Happy New Year...Pictures to come later.

After thinking over the last couple of days what would be fitting for my last post in 2010.  I thought that I may go over somethings that occurred in that last year.  I had a friend come to visit my family on New Year's Day.  We will call her Domestic Diva.  Well, Domestic Diva was very pregnant and flew into Dallas.  We were women on a mission: our mission was to find thing for her babies room.  Domestic Diva and her hubby wanted to be surprised about the gender of their bundle of joy.  It is really pretty difficult to find some gender neutral stuff that isn't a generic yellow, green, brown, or beige.  It was fun to ring in the new year shopping.  I don't usually shop till I drop, but it was fun to shop with Domestic Diva.

April was an especially busy month.  We went to Youth Lab at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Sweet Pea's 3rd birthday, and Preacher Man's 35th birthday.  I was loving the spring time.  Many times a month like this would have drove me crazy trying to pack and travel and do two birthdays.  I made Sweet Pea's cake.  I have tried to do this before and failed miserable, I had to make a LATE night trip to Wally World to pick up 'a make it work" princess cake.  So, this year with a few more hints and a resolve to make my child's cake.  I set out to make a rainbow cake including the layers to be a different color of the rainbow.  Well, I did it! I accomplished my goal.  I even make a rainbow birthday outfit for Sweet Pea and she had a cake birthday hat.  We had a silly string fight and she opened presents.  It was truly a birthday I will remember with her.  Preacher Man turned 35 and I think he is looking better and better with each passing year.  Our church has spoiled him with the amount of Reese's cups they give him each year around his birthday.  He truly has a weakness when it comes to those sweet chocolate peanut butter cups. 

The Rainbow Cake

She loved this outfit and hat!

Summer time, we really turn into a house of go-go-go people.  I think there are few times that we feel more busy in the year.  Preacher Man and I truly LOVE going to youth camp, mission trip, etc. with the youth.  It is a time we get to pour into them as much as we can.  This year we were able to take a pretty big group to camp.  I was privileged to get to know some very wonderful girls at camp.  I hope that they never forget how much God loves them and me too.  The girls and I found a little time to come visit all the g-parents.  We spent about two weeks with them, which has been the usual routine for the past five years.  What with living far apart, we want our kids to have the bond that most get to share everyday.  In August, my Honey Bear turned one!  As we have done with all our little one year old, we had a balloon party.  There were balloons in primary colors.  I also made Honey Bear's cake.  I even got adventurous and made a mini cake just for her.  Honey Bear didn't like the way the icing felt on her hands because she would only suck and bite on the cake with her mouth.  She had a BIG slide in the backyard for some of the bigger kids to play on.  Honey Bear strutted her stuff in a pink tutu swimsuit and a frilly first birthday hat.  She had fun, but she is really so calm about most everything she does. (at that age, anyway.)

Trying to get Honey Bear blow out the candle. 

Her mini cake.  She isn't so sure about this idea. 

She caught on to the idea pretty quick, but didn't want to get her hands too messy.  She just had it crammed up her nose!

Fall started to set in and Cutie Pie started Pre-K.  She was so excited at first and as the weeks wore on.  She would climb in the car and say, "I can't talk, Mom, I am too tired from all the work we did today."  Well, I would let her rest for a few minutes and then out of nowhere she would begin spilling things about her day in little bits and pieces at a time.  She made a couple of friends and then it was time for her fifth birthday.  I was not completely ready for how I would feel about this birthday.  I remember feeling like such a BIG kid because I was a whole hand.  She wanted a butterfly birthday after changing her mind at least 20 times.  I got busy researching cakes.  I found a cute butterfly birthday cake and I also made Cutie Pie's cake.  I did it!  In 2010, I made all three their own birthday cakes.  I know that this may not happen very often  from now on in their lives, but I can show them that I took one year to really make each birthday a celebration and a mile marker in their lives.  October was a very fast month.  I barely remember the girls dressing up as Cinderella, Ariel, and a strawberry.  In November, Preacher Man had a fall retreat that the girls and I had to tag along because I had to be a sponsor.  It was a great weekend to teach our young youth how to spend quiet time with God.  Preacher Man, Cutie Pie, and Sweet Pea were in a relatives wedding around Thanksgiving.  Christmas has come and gone.

Gabby's fifth birthday party! 

Some of her friends with their goodies from the Butterfly Scavenger Hunt.

Our ninth anniversary was a very romantic night.  My parents reserved us a table at a very posh restaurant and even footed the bill.  Preacher Man opened my door the whole evening.  When we first met that was one thing that struck me about him.  The way he treated his mother, how he opened the door for ladies, and his tender heart for the gospel. (there are more things, but this is the short list)  I think that the coming year is going to be an amazing new chapter to our adventure story.

Speaking of the coming year, I am going to be striving to put Christ first above all including myself.  I know that we say this often, but to actually do it is completely different.  I have caught myself in this rut of finding things easier if I just simply let things go.  I have to make myself choose the harder path to strengthen our future.  I had the privilege to sit in with a ladies group at church and they have told me to savory the moment you have with your children and I want to try to do that: the good, the bad, and the whinny.  I am truly looking forward to 2011!  Happy New Year!