what's a girl to do...

we've had this changing table/dresser for a few years and it has always bugged me a little bit. i just do not like the honey oak color on it, it looks old fashioned and out dated. we've even tried to sell it a couple times on craigslist, but to no avail. so it just sat, empty and ugly in our extra room. don't get me wrong, i like it's functionality a lot. it worked great for both the boys and the drawers are huge and holds lots of stuff. plus, it was free. while i was prego with noah and working at legacy, another teacher who's son was in 5th grade was getting a bedroom makeover. so she offered it to me free! what a blessing it was since we didn't have one and really didn't have the money to buy a nice changing table. it is a childcraft, so it is sturdy and heavy, which i like. but, it has stayed "as is"...
until last week :)

here it is, ugly honey oak
i didn't get a pic with it's hardware on,
but they were brass and wood...yuck!

here it is all sanded and ready for a make-over :)

one coat of "parchment white" paint
already looks a lot better

done!
complete with new knobs and pulls from home depot
only 2 and 3 bucks...score! :)
i really wanted glass knobs and pulls to give it a more shabbified look,
but i didn't feel like spending the extra dough.

i am very happy with it now.
it sits in the front room looking so pretty, awaiting a guest or a baby.
LOL...in the far future of course! :)

monkey bread

complete with cinnamon and warm caramel :)
this is very dangerous to have on your counter
when you and your family all have a sweet tooth!

oh how i love you!

happy birthday to my amazing husband!!!
i don't how it's possible, but i fall in love with you more and more each day!
i thank God for blessing me with the man of my dreams
and for allowing our kids to have the best daddy ever.
i am so thankful...
for you!

pizza

made pizza from scratch for dinner.
it was easy and a hit with the guys.

good ol' cheese pizza for the littles.

bbq chicken pizza for the adults.
yum!

our.life.lately

homemade cookies disappear when you have a 2 and 4 year old.
i seem to always find the cookie bag open and at the very edge of my counter. :)

while pure white snow is a beautiful sight, i am quite tired of the cold and very ready for spring.
kids and dogs get cabin fever very quickly when you are stuck indoors for days at a time. :)

two families came together to celebrate the engagement of
my lil' sis cerisa and her boyfriend christian.
so fun!

one very surprised, overwhelmed, and happy girl!

well done christian! her gorgeous ring!

brody.
my baby all grown up...and potty trained!!! yay!

a daily reminder on our bedroom wall, to dream big and to walk by faith.

things have been so busy lately.
it is a gift to rest in a warm bed and to wake up to sunshine!

i am his and he is mine. :)
so blessed!

we've encountered various trials over the last two years. seriously the toughest time ever, but we are thankful. thankful for all the blessings in our life which include: our health, our family, our friends, our GOD. we've stood on many scriptures and have prayed fervently. we have learned what it is to truly walk by faith and to not question our God. we understand that when we are weak He is strong and that His strength is ours. we have learned that any man can forsake us, but our God can not. He has supplied our needs and has a plan laid out for our family, a plan to prosper us so we can be a testimony to others. we have learned what it truly means to be patient...to wait...God has perfect timing and we get to worship Him while we wait. we are thankful and excited for the victory.
one of the scriptures we have stood on:
"count it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." james 1:2-3
our circumstance was not going to compromise our love for Him as He prepared us for what was to come.
i know this was a pretty vague description of what's been going on, but you can clearly see our trust in the Lord...
which is what matters most.

krispy.kreme

my dad, no and bro's lolo, wanted to take us all to krispy kreme's. the boys loved it! they got to see how donuts are made, got free hats, and thoroughly enjoyed freshly baked (still hot) krispy kreme donuts. i am not the biggest fan of krispy kreme donuts, but if you try one that is fresh and hot off the press, they are soooo delicious!!! we all had fun watching the boys faces. they were so amazed to watch the dough fall into the hot oil, get flipped, go through the glaze machine, and go straight into the box we ordered. this particular store also had a coffee bean in it...bonus!!!

thank.you.jesus!

overjoyed.thankful.rejoicing

more info. to come soon
:)

superdork!

it's a bird...it's a plane...no wait it's superdork!
the kid has on his spiderman mask, his monkey pajamas, and his swim shorts on?!
yes, he put his swim shorts over his jammies! LOL!

our superhero sneaking to get those bad guys! shhhhh!

