the inside of my nose smells like spray paint.

i have a bunch of blog posts swirling around my head right now.
but they'll have to wait.
it's been a long/good day.
we got back last night from 4 1/2 days in kansas.
we had a wonderful thanksgiving.
a much needed and appreciated time of rest.
but i did bring my notepad & craft projects along.
i had to get something accomplished. :)
can't wait to show you what i made!!

aj took today off as well and we did projects at the new house.
it was fun to have all morning with just he and i.
we had a hot date at lowes with the wood cutting machine.
that's how we roll, yo.
we installed shelves, i unpacked a few boxes, we went and retrieved a couch i bought off craig's list (yay!!!), aj yanked a toilet up (not as easy as you'd think), and now he is over there putting down a new floor with a friend.

life feels so crazy right now.
i feel out of sorts that i don't have my christmas decorations up.
i like to have them up a week before thanksgiving unless we're hosting.
if we host, i start opening the christmas boxes as soon as the last guest walks out the door.
or maybe before if they linger too long. ;)

and by the way, i am now addicted to craig's list.
that is all.

now i must get back to my bottle of spray paint. Pin It

so exciting...

the boys and i watched it together.
it gives me chills.
very fun. Pin It

i am thankful.

my heart is full of gratitude today.

i am blessed so far beyond what i deserve. 

i am so very thankful for. . .

a rockin' marriage to my best friend,

3 boys to spend my days with, 

family and friends who love me unconditionally 

and a sweet Jesus who calls me His daughter. 

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an impromptu thanksgiving craft

i usually like to plan out our crafts a little bit.
at least have the materials out & ready.

but, the kids were getting restless.
i didn't want to turn on the t.v.
so i said, "okay, come to the table, we're going to make a thanksgiving craft."

 

it was pretty crazy.

glue & papers everywhere.

i had to take some deep breaths. :)

i kind of made up what we were doing as we went along.

a variation of last year's footprint & hand print turkeys.

i traced each of their feet on a paper grocery sack for the body of the turkey.

we cut feathers out of construction paper scraps and wrote what they were thankful for on the feathers.

they turned out pretty sweet despite the lack of planning.

avery is thankful for the cross, mom & dad, and sawyer. {sorry fin}

finley is thankful for mom, dad, sawyer, avery & the cross.

 

it feels like friday today.

friday before a 5 day weekend. :)

i am going to attempt to run errands with the boys this morning.

we don't really need to.

but i gotta get these boys out of the house for a bit.

they are wound. up. 

i hope i don't regret taking 3 little boys to wal-mart the day before thanksgiving.

i'm hoping we're getting there early enough that it won't be bad.

oh and i started spray painting our entertainment center yesterday....can't wait to see how it looks all done!

and to all my lovely readers...have a wonderful, relaxing, full of gratitude, thanksgiving!
blessings. Pin It

celebrating our boy.

once again we did a pretty low key birthday for sawyer.
we decided to just do a little family get together.
half of the family ended up not being able to come, so it was just our little fam,  grammy & grandpa david.
so far sawyer doesn't know any different so he was happy as a lark with the extra attention.
and all of us singing happy birthday to him and teaching him to say, "i'm 2."

sawyer loves. loves. loves. balloons.
or "boons" as he calls them.
they are really his favorite.

 

and yes, he did get a big boy haircut.

{are you happy now, dasun????}

at first i didn't like it, he looked so different....not my sawyer.

i just had to get used to it.

now i love it. 

it's so adorable and he didn't lose his curls. :)

 

 this is sawyer blowing the candle out.....

 

he was blowing through his front teeth..... so. adorable.

he's so cute, i can hardly stand it. 

these boys of mine make life so great. 

and p.s. i am so looking forward to thanksgiving and 5 whole days with my man!

