my life...status style

i got off facebook. i closed my account. i wanted to be more intentional with the time i am given.  -to be intentional with relationships. -to have more one-on-one conversations, more seeking out, carving out time to learn about someone. -to show them i care and will make an effort and get messy.

for the first week or two ( i know this is crazy and i'm ridiculous) i kept thinking of status updates whenever anything of any importance (or unimportance) happened.

here are a few status updates that came to mind:
-being held hostage by 4 men under 4 feet tall. please send help.
-my toes are pretty
-nothing's more terrifying than hearing, "mom! asher's holding his poop!"
-i love my mother-in-law
-my new sectional sofa looks amazing as does my new custom painting hanging in my living room. jealous yet?
-just how unheathy IS reese's puffs cereal if eaten for every meal?
-twinkle lights make everything better
-laundry. never. ends.
-my kids had their first lemonade stand today. entrepreneurs!!!
-bright peonies+mason jars=happiness in a jar
-my husband is amazing
-is summer here yet?
-excuse me...am i wearing black and white stripes? do i have a whistle? am i on the sidelines? no? then i'm not your referee, you naughty children!


there's my life...status style.

keep moving forward

here's the pictures that SHOULD have gone on our Christmas card, but i never got around to making them. enjoy!
i just finished writing this post. read it, read it to the hubs, and decided to scrap
it. this year has kinda sucked. i'm not gonna candy-coat it for yah, people. you can handle the truth. but i decided instead of writing out the good, the bad, and the ugly about 2011, i can focus on the good things about 2011 and the things i'm looking forward to in 2012.

top 5 most wonderful, brilliant, flippin' fantastic things of 2011:

1. we adopted judah and asher, otherwise known as judy-booty and asher basher. they will hate these nicknames in years to come.

2. the hubs made it back safely from india. whew!

3. we sold our home! praise God!

4. we bought a new home, hooray!

5. we met ALL our neighbors on our new street and have had a great time building relationships
with them!

--see the exclamation points?! see?! upbeat!!

exciting things to look forward to in 2012:

1.settling into our new home a bit more, which includes but is not limited to: curtains, plate hangers, vintage books, old sewing machines, a free wardrobe (yep, FREE!) and much, much more! --all this is being typed as the hubs huddles in a corner and rocks himself. he'll be ok.

2. joining a new church. we have found one we really like and are excited to spend more time there and possibly join.

3. since the hubs has worked so hard this past year, we are planning some family trips to get away. we have not had a vacation in a long, long time, so this is exciting! rest is good.

4. reading a book my friend suggested to me about raising boys to be godly men. it's a pretty tall order to fill: raising boys who will grow to be strong spiritual leaders of their families and communities. can't wait to read it!

5. having no real resolutions whatsoever. i always say if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, but in this case, it's pretty freeing. if it gets done, it gets done. if not, it'll be there tomorrow. --a wise woman taught me that. thanks, momma.

hope all of you have had a wonderful holiday season! may you be encouraged this year in your relationship with Christ. may you remember in the easy times and the hard that God loves you with an everlasting love, desires for you to know Him more, and has promised to never leave you.

happy new year, friends!

can i complete a thought?

i've begun writing this blog entry 3 times. the problem is: i have lots of tidbits to share, but nothing that i can form a whole entry out of.

here's a brief summary:

1. after 5 weeks of keeping the kids busy while the hubs was away, i am exhausted. so we've spent the last week or so doing a lot of resting and sitting around. the hubs is still working really long hours. we can't wait until things slow down for him.

2. we found out gabe needs glasses. he starts kindergarten in a few weeks, which makes me cry just thinking about it. lots of changes for our little...i mean big...man.

3. my 10 year reunion is coming up in september. this reminds me i'm aging. not really a fan. ;)

4. we're finishing up a study called "the prodigal God" by timothy keller, and it rocked my world. so so good. you should check it out.

5. a week from today, i will have been married to my hubs for 7 years. in these 7 years, we've received 4 children, gone to mexico and honduras together, moved a bunch of times, gotten to serve at several churches, graduated with various degrees, been through valleys and mountaintops, and SO many other things. but in the end, the thing i've seen demonstrated over and over in our marriage is that no matter what happens, we are there for each other. i have learned so much about what God desires me to be like through our marriage.

thanks, hubs, for always being so compassionate, loving, and patient with me. i see Jesus in you.

and we're back on

ok, people, i'm back.
sorry i've been gone so long.


the hubs has been gone to india for 5 weeks for work. i didn't want to share in a public forum that my husband was far away from home, so i just stayed away.
plus...we have been very busy trying to pass the time.

