But here's a funny conversation with Joanna. We generally eat cold cereal for breakfast. Granola for me and Kirk and Joanna rotates between granola, Cheerios, and cheerio seeds (i.e. Grapenuts). On the back of the Cheerio box are pictures of some of the largest animals/birds and some of the smallest. Did you know that the pygmy shrew is only 2 inches tall..."that's as big as Mommy's thumb," I tell Joanna. Also, a baby giraffe is 6 feet tall when it is born, "that's taller than Daddy!" Joanna proceeds to point to the whale and says, "Mommy, the whale is taller than you!"

But in the midst of all of that...Samuel smiles and laughs when you make faces at him. Joanna and I crawl around pretending to be monkeys, hide behind the chair eating kangaroo food, sword fight with various Mr. Potato head parts. We sing made-up songs and use silly words. And I watch Joanna run out to meet Daddy coming home from work (no matter how fully clothed she is) and smile, with such a deep joy in my heart.

Discipline is hard for me these days. I am often quick to correct, beg, and plead, but can be slow to spank. Thus Joanna continues to say "no," speak disrespectfully, and not obey the first time. Good discipline is SO hard!!! I've got to pray more for God's long-suffering, patient, love to flow through me.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. When I was about 7 years old I ran into a sliding, glass door which resulted in over 100 stiches and three scars. One scar runs about 1 inch from my lower lip to my chin. One scar is about 5 inches in the shape of a "V" on my right shin. The third scar is about 10 inches from my inner thigh to my left hip. The artery in my left leg could be seen through the cut.

2. I was once quite and athlete. In high school I played soccer, basketball, field hockey, volleyball, and was on the track & field team (I ran sprints and threw the javelin). My senior year I was awarded "Athlete of the Year." I also played soccer on the Team at Covenant College. Oh, how I miss it.

3. I have had several "near-death" experiences. No. 1 fact about me was one time. Another time I slept in my brother's bed while he was gone. The lamp at the head of the bed was fickle and I woke in the morning to a burnt pillow. I leaned on the door handle of our once and fell out and almost got run over by another car. Our car was hit on the side as we made a turn...if my father had not been insistent on getting roll bars on the car many years before I would have been hit dead on. Then of course there are the several times that I almost fell while rock climbing/rappelling.

4. Drinking apple juice make me nauseous/air sick. We couldn't get apple juice in Kenya so when we would fly back to the US I would always get it on the airplane and so drinking it makes me feel as though I am on an airplane. And on that note...

5. Though I have been flying on airplanes world-wide since I was 1 year old, I have only thrown up once. This happened this past summer when we went to London for LEAP. The threw up as we landed in London though I believe this was more due to the tiny little life growing in me, Samuel.

6. The coolest country I have ever been to, besides my love for Kenya, is Turkey. Though I'm not so sure about the whole "not being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet.

7. Unlike my husband, I LOVE rain and storms.

I forgot to tag people: Rinnie, Kirk, Anna, Kate, Amy, Grace, Heidi.

Our family has been going through a lot of change lately...and change is hard! Some changes are wonderful: the birth of Samuel, the move from diapers to panties, less involvement with the South City worship site, having two children. Some changes are hard: the birth of Samuel, the move from diapers to panties, less involvement with the South City worship site, having two children. Samuel is a wonderful little, tiny person...but it's been hard to adjust to caring for two kids instead of one. Even harder than that adjustment has been figuring out how to still be a wife, a good wife, while also mothering two kids. Joanna's move from diapers to panties (yes, I have already made this change) with be AWESOME! But it's a lot of extra work right now. Life is all about change though. And God is all about change.

Romans 8:28+ says, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."
Yes, sanctification is a long and hard process, but what a wonderful trip it can be if we grow and learn and allow change along the way.

These are my two "instruments of praise" to God. Isn't it wonderful that God is praised out of the mouths of infants and children!

For Father's Day I gave Kirk two gifts that he may never use. I gave him a hip, gender-neutral diaper bag which has been used once...by me. And I gave him these two shirts that will never fit him. I loved the shirt idea. I love the fact that it supposed to look like a child's drawing and therefore I don't have to be as perfectionistic about it. I love the brown/yellow/pink color combo on Joanna's shirt. I don't love the fact that Samuel has already outgrown his.

You're an American classic -- fast, strong, and bold. You're not snobby or pretentious, but you have what it takes to give anyone a run for their money.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

]]> http://newlywards.stlouisblogs.org/archives/2008/07/im-a-ford-musta.html http://newlywards.stlouisblogs.org/archives/2008/07/im-a-ford-musta.html Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:08:46 -0600 I just wanted to past a link to a friend's blog that wrote an outline of her pastor's sermon on Father's Day. I thought it was great.

