking positive thoughts.

friday night

1. we made it thru
vbs with style + cheer

2. it just dawned on me tonight
that next year, caroline will
be able to join in the fun.
love it.

3. hope your weekend is
green and dreamy and refreshing.
or at least refreshing.

‘we’re crafty…

‘…we’re makin’ crafts,
not in the sun,
we’re having fun,
we’re coooool,
we’re stringin’ beads,
leather’s on the scene,
we’re creative,
at KAA* we’ve got it made,
agh-agh-agh-agh-agh’
(weird sound made by hitting throat with
extended index finger)

yep, that was our cheer @
the crafts station at kanakuk
one hot + veryhappy summer.

(you’ll never believe
we made that up ourselves, eh?
trying to convince ourselves that
we could tolerate one period of crafts
when we’d rather be on the lake
or in the pool…
i’m not sure it worked,
but it was fun to make the goofysound @ the end)

i digress.

needing some fresh ideas
for summer crafting?

i’m digging this girl’s site,
no time for flash cards.

*kids across america,
a.k.a. K-5

cory + i also worked @ K-7 for three summers.
wish we were there.

flipperfun

these 5th grade stingrays
Rule.

will

sarah grace

kayla

spike

mary

toby

elena

samir

brianna

abby

nathan

kino

kaitlin

david

john 14:6

‘jesus said to him,
i am the way,
the truth,
and the life.’
john 14:6

ready for action

betsy joined us for prayer time

caroline + betsy get in on a bit
of the vbs action;
a million thanks to lisa for
taking such precious care
of the girls this week so
i could be with the boys.

luke + marco

after every period,
we all pass each other
as we trudge up and down
the six flights of stairs
from basement/snacks to roof/gym.

ms. anne marie + j.p.

(this photo has almost nothing to do with vbs +
almost everything to do with the
story of nathan’s life up to this moment;
namely, that he’s usually at least
a full head taller than his classmates.
for better, for worse.)

sea turtle snacks
made out of oatmeal pies (body),
nilla wafers (head),
pretzel (arms + legs),
and oyster crackers (tail).

after another 2+ hrs playing @ river run,
we’re ready to head home

and we walked right into the middle of a
photo shoot @ 72/riverside;
they spray painted one side
of all of the trees white
to make a ’snow scene’
when it was 92 degrees in the shade.

and on the homefront:
somehow the ‘hairdresser’ or ‘accountant’
usually win when we play life.
nathan vs. henry vs. lisa.

sayonara until september

we had our last fellowship group
of the summer tonight;
bbq in the backyard, baby.

chris, amy, jen,
kim, joe, sarah, nick,
bethany, hisaya, lisa,
david, felicia, greg,
julia, ann-marie, and cory.

we’re
So
Thankful
for this crazy crew.

thanks for a precious year, friends.
and we’ll see you in a
few (eight?) weeks,
post-colorado.

(can you see my huge
pre-colorado smile from
where you’re sitting?
we love our colorado trip.)

statistically speaking

what are the chances
that when we were
ice skating on the deck
of the eiffel tower
(maybe 100 people total),

we ran into someone
we knew very well
(but hadn’t seen in 10 yrs
because they live 1200 miles
away from us)

=

but when we were at
the philharmonic in
central park
last night,
we didn’t see
one
single
person we knew.
(they estimated 63K people were there)

=

what gives?!
(and where were you?)

ps – thanks, love,
for the perfect date.
i’m glad you were there.

pps – dln: i bet you can
actually give me the
statistical chances on
this one, no?

muchas gracias

to all of the grown-ups
putting on this
amazing* show that is
vacation
bible
school

like i said yesterday,
tracy, amy, carolyn + kathryn
have knocked themselves
out in making this week
so terrific.

t.h.a.n.k. y.o.u. friends.

