Birthday Weekend

My hubby is celebrating a birthday this weekend. Despite our ridiculously busy schedules, we are managing to take daddy to dinner tonight at one of our favorite Italian restaurants. He asked for kickboxing classes for his birthday which he started last night. Let's just say this morning he was a bit sore, but overall, he really enjoyed it.

Jerry turns 37 tomorrow. So honey, in your honor, here are 37 things I love about you!

1. You love the Lord.

2. You love me and the boys.

3. You are a wonderful father.

4. You are a fantastic husband.

5. You're willing to take marriage classes with me. : )

6. You put up with me.

7. You're hilarious and make me laugh constantly.

8. You're talented.

9. You're devoted to the people you care about.

10. You're not afraid to be silly.

11. You find little ways to serve me and help me around the house.

12. You are trustworthy.

13. You are honest.

14. You pray for me and for the boys on a daily basis.

15. You love to get on the floor and roughhouse with the boys.

16. When one of us needs something, you do it without complaining.

17. You watch American Idol with me and agree with me (and Simon) most of the time!

18. You are always willing to sing with me (and you're my favorite duet partner!)

19. You make me want to be a better woman.

20. Your favorite thing to read on your home page is the Garfield comic of the day.

21. I LOVE your laugh!

22. You're sweet, sensitive, and compassionate.

23. You're willing to hold me when I cry, even if you don't understand why I'm crying.

24. When one of the boys wants to play, you drop everything and play with them.

25. You work hard everyday to provide for our family.

26. You never complain when the laundry is piling up...in fact, you start a load!

27. You can imitate just about everyone.

28. You have "personalities" that even I don't know about. : )

29. You get sentimental too when we talk about taking the crib down.

30. You are my memory. Just like Poppop was for Nanny.

31. I'm not sure if that's a good thing! YIKES!

32. You eat whatever I cook and you never complain.

33. I trust you with my heart.

34. You still call me "your beautiful bride."

35. You complete me in every way.

36. You've made me the happiest girl since I was a mere 18 years old.

37. And finally...

Happy Birthday, honey. I thank God with every year that passes that He gave you to me. Be blessed. May it be a year that draws you nearer to our Lord and may you always know how very much you are loved and appreciated. The following is a verse that the Lord laid upon my heart this morning as I was praying for you and the year to come. As you continue to grow in your faith, may you cling to His hand and follow Him with all your heart. I know how hard it is to go out into the world every day. Thank you for serving Christ and being His example. May you continue to do that in the coming year!

3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:3-8

Wordless Wednesday: Lady in Red

We now interrupt this Wordless Wednesday to talk fashion.

By far, the BEST dressed person at the Academy Awards was Ms. Helen. Even hubby said, "WOW!" And I want that dress. For what occasion, I have no idea. I just want it so I can play dress-up like I used to at Nanny and Poppop's house when I was a little girl.

President WHO?

Last week, Cody brought home the weekly newsletter from his teacher. She likes to keep us updated on all the children's activities from week to week, which of course, I greatly appreciate. I hear once Kindergarten is over they end all of that, so the communication is something I always devour when it comes home in his backpack.

The newsletter suggested that we spend some time talking about the upcoming presidential elections with our children. We haven't done much of that around here, and I'll tell you why. I can't stomach it. Anyways. That's a post for a different day.

She also said that most of the children were clueless as to who our current president is. I thought to myself, in my oh-so-humble way, "Cody totally knows who our president is."

But, just to be sure, I asked him when he got home from school that day.

I asked, "Cody, who is our president?"

He thought for a second and replied, "George Washington."

Okay, so maybe I should be talking more about politics.

Could someone please pass me the pepto bismol?

We Now Pause To Bring You This Very Important Message

I was minding my own business, sitting casually at the desk doing some work, when George, as in Curious...I mean, Caden...brought me a tube of my favorite Mary Kay lipstick. Nearly empty. I was leaving a message on my husband's voicemail when Caden handed me the tube. I then loudly exclaimed, "OH HEAVENS, my lipstick!" and hung up quickly. I'm sure my husband is wondering what that was all about.

There are no traces of lipstick ANYWHERE in the house. Believe me. I've looked. Not on his hands, mouth, or clothes. Not on the furtniture. Or the dog. This is all that's left of it.

I have no idea what happened to the lipstick. I'm scared...very, very scared...to find the whereabouts of the artwork or worse (EEK) ingested lipstick. I'm assuming it's non-toxic.

Do you think Mary Kay has a poison hotline???

You may now resume your regularly scheduled programming for the afternoon. Good day.

We Serve an Awesome God!

Some of you have been faithfully praying for some loved ones, and I'd love to give you a praise report today.

First, we visited my MIL yesterday afternoon, and we're happy to report that she is home and doing very well. She is still receiving some help from the hospital and a nurse that visits weekly, but she's up and around when she needs to be, relatively pain free, and looking very happy to be home. She really looks great, and we just praise God for the work He has done these past few weeks. I can't believe how far she has come in a month!

I also wanted to share a HUGE praise with you about my friend Charity's brother, Dave. Let me refresh your memory about where Dave was about two months ago. He had been diagnosed with lung cancer. The doctors did a double dose of chemo and radiation. They told him it was inoperable. Before Christmas, the doctors told him they weren't sure how to progress and if there was any more that they could do for him. They gave him the option of trying more chemo/radiation or enjoying the holidays with his family. He opted for the latter. On New Year's Eve, things took a turn for the worse, and he was told he had a brain tumor and that the cancer had spread. Things looked bleak. But we serve and awesome God. Over the holidays, and the course of two months, the family prayed. And prayed. And so did all of us.

This past week he reported back to his doctor who did tests to determine how he was doing. Dave went in, fully confident that God had healed him. And guess what? HE WAS RIGHT. Dave is cancer free!!!!

It is stories like this that continually keep me humble and in awe of a God that is more than able to do all He says He will do. God could have chosen to NOT heal my MIL or Dave. And you know what? He would still be awesome and good. We're just so thankful to give you these praise reports today and also thank you for your prayers. There is truly power in prayer!

I love Psalm 103, but my favorite part of the passage is the beginning. Verses 1-5 read: "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

Oh yes. We serve an AWESOME God.