Procrastination

Is the name of the game folks, and I AM the grand supreme champion!

That said, I am posting this now because I will have other time to post today. The kids and I are off on a secret mission.

;)

Breaking news.

Spring Clean Day 2

So I am hoping for better luck today. Yesterday was hard going. It seems I am burnt out by the afternoon these days and having nothing to do makes getting the kids around a task and a half. Who would have thought an empty schedule would be a hindrance?

Today I am making up "chore packs" for the older three to accomplish and am hoping that doing so will keep us more on task. I have told them that if we meet our "goals" for the day tomorrow we will get out of the house and do something "fun". (Don't ask I have no idea what that will be yet!)

I will update this with some cleaning pics later.

Spring Clean Out - Day One!

School is out for spring break this week, the dance studio is closed and even the Y is off! So we are planning to use the week to really clean out the house. Everything needs a good going through, sorting out, and polishing. I am hoping to get everything re-organized and giant yard sale heap at least ready for weeding, pricing, and sorting.

In addition there are a few home repairs I am hoping Jason gets to, and it looks like we will be purchasing some furniture next weekend. The little boys are getting bunk beds! Finally we will be putting new carpet in Luke's new "pad" and finishing hanging his decorations. Whew -- I feel exhausted just reading it!

A Soccer Monster

So after this mornings game the Y youth director informed me that she thinks we may need to move Samuel to the 5 and 6 year old division next season, instead of the 3 to 4 age range. This after he scored 8 goals... in the first quarter. :)

Congratulations Samuel!

Samuel has passed the EEL level at swimming and moved on to RAY/STARFISH (the highest level for kids 3-5) at the YMCA. Way to go puppy!

Weekend Update

And no, this won't be funny like Saturday Night Live. ;) It's Friday and the week is over, school is off for spring break so we are "breaking" here at home as well. We have a couple of tumbling classes this evening and then we are on hiatus even from dance. Swim team will begin back up again in a week. The only thing we have going next week is a solitary soccer practice Thursday night which I wanted to cancel but Samuel missed last night so we are going to go. (I'm the coach so canceling is my prerogative!)

We have a busy weekend ahead, which I am only feeling so-so about. My head is killing me for the third morning in a row (I think have a sinus infection), and the week-- although it has some great highs, had some serious rough patches. We have weight check at the pediatrician's today, two tumbling classes this evening, and Samuel has a 10 am soccer game tomorrow. Of course, it's picture week at soccer so we will have to be there by 9:30. I was invited to a mom's twilight viewing party on Saturday :) but I don't think I will be going as it conflicts a bit with my schedule. We also have church on Sunday and our couple's bible study Sunday night, which I may be going to alone this week because Jason has to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. Ugh.

Samuel-isms.

So Samuel is dropping off at school this morning and sees the sign designating it a "smoke free, weapon free, drug free" area. The sign also has symbols-- a cigarette, a gun, and a needle. He points it out to Teague and says "See, no smoking, no shooting, no flu shots." :) Sometimes I love the innocence of a 4 year old. Actually, I think I always love the innocence.

Quiet Evenings.

Confession time, we skipped out on church last night. That is really rare for us on a Wednesday night, but I was cold and had a headache. (Yes I know it wasn't cold yesterday, but I was cold. I think I am coming down with something...) So we came home, the kids had Long John Silvers (yuck!) and I had mashed potatoes from the chicken place. It was kind of nice to spend an evening at home, with the TV off, quietly decompressing from a busy weekday. I wouldn't trade Wednesday night service for it on a regular basis (I need that spiritual re jolt midweek to much!) but it was nice for a change of pace. Samuel and Teague built a Thomas puzzle about a dozen times, and Molly and Luke played Chutes and Ladders, and Monopoly Jr.

One more belated birthday thought.

