school. has. started.

be back very soon.
xoxo

coming home

These two are coming home today. isabelle and i are so excited. we have seriously missed them. this is the longest logan has ever been away from me, and i find myself almost aching for him. my sweet skipper. camille has had a long vacation before and she is very close to her meema, so i never seem to worry about her so much. i miss her, of course. shes kinda my buddy at home. we can have more involved conversations, talk about girlie things and all that since she is getting older. i've missed that these past few weeks. i know she has done a good job helping to take care of herself and logan while away. isabelle and i had a wonderful time together. but i think she is done with me. today is our last morning together and she planned a playdate with a friend. yeah- i think she is over me already. :)

i have not missed the sibling squabbles. so i really really hope and pray that it doesn't start as soon as they see each other. usually its "ive missed you so" and then by the time we walk in the house from the airport, there's bickering already. we'll see.

having us all home again is going to be nice. we can start getting ourselves prepared for school which starts very soon- less than 2 weeks way. this year we have 4th grade for logan, 6th grade for izzy, and 7th for cams. geez. my children just keep getting older and older. its so strange how that happens. i'm excited for them. they all do well in school (for the most part) and enjoy being there. I'm praying for no friend troubles, no issues, good grades and happy learners. is that too much???

gotta go. the morning is already getting away from me.

xoxo

another week together :)

some more time with isabelle and mommy. i take all the pictures and watch her play and listen to her chit chat and she has fun running around from this activity to the next. :) i'm having a good time with her too. parks, the pool, we even went to the movies and saw G force. it was cute. all of us williams' love a good spy movie. :) on our schedule for the rest of the week, is a 6th grade jitters thingy at the middle school, playtime with neighbors, and another movie play date with a friend on friday. next week we clean the house a little extra and work on projects and wait for camille and logan to return. breakfast time, i gotta go.

xoxo

time with izzybusybells

this is my first time alone with izzybusybelles in the 11 years shes been alive.

cams and logi are in san diego on a lil summer adventure with their meema.

yesterday was day one.

it was full of this and that. i sure love this girl, she has so much to offer. she is right at the age where she is still a little girl and all of a sudden a big girl too. starting middle school in late august. lots of changes. of course as her mama i feel worried. have i taught her enough to cope with all that will come her way? are we both strong enough to figure it out along the way? i like to think so. we've done pretty good so far. my izzy, she presents herself as loud and crazy and confident with a carefree attitude. but she is also very sensitive and sweet and doesn't often click with people...she gets her little feelings hurt, but lashes out to hide them.

anyway. i am just taking her all in. enjoying just being with her--this little time we have to grow and bond together as mama and daughter.

at the same time missing camille and logan. its very hard for a mother to give her kids time and space to be away. even if we all need it. i always get the sick butterfly feeling inside when any of them are away from me too long. esp. this past year. i have an extra urging to protect them. to need them by me.

i always feel like i fall short on being my best mama to them, but then something or someone will remind me how wonderful they are. how smart and beautiful and healthy and vibrant, and i must admit that it can't all be their natural selves, it can't all be God's graces. i must have something to do with it. i try my best.

i guess i'm loving my littles extra today. thinking of them in my heart.

ok. enough of this, time for adventures with my girlie.

out and about in DC

the photos here are all mixed up, but the little day trip went well. we went down to DC on Saturday. it was nice. it was hot. we drove around and did some site-seeing first. checking out all the foreign embassies. that was kinda cool, seeing their flags and how nice the buildings were. the British embassy seemed to be the biggest one. there are soo, i mean SOOO many weird buildings down in DC. it's kinda neat to imagine what on earth goes on inside some of them. lots of strange names for this or that. i was kinda afraid of being down there when we first got here. too many people, too much just stuff-- but each time i go, i discover the beauty of our nations capitol, the sense of our history pulls you in. the mix of government buildings with houses and businesses and people all mixed in. i got a little photo of the security on top of the white house just as alex was explaining some of it to us. that was cool. we ended up at the free Smithsonian zoo and park. it was nice. we looked at cows and lions among some other animals. it was really hot but the zoo is on a wonderful spot of land within a park, i forget the name. but it would be a nice place to walk around and enjoy when the weather is cooler. we also stopped at the National Cathedral. now THAT was spectacular. what a beautiful place to attend services. the kids and i peeked inside. really beautiful. i just wanted to sit on the lawn and breathe in the peacefulness of it. Its pretty massive and we will defintely be going back for a better longer visit.

