Let Freedom Ring!

"Freedom is not the right to do as you please, but the liberty to do as you ought." #HappyIndependenceDay

Dads are Heroes

Photo credit: Melissa Ward

Happy Fathers Day to all the wonderful men out there trying hard to do their best for their wives and children. ♥️

~JS~ 🌞
#SacredSunday
#fathersday #fathers #family #dad

Wrap Your Mind Around Your Schedule

Before our Memorial Day Celebrations begin, I'm taking just a few minutes to get an overview of my upcoming busy week. 🤯

I've found that sitting down and  writing out the overall schedule, and clarifying my important goals and tasks really helps me to wrap my mind around what's coming up.

How do you get yourself motivated for the week ahead? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
~JS~ 🌞
#MotivationMonday

#planningahead #schedule #clarity #productivity #stressrelief

The Day That Changed Everything - Happy Easter!

“He is not here: for he is risen.”  

Matthew 28:6 

#SacredSunday

Happy 18th Birthday Katilyn Ward - JS Baby #4!

Happy Birthday to an AMAZING and wonderful daughter!! AKA Katilyn Louise Ward, Lady Kate, Lady Kin, Tatey Win, etc... You are the BEST! I can hardly believe you are EIGHTEEN!!!! I'm so proud of the choices you've made in your life and the incredible young woman you've become. I know that many great things are in store for you as you live out your dreams and become the magnificent woman that you are meant to be. It is going to be so fun to watch you blossom into adulthood. I can hardly wait to see you FLY! Love you peety swy! ;)

Happy 18th Birthday Katilyn! Happy Birthday to a very wonderful and amazing young woman! I love you! Love, Mom ~JS~

A Tribute to My Mom (The Original "Jumbled Sunshine") On Her Special Day

Well, I started out this morning with a giant SIGH. Why? Because today is the anniversary of Mom's birthday. If she had not succumbed to the effects of heart disease, she would have turned 68 years old today. Instead, we lost her on November 5th, 2007, when she was only 60... So sad. :( 

As I think about how much technology has developed over the past 7 and a half years, I often think about how much Mom would have LOVED to be a part of it! She was so tech-savvy for her age all through the 80's, 90's and 2000's, and she was such a social person and so intrigued with learning information, that she would be just really enjoying where social media and blogging has led us during the past decade. 

Although, when I think about it very much, I realize that the technology where she is now has got to be SO incredible! I don't know if it's technology or just some incredible celestial power of awesomeness, but I guess what we're doing here on earth must pale in comparison. But still, from my perspective here, I would sure love to have enjoyed posting to her on Facebook, reading all the blogs she likely would have started, chatting with her through texts, and seeing all the fun interesting things she would share every day online. 

Sigh. 

Here's a great picture of Mom near the end of her life. The bright colors in the kite shop represent her so well. She was truly the original Jumbled Sunshine - I am just a shadow of her bright and vivacious personality. She is truly the wind beneath my wings. 

Bonnie McCroby Wuensche - The Original "Jumbled Sunshine" (1947 - 2007)

Funny, I'm listening to Pandora while I'm typing this, and right after I started the post, a song came up that has poignant lyrics considering the occasion. It's supposed to be about a breakup, but since I was thinking about Mom when it came on, the lyrics took on a new meaning. Here they are: 

"Walk Right Back" by the Everly Brothers:

I want you to tell me why you walked out on me
I'm so lonesome everyday
I want you to know that since you walked out on me
Nothin' seems to be the same old way
Think about the love that burns within my heart for you
The good times we had before you went away, oh me

Walk right back to me this minute, 
Bring your love to me, don't send it,
I'm so lonesome everyday

I want you to tell me why you walked out on me
I'm so lonesome everyday
I want you to know that since you walked out on me
Nothin' seems to be the same old way
Think about the love that burns within my heart for you
The good times we had before you went away, oh me

Walk right back to me this minute
Bring your love to me, don't send it
I'm so lonesome everyday...

Love you Mom! I am so lonesome without you. Thanks so much for giving me life and a loving home in which to be born and grow up. Though our home life wasn't always perfect (whose is?), I have extremely wonderful and affectionate memories of all the time I spent with you and Dad and Eric, Muffy, George, and Ruben. My favorite times were those occasions when we did fun things together as a family - going fishing, ice skating, roller skating, sledding, watching TV together as a family on the weekends, and going on Sunday drives in the countryside. 

Our cute little family in 1976.
L to R, back to front: Jay, Bonnie, Maureen (Muffy), George, Erika (me) and Eric.

