Memorial Weekend: Cousins Galore

Lydia, Rowan, Tegegne, Orien, Ava, Olivia, Maddy, and Hensley 

Chasing kids calls for a break! (Me, Grandma, Mom, Tarah, Christina)

Grandpa Ben is a good playmate.

Hens spots Daddy from afar, yells to him with delight, and does the run and jump into his arms!

Christina, Lydia, Aunt Donna, and Noah by the Lake

Tarah and Andrea

Hal and Grandpa Orville

Fieldsy's Quilt Time with Daddy

...and with Gramma Debby

Aunt Deanna and Christina

Erica, Cela, Andrea, and I

Boys will be boys 

Grandma telling jokes!

Zane is quite the athlete!

And so is his sister Gracie.  

Hensley and Orien are a month and a half apart and quite good buddies! 

Everyone loves Grandma Ileen. She had the kids do a scavenger hunt, and really knows how to create good fun!

The Dunivent Family Reunion 2013 was quite a success. Antioch Park, Shelter II was a great spot for our afternoon and evening gathering. 

Highlights included: 
Michael and Bob's 2 hours of pitch and catch. 
Delicious food.
Tegegne's long game of soccer. He was the youngest player, but stuck with it for hours.
Grandma Ileen's scavenger hunt for the kids.
The kids loved watching the goslings on the lake. 
Hensley's bubbles with the little ones, swinging with Grandpa Ben, and eating all afternoon.
I enjoyed chatting with the gals, and eating all day. (Like mother, like daughter.)
Everyone was glad when Uncle Eric arrived later in the day from St. Louis. 

That gathering was on Saturday. Then yesterday we enjoyed our Supper Club, and walked with them to the Celebration at Liberty Memorial. Picnic with our friends, topped off with a fireworks show. Fieldsy, you didn't even cry at the loud cannons. And you laid on me and watched the fireworks (you're such a good baby). Tegegne sat on Shanna's lap during the show, and wrestled with Tyler and Alan, played games with Nate, learned to grass whistle with Devon, and sat with Larison and Daddy. Hensley had her very own sleep over at the Condo with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Long weekends are the best.

Featured Friend: Friday

1. Tell us about yourself and your family. 

Our little family started just 3 years ago in 2010 when Nick and I got married.  Then a year ago, Judah was born and has added the most incredible dynamic to who we are.  Nick works at Premier Marketing and is a photo wizard.  Seriously incredible.  He also has a photo company called SCOUT visual, so he stays busy with that as well.  I am an art teacher at an urban school that is grades K-5.  Judah stays with family and good friends while we work and saves lots of energy for fun with us at night and on the weekends!

2. You are the coolest art teacher, but what else do you do? 

Along with teaching art, I stay busy with a few little "hobbies".  I sell vintage clothing and other little treasures at a place called 600 Central here in Kansas City.  It's such a cool store with 4 floors of incredible vintage furniture and goodies.  Judah has gotten really great at helping me explore the city for great vintage finds.

I also do hair for weddings and other special events on the weekends (mostly in the Summer when I'm on Summer break.  (www.loveyourbobbypins.wordpress.com).  I enjoy getting to know all the sweet brides and being a part of such a special day in their lives.  I love having several artistic outlets to keep me busy!

3. Will you share some stories from the classroom? (Katie does THE best impressions.)

I love getting to be a part of my students lives on a daily basis.  It's so amazing to be a part of encouraging them and growing them into the incredible people they will be.  They already possess so many qualities that I am constantly envious of.  They are alive, free and unbelievably creative.  They are amazing.

 

I absolutely love hearing my kids talk about life and such.... They say hilarious things.  A few of my favorites off the top of my head:

"Mrs. Welch, all deez people be coffin (copying) offa me cuz minez be lookin crispy." (crispy means good)

"Welch, I straight up saw yo double ganger dis mornin.  Seriously. Same face. Same body." (doppleganger)

"Mrs. Welch, I wish I was deaf or Austin was mute because I am SO sick of hearing him talk.  Like...I seriously feel ill!"

