OK, so this is a fun trend I’ve noticed among mom blogs that I follow, Wordless Wednesdays. Each Wednesday they don’t write anything but let a series of pictures tell a story from their lives. I’m going to start doing this and see how it goes! Today’s Wordless Wednesday is something close to my heart. My Katie’s first donation to Locks of Love, she was so excited and watching her compassion for others in need grow is priceless. Enough typing, just thought I’d explain this first one so my readers know what it is. Enjoy!
Nap mats for my girls!

OK so today is the first day of preschool……
Well in preparation for preschool we needed a few things. Especially since this will be Bella’s first year. Grandma Fish got her a backpack and matching lunchbox but she still needed a nap mat. Last year we sent K with a 3 dollar roll out mat that looked like a yoga mat and her dora blanket and a small pillow. This year I was determined they would have something more practical, simple and pretty. So I started doing some nap mat research. There seemed to be a few types ranging from ugly blue on one side red on the other plastic folded up ones like I had as a kid 20 something years ago all the way up to adorable built in pillow and blanket pretty fabric ones that rolled up and had a carrying handle. OK, so the practical, simple (all-in-one, mat/pillow/blanket) and pretty was best represented by the most expensive ones out there. These ranged in price from 40-80 dollars each! Now with two girls that are almost twins (10 months 3 weeks apart) who want everything their sister has…. the price would be 80-160 dollars… plus shipping! OK well if you don’t know, minister’s families have tight budgets, and youth minister’s families have tighter budgets. So I knew trying to convince my husband that these were a-dor-a-ble and simple and practical wasn’t worth my breath for that price. Also I couldn’t justify the price to myself either 😦 so I was sad and frustrated by it all. Until I saw that some crafty moms had attempted sewing their own. I sew! It looks semi-difficult, but I’m always up for a challenge!
I was now a momma on a mission! I decided I would not spend more than 10 dollars per child to make them and do my best to use some materials I already had. So off to Hobby Lobby I went and found the sweetest corduroy in a chocolate-brown with bright flowers all over it.

I was in love with the soft pretty corduroy but not in love with the price, 9.99 a yd. and well I needed 3 yds of this. Thank goodness I got 40 % off though because it was a seasonal (fall I guess) fabric so it was really 5.99 a yd and cost 18 dollars total. So with very little of my 20 dollar budget left I got a roll of matching hot pink/magenta ribbon (half off) for a dollar to make the ties with. Now down to zero money left I had to come up with everything else from my craft supplies. So I went home and found a fleece blanket in the same bright green as the fabric I’d bought cut it in half and used it as the attached blanket. I found a barely used bag of polyfil, to stuff the pillows with and took two old baby blankets from the girls boxes of baby stuff and used them as the liner for the mat part. There were a few more things like buttons, thread etc. but you get the idea. So after many hours measuring, cutting, pinning, sewing on machine and by hand, a little seam ripping, and stuffing…. the girls have cutesy, made with love, not-so-professional-looking nap mats for preschool.






I am happy with them all in all. They aren’t perfect, but they only cost me 20 dollars and some time. Total savings 60-140 dollars! The girls love them and know I worked hard on them out of love for them, that is more important than buying them any day even if we could.
Happy napping to my girls…. 🙂
Johanna
and 5 months later…..

Ok, wow! Summers are super crazy in our house and just before the summer started our house experienced a very rough few months with our son. He had ear infections constantly. This meant very little sleep, lots of crying/fussing, and a very sad and in pain baby boy and with two girls 2 and 3 who had plenty of sleep…. this mommy’s sanity was definitely in question more days than not. Praise God he had surgery to have tubes inserted (on his one year old birthday) and we have been ear infection free ever since! Then the summer started, and if you are in the youth ministry you know this is the craziest and busiest time of the year. Trips, VBS, camps, conferences, splash days, concerts, etc. Its crazy but wonderful and such a blessing in more ways than I can count. Now that school is starting and the dust is beginning to settle I am excited for this new season of schedules, less trips, more family time, seeing my girls grow and learn in preschool, focusing on my son those 2 days a week the girls go to school, fall, college football, and so much more. I’m going to try and be a more consistent blogger also. Its something I enjoy and much like my many journals its relaxing. It also saves me a lot of time catching friends and family up on our lives, and sharing photos of the the kids.
So I guess I’ll give a quick review of the last few months:
April – Noah had ear infections and sleep deprivation and stress, is all I really remember
May – Noah’s ear tube surgery! Noah’s first birthday (Noah’s ark themed, yeah yeah I know, I figured it was the only year I could get away with being corny with his name without him complaining about it 🙂 )



