40 Things We Love

One of my best friends, Natalie, turned 40 this past August. I wanted to do something special for her and came up with the idea to make a "40 things we love about Natalie" book. I asked my friend, Pam, to help me out with this. She came up with 20 things she loved about Natalie and I combined that with my 20 things and put together this picture book. I loved it so much and kind of didn't want to give it to her because I was so proud of it. :) Natalie was thrilled with it! I'm so happy to have made this for her. Everyone needs something like this sometimes to remind them of how special they are. It was a lot of fun to work on, too, and fun to talk a walk down memory lane. Natalie and I first met in 2002 when she came to the class I taught at the Y. She came for about and year and then didn't come back. We weren't really friends then, just "classmates." I got reconnected with her at the end of 2005 at Silver Dollar City when I realized that she was friends with some of my friends. I started going to the singles small group she was involved in and we became fast friends. We've had so many fun times over the past 10 years and I know we have many, many, many more fun times to come!

My Shoppers

Lucy and Molly are so good to go to the grocery store with me. I'm smart and plan it around a time I know they'll be good, but they are so good to sit in the cart and shop with me. Lucy has learned that when we go to Walmart or Pricecutter she gets a cookie and I am quite fine with that! I remember getting a cookie when I had to go to the grocery store with my mom growing up. I'm happy to continue that tradition with my girls and look forward to getting a cookie for Molly, too!

I took these pictures one morning before heading into Walmart. They are just so cute!

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the 4 Wisemans!

Hark The Herald Angels Sing...Again!

I posted this in December 2013 and had to post it again. This is one of my favorite Christmas songs now.

I've recently fallen in love with a new version of the traditional Christmas carol, "Hark The Herald Angels Sing." I think we sang this version at church two years ago and I've thought about it off and on ever since but could never remember the new part that I like so much. I heard it on the radio a few weeks ago and thanks to Google, typed in some of the words and found it online. Mark Maher is the one who put out this version and I just love the part that's been added to it. You can listen to it on YouTube here.

HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING Lyrics
Matt Maher

Hark the herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled”

Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem”

Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ by highest heav’n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!

Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

And the angels, they sing
And the heavens, they ring
Won’t you raise up your voice
To the Son of the King
Singing “Glory to God
and peace on the earth!”
Sing it out now
Song of the King

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings

Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

And the angels, they sing
And the heavens, they ring
Won’t you raise up your voice
To the Son of the King
Singing “Glory to God
and peace on the earth!”
Sing it out now
Song of the King

Baby's First Christmas

I've tried to have the some of the same pictures taken with Molly as I did Lucy. One of them was the pictures below wearing their diaper and a "baby's first Christmas" hat. I love how they turned out and love seeing them side-by-side. Lucy is on the left and Molly is on the right.

Lucy's First Christmas Program...So Proud!

Lucy got to sing in her first church program today. It was a Christmas program where all the kids sang "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and "Away In A Manger." We weren't sure if she would sing or not. We often have trouble dropping her off at Sunday school because she has a little anxiety and doesn't want us to leave. However, when we pick her up when Sunday school is over she's always laughing and running around having a good time. The last few Sundays we haven't had too much trouble dropping her off so hoped for the best today, and we got it! We didn't have any trouble dropping her off and she got lined up and went out on the stage without any trouble at all.

It was so much fun to see her singing with all the other little kids! I was so proud of her! It looked like she sang about half of the time and did half of the arm motions that go with the songs. I know she knows the words to the songs because she sings them at home, but today was different with all the people there and she also woke up with a cold.

I was so proud of her! She did so great in staying up there and not wandering off the stage. Sometimes you never know what you'll get with a 2 1/2 year old and today we got the best little 2 1/2 year old there could be! I love her so! You can watch a video of her singing here.

Nativity...Again

Last year I wrote about the WillowTree Natvity set I bought. You can read about it here. I was excited to get it out again this year but didn't want to use the burlap background that I used last year. I'd love to have the stable thing that goes with the set, but that's like $120+ and that's too much for me to spend! I did some looking and found the stars that go with the set. I thought that would be the perfect addition and they were only $30. I can handle spending $30! I used birthday money from my parents and love my new set up!

Christmas Potpourri...A Third Time Around

This is the third time I've posted this now, but as I said last year, it's too good not to share. Enjoy!

Last year I came across a stovetop potpourri recipe on Pinterest that is just perfect for the Christmas season. You can find the original blog post here.

