Now, That’s More Like It!

Sometimes a parent needs a laugh and sometimes they need a heart-warming encourgement.  A few posts ago I told of how my analytical oldest child called me the 4th best mom, which was a crack-up.  A few days ago I got my heart lifted again, but in another way, when Lily, my mystery child, (I say that because she keeps things in and often I have no idea how she feels) left me a note after she had gone to school.  I was cleaning up breakfast dishes and found this note by her cereal bowl.  I’ll type it exactly like it was:

I LOVE yOU

mommy

WOLTER

and your

my Best Fend

and My

Best

mommy

My Sweethearts Celebrate 100th Day

Today was the 100th day of school this year for the girls.  I don’t ever remember in all my years of going to school, celebrating the 100th day, but apparently it is a really big deal now.  Plus, my girls are always looking for a reason to get out of uniform and into a fun outfit.  Once we start planning these kind of things, I usually end up getting way more excited about it than they even are.   I’ve had the outfits layed out, ready to go all week!  I sometimes (okay, often) realize how much I miss being a kid!

My Toddler

Today I had one of those moments where I had to wonder where my baby had gone.  We had a couple of families from church over for lunch and in the chaos of numerous children and also great adult conversation, we didn’t realize that Luke hadn’t been heard from for awhile.  When I walked upstairs to show a friend where the changing table was so she could change her baby’s diaper, I was amazed to find Luke, sound asleep on his little bed.  I asked Doug, then asked both girls, if anyone had put him to bed.  It turns out that my little baby had suddenly grown up and was now putting himself to bed!  (Well, except for the fact that it’s almost 10 pm as I write this and he’s running around my room with my camera, yelling, “cheese! cheese!”) Doug, the girls and I were all so amazed, that after everyone left, we all ran up to his room and just watched him sleep for quite some time!  It seems he was a baby for such a short, short while.

Though I didn’t capture Luke on film while sleeping, I thought I would show you my toddler in his bed and playing with his train table. (At least he still has those baby cheeks!!)

4th Best Mom

God always uses my children to humble me.  Some of those humbling moments are very hard lessons to learn and others are just truly humorous.  The Lord knows that I really need a good laugh now and then to not only keep me humble, but to keep me joyful in life! 

A couple of weeks ago I must have done something a little extra special for Emie because I remember this conversation starting with Doug saying to  Emie, “Isn’t Mommy the best Mom in the whole world.”  Emie looked very thoughtful for a rather long moment, then in all seriousness said, “I guess she’s probably about the fourth best mom in the world.”  Doug looked at her with disbelief and I burst out laughing.  She lifted up her hands while shrugging her shoulders and said, “What?  There are a WHOLE LOT of moms in the world and so fourth best is really good!”

My Fuzzy Little Reminder of Home

Last week I was shopping in Target and walked into the shoe section to see if there were  still any after-Christmas sales.  I did a double take when I saw a whole shelf lined with Iowa Hawkeye black and gold slippers!  For a minute I thought, “Wait, where am I?” 

I guess the market for Iowa Hawkeye slippers is not all that big here (surprise-surprise), so they were all marked down to three dollars.  Well, I almost felt like it would be unfaithful toward my roots not to buy a pair, so I threw some in the cart! 

Now, as I am going about my housework during the day and I start to miss my family and the great state of Iowa, I just look down at the big fuzzy slippers on my feet!  Then I click them three times and say, “There’s no place like home”…!

Christmas Vacation

Well, it wasn’t quite as eventful as the Griswold’s, but we did have our share of fun in Iowa!  (except that I got the stomach flu-AGAIN!) Here is a glimpse of our week vacation.

Angels

Snow Angels and Nativity Angels

 

My brother-in-law, Darrel-if you can call him an angel!!

 

Two angels, two shepherds and one of the sheep!

Grandpa Time!

(While the grandmas were working hard on all the good food we ate!)

 

 

 

 

Fun with Cousins

(except Noah and Taka who the kids got to talk to on Skype!)

 

Ring Around the Rosies-Over and over...

 

...and over!

And a Little Fun for the Moms and Dads

Date Night! 

So Glad Christmas Pictures are Over!

Luke tripped and fell on the sidewalk as we were going into church on Sunday morning and this is the result.  I guess we could’ve called him “our little Rudolph!”

Back in Time

Have you ever been transported back in time? This year I received a gift that briefly brought me back in time about 25 years.  A “vintage” (as the guy at the checkout counter called her!) 1985 “Peaches and Cream” Barbie doll became my time machine for a few moments this Christmas.

Here’s the story… Doug and I were shopping in Toys ‘R Us before Christmas when I saw a shelf full of “Back in Time” Barbies (as I call them).  When I saw Barbie from The Rockers(1986), I began talking excitedly about my years playing with barbies.  I loved those Rockers, but not half as much as my all-time favorite, most-treasured-of-all Peaches and Cream Barbie.  “If only they would remake her!” I thought.  And then….there she was!  It was as if a beam of light shone down on her.  I don’t know if it was her sparkling peach dress or the fluffy, wrap-around stoll that I noticed first, but I grabbed her with both hands and I was suddenly a 9-year old girl again!  I envisioned myself playing with her and combing her long, silky hair.  When I came back into 2009, with my arms tightly around the box, I heard Doug asking me a question, “Would you like to get it for Christmas?”  That was all I needed to hear and I was off to the checkout counter before he changed his mind! 

Here’s the picture…

Aside from the fact that she was a little too pricey and a little too peach to really go with any of my home decor, she was one of the best Christmas presents that I have received in my adult life.  I think anything that can make you feel like you are actually back in time, to the days of your childhood, is a very good gift indeed!

Mama Got Ran Over By A Reindeer

Okay, so I only feel like I got run over, and not by a reindeer, but by the busyness of life this past month.  But the above excuse sounds much better than simply being too busy to blog!  December has been an action-packed month for our family.   Emie was able to say a line of Scripture in our Seeds Christmas Night along with her good friend from Sunday School, I enjoyed being a room-mom for Lily’s kindergarten Christmas party, the girls and I went to a Christmas music show in downtown Louisville, the girls sang and had speaking parts in their school Christmas program(and Luke was the star of his own show in our row of seats that night!) and our whole family made our first Wolter family Christmas worship service- to name a few things that kept us all occupied.  In the midst of all the festivities we had our annual rounds of stomach flu and strep throat to add to the busyness (or maybe to make us all slow down a bit!).  Since I haven’t had time to blog about any of this over the month of December, I thought I would just post a few pictures before we take off for Iowa to celebrate with our families.  Enjoy!

A Thanksgiving Poem

Emie wrote this poem over the Thanksgiving weekend.  She has been really into writing poetry lately.   I thought this was pretty special, so I’ll share it with you (with Emie’s permission, of course!)  I typed it out exactly how she wrote it, with the exact punctuation that she used.  Enjoy!

Family

I Love Lily, she knows good things to do,

I Love Mommy and Daddy too.

I Love me just as well,

 ’cause I can draw good (you can tell.)

And just for a finishing touch,

I Love Luke just as much!

By Emilia M. Wolter