Holiday Happenings

First and foremost, with great joy I announce that Mason is potty trained!!! YEEEEHAW!

That kid was amazing and EASY to train. 1 week and he had it down pat.

This little creature has become a permanent fixture under our tree lately. She sneaks in from outside, and plants herself here all day.

Here are my children in all their glory on Christmas morning.

Kendal LOVING her light up ball

My favorite present of all. A mother's necklace from The Vintage Pearl. Love it!!

Kendal

I LOVE this baby girl. I can't believe she is already 9 months old!! She is a Williams'.Huge. She is in the 90th percentile in her weight and 75th for her height and head. (Believe it or not, she is actually the smallest of all 3 kids. They were always in the 97-99th percentile in everything.)

Stuff she is good at:

rolling EVERYWHERE

eating...( she comes by that naturally)

finding the tiniest of things in the carpet

getting tiny things in her mouth before mom can get her

patty-cake

ridding the Christmas tree of ornaments and pine needles

helping the cat shed... ( by handfuls)

She is such a happy baby and loves to just be where we are. Those little chubby cheeks and blue eyes just melt me. Why can't babies just stay little a little longer?

Pre-school Snack

Ok...so I know these are SO not nutricious, but aren't these little turkeys cute!?
(you can tell they are turkeys..right? My fine motor decorating isn't award winning...yet. Giggle, giggle!)

Grateful

It seems like lately all I do is think about the things I don't have instead of being grateful for what I do have. Isn't that bass-akwards? More, more, more. If I just had this or we could just go do that. Blah, blah, blah! I have SO much to be thankful for and I guess I feel like I need to say it out loud (or in type!!) so it's not just a fleeting thought that I have in my head. There are so many people everywhere, many I know and love, facing discouraging things. Illness, loss of a job, unwell children, losing a home, losing a loved one. I am so very blessed. I have a man I LOVE who treats me like a princess. He not only holds, but honors the priesthood. I have 3 little healthy children who bring such a variety of personalities and gifts to our home. I not only get to live in a free country, I get to live where I love, Morgan. I get the privelage of staying home and soaking in every moment I get to spend with my babies. We have a nice warm house to come home to. And it's not just a house, it's a home...it's safe and it's ours. I have parents who love me. And I have the gospel to cling to. The knowledge that I can be with my family forever keeps me sane and gives me purpose and hope.

I think I am tired...which makes me feel emotional, which right now- makes me reflect on all the great blessings I have in my life. When we think we have it tough, we just have to remember there is someone else who has it alot tougher than we do.

Okay...I'm done. There is my own mini-Thanksgiving!!! And most likely whoever is reading this is a loved one...friend or family. So thank you for being a part of my life!

Caught

I wanted to take a picture of Kendal last night, but I had to go get my SD card out of my computer where I had left it the last time I downloaded pics. When I went to get it, instead of an SD card, I found a dime shoved in the slot instead. The SD card, you ask? It was shoved in a much larger slot for some other type of card. With the right tools, (tweezers and Cody) and tipping the tower upside down and shaking it, both were retrieved successfuly! Wish I could say that about all the pennies strategically placed in our CD player in the truck.

The culprit?

(Good thing she's cute!!!)

Sally

Addie learned about the letter "F" at school a couple weeks ago. After class, 16 preschoolers came running out of class with baby food jars containing their new little friends in them. Yay, a fish!! As you can imagine I was super pumped about that!! I guess for the letter "F", Teacher Melanie thought adopting a Fish would make an impression.

Meet Sally.

(We love you, Teacher Melanie!!)

Spook-tacular!!!

Witchey Witchey, Screamy Screamy, Happy Happy Halloweenie!!!

