Collin's Baptism

Collin was baptized on Saturday. We opted to host our own event instead of combining on the stake date, and I am so glad we did. It did come with its extra work though, but in the end, it went flawlessly.

The day started early with Ryan and Collin heading to the stake center at 6:45 am. They needed to get the water started in the font. Ryan told me later that Collin said on the way there, "Dad, can you believe it? The day I have been waiting for my whole life is finally here!" Isn't that adorable?

They arrived with an extremely long to-do list, including setting up chairs, a refreshments table, tv and cable, trying on jumpsuits, moving the piano and setting up an entry table. Oh, and that's not to mention turning off and on the water every 15 minutes to try to make it as warm as possible.

When I arrived with the rest of the kids at 9:30, the grandparents were all already there, and almost everything was ready to go. Way to go Ryan!

When it started at 10 am, I gave the opening prayer - through some happy tears - and Grandma Morello gave the talk on baptism. It was a great reminder of the covenants to love, serve, obey, pray and read the scriptures. Then Collin was baptized by Ryan, with Papa Williams and Grandpa Morello as witnesses.

Collin's primary teachers (a husband and wife team) did all the music, and his teacher played interlude music while Collin & Ryan took their sweet time getting changed. ;-) Collin told me afterwards that the water was warm, and that "dad did a great job." Ha ha.

After the baptism, Nana Williams gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. She gave him a HUGE micro-fleece blanket to represent the comforting power, and she also made a video. She spliced together a recording of her playing the piano with two other recordings of her singing the alto and then soprano parts of a primary song. She's amazing. At the end, she included pictures of Collin growing up. It was darling.

Then Collin received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He said afterwards that this was his favorite part, and that he couldn't stop smiling. A good friend from Ohio that now lives south of Denver surprised us by showing up (Katie Luce Wheeler), and she wrote down the words of the confirmation. What a nice memory for Collin. For my own records... The circle included Papa, Grandpa, Uncle Rich, Bro Croft (teacher), Bro Ottley (bishopric), and Bro Southam (HTer).

After the confirmation, Collin and Nana played a piano duet of "Army of Helamen." They'd only played it through together a handful of times, and there were some errors, but they did great. After some words from the Primary President and the Bishopric member, Aunt Kim offered the closing prayer. I loved having so much family do all the parts.

Throughout the whole meeting, Collin was the happiest, eager-est boy. I couldn't get over how excited he was. His smile was contagious. He loves to "perform," and he knew this was his big day. He was darling. Who doesn't love seeing their kids happy?

After the meeting, we served cookies and pastries. While we cleaned up, Grandpa and Uncle Rich left to pick up catered lunch for the family at Panera. (I had to simplify in some ways. Remember, this all happened the morning after Brennan's birthday and party. Whew.)

Then the family had a nice afternoon eating, chatting, napping and relaxing at the house (with its finished flooring!). It truly was a fabulous day.

Kim got him a "remembering my baptism day" journal, and Collin recorded lots of information in it, including his testimony. Then there were pages included for his parents' testimonies. When I thought about what I wanted to write - there wasn't much space - I decided to bear my testimony about the blessings of obedience. My testimony of the Church is aided by seeing all the fruits of the Gospel. I know I am happier - and my family is happier - as we strive to hold Family Home Evening, read the Book of Mormon, love and serve each other, and attend the temple. Whenever I hear some obscure piece of Church history dug up to shake others' faith, I remind myself of all the peace and joy I have felt in Gospel-settings. Then I am able to remember that people are imperfect but Christ is perfect. His Church organization may have its flaws, but His Gospel is not flawed. I told Collin - via his journal page - to choose the right, and he would find all the joy and happiness he could ever dream of. And that is how I feel - Through striving to be obedient (STRIVING: We just need to be trying our best. I'm sooo far from perfect), I have found true joy.

Happy Baptism Day, Collin!  

Happy 6th birthday, Brennan!

Brennan's birthday was Friday the 13th this year, like when he turned one. It was a jam-packed day.

HIS DAY

At the boys' school, instead of bringing a treat to share with their class, they instead choose a 10-minute class activity. Most kids pick extra recess, but Brennan made it crystal-clear that he felt that was silly in the winter. (Of all my kids, he's the one who hates winter and snow the most.) He instead picked for me to come read to his class for his activity. He picked the same book I read when Collin was in kindergarten called "The Boy Who Loved Broccoli." It is a cute story where the broccoli gives the boy super-hero strength and size that he uses to serve others. Unfortunately, it is really poorly written. Anyway, I went to his class to read it on Friday morning. It was fun, since one of my favorite things to do is read aloud.

We had a bunch of family trickling in throughout Friday, so when 1/2-day kindergarten got out at 11:30, the family already in town (Grandma & Grandpa and Nana & Papa) met us at a Chinese restaurant in Windsor. Brennan likes their sweet & sour chicken, but he doesn't like the vegetables or the sauce or the rice. Yeah, you read that right: he eats the chicken like nuggets, and - since it was his bday - I brought a little cup of BBQ sauce from home. Collin had had a doctors appointment just beforehand, so I already had checked him out of school, and Ryan left work to join us, so it was a fun, little - if you can call 10 people little - gathering.

