Merry Christmas!!

It's been a fun, busy week but this song has been playing over and over in my mind and definitely reminds me of the real reason for this amazing season!!






Hope everyone has a great Christmas!!

Guess who??

I think even with the horrible quality of this picture of a picture, you can still see the obvious resemblance of a certain boy in this house and this little Scotty boy:

Them there's some strong genes!!

Happy Halloween 2009!!

Yes, the weather is freezing cold and we're listening to Christmas music, but here's our Halloween recap!!

This year we had a clown, 2 ninja's, and a Batman. The weather was perfect, the Harvest Festival was super fun, and a good time was had by all!!

This is the only pic I got of all of the boys, and our cousin, Justin the Jedi joined in. (wow...nice use of consonance/alliteration!)

Luke and Landry, aka Ninja and Batman -

Luke sliding -Reagan and Landry. . . Bacon and BatmanBatman -

And the bestest friends on the face of the earth!!

Future NFL star. . . . probably not!!

Seventh grade football . . . those words conjure up some amazing memories for me now!!

Haha!!

Alex played his first season of football this year when he entered the 7th grade. He had literally been waiting his whole life to do it! It was something he's always wanted to do! The excitement and anticipation was almost more than we could take!!

But, of course, that leveled off eventually!! And it finally took a nosedive!! :)

Seriously, he had a great season and and a lot of fun! Alex isn't what you would call an overly aggressive kid, so football gave me a bit of a challenge in that area. He really wanted to hit somebody really hard . . . but it just didn't happen that way much!! He really wanted to make a lot of really great tackles . . . but it just seemed a little more difficult when you were actually called on to do it!!

(Totally not trying to diss Alex AT ALL, but I want to document this next part for my horrible memory!!)

Alex kind of got a reputation with those of us in the stands as being a "last responder." He was really good at running up on a pile of players after the runner had already been safely tackled and he would often give someone a little push or a little slap on the helmet, as though it couldn't have happened without his final touch!! It was hilarious to watch!!

So, it is safe to conclude that Alex is a fairly non-aggressive football player!! Oxymoron?? Maybe!!

When asked if he'll play next year, he says no. But I wouldn't be surprised if he did! He had lots of fun and really enjoyed it, for the most part.

Here are Alex and Reagan at the last game . . . I asked them if they could smile and this is how they responded:

Never underestimate the power of #88 and #89!!

What makes you Gouchy??

From Luke --



Translation -


I was gouchy because I did not get enuf sleep.


He definitely comes by that naturally!!

Projects, projects

School has been going really well so far this year. It's hard to believe that in three short weeks, the year will be half over!! Crazy!!

I haven't been posting much because I couldn't find the cord that connects my camera to the computer; thus I haven't been able to upload anything!! The funny thing is that the cord was right here in the office all the time! Awesome organizational skills I have!!

Anyway, Alex and Parker did a couple of cool projects a few weeks ago and I wanted to document them here.

First up, Alex had to do a model of how blood flows through the heart, showing the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. I was really proud of Alex as he did this project pretty much without any help. I really like things like this because I think the kids get a much better idea of how it actually works than just doing in on paper. After he did this project, he had a great understanding of how the heart works.


Parker has been studying Mesopotamia for a good part of the year and he was presented with a list of projects to create and he chose to build a Mesopotamian Ziggurat. The funnest part of this project was to see people's reactions when he told them he was building a ziggurat....definitely not something you come across every day.


Being the insightfully creative person I am, I sent Parker to spend a couple of days with his Poppy so that they could, together, create the ziggurat of their dreams!! And boy, did they not disappoint!!

This was really, super cool when they finished it and I was surprised at how Parker just jumped right in and wanted to learn about this ancient structure. He has a great time learning/building this little project.

One of my favorite parts of this project was the very end when Parker got out the Sharpie to draw on the lines and write a cool title. His first attempt was crazy . . . all over the place and not neat AT ALL!! So, we covered that up with his picture of the model they used and started again! The next time was a little better until he starts writing in big bubble letters right in the middle!! Then he finished it off by writing his little-known nickname - PK - under his real name!! PK?? Seriously?? It almost sent me over the edge, but I kept myself in check and let him express his creativity!!??! His teacher's reaction?? FANTABULOUS!!

Good work guys!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

Belated birthday wishes go out to two of the finest people you will ever know.....my Grandma and BigPa!!

