sneak preview

Top 5 reasons why you should not take your Christmas pictures on the beach with small children, using a tripod and timer on your camera:

1. The time spent straightening, combing, brushing and fixing your "hair-do's" doesn't matter as soon as you step out onto the beach because the wind turns it into a "do" that looks like you didn't put any effort into it.
2. Children under the age of 5 can not hold a smile for 10 seconds waiting for the timer to go off...and it usually looks more like they're in pain or really mad.
3. You will more than likely see someone you know...and it will happen to be when you are posing during the 10 seconds of your timer...so a few of your pictures will be snapshots of you waving hi or turning your head to chat.
4. Telling a child 5 and under to not play in the sand while sitting in it is...well is pretty much impossible. So expect your children that are 5 and under to be covered in sand by the end of the picture taking.
5. Because of the noise of the waves you cannot hear the camera making the clicking noise when it takes the picture, so you sit there...probably a little too long...wondering if you can stop smiling and get up.

And this is what happens...try, try and try again.

my first customer

Business is open...sort of. I sold my first bear. It was for a friend of mine who wanted a gift for her 6 year old niece. So she asked if I could make a pink bear for her, and while I was out browsing for buttons and ribbon, I saw these cute little canvas totes that I thought would go so well with the bear...and what little girl doesn't want a cute tote. So I added the letter of her first name to the front and some ribbon around the top to coordinate. I added buttons made from coconuts for the bear's eyes (my friends request) which I actually like a lot better than the buttons I was using. So I'm now taking orders if anyone is interested.

gettin' the Christmas groove on

Since today is our traditional day for decorating for Christmas, I thought I would post a little Christmas music and dancing to get the party started. Thanks to my friend Anne for this fun link.

happy thanksgiving

artwork and handwriting courtesy of Ethan

school

Today we were looking through pictures because we are learning about the seasons...which is very confusing for a child who lives in Hawaii because it's the same season year round here. So I thought I would look through some of our albums to show Ethan pictures of Fall and Winter. We came across some pictures of when I was pregnant with Ethan.

me: "Ethan this is when you were a little baby in mommy's belly."

Ethan : (looking at me with a puzzled look) "did you eat me mommy?"

I love the mind of a child. I just can't wait to see what other questions this will bring up.

more pics

The farmland we drove past on our way out to the North Shore. It felt like we were in the mid-west somewhere.
This might make a good Christmas picture.
I love this picture.
It's way more fun at the beach to get all wet and then roll in the sand so it really sticks.

quote

What a challenge. I saw this quote on Tara Barthel's blog from Ravi Zacharias ministries. You can follow the link to read the whole thing.

"The Christian life is neither a call to legalism nor a call to lawlessness; it is a call to true, lasting transformation of the whole person ... If we don’t learn to feed properly and consistently on the reality of God’s Kingdom delineated in his Word, we leave ourselves quite vulnerable to the never-tiring enemy of our souls whose time-tested skills at feeding unprotected, hungry mouths are unequalled."

We are reading about this very thing in our WIC council in Women's Ministry in the Local Church....following Biblical truths rather than the cultural norms.

sunset

going...
going...
going...
gone!

Tonight we took a picnic dinner out to the North Shore to see if we could catch the sunset. The kiddo's had a blast playing in the water with Jason (more pictures to come) and I enjoyed capturing the amazing views on my camera. I've realized it's hard to take a bad picture in Hawaii.

20 months

rub-a-dub-dub, Jude in a tub...

Well I thought I would give a little update on Jude....this may not be very interesting unless you are Jude' grandparents and aunts, so continue if you want. As the title says he is now 20 months and doing new things everyday. He says quite a few words...and about half can only be interpreted by me. He loves playing with his big brother...most of the time. Except for the occasional "I want that toy" conflict, he follows Ethan around like a little shadow. I usually hear Ethan saying to Jude "come on baby Jude follow me" and Jude will get up and follow his big brother wherever he goes. And yes Ethan still calls Jude, baby Jude...so we'll see how old they get before that stops...Ethan even called Jason "baby daddy" yesterday and then sheepishly grinned when he realized what he said.

