Happy Birthday to Me!

This year I was able to celebrate my birthday over the course of two days.  On Sunday, Vince invited our immediate family members (parents, siblings, nieces & nephews) to our house after church to grill hamburgers and eat cake.

I received some fabulous presents and Grafton was so nice to volunteer and help me open them!

 

My step-dad started painting recently and made me this beautiful oil painting. I'm trying to decide where the best place in our house is to hang it up.

On Monday, my actual birthday, I spent the day doing laundry and other household chores. I did enjoy lunch because Vince, the boys, & myself had a picnic on the grass in our backyard. Vince and Grafton had just started singing "Happy Birthday" when our sprinklers turned on! We quickly grabbed everything and finished our lunch on the patio.

For dinner, Vince took me to Fogo De Chao, a Brazilian Steakhouse while my parents stayed at our house and watched the boys.  We also talked about watching a movie, but the show times we could make it to didn't start until 9:00 or or after.  That was too late for these tired parents! 

 
Overall, I really enjoyed my birthday this year.  It's a great opportunity to reflect on the last year of my life and look ahead to what I want to accomplish this next year.  My first priority is to grow in my relationship with the Lord and to learn to trust and depend on Him more and more. That can be a scary request because trust and dependency come with me letting go and not feeling in control. However, I know He is faithful and whatever He takes me through is so that I will be better off and He can be glorified.

Next, I would like to be a more attentive wife and mother and continue to make life-long memories with my family.  Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the "doing" that I can overlook the importance of just stopping and enjoying my family, even when it doesn't feel "productive". 

Now that my birthday is over, it's time to start thinking about the next birthday in our family, Grafton's!  He will be 3 years old and will actually get excited about it this year.  He's been telling me he wants a blue cake with cookies in it.  If you know of where I can find such a cake, please let me know. :0)