Williams Family Reunion Talent

We had a Williams Family Reunion during Thanksgiving.

The kids got a medley of songs to dance to.  They finally came together and danced it the best they have yet...phew. :)

sunday night

clowning around.

been so busy with shoots lately that I've neglected shooting my own kids.

cade got these mardi gras beads from school.  he loves them.  me, not so much.

as kaylee would say: 'akward'

one man band.

two man band...

chores wonderful chores!

introducing job charts, allowance.....and consequences for not doing our jobs.

beautiful.

happy.

$1 a week.  any chore refused or undone, results in -5 moneys (aka 5 cents)  (IMO: much better to give them a certain amount, and take it away slowly, than to 'build' the amount up...due to constant questions "how much do I have?" or "how much more do I need to get __________?" or "How much more work until I've earned $$$$?"  it's simple and clean cut.

they are to help with trash duty, dishes (emptying the dishwasher), folding and putting away their own laundry, making their own beds, cleaning their rooms, homework, etc...and Saturday...oh Saturday!...opens up a whole list of possibilities of what mommy needs help on!!!!! :) 

they have been happily completing their own work.

Kaylee is working on earning for a doll...which she reminds me of at least once a day.  but I need to remind her not to talk about it.  so she talks about not talking about the doll she wants.  you know, but I shouldn't be talking about it either.

cade helps to fold my famous stash of white washcloths.

first day of school!!!!

two down!  one to go!!!!!!

so, this is 2 weeks late.  school started August 8th over here in the land of the permanent heat wave....thus started the exciting bike trip each morning and afternoon ending with sweat drenched clothes and drippy drop beaded mustaches.  ewwww.

Kaylee has Mrs. Guggisberg...a sweet wonderful teacher (had her last year...I'll explain below).  Mrs. Guggisberg (with a touch of an eastern accent) reminds me of my wonderful Aunt Louise (who taught for about 30 years in 1st grade and has a 'chi-town' accent).  Very calm understanding teacher that helped put my and David's worries at ease.  So excited to have her again!

Cade has Ms. Miles.  I have a friend whose son had her in Kindergarten and loved her.  She is a more seasoned teacher and I know Cade will really enjoy Kindergarten.  He's been coming home (two weeks now), after a long day at school, and biking all the way home (or scooting) with sweat dripping off him, with a SMILE!

he even loves doing his homework....for the most part. :)

Kaylee and Cade: the school goers.  (look close and you can see the beaded sweat mustaches)  that was one hot muggy day for school to start!  AND I carried conner to school on my shoulders.  nothing like cuddling up on a nice steamy morning!!!

ok, see Kaylee's shirt?  It's her THIRD year wearing it!  Yup.  That is the nice thing about having a kid who grows SLOW.  She still has Cade by about an inch, but that will soon be a losing race.  They both wear the same size clothes AND shoes.

saying goodbye to the last one home:

while at the store getting school supplies, a lady behind us asked Kaylee in an upbeat happy voice, "You getting ready for school!?  What grade are you going to be in!?"

Kaylee very enthusiastically replied:  "I'm going to be in first grade again!"

the sweet innocence and joy she has makes me jealous.

She's excited to be her teachers 'helper'.  She even got to choose where she was going to sit!

absolutely love conners little snuggle smile!

2 weeks down.

two weeks since school started.  the kids are loving school, teachers,and lunch.

i'm loving it too!  just need Conner to hurry and get to kindergarten...but 2 years until that point. 

conner had his first day of school today too....articulation class (right now the class size is 2....most they will take in the class is 4).  they meet once a week for 45 minutes.  BARELY got my grocery shopping done before it was too late.  this is gonna be rough!  missing my free time during the regular preschool from the past.

kaylee has a new loose tooth too!

ok V. this is for you!

been so busy, haven't gotten a chance to look at the photos Veronica took during our 'photography class/week' together!  It was a blast and we both came away with more than we expected!

love this shot she got of Kaylee and Cade....they're posers for sure!  love how they're holding each others hands.  they can be darling, can't they!

kaylee is always sweet to pose for me!

so, while taking photos, Conner gets too curious and gets STUCK in the mud.  I go and pull out his tiny feet from the mud.  his nice new shoes are now muddy covered gooey messes.  that was quite a gross mess.

some pics of your's truly, taken by budding, manual mode using Veronica!!!!

me and the giant.

i'm usually not a fan of 'camera action shots' but these have a nice flare.....

love the green reflection going on in the lens.

i like the 'wind in my hair' although I don't have much to blow around, it's cool.....a little wisp.

biz bucket

two weeks of potty training, and still more hurdles to jump over.

i'm so scatter brained i forget to ask conner if he needs to go.  i've used a timer, but i'm too scatter brained to remember to use it...especially today.

either he'll be potty trained eventually, or his wife can do it.

everyone over here at our house is running around in their natures.  we had haircuts and somehow no one seemed to care to get dressed after their bath.

oh well.

a couple cute stories from yesterday:

Kaylee said she had to go to the bathroom during dinner.   She's in there and yells out to us..."I think I have diarrhea!"   A few moments pass and we're still eating dinner.   "Yup, I have diarrhea!"   David says some type of remark...like 'thanks for the update'. She then asks for me to come and wipe her.   I'm still eating dinner, so I told her she had to wait a few minutes until I finish.   David finishes first and goes to help her.   A bit later David comes out and said she didn't have diarrhea.   Kaylee then bursts out the hallway and says...."I tricked you!"   "I don't have diarrhea." ....now that's a potty mouth.... Kaylee is practicing her spelling with David.   She has to spell the word "seven".   She spells it with an 'f' instead of 'v'.   David enunciates the 'v' sound by saying 'vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv' to her.   She looks a bit confused.   Cade interrupts and tells Kaylee.... "V!   It goes like this..." and he fingers the letter 'v' in the air"

five

cade had a happy birthday today.   he's been really into 'photography'....wonder where he got that interest....you can see our ancient first 'digital' camera on the right side of the frame.   his birthday present (a new bigger bike) will be 'revealed' tomorrow.

I yuv you buddy.

just another monday night

ps: there's a SWEET video I took of David, but I probably shouldn't post it without permission! ;)  Need approval from the choreographer. 

park 2 day

at the park today.  having some fun with my 1.4

(either conner was tired of my camera in his face...or he was singing opera.  can't remember)

sweet 1.4      i lub u.

I watched Abby for the afternoon.  fun she and we had.

look close, she's making a heart with her hands.

(wanna see it up close?)

tickle tickle tickle

abby is a silly girl.  real silly.

she refers to herself in the 3rd person.

she comes up to me after dinner and says, "Abby fart."  way funny!

he's called 'ticklebug grandpa'

FOR A REASON!

grandpa has cade's foot!

moment before contact.

attacking from behind isn't a good idea.  you'll make the tickle bugs upset!

conner came over to see what all the commotion was about...guess he was thinking he should have left his curiosity alone!

I asked Cade who his best buddy was.  He said, "Grandpa."

Christmas Morning

nothing creates sibling harmony faster.

in today's sad news...

mom and dad left to go home today.  

sniff. sniff.

cuz

cade isn't the kid that enjoys a photo op.  i rarely get a good shot of him.  he'll make a silly face or simply run away.

just a nice little moment i had with him the other day.

and it wasn't even a forced smile.

my buddy.

school days...

Kaylee on her first day of 1st grade.

She has Mrs. Arteaga.

 

Cade right before his first day of his second year of preschool.

This year he has Ms. Anderson.

It's gonna be a fun year.

he wasn't interested in posing for a photo at the school...so somehow i got this one.