Well.  Brent's laptop has suffered a crash.  The good people at Best Buy had to replace the hard drive....so there will be a slight (yes, hopefully slight) pause in the blogging just for a few days while we restore our saved pictures and things to the new hard drive.  God is good.  We trust Him.  He has worked much in our lives lately to remind us how faithful and trustworthy He really is.  All praise to Him who makes short ends miraculously meet, who gives grace in unexpected places, and who loves us enough to discipline us.

Happy birthday, Justin!

My little Justin has turned 3.  What a full three years it has been!  God has been so good to us to give us Justin as our second born son. Every day is full of challenges, struggles, joys, laughs and silly moments that would not be the same without our Justin.  Thank you, Lord, for using Justin to bring us closer to You and to show us how much we need You.  We are so thankful to be entrusted with the life of this precious boy and we pray that we are found faithful with the decisions that we make regarding him.  

 So to celebrate this big occasion in the life of Little J, mom came up from Houston and we had a little family party.  We started by going to Nizza Pizza, one of our favorite Ft Worth places.

 While Justin took his afternoon nap, Mom and I decorated the kitchen for the party.  He was so surprised to wake up and see it!  :)

 I love the way he joins his forefinger and thumb to show that he is three.  So adorable.

 Justin chose to have a batman birthday.  I made the cake to seem as though Batman was looking out over Gotham.  I'm not that great at cake decorating, but at least my target audience doesn't know that yet.  :)

 Time to open presents!  Justin had presents from Courtney and Marty, Doug and Nancy, GG, Gramma and Papa Jon, and Mama and Daddy to open.  Shew!!  What a haul!

 Then we busted a pinata (and Mama's thumb) in the front yard.  Nothing says happy birthday like a big, candy-filled donkey!  Heehaaw!

Making a wish for another great year!  Happy Birthday, "Puddin'"!  We love you!!

Celebrating Freedom

It's the 4th of July!  Time to celebrate the freedom that was given to us by God through the means of brave men and women.  

 Our friends, the Carruths, invited us over and they live outside the city limits...so you know what THAT means!  FIREWORKS! It took us a while, but we finally picked some that were fun and yes, of course, safe.  

 Justin and his buddy, Sam enjoy dinner on the front porch.  Justin would have just eaten watermelon I think.

 Jane and her pals, Asher and Annie.  :)

 Lisa, Laura and Stephanie - my gal pals!  I praise the Lord for these ladies!

 Throwing those little poppers....even the Daddies joined in the fun.

While we praise the Lord for the freedoms we enjoy in this life, let us not forget the freedom that was purchased for us on the cross by Jesus Christ.  There is now no condemnation for those found in Him and we are free from the bonds of sin.  (Romans 8:1)  I look forward to my eternal home, the true 'Land of the Free!'

God made the ocean!

 I just had to share this because I thought it came out so cute.  The kids and I did a brief study of the ocean before we went to Florida and to Sea World.  I found a lot of cute ideas on Pinterest but they were all individual projects.  So we did each project and then put them all together on a mural.  We took about three days to make it and we had little mini lessons with each project....

 We learned about jellyfish....(paper plates and pipe cleaners)

 ...crabs...(the kids' hand prints and googly eyes)

 ...starfish...(done mosaic style with construction paper)

 ...we used real sand and shells on the bottom to make the ocean floor.  Each day yielded great opportunities to tell the kids of God's greatness and creativity.  ie - He has numbered every grain of sand....

 We added cotton balls for clouds and added in waves and the sun.  I love how 3D it is.  We also were able to talk about textures and so forth.

They were so proud of it and loved that I hung it in my room to enjoy.  We will definitely be repeating this craft idea.  :)