sport practice....

in the living room?

why not...
and it gets them good and tired for bed!

allie has gotten really good with a football... she catches great and can even throw a spiral!

caleb is, of course, mostly into soccer these days. the entry way is the soccer goal and he usually makes up his own rules!

riley hasn't figured out what ball is for what sport, but he is pretty good with everything.... football, soccer, baseball. we've been pretty impressed with his ball ability!

crafty outlet

some weeks i just have to do a little crafty something. it makes me feel like i can do more than wipe peanut butter hands and tie shoes. :)

we didn't have a valentine decoration for the door and february is almost here. i was inspired by a piece on this blog (the name of her site makes me giggle)!

i will say that i've been working with allie on writing from left to right and this little number has really confused her! oops!

just the girls!

have i ever shared my allie delima?

she is independent and way too much like me.

so out of all the relationships in our family we tend to challenge one another the most. it has been a prayer of mine for well over a year that the Lord would be gracious enough to help us build bridges with one another and not walls. His first step in answering that prayer has came in the form of this baby i carry, griffin. God saw it fit that allie and i would have a SPECIAL bond, not to be duplicated by any other child in the family. And so it has begun... Girl Time!
Just HER,
Just ME,
Just US!
it doesn't matter what we do, but we do it together!

this week she skipped her "rest time"(shhh... don't tell the boys) and we cooked!

she smelled it all! and talked about all the ingredients!

she did all the pouring, stirring, and rolling of the meatballs!

we had such a good time. she is terrific in the kitchen. she can crack eggs, measure liquids... she even did the dishes!

we had a great time and i look forward to more afternoons with my GIRL!!

MOHAWKS

We are the men of mowhaks!

don't we look tough?

mom, a haircut would be nice!

i'll make my meanest face until you give in!

february can not get here fast enough... everyone in the family needs a haircut, but our miscellaneous money is out for january. it's gonna be a long (hair) week! :)

scrapbooking CRAZY!!

this past weekend i had the AMAZING opportunity to escape routine life and attend a scrapbook conference at pine cove. yes, it was just up the road, but it did not matter one bit... i loved every minute of it! Although i'm planning on making digital books of this blog, i still want my kiddos to each have a book of special memories and notes that is theirs to have.

one of the blessings of being so close to home is that i had a sweetie husband and precious children sneak into my cabin and leave flowers and a thank you note. it was truly one of the kindest gestures and i never saw them... so sneaky!!

i look wiped out in this pic... oh, well. i am 8 months pregnant, had stayed up till midnight the night before, and had nausea most of the weekend... you'll forgive the tired eyes, right?

these are my friends laura (from up the road) and ashley (from carrollton). they came for the craziness as well. we had so much fun stepping away from the mommy role momentarily to visit and laugh for 48 hours! i LOVE these girls and we want to make this a yearly event!

sonic was hit up SEVERAL times during the weekend... which probably contributed to my upset tummy!ash and i snapped one more going away pic before she hit the road. we just don't EVER get enough time together anymore. anyone else feel that way? when you're younger you live with your friends, work with your friends, play with your friends and then you grow up, move away, start families and miss those BIG chunks of FRIEND time! i love you, ashley and miss you more than you know! ;) thanks for making the trip!

don't know if we can rope anyone else into our nonsense of a weekend, but if you think your game save $12 a month and we'll see you next january!

i'm off...

my wonderful husband has given me a weekend away....
friends, scrap booking, meals, late nights...
i can not WAIT!!

my bags are packed and i'm headed three miles up the road, but it will feel like miles! i'm so looking forward to some adult conversation and fun! more on all this soon!

time to beautify

lance and i could not even call this "window mistreatment"... more like a lack of treatment all together. we took our long drapes down to shampoo the carpets almost a year ago and never put them back up. we realized that with these oddly skinny windows, drapes were making our room seem tiny.

we knew that roman shades were the way to go look wise, but not money wise.... so, here are our FAKE roman shades. they are even lined so when we feel like sleeping in in ten years (ha) we can!

add a throw pillow and... tada... a spruced up room!!

fabric, ribbon, and thread = 30 dollars for this MUCH needed fix up!

favorites...

lance is home and life is beginning to return to normal. riley has been pretty sick the last few days and that has kept me from getting pretty much anything accomplished, but several things are almost done and that counts for something, right?! until projects are complete, i thought i would share a few things that have kept me smiling...

i've been on a hunt for the letter O. preferably a red skinny one. but even incomplete... i love mismatched letters!!

