The first things I tried were some kid friendly crafts.  Eldest loved helping me make these and did a great job as my helper.

Who knew play-doh was so easy to make!!!  I will not be buying any packaged play-doh ever again…this was just too easy and I added scents to the dough, so it smells great (vanilla, berry, peppermint, lemon, and lavender).

I also made bath crayons, but gave them all away before taking a photo.  We’ll be making those again sometime soon so the girlies can have some bath fun of their own.  These, too, were easy to make.  Simple and smelly and fun!

The hardest thing that I made took patience even though it was a pretty simple thing.  I loved how it looked and if I were to do it again I’d add more yarn/balls, but it was too costly to do that this year.  I like that this can stay up all winter long, too!  Here’s my winter wreath.

I also made a few gifts for some friends and family members.  Lavender bath salts (epsom salts, baking soda, coloring, scent) and warm vanilla bath scrub (sugar in the raw or brown sugar, coconut oil, vanilla scent, and sea salt).  Here’s a photo of my bath salts (they’re great, I finally tried them out last night!)

Girlie was very excited as just before Christmas she was finally selected as the Gem at preschool.  During her week as the gem she shared a bit about her favorite things and family, brought snacks for her friends, and got to be the helper for many class activities.  For her snack days we brought a butterfly snack and a snowman snack.  I don’t have a picture of the butterflies, but they turned out cute, too.

At Christmastime we go a bit crazy on the cookies.  We’ve got our old standbys, but this year added a fun one that the girls helped with (and by helping I mean they mostly ate the ingredients!)  Here’s a shot of my main helper mixing up some cookies.  I’m, also including one of the new yummy treats we made.

We had a great Christmas and it’s hard to believe it’s 2012.  I don’t usually make too many resolutions that I tend to keep, but I’m really hoping that for Christmas 2012 I’ll be even more prepared and will be able to keep my new resolution.  My goal/resolution would be to have everything done on my list for Christmas by the start of Advent.  I’d love to enjoy December instead of run around like a crazy lady getting everything ready.  So…next year my goal is to have everything except baking and our Christmas letters ready by advent.  We’ll see if I can make it happen next year!!

I leave you with our family enjoying advent with our devotional written by Erik’s parents (pic taken by eldest!!) and our official family picture.  Lastly, a picture of my cuties

The picture collage above our couch was fun to plan and I was so excited to finally get it up on the wall!

Girlie now has stripes in addition to her butterflies

Meelie needed a bit of color, too.

And to end a project that wasn’t really a project, just being creative with what I had on hand…Erik’s 30th bday cake, ha.

I’m off to liberate eldest from her room time and start making some Christmas tree spritz cookies.  Wish me luck!

I’m excited to get out of the house a bit and meet more people through Usborne.  I’m also happy that I didn’t need to invest much money to start this up.  I’ve got a great supervisor who lives in Green Bay and is one of Usborne’s top sellers.  She has great insight and is lending me some of her books to use for my show(s).

It will be nice to have folks over tomorrow and can’t wait for the munchies!  I’m making some yummy treats thanks to a fun new website I’ve found (pinterest.com)….

*Brie wrapped in a pastry with strawberry jam (crackers and apple slices to enjoy with the cheese).
*I’m also cooking up an easy (new to me) recipe for spinach and artichoke dip
*Lastly I’m  adding a bit of healthy foods to the mix…good old veggies and dip
*I’ve also got a nice bottle of wine, some sparkling moscato, hot chocolate, teas, coffee, and apple cider on the list.

Fun, fun!  If any of you are ever interested in checking out my new site you can find it at
www.myubam.com/P3934

I should also add that if you’re ever interested in having a show I’d gladly travel back to Chicagoland area, Madison, or Minnesota to host a show for a dear friend!  Thanks for your prayers, I’ll keep you updated!!

We’ve gone to a few events and homes since our move here to De Pere.  There was the formal President’s Dinner that was a bit nerve wracking, but had amazing and yummy food.  There have been a few really fun neighbor events (our kids do so good playing together) and then there’s been the, well, how do I put it…odd events.

