HaPPy St. Patrick's Day!

(to the tune I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little leprechaun
Dressed in Green
The tiniest man
That you ever seen
If you ever catch me, so it's told
I will give you my pot of gold

Leprechaun Stew, Leprechaun Stew,
If I don't get some
I don't know what I'll do.
Give away my pot of gold
Give away my shoe.
But don't give away my Leprechaun Stew.

Happy New Year 2011!

We spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with Sam's parents and his sister, Laura.  Rosanne and Rafa came over for dinner on New Year's Eve.  Sam's parents had Christmas presents under their tree and we had fun opening gifts.  Brian and Tyler both got a set of Kid K'nex, which they love.  Katie got a couple of nice outfits.  Sam and I got a few games and a new kitchen gadget... some kind of fancy cheese grater.  Carolyn, Sam, and I stayed up until midnight.  We watched the movie, "Knight and Day" and watched the ball drop on TV.

On New Year's Day, the boys went sledding in the backyard with Sam and Fred.  They played with their new toys.  After lunch, we headed to Salt Lake City to visit with Amy and Nate.  We had fun playing Rock Band on their new Play Station 3 for a few hours.

Christmas Traditions

1. Rudolph on the Shelf -  
I've heard of families with the Elf on the Shelf tradition.  I didn't have an elf around, so I used the next best thing, something we already had, a little toy reindeer named Rudolph.  Rudolph arrived after dinner one cold and dark evening.  Santa stopped by without the kids noticing.  This special delivery was in a shiny red gift bag and was attached to the end of our mailbox.  Brian discovered the gift when he was outside with his Dad.  With the most excited look on his face, Brian burst through the front door and started to open the gift.  The first thing he found envelope with this note inside:

Dear Brian, Tyler, and Katie,

This is Santa Claus here with a SPECIAL DELIVERY just for you!

I’ve sent Rudolph, my reindeer, to visit. His job is to keep an eye out on you and make sure you’re being good kids. He’ll be hiding in a different spot every day. It’s your job to find Rudolph each night before bed and tell him all about your day. Then after you go to bed, Rudolph will report back to me on your behavioral status.

Be on your best behavior and I’ll try my best to bring you the gifts you ask for this Christmas.

HO HO HO! Merry Christmas!

Love,

Santa Claus

**Now, I'm not sure if that's the way the Elf on the Shelf thing goes, but that's just what I made up.  The boys have been having fun finding Rudolph every single day.  It's a fun new Christmas tradition for our family.

2. Making Cookies -

Growing up, all 8 of us kids would gather in the kitchen to make sugar cookies with my mom.  Mom would have Christmas music playing and the cookie dough all ready for us to roll out and cut with cookie cutters.  Also, Mom would always make homemade frosting out of powdered sugar, water, and food coloring.  My favorite part of the cookie decorating process was always using the sprinkles to decorate.  I was very specific in what color frosting and sprinkles I would use in accordance to which shape of cookie I chose.  I remember one of my cookie  masterpieces was a Santa cookie.  I used red, white, and peach colored frosting and was so meticulous in laying down each sprinkle individually.  It was a true masterpiece, I tell ya!  Anyway, I've tried to carry this tradition on with my own little family.  I LOVE making goodies, but sugar cookies don't thrill me as much as they did when I'm a kid.  So on Christmas Eve this year, we're going to forgo the sugar cookie decorating and instead debut the Rudolph Cookie.  This cookie has never been made before by the hands in my house, but we will try them out on Santa.  I bet he likes any cookie made by kids, right?! 

3. A Beary Merry Christmas -

Growing up, my mom would hang this Christmas calendar on the wall.  For each day in December leading up to Christmas, we would attach this bear around the cartoonish house according to the directions given on that that specific day. I loved this tradition, so I asked my mom to mail it to me.  The boys are young enough that they really enjoy this tradition.  Brian likes reading the directions in the square.

