Christmas '16

Merry Christmas, 

from the Williams Crew!  

 Collin (8), Brennan (5), Ethan (3), Katelyn (16 mos)

On Christmas Eve, after we listen to the story of Christ's birth, I like to read "Twas the Night Before Christmas"
like my mom used to read to us on Christmas Eve. This year Collin read to the kids.

I'll admit that when I first realized Christmas Day was a Sunday (our ward met at 9am for 2016) I was sad. But it was awesome. I really loved it. We told the boys all along that they would get to open their stockings before Church and that we'd do presents afterwards, and they were totally fine with that. No whining; no present-shaking. 

In fact, when Collin saw the presents around the tree (and it was a meager pile this year; 2016 included Ryan's Lasik last winter, medical bills from his accidental toe removal this summer, TWO sibling destination weddings, a patio roof addition and 1000 sq ft of hardwood flooring), he asked if Santa had accidentally stopped at our house three times. It was adorable, especially since we've never really done the "Santa Secret" around here. The boys have just always known. 

***

Anyway, they woke up at 6:15 like always, and Ryan and I came down. Ryan popped our Rhode's frozen cinnamon rolls (we had to modify breakfast because of church), and they looked in their stockings. They got some cute, small Church activity things. Collin got new origami paper (he's a master), Brennan got new twist-up crayons and mini-notebooks, and Ethan got new crayons and two magnetic trains. And, of course, a good dose of candy.

Then we had egg nog, orange juice and our easy cinnamon rolls. I headed to the shower, and the boys played together like any normal morning while Ryan and I got ready.

***

Church was about an hour, and included musical numbers and some scripted scripture verses and prophetic quotes. It was powerful. Unfortunately, Ryan was singing in the ward choir, and they sang the first and last number. He thought he was going to come back down for the middle portion, but no one else did, so neither did he.

That left me with all four kids - and I currently have two "babies" - in the row alone. Luckily, at some point, I raced out with crying Kate, and when I poked my head in to check on the boys, a sweet lady we hardly know had joined our row, and Ethan was in her lap. I am so grateful for the "village" that is helping me raise my children.

Side story: When I thanked her after the meeting, she said that when she picked up Ethan and set him in her lap, he said, "You not my mommy. Go sit with your Daddy." Ha ha. Love three-year-olds. 

***

After church, we headed home and opened presents. The boys each got 4 gifts: something to read, something to wear, something they wanted and something they needed. So I marked the presents according to their category, and we opened them in rounds.

Round #1: Something to Read
Collin got the first Hardy Boys book and a Pokemon character book. Brennan got a picture book about ninjas and a chapter book about an undercover secret agent named Jack Stalwart. Ethan got two picture books: one about ninjas and another about a construction site. Kate ate M&Ms from her stocking.

Round #2: Something to Wear
After their white ninja Halloween costumes, all the boys wanted black ninja costumes. So each boy got black sweats and two long-sleeve black tshirts (one to wear and one to tie as a mask). Easy peasy. Kate ate M&Ms from her stocking.

Round #3: Something they Needed
I loosely interpreted this category. It was basically just another thing they wanted.

Collin and Brennan both got huge Ninjago Lego sets, and Ethan got a couple small, Lego character sets. They spent the rest of the day putting them together with Ryan! Kate got five little plastic Disney princesses... and ate more candy - she'd ran out of M&Ms by this point - from her stocking.

Round #4: Something they Wanted
Collin really wanted more Pokemon cards, so we got him a pack of Energy cards (so he could play the actual game) and a booster pack of a bunch more characters. He was in heaven.

Brennan really wanted an art kit. I painstakingly researched and bought and returned two boxes, until the perfect one arrived Dec 23rd (a little tight for comfort). I filled it with markers, colored pencils, crayons, scissors, glue sticks and Elmer's, a mini-stapler, post-its, puffy paints, a pencil and pen and eraser, and a pad of art paper. Home run!

Ethan really wanted a Cranky the Crane (from Thomas the Train), and he loves it!

Kate got a little pink doll stroller, because - shocker! -  we've never bought one before. She loves it. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to understand that it is for dolls/stuffed animals, and she uses it more like a shopping cart. Her milk sippy is almost always in there, as well as a collection of plastic princesses and dress-up jewelry necklaces. She's a cutie.

***

After present opening, the rest of our Sabbath/Christmas Day was spent Skyping with both sets of grandparents, building lots of Legos, and rotisserie-ing our turkey and making a full-Thanksgiving dinner. It was a blissful, happy day.... And dinner was delicious. Merry Christmas!

