Christmas Is Here!

I've unintentionally taken a few week hiatus from this blog, but I'm back!

My last post was about how I wished we could put up Christmas lights, and would you believe it - we put some lights up!? There aren't many, just a string of white lights wrapped around our front porch railing and front door. Of course, I don't have a picture, but just imagine our front porch with lights around the railing.

I usually am pretty excited about Christmas, and this year was no exception! I've come to realize how much I enjoy Christmas music, and I'm not sure I'll be ready to stop listening to it in just a few days. By the way, how is it already December 22nd? Time sure is flying by!

We put up a bunch of our favorite decorations in our house for Christmas. Micah helped us, and I think he had a great time! Micah helped us decorate everything except the Christmas tree, which we put up after he went to bed. It was really fun to surprise him in the morning when he got out of bed - what is a tree doing in our house?

Here are a 'few' pictures of our decorating process, and some of my favorite decorations:

I think this hat and collar are for a cat?? Micah liked wearing them while we decorated, though.

Eating dinner is even better when it's next to the Christmas tree! 

Our nativity set, complete with a 50¢ star ornament from the Dollar Tree. I put most of our fragile glass ball ornaments into that glass jar, which usually holds candy, and I love how pretty they look! 

Little decorations I've picked up in the last few years, and a cute frame from Monica! The picture is from the first Christmas that David and I were dating, way back in 2005 ~ 6 years ago! 

Even my little owl has a new Christmas-y home! 

When I was growing up, we would get a new ornament each year, and now I have a bunch of special ornaments hanging on our tree. This is a tradition I'd like to carry on with Micah, so he got to pick out his own ornament this year - he chose this stuffed reindeer! Isn't it cute? Maverick really liked it too... 

Micah has some new friends under our Christmas tree! That rolling bear was a decoration at the Hilliard family Christmas brunch, and Micah wanted to play with it right away. Thanks for letting him keep it, Aunt Cindi! He loves it. Unfortunately, it looks a lot like a cat, so it's surprised me many times. I keep wondering who let a brown cat into our house.

I'm very thankful for all the ways that we're blessed this holiday season! I've been reminded of that more each year, as I see how we have a warm, beautiful (though small) home and family that we love, both near and far! I know that the greatest blessing of all is in the gift of Jesus, and I'm so thankful for Christ making the sacrifice to live on Earth as a man. That is the true reason for Christmas, and the reason that we're able to celebrate!

Merry Christmas from the Wattenburgers!

Someday... Christmas Lights

I love the Christmas season! I was listening to Christmas music early this year, waiting and waiting for it to get here. I can't wait to experience this joyful time of year with Micah. This isn't his first Christmas, of course, but it IS the first year he's going to be very aware of what's going on. I have a feeling he's going to take all the ornaments off the tree and get into the presents. I can't wait!

David's out of town this weekend for a church retreat, so tonight Micah and I went for a long drive around town looking at Christmas lights. He still sits rear-facing in his car seat, so he couldn't see most of the pretty houses, but when he could he was very excited! I love driving around and hearing him talk to himself in the back seat, laughing and chatting up a storm. I also love looking at Christmas lights. They're so pretty and blinky and they make each house look festive or elegant.

Each of the three years that we've lived in this house, I've wanted to put up Christmas lights. The problem is that the house has a power line that goes to the corner of it, and I'm afraid that we'd touch it and get electrocuted.  I think I'm going to at least decorate our front porch, so we can look a little more festive without dying from the scary power line.

It's been a little while since I've done one of these 'Someday' posts, but they're back! Someday, I hope to have a house without a power line to the corner of it, so we can decorate full-on! Until then, here are a few pictures of Christmas inspiration!

I love the garland with the lights in it, and the white icicle lights on the house.

I'm really into Christmas garlands this year, and I love this front door set up!

We don't have a vineyard, of course, but I love how this looks - I wish I could drive around through these grape vines!

I know this really doesn't have much to do with Christmas, but it's lights! I think these little lighted hedgehogs are adorable, and I think I'm going to use my old pumpkins from Halloween to make a hedgehog in our front yard. I'll put up a picture soon!

You can find all of these pictures on my Pinterest 'Christmas' board.