4. Goody Plates -

Sam and I both had this Christmas tradition when we were growing up.  We'd help our mothers make a whole bunch of Christmas goodies.  We'd then fill up plates with goodies, cover them up, and attach them with a gift tag.  After dinner, our parents would pile all of their kids up in the minivan and we'd make stops all over town to deliver the goody plates to our friends.  Some of our friends were even graced with us singing a jolly little Christmas jingle when they answered the door.  These trips in the minivan were always fun, especially since we had Christmas music playing and we saw tons of homes all lit up with Christmas lights. This is another Christmas tradition we've carried on with our family.  I may not make all of the same treats that I did when I was a kid, but I've found some fun, easy, and kid friendly treats to make.  To see these recipes, please visit my family's recipe blog.

5. Christmas Countdown Blocks -
A few years ago, I made these Christmas countdown blocks with my sister-in-law, Becky, her mother, and sisters.  It involved wooden blocks, scrapbook paper, mod podge, and vinyl letters and numbers.  I enjoy making crafts.  The blocks adorn my ledge in the basement and look great with the rest of my Christmas decor.  Brian likes to announce multiple times a day how many days are left until Christmas.

6. Sing Along with Mitch-

So my parents have this record we'd listen to every Christmas Eve.  They have pages stapled together of the lyrics to all the songs.  They'd hand us each a copy and have us sing along with Mitch Miller and The Gang.  Since our family was so big, we'd each have our own part in "Twelve Days of Christmas."  I don't think we got the same part every year, but it sure was fun.  One of my favorite memories was when my youngest brother, Ryan adorned his Rudolph antlers and a blinking red light nose.  He took it upon himself to play the part of Rudolph that night.  And as you might have guessed, yes, we now do the sing along with our kids every year.  My mom lucked out and found the Christmas recording on CD for us.  Hmmm... I do need to make copies of the lyrics. 

7. Reading the Christmas Story -
Another thing both of our families would do on Christmas Eve was to read the Christmas story out of the Bible.  We took turns reading the verses.  Once, we did act out the nativity with some friends of the family.  That was fun, but ended up being less reverent than my parents wanted it to be.  

8. The Christmas Morning Wait -  
All 8 of us kids would wake up early on Christmas morning.  The rule was that we could get up whenever we wanted, sit by the tree, but we were not allowed to touch any of the presents.  All of us kids would sit on the big blue couch and sing Christmas songs.  We'd sing until our parents came downstairs, usually around 7am.

Sometimes...I miss being a kid.  I miss the camaraderie with my family, my brothers and sisters, and how much fun we had together, especially around the holidays.  It's hard being so far away from my grandparents, my parents, and my siblings. 

Being a mother...is quite the job.  Sam and my kids keep me going.  I love to see the smiles on their faces especially when I know that I'm the one that made them smile.  I love planning fun things to do with them and get excited to share those experiences with them.  

 

Thanksgiving Weekend 2010

We spent Thanksgiving with most of Sam's family up in Idaho.  Sam's brother, Kevin has a beautiful home up there.  There was a "blizzard warning" the day before we left for Idaho.  Some of the roads that we needed to travel on were closed but reopened before we left.  Our drive up took longer than anticipated, but we just drove slow and made it to Kevin and Becky's home. 

Sam, Kevin, Becky, Staci, and Fred all got up early on Thanksgiving Day to run in the Feed the Hungry Race.  Everyone but Sam ran the 5K.  My man ran his first ever 10K! 

I felt kind of bad that I wasn't there to cheer on my family, but I was home helping with the kids.  Sam tells me that he didn't quite make his goal, but was proud of himself because he never stopped running.  That's quite the accomplishment and I'm very proud of Sam.

Thanksgiving dinner set up was very nice. We had two adult tables and a kid table.  There was more than enough food for us to feast upon.

I helped make these cute turkeys on the plates.

Sam's sister, Staci made this gorgeous flower arrangement:

The boys loved playing with Kevin & Becky's boys, Owen and Wesley.  Owen is the same age as Brian and Wes is 3 1/2 years old.  Little Tyler kept up with the big boys.  They played all day every day we were there.  Grandpa Ward and Sam took the boys out to play in the snow too.   

Tyler, Wes, Brian, Owen

Owen, Brian, Wes

And here's my sweet little niece, Madalyn.