(This isn't actually at their party, but it's such a great picture!!)

Their birthdays were actually on October 2nd and October 11th and my mom and Debra gave them a surprise 79th and 80th birthday party on Sunday, the 11th! It was so fun to watch as especially BigPa was completely surprised!! Several people spoke about good memories and special times with them. I had the privilege to speak about what amazing grandparents they are to me. . . . . I once again retold the story of BigPa's cat-like reflexes as he squashed a mouse (or rat, depending on who's telling the story!!) in my garage a few years back! That story never gets old!!!

I gave a little insight into their generous hearts as I told them about how just a couple of weeks prior to that, Parker had been sick and when they heard, they immediately wanted to bring some chicken noodle soup by. In true BigPa and Grandma fashion, they brought soup, made with Luke's special noodles and extras in case we needed them, two different kinds of cornbread, two cartons of ice cream, and hot fudge to boot!! They are and always have been so over-the-top with their giving!

Many times when I offer my appreciation to them for whatever they've gone out of their way to do for me, the response I usually get is. . . . "Glad to!" I know that they mean that when they say it, for they are always happy to help. It's never a burden, never an imposition; they truly are glad to!!

BigPa and Grandma - - - I cannot tell you how many ways you have blessed my life and the lives of those I love!! You are truly the best and I love you!!

(sorry so belated!!)

Pastor talk

Today was an exciting new day for our church. A new pastor took the helm at our great church!! While this means a lot of things to a lot of people, it was different for me because a member of my family has been the pastor at Grace for as long as I've been alive!! That's pretty wild when you think about it!! I'm looking forward to the future of Grace in the hands of Bro. Donnie, a non-Williams/Martin family member!!

When Landry got up and going this morning and realized it was Sunday, he immediately said, "Is today the day that the new pastor comes??" I answered yes and he said in a little voice, with his hands raised, "yay!!" Evidently, he has big plans and high expectations for Bro. Donnie!!

And on the way to church, we were reviewing Luke and Landry's verses when Landry pipes up, "I know a verse!!" So, I said, "Tell us...what is it??" To which he responded, "No man can serve two PASTORS!!" After I cracked up laughing and someone corrected him, I thought to myself....there might be some truth to that!!

Good times ahead!!

Princesses...according to boys

I have so much fun stuff to blog about . . . BigPa and Grandma's birthdays, Alex and his school projects/football adventures, and other important stuff I'm forgetting.

But this was a bit of insight I gleaned tonight from Parker, Luke, and Landry.

They were being silly, calling each other Scary Potter, Princess, and other equally charming names. The whole "princess" term made me wonder how many of the Disney princesses these crazy boys could name.

So, I asked . . . tell me the names of the princesses.

And here they are . . . all they could come up with!

1. Snow White

2. Cinderella

3. Girl with the long hair

4. Fiona

5. Queen of England

I wonder if Disney has thought about marketing the Queen Mother? She'd make a great princess!!

All in a day's work

I thought it might be interesting to occasionally share something that I've learned as I work with my students. Because I teach (and I use that term loosely) several different subjects, I am always being reminded of things that I remember learning when I was in school, or I am constantly learning new concepts or new ways to teach concepts.

So, this is the problem for the day. This comes from some Algebra 3 work that a student and I worked through today. Read slowly and this is totally doable!!

Find 2 consecutive natural numbers such that the difference of their reciprocals is 1/4 the reciprocal of the smaller number!!!

Let me know what you get!!

A wonderfully boring Saturday

Aaahhh...another Saturday! I love Saturdays!!

Here's a peek into what's happened around here today.

Saturdays are great for playing. Football usually reigns for Alex and Luke, but Landry has his own ideas of fun.

Take this guy. . . Perry Medic, I believe.

Get it.....PerryMedic.....paramedic!!

He's been around for a long time but now it is Landry's turn to grow his imagination with this guy. (Landry took this pic)


According to Landry, today has found Perry flying in his rocket ship for a long, long time and he was really, REALLY tired. He needed a nap and the best place for that was in Luke's bed. So, Landry carefully bedded Perry down, took apart his rocket ship, and surrounded him with it. My favorite part of this was that Landry had found Parker's glasses cleaning cloth and deemed it a perfect blanket for Perry!!


Since Landry seemed interested in helping all the tired toys get their naps, I suggested to him that "Baby" might need a nap too. He happily agreed and went and found Baby and promptly wrapped him up in a blanket and put him to bed with Perry!! Here's Baby sleeping (Landry also took this pic!)

