riley turns THREE

he may have been sleeping in a closet, but we still have traditions, people!!  :)

we woke riley up with singing and lots of balloons!

he really likes the attention, but it was a little bright!

we let him open one gift first thing in the morning and then several throughout the day.
he got pieces to his train set, CARS cars, a star wars battle ship....

transformers...

and squinkies from us, friends and family.

his gifts were the epitome of BOY!

 that evening we celebrated at mcdonalds (pictures to come when i find my battery charger) and then came back to the penuels for cake!

here is a sneak peak at the cake when i was making it.  

good pics are on the camera.  

it is the bad battle ship on CARS 2.  

the silence is the hardest part

so, if you've been reading any posts in the past six weeks then you know that we live in a room.  and if you know my heart then you know that i love jesus christ with my whole heart and therefore put my hope and trust in Him.  this phase of our journey is but a faction of a breath (james 3:14) in view of eternity and if i keep the main thing (Jesus) the main thing then everything else pales in comparison!  

but if i am to be a genuine follower of christ than i am compelled to tell you that there are days where the main thing comes in line somewhere behind all of my selfish hopes, wants, and wishes that my flesh so desperately desires.  those are dark days! and those are the days that God's silence is like a knife to my heart.  please tell me you've had those moments.  moments of desperation to just hear from the LORD... not even concerned about what he may say as long as he'll just speak.  oh, friend... i am there.  

the silence really is the hardest part.

and if i stay there, it becomes dangerous.  the enemy convinces me that the LORD doesn't know, doesn't hear, and/or doesn't care.  i begin to believe that if HE loved me then HE would provide for these immidiate needs.  hmmm... unless i look a little deeper, dig into truth, and allow that truth to spread the rays of its goodness into the deep, dark lies of doubt.  

you see, the LORD is concerned for our immediate needs!  our spiritual needs.  a home will not make me more righteous or push me toward godliness.  Jesus knows what i need and it isn't ease. it isn't comfort.  He is stirring up things in all of us - not to watch us fail, but to refine us and make us into something more beautiful and more useful for His kingdom. 

now, i don't know about you, but i can't take my heart and make it spin 180 degrees.  if i'm doubting God's provisions and goodness, it is hard to come out of that spiral because the enemy is locked and loaded.  so here is what i've been doing to stay out of the danger zone. it's totally novel... i'm sure you've never thought of it... a totally new and original idea (do you hear the sarcasm? ha).

scripture!!

i don't know where we are suppose to go - psalm 23:1-4/ 32:8 - but he is my shepherd, he will instruct me

i feel helpless - 2 cor 12:9 - but his power is most effective in those moments

i'm tired, i can't do this - Heb 12:3 - but we are not to grow weary (look to jesus as our example)

this doesn't make sense to me - proverbs 3:5-6 - i can't rely on my understanding

this is testing my faith - Rom 4:20 - instead let it strengthen my faith

God doesn't hear my cry -james 5:16 - he not only wants me to pray and hears me, but it is effective

the list goes on, but this, my sweet friends, has been my life line.  lots of people ask us how we're doing this... only by His grace and in His strength.  and when the enemy tries to get that foothold - we have to defend ourselves with the sword of truth!

a crafty getaway!

my more than amazing HUBBY surprised me with a weekend away.  i really couldn't think of anything better to distract me from the stress of our lives than crafting.  so i, of course, said YES and jumped in the car friday afternoon and made my way to fort worth.   i met up at pei wei with my friend darcie lantz (who planned the weekend) and several other craft intensive peeps!  some i knew and other are now new friends!  

my first craft was a cork jar that serves two purposes.... message center and container... the possibilities are endless.  ha!  i imagine this would make a cute house warming gift with a sweet message and some flowers.

next up- one of the girls came with a sack full of fabric samples from TCU.  so i thought allie could use a purple fabric wreath for that room in her future!

we ended the night by watching Return to Me and falling fast to sleep in the wee hours of the night.

the next morning we woke up to coffee, cinnamon rolls, this cute display and paper bunting in the craft room.  so cute.  darcie did a great job making everything special.

oh, and look at the fun gift baskets that were waiting for us too.

