Ten on thursday

I know I haven't done this in awhile, but since I'm so incredibly far behind with my blogging, I figured this would give me a quick update of life right now....not way back in July.:)

1) school is in full swing, soccer has started, ALL the birthday parties are OVER:), JJ takes super consistent naps everyday, and I'm finally feeling like life is settling down a little bit from the summer craziness. We had alot of fun this summer, and, although I hate the daily morning routine of school, it's nice to have some sort of a schedule to get back to.

2. We're in the process of teaching Peyton how to ride her bike. It's kinda slow going, but she's doing well, and she is most definitely not a quitter, even after a few falls. She's a tough cookie and with a little prompting will always get back on her bike and try again. We'll probably head to the park this weekend and really get her going, I can't wait till she can ride her bike too, such a huge accomplishment!

3. We've been walking to school everyday to pick Halli and Blake up and walk them home. It's SOO nice that the school is so close, I just wish it would start to cool off a little, I'm tired of needing a shower after pick up.

4. Lexie and JJ are becoming fast friends as they spend more and more time together without the other girls. It's so fun to watch your kids grow up and really start liking, or disliking depending on the day, their siblings. Granted, the poor boy gets locked out of rooms quite a bit so they can all play without him, but when it's just him and Lexie, there's none of that. She's a great big sis and actually pretty protective of her "J".

5. I am amazed when I'm driving around just how brown everything is. The drought has been awful, and the trees are all dying. I guess the only good thing is that it might actually look like fall this year. Not that the leaves are changing colors, but their dying, so they look sorta fallish. At least in pictures you won't be able to tell the difference!:)

6. Our whole family is home this weekend, and we have NOTHING planned. Besides a soccer game, oh, and young mens volleyball that Kevin has to coach, but other than that, we've got a free weekend!:) It has been a VERY long time, like early July, since we've had a free weekend with nothing to do, and we're both actually home. This means we may actually get around to running some major errands that have been put on hold for way too long.

7. I was cleaning out our garage today, (only because it was so bad I kept running over things and breaking them...oops), and I found my old high jump spikes from college. Those things used to be glued to me, and sometimes I miss those good ol' days.:) Track was such a HUGE part of my life, and then I got married, started having babies, and I've left it all behind. I'm a little jealous that Kevin still gets to have basketball pretty consistently. Not that I could high jump right now if I wanted to, but it was fun, and sometimes I miss the competition, and the sense of accomplishment I got from it. Oh, and another thing, I couldn't even put the shoes on, cause they're too small. Dang pregnancies that have caused my feet to grow an extra size bigger...so sad.:(

8. I am slightly addicted to pinterest, and all the pretty things that can be found there. I've made a few of the foods I've seen on there, and most were pretty dang good. Let me just say, that if you haven't been on there, it may be a good idea to avoid it, cause it really is addicting. Now, anyone can pin anything (pin is another way of saying bookmark) they find online. I may have been very pleasantly suprised to see a couple of the parties I've done pinned on pinterest. It's kinda fun to see some random person has liked a photo from a party and wanted to save it, very flattering!:)

9. A little bit about our JJ, He's a sweetie. A squishy little man that has the most adorable smile and laughs so easily. But lately. Lately that little man has had quite the whiney streak, and it's starting to get on my nerves. Just a little. He wants to be held, but then he won't sit while you're holding him. He wants up, then down, and when I need him to want to be held, when we're out, that's when he wants to be down wandering. This is nothing new really, most kids his age do it. It's a super cute, adorable age but at the same time, it can be so very hard! Church is miserable, (only 4 more months till nursery!!!), but I wouldn't change it for anything. He's got me completely wrapped around his fingers and I wouldn't have it any other way! (well, maybe a little less whiney way, just sayin.)

10. Today Lexie wanted to go outside to play, after being out there for a little bit by herself, she came knocking at the door to come back in....holding her skirt. She wasn't wearing her underpants either. For some reason this little lady thinks it's perfectly normal to go pee in the grass. She thinks she's a boy! She's been potty trained since january, but still has her bouts of accidents, and bed wetting. Hopefully we'll see less and less of it, as it can get pretty old pretty quick. Today wasn't an accident at all though, it was just our silly Lexie thinking it's funny to pee in the grass...that girl!

