B is for Bowling

Lest our posts have convinced you that life here is all sunshine and white sand beaches, let me me point out that it does, indeed, rain. And sometimes it really, really rains -- the water just pours out of the sky. That's what happened on Saturday afternoon. The girls were both napping when it started, and I was amazed that the rain didn't wake them. It was so loud and so hard that Jim and I had a hard time hearing each other! I tried to capture it in a photograph, but all I got was a wet camera!


We'd been hoping to spend the afternoon at the beach or the park, but the rain foiled those plans. So, when the girls woke from their naps, we went with plan B -- bowling!

We told Kathleen that we were going on a special adventure, hopped in the car, and drove (in the pouring rain, mind you) the four or so blocks to the post bowling alley. We timed our arrival perfectly, because there were lots of lanes available when we showed up, but by the time we left, the place was pretty full.

Anyway, Kathleen was very excited about the "special shoes."

And all those bowling balls? Kathleen could hardly stand it! She picked out her yellow, 7 pound ball and insisted on carrying it herself.

With some bumpers, a ramp, and a little explanation, Kathleen was ready to go. She didn't seem to completely understand about hitting the pins, but that didn't keep her from loving it.

Even Madeline got in some bowling -- sort of!

When we'd had enough of bowling we packed everyone back into the car and headed to Zippy's, a local favorite, for a dinner of rice and chili. Yum.

And if we have another rainy weekend, we might just do the whole thing over again!

Play Ball!

A while back, Kathleen, Madeline and I were playing at our friend Amy's house when we watched Kathleen do something pretty amazing. We'd been playing outside with bubbles. Amy has an impressive collection of different bubble wands, which the kids dipped in a shallow tray filled with bubble solution. We replenished the bubble solution with one of those giant bottles of bubbles -- you know, the kind you can buy at Walmart for just a few bucks. Anyway, when Kathleen was tiring of the bubbles (after about an hour!), she picked up a ball, balanced it on the top of the bottle of bubbles, and proceeded to hit it with a plastic baseball bat. Wow! Apparently Kathleen was just born knowing how to play tee ball!

Since then, we've been meaning to get Kathleen an actual tee ball set. Last weekend we finally did. And it was a (pardon the pun) hit!

Without any prompting, Kathleen slung the bat over her shoulder as though she'd been walking around with one her whole little life.

Fortunately, Daddy was available for some tips on proper form.

Kathleen can really hit! (And sometimes she doesn't even knock over the stand!)

Madeline was impressed by her sister's skill with a bat, but was more interested in the ball herself.

I think there's a whole lot more baseball in our future!

Back to the Beach

Last week the girls and I took advantage of a sunny weekday to head to the beach. It was an adventure for us, and a bit of a leap of faith for me.

Last summer Kathleen and I made it to the beach two or three times during the week. (We didn't bother going on the weekend, since it would be crowded, and since Jim was in Iraq all the days seemed the same to us anyway.) In fact, it was our favorite way to spend the morning. Kathleen and I got some great exercise and had lots of fun, and then Kathleen would take a good nap when we got home. What's not to love?!

We haven't been nearly as good about getting to the beach since Madeline arrived. Generally, we'd only go if we could get someone else to go with us. So, when Nan and Grandpa visited, we made it to the beach. Or when a bunch of moms from the neighborhood decided to go together, we tagged along then, too. But just me, Kathleen, and Madeline? That seemed too scary! Two small girls, one me, and a gigantic body of water? A recipe for disaster!

But then a particularly gorgeous morning last week made me reconsider my position. The day was too beautiful not to go to the beach! So, we packed up our beach bag, took a deep breath, and a gave it a go. And boy, are we glad we did! Kathleen couldn't have been happier.

We splashed in the water. We jumped over the little waves. We built sandcastles and knocked them down again. We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We watched the planes fly overhead. We just enjoyed the lagoons.

Madeline wasn't so sure she liked the beach. While she was happy to sit on a beach towel and watch the goings on, she was distinctly displeased with the way I set her down on the sand at the water's edge.

Hawaii's waters might be warm, but apparently they're not warm enough for Madeline! She was much happier on my hip, where she spent the rest of the morning. Perhaps if we keep going back, we can convince her to love the sand and the water the way Kathleen does!

Scenes from the Circus

The girls and I were in the car yesterday, headed for Walmart, and Kathleen made it quite clear that none of our regular radio stations were up to par.

"It not good, Mama," she said, "Turn it off."

Then she launched into her own version of the song from "Super Why," a PBS program about reading, which she's watched a few times lately. She sang for a while about the Super Readers and how they saved the day.

When she'd finished up her medley, she paused before continuing, "Coming up next, Clifford, the Big Red Dog!"

