My Husband's B-day

Today is my husband's b-day.  I love him so much! God truly blessed me with an amazing man.

When my husband got out of bed this morning, Kaleb and I surprised him with a little fruit tart with a candle in it.  It was a mini birthday cake (kind of).  The poor tart was falling apart.  I dropped it repeatedly at the store when I got it yesterday.  Then it sat (and melted) in my purse during my sons basketball practice.  It was safer for me to bring it into practice than leave it in my car where it was a little hotter.  Even though the little tart was all beaten up, he seem to love it anyways.  He is such a kind/grateful person.  When I got off work today I went and picked Kaleb up and we met Denver and his kids for a birthday dinner. It was really nice to have all five of us together to celebrate his birthday.  We ate Macaroni Grill.  I ate way too much.  When there is bread involved, that seems to always happen. Our waiter surprised Denver by singing Happy Birthday to him really loud in Italian.  It really was pretty cool.  It turned out to be a really fun night.  I hope he enjoyed!

Introducing Baby Callie

Today my little sister Ashley and her husband David had a beautiful baby girl. They named her after my mother, Callie. She is so perfect and beautiful. She was a little over 17 lbs and 18 inches long. So tiny. My sister did so well and looked amazing. I was so nervous this morning waiting for her to be born. I woke up to go workout and could not make myself. I even went and downed a coffee in hopes to get some energy to hit the gym… but no, my nerves were all over the place. I really could not wait to see the baby and know she and my sister were ok. THEY ARE!!! Such a blessing! God is so so amazing. Just the way a baby is made and how it grows is such an amazing thing. He is such an amazing God. That sentence just reminded me of that Chris Tomlin song – How Great Is Our God (HERE). I can wait to babysit little Callie. Watch her grow. Watch my Sister and David grow together. Today has been so amazing and such a blessing. Only one thing was missing that would have made it even better…… Nanny. I know God let her watch. I am sure she was smiling down and watching our family and David’s family come together to welcome Callie to this world. I bet Nanny’s mom, Callie, was watching with her. She is the original Callie in the family. I had a great grandmother well into my 20s. That was also a blessing
I am so proud of my Sister. She and David are going to be great parents. She will also have so much support. Family is great, David’s family is great. My aunt Kerri, dad and grandpa were at the hospital when Callie was born. My mom was there by phone and was the first one to know Callie was born. We were sitting in the waiting room for what felt like hours waiting to hear the news, and apparently, my sister called my mom as soon as the baby was born. I know that made my mom so happy. We got to all have lunch together as one big happy family, see the proud parents and little Callie and then my husband, my son and I had to go. My cousin Desiree came after we left to see the baby and I was bummed we did not get to see her. I wanted to girl talk with her and tell her how proud of Ashley I was and hear her give Ash great parenting tips. I love my family and how close and encouraging we all are.

I did get to enjoy the rest of the day with my husband and son. We went to Northpark and shopped around a bit. My son got a pretty cool OKC Thunder shirt (the kid can’t get enough bball), I got some Lamer eye cream and my husband feel in love with some Tom Ford scented body oil, but did not buy it. We walked around for a few hours, went to Starbucks and headed home. Now here I am, sitting on the couch just taking the day it. I will post pictures of baby Callie below.

Valentine Decorations

Tomorrow is VALENTINES DAY



Tomorrow is Valentines Day.  We are keeping it simple and having dinner at home.  I am making sweet and sour chicken for dinner, and warm brownies with vanilla yogurt ice cream on top.  We are going to grate different candy bars on top as a topping.   My husband is coming to my office and having lunch with me on Monday. 

Tonight my son has to decorate a shoebox for his Valentine's box.  Boys are so funny, he does not care what it looks like, what he puts on it, he just wants to get it over with.

Something I really like that the schools do now days is not write names on the cards.  That way every child gets a card and no one gets one that the is better than the other.  They keep everything equal.  Kaleb chose to purchase cards that were created by terminally ill children.  A portion of the money you pay for the cards goes to the children.  It is refreshing to know that my son has a big heart and likes to help others.  We are going to the store to get candy to add in the envelopes.  We also need to get a sweet treat for his teacher.

I will post some pictures of the above soon.

I love this kid

He is so cute.  He kept his 3D glasses from a movie we watched, and he punched the lenses out and made some vintage glasses.  He wears them around the house and looks so cute.  I looooovvveee him. 