A getaway with my Halli

Way back in July, I was able to take Halli on a little mommy, daughter weekend trip. Kevin and I talked about this for awhile, and had originally planned to find her baptism dress out there, but we found a pattern she liked better, so my mom ended up making it.

But we wanted to be able to take this small opportunity to let me spend some good quality time with her, go to temple square, talk with her a little bit about baptism, and just get to spend some time together and have fun. Boy, did we have fun! It's amazing how much you can do in a day without babies and naps, and tantrums!

We flew in on wednesday afternoon, and spent some time with my grandparents. They took us out to dinner, and we spent the night at their place. After picking up our rental car thursday morning, I ran into salt lake to get my hair done, (I miss my old hairdresser, he's awesome!!), then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening visiting old friends that I didn't get pictures of. I've missed all my friends from college, and Halli really enjoyed having some kids to play with....finally! She kept telling me how much she missed her sisters, so sweet.

Friday morning we were off to temple square. It is so gorgeous there, and Halli was just amazed as we walked around all the flowers and fountians. Then we headed into the Joseph Smith building to go see the movie they were playing. Can I just say that 1) it was an amazing movie, and 2) It was a perfect movie for her to see right before getting baptized.

Before the movie we wandered around the building, and Halli and I were both in awe at it's beauty. Seriously, such a gorgeous building!

This next picture is blurry, but I had to add it cause it just shows her amazement at everything she was seeing. I love being able to see things through my childrens eyes, and to watch them experience something for the first time.

Again, it's a little blurry, but I just loved watching her take it all in.

She did this all by herself. We walked into the lobby of the movie theatre, waiting to go in and we were a little early so no one else was there yet. She walked up to the statues of Joseph and Hyrum, pulled out her scriptures and just started reading right there. I hope she continues to love to read her scriptures always. She's got a great start so far.

We were still really early, so we decided to wander around a little bit more before the movie, and headed up to the top floor. Such a gorgeous view!

After the movie, we headed out to temple square, went to the visitors center, and saw the christus. She wouldn't let me take a picture of her cause there were too many people there, I can't blame her, I probably would have been the same way.

Then we headed over to the conference center. Again, it's a magnificent building, and she was just amazed at everything she saw.

We had to get a picture in front of the temple too. Halli was having fun watching the newly married couples come out of the temple too.

After leaving there we headed up to Mrs. Cavanaughs chocolate factory for a little tour. We met my grandparents there, and took my cousin Maggie with us. Although, I don't have a picture of her either, dang me!

It was a short little tour, but it was fun, as were the sweets at the end. We made sure to load up on some delicous chocolate.

Me, Halli and my grandma & grandpa. We had so much fun with them, and I look forward to heading back when it's Peytons turn!

After all that, we headed down to my old roomie's house to stay for the rest of the visit. When we got there, we gathered Halli and her kiddos and went out to do a little photoshoot with them all. I got a couple good ones of Halli, and a few of her kids too, so here are just a couple, I won't bore you with all of them!

And here is my BFF from college, Kristen, and her three kids. They were kinda done with pictures by this point, but they're a cute little bunch! Her little girls are Peyton and Lexie's age, so Halli felt right at home with them, and they were running around together all weekend.

Saturday was spent at thanksgiving point, where I seemed to get more pictures of Kristens kids than Halli, so those pictures are on their way to you soon Kristen, I promise!

It was a perfect weekend to spend with Halli wandering around my old stomping ground. We plan on continuing this tradition with each of the kids, and I look forward to it.

Be Grateful Kit

It's been awhile since I've done one of these, but here is a new scrapbooking kit for anyone that's interested. I actually made this over a year ago, and just haven't added it till now.

Just click on the picture and it'll take you to hopscotch studios where you can download it!

A mini vacation with best buddies

What? Not a party post, you say? Really?:) Don't worry, I

 still have another one of those coming up soon.:)

No, this is yet another lake travis post. Do we go anywhere else? Not really.

This time was fun though, cause we got to go with some really cool, super fun friends.

Seriously, they're super cool, and super fun. I'm not lying.:)

We spent all day on the lake, cause what else would we do. and we stayed up WAY too late at night playing games and hanging out without the kiddos. That was fun. Like, super fun.:)

We also ate, and ate and ate and ate. Some VERY yummy, VERY unhealthy foods. Oh, but it was SOOOO good! Don't worry, we were also all teammates for the summer of seals competition, so we worked out a little bit too.

