Birthday Cake--Fit Sized

Yep...he's wonderful, that's for sure! So thoughtful and kind! It was truly the Lord's goodness in bringing us together. I never did a thing to deserve such loyalty and love from an amazing guy like Brent, but I praise the Lord for working in spite of myself and working in ways that are too wonderful for me!
Purposefully small cake--enough to satisfy the kids' needs to have cake and ice cream for a birthday, but not enough for a ton of leftovers to eat for days! Brent's such a good thinker!

I had an amazing birthday! Brent took the day off, and we spent it together just relaxing and being together. That was the best present a girl could ask for. So I have a story to tell about something else that made it wonderful. I'll try to keep it concise, but you know me...read on at your own risk:

My friend, Carissa, and I had a real burden for the ladies of our church. Last year we formed a ladies' fellowship, and I was the go to person for it. Carissa got together and organized the ladies and collected money for my birthday. They set up and paid for a babysitter and gave me money so Brent and I could go out on a date as a thank you for the effort last year! We hardly ever get sitters--it practically doubles the expense of an evening out these days--so it was such a special thing! While it was GREAT to go out with Brent, I was so blessed to see the ladies show their love and care for me in such a sweet way! The Lord is so faithful, and He encouraged my heart so much through this! He is our God, El Roi, the God who sees. He knows what our struggles are and loves us so much to send such sweet blessings our way to encourage us at the absolute perfect time! And yes, I boo-hooed like a baby when I realized what Carissa and the ladies had done and read their sweet notes! So I was able to spend the entire day with Brent, and have an amazing date and dinner with him, too!

That wasn't too bad, was it?!? Even I surprise myself sometimes at how concise and to the point I can be...yeah right! Anyone who knows me can now pick themselves up off the floor and stop laughing!!!

Sarah gets to go to her first Sunday School Class

We have to figure something out! Every time Sarah sees the camera, she puts her "happy face" on. The poor girl is only going to have pics of her with a wrinkled up face at her wedding reception if we don't figure out how to smile sweetly soon!
At our church, kids stay in the baby nursery until their second birthday. Sarah turned 2 on a Sunday, so she got to go to her first real Sunday School class that day, too. Here she is with Mrs. Carpenter, her new teacher. Mrs. Carpenter is a favorite with all the 2 and 3 years olds in our church--and there are a slew of them!

Sarah's second birthday--take one

I hope to get more pics of Sarah's birthday posted, but the other pictures are on the kids' camera, so these will have to do for now. The personality oozes from these pics...

More matching dresses

We'll start with the best one first, and then you can read on to see the many faces of my darling two year old who was less than endearing this past Sunday morning when we were running late, but I insisted on getting pictures! Oh yeah...leave it to me, the wise one in our family, to insist on getting pictures when we're running late. Notice I didn't even bother trying to get Daniel in it--he's somewhere in his room looking for the ever elusive belt (the boy has 4 belts--seriously--4 belts! And always has a hard time finding one...I tell him everytime, look in your backpack--there's always a belt in his backpack--makes perfect sense to me--let's keep it in your backpack instead of in the dresser drawer clearly labeled belts, socks, and t-shirts!)
For some reason, "Smile" meant, "Show me your surprise face" this morning!
This really does epitomize my girls. Hannah sweetly sitting, patiently putting up with my ever present photographing while Sarah goofs off and refuses to cooperate! I love how the light on Hannah's face makes her look like an angel...look closely, I'm sure there's a halo somewhere in there! :-) Yep...those are horns over Sarah, too! It looks like a bow, but those are horns!

I'm back!

My camera has been out of commission recently--I've been taking pictures, but having trouble getting them onto my computer. But the Lord helped me find a work-a-round this morning and now I'm spending the rest of my morning catching up on blogging! Well, assuming Sarah isn't her typical self. Yesterday, I went into the kitchen and saw the box of Honeycombs on the table. It was a new box but was more than half gone. My first thought was, "Wow!!! Daniel and Hannah can go through the cereal--that was a new box!" (Insert a rolling of my eyes here at my naivity) I went to put the cereal back in the pantry, and there it was...a nice neat pile of Honeycombs on the kitchen floor! Yep...half the box in a nice neat pile...at least she's neat about her messes lately! And of course I did want any germ conscious, neat freak of a mom like I am(insert another rolling of my eyes here at that hysterical thought) would do and put the cereal back in the box for her to eat (and dump out again) another day. I console myself with this thought, "If this is the worst thing she ever eats, then we're doing really well!"

And just for the record, I don't usually keep the cereal out on the kitchen table for her to get...she's figured out how to get into the pantry--can't tell you how many times I make her put the fruit snacks back each day! I'm seeing a "discipleship opportunity" coming my way!

Update on the new legislation targeting children's clothing

Erin just posted a comment on my previous post which reminded me that I need to update this. It does appear that second hand shops and consignment shops will be exempt from this legislation according to the CPSA website. However, one post I read said that the ramifications are still unclear depending on how it is interpreted and enforced. It really applies to the manufacturer of items for children under the age of 12...you can still be held responsible if the items you are selling or reselling contain lead however. It's a mess...not sure how it will end up, but at least Goodwill and St. Vinny's won't have to close down.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story This link is to a story about a new law taking effect this Feb 10. It really is quite amazing. I have seen another blog explain it this way--no more selling used clothes or toys anywhere unless they've been tested for lead. It's unclear how strictly this will be interpreted, but the ramifications could include no kid's clothes on ebay, craig's list, consignment shops Good Wills, garage sales! Anything not tested after Feb 10 will be considered toxic and sent to a land fill! While I appreciate the desire to protect my children from lead poisoning, this is going to kill our pocketbooks! Not being able to get things at Goodwill or garage sales is going to more than kill our budget! Just thought I'd get my shock out here and spread the news at the same time!