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Kathleen's Saturday morning gymnastics class has been a big hit. It has helped her learn to jump (one of her favorite activities) and somersault and swing from any horizontal pole. A few nights ago, she was trying to somersault on the living room floor. However, she'd forgotten about how to walk her feet up to tip herself over, so she was mostly leaning over with her her head on the carpet, looking frustrated.

"Mama, help!" she cried, "My head not working!"

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The girls and I had run into the PX to fax some papers (since I'd forgotten to switch our homeowner's insurance, seeing as how we're no longer homeowners!). Because it was a quick trip, I just had Madeline on my hip and Kathleen held my hand. Our trip took a short detour to ride the miniature merry-go-round, which, to my delight, played the circus theme as it spun around. The spinning delighted Kathleen.

After that we headed back out to the car, only to discover that it was raining. Now, rain isn't a big deal here, really. It's nice and warm, so no worries. But it wasn't just raining; it was pouring. I thought about staying around the PX longer, but our nap schedule only allows for so many errands. We HAD to hit the commissary, since we were out of milk. So we decided to make a run for it.

"Let's run in the rain, Kathleen!" I said. And so we held hands and dashed into the parking lot. Kathleen kept yelling, "Run! Run!" And we were both giggling. And Madeline must have known how silly we looked, because she started laughing. And then the three of us were laughing -- really laughing! -- as we ran through the rain to the car. Anyone who saw of us must have thought we were a little crazy. And they'd be a little right.

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We've been potty training around here. We've made good progress, though we're not entirely accident free yet. Consequently, we talk a lot about "big girl panties." We talk about how they're so much better than diapers or pull-ups and how we keep them clean by using the potty. Kathleen loves her panties with "princesses" on them. After a quick hug in the morning, the first thing she does when I get her up is open her drawer to pull out her "big girl panties."

Kathleen was in the bedroom with me as I got dressed the other day.

"Oh, Mama!" she exclaimed, "You wearing big panties!"

If that's not motivation to keep running, I don't know what is.

In the Kitchen

I've found that the only reliable way to get dinner ready is to entertain the girls in the kitchen while I work. Sometimes I can set Kathleen up with a puzzle or some other game and let her play in the living room while I prepare dinner, but all too often there's some sort of mischief while I'm distracted. And now that Madeline's mobile, leaving the two completely unsupervised is a recipe for disaster! Madeline only wants the toys that Kathleen's already using. And if she doesn't want toys, she's testing out new death-defying tricks, like trying to stand while hanging onto the infant swing or a floor lamp.

So, into the kitchen it is!

Like generations of babies before her, Madeline is easily entertained with a few kitchen tools. Whether it's a pot or a bowl or a collander, as long as she has a spoon to hit it with, she's completely happy. Here, she's playing in the kitchen while I empty the dishwasher in the morning:

Kathleen needs a little more direction. Luckily for me, though, she's an excellent helper. I measure, she pours. She stirs. She seasons. (Only, she calls it "shake-a-shake-a".) But mischief occurs even in the kitchen. The other day, I had turned away to check on something in the oven, and when I turned back, this is what I discovered:

Wow! That's a lot of soap bubbles. (I've now taken to keeping the soap on the window ledge, where it's a little more difficult to reach!) Still, aside from the occasional bubbly sink, keeping the girls with me seems to be the best way to get work done in the kitchen. Now, if only I could come up with a decent plan for entertaining them while I mop the floors...

Pardon Me?

Kathleen's at a stage where she loves a glue stick. I think perhaps I've mentioned this before, but her love bears repeating. Nearly every day the two of us sit down at the big dining room table or spread out on the floor (linoleum does have its advantages) for some "crafts." Most of the time we color with markers and crayons and use the glue stick to attach pieces of paper that I've cut with some scrapbooking punches. Kathleen loves to decide who will receive her creations; lately Nan, Linda, and Daddy have been the big winners.

Yesterday we collected some new supplies on a trip to Walmart. We picked out a big tub of foam shapes (hearts, circles, squares, triangles) in primary colors, and Kathleen couldn't wait to put them to use. In fact, by the time we got home and had lunch, it was too late to begin "crafts," because it was naptime. Kathleen accepted that, but it was the last thing she asked about when I put her down, and the very first thing she said to me when I picked her up two hours later. "Let's do crafts!"

The thing about Kathleen's love affair with crafts, though, is that she can't really say "crafts." Her version of the word sounds like nothing other than a word that begins C-R and ends with a P. Madeline was sitting on my lap, reaching for some of the fun yesterday, while I had a difficult time containing myself, because Kathleen was scolding her:

Baby Madeline! That's my crap! Don't touch my crap, Baby Madeline!

We've been working on enunciation since then.

And the winner is. . .

Stanford!

(Photo from our November trip to California.)

Surprised? So were we!

