Lankford Love

About a month ago, Adeline started to stretch out her nap FINALLY (though it's still not consistent). That combined with the fact that I am currently not pregnant (and thus have energy and not worried about paint fumes), I decided I should tackle a project that has been on my "someday DIY list." And thus began the project of painting our bathroom AND kitchen cabinets!! I began in the bathroom and worked my way to the kitchen. This was definitely a learning experience. I used chalk paint (NOT chalkBOARD paint - we don't need to write on our cabinets!!), which is commonly used to paint furniture. It's a newish fad. I chose to use it for a few reasons: Chalk paint is forgiving. You don't see brush strokes in the same way you do with pure latex paint. You don't have to sand the cabinets. Chalk paint adheres to the surface it's painted to. (Supposedly - time will tell, I guess.) This was clearly a huge reason! Sanding is a beating. Now keep in mind, w...

It's been too long since I last posted! I try to post on here at least once a month to keep family and friends updated on life. I'm hoping for several posts in the next few days, but we will see if I make it that far! :) I've been serving with GriefShare this semester, which has been really good for me! God has done such a work in my heart through Austen's death, and I am glad to be able to pour out some of that to share with others in their darkest times. It hurts my heart to see the women in my group in such pain each week, but I am also so hopeful for each of them. God promises in Romans 8:28 that for those who love Him, He will work all things together for good! That's a promise I'm not willing to let go. It's a promise I've been able to see the fruit of. And I am thankful. I was able to share my testimony with grief one night in GriefShare. You can listen here . This March was 5 years since Austen passed away. We set off balloons, like we do e...

With all of the warm weather we've had this winter, I was beginning to think we wouldn't get any snow. Suddenly this week things changed. It became burrrr cold, and 4 out of 5 days have either been snowy or icy! And today it snowed ALL day! That kind of thing doesn't happen in Texas! And it was awesome! 

Recently Lilleigh turned 4! We celebrated by scaling it down from last year! {Oh my word, last year what was I thinking building a castle and setting the expectation high?}  This year we did a smaller party. It helped that, per Lil's request, it was an all girl party. It was still super fun and activity-filled for the girlies, but less work on my end.  I found a scavenger hunt on Pinterest and basically copied it. I changed several of the rhymes, but I was so thankful to that mommy blogger that went before me and posted her work for me to use! Yay! Anyway, the little girls loved searching for Cinderella's shoe and participating in the activities along the way!  As always, grandparents have come up to celebrate, each taking their own turn to come up and love on the birthday girl. We love having so many visitors!  *sorry for the lack of links in this post to that scavenger hunt etc. Its hard to link from my iPhone or iPad, which is where I mostly blog from these days. ...

Man, this girl is BUSY! As evidenced by the photos. Sitting still is too much to ask. Adeline was slow to become mobile, and now she is making up for lost time. The girl can run and climb! From the moment I saw her trying to climb the Chickfila playground with Lilleigh, I knew I was in trouble. For the record, she was climbing before she was walking. Two weeks ago she showed us that she knows how to climb up Lilleigh's bunkbed. {Insert frantic and exhausted - Nooooo!} For the record, the ladder has now been removed. Yesterday I also caught her lifting her leg over her crib rail. Brendon has since lowered the crib.  I pretty much collapse at the end of each day. And my brain is constantly trying to recover from what seems to be a permanent cloudiness preventing me from thinking clearly. Where was I?  She can say a lot, but she is choosier with what to say. For example, she loves to say "thank you" and "here you go" but refuses "please." We have many sta...

Sometimes I get so behind on this blog that the thought of writing overwhelms me because I've missed so much and feel I need to catch all our out of town family up on life. This is totally one of those times!  We had an awesome Christmas with friends and family here and then visiting the rest of our family afterwards. It was truly so great! When we can go in town to visit for closer to a week rather than a weekend, it's so fun! I'm going to leave my Christmas update at that. Loved every bit of it!  Things here have been a bit crazy! And by crazy, I mean busy! Brendon and I are both involved with a class called Equipped Disciple. (Totally awesome class by the Navigators that encourages the basics of the Christian faith and helps you learn discipline. Can't say enough good things about it!) Brendon has been doing ED5 on Monday nights and starting this week is serving on Wednesday mornings before work as a leader for a group. I'm currently in ED2 on Monday mornings wit...

This post contains affiliate links. A new year, new resolutions. Last year I took a new approach to New Years resolutions . I chose one word to sum up how I wanted to summarize my 2014. My one word was " intentional ." In each area from Bible study to time with my girls to time with Brendon to the blog to finances, I tried really hard to focus and be more intentional with my resources and activities. Of course, there's certainly a good deal more I could do in this area, but surprisingly this is a resolution I carried through during the year.  I say surprisingly because who really keeps New Years resolutions? But this one really resonated with me. "Be intentional" became my mantra for 2014. This is discipline that has changed my thinking around the home for sure, and I am thankful for it. Many days I try to think of things to do with the girls that is meaningful, rather than getting chores done and giving them the leftovers. We still have plenty of those days t...