We’ve been blessed to meet some very friendly people here and usually take any invitation to be welcomed into another family’s home.  After a strange, not quite how we would have liked it go kind of event, Erik and I sat on the couch talking over our night.

We’ve come to the conclusion that Americans are starting to forget hospitality.  We aren’t always welcoming and we like to stay in our homes and forget people exist just a few feet away (ahem, they’re your neighbors).   Christians are also failing at this.  We’ve walked into churches and left without having a single conversation with another person.  People are opting to play it safe and not extend invitations for fellowship.

Erik said I should blog about this.  Smart guy, he must know much it helps me to write when something’s pressing on my mind.

Maybe this post will help someone to be more welcoming to others.  It will maybe even show you how opening your home to others can bless you just as much as it blesses the other person/family.

So, without further ado here are a few guidelines for hosting folks and making them feel welcomed.  (NOTE:  We have met some really awesome people/families here too and have really welcoming fun friends in other places that make us feel loved–this list is not about a specific person, it’s just for everyone out there to help them practice a bit more hospitality!)

*When you invite people to your home welcome them and then introduce them to everyone else you’ve invited over.  It can be awkward sometimes to not know a single person in the room and it’s intimidating to feel like you are invisible or unwelcome.  Obviously if there’s a big group of people here it’s also hard to meet everyone.  Just be sure to get the person connected with someone in a conversation before you wander off.  If later on you see them standing in the corner looking bored out of their minds don’t just leave them there…rescue them!

*If you have invited someone who you don’t know (say, a friend invites one of their friends).  Please please please, if your friend doesn’t introduce you to the people they’ve brought with them please introduce yourself, welcome them and then introduce them to the other people at your party.  If not it can get a bit awkward when your kid starts throwing food everywhere and you get lost looking for the bathroom and have to ask around to figure out who’s house you’re in so you can #1 pee and #2 apologize for your child’s behavior.

*Offer your guests something to drink.  Don’t assume they’ll ask.  If they have to ask that’s kind of embarrassing.  Same goes for food/snacks.  It doesn’t matter if you’re not hungry or on a diet.  Feed people…especially the little ones!

*Help people with kids feel relaxed.  Don’t look at them like they’re horrible parents if their kid throws food or acts rudely.  Let’s be honest here…everyone with children has had many of those moments where your children do something rude or accidentally spill something.  If you don’t want Grandma’s antique white table cloth to be stained with red kool-aid, show the parents where little Jr. should sit to eat, or better yet be prepared to host a child and again, help the parents feel relaxed!!

*Having a conversation with your two best buddies at one end of the kitchen while the new guy stands a few feet away silently eating some food is not cool.  I know that you may be a man and it’s awkward sometimes to get to know new people.   Take it from my hubby…not fun and extremely awkward.  Suck it up guys and say hello, start a conversation about something, anything!!  Erik would only request you stay away from the topic of the Vikings…oh what a crappy year…sigh.

*I didn’t realize I’d have to say this, but it appears I do.  Please clean your house before you have people over.   I’m not talking scrub the floors, wipe every surface kind of cleaning.  What I  mean is vacuum up the visible piles of dirt, make sure your laundry pile of underwear isn’t sitting out for the world to see and there’s no rotting food around.  You know, the basics on housecleaning.  I appreciate a house that’s lived in and can turn a blind eye to a pile of toys in the corner, and some dishes in the sink, but when it’s disgustingly dirty and you’re afraid to let your small child wander for fear she’ll eat something from the dirty floor.  Uff.

I apologize if some of my readers disagree.  Prepare to be more angry…ha.  Do people have the right to never invite over a neighbor or friend to their house.  Of course.  Is it healthy?   Nope.   I understand that not everyone is social or enjoys being around others.  We all have different personalities.  I’m not saying you need to have a dinner party with fancy china and pressed napkins.  I’m saying you need people and especially to my Christian friends out there reading–PEOPLE NEED YOU!