"I done dug deep in ma heart for dis drawin, Ms. Welch.  I be rockin too thick here on dis drawin like da dude on Twilight.  Ya know?  He a'int got no shirt on cuz he a star.  Den down here I drew a buncha top hearts with top hats on"

I mean... they're brilliant, right?  Seriously.  They are hilarious and their creative minds constantly give me ideas and challenge me, and they're hearts do as well.  I am so blessed to get to do life with them everyday.

I do however, keep a stash of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Dr. Pepper for rough days. Most days are prefaced with prayer and asking God to make me like Him in His grace and love, because lets be honest... after about 145 questions about....nothing... I start to lose my mind. :)

4. Why is being a wife to Nick and a mom to Judah so awesome?

 Being a wife to Nick is the best.  He is the most laid back, patient man I've ever met. He loves well and is constantly serving me and teaching me how to be a better person.  He loves God with his whole heart and just lives it so humbly.  Watching him be a dad to Jude has been one of my favorite things about our marriage... it's such an amazing connection.  Judah has both of our hearts entirely.  He is just the epitome of life and joy.  I am constantly thanking God for who Judah is and that I get to be his mommy.... I can't even believe it. I have wanted to be a mom since I was about 5 years old.  I seriously carried around a life size doll until I was 12... ha!  Judah is everything I've ever dreamed of in a son.  I couldn't be more in love with him.  

5. Thinking of adding on to your family?

When we got pregnant with Judah we were sort of in the process of finding out about adoption.  We felt doors closing in a lot of different directions with adoption and when we found out we had a little nugget growing in my belly, we decided to put adoption on hold.  One of our first conversations when Nick and I met was about adoption and how it was a make or break deal with whoever we married because adoption was so heavy on both of our hearts.  We are thinking one more biological babe then adoption after that.  My heart beats a little faster even thinking about it.

6. Describe your dream house? 

Oh dream house, when will we ever find you?  We like a good mix of old and modern.  Nick loves clean lines and white everything and my heart falls for the history of a place and the stories that happened there.  I think the dream home would be an old fire house or building turned into a modern mix.  High ceilings, lots of brick, wood floors and white walls.  It would have to have a big back yard for our 120 lb. Weimaraner, Moses.  Maybe someday the dream home will come along, but our tiny bungalow is the place for now. :)

7. Judah Bear is just over one. What are some of your best moments with him so far?

I have life changing moments with Judah everyday, it seems. He teaches me so much about life and my own heart.  I would say some of my best moments with him have actually just been normal times at home, talking.  When he said, "MaMa" for the first time, I melted straight onto the floor and cried.  It was the best.  Also, bedtime every night is so sweet.  I love reading to him and when Nick and I surround him and kiss his head a million times before he goes to sleep, it's just one of those life moments where you feel like everything is right with the world.  I'm so grateful that I get to have that moment every night.  He's  a blessing.

 

Dialogue: Day to Day

by Mary Fischer.

Typing is nice and all, but opening my journal with a pen in hand is always more uninhibited, free, and honest. It usually implies little 'ol me in dialogue with the great big God, and I'm so glad he's there to listen. Here's a bit of that dialogue today...

No one has even looked at our big, beautiful house. Why? What's the story? The bigger picture. I'm dying to know. And what's next? Is it what we are hoping for? Hmmm..............
Okay, the silence makes me nervous. Replace my anxious heart with trust, God.  I do, trust you, by the way. It's just hard not to know. 

But thank you. Should have started with that. Thanks for allowing us to still love our house and make memories here. Thanks for joy in our time together. Thanks for totally spoiling me by Michael and the kids on Mother's Day. Blessed. 

...because Blessed are those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel...

<sup>Psalm 84, The Message

1-2</sup>      What a beautiful home, God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
          I’ve always longed to live in a place like this,
         Always dreamed of a room in your house,
           where I could sing for joy to God-alive!

^3-4 Birds find nooks and crannies in your house,
    sparrows and swallows make nests there.
They lay their eggs and raise their young,
    singing their songs in the place where we worship.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies! King! God!
    How blessed they are to live and sing there!

