Day-to-Day, March 31

I should just call these "month to month," since that is about how often I post!  

Here are a few March pictures...

A friend from Eli's class had her birthday party at Shenaniganz in Rockwall.  The kids had a blast bowling.  I am SO thankful for Eli's class- they are such good friends!

This is how Eli fell asleep on the way home from school one day:  

He was intent on catching butterflies one afternoon, but to no avail.

We went hiking at Cedar Ridge preserve.  I love these trails!

Ready for his first soccer game of the season!

Lego building.

Sorry this is sparse!  I didn't take many pictures this month for some reason.  Blessings to all of you today!!

Day-to-Day, February 26

And here we are at the end of February already!  Crazy.  Here are a few pictures from this month...

February started with a conference I went to for work, which happened to coincide with the craziest little snow storm Dallas has seen in a while!  The view from my hotel balcony...

Eli's school closed early and I was at the conference, so poor Eric spent HOURS on the road that day shuttling Eli back and forth.  Crazy coincidence!

Eli had a week off last week for winter break, so I took him to the zoo one day.  He wanted to have his picture taken by the crocodiles.

He is always doing these goofy faces for pictures lately.  I love it.  :)

Playing in the water- it was juuuuust warm enough to do this.

Another crazy pose.

This lion was extra playful while we were there.  I literally had to physically push Eli over to the glass so I could get a picture- he was a little scared of the pacing lion right behind him!  

Last weekend we went to Daingerfield with our friends the Ninos.  We had a blast, as always!

Goofy, goofy, goofy.

Our new hammock is a HIT!  

Eli and Ethan.  Who happen to be semi-matching.

My sweet boy, on a hike.

A rare picture of the two of us together!

They had a little craft time for the kids on Saturday.  This craft was right up Eli's alley!  (It's a campfire in case you can't tell from the blurry phone picture!)

The boys on the boat.  

Traditional sit-on-the-sign-with-the-sun-in-your-eyes photograph.

And with that, it's March!  We're super ready for spring!

Day-to-Day, February 4

January was pretty uneventful, which was a welcome relief after a crazy holiday season!  Here are some pictures from this month...

Painting a train set that Uncle Les and Aunt Robyn gave Eli for Christmas:

We played a lot of baseball this month.  Eli loves it.

Charlie had his 4th birthday at the Gentle Zoo.  Eli, always the animal lover, enjoyed feeding the goats:

They have this amazing bounce "pad" thing at the Gentle Zoo.  The kids LOVED it and stayed on it forever.  The dads couldn't help themselves either (see Eric in the background).  :)

And the giant sandbox is always a hit:

All dressed up for "work."  (He really, in all seriousness, thinks that his "job" is to "work with Timothy."  The schemes and plans those two come up with are insane and adorable all at the same time.)

Eli loves to lay in our bed because "it's the coziest."

Last weekend we went to a Sidekicks (professional indoor soccer) game.  Eli was totally enthralled.

His face here cracks me up.

It's been a really nice month!  We've so enjoyed the weekends together without big plans- this is totally contrary to our normal "M.O.," but it has been so refreshing!  I feel like it is a gift from the Lord before spring comes and pushes us back into a busier schedule!  

Blessings to you this as we begin February!

Christmas, and so long 2013!

Well, cliche as it may sound, I can't believe that 2013 has come to an end!  Here are a few pictures from the past couple weeks...

Eli's class Christmas party:

His class...  LOVE these kids!

This picture is blurry for some reason, but this is a rare picture of Eric and me!  :)  We went to our favorite restaurant (Eden) for my birthday with Kelly and Phil.

SO thankful for their faithful friendship!

Eli all dressed up in his "worker gear:"

Christmas morning.  That bike by the tree is my favorite thing.  :)  We couldn't wait to see Eli's reaction to his new, bigger bike.  

This is so blurry, but I still love it.  He was THRILLED.  He's been asking for a bigger bike for months now!  Hours and hours have already been logged riding this new bike.

We do three "tree presents" and stocking gifts.  Eli's second present (after the bike) was a tether-ball.  Eric had already put the pole in the backyard (which Eli thought was an oddly-placed fence post), so we were able to play on Christmas morning!  

Last tree gift:  a crossbow (that shoots rubber darts, of course)!  This was probably the biggest hit.  

One of Eric's gifts was tickets for us to go to a Sidekicks (Dallas' professional indoor soccer team) game.  Eli was just as happy as Eric was.  :)

Stocking time!  (my favorite part!)

We had a really, really nice Christmas.  After our little family time, we headed over to my parents' house for brunch and more gift-opening.  It is a blast watching all the kids open gifts and then play with them all together.  And after that we all just hung around and played before making a big Christmas dinner together.  It was a relaxing, fun, memorable day- just perfect!

Every year at the end of December I try to think back over the year, evaluating the good things and the bad things, how we've grown and developed as a family, areas that I've seen the Lord work in my life, and the (MANY) areas where God has shown me I need to change.  Overwhelmingly, we have seen the Lord's guidance and care in our lives this year.  He answered some big prayers, gave us some really fun memories, worked in each of our hearts, and eased us so faithfully through our big transition to Eli going to school and me going back to work full time.  We look back on 2013 with gratitude and pray that the lessons we have learned of God's faithfulness sink deep into our hearts.  And we look forward to 2014 with anticipation, asking the Lord to continue to mold us into His image as individuals and as a family.  

Happy New Year!

Day-to-Day, December 17

A few December pics before we launch into Christmas!

We had a crazy ice/sleet storm a couple weeks ago!  But, of course, NOTHING stops Eli and Timothy from playing outside!  They were all bundled up, chipping ice off of whatever they could find outside.  When they finally came inside they were drenched and freezing cold, but happy!  :)

I don't know why he is holding his hands like this.  :)

Ice EVERYWHERE!

I love this picture of Lucy all curled up on our bed- she is doing EXACTLY what I wanted to do on the iced in days!  What a tough life she leads.  :)

Cookie baking with Eli:

Eli's class did a little Christmas play for chapel last week.  Eli was a wise man:

Here's his whole class afterwards:

And then at church last Sunday the little kids did their Christmas play.  Here are a few unruly shepherds:  :)

And here's the right half of the stage.  :)  I couldn't get a picture of the entire group (30+ kiddos!), but they were adorable.  Eli said they had a "multitude of shepherds."  :)  (He's on the far right, yellow head thing.)

And last but not least, a few cute pictures just because!  He would NOT cooperate for a picture this day!  But I love his goofy expressions.  (And I just noticed that it looks like he has a bow in his hair in this one!)

Take two:

I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season thus far!!