In other news...

It seems like there are always new things popping up around here - I guess that is to be expected in springtime and in a home with two creative, fun youngsters. They sure keep us on our toes. I've started thinking of this blog as my place for "depositing" things that I don't want to forget or I want our girls to be able to look back on (when Mom told me this was my form of scrapbooking, it not only relieved my "I don't scrapbook" guilt but also helped me frame a bit more of why I do this and to help me think of my audience more clearly (as this is all kind of just hanging out there for anyone to land upon)...

So the tidbits on my mind this afternoon:

Kali's an amazing big sister, and not just because she is a huge help! She loves on Alida all the time, and Alida loves it except it seems that at bedtime she is not such a fan of Kali's preferred method of saying goodnight to her (by rubbing Alida's head with her mouth and kissing her). She is too tired for that kind of closeness at that time of night. But she tolerates it. Kali now watches Alida inside sometimes while Jason does the chicken chores. And Kali almost always is willing to watch her and play with her if she isn't too deeply engrossed in a book for me to get various tasks done around the home. It has become her way of "pitching in" and we are all quite happy with the arrangement. It was noticing this shift that helped us make the final decision to add another animal to our homestead in 2012.

Tomorrow is ship date! 10 baby duckling should be arriving by mail Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. The excitement is building and the adults in the household are hoping the minutes between now and then will afford us enough preparation time. The swimming pool will be set up once again in the common room to house the little ones until they are big enough for their outdoor pen. We'll all eager to see what adventures we'll enjoy having ducks around.

Backing up a bit, Kali said on Easter day that it didn't seem so much like Easter. For a gal who doesn't like to talk to many people (other than those she is very close to), she sure does love big social gatherings (if she can stay on the fringes and not be expected to engage in any particular way). There was not enough hubbub for her. I, on the other hand, loved being "just us." The day prior had lots of fun with some family around for an Easter egg hunt. Alida and Kali are still playing with eggs and still finding them occasionally around the yard and house.

I'm not sure I've mentioned it in this space but one thing that has been occupying a lot of my thinking space has been the contents of my journals from about 15 years ago. One night after Alida fell asleep a few months back, I grabbed one off the shelf to peruse. That landed me back in 1996 when I was heading to Immokalee, Fl. for a 4 month voluntary service stint. Who had any idea the books would be such "page turners" but I'm now in the fall of 1998 and can't seem to put them down. They are embarrassing, entertaining, enlightening and quite though provoking. In all honestly, it feels like it has catapulted me into a time of looking inward a bit more, thinking back and dreaming forward. I feel like a very different person now in some ways, and in other ways very much the same. But I'll just share my one thought for today. I've been noticing something that I need to tease out for myself and think through more - I'm ready through the tumultuous days of Jason and my engagement, my first year back at school after our time in Bolivia at the orphanage, and the year of growth and change in how I viewed my faith journey and relationship to God. What an intense time! Leading up to that point I was often an "up front" person - leading things confidently (at least outwardly). I've stepped back from a lot of the things I used to "proclaim" boldly but today I was thinking about some things that I miss. I've been missing communicating in Spanish and being more involved with music, to name a few. I think there are various things that were painful by association with painful times in my life and connected closely to things I no longer believe in the same way. But I'm starting to wonder if it is a small case of "throwing the baby out with the bath water." Just some of my musings. We'll see where they lead. What I'm most happy about is that I can approach this time of reflections with very few heavy laden expectations for things turning out a certain way or a need to hear the "right" answers from on high. I'm glad about that (particularly because life on Fruit Farm Lane doesn't include much uninterrupted times of reflection but bits and pieces here and there on the edges of a full and engaging life in the here and now!). I'm glad that my life has a lot less guilt and pressure in it than it once did and a lot more joy and fullness. So I'm hoping anything I pick back up or find ways to add to my life will be because of the richness it will add to my life and to others.

Speaking of richness, I love the life I'm living and the people I'm living with. And our eldest is going to whip me into shape in no time if she keeps improving on her bike so much. Alida has "graduated" to the jogger for many of her "nappy walks" (to protect our backs if nothing else) and so I have found, with no clear decision to pick it back up, to be jogging a bit more just to keep up with Kali zooming down the road on her bike. We just got back from one such walk/jog/nap.

I'm out of time as Kali is ready to be off "Alida-duty" and I think it is time to head outside to enjoy a picnic and the beautiful evening.