a few photos to share

just wanted to pop in and share a few recent pics of the kids. logi and his froggies, camille and her uggs & twilight t, and isabelles and her broken arm. when i look at pics of them, i wonder how they got so dang big.

xoxo

merry merry christmas

merry christmas my friends and family. what a beautiful time of year. nothing like God's biggest blessing in our lives to remind us of the little things too.

the williams family has a very fun, warm, and adventurous christmas day.
the kids got many gifts to enjoy...camilles favorites were her vera bradley mini backpack, a cd/radio alarm clock, a twilight poster& tshirt...along with some books, clothes and craft supplies. Isabelle got a pink nintendo ds (so she could stop stealing logan's each night), a few barbies, some books, her own xbox 360 controller, a pet frog--two actually she named them bubbles&squirt. she also got some clothes and crafty things. Logan got some games for his nintendo, a skate ramp, some action heroes, his first chargers jersey, some books, clothes, and two pet frogs which i dont think he has decided on permanent names yet. ALL three kids also got brand new bikes. amazing mountain bikes that will last them through high school...well the girls' will, logan will need a new one when he is taller. after the excitement settled, we took the kids to the school to ride their bikes, and before alex could finish giving them instruction on riding bikes with gears, hand brakes etc...

our miss izzybusy takes off...does a loop around and ends up speeding down a hill, throws her front brake on, which of course flips the back of the bike up, throwing her feet over head forward off the bike onto the ground...camille runs over helps her...and as we are running to get to her...we discover that she has indeed ate shit (sorry) and broken her little left arm.

so the williams family gets to spend christmas day in the local Emergency Room, getting our baby girl a temp cast put on her arm. today we go to the dr. for a real set up. so the cast means no more basketball--her team is gonna be disappointed cause she was a star at it. no more brand new bike to ride, and she can barely hold her new nintendo. a lesson in listening to daddy i guess.

we are always full of stories, us williams'. something is always happening to us. i figure it just adds to the character of our family. we keep things up and moving...exciting...esp. when it concerns isabelle.

oh yeah. terry and her husband tom are spending the holiday with us...for a few more days. and i got a HUGE surprise from alex. if you know him well, you'll know he never gives me gifts. just never. i can count on one had and have leftover fingers the number of anniversary, birthday, or christmas gifts he has given me. BUT we sweet man outdid himself and made up for it all. he got me my very own laptop. and its a beautiful deep blue. i love it, i was so happy and surprised, i just cried and cried. that stinker. love him.

well gotta run to the DRs for izzys cast now. everyone else in enjoying a visit to DC today...but we'll get her fixed up and on her way to healing.

chat soon.
again.
merry christmas.
xoxo

OMGOSH!

YES!

i am a total nerd. i just don't care. yesterday camille and i went to see *twilight*. i LOVED it. yup, i really enjoyed the movie. it was probably cheesy, the flying up in the trees and all...

but who cares? it was a beautiful match for those dang books that i was so addicted to reading.
after watching the movie, i wanted to go home and read the first book again. seriously. how could you not love edward & bella??? i mean, HOW? silly as it may seem, i felt so happy watching that movie. i'm glad camille and i could watch it together (along with all the other tweens, teens and college girls and moms in the theater :)).

i think i'm on the lookout for a twilight tshirt...just to show my love and wear around the house, what do you think? and i am SO getting the movie soundtrack. it was fabulous. it reminds me of my old nkotb obsession when i was a teenager. of course not as huge as back then...cause i'm an adult, and a mom and all...but anyways. i totally loved all 4 books, and the movie was great. i read somewhere that they would make a movie of *new moon* the second book--geez I hope so.

see?? total nerd here. a happy one.

xoxo

ps. i am on team edward in case anyone wanted to know. (that means i like bella with the vampire edward, not the wolf jacob)...how could you not be on edward's team? who wouldn't fall in love with some immortal, teenage, beautiful vampire like edward--he even plays classical piano? hello? i mean, come on. yes, i vote for edward.

feeling fallish...

so--i made some cards yesterday (and finished today) while alex was at basketball tryouts with isabelle and camille. it's called try-outs but i think everyone makes the team, they just check out your skill level to put in a group that fits. yes--the girls are playing winter basket ball. i know, nothing i would have ever thought they'd do. really its just the only sport offered here until spring when Lacrosse starts. no biggie. boys can choose basket ball or wrestling. guess who starts wrestling on monday night? little logan-lover-baby. yes, i'm not ready for it. but he needs something and he sure needs something to toughen him up at least a notch or two. the boy has spent his whole life at my side...and it's not that it's a bad thing--shoot to be honest alex is the one who signed him up, without checking with logan or me. but what can you do when daddy grew up wrestling, and you've spent your first eight years glued to your mama's hip??? nothing.

