What's new

Well, there's not much new to report here today. And yet, there is. Like the resurrection of these two games:

It wasn't until I started taking more pictures of our every day lives that I realized just how many games we play. Uno and Charades are popular now in addition to this ipad version of an oldie but a goodie:

Monopoly is now Charlie's game of choice on the ipod touch as well. His favorite part? "I like getting paid." Which explains his response when Grandmama asked him what his favorite card was ("advance to go").

Morgan still prefers the pantry. You never know when you'll find a stray M&M.

Wow, she's cute, and she knows it.

Taylor had another tango with a fever last weekend which set her back momentarily.

But she's back, folks. And better than ever. For Taylor is now able to put in her own pony tail. This is a very exciting and proud worthy accomplishment for a Kindergartner.

Which is why I let her have her moment and go proudly off to school looking like this:

Taylor learns all sorts of things in kindergarten. (Like saying "That's noneya. Noneya' business!") She also learned how to use this fortune telling game with folded paper. Remember these? She's giving them with her Valentine's this year and decided to practice with Morgan (and mom, and dad, and charlie...)

I let the kids earn a new toy by doing things around the house like playing a whole game without fighting or crying, sitting in your chair for a full meal, not coming out of your room after bedtime, you know, things they are supposed to do anyway. But the joke was on them, because their 'prizes' were educational. Charlie earned a spider man writing book and this secret decoder kit. You write something with an invisible marker and then use special markers to reveal your message.

Charlie is not a huge fan of writing so I have to trick him into thinking it's fun. Meanwhile, Taylor is always writing notes, making cards, creating checklists and writing lessons for her pretend classroom.

Charlie would much rather be doing this:

A boring week... or was it?

I haven't posted anything all week. Honestly it's been a pretty uneventful week. In fact I don't expect that to change much all winter. Both Charlie and Taylor have independently decided to 'take a break' from soccer and dance class this winter, and while we will definitely venture outside should it ever snow, the bulk of our time will be spent indoors playing games, reading books, and other homely activities. So if you are looking for exhilarating pictures of the Williams' family participating in compelling activities, check back this spring. For now enjoy my photos of our simple pleasures.

Charlie had his Bear Hunt at school on Tuesday. He'd been looking forward to the opportunity to wear his jammies and bring a flash light to school all month.

In other news, I finally managed to coerce Morgan's hair into pigtails.

Charlie took one look and said 'she looks beautiful'. I'm inclined to agree.

We met grandma at Bob Evan's for the public debut of this new hairdo.

Another big occurrence in the life of my youngest was her chance to sit in the big kid high chair.

This will have to wait a bit before I do it again. Baby girl likes to test her new freedom by standing up in the high chair. (I wonder where she saw that.)

That brings me to tonight. Charlie and Taylor have taken up checkers. It is so cute to watch them play. They really concentrate. My favorite quote today was their mutual agreement that the game was getting interesting.

We wrapped up the night with a book,

a quick tickle session,

and charlie's usual mischief.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Chad

Uncle Chad turned another year older last week. The family had to postpone his birthday celebration, because a nasty stomach bug had taken up residence in Grace's tummy. So today, we took advantage of all six kids being at Grandma's house (she braved another sleepover with all of her grandkids so the parents could go to a fundraiser at the school) to hold a special birthday lunch for Chad. Complete with decorations!

We decided to forgo the kiddie table and all sat together to enjoy Grandma's famous lasagna.

Chad has been craving a cookies 'n cream ice cream pie so I did my best to oblige.

Afterwards, it was time for presents. The kids had been busy at grandma's house making a map to lead Chad to the hidden present, making cards and banners, and whipping up a gag gift, a bunch of paper scraps wrapped in tissue paper. I can't tell you how funny Taylor thought this was. I just love to see her laughing like this.

It was a nice Sunday afternoon spent with family. These kids don't know how lucky they are to have built-in playmates. But we do, and the blessings of this family never go overlooked.

Finally we decided to take a picture of all the cousins and, through the magic of photoshop, I was able to transform this:

Into this:

Let me know what you think. (There's room for comments below this sentence.)

A Friday Morning

Yesterday I shared a very rewarding, relaxing Friday with Charlie and Morgan. It started with Charlie and I playing some board games. I've been playing more and more games with him in hopes that he will learn to be a better loser. The only problem is that he wins the majority of time!

Again Morgan played in the kitchen. She'll be very upset once I replace that child lock. Maybe I'll leave that one cabinet accessible for her. Really, she just enjoys sitting in it and stowing away the occasional toy.

Mark asked me if I have a foot fetish since I take a lot of pictures of our children's feet. I never thought about it, but I guess the answer is yes, especially if they are dressed like little reindeer!

Another thing I can't resist is a good hug between siblings.

Morgan's been spending more and more time in this chair.

I remember when I first brought it upstairs for this picture:

She couldn't get enough of it. I think she felt so big being able to climb into a chair on her own. Those feelings of triumph would quickly dissapt as she realized that she didn't know how to get down. It was so cute because she'd start to stretch her legs down and they'd be literally one inch above the floor, but there she sat, paralyzed with fear waiting for me to rescue her.

Well those days are over. She has completely mastered this chair and has no fear.

Charlie jumped in this shot to inform me that we had 'lost track of time' and should really head out for his hair cut now.

So off we went to tame his mane.

Charlie's so good for haircuts despite the fact that he clearly doesn't enjoy them.

Morgan, on the other hand, had a ball investigating all the hair products conveniently displayed right at eye level.

After Charlie's haircut I decided to treat the kids to Steak 'N Shake.

I love it when we have days like this. When everything comes easy and we experience pure contentment from the littlest of diversions. I'm going to stop here, because of course it couldn't last forever. We certainly had some more hair-pulling moments later in the day. Still, it's nice to know that these kinds of days are entirely attainable.