After lunch, Nana & Papa took Brennan to Target to pick out a Lego set and to the party store to buy balloons for his party that evening. He spent the rest of the afternoon working on building his new set. He was in heaven.

At 5:30, Dad got home from work and Kim and her family arrived from Utah. Ryan brought Costco pizza, as requested by the birthday boy, and we had dinner. Then we played 5 simple Poke-mon themed games: Pikachu ears (craft), Catch Charizard (ball toss), Pin the Tail on Pikachu (blindfold), Poke-mon Catch (hunt) and a Poke-mon pinata.

It was tons of fun to plan, but it wasn't tons of fun to lead. The cousins were all worked up, and Brennan was in his "nothing will please me, no matter what" mood. I was really sad he wasn't happier, especially after all the work we'd put into it.

After the games, we sang and he blew out candles. I made poke-ball cupcakes, and Ryan made a Pikachu cake. We also had birthday cake ice cream (I love that stuff!).

Then he got to open gifts. From us, he got a new bike helmet, some Poke-mon Lego figures, a "How to Draw Poke-mon" book and a pack of colored paper. Aunt Kim got him a set of sports piggy banks to decorate. He was unimpressed by it all, but - as I mentioned - he was in an "impossible to please" mood.

ABOUT MY BRENNAN

We love Brennan, and we are so glad he is part of our family. He has taught me more than all my other kids combined. He sometimes is the sweetest, kindest, gentlest little boy, and I truly love spending time with him. He plays with Kate on the floor, reads to Ethan, makes cards for our family, empties the silverware from the dishwasher, and tells jokes. Other days, he is mean and violent and unpredictable. Those days I pray to end quickly. He is learning, and so are we.

He is smart. He reads quite well already. His math and writing skills are out of this world. He is an incredible artist, and he has the focus and attention of a child much older. He's already a prolific author and illustrator of books on many topics - dragons, tortoises, Poke-mon, ABCs, ninjas, pigeons, etc. He has lots of friends at school, and all the kids flock to him. He is a perfectionist like no other, and he doesn't want to try things that he thinks he might not be perfect at.

In December (on Collin's bday actually), he was voted Most Responsible by his classmates, and he was honored at a school-wide assembly. The other kids said he always gets all his work done, and he always picks up after himself. It really is just a popularity contest, but that's a rant for another day.

Brennan has had quite the year of physical growth too. He is two years behind Collin, but as soon as Collin grows out of any clothes, they now immediately move on to Brennan, instead of having a year boxed up. Even though he is only in kindergarten, he needs to wear all the clothes Collin wore in 1st grade, and Collin wasn't a small first grader! The doctor projected at his well-check appointment that he would reach 6'3". Sounds like he'll take after my uncles and cousins...  

He still doesn't handle change or failure at all. If something changes unexpectedly, it is practically the end of the world, and there are always tears and usually kicking and/or hitting. On a day with a lot of pressure (like a birthday or Christmas), he is usually a total wreck.

He hates almost all food I cook, but mostly because he knows it makes me sad. His favorite food is homemade macaroni and cheese with bacon, and I make it almost weekly. Last week Ethan asked me what was for dinner, and when I replied "pancakes," he disgustedly replied, "YUCK!" I asked him why he had said that. "Because we ask you what for dinner, and you say it, and we always say yuck." Laughing, I tried to explain that "yuck" means you don't like it, and that if he does like it he should say "yum" instead. "Oh, me like pancakes. I say yummy now!" Where do you think he learned to say "yuck" EVERY time Mom says what's for dinner?!

Brennan is doing karate two days a week with Collin. He likes it when he is there and afterwards, but the last few weeks it has been a real battle to get him there. He says he wants to drop out, which I am willing to support, but I told him he had to pick another extracurricular activity to pick up to replace it. He doesn't want to do piano or soccer, so I plan to try to find some kind of artsy thing for him. I'm not really sure where to start though...

Brennan has great potential. We love him so much! Here's to another year of growth and learning together. Love you, B!

Living Room Remodel

Yeah, so we decided to totally remodel our main floor. So far - one year later - we have one of the room done... okay, almost done. But I think it is close enough to finally talk about it on here.

So, this was our front room when we bought our house.

These are actually the realtor pics from Zillow with the previous owner's furniture. 

There was no way to put furniture in this room. The stairs totally blocked the doorway, and there wasn't enough additional room to have a walkway to the rest of the house. We basically used it for our computer cabinet and piano. I hated it. Oh, and the turned spindles and railing made me want to throw up in my throat.

So, we moved the stairs. Yeah, so December 14, 2015 we - and by "we" I mean Ryan - tore out the coat closet behind the front door, rebuilt the subfloor, moved four stairs to straighten the run and built a new landing. This process took about a month.

