cars party

Do you ever have so much on your plate that you don't really even realize how much it is consuming you until it's over?

ahhhhhhhhhhh....and then you can breathe.

I feel like I've had these consuming feelings for the last month or so.
This past weekend was a BIG weekend - one I had been preparing for for awhile.
I helped coordinate a marriage retreat for 12 couples in our Sunday School class.
We had never done anything like this before - we started months ago from the ground up.
I can't wait to tell you about it - but I'll catch up on a few other things first.
When Sunday came - I crashed. HARD.
Saturday night. I went to bed at 9pm - and got 11 hours of sleep.
Sunday afternoon I slept for several hours and when I got up I still felt like I had been run over by a truck.
I couldn't even function, was SO tired - mentally, emotionally, physically.
Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who allowed me to be pretty pathetic on Sunday.

Man, you'd think I've been through some horrible, stressful situation in my life.
But it was nothing horrible at all - it was ALL good! Awesome stuff.
Things I was very grateful to be a part of.
I guess my brain and body just go into overload sometimes.

And I obviously got very behind on my blog.
So I need to catch up on the last few weeks.

I'll start with our little guy's 2nd birthday on the 28th.

His party was all about Lightning McQueen - from Disney's movie Cars.  He's just a tad obsessed.

We had a yummy lasagne dinner - my first time ever to make lasagne - thanks to a yummy recipe I got from a friend!  I am a little embarrassed to admit I had to call a friend to explain the oven-ready noodles to me.  It just seemed too easy that you just put them in the oven, hard, straight from the box - but I guess that's why they are called "oven-ready".

We watched a video of his pictures and then ate cake!

I used the Lightning McQueen cake pan - and had my first experience of using tips to cover the entire cake - man, my hands were tired. It took an extra trip to Walmart for more red coloring to get a RED racecar and not a pink one. I was so worried it wasn't going to look like Lightning McQueen when I was done!

We even had race car party favors..

This picture just makes me sad because he looks like such a big boy.

As always, he was very much spoiled by friends and family with gifts...what a lucky little boy.

Papa D. and Mima gave him a fireman's outfit - complete with a bunker coat, overalls, boots and a hat!

We were so lucky to have Aunt Rebekah here this time, she doesn't always get to make it for birthday parties.  She ended up getting sick while she was here - and as sad as we were that she was sick, we were glad to get her for a whole extra day because of it!

It's funny that as much as he loves cars and balls, and he is all boy - we can't seem to keep things like pink headbands away from him!

We had so much fun celebrating our baby! I think I'm still in shock that he's really 2.

Here are some more snapshots of his day...

(thanks to Laura, I used a template she made for Photoshop to put this collage together quickly!)

We are thankful for this little guy.  He is a blessing to us everyday.  As sad as it is to see him grow past the baby years, we are excited to see him grow up and develop such a sweet, loving and ornery personality! 

This past year I purchased this book.

One way I am trying to use it is to choose a "theme" verse that I will focus on each year for each of my children.  My plan is to pick each year's verse around their birthday, as another way to celebrate them and thank God for them.

So this is the verse I chose for Mason this year...

Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.

Colossians 1:9-10 (The Message)

Happy 2nd Birthday Mason!