Here's the recipe:

1 whole orange

1/2 c cranberries

1 Tbsp whole cloves

3 cinnamon sticks

Quarter the orange and place the orange (or just the orange peel) along with the other ingredients in a small saucepan. Fill the pan with water. Place the pan on the smallest burner on the lowest setting. Refill with water as needed. Enjoy!

This is a really great recipe that smells up the house so nicely. It makes a great gift, too. Last year and this year I got all the ingredients together, along with a recipe card, and put them in a little bag to give as gifts. I've enjoyed having this burning in my house the past week. It smells so yummy! Hope you can enjoy it, too.

My Aunt Marilee

My Mom sent me this picture today asking for help with posting it on Facebook. It's a picture of my Aunt Marilee and a poem in a frame that my Mom put together after she died. She died 30 years ago today from breast cancer. I was only 7 years old, but remember it very well.

Aunt Marilee was such a nice lady! As I said, I was only 7 when she died, but I remember her being so nice and loving. My sister and I got to spend the night with her lots of times and play with our cousins. Aunt Marilee had 5 boys, the youngest being six years older than me. They had fun playing with us, and got a thrill out of tying up our teddy bears to the chandelier and scaring us saying there were "little people" living out in the woods. Fun, fun times!

Often times I'll think of her and wish she were still here today. It would be fun to have grown up with her and have her see my girls. I loved her so much and know I will see her again someday in Heaven.

Christmas Ornament Memories

During the college school year of 2001-2002, I lived in a house with three of my best high school girlfriends. We had a fun time together and made lots of memories during that year. One of those memories is from the Christmas we shared together.

I got all four of us the ornament in the picture below, and to this day, 14 years ago, I still remember getting the idea for these ornaments, picking them out, and engraving them. I was laughing to myself the whole time! I got them at Walmart and tried to find a "friend" ornament or something along those lines. I couldn't find any, so settled on the "Our First Christmas" ornament instead.

I love putting this ornament on our tree each year! And each year, one of the four of us posts a picture of it on Facebook when we're putting out our Christmas decorations and tags the other saying what a fun memory it is.

Pumpkin Bottom

When Lucy was six months old we painted her bottom and cousin Haddie's bottom up like a pumpkin and took pictures. It was the funniest thing! I believe my mother-in-law had sent us an email forward with pictures of other little babies painted pumpkin bottoms and asked us if we wanted to do this. I'm pretty sure she was joking, but Jennifer and I thought it would be so funny, so we did it and are so glad we did! I love to proudly display this picture each fall! Haddie is on the left and Lucy is on the right.

Fast forward two years and I have another little baby bottom to paint as a pumpkin! I couldn't resist and had to paint Molly's bottom, too. She was such a trooper and didn't seem to mind at all. I'm soo glad I did this with both of them!

My 37th Birthday

My birthday was a few weeks ago, November 7, and it was a really nice time. Ross took off the Wednesday-Friday before my birthday and we got lots of little things done around the house. The day before my birthday, Mom took both our kids for the day so we could go shopping and then go out to dinner with friends, sans kids. Two out of the four couples I invited to dinner have kids. I was proud of myself for inviting them saying "we'd love you to join us if you can find a babysitter." I didn't want to be rude in saying this, but knew it would be SO much more fun without kids around! And they were more than happy to oblige. It was a fun time without kids and at one point during the evening we talked about how nice it was. It when someone asked when the last time was that we had all gotten together without our kids, no one said anything. We sat there for a while trying to figure it out but couldn't!

On my birthday Ross continued the Ward family tradition of breakfast in bed! The first few years we were married I always worried that he wouldn't bring me breakfast in bed, so was sure to remind him. Now I've learned that I don't have to remind him, he knows to do it!

After breakfast we went to my parent's house for the day and my sister and her family came up, too. It was nice hanging out and relaxing. It was a beautiful day outside and we took some pictures on their deck. We had a bonfire that night and then presents and cake and ice cream. It was a great birthday!

Dinner at the Olive Garden with NO kids!!

Some of my best friends..Pam, Sarah, and Stacey on the top, Natalie on the bottom.

Breakfast in bed!!

This is what 37 looks like. :)

Molly had pooped in her diaper. What you don't see is that she sat down on the bathroom floor before Ross could get her cleaned up to go in the bath. It was quite funny!

The Highs And Lows Of Cleaning

Last Friday I had a "free day" where my Mom had Lucy and Molly for the day so I was able to do whatever I wanted. I chose to clean my house. Like really clean my house. For the most part my house is clean. I try to go to bed at night with everything in it's place, the kitchen clean, and toys picked up. Each Saturday I do the wash, clean our bathroom, change the sheets, and clean up the kitchen a little more than I do during the week.