Yesterday, my little sister turned 16. My baby sister. Wow. First of all -- that makes me old. lol.. Second of all-- wow, that makes her old! Well, at least it makes her "big" And that's kind of hard for me to wrap my brain around. I still think of Sarah as the little girl with the long blond hair who used to dress up as "Princess Goldenaria" and go to the bagel store with me. She always used to get a choc chip bagel toasted with butter. :)

Already being "older" when Sarah was born she taught me a lot of things. How to change a diaper, burp a baby, keep track of a running toddler at the park. More importantly Sarah taught me how to not be loved, but how to love someone else unconditionally. I loved Sarah so much in those early years that when I was pregnant with Lucas, before we knew if he was a boy or a girl, I used to cry (because I was hormonal!) but also because I was "afraid" that he would be a girl and I wouldn't think she was as pretty as Sarah was. Now that I am a mom 4 times over again I know better -- that's just not the way it works. But at the time it was a real fear!

So Happy Birthday sweet Sister! (a day late on here I know!) I hope you had a great day.

The Birthday Boy (part one)

It's Jason's Birthday today, and I am going to take this moment to be thankful for the generous husband, and the fabulous dad he has grown up to be. :) And I can say that because we were barely grown ups when got married, and the dad thing didn't always come so naturally. (As expected of an only child who was never really around babies, or siblings!) When Luke was three weeks old Jason asked me if he was "Slow" because he wasn't crawling or anything. hee, hee,... but you would never know it now:

Sunshine

If I post before midnight it still counts as a Monday post right? ;)

You know some days the sun just shines, the kids just behave, and everything just goes right. Today was one of those days. A day when you are acutely aware in EVERY moment that it is a gift from him.

All the schoolwork got done, even spelling, the laundry got put away, the house maintained, dinner was fabulous, and Luke didn't have a tantrum about bed. We had lunch with a friend, and Teague had PT. (Okay so PT wasn't a bed of roses.. Teague told his therapist to "Go out house!" But it could have been way worse.) I had a run up to the lab at the Dr's, and Molly had a good Irish class. Heck, one of the other parents actually talked to me. :) Usually I bring a book to Irish. I hate feeling that way -- like I am not a part of the group, or not wanted. It reminds of junior high, but the studio can be like that sometimes. But tonight it didn't even really bother me much. I have friends, I have friends at the studio, and I am not in 7Th grade anymore. ;)

To be continued..... and a cute Molly story

Big news coming soon -- keep checking back!

Yesterday at dance, Molly accidentally switched her tennis shoes in the dressing room with someone else -- they were the exact same shoe except the other shoe was four sizes to large. We didn't notice until dance was over and she went to put them on. At first glance I knew they were to big, and told her so. "Molly -- those are not your shoes. They are way to big."
"But they look like my shoes"
"I know that, but those shoes are WAY to big -- where are your shoes?"
"These are my shoes."
"No Molly, they just look like your shoes, where are your shoes?"
(I am starting to get panicky looking around because I can NOT see them!
"Well, maybe my feet shrunk."

:)

p.s. We did eventually get the right shoes back!

TGIF

Whew! It's finally Friday. It seems like many people have had one of "those" days this week. (Based on a number of facebook updates) We had a few of "those"days this week as well. Some days just don't go according to plan. Sometimes life just doesn't go according to plan. And in these times I thought it was important to remind everyone again that God does have a plan. Even when it seems like there isn't one, or even when it seems like you may not like the plan, there is a plan none the less. God does not desire to leave us in bad circumstances, he isn't doing things to "punish" us, or tempt us. He never leaves us alone, for God is a God of love, who seeks to lead us to great things in life. We must hold firmly this belief, not only in the good times, but in the hard times especially.

So chin up, "those" days are behind us. Springs has arrived today, and a new, fresh week looms just around the corner. Here, in the Williams household we are looking forward to an especially relaxing weekend. We have one soccer game tomorrow morning and THAT IS IT! (aside from church obviously but still!) I have spring cleaning I really hope we get too -- but I am going to try not to focus on it to much, and enjoy the peace. (Notice I didn't say "and quiet" ..lol.. I have four kids it is never quiet! :) )

The sea witch... lol

To quote one of my favorite Disney movies

"Life is full of tough choices, isn't it?"

