The Holiday Parade

For the first time since moving to Billings, we decided to attend the Holiday Parade. Part of our motivation was to help out with the church as they have a float and also give out hot chocolate and cookies to passers by, as the church is right on the way to the parade.

We got there in time to help set up a table and chairs and bring out some cookies. Maggie even helped taste-test a few and stated they were good. Once the crowds started coming through, Maggie decided she wanted to help pass out candy canes. She was very polite and asked people as they passed "Excuse me, would you like a candy cane?" She took the first few rejections a little personally, but was soon handing them out like a pro! At one point, she told me "I'm serving the church!" Get them while they are young!

A little bit before the parade started, we headed to find a good spot to watch from. Maggie got the best seat, on Daddy's shoulders. We saw lots of Boy Scouts and even saw cousins Terry, Christy and Ethan on a Boy Scout float. Once the church van passed and Maggie got a candy cane from Miles, she was ready to go. We saw about 20 minutes of the parade, which was about enough for all of us! We did have a lot of fun and will help out next year as well.

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

I love Thanksgiving: the food the food and the food. It is amazing that I spent several hours throughout the week and many more hours Thanksgiving morning preparing all the food, we spend about 15 minutes actually eating, and then Rocky, during the clean up, always remarks about just HOW many leftovers we have. Of course, I could have bought a smaller bird, made fewer potatoes, but there's just something about the smell of that large bird roasting away, the giblets flavoring the juices that will turn into gravy. (And yes, the gravy turned out yet again, though I made too much roux to start with and ended up with more gravy than we will EVER need).

I love the Thanksgiving afternoons of lazing around, watching football, playing Candy Land with Maggie and reading through the Black Friday ads to see if there's any saving just soo enticing that we MUST head out bright and early tomorrow morning (as usual, there is not). Currently, I'm trying to decide when to start the apple pie, Maggie is "reading" her Sponge Bob book using her Leap Frog Tag pen, and Rocky is watching the pre-game show for the Cowboys/Raiders game.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

A new church home

I've been a part of many churches throughout my life, the majority Presbyterian. The church I grew up in which gave me my faith foundation; the church in Boulder, CO which rather helped keep me in my faith at times when I wandered and where I learned a lot about how to sing; the church in Grand Rapids, MI where Rocky and I were married and started our walk together; the church in Richmond, VA where Maggie was baptised. And now, after a search of approximately 2 years, we have found a church home here in Billings.

Our search started with looking at Presbyterian churches and for an early service. We are early risers and enjoy going to church early as well. We opened up to other denominations while seeking an early service and attended a Catholic and Methodist church near our home in the early search attempts, but never felt quite at home. We then opened our search to include those churches without an early service. We knew about the downtown Methodist church (as it is directly across the street from the Gazette), but had never tried it. So, last spring, we decided to check it out. Friendly congregation? Check. Members of all ages? Check. Strong youth programs? Check. Choir? Check check. And we just kept going. And today, we officially became members.

We are making good friends, as Rocky and I have joined the Young Married Group. Maggie is also making friends by going to Sunday School and hanging out with the YMG kids while we are in our discussion. There have been several times she has cried when it has been time to leave because she is having so much fun playing with the big kids as well as the kids her age. I have joined the choir and sing with the Praise Team. All in all, it is a wonderful match for us and I think we will enjoy being Methodists.

Grow up?

As any parent, I wonder what Maggie will do when she grows up. With her love of animals, it never quite surprises me when she says she wants to be a Zoo Keeper or an animal doctor or even a zoo doctor. While riding with Daddy a few days ago, they saw a school bus. She asked Daddy about the school bus and then told him that when she grows up she's going to drive the school bus!

Now, Maggie is developing yet another talent: photojournalism. Perhaps she will follow in her father's footsteps. At a minimum, she certainly does enjoy helping him: She got to visit the set of "Peter Pan" at the Billings Studio Theater and received the opportunity to interview Peter Pan "him"self!

Comparing

I'm trying to remember the early pregnancy with Maggie. I was never very sick -- I threw up once or twice, though I did have the dry heaves many many mornings in the beginning, probably had the queasy stomach most of the time. But I don't remember when that all started or ended. I do remember the awesome boobs. I don't remember when I started to show or really needed to wear maternity clothes -- I started wearing them probably before I really needed to.


This time around, I really want to compare to reassure myself that everything is okay. But apparently, the whole thing about forgetting about labor is applying to the whole pregnancy with me. I'm sure part of it is that it's been almost 5 years since I've been pregnant. And we haven't told about this pregnancy yet, so I feel like I'm being successful at hiding it as only one person has guessed. Maybe I'm just one of those lucky women that pregnancy agrees with. I'm sure 26 weeks from now I will be eating those words as I close in on the end of the pregnancy (look at me being all optimistic) and am feeling the Braxton Hicks. Or probably sooner: probably as soon as I can no longer lift Maggie easily.

"But I was just scared."

Maggie was the talk of coffee time at church today. After a difficult drop off at Sunday School -- even though she LOVES Sunday School and was very excited to go today --apparently, when another parent left, the teachers couldn't find Maggie. One teacher ran upstairs to see if she had come looking for us (we were in the new member class). A few minutes later, the other teacher looked under the table, and there was Maggie, hiding.

When we picked her up, she had tears in her eyes and didn't want to talk about what she learned. We're pretty sure she was just hungry as after a cookie and a fruit roll up, she was in a much better mood. Later this afternoon, when I asked her about it, she told me "But I was just scared of my teachers and friends." She couldn't articulate exactly WHY she was scared of these people she has spent time with every Sunday and Tuesday since September.