K is for...

Kisses...Our family gives lots of them. Our "smallest" family member probably gives (and receives) the most. Norah will kiss just about anyone/anything right now. And she loves making her toys kiss each other. She has little bathtub monkeys who can't make it through a single bath without a kissing session between them. She kisses her stuffed animals, and her little people. Even her books (that would be the notoriously curious "George" on the receiving end, pictured left). But best of all, she gives tons of kisses to Jason and me at random. I can't rightly describe the way these kisses make me feel--but I am deliriously happy every time she walks up and "plants one" on my leg. (and her kisses make the cutest "SMACK!" sound I've ever heard) Don't worry, Jason and I give Norah lots of kisses too (maybe that's part of why it comes so naturally to her)--who can help but kiss such a sweet, angelic face nearly every time you pass it? Oh, and of course, Jason and I kiss each other too...but I'll spare you the details.

Kites...Jason and I had some great pre-marriage dates that involved ditching our college Chemistry class to fly kites (Terrible role models, I know). I don't remember much kite flying in my childhood (something I hope to rectify with our own kids), but I loved it as a young adult, and think it will be something fun for us to do as a family...not to mention, relatively inexpensive...that is, as long as Daddy and Uncle Grant don't renew their love of "kite fighting", which has been known to destroy "lesser" kites, including my beloved "Winnie the Pooh" kite that I made the mistake of leaving at their house one sad afternoon during our courtship. It proved far too tempting an "opponent"for the guys to leave untouched, and unfortunately was in shambles by the time I came back to claim it.

Knitting...After a lifetime of saying I had no desire to learn, last summer, I did...and I actually like it! Granted, I'm definitely still a novice, but I love to be able to knit and donate items to our church's "Threads of Love" group, which provides knitted goods to orphanages in Romania and Ethiopia, as well as to our local "Hope Pregnancy Center". It's been a great way to improve my skills, while doing something good for someone else. It's also been fun helping others learn to knit (not that I'm qualified to teach much more than the basics) and people are always amazed at how they can go from being "completely lost" to "fairly comfortable" with knitting in such a short period of time.