The Marble Jar

Okay so for my sanity, today we started the marble jar! I have been so negative lately with my kids that I am trying to turn that around. Each time they are ding what they are supposed to they get some marbles put into the marble jar. This morning, Kate made her bed, got dressed, brush her teeth and her hair all on her own. She was so good all day just trying to earn those marbles. Tonight as the dinner table she was so polite and used all her manners. She even said, "Dad I really like your hair today." When they reach the goal like the kids get to do an activity of their choice. So far so good with Kate. Connor is a whole other story. He could care less about marbles. I will work on something tomorrow that will motivate him. It was so good to have such a positive day at home with the kids.
Here's hoping day 2 is just as good!

Party for a Princess

Kate was invited to a birthday party for Brooke (A friend from Daisy Scouts). It was a princess theme and they did such a good job decorating! It was adorable! Here are a few pics. I wish that I could be this creative!

Well, I am finally going to catch up!

Here I go. I am going to try and catch up on my many missing posts.

Many things have happened since October and I will just highlight them here:

I GRADUATED! Yes, I earned my Masters degree in Early Childhood and Curriculum and Instruction. Whew!!!! I never thought I could do it, but I did in only 1 year. One of the proudest moments of my life!

Christmas:
This year was a great year! We had three babies in our family celebrating their first Christmas. Finley, Chloe, and Madison. Kate and Connor had a great time opening their presents from Santa.

Mexico House Building:
I went to Mexico with my school to build a house for a family that does not have one. This was through amor ministries and it was amazing! Now, Chris and I have done this together before and this is how we met. It was great to be back, and older, to really appreciate all that was going on.

Kate graduates Kindergarten!
I can't believe it! I have a first grader! It was a great day and a bit emotional for us. She was so excited. Kate has come to far at ACA. She has had the most loving and amazing teacher ever! Mrs. Harris is just the best and I am not sure what I would do without her!

Connor turns 3:
Well, I can't believe it, my baby turned 3 this year! He is just the most precious thing in all the world! He has such an amazing personality and it such a good snuggler! He had a Thomas the Train birthday party and loved every minute of it.

Chris and I celebrated 8 years of marriage:
I can't even believe it! We have had so much to be thankful for. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing, supportive husband who is such an amazing father!

Kate's First Field Trip

Kate went on her first field trip two weeks ago. Her teacher and I planned it together so that I could be there with her. We went to Westgate and let the kids play at the splash pad. We then went to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in 3D! We ended our day with lunch and headed back to school. The kids had such a great time. Our cousin Rylee is in her class as well so it is so nice that the two of them get to experience all of this together. It was so nice to be able to be there with Kate. Being a teacher I am lucky that I get to have my daughter with me all day at work, but when field trips or special events come up it is hard because I am not always able to be there. This was perfect! We had such a good day!

Chloe Dell Williams

We have welcomed yet another baby into our family! My brother and his wife welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world on September 21, 2009. She was expected to be a big baby, (Kari is known for that) and she lived up to that. She weighed in at 8lbs 15 oz. For us that just means we have more to love! She is truly beautiful. For the first two days of her life she did not have a name, but now they have picked one and I think it is ust perfect. It was so nice to be able to go down to the hospital and visit with them. I so much enjoyed seeing my brother beaming with pride when he was able to introduce me to his daughter. He had this big smile on his face the entire time. We love you guys! Welcome baby Chloe! Our family has been so blessed this year with new life!

The Best Laughter

I come home from work on Thursday and this what I see. Chris is standing behind the wall and the kids are running around the corner and he scares the living daylights out of them. Their laughter is priceless. At this point, Kate sort of expects it, but she still gets very spooked as she would say. My children's laughter brings me to such a great place!

Children's Museum

Today I took the kids to the children's museum with Aunt Kelly and Abby, Maggie, and Sean. We had not seen each other in so long. Kate had been begging to go see them, but with school it has been really hard to get together. We met Aunt Kelly at her house and began to load up. As we were loading Maggie turns to me and says, "Aunt Chrissy, look there is a police officer. Did you know that you can pay them a lot of money and they will take your picture?" Needless to say I think that the speed cameras have caught someone in their house a few times! It was priceless and gave us all a good laugh. We stopped and got some lunch so that we could take it into the museum with us. We all ate and surprisingly Connor actually sat in his high chair without throwing a fit. After lunch it was playtime! We started with the noodle forest, the ice cream stand, and the grocery store. The kids had so much fun! The girls loved standing behind the ice cream stand and serving anyone and everyone who would come up to them. Then it was off to the pizza kitchen and the ball room. Sean and Connor had so much fun in the ball room. It is amazing how kids can be so entertained by balls rolling down tubes! The girls served Kelly and I many delicious items including: pizza, diet coke, and Abby's special salad! When we were full we moved on to the bikes. The kids had such a great time going through the bike wash. Connor used the small push car. He loved it. As we were getting ready to leave we found this great vacuum exhibit. You place these soft plush balls into a vacuum and you watch them spin through the maze and shoot out the other side. The kids loved it! We had such a good day! Kate said on the way home, "Mommy thanks for such a great day, you're the best!"