Theophilus

Thanks for reading

Katy — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:06:23 +0000

I haven’t been great at blogging much this last year. I knew I hadn’t posted much, but I was a bit embarrassed to find out, from my fancy Annual Report from WordPress, that I’ve only posted a little bit – 11 times to be exact. Has my life gotten more boring, more busy, more accustomed to quick facebook updates than short-essay updates . . . hmmm? I hope to be able to blog more in this new year.

You can read the report by following the link below. Things I found fascinating are: the ways in which people find my blog, mainly through links on a few other blogs of friends; the fact the most friends don’t even know I have a blog; my mom is my most avid commenter (thanks!); the fact that a search for one “Joseph Lacine” brings up a link to my blog as its first search option; the fact that there are people in Brazil and Australia reading my blog (that makes me excited and curious!); and finally, the fact that I have been blogging for a little over five years – just over two years on this site but just over five if you count my start on the original blog. I can’t believe I missed out five-year anniversary

And here it is (click on the graphic):

Fall

Katy — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 23:53:24 +0000

We’ve had a very odd fall here this year. It started wonderfully, just like I was hoping for. My parents were here in late September and the weather was the perfect cool, but not cold, temperature that I love. (Many of you know that being hot makes me very uncomfortable and crabby, but that’s a whole other rant that I’m sure you don’t want to hear). We had a wonderful visit to Minnehaha Falls (my mom and I went there last year with Keziah, but we decided to take the men with this year too). It was a wonderful time to enjoy the early changing of colors and for Keziah to explore.

I was so glad that fall was here. Then we had a bunch of hot, hot days in a row. The weather was very warm and summer like, the leaves were starting to be beautiful (I’m glad I snapped just a few photos) and I really enjoyed some daily walks with my little girl, telling her about the leaves and playing at the park. It was a bit warm for me, but I was just glad to see all the glory of fall.

The warm weather was then joined by hot (yucky)wind, followed by a day or two of stormy weather. Most of the leaves never had a chance, really. It was still beautiful out, and driving down tree-lined streets it still felt like fall enough, but wasn’t really all that I was hoping for. I sort of just gave up on it.

Nana and Grandpa came up for a visit as well, a couple of weeks later. It was cooler than that warm spell, but still a bit warmer than it should be. It was gnatty outside as they, again, blessed us by cleaning up our yard. We figured it was due to the warmer weather, which I was again frustrated with.

And I thought that fall was done, at least in the beautiful-color sense of fall. However, I was pleasantly surprised by latter fall, with some beautiful yellows and oranges and reds that I hadn’t expected. I think that the early falling of leaves made me pay more attention to the changes that happen later that often go un-noticed. There was about a week of beautiful changing trees and perfect weather that I felt so blessed by, especially since I had given up on the season.

funny little girl

Katy — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:06:05 +0000

Sometimes Keziah just cracks me up. She is so cute and curious and full of new ideas all the time. Here are just a few recent things to make me laugh:

Keziah was so very excited to sit in a big girl chair (her idea) for lunch in Daddy's office!

A recent obsession with pacifiers doesn't really make me smile, but this does!

Keziah loves to kick around the leaves, but was a little uncertain about being on top of a pile of them. It was really cold, but she really wanted to go outside and, like usual, let me know by bringing me her sweatshirt and shoes followed by my shoes.

The newest trend for toddlers is called bibbing. Why bother with annoying and dangerous scarves to keep warm in the winter when you can sample all of your old bibs and stay warm at the same time?

The last two times there has suddenly been quiet in the house, I have found Keziah up on the couch, remote in hand, smiling when she sees that I've seen how she can climb up on the couch.

Always spot em . . .

Katy — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:12:03 +0000

Keziah and I have been really enjoying looking out the window from her room, watching the animals in the yard and the leaves flying about and the birds coming back and forth to her bird feeder. (We got a really nice bird feeder from Nana and Grandpa that we have really enjoyed, but not as much as the birds). This week we had two days in a row where a large red-headed woodpecker came up the window, inches away as we had our faces practically pressed against the glass. He would come up and grab a large sunflower seed, then fly away to the tree to eat it and continue the cycle. We also regularly get cute little chickadees and finches and have been seeing some new “winter birds” as well (but no cardinals yet). Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been reading the Little House series or because I now have a yard to observe nature better, but I feel much more in tune with all the small changes of the seasons and seasons-within-seasons than I ever have before. Observing the birds is one of these things.