Baby, who has never been named anything other than Baby, has been a part of the family since Alex's first (I think!) birthday!! So, he's almost 12 and is really aging well!! It's so funny to see how the boys have played with Baby through the years. It definitely brings out their nurturing side!!

At least, until Baby wakes up from his nap and everyone has moved on to football. They are having trouble finding the right football to play with so Landry offers up Baby!!

"Hey guys....we could use Baby as the football!!"

That is so wrong!!

As for other exciting-ness. . . we pretended we were at the Barber Shop!

YUCK!! I hate this job!! It is so almost worth paying the $50 bucks every month to get it done!!

And, on another exciting note, I had a little run-in with the Bleach today!!

Those used to be Luke's long sleeved shirt on the left (that I had dug out now that the weather is cooler!!), Luke's boxers, and Scott's black sweater vest. He's going to croak when he sees that!! There were other casualties, but I just grabbed these first!!

I hate bleach!! It is a useful and necessary part of my life, but it is so dangerous!!

So, that's another exciting Saturday in the books!! The best thing about this weekend?? It goes on for an extra day!! Yay for Columbus!!

Kids Speak

Here are a couple of funnies from the last week or so . . .

Landry, while sitting at the bar . . . "I always lick the bar first before I eat!" (WHAT??!!)

Parker, while waiting for our good friend/chiropractor Dr. Todd to adjust him . . . "All of a sudden, I'm feeling the need to go green!" To which I reply, "meaning??" And he says, "you know recycle more, turn off the TV, take a shower instead of a bath, unplug your phone charger when you're not using it, MOM!"

Darn flu!

For the first time in the history of this little family, we have the flu!!

Parker was the first to go down...started Saturday with fever and cough. When he never got out of my bed all day, I used my deductive reasoning to figure out something might not be quite right!! He ran fever most of Saturday, all of Sunday, and slept about 40 out of 48 hours from Saturday to Monday morning.

So, today started with a trip to the doctor and a flu test. I was really surprised to see that he tested positive for Influenza A. His doctor explained that 95% of people that have Type A have the Swine Flu!! Yikes!!

So, he has Tamiflu, Scott's and my doctor called us out a prescription for it, but the kids can only get the drugs once they show symptoms. So, hopefully, everyone won't get it, but realistically?? We'll see!!

As for other news, there's not much!!

Alex's team won his first game last week 34-0 over Granbury!! Very exciting, indeed!!

We might have some future Baylor Bears on our hands, thanks to my good friend, Emily. Go here and here to read about their fun! Alex found himself at the Texas A&M game on Saturday so 3 out of 4 of the boys got to watch a little college football live and in person! Poor Parker was at home with the flu!! :(

And that's about all the craziness and excitement I can come up with! Unless you count the unbelievable amount of laundry I did over the weekend. Note to self -- it never pays to NOT do laundry during the week!! And I got an amazing new IRON!! Now, that's exciting!! A good iron is an incredible thing for sure!!

That's it!! Happy Monday!!

The author

Luke is starting his fourth week of First Grade, and other than getting up little earlier than he'd like to, he's enjoying it. He really enjoys getting "real" grades and proudly shows us his good grades as soon as he gets in the car!

He brought home a book last week that he had finished and I wanted to document it here in case it got lost at some point in the future!

Here's the cover -- Luke's Family

He did manage to put me in my fave color - blue - but somehow we are footless and I'm the only lucky one with hair!! Yay me!!

Translated - My whole family went to New York to see my grandparents. And just in case you thought that might be God looking down from the sky, you're wrong!! It's the Statue of Liberty surrounded by water!!

It rained everyday that we were there. Well, not exactly, but it kinda seemed like it at the time!!

My whole entire family that lives in New York went to Cooperstown. We went to the Hall of Fame. That is Uncle David in blue, the three older boys, and Scott in pink!!

Not a great picture...but he made a 100!! I think he might be an author someday!! And maybe an illustrator too!!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL??!?!!?

Alex is playing some football!!

Last Tuesday was his first time on the field...for a scrimmage. He did well, though he slyly admitted afterwards that the only time his hands touched the ball was during warm-ups!! I think his main goal was to just make it through the game alive and intact, and that, he did!!