Crafting Away

This morning, I led a craft at our church's 'Make It and Take It' craft day. It was a great time - fun crafts, fellowship, and some delicious food (Thanks Robin and Jolene!). We made some cute little Mod-Podge'd candle holders with tissue paper, and some miniature yarn wreaths, similar to this one that's been on my front door:

Then, this afternoon, I've been working on some new sets of coasters for my Etsy shop! I have a pretty Christmas set and a vintage-y victorian looking set that are freshly added to the shop. If you're in need of some coasters for Christmas, check them out. I can do custom orders too, of course, so if you have an idea and don't see it, let me know!

Tonight I'm selling my coasters in the Nice Girl Notes Cute Stuff Sale on Facebook. I have 8 sets to make in the next couple of days, so for the rest of the day, my house will look simliar to this:

It's a fun day! Have you done any crafts lately?

He's Growing Up

Before our eyes, Micah is turning into a little boy. Sometimes it seems like he was just born and I can't fathom how he can be nearly 15 months old. He really is changing quickly, and every couple of days he learns a new word or skill. It's amazing how quickly he absorbs information!

So, here are some recent pictures and some of the things he's up to!

He loves books! He has two small cloth baskets that hold his picture books, and there are many times when both baskets are nearly empty. His books will be spread all across the floor, some open and some closed. Micah loves to look at pictures!

Micah's still not walking, but I'm not worried. He's climbing on everything he can, including Maverick! (Doesn't Mav just look thrilled about it? He may not always love having Micah crawl on him, but Maverick is the most patient dog - he just licks Micah's face and lays there.)

He makes all kinds of animal sounds. His first was dog, then cat, cow and elephant. He's working on more of course, and I think he just figured out monkey but we'll have to try it out a few more times to be sure. I'm amazed at how he has been learning new words so often - he's saying all kinds of things, 'dog', 'ball', 'Hi' (it's kind of like aloha - it means hi and bye!), 'mama', 'da', 'What's that?' is 'isat?', 'Nana or Anana' for Banana or Anna, "Ma' for Maverick, and more. I really think Micah's a smart little boy!

Micah also loves his little cousin Anana, as he calls her. He's always gentle with her and he's interested in what she's doing when we're all together. Soon enough, she'll be on the floor crawling around after him.

He loves hiding under his clothes, and also trying to put them on. In the next picture he's trying to put on his jacket. He laughs and laughs when he does this. He really has a great sense of humor - any time someone is laughing, he starts to laugh too. He's started throwing his head back when he laughs, which is so cute!

Micah really is a sweet, funny little boy. He's changed our lives and we're so thankful! Every day is enriched by his presence, and that just makes me excited for all of the fun times to come. 

Spooky Roo

We're not big on Halloween over here at the Wattenburgers' house, but we did have a good time last weekend. I've been meaning to post pictures of Micah in his cute little costume but time has gotten away from me. It must have something to do with working, being sort of sick this week, and having a child to take care of.

Maverick's a big fan though:

Anyway, we had a nice Halloween, starting Sunday night at our church. We had a Harvest Party, with games for the kids and lots and lots of candy. The kids were encouraged to dress up in a creative Bible-related costume. There were some great costumes there!

Micah, of course, was a little kangaroo! (I don't know why that would be 'of course'...)

He got to go fishing for a glow stick, chew on the tossing rings, and crawl all over the church while the kids played games. He had a blast, even though he didn't really know what was going on most of the time.

On Monday we went downtown to our church and handed out candy for trick-or-treaters at 'Treats on Main." Most of the businesses downtown participate, and it was packed! It's a great way for little kids to dress up and have fun trick-or-treating, but also be in a safe (and not too cold!) environment.

After handing out candy, we walked down the street with Daniel, Marci, Anna the Banana, and Barb (aka Gram-B). We got to visit with one of Micah's Papas (the other one is my dad, up in Everson), and Micah was given a wonderful surprise!

A balloon!

This boy loves balloons, and he was overjoyed! He shook it all over the place while laughing and bouncing it off of other people's foreheads.

Micah ended the night with some fun play time with Anna's toys.

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

What's In YOUR Bag?

Roo, over at Nice Girl Notes is hosting a link-up party this week, where fellow bloggers and readers can share the contents of their purse. I've enjoyed seeing what others have in their bag, so I thought I'd share what's in mine also. I'll also get entered in a drawing to win a beautiful Elliot Lucca bag, which I could definitely make use of!

I carried a diaper bag for a while after Micah was born, and didn't use a purse, but now that he's older I tend to take my purse and fit what he needs in with my stuff. He has a tote bag that we put a change of clothes and his food in, for when he stays with someone during the day, but for a short trip we put a few things in my purse.

