Our Week

I hope everyone is enjoying their winter so far.  We are once again enjoying our little hibernation and spending lots of time together indoors.  Here's a few shots to recap the past week.

Charlie was Super Star Student last week.


He got to bring in a special treat as part of his super star week and decided on these little snowmen heads.




We've been loving having Aunt Julie here again.  Morgan finally bonded with Julie during her holiday visit and it has carried over to this visit.


The day Julie got in town, Mark picked her up from the airport and brought her to my mom's house.  We used the opportunity to have a nice dinner followed by a game of cards.  I brought the ipad mini knowing Morgan would need some entertainment as well.


Then the girls snuck off for some girl time before heading home.


The next day we celebrated Uncle Chad's birthday at grandma's house again.


It's a tradition to give the birthday boy or girl toasts on their special day.  The kids are starting to get into it.  Charlie's toast:  "You're thirty-seven.  I'm glad you're not eleven."




I took a few photos in charlie's room this week for my 365 project.










We had a girls' night on Friday night and enjoyed dinner and a movie together.


On Saturday, Taylor's school had an adult-only fundraising event so all the kids had a sleepover with Grandma and Aunt Julie.  They decided to make it a safari-theme and went all out making it special for the kids.  I took two quick photos before heading out and then snagged some photos off of Grandma's camera to check out the rest of the festivities.




The kids ate dinner in a 'cave'.








I'm told Morgan loved wearing this hat.




They finished the night watching a movie. Jungle Book, of course.


The next morning cousin Grace pulled Taylor's third tooth.




Monday was MLK Day so no one had school.  We decided to brave the Dayton Mall and go to Momtopia.


There was a juggler/ventriloquist performing that Charlie found particularly funny.


Afterwards we let the kids play in the indoor play area.




My mom must have been feeling guilty about declining my birthday request for a cookie cake from the mall so she treated me with one.  We took it to McDonald's where the kids got their monthly fix and enjoyed it as our dessert.

Hello 2013

Welcome to part two of my post!  We have welcomed the new year in true Williams fashion, by relaxing and retreating to the comforts of our family and our home.  We spent all most of New Year's Day in our jammies and much of it cuddling in bed with the kids.



I've noticed lots of similarities emerging between this winter and last.  It seems that during the cold months our family game nights increase significantly.  A new favorite game in this house is Fluxx.  Charlie is especially fond of this game and thinks about Fluxx games in his sleep.




Morgan still adores her blankie (and her thumb) but she has added to her list of favorite items which you'll see in a moment.




Santa brought Charlie an Angry Birds playdoh set.  First, you create angry birds and pigs with molds.


Then you build a cardboard structure for the pigs and launch the birds at it in hopes of knocking them down.


Morgan was standing at the other side of the table and kept getting birds flying at her head.  She'd respond by saying "Hey!"  Finally, she started using a box as a shield.


Taylor is not as crazy about Fluxx as Charlie.  She prefers regular card games.  And yes, that's Morgan with our ipad mini.


Morgan now knows the difference between ipads, iPods, and mini iPads, and she loves them all.


Here she is teaching her baby to play.




Mark also introduced the kids to the game of basketball.  They have special rules which involves Mark staying stationary.  (Morgan usually plants herself at his feet.) Mark's basket is the hamper (behind Taylor in this photo).


The kids use Charlie's new basketball hoop to score their points.


Santa gave the kids this fun present.  It can be constructed to make an igloo, castle, rocket, and whatever else the imagination conjures up.


Morgan went through a brief stage in which she insisted on being called "baby".  She'd correct anyone who spoke to her or spoke of her using the word Morgan.  Then she discovered these baby dolls (which we've had at the house for years) and decided that they were baby.  Now if you call her baby, she will correct you by saying "NO, Morny" which is the adorable way she pronounces her name.


These days, Morgan likes to have her blankie, her baby, and her baby's blankie close by at all times.   Not to mention "little baby" and "little baby's blankie".  Here's hoping this phase is short lived as well.


Tomorrow we await the arrival of Aunt Julie again!  We cannot wait to spend more time with her!!

Goodbye 2012

Today I decided to divide my posts in two.  It only seemed fitting since some of my photos occurred in 2012 and the rest in our new year of 2013.  And please, folks, let's agree to call it "twenty thirteen" rather than "two thousand thirteen."  Don't you think it's much simpler that way?  Really, I don't know why people aren't doing that yet.  It's been THIRTEEN years.  I digress...

So picking up from after christmas, here is what the end of twenty twelve (see how easy that was?) looked like for the Williams Family.

We continued to play with all of our new goodies.  This was a new game in which you must guess what the picture on your head is depicting.






Unfortunately, it turned to tears when the kids had a tough time correctly identifying who/what they were.  Mom saved the day when she dismissed the one-minute timer in which they had to guess it in, and instead used the timer on her phone so they could take as long as they needed.


This was a quick game of Kings in the Corner that we played when dropping Taylor off for a sleepover at Grandma's with Aunt Julie.


These next two photos were taken from my mom's camera.  Apparently they had a fashion show.




When I came to pick Taylor up the next morning they had made a sign to welcome my mom home from work.  They were trying it out on me by jumping up and saying 'surprise'.


I mentioned in a previous post that Taylor likes to get Morgan up from her naps.  On this particular day Morgan did not want to get up so Taylor joined her.




Morgan is in heaven with all the new playdoh we now have!


The boys had a turn to have a sleepover with aunt Julie as well.  In fact, I felt like she got to spend special, quality time with each of my children individually this visit.  I believe special memories were made by all.


Somehow, in the blink of an eye, the year was over.  My mom bravely invites all of her grandchildren to her house for a New Year's bash, thus granting the parents a night out as well.


I could tell when I came to drop the kids off that it was going to be a very fun evening for them.






And judging from my mom's pictures, it was!












So what did Mark and I do?  We spent New Year's with a group of friends (mostly OU graduates) whom I love.


And so ends my last post of 2012.  I've tried to write this next sentence for nearly 5 minutes now.  I just don't want to sound cheesy, but I think that is unavoidable.  It's my family and my friends that have filled this year with such happiness, love and memories, and for them, I will always be grateful.

This year's music video

I love photography, but I also love videography.  I guess it's because I get to incorporate another powerful medium: music.  Music can move you in so many ways and really give a new feeling and interpretation to something.  I make these music videos about once a year.  I cherish them.  To me, they are a glimpse into our wonderfully blessed lives.  I load them on all the kids' electronic devices, and they watch them frequently.  My goal in this one was to incorporate lots of our loved ones in it and to give a celebratory vibe that commemorates the beauty in this world.  Enjoy.