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survival mode

i forgot how much work it is to move.
i guess because it's been 5 years.
so. many. details.

so this is an apology to everyone who has called me or messaged me or emailed me and i haven't responded.
i'm just trying to keep my head above water.
needing some extra grace right now.

i feel like i have been running for a month straight.
i am going, going, going, from morning until night it seems.
so much to do.
so many loose ends to tie up.
decisions to be made.

oh and be a mommy.

every time i think i'm going to catch my breath.
something else comes up.
like aj's car dying last week.
dying as in it's dead, never to be revived.

some moments i do great and turn the ball of stress in my stomach over to my very capable Heavenly Father.
i take a deep breath and say,
okay Jesus, help me do the next right thing.
i ignore the list and do something fun with the boys.
and many other moments i give in to the stress.
and my children and husband feel the brunt of it. :(

even when i am choosing stress over a thankful heart, God still blesses.
and uses friends to bless us and love on us.
i am constantly amazed at God's provision for us. 

i take such comfort in knowing that God already knows about everything that is coming my way.
He knows and He is with me and i can make the choice to sit in His rest.
to take on His burden . . . which is easy and light.


so that's my rambling confession this monday morning.
i am going to choose today to stick right up close to Jesus.
i am going to work hard and try to chip away more and more at my list.
but i am also going to enjoy this day with my boys. 
it's going to be a good day.

psalm 46:1 & 11
"God is our refuge and strength, 
a helper who is always found in times of trouble.
The LORD of Hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold."

Habakkuk 3:19
"Yahweh my Lord is my strength; 
He makes my feet like those of a deer
and enables me to walk on mountain heights!" Pin It

to my youngest boy.....

my sweet sawyer daniel, happy birthday.
wow.
you are two today.
and you are still the baby.
just like your brothers, you will always be my baby.
you are such a joy.
i am overwhelmed with the gift of you.
you bring so much life into this house.
we all wait with excitement to see what you're going to do or say next.
you are an absolute delight.

some of my favorite things about you....

*your overbite-y smile
* you lay your head on my shoulder and wrap your little arms around my neck
*you say, "hold you, hold you, hold you" when you want me to pick you up
*you call the color orange, "orange juice"
*you scream with delight when daddy comes home from work and go running as fast as you can to his car
*you love your brothers and love to play with them
*you love to sit in a lap and be read to.....if you see me sitting down, you grab a book and run to plop down in my lap with it.
*you love airplanes
*you're only afraid of one thing.....the trash truck
*you l-o-v-e balloons
*you like to dance and sing songs
*you light up a room

what a blessing it is to be your mama.

happy, happy birthday my little saw buddy.
i love you, mama. Pin It

nwa boutique show winner........

 and the winner is . . . 

Jessica

congratulations jessica!!  enjoy the evening! 

 

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adoption.

Galatians 4:4-7
But when the completion of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of HIs Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
 
God is the author of adoption.
He adopted us into His family.
made us His children.
He says that i am His daughter.
He bought me back from the snake and gave me a new life.

Jesus' redemption work on the cross was/is adoption....
giving us a new bloodline.

and it is our joy to give a child a new bloodline.
a new name and a new identity.
as our child.
our beloved.
a child who was intended, before time began, to be a part of this family.
just as Jesus has done for us.

she is our daughter.
she always has been.

God is weaving this story together in His timing.

and i can't wait to tell it. Pin It

to little rock and back again

what a long day.
it went better than expected, but i'm so glad it's over.

i got texts, emails, & calls all day from friends and family telling us they were praying & checking up on sawyer.
so encouraging.
(you guys rock).

today was sawyer's big day to have an MRI done on his ankle & foot.
we found out on friday that it was scheduled for today.
thankfully the boys were in school all day and my mom was able to keep them for the evening.

we were to check in at noon with the MRI scheduled for 2.
they originally told me he wouldn't be able to have anything to eat or drink (not even water) for the whole day.
i got all weepy on the phone with the nurse when she told me that.
you can't explain that to a 2 year old.