This is my purse - the black hole, as I think of it. I can never find anything in there, maybe it's because it usually has all the things shown below, plus 12 crumpled receipts and a bag of candy that has spilled all over the bottom. 

So, here's what I have:

1. Gum - I love Orbit. :)

2. My diaper/wipes carrier. I was given this by a friend and didn't use it for quite a while. I just recently realized that it's amazing and so convenient! I just stick in a small pack of wipes, a diaper and the changing pad that came with it, and we're ready to go. It's made by JJ Cole.

3. A first aid kit, thanks Good Shepherd!

4. Pens - it seems like I can never find one when I need it, then today there are four in there!

5. My side pocket always holds Micah's immunization record (so I don't lose it!) and a pair of earrings. I wish it was because I was so stylish that I was going to put the earrings on, but it's actually because earrings bother my ears and I have to take them off. :(

6. Hand sanitizer and a Shout wipe - I'm constantly spilling on myself and forgetting to use these wipes. I don't know why I even keep it in my purse.

7. Deodorant.

8. Candy - it's always in there! These are left over from Halloween at school yesterday.

9. My wallet, made by me! It's small but it holds the cards I need. The rest are stored away somewhere else, and when I need them I don't have them. 

10. A spare battery for my camera.

11. My calendar - from Target - complete with pictures of Micah, David and I. It also holds an appointment card for Micah's next well child appointment, and a sweet note from my David. Can you read it? It says, "I love you Mrs. Wattenburger." Such a sweet reminder all the time!

12. Twelve is my unlucky number, so I skipped it, kinds of like how some buildings don't have a 13th floor. (Just kidding - I'm just distracted by watching Parenthood!)

13. Costco coupons, stamps and my checkbook. I want to get a Pleated Poppy checkbook cover, but just haven't been willing to spend the money yet. Maybe soon! (I really could just make one, but I'd have to actually do it...)

There you have it! Usually my camera's in there too, but I was using it to take the pictures. You can just imagine that it's there. :) It's small and old and shiny.

I'm linking up with Roo, check it out! Also, while you're over there, take a look at the top advertisement... that's my new ad, starting today ~ Laughing Turtle Design!

Running The Race

Way back in May, I set a goal for myself. Then I blogged about it and told a bunch of people, so I could have some accountability - or be really embarrassed when I didn't follow through. My big mouth helped in this case, because last weekend I accomplished my goal.

I ran an 8K race!

I started working toward this slowly, using the Couch to 5K plan, and increased my distances a little bit. I bought some running shoes, because I didn't have any, and some shorts and a good, dry-fit running shirt. And then, off I went.

My roommates from college, Kayla and Sara, and one of David's roommates, Aaron, ran the race with me this weekend. Peter and David took care of Micah while we were running.

It was nearly 5 miles (4.9 or so), and we started off down-hill, then ran over McNary Dam into Washington. After we crossed the river, we turned around and came back, ending with a very difficult run uphill. And boy, was it hard! It was SO hard!

At first, my goal was that I wanted to finish the race - I was pretty worried about being able to run the entire distance. I had also heard that my friend Tiffany's 5-year old niece was running, and I was hoping that I wouldn't lose to her! Aaron convinced me to set a time goal for myself, and I thought an hour sounded good. That way, I could run most of the time, but if I walked a little it wouldn't be a problem.

Well, my time was 52:25! I definitely beat my goal, and I finished 30th, which isn't too bad! (There were 79 people in the 8k.) It really helped that Sara and I ran together the entire time, because she was pushing me to keep going. And can you tell that she's almost 8 months pregnant?! That girl is amazing - she ran the entire way, and beat me by 30 seconds!

I really enjoyed running with my friends. Aaron took 6th place over all, and Kayla was a couple people ahead of Sara. I feel very good about my results, and I'm definitely planning to run in some more races with them!

Besides being finished, the best part was finishing to this boy smiling at me and saying, "Mama! Mama!"

If you want to see the results, you can find them here. And I did finish ahead of Tiffany's niece, but she did amazingly well!

A Pumpkin Patch and A Hay Ride

On Friday, Micah and I went on a cousin-outing to Country Mercantile's Harvest Festival to look for the perfect pumpkin, see some animals, and have some lunch. This was the second time I'd been there, the first was a field trip with our students. It's a great fall event, with a hay ride, corn maze and a hay-bale pyramid.

