Fan girl

We are starting the BNL love early with Jessie. I love watching her dance.

Easter 2011

Easter has rolled around again. And just as we celebrate the secular side of Christmas, we celebrate the secular side of Easter. We color eggs [though Maggie is always more excited about the idea of coloring eggs than actually coloring them -- so it's a good thing she only ever asks to color 6] and the Easter Bunny visits [though he usually only brings stuff that can be used to play outside like bubbles or sidewalk chalk and Maggie enjoys hiding her own eggs]. But even with the secular celebration, it warms me to see Maggie enjoy the Christian celebration as well. She enjoys Sunday School and even asked me the other night "Mom, I didn't tell you the Good News!" I like that she does not really confuse the 2 sides of our celebration and is learning to see the importance of both sides.

Easter is still a mystery to me and one that I don't fully understand. It's weird because while I believe the story to be true and I understand why Jesus died on the cross [and not just the "for our sins part, but the deeper meaning of sacrificial lamb], I am now struggling with the "How" of the story. How does His death and Resurrection save us? And perhaps that is the new modern struggle as sacrifice is something so different than in Biblical times. And perhaps that's not a question I'm do know the answer to at this time.

Rocky's parents are in town for the holiday and we (minus Rocky) attended Holy Thursday services as Brian had asked me to assist with the scriptural reflections. Eucharist was served at a triclinium and all were invited to take our turns sitting at the table to be served. We were invited to think about how Jesus thought of all of us that night as he broke bread with his disciples. How we were with Jesus that night. Brian chose scriptures to illustrate how those who were there did not know what they were about to be a part of. They did not realize that everything had been put in place long before they were are part of it. Brian invited us:

Luke 22:7-13
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover Lamb has to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
“Where do you want us to prepare for it?” They asked.
He Replied, “As you enter the city a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks; where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
They left and found things just as Jesus had told them so they prepared the Passover.

And so it started. Preparations were already made, for something different than just the traditional Passover. A plan was already set in motion, the journey from the table to the cross had begun. We know the whole story, we can view each action with understanding of already knowing the conclusion. But each part of the story each, station had its own people, its own consequences, each part a piece of the whole. Put yourself into the story, see, feel and try to understand each of the characters of this week. You are invited to allow yourself to sit at the table to be a part of the story. The Disciples went through the events of tonight with out knowing about tomorrow, without knowing about Sunday. Yet even tonight there was a plan in place, a plan that that loomed in the distance, a plan that would change the world.

Maggie Reading!

Maggie reads "Pinocchio". I am so proud of her!!

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Jessie’s Continuing 15 Minutes of Fame

As the Clinic’s new “Ask a baby” campaign continues, so does Jessie’s fame! Her smiling face will greet drivers on I-90 as they enter Bozeman, MT from the west on a new billboard that is going up.

It has been fun to see Jessie on TV. I am so proud of Maggie as well, who is just tickled to see her baby sister on TV and that Jessie is going to be on a billboard. I don’t think it even occurs to her to be jealous.

Maggie's Wishes

Tonight, Maggie was watching "Aladdin" and told me all about wishes. So I asked her what she would wish for if she found a Genie in a lamp. "Well, first, I would wish for puppies at the pet store." She takes a few minutes to think and says "Then I would wish that I could be rich. That me and Dad and you and Jessie could be rich. Then we could give things to people. And I would wish I could catch the rabbits." And while I was processing that last one she says, "Well, I think I would just use 2 wishes. I would use my third wish to free the Genie and then he would have legs."

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Women Of Faith

Last weekend, I attended Women of Faith here in Billings. It was the first event in the Metra Rimrock Auto Arena since the Father's Day tornado last summer. I went with a group from church and 3 other women from our Small Group. I was looking forward to these 2 days for several reasons, but mostly, I was looking forward to some time away from work that didn't involve a sick child or family obligations. It was a soul stirring 2 days. I tried to take notes and did pretty well on Friday. I actually had planned to try to Tweet, but couldn't get a good connection. So, I just took notes on my phone. I thought I might be able to blog about some of the things I heard, but as it's been a couple of days, I think I would rather reminisce on those parts that touched my soul. On Friday, we heard Patsy Clairmont and Andy Anderson. Patsy talked about emotions. She talked a lot about how God created us with a Will greater than our Emotions. Our emotions need boundaries. Our emotions need to not be given control over our thoughts. My favorite part of Andy's talk was when he spoke about the Butterfly Effect, which I think about a lot. I think about the little decisions I've made in my life that have brought me to this point. I also think about how decisions my ancestors made affect me today -- if only that if they had not made those decisions I may not even be here. Friday evening was kind of a preview of Saturday, with some of the BIG names. The pre-teen who still lives inside me squealed at the thought of getting to see "Blair Warner" (Lisa Whelchel) from The Facts of Life. I may or may not have spent a couple of hours Sunday afternoon watching "mini-sodes" of The Facts of Life on Crackle. Sandi Patty, Marilyn Meberg, Mandisa and Selah rounded out the evening. I loved hearing Sandi Patty sing and Selah was so much fun. Mandisa has a beautiful voice, but I didn't enjoy her performance as much. Saturday was simply phenomenal. I didn't take as many notes because I couldn't quite keep up. I really enjoyed Lisa Whelchel's talk. She talked about adult female friendships and we all enjoyed being reminded that we are not perfect and the imperfect friendships are so wonderful. Sandi sang a soul stirring song that brought tears to my eyes, even though I couldn't tell you now what she sang. Actually, the music the entire weekend was soul stirring. The worship team had us up singing and dancing, learning some new songs. I didn't buy anything throughout the weekend (other than food), but I'm still contemplating purchasing a couple of CDs from their website! It really was nice to be able to hang out with the "girls" for a few days. We laughed, we cried, we enjoyed some beers at dinner :) and I think we learned a little more about each other. I look forward to the day that I can share the weekend with Maggie and Jessie and even my Mom -- once she retires.

Sister play time

Jesse is really starting to enjoy playing with her big sister. Maggie is hiding under the blanket and Jesse seems to be enjoying rolling all over her.

Day 305

Ten months of Jessica Fae! She is such an active baby! She weighs 17 lbs 11 oz, about 2 lbs less than Maggie did at that age. She is 27 inches long and is in about the 25th percentile all the way around. She is sporting 2 teeth and loves "real" food. She will wave and point. Once she pointed at Rocky and said "Dada!" But I haven't heard that since. She does "So big" and tries to blow kisses, but sometimes just practices.

She is now in the pre-toddler room at daycare. She seems to really like it, though she's still not thrilled about naps or milk in a bottle, so seems like we spend our evenings nursing and napping until bedtime.

She's a happy baby who is still much adored by her big sister. She lobes flirting with everyone, but is starting to really become a Momma's girl.

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The Circus! By Maggie

Well, let's see here. The circus was really fun. And then I get to ride on an elephant. It was so high I couldn't believe my eyes! I felt the elephant's bones. There's something about my pants too. They have a hole inside. We saw 2 camels, 2 horses, and 2 ponies. They were cool. The circus was so fun. And it was really really fun. A black bear went on a rocking horse! That was silly! Oh I can't believe it, it was so silly! I saw the best day of my life. I got a dog with a leash and the leash comes off! That was the best day in my entire life. I had the best time.

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