More Thanksgiving Break Fun!

Besides our feast (see previous post for those details) we had a lot of fun taking a break from school. Poor Bart had to work most of the break, but that didn't stop us from having all the fun. Jacob made some crafts at school and was so sweet when he came home and gave one to Anna. She was so pleased to have something from him. In the picture of the turkey he is holding it is hard to see, but each feather has something he is thankful for on it. I loved reading it--mostly different family members and food. Super cute. They also had fun putting some Thanksgiving stickers onto a background and re-creating the first Thanksgiving. Thank you to Anna's primary teachers for sending that home. It kept them busy for at least an hour. Really, thank you so much. Here are their "crafty" pictures:

My 2 Turkeys with their 2 turkeys.

Anna and her sticker picture

Jacob helped her place everything and

I listened to him telling her as much

as he could remember from school. I love

to hear how they remember or interpret things.

They crack me up.

Quite possibly the best part of the break for the kids came when it began snowing. So much excitement in the air. "Now it is really winter, Mom", squealed Jacob. I was such a great Mom though if I do say so myself. On Saturday afternoon there was finally enough snow to sled down the hill across the street. I was getting everyone ready to head to Costco for a few things we needed. Bart was at work, but we looked out and could see all these kids out there having fun. I made a fantastic decision to let the kids sled BEFORE Costco (it all goes back to bribing and bargaining for what you want and need). I somehow managed to get Rachel out of the bath, 2 kids into snow gear that I had to search for, put Rachel down for a nap, bundled myself up, got the sled out, and went outside to play. I kept checking on Rachel every few minutes, but other than that, I loved watching them sled. Last time Anna was too afraid to go down the big hill. We walked down a bit and let her start on a smaller hill. Jacob was such a good brother to her and held onto her so tight and talked to her so she wouldn't be scared. Before too long, she conquered that big hill. I was so proud. We also made snow angels, had a snowball fight and chase, and laughed and laughed. When we were done with a good lunch and some hot chocolate we piled in the car for a trip to Costco. The kids were so tired that all 3 sat in the cart while I handed them samples, didn't ask for anything extra, and were so cute the whole time. See, compromising does work. Okay, enough narration, here are the pictures which is what people really want to see anyway!

My favorite picture of the day. Pure Joy.

Making Snow Angels-I didn't know it was such a serious effort, but Anna's face shows the amount of work and the real way to make a good angel. Did I mention I used to wear this outfit?

A few views of the hill. It is a HUGE climb. Jake later said, "Man, my legs sure are tired." Probably because he ran up the hill at least 25 times and carried the sled every time. Anna tried to help, but it just didn't work out. What a great brother he was to her. I was very proud.

MY BIG MUSCLE MAN!

What a great Thanksgiving Break. Mom sure was glad to get back to normal today though.

Jacob and Anna, not so much. They missed each other today.

An Impressive Thanksgiving Feast!

Anyone that knows me well knows that cooking is not in my blood. It seems to be in the blood of many siblings and even my husband, so taking on our very first solo Thanksgiving dinner was quite a challenge. But, I have to admit, I was very excited about it. For some reason, I felt like if I could pull this off I could officially say I am a good cook. This meant the stakes were high for me. I talked to my Mom quite possibly a million times to get all of her tips, took notes, made several trips to the grocery store, and then settled in to make our feast.

Bart and I discussed the menu beforehand (well, really I talked and Bart said whatever you want). We settled on Turkey that we stuffed, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Corn, and homemade Rolls. I had never done the turkey or rolls before. Then came the dessert discussion and this is where Bart and I started our own tradition: no pie. I know that sounds so alarming, but relax, we didn't go without dessert. Instead, we made an old family favorite, Apple Dumplings and then put our twist on it by serving it with ice-cream and caramel topping. This turned out to be a stroke of genius.