Can you tell I love the Picasa photo editor... hehe



Beauty and the Nan

Today while sitting in the car when my husband was renting a movie from the Red Box, I read Melanie Chitwood's blog.  The entry that caught my attention was titled "Do You Think I'm Beautiful?" It talks about how as we grow older we tend to struggle with insecurity, low self-esteem or low self-worth.  I can say I am guilty of that at times.  In the entry Melanie talks about little girls and how they dress up when they are younger and how beautiful it makes them feel.  She asks the question "Do you remember moments like that?"  That question is what made me want to write this.  I instantly thought of my grandmother, Nanny.  I remembered dressing up in Nanny's clothes, putting on her makeup and jewelry.  I always admired my Nanny  and wanted to be just like her.  She was so stylish and beautiful.  She always wore such beautiful colorful clothes, stylish heels and beautiful perfume.  My grandfather, Poppy, had to add a room on to their home for Nanny to use as a closet.  She would wake up early every morning, make coffee, and get ready for work.  She would even squeeze in a few phone calls to family in the morning.  When I would wake up she would already be ready and I could smell all of the beautiful things that she used, hair products, makeup, powders, and perfume.  I can smell it now just thinking about it.  Nanny always seemed so confident and I never heard her complain or stress about her looks.  When Nanny would leave for work I would sneak a spray of her perfume, put on some earrings and just look at myself in the mirror.  I would sit tall and proud in her chair at her vanity.  That area of the bathroom was like a candy store to me. Poppy built a vanity that ran along the back wall of the bathroom.  It had wood legs and a tile top.  It had shelves on each side and jewelry storage areas.  She kept all of her face creams, makeup and perfumes in the side storage areas.  It had lots of big lights that ran across the top.  I remember standing on top of the vanity and above the lights she had really nice jewelry stored.  The stuff she did not wear everyday.  She had drawers below that had rollers and irons for styling hair.  Underneath she always had this red travel makeup box for when she went to the lake house on the weekends.  Her slippers were always tucked under that vanity waiting for her to slip off her heels after work and slip them on.  In the wall next to the vanity was a cabinet that contained all of her hair products, lotions and various beauty products.  Growing up the color of the bathroom changed colors many times.  Nanny and Poppy would spend weekends at their lake house.  A lot of the time I would join them.  When I was a young girl and I didn't go with them I would stay home and play dress up, school teacher, dolls.  I would dress up in Nanny's clothes and makeup.  I felt like I looked just like her.  I felt so beautiful.  I miss that house and I miss her. 

Below I copied Melanie Chitwood's entry that I read today as well as a link to her blog.  Her blog has really good information and inspiration for married couples. 


http://www.melaniechitwood.com/search?updated-max=2011-01-23T09%3A27%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=3

Do You Think I'm Beautiful?


Hi friends! Thank you for stopping by and for joining me after reading my Encouragement for Today devotion running today with Proverbs 31 Ministries free online devotions.

I found some photos of adorable little girls, as in my devotion I recall a time when I felt beautiful as a little girl. Do you remember a moment like that? Maybe dressing up in your princess outfit or mom's high heels. Maybe sneaking in to mom's make up and paining your lips imperfectly with lipstick? Maybe, like me, your first pair of grown-up boots that made you prance.

Maybe you want to find a picture of yourself as a little girl and display it somewhere you see it frequently. Remember that pretty, little girl, and be reminded today that you are now a beautiful lady.

It seems to me as we grow older we women struggle with insecurity, low self-esteem or low self-worth more than men. Why do we women tend to think we're not pretty enough, smart enough, doing enough...just not enough? Why do we compare ourselves to other women and think they're doing a better job than we are at everything?

I think there's one big reason: the stinky, enemy of our souls is looking to rob of us our joy and our purpose. God's Word tells us in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

I'm including some other great verses here to post somewhere in your house, maybe several places, and to memorize one, so when the thief tries to steal your joy and life, you use God's truth as your weapon.

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (NLT)

Psalm 45:11, “The king is enthralled by your beauty…”(NIV)

Zephaniah 3:17, “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” (NIV)

Psalm 149:4, “For the LORD delights in his people…” (NLT)

Psalm 139, 13, 14, “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works and my soul knows it very well.

Isaiah 49:16, “See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.” (NLT)

Ephesians 1:4, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” (NLT)

1 John 3:1, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are…” (NAS)

Deuteronomy 7:7, “The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations!Rather, it was simply that the LORD loves you…”(NLT)

Today I challenge you to believe what the Lover of your Soul says about you. Choose to believe what Jesus alone says about you.

And maybe you want to put on your favorite boots or heels, turn up the music, and dance!

Thanks to Picasa

I was able to create this collage.

My son

I love him so much.  He is growing so fast.  At this moment he is 9 years old.  He still loves to snuggle on the couch with me, watch a movie, laugh, play games.  It is amazing to just listen to him talk.  Time goes by so fast....  I need to really really take every moment in.  I get sad just thinking about how much time has passed.  I need to be better at taking photos so I have things to look back on.