Jude will also eat anything and everything and we always wonder where does it all go if their stomachs are supposed to be the size of their fists. He doesn't turn his nose up to much. Jude is also really good at waving and saying hi to whoever will respond back. And then once they say hi or wave he hides his head like he's embarrassed. Jude has tried to start the tantrum stage by falling down and whining when he doesn't get something...but so far we can just say "Jude do you want to go sit in your room?" to which he replies "no" and then gets over it and moves on. And if we do have to send him to his room he will run back there and sit in his rocking chair and wait until we come get him...I think he kind of sees it as a game. Some of you may ask "how did you get him to do that?"...I don't have a clue.

Jude is also our little cuddle-bug. He loves to snuggle and give hugs. I just finished his bear last night and gave it to him this morning to which he replied "ahh" and gave it a hug.

This is a video of Jude saying Ethan's name...ne-ne. I love to hear him say it and Ethan always tells him "Jude that is not my name. It's Ethan".

bears, bears and bears...oh my!

These are some of my completed projects. The pink bear and burpee cloths are for a friend of mine who is having her first baby girl...after having 3 boys.

The blue one is for another friend of mine who had her baby about 8 months ago...I am a little late in getting the baby gift to her. But I like to think it's our little tradition....making something homemade for the first born baby and then getting it to them by the time the baby turns one (she made a beautful baby quilt for Ethan). So Sarah look for Wyatt's present in the mail sometime soon.

And after making two bears Ethan said that he really wanted one also. So we took a trip to the fabric store and he picked out what fabric he wanted...that is why there is also a Cars bear.

So far the sewing urge has not been squelched, so I am on to my next project...stay tuned.

reminiscing

I was looking through old pictures on my computer (trying to organize a bit) and came across some pictures that I took right before we moved to Hawaii. My friends Ryan and Jocelyn drove around Chattanooga with me to get some pictures...what a great city. It definitely brings back fun memories and good times.

Our great little 100 year old house...that was 1/10 of what it would cost here in Hawaii. St. Elmo is a unique little neighborhood that truly gets the meaning of the word "community".

Many summer afternoons were spent at Coolidge park and fountain.

Many nights were spent strolling over The Walnut Street bridge...on dates with Jason or just hanging out with friends.
Ryan and Jocelyn do you remember the videographer that was filming that couple? That was a little weird.

The best Calzones you will ever taste and the most unique coffees...Chattanooga has the best coffee houses.

The Mudpie was where Jason and I first met...he asked if I knew where the bathroom was...weird pick-up line huh?

The Art District....I've never been to Italy but that's what this area reminded me of.

Where I saw my first and only opera The Elixir of Love....it was all in Italian but still amazing.

being crafty

Christmas is on my mind...maybe it's because everywhere I turn there are already Christmas decorations. But that's okay. I love the Christmas season...it is my favorite holiday (I've even listened to Christmas music already). And with Christmas brings out my crafty-side. Not sure why.

So earlier this week I saw this great craft idea and thought it would be great for Christmas decorations as gifts or for my own tree. I love it when other people are creative and I can copy their ideas. All you need is:

• 3 inch or larger styrofoam balls
• Mod Podge
• fabric cut into 3/4 inch X 10 inch strips
• ribbon
• pins

It's pretty easy and I've never worked with Mod Podge before. So you just lather on the Mod Podge and fabric strips until the styrofoam is covered, let dry and then stick a pin in a strip of ribbon into the decorated ball (I added a little bit of glue around the pin to make sure it didn't come out).

We also have some other fun colors to try too. Ethan really enjoyed this craft because it required glue. He loves to glue things together or even puddle it on paper just for the fun of it.

a neck sprain and some rain

The two parts of the title of this post don't correlate but since this blog is titled "Life with the Wood Family" then it makes since to share about it, even though there are no pictures to go along with it.