Wednesday was my prep day and I enlisted Anna's help in the roll making. It was fun to share that experience with her and she loved helping me out. I remember watching and helping my Mom and I know she helped her Mom, which made me feel like I was part of passing down this cool tradition. I must say, our rolls came out pretty darn good for a first try, but I am convinced that no matter how many times I do it they will never quite be Moms. However, they were more than perfect for us. Jacob has not stopped eating them to prove my point (and he is quite the food snob) That night we also made the Apple Dumplings together. This time Jake was interested and we had fun getting them together. This is where my only mishap occurred. While making dumplings, you have to put the finished dough stuff into a pan of sugar water. Something distracted me while doing this and somehow I managed to dump an entire glass baking dish full of sugar water onto my kitchen floor. Note to self: Don't EVER do that again! I have cleaned it multiple times since and continue to find sticky spots. Ugh.

Thursday went very smoothly for us. Bart helped me with the turkey but I did get over myself and managed to stuff it and close it up and get it ready all by myself. When everything was done, we sat down to a fantastic meal. It was fun to have our small family together. We got out our china and made sure to go around and say what we were thankful for. The top ones were: our house, our family, the church, homemade rolls with butter, Diet Coke, and no school. Add to that one prayer for snow and we were one happy family.

So I guess this means that I can officially say: I am a good cook. I am so proud of myself.

I think food pictures never look that great and sometimes look really disgusting, but I couldn't help but post some of my proud moments in cooking. My Mom should really be proud too! Thanks to her great instructions, we pulled it off! Thanks Mom, we are thankful for you too!

Our Turkey (YUM!)

Our most delicious Apple Dumplings The bread that later became the best stuffing ever

My attempt at Mom's rolls

The beautiful table complete with Jacob's
school decorations

Ode to the Internet

Ode to the internet--

The internet has been so missed
some friends have even felt dissed
But having you around so near
Will help this time of year
Oh internet how we love thee
It makes us full of glee!

Alright, so poems are not always my best talent, but I do have a few that are classics--ask anyone that went to Spain or Jerusalem with me! But, at long last, we are reconnected to the world, so expect more posts this weekend. I am doing my own dinner so it will be well documented!

Welcome home internet, welcome home!

The Black Widow

I hate spiders so much. They are so gross. Really, me and bugs not so much. Especially spiders, anything that can fly and sting, any bugs that get in my house, moths, and once again, spiders. So last weekend when Bart was all excited to show Jake something on the front porch, it intrigued all of us to come outside. Before I could even get to the door, he had come back to look for something to capture the black widow in. I thought he was joking because he knows how much I hate spiders. But, no, he was serious. I tried to be a good Mom for a boy. I tried to seem excited and fascinated all at the same time, but I was horrified. I got to the front step and couldn't bring myself to go any further. I nearly puked looking at it going after it's prey in the web. I couldn't even get close enough to verify the red spot on its back, but my scientist boy was sure enough for all of us. Fortunately, it was discovered when Bart was home and he swiftly took care of it and then informed me it was the second one of the week. The other was in the garage (aka his favorite place in the house). I am so mortified and truly haunted by this discovery. I hate going in the garage at night anyway for fear of what lurks there, but now I am even more disgusted. But, this all led to the conversation of whether or not the Black Widow can kill. I insisted it can. Bart was laughing his head off at me. I turned to my friend, Wikipedia, and found out that they can't kill an adult very often (at least the type that are in North America), but they can make you very sick. Sick enough that there is an anti-venom for it. And they could kill our kids. So there. And this one was found right by where Rachel and I sit nearly every day on the front porch. Gross. I was too mortified to take a picture of it, but it has launched Jacob into complete obsession over them. Despite numerous conversations of their danger, he still thinks they are awesome. It even led to him having one painted on his face at the birthday party next door. Lovely. And so, although the real one was disgusting and horrifying, I think I'll keep this Black Widow around my house!

My Ballerina Girl!