Collin's 8th Birthday

Collin turned 8 on the Wednesday before Christmas. It was a pretty lucky day for him: he got to go to school (which he has never gotten to do before since it is usually already Winter Break), and he had his first cub scouts meeting (where they ate pizza and decorated cookies). It was a little tricky to help him feel loved and appreciated, since we barely saw him all day, but this is kinda how the day went.

For breakfast, Ryan put chocolate syrup and peanut butter cup crumbles on his waffle. For lunch, I was going to let him buy hot lunch, but it was something gross, so I got him one of the Lunchables with a Capri Sun and dessert inside. During school, he got to pick extra recess with his class for a fun activity. After school, his primary teacher came over for a visit with a card and a huge bag of Starbursts. Then he got a ride with one of the older kids to cub scouts. He was thrilled! When he got home, we had cake and ice cream, and he got to open presents.

This year, more than anything, he wanted a suit to wear for his baptism. (I know, really, what 8-year-old begs to have a suit to wear to church?) He looks super handsome and he loves it, but I haven't let him wear it yet (except to try on), since his baptism isn't until Jan 14th.

He also got a cub scout uniform. I totally wasn't expecting this baby with its patches and book to cost me almost $100! Ouch.

He also got a new Harrison.

Ok, so the story is that last March for Spring Break we went to Denver so Ryan and I could go to the temple, and we stayed in a hotel. Sometime around that time, Harrison (Collin's stuffed hedgehog that I got as a gift for him BEFORE he was born - thanks, Aunt Jen!) went missing. We hunted and hunted, and we decided in August that we must have left him at the hotel. So I was Amazon-shopping, and I decided to get him a new hedgehog for his birthday. 

And I kid you not - His birthday was on Wednesday, and  on FRIDAY (Harrison had been missing NINE months when I bought a new one, and TWO DAYS after buying "Harry" - as we had now named the replacement), Brennan was sitting on the couch, sticking his feet into the crevice between the back cushions and the bottom cushions, and... Have you guessed the end of this story? HE FREAKIN PULLED HARRISON OUT!!!! Anyway, now we have two hedgehogs - Dad Harrison and Son Harry. How does that happen though. Seriously??

Anyway, I also got him this cute brain-teaser game where these badgers are strategically placed according to level of difficulty around a game board, and these baby hedgehogs have to roll safely to their mother over the hedge. It was supposed to go with the hedgehog theme, ya know? He really likes it, and it's actually pretty tricky. A good thinker game.

Anyway, that was Collin's EIGHTH birthday. I know every parent says this, but honestly, how can my Collin be EIGHT!?!

I was reading to him the other night from Indian in the Cupboard (he could read it to himself by now, but he likes me to read out loud to him, and I love to read aloud, so it is a win-win), and there's this part where Omri, the main character, is fighting sleep as he watches his injured cowboy breath. He's afraid if he closes his eyes that his cowboy's breaths will stop coming and that he'll die. I got really tearful as I paused reading and told Collin about Christmas Day eight years ago.

He had just been admitted to the hospital for jaundice. He was four days old, and I was certain that if I closed my eyes for one second, his chest would stop going up and down and that I would lose him. So for hours and hours, Ryan and I sat watching him inside the incubator under the blue lights, so he wouldn't stop breathing.

It sounds so ridiculous and irrational now, but it made so much sense in that sleep-deprived haze of brand-new parenthood. I really had NO IDEA how much one person could love another until Collin came into the world. (And, just so I'm not ignoring my other wonderful children - I had no idea that that same amount of love could fill and grow and come with each and every child, without any lessening of love for the firstborn or subsequent children. It is truly amazing.)

Anyway, at some point, my parents and brother (Love you, Uncle Jared!) came and realized we were dead on our feet. They took shifts watching Coll's tiny chest rise and fall, so Ryan and I would try to take a nap. That moment, eight years ago, is as real to me today (I'm crying while I type this!) as it was to me then. It was fun to tell Collin - big, tall, healthy, 8-year-old Collin - that story this week.

Ok, one more story about Collin before I'm done with this. This is a recent one. This past month we have been tearing out all the flooring on our main floor (about 1000 sq ft) in order to install continuous hardwood. Our demo-ing has include two rooms of carpet, with its accompanying pad and staples, and a LARGE space of linoleum. Let me tell you, linoleum-removal is KILLER.

Anyway, the reason I share this here is because Collin is a worker. He begged to help, and I honestly don't know that Ryan and I could have done it without him. He pulled on work gloves, and he hammered out boards and their staples for hours and hours. My back was killing me, and my fingers were bloody and I kept taking breaks and whining... And Collin kept going and going and going. He wanted to do it, and he was a super hero.

