My daughter's Golden Birthday is TODAY!

Nichelle my youngest daughter is 9 today.  This a super special birthday in our house because she is 9 on the 9th of January.  So we call that your golden birthday.  It only happens once in a lifetime so there you go.  We celebrated her birthday with a slumber party camping theme.  We invited nine girls over our house.  We had a bonfire in our front yard for the first hour.  They played games out front with my husband and we all roasted marshmallows and made smores that was super fun.  Then we journeyed indoors to have a dance party.  The video is up on YouTube and facebook (I whip my hair) so much fun. Of course cake, ice cream, presents a few more games and then (mommas mind) wind down movie.  They watched a movie and then wanted to dance party again! Oh, my word!  So we had a dance party with the Wii games.  That was fun.  Then about 1am I thought people you must go to sleep.  So I gave them THE SPEECH!  That goes a little something like this, "You girls need to go to sleep right now, if you don't I will call Mr. Fletcher out here and he is going to yell at you all!"  The truth was my husband was already sleep, but I promise that works every single time.  I don't know why, Phil has never yelled at anyone who has slept over but they obey.  They went to sleep at about 2am officially.  They woke up the next morning and had muffins, fruit and OJ.  They made beads in the morning and hung out until their parents arrived.  It was a great day for her!

Today we will celebrate even more by giving her our family gifts at 9am!  Then a special dinner of her choosing this evening.  We will finish the day by retelling the story of her birth! 

Here are some lovely pictures of my 9 year old!

Happy Birthday Nichelle!

Happy New Year!

As we embark on this new year, I am sitting and asking myself what do I seek to accomplish with the voice I have developed as the Woman on the Vine?  Honestly, I am not sure.  Do I just share my heart? Do I share what is happening in the ministry?  Do I focus on women's issues?  The list of questions goes on and on.  However there is one topic I am passionate about yet have spent little time blogging about.  That topic would be birth and God's design of the human body.  As you may already know I am a doula.  A doula is a professional labor support coach. 

Everyday I learn more and more about how wonderfully God designed the human body.  While the average person stops at the point of being in awe of the human, I immediately feel worshipful to the Creator! We may dig into the fears that we as women and people have about birth and why that is. 

Again, I don't know.  We will discover together what is important to share in the coming days and months.  If you have a topic you would like to see discussed then leave a comment and let's talk about it.

Nicolle