Well this adventure all started months ago. Yes, months. We couldn't find a preschool that fit our needs for Anna this year, so we decided to enroll Anna in a different activity instead and save school for next year. We did a bit of research and a lot of watching the Olympics to decide just what our sweet girl should dabble in. She really, really, really wanted to be a ballerina. While getting ready to enroll though, we discovered that there was also a gymnastics class available. I gave her the choice of either class and this was her real response: "Well, nastics is tricks AND dance, but ballet is dance for princesses." Therefore, ballet was the clear winner. So, we enrolled her. And thus began, "Mommy, is it ballet day?" Every day. For months. Imagine her excitement when last Friday, September 12th at 6:43 a.m. she crept into my room and in the sweetest 3 year old early morning whisper she said, "Mommy, is it ballet day?" and FINALLY, I could answer her with as much excitement as I could, "Yes, honey, today is ballet day." Little did I know she would be antsy for the next 3 hours until it was time to go. Fortunately, that gave us plenty of time to get her clean and ready and have a fantastic photo shoot. I really think the getting ready and celebrating a big first for her was more fun than the class itself. As a second child, I imagine it is hard to watch big brother have so many firsts while waiting for your own to come. And at long last, it has come. My little girl has become a big girl. A ballerina at that. She can now venture off into her own class and leave Mommy behind in the hall with the babies. Man, how time does fly. I was just so glad to have this moment as the mother of a very girly girl (I was a total tomboy) and to dote on her and watch her excitement. It was such a magical morning. Hopefully you can tell that from the pictures. I think this one will be etched in my mind forever. Maybe one day she will get to do the same for her daughter. Oh, how I love my Anna Kathleen.

Her smile once Mommy got the bun all done. It only took me 2 tries and she immediately told me it was as good as if her Aunt Kiki (the hair guru in her mind) had done it. Phew!

The back of the hair. Seriously, what a masterpiece I created. I was so proud of myself.

Her first pose for the camera. She was just getting warmed up.

What perfect arms she has. Also, notice the adorable leotard. We had to choose between 2 at Target. In the dressing room, she immediately went up on her tiptoes and twirled in the mirrors to decide which one was prettiest. The skirt on this one pushed it into top place. I think 6 of the other 8 ballerinas had it too.

She looks like Jake with all her ribs showing.

Quite possibly my favorite picture of the day. She stopped posing to look outside. For some reason, I love it even more than some of the ones of her looking at me. Maybe it is the masterful hair?!? No, I just love her little profile.

Dad, can I put on my jacket yet? Is it time to go yet? How much longer? We don't want to be late, Mom! Hurry up!The warm up outfit. It was raining, so thankfully we had a warm up outfit like all real ballerinas do! It took awhile to convince her she had to wear her Crocs to the studio and not her ballet slippers. The rain doesn't hurt shoes, Mom!

A preview of what she'll look like coming down the stairs for Prom! AHHH!
She kept posing and posing so Bart kept shooting the pictures. Now she has lipstick on too!

The lips MUST be shiny too!

My sweet girls in their warm up outfits. Oh man, I love them!
Almost a smile on Rachel's face. This may be the closest one we have. It makes Anna look so grown up to me.Rachel started squealing about now.
We convinced our friend, Claire, to take the class with us. They look a little nervous going in. I couldn't get them to smile. We were laughing pretty hard as we said goodbye and sent them in to meet Miss Nicole.

Afterwards, the smiles came more easily, but they were a bit distracted by the butterfly stamps they got on their hands!All in all, it was one of the best days ever. I was completely exhausted before we got there, but what a special day for a special girl. I wonder if she really will grow up to be a ballerina. It used to be her aspiration to be a cheerleader, so I like this direction a bit better. I bet it will be some type of performing....I wonder where on earth she got that from?

Our little daredevils at Elitch Gardens!

We were lucky to come into a couple of free tickets for Elitch Gardens a few weeks ago. It turned out that 3 year olds were free and so we were excited that Dad would be able to take both kids to the Amusement Park. Naturally, he would need a little help to make sure that they could ride every ride in the park, so Nana went along to help out. Mom and Rachel had a great afternoon at home cleaning the house! They came home completely worn out from a gorgeous Fall Day at the park. Bart took so many great pictures so I picked a few (okay, a lot) to put on the blog here. I love watching the true happiness that can only come from spending the day together having fun! I wish I could have been there too. Soon enough Rachel, soon enough.


