Rockin' Birthday Bash's

Yesterday was a happy, happy...busy day! I have plenty more to post but this will have to do for starters. Joshua's class had a belated celebration for his birthday, which was in December and far colder than yesterday's...hahaha! Olesya made brownies to take to his classroom, and this was sort of our "birthday appetizer" for Angela's Big Bash later in the evening. Joshua is 7 and sort of 1/2 now :-) It was fun to go spend a little time in his class, and I realized that due to homeschooling Joshie has gotten sort of ripped off in terms of having mommy present in the classroom, which brings a little guilt with it. Kenny too, but hopefully I can make up for it in other ways this next year.

What a blessing Mrs. Weber has been, as was his teacher last year. All of our kids have just had super teachers during their tenure in public school, and there are others that are equally outstanding that they have not been fortunate enough to have. The single regret Dominick and I have about homeschooling is that our children will miss out on the influence of some pretty amazing teachers. However, we trust that God will bring others into their lives who will nurture them and support them. Praying for that often since Matthew was first brought into our lives has reaped surprising rewards, for we feel our kids need far more than us in their lives to become the individuals God intends them to be...they need community and connection just as much as we do!! Hopefully our continuing prayers for this will find them surrounded with special people who can fill in the gaps we leave empty.

Matthew helped Joshua serve his friends. This image just says "love" to me, not sure why but something about the care our children show one another always, always touches me. So thankful for so much...but the relationships God has placed within the confines of our family are very, very special and I never want to forget that for a single moment.

The Main Event happened later in the evening as Angela celebrated her very first birthday ever at 12 years old. The smiles never left her face and it was a night to remember. I am on my way out the door soon to attend my ministry class and sadly have run out of time, so will do my best to post pics and a long post tonight.

And I must add that during my hour drive this morning I will be giving thanks and praise for the fact that once again I am not writing a birthday post marking yet another birthday spent apart.

Nothing can ever take the place of that, and no words can describe the relief and joy our hearts all feel.

More later, on to Phase 2 of the day!