(Ursula, The Little Mermaid)

And boy, isn't it! So even though I have dedicated this year to loving my life, sometimes that's a tall order! It doesn't even take a catastrophic event to pull us off the course of loving life, sometimes it can just be a day full of little ones that leave us wanting to walk out into the yard, stare up at the heavens, and scream at the top of our lungs "THIS IS NOT MY LIFE!"

Yesterday, was one of those days.

Most days the kids are up and out of bed with thrice my energy and enthusiasm bright and early. I can't remember the last time Luke wasn't downstairs waiting for me regardless of how early I get up-- some days he is up at 5:30-6 a.m. But yesterday, nobody got up -- I had to drag all four of them out of bed, and into clothes. Okay I will be honest -- I only dragged Luke and Molly into clothes. We dropped Luke off at school with the boys and still in p.j.'s. When we got home Samuel cried for an hour because he wanted a waffle for breakfast and we were out, and I needed to give baths and showers to all. I had hoped to leave the house by 10 am. I think it was 11:15 when I pulled out of the drive. I don't even know why -- did you ever have a day when you just couldn't leave the house? (Oh yeah -- did I mention Samuel completely FLOODED the bathroom too?) Then I had a meeting at the school which took FOREVER -- and it was 11:50 when I got to the bank, the teller was snotty, they were out of suckers. :( No suckers makes for a whiny Teague. I still had to run into Kroger and the drug store before the sitter came for my Dr's appt. -- AT 1:00.

Wanna hear the humiliating story of my Dr's appt? I was going for my annual to a new OB/GYN. Well earlier this week, I tried a new scent of deodorant, and guess what? I'm allergic to it. So I had hives under both arms. Aside from being itchy and painful -- it was humiliating. (For those of you who don't know -- you have to lift your arm up during a breast exam) I don't know if it made it MORE embarrassing or LESS embarrassing that I knew the women. lol...

I got out of the Dr's office SOOO late that I was 20 minutes late at school pickup, all to swing by the house to pay the sitter and grab the kids -- I literally run them all out to the car to go to tap -- we were already late at this point -- when Molly announces part way there that she forgot her tap shoes. ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We skipped tap. By the time I got home, she would have missed the whole thing. I was in serious need of a bubble bath, and a soda. In the end, I settled for Panera Soup, and a Sierra Mist and a relaxing Wednesday night church service.

Some days are hard. But it was nice to finish one with a message about living life on God's terms, and not my own. Some days are hard, but it's important to remember that even the hard days are a gift.

Stop the Presses! (Signs of Spring #2)

Samuel's "duck friends" have returned to the park!

Samuel's "duck friends" have returned to the park!I have decided, (as if any of you care!), that 70 is pretty much the perfect temperature. :) Yesterday, after our traditional St Patrick's Day meal, Jason and the kids and I walked over the park for awhile and it took in the down right "balmy" March air. I know for a FACT that we have had our Corned Beef snuggled in our warm house waiting out the snowstorm in year's past. If this is global warming I'll take it! ;) (Just kidding I do like the snow...lol)

These are some more pics from the park! Enjoy and happy Wednesday everybody!

The ham showing off her St Patty's Day outfit! (before we left)

And on the way home:

Coming Soon to an inbox near you!

My little blogger has started her own page. (With a little help!) Watch your inbox for links to Molly's blog!

Busy

You know it was a busy day when I didn't get to the blog on a Monday. (Usually one of my slower days of the week!) We are knee deep in spring cleaning in addition to all of our regular commitments. Today of course is crazy, as most Tuesdays are. We have Samuel's dance class, Molly has jazz, Luke will be at the Y (when isn't he at the Y?!) and tonight Samuel has a choice between swimming, which he usually does on Tuesday or making up last week's tumbling class. All of this in addition to the fact that's it's St Patrick's Day and I have some Corned Beef to be cooking.