He has his first "real" game tomorrow and he's already informed me that he's not afraid of getting tackled or tackling someone else. My deductive reasoning tells me that perhaps he was afraid last week, but now, he's ready to play!! :)

Here's his good buddy, Reagan ...

Alex had to bring home all of his pads this weekend to get cleaned up and so Luke and Landry took full advantage of the opportunity to put on all of his gear! How cute are they in his stinky stuff??

And here's Luke wearing the nastiest pants and jersey EVER!!

It came and went so quickly!

What a great weekend it was ... Labor Day Weekend '09!

Here it is in a nutshell (and in no particular order) --

. . . laundry (duh!!)

. . . Brewer Bear football . . . and a win, too!!

. . . Saturday morning trip to doctor resulting in one "hearing infection" for Mr. Luke

. . . Watching the very first Harry Potter movie (and beginning to read the fourth!)

. . . Washing the car

. . . Ironing at least 72 pieces of clothing (yes, I keep count. . . it's more rewarding that way!!)

. . . Church (another duh!)

. . . Swimming, for possibly the last time, this summer

. . . Spending some good time with the fam down in Granbury

. . . Shopping for my 7th grader who will play in his first-ever football game tomorrow. He must wear pants, a dress shirt, and a tie to school tomorrow!! Can't WAIT to see that!! He's gonna be so handsome!!

And while the weekend was great, we're ready for another great week! Bring it on!!

We are BREWER BEARS!!

Last night I had the awesome privilege to go to the first game of the Brewer Bears football team! While normally, I would be happy to go and cheer on the team, last night was special because I got to sit in the super-nice VIP seats. These were up on the fourth floor with all of the important people. There was lots of food and drinks, and perhaps best of all, it was air-conditioned!! These seats were available to me because of the company that I keep!!

If you remember last Spring, two of my finest friends, Emily and Jenny, were awarded Teacher of the Year at the respective schools. One of the perks of that award is that they and a guest get to sit in the VIP seats at the first home game!! So...that's how we scored these great seats!!

The game was a great one! Even though we didn't win, the score was 50-something to 40-something so that meant a lot of touchdowns!! It was so fun to be up high screaming and rooting for the team!! Here's our view --

The quality of these pictures isn't great, but it was kind of difficult getting good pictures with glass there!!

Even Reagan and Alex managed to get up there with us for a few minutes!

All in all, it was a great game and loads of fun! There is so much spirit among the students and the community this year...makes for some good times, indeed!

Alex is playing some football!!

Alex is one week into his life dream of playing football!!

And while I'm not sure it has lived up to every possible expectation he had of it, he's doing great and having a good time!

The hardest part is getting up at 5:45 to be at practice by 6:30! But they got their pads yesterday, so now they are bigtime!!

Before the first practice with pads, we had a little homework....the mouthpiece!!

I remember Ryan doing this when we were in high school. I thought maybe they would've come up with a more high-tech way of doing this in the last 20 years! Guess not!

We also had the privilege of having practice today, the first Saturday after the first week of school!! It was a short practice where parents were invited to stay and watch and then attend a meeting after practice. It was pretty cool to see the whole team dressed out and acting like a team already! Here he is running in a couple of drills. He's #55.

Check out the knees of his pants!!

It's gonna be a great season!!

Back to the School House 2009

Monday morning came bright and early as our laid-back, sleeping-in, be-lazy summer came to a screeching halt!!

The 2009-2010 school year brings with it this unique opportunity -- all 4 boys are at 4 different schools!! How fun is that??!!? If my calculations are correct, that won't happen again!

Alex starts his day first with football practice. What we thought was a 7:00 start time has morphed into a be-on-the-field-at-6:50-stretching-and-in-all-your-pads!! He's been leaving at 6:15 but we may have to bump it up a bit!! Ouch!! The great thing is that he's having a great time! He likes football...every day has brought something new to look forward to. He also likes lunch where he has so many food choices and can sit where ever he wants!! It's the little things!! Here are he and Landry on the first day!! Notice the slight sunrise in the background!!

Parker started at the Intermediate school and is really loving it! He likes his teachers a lot and seems very pleased. He has a team of teachers that his cousin, Meagan, had when she was in 5th grade. That connection has already been made and he's loving life at the big school!! He didn't even want me to walk him in so this is the best I could do with the pic!!

