Despite the huge change we'll be experiencing in six weeks, things finally feel like they're becoming more manageable in the Frema-Useless Clutter household. Except for our bedroom (currently the latest catch-all room), our home is finally in order, my work load doesn't feel quite as overwhelming, and we are all set for Christmas. Hopefully this means you'll see me around here more often, because I really missing interacting with you all. And the house post I've been promising for thirty-seven years will go up after the New Year so it doesn't get lost in the holiday shuffle.
This past weekend, my family engaged in two noteworthy events, the first and most unexpected one being a visit from my sister Ryan and her husband Jason, who decided to fly in from Germany and surprise everyone for Christmas. Not only that, but they drove the three and a half hours it takes to get here from Chicago because they knew Luke and I were wanting to stay close to home. Even though we TOTALLy would have made the trip to see them because hello, GERMANY.
They showed up on our doorstep late in the morning and didn't leave until the evening. It was a wonderful visit, and especially nice to have them all to ourselves.
Since Jason's spent a lot of Kara's life on army duty in Iraq, she spent a lot of the visit sizing him up. Here you can see her weighing the pros and cons of remaining where she is or tackling her auntie.
Apparently, it was an easy choice.
Don't worry, Uncle Jason, Kara still loves you. See? She's totally letting you mack on her toys.
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The second event happened on Sunday, when Luke made a batch of banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (from scratch!) in honor of Kara's birthday. With five days of wellness under her belt, it was finally time for her to enjoy her first rite of passage as a one-year-old. The recipe for the cupcakes came from a homemade baby food cookbook Luke really likes, so now I'm almost glad her first major experience with sugar was something a little more healthful than the grocery-store cake we bought for her party. Not that there's anything wrong with ready-made goodness--if the task were up to me, I would've just gone back to Marsh. What can I say? June Cleaver's got nothing on me.
Anyway, at first, Kara was unimpressed.
This concoction is offensive to my delicate baby senses. I banish it from my sight forever!
What's a girl supposed to do with this crap? Maybe there are instructions in the creamy white stuff?
You mean this is FOOD? Food I'm allowed to EAT? Why didn't you say so?
I don't care if there's frosting on my forehead, I must approach this substance with all the care my index and middle fingers can provide.
Say! I like green eggs and ham cupcakes!
(Don't you feel like you're looking at a twenty-one-year-old who just had her first taste of beer?)
I'm saving some for later, and I'm putting it right HERE.
Where, oh, where is my squishy little baby? Perhaps this young girl can tell me.
She does look so grown up in those pictures! Wow -- time flies :-) Those are adorable first-cake pictures.
Posted by: Katie | December 23, 2008 at 09:15 AM
Kara is a very neat eater! I am glad she was able to have her first cupcake and enjoy it!
Posted by: SSU | December 23, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Hooray that Kara's feeling better! Those pictures of her with the cupcake are hilarious, she's so expressive!
Posted by: Parsing Nonsense | December 23, 2008 at 12:01 PM
The visit from afar must have be a joy. Plus, the learning experience of a joyful cupcake was a wonderfully documented sequence.
Posted by: daddyd | December 24, 2008 at 01:53 PM
She is looking so grown up! Adorable!
I love your "21 year-old who just had her first taste of beer" reference. Now which college do you think she may be attending?!
Merry Christmas!
Posted by: Ann | December 24, 2008 at 09:50 PM
I love it when Kara writes the captions. Glad she finally got to have a cupcake! I am going to pick up a copy of that book. That recipe would be perfect for Dean's monkey and banana birthday cake!
What a wonderful surprise to get to see your sister and bro-in-law! I'll bet you were shocked! That's a wonderful gift. Merry Christmas!!
Posted by: Jen L. | December 25, 2008 at 02:23 PM
Those captions under the photos are hilarious! I don't think if a one-year-old could talk, they'd be quite as funny!
Posted by: Scott | December 27, 2008 at 07:13 PM