Over the weekend I went to a baby shower for which I made a set of custom burp cloths, a set of 5 onesies, and a matching little knit hat and booties. They all said "K is for Kaileigh" which is what they were naming the baby. I was pretty happy with how they turned out and Jason suggested I try selling some on Etsy. We shall see....

A Journey from a Far...

So I think I may have forgotten to mention that we had a visitor arrive this week! It's a boy, he's about 8 inches long, and made of paper -- he is very thin! Meet Flat Stanley:

One of the many advantages to being "flat" is that he arrived Monday via The United States Postal Service for a mere 44 cents! Stan (as we called him) is a visitor from New Jersey and he arrived with a letter explaining that he is on a journey and asking if he could stay with us for a week and document his adventures!

We have spent most of the week letting Stan tag along on our daily activities -- you would never believe the trouble such a flat, little man can get it into!

On his first night here Stan decided he wanted to give Irish dancing a try:

This is Stan with Molly learning how to properly tie his guillies. (Irish dance shoes)

This is Stan meeting his dance teacher for the day "Miss Jessyka" -- She was really excited to have a boy try out the class!

But Stan quickly realized that he was much to small, and much to thin to keep his guillies on. He decided to head out of the studio and watch instead. "Those Irish dancers do a lot of work!" Stan declared!

On Tuesday morning when we were headed out the door for dance again Stan decided to give dancing one more whirl -- and he grabbed his cracker crumbs for breakfast and ran out to the van just in time!

Stan was so excited to be there - and glad he gave dancing another shot! This class was much more his speed, and better yet -- everyone in this class was tiny!

Stanley danced the entire hour learning the basics in ballet, and tap, but he was very disappointed when Miss Lori told him he wouldn't be getting one of the many shiny trophies in the lobby after just one dance class. She explained that it takes years of practice before a dancer made the company. She did however let Stanley pose for a picture with some of the company's most recent trophies. (I could be wrong but I think Stan tries to pass those off as his own when he gets home!)

With his illustrative dance career behind him, Stanley decided he wanted to spend some more time with the other "tiny people". So on Wednesday he asked Samuel to take him to preschool with him.

Stanley reminded me that he had seen on our TV that in MI you have to be 4 foot 9, or 8 year old before you can ride without a booster seat. Since Stanley was nowhere near 4 foot 9, and I didn't want one of his adventures to be a trip to jail, we let him ride with Samuel.

When they arrived at school Stanley could hardly contain himself! He enthusiastically read the sign "Sandstone Church presents Noah's Arkademy Preschool!"

Once inside Stanley made himself right at home, reading books....

and helping Samuel at the computer station.

Stay tuned next week for the rest of Stanley's adventures in Michigan, as well as his bon voyage party.....

Oh no. What Samuel thinks of me.

Sometimes the most telling thing in our lives is the way our children describe us. Yesterday Samuel was drawing little pictures on the Magna Doodle of everyone in the family doing "their best thing". He drew Lucas in the pool. Molly dancing, Teague playing, Daddy playing basketball with him -- and then he drew me:

Yep -- that's me, on the computer. Oh. Huh? Hee, hee.... So I am going to get off of here now and go spend some extra time with my kids. :)

More signs of Spring...

Even though it's a mere 28 degrees outside today, and, in Samuel's words "God is blowing really hard", signs of spring remain everywhere. It's like we had one day of 70 degree weather and we all decided spring was here -- no matter what the weather told us. As if we could will spring to come simply by believing it. People are out everywhere in spring jackets, or at the very least winter jackets minus the hats, scarves, and gloves that would have been mandatory apparel not two weeks ago.


Perhaps the greatest sign that spring is just around the corner, at least in any "dance" house -- Molly brought home her first costume this week for the recital. It was her Irish costume, and since everyone is always anxious to see I thought I would share!