Luke is in first grade and his teacher is Mrs. Ball!! How cool is that?? (Landry called her Mrs. Bald for the first couple of days!!) He's having a good week and is really excited that he gets to buy his lunch tomorrow!!

Landry actually went to school one day last week since they have to open when the teachers go back. We went ahead and took a first day picture then because he really felt like that was his first day!! He was so excited to take his new backpack that lights up and wear his new shoes!!

He has had a good week...seeing old friends, playing in centers, reading and coloring. I'm so glad he's so happy there. I thought it would be fun to revisit last year....remember this??

Not such a happy boy here!! But now?? All smiles!!

Here's to a great school year!!

Good-bye Summer '09

To the Summer of 2009 --

You were a good one!! I don't think I'd ever looked forward to a summer like I did this one. Maybe it has something to do with working full-time???

Though it went by so fast, we had so much fun!! We swam, slid, tubed and got soaked at NRH2O. Our season passes proved to be more than a great value as we were there just about every week!!

We traveled across state lines to visit with family and that provided many new adventures. New York City was awesome, as were the subway and Yankee stadium.

We stayed up late and slept in late...more days than I care to admit!!

We shuttled Alex back and forth to Conditioning Camp and watched his BB guns turn into BIG guns!! Haha!! Not really, but he thinks so!!

Alex and Parker spent a week at Kids Camp and spent some time with Nana, Poppy, and Meagan on the Guadalupe River.

Luke spent some time with Nana, Poppy, and Lexie in Dallas.

Landry got a big boy haircut!

We went to visit the Great Wolf Lodge and had mucho fun there!!

We watched a lot of movies.

We spent a LOT of time together!!

And while I sometimes wish it would go on forever, sometimes I'm glad it doesn't!!

For right now, at 8:04 pm, everyone under the age of 13 is in bed and THAT is a great thing, indeed!

Good-bye Summer '09!

Welcome 09-10 School Year!!

A new, old friend

Reagan is certainly no stranger to our family. He and Alex have grown up together and were great friends before they drew their first breaths!! But now Landry has taken Reagan as his new friend, and fast friends, they are!!

We've enjoyed a lot of time with the Rothenbergers this summer and it was worth it all when Landry declared the night this pic was taken....

Readan...you're my best tousin!!

Though there's no blood relation between them, you couldn't convince Landry that Reagan's not just another member of the family!!

Alex made a funny!

This is not a political statement - - -

Alex and I were doing something on the internet today when he saw a picture of Barack Obama with a cigarette in his mouth.

Alex, shocked that the leader of the free world would do such a thing, says, "Mom, does the president SMOKE??"

To which I replied, "Yes, I think he does."

He lets out a big, disgusted "Aaaahhh....he is an OBAMA-nation to our country! Haha....get it, Mom?? An abomination...OBAMAnation!!!"

He thinks he came up with this, but I'm thinking maybe not. Anybody heard this before??

Either way, we got a good laugh out of it!!

Classic Parker

Last night found Parker and I in bed and he was unusually talkative and sweet.

The conversation went something like this:

P - Mom, you're the best mom in the world. I'm so glad I got you!

M - Parker, you're a really great boy and I'm so glad God chose you to be in our family.

P - SO, which boy do you love the most?

M - Well, I love all of you. You all have things you're really good at and all so different.

P - But, who's your favorite?

M - I don't have a favorite...I love you all the same! (classic parent line!)

P - Well, who do you think is the most handsome?

M - All of you!

P - Well, then.....why do you have more pictures of ME on the fridge than anyone else??!!!

And to think...I thought he needed some confidence building!!!

Exciting Breaking News!!

We've been waiting all summer and they've finally arrived!!!

Betty Crocker has come out with a GF cake mix, GF brownie mix, and GF chocolate chip cookie mix!! We finally found them at a Kroger today and we all did a little dance in the aisle when we found them!!

We ran home and Luke decided to go for the cake first! So, here he is ...

Here's the finished product, and I must say, it was good!! Of course, most cake still warm from the oven with chocolate all over it is good!!

Luke said it was the best cookie, brownie, or cake he had ever had IN HIS LIFE!! When I smiled in response, he said emphatically, "I'm SERIOUS!!"

Totally worth the wait!!

Pretty Scenes

New York is such a beautiful place. It's really hard to capture with pictures.

Here's the view from our trailer --

A very common site as we drove through the mountains --

The boys' thought this baseball field, was one of the more beautiful sites in the state!!!