ms. anne marie (lead vocals, humor patrol and emcee extraordinaire),
mr. scott (guitar) and
their nashville-friend, kevin, on the drum
(i know it has a fancy name,
but i can’t recall…)

ms. kirsten who tells us about
how we can help our
neigbors in uganda

mr. ricci’s ‘bible hut’

joe + nathan

ms. amy in the snack shack
where we also memorize our
weekly/daily bible verses

ms. bethany in the gym
(extra props because it’s, oh,
about 200 degrees up there
on the top floor)

my partner in crime, kathy;
she has the cool 4th grade class
that we do all of our activities with

mr. kevin (cool drum guy)
does double duty up in the gym

jerry dienes’ handiwork on all of
the direction signs throughout
the building

ms. michelle rocks the music class

mrs. wolf, our resident craft guru

and a special thanks to
all angels episcopal church
for letting us use their
beautiful building this week
for all of the happy chaos.

‘train up a child
in the way he should go
and when he is old
he will not depart from it.’
proverbs 22:6

‘love the LORD your God and keep his requirements,
his decrees, his laws and his commands always.

fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds;
tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

teach them to your children,
talking about them when you sit at home and
when you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up.’
deuteronomy 11:1, 18-19

*i know, i know.
i said ‘amazing.’

outrigger island, baby

wave 1 (yesterday): God is real
wave 2 (today): Jesus is God’s son

we’re getting the hang of this
vbs-machine;
today rocked.

i’m just crazy about my 5th graders.
yes, my 5th graders,
they’re all mine.

seriously, they are so eager,
so happy,
so funny,
i could just eat them up.

humor me.
i had to take pictures of
their cutest faces;
they worked so hard today,
sweating their heads off
playing + singing + creating + learning.

i can’t wait for tomorrow.

ps – nathan’s in the 4th grade class,
but we have all of our activities
together. i love that i’m not his
actual counselor, but that i still get
to be with him all during the day.
and we see henry in the halls
in passing + grab him for a quick hug.

bible class w/ mr. ricci

mr. r had to remind
‘joseph’ to be gentle with ‘mary’
(he was kinda horsing around.
and it just caught me funny.
now, settle down, joseph;
mary’s about to give birth to
the SaviorOfTheWorld.
let’s treat her nicely.)

will, david, toby, joseph, samir, mary, kaitlin, kino + sarah grace,
for starters.
(we have 13 in our class)

snack time: edible outriggers
(the blue water is frosting,
banana + pretzel sticks + orange half
and cranberries on top as ‘people’)

abby

samir

annarose (a 4th grader,
in our sister class)

kayla

the whole crew:
lining up for a crab-walk relay race

giving it our all
in the river-jump
(see kaitlin sprawled on the mat?
waytogo,girl)

music with miss michelle

deborah paints her surfboard frame

the only time today i saw
toby w/o a huge grin on his face;
he’s serious about his craft.

will’s surfboard rocked

joseph goes for all-yellow

brianna was so careful + attentive

sarah grace is always sharing +
looking out for others. wow.

kino hits the red paint hard

i just want to kiss that cheek.
okay, so i might’ve done it once
or twice during the day;
hey, i’m the mom.
i can get away with it.

sweetsie elena

anne marie + ‘muscles kramer’
teach us the good stuff

know the truth,
speak the truth,
live the truth.

sarah grace, mary, abby + elena;
the whole class paid such great attention.
wow.
i’m so superimpressed with these kiddos.

beautiful brianna

a post-vbs trip to the movies.
waaalllllleeee!
eeeevvvveeee!

henry, harry, eli, adam + nathan;
a good, long vbs summer day.

massive cheers for
tracy,
amy,
carolyn,
kathryn +
their entire crew.
wow!

‘offiring’

so reads the post-it note stuck
to the cabinet
with $2 stuck behind it
and little boy handwriting
reminding him to
take his money for
tomorrow’s vbs offering.

1. have i mentioned how
much i love vbs?
i do.
so this is going to be a
terrific week.