Thanks to Kevin and Becky for having our family over for Thanksgiving. 

We had a great time.

I know I do a 'Thankful Thursday' post on most Thursdays, so because I missed last Thursday's post, I'll post a few things that I am most thankful for:

1.  Being a wife and mother.  Taking care of my family of 5 is so much work.  I'm so glad that I am able to take care of everyone and raise my own happy family.

2.  Being married to Sam.  It's great being married to my best friend.  I feel that he understands me very well and that we get along (most of the time.)  I love Sam so much.

4.  My three incredible kids.  My kids are my pride and joy.  I try to study each of their personalities and habits and embrace the joys and challenges that come along with their traits.  (Tyler is still trying my patience with his destructiveness.)

5. Photography and how it helps me notice the beautiful people and world around me. 

6.  The Gospel.  I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I'm so glad that I was raised in this church.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

HaLLoWeeN 2010

We had a fabulous Halloween.  Brian was Spiderman (he didn't want to wear the mask).  Tyler was Buzz Lightyear (and got his costume completely filthy by the end of all of the festivities.

Katie was a pretty princess.  (I made her the tutu and headband and let her wear my string of pearls.)

We took the kids trick-or-treating at Sam's work, at Macey's (the local grocery store), and at Papa Murphy's (the local pizza joint where they gave kids their own mini pizza for showing off their costumes.)  Sam took the boys trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  It was raining that night so we only had maybe 20 kids stop by our house.  I dressed up in my butterfly get-up to hand out candy to the kids.  The boys had a blast trick-or-treating and didn't seem to mind getting soaked to get candy.

HaPPy FaTheR's DaY!!!

Photo by: Lisa Ward

"The greatest trust that can come to a MAN and a woman
is the placing in their keeping

the life of a little child."

-David O. McKay

Realizations of Motherhood

I've been a mom for over 5 years now.  There are a few things that I've noticed with raising my two boys:

-  NOTHiNG can fully prepare you for motherhood.  Before Brian was born, I heard people say things like, "You'd better sleep as much as you can now.  You'll never sleep the same again once your baby comes."  And, "Live it up now.  Life gets so much harder once you have kids."  Man, I should've gone skydiving when I had the chance!

-  Most days, it's not worth the time and effort to wear nice clothes when you're a mommy.  Babies and kids are MeSSY!  Messier than I ever thought they could be.  I've realized that it's not worth putting on your nice clothes for church, for a date, or for a night out with the girls until right before you go out the door.  That way you can pretty much guarantee that you won't be walking around with baby slobber, crusty kid boogers, etc. on your clothes.

-  Kids always seem to start acting up when mom is are on the phone!  Why is that?!  To me, it's NoT FAiR.  Just because kids can see that mommy's not giving them 100% of her attention shouldn't give them the right to practically get away with murder!  My boys start beating each other up when I'm on the phone, ask for treats that I normally wouldn't give them, get really loud, etc.  You get the picture.  Growing up, I know I bugged my mom when she was on the phone.

-  Kids also seem to "need" you the most when you're in the bathroom.
-  Long showers for me are a must!  Most of the time, nobody is pounding on the door for my attention.
-  Mopping the floors is a joke!
-  Kid Haircuts = Nightmare!

But then of course there are those sweet moments that I wouldn't trade for the world:

-  Random, yet perfect hugs that are given at just when  need it.
-  Witnessing a learning moment for your child and see the excitement on their faces.
-  Snuggling with my kids.
-  Laughing and playing with my kids.

I feel so blessed to be a mother!  I have learned how to sacrifice, how to enjoy the sweet and unsweet moments, and what it feels like to be needed.  I have learned to not sweat the small stuff and to just keep moving forward.

HaPPy MoTHeR'S DaY!

Easter Weekend

Tyler and I were SO EXCiTED about our Easter Weekend visitors...

My little sister, Jenny brought her family for a visit!  They came all the way from Las Vegas.  The last time we had seen them was in New York last July.

My almost 2 year old nephew, Ben is so cute. He's 100% boy and loved running around with his cousins. Here's Ben in one of his more quiet, TV watching moments.