i am praying that he'll at least like it...some. and if by some chance the sweetest boy ever takes to it--great. :)

so...back to my blog title.

i was feeling fallish yesterday...well its been days really. so I made some cards...i am going to send them to my very good friends. kinda like a thanksgiving card--but more something to let my girlies know how much i appreciate them and am grateful for their always being there for me. i'm even going to write notes inside and mail them out monday or tuesday. i have the stamps and envelopes all ready!!!

my next project is a birthday gift for my very bff* yolanda. her birthday is coming up in like a week...oh i better get off here and get to work. alex is off at b-ball again this afternoon. have i mentioned how great it is to have my husband home for some of these extra activities that he's missed for years?? oh, well, it's heavenly i tell ya. :)

peace on this sunday afternoon.

ps. check out L-DOG with the lil pumpkin--crazy boy!

xoxo

the last month...in no particular order

playing with doggies

neighborhood fun

trip to DC

alex sick in hospital

carving pumpkins

house floods and ceiling falls into basement floor

Camille turns 12!!!

leaves changing colors

more buster and henry fun

lots of leaves to rake in the yard

a few of my paper creations for my SU! uplines contest

so...some of that about sums up the past few weeks.

i know there has been LOADS more...but just wanted to finally pop in here and at least do some sort of catch up.

it's funny how on some weeks are just so full of stuff--and can be overwhelming, and then other weeks--only daily routines, which blurr the days.

we are full swing into November. sheesh. can hardly believe that.

trying to settle myself and get some holiday projects done. kinda hard though, with the whole flooded house thing.....my creative space is temporarily on hold...i did move my table and a few things upstairs so i could work on things as time permits.

we had an emergency health scare with alex, but things are looking better now. camille turned 12--which is crazy that my first little baby girl, can be so old, but she is. she listens and dances around to music, is constantly on her cell phone, using the computer, asking for more and more big girl privileges. She is doing great in middle school too, i am so proud of her, for adjusting so well this year.

anyway. lots of big and little stuff going on around here; preventing me from blogging. (nothing new there).

i am looking forward to the Twilight movie coming out in a few weeks... i will totally be going to see that. LOVED those books, they sure suckered me in. Remember me blabbering about how I just loved those silly vampire books. yup--still do.

i've got some cleaning to do so...

enjoy your friday my friends.

xoxo

ps. dontcha just love alex and i in matching tshirts? those are his last troops tshirt. and he gave me one, and i said hey--that looks kinda scary i could wear that for halloween, so we were twins for the day. :)

Henry and me.

i am feeling better. though i am still hanging on rather tightly to this cold i got 8 days ago. something not so fun to welcome in the fall with.

have i introduced our puppy henry higgins williams here yet? i don't think so. well, here he is. my feelings for him are growing as i spend my days with him and buster. henry is a staffordshire bull terrier. add that with being a puppy and you get a totally different doggie than i have been accustomed to. buster is easy and sweet and 6 yrs old, and set in his lazy day ways...henry is on fire all day long, with tiny naps here and there. it is a bit reminiscent of baby days past, potty breaks, cleaning up accidents, baby gates etc. though i am not connecting with henry as instantly as my sweet babes.

he is not a "cute" kind of dog. being a bull breed, well even at 10 weeks old you could see the power in his little body, and if he yawned my stomach fluttered--cause his jaws are huge and a bit scary. in his favor though-he is a funny little dog, easy to please (alex) and is already learning little commands like sit and down, and he loves to play with buster.

we always wanted a henry in our house--i just always thought he'd be a real boy vs the dog kind. alex adores him, and we are all beginning to live our lives with henry in the middle. the days are a bit longer with him now.....

*i am really starting to like maryland now. it felt so MUCH at first. but i am learning my way here and there. discovering that this place has a lot to offer. knowing in my heart i do NOT miss the crazy gloomy rain in Washington state. perhaps that makes here even better. the kids are making friends, we are getting into a daily routine rather well and October is flying by already.

i am still working on some card samples--i'll have those up here as soon as i get those done. also working on my october artist designs for the contest i won with my upline to showcase some of my work for her team of SU! demos. i'm using a Scandinavian Christmas set, a little silver embossing thrown in and i love what i've done so far. :)

happy monday friends. i hope you have a good week.

xoxo

out sick :(

hey friends.
i am out sick for a bit here. horrible head cold- that just keeps on kicking my butt. be back soon.
xoxoxo

World Card Making Day & a doggie Birthday.

