One of the best birthday's ever!

My 36th birthday was fantastic!!! A few days before my birthday some of my friends got together to celebrate 3 of us! A night out for Mexican with fabulous friends and a Cake Lady cake... what could be better? Then the day of my birthday was super! The boys wished me a happy birthday, I had calls from family, e-mails from family and friends, a friend watched Braden and Colton so Tom and I could have a date and catch a lunch showing of "Indiana Jones", another friend made me home made scones which I throughly enjoyed while putting my feet up and watching "Rachael Ray" (a rare thing), yet another friend brought Andrew home from school for me, and then Tom and the boys took me to McAlister's Deli for dinner! Yummm! The manager gave us free brownies for my birthday and I opened the IPod Nano that Tom gave me! Yea! Thanks honey! :) The boys drew me beautiful cards and I opened more cards from family and got more phone calls. Wow, could anyone be more blessed?! We came home and I was thinking what a wonderful day it had been, then to my SURPRISE.... a house full of friends! Tom got lots of my friends and their families together to bless my heart! I was mobbed by all of the kiddos and in the kitchen were two beautiful Cake Lady cakes and PINK party supplies! Thanks Ang and Karen for all the wonderful details and putting it all together! Even though the back yard had hornets and bees (yikes - sorry kids!) we all had a great time! I truly feel loved and blessed beyond words. If this is how my year started, looks like it is going to be a year full of blessings!

“From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.” John 1:16

I'm hoping to get a slide show at the bottom of the blog sometime soon with lots more birthday pics! :) I'll let you know...

Braden's Spring Program!

Braden had his spring program with Pre K 3, Pre K 4, and Kindergarten. It was SO cute! The title was "It's About Life" and all about how God is in all the little things we do throughout the day. So sweet! Braden was a lion and his line was, "I'm going to pretend to be a lion and play with my little sister... ROAR!" He is the lion on the left. Even though we were way in the back we could see Braden's unmistakable smile and when all the kids were jumping to a song, he was a REALLY high jumper! The kids were so precious and singing their praises to God at the top of their lungs! Shouldn't we all? I'm so happy that the boys are at LSA where their faith is woven throughout their education!

"Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name." Psalm 18:49

How to bless my heart...

Oh the joys in life... simple pleasures... God's amazing blessings... You want to know how to bless my heart? Tell me nice things, draw me pictures, give me hugs and kisses, pick me flowers, plan surprises, and spend lots of quality time with me! I was able to capture a few moments that really blessed my heart lately!

May God bless your heart today! :)

Storytime!

Andrew and his friend, Lauren, got to read the story that they and their other friends wrote at WINGS. Their Principal, Mrs. Baacke helped them read the story in the Children's section at LSA Day at Barnes and Noble. Their beloved teacher, Mrs. Turner, was their to cheer them on. What a great story about Recess Ralf! :) Andrew, Braden, and Colton had a ball choosing new books with their gift cards from Uncle Tim, Aunt Laurie, Ben, and Brian. Andrew is such a fanatic about knowledge so he got a book about rocks and minerals, some Magic Tree House resource books, and a fun Speed Racer one. Braden is a reading machine and got several Star Wars books, Speed Racer, Indiana Jones sticker book, and Iron Man. Colton got a new Elmo singing Potty book. We love books! At least some of our money was going to LSA to help them expand their library. Anything we can do to help! :)

Calling all Firefighters!

Our friend, Jack, had a very fun birthday party at the Fire station! You'll notice Andrew's obsession with the flashlights! Braden had great fun with his friends and playing football with the firefighters! Colton loved time with his friends and eating snacks, pizza, and cake! More cake please? :)

Happy Birthday, Jack! We love you!

Wrestle Mania

It is always so fun to wrestle with Daddy! With all his back troubles lately I worry about him, but who can resist those smiling faces! :)

Andrew's Spring Program

It is so nice each year to watch all the kids grades 1-5 showcase some great songs. This year it was a lot of old favorites like the ones you sang at camp. 2nd grade sang, "I am Jesus' Little Lamb", "Somebody's Knocking", and "Let Me Learn of Jesus". Andrew is always so stoic up there and it just cracks me up. It appears it is the last place on earth that he would like to be, when in reality he enjoys singing! I have to admit that my favorite part each year is at the very end of the program when the 5th grade beginner band plays! Ahhhh, the memories... While the audience chuckles, I am boppin' my head in time and thoroughly enjoying the show! They always play the Mickey Mouse March and although very hard to make out, in my head I'm always right in time with them singing M-O-U-S-E! Cookies and punch and some time with friends under the stairs ends an entertaining evening!

"Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!" Psalm 66:2

What a great season!

Andrew and Braden both had a great baseball/t-ball season! They both improved, showed good sportsmanship, and had a great time! Braden had just the right amount of silliness and got 4 outs in one game...2 while playing 3rd base and 2 while playing 1st base (too bad they don't keep track of that in t-ball :)) Andrew got that arm a little more under control, had some great assists, and some super hits! Andrew's team party was after his last game on Saturday at Fuddruckers and Braden's was last night at Double Dave's Pizza! Way to go boys! :)

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

A Day at the Zoo with Braden and friends

It was so fun to spend the day with Braden and his class at the zoo. It was a hot one in Houston, but Mrs. Covington did a great job keeping us moving from one animal to the next and in and out of the air conditioning. Each of Braden's classmates got to pick out their favorite animal and we were all over the place trying to find them all. A yummy picnic in the shade and then a fun presentation about mammals, birds, and reptiles. They got to touch snake skin, a turtle's shell, etc... and see a live dove, Guinea pig, and snake! The man was about to talk about mammals and asked the kids if they knew of an "L" word that made these animals special. Being the room was filled with 4 and 5 year olds the answers were pretty comical. Then Braden raised his hand and answered, "Life"! Way to go Braden! :) He was going for "lungs" but "life" was an awesome answer! The best part of the whole day was that Braden stuck by me pretty much the whole time and we held hands lots! For those of you who know and love this busy guy, you know that was a treasured time for me! Thanks, Braden, for a great day at the zoo!

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:26

Good friends

Friends make our life here on earth so much more fun! Here are 4 good friends; Ryan, Braden, Colton, and Cody. They love to be together and do "boy" stuff like play swords, race cars, pretend to be Star Wars characters, etc... What could be better than an afternoon with friends? :)

Thanks, God, for blessing each of us with wonderful friends that you hand picked just for us!

Banana Muffins

Yum! We love banana muffins! I use the recipe that came from my Mom's mom, but we have added our own sweet touch that we got from friends in Columbia... M&M's! They are a treat. Since I have been on Weight Watchers for so long, baking just doesn't happen like it used to around here. So... it was so much fun to bake with Colton while the big boys were at school one day. He loved tasting everything and pouring and measuring, etc... Eating the M&M's was the best part! The big boys enjoyed the muffins as a treat on the way home from school, but were sad they didn't get to bake them. So, the next week all the boys got to bake with Mommy! More banana muffins! Can you smell them? :)

Hope you're blessed with a "sweet treat" today!