When we finally got all those stinkin staples pulled, and we were ready to put the new floor down, Collin still wanted to help. So Ryan came up with a system where he pulled the new boards out of the box, laid them approximately where they'd need to be nailed in, placed a fresh board to be cut on the saw, and pulled the cut board off the saw and placed it on the floor correctly placed. Again, it saved Ryan and I to have a helper, especially when I had to take breaks to do other child care responsibilities.

The craziest thing is that we don't beg him to help, or really even ask. He asks us for ways he can help, and he is the same way with cleaning bathrooms, bringing laundry down or vacuuming. He really just loves to serve... And what mom doesn't love that?

Happy birthday, Collin! We love you so much. You are the best helper to Dad and me. Be a good buddy to your brothers and sister, and keep working hard at piano, karate and your school work. Love you!!!

Halloween 2016

Happy Halloween! 

From:

Three ninjas,

Kermit & Miss Piggy,

 

and our baby bumblebee.

E is 3!

Eefie turned three on Sunday. He is the funnest, cuddliest boy you'll ever meet, and we sure are glad he is part of our family. He has just discovered he doesn't always have to obey his mom, and that's causes some turmoil. He's also perfecting the tantrum, particularly when he's tired. But, hey, that's a three-year-old for you.

See that sass?

He loves to do yoga. I found a cute Kinda-Yoga program on Amazon Prime. Each morning (on a slow day!) I do my yoga for 30-40 minutes, and then I put on his while I shower and get ready. It is working for now, but I'm not looking forward to Kate giving up her morning nap.

He loves to eat, but mostly just sweets and junk food. His favorite thing to eat is cinnamon pop-tarts, and he'll do just about anything for a sucker.

He loves to take showers, which is pretty cool because he set the example for his OLDER brothers to start showering last Spring. He is also definitely the bravest when it comes to swimming and getting his face wet.

He's had a lot of practice blowing out candles the last two months: Four birthdays in two months at our house! 

Unfortunately, he has no fears whatsoever, so he goes and does just about anything he wants without any thought of the consequences. For example, last week he ventured far into the construction site across the street from our house WHILE the excavators and dump trucks were working. He told me he wanted to see the tractors working. He sometimes goes to the neighbor's house to play without telling me first. He also rides his scooter down the driveway and into the street, and sometimes even way down the street. He also runs across the street without a single thought of looking first. He keeps me on my toes for sure.

He loves his "stand-up scooter," but he is painfully slow. Getting to kindergarten pickup across the street is quite the nightmare for impatient me.

He is my most social child for his age. He prefers to be surrounding by other kids. He loves the girl across the street, who happens to be in Brennan's kindergarten class. They play together all the time. He has also made friends with all the siblings of kids in Collin & Brennan's karate class. They play elaborate games of pretend and Hide & Seek while all the older kids are in class.

He's a pro at somersaults, especially on the trampoline.

He wants to do everything his brothers are doing, and he has NO IDEA that he is quite a bit younger than them. He loves guns, swords and the walkie-talkies (though he just yells into it and never pushes the button).

He totally loves his once-a-week mommy-preschool. I'm so glad I found a good group of moms to do it with me here. This week he asked which letter he was doing, and just could not understand that there wasn't going to be a letter, and it was just going to be a Halloween Party instead.

Which brings me to the hardest thing about Ethan right now: WHY? He is in that stage of CONSTANT questioning, and he never asks a question just once. He repeats and repeats and repeats. And when I do answer, if he isn't satisfied with the answer, he just keeps asking. Yes, I know he's 3, and I need to be happy he is so good at talking, but multiple times a day I tell him he has to stop talking and let it be quiet for a minute. His favorite question is definitely "WHY?"

He is still napping every day, but I am no longer getting his full four-hours. Boo hoo. He's down to about 2 hrs each day. I know that sounds like a lot, but I am hardly ever able to get E & Kate to sync anymore, and that makes for a tired and grumpy mommy.

All day long he wanted to guess what his present was. He guessed wee-woo, legos, and a gun. Every time he guessed, we told him it was diapers, socks, a puppy, etc. It was funny.  

His favorite thing to do is sit on the couch, sucking on the corner of his blanket and watching tv. His show of choice lately is Fireman Sam, so we got him an action figure Sam and a rescue boat. He has taken it with us errand-running all week! He's a big fan. It's adorable.

Somehow I didn't take a single picture of him dressed up for church on his birthday. He wore a suit with a button that read "Birthday Boy." He looked super handsome, and everyone kept asking, "Is it your birthday?" Finally after two or three people stopped him in the hall, he leaned against my leg hiding, and shyly mumbled while grabbing his button, "Will you please take this thing off of me?" I told him, "No way. It's fun! This is your special day. You tell everyone that you are three today!" It was pretty cute.