Did y'all know today is World Card Making Day? Yup! Good Morning, and what do you plan to make today to celebrate?

i have made several cards in honor of today...i used a Stampin' Up! Simply Sent card making kit. they were quick and easy and i just barely used a few of my own items ( a couple brads, blue ribbon. punches)that were not in the kit. Now i have 12 cards ready for birthdays or celebrations...

i hope to spend some time later today making another batch of handmade cards and sending them out to my friends on monday...just for fun. so please be on the lookout for your lil card from me--in honor of me celebrating World Card Making day!!! And no, i did not make this day up...some other crazy card makers most likely did, but i'm happy about it. there is just something so special about sitting down to make a card ...writing a little note inside and mailing it out...i don't do the last parts as often as i'd like tho. i'll have to remember to do that too. :)

*also today is our sweet puppers buster baxter's birthday. he is 6 yrs old today. i really love this sweet good dog. he has brought so much love into all of our hearts. he is always nice and friendly and sweet and i swear he snuggles back if you give him some love. he has a huge part in all of our hearts, and he has given us so many smiles over the years. i am so happy alex went behind my back, all those years ago, and brought home the cutest lil bassett hound we ever saw. :) he has spent every day of his 6 years with us--in my company--so in a weird way--he is mine. (of course he loves alex more--just like the other kids--dads more fun and they all think hes so cool etc..)...but everyone comes back to me for their love--even the dog. so it all works out.

happy saturday peeps!

xoxo

yippeee for me!!

well, guess what friends? I won the little art contest I applied for. It is with my SU! upline (Janet Wakeland :)). She musta liked my halloween projects because i got picked to be her teams Artist of the month for October (she chose 3 winners). Yeah me. as a winner i get to create some super cool things using some SU! supplies (that i won) in the holiday mini and she will post my creations on her team website for everyone to see. i am sooo happy. i always give up on myself and i told myself to just focus and give this a try and i did it. it may not be that big of a thing, but it meant a whole lot to lil-ol-me. :)

i was never into the whole skull scene, but its big this year, have you noticed them on everything? i couldn't resist this stamp set though with the heart eyes. i even added purple glitter to the accents to add that lil something extra. i love how they turned out. miss isabelle keeps asking if she can have them. ( i think shes really aiming for the chocolate inside the mini box, whatdoyou think? )

i think if you click the pics you can see them better, however i think they are huge...i never can figure out this computer stuff.

that's all for today. its been a good October day!!!!

xoxo

halloween treat & hellos

hello friends. are you still there? i don't think i've had a comment from anyone in months. maybe i'm just writing to my self sporadically. i don't want to delete this blog in hopes that i actually post more often... so let me know if you are still out there. :)

just wanted to say hi, and show a lil treat baggie i made. nothing big, really. quick and cute--it's an easy gift for busy moms to make for your children's friends, right? LOVE the m&m colors for halloween, bought a HUGE bag of them, and i think this tiny baggie is about what's left. they are great to throw in a glass jar and munch on when you are creating. i will be filling up my jar later with a new bag.

i do have another set of projects to share, but i am entering them in a lil contest, so i will wait until the deadline is up...i'll post my fun stuff if i don't win, and i'll let ya know how happy i am if i do win. :)

happy monday peeps!!

*all supplies used on treat bag are Stampin' Up!

OH --have i mentioned that if you go to my Stampin' Up! Business website--the link is on the side of my blog--well there is a link at the top on the home page for online shopping--YES my friends, you can now shop for Stampin Up! supplies right off my home page in the comforts of your homes. Yippee, I know. So don't be afraid to browse the online catalog on my site and order anything your lil heart desires . :)

xoxo

i am here

i am here. i am just going about my days. doing all the things a mommy of three children and two dogs does. yes, thats right--we now have 2 doggies. alex showed up home with a puppy. i wanna say that he, (his name is henry higgins williams by the way), is taking every calm moment in our lives and turning it to havoc. i will be straight and say i did not want this dog. nor did i agree to him. as a matterafact--i said NO, more than once. but alex figured he deserved him...needed him more than anything. he has obsessed over this dog for months, even while in Iraq. he sent me countless emails about him. he even photoshopped a picture of one into a pic i sent him of the kids. yes, the man is that crazy over dogs. i spent a week hating both of them, i assure you. but alex knows i am a sucker if not a lady with a big heart. and so i am falling for henry more each day. cmon though, most all pups are cute...so i lose the battle there. and he named him henry. our special name reserved for my st bernard that we cannot get yet. so...i am adapting to life with henry. he is about 9 1/2 weeks old...tiny and growing and all over the place...he knows how to sit and "go potty" outside. although he loves going potty inside as well. i dont have my photos of him yet on the computer, but when i do i will show some pictures of him. oh--he is a staffordshire bull terrier--hence my reservation in wanting him....he will be the buff little terror--i mean terrier--next to our sweet bassett buster.