i found out yesterday that he could eat before 6 am and have 8 oz. of juice before 11.
such a relief.
i woke sawyer up at 5:30 this morning to feed him some breakfast & milk.
he ate a bit and then i put him back to bed.
we left for little rock a little before 9.
he drank his 8 oz. of juice on the way.
we checked in to radiology at 12.
we waited in that waiting room for two hours. 
and sawyer did awesome.
i know it is because of all the prayers coming our way.
that is a small, boring place for a 2 year old to be entertained for that long.
he didn't fuss once and didn't ask for food or drink at all.
he normally naps around 12:30 or 1 and we blew right through that as well.
at 2 we went down to the MRI wing.
he got to wear this sweet get up....

fleecy scrubs....so stinkin cute.
we waited in this little room for an hour.
i take that back...we did spend some time walking the halls during this hour & swinging sawyer around.
he asked to go "night night" once and was looking pretty tired, but he was a trooper.
he watched some wiggles.

i took a nap with a pack of diapers for a pillow.

oh and i almost forgot, aj's sister, jill came and hung out with us for almost the whole time.
that was a treat and really kept us sane.
she even brought us chic fil a for dinner.  big highlight.

they sedated him at 3 (not fun to watch) and then we went to wait some more.
after the MRI they decided to send him upstairs to get a steroid shot in his ankle.
so we went to another waiting room.
ate dinner with jill.
then at 5:45 they said we could come back!
then we met sawyer the crazy lunatic coming off anesthesia.
it was sad and humorous at the same time. 
every time i tried to give him his taggie, he threw it away as hard as he could.
he kept trying to rip the i.v. out.
poor little guy.
so we took our crying baby out and headed home....about 45 minutes later a flip switched and he was our happy little sawyer.

whew!
long, long day.
i'm glad to be home.
glad we got that over with.
hopeful that the steroid shot will do some work on that arthritis.

thanks to all of you who prayed for & encouraged us today.
it meant the world. Pin It

the yard sale.....

it was wonderful.
we didn't know what to expect for having a yard sale in the middle of november.
on a pretty chilly morning.

but it went so great.
we had many many friends bless us in so many ways.
we had friends donate items to our sale,  help us price, pray for us, etc.
it was so encouraging to see how many emails & texts i had on saturday with friends saying they were praying.
i'm so blessed with great friends.

we had tons of shoppers.
we advertized for the sale to start at 8.
we opened our garage at 7:15 and there were no cars.
about 5 minutes later a swarm of cars just seemed to rush up and all these people were pouring into our yard.
i wish i had gotten a picture of it.
but mostly i was in a mad dash to get everything out on our driveway.

i got to talk to several people about adoption, so that was fun.

i kind of thought that since we advertized that all of the proceeds were going towards our adoption, people wouldn't be bargaining.
i thought wrong.
it seemed almost every person asked to pay less for items.
and i'm bad at saying no.
but a few people paid over because of the adoption, so that was sweet.

it was a long day but so worth it.
later that afternoon, after we'd packed everything up, aj had the idea to take the boys bowling.
we wanted to do something fun with them since we hadn't been able to pay much attention to them the past couple of days.
there was a tad too much screen time going on around here.

the boys were so excited.
and it was nice to have some time to just focus on the boys and do something fun as a family.

that night after the boys went to bed, we excitedly counted up our earnings.
we were pleasantly surprised & beaming and just so thankful for the Lord's provision.

AJ opened a special savings account today, the adoption account.
just one more step in our exciting journey. . .






******************************************************************************************
don't forget, if you're local, sign up for the nwa boutique show girl's night giveway below! Pin It

if you're local.......

Today's the day for our Big Yard/Moving/Adoption Fundraising Sale!!!

We open at 8 and will stay open as long as we've got customers. My little boys will be selling hot cocoa so you can warm up while you shop. :)
*100% of the proceeds go towards our Adoption! It's a win-win...you get some great finds AND help rescue a child.


okay...off to go start up the space heater! ;)


email me if you need directions... click on the "about me" pic if you need my email. Pin It

NWA Boutique Show ~~ Giveaway!!

