Happy Birthday, sweet Micah boy

My sweet boy, Micah turned one today! It is a bittersweet feeling. My baby is growing up fast, but he is growing, and healthy, and wonderful. And I couldn't love him more!!

Happy Birthday, Micah James, you are a blessing to me, and I love you more than I could ever say...

Back yard transformation...

Last year for Mother's Day I asked for a patio in our back yard so we could set up our pool, and then have it for furniture when the pool wasn't in use. I didn't get it. I did however, get my "luxurious" get away...to the hospital that is...Mike lovingly gave a detailed description here.

This year, I didn't want the patio, or the pool, but a new deck since ours fit only the grill and a table, but we couldn't fit our chairs around it...and here is what I got...

The "old deck" on top was a little more than half the length it is now...we brought it past our bedroom window, and hope one day to make our window french doors. Then we added the second level, which is the length of the old deck and 1 1/2 times the width...oh, and by we, I mean Mike's friend Josh and his crew.

So, since we got a new deck, I wanted new furniture...but, well, we spent our money on the deck...and so my HGTV knowledge kicked in... I went to JoAnn Fabrics, got some outdoor canvas, some spray paint at Lowe's, hopped on my sewing machine, and went from this...

to this...

...now I just have to finish it :)

Just because I love him so much...

Here is how cute my 10 month old is...

What we've been up to...

Same excuse...different month...I always intend to blog but..don't...there you go...here is a bit of what we have been up to...

Since it has been...oh a long time, I have to back up quite a bit...

We celebrated Rebekah's 8th birthday in the beginning of March with an American Girl party. She got her first doll, Rebecca, from my parents, Mike's mom and step dad, and us...

Caleb's birthday is soon after and we had an amazing Amazing Race party! This was probably my favorite party I have ever thrown for one of my kids, and I hope the girls want to do it one day...lots of clues and running around the neighborhood...even a roadblock and detour...and now my oldest is 10...sigh...

Caleb and Ezra came out the winners!!...and they each got a $5 gift card to Walmart...I didn't have one million on hand...

...We went for our first family hike to Look Rock on Good Friday. It was a beautiful day and we talked about the death and resurrection of Jesus while looking out at the beautiful creation God made...






...and we celebrated Easter!...

..and we celebrated Little Joe's 10th birthday...he is the best stuffed rabbit a boy could ask for!..Caleb threw him a party, and made him gifts!

...we planted our first vegetable garden at our "new house", thanks to our neighbor who rota-tilled for us....



and I have been working on discovering the lost flower beds in my yard that have been overgrown for years...Mike says my next door neighbors may no longer like me since they will be able to see our back yard now...oh well, it is looking fabulous!

....we have been taking lots of pictures of my sweeties and all the beauty the spring brings...

...my baby boy keeps growing and growing...no idea how big he is...but he is so awesome! He loves to talk...dada, nigh nigh, yeah!, and what sounds like hiiiiii....he loves me to read to him...I generally read Good Night Moon (while he holds another book so we don't fight over who gets to hold the book I am reading)...he gets really excited when I say "good night, moon." he makes a fist and says "ah!"..then I read Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs....I love Sandra Boynton...he loves when I say, "Dinosaurs plump, and dinosaurs lean" I get a "ah!" again...

Micah is growing too fast...almost 9 months, and I am going to have to start thinking about his birthday...I thought for sure that it wouldn't go this fast...but it did...he is not interested in crawling, still hates being on his belly...but scoots around (backward) while sitting...and is still toothless...

...this past Saturday my Aunt Vernette, cousin Joe and his wife, Rhonda, Aunt Barb, cousin Julie, and her little boy,Linc, came to visit at my parents...it was so good to see them all...and I didn't have my camera. Julie's husband is soon graduating from, something that I can't remember enough to put into words...BUT they are possibly looking at Knoxville for job opportunities...I would be thrilled!!

I have fallen in love with sewing...it is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and really have enjoyed learning, playing, and making hand bags...

...and we are trying to finish up what has been an interesting "skeleton" school year....one child at a time, one book at a time...and we are getting closer...

Me and The Mouse...

Not just any mouse, THE Mouse...you know M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E. Growing up in Orlando, we (my family) called Disney, The Mouse...

If you remember, this is what we gave our kids for Christmas. We left on January 28, got to Orlando on the 29th, and had a week of much family fun...

There really was something special about bringing my kids back to a place I got to visit as a little girl. I was quite giddy on the trip going down! I took pictures as we entered Georgia and Florida...and I even took a picture of the sign to Gainesville (boo) for my nephew...(it was where Micah decided he needed to stop for lunch, and Caleb wondered aloud, "Why don't they sell Tennessee stuff here?" We are happy to have made it out alive.....I have signs for welcome centers, Disney, Magic Kingdom and our resort. Those were just a few of the 1,400 pictures I uploaded to my computer.

The afternoon we got there, it was 75 degrees! In January! It was then I understood why people spend the winter in Florida. While I would not choose Orlando, I told Mike I want a winter home by the beach...

We changed into shorts (yippee!)and began to explore the resort and Downtown Disney...where we saw the Lego Store and the most amazing Lego creations I have ever seen...not to mention the world's largest Disney Store...

We got to take a boat ride to Downtown Disney from our resort...

...and then back to the resort for dinner with my brother, who met Micah for the first time and who my kids love to be around (enter one single uncle with no kids who likes to get them riled up...)

The kicker here is, I forgot to take pictures of Casey with my kids...