June – Our 7 year anniversary, we celebrated in Austin, TX a very artsy city which I adored. Lots of gardening! Church softball (Eric injured his ankle…. I did too but not a cool softball injury like his, mine was my lame clumsiness). Went to Joplin a lot to help with the victims of the tornadoes (gave me a new appreciation for how devastating natural disasters can be) Got to see Taylor Mason for the 3rd time in person, loved it! Made a fun spiderman cake for an adorable four year old boy. Eric turned 28, we had a dinner mystery party for him in TX. Went to Woolaroc kidsfest (amazing, seriously so much fun). Got to see Hillsong United in concert, for free! A great friend won backstage passes, dinner with the band, and concert tickets for Eric through a youth minister contest! indescribable worship experience. Girls attended a summer program at their preschool one day a week, which they loved.









July – My girls called american flags “a-miracle flags” all through the 4th of July season, it was so adorable I couldn’t bring myself to correct them. Bella turned 3 so we had a bubble guppies party for her. I had two 3 year olds for a month and a week and can I say C-R-A-Z-Y??? We went to church camp, for a great week and I got to do some worship art and teach a class on it. We went to Lake of the Ozarks for CIY and it was a lot of walking but a powerful message. We also did some mission work with a small church and then at a homeless day shelter called Hope Faith Ministries in Kansas City. Life Changing is all I can say about this great trip with 18 teens and 7 adults. I can’t wait to go back to Hope Faith and work there again! We took the kids to Dallas and back in there too. Lots of traveling and packing and unpacking. Oh and an elementary kids splash day.







