keep with me

Trying to find some new options for my header. Wish me luck and enjoy the snapdragons from my garden!

i'm dreaming of a white christmas...

The air is cold, Christmas is near, the gifts, the activities ... wait ... never mind. It is still August isn't it? I may well be, but we started our fall and Christmas festivities this week. Nutcracker Auditions. We had a quiet summer of fun and traveling. The quiet is gone from the Wise household. With school is full swing, Sunday School starting back up, dance lessons, and Nutcracker, we may never have a quiet moment again! I wouldn't have it any other way! Abby has ambitions of playing a child in the party scene, while Morgan wants to be a mouse this year (those are supposed to me mouse hands in the picture). We will know in a few weeks. The sun is shining, my grass is still green, and the flowers are still in bloom. Not quite Christmas yet, but we are well on our way now.

nostalgia

Isn't this one of the cutest babies ever? Look at those round cheeks, tiny hands, and dark hair. Aside from my own perfect trio, this baby is one of my favorites. This pic is circa 1979. I was messing around with some of the old slides my folks took when we were little today, and kept coming back to this one. My sister Kerry was one of the most beautiful babies ever. I can't help but wonder if this is what her little one will look like. Reflecting on the three of us growing up, and watching my three grow has been amazing. I cherish the relationship I have with my brother and sister (although you couldn't have told me that 20 years ago). i also praise my parents for managing three lively kiddos all those years. I am getting my taste of the chaos of three right now! What pulls me through is the gift we have in each other. Thanks Mom and Dad for not stopping with perfection (hee hee). I don't know what I would do without them.

finally

I swear I forgot what was rain was like! Topeka has been in some magic bubble recently with all of the percipitaion moving just to the north or south. I mean really, look at my lawn. Shades of brown. What amazes me to no end is that the grass has gotten greener during the past few days of rain. I can put the sprinkler on all day and just get another shade of blah. God had to put his magic touch on it I suppose. Rain reminds of me of renewal. This time of year yields us more new things than any other time. New teachers, new lessons, new neighbors (we are sooo sad to see our old ones leave). But just as the rain adds color to the grass these new experiences give color to our family as well. So soak it up! Bring on the RAIN!

happy day, sad night

The first day of school. Music to my weary ears. We always have fun during the summer, but by the time mid August rolls around we are over it. The girls miss their friends, Parker misses having his mom to himself, and I miss the mind I lost in mid May. The girls were up and ready by 7am. Lots of time for a good breakfast and PICTURES.



Parker and I spent the afternoon with one of our favorite families, the Holmans. Chloe and Sophia don't start school until next Monday. I had the honor of babysitting the brood. Sophia doesn't need much babysitting, neither does Chloe, but the 7 week old twins (David in the yellow, Andrew in the blue) needed an adult in the house. Holding those precious boys made my day. Parker called them yellow baby and blue baby all day.

This active little boy had a full day. Fun with the neighbors, mommy to himself, spoiled by the Holman girls. What more could a boy need. Here comes the sad part. Poor boy was running through the hearth room and caught his foot on the ottaman. He face planted into the entertainment center. Much blood followed. As well as tears. Both of us. This picture doesn't do justice, and I have a feeling it will be black and blue in the morning. sigh. sniff, sniff.

is that rachel ray?

Anyone who knows Abby knows that she is obsessed with the Food Channel. Rachel Ray in particular. She wanted to cook dinner last night. And that she did. Waffles were the menu of choice. She prepped the batter and the iron, scrambled some eggs with ham and cheese. set the table, and served everything up. In the midst she even had time to be nice to her baby brother. I have never seen her so proud of herself in my life. Then came the bad news. She was basking in all of our compliments when I told her that part of cooking was cleaning up the mess. She wasn't thrilled, but she cleaned up dinner without a complaint. As she was drying the skillet she turned to me and said, "I'm exhausted. This is WAY more work than Rachel Ray does". You said it sister! I think I caught a glimpse of her future as a chef, and a mom. So very proud.

mops time of year

The past few nights my poor husband has been neglected and frankly tired of hearing the sewing machine (it makes a wicked noise through the floor). Above are little pouch wallets I made as favors for the members of the MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) steering team. We have our marathon planning meeting tomorrow. The theme for the year is "Fresh Air: What Every Mom Needs". Flowers are the main visual. The pouches carry a few packs of gum and a pen. Below are a few of the baby gifts (we have newborn triplets and a few moms still pregnant) for this year. We usually add lotion or bubble bath as well.

