Someone's In The Kitchen

Today Sunny and I baked cupcakes. They were Halloween Funfetti cupcakes. She helped by putting all of the cupcake papers in the muffin tins, mixing the dough, and watching them while they baked. It was so much fun! I think next week we'll bake cookies...

Using the mixer is serious business and requires lots of concentration. But finally there was time for a smile!

Thunder did NOT like the sound of the mixer!

Reading a book while waiting for the oven timer to ding.

A girl and her cupcakes.

We made a good team!

We Will Always Remember - We Must Never Forget

Remember the Alamo! But who among us can really remember the date, the names, the reason, or the choices made in 1836 as Texans fought for their independence.

Remember the Maine! This one's even harder than the Alamo. The U.S.S. Maine exploded and sunk in the Havana harbor on  February 15, 1898 during the Spanish American War. I vaguely remember learning about it at school, but the memory is so distant that I had to ask my husband if the Maine or the Alamo came first.

Remember Pearl Harbor! This one is much easier. Some of our parents and grandparents actually remember this event. There is film documentation of the actual attack. There have been countless movies made about the Day of Infamy that plunged the USA into World War II. Even so, the people who have clear first-hand memories of this event are few. World War II vets are dying at an average rate of 740 per day (in 2011). We remember Pearl Harbor... but barely.

We Will Never Forget! Maybe it's a good thing that the slogan changed for 9/11/2001. But the reality is that we will forget. It's been 11 years now. And even though every year I watch the 9/11 specials on National Geographic Channel, and Fox News Channel, and MSNBC, and others, I wonder how many other people are watching them. How many of us take a few hours to remember the heroics of United 93 passengers. To relive the horror of the second plane into the South Tower. The disbelief as first one, then the other tower fell to the ground. Gone... in an instant. The explosion and collapse at the Pentagon. 

I wish we would never forget. But we will. That's the reality of life. The horrendous moments of our life lose their horror. The shock fades. The pain heals. We go on. But for today, let's make a pledge. A pledge that we will always remember we must never forget. For today, let's pause and thank God for the healing the nation has experienced this past 11 years. Pray for the families of those innocents who were the first casualties when the war on terror struck our homeland. Give thanks for the first responders who willingly put their lives on the line each and every day to protect us. For today let's remember.

Stitching Update - Week 35

Wow, I don't know where the year is going. I just know that I'm discouraged by my lack of progress this year. {sigh} Earlier this year I told you about the afghan project I'm working on with Jessica and Janel.we held the first afghan exchange last week when we visited JD and Janel in Kansas. Now I'm stitching on Janel's afghan, Jessica has mine, and Janel has Jessica's. Our goal is to switch again around the first of next year.

I don't know about the girls, but I am really enjoying this project! It will be so cool to see the finished product(s) in a year or so. For this week's update I'm sharing photos of Jessica's afghan which I passed on to Janel.

The safety pins indicate squares still to be stitched. We each drew a chart of our afghan showing the layout we wanted. Jessica's theme is "A Few of My Favorite Things".

Her favorite color is yellow so I stitched this in variegated thread.

Of course stitching is one of her favorite things!

She collects snowmen...

... and pigs!

Kansas Part Two

While we were in Manhattan, we visited the Konza Prairie Biological Station. It is a native tallgrass prairie preserve. JD and Janel volunteer there. We were able to drive the Buffalo Loop which is not normally open to visitors. We saw wild turkey, buffalo, and lots of grasshoppers! It was a very interesting place.

After that, we visited The Discovery Center. It is new to Manhattan having just opened in April 2012. The exhibits contain information about the history and ecology of the Flint Hills area. It is a beautiful facility.

Saturday was a game day for K-State University. The kids drove us past the stadium several hours before kick-off. Oh my goodness gracious! I've never seen anything like it. A sea of purple as far as the eye could see. RV's. Buses. Tents. Thousands of people milling around at tailgate parties. I've never been to a college football game. It sure looked like fun!

On Sunday, we drove up to Topeka. We went to meet my friend, Carla. She was my best friend in Jr High, High School, and beyond. We lost track of each other a few years after I moved out to Arizona. We reconnected via the Internet a couple of years ago. We had not seen each other since 1979. It was so great to see her! We had lunch and did some more catching up.

JD and Janel took us to Shawnee Lake. They were married there in July 2009. We were unable to attend the wedding and it was so special to me to see where it took place. They walked us through their big day. Now when I look at their wedding photos, I have a better sense of the event. It is a beautiful location!

We had so much fun on our trip. Although it is always hard for me to say goodbye to JD and Janel. I miss them so much when we're not together. But it's always good to be back home...

Kansas Part One

We left one week ago today to drive to Manhattan, Kansas to visit JD and Janel. I really wanted to visit the Oklahoma City Memorial so instead of turning north at Tucumcari, NM we continued east on I-40. I have not been that way in 30 years. After stopping over night in Amarillo we continued on to OKC Thursday morning.

Oklahoma City was (of course) unrecognizable to me. When I was there as a girl, there were oil pumps all over the place. They are gone. I remember stopping at Frontier City as a child. It was a modest tourist trap way back then. Now it boasts several roller coasters and is huge!

The memorial was very touching. I did not go through the museum but did stop in the gift shop and came away with some special mementos.

This buffalo (bison) was resting when we stopped for gas and souvenirs

Entrance to OKC National Memorial

More than 60,000 items have been left on the fences. Some are preserved in Memorial Archives and some are used for education and outreach through a variety of projects.

Close up of entrance

Journal Record Building

The Survivor Tree is a 90+ year-old American Elm

9:01 - represents the innocence of the city in the moment before the attack

9:03 represents the moment after the attack and the hope that came from the horror

Each chair symbolizes one of the 168 lives that were lost. The smaller chairs represent the 19 children killed.

The reflecting pool occupies what was once NW 5th Street

The "And Jesus Wept" statue stands at the St Joseph Old Cathedral across the street from the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The focal point of the shrine is a statue of Jesus who faces away from the tragic sight, holding His hand to His face in sorrow.

Happy Birthday, Jessica!

My oldest child is turning 29 today. Gulp. I can't believe it's been 29 years since I became a mom. I couldn't have had a better experience with a first baby if I had written the script myself. Jessica was and is a marvel to me. How I could have produced a child that is so motivated, so intelligent, so sure of herself, so "most likely to succeed" is beyond me. She is a terrific daughter, a wonderful wife, a special sister, and an awesome Tia/Aunt. She is creative, talented, spiritual, kind, and loving. We share a lot of the same interests and I'm so lucky to have her to talk with about politics, world events, cross-stitching, reading, music, and a host of other subjects. I am so proud of her. Jessica, Happy Birthday with all my love!