More to come soon 🙂 I’ve been crafting and painting lately so I’ll post on those soon!
Stay at home mom…
Wow! I’m not sure why but February and March were crazy and I blogged none! Not that my life is any slower today, in fact that is what my entry is about. At the end of each day (being when all three of my kiddos are snoring, yes snoring just like their dad) I feel like I’ve accomplished nothing and everything all at once. So today I decided to keep a running log of all my day entails and it has even surprised me! Well here it goes, please don’t judge me I’m doing my best I promise!
A.M.
6:16 – Woke up to Katie excitedly telling me she wore her big girl panties all night with no accident and in her excitement peed my bed telling me about her accomplishment… sigh
6:17-6:45 – bathing me and Katie, changing our clothes, throwing the peed on clothes in the hamper, stripping the sheets, cleaning the bed with my upholstery steam cleaner, drying the bed with towels, putting new sheets on the bed…
6:45 – realizing Katie is crying and assuring her that I love her and am not upset with her, she did a great job all night and next time she can just run to the bathroom first before coming to tell me and it will be fine, that I love her and am proud of her and don’t mind changing my sheets before 7 am. I kissed and hugged her and my mommy heart was full 🙂
7:00 – Bella comes in with her first disaster of the day her tiny baby bear she “stole” from my mom’s house is missing… so off to search the covers, pillows, toys and blankets for a very small white bear that will make or break Bella’s day
7:08- Bear found! Inside of a large fish toy that has a way to shove things in his belly (he is a stuffed Jonah and the Big Fish play set, so you can take Jonah in and out of the Big fish’s stomach… gross I know) So I rescued Bell’s bear from the bowels of the fish and the girls did a lot of giggling and celebration dancing and singing the Jonah song (you know the who did? who did? who did? who did? who did swallow Jo Jo Jonah…, no? well you would think it is cute)
7:10- Went to get Noah from his crib, as always my sweet boy was super happy to see me (all my worries melt away when I see his deep love for his momma) and reached for me with mucus covered hands… wait… yes mucus covered hands. Upon closer examination of my sweet 10 month old’s face I realized it definitely looks like he has been attacked by a slime monster and I sigh realizing the third bath of the morning is in order.
7:12 – I undress Noah, rush him to the bathroom (hey, he is a boy) and he laughs and giggles the whole time obviously unphased by the large amounts of mucus and grossed out mom. I sing songs to him while bathing him trying to sneak in something semi-educational (ABCs, Jesus loves me, twinkle twinkle and his favorite lately patty cake).
7:20- bath over and rush him to his room (again, boy) and diaper him fast. Pick him back up to find some clothes, then dress him fully knowing that after breakfast and much more snot he will need another outfit… but he is so handsome and clean right now I play peek a boo with my happy son, his giggle is the most amazing sound.
7:34- holding a clean, dressed baby happy with my efforts I sadly realize the girls are quiet and a panic comes over me… I run to their room to find them standing in the middle of a pile of ever piece of clothing from their dressers and closet. Hang up clothes, pants, skirts, shorts, pjs, socks, shoes, underwear, tights and my girls standing on top of this small mountain with expressions of pride and joy. I took a deep breath and walked back to Noah’s room, put him in the crib with three or four toys.
7:38- Went to my room, shut the door and made the bed and cleaned my room (my own calming down, I know strange) while repeating some Bible verses about patience and the fruit of the spirit (something my dad used to make me do when he found me being impatient)
7:45- went back in the girls room and calmly asked them to help me pick up all the clothes and help me fold them, hang them, match them and put it all back where it belongs. All the while telling myself (and them) this was an opportunity to teach them about taking care of our clothes and keeping them nice because we need to be good stewards, not screaming that it was way too early for this type of crazy.
8:53- second guessing writing this inventory of my day… take a deep breath and try to encourage the girls (and myself) that it will be a great day despite our morning and we all head downstairs with a positive attitude for breakfast. I put everyone in their chair/highchair/booster seat
9:00- make Katie and Bella “chocolate milkshakes” (chocolate milk) and give it to them. Give Noah a tray full of cheerios, turn on Bubble Guppies and then set about making breakfast. Scrambled cheese eggs and yogurt for the girls and rice cereal with apple juice for Noah. Checked/updated Facebook, got some much-needed encouragement from far away friends,while waited on eggs to heat up.
9:18- Breakfast served/fed. Had mucus and cereal sneezed on me twice. (rejoicing always gets hard at times like that for a germaphobe)
9:23- Noah is nauseated from the drainage and he pukes, I clean him, the chair, me and put him in outfit # 3 for the day…
9:39-Finished answering emails, messages from Facebook while munching on a granola bar (bella took two bites for every one of mine, so I had probably about 1/3 of it). Researched ear tubes for Noah (I’m an over analyzing parent I know), while the kids colored (each other and the papers I gave them). Cleaned up my girls. Cleaned up all the breakfast stuff, cleaned/scrubbed my kitchen table due to beginning to harden spilled yogurt. Katie ran up and hugged me thanking me for cleaning up (yes my heart melted)
9:50- Fed Noah his bottle (pure bonding wonderfulness), and put him down for morning nap upstairs, grab a load of laundry to take downstairs with me (hey can’t waste trips)
10:03- Bella gets arm stuck in my elliptical machine (screams like she is dying, pretty sure the neighbors are convinced I’m beating the kids with how much they scream)… pry her out, console her, tell her its not a toy, give her an ice buddy (we still freeze their old teething toys for boo boos) and turn on her favorite veggie tale and hold her for a while
