Christmas!!!

I know, it is just September, but I am already getting excited about a few things. Kirks Christmas shopping is already finished. Yay! Joey, well, I'm not sure what to get him. I told Danny we should just get some of Kirks old toys out of storage that he never played with and re-gift them to Joey. I am on a super strict, super low budget this year, so, everybody is getting home made things. I think I am more excited about this than if I were buying everything. I have a rough idea on what everybody is getting, and, I must say, I have some pretty dang great ideas. Sometimes, home made things don't go over as well as store bought ones. But, if I make you something, there is your sign that I care enough about you to put effort into something rather than just grabbing something random off the WalMart shelf. So, family, be prepared for a hand made Christmas. Well, my 2 year old is naked, so I should go do something about that.

Only Danny....

Me: "Is the battery dead in that watch?"
Danny: "Yea."
Me: "Then why are you still wearing it?"
Danny: "To remind me to get a new battery."

Young Again

I love talking to my grandmothers' at night, hearing there bedtime, scratchy voices. When I hear them talk, I remember being young and spending so many nights with them. Especially my Mammaw B. When I hear her "bedtime" voice, I am suddenly 7. Freshly clean, the scent of Zest soap on my skin. Long, wavy, half dried hair wetting the back of one of my pappaws huge white tshirts that I wore as pajamas. Full from a helping of cornbread and milk. Sitting in the floor watching Mammaw make me a pallet out of old, home made quilts in the floor next to her bed. Laying down, Pappaw would say "Night, Irene." I never understood, but I always loved it. I would get settled in my pallet and listen to the crickets and howling beagles out the open window. I knew that as soon as my grandmother woke up at the EARLY hour of 530 or 6, I would smell the scent of bacon and eggs; butter and 'lasses would be waiting for me. I would plan the next day in my head: Make mud pies for Pappaw outside, feed the dogs, throw rocks in the creek, watch a few cartoons, and eat lunch of either peas and other vegis or peanut butter and banana sandwich on home made bread. My biggest worry: Mom might come pick me up before my adventures were complete. Things were so much easier then. I think back to those beautiful times, and it actually makes me cry. The innocence is gone now. Nothing is quite so simple. I now have worries and fears outside of my realm of cartoons and mud pies. Sometimes I think that is just what I need. Forget therapy and antidepressants. I think I might just want my Pappaw to tell me "Night, Irene" and know that everything is ok in the world, cause I can still hear the crickets out the open window.

Sunday Afternoon Photo Shoot

Look at those curls!!

ELMO??? Not a fan!!!

My husband is cruel.

This day is awesome because...

1. Right now, it is 88 degrees and the humidity is only at 45%
2. Me and my mom took the kiddos to the park. Kirk has cabin fever, so this was great for him. We let him play for almost an hour and had to drag him away literally kicking and screaming.
3. I found a Slinky Dog on sale at Walmart for $7. Christmas shopping for Kirk is nearly finished.
4. Danny and Kirk are outside playing baseball right now. When Joey wakes up, he is going in the stoller and we are going for a walk. Before Kirk came along, Danny and I would walk for atleast an hour everyday. Then Kirk came and he was too little or it was too hot or too cold or too rainy outside. But we are going at it hard core this fall. Get ready.
5. I am helping a buddy of mine sale car decals on ebay for some extra pocket change. This is good, seeing as that my pockets are currently empty.
6. I slept until 7:30 this morning. If I was up that early a year ago, I would have been seriously P.O.ed. But, my littlest one wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30 nowadays. So, 7:30 was a very welcome treat.

YAY FOR GOOD DAYS!!!

Walking in Memphis

My sister leaves for college tomorrow, so we spent all day yesterday in Memphis playing and having lots of fun. We started off at the Peabody hotel. We were about 30 seconds late to see the ducks marching in, but we still got to see them swimming around in the fountain. Kirk thought that was too cool. Next, after driving around lost for 30 minutes, we went to the childrens museum. Too. Much. Fun. We were there for 2.5 hours. They have all kinds of cool things to do there, as you can see. I think Marlee had more fun than Kirk did. After that, on to the mall. Then, of course, Target. Who can go to Memphis without going to Target???? It was a fantastic day. We were gone from 8am to 9pm. And, surprisingly, no major meltdowns on either of my kids part.



Construction Workers


Fishing

At the peabody

Dancing, his favorite part ha

Sweet things.....

First of all, I have a new favorite peach cobbler recipe. Here it is, it's thin and kind of crispy on top.
Ingredients:
1 (29oz) can of peaches
2 tbls butter, melted
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 tbls cornstarch
1/2 cup of water

1 c milk
1 c sugar
1 c all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 c butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

-preheat oven to 350
-In a large bowl, peaches with juice, melted butter, pinch of cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg. Dissolve cornstarch in water. Add to peach mixture. Set aside.
-In another bowl, combine milk, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until smooth.
-Melt butter in 9x13 in pan. Pour batter over butter. Spoon peach mixture over batter. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.
-Bake for about 1 hour, until knife comes out clean.