WHAT:             NORTHWEST ARKANSAS BOUTIQUE SHOW
Shopping extravaganza featuring over 130 local and one-of-a-kind boutiques.
A portion of the proceeds from Friday night’s “preview shopping” event benefits the community programs of the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas.

WHEN:             Preview Party – Friday, November 19, 2010, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
                        Main Shopping Event – Saturday, November 20, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
                       

WHERE:             Northwest Arkansas Convention Center at The Springdale Holiday Inn
                        1500 South 48^th Street, Springdale, AR 72762

                        Phone: 479-751-8300

COST:              Friday Preview Party – $10.00 per person at the door.  ($8 in advance online)

                                    Saturday Shopping Event – Free Admssion

 

i'm so excited to have the opportunity to give away a pair of tickets to the friday night preview party/girl's night out.
it's going to be so fun!
there will be so much eye candy as well as live Christmas jazz by local artists, swag bags for the first 500, candy & hot cocoa stations, door prizes, etc.
i go every year and i love it.
fun fact: i actually had a booth at the first boutique show.

one of my favorite things to browse at the boutique show is all the stinkin' cute furniture and home accessories. 
here's a little photo sampling for you.....

 

 for more info & more pics check out their facebook page.

okay leave me a comment to enter!

i'll pick a winner next wednesday. :)

P.S. If you plan to wait until Saturday to go, you can sign up on the main page of the website or the Facebook page, and they will send you a "Preferred Shopper Fast Pass" so you can skip the lines on Saturday! The pass will also automatically enter you to win dozens of gift certificates donated by the merchants!
Saturdays shopping times: November 20, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

 and if you're not local....wouldn't this be a great time to take a road trip to the ozarks???! :) :)

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hi.

the yard that my boys will be running & playing in soon. :)
they are so excited.
i was worried about avery.
he handles change the same way aj & i do.
not well.
but we drive past this house every day and he is stoked.
today he told me he's so excited to get to have TWO FLOORS!! :)

i am pretty much feeling stressed and overwhelmed right now.
a lot. on. my. plate.
i'm choosing to sit in God's rest.
put on joy and thankfulness.
not give in to what the enemy has for me...which is stress.
can you see i'm preaching to myself right now? :)
see my desk......

 list after list after list.
okay, one thing at a time, sara.
one thing at a time.
whew.
thanks for listening.

okay, off to tackle something on that list! Pin It

you saw this coming, didn't you?

at the beginning of October, we officially began the adoption process. (!!!!!!!!!!)
we have known for a few years that adoption would be a part of our lives at some point.
we have been waiting on God's timing & direction.

then one day, it was just time.
we both knew it. we both felt peace.

we started prayerfully exploring options.
we have asked God to open the right doors and lead us down His best path for us.
we've asked Him to lead us to our girl. :)

a few days after we made the decision, a couple came to look at our house.
they made an offer.
we signed a contract.
2 days after we were going to take the sign down from the yard.
in an unfavorable selling market.
with no mls number.
no agent.
a sign in the yard and a random craig's list ad.
i tell you all of this to tell you that this was all God. 

a few days after that, we found out that we had a house to rent . . . available now, plenty of room for a family of 6, right down the road, with a pool, on an acre, etc.
amazing.
only God. 

our life went from feeling like we were on hold, not sure what direction God was leading us, to everything changing but falling into place at the same time.
God knew He was going to turn everything topsy-turvy and He prepared our steps ahead of time.
He has been so faithful (as always) to lead us every step of the way.

the night we got the contract on our house, aj & i got down on our knees for a very long time and asked Jesus what He wanted us to do.
we wanted to make sure sure sure that we were hearing from Him and not jumping ahead of His plan.
by the end, God had told us each, separately that yes, were supposed to sell.
it was time to move on.

