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.