 

i kicked off my morning by learning how to make paper flowers.  i only made three, but i think i'll make a bunch and turn them into bunting or frame these three in a fun, funky frame.

my last project of the morning was some inspiration for the apartment. 

then it was off to lunch at la Madeleine.  have you had their free strawberry jelly?  SOO good!

we spent the rest of the afternoon thrift store shopping.  it was really fun to grab bargains and then take them back and turn them into something cute.  i'd love to show you my amazing find, but sweet allie broke it promptly upon my return home today.  we'll see if it is fixable.

darcie's precious parents hosted us all weekend and pulled out all the stops for a yummy dinner saturday night.  we had flank steak, new potatoes, broccoli, apple salad, and wine.  i got a little emotional.  i haven't eaten on a real plate in a home in over a week.  it was very nice!

we started with six, grew to seven for a time, and then... there were FOUR!  we are the ones that stuck it out till the end!

one last shot of many of the things that were created in one weekend.  hiding behind my wreath are some super cute cake stands that the girls put together after our thrift store stop!

trip to the jail

i didn't get many good pics this day.  i was trying to hold griffin and catch photo opportunities.  

my sister took the boys to the police station were she works.

this is caleb holding the keys to the jail and then getting his mug shot taken.  we called him "mean face sisco!"

he also had his finger prints taken and we went to see the fire trucks too!

thanks for a fun time aunt jeni!!

hair cut

g's hair has been out of control for some time.  here is the proof from our latest car trip.

he instantly looked three months older to me.

boo. 

 

slow down kiddo!

a little late...

we did an extra little activity along with our 14 days of love. 

i printed this from our church website and we memorized 1 Cor 3:4-8
one part each day!  super fun.

toward the end of the memorization we did pictures for each of the qualities that love is or is not.  

this was mine inspired by the kids ideas:

this was caleb's:

and here is allie's:

lake texoma

a VERY generous family gave us a weekend at their lake house.  we tried desperately to take another family with us, but everyone was busy.  here are some pics from that weekend away....

this is the bunk room.  this was one of the five bedrooms.   :)

i think the house slept about 28... CRAZY fun!

such cute stairs... fruit of the spirit all the way up them.

the view from the loft above!  COZY!

we taught the kids checkers and uno over the weekend... now they want to play all the time.

we built fires all weekend to stay warm!  so fun!

living room...

lance and i spent one night playing games too.

MORE

teaching your baby to sign saves you so much hassle... less screaming... less guessing. it is great!! and in the case of this little guy- even greater because we didn't teach him... allie did!!

these pics don't do it justice, but he has to concentrate so hard and his face is hysterical!!  one day we'll post a video!

14 DAYS of LOVE

i snatched an idea from pintrest and made this little project for the kids...

i didn't feel like coloring rice so i switched it up and used strawberry whoppers (way yummy by the way).

we pick one heart a day and everyone in the family tries to complete the task written on the back.  this pic is blurry, but you get the point.

finding the sprinkles again

a few years back my precious friend, jenny lay, moved her family to columbus, tx.  i still remember having a conversation with her when she first moved.  She said life was good, but it was just missing the sprinkles and she was ready to have that color and fun back. 

this statement might not make sense to you.  i don't think i fully understood it until now.    life IS good... i have very little to complain about.  However, we have been living in this transition stage - trying not to get into a comfortable routine because we shouldn't be settled here, right?  i have been making things simple and easy because anything else seems like too much and too hard.  my thoughts have sounded like: "i can wait on all that because we'll be in a home soon and i can do it then."

now don't get me wrong... there is alot to be said for simple and i'm embracing a large part of that right now.  however, sometimes (for me) "simple" translates into nothing.  no training my children. no fun, mom-planned activities. no scripture focus... the list could go on.

well, jenny to the rescue.  she reminded me to find my sprinkles by sending me some in the mail.

i could settle for a plain cupcake, but why? i'd rather have a pretty one.  i'd rather smile while i eat mine... if you know what i mean. i'd rather my kiddos have something to be excited by and something to look forward to.

my analogy might be breaking down in your mind, but it's just getting started in mine.  basically, we have no idea how long it is going to be until we find a home so it's time to stop settling for the average treat and be good stewards of what the good things that the LORD has blessed us with.  we are being more intentional with our time and talents... stay tuned!

one month

it's official.

we've lived in dallas for one month.

we are still homeless, but not hopeless!

here are some pics from my phone this past week:

1. you could leave g in a swing for hours... he LOVES it! 

2. rub a ding ding... three kids on the swing.

3. when did my little boys get so big... sigh! 

BUT, hooray for grocery stores with amazing carts!  BONUS!

4. "mom, it's like i am a designer!?"

5. three saturday mornings of krispy kreme = spoiled!

6. i mean REALLY SPOILED!

7. when all else fails, just play in the clothes hamper.

8. two scoops to this pretty girl for memorizing ALL of her word wall words!

and that is a wrap!

are you still praying for us to find a home?

ok, just checking!  ;)