It's over

Well it's been almost YEAR since the last time I blogged anything (wow I'm really bad at this). But as of October 11, 2012 I am OFFICIALLY done with college! I just don't know what to do with myself having so much free time! Talan is very happy I'm done too because he no longer has to hear "I can't play right now I have to do homework" or "I have class tonight I'll see you in the morning". It's so wonderful to think that I can actually fully be a part of my family life again! I've also been thinking about when the day comes to talk to my kid(s) about going to college and how hard it was for me doing it AFTER I started a family. I am very thankful that I made the decision to go back to school and now that I'm done I have a great sense of accomplishment. There were MANY long nights of writing papers and studying and freaking out about not being able to get everything done. But I did it. I'm so excited to see what the future holds for our family now that I'm closing this chapter of my life.

This is the pile of my course guides and a few class notes. I'm going to burn it. I think it will be freeing! And I'll make s'mores :)

These are doors I walked through on my last night of class on 10/11/12 at 10pm. I'm so glad I won't have to see them that late at night any more.



I'm sure I will soon fill my free time with SOMETHING but for now I'm relishing in the fact that I HAVE free time and it's such a wonderful feeling at the moment.

Tis the Season

Wow it's been a LONG time since I posted! Anyway I have once again been inspired by my family, this time my sister Talisa! She told me about this 25 random acts of kinds (RACK) project that she was going to join in doing this holiday season and I thought that was so amazing! As I was reading about this project ( http://tsjphotography.com/blog/random-acts-of-christmas-kindness-summary/) ideas started popping in my head as what I could do too. Then I remembered that a couple days ago I saw a homeless couple standing on the exit ramp on my way to work and I felt so compleded to do SOMETHING but I didn't have any cash (even though I know we aren't supposed to give cash), I didn't have any snacks or water or ANYTHING that I could give them! I felt horrible and I've thought about ever since. THEN I remembered about the homeless care packages I've seen and I've decided that I AM going to do this... like this weekend. Granted I don't see a LOT of homeless people on a regular bases but at least now I'll be prepared for when I do. Small acts of kindness make a big difference no matter time of year it is but this time of year is great opportunity to remind people that there are so many things to be thankful for and reason for the season.

Mother's Day

Yestday was Mother's Day (5/8/11) It was such a nice day too. Eveyone got alone, got some rest, got to play and bake, and got some beautiful flowers!



The flowers my wonderful sister got me, the 2 new hats and pig I got at the craft fair, and the roses Talan and Lathon got me. The rose come with a funny story... So Saturday I went to the craft fair with my mom and sister so Lathon took Talan to get his mom a gift. They weren't supposed to get me anything because earlier in the week I got an iPhone 4 which was supposed be my gift. Well I get home from the craft fair and Talan comes running outside "mommy mommy we got you a surprise". Lathon had told him over and over and over NOT to say anything to me about my surprise but how can an excited 3 year old not say something. So Talan continues to take me in the house " you want to see your surprise" I tell him no I'll wait until tomorrow. Well the flowers Talisa had got me were sitting on the table in the living room so takes me in there and tells me that the surprise. Me and blonde side were thinking he's just confused and thinking he got them for me... but then Lathon cleared it up and said they did get me flowers :). I still had to wait until Sunday to see them but it was a funny moment and reminded to not tell a 3 year old something that's supposed to be a surprise.

Sunday we had a great lunch with my mother-in-law (Gloria) and brother-in-law (Walt) at Sassy's mmmmm... and Sunday night we went to my parents house for dinner. Since I'm addicted to baking cupcakes right now I of course had to make some. FYI... THEY WERE AMAZING! Presenting pineapple upside-down cupcakes.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mamas!

NEXT... EASTER

Holiday's are always so much fun with Talan because he gets so excited and Easter was no different. A couple weeks ago I took him to see HOP so he's been looking forward to EB coming for weeks. Of course we went to see the Easter bunny at the mall (TWICE)



Then on Friday night we colored eggs with aunt Mel Mel, Allie, and Jacob




And Saturday we went to an egg hunt

(sorry its blurry)

Then on Sunday EB came to the house. Making my little boy very happy.




We had a very busy day as well between church and all the family events we were all exhusted by the end of the day.




Williams Family Easter Sunday 4/24/11

Let's get caught up

Ok first of all the pond clean up on April 9th was AMAZING! I had 21 people show up to help and we got the whole pond cleaned within in an hour. I can't thank the people that came enough


Second I now have a deeper passion for baking cupcakes. I know it's a craze that's been roaming the country for a couple of years now but it's so much fun!


Graham cracker cake with key lime frosting

Oreo

I've recently made a few others but I don't have pictures of those. I really need to work on my decorating skills though because I'm not very artistic person so that's been a little bit of a struggle for me BUT with the help of Bake It Pretty I've got more tools to help achive this struggle.

Talan has inspired me

So Talan and I (and mema) have already began visiting Murphy Park in Springdale and last night while we were there Talan noticed all the trash in the pond. Talan does NOT like trash so he wanted to pick it up, at the time I did not let him because I'm not going to let my 3 year old pull duck poo covered trash out of the pond BUT it did inspire me to! Well not literally of course but I am in the process of organizing a Park Pond Clean Up Project! I'm really excited about this and hopefully it is something that will not just be a one day event. I've already contacted the city about it and got one level of permission just waiting on a couple of details before I get the final go ahead. Once the plan is finalized I will be looking for volunteers that would be willing to spend an hour or so making our pond a better habit for the fish and ducks and a cleaner place for our children to visit!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is always a good reminder to tell the ones you love just how much you care about them. I was explaining this to Talan on Sunday 2/13 and he has the sweetest responses to the things I tell him. To start the weekend Lathon and Talan surprised me with the camera I had been wanting on Friday. I was so happy and totally surprised and just the simple fact that my happiness made Talan so happy shows just how caring my 3 year old is. He kept saying "I love you mommy, I'm happy you like your present" (and now even 4 days later we still talk about how happy I am that he and daddy got my camera for me). We spent the weekend in Branson and while we didn't do much we still had a good time swimming, shopping, and eating. Fast forward to Monday morning 2/14... Talan LOVES getting presents just as much as he loves giving them so to wake him up I informed him that I loved him and got him a present to show him just how much. He jumps up into my arms to be carried into the living room where is present was waiting. Without even thinking about it he ripes open the gift to find his new Toy Story 3 movie, a mouth guard, and some bubble tape gum the 3 things he had been wanting for weeks. The joy on his sleepy morning face is indescribable. Of course we had got him Valentine's to take to Jeannie's to give his friends and he was so excited about that too (Toy Story snacks) and he came home with lots of love gifts from his friends. All in all Valentine's Day was a big success for my little man who is so loving and so lovable.