Hospitality is about welcoming others.  You can do that in a small tiny apartment or a mansion.  It won’t matter how big your place is, what will matter is if you’ve made your guests feel important and cared for.  I’ve been in cramped tiny apartments and had a GREAT time.  It really is all about you making someone feel welcomed.

I could go on and on, but this seems like an appropriate place to close.  For those friends reading who have loved us and welcomed us–thank you a million times.  For those who are afraid to open up their homes to others, shoot me an email…let’s chat about how you can help open yourself up to fellowship with your neighbors.

Happy hosting all!

It was a great 24 hours and we realized how much we needed to get away.  It would be great if we could do this more often.  I think we need those little remembrances of what life was like before everything seemed to be controlled by a four year old and one year old and just life stuff in general.

Here’s a few shots of our time in beautiful Door County!  (We’re so lucky to live about an hour from here!!)

I’m really in denial of what is coming soon.  You’d think after living in the midwest my entire life this transition to winter would be easier and feel normal!  Maybe this year it’s hard due to the amazing and wonderful weather we’ve had the past few months.  Our fall was a record breaker I’ve heard.  We recorded a large number of 70 degree days this October and we soaked them all up around here.

I’ve got two videos for you all.  One is Girlie putting out a fire at the local fire station.  Okay, okay, it wasn’t a real fire, but she loved it and got to spray a firehose.

The second was shot during one of those glorious fall days when we visited door county with our extended family.  It’s a true look into the crazy genes that exist in this family

I’ll be posting a few pictures soon and hopefully getting some more posts up to go along with them!

I’ve discovered on this journey that rarely are you blessed with straightforward answers.  We were blessed with our last church.  We knew walking out after the first visit that it was “the one.”  This time around we’re unsure, unsettled, and upset.

I’ve also discovered that Erik and I need different things when it comes to a church.  Yes, we have much in common that we need and appreciate (children’s programing for one), but there are things I’m looking for that aren’t as important to Erik.

I need to find a family in our church.  This family will include all ages.  Surrogate grandparents for our kids would be a plus as our family is five plus hours away.  We also need young families and this is where our current leader on the board is lacking.  We feel like there are two choices for us.

Church one:  Families everywhere.  So many families, in fact, that we feel like we’re a number and we worry about being lost in the crowd.  There are great programs here for us and the girls.  We like the vibrant worship and music and connect with the theologically sound and energetic teaching.  Again, though.  The numbers are overwhelming and we’re not convinced that a small group will meet all of our needs to feel connected and this large of a church might not need us to be involved in serving in some role in the church.  We both know we’re servers.

Church two:  Small and a new congregation.  Many middle aged and older folks.  A few young families.  We would feel pressure or failure if we don’t connect well with the other parents of the small kids.  Can we find or start a small group here?  What happens if we don’t mesh well with these young families?  Can we find fellowship through St. Norbert’s faculty families instead of through our church?  We like the direction of this church and think we could see ourselves here, yet struggle with low Sunday school class numbers (will our girls find friends?)  They need young families like ours and we can help and serve in this church.

There are so many unknowns and questions and frustrations for us both.  We feel defeated on some of our Sundays when we long to belong and connect, yet worry about becoming involved before we’ve committed to one church.

I apologize for the frustration.  It just gets to me some days and this blog is helpful for getting those questions out.  I know some of you have been in this place before.  Any wise words would help and be much appreciated.  We will find somewhere to belong and it will be a blessing we know.  Until then we have to maintain patience and trust in one another and the path God is leading us down.

Up next on the blog should hopefully be a video of Meelie taking some big steps!  She’s walked 13 steps now and although she’s quite cautious will soon, I’m sure, become braver and be a real walker!  Hard to believe she’s fifteen months old tomorrow!

Girlie knows just how to push my buttons  and especially WHEN to push them.  Do I have an out of control child?  No.  But, I feel as though I’m sending her to her room so often it’s just exhausting.