I don't dust or vacuum near as much as I should. The fact is, I really don't care about dust on the furniture and I really need to be in the mood to do cleaning like that. Friday I was in the mood to do so, so decided to go with it.

I started in our master bathroom and cleaned the shower, the floor, the tub, the ledge of the tub, the TV, the counter....about the only thing I didn't clean was the fan. Our bathroom gets cleaned each week, but it hadn't been this clean since my Mom did it 9 months ago when Molly was born.

I then moved on to clean all parts of the girls' bathroom. I even took all the bath toys downstairs to the kitchen sink and washed them. I dusted the furniture upstairs, vacuumed the upstairs, vacuumed the steps, and them moved on to the downstairs. I didn't need to dust since I had just done that last week when taking down my fall decorations. I cleaned all the floors, including mopping the kitchen floor. Sadly, this does not get done near enough as it should, especially with a crawling baby around our house.

I literally worked from 1pm-5pm when I finally sat down. I was so tired but I felt sooooooooo good! My house was so clean and I loved it! It was nice to enjoy for a few minutes before we went out to dinner with some friends. It was nice coming home to a clean house and even nicer that my parents brought Lucy and Molly back to us. They are so good to help us like this.

The next morning I woke up to a clean house and it was wonderful, until we started messing it up. I got ready in the bathroom which resulted in my hair all over the floor and counter. We fed Molly breakfast which resulted in food crumbs all over the floor. Lucy and Molly played in the living room/play room which resulted in toys strung out all over. We fed Lucy and Molly lunch which resulted in food on the table and floor. We made dinner which resulted in dirty dishes and junk on the stove to clean up. We walked outside which resulted in tracking in some leaves and dirty on our shoes.

I know everything that's clean is just going to get dirty again, but man it's so depressing as to how fast this happens! I think it happens much quicker having littles running around, and I know there's no way to avoid it, but it's just disheartening. I liken it to Thanksgiving dinner. Think about all the time and preparation that goes into Thanksgiving dinner, just to be eaten in 30 minutes and then on to cleaning it all up.

I'm sure you could use this story as a devotion or metaphor for God somehow. Maybe I'll think on that some and continue this post later. For now, I'm going to try and forget how quickly things get dirty and remember how nice and fresh everything was once cleaned.

My Family Of Four

We had family pictures taken last month and I've shared them below. I must thank Ross for being such a good sport and going along with all the pictures I like to have done. He said he is happy to do so because he likes having them, too. I married such a good man!

Lucy's Bandaids

One day last month we met some friends at the zoo. We had a fun time until the end when Lucy was running and fell. She scraped up her knees and they weren't too bad, but she decided she needed some bandaids after her bath that night. Aside from wearing bandaids for her immunization shots, Lucy hasn't worn bandaids before. She really hasn't needed to. She was a little unsure of the bandaids, yet excited about them at the same time. They were Hello Kitty bandaids, so that helped a lot!

Apparently, the bandaids made her walk funny and we got it on video. It is the funniest thing! You can watch a video of her walking around in her bandaids here. What a fun little girl we have!

The Adventures of Jessie and Woody

Lucy has loved Toy Story for almost a year now. She had a Toy Story second birthday party, has a Jessie, Woody, Buzz, and Bullseye doll, and even has a Toy Story shirt with her name on it. We watch Toy Story 1, 2, or 3 at least once a week.

She sleeps with her Toy Story dolls in her bed and refers to them as her friends. :) One day after her nap I walked in to her room to find Jessie and Woody on top of her crib. This gave me a great laugh!

But nothing gave me as good of a laugh as the picture below! I found Jessie and Woody in Lucy's shirt like this one night when I checked on her before going to bed. I have no idea why she did this, but she did it all on her own!

Sometime during the night Jessie was evicted, but Woody was still cozied up next to her when she woke up the next morning!

The next night Jessie and Woody weren't as lucky as the night before. Instead of sleeping in Lucy's shirt, they got to sleep on top of the crib again. What a fun little girl we have in Lucy!

Halloween Costumes

I'm pretty proud of the Halloween costumes Lucy and Molly wore this year. They were so cute, fun, easy and pretty cheap to make! Lucy was Jessie from Toy Story and Molly was a Cabbage Patch Kid. I made the Jessie costume for maybe a total of $15 and the Cabbage Patch Kid was about $9. Aren't they just so good!?