Easter Weekend was also General Conference Weekend.  With four little kids around, it was hard for us to pay attention to the Conference talks.  Thank goodness I can read the talks online now.  We enjoyed Papa Murphy's Pizza for dinner on Saturday.  Jenny and I watched all the kids while Sam and Seth were at the Priesthood Session.  On Sunday, we had a house full of people for the afternoon session of General Conference and for a nice ham dinner.  Grandma Hallstrom came.  Amy brought her new boyfriend, Ross.  Jenny's friends, Valerie and Jared came down from Idaho with their new baby, Laken.  It was fun to visit with everyone. 

My boys loved meeting their 2 1/2 month old baby cousin, Sarah!  I think they enjoyed Sarah more than their Easter egg hunt. 

I captured Tyler in one of his rare calm moments:

I'm so glad that Jenny and her family came to see us.  I sure wish they didn't live so far away.

A New Easter Tradition

Growing up, my family would make an Easter Bunny Cake to enjoy after Easter dinner.  It was a fun tradition and I thought I'd start carrying on this tradition with my little family.  This year, things got too hectic and we didn't get around to making the Bunny Cake by Easter.  Last Thursday, my boys were being very fussy.  They love to help make treats in the kitchen and they were thrilled when I asked if they wanted to help me make a Bunny Cake.  Here's the finished product:

The boys each ate a bunny ear the next morning for breakfast (um, I mean a late morning snack ;).)  Later that afternoon, they invited some friends over for cake in our backyard. 

St. Patrick's Day

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day (or "Green Day" as Brian called it).  I surprised the boys with Lucky Charms cereal for breakfast.  They loved it because to them, it was new cereal.  I sure wish the cereal tasted better.  After Brian got home from school, we ate mint chocolate chip ice cream out of green cups while wearing our green shirts.  I've never really made a big deal out of this holiday before.  Maybe I'll think of more fun things to do for next year.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! 

This morning, my boys woke up to this on the back of their bedroom door: 

They were so excited that they got a "heart attack" from their Mommy and Daddy.  Then as they got to the kitchen, they were greeted with this scene: 

I had some extra cards that I made for Card Club and wrote out a nice love note to each of my boys.  Don't I have three good lookin' Valentines?!

Brian, Tyler, and I made french toast and orange juice for breakfast.  After breakfast, the boys went on a search for numbered hearts (Brian's learning his numbers) and they found some candy at the end of the search.  I made homemade chocolate chip truffles and these tasty pretzels: 

I promised Sam that I would make our traditional Valentine's treat, no bake cherry cheesecake.  My little boys insisted on helping.  The cheesecake didn't look beautiful but it made with love.  We had one of my favorite meals for dinner, balsamic pork and pasta along with some homemade bread. 

We hope all of you had a fun Valentine's Day too!  Isn't this the sweetest preschool project ever?!  In case you can't read it, the heart says, "I love you THIS much!"

My Favorite Christmas Present

I was totally NOT expecting a big Christmas present this year. Sam did a great job keeping this gift a secret. I had no clue that this lovely piece of technology was sitting in a box all wrapped up in my house for a couple weeks. Right when I saw the box with the camera on it, I started crying!!! I've been wanting a DSLR for a couple of years. Today I started reading the manual and experiment with the different shooting modes. Keep your eyes peeled for eye catching photos coming soon! Thanks, Sam for my favorite Christmas present ever!!! You're the best! (This picture was not taken w/ my new camera. Gee, well I guess that's pretty obvious since I'm wearing my new camera around my neck!)

Christmas 2009

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2009 Ward Family Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,


We hope that you enjoyed the holiday season as much as we did. We were blessed to have my sister, Amy spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us. A couple days later, Sam's parents and sister, Laura came for two days. My sister, Emily flew in from New York and spent four days with us. It was fun to have family visitors and we're now gearing up for the new year.


2009 was a wonderful year for our family.


SAM is still enjoying his job as an Electronic Engineer Technician. The busiest time of year at work for him is July-November. He put in many extra hours fixing the handheld computers. When Sam is not at work, he enjoys reading adventure books and hanging out with his boys. He's a great help around the house too. He does the dishes and always puts the boys to bed at night. Sam is an amazing husband and father.



