If Only Everyone Felt This Way...

COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY

In Florida, an atheist created a case against the Easter & Passover holydays. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews & observances of their holy days. The argument was, it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized day(s). The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer,the judge banged his gavel declaring, 'Case dismissed.' The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, 'Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter & others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur &Hanukkah. Yet my client & all other atheists have no such holidays.'

The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, 'But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant.' The lawyer said, 'Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists.' The judge said, 'The calendar says April 1st is 'April Fools Day' .Psalm14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it isthe opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned.

Family 2008

Favorite Mornings In The Fall

This is part of our backyard. I love the beautiful mornings here in Georgia, especially during the fall time. Being from desert AZ, I have loved the green and seasonal changes. Best of all is when you capture those inspiring moments and wonder how anyone could believe their isn't a god.

Tagged...

What's your husband's name? Trent
How long have you been married? 10 years--a lot longer then Kristin ;o)
How long did you date? about 4 mo. (then engaged for 2 more mo.)
Who said I love you first? (is this a memory game--I fail) I think he did
Who asked who out first? He asked me...that's a fact! ;o)
Who kissed who first? He kissed me
How old is he? 32 yrs.
Who eats the sweets? For sure it's me...but he has his moments too!
Who sings best? I think you will have to ask the kids on that one...but I think they will vote for me
Who's smarter? yeah, he is
Who cooks dinner and does laundry? Laundry usually falls on me...but it makes sense for how busy we are. But surprisingly, he loves to cook, and does a fabulous job. I'm so blessed ;o)
Who mows the lawn? That one is me...because I love it...call me crazy
Who pays the bills? He does, but we both are very aware of every penny
Who drives? When we are together, it would be him...sore subject when we travel...wardwell's and sleep driving don't mix but they try.
Who wears the pants? For the most part we are on equal ground...but we obviously have our roles and specialties
Our favorite couple thing to do: (ask me in 5 years--we are in survival mode) is this hypothetical...we would love to travel the world together...but in reality, we do what we can, so typically that's finding time to be together and watching Thurs. night comedy
His favorite pastimes: going to the gym and Michigan football
What I love most about him: I love his eyes and how handsome he is. Also, he is very talented in creative writing...you should read some of his stuff, he's hilarious...you need to do more honey!

I tag Kendall, Carrie, Tana, and Robin ;)

Ammon Moments

No cryptic messages here. This is obviously one tired boy. He will double over and cuddle with his blanket.

He is so funny and oh, so sweet. My little, baby boy.

Troy was over the other day and was wondering why we hadn't posted these kind of moments. I guess I will share the energy Ammon radiates. And don't worry, he's not hyperventilating, he's just happy. (This was the same day as "frohawk" post.)

Picture Teaser

Here is our curly-haired cutie pie. Saturday we had a family photo shoot, compliments of Kevin Marler. This is just a one picture teaser. Once we file through everything and narrow it down, I will post more.

Frohawk

Here is the cutest thing ever. It all begins from the nightly baths. After he's all dressed, Trent loves to style his hair up like this. If it makes it though the night, it stays all day. Otherwise his hair is to fine to stand up.

Tooth Fairy Strikes Again!

Jarom has lost another tooth! Although teeth pulling is a bit traumatic in our house (teeth grow in behind old one, not loosening it) he was still excited to find that the tooth fairy still comes. He had gotten the dollar coin in place of his tooth inside his tooth bag. (Now if we can just get the next one out quickly!)

Service Heart

I had gotten this idea from Joy Coles at Stake Women's Conference last weekend. It may seem simple to you, but it has made this week so fun. The idea is to do a secret service for someone in the family and leave the heart to indicate the service was done out of love. We discussed this at FHE and to my surprise everyone wanted to be first...but it wouldn't be a secret if we all knew who started out. So when they didn't see me, I chose someones pillow to put it on to start the process.

The next day I hear Rian wondering if everyone else had made their bed that day, confused I said, not really... turns out the service heart had made an appearance. It was so cute, because "whom ever" did this really tried to do a good job. So far almost everyone has had a chance to participate...and they are still excited...it's the "keeping it a secret" that is the hard part!

Equal Opportunity

Here are my little munchkins! Well, Tarin and Raegan normally shower together, but poor little Ammon has never had the chance to bathe with another sibling. I wanted him to have the same experience the others have had. He absolutely loved it. Usaully, he sits up in a few inches of water and splashes around, but I wanted him to splash with a buddy....and you know Tarin wouldn't allow just Raegan to be in there.

You can imagine the puddle that was created on the bathroom floor, when they really got going. I think this lifted the little guys spirits, because he's been really congested and has a croupy cough.

Election Mania

Here is only a fraction of the line at around 8:30am. Total time was around 45 mins. But it was all worth it!

Rian was studying the election in several classes by reading articles and talking to mom and dad about the candidates and what we believe in. So I wanted her to experience the real deal. I let her do the actual voting by touching the screen. (don't you just love those pics done by yourself, that's quite the chin...)

And yes, we have completed the process together. Besides waiting in line forever, I think she really enjoyed the whole experience.

"I'm a Georgia Voter!!!"

"Vanity"

Rian is truly enjoying her room. First off, she makes her bed and cleans her room everyday, to keep it looking nice. She loves to have the girls up to the vanity to do their hair. This is Tarin "getting ready".

And of course Raegan wants to be apart of the girlie fun as well.

Contracts

I caught Rian and Jarom making "contracts" for their clubhouses (their rooms). I thought this was hilarious.

Here is one of the contracts. They are so creative, it cracks me up sometimes. Another example, they were playing school a week ago up in the bonus room and I could hear Rian doing the announcements..."for school lunch today it will be pizza, green bean, with a choice of fruit...the winners of the contest for the yearbook design..." They are serious when they play.