Fortunately, for me, my mother-in-law, Jo, is awesome.  She reads parenting books for fun and in a very helpful way gives some advice without making me feel like I’m failing.  Erik and I also need to reread a few of our favorite books on parenting (Love and Logic anyone?)

So, this quick little post is to let you know that-

#1:  There has not been near enough chocolate consumption for this Mama in our house this week.

#2:  I could use prayers for patience in dealing with Girlie.  (Hubby could use them, too–he dealt with bedtime tonight.  Thank goodness for me, bummer for him.)

#3:  There’s a post churning inside me that really wants to talk about how my behavior and Girlie’s are really comparable.  Just replace the parenting role in this situation with God and the child role with me.  Yikes.  Like I said…much more to chat about with this topic.

#4:  And in a positive note we had such a good conversation/alone time today–just Girlie and I.  It was about how cool it is that we’re both girls and that we get to be the same (have the same bodies,etc.)
One of my favorite things she does is whenever we talk about how someday she’ll do _____(insert anything a teenager/grown up does) she says ,”Oh, probably when I’m in college I’ll do____.”
College, to Girlie, is the magical land of doing whatever she wants.  If she were in college now she’d watch movies and eat sweet treats all day long.  Hmmm….kinda sounds a bit like my freshman year of college, ha.

Thanks, all, for your prayers.  I’m sure there will be more to come on the trials of the disobedient four year old.  One last note.  Miss Meelie took 8 steps today.  It won’t be long until we have a walker on our hands!

This, of course, will be the update post.  We made it to Wisconsin (De Pere) and had a really nice summer.  Looking back I have a few regrets.  I wish we had spent a little more time just being a family and not feeling like we had to be doing something.  Of course, that’s strange for hubby and I-we’re used to being too busy and over committed, so when life gave us a break we had to relearn how to relax a bit.  We missed our friends and church and only grew a bit sick of each other with all our free time and lack of social events.  Girlie missed her friends, too and a few times commented that maybe moving was a bad idea.  Our house is wonderful and we still pinch ourselves and wonder how we managed to find our dream house!

Over the summer Girlie turned FOUR years old.  How did that happen?  She also learned to swim and started preschool this fall.  It’s rewarding to see her thriving and loving school (especially her teachers!)  This eldest child of mine, whew, she’s a stubborn one.  I find myself repeating over and over the word obedience and listen to my words.  She’s still got a ways to go until I feel like she’s truly obeying our words a majority of the time.  I’m hoping that time and preschool and my developing a bit more patience can help with this!  Overall, though, she’s learning a lot and is growing so fast.  I’m in denial of the fact that she will most likely be in Kindergarten next fall.  My favorite thing about Girlie is her smile and laugh and also her random statements from time to time.  A few of late have included, “It certainly is a beautiful evening!”
And just yesterday I put some of my eyeshadow on her (she loves doing this and it’s white/glittery and you can barely see it–but she KNOWS its there!)
She responded to seeing it again with, “This is really sparkly, it’s the same color as God!”
Her conversations on God, Jesus, heaven and who is there and how we get there have been really interesting lately.  Her preschool has time each day to pray and learn some bible stories which is nice.  I’m also trying to take time to SHOW her why we care and why we act a certain way.  We’ve been talking about hospitality and why it’s important to us and our friends.  Let’s hope it’s making a big impression on her little heart.

The baby of the family is no longer a baby.  Meelie is nearly fifteen months old now.  I get a bit weepy when I realize how fast she’s changing.  Yet, this is by far my most favorite time of all.  She’s a sponge soaking so much up and giving all of us so many laughs and much joy.
Highlights for my little blondie include, getting teeth (finally).  Not so fun, but she’s got six in now including one molar that’s about 1/3 of the way in.  Three more molars are making their entrance soon (which explains the red cheeks and gnawing on EVERYTHING!)
She’s a big talker.  Her words are Up, Mama, Dada, ball, hat, uh-oh, poop, please, thank you, milk, hi/hello, bye bye, and she makes most animal noises.  Whenever you ask her something she usually responds with an enthusiastic “yeah.”  She mimics a lot of words and I’m sure will take after her sister (and Mom) in being a big talker.   She has her temper tantrum moments, usually saving them for the most inconvenient times (when I’m making dinner!)  Overall, she’s a happy girl and loves her sister and especially her Daddy.  She isn’t walking yet, but her doctor isn’t worried about that.  She does walk when we hold her hands and she pushes around her car and walks along the furniture.  Sooner or later she’ll be brave and take more than one or two steps   Here’s how she looks after dinner most nights, ha.

