Easter Sunday

This morning my church presented the Gospel through an amazing, narrated, musical retelling of the Bible starting with creation. It went through the Old Testament, New Testament and Christ's birth, death and resurrection. It was so powerful. My heart was spoken to and I left feeling like all the old truths I've known my whole life were suddenly new and alive and breathing.

JP and I continued our tradition of visiting the zoo on Easter Sunday and then went to Magnuson Park on Lake Washington for a cookout. It was a beautiful day. Here are some pictures set to one of the songs from "The Story."

Birthday With the WA Parents

WA Mom and Dad surprised me on my birthday and took me downtown for a spin on the Great Wheel. It was a gorgeous day and a very fun thing to do. After, WA Dad treated us to ice cream cones which we enjoyed as we made our way to Pike Place Market. MomMA looked at the various flower stalls and finally settled on some pretty tulips to display at her Easter dinner. We returned home, opened presents, had my most favorite salmon dinner with mashed potatoes and ratatouille (prepared by momMA), went to our church's Good Friday service, came back home and watched basketball. WA Dad eventually headed to bed so momMA and I pulled out the couch, put in Les Miserables and ended the evening on a quiet note. It was a perfect day. I loved every part of it.

Egyptian Art Project - Part Two

My beautiful masterpiece after being painted over with india ink. We'll see the finished product tomorrow.

Egyptian Art Project Part One

I've read different articles and journals that tell about the burial customs of ancient Egyptians. They left pictorial images on walls of tombs, lids of coffins, and pieces of parchment. They believed these images came to life when the tomb was sealed and would give guidance to the deceased as they made the trip to the afterlife. Some of these instructions are called "Book of the Dead." As my art class travels through time, we are studying the Egyptian period and are in the process of making our own pictorials and hieroglyphs. We are drawing with charcoal, painting with tempera and covering with India ink. This is an antiquing process known as paper batik. I'm rushing ahead of the class so they have a template to follow. Here is Day One:

Tomorrow's step involves blacking the whole image out with India ink. Hope it works.

P.S. Want to know what my hieroglyphs say?

My name

Daughter

Sister

Auntie

Science

Art

Home 

Love

Thoughts

I started reading John Piper's book, "Don't Waste Your Life!" because, honestly, that's what I feel like I've been doing. I think this birthday coming up has caused me to reflect and it seems as though my productive years, the ones where I was truly excited and passionate about what I was doing, were in my early 20s. That was awhile ago. What did I do with my 30s? I don't want my 40s to be more of the same. I get one go at this. There aren't do-overs. My prayer for this upcoming year (and the years to come) is that I live with intentional purpose. I fix my gaze on things above. I live grounded in reality but focused on faith. I see with His eyes. I want my heart to beat with His. I know I'm stubborn. I'm argumentative. I don't like to submit. I want things to work out correctly, every time, without fail. I have little patience. I like my comfort and security. I want to learn balance. It's okay if I fail as long as I don't quit. I will have regrets, I will make mistakes but I want them to be made in the pursuit of a life that counts for something.

“I will not waste my life! I will finish my course and finish it well. I will display the Gospel of the grace of God. I will run my race to the end.” - Paul

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

A Day With the Babies

I was able to spend the afternoon and evening with my favorite babies today. We had lunch, napped, played, read books, went for a walk, had dinner, read more books, snuggled and went to bed. I wasn't able to attend Baby Girl's 2nd birthday party because I was sick so I brought over her present today. I think you can tell from her expression that she liked it pretty well. And how handsome is Auntie's boy, by the way?

Lunch

Have some tea with me, Auntie!

Future Rock Star

You talkin' to me?

He melts my heart 

She's waving good-bye...as in "Put away your camera and let's get this show on the road."

Present opening time

Look at that face!

So happy

Yesterday's Message

Tell me your story, show me your wounds

And I'll show you what Love sees when Love looks at you.

I see what I made in your mother's womb

I see the day I fell in love with you

I see your tomorrows, nothing left to chance

I see My Father's fingerprints

I see your story, I see My name

Written on every beautiful page

You see the struggle, you see the shame

I see the reason I came.

I came for your story, I came for your wounds

To show you what I see when I look at you.

Rice Bags with Girls' Club

Classroom Happenings

Cave Art

Windmills (Renewable Resources)

Finding the Center of Gravity

Can you guess which one is mine???

Here's a cool video, too.

Auntie and Baby Girl - Zoo Fun!

So, Baby Girl hung out with Auntie today and we went to the zoo...Auntie's favorite place in Seattle. We started at the penguin exhibit and ended at the food court. We pretty much went from one end of Woodland Park to the other. I think her favorite animal was the penguin and her very favorite part was the carousel. Several times during the day she would make the sign for "More" and then clap her hands. I got lots of happy squeals, several hugs and a few kisses. She was the best zoo buddy in the world and the best-behaved two year old I've ever spent time with. She was also good for Auntie's ego as she mimicked everything she saw me do. If my sunglasses were on my head, hers had to be on her head. If mine were on my face, that's where hers were. If my sleeves were pushed up, guess who had to have hers up? My hair seemed to be of particular interest. She kept stroking it and playing with it, then feeling her own. I wonder what was going through her little head? Auntie may be biased, but she thinks Baby Girl is pretty perfect. 

 

Stroller? Check. Hair bow? Check. Glam glasses? Check.

Let's get this party started.

 

Penguins...Look!

 

Don't put your fingers in the cage. Mr. Goat looks kinda hungry.

 

 

Hanging out in an African hut

 

Teacher is here - class can begin now.

 

 

Precious

 

 

Just my size. Can I take him home?

 

 

Who's afraid of a giant komodo dragon? That's for sissies.

 

See Auntie's shadow? We played a fun game of shadow tag while walking between exhibits.

 

 

Beautiful Girl

(Note the glasses on the head)

 

No, I won't smile. You can't make me.

 

 

Such a big girl. Auntie has her foot, Mom. She wasn't going anywhere.

 

 

Famished. Completely ate an entire kid's meal of chicken strips, carrots and mandarin oranges...then dove into the snacks Mommy sent along.

 

Show me your laugh

(And your chewed up chicken)

 

 

Exhausted - even Auntie's singing couldn't keep me awake on the way home.