We had a fun weekend celebrating birthdays in our house!  Dinner out for my birthday last Friday (and 3-4 inches of snow – a fun little birthday blessing from God!), James’ birthday party on Saturday, and a slow Sunday afternoon for James’ actual birthday.  

This year James wanted to do a Minecraft themed birthday party, so we had fun decking the house out in green and black.  Actually, Kenny and the kids handled all of the decorations while I was busy making the cake.  I had printed a few things earlier but they put everything up and it looked great.  (As a side note, years ago that would have made me nervous.  I would have opted to do it all myself so all of the streamers would be rolled together perfectly and everything would be “just so”.  Thank the good Lord I’ve relaxed a little and have realized that mama can’t do it all and having help is SO much better!  My way is not always the right way, so I’m grateful for finally learning this lesson and having family who want to help!)

We made Texas cake for James (a family favorite) and decorated it with green lettering and Minecraft candles.  We played Minecraft Bingo, made paper torches, had a scavenger hunt for little cubes of ore, diamonds, iron, emerald, and gold, and then used the secret inside of each cube (Mentos) to blow up the TNT in the backyard (Soda).  So much fun.  Kenny did a wonderful job coming up with fun games.  After nine years we’ve finally figured out how to do this birthday party thing and it’s working great as a team. 

And on Sunday afternoon we had a relaxing day at home after church and I made some of James’ favorite foods for dinner – Ziti (a pasta, bacon, & onion dish), Pioneer Woman Pull-Apart cheese bread, and fresh pineapple.  

We love you, James, and are so proud of the young man you are becoming.  We thank God for you and the part you play in our family.  May God bless you this year!