Removing the coat closet

The hated spindles and newel posts

All gone coat closet, spindles and posts! 

Goodbye stairs blocking the doorway

This hole was created on a Thursday evening of labor. Ryan handed the kids to me up on that first start, over top of the hole for bedtime that night, and Ryan had to take off Friday from work. It was crazy.  

Those are the basement stairs. It was a big drop. 

But that Friday, he got the new landing built and straightened the old stairs over the hole. Phew.

So at this point we had totally trashed some sections of drywall, as you can see in the pictures. All our drywall is textured, so we were going to have to hire someone to come in to texture the new wall. So the Pinterest junky in our relationship - no names needed - decided it would look really nice if instead of re-doing the drywall, we just covered it with board and batten.

Sooooo much easier said than done. This process filled our nights and weekends until Spring/Summer, when we had to pause everything.

First, Ryan attached this smooth board to cover the textured walls. We wanted to just glue it, but that didn't work, so it had to be cut and tacked up. Then we had to place all the boards.

We laughed that the neighbors probably all thought we were turning our front room into a cardboard box. 

Since I hated our original newel posts and spindles, Ryan built a case around our original posts and made them more sleek, and we eventually got all new spindles. 

This picture shows the boards Ryan but up to create the pattern.

All summer long we worked on the regular lawn/yard upkeep. (We also spent all our time and money on our patio roof, which I know I mentioned TWO YEARS ago in a birthday post, but... That story is for another LONG remodel story. We also built a playhouse, complete with two slides and a climbing wall, and added a sandbox underneath, so we stayed busy, and this project sat on hold.)

In October, with the yard work wrapped up for the winter, we got back into the mess we were calling our house. We finally got a reasonably-priced quote on spraying all our wainscoting white. They fit us into their schedule one week at the beginning of November, and that's when we really started getting excited. We never hire out anything, so it was exciting to see how quickly they got it all turned into beautiful. smooth white.

Then the week before Thanksgiving we ripped out all the carpeting in the front room, and Thanksgiving weekend we - and by we I actually mean Ryan, Collin and I - laid that room's hardwood flooring.

The following weekend Ryan put in the new railing and spindles (yes, we'd gone almost a year without a safe staircase with four kids under the age of 7 and a clumsy mother).

With the front room nearly finished after Thanksgiving, we changed gears to the rest of the main floor. We had bought enough hardwood flooring to do the kitchen and family room too, so every Saturday in December was dedicated to flooring removal in the additional 2/3 of our main floor. One evening we took out the carpet and staples in the family room. That was pretty easy.

The main reason we redid this back room's flooring was because of this awkward transition between the mud room and the kitchen. I hated this little landing thing. 

Two LONG, HARD Saturdays were spent removing the linoleum from the eating area of the kitchen and then the prep area of the kitchen.

Since we were ripping it out anyway, Ryan grabbed some Sharpies at the store, and we let the kids go to town on the linoleum. I thought we should win the coolest parents award.  

They thought that it was pretty cool. 

It was brutal work. Lots of splinters and bloody knuckles. Super sore backs. So much dust and an infinite number of staples, seriously. We removed linoleum on Saturdays, and we pulled and/or cut staples for the week nights in between. It was literally back-breaking labor. I've never been so tired or slept so soundly.

And that brings us to our Christmas week. After a month of staples, splinters and bare chipboard for flooring, we started laying the new hardwood in the kitchen and family room the day after Christmas. It took us three, long hard days. I learned to measure, cut, nail and hammer boards. Ryan was better at it than me, but I knew how to do it all by the end. Talk about a sore back. I've never slept better.

It is beautiful, and we are super happy, but there's a reason that the labor to install hardwood doubles the cost of the product. It is truly labor.

Ironically, the very next day after we finished our installation we had planned to just work half-days (baseboard and toekick replacement and other finishing touches) and then enjoy some time with the kids (trampoline park, indoor pool, arcade, etc.) But, instead we got SLAMMED with sickness. Collin got an ear infection, Ryan got respiratory influenza, Ethan got pink eye (that he passed to me, Kate and Ryan in turn), and the rest of us got snotty, coughing colds. It has been a miserable last two weeks. We think we are on the home stretch now, but... I'm kinda waiting for the next victim.

Somewhere in our dazed illnesses, we got a babysitter and went shopping. We had a lot to do: we ordered new carpet for the stairs and upstairs hallway (they've been bare plywood for months and months), we bought a couch and accent chairs for the living room, and we bought rugs for the living room and family room. It was an expensive... and a totally essential, shopping day.

So, are you ready for the grand finale? Here's our new and improved front room.

This post is mostly dedicated to this front room, but since we did the flooring everywhere else too that story sneaked in. We still want/need to re-do the kitchen (planking on the island, back splash and counter tops) and the family room (accent wall and fireplace redo), so I didn't take "after" pictures of anywhere else, but at least the floor is done in those rooms already.

And that's our one-year story. I think we've earned a break. Do you agree? ;-)

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!!!