Happy birthday, Eefie! We love you!!!!  

Boston Details

DAY ONE - Freedom Trail

We spent the first day following this brick line all over Boston, across the Charles River and into Charlestown. It was totally awesome, and we logged more miles than I probably ever had walked in a day.

The Old State House

This is the balcony on the back of the Old State House where the Constitution was first read to Boston residents.

The House Paul Revere lived in with his first wife and 8 children, and his second wife and additional 8 children. He left from here for his famous midnight ride. 

The tallest church in the region in the late 1700s where Paul's friends hung two lanterns to tell the people in the outlying towns that the British were headed to their armament storage in Concord by traveling over the Charles River

The Old North Church and its tall tower

Fast Forward to WW 2: This is a battleship that you can now tour. It was cool! 

Its guns. My "guns."

The Monument at Breed's Hill to the Battle of Bunker Hill
(I asked a park ranger for an explanation. It was perfect)

298 steps later... I was wasted. 

And back at the bottom again. It was definitely worth the hike .

52 floors (by elevator this time!) later
We had dinner at Top of the Hub at the Prudential Center. It was a beautiful view. I had read to book your reservation surrounding sunset, and it was perfect. It was light for our first course, beautiful pink/orange for our main course, and...

...twinkling city-lights at dark for our dessert. Expensive and worth every penny!

DAY TWO - Harbor Ferry & State House

Thursday morning we took a Harbor Ferry out to the only island still open this late in the season.

The view of the city from the water was breath-taking

I loved all the sail boats on the sparkling water

Boston Light. The Nation's first and oldest lighthouse station. 

We traveled to Georges Island, where Fort Warren is located. The US government finished it just after the start of the Civil War. It served as a prisoner of war facility for Confederate leaders, and a training ground for soldiers headed to both WW I & II.  

It was fun to look back at the downtown from the top of the fort. 

The intricacies of the brickwork were astonishing, especially given that it was all done without power tools. 

After our fort tour and ferry trip back to the mainland, we finished up the last loop of the Freedom Trail we had missed Wednesday. We saw the current State House and went inside for a bit too. We also did Beacon Hill and the African-American Abolitionist trail (cool houses but disappointing overall). 

DAY THREE - Cambridge & Lexington

MIT

We checked out these commuter bikes and rode from MIT to Harvard along the Charles River. It was a beautiful, sunny ride along a nice bike trail. So fun! 

Harvard - Do I look smart - and young enough! - to be a student?

That night the wedding festivities began at the family rehearsal dinner. It was at a cute, Italian restaurant in Lexington. Before it started, we walked to the town square and saw this monument to eight Americans who died when they opposed the British march to Concord to destroy their ammunition storage. 

My date to the Rehearsal dinner

DAY FOUR - Concord & Wedding/Reception

Seeing Lexington the night before really made me want to see Concord. Here I am on the Old North Bridge. The Colonist ammunition was all stored on the other side of this bridge, and the British wanted to cross. No one knows who fired first, so this is the place the poet recorded "the shot heard round the world."  

And the REAL purpose of our trip - My brother's wedding! Here we are in front of the temple. Ryan sang at the Temple Dedication in 2000, so it was really fun for him to be back. 

I enjoyed seeing the similarities in architecture - at least in the steeple - to the Old North Church and other old churches in the Boston area. I love that the Church tries to personalize temples to their area. 

The Happy Couple! 

The siblings. We are so excited to have Rachel in our family.
Left to right: Kim, Sean, Rob, Rachel, Jared and me

The Reception was at a Civil War era commander's mansion. We played lawn games and then had dinner, dancing and dessert in the tent. It was beautiful.

Requisite cake-cutting picture. (And it was delicious. No yucky fondant here!)

 DAY FIVE - Cruise & Final Lunch

Sunday morning we checked out of the house my parents rented for all of us to stay in and headed back to Cambridge (in two large Ubers) to take a riverboat cruise. It was fun to hear the interesting facts about the buildings Ryan and I had seen on our bike ride. Unfortunately, Boston got its touch of Hurricane Matthew this day, and it rained, and rained, and rained some more.

My parents had to head to the airport, but the sibs (minus Rob & Rachel who had started their honeymoon to Bermuda) headed to lunch at a seafood place right on Boston Harbor.

It was delicious! Ryan got another lobster roll (it was his last chance), and I got amazing fried shrimp. Because of the rain, we did a little souvenir shopping and then headed back to the airport.  

And here's the miracle worker that made it all happen - The one and only Nana! We are so grateful Ryan's mom could come spend five days with our four crazy monkeys. It was so nice to get away and realize we really are still the best of friends. Thank you, Nana!!!!