Anyways, our yard keeps getting more exciting! Last night, around 6:00, I was looking out of the window in her room and saw a pretty big bird on the fence. It looked really big, but at first glance, I assumed it was a crow or blackbird. But then it moved and I realized that it was some kind of hawk or falcon! It hopped up onto the fence (by the yard to the left, which is pretty close) and had something in its claws! Mmmm . . .dinner! It flew up to a tree and Tom got some cool silhouette shots of it. Pretty quickly after landing and starting his feast, a squirrel came up the tree and seemed to harass it, or at least upset it so that it flared out it’s wings a few times to threaten back. It flew away to the corner of the yard and dropped it’s dinner but somehow caught it again and then flew to a tree in the yard next door. Then I, well-trained for years by my parents, snuck out into the yard with my camera in hand and got some shots of it eating. I could only zoom so far and I wish I could have gotten closer, but I got some fairly good shots of it. I still need to compare with my bird book and figure out who it was catching dinner in our neighborhood (that is if my mom doesn’t beat me to looking it up!)

what i did on my summer vacation

Katy — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:56:38 +0000

Our family summer vacation this year, as many other years, was a trip down the southern way to be with family in Illinois and Wisconsin (how odd that that is “the southern way” to me). We had a wonderful time with both families, though it was too short in many ways. I could have used more conversation with each person and more days of rest from the norm. Perhaps a vacation from my problems is still in order (first on to name that movie gets a free cup of coffee!) We were a week off from attending a family wedding and just barely missed a family reunion, but it was still a great week to be with family. It was the first time we had been together with Tom’s entire family in about a year and it had been a long time since my family had been all together as well. We were excited to spend time with our adorable nephew and everyone else too! We also got to explore and have lunch at the Morton Arboretum and eat a real, delicious WI fish fry, so I think we did good!

We left with a very hesitant walker, a two-three stepper grasping to hold onto whatever she could. It was mostly a matter of confidence and will, but we were waiting for the day that Kezzie began to walk. She had no trouble getting around, so that wasn’t a problem. Kezzie is a speed crawler and probably could win one of those diaper dashes (why didn’t we enter her in one?)! She also became quite skilled at the knee-walk. I am sorry if you missed this entertaining phase and amazing feat of thigh strength and flexibility. Somewhere in the midst of adoring grandparents and new environments to explore, our sweet little Kezzie became a walker and a stair climber. She had mastered these skills by the time we were back home and everything is different now! We were so excited to share in these first memories with our far-off families. We are now home from vacation with a whole new world to explore by foot in our house.

It was about one year since our first trip down there with Keziah. I know it’s cliché, but what a difference in a year. Check out her growth by her precious tree.

We were also blessed to have some wonderful family pictures taken in WI. What a beautiful girl!

photo by anita johnson

Some light summer reading . . .

Katy — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:28:53 +0000

Keziah was interested in some summer theology reading in her pack-n-play . . .

summertime

Katy — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:30:54 +0000

Dear reader . . .

Katy — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 05:06:07 +0000

. . yes, I’m talking to you, one of the four or five people who reads my blog. This letter is to inform you that I sincerely apologize that I’ve left you hanging, waiting for what I have to say next. Actually, the apology should probably be that you’ve had to wait so long to see some photos of Kezzie! Either way, please excuse my absence. I’ve been pretty busy, and haven’t taken the time to blog. I realize that I left you last on “Keziah’s First Birthday: Part I.” There is a Part II and a Part III. There’s also a nunber of posts beween then and now that I meant to write, and never did. I’ve been a bit held up, thinking that I need to start where I left off and that is just so overwhelming. So . . . instead I’ll just leave you with a few picture from Part II (Keziah and Mommy celebrate her birthday with a trip to the museum and a ride on a carousel with a visit from out of town friends), Part III (Nana and Grandpa’s visit to celebrate and Keziah’s sweet new ride) and a fun trip to Duluth and we’ll move on from there . . . .

Keziah’s First Birthday: Part I

Katy — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 03:10:44 +0000

Keziah’s very first birthday was Tuesday! Though it’s cliche, I can hardly believe that she is already a year old. We had a great party on Sunday afternoon to celebrate. My parents were able to be up for the weekend to celebrate with us (and help us with all the party prep). It was wonderful to have them in town for a few days. My mom made two amazing cakes ahead of time – one chocolate and one lemon (just for Tom). I, being the very domestic woman that I am, had it in my heart to decorate her cake and to make her some special carrot cupcakes for her birthday. I wasn’t ready to test out chocolate with her just yet and had a great recipe in a baby cookbook I received at a shower. After a brief trip to Common Roots Cafe, we spent Saturday cleaning, decorating, baking and re-arranging. My dad even built us a coffee table that attaches to a bookshelf we already have while Tom enjoyed using our steam mop on almost every surface possible in the house. Needless to say, preparing for a party was more work than I imagined, but was worth it. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for all of your help!
On Sunday, after church and some last minute arranging, we had a great time with our natural and spiritual family celebrating Keziah. Her YiaYia and Papa O (my parents) had a great time talking with her surrogate grandparents from church and we all enjoyed watching her enjoy her party. It was wonderful and everyone fit in our house pretty well. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy her special cupcake and spent a long time breaking it apart and eating it. She only got upset after she had been sitting there awhile and decided she’d had enough! (Well, that time and when I bumped her head on a chair during gift time, but . . . ) She was beautiful in her party dress and it made up for the fact that she slept until a half-hour into her own party! She (we) were blessed with lots of amazing gifts and with our friends and family at our side to celebrate.

Go, Pack, Go!

Katy — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 21:57:34 +0000