I even fondly remember working and weeding in the garden together (though I complained incessantly at the time!) and then gathering our bounteous harvest and prepping it together as a family. I remember snapping green beans (and eating them raw!) and canning tomato sauce for Dad's famous spaghetti. The raw tomatoes always gave me a rash on my hand while we worked, haha, so I could find a convenient way to get out of the work when I was tired of it. :) 

One of the most adventurous times was when I came home from school only to find that you had knocked down a wall with a sledgehammer (haha!), and we all had to chip in to help you and Dad rebuild the room layout according to your newly designed plans. :) There was always a fun building project going on at our house, so I learned to love the smell of sawdust when I was a child, and that fresh smell still makes me nostalgic to this day. 

I loved to see your mind work as you'd pick out new paint colors, fabrics and furniture to redecorate our home according to the latest trend. I still love perusing decorating materials, furniture stores, and antique shops, and I think of you every time I do.

Ward Cousins Performing at Malad Idol!

I love my cute nephews!

Post by Jill Ward.

Left to Right: Jayson Spencer, Collin Spencer, Benjamin Ward, Porter Ward, and Lance Ward.

Post by Jill Ward.

Happy New Year!

I bet you all thought I had given up on this blog already, didn't you? HA! Not me! Not this time! At least not this year, that's for sure! ;) Haha, pretty funny, eh?

I love saying stuff like that during this last week of December. I am always telling people, "See you next year!" and "You won't have to worry about that again until next year!" and so forth. I know, it's corny, but I don't care - it's fun! That's one of the benefits of getting older - refusing to care what others think about what you do, and just being YOURSELF!

So - we have had a marvelous Christmas at the Ward household. Very different in a lot of ways, but oh so wonderful. I will have to write all about it and post-date the entries so they will coordinate with the Christmas holiday dates. I am so excited to take pictures of all the great gifts we exchanged this year, most especially all the homemade ones! Yep, homemade. And that comment has a story behind it.

A few years ago, we decided to do homemade gifts for our "Secret Santa" exchange in our family. We primarily used items from the "wood pile" from a nearby cabinet factory whose owner gave us permission to use some of their scrap wood. So everyone got all excited with hammers & saws and all sorts of things were created! Some of the kids had so much fun that they didn't want to stop with only making something for their "Secret Santa", so they made things for everyone! It was a ton of fun, so the fever kind of caught on, and now often many of our gifts to each other are handmade. It has become one of our favorite parts of the holidays.

The question many readers might be thinking is "How in the world did you find the time to help all your children make gifts for one another?" The answer is simple - I didn't. As a matter of fact, I had heard this idea of a "home-made Christmas" for years and years and thought that while it sounded like a great idea in theory, I had no desire to try it. Why? Because I knew in my heart of hearts, that while it was a noble idea, it would in reality just mean a lot of extra work for Mom as I would end up basically making 8 homemade gifts!

So I put it off and figured it was only a dream for more ambitious Moms than me. More power to those brave enough to try! But  as my children grew, a miracle occurred . . . I found out that my children could actually do things like that on their own! Not only could they, but they would naturally do it as long as I provided opportunities for talent development and plenty of materials to work with. So by the time we actually decided to try it a few years ago, I really only had to help my youngest with his gift, and everyone else did their own thing. Yay! Freedom!

Now don't think that every gift was made perfectly with all the exact right measurements and materials and instructions. But I did my best to not step in, to just make minor suggestions, and to let them create. After all, isn't that the whole charm of homemade gifts? That stitch out of place, or that less-than-perfect paint job that shows the time your loved-one took to try and make something special for you? Yes! That is truly what it is all about - the love you show as you give a gift from your heart.

I make this point because I know that many Moms feel pretty overwhelmed when their children are young, thinking they need to do *everything* or they won't be a *good Mom*. I remember as a young mother watching a family that had several older children who all played string instruments, so they did a little bluegrass ensemble and sounded really great. I dreamed of something like that for my own children, and worried about how in the world I could ever teach them to do it? I also remember seeing families with teenage children and parents singing together in perfect harmony, and I wondered how much time it would take to teach each of my children their part and get everyone to practice, and still do everything else that needed to be done? And yet, the reason I worried is because I didn't know the secret! If you are a parent of older or grown children, you probably already know the secret. If your kids are still little, do you want to know what it is?

Okay, I'll tell you.
It's this. . .
shhhhhhhh. . .

Are You a Little "Jumbled" Too? - Part One

So now that you've had a few minutes to look over my blog, you may be thinking, What exactly does "jumbled sunshine" mean? Or maybe even. . . "Am I a little jumbled too?"