Today

So I sit here...with spit up down my shirt, a diet coke, and crusty mascara. I have 2 little helpers: ol' slobber chops fuzzy head, and spider-man...good thing Halloween is coming up- I just don't know if that costume could make it much longer!!! I dropped Addie off at preschool this morning. WHAT is with all those Moms who are perfectly spectacular by 9am in the morning dropping off their decked out preschoolers? Oh well, I guess I have something to aspire too.
My arm is SO sore, and I have a sore throat and other symptoms I won't bother you with. Yep..I got my flu shot yesterday. I have been doing flu shot clinics for about 5 years now, got a flu shot every year (their free to employees...what the heck? right?), and never felt sick. Well this year is a little different I guess. Maybe I had something else a-brewingin my body. Anywhoo...I hate being sick. When Dad's get sick they put in some PTO and come home and get in bed. When Moms get sick they have to stay at "work". Well...so here I am with a teething ORNERY baby, a crazy 2 year old, and a shower that desperatley needs to happen. Or a tub...that sounds more relaxing.
Some things we have been up to lately...in a nutshell (I just put Kendal down for nap and I need to get out of here....so here goes): I went to What a Women Wants expo...FUN and definatley worth trying, I got glitter toes-also fun, been giving flu shots-can I just say that I LOVE being a nurse! Cody has been sick for 3 weeks. The flu, bronchitis, and a sinus infection. I think we are nearing the end though...whewww! Mason or should I say Spiderman had a bad ear infection...but is ok now. Addie has been learning her letters A,B,C, and this week D. She is doing so good and remembering them well. She is doing excellent writing her name too. We just finished up co-ed softball, which was so fun-even though I wouldn't say softball is my sport of expertise. We are both staying super busy with church callings, shuttling kids around, and housework. I would just like to let everyone know: if we are ever rich I WILL hire a housekeeper immediatley. You know...just to clean bathrooms, piles of the kitchen floor, vacuum, etc. I believe it would make my life alot easier. Or less stressful. Because if my house isn't clean (which it usually isn't) I am worrying about getting it cleaned. Wouldn't it just be easier to eliminate all of that? Yes...yes it would!
Well...my little son would like me to read the Princess Fairy Tale book to him. I guess my break is over...back to "work"!

Oh dear...

A guy weed-eating & wearing swimming goggles, a nose picker, and a little girl who put her own swimsuit on (in a hurry-I might add).

I'd like it to be noted that this weirdness is a genetic defect...on the Williams' side!

Kermit

Someone stopped by for a visit. He made me scream. But he didn't seem to make the kids too uncomfortable-Addie ran up and started petting it like it was a kitten...yuck! She is NOT my child!

Girls Day Out

Here are my peeps. My BFF's. My buddies. The people who understand me. I am certainly not claiming that this is a professional photo session, but it documents crazy us. Candace, Kristina, and I.

Between a Masters program, a set of triplets, and 3 other cute, but menacing children, and about 100 miles...we manage to get together every so often. This day we went and saw "Eat, Pray, Love", ate at the Old Grist Mill, and shopped (not for us, I might add... but the small little people we live for : ) )

Self photography: Attempt #1

Attempt #2
Attempt #3- I think we got it!

The Neighbors

Now these girls have become fast friends! Ellie lives 2 houses down from ours and thank goodness. They also have a boy, Josh, about Mason's age and Sophie who is about Kendal's age. They have already spent endless hours playing, imagining, and finding mischief (I just noticed someone tried out their artistic abilites with a tool on the side of my truck!) I am so glad they have such good friends and neighbors to grow up with!

Here are my beauties dressed up in some fancy dresses Ellie's grandparents brought back from China. Aren't they Fantabulous?

W-O-W!

Yep...all I could do was laugh when I saw this one!

Oh-My-Heck!

SERIOUSLY...I have NO idea where our summer has gone! I just sat down (all the kids are napping-miraculous...I know) and had a minute to myself. It is the fair next week, which means it's AUGUST! AAAHH! I rarely watch t.v., I have gone weeks without even turning my computer on-which is crazy because it was a daily ritual for me, and I don't have much to show for all the time that has flown by! I guess just the daily things that go into taking care of 3 little peanuts is more time consuming than I thought. So far this summer we have done swimming lessons, play days at friends, parades, 4th of July celebrating, BBQs, weddings, swim parties, yard prep, lawn care, picnics, library time, and much more that I am sure I am not remembering.

I like to keep my blog up just for my own journaling purposes, but I feel like I haven't had time to do even that...and I feel so bad that I am missing these little moments in my kids lives that should be the most important! Anywhoo...I am going to diligently try to blog at least once a week. I'll shoot for perfection in August and we will go from there ; )

SWIMMING LESSONS

WHOA!!!

At 72 years old, can you believe my dad still shoes these bad boys?

No...this isn't our regular horse riding apparel. We just got back from swimming lessons.


(FYI- These big fellas' are Percherons-big draft horses that pull wagons and such)