brimming over

Capital gifts

Craig was away most of this week at the CCH User Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.  But really that means he was in Washington, DC. 

This conference really knows how to do things up right!  They give out gifts and extras like crazy.  And it's all stuff that you actually want to keep instead of junk that immediately ends up in the trash at home.

CCH also provides some pretty spectacular entertainment during the evenings of the conference.  One night this year the evening event was at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.  And we were lucky enough to get gifts that Craig hand-picked for us in the gift shop!

A prism for Parker...he loves it and was thrilled this morning to see the light spectrum when he took it outside.

For Amy Grace, a "flexi sphere"...a delicate wire contraption that flexes and changes to form many different shapes from a flower to a sphere to an hourglass and more.

Newton's Cradle for Wesley...click, click, click...the principles of physics in action.  And boring their clicking way into my brain...click, click, click.  Oops.  It's a wonderful gift and Wesley (along with the other kids) adores it!

And lastly, for me...does this gift prove to you that my sweet husband knows me well or what? 

Politics and Christmas all rolled into one!  Perfection!  Although this little guy is so cute, it may be hard to pack him away with the ornaments.  :) 
  
  
  
  

Not quite

Craig's idea of taking it easy with a broken elbow...

 

 

 

Humph.  I do not approve. 

My "You're Not 40 YET" party

It must be stated up front:  I have the most wonderful husband in the world!

Okay, now I can tell the rest of this story.  :)  Although I'm not completely sure where to begin.

A week or two ago, my mother emailed that they wanted to come visit us on April 3rd, just overnight, and my grandmother was going to come, too.  Was that okay with us?  "Sure, why not?" I thought.  I let her know that we had pottery and Parker had a tennis match but they were welcome to come.  Of course, I thought it was a bit odd that Grandmother was coming, too, but I was happy to have her so I didn't ask any questions.  Man, I am gullible.

The day before they were coming, I was fretting over what to cook for Friday night and I got an email from my mother saying, "Don't you think it'd be easier if we just went out to dinner when we're there?  I'm in the mood for Italian." 

"Yippee!" I thought.  I ran to tell Craig, "I'm off the hook!"  I called Mama and told her that our options were pretty much Carrabba's, Olive Garden, and Johnny Carino's.  She told me that Daddy likes Johhny Carino's so let's go there.  Fine with me!  Again, gullible.

On Friday, the kids and I cleaned the house, went to pottery, and came home, arriving just before my parents and Grandmother got there.  We made lunch for them, chatted, and rushed off to the tennis match.  Parker played one of the first matches and almost played a second but the coach ended up using someone else for that match.  We were hanging around, goofing off and watching the other matches, but everyone kept harping about "Why are we staying?  When are we leaving?", so we left.  See?  Gullible.

While we waited for Craig to get home, we played board games.  He got home and changed clothes.  And he told us that the restaurant said they could seat us at 7 p.m.  So around 6:30, we wrapped up our game and started getting ready to go.  I was still wearing my clothes from earlier (jeans and a black shirt) and my grandmother said, "Aren't you going to change?"  Hmmm, no?  Wasn't planning to.  She said that she'd changed for dinner and I was still wearing what I'd had on all day and she thought I should change.  Huh?  I could tell she wasn't going to drop it so I went and changed.  Different jeans (but not as faded), brown sweater.  Still, totally gullible.

We headed out to Johnny Carino's in two cars.  Parker rode with me and Craig, and everyone else rode together.  When we got there, they all snuck in a back door and we couldn't find them.  We kept waiting for them to show up and they were no where to be seen.  Finally, Craig decided they must already be at our table so the hostesses showed Parker, Craig and me to the table.  Then...

as we rounded the corner into the room (where I'm thinking all along I'll see our table), a room full of people shouted, "SURPRISE!!!"  And I think I practically passed out from the shock! 

The room was full of family and friends who were waiting there for us to arrive.  My brain was going crazy trying to figure it all out...who planned this?  was Craig in on it?  where were my parents?  who made those signs?  On and on and on.  Finally it dawned on me that Craig had planned it.  And that they'd all engineered the whole thing to get me there!  Wow!  It was so amazing! 

Right away Craig started talking to the daughter of our friends who often babysits for us.  He was handing her money and told me he had to move Amy Grace's car seat to her car.  She took the kids back to our house, stopping for food along the way, for the evening so that we were able to have a kid-free party.

 

On the far right is my friend, Melissa, who flew in from Houston just for me!

  

  

My father, my grandmother, and my mother...

  

  

  

Craig really thought of everything.  He got a wonderful cake from my favorite bakery.  It says, "Happy 39 361/365 Birthday, Denise!  You're not 40 yet!"

