a few pics from today

We had Dano's birthday party today. He had so much fun and SO many of his friend got to come. It was a BLAST! We had the party at McDonalds (they don't charge one CENT to have it there! awesome!) and the kids LOVED getting to run and play in between cake and presents. I still can't believe the boy is 4. And now that we're home and all the toys have been opened, the boys are in heaven. They have them ALL spread out and are taking turns in 10 minute rotations playing with each toy. So cute! Anyway, here are some pictures from our fun fun day! Enjoy!

being silly before the party

the cake - he wanted a LarryBoy party so I did my best to make the cake look like Larry

present time.... his favorite were the LarryBoy Mobile, the new Red Jungle Fury Power Ranger, and the Overdrive Accelerate Tracker Phone. (Funny story about that phone, he's wanted it BAD for about 4 months now, but everytime we've gone to get it we couldn't find it. today however his friends Jackson and Jaren got it for him! He's thrilled!)

dano is 4

Where has the time gone? My baby is FOUR? In exactly 20 minutes my sweet boy will officially be exactly 4 years old. I went into labor at some point during the night, but didn't realize it was actual labor labor, just thought it was braxton hicks. Until I began writing down exactly when I had the pain. At that point it was 8 minutes apart. By the time I'd called the hospital it was 6, and by the time we got to the hospital they were 4 min apart. And by the time I saw my Dr. they were 2 min apart. This happened within 2 hours. EEK! Wanna know the kicker? I was scheduled for a C-section on the 26th. Guess Dano wanted an ealier entrance. And so at 10:45 on Friday January 23rd, 2004 mommies biggest boy was born via c-section. (a few difficulties with my first born made it almost impossible for me to deliver normally. Is that too much info?)

And thus began a whirlwind called Daniel. He didn't begin sleeping through the night until well after a year old. He got 7 teeth at once and never cried or whined. We wouldn't have known he was cutting teeth without the fever. He has hardly ever gotten sick, and when he does he doesn't cry or whine, he just wants to play. He IS a Power Ranger and despite many of our efforts to stop him from doing so, he can still drop kick us. He has the most amazing smile. He has the most amazing blue eyes, and sometimes when I look at them I get lost in them. He pretty much potty trained himself. (highfive on that one!) He still gives spontaneous bear hugs which make a mommy melt. He loves gummies, any kind. He's a BIG fan of strawberry milk. He loves to sit with daddy and watch the Cowboys play. LarryBoy might be his all time favorite set of movies. (next to Power Rangers) He is convinced his Poppy is a Rescue Heroe becuase he has a figure that looks JUST like Poppy. Every once in a while he'll break out into song and sing Jesus Loves Me. He loves going anywhere, just being in the car makes him happy. McDonalds is a MUST have at least once a week. His favorite breakfast item is french toast sticks from Buger King. He looks (and acts!) just like his mommy, which can be both annoyingly funny and humbling at times. He is one amazing, awesome, super sweet, cute, funny, Power Ranger, drop-kickin', kiddo and I think my world would be significantly less without him in it. Here are a few of my favorite pics of my baby boy.

Happy Birthday Biggest Boy!

Chris Tomlin - Not To Us

feel like sending God some praise today, wanna praise with me?

what does it feel like?

Big change from last Sunday. Some things have happened this week that caused me to open my eyes and evaluate where I am and where God wants me to be. Good things. Things that will change my life. I have known for some time now God's plan for my life. Sadly I have been hiding behind the excuse that I don't know how to get started. Rather than fully surrendering to His plan, I held that part of me back and leaned on it to keep me from moving forward.

Not anymore.

Today was turning point day.

Normally going down front brings me to tears. I mean, bawling type tears. And yes, sadly, sometimes the ugly cry comes up. Today however was MUCH different. (now please note that I don't go down front all the time, just when I really feel God's push - today was one of those days). I could not stop smiling. I think I even giggled. Tucked in a corner where it was just me and my Abba, I smiled and with amazing joy surrendered fully to the ministry God has laid before me. And now, I can't stop smiling. I am SO excited. I think the Holy Spirit has been gettin' down since this morning. Doing a little boogie for the Lord. Cause my heart is just leaping! It's an amazing feeling to completely hand things over. I may not know where to begin, but God's given me a few great opportunities allready. My choice was simple - either sit where you're at and never move forward, or get off my tush and MOVE some mountains! I moved a big one today, and I plan to move more and more and more until there's nothing satan can do to get between me and my God.

What about you? Do you want to come move some mountains with me?

ps - what does complete surrender feel like??

One word - Freedom!

formula for haiti

I have a sweet friend, Carly, (Debra's daughter) who has an amazing story. Please go visit her site by clicking here and see what God would have you do.

Carly if you're reading this - I am so tremendously proud of you! Your mission and your incredible heart brings a smile not only to my heart, but also to God's. You are one amazing young lady!

casting crowns life of praise

This song speaks volumes to me right now. He is awesome and He deserves ALL the praise! Lift your hands with me Siestas!

what was it like?

Do you even wonder what it was like for Mary? To see her son grow into a man most people hated? To see Him go from place to place proclaiming the truth, healing the people, teaching and speaking the very words of God and yet still having to "prove" himself everywhere he went? We're studying Matthew in BSF this year and with every chapter we dive deeper into Jesus work on earth, and with each chapter we see stronger and stronger opposistion to his ministry. I keep wondering what it must have been like for Mary to witness her son going through all of this. It must have gotten scary at times. It must have gotten frustrating at times. And surely it must have been heartbreaking at times. As a mother I wonder how much I'd be able to see my sons go through in the name of Christ. Could I be as strong as Mary was? What was it like for her? What emotions did she go through? What would it be like to see your son go through so much? And what would it be like to know that you couldn't stop it? I have more thoughts forming, but I want to hear from you all. What do you think it was like for Mary? As parents, what do you think you would have felt seeing your child go through these things? Put yourself in Mary's place - what do you feel?