2. can i tell you about
the way miss kirsten told
a familiar story in such a way
that the kids were
s.i.l.e.n.t.
and our hearts were moved?
(she’s nathan’s regular sunday school
teacher + she works for world vision)

(and by ‘our hearts were moved’
i mean i cried)

she told us that in the bible,
God says we are to love our
neighbor.

now, who is our neighbor?
and what is love?
is it enough to just smile + wave?
or are there other things we can do.

she also said that God never
tells us anything in scripture
that He doesn’t also provide
a way for us to obey Him.

‘mary’, an 8 yr old girl
who lives in uganda,
wants to be a nurse when
she grows up.

but often mary can’t
go to school because
she has to stay and
find food to eat and
to share with her family.

so even if mary does get
to go to school,
she’s hungry.

and often when she gets there,
they don’t have any pencils
to use.

(she interjected a question,
‘how many pencils do
you have in your house?’
and we all looked around
in amazement,
general agreement among
the K-5th graders =
we have a wealth of pencils.)

and sometimes they
don’t have teachers.

so we want to share our
money with our neighbor,
mary, in uganda,
so she can have food
and pencils
and maybe even hire a
second teacher for all
the children.

(k’s story was much more
elegant + gripping,
but you get the idea.)

so today,
we go with our ‘offiring’
in our pockets.
for the Lord,
for mary.
and for our other neighbors
in uganda.

scandalous

henry was trying to get
nathan busted for
having a scandalous password.

‘mom, it’s jerk!
j-u-r-k,
jerk!’

shouted in a ‘now, go-and-get-him’ voice.

sorry, hon,
i was too busy laughing
at you.

gone green

completely green.

well, the rest of that load
of laundry, that is.

the load that held
the boys & my
brand new
vbs
shirts, that is.

limeelectricbrightbright green.

nice.

why does this cartoon remind me
of the last 15 min of
vacation bible school?

of course i’m joking.
right?

to know the whitfords

is to love the whitfords.

as bruce so aptly put it:
some people are on the periphery of redeemer,
some are in the inner core,
and then there are the whitfords,
in the bullseye.

in.the.bullseye.

serving, celebrating,
living, growing,
pouring themselves out,
enduring, learning,
walking alongside…

the city will be ‘less’
without them.

most definitely so.

so today,
we celebrate you,
friends.

. tom . chris . zach . toby . zoe .

the Lord is with you.
and in you.
and leading you.

a lone balloon party-here indicator;
a poor reflection of the
joyful-melee going on inside

carole, chris + diane

alice, charlotte + carole

mr. + mrs. amazing

chillin’ like a villian;
enjoying that end-of-a-great-party hang out
with goodgood friends.

katherine, anne marie, chris, cindy, kj + karen

now, in the
‘why haven’t we done this before?!
department,
we submit this entry:
the
Two-Parties-In-One
thing.

meaning:
we had the precious/civilized/adult-y party
at our apartment
and
had the kiddo/run-around/sprinkler-fun party
across the street at the playground.

3 babysitters stationed there,
checking in kiddos + tying orange ID bracelets on their wrists,
watermelon, rice krispie treats, grapes + lemonade,
sunscreen, purell, water + optional craft projects,
and
voila!

everyone is happy.
way happy.
two simultaneous parties.
we’ll definitely be doing that one again.

mama w

zach + toby (in white) and friends

abby + elena

rachel, danny + mary ellen

‘we love the whitford fam’
‘hooray for zach + toby + zoe’

big thanks to miss jessica, miss sara + mr. will
for keeping it real + keeping it safe.

zach + betsy
slurping the watermelon
(margaret + adam in the background)

eli, taj, kino + danny
talking bionicles shop

ellie + zoe

gimme a ‘w’…gimme a ‘h’…

carin, henry, jandro, toby, betsy, elena, caroline, nathan, meg + zoe.
now, say that all in one breath.

end-of-party brother-sister snuggles

ps – photo policy reminder:
1. if you have a photo you think
i need to share, email it to me.
2. if i post a photo of you and
you would rather i un-post it,
just email me and it’s outta there;
it’s your call.
(but obviously if i posted it,
i think you look a.dor.ab.le)

it’s a win-win.