Second, I keep a short blog on my website which I hope to write in once a week...even something short. But then I also can post "articles" on my main page. Do the main page articles clog up the space and make it confusing? I plan to use the main page articles for promotional information while the blog link would be more personal.

Thirdly, any advice on how to get my products out there even more. Right now I mostly sell to people I have directly connected with. How do I grow that circle? I do have an Etsy shop but what else is out there?

Lastly, I hope to start sending out a short mailing (via e-mail) ever few months. If you would like to be added to this mailing list just leave your e-mail in a comment or if you don't feel comfortable with that e-mail it to me: sarah@littleknots.com.

Thanks all of you for your input. It helps with my indecisiveness.

Dissolve in 1/2 C warm water: 1 T sugar and 1 T yeast.

Mix in bowl:
- 1/2 C oil
- 2 C plain yogurt
- 1/2 t baking soda
- 5 t baking powder
- 1 t salt
- 1/2 C sugar

Add yeast mixture and stir well.

Add 5 C flour (I use 3 whole wheat and 2 white) and knead until soft, adding more flour as needed.

Make into rolls and bake at 375 for 15 to 20 min.

Refrigerate dough in an airtight container.

Preheat oven to 325.
Mix together in large bowl:
- 1/2 - 1 C. coconut (I only use 1/2 C.)
- 4 C. rolled oats (I just use oatmeal)
- 1 C. sunflower seed
- 1 C. wheat germ (sold in the cereal part of the store, not the flour part)
- 1/4 - 1/2 c. sesame seed (I use 1/4 C.)
- 1 C. peanuts or chopped walnuts (I use 1 1/2 C. peanuts)

Bring to a boil:
- 1 C. honey or brown sugar (use 3/4 C. oil of you use brown sugar)
- 1/2 C oil
- 1 T cinnamon

Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread on 2 greased cookie sheets (with sides). Bake about 30 minutes, stirring often. Watch closely at the last, not allowing granola to become too dark. Allow to cool undisturbed, then break into chunks.

I keep a journal for each of my kids...how strange it is to say, "kids." I thought I'd share a bit about why the name Samuel is so special to me. It's a family name from Kirk's dad's side of the family which I think is awesome but that's a different story that maybe Kirk will tell sometime. I'm going to talk about the other reason I love the name Samuel. Actually, I'm just going to copy out what I wrote in Samuel's journal b/c I'm in a rush and need to straighten up my house before my in-laws arrive. :)

Samuel means more to me than just following family tradition. I had a pretty hard pregnancy with you. I was really nauseous at the beginning, and a little nauseous the rest of the time. I also struggled a lot emotionally. During my pregnancy I was in a women's Bible study. Some of what we studied was about how God provided for the Israelites on a day-by-day basis (while in the desert). And in the "Lord's Prayer," Jesus taught us to pray and ask God for our "daily bread." God taught me, through your hard pregnancy, to rely on Him for what I needed one day at a time. And that God promised to always give me what I needed for each day...and He was/is faithful. I learned to pray so much more. This is why I love the name Samuel because it means "heard by God." God hears our prayers - what a privilege to be reminded of that by my son's name!

So my grammar is not perfect and the flow is non-existent...that's how journals are supposed to be. But you get the point, God is so amazing that He listens to the prayers of these tiny, insignificant, selfish people.

Samuel Paul Ward arrived at 1:42 am on Wednesday, March 26th. He weighed 8 lb 2 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. We went into the hospital around 2:00 pm on Tuesday to be induced. After a long boring day of "laboring," boring because I decided to get an epidural earlier than I did with Joanna (I waited until I was in excruciating pain). Around 1:00 a.m. we (Kirk, my mom, and me) were sleepy so turned off Fellowship of the Ring and took a nap. Fifteen minutes later the nurses came in to check on me because the baby monitor had slipped and wasn't picking up Samuel's heartbeat. Then put one on his head and the nurse decided to check my progress...I was fully dilated. So they wheeled in all the delivery stuff (I labored, delivered, and recovered in the same room), called the OB and I did a "practice push." My OB arrived, got herself ready and we did a real push which welcomed Samuel's head into the world and on the next contraction welcomed his body. I guess those kegels really do work. :)

Our recovery is going well. I hardly tore at all. My mom is here to do all the work she can and give Joanna all the attention she can. Samuel's doing awesome. He sleeps a TON! The first night home was rough, the next night he woke up twice and last night he woke up once. Who knows what tonight will bring.

Thanks for all your prayers.