Over the weekend, Jim and the administration at Stanford were able to broker a deal that made Stanford more of a possibility than we'd previously believed. Now it looks as though he'll be able to finish his coursework and get a good, strong start on his dissertation in the three years we'll spend there. With those administrative changes, Stanford suddenly became a lot more appealing!

We're excited that we'll be moving the circus to Northern California this summer. It's good for so many reasons -- Jim gets a top-notch political science program with truly amazing resources, we should easily adjust to the mild weather (we're so spoiled), and we'll be near to Nan and Grandpa and the rest of the O'Connors (including an O'Connor cousin, who should be making an appearance in the next few weeks).

We're sad that choosing Stanford means not choosing any of the other places, and not being near some of you, dear friends. But perhaps you'll consider a visit to California? It's not Hawaii, but we hear it's nice!

C is for. . .

Confusion
No, we still haven't decided yet. It's excruciating. Maybe it's a good thing the Army makes most of our major life decisions. . . We don't appear to be very good at it!

All kidding aside, we'll let you know when we decide. Until then, though, here are some of our recent amusements, brought to you by the letter "C."

Corn on the Cob

A few days ago, Kathleen had corn on the cob for the first time in recent history. She loved it! I'm sparing you the truly messy photos, but trust me when I say that "C" is also for "clean-up."

Crawling

This video is from Easter, when Madeline first began crawling. I'd meant to post it long ago, but didn't want to test the lumbering old computer with a video... So, here it is, two weeks late. Madeline's crawling has steadily improved and has lost the hesitant, wobbly aspect it has in the video. She can now cross a room (or leave a room!) to get to a person or a toy she wants. She's speedy, that one! Sometimes she'll put her feet under her when she's crawling and wind up in a straddle position. And today, for the very first time, she grabbed onto Kathleen's toddler bed and pulled herself up to stand. I'm in big trouble!

Chameleon

Our friend Luke is the proud new owner of a Jackson chameleon, and we went to vist the two of them (and the rest of the family!) yesterday afternoon. I think Luke's mother Amy is very brave, since owning a chameleon means feeding a chameleon crickets, and something about that just makes me shudder. Still, the children weren't shuddering at all. They loved the chameleon, whom Luke named Jackson. Apparently some chameleons hiss when they're upset, but it seems that Jackson is one laid-back guy, because he did not exhibit any sort of displeasure when the gaggle of neighborhood children fawned over him. Yesterday alone, Jackson went for a swing on the swingset, took a ride in the stroller, and checked out a tree fort. Kathleen was fascinated by Jackson's eyes and the way he'd curl his tail up in a little spiral. She touched him once, with a lot of encouragement from Luke's sister Grace, but she was really much happier just looking at him, which suited me just fine!

Coasters

My friend Linda came over a few days ago, and thanks to her I finally got around to making the Criss Cross Coasters that Paula mentions on her blog. They're fantastic! I'm in love! They were so easy, and I think they're really cute. And now I've been digging through all my extra fabric, thinking about all the fun coasters I could make. Given the amount of patriotic fabric lying around here, I could make 4th of July coasters for everyone!

Cute

Honestly, how cute are these girls? Here, they're watching basketball together. The photo's from a while ago -- they were actually cheering on the Irish. Although that didn't work out the way we'd have liked, they've still enjoyed March Madness. Kathleen really liked to say "March Madness!" and now says, "Final Four" whenever she sees basketball. That, too, is pretty cute!

Indecision 2008, Continued

No, we still haven't decided where to go to school. We're working on it, honestly, we are. We're considering all sorts of factors. And thanks to the folks at wikipedia, we've got a whole new category to consider! For your amusement, here's just a sampling of that (obviously critical) category:

NOTABLE FICTIONAL ALUMS

Stanford
Andrew Shepherd, The American President
Christina Yang, Grey's Anatomy
Chuck Bartowski, Chuck
Bob Kelso, Scrubs

Princeton
Bruce Wayne (as revealed in Batman Begins, although it's not clear whether he graduated)
Doogie Howser, Doogie Howser, MD
Sondra Huxtable, The Cosby Show
Sam Seaborne, The West Wing

University of Chicago
Harry Burns and Sally Albright, When Harry Met Sally
Indiana Jones, The Indiana Jones Series
Gil Grissom, CSI
Jack McCoy, Law and Order

Indecision 2008

Jim's home from his graduate school travels (and I've gotten that military ID replaced, in case you were wondering). Here's what he has to say about our current decision-making...

So...for once, my decisiveness is severely lacking. We've had months to research the various programs, I've visited all four schools where I spoke with professors and graduate students, and we've attempted to weigh all the pros and cons. We've prayed and sought guidance from trusted friends and mentors. We've even created a spreadsheet comparing the characteristics (25 of them, including proximity to family, cost of living, weather, academic requirements, quality of professors, etc.) of all our choices, but we still can't pull the trigger and just pick a school!