an ol’ fashioned prayer meetin’

albeit at the corner of
79th + broadway,
in the heart of arguably
the world’s greatest city,
that is.

but the significant details are similar
to my memories of summer camp
prayer meeting in the tabernacle
in miltonvale, kansas.

hot as all get out,
with all of the doors open
(letting in street chatter, taxi-brakes + sirens alike,
but i don’t think we even noticed)
to draw a breeze,
and the pastor
preaching from revelation 2
(rock on, abe).

seriously,
tonight’s service had
several of the factors
that i often think are
going to send us
straight up to heaven.
(poor theology,
but you get my drift)

flanked by friends, (ashley + ellie) check.
tom on the piano, check.
michelle at the mic, check.
and us singing,
‘in the cross, in the cross,
be my glory ever,
till my raptured soul shall find
rest beyond the river.’

during communion when mark said,
‘this is the body of Christ,
broken for you;
take and
eat and
be satisfied,’

i almost wept.

oh, the Lord is good.
He is gracious
and faithful.

and tonight’s service
was a radiant reflection
of Him.

ps – we also sang,
. come, christians, join to sing
. lord with glowing heart i’d praise thee
. psalm 146
. just as i am (tom + mindy’s version;
same cleansing words i’ve sung heartily
since as early as i could read,
but updated with that sweetswing melody)
. o the deep, deep love of jesus
and
. how deep the father’s love for us.

can you believe it?!
it doesn’t get better than that.
wish you were there.

pps – i also love watching
the congregation* pour out of
the service and then,
within 1/2 block of the church,
completely blend back into
the city.

well, they may appear to blend,
but they’re different.
salty.
prayerful.
serving others.
restraining self.

press on, christians,
press on.

*redeemer’s congregations meet in
5 services (3 different venues)
around the city every sunday
averaging 5K attenders weekly.

a. sheepish grin + a big hug

q. what to do when
nathan realized that
we vacationed
without him
(sort of! he was enjoying boy scout camp)
this past week.

(sshhhh, other 3 kids,
no more ‘happy memories’
and ‘excited outbursts of ‘remember when…‘ ‘
we’re going to have to
keep this one on the downlow.)

red rose

a lifetime ago
(read: 2.5 yrs)
charis + melissa gave me the
coolest, hippest, poshest gift:
a manicure baby shower
when i was pregnant with
betsygirl.

they brought in
three ladies from
red rose
(a nail salon around the corner)
to do nails, nails, nails.

seeing all those sweet girls
relaxed, chatting, and enjoying
the arm massages +
fingernail beautification
right here in
our house =
mmmmmm.

(not to mention my own
gratefulhappypleasure
when i offered them my
pregnant hands)

the Most Fun Ever.

(love you, c+m)

so today,
we had been running around
doing a thousand happy errands
in prep for the big
whitford farewell shindig
that will be here tomorrow,

and while we were waiting
for something from the
framing store,

i took the girls to
red rose.
(their first time)

full circle for betsy, eh?

the drying station

and we ended the day
with ice cream +
sparklers.
hooray for saturday.

on spirited beverages

overheard last night
at a bittersweet
(read: sad)
farewell for our
beautiful chris:

‘peach bellinis
are like
soda
for
adults.’

and
they were homemade
to boot.

and
we were on a rooftop
and it was
magical.

badgefever

we had the sweetest reunion
this morning
as the whole fam
went to camp alpine
(thanks to the kramermobile)
to pick up our
most-favorite cubscout

(we were practically desperate for him.
a week of sleep-away camp?
too much for a mom to take)

and to hear his stories
of skits and swimming,
of archery and mining,
(yes, the camp has a small mine?!)
of working and playing
and sleeping soundly
in tents,
in lean-to’s made of panchos (campout)
and on a boat (the other campout).

as we listened to story after story,
henry caught the fever.

badge fever.

and he and nathan have been going
back and forth ever since
coming up with badges
we can earn here at home.

so far, the list includes:
dishwashing (learn parts of dishwasher,
learn best way to load,
and actually practice the art
from loading to unloading)

bed making,
laundry,
yard work,
setting the table,
and,
of course,
badgemaking.

where you make the badges
you’ve just earned.