We basically lived in our swimsuits for a weekend, as did the kids.

And I think it was pretty rare to not see smiles stretched across everyones faces. Unless they were crying, cause kids can do that sometimes. But I'd say there were far more smiles than frowns, for sure.

Everytime the wakeboarder switched, the boat would empty as children jumped into the water to cool off.  It was always fun trying to round them back up and onto the boat for the next person to be able to go, but what's the point of being on a lake if you can't get in all. the. time.?

and when we weren't on the boat, we were on the boat dock.

Now, I have to expain this next picture. See, I thought Halli had an imagination. I didn't know Maddie all that well yet, but let me tell you, that girl is going to be an engineer or something. She not only came up with crazy ideas, they totally worked!!! I was amazed. Maybe a little shocked at just what she thought up, but you can't be shocked for too long before you're in awe that it all worked out great.

Take this next photo for example. You may ask yourself, what in the word is Halli sitting in?

Well, let me show you.

Yes, they tied the blankets onto the two bunkbeds to make really deep hammocks. I was a little, "WHAT??" when I saw it, but it was fine. Besides having to make them take one down, because there were two and the sides of the bunkbed just couldn't quite hold it, it all worked great and held them all. not only that, but they put some pillows underneath in case it didn't work. Safety first!

See what I mean about living in our swimsuits? I love little girls in their little swimsuits, so adorable!

The little man may not seem excited here, cause he probably wasn't. He likes the boat, but he loves it when he's not being held on the boat. He can get a little grumpy when people don't let him play with the steering wheel.:) But even grumpy, he's so cute!

I didn't get any pictures of the two teenagers, they were awesome and the kids, especially the little ones just love them! I was typically in the house giving JJ a morning nap, so missed the mornings when everyone went out on the boats. But even without pictures, we loved having McKenna and Jake there to play with!

I did get a bunch of shots of the gang of younger kids. These guys were like a wild pack that ran around everywhere together. They all played SOO amazingly well together, it was a blast!

Jason brought up his kids wakeboard, and Halli learned how to do it that weekend. She was on cloud 9, and we are so proud or our talented little girl!

She's still learning!:)

Sweet Peyton loves to swim in the water, and she loves the jetski, but tubing is not her favorite, so she'd basically go on the boat for the ride, love that girl!

The whole gang cooling off during a trade.

Izzy amazed me with her fearless attitude. That girl is adventurous and far more fearless than Lexie who will not ever put her face in the water. Izzy will go clear under with her dad.

Not this is where the J man likes to be. Playing with the controls.:) He's got a slight obession with steering wheels. They make him happy!

Some more of the gang, such cute and fun kids.

Yes, even the moms get out there and do our thing. Go Jen!

Lexie was quite the helper and blocked JJ from going off the boat dock. Such a great big sis. Don't mind that JJ is probably screaming his head of at her for not moving.

Really, who wouldn't have a smile streched across their face with a weekend like that?

Maybe we need to make this an annual trip, we had so much fun, I can't wait to do it again soon!

A "J" Birthday Party

Alrighty, it's another party...sorry! We're in the middle (almost the end) of birthday season in the Williams household.:)

Our little man turned one, (about a month ago, but it's been a kinda busy summer and I'm a little behind on just about everything!:) and we are just so incredibly in love with our little guy!

To honor mr. JJ, we did a "J" themed party. You have no idea how hard it is to think of different foods/treats that start with J, I had to enlist the help of some creative friends to come up with different names that would work.

So, there's not much to say about it all, except that it was fun to get together with family and some close friends and celebrate our handsome cutie. Also, I kinda love orange and blue together, it seems to be the colors I choose for most boy things. What can I say, I had a slight obession with orange in high school, and I don't think it's ever quite ended!:)

Look at these cute kids, so excited for some yummy cake! Don't mind that it was the third cake that week. We had a cake smash cake for his pictures, and a cupcake on his birthday, then this one. We were a little cake'd out by the end of the week!

JJ makes us all smile and laugh daily, I am in love with him, and this is by far my favorite age so we're just trying to soak it all in before he gets too big!