Mini Makeover

Last summer I decided to take on the downstairs bathroom.  I wasn't up for anything major, basically just paint.  I found a light blue paint I loved and went from there.

So the before...

I painted the walls and the cabinets, hung a few pictures, added a rug, painted the light fixture dark grey and....that's about it.

 

The lighting is bad because there is very little natural light.  Sorry, but that just makes for bad pictures.

 

I made this printable/quote/thing on Picmonkey all by myself and then printed it at Costco.

Never done that before.

Your view sitting on the john.  Thanks Julia!!

 

Again, not a very big makeover, but made a big difference to me!!

Lukey Update

Lucas. Where do I start with Lucas?  Well probably one of the most important items to him is that he is now officially taller than me, by about 3 inches. He's actually right between his nana and his Aunt Genet, according to our door frame chart. "Short One" has become my new nickname by this kid who isn't bothered by the fact most 14 year olds are taller than me.  He's shaving regularly and has feet are just about bigger than Aaron's.  It's fun to see him grow and change but I love that he still likes to cuddle and hug.  Sweet boy.

I had to sneak up and take this picture of him because usually this is what I get...

He's trying out track this year.  Much to the delight of his father.  He's doing the long jump and the high only right now and seems to me like he has good form and does well.  That's just a mom's opinion.  We wanted him to get a feel of it before high school and hopefully he'll go out for that team. He's built like his daddy so track is a good fit for him.   Too bad tennis is the same season because he really has to pick one or the other.

He's still playing in the bands at school and will continue into high school.  They just started a marching band so he's excited to be a part of that.  He'll get a little practice this spring when the junior high will play and march in the Junior Rose Bowl Parade.  He plays the trombone and the baritone but I still wanted him to take lessons to actually learn theory and all that stuff.   So he's now taking piano again.  He actually practices without me bugging him all the time and is learning some fun songs.

Lucas is off to church dances and loves having friends over.  I am so grateful for the wonderful group of kids he has for friends.  Both members and non-members, boys and girls and they are good kids, polite, respectful and fun.  I enjoy having them over and feeding them. :)  They'll all go to high school together next year.  This place has released time seminary which bugs Aaron because he wants his kids to sacrifice as much as he did starting seminary at 5:45am.  I can't really complain because the first two years were in my basement.  :)

I am so grateful for this child.  He has his struggles and weaknesses but what makes all the difference is he is a good talker.  He will talk to us about his problems and issues, his day, his friends, his crushes (he's has crushes on girls since he was 2 1/2), what is exciting to him, etc.  We are very blessed in that way!  He's my buddy.

Jonah Update

I'm back.  I decided I wanted to start blogging again for family history value.  I want to record Life for the kiddos but it's always hard to start back up when you've taken a such a long blog vacation.  Be kind as I try to strengthen up my writing muscles again.  So I'll restart as I usually restart...

With an update on the boys.  I mean, they are the reason I keep this history.

Let's start with JB.  

This crazy kid turned 5 at the end of last year and though hasn't grown much physically, he has grown a ton emotionally.  He's always been very competitive, stubborn, quite self righteous and hasn't gotten along well with many kids.  But lately "sharing is caring" has been his mantra and play dates go so much better.  It's like night and day.  Go figure.  I love it!

His "zombie face"

He's Williams man.  He's a quoter of everything movies or TV. He does accents as well! Some of the stuff that comes out of this kid's mouth is baffling. 

For example...

Last week Jonah and I were in the playroom with a random collection of action figures, going on quests from the Batcave.  I dropped one of our recruits and I got quite the reprimand.

He looks at me calmly, "Mom, if you break my toys, you will force me to shut you out of the family dynamic."

Whaa???

Lucas had to clue me in that it's from Phineas and Ferb.