10:30- Decide lunch is coming soon, need to start something now. Bring girls in the kitchen to “cook” at their mini kitchen (Katie said they were making green bean frozen yogurt with carrot topping… yes my kids LOVE veggies and I’m fine with it) while I make my double batch of pizza dough, clean out my fridge, empty and reload the dishwasher, make a grocery list and organize my coupons
11:14- I hear Noah, so I give the girls an art project to do at the table with foam stickers and crayons. Run upstairs to change a biohazardous diaper, change Noah (into new outfit #4) and wash his once again slimed face. Poor boy.
11:26- Bring Noah downstairs and put him in his playpen so I can vacuum from the girls/breakfast so he can play on the floor without choking on some tiny piece of food or toy (mostly Barbie shoes). Put him in the middle of the floor after putting away all the girls toys and putting out some blocks for him to ignore and crawl to the coffee table and chew on it…. thankfully he still only has two bottom teeth!
11:35- Roll out pizza dough and breadsticks, make and begin baking lunch. Get interrupted several times by my girls insisting I dress their naked Barbies so they can go to a Ball. Try to launch my favorite Christian Radio station 89.7 power fm, only to turn the screen of our dinosaur of a computer to see the blue screen of death and I want to weep a little (fourth time this week and its only Wednesday) reboot and pray.
12:10- pizza taken out of the oven and cut into adult and kid pieces (yes they are very different, I use cookie cutters to make “shape pizzas” of their choice) make Noah some baby food. Fight all three to get them to the table and back in their chair/highchair/booster seat, promising a yummy lunch and dessert of fruit later. Ended up having a good conversation about obeying God and parents. Katie prayed, “Thank you God for our food, guinea pigs, eggs, toenails, slides and Noah’s booger face” (I stifled my laugh not wanting to discourage her prayer and cherished the sweet innocence of her talking to God so honestly)
12:30- feed all three kids, jumping up constantly for a napkin, clean a spill, extra piece of cheese, wipe sauce out of Bella’s hair, repeating over and over for Bell to stop trying to pick Noah’s obviously runny nose even if it looks like he needs it. After all this I’m not hungry (booger-fest did me in), so I give Noah a bottle and take them all up to bed for nap time.
1:00- silence….. breathe…..
1:01- rush around doing laundry, cleaning the massacre that is my dinning room table after two toddlers and a baby have eaten lunch there. Sweep and vacuum again, pick up the toys again (I’m pretty sure they explode out of the toy box randomly even without my kids help sometimes, because they can be everywhere when I’ve never seen the kids get them out)
1:58 – my first trip to the bathroom of the day alone (I don’t have time to drink, but I’ve refilled at least 12 juice/milk cups and three bottles at this point in my day)
2:00- look in the mirror and realize my face is pale because I’ve been not sleeping but 2 or 3 hrs a night lately mostly due to sinus junk and I feel kinda faint, so I go to my room to lay down.
2:02- (I KNOW they have some kind of radar that goes off when I dare to sit/lay down) I hear a thump, boom, boom, boom, boom…. running in my room is Bella who I forgot to put in a pull up before nap has peed her bed….
2:03- cleaning Belle, and now everyone has had a bath today She gives me wet hugs (I can’t make myself stop her, this wont be forever right?) and lots of splashing ensues, soaks me and I have to change again too, and sop up the bathroom floors, teaching Bella to help me wipe up the water. Let her lay with me in my bed watching Bubble Guppies so I don’t wake up Katie and wait to clean the bed sheets on her bed
2:18- (radar) Katie runs in screaming where is my Bella (oh the drama my girls contain in such small packages) Reunited I savor the moment seeing them hug each other and tell each other they love each other…. then I remember I must strip, clean and resheet their bed (a maid couldn’t handle my kids)
2:20 – Noah is up from the ruckus and is once again slimed 😦 sigh (outfit #5)
This is where I ended my inventory…. its crazy, but its blessed and I wouldn’t trade it for anything 🙂
My Chocolate Earthquake Cookies :)
Well I decided to post the only cookie recipe I can actually claim as “mine”. Oh and they are an amazing chocolate fix if you ever need one 🙂
Chocolate Earthquake Cookies!
These cookies are pretty easy to make and they have a sweet powdered sugar-coating that gives them a pretty cracked look. The inside is soft and not too sweet, just pure chocolate heaven! OK, OK, OK…. here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
4 one ounce blocks semisweet chocolate
1 cup chocolate chips
6 Tablespoons butter
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
First put the semi sweet chocolate blocks, chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Heat 30 seconds and then take out and stir, then heat 30 more seconds then take out and stir…. keep repeating until the chocolate is completely melted. Set aside and let it cool while you do the rest. Get another small bowl and put your flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in it and stir with a wisk to mix well. Set this bowl aside also. Next put the eggs and sugar in a bowl ( I put mine in my kitchen aid mixer) then mix on high for 1 1/2 to 2 min until the egg and sugar mixture is a light yellowish color and looks well mixed. Now check your bowl of chocolate and make sure it’s cooled to just warm and then mix it into the egg mixture well. Slowly add your flour mixture until all ingredients are now mixed well. I usually let it sit in the fridge for about an hour before using to help it harden so your balls of cookie dough don’t spread too much.
Next, spray your cookie sheet, put a sheet of parchment on it or use a silpat mat. Get a bowl and put some powdered sugar in it. Now make small balls of dough (I just used a teaspoon and made it heaping then rolled it) and then roll in the powdered sugar, then place on the cookie sheet. Make sure to place them far enough away from each other because they will double in size. Place cookie sheet in oven and bake 9-11 min.
This is what they will look like when they come out of the oven
Enjoy with a tall glass of milk!
I did!
I hope you and your family and friends enjoy these cookies as much as we do 🙂 Happy baking!
Valentine’s Decor Kissing ball craft
This is a tutorial of sorts on a kissing ball I’ve made to increase my Valentine’s Day decor which will be brought out soon!

