So much to write...

Anyone that knows me knows that I love to be organized. And as I sit to write this blog, I am a bit overwhelmed with all that I want to write about today. So I will organize my thoughts into 5 subcategories: The Baby Shower, The Margarita, The Wedding, The Sunday Drive, and The Song. :)

The Baby Shower

My sister-in-law Kelly's birthday was last Wednesday and so we planned to have her Coppola birthday celebration on Thursday night. Little did Kelly know, Bobbi, Holly and I had been planning a surprise baby shower for Kelly, Tony and Davis. Their baby is due May 8th, but since Davis arrived early, we're expecting this baby to come any day now! I think that the evening was a huge success! We started off the night with one of Kelly's (and my) favorite dinners - steak tacos. Since it was such a beautiful evening, we all spent some time playing in the yard. Holly even hid Easter eggs for the kids. After some outside fun, it was present time! Holly and I had planned some games for the evening too. Our first game involved our dessert. I had made cupcakes that I frosted pink on one side and blue on the other. We then made everyone place a baby-themed button on the side of the cupcake that they thought the baby would be. Joey, Maddox, Joe III, Joe II, Cary, Carter, Davis, Tony and Kelly all put their buttons on the blue side - meaning that they thought this would be yet another boy. Bobbi, Holly, Kyle and I all voted that this would be a girl. We shall see who is right! Our second game was "Guess that Candy Bar." Holly and I smashed various candy bars into diapers and then microwaved them (to give them an "authentic" look). Then we made everyone smell the diapers to guess the flavor of candy bar. Very gross and very fun! And finally we played "Guess that Baby Food." Kelly fed Tony various flavors of baby food and made him guess what he was eating. For some unknown reason, Kyle volunteered to play the game too. This was probably the funniest part of the evening...mostly because Kyle puked up baby peas after being dared by his brothers to eat the entire jar. Oh the memories! Here are just a few pictures from the night!

The Margarita

On Friday evening, I met my friend Alicia at On the Border for a margarita. It was yet another beautiful evening and so we sat out on the patio and chatted for several hours. Alicia is my oldest friend...we have known each other forever and have been close since we were about 8 years old. The two of us have watched each other go through so much and we are truly blessed to live only a few blocks apart. It was so nice to catch up with her and just spend a few hours in kid-free conversation. It was such a fun evening and I can't wait to schedule our next margarita night!

The Wedding

On Saturday morning, we went to Cary's cousin's wedding at Sacred Heart. We all just adore Cory's new wife, Ana, and are so happy that she is officially a Coppola now. After the ceremony, Cary and I went to the reception at Echo Valley. It was a great afternoon with the extended Coppola family and we both had a really nice time. Carter spent the morning with Alicia and then my parents came to watch him in the afternoon. It sounds like he had a great time playing in the yard and going to the park. He went through three outfits, so I know he had some good, dirty fun! That's what I love to hear!

The Sunday Drive

Yesterday afternoon Cary and I decided to go on a Sunday drive. Holly and I had just talked about how we both used to do this with our parents growing up. And we agreed that it must be a small town thing, since neither of our husbands had ever heard of such a thing. So after making a trip to the park and playing in the yard for awhile, Cary and I were looking for something different to do with Carter. We put him in the carseat and headed out in search of a slushee (what could be better on a Sunday drive?). Well we ended up at Sonic (which we had never been to) and ordered a strawberry slushee and two chili cheese dogs. I poured some of my slushee into Carter's sippy cup and we were off! It was great! First we drove through Walnut State Park. I already scoped out some good photo opportunities out there. Then we ended up at Maffit Reservoir. It was so beautiful and serene. The perfect place for a picnic. And finally, we drove through a housing development called Greenbriar. I never knew this place existed. It's considered a part of West Des Moines yet it's sort of tricky to get to. There are beautiful homes surrounding huge ponds. It might be my new favorite neighborhood. So after about an hour of driving around, we headed back home. Truly, it was a great afternoon!

The Song

This part of my blog has nothing to do with the weekend and nothing to do with something fun we have done the past few days. As I've blogged about before, I am addicted to the radio station Life 107.1...Des Moines' Christian station. There is this song that I just can't wait to be played whenever I'm sitting at my desk at work. I love it. I love the sound of it. I love the background music. I love the chorus. And I especially love the words. But this morning I heard it after dropping Carter off at daycare. I turned up the radio and just listened as I drove to work. Even when I pulled into my parking lot, I just sat in my car and listened. This song is beautiful. The words spoke directly to me today. And as I sat in the St. Augustin parking lot, facing the sun as it shone through the trees, I felt so close to God. If you're a 107.1 listener, I'm sure you know it. If not, download it. It has such a great meaning and it makes me feel so thankful to be a child of God.

"When God Ran" by Phillips, Craig & Dean

CHORUS: He ran to me, he took me in his arms, held my head to his chest, said "My son's come home again." Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes, with forgiveness in his voice he said "Son, do you know I still love you." He caught me by surprise and he brought me to my knees. When God ran, I saw him run to me. I was so ashamed, all alone, and so far away. But now I know that He's been waiting for this day.