our little brody is quite the character.
he is so silly and loves pretending to be the superhero.
it doesn't matter if he is batman, spiderman, or superman...
he really enjoys getting those "bad guys!"
and we really enjoy watching him :)

eat your heart out...

cinnabon! :)

it was a cold, snowy day where we live, so of course russ decided it was the perfect day to make cinnamon rolls. i had never made them from scratch before and was eager to give it a shot. well, they turned out delicious and the griffith men were very pleased. cinnamon rolls are their favorite, especially noah. he could eat them everyday if he could. i see many requests for these things in my future.

ugly.face.contest.2010

the kiddos trying

john.veronica

me

nanny

pappa

brad

andrea

russ

it was mom griffiths birthday on jan. 3rd, and we were all together, so i took it as an opportunity to have our first annual ugly face contest. as some of you may know, this is something my family tries to do every year. i thought it would be fun to try it with russ' side of the family. there are a couple of good contenders. russ is usually hard to beat, but brad may have taken this one.
it's funny because i noticed that russ' family is more hands on...meaning that a few of them use their hands to help out in the uglyfying of thier face. whereas my family never uses their hands. there is no rule about the use of hands, it's just a difference i noticed between the two families.
:)

happy 4th birthday to our sweet noah!

our noah is 4 years old today and i am overwhelmed when i think about how blessed i am to have such a funny, smart, and loving little boy. he is a great helper around the house, loves the Lord, and loves his brother so much. i think about how undeserving we are to get to borrow and raise him up for God's kingdom, but are so thankful for God's grace and his constant blessing over our lives. noah's brilliance surprises me every single day. i am so excited to see what the future has in store for him. happy birthday nowie!!!

melt.my.heart.

My 3 (almost 4) year old Noah and I were having a conversation about Christmas. Russ and I have been trying our best to share with my kiddos what the season is all about...Christ.

Me: What do you want for Christmas? Do you want a bike?
Noah: I don't want anything!
Me: You don't want anything?!
Noah: I don't want anything, I want to make a cake for Jesus' birthday.
Me: Alright, we can make Him a birthday cake!
Noah: But I don't know how I'm going to give him his birthday cake, I guess I'll just have to give it to him in my heart.

Oh my gosh!
It is moments like these that I remember how truly blessed I am to have such amazing kids. I do not deserve my precious kiddos and yet God has entrusted me with them, allowing me to borrow them and to raise them up for His kingdom and glory.
Uhhhhhhh!I love them so much!

future career???

the boys were playing with their mega blocks and noah said, "look what i made!" we looked up and he had built himself the cutest, most well designed airplane that you could make with baby mega blocks. he was so proud! and i was so proud of my three year old! he even had a pilot and a doggy in it :) i just loved seeing the joy on his face. who knows, maybe this is a clue to his future career. hmmmm...maybe it's time to upgrade to real legos :)

beach fun in oxnard

me.russ

brody.noah

griffiths

me.stacie

moose

we spent a day in beautiful oxnard with my friend stacie. even though i didn't bring their swim suits the boys had a blast playing in the sand and chasing birds. i think our puppy moose had the most fun though. he loved it! he was running around, swimming, and playing with all the other doggies (which all happened to be choc. labs as well). it was a great day!

the boys and their best friend

i just love how these guys love each other :)

Craving

It's a gloomy day in T-town and for some reason I'm craving a cold, fruity, tart treat. So sad that neither of these or anything like it are near me.

Yeah BroBro!

Brody told us he needed to go poop in the toilet yesterday. We are so proud of our 2 year old! We haven't really been working on him very much because I thought I'd wait until after the holidays, but this is a good sign.

Dodger game

Cerisa and I

Brody with his new bat!

Noah recovering after getting hit with Brody's new bat :(

The Cubs fans

The boys got free doggies at the game

Dodgers vs. Cubs

Walking to the Stadium

Our little Dodger family

It was about 100 degrees, we were in the sun for a couple hours, a bottle of water costs $5.75...but we had so fun with my sis and her boyfriend at the Dodger game. Chris is from Chicago, so he is a devoted Cubs fan. Because of our kind hearts, we decided the Dodgers could lose one game so that Chris could go home happy :) J/K Chris. The boys also got to run around the actual bases after the game which was pretty cool, even though my boys insisted on walking.