eight.

This was my big girl's year for a big birthday party.
And when I asked her what she wanted to do....she said, "I just want my friends to come over & watch a movie"

Well, alrighty.
We can handle that.

And so we made the plan.
Some girls from school + two.
We bought movie theater candy, bought popcorn, sent the evite, made a photo booth for the occasion....because, how fun is THAT!?

And then my girl spiked a 103.5 fever & the party was canceled.
And she honestly felt too bad to even care.
And I honestly was thrilled to have my big girl need to be babied for a few days.
These birthdays are bittersweet for this momma.

So, we finally got to come back around and celebrate my 8 year old....EIGHT. YEAR. OLD.
What!?

And 10 little girls, with my little man & baby girl running at their heels, ran into this house & we had a blast.
She was on cloud nine.
I'm thankful for the answered prayer in her life for good friends to walk along side.
I'm thankful that I get to watch all of these girls grow up together.
I'm just so thankful.
So, happy birthday to my thinker.
My super reader.
My competitive card game player.
My American Girl doll lover.
My lover of animals.
My silliest.
My 3rd in command.
My early riser.
The mother hen & the one who made me a mother.
I love you.   Happy birthday.

Today.

Well, I have this whole other post ready to go & it's full of emotion & I probably shouldn't post it...but I'm learning to be brave.  And anyway, maybe I'll post it tomorrow.

Today, I don't want anything else to overshadow the opportunity to tell people about slavery.

I heard someone recently talk about the civil rights movement....how I can truly look back at that time with a big question mark on my face.  What?!  Seriously?  People sold for other people's profit?!
Human beings??
And how in THE WORLD, did we as a society allow it to continue?

Because we are not powerless.
We can, & should, stand up.

Sure, it's uncomfortable.
Sometimes it's unpopular.
We may lose friends in the process.

But when those are the only consequences for standing up for another person's freedom....I just don't see them as valid excuses.
And yet, I'm sure I've let those consequences dictate a lot of decisions in my life.

But today.

Today....there are more slaves in the world than in any other time in human history.

And it's hard to start seeing this because when we start to open our eyes to this truth that even children in this world are trapped in the world of forced labor & in the sex trade....we will no doubt have to face the fact that we fund some of this operation.

I don't think any of us wants to be a part of physically & emotionally hurting other people.
I think that we all just need a little education.
I still need a LOT of education.
Which is why I'm so thankful for this website.  www.enditmovement.com.

Today .... especially if you're just learning about this, you can do a few things to help yourselves & get in on the fight.
*Sign the pledge on the website.  That's easy.....just type in your email address.
*Follow enditmovement on twitter ... I honest to goodness joined twitter just to be able to do that.  Now
      I can't stop talking & #doingthis...which is another problem all by itself.
* #enditmovement in your tweets ALL day today.
*Tell 10 people.

There are other things.....like learning about your own slavery footprint.  You can find all of that on the website.  But the most important thing for today is to tell someone.
Tell 10 specific people about slavery.
Give them the web address.

Let's be the people that bring this awful operation down.  In OUR lifetime.
I want to tell the story of freedom to my grandkids - & I want to hold my head high knowing I was in on the fight.

Christmas morning

We apparently wore the kids O.U.T. because Lee & I enjoyed a cup of coffee before we decided to head on upstairs & wake the munchkins up.  And we had it to-gether this year.  We laid out brand new slippers upstairs by their beds.  We had written a note to each kid.  And then we woke them up & pointed those things out to them.  

Not the way we pictured that going.

But, you know, whatever....it's Christmas morning!

This happens to be my favorite picture of the day.  For obvious reasons.

And I just couldn't let the year go on without posting it.

I hope to be back with more real soon...but for now, there's my baby...& here's a picture soon after with my little man.