Lucas turns 4!!

I told you all about Lucas' 4th Birthday Breakfast, but hadn't shown you the super fun stuff, like birthday cake and presents!!

On Groundhog's Day, my baby turned 4!

We made a cake together (more on that later) for his birthday celebration when Daddy came home. Lucas was soooo incredibly excited, Daddy could not get home soon enough.

I made him Chicken Parm for dinner -- at his request for "chicken that you bang flat and roll and cover with red sauce and sprinkle with cheese".

Super yummy stuff that I HATE to make because it is sooo labor intensive.

OH! And the mess! The cleanup is just awful.

But you only turn 4 once, right?

So, once we cleared our plates, we got to the good stuff......

Candle blowing...

Cake eating....

He requested a rainbow cake.

We had an awesome time making it, but he didn't even want to eat any.

He was too excited about the presents.

He received the best clearance gift we have ever discovered. A super expensive Buzz Lightyear, for oober cheap.

He was super excited for his next gift as well! He asked for an Imaginext Rocketship for Christmas. We opted not to get it at the time, and do not regret it! We found it on a SUPER deal wandering through Tar-jay one day. Good things really do come to those who wait ;)

I think he had a super birthday! And Daddy had a lot of fun playing with Buzz and the Rocketship!

Ramblings

I swear, I have had more trouble with uploading photos lately. I don't know what the problem is, but I don't intentionally ignore or forget things that we do. I just CAN NOT upload to blogger for the life of me. Sometimes it will work. But only sometimes.....

And I get frustrated as all get out.

I think it is a problem exclusive to my own computer/site because I read other blogs who use the same program.

Since the beginning of Feburary, we have been super busy. We have celebrated Lucas' birthday!
We had a party with his/our friends and a moonbounce and yummy strawberry cake. And if I can get photos uploaded, then you will see that soon!!

We have celebrated two of our friends' birthdays (kids)! One was a gymnastics party and one was a bowling party!

We have celebrated my own birthday! I am a year closer to the big 3-0! Crazy stuff!
My husband secretly arranged for a number of my family and a friend to meet us at a restaurant between our house and theirs for lunch. I was incredibly surprised!

We did a little visiting and a little shopping. It was a fabulous day really.

Valentine's Day was a little low key. We had a "double date" with our neighbors at their house. Pizza for dinner. The kids were able to play together.
Some may say that is lame, but it is all about perspective....

Oh, also on Valentine's Day, I showed Lucas how much I loved him by paying to have a cavity filled.

And before you judge my teeth brushing skills (I totally do fabulous) and how much candy I feed my kids(they are hardly allowed any), the kid has really, really deep grooves in his teeth.
I did not want to do sedation or a papoose because I wanted things to be as gentle as possible.

He took his own movie (The Land Before Time) and his blanket and a stuffed animal for the procedure. He was AMAZING! He didn't even flinch, but the dentist we go to is quite amazing too! We had a celebration lunch at Panera with Daddy and Meredith because of the soup.

Even though you have no photo evidence of the days, I hope you feel up to date with us now!

Oh and Meredith is 100% potty trained! More on that later!

Birthday Breakfast!

Time is flying by so fast!
So fast, that I didn't realize that TWO WEEKS have passed since my baby turned 4 years old!

We celebrate his birthday on Groundhog's Day -- for those who don't know when that is, it falls every year on the 2nd of February!

His birthday fell on a Wednesday this year - so Richard left before the babies had realized the sun had greeted us.

Lucas woke me up with his little nose pressed to mine and his exhuberant voice yelling
"Good Morning Mommy! Today is my birthday! Where is my birthday hug!?"

He had already dressed himself in his "party clothes", which were the clothes he had worn the day before!

After lots of snuggles, we went downstairs and I made my birthday boy cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
He was super excited and enjoyed every minute!

And so began a beautiful day of celebrating Lucas' 4th Birthday!!

A Special Christmas Gift

The last time that my husband gave me a piece of jewlery was six and a half years ago.

A simple and traditional gold wedding band with an internal engraving constantly touching my finger:

1 Corinthians 13:7 ALWAYS 24AUG2004

The entire 13th chapter of Corinthians was read at our wedding by my grandfather. We chose my grandfather because he represented the full description of that love. We chose verse 7 specifically for the engraving because to us, it represented the true meaning of God's intention for our love.

"It [love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perserveres."

This year we will celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary.

My grandparents shared the same type of real, raw, true love, with the belief that the love between them would continue beyond the end of time. They celebrated 51 years of marriage on this earth before my grandmother passed....nearly 4 years ago now.

After my grandmother's passing, her wedding band was given to her oldest daughter, and her original engagment ring was given to my mother.

The ring was quite beautiful. A simple solitaire in a boxed setting. The ring had been worn through and wasn't a complete "ring" any longer. The ring sat in my mother's jewlery box.

Upon my mother's death in October, I aquired her jewlery box. My husband was facinated with the ring and spoke with my grandfather about it (privately).

It wasn't until Christmas Eve that I understood what my grandfather and husband were keeping secret.

After all of the presents had been opened, I was instructed to go sit down with my husband. I refused, commenting on how important it was that I eat a Rice Krispie treat that minute. After much proding by my uncle, I finally complied to their demands. Richard handed me a small square box.

I traded him for my Rice Krispie treat....which I never got to eat.

I was blown away when I opened the box. Inside was a gorgeous snowflake shaped pendant.

The center diamond was the stone used in my grandmother's engagment ring, 55 years ago.

The design was beautiful, the eight surrounding stones were a gorgeous compliment.

I never in a million years expected this, infact, I hadn't even noticed the ring was missing.

I don't often look inside my mother's jewlery box because....well, it is too much right now.

If you know Richard, you know how important it is to him to be sentimental and full of surprises.

And even though those surprises are few and far between because we agreed to not exchange gifts, I am super blessed because they are so incredibly meaningful.

Sunday in December

These photos are from December, and have been sitting here waiting to be published!

AHHH!

Several months ago, Lucas discovered a shaving kit on clearance at Target.

I am really happy I made that purchase.

Lucas is super cute when he is shaving with Daddy....

he carefully slides the razor....

following Daddy's every move...

Later that day, we were watching the Cowboys play (playoffs people!).

How fitting that my Mere bear has a matching cheerleeder outfit.

Go Team!!

All that cheering made us tired.

So we snuggled....

My most favorite thing to do on a Sunday....

or anyday...

Worship Wednesday on Thursday: Family

I totally lost track of time and wasn't able to post yesterday (Wednesday).
Yesterday was my first born's birthday - photos to come soon!!

All week I have been going over in my head as to what to write about, but I have been so focused on my family that I could not decide what angle to approach this week.

Which reminds me of a Bible verse discussed in our Bible Study last Sunday, based on what is most important...
Family.

As I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing, focusing on those who live around me, I was presented with the simpliest joy in life.

Straight from the book itself:

Ecclesiastes 9:9
Enjoy life with those you love, all the days of this fleeting life that God has given you under the sun - all your meaningless days. For this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.

Do you remember to focus on your family?
Do you remember not to get caught up in all the stuff and stressors that may surround you?
Do you remember not to busy yourself so much that you forget your children will be older tomorrow?

I find that it is those days I focus on my family that I accomplish the most and I am filled with the most joy.
I hope you stop and look for that joy today.