^5-7 And how blessed all those in whom you live,
    whose lives become roads you travel;
They wind through lonesome valleys, come upon brooks,
    discover cool springs and pools brimming with rain!
God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and
    at the last turn—Zion! God in full view!

P.S. Thanks to Tim Keel at Jacob's Well for sharing this Psalm with us, along with an amazing dialogue, on Sunday.

P.P.S (I noticed that I forgot to mention how Tegegne got 3 cakes in the previous post. We were at a friends birthday and graduation party at the top of the hill at 2pm, and at 4pm we strolled to a 2 year old friend's party at the bottom of the hill. What Tegegne intercepted along the way, was another birthday party. Hence 3 cakes. And one fabulous afternoon for a 5 year old.)

Featured Friend: Friday

Hello there. I am so excited for you to meet my buddy 'ol pal, Shanna!  I've gotten to know Shanna really well through an early morning prayer group of women and our Sunday Supper Club. She is awesome. Adorable, honest, upbeat, kind, funny, and someone everyone wants to be around. Whenever they are around, Hensley is tied to Shanna's hip and Tegegne's trying to wrestle Alan down. Thanks for being a dear friend to our family, Sweet Shanna. 

1. Hi Shanna, tell us a bit about yourself and your family.

 I'm an Ohio gal that came to Kansas City via Chicago. When I first showed up in Kansas City I didn't expect to like it, but I fell in love with the city, the culture, and the community. Jesus Christ is present in this place! About six weeks after moving to KC I met Alan at a coffee shop. He was the barista who made me a four berry smoothie. It was love at first sight for both of us and we've been together ever since; six years later, we're three years into our marriage and loving it. I'm a writer by trade--marketing and public relations was my career for over five years--but somewhere along the line I became fascinated by food and nutrition, so now I'm pursuing that personally and professionally. Alan is a brilliant ICU nurse at KU Med. He cares for people during some of the darkest times of their life, showing them compassion and giving their families hope and love. So far our family is just the two of us, but we hope to have many children someday. I grew up in a family of five so the desire for a large flock is in my blood, but we're just not quite ready yet. We also have a little terrier pup named Olly.

2. Will you share some of your favorite moments from your most recent island adventure?

On January 1, 2013 Alan and I took off for a six week adventure. We drove west, stopping in the Rockies, Arches National Park, the Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree and Fullerton, California. From there we flew around the world, first laying over in China and making our final stop in New Zealand. We spent four weeks traveling the north and south islands and seeing as much of that incredible country as we possibly could.

I'm a house cat and Alan is a Labrador retriever.  He is quite adventurous and his spirit challenges me. He has so much energy and wants to get out and go, go, go. My favorite moments from our trip are the ones that were difficult for me in the moment, but I look back at them with pride. We spent three days backpacking in Abel Tasman park, which has some of the most breathtaking and pristine beaches in the world. It was remote; we had to pack in all of our food and gear and carry all of it around the entire time. I struggled physically and mentally during the whole hike, but now I'm so glad we did it. We also tackled the Tongariro crossing, which is famous for being "Mt. Doom" in the Lord of the Rings movies.

We also enjoyed the fresh seafood that's readily available in New Zealand, laid around on white sand beaches and drank Flat Whites. It was so cool to be with Alan 24/7 for six weeks, with barely any separation. I learned a lot about him and about our relationship. Once we got back to the US we drove from Los Angeles to San Fransisco, and then back to Kansas City through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Nebraska. I hope we can do something like that again in our life together!

3. After that adventure you started a new job. A unique one. Will you tell us about that? 

In March Alan and I moved an hour outside of Kansas City to LaCygne, Kansas. We are living on a large piece of land that is owned by YouthFront ministry, a local youth ministry located in Kansas City. There is a small community of people here who are committed to prayer, hospitality and Christian service, and together we run a high school camp in the summer and events and retreats year round. My main role is to plan, order and prepare meals for anyone who happens to be here on any given day. Through out 2012 my prayer was that God would use my love of food in service to Him, and in November 2012 our dear friend Micah Thomas offered this opportunity to us. God's Spirit was definitely instrumental in bringing us to LaCygne, and I rest in that truth when times get tough. I miss the energy and pace of city life, and I miss my great friends like you and all of the other people I love. But I'm learning how to drive a truck, shovel manure, and cook for 50+ people, and those are unique experiences that I believe God will use in the future. 