BRIAN will be 5 years old in February. He is full of energy and makes friends very easily. For the past three months, Brian asks daily about his Curious George birthday party with his friends. Brian's best friend is our neighbor, Caleb. They love playing with the neighborhood kids in our backyard. Preschool is still Brian's favorite place to be. He never complains about going to preschool or the long bus ride. Brian is so inquisitive these days. His vocabulary has exploded and he is always asking where things come from. He is more demanding than his younger brother. Brian is testing his boundaries. Sometimes he thinks he can get what he wants by repeating himself and raising his voice. Brian is a pretty easy going boy. He loves to help make food in the kitchen. Also, Brian likes to make crafts in the craft room. His favorite things these days are: Caleb, the color red, numbers, trampolines, and candy. (I sure hope Mommy, Daddy, and Tyler are included in that list too).



TYLER just turned 2 years old on December 30th. Tyler is very energetic. He loves following his big brother around and likes to be included in all the fun, even if that involves the big neighborhood kids. We're still teaching Tyler how to be reverent in church. He usually has to leave the chapel and lets out his energy by running the halls. (I know, I'm a bad mommy for letting him run the halls, but please don't judge. We're still a one car family and poor Tyler hardly ever leaves the house during the week). Tyler may look like the sweetest boy with his killer smile and super long eye lashes, but he sure knows how to get into mischief. Lots of damage can be done when he sneaks into our closet and shuts the door. I've found him in the closet with a mouthful of sticky candy and candy slime stains on his face, clothes, and on the carpet. That carpet just faced some additional damage when he got into my makeup bag and completely emptied a new bottle of foundation. Oh a more positive note, Tyler is our family's most exuberant dancer and he compliments his dance moves by making silly faces. His favorite things these days are: the "Bolt" movie, Elmo, Mickey Mouse, play doh, dancing, Brian, and candy.



LISA (which is me writing) got the best birthday present ever... a new house! Sam outdid himself this year with the gift giving. We moved into our house just days before my 27th birthday. We just love our new house, our neighborhood, and our new ward. I joined the neighborhood Card Club. It's fun for me to make homemade greeting cards and exchange them with card made by other club members. We meet once a month. Sam and I have served in the nursery at church and were just called to serve as teachers for the CTR 5 class. I'm having fun decorating my house. I'm still trying to decide how I want to fix up a couple of rooms. We have plans to paint our front door red, paint a couple bedrooms and a bathroom, and fence up the backyard this spring. I'm excited that we'll be a two vehicle family soon. A larger family vehicle is in order. I'm pregnant with baby #3! The baby is due on June 11, 2010. We're so excited to welcome a new baby into our family.

We hope that this letter finds you well. Thank you for all of the love and support that you show our family.

Love,
Sam, Lisa, Brian, Tyler (and baby)

Christmas Eve & Christmas 2009

I spent most of the day cleaning on Christmas Eve. The house looked great at the end of the day. In the evening, we read Luke 2 out of the Bible, sang Christmas songs, and made sugar cookies for Santa (and sampled some too). We wrote a note for Santa as well. Brian brought home the cutest gift from preschool. He was so excited to show me the gift that he unwrapped it himself and gave it to me a couple weeks before Christmas. We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We're lucky to have boys that don't wake up at the crack of dawn. We started opening gifts at 8AM. Brian was so excited to see that Santa had come, ate all the cookies, and left gifts for us. The boys thought it was fun to jump through the red streamers and see the presents by the tree. It was great to have Amy with us and see the excitement on her nephews' faces that morning.

Brian's favorite gift was his Jump-o-lene (an indoor blow up trampoline). Tyler's favorite gifts were the movie "Bolt" (Thanks, Grandma Hallstrom) and his little toy doggy he can take on walks. Sam's favorite gift was his surprise tickets to see the Utah Jazz game later this month. And my favorite gift deserves a post of it's own.

***I just posted a video that shows the Christmas morning excitement at our house. Enjoy!