Weekend Wrap-up

The big event of the weekend was Gracen's first birthday party, followed by Mother's Day on Sunday. I'll start with the party, but beware there are lots of pictures ahead.

Here is the sweet birthday girl just as the guests started to arrive. We had a small party with family.....Me, Gene, Reagan, my parents, Gene's parents, my sister Lindsay, her husband Brian, and their little girl Hayden, and my niece and nephew, Abby and Jacob. My older sister, Lori, lives in Tuscaloosa and couldn't come due to a prior commitment. (Thank you for the Target gift card Lori. Gracen will be getting some new pajamas very soon.)

Here is Gracen's pretty birthday cake, made by Debbi Gordon, one of our church secretaries. I just loved it. It matched her plates and colors perfectly.Here is Gracen's"smash" cake. It was pretty cute too.

Here is Lindsay and her family.For the party we decided to have a cookout with hamburgers and hot dogs, baked bean casserole, chips, dip, and of course, cake and ice cream. We set up tables outside in our carport and this would have been really nice except for all the wind, which kept messing up all my decorations. I know, I know....It could have been much worse...rain, lightning, hail, tornadoes.....It could have also been less windy. Just saying.

Here is Gracen when I put first put her into her highchair. I think she really enjoyed eating outside.

Here are the kids eating their meals. Jacob had his mouth full. I guess he liked his hot dog.

My Dad and Gene...my two favorite men!After dinner, I placed Gracen's smash cake on her high chair and we all gathered around her to sing Happy Birthday. You can see she is already checking out this weird new "toy" and I was envisioning a mess of epic proportions. Reagan was jealous that Gracen got such a big slice of cake. LOL!

Here we go...It took Gracen several minutes to destroy the cake and I was a little disappointed because she wouldn't really eat any of it. She tasted a bite or two, but that was about it. I really thought she would need a bath at this point. Oh well!

Instead of eating it, she started throwing it on the floor, so I thought she was probably done.

Here are a few family shots with Gracen and the smashed up cake.
Here is sweet little Hayden making her "mean" face. She makes this face for almost every picture. Too cute!

Next, it was time to go back inside and open presents. As I placed all the gifts on the floor, Gracen decided to stand on top of them. Climbing onto things is a new skill she is learning.

More climbing...

And, more climbing...

In this picture, Gene and I were apparently enjoying ourselves....and notice Deigo in the background. I think my television stays on Nick Jr.

Here is a shot of all the kids playing with the toys. I think Reagan and Jacob enjoyed the new toys for the one year old more than Gracen did. Abby was a big help, playing with all the little ones.

A sweet smile toward the end of the celebration.

Here is Gracen walking around clutching some of her new things. This is another new behavior. Wherever she is, she likes to have something in her hand, whether she is in the bathtub, in her car seat, or walking around, inside or outside, she will grab a random object and hold it with a death grip.

We really had a fabulous time. I had been looking forward to this celebration of Gracen's first year for months, and everything went perfectly..except for the wind while I was trying to decorate my tables. I think we all had a really nice time just hanging out with one another and watching all the kids play and interact with each other.

After the party, Lindsay and I both gave my mom her Mother's Day present because we knew we would not see her the next day. Here is mom opening her gift from us, some new Yellow Box flip flops.

And of course, Reagan insisted that she try them on.



I love you Mom and I hope you enjoyed your day...and your flip flops!

On Mother's Day, Reagan brought me a gift as soon as she woke up. She made me close my eyes and then brought me a gift bag with some new pajamas. I just love new pajamas and wish I had a different pair for every single night of the week. Reagan gave me a huge hug and told me she loved me. She also handed me two cards that she made for me and a potted plant she made at preschool. Those items were probably more precious than the pj's because they were made with love. By this point, I had tears in my eyes.

We headed to church and Bro. Glenn preached an inspiring message on the number one thing that every mother wants for their children, and that is for them to go to heaven. He preached on Revelation 21:4 which says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

Of course this verse is speaking of eternal life in heaven, and what mother doesn't want those things for her children. I know I want Reagan and Gracen to live in heaven with Jesus, to be in a place of eternal bliss, to no longer have tears, to no longer deal with death, to no longer mourn, to longer cry, to no longer experience any pain, to live in complete peace forever. I wish I could provide those things for my children in this life, but that is not reality.

Pointing my children to Jesus so they will ask Him into their hearts doesn't just happen. I have a huge responsibility to live a life that models Jesus Christ, to model a daily quiet time, to teach them the scriptures, to pray for them, to teach them to pray, to take them to church, and teach them those life lessons along the way. No small order! I can be a "good" mom in a lot of ways, but if I fail in this calling of pointing them to Jesus Christ, then I fail. Humbling thought, isn't it?

After church, we came home to let the girls nap and then we took Gene's parents out to eat because we did not have church Sunday evening. We were actually taking Gene's mom out to eat and Gene's Dad invited himself. I know that sounds weird, but Gene's Dad NEVER eats out. I can count on one hand in almost 15 years of marriage that he has eaten out with the family. He has some really strange idiosyncrasies that I do not have time to cover here. Anyway, we were all excited that he wanted to join us and we had a great time.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the time I spend with my family, so it was a really good weekend all the way around.

Until next time,