over the last 5 weeks we have visited my parents for a week, been swimming, played on our lovely new back patio, had playdates, driven up to kentucky to visit my brother and his family, driven BACK from kentucky, and hung up 90% of our art and wall hangings in our new home!

and now the hubs returns! wahoo! God has truly provided for all that i've needed during this time. i was really concerned beforehand how difficult it would be for myself and the kids with the hubs gone, but God generously took care of us. the kids did great! and i got to catch up on bonding time with my friend leanna as well as watching chick flicks as much as i want.

hopefully i will be around more now that i'll have a partner in these adventures once again.

see you soon!

revelation and hard work

revelation:
i figured out why gabe has been talking about wives these last few weeks.
it's because at night (not every night, so don't think i'm on the ball) i pray with the boys before they go to sleep. and usually i will pray for their future wives: that they will be godly women who are eager to support and encourage the boys and that my sons would grow to be godly men who love the Lord and love their wives as Christ loves the church. so there you go. revelation. he's not just randomly asking for a spouse. who knew?

my new attempts at productivity and being disciplined for godliness:
*i've started reading a study on jonah by priscilla shirer and although i'm only on day 1, i am really enjoying it. we just finished a study on nehemiah, which i enjoyed but it was not my favorite. what WAS my favorite was meeting with the other two women doing it. good good stuff!
*i'm also trying to finish "family driven faith" which i am really enjoying. i read a chapter and then think, "man i gotta get my rear in gear!" i'm trying to limit my tv time because it's become a lazy, slothful time where i get nothing done and then i get behind and mad at myself for being unproductive. this is only day 2 of that, so we'll see how it all pans out. i'm not being legalistic about it, just trying to put my energy into more productive things.

anyways, life is moving along here. our house should be ready end of march, the boys should be adopted around then too, but still not sure when. the hubs has some great opportunities at work coming up, and it's exciting!

what are you up to these days?

top 10

well hello ladies and gentlemen...
how goes it?

fall is in full swing tonight at our house... candles lit, windows slightly open, snuggly pajamas on...and oh yeah, i'm sick.
but we are blessed, nonetheless, and i thought i'd do a quick top 10 to update on all the happenings.
1. halloween went great. the kids loved their costumes and looked super cute in them.

ironman

hate to break it to you, but gabe is the real ironman. i know. i blew his cover.

elijah was superman

2. z-diddy, elijah, and gabe are all in this new phase of pretending to be puppies. they pretend grapes are treats and they crawl around on all fours. it's pretty entertaining.

3. the Christmas gift list is made and i shall be purchasing these lovely trinkets in the near future. i'm trying to get the bulk of it done before thanksgiving. we'll see...
4. we have been having lots of showings on the house lately. this is very exciting.
5. colalicious has started walking. i know, i know. you're all astounded at his genius-ness.
6. we finalized the options on our next house. everyone will have their own room...except me. i have a roommate. he's cute. the hubs...he's a keeper. we should be moving in march.
7. pandora radio has a lovely Christmas station that makes me very excited. the other night we put it on and danced in the kitchen. "rockin' around the Christmas tree" and "i'm dreaming of a white christmas" (--the fun, upbeat version) always remind me of home alone, my all-time FAVE Christmas movie.
8. no news is good news with the whole colalicious and z-diddy adoption situation. our 90 days of waiting for extended family to come forward is over sometime around january 3. we are excited to see that date come and go with no hint of news.
9. colalicious has been sick this week and has NOT gotten worse or ended up in the hospital. this is a BIG deal in our house!
10. the church plant that we're helping with is coming along nicely. we are excited to see how God will use us when we live in the same city as the church plant. i can't wait to bake brownies for neighbors, hold bible studies, and share Christ with our community.
check us out!
www.hopeforboerne.org

hopefully i'll be more on the ball and blog a bit more in the near future. i know...you're on pins and needles. ;)

top 10

there is a lot of fun and exciting stuff going on around the ol' homestead. instead of taking time to blog about each thing individually, i thought i'd give a quick run-down:

1. our adoption of elijah miguel should be finalized on september 17th. yippee-kay-aye! what does this mean? well the main thing is: i will finally get to post a picture of the kid! oh, and he'll be a forever part of our growing family. -i guess that's exciting, too. ;)

2. mediation regarding the two other boys placed with us is scheduled for september 30th. if parents decide to relinquish their rights that day, then we begin the 90 days for extended family to come forward and then can pursue adoption. this means that possibly, by the end of january 2011 we might have all our boys as part of our forever family! we're starting to brainstorm on names. exciting!

3. our house is now off the market. we'll wait until next spring to put it back up again. whew!