________

Today the cousins were over and we were all picking up readying to go home. I grabbed a plastic Power Rangers mask off the table and to my surprise out popped my head-sized, white ceramic apple do-da thing that I keep on our coffee table.  It splattered all over the kitchen floor.  After of moment of surprise, Jonah burst into sobs. "It was SO beautiful and it's my fault it's broken!!"

He runs upstairs and slams his bedroom door.  After I clean up, I go to comfort my weeping boy.  We lie on the bed together and looks in my eyes and just sobs, "I broke our only lovely thing!  Now we have no more things that our lovely in our home!!"

He pauses and smiles.  "No, we still do!  We still have you!" 

_____________

We were in sacrament meeting one Sunday and Jonah started making loud zerbert noises on my arm.  I of course quieted him and tried to talk to him about reverence, that people were praying, thinking about Jesus and asking forgiveness for their sins.

He casually looks around and states, "Yeah. I'm not gonna do that."
_____________
Jonah earned $.75 for picking up all my wood scraps from the dining table I was making. A penny for every piece.  :)  He then decided he wanted to buy something at the "Home Store" and bought 9 Hershey kisses from me.  3 per quarter.

He went to tell his dad and I noticed he was walking funny. So I asked him of he was poopy.  He looked me in the eye and said, "No."

"So I can look right now and your underpants will be clean?"

"Um...."

 "Are you poopy!?"

 "No."

 "Then let me look."

 "Um, ok. I am poopy.  Please don't tell Daddy." (He knew Daddy would be very disappointed.)

 He went to time out for lying to me.  I sat in front of him and talked about lying.  That it drives away the Spirit, makes me sad and Daddy sad and it makes him (JB) sad.

 As a matter of fact as it gets, he looks me in the eye and states, "No it doesn't.  Look, I'm not sad."  

This kid!

He goes on, "What would make me sad is if you died and I couldn't cuddle with you any more!" Pulls out the poppy-dog eyes.  " Would you be sad if I died?...  But you don't have to worry because my spirit would stay by you and protect you forever." 

And the thing is, he's sincere. He actually has a huge heart when he wants to.  He loves to cuddle and kiss and he's quite the momma's boy.  He loves to wrestle with his dad and go swimming with him as much as possible.  He bugs Lucas as much as he can and Lucas bugs right back.  It usually ends up with both of them on the floor wrestling good naturedly.

Halloween 2013

Jonah loves people!  He is not afraid of anyone and talks incessantly to whomever will listen. It's so funny to me how many people come up to me at church saying Jonah is their special buddy.  He just loves people.  I sometimes have to take him to YW activities with me when Aaron is out of town and that kid is in heaven!  He is the biggest flirt. He'll snuggle right up to any of them, give them hugs out of the blue or snatch their phones running away with glee.


I couldn't find a more fitting video of how Jonah attacks life....

Introducing...

Rachel.  Our newest niece.  She was born at the end of July and this is a picture of her at 2 weeks old when Jonah and I flew out to help and be with this cute family.

(This whole post is with cell phone pictures.  Sorry.)

She is such a tiny little thing born only 5lbs 6oz.   And she was late!  My sister had quite the birthing experience but everything turned out just fine.  She was overdue and just like G, she was scheduled to get induced that day and then went into labor on her own.  When her contractions got extra yucky, she got an epidural but it didn't work.  While they were trying to figure that out, Rachel wasn't descending the way she should.  She seemed stuck and with each contraction, they could tell she was in distress.  Dr. decided an emergency C-section would be best.  Within just a few minutes, they had her out and it was an inspired decision because the cord was wrapped around her neck and had 2 knots.  She had expelled muconium (politest way to put it) but luckily had not aspirated any of it yet.  So with this complicated start, Rachel came into this world healthy and strong. Truly a blessing.

Her nickname became Spidermonkey due to her...well, look at her. :)

 



There is something about holding a newborn, or a sleeping baby, that I love. It calms me and I was in need of a baby fix, so this week was great.