I’m excited to share this because I’ve really enjoyed making it and was inspired by other crafty bloggers who have made similar kissing balls or wreaths made of crepe paper roses. This is a fairly inexpensive craft. All you need is crepe paper (I got 2 rolls for a dollar at the dollar tree), hot glue gun, glue sticks, a styrofoam ball (I’m guessing this is the most expensive part, but I had some left over from a craft a few years ago that I bought with a coupon at hobby lobby), and a ribbon.

To make the crepe paper roses I first ripped a piece of crepe paper of about 18-24 inches long.

Then I crumpled the piece and then straightened it back out and begin rolling on one end.



After about 4 or 5 turns I began twisting it around the top of the rose looser than I started just like a real rose.


The key is to loosely twist and turn the crepe paper around the top then hot glue a tiny dot to the end of the crepe paper to attach it and make sure it does not unravel on you.




I made a bunch, then cut the “stem” short on each for easier gluing to styrofoam ball.

It really helped me to set the stryofoam ball on a roll of masking tape to keep it still while I glued the roses on. Before I started gluing roses on I attached a ribbon with hot glue as a hanger but this is optional if you want to just set it on a mantel or in a decorative bowl. The hanging kissing ball is traditional like mistletoe and when you and your sweetie walk under it you kiss 🙂
To attach the roses just put a small dot of hot glue where you want to attach it and gently push the rose on and hold for a minute. Put the roses fairly close together so you cannot see the styrofoam ball. Its pretty simple and fun. I got pretty carried away just watching tv and making roses so I’m working on a wreath now of white, pink and red ones! I hope you enjoy, any questions I’d be glad to try and answer. Happy crafting!
adventures of Noah…. (insert the sound of a barking seal here)… with croup
Well, after 3 1/2 years of motherhood I heard a sound on Thursday night I’ve never heard before while lying in bed. It was so strange and scary when I realized that it was coming from my 7 month old son’s crib. It sounded like a seal barking over and over. I went and got my upset baby and soon he repeated the crazy “cough” and I knew instantly it would be a long night. Then in the morning it felt like the Dr.’s office would never open. Finally they did and gave me 20 min to dress, get him and the girls dressed in the car and over to the office (only 2 blocks away, but still have you ever put a 3 year-old, 2 year-old and 7 month old in a car and gotten them out?) . Well thankfully my sweet hubby stayed home to help me and we got there with about 90 seconds to spare! Fearing the worst like I tend to do I had been watching you tube videos of whooping-cough all morning and researching as many medical sites possible looking for similarities. He had the exact same cough but no strange whistle-like gasp at the end. The dr. (who is amazing and I trust very much) heard the “bark” as she called it and informed me that without the gasp at the end of his fits it was just the Croup. Well being that I’ve never had another child with it, and done no research on this, I at first bombarded her with about 100 questions. Thankfully she is patient and kind enough to sit and explain it all to me and help me know what to do to help my barking but otherwise happy baby.
Well after “tenting” his crib with a humidifier (which I should have already thought to do that Thursday night, since Jeannie taught me this last year when Belle was coughing so much) he improved. Then he started showing signs of what we call in our house velcro syndrome, when your child cries every time you put them down and the only time they seem half-way happy is tightly snuggled in your arms because they just feel yucky. So I knew he was still not ok and had to cancel small groups on Saturday night and miss church on Sunday, since he was telling me he needed 100% of my attention indefinitely.
Monday morning now and the barking is all but gone, his little scratchy voice seems to be the only reminder of the croup… well now after all this my official review of the croup is that I am not a fan at all. Glad my girls never went through this and found myself praying during my quiet time (a relative term in a house with 3 kids) this morning that Noah never does again either! Thankful for our friends and family who prayed for him (and me). Now after an adult-free weekend that Eric worked a total of 27 hours (fri-sun with a lock-in), I NEED some adult time. Hoping to see some of that today or tomorrow 🙂 Happy Martin Luther King Day, especially for all you gov. workers, school workers/kids and phillips workers that don’t have work or school!
Christmas Homemade gifts: Child’s apron
As promised I am posting about some of the homemade gifts I made this year for family and friends. Today I am writing about the aprons I made for my girls who absolutely love cooking with me now. I first saw some adorable ones in a specialty store for over 20 dollars each, well I knew this was way too much for us so I decided to make some on my own. So off to Hobby Lobby I went and found adorable child’s aprons just waiting for personalization from me. I bought two hot pink child’s aprons for 2.99 each and I used my 40% off coupon on one and the total cost was around 5 dollars for both. Then I had some cute white iron on letters at home and picked out the girls names and ironed them on. Next I went through my ribbon stash and found some cute zebra print ribbon I’d used some of for another craft a year ago and used permanent fabric glue to attach it to the aprons to embellish it further. I could have done more, but I loved them just the way they were. Simple easy, only took about 20 min start to finish and cost 5 dollars as opposed to buying them (without their names on them) for over 40 for both! Hope this inspires you, happy crafting!


