Second...Keebler Fudge Shoope Coconut Dreams....they taste just like the girl scout Caramel Delights...or Somoas....that's what they are called right? Either way......YUM!

I love this man....

ahh....webcam fun...ha

I love to see the temple.....

We had to opportunity to spend the evening with Camilla before she left on her trek to Idaho. What a great night and a sweet lady volunteered to take a lot of pictures for us....unfortunately, it was about 1000 degrees outside so we all look not so great, but, it was a WONDERFUL time.

How many times can you call poison control without DHS coming and taking your kids away?

My 2 year old is an investigator. "What's this?" "What does it do?" "What does it taste like?" So far, he's drank a bottle of gas drops, eatten half a bottle of teething tablets, and a nexium pill. Besides the pill at my moms house, he's had to climb up and open the bottles himself. Oh the joys of having a toddler.

P.S.
I don't have a spell checker on this computer, so be prepared for my spelling to be even worse than before.....

We're a family!

The Williams Family

(minus Mark, Kim, and Allie)

Do you know how hard it is to get 16 people to look at the camera at the same time? Pretty good shot, though, huh?

Joey Report

For those of you who don't know, this is what is going on with baby Joey. I took him in to the Dr. a week or so ago and mentioned to her that he was really stiff all the time and he can't turn his head to the right easily. She was somewhat concerned and had another dr. come in and check him out. That guy said he had some "genetic anomalies" (stiffness, tuft of hair on his back, small jaw, wierd belly buttom, etc) so, we are heading to LeBonheur August 30th to see some genetics people. Our doctor said that the anomalies don't add up to anything and they may just be random things but he justs wants to make sure that there isn't a pattern to them that could lead to something later in life. We are also heading to meet with some people next Friday to assess his stiffness. There is a slight chance that it could be a neuro-muscular problem, but either way, we are going to start physical therapy with him so that he doesn't fall behind in crawling and walking. So, if you want to throw up a prayer or two, that would be ok with us. Also, if you do that, include Danny. He is looking for a more stable job situation. Yea, thanks!

Funny Faces!

Well, this one is not so funny....


....But these are!!!



Little Kirk...what a contrast to his normal big headedness.

Best. Invention. Ever.

Ok, so maybe I live under a rock or something and these things have been around forever, but either way, they are awesome. I accidently got "kids size" ice cream cones. They are perfect. The pictures are kinda horrible, but they are like 2 inches tall, perfect for my 2 year old! Yay inventor of these awesome dealios!

Potty Train!!!!! Urggg!!!!!

Ok, sooo, like I said before, Kirk is taking his diaper off all the time. I tried to potty train him, for about 6 hours....He would scream any time I would take him to the bathroom. He wet in his undies twice and I just do not have the mental capacity to clean that up all day, so he went back in to a diaper. (Now, we just put them on backwards...harder to take off..) So, today we are eating lunch and he says "Go potty, Mommy! Go potty!" So I jerk him out of his seat and take him down the hall...and he starts screaming. He then runs away, goes in the corner, and poops in his diaper. He comes back to the table and I ask him "Kirk, are you scared of the potty?" He says "Um-hmm. Scared of the potty." Me-"Why are you scared of the potty?" Kirk-"Monsters." Me-"Monsters Where?" Kirk-"Monsters in 'ere. Monsters in the potty." Evidently, Danny, in an effort to scare him out of the bathroom when he was much younger, told him that there were monsters in the potty. Thus, thwarting my potty training efforts. Great.

The Start of a Great Day....?

Danny opened the door to Kirk's room this morning. The first words out of his mouth: "Daddy, I pooped in the bed!" He has figured out how to take his diaper off and did it all day yesterday and, evidently, last night. Now, what do I do about that? Urg.

Funnest Night Ever!!

Ben and James spent the night with us last night. After the kiddos went to bed, we played Loaded Questions, again, the funnest game ever. We all laughed till we cried. However, poor, abused, James was not very good at this game. I think he still had fun though. "I swear, if you slander me......"

Joey's Blessing Day

What a wonderful day for baby Joey. Our family gathered together at church to witness his blessing. Aunt Amanda made him THE cutest blessing suit, including a little baby bow tie. Danny was able to give him a blessing, I always thing they are so special. Afterwards, the Williams and Wilson families met up at our house for some grubbage....meatball subs, pasta salad, cornbread salad, potato salad, chocolate strawberry desert, and fruit pizza.Yummy!!! It was a fantastic day with fantastic people.