family date

thursday night is typically date night...we rotate with another family and one week they keep our kids, and the next week we keep their kids...in trying to make sure we (and our marriage) don't get lost in our 3 kids and crazy life...thursday night is set aside...and sacred.
tonight though, our fellow date night family had to postpone, and so we decided to do a family date instead.

i realize that 90% of the population would be sickened by our choice of restaurants, but andy and i both grew up eating there, and happen to still like it...and thanks to aunt carleigh, we had coupons for free kids meals (score!)....so off we went to eat dinner at pancho's! the boys love the dessert buffet and sopapillas... hopefully they will continue the pancho's traditions as they get older too...much to the dismay of most of our friends! :):)




you can't tell here, but we are seriously jamming out to the highschool musical 3 soundtrack.


gotta love that smile!


after dinner, we headed over to the mall soft play area for the free fun. the boys always have a great time there....logan is on the brink of being too big ...but he mainly follows tysen around and plays with him, so we're gonna milk it for all its worth!


and then ian wanted to take a picture of us...nice work, E!

I love my family!!

busting out the clippers...

poor tysen...this is the 3rd time i've cut his hair in 3 weeks. i cut it the first time, then thought it would be cute to go a little shorter and spike the top...so i did that...then this week, just decided the sides weren't short enough, so i got the clippers out to buzz the sides...then decided i didn't want to mess with trying to fade into the top...so i buzzed the whole thing. what a trooper! it added some age to his baby face...he's definitely looking like a little boy! (and acting like one too, in case you haven't noticed how his right arm is decorated by a sharpie) ... later, we were looking at old videos with the boys, and there was one of logan when he was about this age with his hair buzzed, and logan said, "o look, ty-ty...you are singing"....i laughed and said, "nope, that's you, logan!" ....

o well....

i guess this is what happens when you are a youth pastor...someone thought it would be funny to put a huge snowman in front of our porch...which fell over and made 3 GIANT snowballs...blocking our porch entrance...first time we've used our front door since we moved in a year ago!

bundled up...

all bundled up enjoying the very rare snow! we broke the record in DFW for snowfall in 1 day --12.5 inches!!!!

snow day!

as much trouble as it is to get 3 boys ready for the snow...they sure loved it! tysen was a little unsure, and was the first one ready to go inside...he wanted to go watch 'frosty the snowman'...but the older boys had a blast!

granola

well, i've been experimenting with granola recipes....i'm not sure what i was expecting, but my goal was really to have a healthy snack. i actually thought of it when i got a parfait from mc'ds and the granola was really good mixed in, so i wanted to try making it on my own...and just in time to package up for valentine gifts for teachers! so i started looking at several recipes, and just sorta used what i wanted and created my own 3 recipes...

what i realized was that i wasn't a huge fan of what i guess is normal granola? there doesn't seem to be a lot of taste and i was expecting a sweetness (like the granola cereal i've bought before)...it was good in my berry yogurt this morning, and was super filling, so i liked that aspect. but to just be able to munch on it by itself, i had to have a little sugar in it...so here was the winning recipe for me!! :)

sweeet almond granola:
4 c oats
1 c almonds
7 Tbls brown sugar
2 Tbls cinnamon
1/2 c light pancake syrup
1/2 c apple juice
1 tsp vanilla

mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then pour the wet on the dry, and mix till its all coated...then put the mixture on a jelly roll pan (sprayed with pam). bake at 250 degrees for one hour...stirring the granola every 15 minutes. when you first take it out of the oven, its not crunchy, but as it cools, it will get its crunch on!! :)

**there are tons of different things you could add to make it your own...i added dates in one of my recipes, and it worked really well (just wasn't sure of the date/cinnamon combo-so i left it out of this one)...you could add all kinds of nuts or dried fruit. but if you add dried fruit, you add it after its done cooking!

this was a winner! i think this is what i was looking for in the idea of granola for a snack for the boys. i wish i didn't need the sugar to make it tasty...but i figure that it still gets good grains and protein in them....

grateful for HIS faithfulness...

fair warning: this will be a long post...not really written to anyone, but myself. in my printed yearly blog books with all of the fun stories and pictures from year to year, i want to remember how God provided for us ... over and over again.

andy has been in school now for 2 1/2 years...and even before that, God was faithful in preparing us. the smallest details that meant little at the time...looking back at how it was all part of His plan. andy was talking about going to seminary the first year we were married. we waited, and waited because we never had a total peace about it...but when the time was right...it was a very clear decision for us...and though we weren't totally sure how it would all work...we moved forward. i want to note a funny thing...our crazy appearance on the family feud....that was a part of God's plan! it is amazing how EVERYTHING is orchastrated by Him! see, we did auditions in sept. 2006, and they actually called us back and wanted us to come to L.A. with in 2 weeks of our auditions...sadly, we had to turn them down, because joey and kyle had a non-refundable trip planned (with another couple)...so we hoped and prayed they would call us back. they did...in july of 2007. you might be wondering why this is so perfect. see, we won money on the family feud...and had we gone that first time they called us....we probably would have spent some of it on something fun (because at the time, we had no idea that we would be starting school the next year). but when we went in july, we knew we were moving to denton, and knew that we had some financially straining years ahead, so we put that money away...and can i just tell you, that we have survived off that chunk of savings from the family feud!!!!! we have thus far been able to pay for andy's school without loans, and were able to supplement our finances from those winnings. the timing of everything was amazing.

ok, so we moved to denton, andy started school, and working part time with denton bible's youth. we raised support to supplement andy's part-time work, and were beyond blessed with amazing support that came through. for the first year and a half, the Lord was so gracious in giving us one-time donors along with monthly donors, and we were able to pay for school, rent, bills, etc... we were constantly amazed at others generosity. (and still are...it is so humbling to have others pour into you, and give generously so that we can finish andy's training at school to be in the ministry.) a year ago, we knew that our monthly support checks would be starting to come in about $700 less....so, we started praying...and seeing that it was basically our rent money each month...we prayed for a more affordable place to live (as opposed to having to withdraw savings each month to pay for rent). within a month, the Lord literally just handed us the deal at our apartments....we do resident activities each month in exchange for free rent. it was incredible to see Him provide....right when we needed it. not a moment before, not a moment too late....

now, a year later, the Lord has reminded us of who is in control. last week, our apartment manager came to our door at 5pm on Monday....with a fax from a new corporate managing company that was taking over our complex. the fax stated that they were ending our contract, and it was an official 30 day notice to end our services. so...basically, we either needed a new place to live, or we would have to find a way to pay for rent. we sent emails for prayer, and asking for any options anyone might have....on wednesday morning, andy and i went to look at some apartments, trying to see if there were any cheaper places to live. we got back about 11:30, and decided to run over to the office and check into our options here...like maybe downsizing to save money. when we walked in, our manager greeted us, and said, hang on, i think we are ok! the new management company was there, and they had been discussing our contract, and apparently, there were some misunderstandings...and the new company ended up wanting to renew our contract with the same deal. wow. we are once again, overwhelmed at God's blessings.

i had one friend tell me that she had prayed that morning, that the Lord would resolve our housing issue THAT day...and another friend who had specifically prayed for us to be able to stay in those apartments....praying that they would have a change of heart, and allow us to stay. that was not even something i had prayed for! but the Lord heard the prayers, and now God gets the glory. He once again showed how merciful and good He is. He has NEVER let us down...and He provides for us.....exactly when we need it.
God is GOOD!