Once I finished the sewing components, I tackled the centerpieces. This took me a little longer than anticipated. We have 6-7 tables every year. I hate decorating differently every week, so I went for a centerpiece we could use all year. These are pots with flower pens. I took the logo from the website and decoupaged it onto the pot, then painted the rims blue (not quite as baby blue in real life...my flash is doing weird things). Then came the task of making 60 flower pens. I'm not even going to tell you how many hot glue burns I have! Use black beans as "dirt" and 9 hours later you have centerpieces. I'm soooooo glad MOPS is starting up again! Not really sarcastic about that either. MOPS has to be one of my favorite pieces in my life. I know I will be glad that I made these when I DON'T have to make them for every meeting!

babies

Abby must be he coolest 9 year old ever. All the boys wanted her this weekend. Granted, the boys are 3 and 1. We were graced with a visit from the Ashland Fultons this weekend. Its always fun to have another baby in the house (it was fun to have Ben and Janielle too). We also made a road trip into KC to see Kerry and meet up with Mom. It was a busy weekend, but one of the best I've had in a while.

Last vacation post, promise. I guess I just wanted it to last a little longer. Sigh. It's amazing how much you can do in a few days when you are out of town. There are about 60 more photos of this vacation that I have sitting on my hard drive! The picture above is from "Mass on the Grass". We arrived in Breckenridge to attend this quaint little Episcopal church only to find out that they were not having normal services, but instead they were having their annual outdoor service. This was one of my favoritethings about this trip. I mean look at that vista! How much closer to God's awesome creation can you get?! Yet another suprise was that the Bishop of Colorado was presiding. The music, the fellowship (great potluck after the service), and the spirit were amazing.

The next day, we took a tour of the Lebanon Mine in Georgetown. This was a steam engine ride to the mine and then a tour of the quarters. The kiddos wore hard hat and we went into the silver mine. The temp in the mine was 45 degrees and there was water running from the rocks. We all thought it was great, except for when Will bumped his head on the ceiling (the average miner was only 5'5). Instead of taking the Eisenhower tunnel we opted for Loveland Pass which took us to the Conntinental Divide. All in all the trip was a blast. Spending time with my precious brood was the best of all. It doesn't really matter where we go as long as we go together!

blue river

The days we spent in Breckenridge were filled with shopping, trolley rides, and ski lifts. Where do you think they wanted to spend most of their time? Wading in the Blue River in the center of town. This was an everyday occurance for us. The girls went right in, walking around and jumping from rock to rock. Parker, however, realized that the river is fed by SNOW and therefor is bone jarringly cold! This is about as far as he would go. He would stand there for a few minutes and then get out. Warm up. Get back in for a few minutes. I wish I was quick enough to get the expression on his face the first time he waded in. Reminded me of when he ate ice cream as a baby (remember the cold face)!

One of my favorite moments was when Parker would pick up a handful of rocks, stretch his other hand out to me, and sit on the edge of the stream throwing rocks in the water. This was one of my favorite things to do as a young child. It was great to see the joy on his face as he hurled the pebbles into he running stream, watching them be wisked away. We did this almost everyday and he laughted out loud every time. The simple joys and childhood memories.

rocky mountain high

Just got hoem late last night from our vacation in Colorado. We travelled around a bit, but we stayed in Frisco, Colorado which is right on this magnificent alpine lake. What a way to wake up each morning. For those of you who remained in the midwest last week, you may want to quit reading now. The weather was amazing. The warmest day was about 76 degrees with no humidity. The clouds rolled in over the peaks at about 4pm and cooled the temps to about 65. We were driving home and I managed to make the run from Frisco to almost Limon without stopping. It was a rude awakening to step out of the car in Limon and have my sunglasses fog over! Almost sucked the wind right out of me! Look for more posts this week, because I have a ton more pictures to post and stories to tell!