there have been even more daily confirmations from God that He is the one running this ship and He's got it all taken care of.
He knows where are daughter is and we trust Him fully to bring us together, in His perfect timing.

we are working on getting everything in order.
which includes getting rid of a TON of stuff.

this weekend we're going to have a yard sale to free ourselves from said stuff and to raise money for our adoption.
all the proceeds from our yard sale will go towards our adoption expenses. :)
if you're local, send me a message and i'll give you info.

the last month has been amazing.
God is paving the way for us.
and we're just hanging on for the ride.

we'd love your prayers as we begin this journey.

we know that God has the cattle on a thousand hills (psalm 50:10).
He can provide every cent for this adoption.
we would love for you to join us in praying that God would open the doors for us and give us the money we need at the right time.
and that we would not give a moment to worry.
please also pray that God would protect us and that we would stay so close to Jesus through this whole process.

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,  but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father!"                                                                                                        ~Romans 8:15

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corn maze.

when aj's  parents were here we went to the corn maze.

it was a first for all of us. 

it's shaped like a razorback.

avery was beyond excited.  we didn't tell them where we were going.

when we pulled in, he started jumping up and down. :)

i love avery's reaction to a surprise. he makes it so fun.

he had heard about the corn maze at school and had been telling me all about it.

 that's uncle chris (bro-in-law) taking their picture, if you were wondering. :)
and we got reprimanded for letting the kids pick the corn.  oops.

 

now i must show you the most hilarious photo i received in the mail today.

oh my word i laughed out loud.

as we were leaving the fall festival last week, we (I) decided to take a picture at the "photo booth."

and this is the beauty that we got.

ha ha ha ha ha.

1. my eyes are half closed (typical)
2. the foil on avery's "alien" mask is starting to pull away.
3. fin has ditched the knight helmet & looks confused as to what exactly we're doing
4. and sawyer is d-o-n-e with the fall festival.
5. i love aj & i's big ol' grins while our baby is red faced and screaming. Pin It

to make up for my lack of pictures lately . . .

well i'm glad halloween is over
you know it's not my favorite holiday.
but we make it fun for the boys so it is what it is.
i just try to not make a big deal about it either way.
but my boys do love to dress up.
they always have.
as long as i can remember they have dug around in their dress up box every single day.
it is normal life around here for them to come out of their room with some crazy outfit on.

i love it when i see a cute family with a whole theme going on with their costumes.
a lot of my friends did that and it was adorable.
we used to do that.
we may do it again someday.
but for right now, we do the, go-look-in-your-dress-up-box-and-see-what-you-can-come-up-with plan.
they are super happy about it & they don't complain for a minute.
so our night is pretty fun and stress-free, even if we do look a little jankity & hodge-podge. :)

this year we randomly had 3 events to dress up for.
the first was a fall festival at the church where sawyer goes to mother's day out.

 

for this event avery was an alien (can't you tell???), fin was a knight & sawyer was the cutest little puffy dragon you ever did see. 

and oh my, that little boy loved. the. candy.

the next event was a trunk or treat at a local church. 

the boys dressed as bankers. 

angry bankers, apparently.

 shaking hands like men. :)

 and here is my friend stacy who does nothing half way.
she always has her whole family in the cutest theme.
love it.

 we have sooooo much candy.
i figured i might as well start now with the indulging and go straight on through to new year's.

 sawyer got the idea very quickly.

  and finally on sunday night we let the boys walk around our neighborhood to trick or treat a little bit.

they were pumped.

 spiderman who wears spiderman slippers . . .
and a clone.

 sawyer was so adorable all cozied up in the wagon, ready to go.

i wonder if he now thinks that anytime he wears that costume, he gets candy handed to him..... 

it worked out 3 times for him.

 sawyer was crazy-cute in that little dinosaur outfit.
every house oooohed and aaaahed over him.
you could just eat him up.

kids make life so fun. :)

[no i did not color boost  that last photo, their grass really is that awesomly green.]  Pin It