A Lovely Birthday

My birthday started with this little guy. 6:45am he arrived and soon we were snuggled in on the couch bottle in hand and mouth. Probably a little after 7am found us both sleeping. Dan arrived on scene around 8:15ish and announced that I should get ready for church because we were going out for breakfast! While I readied myself, Dan dressed Brady in his church attire...even changing his diaper! :)
Breakfast was lovely. Mimi's cafe...good coffee, bacon and spinach eggs Benedict, wonderful company. I taught Sunday school and was amazed at how many of the kids knew it was my birthday I even got a couple cards! When it came time to announce birthdays, nearly the whole of them erupted in "It's Tess' birthday!!!!" I was taken aback and warmed in heart as they enthusiastically sang to me! It also took me off guard how many people in church wished me a happy birthday...guess that's what you get in a small church! Thanks everyone! And thanks to Matthew and Kristy Moore for taking Brady so Dan and I could go out for dinner!

After some wonderful phone conversations with family members (thanks for calling! It's always so good to hear your voices again!) Dan and I headed to the train station. I had a gift card for Maggiano's (an nice Italian restaurant).

On the choo-choo....

While sitting there Dan asks me if I'm ready for my present. He said he only had a picture of it and handed me his phone. What I saw was the google earth image of my house...in this country..
My present?!?! Dan's taking me to Haiti!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In May!!!!! I'm SO excited!!!!
I think I nearly jumped up and down. Let me tell ya, he got a kiss for that one! :)

Once I composed myself, we de-trained and walked to Maggiano's. It was delicious! Had the most amazing Beef Medalion. They were having 5280 week so we got several courses included! Brochette, salad, main course, and dessert. The Pinot Grigio was lovely as well. Cheesecake of course rarely disappoints and it sure didn't! Our dinner was so romantic... :)

How can it not be when there's a guy like this?!?!

Definitely the better half!

Starbucks before getting back on the train.

What a lovely birthday. Thank you all who wrote me, sent cards, or phoned! As Dan remarked, "We're so blessed!" and we have a lot to be thankful for. Thanks Lord for another blessed year!

And my family in Ayiti Cheri.....SEE YOU IN MAY LORD WILLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sew...it's February

And I haven't blogged in a long time! Ooops.
*My husband informed me that he was going to write about Valentine's Day (!) so...I guess we'll all have to wait for that!

But on to today. As I'm off this whole week, (Brady is on vacation) I've had time to try some projects. I've started an apron...but haven't finished it yet. It's coming.

But, I finally tried the art of fabric yo-yo making. Seriously, what took me so long?!?!?!?!

They are SO fun and cute! So I spruced up my new/old journal (I've only had it about 5 years). And made a few hair accessories.

Good ol' bobbies

Here's a great website for learning to make yo-yo's:

http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/photos/how_to_make_a_yoyo/hbyoyotutorial1.html

Sorry, you're going to have to cut and paste the site.

Hair clips

Hot glue works quite nicely....add a little more to the outside of the material in order to add a "non-slip" feature.

Pollyanna was a companion during these projects. I've been listening to it via books on tape. If anyone hasn't read it, I'd suggest it! If nothing else, it really challenged me to find the positives in life. In everything. Pollyanna makes it a game...called the "being glad" game. The harder and more awful the circumstance, the more fun the game! The challenge of finding something positive in a hard situation made Pollyanna "so glad!". Somehow she reminded me of how we Christians should be conducting ourselves. We, of all people, have so much to be glad about! In the story, you will find many people who are depressed, angry, and bitter, because they are only looking at how terrible their circumstance is. Pollyanna, aided by her bright personality, wiggles herself into people's hearts and encourages them to try the game. Interestingly enough, those who were once bitter, became happy and "so glad!". Shouldn't I be the same?