TGIF...Thank God for FRIENDS

Let's see...well, I didn't quite make my goal of 4 blogs per month last month but this is a new month and I'm going to try agian. :)

We've had a pretty busy week full of skating lessons, birthday celebrations and play dates. We had MOPS this morning, which was a well needed breath of fresh air! I had a rough day yesterday and will admit that it wasn't my best "mommy day". It was Jay's birthday and I wanted to do something special for him and bake him some cupcakes. Baking is definitely not my "thing", even though I try. I tried a new recipe (which I planning on writing about some other time) and the bottom line was: FAIL! I was annoyed at myself for failing at my cake baking attempt, mad at Jay for something that I'll explain in the cake fail post, exploded *twice* at my son, discovered that one of my favorite shirts had seriously, inexplicable shrunk (even though I washed it in cold AND hung it to dry) and then found my favorite pair of sunglasses broken down in my purse! When you add all that up, it equals a pity party for Mommy! I think at some point in the day I even actually yelled at the non-verbal voice of the Holy Spirit!!!

When the alarm went off this morning, I snoozed it as many times as possible and *strongly* considered not going to MOPS today. "It's beyond cold today" (fyi, it was seriously 0* this morning) and "Jace was up super late and I just do NOT want to wake him up" were my excuses. I finally decided that I needed to go today, even though I wanted to stay curled up in my warm bed, with Jace snuggling quietly beside me and boy, was it worth it! I am so thankful for our little group and we even had 2 new ladies. We shared lots of laughs and encouragement, like always, and I love the friendships and sense of community we're building. It's been a little difficult for me having to build new relationships and getting "plugged in" at our church but it's been so worth it! I've spoiled by having the same friends since elementary and I still miss them, dearly, and have dug in my heels and told God that I don't want *new* friends, I want my *old* friends but I'm so thankful for my new friends!

Speaking of "old friends", I am sooo excited to spend tomorrow with one of my dearest friends, Amy, and 2 of her 4 wonderful boys!!! Jace gets to play with Blake all day and I get to meet her newest little one, Toby! What more could I ask for? Oh how about one more friend to join in on our fun??? Yep, Marissa and Colten are coming, too! 3 friends + 4 boys = 1 happy Courtney!!!