4. I love your cooking! Any tips or tricks you've learned when cooking for big groups? (Even though you've gotta make more of the dish, you have been so creative with your recipes.) 

When it comes to cooking, I feel like I've gotta fake it till I make it. I have no professional experience in the kitchen, everything I know I either learned from my mom, read in a book or just have an intuition for. I hope I can slowly change people's minds about the types of food they think they like and dislike. For example, I don't think that every meal needs to feature some kind of meat as the main dish. I like making a meal that has lentils or polenta at the center, and watching as people initially approach it suspiciously and end up digging in. I've "tricked" voracious meat-eaters into enjoying vegetarian meals! I want to continue encouraging people to set down the bag of Cheetos and pick up a carrot. Carrots are good. I promise they'll love it.

5. If you were asked to write a book, what would you write about? What are your top 5 books?

I love to read. When I was 10, 11 and 12 books were literally magic to me. I would read for hours a day,   great young adult fiction novels like The Westing Game or The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and just get tingles, they were so special and wonderful.  There is something about that developmental stage that allows a child to get completely immersed in another universe. I learned a lot about people and the world from the books I read when I was a kid. So if I ever have the wherewithal to write a book I'd love to write something for that age group. Maybe something your kiddos will read!

I don't think I could name a top 5 for books, because almost every single book I read becomes my new favorite. But some books I've read lately that I've liked are A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, Life Together by Detrich Bonhoffer, My Life in France by Julia Child, and Reaching Out by Henri Nowen.

6. What are some of your favorite things to do?

I love distance running and I especially love it when Alan and I train for a race together. My absolutely favorite thing is to plan parties and get-togethers for my friends, and to spend all day cooking and preparing for them. I love it when I can get made up and dressed up and go out for drinks and dinner with Alan. I like sitting on my couch in my pjs and watching a show on Hulu or Netflix. I like grocery shopping in giant, fancy stores like the Whole Foods in Chicago or Denver. I think I'm really going to love heaven because I imagine we'll all have a giant feast together at a really long table and we'll all spend ages laughing, talking, swapping seats and trying bites of each others' meals. I also love to take really scalding hot baths in the winter months, and sometimes I'll have a glass of wine when I'm in there, I'll paint my nails, read a book, look at my Instagram feed or watch part of a documentary. I can really spend hours in a hot bathtub when it's cold outside! 

7. Anything else you'd like to say? 

Thank you, Kristyn, for keeping such a lovely record of your life in your blog, and for letting me be a part of your blog and of your life! We are so blessed by our community of friends in Kansas City!

(All of these photos were taken by Alan and Shanna on their great island adventure.)

Interior Designing: Day and Night!

Dear Family,

I interrupt this Thursday morning to say thank you. Thank you for being supportive of my of my interior design consulting, which has pulled me away in the evenings for meetings quite a bit this spring. I love love designing for people, but my first job is mother/wife/homemaker. I try not to leave for meetings until after dinner, so what I miss most is my time with Daddy. We've always tried to go to bed at the same time. It was the best marriage advice we've ever gotten. He is super supportive of my design projects though, and often shares ideas. 
  
This kitchen design are for a lovely neighbor of ours here in Pendleton Heights. It is especially fun because we share similar taste with our design aesthetic. I am renovating her kitchen and master bath, and speaking of which...writing her proposal to finish the work is next on my to-do list!

Then there's this super cool retail space that a few other folks in our neighborhood are working on getting approved. It's a similar concept to London's Box Park. Once they have further approval, I'll share the renderings. And speaking of which...that's next on my to-do list! Revise and render those drawings!

Last night I had a lot of fun with a girlfriend, Rachel Kabukala. She hired me to redecorate her office space, and I went ahead with the living room as well to tie the spaces together. Rachel is a professional photographer, with her office in her home. In 5 hours (didn't get home til 2am!) we transformed her space, with things she already owned! Talk about design on a dime. The only things she'll need to do are get some gold accents, pot her succulents, and a few other details. She took before and after shots I'll have to share too. 