  

He got my parents to make photo boards with pictures of me from birth on up.  And he did a Power Point show with more recent pictures.

 

He had our homeschool friends that we spend so much time with make signs.

  

  

My parents brought the beautiful flowers for the tables.

  

I am really so amazed at all the trouble and effort that Craig went to in planning this party for me.  It was so amazing and I was SO surprised!  I had no idea at all that he was up to this!  I had such a terrific time and it was so lovely being with our friends and family. 

It was really the nicest, most wonderful thing anyone has done for me in a long, long time.  Maybe ever.  I love you, Craig.  Thank you.

 

  

Fireproof

Saturday afternoon, Craig and I went to see the movie "Fireproof".  Our church provided dinner and inexpensive childcare for the kids and had a reserved theatre.  We had over 100 people who bought advance tickets and I think maybe more got them at the last minute today!  The childcare lasted for an extra couple of hours after the movie so that anyone who wanted to have a dinner date would be able to do so.  And of course we did!

I'm sure that Fireproof will receive criticism for being "too Christian" and for "not having mass appeal".  And there will probably be criticism of the actors, cinematography, and all that jazz.  After all, it is a relatively low budget film produced by a church in Albany, Georgia.  Many of the actors are just local folks and those Southern accents are the real deal! 

Sure, the storyline was good.  And there were lots of truly funny scenes and plenty of heart-stopping moments.  We all laughed, and gasped, and cried. 

But the thing is that the message in Fireproof is too real to ignore.  God is calling each of us to turn our hearts and lives over to Him.  And more than that:  He is asking us to put our marriages in His hands.  To quit taking our spouses for granted.  To quit investing our love in other things rather than our marriages.  Even for those with the healthiest marriages, it's a good reminder.

I really think this movie is one that would strengthen the marriage of every person who sees it.  If you are in a happy, healthy marriage, seeing Fireproof could add a new dimension to your life.  In one scene, the husband is told that you have to study your wife (spouse).  If you have learned to love her and end up at the altar, that's the equivalent of earning a high school diploma.  Being married is about continuing to study her and get to know her until you've gone on to earn a college degree, a master's degree, and a doctorate.  Great advice!

If you're in a struggling marriage in any way, Fireproof may inspire you to change, to stick it out, to make it better, to hold on and not let go.  And to do it for the right reasons. 

My friend sitting next to me turned to me at the end of the movie and said, "It should be required that every person see this movie before they get married."  And that's not far from the truth!  Just following the simple plan of loving your spouse that was laid out in the movie would change so many lives for the better.

I hope you get an opportunity to see Fireproof soon. And I pray it blesses you and your marriage in ways that are real and meaningful.

14

That's how many years we've been married today.  Wow!  14 years, 4 cities, 2 dogs, 1 guinea pig, 3 houses, way too many vehicles, and 3 beautiful children later, I can honestly say I love him more than ever.  I can't imagine any other person I'd rather spend my life with and I pray that we'll be blessed with many, many more years together.

After reading Emily's birthday list yesterday, I decided to make a list for our anniversary today of 14 things about Craig and our marriage.  :)

1. He is the best dad around!  He loves to spend time with our kids and they adore him.  I couldn't ask for a more involved partner in this adventure.
2. He is double jointed.  It's one of the first things I noticed about him and it still fascinates me.  Those bendy fingers are amazing!
3. He is naturally athletic.  I warned him up front that I might ruin any future children's hopes of athletic ability with my own dismal abilities and he married me anyway.
4. He eats milk on his ice cream.
5. He was a math minor in college. 
6. He grew up an expert at certain video games but right now the kids can kick his butt at Mario Kart (and they are lovin' that!).
7. Even though he is a Bama fan to the core, he never suggested naming any of the children after Bear Bryant.  :)
8. We met working on the team for a 3-day Christian retreat weekend called Chrysalis. 
9. Camp Sumatanga, in North Alabama, is where we fell in love and is certainly holy ground (not for that reason alone!).  We both grew up going to camp there but didn't meet as kids.
10. We got married on my parents' 28th anniversary.
11. He loves sugary colored cereal but gave it up (begrudgingly) as an example for our kids.  Quick!  Hide the Froot Loops!
12. He has an amazing ability to name songs on the first few notes.  And he usually knows the title and artist!
13. He puts up with me and all my little quirks.  Not that I have that many!
14. He puts our family first.  Always.  And he loves me the best.

What more could a girl want?  Thank you, God, for blessing me with Craig and for the wonderful life you've provided us.

And Happy Anniversary, Mama and Daddy!  Thank you for the beautiful example of marriage that you've given me to follow.  I love you both!  I wish you many more happy years.