(these sound like plain ol’ ‘chores’ to me,
but if ‘badges’ sound better,
i’m all for it)

the garden state

7am.
i’m not kidding.
we apparently like to
get the party started
early.

lbrn, the swimming sensation

henry’s ‘dives’ sure make a loud
belly-slap sound
most of the time

making a meghan-sandwich

finding his namesake on the princeton campus

we’re superthankful to:
lisa + meghan,
the simmons’ crew + the kingston fam,
for a thousand happy memories.

stuff-stuff-mart-mart

madame blueberry, anyone?

yes, on our relaxing va-cay
in the mesmerizing
tree-lined beauty
that is princeton,
we hit the local
tarzhay, baby.

if you lick your lips,
you can probably
almost
taste the girls’ icees.

no shoes,
but we did have shirts,
so they apparently
served us.

classy.

sidewalks = human dignity?

i love that part of vacation
where you get to leisurely read
things you don’t often get
to enjoy at home.

right now, it’s the june 8th issue of the times magazine.

the architecture issue.

it’s loaded with great stuff,
including the interview with the
former mayor of bogota, colombia.

sidewalks as the great equalizer.
hmmm.

a bad sci-fi movie

picking cory up and
dropping him off
at the train station
near where we’re
vacationing in princeton, nj,

there are swarms of men
who look
just
like
him.

business attire,
messenger bag or laptop bag
slung over a shoulder,
starched, walking quickly,
ready for the next thing.

daily whatnot

: missing :

our sweetest nathan.
today’s update from camp:
funfunfun + lots of swimming.

: playing :

caroline loves playing school;
i do, too.

: watching :

cory’s developing henry’s appreciation
for the a-team via hulu.com;
henry thinks it’s funny,
but keeps referring to it as the
‘a-club’.

: drinking :

we’ve started lisa’s seltzer-immersion training.
she drank a glass today
with only a slight grimace.

hey, it took me almost a full year
to build up my tolerance
and now i
crave
it.

: sewing :

new tablecloths for sunday’s
farewell party for our dear whitfords.
[photos after sunday's bittersweet-shindig]

: reading :

tim’s lead article in the
june 2008 redeemer newsletter
‘the gospel & humor.
intriguing.

: growing :

2 fish from henry’s class
2 hermit crabs from the beach last week
2 hermit crabs from the daichendts
[who move to ca tomorrow.
it's killing me. i had a good cry this morning.
rach is one-in-a-million +
newport is lucky to be gaining her.]

we were sort of a non-pet family*
before all of this;
superfun.

*keeping six humans alive + running
is about all i can keep up with.

babystyle

i was needing some inspired ideas
for new baby gifts,
so i consulted our resident baby expert
(paula) for the inside scoop.

Best Baby Gift Ideas
cheat sheat:

1. swaddle blanket
“this is the swaddle blanket that you, diane and brit gave me.
it’s perfect: lovely soft flannel cotton to see us through winter, spring and fall -
it washed up beautifully and is the perfect size for swaddling a baby.
as an added bonus it’s organic cotton so we can all
feel like we’re doing the world a favor.
it’s our favourite blanket for lucy and I will be giving it to others..

2. cotton kimono-style jacket
“it seemed that we always needed just one extra light layer for lucy,
regardless of whether she was wearing a long or short sleeved onesie.
she just lived in this until she grew out of it, and
i’ve been searching ever since to one for a baby bigger than three months.
ours was a European one given to us by a friend in vancouver,
but I know that baby gap has a two pack in its “newborn essentials” section..