Part of the problem is that we thought our decision already was clear. We had planned on attending Stanford all along, but then we realized that their class and teaching requirements were significantly greater and much less flexible than some of the other programs. There are two officers there now, and both seem to be having a tougher time with the administrative hurdles than they are with the academic work. Not that the academics are a joke...when I called one of them this morning at 10:30am (on a Saturday), he was still working. It would be unfortunate to go to a school near family, and then never be able to see them.

Fortunately, there are tremendous resources and institutional support at Princeton and Chicago...and both seem to be quite willing to work with Army officers on a condensed timeline. Princeton has a long tradition of supporting Army officers coming through the PhD program that dates back to the 1950s. Chicago is a bit of an unknown. Although several officers have attended Masters programs there in the past, no one has attempted a PhD yet. Given the fact that I have to complete a 6-7 program in 3-4 years, it could be tough to be the trailblazer who has the figure out how to jump through all the hoops.

So we're stuck with a can't miss decision. There really are no bad options. We're sure we'd be happy at every school, but somehow we still are having a hard time making our decision. So we will continue to pray, and make one last ditch attempt to solicit advice as we near our decision deadline! We'd love to hear what you all have to say. And if we still can't make a decision, we'll just leave it up to Leenie to decide!

This girl is ready for an adventure...

A Lesson

I have a theory that viruses and vehicles know -- they just know -- when our husbands deploy. Cars stop working or start overheating or simply won't start. Kids get sick. Even better, you get sick. Whenever Jim leaves, things inevitably start getting weird. And this phenomenon is not, I've learned, limited to a deployment. Jim's current trip to the mainland has been no exception.

Just after Jim left, the girls came down with some sort of bug. What sort of bug? Well, I'm not sure about all the details, but suffice it to say that it was a stomach bug. (It is another astonishing fact of parenthood that, even though I was the one doing laundry, mopping floors, and being thrown up on, the only person I felt badly for was Kathleen, poor baby.) Neither Madeline nor I caught it with quite the same vengeance as Kathleen, but we were off for a few days, too. By the end of the week we were all recovered, and we even made it out for lunch with a friend and to buy fabric for my next sewing project.

But then, just as we were hitting our stride -- seeing the outside world, accomplishing our errands -- we were waylaid again. On Saturday morning we were nearly on our way to the post office (to mail a stack of baby gifts -- babies Frost, Whitman, Huie, Krattiger and Jarvis, I have NOT forgotten you!) when I realized that I couldn't find my wallet. A frantic search of the car and house and diaper bag turned up nothing. A visit to the commissary (the last place it was used) and the MPs was equally unsuccessful.

So, while it's not exactly car trouble, my car can't be used! I've no military ID, no driver's license, and no credit card. I've been working on replacing those surprisingly essential pieces of plastic, but even that's a challenge. As all you Army wives know, in order to replace an ID (in the absence of a husband), you need a power of attorney. "No problem!" I chirped, as Jim's first sergeant rattled off the things I'd need, "Of course I have a power of attorney." And I do. But it expired months ago! Who thinks about replacing a power of attorney when the guys get home?! (Another thing that's expired? My passport. Seriously, I couldn't prove my identity if my life depended on it!) I'll not be getting that new ID until Jim returns, which thankfully is in just a few days.

Anyway, the upside to our complications is that they have made our life surprisingly simple. We can't go anywhere. We can't buy anything. And that's just fine. We've got everything we need -- and then some. We've got a full pantry and refrigerator. We have exactly the right number of nighttime pull-ups to last until Jim comes home. (The day after he gets home, actually. Even better.) Without my lengthy (self-imposed) to-do list, our days are calmer and happier. We've been using watercolors. We've been playing with playdough. We've been doing lots and lots of make-believe. (More on that later.) We've been to the park at least twice a day. We had a marvelous Sunday picnic of peanut butter and jelly, right in our backyard. And I've made quite a bit of progress on my newest sewing project, my first quilt.

When I realized my wallet was missing on Saturday morning, I was really annoyed. "What a colossal headache! Another thing to make my life more challenging," I thought. I had to change my plans, and that annoyed me more than anything. And then I read my friend Paula's recent post, in which she quoted this scripture:

If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
Matthew 6:30-33 (The Message)

These verses helped me see more clearly what I'd been experiencing over the weekend. I'd been fussing over the lost wallet, focused on the plans I'd had to abandon. I hadn't given a thought to "God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions." In reality, my inconvenience hadn't made me miss out -- it had given me more. When I was tempted to believe that God wasn't caring for me, He was actually giving me what I hadn't known enough to ask for. How like Him.

So for now, I'm just learning to relax, to be happy with what we've got and where we are. And it's a pleasant lesson. But we'll still be happy to see Jim when he returns Wednesday night (and to eventually replace that ID)!