Let me explain by telling you about my past 24 hours and see if you can relate. . . This started out as "the short version" (NOT!) Honestly, I don't think I'm capable of a truly short version of this topic, so here's the long version of the short version which is actually the full version. . .

• Tuesday started with a realization that there was absolutely no more time left to procrastinate Christmas. So my day consisted of online shopping. . . all day. It was exactly 1 week before Christmas, so of course I found myself paying extra for expedited shipping. Oh well, as the French say, "C'est la vie!"

• So, 5 hours later . . . (yes, really.). . . I finally finished shopping (which I must admit was a ton of fun!) and added the final touches to the Christmas present spreadsheet I had created to keep track of who was getting what, complete with color-coded text fields showing me what was ordered (green), what was wrapped and under the tree (red), what was not done yet (white) and what needed to be urgently attended to (yellow). Those two yellow fields meant that I would be crocheting a LOT over the next week! Which is okay, because I love to crochet, and I will save a lot of money, but I really should have done this last month. Famous last words, right? haha.

• Once that was finally finished, I stumbled out into the main rooms of my home, my eyes burning from too much screen time, and looked around me to assess what was going on and what needed to be done. The kids may - or more likely may not - have done their homework, but I'd have to check on that later, because everyone needed to be fed! 

• So I made a quick dinner of spaghetti while listening to Sirius XL Holiday Music on my Dish Network TV. It was great. I found my toes tapping and my hips bouncing as I listened to the old familiar carols play. . . anyone who walked through the kitchen joined in (or ran away in fright! haha!) I had only about an hour before family members needed to run out the door to attend the various activities of the evening. As the family gathered around the table, I threw together a quick salad with the veggies I picked up Saturday from Bountiful Baskets, and enjoyed the novelty of shredding some rainbow carrots into a bowl. As we dished up our plates, I spent time strongly encouraging everyone to put a few freshly sliced radishes and crumbled cauliflower florets over their salads. It didn't matter if you like them or not, they are good for you - so at least try a bite or two. (That's my philosophy and probably a good topic for another post. . .)

Photo courtesy of:
Karah Fredricks Photography.

• Once everyone was fed, satisfied, and headed out to wherever they needed to be, the rest of us who were left quickly cleaned up the kitchen (with the promise of some TV time when we were done) so it would be ready for my husband to come back and do a planning meeting with his Scouts. (Thank goodness it's the week before Christmas break, so there was little homework to be done! At least that's what they told me and I didn't argue because I was exhausted!)

• Then we settled into the den for some nice relaxing TV and fiber arts time. I got busy finishing the gift I had made for my Dad and step-Mom last week, which I was fixing because I had made an error on the last 7 rows and needed to re-do them. . . My 15 yo daughter was working on her sewing project that had to be done by the end of the week or she would fail her sewing class, and vehemently complaining "I hate sewing! I don't know why I even took this class! It's all my soccer coach's fault because I had to take advanced conditioning, and so then I had to change my schedule, and ended up with sewing!" Hahaha. . . I knew she was exaggerating because she loves her teacher, and her coach. And she's a decent seamstress considering how little guidance she has received from her mother on the subject. And I also knew that she was really just upset because she kept making mistakes and had had to unpick her stitches at least 3 times last night (any seamstress knows how frustrating that is!) . . . In the meantime, my 18-year-old daughter was busy in her corner spinning roving into yarn . . .

Check out this Creative Christmas Newsletter!

I love this time of the year because I start getting fun holiday letters in my mailbox that aren't just ads or bills! You know, before the internet became so widespread, it used to be that people communicated with letters a lot more. I remember that when I was living away from home and attending college, checking the mailbox was just about the most important time of the day! It was so great to hear news from home when I was far away. Those were the days! Now it seems that just about everything comes via email, which is wonderful and I love technology, but I do miss those old days of getting letters from friends and family. So, when November and December start rolling around, I look with anticipation to my mailbox!

From the first year that my husband and I were married, I carefully crafted a Christmas greeting to our friends and families and sent it out each year. Always included was a great photo of our growing family, as well as news about the major happenings of each year. I played around with the lyrics to Christmas songs and made clever little stories about our kids and funny things that happened throughout the year. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed this tradition.

I even created a scrapbook album and filled it with each year's Christmas letters as part of our family's history. I did this faithfully every year from 1992 to 2007. But then one year the tradition just kind of got lost, and we haven't sent out Christmas cards ever since. Why?