the kids are successfully getting up and ready for school each day. only a few major/minor meltdowns so far. :) homework has been better, the kids know they must do homework in order to do anything else like play with neighbors or watch tv etc...and they for the most part, LIKE to do school work, so no problems there.

i am slowly working on some stampin' up! stuff. getting things in places i can use easily. alex moved me back down to the basement. its cold and a bit dark--but i have a lot of space and its good to create with all your supplies in one place. i am usually just getting a few minutes here and there to make a single card, or put stuff together for future projects. i am working a halloween treat box right now.

alex is busy back to work--very different here than in wa, but things are well for him now too.

its time to get some little kiddos up--ones about to leave and 2 more to get up and ready to go, i'm headed to return library books today and then the post office--i know SO exciting huh?

xoxo

first week of school

a few photos of our week. i couldn't load all of them. i'll try a few more after this post as well. things are going well. getting up on time was a bit of a challenge--getting up by 6am even harder. so far Camille has liked each day. she walks to school with some girls in the neighborhood and then the other two get to the bus stop which is so very conveniently located at the top of our street--walk past about 5 houses and there it is. I LOVE THAT. no real homework this week. signing some more papers, getting notebooks organized, buying even more supplies....

since when did it cost a hundred bucks a kid for school supplies...i guess when they started asking for classroom Kleenex and papers and dry erase markers etc for everyone to share. I thought that's what our home taxes were for...but i guess not enough of it goes for that. anyways...

everyone likes school so far. izzy is the only one feeling the effects of this new move, new school etc...in the classroom i mean. she is not finding a friend just yet, and that is very hard on her. she is very social, but in a kinda awkward way, so she either comes off to strong, or maybe shy. shes very sweet and sensitive, and she was not ready to be a big girl and be in 5th grade this year. ive got my eye on her so we'll see. as the mama, i want everyone to be happy, make friends and get all A's--of course!!!

it's saturday. plans for today: throw in some clarol instincts #2 hair rinse to make ALL my hair blonde (the gray hair seems to be multiplying) for the next 6 weeks... clean the bathrooms, have the kids clean their rooms, wash buster, sweep, and pick out a semi sexy nice outfit to pick up alex at the airport this evening. Adog has been in WA for a month now, and we are so happy he is finally moving to maryland with us. maybe things will start to feel like home here with all of us together again. gotta run, be back soon.

xoxo

last days of summer vacation

so...these are the last few days of summer vacation. school begins Tuesday for Logi and Izzy and Wednesday for miss Cam. sheesh. a long eventful summer. some good, some bad. happy for some kind of routine to kick in. glad the kids will be in a social network of some kind...they need to meet some kids in this new town, find their place in it all.














the girls decided to try on outfits and so i grabbed the camera and shot a few pictures of them being silly. nothing fancy..they didn't want to stand there for very long...just wham bam...run back upstairs and try another. camille goes for poses, and isabelle just laughs as she struts her stuff. silly girls. one wants heels and skinny jeans, the other wants flair legged and converse.....such different little girls i have. so sweet and so ornery the both of them.


logan spent a bit of time finding things to check out with his science kit. he took some of the clumped up hairs that were falling off of buster (our poor dog & his allergies) and some bits of leaves, grass, dirt, he even put some ice tea in a test tube to check out what was floating around that maybe we couldn't see....









it was fun to see him get excited about his discoveries. my kids can be a pain when they are bored, let me tell you. they just get in each others faces...but i sure do love the heck out of them. and i love to look at photos that capture who they are right now...seeing them like this, helps me to appreciate how good and wonderful they each really are. (you know its hard to see that during the long days of summer where all they seem to do is argue over who gets what, or who is right, or who won what game etc.....



















well. that's all for now. lots going on in the next few days...really been kinda busy. today i want to put some pictures and decorations on the walls finally. nothing too exciting, but its something i've wanted to do since we got in this house. :)

xoxo