Country Mercantile has a great store, where you can sample salsa and fudge - and it's the most delicious fudge I've ever had! I can't stop thinking about it. We spent a little time in the store, browsing through the shelves, then headed out to the great outdoors. 

Our first stop was the petting zoo. Micah enjoyed seeing the animals, and even tried to pet the sweet little calf.

The weather in Pasco was perfect - it's wasn't hot and sunny, so Micah could wear his sweatshirt, but it wasn't cold at all! And not a drop of rain from the gray-ish skies. We picked out a pumpkin for him, the perfect size for a little guy, and boy did he love it!

Micah also really enjoyed watching his bigger cousin Jonathan, who showed him how to roll pumpkins.

When we made it back to the front desk, we had to weigh Micah's pumpkin, which hit right at half a pound. He wasn't interested in leaving it on the scale though, so we quickly got it back in his hands, and later, in his mouth.

 I wasn't sure how much fun Micah would have at the pumpkin patch, since he's still pretty little, but he really enjoyed it! He was all smiles, especially when he was sitting in the dirt!

On My Bedside Table

Well, I said three days ago that I had a bunch of blogging ideas, and then when I went to write them, I realized that I had fit all of my ideas into two posts! There were a lot of thoughts and happenings covered in those last two.

But, don't worry - I have something to share with you.

I have found a book that I love! Let me introduce it to you:

Readers of this blog, I introduce you to 'Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe' by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears.

source

The name pretty well explains what this book is about. It's about Doctrine, what Christians should believe. What I really love about it, though, is that they don't just tell you to believe something. They explain it all to you in a way that is easy to understand.

When I was a junior at Corban, I took Theology - everyone did, because it was required. I learned a lot, but I felt like the textbooks that we used were very confusing - very scholarly. Driscoll's writing style is one that reads easily and smoothly, which means that not only is the information important and life/thought-changing, but it's easy to understand!

Each chapter discusses a different topic, and I've really barely scratched  the surface, but the explanation of the Trinity in the first chapter is great - I feel like I have gotten more answers than I've had before. 

So, if you're a Christian who is interested in furthering your relationship with God - meaning the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, of course, because the three are one - read this book, along with the Bible! It will help you to understand the Bible even better than you already do! If you're not a Christian, I'm not sure how helpful this will be for you - go for the Bible, it's the real deal! 

Getting Things Done on the Weekend

I have about four different blog posts running through my mind right now - that's how I blog. I go for two weeks without a post, and suddenly I have a whole slough of thoughts and pictures that I feel like sharing. So, be prepared for some posts this week - I'm going to hold myself back from posting them all at once!

With my work schedule and David's soccer coaching, added to taking care of Micah, I don't often feel like I get much accomplished. Our house is usually messier than I'd like it to be, I don't go running as often as I should, and many things get pushed to the side that should be priorities. This weekend, though, I decided to take control and get things done! (This includes taking time for some quality family time, of course!)

We went on Friday to dinner at David's parents' house, then to the Farmer's Market here in town, where I bought a cup of the best apple cider I've ever had. Seriously, it was so good, and I couldn't find the words to describe to David how much I enjoyed it. He didn't seem to understand what I meant by, "A little sip just fills up my whole mouth!" It was great, and now I really want some more!

Saturday morning, David, Micah and I went to breakfast at Shari's - a very fancy establishment - perfect for bringing a 14-month old who has figured out how much fun it is to shriek randomly. I just charged my camera battery, so I decided to take some photos:

Micah tasted orange for the first time, and he's in love! He gobbled up the pieces I pulled off for him - we may need to run to the grocery store.



When we got home, I got right to work painting my new/old dresser. It took me most of the day to sand it down, then paint it, but I think it turned out really good. It looks so much better! Unfortunately, it doesn't look much different in the before/after picture, but it definitely looks better in person. I painted it 'Pebble White' by Glidden, and the drawer pulls are 'Oil Rubbed Bronze' by Krylon.

I finished by about 4:30 and then got to work finishing up a project for my friend Emilee. We had talked about this project in the summer, but it took me a few months longer to get it done than I expected it would.

I used a canvas stretcher, spray-painted the same blue as my little owl, and then distressed with brown/black paint. 

I used this tutorial, updated a little to make the center a little different, to make the flowers and glued them onto the frame. The fabrics are a mix of fabrics that Emilee used in her hall decorations this year as an RA at Corban.

It was really a fun project to work on - I'm really enjoying embroidering! I was ready for a good rest on Sunday, after doing all this work the day before! I hope you all had a good weekend too.