Happy Birthday K!

Unfortunately, no cute pics for this post, but wanted to wish Kristi a very HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY!!!

I'm gonna try to go call you now, but just wanted to let the world know what a special day today is!

I love you Kris.

Which is more edible?

OR

I know which one I'd pick!! Those lips, those eyes...as my good friend Sarah, and Rachel Ray would say, 'YUMM-O!' I've just been a little infatuated with my baby since she got sick yesterday...I was up most of last night with her, and her temperature was at 102.9 most of the night. So scary. Not fun. But, thankfully, it's been holding around 99 all day, so I hope she's on the road to getting better.
There's not a whole lot worse as a mom, when your baby wakes up in the night, crying, and when you pick them up, they are hot. Everywhere. Am I the only one that touches every part of their body to make sure that it really is a fever, and that they just don't happen to be toasty warm under that blanket? I hate fevers. I know they're good, and they mean their little body is fighting off the bad stuff, but I still hate them.
Ok, so now onto the #2 edible picture on my blog: that is a picture of our Easter dinner this year. Unfortunately, ham and scallop potatoes aren't a big hit here (except me), so this is what I came up with for dinner this year and it was soooooo good!! Just a mish-mash of breads, hummus, tomatoes, prosciutto, kolbassa, veggies, olives, cheeses, and the favorite: baby dills!! I watched 'Everyday Italian' and 'Barefoot Contessa' on the food network today with Rory, and loved it!! It had been awhile since we vegged on the couch and watched tv together, and she absolutely loved the shows!!! She was practically crying when the commercials would come on! She asked to make salmon, after watching Ina make it, and wanted to make circle cookies like Giada. I'm at the very end of my groceries, and desperately need to go shopping, but am glad that I saw how much she enjoyed these shows, and am inspired to cook more with her.
Well, it's late and now I'm not only hungry for dill pickles, I am craving kissing my baby, so must go and commit the unthinkable: wake up a sleeping baby!!

Peace....in me

We had a really great Easter weekend. Not too busy, but still hung out with family and friends quite a bit. Rob had the great idea on Good Friday, for us to watch 'Narnia' as a family. It's a little intense and scary, but we knew Rory wouldn't stay attentive for longer than the first half hour, and we knew that Kier was ready to see a movie like this. Especially because of the fact that it was Easter and we were doing alot of explaining about Jesus dying and rising again---what better movie to watch then Narnia. It was just so amazing to watch him clue into how what Aslan did really resembled what Jesus did for us. He was very sad that they were going to kill aslan, and could hardly wait for him to come back to life. When he finally did come back to life, Kier had this huge smile on his face and he visibly relaxed in his body language.

After seeing him so visibly relieved, and myself being quite emotional after watching the movie, I got thinking why I was able to get emotional watching a fictious movie, yet struggled at how to internalize the gravity of what Jesus did for me...hence, the celebration of Easter.

So, over the Easter weekend, people kept making jokes about how the weather was more suited to Christmastime...and while I was processing the whole Easter thing, this 'Christmas' phrase kept echoing in my head: "Peace on earth."...as we know this was a phrase the angels said when Jesus was born. I then thought about what I saw on Kier's face when Aslan came back to life...then thought of why I had no issue with my child seeing a movie with scariness and meanness and an evil witch...because I knew Aslan was coming...I knew they would kill Aslan, but that he would also come back to life....and then I put all of these seemingly random thoughts together...

Jesus came to bring peace on earth--ie: peace in me. Kier's 'peace' didn't come from Aslan dying--anyone could've done that--it was in his coming to life again that he felt peace. I had peace letting my son watch the extreme evilness in the movie because the exact opposite--goodness and hope--were even that much more evident against such evilness.

And then I realized, that whenever I walk through my day choosing to feel anything other than the peace I've accepted, the peace that Jesus brought through his birth, life, and death...I am basically failing to recognize that that is the whole reason He came to die--so that, no matter what happens in my life I can have this peace...the peace on earth the angels sang about...the peace I have because he is alive. When I choose to live without acknowleding this peace...and choose to feel discontent, bitter, hurt, angry...it's like i'm saying to God, 'thanks but no thanks'...I don't want your peace...I think (insert thing/person here) will satisfy me more.

Now, unfortunately, I know that there will be millions more times in my life where I will choose to live in anything other than His peace, but I know I will never forget how, over this particular Easter season, I finally realized that His Peace is in me...I just need to acknowledge it and choose to live in it.

What's new?

well, it's been a long time since I've updated, so here are a few updates from the past few weeks in the Stanley house:
--Rory turned 3 years old...kinda hit me hard--probably something to do with the fact that her little sister looks just like her...and it seems like only yesterday that Rory was my baby
--Cait is now 3.5 months, and getting soo big...it's actually a little depressing how quickly she's growning and changing
--I've been hanging out with Marie alot--while her sister has been livin' it up in California with her hubby...lucky duck! ;)--and it's been so nice spending time with my sweet friend again
--my house has been all of the following over the past few week: clean, filthy, (almost) spotless, disgusting, dirty, and tidy...and the cycle continues...
--i've enjoyed reconnecting with some long lost friends and 'others' ;) on facebook.com, although the novelty does wear off rather quickly...but still, kinda neat to see where everyone ended up
--i've craved time with my hubby like no other time in our marriage, yet this is a stage where we just can't seem to get it--whether because of finances, babies, kids, church, etc...--it's just not working out and hope that ends soon
--watched George S. from 'The Hour' (a canadian talk show host) interview an older lady who is dying of cancer...and loved listening as she described her marriage of 63 years: 'i feel like we've had about 7 marriages all in one--there's the romantic one, which usually doesn't last long, the busy one, with little kids running around, the boring one....and now, it's the tender one...he looked at me the other day and said,'you can't die...you have a great butt.' we just cuddle and touch each other with so much tenderness now...it's just very sweet.'
--i've cried after another frustrating conversation with my hubby, during a time where we just seem to be on different wavelengths in just about every area of our life, no matter how hard we try to be on the same page
--i've laughed until almost crying after watching my oldest two kids, wrestle and hug and kiss each other, while rolling around on the floor
--i've had moments of poignancy, watching my son walk beside his dad--where he looked so small, yet so tall and grown up all at the same time
--i've been discouraged, elated, rested, exhausted, thoughtful, carefree, so sad, so happy...and that was all in one day...

....so, that's been life here in our house...amazing how so much yet not alot can happen in just a few short weeks.

how are you all doing?