lance brought me Guatemalan coffee and i've had a cup almost every morning. i use to only drink coffee for social reasons or if it was the only thing to keep me warm. however, something about three kids and being pregnant again... if i'm going to survive the morning, i have to have a cup!

another treat that lance brought for the family, but sadly most of it has gone to preggo momma! my ob doesn't read this, right? ;)

and this find has made me burst into smiles. our grocery store carries a line of European sodas and the limeade taste just like getting one from braums....ahh, so refreshing! i'm going to try the blueberry lemonade one next... or maybe the blood orange... or... HA! you get the point!

between these walls

allie got this doll house last christmas and it has slowly become one of her favorite activities. it wasn't an instant love, but her heart has grown to adore these little people and the life that they have built between these walls...

it is always fun to see what she has going on in there. today on the top floor, "allie and caleb were playing on the bunk bed... mom was cooking dinner while mimi and riley were at the kitchen table."

on the bottom floor, "daddy was being silly on a tricycle, pawpaw and poppy were drinking milk on the couch and grammie was holding griffin." notice also the room on the left that is filled with a million dishes, food items, and the dog (cooper.)

TWO days!

we are sooo blessed to have had the capability to use SKYPE with while daddy has been away. The kids have gotten to see his face and talk with him almost everyday.

but that doesn't mean that we are not bursting at the seams to have him home... see him in person... hug him with our arms... and tackle him to the ground! This is the kids celebrating the fact that daddy comes home in two days!! (he really gets in tomorrow night, but they will be fast asleep when he arrives!)

i asked riley what he thought about daddy coming home and he smiled, but wouldn't look at the camera! ps... how precious does he look in my apron while playing play dough? he just had to have it! HA!

our own little snow

the forecast and reality did not line up well (as you can see from the picture below) and my kids were, needless to say, super disappointed!

so we made our own snow!

and the kids decided that they should dress for the blizzard weather...

and have a snowball fight

they picked them up,

collected them,

and threw them over and over again!

good times had by all!

my thoughts...

just living day to day and missing our daddy, husband, and bestfriend.

i'm trying to get back in the habit of being in the word after a hectic, hit or miss, month.

about an hour after lance left, riley tripped and slammed into the bunk bed, cutting his eyelid and giving him a lovely black eye... today in walmart, i felt as though people thought i abused my kid - "oh, my??? what happened there??"

caleb just came down with fever... 102... ugh! looks like we'll be sittin' tight for the next two days.

my mom is here enjoying the kids and helping me stay moderately calm. the nights are the hardest and it is so nice to have company and someone to laugh at the chaos and remind me that it isn't major.

my heart is still filled with hurt for my friends and the loss of their little guy. i find myself praying often, yet not knowing what to say.

griffin feels as though he is carving his name in my belly with his knees and gets hiccups FAR too often. he's getting BIG and keeping me up at night, but i'm growing quite fond of him! ;)

i've recently become addicted to redeeming love by Francine rivers... i know, shame on me... i have never read it until now. and, yes, it IS amazing!

now that i've bored you with what clouds my mind most days... i'm off to finish the book! :)

another count down

although counting down the days till Christmas was WAY more fun, this count down will keep us focused on the positive. lance is gone to Guatemala for the next ten days. he went on this trip last year and it didn't seem too bad, but i think being pregnant has made me overly emotional... i wept when he left today. i think i need this countdown worse than the kids! please pray for him and his team of staff as they love and minister to the people in there! if you're interested in following them you can visit pcranchguatemala.wordpress.com

2011

Well, friends... here we are again... a new year with new possibilities! lance and i have so many hopes and dreams for this year, but it really comes down to the fact that if we make too many plans and have too many preconceived ideas we will be more reluctant to what the Lord asks us to do. So we've set some goals for our marriage, our kiddos, and our spiritual walks, but other than that... we are waiting and watching with anxious anticipation of what Jesus has in store for the Siscos. i hope you embrace this year with the same mind set...

"Here am I. Send me!" - Is 6:8

i try to pick a word to help me focus each year... this year's word (given to me directly from the the LORD) is SLOW... slow my pace, slow my attention, slow my words, slow my anger. James 1:19 is going to be my verse! I know the Lord desires for me to be slow to become angry... I'm asking the Lord to help me in this area. with four kids the opportunity for stress becomes even greater and i want to be SLOW in my responses so that they are saturated in godliness... it has been a struggle of mine for some time and He is refining me GREATLY!

Happy New Year to each and everyone of you!!