Lovely Weekend

Good Morning~

I had to take a moment away from work because I wanted to reflect over our past weekend.  There were SO many fun times and my heart is full of joy.  God never ceases to amaze me by how He knows our needs and provides for them above and beyond our expectations.

Friday night I loaded Emilia and my fabric flower crafts up in our car and drove out to my Momma's house.  My sister, Clare, was meeting us there too.  I can't decide what my favorite part of the evening was:  Chinese food from my FAV take out place, my old bedroom remodeled into E's dream playroom (she gasped "Oh my Goodness!  This is beautiful!" when she first saw it...LOVE), laughs with my family, parenting tips from Mom, Mom and Clare's dogs behaving SOO well as E wrapped them in blankets for nap time and gave them *strong hugs, or crafting together.  Suffice it to say, it was an awesome evening!  And for once in my life, it was ME showing THEM something crafty.  Who would have thought we would see this day?!  ;-)

Saturday was the Warren Family Extravaganza Day!  I think I usually call any day where the whole Warren clan is together an extravaganza, and I don't think that is an over-statement.  With nearly 50 of us, anything we do is super-charged!  We had several families that weren't able to make it this year, but we still had a blast.  We started the party around 10:00 a.m. with a full line up of yummy breakfast foods.  We played the "game" in the early afternoon and stayed together until 8:00 p.m. that night!  Actually, that's just when Emilia and I left...there were several that stuck around to ring in the New Year together.  I was fast asleep by 9:30 and have no regrets about it!  Especially since I got to sleep in until 8:30 a.m. the next morning!  Yessss!

Sunday was PJ day, woo hoo!  E and I vegged most of the day and it was perfection.  We had no plans until that evening when we headed out to our friend DJ and Margo's house for dinner.  DJ is an awesome cook and he is one of the only people that can get Jason to try new foods.  We are never disappoined!  It was fun to spend a few hours just chatting with our friends and watching our kids play together.  Their son, Daniel just turned one in November and is such a cutie!  He and Emilia played pretty well together- he's too young to fight back at my sometimes-bossy 2 1/2 year old. ;-)

I had yesterday off and was able to catch up on laundry, etc.  It felt so nice to actually get some of our clothes out of suitcases and storage tubs!  I feel more human when my clothes are put away in the correct places and I can see part of the closet floor.  It was another PJ day and very relaxing (or as relaxing as laundry day can be...).  That evening we met up with my old college roommate for dinner!  She and her family are from Louisville, KY and were in town for a wedding.  We ate at QDOBA (yum!!) and then went back to their hotel and let the kids swim!  It was so so great to catch up with her; it was like no time had passed.  Her some, Emerson, is only 2 months younger than Emilia and they are Definitely two peas in a pod.  One would dish is out and the other would sling it right back.  Oh, the joys of 2 year olds.  But it was really great to watch them interact and Mandy and I both agreed that it was nice to see that our kids are NORMAL.  Sometimes one can feel like their kid is out of control or that their parenting skills are lacking...but seeing the two E's together, we realized that sometimes toddlers are just that- Toddlers!

So, like I said, God definitely blessed me this weekend with exactly what I needed!  My soul is refreshed.  Anyone who knows me can tell you I am very much a people person, and it had been way too long since I had interaction with friends and even family.  I could feel myself getting ever-so-slightly depressed because I felt alone- working long hours, coming home for a couple short hours with my family before back to sleep and redo the next day.  I know these are short-term sacrifices, and I am happy to make them because I know God's plan is BIG.  But, I am also very very grateful that He gives my heart what it needs, even when I'm not sure what that might be.  He knows because HE is in charge.  He loves me and has filled my heart with joy once again.  God is good!