3. baby gym
“(the play mat with dangling toys above it).
this is now our standard present for other friends -
because you can use it straight away -
even newborns seem to love it, and the toys are very versatile for new parents -
can be used on strollers or bouncy chairs too…

4. bouncy chair
“this was such a huge hit with lucy.
so inexpensive ($25 from target buys you a bouncy chair
that is relatively neutral coloured and doesn’t have extraneous functions)
and a small footprint. lucy has loved even more as time has gone on…

5. essential oils for the bath for mummy…
“jenni sent me some beautiful rose bath oil and it has been a life saver.
spa gift vouchers are generous + in the same vein,
but trying get to an appointment for a facial etc becomes a bit of a burden.
and the bath oil is a treat that is on hand whenever I need it.
I bless jen every time I sink into the hot fragrant water..

6. weleda calendula baby products travel kit
“this was fun, and gave us a chance to try all the little products.
we went and bought some of them in full size because we liked them so much.

7. board books
“both you and diane gave me board books when i was pregnant.
i didn’t realise how quickly i would be reading to lucy
(have been reading the books with her since she was about 12 weeks old)
so was very grateful to have them on hand.
i wouldn’t have realised that i could read to her and have her enjoy it so soon.

8. hooded towel
“the baby sized ones got too small for a squirmer quite quickly.
although, the danger with giving towels is that lots of people give them -
we have about 6 and have one favourite out of them.

9. lamaze emily doll
“r’s aunt sent us this and lucy loves the doll – and did so from an early age.
it’s quite garish but what can we do?

10. socks!
“jenni sent the box of stripy socks.
they were the only socks we were given, and we needed them!
i know that lots of other friends found that socks were
the only things they had to go and buy so it was a really thoughtful gift.

11. robe for mummy
“nicky gave me one of these (I guess she was in a position to know that I didn’t have one) -
it’s just a light waffle cotton in white, like you would have at a spa,
and it has made me feel a bit luxurious at a time when the glamor factor is very low.
it is calf length so I didn’t trip…

12. stackable cups to use as bath toys
“these said “9 months and up” but lucy loves them
and they are a lot of fun in the bath -
she chews them, we pour water over her with them.
they have holes in the bottom so we can make rain or
bang them together for much noise and hilarity.
very inexpensive, I think you can even get them at the duane reade.
i would have never have thought of them but they are a huge hit.

13. sleeping sack
“i don’t know if people use these much in the states?
they are big in the UK and NZ.
we have a really lovely one that is merino wool.
i am seriously thinking of starting a business bringing these to new york..
getting them from the UK seems to be quite expensive.

14. CD of children’s songs that a parent can sing along to
“first time parents can’t remember any children’s songs.
seriously. so a bit of a primer helps ….

15. hats with animal ears
“do I have to explain?

16. bebe au lait feeding cover
“if you know the mum is planning to breastfeed.
i didn’t know these existed, but i rely on mine because lulu pulls everything else off…

and two of my (kj)
non-essential, completely trivial
favorites:

1. diapees + wipees case

2. personalized bottle bands

mini-banners

one of our favorite craft supplies
of this summer is
calculator roll paper.

we’re putting mini-banners up all
over the place,
to my delight.

(my extended family can attest
my love for signs, banners +
general paper-festivities
from an early age)

staples 12-pk calculator roll paper;
roll on, daddy, roll on along…

sleepaway camp

henry’s prayer for nathan tonight:
‘…and help him to
think about You
and not about the bears.’

yay for nathan’s
first time at
boy scout camp.

and cory prepared him well.

they both would look at eachother
and grin + nod
and look at me
like a massive charity case,
silently conveying,
‘mom’s going to take this one hard.’

no cheese for you

let’s just say,
cory + justin stuffed
aluminum foil in
a little hole in our wall tonight.

i’d better not hear anything
’scratching’
in the middle of the night.

tell it like it is

thanks, flight of the conchords,
for fearlessly telling it like it is.

city life, that is.

via our old friend, mike king,
who wrote this book
that i just ordered off amazon;
lookin’ good.