we're moving. and we moved.

I think most everyone knows that we're moving.  We leave our hearts in San Francisco Mountain View in just two short months and head to West Point.

But (since we like to keep things crazy) we also moved!

Not our boxes and furniture.  But our blog.

We've been meaning to update our blog for some time now.  When we set it up when Kathleen was tiny, we used her name as the blog address.  It made sense to me at the time.  But now, with four little people running around here and with heightened concerns about internet privacy, it doesn't make much sense.

So, we've set up camp at a new address:  http://embracethecircus.wordpress.com/

It'll take a while for us to be all shiny and pretty over there, but we're limping along for now.  So, update your bookmarks or readers or what-have-you.  (You know, all six of you reading along with this circus.)  Future posting will occur at that address only, though we'll keep this one around for a while so that everyone can catch up with us...

(For my bloggy friends who might be wondering, I never really intended to switch from blogger to wordpress, but I found I could not import all my old blog posts to a new blogger blog.  I tried for days.  It took five minutes with wordpress, so I was sold.)

not everyone minds the rain

We've had sort of a late spring around here. I know that even saying that makes me sound a little silly; we have friends in New England and friends in Alaska and friends in plenty of places where they get, you know, actual weather. (Like snow. And inches of ice.)

Here we've had lots of rain and plenty of grey. While that might be mild for the rest of the country, it's practically severe for us. And we're more than ready for some sunshine and warmer weather.

Well, I'm ready. John David? Not so much. The downpour taking place during a recent preschool pickup pretty much made his week. He was positively gleeful.

Even outfitted in boots and raincoat, that child still got soaked. He rode home stripped down to his sodden diaper because I was afraid that his wet clothes would make him too cold. (I shouldn't have worried. That kid's impervious to just about everything.) And he smiled the whole time.

a layover to meet luke

Somehow this got lost in the shuffle... but the day before Luke was baptized, our dear friends John and Amy stopped in to see us while they were on a layover, flying home to Hawaii from a work trip in Kansas. They arranged it just for us, and we couldn't have been happier.

We hung out at home for a while, letting the littles warm up to them. (That took about 45 seconds, by the way.) Kathleen remembered them and their sweet children -- a bit -- from our time in Hawaii, but John and Amy were new faces for the other three. Only a few minutes into their visit it was like we'd never been apart!  John and Amy brought sweet, thoughtful gifts for everyone.  Really, I'm not sure they could have made anyone happier.  Jim and I were over the moon to have some of our favorite Hawaiian treats again. And the girls wore necklaces from John and Amy the next day at the baptism.  They could barely be convinced to take them off for baths and bed!

Eventually we loaded up the whole circus and headed to Stanford to give John and Amy the nickel tour.  We love to show off Stanford's pretty architecture; the kids make sure everyone sees the fountains.  I think John and Amy were just happy to working their way back to Hawaii.  It was a pleasant day here -- not as nice as Hawaii, but far, far more pleasant than the weather in Kansas!  

One neat thing about John and Amy's layover was the timing.  We were baptizing Luke the next day, and John and Amy are his godparents.  We loved that they were able to meet him before he was baptized.  The timing was serendipitous; we made the arrangements to baptize him independently of our friends' travel plans.  What a blessing!

Luke and his sweet, sweet godparents.

Our time with our friends passed too quickly.  They'll be leaving Hawaii soon; we'll be leaving California soon.  Sadly, we won't be any closer to one another, since they'll be in Washington state and we'll be in New York.  But we hope and trust that we will see each other again soon, even though we don't know when or where that will be.  Aloha a hui hou, friends!

the wearing o' the green

A much belated St. Patrick's Day post...  because you can't just skip St. Patrick's day!  (At least not if you're me.)

We kicked off our morning with our favorite green smoothies. (I can't tell you how happy it makes me that the kids like these smoothies. Kale and spinach in a glass?  And the children plead for more?  I feel like I've won the lottery when I feed them these.  So I do it sort of a lot.)

And, of course, everyone wore green:

This boy, I tell you! He went around all St. Patrick's day saying, "Kish! Kish!" and leaning in to smooch me.   It was adorable.