Halloween Night

Here they are all ready to go. Rian the witch, Raegan the...fairy princess, Ammon, himself, Tarin a kangaroo, and Jarom is...death I think.

The first house they came to for the coveted candy.

Trent waited in the truck with Ammon not only to stay warm, but to give us a ride to the next street...houses are very spread out, even in subdivisions. The kids loved riding on the tailgate.

In Barrington Farms subdivision, there is one house that puts on a "haunted ship", the Black Pearl. A gentleman use to work for Disney props and loves to put his house together for everyone to enjoy. Best part, it is free. You walk through a graveyard, then a witches house, then finally you enter the ship.

Reagan put her fingers in her ears the entire time, because the "cannons" shooting off scared her.

Here inside the ship, were skeletons dancing and playing the skulls.

They wanted to go through again.

Raegan's favorite part was the treasure on the ship.

When we go home, the kids showered and counted their booty.

School Parties

Jarom's class party was a lot of fun. 4 centers of creating, graphing, story and drawing on a pumpkin.




Jarom's teacher Ms. Gossett wanted to hold Ammon...I mistakenly asked her if she had an children...dah, no ring on the finger. You'd think I would have taken note, being room mom and all!


Rian's teacher from last year, Mrs. Bassett. She came over to see the baby too.






Off to Rian's class. She was so excited that I came in. She wanted to show off her baby brother...and another silly facial expression.



Rian and Isabelle Halliday..."half sisters" as Izzy would say.

Happy Happy Birthday Rian, Dear!

Rian Marin Wardwell was born 9 years ago, yesterday the 28th! She was born in American Fork Hospital in Utah. I will never forget how anxious I was to have my first child. She is our oldest cutie pie and is growing up way to fast. I tear up thinking about all the many moments she has created. But I look forward to seeing how wonderful she will impact many lives in the future. Though she has her moments of contention, she has a sweet heart and a love for everyone. I wish I had a digital baby pic to show what a transformation she has made in the last 9 years. She is becoming a little lady. Here she is just over 4 years ago playing T-ball.







Trent had gotten up earlier then usual to make Rian a good pancake breakfast for her birthday. Don't look to closely at the candle...we ran out of candles (it says #2). Also, a new tradition at school that seems to work wonders, Trent likes to go in at lunch and buy the class ice cream.
One gift that will last a long time was Rian's room. I wanted to do something special for her, that would individualize her. Coming from a big family, it's nice to have something personal and all your own. Imagine, the walls were white and bare, with only a bed and dresser...also a white sheet to cover the window. Being on a budget (aren't we all)I really stuck to a good deal. Paint, letters and trim for the lamp, were all that I paid for. I painted the green she wanted with the same texture as Jarom's room.
I rummaged through unpacked boxes and found items here and there to add to her room. The fabric for the window treatment, I made, was given years ago when I worked with a seamstress. Even the lamp on her dresser was from our first apartment 10 years ago. And of course the vanity, Rian helped me refinish it...I still need to find a bench for it.


Lo and behold, these cute butterflies were from girls camp two years ago (it's good to be around functions when they are cleaning up). Kat, remember those!




Even though Rian can be tough like a boy, she still has the instincts of a girl. She was so excited to have her name in cute letters and ribbon.


Gma Wardwell sent Rian some fun items as well. Thank you so much. She was looking at that package for days and groaned that I smiled at her curiosity.

Finally, one last mom and dad gift (another great deal, thank you ebay), Rian had gotten an MP3 player. She's not huge into music, but she does appreciate music and loves to listen to it. I found she and I share similar taste in music, so hopefully we can help each other out. ;o)

Carving Craze

To simplify life a bit, we opted to carve only one family pumpkin and let the kids decorate a little one. Permanent markers in the hands of the little ones was a treat...they are soo deprived! They loved scribbling and joking around with their pumpkins.

Yes, the apron I am wearing is a Christmas one...'Tis the season right? Anyway, it was all it had. But I love getting my hands squishy and dirty in pumpkins. I have to say compromising was an issue at first. Some wanted a mad face and others a happy one. So I had to work feature by feature. What kind of mouth do we want...eyes, nose...round or triangular...it's only going to get harder...Tarin and Raegan don't have too much of an opinion yet. But it was fun.

The best part for everyone was lighting it and watching it glow in the dark. Every night I am reminded to light it. Don't mind our looney Tarin.

Raegan wanted to share her wonderful works of art with the neighborhood.

Halloween Fun

Thank you Gma Wardwell for the fun stuff. Here the kids wanted to show you their zombie faces. I didn't know zombies had tongues...

At the Ward Party, I wanted to show only a few pics. There will me more later this week. Ammon is our newest cutie and wanted to have paint too. His outfit has a mummy on it and it says, "Mummy loves me." (Notice the drool drip)

One of the games was the classic 'string on a donut'. Well, Tarin was having a hard time and the line was backing up, so I decided to combine the effort. Raegan was a big help in balancing out the resistance factor. What are they...well, a combination of recycled costumes goes a long way...call it what you may...they were happy.

Busy Friday

I have a "to do" list a mile long. Here is one of my lastest accomplishments!!

When completing the construction of our home, I made sure the painters didn't put any color to the rooms. I wanted to let the kids pick colors and then paint them. So I've actually had this paint for a year, planning on giving Jarom's room some color. Well, it's a good thing I didn't paint right away, because we've moved kids around...and now Ammon is sharing with Jay. I always come up with new ideas and here is one I really got excited about.

You can see it a little, but I streak a brush up and down, side to side. It looks awesome! It took me forever especially with a 7 month old that wants me to drop everything and hold him a lot...but he was great. Jarom loves that he has a room that identifies as a boys room.

On to Rian's room...