It's a bit to low and gapey in the bodice -- I will have to cut and reposition the straps as I did on most of our costumes last year. She is to petite in frame for the length she needs. No biggie though!


editors note: This pic is not the best -- it was taken through the window at the studio.

Blessed.

Have I mentioned how wonderful my husband is on here? I bet I haven't nearly often enough. Because he really is. :) Right now I am on here, relaxing in the living room and watching hockey in my p.j.'s. I have already taken a bubble bath and where is Jason? He's in the kitchen cooking mostacolli and garlic toast for dinner. All of this after he told me to skip swimming and dance tonight.

(It was a long day -- we had dance this morning, Luke and Samuel both had a friend over all afternoon and to top it off it was rainy, and wet, and cool, and Luke was off school so it throws our entire schedule off. There were no calamities -- just a general "ugh" day. )

It wasn't always the case that I would have told you my marriage was wonderful, that my husband was a blessing from God. I wish it were but there were rough years -- and I will tell what changed it if you promise not to laugh. :) I went to bed one night in tears, and I lay there in my bed and asked God to be with me. To be with my marriage, to fix it, to make it all that it could be. I lay there alone, with tears streaming down my face singing "draw near to me" and pleaded with God to bring happiness back to me. And as cheesy as it sounds, he did. He transformed the way I looked at my life, my marriage, my husband, and as I changed so did we. No our lives aren't perfect, sure we still argue -- that's what we do. :) But its been different ever since. Drastically, life changing different, and I know who I have to thank for that. God.

I am linking this to my very favorite song right now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NoIJglsGms
Be thankful to God for the relationships he has brought into your life -- they are a precious extension of his grace and his mercy.

News Flash!

Samuel says this "great news!" -- he has finally learned how to pedal a bike! (Pics coming soon!)

Following the yellow brick road...

I am in desperate need of courage today. It's pretty pathetic really but I have a few phone calls to make today that I am NOT looking forward too. I have an appointment I don't really want to go to. I am trying to tell myself that God is with me, that as long as I do the right thing -- he is with me, he can be my strength and my words. It's hard.

A rare Saturday post.

So I interrupt my usually blog free weekend to share some pics and video from the park yesterday. What a beautiful day it was! I detailed the van after lunch -- it REALLY needed it --while the kids played in the yard. On the way tumbling one of them said "Isn't it so cool that God made it so pretty and warm today?" And well... I think so too. Even if it IS 30 again by the end of the week, I think God gives us days when it's 70 in March to remind us that spring and summer are coming. Because like in all things, he knows when we need encouragement, when we are bogged down with "winter."

These pics are from last night so the kids had to put their coats back on as it was getting windy. We did go "coat free" during the day though!

For some reason Teague thinks the playscape is a pirate ship-- so every time he gets on it he yells "ARRRGH! I'm a pirate!" :)

This one is my favorite! Samuel was trying to "catch" Teague!

When they were done on the playground they decided that we were all going to run "up the hill" -- they even tried to help Teague.

In the end they couldn't wait for him anymore and took off up the hill with Teague yelling "guys! wait! I coming! I coming!"

Below is the "Terrorizing Threesome!"

Eventually Teague caught up to them, and standing at the top of the hill he got all excited looking down and yelled "Mama! A Mountain!"

Then the best part of running up the hill -- running down!

Luke was the first to fall because well... you make more of a spectacle falling! ;)

Samuel tried really hard to stay on his feet!

And little mama that she is, Molly eventually went back to help Teague.

But it proved to much for them, and after many trips up and down the "mountain" the impossible had been accomplished. They were worn out!

Which was right about the time that Teague looked up his "mountain" and pointed out "Luna" (the moon) to us. So our late spring day in early March was over and we headed home!

The End.

P.S. I am adding a video of one of the "rolling down the hill" attempts. If you look closely you can see Teague's yellow coat wiggling on the ground at the top of the hill. LOL.. He couldn't figure out how to roll down it.