And I'm physically incapable of not kissing this cutie.

We'd been talking about St. Patrick and about how he'd taught the Irish people about God, and especially how he used the shamrock to teach them about the trinity. We made some salt dough to create our own shamrocks (and some other fun St. Patrick's day shapes). We rolled and cut and baked one day and then painted the next.

Kathleen had school that day, where she and her friends hunted around the schoolyard for coins left by a visiting leprechaun.  She loved it!  We also had soccer on St. Patrick's day.  It was Madeline's first try.  (She's not technically old enough, but they made a "little sister exception.")  She was great!  Both girls will continue with their soccer lessons until we leave...

Finally, since we don't have a river to dye green (you can take the girl out of Chicago...), we dyed our bath water!  Madeline and John David thought it was hilarious.

(We all hope you had a very...)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

may you know days of wonder and delight in Jesus Christ

I will rejoice in the LORD

I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Habakkuk 3:18

Two Sundays ago, Luke was baptized at our church's regular worship service, just like his brother was a little more than a year ago.  We've all been excited about this event; the girls have been practicing "bath-tisms" in the bathtub for some time now.  In fact, they were the first ones up the morning of the baptism and ran into our bedroom, asking, "Is it today?  Is today Luke's bath-tism?  Can we get ready?"

Nan and Grandpa, Uncle Craig, Aunt Caroline, and cousin Emily joined us to celebrate.  It was a blessing to be surrounded by family.  As an added treat, Auntie Caroline photographed everything for us.  She captured moments we'd never have, like Luke and Daddy sitting together for the beginning of service.  (Plus, it means there are actually a few pictures of me!)

We stood as a family to bring Luke to be baptized.  All six of us in front of the congregation seemed a little risky, but we decided to chance it.  In this case, the risk paid off -- everything went smoothly.  The girls were quiet and stood reasonably still, at least at the start.  Even John David cooperated.  We'd given him a new allergy medicine that morning (we didn't want nursery workers worrying about whether his drippy little nose would infect other children) and it knocked him out! He fell asleep in my arms during worship and woke just as we stood to baptize Luke. He was groggy and snuggly through the baptism. By the time he was fully awake, it was time to go play with his friends in the nursery.

Our pastor, Drew, baptized Luke.  The girls watched, rapt.  I wept -- just a little.  So did Luke.

The title of this post comes from the words Drew used in baptizing Luke.  He prayed that Luke would "know days of wonder and delight in Jesus Christ" and that "people would see that wonder in and through" him.  It is a prayer for Luke that I know we will return to, again and again.

(This video will let you see the prayer over Luke... also, that the girls' "standing still" had pretty much ended by that point.)

After the baptism all the children were dismissed to their classes while the service continued.  Luke doesn't have a class, obviously, but he made a break for the nursing mom's room and then took a stroll around outside.

When service concluded we headed home with our family and some dear friends for a little luncheon celebration.  Everyone wanted to snuggle with the little man.

And we enjoyed some good food...

and the company of friends and family.

Hooray for cousins!

And -- of course -- there was cake.  Yum!

It was a sweet day of fellowship, a day in which we were oh-so-aware of the blessings we have received in these children, this community, this covenant.  We wait in joyful hope for the day that Luke will make his own confession of faith.  God bless Luke!

Where's John David?

Look who learned to play hide and seek!

(And maybe isn't totally clear on the concept of being found...)



(And in case you were wondering, the children are not allowed to hide in the armoire with the television. I probably should have clarified that rule as I saw John David climbing in there, but I couldn't resist watching the game play out... and recording it for posterity. We talked about it later, instead. And I've laughed over the video a number of times, so I think it was the right call!)

not a bedtime story

I looked over the other day and found Madeline reading one of her library books to Luke.  Loving the sweet sight, I snatched my camera and recorded the moment.

Only, as I crouched to get her picture, I could hear her narration of the dinosaur picture book:

"All of the babies were hiding, until the big dinosaurs came and had them for a meal."

Not precisely the tender moment I had imagined.  If Luke starts having nightmares, I guess we know why!