Merry Christmas!

Joy to the world--the Lord has come!  Here are a few favorite shots of our family celebrating Christmas festivities.

Thanksgiving 2017

Finally catching up on organizing some 2017 pictures!  Here is a link to an album of our Thanksgiving photos this year.

Fall Update

Since our Advent wreath and the Christmas tree are both up and it's sledding weather outside, that must mean that winter is almost "officially" here.  What better time than a fall update from the Wards?

It has been a full season here.  Amalia and Brinnly wrapped up a fun volleyball season (consolation champs in one tournament!) and have now started basketball. I love watching them together on the same team.  No wins, yet but they are fierce guards.  In one game, a ref actually confused them and scolded Mali for attempting a foul since he had already reminded Brinnly to tone down her aggressiveness. "Wait, there's two of you?"

Carrigan is doing great in third grade and especially loves her teacher.  She's been practicing her times tables like crazy! Delaney loves Kindergarten (well, except for the getting up in the morning part) and lost her first tooth last week. She and the twins play "Power Rangers" every day and is it hysterical to watch.

Everly and Grant...they are full of energy. Wow, so much energy. They are talking constantly, so much in fact, that they keep telling each other to stop talking. Grant calls her "Sissy" and she calls him "Buddy". They also both call Carrigan "Conky" or "Conk" for short. As if that wasn't confusing enough, Everly named her baby doll "Conky Baby Lily". Grant usually refers to himself as "Red Power Ranger" and is quick to inform us that Power Rangers don't do things like pick up toys. He would love to spend his days eating "Baba Gagas" (cereal with milk) and watching TV. Everly has finally started to really love our Sunday School class and sing all the songs from there throughout the week. My co-teacher there calls Everly the "cruise director" because she loves keeping the class on track of what to do next. The twins have been big into pretend play too and rotate between fixing cars with Grant's tools, playing picnics with blankets, and "cooking" with any kind of food they can sneak out of the kitchen. It's been also sweet to watch their twin bond develop more and more.

In other news, Jonathan has had the busiest fall of all of us.  He started a new job as the Vice President of Development at J. Jeffers & Co. about a month ago.  God provided this new opportunity for his at a completely unexpected time for us and it has been great so far. He's still had time to cheer on all of our football teams with the kids (Here we go Steelers! Superbowl???) and fit in time to be active at church and school.  And to make sure that I have time for workouts, church meetings/MOPS/book club, and breaks from two year old tantrums.

We're grateful for this season in life and are trying hard not to complain about the busyness of it, especially when we know many others with far more significant struggles right now.  We are also thankful for the blessing of Advent, a reminder that we wait not just for things to get calmer or easier in this life, but for the Prince of Peace to come again.

Trunk or Treat 2017

Why wait until actual Halloween to have fun in costumes?  The twins' costumes arrived this week and they've been trying them out around the house. Everly has been planning on being a butterfly now for months and Grant finally settled on a dinosaur. (Because it is green and has a tail.) They loved going to school for "Trunk or Treat" and carried their bags all though the line. 

Happy early Halloween from my black cat, runner girl, cherry blossom princess, flapper, butterfly and dinosaur! 

Ten!

I think I say this every month, but this season has really been a whirlwind. We've already had several bouts of sickness in the midst of school starting, volleyball games, and new schedules. But, we did have the opportunity to celebrate ten (TEN!) years of life for our sweet Brinnly last month.

She is such a gem, that girl. She's fancy and feisty. She is such a tenderheart, especially with the twins, but then keeps right up with her classmates, even though she is technically younger than most of them. I love that she's a runner and up for trying new sports and music as well. Reading is still her favorite pastime, especially when its of the fantasy genre. She loves cooking, baking, and trying new ethnic foods but still avoids most fruit. She loves chocolate, camping, and motorcycles--I always say she's a perfect combination of her grandmothers.  She may be a whole decade old, but she's still quick to cuddle up to her parents. We had a blast celebrating her big birthday with a swimming party at the Y with her whole class. Her menu choices of a donut cake and lasgana soup were pretty fantastic too. 

 Brinnly Ruth Ward, you bring each member of our family such joy in your unique way. We are so thankful that God gave us you as such a special gift. We know he will continue to use to do great things!

Summer Fun 2017

We had a fantastic summer. We really enjoyed being home together, swimming a ton, celebrating birthdays, traveling to Michigan and Indiana, and appreciating Milwaukee's attractions. The older girls were a huge help with the twins and Everly and Grant just loved playing with their sisters. Neighbor kids were here often too and it seemed like we were always serving snacks, pulling out board games, or handing them books to read to the twins. In the evenings the middle of our cul-de-sac was the place to be and all of the kids would play their made-up games together. So fun to watch!  Oh, and we remodeled our basement! That just added to the busyness and fullness of our house--construction workers here almost daily. Grant especially loved it.  Thank you Summer 2017 for such lovely memories. ( Here's a link to our Google Photos album of some of my favorite shots of the beautiful warm weather months. )

First Day

We now have a Sixth Grader, a Fifth Grader, a Third Grader, and a Kindergarten girl!  It was a rush of emotions over the past few days since we've all loved summer so much this year.  And it is so. much. work. to get ready for a new school year, But they all had wonderful first days of school and I'm so proud of them.  God's blessings on students, teachers, and schools of all kinds!

Because they are now Wisconsin girls,we celebrated the first day with frozen custard and cheese fries.