At our restaurant, we had a sweet lady server who was from Taiwan. Every time we would thank her for something, she would say "Thank you." This became a game for my brother who was determined to get her to say "Your Welcome." He would say "Thank you very much." And she would say, "Thank you." And he would say, "Your Welcome." At the end of the meal she said "Thank you." and bowed to him...We are still texting each other many times a week just to say, Thank you.

End. Day one. In Orlando...tomorrow...Animal Kingdom...

And I would have blogged from Disney, even shared pictures along the way...but The Mouse...well, he charges $10 a day for internet...

Blessed...

What a life I have. Really. I have been blessed beyond measure.
January is my "birthday month" I really do like to celebrate. All. month. long.
I am a birthday person. I don't care if people know my age. I am still young. Right? I do like to be celebrated. I am sanguine in personality. I like to have fun. I like to be noticed. They say sanguines are like otters...they just want to play all day...that is me. And so, I like to be celebrated.
I am very fortunate that the people in my life know this about me!

And so, my birthday month started with my sister inviting us over the Sunday before my birthday to celebrate the "January" birthday's (there are 4 in our family)
The morning of my birthday, my little sweeties made me breakfast in bed...Caleb "cooked" (turkey bacon and toast), Rebekah made the card, and Elisa made me flowers out of tissue paper, pipe cleaners, and straws, and put them in a glass for my vase.

I had invited my parents to come cook for me (yes, I really asked them to do this) the night of my birthday. Mike had to work a night shift, and I was sad not to have him here, so Mom and Dad came over with chicken to fry for the kids and I. Or so I thought.
After they arrived, Mike woke up, (he had worked the night before) and gave me purple tulips and a card. Inside the card it said "get dressed and let's go get some sushi." (I wasn't sitting there naked, just had not done much with myself that day)
I looked at him and said, "but you have to leave for work in an hour." He said, "not tonight, I took the first 4 hours off so I could take you to dinner."
You see, after he heard that I had called my parents to come cook for me on my birthday, he called them and told them of his plans and asked if they would cook for the kids and babysit...
Oh, how I love this man. I am surprised very little, and he surprised me. I felt so loved...and the sushi was so awesome :)

Saturday after my birthday, Mike had a Feed You Faith men's conference. I got to spend part of the day with Sarah, Joy, Leigh, and Amy helping out. Sarah surprised me with an amazing gift. She had started a quilt for Micah before he was born and had finished it. She brought it into the church and I started to cry. The quilt is so beautiful and so special because she and Laurel worked, and worked, and worked on it together for my little boy. And I love it.

It is "tradition" among a group of my friends (4 of us to be exact) to take each other out on our birthday's. We started this the year we turned 31, I believe...Joy, Tamara and I are all the same age, though I get to be the one to turn 36 first...and Lydia, Joy's sister...is a few years older than us...
Anyway, they took me out last Friday. Tamara wanted to start a new tradition of writing down, and then telling the "birthday girl" three affirming things about her. I do have to say "Words of Affirmation" is my love language. So, to have three of my closest friends go around the table three times to tell me something affirming about me was the most amazing thing...my heart was full...I even forgot there were birthday gifts waiting for me!

This week will finish out my birthday month with a trip to Disney, and my baby turning 6 months....does it get any better than this?

New Year....

Goodbye 2009, you will be missed...

What a year it was! Last year was an amaing year for me....I saw my marriage strengthened, many prayers answered, my kids growing and healthy, a baby boy on an ultrasound, Caleb's baptism, another great school year together, and the birth of Micah, causing us to go from a party of five to a party of six!

I also saw Mike having to have surgery for a kidney stone that was no longer there, a kidney infection and pneumonia, Bekah lose 6 teeth (not that that was a bad thing..I am just waiting for them to come back in!) , our old van "die", a potential fire, a water leak,and Mike's Grandmother pass away.

Through the good and bad, I have seen God be faithful to our family. We are blessed beyond measure.



So...I have gone through last years blogs (not that there were too many...) and thought I would post the first sentence of the last blog of each month...(sometimes the last was the first!)



January: (I had to post the last sentence from this one, it was too funny)

Elisa says, " Yes, Daddy, Mommy is the queen, Bekah and I are the princesses, and Caleb is the servant!."



February:

Yippee! tomorrow is the last day of February. It has become my least favorite month of the year.



March:

Today I became an Aunt for the 9th time...and my sister became a mommy for the 6th, giving birth to her second daughter, Cecelia Grace....



April:

Last year when we moved in to our new house, my mom took me around the yard to tell me which plants were which, and which flowers were which...I am not good at that.



May:

A week ago I had a list made for Mike and I of things I wanted to accomplish by this weekend so we could have my (favorite) Aunt and Uncle stay with us, while other company was in staying at my parents.



June:

So, I have never had "maternity" pictures taken before...I always thought I don't want to remember how big I actually get when I am pregnant!!



July:

For the past five and a half years, we have been a party of five...I thought I was so clever to name my blog and email address by the same name...I love my little party of five...One amazing husband and three kids who I think the world of.



August:

Our precious boy, Micah James, entered the world on Thursday, July 30 at 2:47 p.m.



September:

Thank you, Sarah...for reminding me to not only think of three beautiful things today, but to post them...



October:

Yesterday afternoon I started going through the seven totes of clothes I have of winter clothes for the girls. (we are very blessed to have people hand down clothes to us and we have an abundance.)



November:

I blog...I do...it is just blogging in my head lately.



December:

This past weekend I was able to get out all my Christmas totes and start decorating for Christmas.