4. i am enjoying "the excellent wife" bible study SO much and highly recommend it.

5. if you decide to pursue #4, please find awesome friends to do it with you who will spur you on to righteousness. it's kinda hard core and very counter-cultural!

6. we are helping plant a church and in the next few weeks, it should be moving up to the next level which is super exciting and a little intimidating.

7. the state fair of texas is coming at the end of september, and as i type this, i am peeing my pants with excitement.

8. i have now cleaned up the mess from # 7.

9. our part time nanny will now be working one evening a week so the hubs and i can go on a date night. i peed again!

10. i'm going to start subbing for a bunco group once a month and am excited to meet new people and learn a new game. i have no idea how to play! and i have no skill or luck. this should be interesting.

what's going on in y'alls neck of the woods?

update

well we are nearing the end, folks. this sunday, our 90 days are up. --the 90 days the extended family has to come forward and say they want to attempt to get our little man. he will no longer have any ties to the biological family he originated from. sad, yes. but we rejoice that we get to have him as part of our forever family. he will be elijah miguel. elijah means God is my salvation and miguel is one of his names now, which means "who is like God?" not sure if y'all put it together, but now we'll have our two angels: gabriel and miguel (michael). everything should be finalized july 23, my parents' 43 anniversary. 2 down, people.
2 more to go.

the two newest boys have pre-trial in august so we will know by august 2nd where this case is headed. it moved so much faster because their case has been open since they were put in the shelter, months before we ever heard of them or received them into our family.

the sell of our house is still up in the air. 4 showings in the past month, but nobody's interested. it's all good. no worries. we live in a 1754 sq ft. house with 4 young children, but we have everything we need. how fortunate are we? very!

we finished up our kelly minter study on ruth and i love it. everybody should do it. apparently there's also a book called "the gospel of ruth," (blasphemous? i don't think so but i did not go to seminary to make that decision, so who knows...) that is also pretty good from what i hear. next up? the excellent wife study by martha peace. good good stuff.

what are y'all up to? what are you learning? what is up-in-the-air in your life?

my blooming miracle

look closely at this picture. notice anything interesting? besides the slinky. yep. that's a sock in the orchid. my orchid bloomed a sock. this is quite indicative of my life. something stinky in a pot with something beautiful. ;) that's my life in an orchid planter, i mean...a nutshell.

here's some of the goings-ons, since i need a blog break from the kiddos. my top 6 (i try not to conform):
1. the hubs is ready for graduation. me too.
2. the eldest is saying hilarious things like "in the beginning, God made mommy."
3. today i rebelled against chores and accomplished nothing around the house except loading and starting the dishwasher.

4. i had a heart-to-heart last night with the training coordinator of our adoption/foster agency for like an hour and it was so good for my soul. she is wonderful. we're like peas and carrots. ;) there's something to be said for people in my life who have no pity for foster children (because they don't need your pity), who will be upfront with me about the risks associated with fostering (i'm sick of sugarcoating the situation and/or putting foster parents on pedestals), and who can tell me they've been right where i'm at (she was a foster parent for like 20 years). here's my shout-out to linda. wooop.
5. blue bell makes banana pudding icecream (thanks amanda jo) and it kinda rocks my face off. really. yum.
blue bell: if you would like to pay me to endorse the best icecream in the country, i'm here for yah.
6. matt maher is my new fave artist at the moment. all his songs make me happy. go enjoy "no greater love"and tell me if you think he's like a refreshing drink of something tingly and carbonated.

round here

hello.

how are you guys doing?

it's been rough here while the hubs has been gone on the mission trip.

but we've all had enough with me talking about life being difficult, so let's move on.

i'll give you the skinny on all the goings-on:
1. my mom is fantastic! she came in to help us out while the hubs was away and let me just say, she is a laundry goddess (and good company too)
2. i would love a nap
3. had wine, cheese, crackers, and grapes with a wonderful friend and it was exactly what i needed
4. about 48 hours and counting until the hubs returns. we are desperately trying to avoid going to the ER with the baby until then. yes...he's sick again. feel like we've had this discussion before?
5. it's spring here in san antonio and it's all because God knew my boys needed outdoor time in order for them to remain alive
6. you know what's yummy? chips ahoy chewy cookies. up until 6pm today, that's all i had eaten
7. the throw up smell in the boys' room is almost gone. don't ask.
8. i'm having a maid come to my house and deep clean next week. my baseboards will finally be dusted! guests + no cleaning = amazingness.
9. triple bday party coming up for all three older boys. apparently we're obsessed with cars now, so that shall be the theme
10. my guilty pleasure is the real housewives on bravo. i'm watching it right now

anyways, nothing exciting to report. just life.