 

 

This is Genevieve, only 20 months older than her baby sister.  Geoff, the father, has a theory that this cutest-chunk-of-a-girl-ever, depleted the uterus of all it's nutrients, leaving nothing for her sister letting Rachel come is at a tiny 5lbs. 

 



It took me a few days but I actually won Genevieve over!  This was the girl last Thanksgiving that literally did not leave her mother's hip and cried whenever someone looked at her.  Literally.   But by the end of this week, she was dancing with me, kissing me, letting me get her down from her highchair and getting her up from her naps.  Miracles!  I was so sad to leave because I knew she would not remember me when I see her next time at Christmas.  I figured I am going to have to "50 First Dates" her and make her fall in love with me all over again every time we see each other!  It's worth it!

Katherine and Jonah are about 1 1/2 years apart.  Both have what I call very alpha personalities and I was worried we would spend the week breaking up fights for power.

But they played phenomenally all week!  They are both into imagination/dress up games and it was hilarious to see them try to combine their two versions of play.  The vocabulary of each was completely different.  They would go off fighting in battle and while Katherine would be the Princess Fairy riding off to find her Prince Charming, Jonah would be the Robot Commander slaying the evil minions to find his crystal fractals.

But they adjusted to each other and had a great time.

Which was awesome for Amanda and I. While I cuddled with the baby, Amanda could slowly get back on her feet.  It was perfect. :) 

I also discovered that Jonah is a true northwest boy and had a breakdown every time we went outside.  He could not handle the heat and had a tantrum until the car's air conditioning was on full blast.  I have to admit Phoenix in August is not my idea of perfect weather, but I loved the sun and cherished every moment. 

I am so glad we could go out there while Aaron and Lucas held down the fort.  It was a wonderful week with my dear sister and brother and their adorable girls.  Cannot wait to see how they have all grown come December!

Peace. I'm out.

Should I be worried?

Jonah and I put up Halloween decorations and decided to make ghosts to add to our door.

Jonah was adamant, "Each ghost is spewing burning acid from their mouths to melt the rats and their homes to doom."

Uhhh.....

Remember back to July?

Where to even begin when you are so far behind?  I just pick some of my favorites and go from there.  Like most people, we had a busy and wonderful summer.  Lots of family and friends!

One of my most favorite times this summer was our Williams Family Reunion 2013.  Due to a lot of different reasons, we hadn't been able to get all together for about 5 years.  Way too long!  And we were still missing a niece Camille and a nephew Ethan.  But we had a majority and we made the best of it.

 

We had a lovely hike & picnic out at Silver Falls.

 

 

We spent a hot afternoon at the local watering hole. 

This is Talmadge. And I have to admit I truly enjoyed this kid that week.  He is a miracle child, being born after aspirating meconium for a suspected two days.  He should have died a number of times and should have a lot more set backs than he does.  He has significant hearing loss and is delayed a year or two in development, but he is bright and happy and crazy and super fun. 

I had the best time just watching him play in the water.  He was in heaven.  (And I got some cute pictures.)  All week he loved to dress up and play fight.  On the first day together, he "shot" me and of course I had to fall over and die with my tongue hanging out.  So then for the whole week, every time he saw me he had to shoot me and wait for me to dramatically expire.  I got exhausted from dying so much but it was worth gaining his friendship. And my own sign language name.  In the deaf culture you should wait until someone with hearing loss assigns a name to you.  Now in Talmadge's world, my name is a two-handed gun shoot.  Just like I always imagined it would be. :)

 

Some people weren't interested in getting wet.

This week Jonah sure loved his women.  And took advantage of any time one of them would hold him. I can't blame him.  He has pretty cute aunts and cousins.

 

 

There are more pictures than I could possibly post on my blog.  I feel so blessed and lucky to have such a wonderful family.  I love and enjoy my in laws so much and would be friends with all my brother and sister in laws even if we weren't related.  I am so lucky!

"I love you!!"

 

 

To end, I'll just leave y'all with this FAB-ulous image. 

 

You're welcome.