Erik is doing really well at work.  He’s enjoying the campus and teaching at St. Norbert College.  It’s a really good fit for him and he’s ready to tackle the challenges, too.  For now it’s getting through some new classes and learning the ropes on a new campus.  The long term goals are to build up the department and physics major.  The school was considering dropping the physics major, but now it’s hoping it can be built up and become much stronger.  I think they’ve hired the perfect guy to bring some energy and life to campus and his students will be lucky to have him for a professor.

He’s also doing such a good job as a Dad.  Our girls are so sad to see him go each morning and squeal with joy when he comes in the door at night.  He plays tea party and dress up and princess and is the definition of a hands on Dad.  He makes dinner on the crazy nights, lets me escape when I need a break and I could go on and on.  His girls (all three of us) are blessed.

And then there’s me.  Hmm…things that are going on here include trying to juggle our new schedule (mostly getting Girlie to and from preschool three mornings a week) and lately I’ve been looking ahead to the future a lot.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy right now, where we are, but something that I always tend to do is think about what’s next.  I’m a planner and I’ve learned that this is who I am and that’s okay.  Instead of feeling guilty for this, I’m trying to remember that I’m not in control of every detail.  Leaving the space for God to work is crucial and key.

Having our “baby” become a one year old has been hard for me.  I’m not ready to say we’ll only be having two kids and we’re done.  I’m also not ready to say enthusiastically, yes, we should have another.  Erik is happy with two girls and there are moments that I wonder how in the heck I could wrangle three children (especially by myself!)  Adding to our family through adoption has always been on my list of possibilities also, but the cost is daunting and the fear of how we could get through the whole process is overwhelming.  So, as you can see, we’ve got time to think and no pressure which is nice.

Also on my mind are what I’ll be doing when our girls go to school.  I’ve got a big passion for talking about birth (specifically natural birth) and have seriously been considering starting down the path to becoming a doula.  We’ll see where that road leads in time.  For now I’m doing some reading and the things on the list for certification that aren’t too time consuming or cost any money!

This year I want to take some time to pray specifically about our family (present and future) and have some good conversations with Erik (and no, they won’t all be about how nice mini-vans are, ha).  We’re excited to live and build roots in our community, which we’re really enjoying.

For those who are willing, we’d love some prayers.  Here are a few things going on for us (which I’m sure you’ll hear more about as I’m hoping to post more often now!)

*For our girls that they continue to grow in body and wisdom.  Girlie’s found some friends, but it would be nice for her to have many as she’s our little social butterfly.

*We’re closing in on deciding which church is “the one.”  Please pray for good relationships and for our girls to love it and find friends also.  It’s been a tough time for us as we absolutely LOVED our church in Wheaton, IL and miss our friends terribly.

*Please pray for Erik’s year to continue to go well.  He gives his first exam soon and that’s always nerve-wracking!  Please help him to connect with his fellow faculty members and to begin the process of building up the physics major.  Also, there are quite a few students/faculty that are not believers.  Help us to be a light to others and especially for Erik, help him to show others how it’s not impossible to be a Christian and a physicist/scientist.

*And last but not least I ask prayers for myself (even though it’s hard to ask some days).  Help me to juggle the many hats that are handed to me (wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend, Christian, house cleaner, cook, the list seems endless some days).

It’s exciting to be back, now that the update is finished I’ll be able to write about other things that are on my heart and mind.  Please join me in the conversations along the way!