we ended our trip to DC by swinging by Capitol Heights, where my whole family (expect me) was born and lived for generations. what a dump. seriously. it was really hard to see how rundown and scary it was. my grandma died in Jan. of 2004, when alex was in Iraq. she lived in her house on opus ave, my whole life and most of hers. even though she passed away-- in my mind sometimes i forget to think that she isn't there in her house anymore. i mean i pray for her soul and sometimes miss the heck out of her, so i know this, but it just doesn't feel true. they tore her house down when she passed and the property was sold. they built another house on the lot and even though it is newer, it looked already crappy. like maybe they started building and someone came and tore things up. anyway. there were very shady people all over the streets around her house...it looks like a horrible drug area and pretty poor. and it was good for me to see. the reality of it all. the new house there even has a different number. granny lived in 706, and the new one was 704. so not only is she not there, her house is completely gone. i do have a few memories of my time living with her there. and the one that sticks out the most is how i thought the house was so big, and the yard, and the hill up the street seemed so big to walk up. well the property is not all that big, and the hill was kinda steep but not very big. the houses were all cramped together and not as my young mind remembered. and we looked at the house that we lived in with my dad at the end of grannies street. all crappy falling apart houses. in a way it broke my heart to be there and not find her. but it gave me some closure too. i don't ever have a reason to go back to capitol heights....well that's not true. my granny and my dad and lots of aunts, uncles, and the grandpa i never knew are all buried there somewhere. (that can be another visit for another time). i was glad that i was the lucky one born and raised in san diego. i only lived back in dc with my granny for a few years when i was younger. and while my dad and others spoke of DC as home, i never ever felt it. i only thought of granny in DC. in her big (little) white house on opus ave. i'll just hold onto the good memories i have of that time and place. thats all i can do really.

reading & pancakes

a few glimpses into our daily life here.

Logan is reading a series called Maximum Ride the book is called The Angel Experiment. he is so into this book. i had to cut him off last night at midnight!! camille has the whole series for him to read and he is loving it. I'm so proud of him for reading without me asking him to.

Also, Camille has been waiting to make us all blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and today was the day. they were yummy. i love when she gets a bright idea and esp. when it only involves a bit of my help. shes such a great girl, highly motivated lately to do all sorts of projects. i just love her. no pics of izzy today. she is sitting as close to the TV as she can this morning having her quiet TV time while the other 2 are out on the porch. they hate her shows, so shes trying to get her time in. :)

that's all for today.

my plans:

important phone calls.

post office.

wash my hair.

help cams finish sewing for terrys bday gift.

as long as i get them done today i'll be good.

xoxo

summer swim meet--last one

today was logans last swim meet. he did pretty good. no ribbons given out yet so we'll have to wait to see what he gets at the swim party next week, but he did beat at least one of his own times, so good for him. :) i am kinda thankful its over, getting him to swim practice each morning takes much effort. it was worth it, he had a fun time, improved all his swimming strokes, became a stronger swimmer AND trimmed up his little big boy body. he has his dads body minus the muscles...and it needs constant work outs or its get a lil chubby. :) of course on logan its still cute chubby. :)

i am happy to have our saturdays back. swim meets suck all your time and energy. and it is on saturdays there is the biggest of hopes that alex may pop in to spend time with us...so i need my saturdays back. :)

a few pics of our morning, and im off to relax. i think i got a lil sunburned too.

xoxo