Anna at the top of the Mile High City in the Ferris Wheel....Mile High Stadium in the background of course.Jake steers Anna towards the fun. I like this one because my Dad used to do that to me when I was little. By the way, I told her that she had to have braids so her hair wouldn't get stuck in the rides. Hope I haven't scarred her for life!

This was Jake's favorite ride...the spinning balloons. Annie liked it too. They went several times in a row.

If you squint and look closely you can see how hard they are laughing. It makes me laugh to look at it.

No amusement park is complete without the boat ride is it?

The jungle gym.

My little rule keeper, Anna. Look at her feet. Apparently she thought she had to keep her feet on the marks and stood that way the entire time she waited. I love it.

Are you ready to spin?

Glad this isn't the real school bus that high up there.

They loved the swings. I love that ride too. Look at the smiles.

Seriously, how cute.

Can we get moving yet?

Nana braved the spinning balloons with Anna, but had to make her stop a few times so she didn't throw up.

This picture sums up the day, according to Bart. Jake HATED the roller coaster and Anna ate it up. Anna went on every ride and anything remotely scary, while Jake played it a bit safer and stayed close to the ground and safety. I think Anna will always be the daredevil when it comes to this stuff. She always wants to prove how tough she is. Oh man, the looks are priceless.

House Decorating 101

Well, we are finally getting moved in and cleaned up and now I have the pictures to prove that at one point in time, my house was all clean! My parents and my sister, Karin, her husband, Sean, and cute little Everett took a jaunt through beautiful Wyoming to get to our house last month. They were amazing enough not only to drive, but to pull a trailer with a new dining room table for us. It is my grandparents old table and is still in great condition. I have NEVER had a nice table and never had a dining room to put it in either! It was so fun to move things around and to decorate a bit. Karin, Sean, John and Linda were such troopers to help me decide and to give opinions and sweet Bart climbed a ladder a few times and hung a few things too. It made our house feel so much more like a home in one short weekend. We did some other fun things too, but my Dad took all those pictures. All in all, we were so glad that they came to visit. We had fun at the pool, the butterfly pavilion, shopping, celebrating Grandpa's birthday and of course, decorating the house. I have a long way to go, but thanks to their help, it is at least a start! So, here are some pictures of the house!
Jacob's room with the new cute, on-sale curtains! This is me standing in the dining room doorway looking into the kitchen and then into the family room on the other side of the sink.
Now I am standing in the family room looking back at that doorway (into the dining room). The step in the picture leads to the living room and the front door.
This is the little decorator box above the fireplace in the family room (back by the kitchen). I have redecorated it a million times, so this is it for now until I acquire something better for the space.
Now you can see the whole fireplace. I love this one, but really miss the real wood burning one we had in Maryland. My sister-in-law, Beth, got me hooked on real fires!
Here I am standing in the entry way looking into our living room. To the left are the stairs. To the right is the dining room. This area was the masterpiece my family helped me to create. I have a thing for turquoise blue right now, so I adore this piece from my favorite store, Home Goods. Imagine how excited I was to learn they have them in Colorado AND are building one about 3 miles from my house. Wahoo!

Standing at the edge of that step in the living room looking into dining room with my new table and curtains and the picture that my adorable love hung for me! One room is finished!
This was the other masterpiece my family helped me with. I had started it, but they helped me add a couple of other things. Bart stood on the ladder listening to WAY too many opinions before we got it just right. This area is right above the coat closet and to the left of the stairs.
And here are the stairs....2 bedrooms to the right, bathroom at the top of them and 2 bedrooms to the left.
Standing at the top of the stairs looking down into the living room.

There aren't pictures of the girls' room as we are waiting to get the curtains hung (hopefully this weekend!) and I haven't even started thinking about our room. Well, I think about it but you know how projects are.....and thus concludes the Williams Family Home Tour for now! So, for those of you bugging me about pictures, enjoy these while you can!