Here are my other projects, as of late. Master planning for Jacob's Well Church...site sketches to do for our staff design mtg on the 15th. Interior design for my friend, Mimi's home in Brookside. Did a 3D drawing for Taryn and Micah's new kitchen and Eric and Erica's new kitchen! And two people to call to start their projects. It's busy, but good.  I could use a Nanny. Better yet, a Chef. If I could only have help with one thing, it'd be laundry service.

Much love to my family and my folks asking for my help designing their spaces.

Mom/Kristyn

Our House: If Walls Could Talk

 Yes, a lovely second kitchen on the third floor for guests, super bowl parties, or if your like us, a space for your good friends...cause living in community is wonderful.

Hello there house. I hope you are not feeling too vulnerable being "on the market" and all. We are really praying for some nice folks to move in. Ideally someone with some kids or dogs to peek their little head through the square at the butlers stair landing. A place we've had many conversations with our kids. Oh, did I mention that we're going to miss you? Like seriously. When have thrown some great parties with you, beloved home. Our friends think we're crazy to give up the best place to have a party! You've been full of moms and babies eating cake and opening presents (ha, babies eating cake...more like moms eating cake), and even more full of ladies and loads of clothes (we've turned the dining room into a shopping boutique of each others clothes multiple times). People keep asking when the spring swap is. You made for a killer New Years party. And dinner after dinner with many a guest you've wined and dined. Well, Michael's desserts may have had something to do with that. 

Then there's daily living. A kitchen with the perfect place for everything. Even a dishwasher to the left of the sink for yours truly. Your huge 2nd level utility room with door to the deck. Glorious. Only way I have survived cloth diapers. The full apartment upstairs for my best friend and her family. Pretty great. FYI, future buyer, that space could be a killer master bedroom, or great room. I know a good designer. Wink, wink. But it's awesome as is too. 

If walls could talk. You were built with fine detail, like over 100 years ago. Back then your residents had butlers and were way formal. I'm guessing your walls were dark with decorative wall covering (which we have seen layers of). Many people probably would have come in and said to you, we want to restore you just the way you were. We came in and said it a little differently. We totally respect who you were, but this is a new day and age, and we thought you'd like to remember who you were but keep up with the times. And we wanted to enjoy you too. The good Lord knows I don't walk around in a corset with a Victorian dress on, so why should you have to be wearing dated wall covering? I'll wear skinny jeans, and you can feel hip in gallery white or exposed brick. You are a fine mix of  the old and new. 

Thanks for being such a wonderful home.

(If you haven't already, check out all photos here. And the listing here.)

With love,

The Joneses

P.S. Some folks lured Michael to letting them in on Sunday to view the home and the lady started dreaming...said she pictured the dining room ceiling being burgundy. I mean, smoothing the ceiling sounds great, but burgundy? Eek!

A Love Note: To Our Cookie

Dear Chocolate Chip Cookie made by Dear 'ol Daddy,

We love you, Cookie.
You are so good to us.
Sometimes you are there for an after dinner treat.
And other times you are Mommy's sneaky breakfast.

We are glad we get to enjoy you often.
A lot of our friends get to enjoy you as well.
Oh Cookie, Dear Cookie, thanks for being so yummy.

Love,

Happy Consumers with Messy Chocolate Faces

Our Children: Joy

Dear Children,

You are true joy to Daddy and I. Fields, you'll be scooting around the house soon. Your rocking and squealing are so cute. Tegegne and Hensley, last night we had the front and back doors open letting the rainy breeze freshen up the house. You two ran from front to back over and over with much laughter. Later we sat on the front porch for 2 hours. We were so peaceful and content. It was the calm before the storm.

We love you.

Mommy

A Connection: To Dirt, To Family

So I was just reflecting on the Lenten season and realized that since then I have been less "plugged in." I mean, I love reading others blogs and writing here and keeping up with fashion and design and new recipes via pinterest. Also love keeping up with friends photos on Instagram. It's all good, but a big part of me loves when I do less of that. What helps is a good book. And nice weather. And a conscious effort to be a good example to Tegegne, as I often tell him "no...he cannot play a game on the Ipad because it's a waste of time and he should be reading or playing instead..." 