1. Today Ethan and I spent the day at doctor's offices after he did a somersault (something he figured out how to do yesterday) this morning and injured his neck. Since he usually rebounds pretty quickly when he gets hurt, I was a little worried when he continued to cry every time he moved. So 2 doctors and 4 1/2 hours later, his x-rays were fine and was told he had a sprained neck. Taking it easy and some ibuprofen should fix him right up. Something tells me though that since I have two little boys that this will probably be the beginning of many hospital/doctor visits....Ethan has informed me that he doesn't ever want to do somersaults again.
2. We've had over 12 inches of rain since the weekend and they are forecasting more rain until tomorrow. This is our winter season which is also our rainy season...but this has been a little much, although really needed since it's been so dry. And we've even had thunder and lighting which is really rare here in Hawaii....so rare that it's the topic of conversation wherever I go.

emily's rolls

About 4 times a year I get the baking itch and want to make homemade bread. Then once we've made the huge mess, spent all the time to make the bread and then clean up, I realize that's why I only do this about 4 times a year. But my two favorite recipes to use are Emily's Rolls (which I named after my friend Emily who made these all the time and didn't have a name for them) and the other is Portuguese Sweet Bread (my mom's recipe). But I chose to make Emily's rolls because they make about 2 1/2 dozen and I needed a lot for a pot-luck we were having at church.
It's always good to include all the kiddo's...you know for making fun memories.
The bread always tastes better when you get flour all over your clothes...and face.
And then you make up fun games like "pretend you are a bulldozer and scrape all the dough off the table with spatulas".
So here's the recipe for Emily's Rolls:

Put 3 cups luke-warm water in bowl. Add 1/2-1 cup of sugar (depending on how sweet you want it) and 2 T yeast. Let it stand for about 10-15 minutes until yeast is foaming.

Then add:

2-3 cups flour
1 egg
1/3 cup oil
1 t salt
1 can condensed milk (optional)

(I usually don't add the condensed milk because I don't have any on hand but Emily said it adds extra nutrients if you want it)
Mix ingredients together until moist. Then add more flour until dough consistency (about 6-7 cups total). Knead dough until soft ball forms. Put dough ball in bowl to rise for 30min-1 hr. Tear apart dough into balls and put on cookie sheets. Brush with butter and let rise until double in size.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes. (I added flax seed and poppy seed to the top of mine because I'm kind of in a flax seed kick lately...and the poppy seed just looked pretty...but they're just as yummy plain).

**Another yummy thing you can make with this recipe (I do this when I am making them just for our family because no family of 4 should consume 2 1/2 dozen rolls by themselves) is split the dough in half. Make rolls with one half and cinnamon rolls with the other half. Just roll out one of the halves into a rectangle shape and brush with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Then roll it up like a jelly roll and slice into 1 inch slices. Lay rolls in a greased pan and let rise until double in size...then bake. Add some icing on top....and my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

boat ride

Looking for turtles.
My cute little freckle face.

Yesterday Ethan and I were invited by a friend to go on a glass bottom boat ride to see some coral and brightly colored tropical fish. Well we didn't see much but Ethan had a good time anyway....especially because he got to hang out with his buddy Noah.

discontentment

I read this quote today in my Bible study book by John Piper (Battling Unbelief: Defeating Sin with Superior Pleasure, ch.9 Battling the Unbelief of Coventousness):

"Coveting is desiring anything other than God in a way that betrays a loss of contentment and satisfaction in Him. Covetousness is a heart divided between two gods."

Just lately I have been noticing my discontented heart...wanting life to be comfortable and easy...although nowhere in the Bible does God promise easy lives for Christians. And honestly it's not that I have a really hard life either. And yet I still think that if I had all the things that I wanted, it would somehow bring satisfaction? I'm realizing more and more my unbelief that God really does bring the ultimate/supreme/REAL satisfaction in life...my mind knows it but yet my heart doesn't always believe it.

And why does this discontentment creep up now and then? Because I am living for myself...instead of existing:

"to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ." (John Pipers mission statement)

If this is truly how I live then true contentedness/joy would follow because God did/will/would provide everything I need - and I would never doubt that there was something I was lacking.