2 in 1

Thank you to all of you who prayed for me on Wednesday!

I had a great time speaking to a group of some wonderful women.  They made me feel so welcome and at ease.  They are truly a unique group of women who are getting it right when it comes to supporting one another, loving each other and being in authentic relationship with one another.

I was rather nervous, but time and again God kept reminding me that I'm a mere broken vessel that He chose to use.  It wasn't about my words, it was about obedience.

I'm grateful that in the Bible, God promises that when His word goes out, it does not return void, but accomplishes the purpose for which it was sent!  My words felt a tad scattered at times and not as "tight" as I'd like, but it wasn't about me.  It was about His Spirit speaking through me.

And personally, it was a huge step in my journey with anxiety to get to do something I've dreamed about and thought I could no longer do, even if I was a bit rusty!

God is the faithful healer and redeemer and I know this was another step in His redemptive process!

So thank you!

 

Now, onto the 7th birthday party wrap-up!

 The girls really wanted a luau party this year with hula dancers, swimming and tiki torches!  Tall order girls!  Since we are re-landscaping (remember the trees?), I couldn't pull off an outdoor party, so I talked them into a little indoor cooking party where we kept it small and simple.

They chose the name "The Yummy Twin Café" for their restaurant!

 

They started by making little cookie cakes where they could, stack them, frost them, and take them home on a little cake pedestal.

 

Then onto making dinner

Stuffed Shells and Pizza

 

We played a little game of Guess the Food.

I got 5 brown bags, placed food in each (chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, marshmallows, cheerios, and cake balls)  I told the girls that we eat with our eyes, nose and mouth.  So they smelled the bags and tried to guess what each was.  Then we did blind taste tests and they guessed again.  It was fun!

 

Daddy switched out the table décor while we played.  He put down brown paper and crayons for the girls to color on during dinner.  The napkins were dish towels.

These little girls were wild!  I thought having a small group would make things easier, but those 7 little girls had more energy than 15 girls!!!

 

Time for our traditional vanilla cake with lemon filling and whipped cream frosting.  This year one wanted strawberry filling, so we did half and half.

 As we sang Happy Birthday, one little girl thought it would be funny to blow out all the candles first!

And it was really funny!!

 

So I re-lit the candles, sang again, and the other little lady blew out all the candles!
 

Each girl left with her apron, chef's hat, cookie cake, and cake pedestal.

A great time was had by all!

Can I tell you a secret?

Out of all the birthday parties I've given, this one was the smallest, most simple - the kids made their own dinner! (I had the girls make an extra pan of stuffed shells that I froze for dinner this week! - brilliant!!)

and I was by far the most exhausted after it!

But the little ladies had a blast and that's all that matters!

Have a great weekend!!