I know eventually we should get smart phones, and maybe even an I phone...ooh, laa, la. But then again, I sort of like still having to write down directions and use my good instincts to get to where I need to go. Or do I? It would be really fun to have a nice camera on my phone. And video. 

There is just something about being connected to the real world, like reality, ya know? Makes me wanna go digging my toes into the dirt. I noticed the other day that I'm more productive when I'm barefoot. Is that funny? It's something about the feeling of my feet taking steps, the coolness of the hardwoods, the small crumbs from breakfast getting stuck to my feet that make me wanna sweep my floor. The day that my children (right now it's all Hensley) make less of a mess eating will be a glorious day. 

Speaking of Hensley, am pretty excited for you, Little Lady, to fall in love with underwear and realize that diapers are for babies. Two days ago I asked, "Hens, want to sit on the potty?" You replied, "Not today." Ha, not today! Your vocab is growing and it's so awesome. Not today was quite an honest answer. 

I guess you kids realize that I do expect you to read this blog someday. I better try to start making it into a book or something, just in case it would ever go away. I just love you kids so much, your dad and I do. And we hope that you can read and understand a bit more about your childhood. All the memories that you may be too young to recall...

Just last night we had some sweet backyard time. We had a Jones sandwich. It was Daddy, then Mommy (watch out kids!), then Tegegne, then Daddy's long arms reached and put Hensley on top. (Fields was sleeping already.) We opted not to go to the Arts District and walk around but have a back yard night. It was a stellar choice. It's funny, but you kids liked watching your dad and I cuddle. I know it's comforting when you know that mommy and daddy love each other very much. Tegegne you blush when we kiss in front of you, and we love it.

Once again, everyone in the house is asleep but me so I'd best get the memo. Tomorrow will be here before I know it and this is obviously the best time to catch up on sleep.

Love,

Mom 

A Strong Tree: And You and Me

Good day, Saturday. Family, most of you are resting soundly. Naps are rarely overlooked in our house, even for Tegegne. Prior to nap time, we watched The Little Rascals, one of the originals (1929) that we checked out from the library. I grew up watching a series of 4 VHS tapes and I loved them. That and a Shirley Temple set were well watched in my early years. 

Not sure where your pops is. That's what happens sometimes in a 3500 sf house! People go missing! I'm thinking he snuck in one of your rooms and is napping with you, but I'll dare not open the door to see! Or he's outside building a sculpture garden in the backyard.  

The past few days have woken up our city. That being the 70+ degrees! Seriously, it's like the whole city was breathing deeply, sighing and taking in the breeze as we reconnected with the great outdoors. Our backyard was hoppin'. Michael roared up the fire pit, we ate dinner 2 nights in a row on the back deck, and had some friends join us. He set up our outdoor sound system (which is not so fancy!). Life's been like a small teeny version of the resurrection. New life. Spring is near. 

I mean, really. Isn't it interesting how circumstances affect our being? A sunny day versus sleeting rain, a hug from a friend versus an angered driver that we just pulled in front of (oops!), a flat tire versus a new pair of socks. I read the words from Henri Nouwen below and was thinking...in the midst of life's ups and downs, it's good to be flexible while being deeply rooted...

Trees look strong compared with the wild reeds in the field.  But when the storm comes the trees are uprooted, whereas the wild reeds, while moved back and forth by the wind, remain rooted and are standing up again when the storm has calmed down.

Flexibility is a great virtue.  When we cling to our own positions and are not willing to let our hearts be moved back and forth a little by the ideas or actions of others, we may easily be broken.   Being like wild reeds does not mean being wishy-washy.  It means moving a little with the winds of the time while remaining solidly anchored in the ground.   A humorless, intense, opinionated rigidity about current issues might cause these issues to break our spirits and make us bitter people.  Let's be flexible while being deeply rooted.

The Virtue of Flexibility, by Henri Nouwen